San Diego City Beat 022719

2 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

They don’t know what they’re doing

B

enough for them? Will it be enough to pay for a luxurious post-apocalyptic bunker to shield them from the effects of climate change?

It’s simple: The Feinsteins and Blums of the world will be fine even if the most dire effects of climate change happen. Climate change most drastically affects the poor. Decisive and definitive action on climate change is not coming as long as the Congress’ second wealthiest Senator has enough money stowed away so that she and her family can afford a summer home in Greenland and a winter home on the beaches of Bangor.

y now, everyone has hopefully seen the video of Senator Dianne Feinstein going full Andy Rooney aggro on a bunch of Sunrise Movement kids who just want to live on a planet that doesn’t, you know, burn them alive. Honestly, the nerve!

Let’s put aside the fact that Sen. Feinstein has been out of touch for a long time (CityBeat did not endorse her in the general election). Let’s put aside the fact that even the left-leaning New Republic called her a “bigger climate threat” than even President Trump.

Let’s put aside the fact that she, as she so caustically put it, has “been doing this for 30 years” and has had every opportunity to introduce and pass viable legislation that would have addressed climate change. n Friday’s Union-Tribune, a cartoon was published Yes, let’s try to analyze the real reasons why Feinin the Editorial and Opinion section that was grossstein believes that the Green New Deal is unreasonly offensive. The cartoon, drawn by staff cartoonist able and unfeasible. Some have speculated that she Steve Breen, attempted to draw, as the paper put it takes campaign contributions from later, an “ironic parallel” between corporations and industries that actor Jussie Smollett and other “fawill likely be negatively impacted by mous African-American storytellers” such legislation, but this is a stretch such as James Baldwin and Toni Morat best. Feinstein is 85 years old and rison. The cartoon was neither ironic unlikely to run for the Senate, or any or funny, and the response on social other elected office, after her current media was understandably angry and six-year term. swift. The U-T’s publisher and EditoOr could it be that Feinstein really rial and Opinion Director have since does know what she’s doing and that removed the cartoon and issued an the Green New Deal is a pipe dream apology, as has Breen himself. at best? Well, that’s likely true, but First, we at CityBeat also find there’s a much more logical reason that the cartoon was in extremely as to why Feinstein doesn’t suppoor taste, but we will stop short port something as comprehensive as of calling for a full boycott of the the Green New Deal and it’s simple: Union-Tribune, as many have done.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein And while it’s certainly any reader’s money.

With a minimum net worth of prerogative whether or not to sup$58 million (some speculate that it’s actually more port the paper after the publishing of such a cartoon, than $80 million) and an investment banker hus- it’s worth noting that there are hundreds of dediband (Richard Blum) who is a billionaire, Feinstein, cated employees at the U-T who bust their ass every her children and her grandchildren would be directly day to report the news, hold politicians accountable impacted by the Green New Deal’s tax rates on the and write editorials that make a difference. To punwealthiest Americans. Feinstein likely isn’t thinking ish them over a cartoon they likely never saw until it about whether or not her seven grandchildren have went to print is unfair to them. a habitable planet to live on. She’s thinking about Instead, we encourage readers to write letters or, if the real estate taxes she’ll have to pay. She’s thinking they prefer, to continue to tweet to the publisher, the about whether or not her children and grandchildren Editorial and Opinion Director (Matt Hall) or to Breen will have to pay an estate tax once her and her hus- himself to let them know just how disappointing this band pass away. was to them. Call for more diversity. Demand better If they had to pay Green New Deal taxes (which are judgment. They will listen. They will be accountable. basically the same tax rates the wealthy had to pay in They will do better. We are confident in this. the ’50s, but they don’t want you to know that), what’s

—Seth Combs to say those millions or billions the Blum/Feinstein children and grandchildren are set to inherit will be Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com

A quick note on that cartoon

I

This issue of CityBeat needs the guy who directed Dumb and Dumber to explain race relations to us again.

Volume 17 • Issue 28 EDITOR Seth Combs WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos STAFF WRITER Andrea Lopez-Villafaña COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Ryan Bradford, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Rhonda “Ro” Moore

CONTRIBUTORS Christin Bailey, Torrey Bailey, Jackie Bryant, David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Ombretta Di Dio, Julia Dixon Evans, Michael A. Gardiner, Sara Harmatz, Glenn Heath Jr., Peter Holslin, Alfred Howard, Lizz Huerta, Tigist Layne, Jonathan Mandel, Lara McCaffrey, Scott McDonald, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Ian Ward

MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia

EDITORIAL INTERNS Steven Buriek, Marlee Drake

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Comden

PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Steven Persitza

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jason Noble ACCOUNTING Perla Castillo, Linda Lam HUMAN RESOURCES Andrea Baker

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Interested in advertising?

Call 619-281-7526 or e-mail advertising@sdcitybeat.com.

The advertising deadline is 5 p.m. every Friday for the following week’s issue.

EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICE 3047 University Ave., Suite 202 San Diego, CA 92104 Phone: 619-281-7526 Fax: 619-281-5273 sdcitybeat.com

San Diego CityBeat is published and distributed every Wednesday by Southland Publishing Inc., free of charge but limited to one per reader.

Reproduction of any material in this or any other issue is prohibited without written permission from the publisher and the author. Contents copyright 2019.

@SDCITYBEAT

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS

GETTING IT RIGHT Bravo to Maura Fox’s report on healthcare for migrants always uncertain [“Living in Uncertainty,” News, Feb. 20]. Factually on target and well-written, this type of journalism is what we desperately need to elevate policy communication and public knowledge on border issues. With 20-plus years as a researcher and advocate for migrant health and improved cross-border health collaboration, I appreciate when journalists get this right. In this case, Ms. Fox nailed it.

María Luisa Zúñiga Chula Vista

COLLECTIVISM VS. INDIVIDUALISM Mr. Combs, Words mean something [From the Editor, Feb. 13]. Another well-written article that makes an excellent point in a “look at both sides of this” way. Bravo.

If I may add to this, I don’t believe that it’s really liberal versus conservatives today. It’s collectivist versus individualist.

There is a nontrivially sized group of individuals who are striving for a nation of men and women who live in large collectives of identical housing, with identical resources, who put on grey uniforms each morning, walk to board a train where they sit quietly with myriad posters with the

likeness of the Obamessiah done in the pale colors of the communist posters of days past. The train takes them to a large, non-descript building where they do their assigned tasks for identical wages. Women don’t waste valuable resources on makeup, and certainly not to arouse a male sexually because masculinity has been driven out of life as evil.

Evenings are spent at the collective meeting place where praise is heaped on the Obamessiah, Bernie Sanders, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, etc. as a substitute for religion. AOC is the closest thing they have to a rock star.

You might laugh at my hyperbole, but some who read this will acknowledge my description as infeasible but “wouldn’t it be great if it could be that way?”

I, as an individualist, want everything to be for the individual and the only time we collect for government is for defending ourselves. I’m labeled conservative, but think all drugs should be legal for adults mostly on principle. If the Republican Party would drop the social planks, they’d be more popular.

And as you eloquently point out, liberal implies freedom, but so-called “liberals” are wholly intolerant of certain things, particularly speech, so where’s the freedom?

They’ve even invented “hate” crimes and “hate” speech. Watch for elevated penalties for hate crimes to be overturned by the Supreme Court someday. Someone who commits a heinous crime should be pun-

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

ished. But you can’t give them a specific extra penalty for expressing themselves.

First Amendment applies to “hate speech” and many have died, fighting to protect that freedom.

I drive rideshare and I’ve been given a one-star rating before because I wouldn’t join a Trump-hating conversation. Liberal?

ROTFL. It’s a highlight of my week to read your excellent journalism, Mr. Combs, and eat a Mr. Moto slice in PB. Some of the other columnist aren’t really journalists, but enjoyable nonetheless. Are you with me with say collectivist vs. individualist instead? Can I get an AMEN?!??

John Muoio El Cajon

TABLE OF CONTENTS UP FRONT From the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Spin Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Backwards & In High Heels . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Well, That Was Awkward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

FOOD & DRINK World Fare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Anatomy of a Cocktail Scene. . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Final Draught. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

THINGS TO DO

The Short List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13

ARTS & CULTURE

WE WANT FEEDBACK

Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Feature: Dave Harris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-18

Email letters to editor Seth Combs at seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com, or mail to 3047 University Ave., Suite 202, San Diego, CA 92104. For letters to be considered for publication, you must include your first and last name and the part of town where you reside. Note: All comments left on stories at sdcitybeat.com will also be considered for publication.

Feature: Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Black Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Spotlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 If I Were U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Concerts & Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-25

MUSIC

IN THE BACK Astrologically Unsound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 CannaBitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCITYBEAT

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5

JOHN R. LAMB

UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE

JOHN R. LAMB

Docked-bike doldrums The final key to the way I promote is bravado… I call it truthful hyperbole.

—Donald Trump,

Trump: The Art of the Deal

I

n light of new ground rules recently issued by Mayor Kevin Faulconer for dockless bikes and scooters, Spin thought it might be a good time to check in on the city’s original bike-sharing deal with Miami-based DecoBike, the company that introduced docking stations to great fanfare, at least from politicians.

On his way out the door in late 2012, then-mayor Jerry Sanders announced a 10-year partnership with DecoBike. Joining him that sunsoaked November day for the pronouncement were then-city councilmembers Faulconer and 2020 mayoral wannabe Todd Gloria.

“We are a bicycle mecca,” Faulconer said back then. “And this new

program is going to help so many people in all parts of the city.”

It was, indeed, a pretty momentous day, given San Diego’s longheld tradition of holding its nose when faced with new things. Of course, there were hiccups along the way—some folks lamented the rather inelegant docking stations that began popping up in town, primarily in tourist-oriented communities, while others decried the $5-per-half-hour cost.

“At the time, it seemed like a pretty big commitment by the city to provide bike-share when other cities were doing it the exact same way,” recalled Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. “In my travels, I still see docked bikes working in other cities.”

What no one saw coming in San Diego, Hanshaw said, was the advent of the dockless bike, followed by the ubiquitous dockless

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

scooter and its various iterations.

While DecoBike executives predicted 1,800 bikes would be stationed throughout the city, the competition has likely been the deciding factor in limiting those numbers to no more than 700.

That’s at least according to a series of spreadsheets the city provided to Spin about the program, now rebranded as DiscoverBike since partnering with the credit card company. A city spokesperson could only find so-called reconciliation reports for 2015 through 2017, the first three years of the 10-year contract, so it’s hard to know how the explosion of scooter availability in 2018 has affected business.

David Silverman, the local director of operations for DecoBike, said the unregulated explosion of competition has definitely had an impact. So much so, in fact, that he said meetings with attorneys are expected in the next couple weeks “to see what our options are.”

“For us, it was a lot of false promises,” Silverman said. “We were promised the beaches and stations throughout the city in high-traffic areas and now it’s all falling apart. The city’s done backdoor deals through lobbyists with these other dockless companies.

We’re kind of left in the shadows.”

The 2013 agreement between the city and DecoBike evoked vi-

Can DiscoverBike (or is it DecoBike?) stations compete in a dockless world? sions of six-figure revenue streams flowing to needy city coffers, with a minimum guaranteed payment of $100,000 by the third year of the contract. But that was under the assumption that 1,800 bikes would be deployed. The agreement also allowed the company to deduct the costs for damaged stations and lost bikes.

This likely explains why, in 2015, the company reported more than $613,000 in rental revenue but only cut a check to the city for a paltry $12,500. It also listed 22 bikes lost, 36 out of 95 docking stations vandalized and zero advertising revenue. (The agreement gives the city a 15-percent cut of ad revenues.)

The city’s take was slightly better in 2016, up to $29,593, as were company rental revenues at more than $869,000. The city’s share rose only slightly in 2017 to $29,907, while company rental revenues dropped below $650,000. In 2017, the company took a $48,000 “bike loss adjustment” for 48 unrecovered bikes. No advertising revenue is also listed for 2016 and 2017.

But the question remains, what is the future of San Diego’s original bike-share program?

