San Diego CityBeat • Jan 4, 2017

2 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

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UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

You Down With OCE?!

Y

ou know it’s going to be while Cunningham had nothing a weird year when one directly to do with the creation of the first reasonable of the OCE, his massive corrupvoices of 2017 is none tion—one that The Washington other than Tweeter-in-Chief Post called “the most brazen bribDonald Trump. ery conspiracy in modern congresIt was pretty astounding to sional history”—almost certainly learn on Monday, after over a inspired members of both parties year of “Crooked Hillary” catcall- to believe that there needed to be ing and reiterations to #Drain- some kind of independent entity to TheSwamp, that the House of Rep- look into these matters. Simply reresentatives’ first order of business lying on politicians to police themin their new session was to osten- selves was no longer an option. sibly kill off the independence of And it still isn’t. Cunningham’s the Office of Congressional Ethics successor (after redistricting (OCE). In a closed-door meeting, bounced Brian Bilbray) is none the GOP majority voted 119-74 to other than Duncan Hunter Jr., bring the OCE under the control who is now under an ethical miof the House Ethics Committee. croscope for his misuse of camWhile that might not sound too paign funds for things like a trip bad on the surface, it was a bla- to Hawaii and video games ($1300 tant attempt by the GOP to make worth). And who ended up investiit harder for whistleblowers to call gating this complaint? None other out representatives on any number than the OCE. It’s unclear what of corrupt or unethical behaviors. the House Committee on Ethics It was so blatant that even plans to do in light of the investiTrump tweeted that, while the gation’s findings, but they recently OCE was “unfair,” the weaken- acknowledged they’d address it in ing of the office shouldn’t be the the new Congress.

House’s “number And since the WIKI COMMONS one act and priorOCE vote was in ity.” Moreover, he a closed-door sesadded that they sion, we have no should be focusidea how San Diing on “many other ego’s other Repubthings of far greater lican representaimportance!” The tive, Darrell Issa, exclamation point voted when it came at the end was his. to the amendment.

Randy “Duke” Cunningham Just as we were We know he was in going to press, the faction of the Washington and we know he’s had GOP that proposed the package, his own problems with the OCE led by the rather caffeinatedly- in the past. But Issa may just have named Virginia Rep. Robert Good- been busy quietly reintroducing latte, backed down after mounting his own legislation, H.R. 21 or the pressure from Trump and the Midnight Rules Relief Act, which House leadership. The OCE is would allow Congress to overturn, safe, that is, until Republican law- with a single vote, any “executive makers decide to bring it up again. branch regulations finalized in So why should San Diegans the last 60 legislative days of an care? Well, for one, it’s important outgoing Presidential administrato remember one of the main rea- tion.” Translation: Congress would sons the OCE was created in the be allowed to overturn nearly any first place. You see, back in 2008 recent action by President Obama then-House Speaker Nancy Pelo- simply by voting along party lines. si, citing a “culture of corruption,” Issa originally introduced this bill led a bi-partisan effort to create an in September, and while it passed independent committee to inves- in the House, it stalled in the Sentigate potential ethics violations. ate. He’s hoping new members of While Pelosi never called him out Congress might be more amenable. by name, one of the members of The Midnight Rules Relief Act this “culture of corruption” was may as well be called the Don’t disgraced S.D. Rep. Randy “Duke” Let the Door Hit You on the Way Cunningham who, after 15 years Out Act. It’s the legislative equivain Congress, resigned in 2005 af- lent of adding insult to eight years ter it was revealed that he accept- worth of injuries. While it’s cered $2.4 million in bribes. tainly not illegal, it’s certainly unBut it wasn’t the House Ethics professional and, dare we say it, Committee that found all this out unethical. Good thing we still have about Cunningham. In fact, they people to look into that… for now. ignored it. It was reporters at the

—Seth Combs Union-Tribune and the Wall Street Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.

Journal who broke the story. So com

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January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LOVE MAIL Great article on “Fake News!!” [Dec. 21] and certainly relevant in the current climate. My son is in his second year of a journalism degree and I send him the opposite of “hate mail” (i.e. “love mail”) all the time.

Love mail, for me, is when I read a great article and I send it to him. I will forward the most recent ones for you to enjoy. I will be sending your article to him via snail mail. I will also send him random postcards and clippings, so that also is love mail.

Nothing beats the joy of receiving stuff in the actual post!

So thanks again and I may very well consider sending “love mail” to all the journalists I have read and enjoyed. Keep up the excellent work, you are needed more than ever.

Helen Arrona Vista

UP FRONT From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . 3 Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Spin Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Backwards & In High Heels.7 Well, That Was Awkward. 8

FOOD & DRINK The World Fare . . . . . . . . . . 9 Final Draught. . . . . . . . . . . 10

THINGS TO DO The Short List. . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calendar of Events. . . . 11-12

TOILET HUMOR The cover of Trump as Ronald McDonald [“Did You Ever Think,” Nov. 16] sort of reminds me of the old Nixon poster with bullseyes on them so you could use them for a dart game. I plan on laminating the cover and putting it in a frame or something for similar use or maybe over the toilet. When I showed it to a young kid at the McDonald’s drive through window near Texas Street he said, “Right on!” You could sell that cover with some very slight adaptations or have it on t-shirts and make a mint. Put it on toilet plunger holders or wastebaskets. My Dad had a Spiro Agnew trashcan in his garage for years. Make large stickers with it and large posters. So disgusted with Trump and his band of swamp creatures ready to devour us all. Talk about a swamp! This is Fascism and people are so gullible they don’t even know it is. Similar jargon noted from Hitler, Mussolini and Franco are his play book. Still the ignorant don’t get it. History for these unfortunate people is what happened last week, but wait till their Medicare gets gutted by Ryan and their taxes go up.

D.O. University Heights

ARTS & CULTURE Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 FEATURE: Neighborhood Watch - Golden Hill. . . . 14-17 Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19

MUSIC FEATURE: Dogwood. . . . . 20 Notes from the Smoking Patio . . . . . . . . . . 21 If I Were U. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . 24-26

LAST WORDS Advice Goddess. . . . . . . . . 27

This issue of CityBeat is “a tool of some greater forces.”

Volume 15 • Issue 23 EDITOR Seth Combs MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich

CONTRIBUTORS (CONT’D) Scott McDonald, Sebastian Montes, Jenny Montgomery, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Jen Van Tieghem, Amy Wallen

VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE Kacie Sturek

WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford

EDITORIAL INTERNS Sofia Mejias-Pascoe

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Comden

ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos ASSOCIATE EDITOR Torrey Bailey COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer Edwin Decker Minda Honey John R. Lamb Alex Zaragoza CONTRIBUTORS Matthew Baldwin, David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Lara McCaffrey,

PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jason Noble ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Beau Odom Mark Schreiber Jenny Tormey ACCOUNTING Kacie Cobian Sharon Huie Linda Lam

HUMAN RESOURCES Andrea Baker

PUBLISHER Kevin Hellman

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Interested in advertising?

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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 2016.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

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January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE

JOHN R. LAMB

Wringing in the new year Now is the accepted time to make And where is that spot exactly? your regular annual good resolu- Who knows, really? But wherever tions. Next week you can begin pav- it is, it sure feels like it’s sitting on ing hell with them as usual. quicksand, ready to trap San Di

—Mark Twain ego in an energy-sucking, downward spiral of struggle between h, the one-two punch in haves and have-nots.

When asked about the current the nether regions that is the holiday season—the sour tone of discourse, long-time rabid consumerism/sugar-high political observer Carl Luna, a buzz of Christmas morphing Mesa College political-science briskly into the rabid consump- professor, has taken to quoting tion of fermented sugar products from the movie that’s impossible to welcome in the New Year, fol- to avoid during the holiday season, the Frank Capra classic It’s a lowed by regretful hangover.

The last part, dear reader, is Wonderful Life.

As hokey as the 1946 film may only an estimate, given that this be, Luna sees parallels between column was constructed in the the current poisoned state of parwaning days of 2016. So I have no ty politics and the movie’s princlue whether we actually made it cipal characters, George Bailey to 2017. But Spin will expend its remaining drops of faith rationed (defender of the common folk) for 2016 on the assumption that and Henry F. Potter (slumlord and we crossed over the year mark a-hole supreme).

The Republican platform, adin one piece, roughly in the same vanced by the party’s new goldspot as before.

A

6 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

en-haired standard-bearer, President-elect Donald John Trump, has become “insidiously simple,” Luna said in an email.

But as far as the Democrats go, they’ve “become a party with so many platforms that they’ve become a party without a platform,” Luna added. “What the heck did ‘Stronger Together’ actually mean for average people? Where was the New Deal hope, the Great Society promise, the Civil Rights righteousness?”

Luna included a snippet of dialog between Potter and Bailey, where the dour Potter grumbles, “and all because a few starry-eyed dreamers like Peter Bailey stir ‘em up and fill their head with a lot of impossible ideas.”

Bailey, torn between a desire to leave his small-town roots behind and his firm belief that his late father, as head of a small bank, made a difference in ordinary peoples’ lives, would later snarl back, “Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you’re talking about, they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath?

“Actually, my father didn’t think so. People were human beings to him, but to you, a warped,

JOHN R. LAMB

“One of these days, Devin, bang zoom!”

“It’s Kevin, Mr. President-Elect...” frustrated old man, they’re cattle.”

Perhaps 2016 can be summed up simply as the Year of the Frustrated Old Man. Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Chargers honcho Dean Spanos, neither all that aged, danced like a doddering old couple for most of the year while lawyers and campaign consultants picked scraps from the carcass of the NFL franchise that remained.

Here’s the thing, though: Spin gets the civic pride argument.

That losing a major sports team is like having a municipal testicle removed without anesthesia, making a town somewhat less masculine, presumably. But when a team is this bad (reminder: it lost to the 0-14 Cleveland fricking Browns two weekends ago), nothing’s sadder to watch than civic pride melting into desperate, blind loyalty to a faded family folly.

Get off the dance floor, mayor and owner dude. You’ve sized each other up, exchanged corsages and motel-room keys, broken up, patched things up, restarted the break-up talk, blah yadda blah.