“There’s obviously greater convenience, flexibility and affordability with dockless, which is a pretty hard thing to compete with,” Hanshaw told Spin. That being said, he added, “I do see people out there using the docked bikes in more tourist-related areas, like downtown and the waterfront.”

“The good news,” Hanshaw said, “is people are using something other than their car. At least that’s the hope and I know that was the city’s intent with the Climate Action Plan. And I think the popularity of the dockless is a good sign. It may not fair well for docks in the long run, but we’re doing the right things for what the city needs to do.”

Hanshaw did share a suggestion for DiscoverBike going forward.

“The only thing I can think of as a business decision would be to change your pricing structure. Try to be competitive with dockless,” he said. (A non-electric Lime bike, for example, is $1-per-half-hour, compared to Deco’s $5).

Also, the agreement allows the company to switch out its technology when it wants to. It just apparently hasn’t wanted to. (Just read some Yelp reviews to get an idea how people feel about the bikes, many of which are showing signs of age.)

“Yeah, and that’s not good,” Hanshaw agreed. “The competitors’ bikes out there now are electric-assist bikes, and that’s a very good thing. I thought electric bikes were part of the conversation way back then for DecoBike, too. But I don’t know what their plans are.”

So, a tip of the cap to our first bike-share suitor, but also time for a kick in the bike shorts to get in the modern game. Apparently the city is stuck with this contract until 2023, so maybe it’s time for a review of said contract to see how it can be tweaked to benefit everyone.

Otherwise, we’ll likely see docking stations sitting idle while the world speeds by on newer contraptions. Well, they may not be speeding thanks to the new regulations from the mayor. And the proposed new fees will hopefully be a nice revenue stream that will make the city’s original deal with DecoBike look outdated.

Docked bikes may not have lived up to the original hype, but it did usher in a new era of travel.

And for that, many in San Diego should be grateful.

Spin Cycle appears every other week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCITYBEAT

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

Strategies on surviving a school shooter

W

hen a massive group of classmates came running toward her like a swarm of locusts last Friday, my 13-year-old daughter thought she was going to die.

“I thought there was a school shooter,” Ruby told me in a nonchalant manner that was immediately distressing to me.

There was no school shooter that caused the panic. Rather, a fight had supposedly broken out and a whole bunch of kids were running toward the action.

Because of course they were. My child was extremely animated in describing the oncoming mob, stunned as she was at the overwhelming sight of the human equivalent of birds flocking.

But when it came to the prospect of a school shooter and her own pending death at the hands of an imagined gunman on campus, her demeanor changed. She described sitting there, calm amidst the dustup.

“I looked around to figure out which way I should go,” she said utterly resigned, as if she were making a decision between orange chicken and lo mein noodles at Panda Express. Right before my eyes, as my kid talked of the idea of her own death, she transformed into the shrug emoticon. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Ruby is absolutely convinced she will experience the violent modern day phenomenon that is the school shooting at her school.

In fact, she’s so certain it will happen there, she’s evolved from helplessness (“There wasn’t a closet in my classroom to hide in,” she said following a threat last school year), to survival mode.

On President’s Day last week, just days before the student locust incident, a troubled boy at Ruby’s school took to Instagram stories and explicitly warned his fellow classmates to stay away from school on Tuesday lest they be shot. This last part wasn’t spoken, but rather implied as he pulled what looked very much like a gun out of a drawer. She showed me the video and, as it goes without saying, it was terrifying.

The video went viral and our school administration handled the situation immediately and professionally, attending to it with all the seriousness it deserved. But given this fright and the subsequent increase of police presence on campus, Ruby was a hard “no” when it came to being present at school on Tuesday. Or, as she says, “Thank you, next.”

For the last year or so, ever since my baby came to truly understand the reality she’s growing up in, escape-route planning has become a thing for her, as well as a regular topic of conversation around our dinner table. We often talk about it during our drives to and from school.

She could head to the recording studio at the back

of her video production class where, incidentally, she and her classmates were ushered by their amazing teacher on January 10 of this year during a this-isnot-a-drill lockdown. The threat that day turned out to be off-campus in the immediate neighborhood, but the principal wasn’t taking any chances.

Ruby says she might take off toward the front gate, which would be locked for sure. Still, she’d scale the fence and not look back. There’s the field to the south of the lunch area where she says, “I’ll run as fast as I can.” If she’s wearing her slides that day, she warned her dad and me—instead of her KDs or Vans or Jordans—she’ll have to leave them behind and run in her socks.

Or she might make her way toward the big hill at the back of campus with the goal of getting herself to the top and over to the street and all the way to the Jack in the Box on the other side.

“I’ll call you from there if I make it since we don’t have cell service on campus,” she’s said.

Jack in the Box. That’s our meeting place if I can’t reach her.

This preoccupation with planning how to outrun and outsmart a school shooter is the norm for my child and I’m guessing for many other parents’ kids as well.

It has become as normal for Ruby as making personal changes to reduce her carbon footprint and save the planet—and humankind—from extinction (another of her concerns). The most outrageous thing about making a school-shooter survival plan is the fact that it isn’t outrageous.

No child should have to do this.

Each and every one of these incidents my child and kids all across this country have experienced—along with the active-shooter drills, threats made on social media by their peers, and real-life horrors like the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre that they see replayed ad nauseum—all add up to a collective trauma that constantly runs in their young psyches like an app quietly refreshing in the background.

But I think this constant fear also has a blunting effect, something underscored by the fact that my child was less shocked at the possible cause of a stampede than the stampede itself.

There shouldn’t be a need for this school shooter survivalism in the life of any school-age children anywhere. The very worst our kids should have to navigate is a schoolyard fight. It is my wish that someday very soon, it’s not kids with guns, but kids with clenched fists—their chests puffed, their friends holding their earrings—that will be the worst thing that comes to mind when any group of children run en masse in one direction.

The most outrageous thing about making a school-shooter survival plan is the fact that it isn’t outrageous.

No child should have to do this.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aarynb@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS

AWKWARD

The strange intimacy of air sex

T

he moment I step into The Local Pacific Beach, it’s immediately clear that my role as guest judge of the West Coast Air Sex Championships might not be the esteemed role I thought it’d be.

It’s Valentine’s Day and the beachside bar is already crowded with party bros, young women wearing fedoras and uncomfortably affectionate parent-types getting “we hired a babysitter” drunk. A guy next to me—a rep from a whiskey company—offers free shots to anyone who can operate a gallows-like contraption that suspends a cup in front of their face. I watch one person after another pour peanut butter-flavored whiskey down their faces.

So, no, it’s not the portrait of glory I had in mind when I first accepted the role of air sex judge. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been nervous leading up to the event. I’m not the best at public speaking. Plus, the idea of commenting on simulated sex in a crowded bar gives me all sorts of anxiety. I’m afraid of appearing unqualified. Like, who am I to determine who’s a good sex-haver? What do I even know about sex? If contestants perform a move outside of the three I know about, how do I even rate it?

But I quickly shake off the hesitation. I swig a cup of peanut butter whiskey and coat myself in sticky, liquid confidence. I’m a professional, goddamnit! These belligerent people came here to air-fuck and, by golly, someone needs to judge them.

I meet my fellow judges: Heidi, who organizes a local swinger meetup (“you can’t write about it,” she tells me), and Ebony, a brand manager for the peanut butter whiskey that’s covering 50-percent of the people in the bar. Julia DeLois, one of the night’s co-hosts, is also a judge. So yeah, pretty much the dream team of air-sex judging, I do declare.

The festivities commence. Air Sex co-hosts DeLois and the magnificently-bearded Chris Trew lay down the rules: All orgasms must be simulated (which, initially, seems odd, but who am I to kink-shame a person who gets their rocks off doing air sex?), all clothes must stay on and there must always be an imaginary partner. Also, air-sexers can’t be violent, abusive or phobic in any sort of way. “We’re very sex-positive!” DeLois says into the mic and the crowd cheers. It’s a heartening sound, especially considering my own assumptions about Pacific Beach bro culture and how, in my mind, the neighborhood is often the exact opposite of sex-positive.

To encourage more people to sign up—a process similar to karaoke—Trew gives us all a demonstration. A sexy song plays. It’s obvious that Trew has his routine down pat, because it’s masterful. He starts with foreplay; the sign of a generous lover. Women

cheer as he flicks his tongue. He pets, he rubs and then lowers his invisible zipper. We all stare in amazement at Trew’s performance, but it’s the little details that captivate us: Trew folds his invisible clothes; he applies the invisible lube. For being fake, it feels so real.

After Trew, they call up the first contestant, a man who goes by the stage name “Mr. X.” Mr. X’s performance is short and sweet, and has a lot of fisting. I watch his face, a tableau of pleasure and pain. When it comes time to give him remarks, I say, “The look of anguish on your face was that of a person who is bringing something beautiful into this world.” He thanks me.

The next woman to take the stage mostly just dances. I mean, it’s sexy, but this ain’t a strip club. We came for the hardcore shit, I think.

It’s then I realize that I’m getting really into judging air sex.

Dallas Star takes the stage next.

She dedicates her performance to Freddie Mercury, which is probably a better tribute to the legendary singer than the entirety of Bohemian Rhapsody. Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” rises from the speakers, and she unzips her imaginary partners’ pants just as the song kicks into high-gear.

My official ruling—because I’m an official now—is that her pantomimed BJ is Oscar-worthy.

The next contestant is a man who goes by the name Black Cowboy, because, true to his name, he’s a Black cowboy complete with boots and a hat. He’s also a very large man, and the way he throws himself around stage is a work of acrobatic art. A confetti machine busts a load while he’s doing the worm.

When the mic comes to me, I’m almost at a loss for words. “You just made a nonsentient object jizz!” I finally say. Never in my life did I ever think I’d be saying that into a microphone on Valentine’s Day. But the thing I realize with air sex is that it’s not all about bravado. We want to see intimacy, which seems strange to say considering the solo nature of the act. Really, if sex is all razzmatazz, then what’s the point?

My theory proves correct when Dallas Star and Black Cowboy go head to head in the final round (naturally titled “The Fuck-Off”). Star’s understated performance wins over Black Cowboy’s outlandishness, proving that perhaps nuance and intimacy—or at least a simulacrum of it—can exist in Pacific Beach.

Or, perhaps, it’s just the way she pantomimes a beej.

Whatever the case, love is in the air tonight.

I’m a professional, goddamnit!

These belligerent people came here to air-fuck and, by golly, someone needs to judge them.

@SDCITYBEAT

Well, That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE

Pasta without pretension

I

talian restaurants in San Diego have tended to fall into one of three categories: 1.) American-Italian joints with cheap red sauce and bad pizza; 2.) middle-of-the-road copycat spots (think early ’90s Gaslamp or Little Italy a decade later), or; 3.) stuffy, pretentious and often expensive places.

Monzù Fresh Pasta (455 10th Ave., monzufreshpasta.com) in the East Village is, gloriously, none of those. It is a simple, unassuming and down-to-earth hole-in-the-wall with really good pasta.

Make no mistake, Monzù is all about the pasta. In addition to the restaurant, they sell their pasta. All of that pasta is made fresh inhouse using pasture-raised eggs, as well as organic durum wheat (semolina). It’s the sort of wheat usually used for dried pastas. Using it for fresh pasta results in a firmer texture than what’s usually associated with the fresh stuff, but it’s still quite supple.

The signature dish at Monzù is the scarpariello. The word itself translates from Italian as “shoemaker” and references the simple style of the dish rather than a specific type of pasta. Monzù’s scarpariello is a spaghetti with cherry tomatoes, a sauce that includes two types of cheeses (Grana Padano and Pecorino), as well as fresh basil and a cheese crisp on top. The result is a dance between the acidity of the tomatoes and the richness of the cheese.

Another simple standout at Monzù is the tagliatelle bolognese. It is simply really good tagliatelle with a classic ragu that has a depth only achievable with time and care. It is the very essence of Italian food: simple, well-crafted perfection. The same sauce with a Tuscan-style pici (essentially hand-rolled spaghetti) was a bit more rustic and even better.

As serious as Monzù is about their pasta, they may be even more serious about their stuffed pasta.

In this case, the slightly harder semolina pasta is a perfect fit. The braised meat in the agnolotti di brasato was tasty but the agnolotti itself seemed to

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

be more square ravioli made of two square pieces of pasta than true agnolotti (a long pasta rectangle folded over the filling and into a square shape). The ravioli bolognese, on the other hand, was nearly perfect, with the cheese ravioli marrying wonderfully with the meat sauce.

Still, the best single bite I had at Monzù was the meat lasagna. More specifically, it was the edges of the lasagna: crispy, caramelized, both delicious and texturally interesting. The lasagna itself was tasty, but those edge bits were courageous perfection.

There are very few local places, if any, that offer pasta nearly as good as the kind at Monzù. Those that do are invariably fancier (one might say “more pretentious”) than Monzù. And, to be sure, Monzù is nothing more than a hole in a 10th Avenue, East MICHAEL A. GARDINER

Monzù’s meat lasagna Village wall. It’s a place one might more likely expect to find a sandwich shop, a taco spot or—lord help us—yet another poke place.

But Monzù is none of those. It’s a brightly lit, uncomplicated bit of simple pasta perfection. It’s good food. In fact, it’s really good food and it’s presented as exactly what it is while suggesting nothing it is not.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

ANATOMY OF A COCKTAIL SCENE #52: A history lesson at Fort Oak

T

he history of rum is equal parts advantageous, horrifying and intriguing. It is, in essence, the history of the Americas as we know it. Born out of ingenuity and a live-free-or-die, bootstrapped spirit, it also has a disgustingly shameful past.

We won’t focus on that too much here, but it is worth noting that sugar culture in the Americas, it is speculated, started with Columbus. Inspired by his father in law, who was a sugar farmer on the island of Madeira, Columbus brought sugarcane to the Caribbean in 1493.

Another abhorrent and disgusting aspect of the history of rum is the same as America itself. That is, slavery. Again, I don’t want to get too much into that here because this article isn’t about that, but if interested, just google “rum” and “slavery.”

Rum, for all intents and purposes, was the driving spirit of colonial America. According to fellow spirits writer Wayne Curtis, there were 150 rum distilleries as of 1770 in the Northeastern colonies. In order for those distilleries to run, they were importing 6.5 million gallons of molasses, a byproduct of the sugar making process. Essentially for every two pounds of sugar, one pound of molasses was produced. This was mostly used to feed livestock and (sighs

MONACO

as prepared at Fort Oak 1 1/2 oz. Rhum Clemént Bleue 1 1/2 oz. Dolin blanc vermouth Castelvetrano olives Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass, add ice and stir. Strain into a chilled coup glass and garnish with olives.

@SDCITYBEAT

BY IAN WARD

heavily) slaves before it was realized that it could be fermented and distilled. This resulted in five million gallons of rum.

Fuck, that’s a lot of rum. I’ve read varying numbers, but the average colonist was said to have drank anywhere between 3.5 to four gallons of rum per year. All of this resulted in the King George III-driven Sugar Act of 1764, helping spark outrage and, inevitably, the American Revolution.

Why is this important?

Well, for several reasons, but mainly because it’s important to know how we are shaped by our origins, and it always shows.

Upon, my first dining experience at Fort Oak (1011 Fort Stockton Drive, fortoaksd. com), I ordered one of their seafood towers. To my unsurprising delight, it came with clams and Jonah crab claws. I say unsurprising because the chef is from the Northeast, as am I. It’s a case of origin.

This is also the case with Monaco the cocktail program at Fort Oak. Classic, inspired and thoughtful, the cocktails are based on the origins of the space, which was an old car dealership.

Bar Manager Jess Stewart does a fantastic job of balancing clean approachable libations with sophisticated nuances. The Monaco, named after the mid-sized Dodge car model, is a deceiving combination of Rhum Clemént Bleue (agricole rum) and French vermouth. Subtle and beautiful, it had high tropical fruit aromatics and undertones of sweetness, and yet was bone dry and grassy.

But what I truly appreciated the most was the historical representation in the cocktail. Rhum Clemént being distilled in Martinique, an insular region of France in the Caribbean and the Dolin vermouth from Chambéry, France. Again, it’s all about history and origins.

Anatomy of a Cocktail Scene appears every other week. Write to ianw@sdcitybeat.com.

BY BETH DEMMON

FINAL DRAUGHT Scoring points in Lemon Grove

I

session to be a little one-dimensional, but it’s a good drinkin’ beer all around. Two points for an easy brew that won’t challenge the palate and probably pairs well with pretty much any food.

Now it’s time for dessert: the Ol’ Nessie vanilla porter. It’s excellent—super rich, luscious and velvety with the vanilla peeking through just enough to make its presence known. Coffee notes filter through like a smoky French roast with a side of chocolate, and the finish is a clever balance between dry and sweet.

It’s the best of the bunch and worthy of five points in my completely made up rewards system.

walk into 13 Point Brewing Company (8035 Broadway, 13pointbrewing. com) on a recent rainy Sunday at noon.

A Formula One race blares from the dual television screens flanking the tap list and reggae beats spill from the speakers scattered across the largely empty tasting room.

This doesn’t look promising, I think to myself.

I pull up a stool anyway and browse the beers currently available. There are six, half of which are American IPAs. In a small and completely meaningless act BETH DEMMON of internal rebellion, I instead start with the Blue Lake brown ale. I find brown ales to be one of the easy tells of a brewery’s quality. When it comes to the balance between hops and malt, the brown ale style requires attention to detail and restraint.

13 Point’s version dances on the edge of hoppy, but holds up nicely as it warms. A light toffee scent keeps the hint of resiny bitterness in check. Three points to 13 Points.

Even if it’s somewhat uncreatively named The Red, the brewery’s red IPA doesn’t keep as well as the brown ale over time (there’s some lingering soapy bitter- Supernova Haze IPA and LED Session IPA ness and diminishing aromatics). But enjoyment is easily found if drunk quickly, At this point, the recently desolate a challenge I happily accept. It has lots of tasting room is bustling with patrons. flavor thanks to the medium-low malt to Ever the voyueristic creep, I listen to how high hop profile with a grassy, earthy taste and what people order to get insight into that finishes cleanly. I mentally reward it the 13 Point clientele. Most seem new but one point and move on. curious about the concept of this thing Up next is the requisite hazy IPA, called “craft beer.” This is hardly surpriswhich actually ends up being a real treat. ing—13 Point is Lemon Grove’s first (and Aromatically, it’s a cornucopia of citrus only) independent brewery to date. Acting and pine. Flavor-wise, grapefruit is fol- as the gateway into the artisan beer scene lowed by supportive floral notes, with a in a virgin area is a significant responsidash of lemon to round it off. It’s complex bility. And from what I can tell, all signs and refreshing; four points to the young are pointing to 13 Point being a successful brewery. craft beer concierge to San Diego’s fourth ABV-wise, the session IPA isn’t much most densely populated city. lower than the hazy (5.2 percent versus 5.8 percent) and it’s fairly straightforward. Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com or check After the hazy’s complexity, I found the her out on Instagram at @thedelightedbite.

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

The Crow Show at The Studio Door, 3867 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. The annual contemporary art showcase centered on the black bird with all artwork for sale and juried by San Diego Audubon Society Executive Director Chris Redfern. From noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2 through Saturday, March 30. Free. 619-255-2867, thestudiodoor.com

EAST VILLAGE AND LA JOLLA

BETWEEN THE LINES The inaugural Centering the Margins: Conversations with Writers of Color conference did not come about easily, but co-organizer Marc Chery has no doubt that such a conference needed to happen.

“We put the idea out on Facebook and just got a huge response,” says Chery, who works as the Humanities Section Supervisor at the Central Library.

After a series of workshops and community talks to discuss the idea, Centering the Margins was born.

While the conference—which is being held Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3 at the Central Library (330 Park Blvd.) and the UC San Diego Cross Cultural Center (on the second floor of the Price Center)—is aimed at writers, Chery says he and the organizers wanted to curate something that would be educational to just about anyone.

“It was very important to have topics that would appeal to most people even though the experiences that are presented will be those of writers of color.”

Some of the topics are straightforward such as “How to Prosper at Publishing” and “Crafting the Untold Tale,” while others—like “Acts of War” and “Fresh Off the Boat vs. Homegrown” are a bit broader in scope. For the former, writers such as Cristina Rivera Garza (No One Will See Me Cry) and

BALBOA PARK

IN THEIR ELEMENT The landscapes and people of the southwestern U.S inspired a lot of great American art in the 20th century, and The San Diego Museum of Art (1450 El Prado) is celebrating the women of that movement with their new exhibit Women of the Southwest. Female artists from around the country traveled to the southwest to find spiritual enlightenment or to escape the bustling cities of the east, and the art they created continues to inspire to this day.

Art by lesser-known artists (Alice Ellen Klauber and Lucy M. Lewis), as well as more famous ones will be on display, including works by Georgia O’Keeffe, who is known for her depictions of New Mexico’s landscapes. The exhibit opens Saturday, March 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m . Admission ranges from $8-$15. sdmart.org COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART

HWomen of the Southwest at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. A survey exhibition of 20th Century female artists whose work was inspired by the Southwestern U.S. Artists include Alice Ellen Klauber, Lucy Lewis, Georgia O’Keeffe and more. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday, March 2. $8-$15. sdmart.org

Centering the Margins: Conversations with Writers of Color Ari Honarvar (Rumi’s Gift), among others, will discuss what Chery calls the idea that “writers of color have to struggle.” For “Fresh Off the Boat,” Marivi Solvien (The Mango Bride) will moderate a discussion of Asian women writers, all of whom have had to combat and navigate societal stereotypes.

All in all, there are six panels and over 30 speakers, some of whom are coming from places as varied as Chicago and Singapore. The conference opens with an open mic night and a musical performance from jazz singer Charmaine Clamor on Friday at 7 p.m., and then runs from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. For full schedule and times, check out sandiego.librarymarket.com.

DOWNTOWN

BUSK OFF Whether it’s someone doing juggling tricks on a street corner or strumming folk songs on a beat-up acoustic guitar, a local busker needs to jump through a lot of legal hoops just to perform in public. That’s why we’ve always appreciated the annual Seaport Village Busker Festival, which invites dozens of local and national performers to come and perform inside the iconic shopping center. The fest itself is good for all-ages, but there’s also the Buskers After Dark portion, an 18-and-up event that includes DJs and adult-ier acts. The Busker Festival happens from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3. Buskers After Dark takes place from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday evening. Both events are free, but bring some cash! These buskers are still working for tips. See seaportvillage. com for more details.

COURTESY OF SEAPORT VILLAGE

Women of the Southwest 12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Ezrock Art Show at Project Reo Collective, 2335 Reo Drive, Ste. 6, Paradise Hills. Project Reo Collective showcases Mexican American artist, Ezra Andrade’s (AKA Ezrock) art, graffiti and design in their new expanded space. Opening at 4 p.m.

Saturday, March 2. Free. facebook.com/ events/376062919607597

Busker Festival

360° The Art of Surf & Skate Culture at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Art show featuring photography, painting and board art, a special guest panel, virtual reality, live music, art activities, food, beer and more. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 2. $20-$25. luxartinstitute.org Defining Place/Space: Contemporary Photography from Australia at Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. Thirteen artists display photographs that showcase the various creative perspectives of Australia. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 through Sept. 22. Suggested donation.

619-238-7559, mopa.org

BOOKS Mary Kay Walters at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The founder of local catering company, Waters Fine Foods and Catering will sign and discuss her new book, Waters Fine Foods: Stories and Recipes from Our Kitchen. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27. Free. warwicks.com HDean Nelson at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Point Loma Nazarene University journalism professor will sign and discuss his new book, Talk to Me: How to Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers, and Interview Anyone Like a Pro. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27.

Free. warwicks.com HTaylor Jenkins Reid at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla.