Don’t leave us wondering what’s up a year from now. Enough!

Speaking of enough, will 2017 usher in a less-smiling, more-stoic Mayor Faulconer? Budget cuts hang on the horizon like buzzard silhouettes. Tough to be Mr. Happy Talk when you’re telling little Billy and Sally, “Hey kids, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the bigger park and longer library hours, but now that I’m reelected, we can’t afford those luxuries anymore!”

Oh, maybe he’ll find magical budget beans in the City Hall couch cushions and maintain those hours somehow. But cuts are going to have to come from

somewhere and parks and libraries always seem in the crosshairs when times are tough.

Most interesting, perhaps, will be the Republican mayor’s relationship with the incoming president. Spin asked a mayoral spokesman if Faulconer and Trump had spoken yet, but alas there was no immediate response.

Pesky holidays!

The Los Angeles Times noted that L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, a strident Hillary Clinton backer, spoke to Trump by phone in late November on a variety of topics, from infrastructure investment and immigration reform to the city’s 2024 Olympic bid, for which Garcetti said Trump expressed support.

Garcetti, like Faulconer, criticized Trump during the election season. Faulconer later acknowledged he had voted for House Speaker Paul Ryan for president, effectively tossing his presidential vote in the bidet. One can only imagine how that conversation will go when it happens.

“Who’s this, Faaaalconer?”

“Mayor Faulconer, Mr. President. Kevin. From San Diego.”

“SAN DIEGO? Shit place didn’t vote for me. Coronado voted for me. Why am I not on the phone with the mayor of Coronado! Oh what the hell, Faaalconer, you’ve got 30 seconds. GO!” “Uh, thanks for taking the time from your busy tweeting schedule to speak with me, Mr. President.

We’re a city on the go – “ “OK, time’s up. Nice chatting.

Work on your voters there, Devin… <dialtone>” “It’s Kevin, sir. Hello? Hello?”

Hello, indeed. Be kind, 2017.

Spin Cycle appears every week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCityBeat

UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

Don’t make resolutions. Make changes.

I

earned a standing ovation from my 11-year-old by doing a simple thing just before New Year’s Eve: I deleted the Facebook app from my phone. When I mentioned this to my pre-Queenager, her eyes popped out of their sockets, all spring-loaded and cartoony, and she began a slow clap that was completely honest but still could have easily been interpreted as sarcasm.

She walked past my spot on the couch wearing the navy blue striped workout pants that highlighted the foal-like look of her legs. This vision elicited in me a longing for more time and an awareness that time is not on my side when it comes to these types of bonding moments. The Season of Knobby Knees is but a brief transition leading into the much longer Door Slamming Era. Her childhood is almost gone; a shad-

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ow following its person around the corner and out of my sight.

“You deleted Facebook?!? Nobody does that!” she said, snapping me back from my melancholic moment.

“Well,” I smiled, in complete rapture of her rapture. “I’m not nobody. This is how I’m rolling in the New Year, my friend. I take it that makes you happy?”

“Is it sweet? Then YESSSS!” she said, engaging her newfound ability to drop one of the 10 best movie lines ever into regular conversation (it’s from Elf). Chalk that up to a parenting win.

In the closing days of the Worst Fucking Personal Year Ever—one that included a fractured wrist, eight titanium pins, two totaled cars and a partridge in a pear tree—I blew a blood vessel in my right eye while puking up whatever vile toxin I’d

ingested on the first day of a vacation that was designed specifically to restore some sense of sanity, balance and inner calm. In that moment, I decided to make some changes for this new year starting with not ingesting things that make me sick and followed immediately by deletion of Facebook, which also makes me sick.

These are not resolutions, because I hate resolutions. If history is any indicator, the resolutions I conjure will last three weeks until they’re forgotten, much like houseplants, non-essential doctor appointments and questions about whether or not all bourbon is whisky (or is it the other way around?). And then the next 49 weeks is an effort at quieting the “you suck” voice inside my head.

So, these are not those. These are a few actual changes I’ve implemented:

First, of course, is the Book of Faces. Eliminating this from my phone was a no-brainer and something I should have done sooner.

There is no need to have it at the end of my arm to check in the car or in the grocery store or at my kid’s tennis lesson or while driving somewhere with the fam. No, I will not waste my life by the glow of this moment’s outrage porn.

I’m going to spend more quality time with my kid before she’s done with me, so much that she’ll probably want to be done with me.

L’il Kumkwat and I are going to cook or bake something new each week. Wait. I mean, every other week (the goal here is success).

She gets to pick every recipe.

I’m going to carry a book with me everywhere and at all times. I was once a voracious reader so this is how, after a year of not reading a single book cover-to-cover, I’ll be reading complete books again. Actual books with pages that I physically have to turn. And The New Yorker. I’ll be reading that again, too (thank you for the gift, honey).

There is so much to take in and so little time.

I have a beautiful friend who goes to a monastery twice a year and spends five days in silence.

He swears this practice has restorative properties, but the mere

thought of it makes my lungs constrict. That is not for me so, instead, I’ll be spending 10 minutes each day in guided meditation.

I am going to love more this year. I am going to be more present. Again, less screen, more connection. This is for myself and for my family, but also for those people who comprise my chosen family. If there is a single thing that may perhaps be an antidote for the ache and grief that defined 2016, it is loving harder, giving more and not taking anything for granted. There is salvation in this, I think. I’m going to double down on it.

And I’m going to triple-quadruple-jaziilion down on activism. I’m going to channel my outrage and disappointment. I’m going to continue to do actual work to dismantle white supremacy and be a visible warrior in the battle for social justice. If the ship is going down—and I think it is—I’ll go down fighting.

That isn’t dramatic or hyperbolic. It is simply me living in truth.

If 2016 taught me anything at all, it’s that nothing, nothing, nothing is promised. I want no regrets.

I want to live as presently, as consciously and as truthfully as possible. And I want to earn that standing ovation from the only person who matters.

January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

UP FRONT | OPINION VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS

AWKWARD

Christmas shopping when you’re, like, really high

I

realize that I’m probably still high from the night before when Bob Marley comes on the radio and I don’t immediately turn it off.

The line of cars waiting to get into the Fashion Valley Mall parking lot is nearly a mile deep and moving at the speed of the continental drift. I briefly look in my rearview mirror and see the despair and fury in the face of the motorist behind me. It’s three days before Christmas, and this line of cars might as well lead us all off a cliff, purging all the last-minuteshopping idiots from Earth.

Outside, car horns blast and drivers scream, but inside my car, I’m the personification of the meme where the dog sits in a burning room, saying, “This is fine.”

I turn up the reggae, the worst musical genre. I pump that shit.

Yep, I’m definitely high.

This getting high thing is new and different for me. But then again, everything feels different since election night. Everyday life feels different. When friends greet each other with “how’s it going?”, there’s now a qualifier after every answer: “It’s pretty good ... considering.” It’s hard to find much joy in the world outside of friends and family. Even reading year-end best of 2016 lists seems futile and vulgar.

Whoops, sorry for the stoned tangent. Harshing my own mellow.

The previous day, I had acquired my medical marijuana card. I had been interested in obtaining one as an alternative treatment for anxiety. Then, after learning cardholders will also be exempt from sales taxes when recreational outlets open in 2018, it sounded like a financially wise move. Responsible, even!

8 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

That night, my wife and I ate brownies and lost our minds. We watched some show about underwater sea creatures, and I felt myself slowly become sealed to the recliner. “Is that real?” my wife kept asking at the screen. Moments or hours or days later, she was puking, and I was helpless to lift myself out of the chair.

We’re not very experienced at this getting high thing.

The mall’s parking lot feels pressurized and ready to explode.

I don’t have the mental acumen to fight for a spot, so I park in the outskirts.

Wife wants fingerless gloves.

Must remember fingerless gloves.

The mall is awash with unwelcoming, sour faces. I roam around Nordstrom aimlessly, hoping against hope that there’s a section clearly labeled “Fingerless Gloves.” Due to some non-linear

thinking, I find myself in the shoe department, because shoes are related to socks and socks are the distant cousins of gloves.

What am I doing here? I think.

What are we all doing here? How did we get to this point?

It’s a thought that’s as profound as the price tags on the dresses I’m caressing—a futile effort to appear normal and not at all creepy. How can anyone pay for this? Only the rich can afford to shop here. That’s how they get you. You see something shiny and immediately, you reach out for it without acknowledging the consequences, you drown in debt and then you die, only to be resurrected when the next tremendous, shiny (the shiniest!) thing appears. It’s a ploy that’s as flimsy as these satin garments that feel good against my fingertips.

“Can I help you find anything?” a suspicious sales associate asks.

“Just, uh… no.”

The Nordstrom narcs are onto me so I book it to Macy’s. The relative disarray here (compared to the pristine affluence of Nordstrom) welcomes my kind—the disillusioned, the lost, the untethered.

Again, I find myself in the shoe section. History repeating. We’ll always be stuck in this flat circle, never learning.

Finally, I muster up the courage to talk and ask an employee where the gloves are. “Excuse me madam,” I say, focused on making sure the correct number of syllables leave my mouth. “Could you direct me to the fingerless gloves?”

“Upstairs,” she says. “Third floor. There are dresses up there too. They’re all really nice.”

Yeah, not falling for that, I think.

Upstairs, it’s quiet. The frenzy of the bottom floor is gone, replaced with a soothing calm. It regularly blows my mind that these quiet moments can exist in a postelection world. Why aren’t people just constantly freaking the fuck out? Or maybe they are, underneath. Maybe that’s why we look at people shopping, moving and subscribing to the notion that life goes on, and weep our liberal tears.

Apologies. Probably just the weed talking.

I find the gloves for my wife.

The cashier says I can save $15 if I buy a candy bar. It’s the easiest sale she’s ever made.

I walk back to the car and realize I’m starving. I unwrap the raspberry-chocolate bar and chow down. At the moment, it doesn’t seem like stoned satisfaction but an act of self-preservation. Guess that’s all we can do.