The author, journalist and TV personality will sign and discuss her new novel, Daisy Jones & the Six. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 1. Free. warwicks.com Jennifer M. Franks at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., Downtown. The author, adventure traveler and Flamenco guitar player will discuss her new book, Crown City by the Sea. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2. Free. 619-236-5800, sdfocl.org HRachael Cohen at The Book Catapult, 3010-B Juniper St., South Park. The local author and founder of Infinite Succulent will host a DIY succulent workshop and book signing for her debut book, Infinite Succulent: Miniature Living Art to Keep or Share. At 1 p.m. Saturday, March 1.

Free. thebookcatapult.com Read & Romp at Kid Ventures, 2865 Sims Road, Liberty Station, Point Loma. Family fundraising event with music, story time, costume characters and more that encourage parents to read to their children and promote a love of reading. From 9 a.m. to noon.

Saturday, March 2. $10-$40. rorsd.org

H = CityBeat picks

Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson at Geisel Library at UC San Diego, 9600 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The infectious disease epidemiologist and psychologist will both discuss their new book, The Perfect Predator, followed by a Q&A and book signing. From 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5. Free. 858-534-0533, libraries. ucsd.edu Callie Bates at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The fantasy writer will sign and discuss The Memory of Fire, the second book in her Waking Land Trilogy. At 7 p.m.

Wednesday, March 6. Free. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com

DANCE HUnderlie at Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., North Park. Immersive dance performance reflecting stories developed from community workshops and a willingness to expose vulnerabilities.

From 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2.

Free. 619-500-2787, artproduce.org HEphrat Asherie Dance: Odeon at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown.

A new original contemporary work that straddles dance and theater and explores the complexities of street and social dance forms. From 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28. $9-$50. artpower.ucsd.edu Young Choreographers Showcase 2019 at White Box Live Arts, 2590 Truxton Road #205, Liberty Station, Point Loma. Ten young choreographers compete in the San Diego Dance Theater competetion for three prizes, voted on by the audience and the panel of judges. At 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 2. $20. sandiegodancetheater.org

FILM HMatangi/Maya/M.I.A. at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Barrio Logan. Showing of the documentary film which draws from a cache of personal video recordings of the critically acclaimed musician from the past 22 years. From 6 to 9 p.m.

Saturday, March 2. $5. 619-586-7066, elcallejonproject.com

FOOD & DRINK HMardi Gras Bites and Booze Tour at various locations, Gaslamp Quarter. Selfguided tour offering participants 20 bites and 20 Mardi Gras-inspired sips among other festive celebrations. From 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 2. $25-$30. 619233-5008, sdmardigras.com HBrunch and Market at 2400 Kettner Blvd., Little Italy. The San Diego Collective hosts a buffet-style brunch accompanied by live music. After, guests can check out the Tarot Card reader, local artisans and complimentary braid and glitter bar. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 3. Free$35. thesdcollective.ticketspice.com HVolunBEERS: A Hoppy Service Project at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens, 2816 Historic Decatur Road, Liberty Station, Point Loma. Make pop-up cards and collect donations for Rachel’s Women’s Center while enjoying Stone Brewing beers.

From 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 5. $10$15. handsonsandiego.org/volunbeers

HEALTH & WELLNESS San Diego Yoga Festival at Imperial Beach Pier, 2 Elder Ave., Imperial Beach.

Largest local yoga festival offering nonstop yoga, meditation and healing classes as well as reiki, sound healing, shopping

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 @SDCITYBEAT

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 and food. From 8:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 2 through Sunday, March 3. $25-$216. sandiegoyogafestival.com

MUSIC Stephan Crump’s Rosetta Trio at White Box Live Arts, 2590 Truxton Road #205, Point Loma. Stephan Crump, award winning bassist and composer, comes to San Diego with his trio. Part of the Fresh Sounds concert series. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28. $10-$20. freshsoundmusic.com HHis Apologies & Green Destiny: Sound & Vision at Lhook/exrealism, 55 1/2 Carlsbad Village Drive, Carlsbad. Enjoy ambient music from Forest and His Apologies accompanied with artful visuals from Neo Wave. Profits from the performance will be dispersed to the artists/performers. From 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28. $5. lhooqxrealism.com Robert Dove at Japanese Friendship Garden, 2215 Pan American Road E., Balboa Park. Listen to an experienced jazz saxophonist in a small, intimate environment while enjoying beverages and snacks. Part of the Japanese Friendship Garden Concert Series. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28. $10-$30. missionbaymusic.com De Waart Conducts Mahler 4 at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown.

Guest conductor Edo de Waart will lead the symphony through Mahler’s shortest symphony, which offers a glimpse of heaven from a child’s point of view.

At 8 p.m. Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2. $20-$100. 301-957-1141, sandiegosymphony.org San Diego Hip Hop Festival at Basile IE, 2070 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. The

@SDCITYBEAT

inaugural festival will feature over 20 music platforms interviewing artists live on location. From noon. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 2. $15-$20. facebook.com/ events/212836072923135 Los Angeles Balalaika Orchestra at Encinitas Community Center, 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive, Encinitas. Concert featuring an orchestra of 40 musicians playing traditional Eastern European folk instruments accompanied by traditional Russian folk dancers. From 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 2. $20-$35. 760-298-1708, encinitasarts.org

PERFORMANCE HThe Amazing Acro-Cats at MOXIE Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Blvd. Ste. N., College Area. The troupe of touring performing house cats features domesticated house felines rolling on balls, riding skateboards, jumping through hoops, and even playing in a live cat band. Various times. Thursday, Feb. 28 through Sunday, March 17. $25-$40. circuscats. com HThe Clairvoyants at California Center for the Arts, Escondido 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The duo of Thommy Ten & Amélie will perform mind-reading excercises similar to the ones audiences have seen on shows like America’s Got Talent.

At 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 1. $25-$50.

760-839-4138, artcenter.org L.A. Noir Unscripted at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. This Impro Theatre presents a completely improvised night of noir will feature villains, femme fatales, seduction, and murder, all based on audience suggestions. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 4. $24-$27 northcoastrep. org

OUTDOORS HBorder BioBlitz at Border Field State Park, 1500 Monument Road, Tijuana River Valley. Join the San Diego Natural History Museum in this attempt to document as many wild plants and animals as possible on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico Border.

The findings will help to inform future conservation efforts in the area. At 8 a.m. Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3.

Free. sdnhm.org

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HVAMP: Dirty Talk at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park. So Say We All’s storytelling showcase in which writers will share stories centered on the theme of “guilty pleasures.” From 8:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28. Free. sosayweallonline.com

POLITICS & COMMUNITY Your Community, You Story: See What’s Next at San Diego Historic Center, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. Hear about a new project celebrating the uniqueness of the San Diego community and provide feedback on early proposals for the project. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27. Free. sandiegohistory.org

SPECIAL EVENTS Spring Home Garden Show at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Three days of landscapes, handson demonstrations, home improvement products, educational seminars, plant sales and consultations with top experts.

From 10 to 5 p.m. Friday, March 1, 10 to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 2, and 10 to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 3. Free-$8. 858-7551161, springhomegardenshow.com HFem Made at La Bodega Gallery, 2198 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. Simón Limón & La Bodega Gallery present this all-woman pop-up, free for all ages. Shop and support local woman owned businesses, enjoy yummy beverages, music, tarot readings, and more. From noon to 5 p.m.

Saturday, March 2. Free. facebook.com/ events/244308136510248 HSeaport Village Busker Festival at Seaport Village, 849 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. Celebrate the unique talents of street performers, including sword swallowing, knife throwing, and juggling on a unicycle. From noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 2 and Sunday, March 3. Free. seaportvillage.com HBuskers After Dark at Seaport Village, 849 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. A lesstame version of the annual Busker Festival, this event will feature a DJ, food and drink specials and busker acts best suited for those over 18. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 2. Free. seaportvillage.com Doggie Gras 5K and Parade at Embarcadero Marina North, 400 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. The Helen Woodward Animal Center puts on a day full of four-legged friends, Mardi Gras-inspired floats and dogs in costume. Proceeds will benefit the center and the animals there. From 7 a.m. to noon. Sunday, March 3. Free-$40 my.animalcenter.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HOur City, Our Budget at City Heights Center, 4305 University Ave., Ste. 640, City

Heights. This community forum will cover ways San Diego’s City Budget can protect tenants, fight for workers’ rights, invest in youth, and fight for what your community needs. From 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 27. RSVP recommended. cpisandiego.org/our-city-our-budget HThe Woman’s Show at WayPoint Public North Park, 3794 30th Street, North Park. Esthela from the Indie Beer Show interviews female guests from the San Diego beer scene including Morgan Tenwick, Samantha Olson, Lia Garcia, Virginia E Morrison, and more. From 6 to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 27. Free. facebook. com/events/621834551571151 Living by-Cannabis-ly at Valencia Park/ Malcolm X Branch Library, 5148 Market St., Downtown. Five-part lecture series discussing how cannabis is changing the culture, business and politics of California.

From 3 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 2 through Saturday, March 30. Free. 619252-1595, sandiego.librarymarket.com The Yellow Vests: A Case Study at La Jolla Riford Library, 7555 Draper Ave., La Jolla. Learn about the ongoing social dynamic of the French social movement and its interpretations in various academic fields. Part of the French Lecture Series.

From 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 5. Free. lajollalibrary.org

WORKSHOPS HCentering the Margins: Conversations with Writers of Color at UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Threeday conference featuring 30 speakers and six panels discussing the unique issues facing writers of color. Times vary each day. Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3. Free. 619-236-5817, sandiego. librarymarket.com

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13

THEATER AARON RUMLEY

Dark secrets

G

ermany’s only occupation of the British Isles during World War II was of the Channel Islands, which included Guernsey off the coast of Normandy. That’s the setting for Moira Buffini’s Gabriel, a tense drama shrouded in mystery and dark secrets.

It’s 1943 and Jeanne Becquet (Jessica John), her young daughter Estelle (Catalina Zelles), her daughter-in-law Lily (Lilli Passero) and a housekeeper (Annabella Price) have been turned out of their home by the occupying Germans and forced to live in digs where the power is out half the time.

Jeanne is contemptuous of the occupiers but deft and pragmatic as she works the black market while keeping a predatory and pompous German major named Von Pfunz (Richard Baird) on a string.

Then into their lives comes a stranger, a body, barely alive, washed up on the shore.

Lily and Estelle nurse the handsome young man back to health, but he has amnesia.

Estelle calls him “Gabriel,” and the name sticks. But who is he really? A missing German SS officer? A wayward Englishman with a terminal disease? A manifestation of Jeanne’s missing son? Or is he an otherworldly angel befitting his name? It’s an open question and the catalyst for the play’s intrigue, intensity and raw emotion.

Christopher Williams directs North

OPENING: bare: a pop opera: A lavish musical about two young boys who develop a secret relationship at a Catholic boarding school. Directed and choreographed by Michael Mizerany, it opens for three performances March 1 at the Coronado Playhouse. coronadoplayhouse.com Dancing Lessons: A young man with Asperger’s develops an unlikely connection with an injured Broadway dancer after seeking lessons. Written

by Mark St. Germain and presented by Oceanside Theatre Company, it opens March 1 at The Brooks Theatre in Oceanside. oceansidetheatre.org 10 Out of 12: Anne Washburn’s brutally honest comedy about the pitfalls and shenanigans that often happen backstage during a technical theatre rehearsal. Directed by Keith Anderson, it opens March 1 at Lamplighters Community Theatre in La Mesa.

Gabriel Coast Repertory Theatre’s West Coast premiere of Gabriel, which debuted way back in 1997. This is an anxious, suspenseful production, if at times glacially paced.

Each major character requires considerable time to reveal him or herself, and in the case of the mysterious Gabriel (Alan Littlehales), the question of whether there ever will be answers looms throughout.

There’s no question about the depth of the principal performances. Both John and Baird are first-rate, bringing to the fore the ambiguity and inscrutability of the complicated relationship between Jeanne and Von Pfunz. Passero, a newcomer to the North Coast Rep stage and a former finalist

14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

on NBC’s The Voice, balances strength and vulnerability as Lily. She’s drawn to Gabriel as if in a magical dream, while as a Jewish woman is afraid for her very life in the presence of the Germans.