Happy 2017.

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UP FRONT | FOOD

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

Perhaps the best dishes at La Querencia are the carpaccios. In addition to beef, Guerrero offers scallop, salmon, squash and beet versions. While beef is the classic carpaccio protein, Guerrero’s addition of chile oil gives the dish a new dimension.

The scallop carpaccio, however, is my favorite.

Full flavor, Baja(Med)-style Thin, translucent slices of scallops are garnished with capers, green olives, red onion and red pephef Miguel Angel Guerrero’s calling card percorns, highlighting the lusciousness of the calis just above the door: La Querencia: lo de hacho scallops without overwhelming them.

“BajaMed Cocina.” For those who notice, The beet version manages to feel both old and it certainly gets people’s attention, especially new at once. Mint vinaigrette enhances the natuconsidering Guerrero coined and trademarked ral sweetness of the beets while the blue cheese the term that we in the food press use as short- offers a poignant counterpoint. hand for Baja’s new take on high-end cuisine.

Octopus, it seems, is Baja’s national dish and Yes, “Baja Med” may be the calling card for his Guerrero is particularly good with the cephaloflagship restaurant, but it’s not his claim to fame. pod. It appears on La Querencia’s menu in salThat would be the big, bright and clear flavors ads, pastas, tacos and grilled dishes, but there’s to be found inside the restaurant. Perhaps we none better than the Pulpo Querencia. It is simple: should be paying more attention to that. five tostadas on the plate with chunks of tender, MICHAEL A. GARDINER charred octopus, olives, capers, potatoes and bell peppers with chive and leek garnishes. Simple, yes, and hardly gorgeous to look at, but the flavors are big, the textures intriguing and the message is unmistakably direct.

One thing that’s oddly missing from many high-end Baja menus is tacos and burritos in their classic form. Not so at La Querencia. An entire section of the menu is devoted to them with options ranging from roast lamb and lechon to Portobello mushrooms, crab and the ubiquitous pulpo.

None, however, is better than the smoked marlin. While “smoked marlin” appears from time to time on U.S. menus, it is almost always swordfish rather than marlin. The real stuff is a Pulpo Querencia real treat, offering the richness of the smoke while maintaining the natural Guerrero opened a prior incarnation of La flavor of the marlin.

Querencia shortly after graduating from law Guerrero’s plates, no doubt, are not the prettiest school and breaking the news to his mother that in Baja. While the carpaccios have a sort of all-over he would never work as a lawyer. Food was his charm, looks and fancy presentations aren’t what calling and his passion, perhaps every bit as much his food is about. Rather, it’s all about the flavor and as the hunting and fishing that have shaped his his plates deliver that. In the end, no trademark or cooking. The food at La Querencia (Av. Escuadrón clever turn of phrase would have made a difference 201 No. 3110 at Blvd. Sánchez Taboada, Tijuana) if Guerrero had not backed it up on the plate. At La is about delivering the flavors of Baja’s fields Querencia, he’s still backing it up. and ocean directly to the plate and filtered only The World Fare appears weekly. through simple techniques.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

FARE C

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January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

UP FRONT | DRINK

FINAL

BY BETH DEMMON

DRAUGHT Drink beer, watch hockey

Greenwood St.) is a 10-minute stroll away and offers a dizzyingly diverse selection of taps that an Diego sports have a pretty universal rep- seem to change daily. Fridays and Saturdays utation of falling somewhere between pain- mean the Lomaland Fermentorium stays open fully crummy and simply mediocre. Still, until midnight, so those in search of a post-game what our city lacks in athletic prowess, fans more potation should consider this their best option.

Drinkers with a designated driver have three than make up for it in their ability to stomach seasolid choices within a 10-minute drive. Due north son after season of losing records with beer-fueled lies Coronado Brewing Company’s brewery and blackouts. However, there’s hope for overlap between the jocks and (beer) nerds. Even the most tasting room (1205 Knoxville St.), and for those sports-averse spectators (like myself ) can handle drawn south, Liberty Station boasts outposts for a few hours of semi-professional athletes beating both Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens the daylights out of one another during the San (2816 Historic Decatur Road, #116) and 32 North Diego Gulls’ AHL hockey games, thanks to the nu- Brewing Company (2860 Sims Road). A word warning—Liberty BETH DEMMON of merous craft beer options Station’s labyrinthine in and around the Valstreets can be perplexing ley View Casino Center to navigate and filled (3500 Sports Arena Blvd). with oblivious shoppers Since technically wandering through tailgating isn’t allowed traffic, so keep a sharp at the arena, hordes of eye out to avoid those hockey fans in search of pesky pedestrians. independently-brewed Finally, for those in beer have three choices: search of a true pregame One, grab a 16-ounce can brewery crawl, Ocean of Pizza Port’s Swami’s Beach has recently IPA for $12 in the North exploded with craft Concourse before the Bay City Brewing is the perfect place beer and is now home to start of third period. for a pint pre- or post-game. taprooms by Mike Hess Or, two, pregame at Brewing Company one of the local breweries for a fraction of the (4893 Voltaire St.), Culture Brewing Company cost. (No disrespect to Pizza Port—y’all are just (4845 Newport Ave.), Helm’s Brewing Company mad expensive inside the venue!) The third alternative is to wait for the Friday night $2 Bud (4896 Newport Ave.), Belching Beaver Brewery Light specials, but that’s an awfully embarrassing (4836 Newport Ave.) and Ocean Beach Brewery (5041 Newport Ave.). Of course, beer and bites option even for the frugal craft beer drinker.

There are plenty of places within walking are always available at Pizza Port (1956 Bacon distance or a short Uber/Lyft ride away where St.) or Newport Pizza & Ale House (5050 sports fans can remain loyal to local craft beer. Newport Ave.).

The next Gulls home game is Friday, Jan. 6, at Bay City Brewing Company (3760 Hancock St.) 7 p.m. against the San Antonio Rampage. And if is a quick, seven-minute walk from the arena. The tasting room has a minimalist-meets-industrial these craft-forward suggestions are falling on deaf feel that’s offers a nice space for a pre-puck ears, then yes, know that $2 Bud Light drafts will drop flight. Try a Belgian or lighter session for be available.

maximum pleasure.

Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com, check her out on For those who really want to test the limits Instagram at @thedelightedbite, or via Twitter at of their endurance, Modern Times Beer (3725 @iheartcontent.

S

10 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

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SHORTlist

EVENTS

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

BALBOA PARK

1

CINEMATIC SCIENCE

Watching almost any film often requires the audience to take a leap of faith, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be skeptical.

That dream within a dream situation in Inception?

Yeah, right. The time-travel in Back to the Future?

Dubious, at best. Every car chase in the Mad Max movies? Not exactly based in reality.

But that skeptical spirit is what makes the San Diego Natural History Museum’s Reel Science series of film screenings so appealing.

Rather than just having to take that leap of faith, audiences will hear from real scientists who will discuss the scientific validity of some classic flicks. The four-film, month-long series of screenings is themed “Cult Sci-Fi Meets Real Science,” and the NAT (1788 El Prado) teamed up with Digital Gym Cinema to compile a list of cultish films that had more farfetched elements.

“We all agreed that we wanted to focus on cult cinema and steer clear of the blockbusters, because those films are easily accessible,” says Robert Ruth-

DOWNTOWN

2 CRACKING UP

Over the years, highlighting Culture Shock Dance Troupe’s Nutcracker has become as much of a tradition for CityBeat as it is for normcore people to attend the OG Tchaikovsky ballet. Culture Shock’s rendition of the classic pays tribute to both E.T. Hoffman’s story and Tchaikovsky’s score but adapts the storyline, music and fashion to the present. The result is a high-energy production that includes modern and hip-hop dance. It opens Friday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at Spreckels Theatre (121 Broadway) for $15 to $35.

Or, buy $120 tickets to the VIP opening reception at 5 p.m. at Currant American Brasserie (140 West Broadway) for behind the scenes entertainment, a cast meet-and-greet, a silent auction, and exclusive seating at the theater. There will be seven performances through Jan. 8. cultureshockdance. org/nutcracker

COURTESY OF CULTURE SHOCK SAN DIEGO

Culture Shock Dance Troupe’s Nutcracker

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erford who works at the NAT as the audience engagement manager. “Once we contacted scientists who were into the overall idea of presenting research or providing a new lens in which to see the film, then we were able to choose the four films.”

The screenings take place every Saturday in January at 7 p.m. and include showings of Altered States (Jan. 7), Weird Science (Jan. 14), Donnie Darko (Jan. 21) and Flash Gordon (Jan. 28). Dr. Michael Wall, an entomologist and the NAT’s Vice President of Research and Public Programs, will be speaking before the screening of Flash Gordon, a film set on a planet called (no kidding) Mongo.

“From a scientific perspective, if Mongo was an actual planet, what were the set of environmental circumstances that Reel Science would lead to what we call parallel evolution of certain traits,” asks Wall. “The whole idea is to have fun with a movie I love to death, but also taking people through the scientific process of what would need to happen in order to result in these types of films.” sdnhm.org

BARRIO LOGAN

3 LOVE CAT

Since we’re apparently on our way toward a new Cold War, it’s a good time to revisit one of the bands that made the ‘80s a little more tolerable: The Cure. Throughout that time, The Cure delivered an eclectic series of post-punk albums that elevated them to goth-rock heroes while also inspiring generations of moody teens to dress all in black. One of the longtime members of the band, Lol Tolhurst, will be reading from his memoir Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys, about his friendship with frontman Robert SCOTT WITTER Smith and his time in the band, at Golondrina in Barrio Logan (2148 Logan Ave.). He’ll also be signing copies of the book, which will be available for sale at the store, along with other merchandise. It happens Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m. facebook.com/ golondrinastore Lol Tolhurst

HOver the Moon at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. Original artworks on paper that resulted from a collaborative art project organized and created by 40 artist participants from San Diego Book Arts. Opening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6. Free. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org HDerli Romero: Small Works on Paper and Books at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The master printmaker will present a series of paintings, prints and drawings on paper, as well as a selection of his artists’ books in the Athenaeum’s Rotunda Gallery. Opening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6.

Free. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org HConsume at SDAI Project Space, 141 Horton Plaza, Gaslamp. These new works from Cat Chiu Phillips are a playful response to the abundance of discarded materials in our culture of consumption.

The work juxtaposes the handmade with the machine-made, transforming junk into an aesthetic entity. Opening from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7. Free. 619-2360011, sandiego-art.org 3 Ways at at R.B. Stevenson Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave., Ste. 201, La Jolla. New paintings from Judith Foosaner, Jimi Gleason and Thomas Zitzwitz. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7. Free. 858459-3917, rbstevensongallery.com 4-UP at The Studio Door, 3750 30th St., North Park. The annual invitational featuring four local artists: Sherry Krulle-Beaton, Patrick Brown, Jackson Thilenius and Nancy Plank. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 7. Free. 619-255-4920, thestudiodoor.com Colored Pencil Art Show at La Bodega Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. A one-night-only pop-up show featuring over 50 artists displaying works using only colored pencils. Opening from 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7.

Free. labodegagallery.com HA Mystical Journey: My Evolutionary Experience at Space 4 Art, 325 15th St., Downtown. A solo show by Barbara Gothard, a Palm Springs-based artist whose complex paintings investigate evolution through abstract visual concepts.

Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7. Free. 619-269-7230, sdspace4art.org HJohn Schott: Route 66 Motels at Joseph Bellows Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave., La Jolla. A photographic exhibition of Schott’s 1973 series of topographic views of Route 66 motels from the Midwest to California and back. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7. Free. 858-4565620, josephbellows.com HSouthern California Sculpture at at Sparks Gallery, 530 6th Ave., Gaslamp.

A new exhibition featuring works by 23 sculptors from Southern California who have been chosen by the National Sculpture Society (NSS). Artists include Mark Edward Adams, Kevin Garceau, Sandra Shaw and more. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 7. Free. 619-696-1416, sparksgallery.com Mission Trails Mix at Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor’s Center, One Father Junipero Serra Tr., Mission Hills. A naturethemed exhibition featuring six award winning artists who work in various mediums. Names include Shannon O’Dunn, Roz Oserin and Susan Weinberg-Harter.

Opening from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8. Free. 619-668-3281, mtrp.org Ghilbi 3: A Hayao Miyazaki Fan Art Show at Basic Urban, 410 10th Ave., East Village. Local artists pay tribute to the legendary animator behind films like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. Artists in-

H = CityBeat picks

clude Ally Pizzo, Chris Jay, Tammy Farris and more. Opening from 7 p.m. to midnight. Tuesday, Jan 10. Free. www.facebook.com/events/1222731544445533

BOOKS Merrie Destefano, Rachel Marks and Sara Wolf at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The new YA authors will sign their respective titles, Lost Girls, Darkness Savage and Love Me Never. At 2 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 7. Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HLol Tolhurst at Golondrina, 2148 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. The founding member of The Cure will be at the store to sign his new memoir, Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys, which focuses on his friendship with enigmatic frontman Robert Smith. At 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7. Free. facebook.com/events/153192005165054 HDonna Miscolta at Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 103, Point Loma. The Second Sunday Author Series welcomes the author of Hola and Goodbye, a book of 15 linked stories that span across three generations of women. At 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8. $5.

619-233-7963, womensmuseumca.org.

Emeran Mayer at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The bestselling author will discuss and sign his new book The Mind-Gut Connection, which advances the idea that our microbiome and our brain are inextricably linked. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 9. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com Carole Bayer Sager at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The author and award-winning lyricist will discuss and sign her new book, They’re Playing Our Song, about her five decade career writing songs for stars like Ray Charles, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin and more. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

DANCE HIn the Va Va Voom Room at Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd., University Heights. From the provocateur behind Hot Guys Dancing, Michael Mizerany directs and choreographs this evening of contemporary burlesque. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5, 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8. $15-$35. 619-220-0097, diversionary.org HA Culture Shock Nutcracker at Spreckels Theater, 121 Broadway, Downtown. Culture Shock’s modern reinterpretation of the Tchaikovsky classic stays true to the basic story, but is set in the present amidst a fusion of contemporary music, dance and fashion. At 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, and 1 and 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8. $35-$120 858-432-6231, cultureshockdance.org

FOOD & DRINK HSan Diego Brew Fest at NTC Park at Liberty Station, 2455 Cushing Road, Point Loma. The seventh annual event will feature dozens of local local and international craft beers, as well as San Diego’s most popular food trucks. Proceeds benefit Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue. From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7. $45-$55. sandiegobeerfest.com

MUSIC HArt Connection: What Does It Mean to be an American (Composer)? at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. This lively discussion on what it means to be an American composer in the 21st Century will feature musical ex-

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 amples performed by musicians of the San Diego Symphony as well as questions taken from the audience. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5. Free. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org HsoundON Festival of Modern Music at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. A four-day long series of concerts, performances, workshops, lectures, and art. Now in its 10th year, the 2016 performances and workshops center on the theme of “Soundstreams and Rising Currents.” At various times Thursday, Jan. 5 through Sunday, Jan. 8. $5$70. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org Pepe Aguilar at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 3rd Ave., Gaslamp. The Latin music star has sold over 12 million albums and just released his 26th studio album, No Lo Había Dicho. At 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6. $65. 619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org Americans and Paris at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Conductor Andrew Gourlay and pianist Inon Barnatan lead the San Diego Symphony through selections from Aaron Copland and George Gershwin. At 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8. $25-$62. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org Berkley Hart Selis Twang at New Village Arts Theatre, 2787-B State St., Carlsbad. The supergroup of Berkley Hart, Eve Selis and Marc Twang will each perform their harmony-laden brand of folk. The evening will feature music from their selftitled album. At 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6 and Saturday, Jan. 7. $25. newvillagearts.org Camera Lucida at Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla.

The group of four local instrumentalists

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perform chamber music masterpieces by Robert Schumann, Camille Saint-Saens and Gabriel Faure. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9. Free-$37. 858-534-3448, musicweb.ucsd.edu HArt of Élan at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. The highly acclaimed classical chamber music collective presents a program of colorful works that were “made in America” by Eve Beglarian, Steve Reich, Aaron Copland and more. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10. $35. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org HLa Santa Cecilia at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. The L.A. collective plays a blend of cumbia, bossa nova and boleros. They have won a Grammy, collaborated with Elvis Costello, and appeared on Conan. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 11. $25-$40. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD Storytelling Surprise at Rebecca’s Coffee House, 3015 Juniper St., South Park. Stories by members of Storytellers of San Diego featuring tales of the anatomy of a surprise and the inevitable let down or transformation. From 7 to 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4. Free. 619-8502130, storytellersofsandiego.org

SPECIAL EVENTS HFirst Thursday at Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. San Diego Made’s monthly event featuring live music, local makers, creative workshops and food and drink specials. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5. Free. sandiegomade.org

“The Tot” by Richard Becker will be on view at Southern California Sculpture, a group show opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, at The Sparks Gallery (530 6th Ave.) in the Gaslamp.

Friday Night LIberty at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. This monthly gallery and studio walk features open artist studios, galleries,

live performances, shopping and entertainment throughout NTC’s Arts and Culture District. From 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6. Free. 619-573-9300, libertystation.com

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THEATER

COURTESY OF OLD GLOBE THEATRE

The New Voices Festival features staged readings of emerging playwrights’ works.

New Voices Festival bears fruit

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or the fourth consecutive year, San Diego theatergoers will have the opportunity to hear works still in their important gestation stages crafted by talented emerging playwrights from around the country. That’s right: hear.

Over the weekend of Jan. 13, the Old Globe Theatre’s Powers New Voices Festival will present, free of charge, staged readings of plays-in-the-works by JC Lee, Tanya Saracho, Karen Zacarias and Anna Ziegler. There also will be an encore of works inspired by City Heights residents (first presented last October) and two dance-theater pieces.

“It’s a series that started with the simple goal of having writers meet San Diego and the Old Globe, and it’s bearing incredible fruit all around the country now,” says Old Globe associate producer Eric Keen-Louie, pointing out that past festival works have gone on to be produced nationwide. And they’re being produced in San Diego as well. Just last year, Kimber Lee’s brownsville song (bside for tray) enjoyed a full production at Moxie Theatre, as did Jiehae Park’s Peerless. And this year, Nick Gandiello’s The Blameless, read at the 2016 New Voices Festival, will be staged by the Globe beginning Feb. 23.

“Audiences in San Diego love new work,” Keen-Louie said. “There’s a generosity of opinion, and all of the feedback that we get is really helpful.”

Playwrights like Lee, whose politicalminded What You Are will be read on Jan. 15, appreciates that feedback and uses it to hone his work.

“I try to listen to the moments, the key points when the audience and the play interact,” Lee explains. “Being a playwright is like being a composer, but part of your instrument is the audience. Readings of a work are really instructive because you get a sense of how it will transform itself into a production.

“I am beholden to the audience.”

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Here’s the festival schedule: Arranged,

by Anna Ziegler (directed by Matt Morrow), Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m.; The Living Altar, Jan. 14 at 1 p.m.; Fade, by Tanya Saracho (directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg), Jan. 14 at 4 p.m.; Native Gardens,

by Karen Zacarias (directed by James Vasquez), Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m.; What You Are, by JC Lee (directed by Edward Torres), Jan. 15 at 4 p.m.