Though over two and a half hours in length, Gabriel is riveting and, from a historical perspective, haunting as well.

Gabriel runs through March 17 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. $42-$53; northcoastrep.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

Chaps!: In WWII-era London, a crew of BBC workers must fill in for a group of cowboy singers when they don’t show up. Written by Jahnna Beecham & Malcolm Hillgartner, it opens March 5 at the Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. lambsplayers.org Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus, Live!: Ryan Drummond’s one-man show based on the John Gray’s bestselling relationship advice book.

It happens March 5 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. lambsplayers.org Angels in America: Millennium Approaches: Tony Kushner’s modern classic about a group of New Yorkers dealing with life and death decisions in the midst of the ’80s AIDS crisis. Presented by Cygnet Theatre, it opens in previews March 6 at the Old Town Theatre. cygnettheatre.com For complete theater listings, visit sdcitybeat.com

@SDCITYBEAT

ANDREA LOPEZ-VILLAFAÑA

CULTURE | THEATRE

THE BLACK EXPERIENCE SAN DIEGO VIA PHILLY PLAYWRIGHT DREAMS BIG FOR HIMSELF AND FOR THE FUTURE OF THEATER

BY DAVID L. CODDON

Dave Harris

P

laywright Dave Harris’ journey to the highly prestigious Humana Festival of New American Plays might have begun when he was a seventh grader back in West Philadelphia.

“This organization called Philadelphia Young Playwrights had a big competition,” says the now-25-year-old MFA student at UC San Diego. “We all had to write a play for it.”

Harris’ contribution was titled Nerds 101.

“It was about these three nerds who were trying to meet girls and realized at the end they only had to be themselves,” says Harris before admitting the play was not exactly up to his current standards. “It was a really corny play, but it came in second place in that competition and we produced it in middle school. From then on, I would write a play a year, fully not expecting them to become anything.”

If he’d only known.

Harris’ plays since, including Incendiary, Exception to the Rule and White History, have earned him fellowships and acclaim, and now his daring Everybody Black will be staged this month both at the 4���������������� 3rd annual Humana Festival in Louisville (directed there by Awoye Timpo), and in a UCSD production at La Jolla Playhouse’s Potiker Theatre (directed by Steve H. Broadnax III and beginning on March 6). Two graduates of UCSD’s Department of Theatre and Dance MFA program, Emily Feldman and Lily Padilla, will also have new plays staged in Louisville.

Everybody Black is an ambitious, struc-

@SDCITYBEAT

turally non-linear work that Harris says “doesn’t necessarily fit into the rigidity of a lot of commercial theater.” Six actors portray 40 characters. “Barack Obama is a character,” explains Harris, who is even a character. “So is Aunt Jemima. There’s a rap battle. There’s a fully staged musical number. I can answer the question ‘what is the play about?’ in five different ways, and they’d all be right.”

The play’s premise—which finds a writer commissioned to chronicle “the Black experience” for a space-bound time capsule— started for Harris as what he characterizes as “ a response to what was expected of Black narrative in theater.”

“I think about narrative not just in the context of a stage, but expanded out to include our parents’ storytelling and the Black history of this country,” Harris says.

“This play is tracking theater as a method of storytelling and history as a method of storytelling, and asking how do we reconcile the two of them?”

Harris’ life growing up in Philadelphia did not offer exposure to works by Black playwrights.

“I went to a mostly white middle school and high school,” he says. “We were reading Molière and Shakespeare. I had no reason to see myself in that work. It was old and antiquated. Sure, it was good, but there was no urgency in that.”

Harris’ first������������������������� encounter with a contemporary Black playwright was Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog when he was in 11th grade.

“I didn’t know that August Wilson [the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Fences and The Piano Lesson, among other estimable works] was a playwright until college.”

Of his own plays, including Everybody Black, Harris says he had “no choice” but to reflect the Black experience in them.

“It’s part of the way I write the way I do.

There’s a kind of clichéd narrative for how Blackness is perceived onstage, and it all revolves around the struggle for freedom.

That’s been like the archetype in the journey of Blackness.

“There is no one Black experience I speak to. I’m writing a play. I’m not trying to bemoan racism or to tear down police brutality. These are true, real consequential things, but in terms of my imagination, that work has been done before.”

Harris’ imagination, more than any dramatic narrative, is what informs his plays.

“I’m sure all my experiences are not unique,” he says, “but I can imagine them and lift them up in a way that traditional naturalism can’t. I’ve been writing my whole life, but I feel like each play teaches me something about myself that I didn’t know before.”

Harris came to UCSD after earning his B.A. at Yale. He says that a large part of his reasoning to come to San Diego was there were a lot of black actors, and that he felt he could write whatever he wanted.

He credits both Naomi Iizuka and Deborah Stein (who had a play selected for Humana last year) of the UCSD playwriting faculty for his development as a new and bold

voice in theater.

“Deborah Stein said something in her class that really affected me,” Harris says. “‘The process of figuring out your play can be part of your play.’ [Everybody Black] had a very unique process of writing it, and that process ended up informing how the play turned out. It let the audience in on what it was like to write a play.

“All of that artifice is part of the world.

There’s an audience everywhere. You can rebel against it, you can play to it. The desire to make that part of the play is something I learned from Deborah.”

Though still an emerging playwright, Harris has concrete ������������������������������� thoughts about the future of the American theater.

“I see a lot of people who are looking for that next great work by an artist of color.

That’s becoming the narrative. But I don’t necessarily know that the powers around that are changing. There are so many Black playwrights I never knew because nobody talks about them… I hope theater keeps pushing itself, and that I can do something to keep pushing myself and thus pushing theater. I think writing is a great conversation across time, and I want to be part of that conversation.”

Harris enthusiastically professes that he wants “to be remembered forever.” That comes with a hopeful note for playwrights who will follow.

“I hope when I die no one produces my plays. By the time I stop writing, people will then have set their ambitions further than what I’ve written.”

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 15

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

@SDCITYBEAT

CULTURE | FILM

On the prowl

Greta

Isabelle Huppert’s latest unhinged performance drives Neil Jordan’s neo-thriller

by Glenn Heath Jr.

N

o performer does unhinged quite like Isa- conventional thriller tropes to maximize Greta’s unbelle Huppert. Maybe that’s because the iconic shakeable neediness. The unpredictability of her acFrench actress plays crazy so close to the vest. tions eventually seeps into the aesthetics—a riveting In films like Claude Chabrol’s La Cérémonie, Michael and lucid sequence midway through the film pivots Haneke’s The Piano Teacher and David O. Russell’s I between dream and reality with effortless precision.

Blurred lines are Greta’s specialty. The gaps beHeart Huckabees, her characters appear eerily calm on the outside, but house internal demons that inevita- tween companionship and obsession, kindness and guile, trust and doubt are much thinner than most bly emerge in the form of raging sex or violence.

Huppert’s predatory eyes usually cue that some- like to admit. Frances experiences the slippery slope thing bad is going to happen. But in Neil Jordan’s de- firsthand; most interestingly, though, Greta’s tactics liciously bonkers new thriller, Greta, it’s her dancing merge digital stalking (texting and photography used feet. As the film’s eponymous villain, Huppert moves with malicious glee) with old school confrontation.

Relying heavily on Huppert’s singular presence to through spaces like a tap dancing ghost much to the keep its maniacal momentum alive, Jordan’s film uses chagrin of her traumatized young prey.

Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) recently moved to her visage to successfully balance the tone between NYC hoping for a fresh start after her mother’s death. campy and creep out. This pushes Moretz into permanent victim status without much She’s mostly naïve to the danto do aside from screaming and gers of urban living, ignoring clawing for life, the scaredher wealthy but savvy roommate GRETA straight woman to Greta’s big Erica (Maika Monroe) who warns bad wolf. her that the “city is going to eat Directed by Neil Jordan Unlike Jordan’s previous film you alive.” These fateful words Starring Isabelle Huppert, Byzantium, which tweaked the echo the stakes of fairy tales and Chloë Grace Moretz, vampire construct with an imRed Riding Hood in particular.

Maika Monroe and Stephen Rea pressionistic style, Greta (openOne of Jordan’s previous films ing Friday, March 1) falls more (1984’s The Company of Wolves) Rated R in line with the neo-stalker nareven put a gothic and surreal ratives perfected by Brian De spin on that classic narrative.

Palma. But it’s a film less conOne day while riding the subway, Frances finds an abandoned handbag that be- cerned with voyeurism or sex than the idea of ultimate longs to one Greta Hideg (Huppert) and decides to re- control manifesting itself in two ways: emotional and turn it personally. Despite the extreme age gap, both physical. When Greta is denied the former, she tranwomen quickly become friends. Frances desperately sitions to the latter. Huppert’s performance consiswants to recapture the maternal relationship she has tently lives between these two competing elements, lost, while Greta embraces the idea of having a sur- giving her character volatility that is also rooted in rogate to replace her estranged daughter now living desperation.

But what is the core of Greta’s particularly nutty in Paris.

Despite concerns voiced by Erica and plenty of frenzy? Jordan refuses to psychoanalyze and only increepy foreshadowing, Frances rationalizes her deep- fers answers. The film positions her as an omniscient ening relationship with Greta until obvious red flags and unstoppable force that is nostalgic for a time when finally reveal themselves. At this point, Jordan’s film domesticity could mask the destructive power dynamshows its teeth, and they are sharper than expected. ics between abusive parents and their children. Fables Greta’s annoying phone calls at all hours of the night have a way of revealing the nightmarish implications quickly morph into obsessive stalking. Frances’ first of utopian façades, and Greta does exactly that. real bite of the rotten Big Apple is a doozy.

Film reviews run weekly.

A renowned Irish auteur whose diverse filmogra- Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com phy jumps between genres, Jordan twists and contorts

@SDCITYBEAT

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

CULTURE | FILM

Ruben Brandt, Collector

Chaos art

N

ightmares are art, and art is the stuff of nightmares in Milorad Krstić’s wild animated feature debut, Ruben Brandt, Collector. While it takes place in the modern world of cell phones, computer hackers and high capacity machine guns, there’s an undeniable sense that movements of cinema and art history are simultaneously colliding in time.

The imagery is so intense, references to both mediums have seemingly melded together onscreen in the form of noir characters.

These characters have Picasso-like warped faces and agile bodies that fly through the air within a cinematic environment where a 3-D woman and a 1-D line can produce a 2-D gangster.

Art therapist Ruben Brandt (Iván Kamarás) is having trouble staying sane amid the chaos. During an opening sequence aboard a fast moving train, he begins having horrifying dreams involving symbols from famous paintings. His four charismatic criminal patients offer to help him reclaim his sanity by stealing each painting from highly secure museums from around the world.

Such a ludicrous and twisty narrative feels like it’s been ripped from a pulpy Cold War-era novel. Subplots involving espionage, clandestine governmental experimentation and back-alley fisticuffs all feature heavily throughout this rambling genre twister.

Ruben Brandt, Collector (opening Friday, March 1, at the Ken Cinema) impressively sustains its heightened momentum. There’s a riveting car chase that sets the tone early with a brazen disregard for physics, and an audacious brawl inside a Tokyo pop art exhibition where every experimental sculpture becomes inadvertently part of the mayhem.

Considering its energy and am-

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

bition, Krstić’s film doesn’t always make linear sense; cohesion is not the aim here. Ruben Brandt, Collector is itself a manic compiler of iconography, archetypes, and symbols that have obviously haunted the director for decades. For him, pure madness is the only way out of the rabbit hole.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING Greta: In Neil Jordan’s new thriller, a naïve young city dweller (Chloë Grace Moretz) becomes friends with a mysterious elderly woman (Isabelle Huppert) only to discover her sinister intentions. Opens Friday, March 1, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas and Angelika Film Centers—Carmel Mountain.

Ruben Brandt, Collector: This wild collision of cinema and art history tells the story of an art therapist who enlists his criminal patients to help him steal the famous art works that are haunting his dreams.

Opens Friday, March 1, at the Landmark Ken Cinemas.

ONE TIME ONLY The Leisure Seeker: In this road trip comedy, Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland star as an elderly couple who do a cross-country trip. Screens at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 28, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Academy Award-nominated Melissa McCarthy stars as writer Lee Israel, who forged personal letters from high profile celebrities in order to make a living. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

(500) Days of Summer: A greeting card writer played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt suddenly gets dumped by his girlfriend and reflects back on the potential reasons why. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, at Arclight La Jolla Cinemas.

For complete movie listings, visit Film at sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

PAUL HUSBAND

MUSIC

Mimi Parker, Alan Sparhawk and Steve Garrington here are bands and artists that I wish I’d discovered when I was young. I feel if I had heard the music of Low when I was still in my teens, I might be a different person today. That’s how good their music is. It changed my life, but when I listen to it, I can’t help but long for it to have changed who I was before I heard it.

However, I did not hear Low until I was well into my 20s. On a whim, I listened to a copy of their 2005 album, The Great Destroyer, at my local record store. I threw the disc in, put the headphones on and hit play.

Some kind of skeletal organ blared out a note. Forboding drums begin to pound, as if a parade of invaders were suddenly on the march in my brain. A guitar begins to strum.

And then come the voices.

“Oh my my / Little white lies / I swear I’m gonna make it right / This time.”

Even now, it’s hard to encapsulate the magic I heard in that song (“Monkey”). The harmonized voices of married band members Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker were some sort of revelation. I didn’t need to hear anymore. I took the headphones off and immediately bought the record.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that my introduction to the Low sound, as it were, was coming at a very transitional time

@SDCITYBEAT

for the Duluth, Minnesota trio, as well.

“We always stepped off in little different directions and experimented here and there,” says singer/guitarist Alan Sparhawk.

“So there’s sort of something there where we feel it’s been coming for a while. This sense of how do we really step forward? How do we make something really new that’s sort of inviting in someone new?”

That’s it. When you hear Low for the first time, you can’t help but feel like you’re discovering something no one else has; like you, and only you, are that “someone new.”

One cannot tell the story of Low without first saying that it’s a love story. Alan Sparhawk met Mimi Parker when they were both 9-years-old. Since then, they’ve rarely been apart and have been making music together for the majority of that time. When they first started playing together as Low in the early ’90s, along with former bassist John Nichols, the group developed a reputation for slow and understated, but nonetheless melodic and expansive songs. It was music for quiet times, but there was a sense of sinister doom underneath it all.

The music is almost always anchored with Parker and Sparhawk singing together or trading off vocals, a dynamic that is emblematic of their relationship as a whole.

“We’ve known each other a long time and married pretty young. Early on, we kind of had things we really wanted to do something together,” says Sparhawk. “I’d say 90-percent of our songs we do, we’ll write separately. She’ll be the first person I’ll share a song with. I’ll go, ‘here’s an idea I had’ and she’ll chime in with harmonies. That’s kind of the dynamic we have… It’s kind of a balance. It’s frustrating sometimes. I’ll come up

with an idea and she won’t think it is that great. You kind of sit there kicking yourself a little bit. But, you know, you come around and nine times out of 10, she’s right.”

One thing Parker and Sparhawk have always shared, however, is the desire to keep moving the group forward and in different sonic directions. After five records spread out

over eight years, and developing what could be considered a signature sound that culminated with what could be considered the band’s first masterpiece (2001’s Things We Lost in the Fire), they threw fans a curveball the very next year with Trust. Whereas the band had weaved in subtle electronic elements over the years, Trust was the first record where the band really began to take on a more rock-forward sound. If Trust hinted at this direction, 2005’s The Great Destroyer, solidified the fact that Low was moving in a much more boisterous, guitar-heavy direction. To this day, it remains one of the band’s most divisive albums; the one that may have lost them fans, but fully announced that they were never going to remain static.

Since then, Low has released four more albums, each with it’s own unique forms of experimentation. Beginning with 2007’s Drums and Guns and running through 2013’s The Invisible Way, the band somehow managed to seamlessly marry their varying sounds, finding a balance between the early minimalism, the spirited rock sound and the electronic flair around the edges.

But then 2015’s Ones and Sixes signaled yet another change. There was just something different about the record and one that went beyond the fact that they recorded the record with producer BJ Burton in Bon Iver’s rural Wisconsin studio.

“By the time we were finishing that record, we were already thinking about the possibilities for another one and a little more open to experimenting,” says Sparhawk. “It just felt like a moment where you’re ready to leap.”

Last year’s Double Negative was that leap.

It’s an explosive and bewildering paradox of a record filled with just as much discordant sonic experimentations (“Quorum,” “The Son, The Sun”) as there is harmonized beauty (“Always Up,” “Disarray”), but combining them in a way that seems effortless and natural. It is, by all accounts, like discovering the band for the first time. A new beginning, albeit 25 years later.

“I’ve been in this band half as long as I’ve been alive. That’s an odd thing to think,” Sparhawk says chuckling. “But yeah, the record is sort of a new thing for us, and sort of a new step forward.”

“As you recognize the little hints of things coming out of the song and writing, it’s similar to holding water in your hand,” Spahawk continues. “Don’t try to grip it, because it will all go away. Keep your hand still. Don’t try to control it, because it exists, it is there, and just let it naturally go through its process.”

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC

ALFRED HOWARD

are only as valuable as the joy they bring when someone listens to them. That’s probably the lamest Hallmark sentence I’ve ever written, but it’s the truth.

As I was looking through these records, a heavyset man was standing over my shoulder, trying to tell me that the scratched 45 of Michael Jackson’s “Bad” I had in my hand was worth his weight in gold. You know, because MJ’s dead. I started to wince and curse eBay for placing me in the scenario where a man who believes he’s selling me the cure for cancer is setting the terms This changed things. Did I want to drive of negotiation. all that way north to chase the possibility I was taking a while to meticulously go there was some treasure in this lot? Or did through the 45s, trying to figure out if there I want to drive back to my home and chase was enough meat on the bone. Every 200th sheep? record was something interesting, but did I I flipped a coin. I don’t leave anything up really need to purchase every single Belinto chance. It’s just that sometimes I don’t da Carlisle single ever released? I offered actually know what I want, so I assign heads him $200 and he declined, so I went back and tails and if the result of the flip makes and started my car. I paused. There was one 45 in there that stuck in my memory and as I started to navigate the landmined, pot-holed side-streets of an inland empire time had forgotten, I found myself turning around to try my hand at the art of deal.

I Googled the 45 but couldn’t find any info about it even though, for some reason, there was an mp3 of it to sample on Amazon.

It was from The Ferrell Family, a relatively unknown group from El Centro. It wasn’t quite rockabilly, but it had some elements in the lead guitar work. On the song “Please Hold Me,” the singer delivers a lazy warbling croon, similar to that of The Modern Lovers’ Jonathan Richman. The voice struggles to get out of a bed of lethargic jangly guitars and a capable rhythm section. It’s comfort“Please Hold Me” by The Ferrell Family able in that bed.

I decided I would purchase box after box me yell “god damn it,” then I know I wanted of the mediocre 45s just to get that one rethe alternate option. I was off to Imperial, cord. The seller and I met in the middle at California. $250 so I was able to sleep soundly at night.

The drive took forever. NPR faded as the That is, until I remembered it took about $50 mountains painted the scenery, verdant af- in gas to get to Imperial and my frugalityter a series of rains. The only album I listen based insomnia kicked into full gear. to when I drive is Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky. It’s So yeah, if anyone needs the complete Benot my favorite album or anything. It’s just linda Carlisle discography, I’m your man. been stuck in my CD player for about six months. I tried to pry it out with a knife, but then there was a knife stuck in there as well. Black Gold appears every other week.

Once there, I started to look through the Alfred Howard is always looking for vinyl litany of records. eBay has poisoned a lot of and stories, and can be contacted at minds regarding the value of a record. Sure, blackgoldsandiego@gmail.com. some records are valuable. But most records

BLACK

THE

SPOTLIGHT

GOLD

The long and winding road

E

very Friday through Sunday I get up before the sun and go to one of the varying swap meets offered in San Diego County. It’s like clockwork and my clock works when the alarm starts sounding at 5 a.m.

Some days I’m an excited child on Christmas morning, wondering what’s behind the wrapping paper of the universe. Other mornings, I wake up with anxiety, glued to my mattress like burnt pasta in a cheap frying pan and wondering where I went wrong in life.

On one recent Saturday, I woke up exuberant and ready to go hunting for some treasure. I opened my blinds to reveal a rain that rivaled my enthusiasm. I don’t mess with swap meets in the rain. I once went to the Santee Swap Meet in the rain and found a black dildo on top of a Moody Blues record. The dildo was lying in an oil-stained puddle and I still can’t shake the vision of that Moody Blues record. It was the saddest record in the world.

I went back to sleep just long enough to dream about what I might be missing. The second time I woke up, I decided I needed to fill my day with action. I checked Craigslist and the second I looked, someone had just posted a collection of more than 2,000 45s for $300. I reached out. I was the first to make contact. I plugged the address into my phone and started to drive. When I got close to the address, Google Maps started to have a seizure, sending me in nonsensical directions that didn’t exist.

“Head north south on West Street” the Siri voice said, merry prankster that she is.

Before knocking on some random door in a sketchy neighborhood at 7 a.m., I began to envision getting gunned down by a .45 for 45s. I decided to call instead. Maybe I had the address wrong. Turns out, I did and I didn’t. The 45s were in Imperial, California. I had been driving around Imperial Beach.

O

Silent

ne thing about about Mexican musicians: they do sentimentality well. That’s not to imply that music that comes out of Mexico can’t be happy, but from traditional modes such as ranchera and mariachi, to singers like Juan Gabriel and Luis Miguel, Mexican lyricism seems to almost always veer toward a goth outlook on life.

Vice once called Mexicali band Silent the city’s “great goth hope” and I won’t dispute that distinction. Their 2016 album, A Century of Abuse, was filled with dread and woe, complete with frontman Jung Sing bellowing out Peter Murphy-like serenades and banshee-like wails. Musically, the foursome leaned toward a more post-punk sound, mostly with an emphasis on the punk. If readers need a good kick in the teeth, just check out the video for the single “Self,” with it’s driving, distorted guitars and Andrea Varela’s unrelenting drumming.

After seeing them play Black Box in Tijuana back in 2017, I was hooked. And as much as I loved the aggressiveness on A Century of Abuse, I’m thoroughly enjoying their new single “Prayers for Rain,” which takes a page from more dulcet and dark bands such as The Cure and Sisters of Mercy. I’m very much looking forward to hearing more new material at their show here.

Silent play Thursday, Feb. 28 at Blonde.

—Seth Combs

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 21

MUSIC

IF I WERE U

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

Our picks for the week’s top shows

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27

PLAN A: Glorybots, Blood Ponies, ConTact @ The Merrow. Sure, it’s a little nepotistic that we’re plugging Blood Ponies, the goth-core band fronted by former CityBeat music editor Jeff Terich. But hey, Glorybots and Con-Tact are pretty cool too. The former specializes in dark-wave tunes with stark, vulnerable lyrics from singer Jalal Andre.

BACKUP PLAN: Darlingside, River Whyless @ Music Box.

THURSDAY, FEB. 28

PLAN A: Sharon Van Etten, Nilüfer Yanya @ The Observatory North Park. Sharon Van Etten took nearly five years to release her new album, Remind Me Tomorrow, and it was worth the wait. Ten meticulously assembled songs for the downtrodden and the desperately disillusioned. Get a drink, make it a double and prepare for all the feels. PLAN B: The Wood Brothers, Carsie Blanton @ Belly Up Tavern.

The Wood Brothers have been making some excellent folk-country jams for over a decade, but we’re particularly excited about New Orleans singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton, who blends outspoken lyrics and rootsy instrumentation for a sound all her own. BACKUP PLAN: Auz Fontaine, Well Well Well, BRUIN, Mariel @ Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, MARCH 1

PLAN A: Junior Brown, Dave Gleason Trio @ The Casbah. This is definitely going to be a badass show. While he’s not exactly a household name, Junior Brown has been making killer country jams with his signature “guit-steel” double neck guitar since the ’60s. His forays into other genres like surf music have proved to be just as fruitful.