The Powers New Voices Festival runs Jan. 13 through Jan. 15 at the Old Globe Theatre, Balboa Park. Tickets are free and available beginning Jan. 6 at noon. theoldglobe.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Beau Jest: A comical romp about a young woman who hires an actor in order to convince her parents that she’s engaged to a Jewish doctor. Written by James Sherman, it opens Jan. 6 at Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. lambsplayers.org Play it Again, Sam: The Woody Allen comedy about a bookish and insecure fella who gets a little help with the ladies from an imagined Humphrey Bogart. Directed by Charley Miller, it opens Jan. 6 at the OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. onstageplayhouse.info Waiting for Godot: Samuel Beckett’s classic play about two buddies waiting for a mysterious man that they hope will help them change their life for the better. Directed by Grant Gelvin, it opens Jan. 6 at the Patio Playhouse in Escondido. patioplayhouse.com Marjorie Prime: The San Diego premiere of Jordan Harrison’s Pulitzer-nominated play about a future where lifelike robots provide companionship to society’s loneliest. Directed by Matthew Wiener, it opens Jan. 11 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org

For full theater listings, visit “Theater” at sdcitybeat.com

January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

TORREY BAILEY

Despite the views of San Diego Bay, downtown high rises and, on a clear day, a mountain-framed Tijuana, Golden Hill has sidestepped the lightning-speed gentrification many other areas have undergone. Outlined by the I-5, Highway 94 and Interstate 15, talk has circulated for nearly a decade that this centralized locale is on the up-and-up. In the ‘90s, a surge of graffiti-coated storefronts, gang

violence and ambling drug dealers branded Golden Hill as a no-fly zone for many families. This rough patch opened the door for real estate markets to create and sell the idea of South Park as an affluent and safe option, even though it’s technically a subdivision of Golden Hill. With a seamy reputation, Golden Hill’s rent hung lower than in other boroughs, attracting a working class community of Latinos, musicians and artists. As the neighborhood’s grit continues to dissipate, more businesses are committing to the area and squeezing contemporary architecture in between iconic Victorian, Colonial Revival and Craftsman originals. With amicable neighbors and luge-worthy hills, the neighborhood now sharply contrasts its prior self. Still, locals are cautious of the extent of the changes, hoping to protect what they consider to be a hidden gem.

While Golden Hill is far from a rowdy neighborhood, 25th and Broadway is the intersection of eating, drinking and doing. Humberto’s and Los Reyes are favorite local eateries along with Krakatoa, which sits just north of the intersection on the way to Golden Hill Park. Head south on 25th for newer additions, including Dark Horse Coffee and the gastropub Counterpoint.

14 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

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TORREY BAILEY

that nostalgia fix. Set against the increasingly hip Golden Hill neighborhood, the quaint, blue building gives off a Lynchian vibe that would attract moviegoers who are into Lynchian shit.

Inside, though, is just strange without any quirkiness. The haphazard selection ranges from mega-popular blockbusters to D-grade horror without much in between. It’s like someDinoshark or Grizzly Rage? Tough decision. one got a great deal on I get sad when I realize that future genera3,000 DVDs at a flea tions will not have the opportunity to pe- market. The perimeter of the shop is lined ruse a video store. As more entertainment with random groceries. Do you like raisins, streams into our homes, I’m sure the idea Nutella and Clamato while you watch Diof actually having to go out into the real noshark or Grizzly Rage? This place has world seems about as appealing as walk- you covered. ing two miles to school—both ways—in But, hey—a trip to Video Club proves the snow. But as any child from the Block- to be more of an adventure than spending buster generation can confirm, a trip to the 40 minutes flipping through Netflix. Plus: video store was its own adventure.

Dinoshark. Duh. The outside of Video Club in Golden

—Ryan Bradford Hill looks promising to those looking for

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BECKY DIGIGLIO

Before Golden Hill became occupied with coffeehouses, wine bars and CityBeat competitors, it was the site of some of the most radical underground punk in Southern California—maybe even the country. In particular, Golden Hill was home to experimental noisecore band The Locust, whose bassist and vocalist Justin Pearson ran independent label Three One G out of their house at 2411 E St. The house doubled as a venue however, in which bands such as The Album Leaf, GoGoGo Airheart and, naturally, The Locust would perform D.I.Y. shows up

until a legendary “eviction” show in 2002, which took place just before a new owner moved in.

Adam Gnade, author of the Three One G-released novella Locust House, which references the eviction show, says that very show was his first (and unfortunately last) time seeing live music in the house.

“Finding that scene and realizing there were other weirdo romantic hardcore kids that wanted blast beats and synths instead of pink stucco condos and Charger games saved my life,” says Gnade.

Gnade speaks fondly of the numerous bands that rose up in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s in Golden Hill, which represented not just a creatively fertile time but one with a diverse array of styles. Where The Locust were noisy and chaotic, a band like Tristeza, for instance, was more intricate and pretty.

“Tristeza’s song ‘Golden Hill’ actually feels like the neighborhood—the looping, chiming progressions …nodding along in a morning haze kind of vibe that feels just like driving through the hilly streets,” he says.

“I’m not nostalgic for that time but some great music came of it. I have it all on vinyl and I play it loud and often.”

—Jeff Terich

January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

CAROLYN RAMOS

16 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

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PHOTOS BY TORREY BAILEY

Over the past four decades, Kathryn Willetts has observed and guided Golden Hill through a period of transition. When she bought her home in 1974, young families and small-time shops inhabited the blocks. The Willetts temporarily moved out but returned in 1981 to find a marred community. “We were burglarized twice within the first six months that we were here, and the character of the neighborhood had changed dramatically.” She teamed up with the Greater Golden Hill Planning Committee and Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation to make 25th Street a destination. The Golden Hill emblems marking the pavements today, as well as increased parking, are signs of her success. She also began leasing property to small businesses, filling entrepreneurial gaps. Set on incorporating a cuisine other than Mexican into the neighborhood, Luigi’s Pizzeria became one of her first customers. Then came Kiki’s Flowers and recently the boutique Haven, which is owned by Willett’s sister. But now, Willetts says it’s time for the next generation to take charge. “I really hope the younger people that moved into the neighborhood, who I hear saying that [it] is really coming up and improving, I hope they get involved in making sure that it stays a great place to live.”

—Torrey Bailey

While tattoo styles have evolved, Flying Panther (2323 Broadway) was founded on owner Rob Benavides’ loyalty to classic styles. His custom designs of panthers, roses and naked women reflect the ones his icon Ed Hardy popularized. “Everything here is kind of like a hieroglyphic,” Benavides says. “A

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picture means a thousand words.” But that wasn’t always the case. Benavides apprenticed in the ‘90s in Pacific Beach, where dolphins were a common request. “I’d never drawn dolphins or teddy bears when I was a kid. I just drew skulls. Being forced to draw what other people wanted, with no input from [myself ], made me learn how to draw quickly and write script nicely.” So when he opened Flying Panther, he returned to the classic tattoo shop vibe he was attracted to in his youth. “I was just intrigued by tattooing and loved the look of the dudes that were smoking in the shop. It looked like a rough place, and if you were extremely lucky, maybe you’d see a titty in there, or at least a drawing of one on the wall.” That outlaw environment has mellowed along with Golden Hill in the 10 years since the store opened, he says. “Before I lived here, I learned this was the area to score drugs and it was kind of edgy, but I’ve never seen it. Maybe a little rough around the edges looks-wise, but now it’s a beautiful Victorian neighborhood.”

—Torrey Bailey

“Pizza and beer, it just brings everybody together,” says Luigi Agostini, recalling a time the San Diego Police Department ate on one side of his restaurant while Mexican Mafia members dined on the other.

“Think of Pizzeria Luigi as Switzerland,” he says. “[People] can come here and eat. Outside, there you fight.” Agostini says growing up in Italy taught him to be more candid than the average American and led to honest and successful business practices. He also thanks the local business community for helping put Pizzeria Luigi (1137 25th St.) on the map in 2004. “It used to be an hour wait to go in to sit at the Turf Club back in the day. The bartenders, which are friends and customers of mine, used to send people to pick up slices to eat at the bar while they were waiting for a table.” Agostini thinks back to first moving to Golden Hill with a tinge of nostalgia. “It was a small community, a lot of artists, a lot of young people that were just trying to find themselves.” While he acknowledges higher rent prices and corporate growth in the neighborhood, he doesn’t want the atmosphere to change. “People got to realize that it’s not all about making an extra dollar, but it’s about the community you create around you.”

—Sofia Mejias

January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

CULTURE | FILM

Anxious perseverance

Silence

Three sterling new films struggle with uncertainty and faith

by Glenn Heath Jr.

C

lose the book on 2016. Slam that door shut. the haunting final scene, which brings to an end this Good riddance. This has been a tumultuous desperate search for something tangible. and trying year by any standard, leaving an Mercy has often been something Scorsese strugabundance of uncertainty in its wake. Questions of gles to define in his films, especially the ones with purpose seem to dominate our national conversa- overt religious connections. But in many ways, Silence tion on a daily basis. Swells of fear and doubt tend feels like a passionate and open sermon clarifying how to have that effect on people. Interestingly, the first the director sees the world, conflict and redemption. wave of 2017 film releases seems to reflect these The scenes between Rodrigues and his tormented inanxieties in a variety of ways. They may belong to terpreter Kichijiro (Yôsuke Kubozuka) are especially different narrative styles and illuminating in this regard. They genres, but each searches for confirm the film to be an oftmeaning by grappling with the difficult experience, but also a SILENCE inevitability of change. transcendent one.

Directed by Martin Scorsese Silence, opening Friday Jan. If Silence suggests that true Starring Andrew Garfield, 6, wrestles with the shifting peace can only be achieved in boundaries of ideology. Set in death, Theodore Melfi’s new Adam Driver, Yôsuke Kubozuka the 17th century, the film foldrama Hidden Figures opts for and Liam Neeson lows young Jesuit priests Roa more hopeful and pragmatic Rated R drigues (Andrew Garfield) and view of social transition. The Garrpe (Adam Driver) as they 1960s are just beginning and HIDDEN FIGURES fear of Russian space domisearch for their missing mentor Ferreira (Liam Neeson) in nance has got segregationist VirDirected by Theodore Melfi Japan. Catholicism has experiginia on pins and needles. Here, Starring Taraji P. Henson, enced a deathblow in the counthree talented African American Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe try thanks to a brutal decadeswomen try to make their marks long campaign by government at NASA despite deeply rooted and Kevin Costner forces to root out foreign priests racial and gender inequalities.

Rated PG and their local parishioners.

Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Director Martin Scorsese’s Henson) is a numbers whiz that CAMERAPERSON long-gestating adaptation of gets assigned to the all white Directed by Kristin Johnson Shûsaku Endô’s 1966 novel is and male Space Task Group. a prickly epic that deals with A natural born leader and talNot Rated the unexplainable motivations ented coder, Dorothy Vaughn surrounding religious faith. A (Octavia Spencer) ambitiously duality quickly emerges between cinematographer takes on programming the new IBM super comRodrigo Prieto’s quietly vast landscape imagery and puter. Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), already an ace the subversive internal beliefs propagated by Ro- engineer, demands the opportunity to attend a white drigues. The physical and spiritual are constantly at high school in order to take extension courses that odds with each other in every image, equally horri- will advance her career. fying and pristine. There’s no better example than On paper, Hidden Figures, which opens Jan. 6, in the sequence involving the beach crucifixion of looks like Oscar bait. Yet it’s an inspirational and three Japanese Catholics. relevant crowd-pleaser that dutifully respects its Unlike much of Scorsese’s canon, Silence has few characters and their various struggles. Instead of visual showstoppers or flashy moments. Instead, demonizing villains, the film calls attention to the this furious saga unfolds almost serenely, clinging to failed policies and precedents that help fortify racGarfield’s mesmerizing eyes trying to unpack all of ism in the workplace. All three of the central charthe confusion, rage and desperation warring inside with devout conviction. That battle culminates in FILM CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

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CULTURE | FILM

Hidden Figures acters struggle with this reality while still persevering under high-pressure situations.

Biases are gradually worn down thanks to work ethic and a collective belief in the bigger picture. With Russia’s aggressive space program in full swing, the stakes become just too high for NASA’s leadership (personified by a grouchy Kevin Costner) to ignore their own glaring injustices and inefficiencies regarding personnel.

“You have to see what she becomes,” says Katherine’s teacher during the film’s optimistic prologue. That sense of hope fuels the characters of Hidden Figures at home and on the job, two experiences that can, at times, seem galaxies apart. In the end, collective triumph is far more important than stubborn and archaic ideologies, a prescient lesson to remember heading into the New Year.

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Openness and curiosity also propel Cameraperson toward an awakening of sorts. This intensely personal film, which also opens Jan. 6 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park, explores the sometimes hidden connections between one’s work and private life. A longtime documentary cinematographer, director Kristin Johnson weaves together footage from multiple projects (including Bowling For Columbine and The Oath) to create a memoir of sorts.

Seemingly incomplete sequences involving a family in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a midwife in Nigeria, a boxer in New York City and more merge together, forming an experiential anthology that connects with Johnson’s own pain regarding her mother’s death. At times, this linkage is muted and assumed as opposed to constructed, leaving some segments feeling adrift. May-

be this messiness is what enriches the film’s rhythmic pulse, its lyrical sense of incompletion.

As a collection of memories, Cameraperson resonates with a unique kind of melancholy. For Johnson, the act of filming becomes a search for external meaning, and one that always leads her back home to the personal. This kind of life cycle—which fluctuates between emotions and experiences, highs and lows—never trivializes the intimacy of human interaction.

In that sense, Johnson’s film aligns nicely with both Silence and Hidden Figures. They are each concerned with the way people find strength in each other, even when their preferred religious/ social institutions and art forms come up short in explaining the unexplainable. I can’t think of a more serendipitous triple feature to open 2017. See them.

Film reviews run weekly.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING A Monster Calls: Connor (Lewis MacDougall) gets bullied at school only to come home and has to care for his sickly mother (Felicity Jones). In order to cope

with the trauma, he creates a fantastical parallel dream state with a parable-telling tree (Liam Neeson).

Amityville: The Awakening: A family with a comatose young boy move into a spooky new house, only to see him suddenly wake up and begin to act strangely.

Cameraperson: Longtime documentary cinematographer Kristin Johnson cuts together footage from her various projects into a moving memoir about cinema, life and death. Opens Friday, Jan. 6, and screens through Thursday, Jan. 12 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Hidden Figures: Three determined and brilliant African American programmers (Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe, Octavia Spencer) break through the gender and racial barriers at NASA in the early 1960s.

Train to Busan: When a virus hits South Korea, turning regular people into rabid animals, the occupants of a train must band together in order to survive. Opens Friday, Jan. 6, and screens through Thursday, Jan. 12 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Silence: Set in the 17th century, Martin Scorsese’s passion-project follows two young Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who travel to Japan in order to locate their missing mentor (Liam Neeson).

Underworld: Blood Wars: Kate Beckinsale reprises her role as an asskicking vampire in the fifth film in this action/sci-fi series.

For a complete

listing of movies,

visit sdcitybeat.com.

January 4, 2017 • San Diego CityBeat · 19

MUSIC

Dogwood circa 1998 (from left): Jason Harper, Josh Kemble, Russell Castillo, Evan Smith and Sean O’Donnell pplying a “Christian” label to punk rock is often considered blasphemous to purists. Yet it seems ironic those purists would reject anything that doesn’t conform to punk’s established tenets. After all, punk itself is all about nonconformity.

San Diego’s Dogwood—reuniting after a decade of retirement for two shows in Southern California—is familiar with the above Catch-22. With a high-speed sound reminiscent of early Offspring and vocals akin to the likes of NOFX and Lagwagon, Dogwood hit their heyday in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, most notably after Tooth & Nail Records released Building a Better Me in 2000. They’re not exactly Black Flag, but Dogwood remains a far cry from the safe sounds of contemporary Christian artists such as DC Talk and Amy Grant.

“We were writing about real life stuff that was happening in high school, like the party life or our girlfriends getting pregnant, just all this kind of stuff that’s happening to any kid. We just happened to be able to write it from a spiritual context, or a lot of questioning context like ‘If there is a God…’ kind of thing,” says Josh Kemble, lead vocalist since the band’s inception around 1994. “When you’re 17 or 18, there’s no one there to tell you the answers, so we can just yell it out to the air and see what happens.”

The original members of Dogwood—whose lineup changed a lot during their decade-long career—bonded in their Escondido high school photography class over their

20 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

mutual love of music and extreme sports videos. They were especially big fans of Taylor Steele’s surf movies and Mack Dawg’s snowboarding films that screened at SOMA, eventually deciding to start their own band in hopes that their own music would make an appearance in some of those movies.

“All we wanted to do was be in these snowboarding videos with Pennywise,” laughs Kemble, referring to the Hermosa Beach-based punk band.

But, due to the fact that two of the four members were active church members and their practice space was part of a church campus, they were instantly labeled a “Christian” band. This meant the punk rock element took a backseat despite the fact that the band’s lyrics often dealt with the same desires and struggles as secular punk bands.

“I think it got immediately categorized as [a Christian band],” confirms Kemble. “It was more of we wanted to get on the videos… because it wasn’t all ‘evangelical’ or Biblical-based or anything like that.

It’s kind of the stuff we knew, but it was also stupid high school stuff, or just writing about going snowboarding.”

Dogwood’s early days were marked with an eagerness to play anywhere for anyone—youth group rallies, skateparks and house parties, eventually moving to big-

ger venues like SOMA and other clubs around San Diego and Tijuana. Under the tutelage of bigger Christian bands such as P.O.D. and N.I.V. (No Innocent Victim), Dogwood released their first official release within two years (1996’s Good Ol’ Daze) and was touring full-time within three.

They also began releasing records along the way: 1997’s Through Thick & Thin, 1998’s Dogwood and 1999’s More Than Conquerors, which was released on the more highprofile Tooth & Nail Records.

However, other bands weren’t as enthusiastic about a religious aspect seeping into their countercultural scene.

“There were bands that thought that we didn’t belong just because we were saying that we were Christian. They were like ‘That has no place in punk rock’, that kind of thing. We got along with everyone personally, but they would say stuff back when there were [message] boards,” admits Kemble. “I guess we weren’t always looking to party. We were just playing music.”

After their final album (2003’s Seismic), Dogwood continued to tour with a rotating cast of members until slowly succumbing to family demands after their final tour in 2006. A decade later, Dogwood is reuniting for two shows only: January 13, 2017 at The Observatory and January 14, 2017 at Ventura’s Ventura Theater, both with Five Iron Frenzy and headliners MxPx. “We never technically did a farewell show, and technically it is a reunion because we haven’t played in a while, but it isn’t ‘our show’,” says Kemble. The band does receive frequent requests for gigs around the country, but with the band members living everywhere from Temecula to New Jersey until recently, it’s been impossible to reunite for a handful of shows until now. When whispers of a new tour or recording arise, Kemble laughs it off.

“I’m never close-minded to anything [but] I feel like when we stopped playing, we kind of passed the torch to another generation of musical styles, like Pierce the Veil,” he says. “I mean, I can barely think of any San Diego punk bands right now. Maybe that style has faded away.”

Even with the “Christian” characterization hanging over their heads, Kemble assures me that Dogwood remains steadfastly punk, first and foremost.

“The church will judge you harder than anyone else sometimes, and it’s very unfortunate, [especially] for artists because artists won’t ever really fit into a Christian mold,” he says. “I don’t have to do anything that [the church is] saying as long as I’m living the right way. And that’s why I saw Christian bands or Christians get out of the scene, or not say that they’re a Christian band—because of the church. Not because of other bands who hated them. We just didn’t think about it. We just dealt with it because we were easygoing. It was just snowboarding, snowboarding, snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing, The Offspring.

That’s it.”

Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com, check her out on Instagram at @thedelightedbite, or via Twitter at @iheartcontent.

@SDCityBeat

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO LOCALS ONLY

J

ake Najor, drummer for The Redwoods Revue, Natural Sounds Trio and seemingly countless other bands and projects, is releasing a new album in 2017. Najor’s preparing to release the album, which is titled In the Cut, in the spring, with a few more finishing touches to add before it’s out, including horns and some vocal tracks.

In the Cut is Najor’s first solo album, and he started the project in 2015 with some drum tracks, before Tim Felten, Matthew LaBarber and Nick Costa of Sure Fire Soul Ensemble ended up rounding out the ensemble.

“It’s more like a collaborative thing,” Najor says in a phone interview. “I just kind of wanted to have a record where the drums were the inspiration.”