BACKUP PLAN: Tori Roze & the Hot Mess @ Riviera Supper Club.

SATURDAY, MARCH 2

PLAN A: Transfer, Keuning, The Color Forty Nine @ The Casbah. Please go back and check out Peter Holslin’s excellent feature from last week on local rockers Transfer, who recently reunited after a fiveyear hiatus and sound just as good as ever.

Here’s hoping they make some new music soon. PLAN B: Generacion Suicida, Fuga, Underpass, Heat @ Tower Bar. L.A. band Generacion Suicida play a melodic type of punk that will appeal to anyone that thinks Misfits and Ramones songs would have

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

been way better sung en español. BACKUP PLAN: Creature Canyon, The Jacks, The Shakes @ Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, MARCH 3

PLAN A: Waxahatchee, Bonny Doon @ The Irenic. Katie Crutchfield (AKA Waxahatchee) has been unafraid to broaden her sound over the years. She started out more as a lo-fi folk artist, but 2017’s Out in the Storm saw her belting out catchy indie-rock songs with big hooks and declarative choruses. Expect a good mix of both on this night. PLAN B: OM, Emel Mathlouthi @ Brick By Brick. We’re not sure how much longer we’ll have to wait for New Mexico drone-metal outfit OM to release a new MOLLY MATALON album (their last one was 2012’s Advaitic Songs), but we’re happy to see them touring again. Not saying this show is going to be as epic as the five-hour performance they did in Jerusalem in 2007, but it’ll be epic nonetheless. BACKUP PLAN: The 5.6.7.8’s, Scary Pierre, Babydoll Warriors @ The Casbah.

MONDAY, MARCH 4

PLAN A: Beirut @ The Observatory North Park.

We’ll be honest; we’ve kind of slept on Zach Condon since he first emerged on the indie scene as Beirut back in 2006. But he hasn’t stopped putting out his signature brand of nomadic folk, filled with brilliant brass instrumentation and his forlorn vocals. His new album, Gallipoli, is as good as anything he’s done. BACKUP PLAN: Julia Sage and the Bad Hombres, Sammy Brue, Chloe Lou & the Lidells @ The Casbah.

Waxahatchee

TUESDAY, MARCH 5

PLAN A: Novo Amor, Gia Margaret @ Music Box. Fans of early Bon Iver owe it to themselves to check out Welsh singer-songwriter Ali Lacey who plays under the name Novo Amor. It’s lush, tender and atmospheric folk that’s unafraid to wear its heart on its sleeve. Same goes for opener Gia Margaret. PLAN B: Metric, Zoé, July Talk @ CalCoast Credit Union Open Air Theatre.

Canadian indie-rockers Metric have been making danceable rock jams since the early ’00s, but we’re particularly excited about seeing Zoé. The Cuernavaca, Mexico band has been churning out catchy rock songs for nearly two decades. It doesn’t even matter if you speak the language, it’s impossible to get their new single, “Azul,” out of your head. BACKUP PLAN: Adia Victoria, Dick Stusso, Pruitt Igoe @ The Casbah.

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

King Flamingo (Soda Bar, 2/27), Tragedy (Soda Bar, 3/4), Downers (Soda Bar, 3/21), Three Mile Pilot (Casbah, 3/29), Sacri Monti (Casbah, 4/12), Kero Kero Bonito (Casbah, 4/15), Imagery Machine (Soda Bar, 4/20), Party Nails (Casbah, 4/24), Los Amigos Invisibles (Observatory, 4/25), Surefire Soul Ensemble (Casbah, 4/26), Chromatics, Desire (Observatory, 5/4), Black Marble (Casbah, 5/10), Xeno & Oaklander (Casbah, 5/11), Down of Ashes (Brick By Brick, 5/14), Pato Banton (BUT, 5/17), Trouble in the Wind (Casbah, 5/18), Teenage Bottlerocket (Casbah, 5/24), Supersuckers (Soda Bar, 5/26), Inter Arma (Brick By Brick, 5/26), Sleep (Observatory, 5/26), Citizen (Observatory, 6/1), Dennis Quaid and The Sharks (BUT, 6/1), The Struts (Observatory, 6/3), Pile (Soda Bar, 6/14), Frenship (Music Box, 6/15), Jamestown Revival (BUT, 6/19), Tainted Love (BUT, 7/6), Rascal Flatts (North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, 8/2), Chris Young (North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, 8/9), The Blasters (Casbah, 9/7).

GET YER TICKETS Saves the Day (Observatory, 3/2), CRSSD Festival (Waterfront Park, 3/23), Waxahatchee (Soda Bar, 3/3), Muse (Pechanga Arena, 3/5), Hatebreed (HOB, 3/7), YG (Pechanga Arena, 3/7), Action Bronson (HOB, 3/13), Cold Cave (BUT,

@SDCITYBEAT

3/19), Boy Harsher (Casbah, 3/20), Mike Doughty (Soda Bar, 3/23), Queensrÿche (Casbah, 3/27), Black Moth Super Rainbow (BUT, 3/31), Vince Staples (Observatory, 4/2), Anvil (Brick By Brick, 4/4), San Holo (Observatory, 4/5), Taking Back Sunday (Observatory, 4/6-7), Meat Puppets (Soda Bar, 4/7), T-Pain (Observatory, 4/9), David Archuleta (California Center for the Arts, 4/17), Passion Pit (Observatory, 5/1), Chromatics, Desire (Observatory, 5/4), Brad Paisley (North Island Credit Union Ampitheatre, 6/1), Local Natives (Observatory, 6/19), Priests (Soda Bar, 6/26), Billie Eilish (Cal Coast Credit Union, 7/13).

FEBRUARY WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27 Coco Montoya, Tinsley Ellis at Belly Up Tavern. Darlingside at Music Box. Nights Like Thieves at The Casbah. Lil mosey at SOMA. King Flamingo at Soda Bar. Poppy at House of Blues.

THURSDAY, FEB. 28 Sharon Van Etten at Observatory North Park. Mushroomhead at Brick By Brick.

Bryce Vine at SOMA. Bob Mould at The Casbah (sold out). Gina Chavez at California Center for the Arts. Blues Traveler at House of Blues. Auz Fontaine at Soda Bar.

MARCH FRIDAY, MARCH 1 The Wood Brothers at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Lettuce at Observatory North Park. Junior Brown at The Casbah (sold out). Sarah Brightman at Viejas Arena.

Stepping Feet at Music Box. Zomboy

at House of Blues. Men I Trust at Soda Bar (sold out). Clairvoyants at California Center for the Arts. Trappist at Brick By Brick.

SATURDAY, MARCH 2 Saves the Day at Observatory North Park. Creature Canyon at Soda Bar. Lukas Graham at House of Blues. Transfer at The Casbah. CRSSD Festival at Waterfront Park. Wicked Echoes at Brick By Brick. Ladytron at Music Box.

SUNDAY, MARCH 3 Waxahatchee, Single Mothers at The Irenic. CRSSD Festival at Waterfront Park. Marshall Tucker Band at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). OM at Brick By Brick.

Scars On Broadway at Observatory North Park. Mobina Galore at Soda Bar. Whethan at Music Box.

MONDAY, MARCH 4 Beirut at Observatory North Park. Trippie Redd at SOMA. Ripe at House of Blues.

Sammy Brue at The Casbah. Tragedy at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, MARCH 5 Adia Victoria at The Casbah. Metric at Open Air Theatre. Muse at Pechanga Arena. Twiddle at Belly Up Tavern. Novo Amor at Music Box.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6 Naked Giants at The Casbah. Band of Horses at Observatory North Park (sold out). G. Love, Special Sauce at Belly Up Tavern. Nightly at Soda Bar. Joe Jackson at Balboa Theater. Tyler Carter at House of Blues. Black Midi at SPACE.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7 The Bellrays, The Atom Age at The Casbah. YG at Valley View Casino Center. Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds at Belly Up Tavern. Soft Kill at Soda Bar. The Real McKenzies at Brick By Brick.

FRIDAY, MARCH 8 Mudhoney, Claw Hammer at The Casbah. Conan at Brick By Brick. Redwoods Review at Music Box. Griffin House at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, MARCH 9 Welles at SPACE. The Monochrome Set, The Coathangers at Soda Bar. Common Kings with Natalli Rize at Observatory North Park. Ella Vos at Belly Up Tavern. You Me At Six at Music Box.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10

(sold out). Jesika von Rabbit at Soda Bar. Headphone at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14 Yung Gravy at Music Box. Blaqk Audio, Silent Rival at Observatory North Park.

MOSSS at Soda Bar. Lazerpunk at Brick

By Brick.

FRIDAY, MARCH 15 Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at Music Box. Droeloe at Observatory North Park.

Gene Evaro Jr at Soda Bar. Emo Nite at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, MARCH 16 Noname at Observatory North Park. Hypocrisy at Brick By Brick. Madlib at Music Box. Rhett Miller at Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, MARCH 17

Empress Of, Sid Sririam at Soda Bar. Makana Shawn and Lehua at Belly Up Tavern. Better Oblivion Community Center at Music Box (sold out). Kate Berlant at The Casbah.

Watsky at House Of Blues. Shing02 & The Chee-Hoos at Music Box. Moon Hooch at The Casbah. The Downs Family at Soda Bar.

MONDAY, MARCH 18

MONDAY, MARCH 11 Pete Yorn at Belly Up Tavern. The Suffers at Soda Bar. Dead Feather Moon at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MARCH 12 Black Uhuru at Belly Up Tavern. Monsterwatch at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13 Action Bronson at House Of Blues. Gordon Lightfoot at Balboa Theatre. Billy Idol, Steve Stevens at Belly Up Tavern

Rivers of Nihil at Brick By Brick. Plainwrecks at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MARCH 19 Cold Cave at Belly Up Tavern. WAND at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20 Boy Harsher at The Casbah (sold out).

Green Leaf Rustlers at Belly Up Tavern.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 THURSDAY, MARCH 21 Bailo at Music Box. Downers at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, MARCH 22 Journeymen at Music Box. The Spazmatics at Belly Up Tavern. Steve’n’Seagulls at Soda Bar. Veronica May Band, Ariel Levine, The Havnauts at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, MARCH 23 Damage, Inc. at Brick By Brick. Mike Doughty at Soda Bar. Hot Flash Heat Wave at The Irenic. Ryan Bingham at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

SUNDAY, MARCH 24 Matt Nathanson at Music Box. Ayla Nereo at Soda Bar. Infinite Floyd at Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, MARCH 25 Acid Mothers Temple at The Casbah.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Wed: Dethsurf, Elijah Cruz. Thu: Electric Mud. Fri: Aquile, Ryan Tennis Trio, Jesse Nova & The Second Line. Sat: Making Incredible Time, Crucial Blend, The Dodges, Late For Life. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: T.J. Hooker, Shoeless.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘HipHopWeds’.

Thu: ‘SUBdrip’. Fri: ‘House Music Fridays’. Sat: ‘JUICY’. Sun: ‘Possession’.

Mon: ‘Organized Grime’.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Right Now Live!

Thu: Big Jay Oakerson. Fri: Big Jay Oakerson. Sat: Big Jay Oakerson.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Sat: Dum Cumpsters, Shamehole, Critical Miss. Mon: Trivia. Tue: Karaoke.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: ‘CRSSD After Dark’. Sat: ‘CRSSD After Dark’. Sun: ‘CRSSD After Dark’.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park.

Wed: Parker Meridian Band, Milky Wayne, Marques Lattin. Thu: Thea, Ned & The Dirt.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Mike Myrdal. Fri: Slower. Sat: Bonneville 7.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Coco Montoya, Tinsley Ellis. Thu: The Wood Brothers, Carsie Blanton. Fri: The Wood Brothers, Carsie Blanton (sold out). Sat: Pine Mountain Logs (sold out). Sun: The Marshall Tucker Band (sold out). Tue: Twiddle, Iya Terra.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’. Thu: SILENT, WARSAW, OhCult. Fri: ‘WE ARE YR FRIENDS’. Sun: ‘Deep Tech SD Label Showcase’. Mon: ‘Blue Monday’. Tue: ‘Techit EASY’.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Thu: Mushroomhead. Fri: Trappist.

Sat: Wicked Echoes. Sun: OM.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): Here is the immortal question (the one that guides us like a shining light through the uncertainty of life): Do you need anything from Target?

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): The more time you spend taping the walls to paint, the less time you will spend having to correct your mistakes.

Unless we’re talking about your taste; correcting that will take a lifetime.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Life is not a horserace but if it were, you would be the horse who doesn’t get a prize even when you finish in first place.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Can you use the phrase, “There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s” in here or is that trademarked? Your horoscope depends on whether or not I’m allowed to say it.

LEO (July 23 - August 22): Everyone leaves with a legacy. But just like the guy who was immortalized masturbating by the ash of the Mt. Vesuvius eruption, you probably don’t want to know what your legacy will be.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): It is likely that if you trip, you will fall down instead of up. But that is not a certainty. Gravity is only a theory after all and, well… OK, fine, it is a very strong theory.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22): As far as I can tell, a beaver does not sit in his completed dam looking satisfied with his own accomplishment. It’s probably because, once it’s done, a condo developer starts demolishing it.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): There is always a beginning, middle and end. But each one of those has it’s own beginning, middle and end. This continues recursively forever, so who even knows which one you’re in?

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): There is a secret Mervyn’s at an undisclosed location in San Diego. It is only open precisely at midnight and you need to show this horoscope listing to get in. But trust me—you do not want to get in.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): Be like your great-great-great-great-greatgreat-great-great-great-great-great-great-greatgreat- (and so on and so forth) grandfather and crawl out of that primordial swamp to live on land.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): This week you will shed your old skin like a snake. That is, you’ll writhe around and absolutely disgust everyone, but, still, you are too captivating to look away from.

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): Pisces… as if… You don’t deserve a horoscope unless you’re Rihanna. If you’re Rihanna, you can DM me for the horoscope.

Astrologically Unsound appears every week. Follow Christin Bailey on Twitter at @hexprax.

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Wed: Nights Like Thieves, Avenue Army, Justin Linn and The Rotation. Thu: Bob Mould, Exasperation (sold out). Fri: Junior Brown, Dave Gleason Trio (sold out). Sat: Transfer, Keuning, The Color Forty Nine. Sun: The 5.6.7.8’s, Scary Pierre, Babydoll Warriors. Mon: Julia Sage and The Bad Hombres, Sammy Brue, RIP Carson. Tue: Adia Victoria, Dick Stusso, Pruitt Igoe.

Che Cafe, 1000 Scholars Drive S, La Jolla. Fri: ‘Drag me to the Wall’. Sat: Bundy, The Havnauts, Sweetie Darling, The No. 44, Parque de Cometas. Sun: The Bakery, Tomo Tokino. Tue: Hate Drugs, Arms Akimbo.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Thu: ‘Takeover Thursdays: Birthday Edition’.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Poppy. Thu: Blues Traveler.

Fri: Zomboy. Sat: The Stilettos. Sun: Chippendales. Mon: Ripe.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: Bayou Bros. Thu: Sometimes Julie. Sat: Detroit Underground. Sun: Jason Brown. Mon: Sue Palmer. Tue: Mercedes Moore.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., North Park.

Sun: Waxahatchee.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Wed: Tendre Ael, Six, Areclue, Otherr, Cave Space, Nastea. Thu: ‘Fuego’.

Fri: ‘Acid Tokyo’. Sat: ‘Ascension’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Fri: Get Married, Murderburgers, Petty Saints, Santa Ana Knights.

Sat: Moonsugar, Flower Animals, Proud Dad.

@SDCITYBEAT

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Fri: Nightbloom.

Sat: Happy Ron Hill, Carlie Shultz, Trains Across the Sea, Jessica Lerner. Sun: Marian Mulock. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: ‘Comedy Night’.

Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla.

Wed: Open Mic. Fri: ‘An Evening of Science Storytelling’. Sun: UC San Diego Jazz Chamber Ensemble.

Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Terry Bratcher. Thu: Branden & James in ‘The Broadway Covers Project’. Sat: Sacha Boutros.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Glorybots, Blood Ponies, Contact. Fri: ‘Metal Alliance’. Sat: ‘Bear Night’.

Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Thu: ‘Country Fried’. Sat: Dreadhawk, Hazmatt. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: Karaoke.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: Darlingside, River Whyless. Thu: SwuM, TVBOO. Fri: Stepping Feet, Dave Matthews, Tim Reynolds. Sat: ‘CRSSD After Dark’. Sun: ‘CRSSD After Dark’. Tue: Novo Amor, Gia Margaret.

The Office, 3936 30th St., North Park.

Thu: ‘No Limits’. Fri: ‘All-Vinyl Happy Hour’. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’. Sun: Tribe of Kings. Mon: ‘Motown on Mondays’.

Tue: ‘Night Shift in The Office’.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Oliver Heldens. Sat: Sam Feldt.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: ‘The Wednesday Jam Session’.

Thu: Erika Davies. Fri: Euphoria Brass Band. Sat: The Garner Trio. Sun: Uptown Rhythm Makers.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: DJ Scene. Sat: 3LAU.

Pour House, 1903 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Wed: Open Mic. Thu: Electric Elms. Fri: NuVintage. Sun: Kimmi Bitter.

Mon: Trivia. Tue: DJ Lexicon Devil.

Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: ‘Blues Jam’. Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Fuzzy Rankins.

The Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Fri: ‘Service Members in Drag’. Sat: ‘Sabados En Fuego’.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: ‘Mischief with Bianca’. Thu: ‘#LEZ + House Music’. Fri: ‘Electro-POP!’. Sat: ‘DreamMachine’. Sun: ‘CRSSD After Dark’. Tue: DJ Moody Rudy.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’. Thu: Israel Maldonado. Fri: Tori Rose & the Hot Mess. Sat: Baja Bugs. Tue: ‘Everything & Anything Jam’.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: DJ Dougie Frosh. Fri: The Soulside Players. Sat: Chrome Domes.

Mon: ‘Jazz Jam’. Tue: Camino Paz. Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: King Flamingo, Bitter Kiddos, Glass Radio. Thu: Auz Fontaine, Well Well Well, BRUIN, Mariel. Fri: Men I Trust, Micharl Seyer (sold out). Sat: Creature Canyon, The Jacks, The Shakes. Sun: Single Mothers, Mobina Galore, Tourist.

Tue: Kikagaku Moyo, The Mattson 2 (sold out).

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Wed: Lil Mosey, C Glizzy, Bandkids. Thu: Bryce Vine, Travis Thompson.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights.

Wed: Stuntdouble, Tenshun, Furbicide.

Thu: ‘Queer Club Night’. Sun: ‘Pocari Sweat’. Tue: Iron Chic, Toys That Kill, Western Settings.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Midtown. Fri: ‘CRSSD After Dark’. Sat: ‘CRSSD After Dark’. Sun: ‘CRSSD After Dark’.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Paul Gregg. Tue: Trivia.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Pity Party, Sol Drop, The Rough. Thu: ‘Thursdaze’. Sat: ‘Subterrain’. Sun: ‘PANTS Karaoke!’.

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: ‘The Corner’. Fri: Keep Your Soul Band.

Sat: Cassie B. Band. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Revival. Tue: Scott Porter.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park.

Wed: ‘Hoots is Home Wednesdays’. Thu: Liz Grace & The Swing Things. Sat: Full Strength Funk Band. Mon: ‘Sexy Salsa & Sensual Bachata’. Tue: Sue Palmer.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Wed: MDC, Verbal Abuse, The Elected Officials, Authentic Sellout, Strychnine 99. Fri: ‘Hip Hop vs. Punk Rock’. Sat: Generacion Suicida, Fuga, Underpass, Heat, Slaughter Boys. Mon: Mom and The Mailman, Good Time Girl, SOLV. U-31, 3112 University Ave., North Park.

Wed: DJ MO Lyon. Thu: ‘BoomBox Thursdays’. Fri: ‘Kid Wonder’. Sat: DJ Freeman.

Sun: King Schascha, Higher Heights, DJ Non Profit. Mon: ‘#31 Flavors’.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Wed: ‘VAMP Dirty Talk: Guilty Pleasures’.

Fri: The Amandas.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach.

Wed: ‘Club Kingston’. Thu: ‘Ocean Beach Hip Hop Social’. Fri: Aqueous, Big Something. Sat: Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, Mestizo Beat. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Martyrs For Mayhem.

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

BY JACKIE BRYANT

IN THE BACK

CANNABITCH CBD 101

COURTESY OF WHITE FOX MEDICINALS

O

n any given day, my email inbox will contain at least 10 press releases for something involving or containing cannabidiol—the cannabis compound more colloquially known as CBD. In my persepctive, it’s entertaining and a bit alarming watching CBD flood consumer markets. I think of my friend, who uses CBD products despite not using cannabis otherwise. She’s into wellness stuff and heard it was good for her to use. Does she know how or why it works? No. Does she use it anyway? Yes. Since I suspect that many are in this same boat, let me explain. CBD is a naturally occurring, non-intoxicating compound found in the cannabis plant that can be extracted a number of ways. I have seen it in tinctures and oils, personal lubricants, coffee, gummies and other edibles, as well as lotions, kombucha, water, yogurt, cocktails, joints and a variety of other products.

CBD won’t get anyone high—that’s its sister component THC’s (or tetrahydrocannabinol) job. However, there are a variety of unconfirmed but promising benefits, like its antiinflammatory properties, which can be good for pain and nausea. It’s popular with cancer patients for those reasons, but it’s also popular with those who suffer from anxiety and depression for reasons that are not yet entirely known.

One proven arena is with epilepsy patients—Epidolex is an FDA-approved drug containing CBD that is prescribed to patients with severe forms of the condition.

Doesn’t CBD sound great? Yes, it does! The benefits of this widespread knowledge and use is that the govern-

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 27, 2019

White Fox Medicinals ment, and therefore the FDA, will begin testing it more and taking it more seriously. But, so far, people currently rely on what is largely anecdotal evidence. That’s exactly the problem, says OutCo’s Director of Formulation, Taylor Trah. OutCo is a dispensary in El Cajon.

“The new research into cannabis and cannabinoids certainly presents the challenge in presenting anything as factual for dosage recommendation, and the efficacy of different cannabinoid mixes for different therapies and ailments,” Trah says.

“Something our dispensary folks get asked all the time is, ‘What’s a proper dose?’” Trah adds that this is impossible to nail down since people use cannabis for a wide variety of reasons and have different tolerance levels.

There are other issues as well.

“So many of these unregulated products in health food

stores or at local gas stations are coming from unknown sources of CBD and are monomolecular in their composition, meaning that only the CBD is present as an active constituent in that product,” Trah explains.

Many in the cannabis and medical industries suspect CBD’s benefits work best in what’s called the “entourage effect.” Meaning, the presence of other compounds, like THC, bring out the benefits of co-compounds when used in concert. Since selling THC requires a whole boatload of different regulations, and because of it’s intoxicating properties, that route isn’t available to most manufacturers.

So, it’s possible all this monomolecular CBD out in the world is doing jack shit and people are making a lot of money off of it. It’s possible it works as is, too. We just don’t know yet. For now, Trah recommends buying only from dispensaries to ensure quality control.

As for me, I take CBD tinctures, like the ones offered from Select (selectcbd.com) or White Fox (whitefoxmedicinals.com). These help me sleep and are helpful in treating my acute anxiety. I’ve used Foria’s CBD Awaken lube—which isn’t to be confused with their THC lube—and I suspect the mild tingling I experienced was from the peppermint oil and not any cannabis compound.

Overall, I believe in CBD’s therapeutic benefits and I look forward to learning more along with the rest of the public.

But, for now, I’m simply more convinced that much of it is being hawked for conditions it doesn’t really help.

CannaBitch appears every other week.

Follow Jackie Bryant on Twitter at @jacqbryant.

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCITYBEAT

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 27