Najor says that the album will lean heavy on styles of music that he’s played in the past, though it won’t stick to just one genre or sound.

“It’s definitely got a pretty heavy funk-soul sound,” he says. “There’s also a dub reggae track.

There’s one that’s kind of like a Mulatu [Astatke] Ethio-jazz. I tried to throw in some other influences, too.”

A couple of recordings from the sessions for the album have been posted on Najor’s Soundcloud page (soundcloud.com/jnajor), including the laid-back

Jake Najor “Cruise Control” and the Meters-like “Funkin for Jamacha.” He’s also tentatively planning a record release show in the spring, though those details haven’t been finalized as of yet.

“I’d like to put a band together, maybe have some special guests,” he says. “I’m just kind of anxious to get this out.”

—Jeff Terich

HOPES FOR SAN DIEGO MUSIC IN 2017

Y

ou’ll read the same message in just about any publication that covers music: 2016 was abysmal, but the music was good. And that was definitely true on a local level—my seven favorite albums from last week’s issue should make that clear.

Yet good can always be better, and there are always areas in which I feel San Diego can grow and expand upon what has long been an interesting and intimate music scene. Here are my hopes for the new year.

A better music festival: There’s been a festival vacuum ever since Street Scene went under, though there’s certainly no shortage of similar events such as SD Music Thing, CRSSD and Kaaboo. Those all have their merits, but their drawbacks are in being too decentralized, too narrow in lineup and too adult-contemporary, respectively. It may be a while before we have something like FYF Fest, but something a little smaller with an eclectic (and bold!) lineup would bring a lot of cred our way.

Cover bands, stand down: Everybody likes covers. They’re fun to hear, and they’re fun to play. But take it from someone who looks at local club listings every week—cover bands playing in San Diego are nearing the critical mass for outnumbering bands with original material. That’s not good for a creative music scene. And it certainly doesn’t say great things about the audiences. Cover bands are fine—some of my best friends are in cover bands—but there doesn’t necessarily need to be more of them.

Get weird: San Diego’s most fertile musical periods have always been those when bands more or less

@SDCityBeat

ignored larger trends on a national scale. That’s certainly happening on a smaller scale with individual bands, but I still think way too many right now are playing it a bit safe. Let’s go crazy. Let’s get nuts.

Music first: Image is important to an extent, but so many new bands—and this isn’t exclusive to San Diego—invest too much in style and vintage gear before writing great songs. A great song played on shitty gear can only get better. A bad song played through a $10,000 rig will still suck (same goes for a bad song played by someone in a dope hat). Write the great song first, work on the rest later.

Metalachi The kids are alright: San Diego’s always had trouble keeping all-ages venues, but we don’t have that many right now, and while I’m way too old for that to matter, a healthy music scene needs youth to keep it alive. Kudos to The Irenic and Che Cafe, but there’s still room for more.

—Jeff Terich

January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

MUSIC

JEFF TERICH

IF I WERE U A music insider’s weekly agenda WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4

PLAN A: Caught a Ghost, Modern Me, Imagery Machine @ Soda Bar. Caught A Ghost is one dude, Jesse Nolan, who combines sample-heavy lo-fi pop and R&B, a little bit like a cross between Beck and How to Dress Well. Beforehand, watch his video for “Time Go,” in which oldtimey cartoons frolic in a graveyard and in Hell. BACKUP PLAN: The Devil Makes Three, The Lost Dog Street Band @ Observatory North Park.

decades. Make sure to get there early for Hexa, who released one of my favorite local recordings of 2016. PLAN B: The Number 12 Looks Like You, Stolas, Fero Lux @ Soda Bar. If it’s your mission to make your first show of the year something loud and crazy, this is a good choice. The Number 12 Looks Like You play intense, intricate and mathematically complex hardcore that’ll confuse your nervous system. BACKUP PLAN: Resurrection Kings, Symbolic @ Brick by Brick.

THURSDAY, JAN. 5

PLAN A: Gene Loves Jezebel, Hexa @ Belly Up Tavern. Readers likely know Gene Loves Jezebel based on the strength of their ‘80s new wave hits like “Desire,” though the band’s been active for

22 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

FRIDAY, JAN. 6

PLAN A: Warren G @ Music Box. As we move into 2017, why not take the opportunity to step back into the g-funk era of the ‘90s. Warren G had a huge hit with 1994’s “Regulate,” which remains a hiphop party jam to Gene Loves Jezebel

this day. Regulators, mount up. PLAN B: TV Girl, Lanterns, Poppet @ Soda Bar. Former San Diegans and current Angelenos TV Girl create psychedelic indie pop that features layers of eclectic samples over upbeat hip-hop breaks. And though that’s something musicians have been doing since the ‘90s, TV Girl manages to make it sound fun and fresh. BACKUP PLAN: Revolt-Chix, Zombie Surf Camp, The Pictographs @ The Merrow.

SATURDAY, JAN. 7

PLAN A: Fu Manchu, 16 @ The Casbah. I’m impressed at how long Fu Manchu have been turning out fuzzy stoner rock anthems after all this time, rocking hard for more than two decades. California sludge misanthropes 16 are opening, and though they’re not quite as fun in an obvious sense, they definitely bring the thunder. PLAN B: Grizzly Business, Inspired and the Sleep, Spero @ Soda Bar. Grizzly Business have been putting in work for a couple years, and now they’re finally releasing their debut album, Spanish Old Fashioned. Their record-release show also includes Inspired and the Sleep, who have been making their own pleasing indie pop sounds for a while now.

SUNDAY, JAN. 8

PLAN A: “David Bowie Birthday Celebration” w/ Bowiephonics, Ariel Levine, DJs Claire, Mr. Mazee, Mr. Robert @ The Cas-

bah. I reserve my cover-show recommendations for special occasions, and this seems like one worth observing. It’ll be a year since Bowie’s passing, which was just a day after his birthday, and Bowiephonics will do the man justice with a set of Thin White Duke classics. PLAN B: Hannah Yeun, Nylon Apartments, TV Icon @ Soda Bar. Hannah Yeun’s Bandcamp page describes her music as “witchy,” which is enough for me to say “Sign me up!” It’s eerie, yet catchy pop music that’s a bit like Chelsea Wolfe backed by the Ventures. That is, it’s pretty damn fun.

MONDAY, JAN. 9

PLAN A: Author & Punisher, Skrapez, Fivepaw @ Blonde. This show is part of Three One G Records’ Planet B series at Blonde (more on Three One G and The Locust in this month’s Golden Hill special section). The headliner is one of my favorite San Diego artists right now, one-man industrial metal outfit Author & Punisher, whose intricate musical machines are as impressive as his pummeling music.

TUESDAY, JAN. 10

PLAN A: Brownout presents Brown Sabbath @ The Casbah. Austin’s Brownout are a great Latin funk band, but as Brown Sabbath they put their unique stylistic spin on the catalog of heavy metal godfathers Black Sabbath. It’ll be metal, and funky, as fuck.

@SDCityBeat

@SDCityBeat

January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Communist Daughter (Soda Bar, 1/31), Dashboard Confessional (HOB, 2/3), ‘Banding Together Fundraiser’ w/ Tim Flannery (BUT, 2/4), Irata (Soda Bar, 2/7), Branford Marsalis Quartet (Balboa Theatre, 2/10), Authority Zero (Brick by Brick, 2/12), Blanks 77 (Soda Bar, 2/19), Creedence Clearwater Revisited (Harrah’s SoCal, 2/24), Hazel English (Soda Bar, 2/25), ‘Experience Hendrix 2017’ w/ Buddy Guy, Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Harrah’s SoCal, 3/4), Truckfighters (Brick by Brick, 3/15), The Cadillac Three (HOB, 3/16), State Champs (Observatory, 4/23).

GET YER TICKETS MxPx, Five Iron Frenzy, Dogwood (Observatory, 1/13), Ozomatli (Music Box, 1/13), Sublime With Rome (HOB, 1/13-14), Tig Notaro (Observatory, 1/14), Marching Church (The Hideout, 1/20), The Raveonettes (Music Box, 1/21), Pepper, Less Than Jake (Observatory, 1/25), Rick Astley (HOB, 1/26), Lemuria (Hideout, 1/26), Lydia Loveless (Soda Bar, 1/27), Cold War Kids (Observatory, 1/27), Devendra Banhart (Observatory, 1/28), Ali Wong (Balboa Theatre, 1/28), Blind Boys of Alabama (BUT, 1/29), Mike Doughty (BUT, 2/1), Lilys (Soda Bar, 2/6), Alcest (Brick by Brick, 2/8), Austra, The Range (Cas-

bah, 2/8), Juicy J (HOB, 2/8), D.R.A.M. (Music Box, 2/9), You Blew It! (Che Cafe, 2/9), ‘Welcome to Night Vale’ (Observatory, 2/13), Weyes Blood (Soda Bar, 2/16), Billy Crystal (Copley Symphony Hall, 2/16), Cut Chemist (Music Box, 2/17), Reel Big Fish, Anti Flag (HOB, 2/17), Slim Cessna’s Auto Club (Soda Bar, 2/17), Penn and Teller (Harrah’s SoCal, 2/17), ‘You Are Going to Hate This Fest’ w/ The Frights, The Garden, Antwon (SOMA, 2/18), The Coathangers (Casbah, 2/18), Adam Ant (Observatory, 2/18), Surfer Blood (Soda Bar, 2/18), Dead Boys (Hideout, 2/19), Alejandro Escovedo (BUT, 2/20), Circa Survive (HOB, 2/21-2/22), Tennis (The Irenic, 2/22), Pinback (BUT, 2/23), Vince Staples (Observatory, 2/24), Moon Duo (Casbah, 2/25), Steve Poltz (BUT, 2/24-25), Pinback (Irenic, 2/25), Stevie Nicks (Viejas Arena, 3/2), Senses Fail (Observatory, 3/3), Isaiah Rashad (Observatory, 3/5), Bon Jovi (Viejas Arena, 3/5), Temples (BUT, 3/5), Immolation (Brick by Brick, 3/5), Shiner (Casbah, 3/5), Red Hot Chili Peppers (Valley View Casino Center, 3/5), Sinkane (Soda Bar, 3/5), Mykki Blanco (Soda Bar, 3/7), Six Organs of Admittance (Soda Bar, 3/8), Lady Lamb (Soda Bar, 3/9), Bash & Pop (Casbah, 3/9), Whitechapel (HOB, 3/9), Japandroids (Music Box, 3/11), G. Love and Special Sauce (BUT, 3/11-12), Menzingers (Irenic, 3/12), Julieta Venegas (HOB, 3/17), James Chance and the Contortions (Hideout, 3/18), Common (Observatory, 3/24), Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Casbah, 3/25), Why? (Irenic, 3/30), Electric Six (Casbah, 3/30), Nashville Pussy (Brick by Brick, 3/31), The Old 97s (BUT, 3/31), Passenger (HOB, 4/2), Tiffany (BUT, 4/3), The

24 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

Damned (HOB, 4/7), Green Day (Valley View Casino Center, 4/8), Aaron Neville Duo (BUT, 4/9), Subhumans (Observatory, 4/11), Reverend Horton Heat (BUT, 4/20), The Wedding Present (Casbah, 4/30), Lionel Richie (Viejas Arena, 5/8), Testament (HOB, 5/16), Robin Trower (HOB, 5/19), Rodriguez (Humphreys, 5/23), Brian Wilson (Civic Theatre, 5/24), NKOTB, Paula Abdul, Boyz II Men (Viejas Arena, 6/1), The Primitives (Hideout, 6/6), Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Civic Theatre, 6/26), Coldplay (Qualcomm Stadium, 10/8).

JANUARY WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4 Kathryn Cloward at Belly Up Tavern.

Caught a Ghost at Soda Bar. The Devil Makes Three at Observatory North Park.

Behind the Wagon at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, JAN. 5 The Devil Makes Three at Observatory North Park. The Number 12 Looks Like You at Soda Bar. Buck-O-Nine, Voodoo Glow Skulls at The Casbah.

FRIDAY, JAN. 6 Pepe Aguilar at Civic Theatre. TV Girl at Soda Bar. Warren G at Music Box. Damage Inc. at House of Blues.

SATURDAY, JAN. 7 Beat Farmers Hootenanny at Belly Up Tavern. 6ONE9 at House of Blues. Grizzly Business at Soda Bar. Fu Manchu at The Casbah.

SUNDAY, JAN. 8 Hannah Yuen at Soda Bar. Bowiephonics at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, JAN. 10 Dawes at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 Kane Brown at House of Blues.

THURSDAY, JAN. 12 J Boog at Observatory North Park. The Schizophonics at Belly Up Tavern. Protoje at Music Box.

FRIDAY, JAN. 13 MxPx, Five Iron Frenzy, Dogwood at Observatory North Park. Ozomatli at Music Box. Sublime With Rome at House of Blues. The Little Richards, Alice Bag Band at The Casbah. Le Chateau at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, JAN. 14 Sublime With Rome at House of Blues.

Tommy Castro and the Painkillers at Belly Up Tavern. Midge Ure Band at The Casbah. Tig Notaro at Observatory North Park.

SUNDAY, JAN. 15 Lucinda Williams at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Born Rivals at Soda Bar.

MONDAY, JAN. 16 Entombed A.D. at Brick by Brick. Lucinda Williams at Belly Up Tavern. Captain Auzmo at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, JAN. 17 DNCE at House of Blues. David Lindley at Belly Up Tavern. Jovi and the Issues at The Casbah.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18 Consider the Source at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, JAN. 19 Daniela Andrade at The Irenic. Zakk Sabbath at Brick by Brick. Tropical Popsicle at The Casbah.

FRIDAY, JAN. 20 Marching Church at The Hideout. Erotic City at Music Box. Homesafe at Che Café. The Schizophonics at The Casbah. Gazebos at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, JAN. 21 Chevelle at House of Blues (sold out).

Cold War Kids at Observatory North Park. Mattson 2 at The Casbah. Fabulous Thunderbirds at Poway OnStage.

The Generators at Soda Bar. Silver Snakes at Brick by Brick. The Raveonettes at Music Box.

SUNDAY, JAN. 22 The Toasters at The Casbah. Robby Krieger of The Doors at Music Box. Raffi at Balboa Theatre. Daughtry at Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, JAN. 23 Jeff Bridges and the Abiders at Belly Up Tavern. Jesse Malin at The Casbah.

CLUBS CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

@SDCityBeat

MUSIC CLUBS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 TUESDAY, JAN. 24 Timothy Schmit at Belly Up Tavern.

Leah Dou at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 25 Stephen Steinbrink at Soda Bar. Pepper, Less Than Jake at Observatory North Park.

Powerman 5000, Orgy at Brick by Brick.

Rick Astley at House of Blues. Lemuria at The Hideout.

FRIDAY, JAN. 27 Pato Banton at Belly Up Tavern. Lydia Loveless at Soda Bar. Cold War Kids at Observatory North Park.

SATURDAY, JAN. 28 Hamilton Leithauser at The Casbah (sold out). Ali Wong at Balboa Theatre.

July Talk at Soda Bar. Devendra Banhart at Observatory North Park.

I feel bad for millennials who missed the great ska boom of the late ‘90s. It truly was a happier time: everyone wore two-tone clothes and skanked to and from work. If you ever dropped something at a show, there’s a good chance a kind stranger would pickituppickituppickitup for you. Catching San Diego locals Buck-O-Nine is probably the closest you’ll get to those salad (skalad?) days. Their ‘90s hit “My Town”—a bouncy ode to our city—still hits that nostalgic sweet spot for all rude boys and girls. Buck-ONine plays Thursday, Jan. 5 at The Casbah.

—Ryan Bradford

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1 Mike Doughty at Belly Up Tavern. Camila at House of Blues. The Dead Ships at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, FEB. 2 FRIDAY, FEB. 3 Paul Stanley’s Soul Station at Belly Up Tavern. Birdy Bardot at Soda Bar. Metalachi at The Casbah. Dashboard Confessional at House of Blues.

SATURDAY, FEB. 4 Vokab Company at Music Box. Sweet and Tender Hooligans at Observatory North Park. ‘Banding Together Fundraiser’ w/ Tim Flannery at Belly Up Tavern.

SUNDAY, FEB. 5 Down by Law at Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, JAN. 29 Blind Boys of Alabama at Belly Up Tavern. The Winehouse Experience at Music Box.

MONDAY, JAN. 30 The Bluebonnets at The Casbah. Run the Jewels at Observatory North Park (sold out). D.A. Stern at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, JAN. 31 Kenny Wayne Shepherd at Belly Up

@SDCityBeat

FEBRUARY

Kitchen Dwellers at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, JAN. 26

SPOTLIGHT

Tavern (sold out). Communist Daughter at Soda Bar.

MONDAY, FEB. 6 Henry Kapono at Belly Up Tavern. Lilys at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, FEB. 7 Irata at Soda Bar.

CLUBS CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

January 4, 2017· San Diego CityBeat · 25

MUSIC CLUBS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Fri: Sister Nancy, SM Familia, Soulective. Tue: Skunkdub.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Fri: Nebula Drag, Eclisse, VIGR Sun: Dead Country Gentlemen.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: Croatia Squad.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Sat: Lenguas Largas, Manatees, Mexico City Rollers.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Thu: Gene Loves Jezebel, Hexa Fri: Pato Banton, Layne Tadesse Sat: ‘Beat Farmers Hootenanny’ w/ The Farmers, Paladins Tue: Dawes (sold out).

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. Mon: ‘Mose Allison Tribute’.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave., Downtown.

Wed: Ride the Mule. Thu: ‘Night Skool’.

Fri: ‘Good Times’. Tue: ‘50s/60s Dance Party.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Damage Inc. Sat: 6one9, Copycat Killers, Relax Max. Mon: DJ Mike White. Tue: Robin Henkel.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Thu: ‘Darker than Wax’. Fri: Divine Species. Sat: ‘Ascension’ w/ Kanga. Tue: Man Mantis.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Fri: Revolt-Chix, Zombie Surf Camp, The Pictographs. Sat: The Debonaires, The Revivers, Mochilero All Stars.

Tue: Palomino, Sights & Sages.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Thu: ‘Springboard West Showcase’. Fri: Warren G. Sat: Frankie J, The Big Pink.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Mon: Author & Punisher, Skrapez, Fivepaw.

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

Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’. Tue: ‘Trapped’.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Linda Vista. Thu: Resurrection Kings, Symbolic.

Sat: Godhammered, Aghori, A Hero Within, Orphic Eye. Tue: Stitched Up Heart, Letters From The Fire, Sight Unscene.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 6th Ave., Downtown. Fri: Wearetreo. Sat: Jayceeoh.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Thu: Buck-O-Nine, Voodoo Glow Skulls, The Porkers. Fri: ‘Soul Search Council’ w/ Lady Dottie and the Diamonds, DJs Claire, Mike Turi & Ms. Angie.

Sat: Fu Manchu, 16. Tue: Brownout presents Brown Sabbath.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Sat: Craig Smoove.

The Che Café, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Thu: The Expos, Closet Goth, Trouter Space, First Move.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Thu: The Number 12 Looks Like You, Stolas, Ferolux. Fri: TV Girl, Lanterns, Poppet. Sat: Grizzly Business,

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: Gilbert Castellanos. Sat: Tiffany Jane and the Kicks.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Swing Thing. Fri: Same As Yesterday. Sat: Baja Bugs.

26 · San Diego CityBeat · January 4, 2017

Lucinda Williams - Monday, Jan. 16 at Belly Up Tavern Inspired and the Sleep, Spero. Sun: Hannah Yuen, Nylon Apartments, TV Icon.

Calphonics, Chad Lada Duo. Sun: Shane Hall Trio. Tue: Lauren Leigh and Sam.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave., North Park.

Tue: ‘Electricity’.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Sat: Squarecrow, Lowbrow, Chagrin.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Linda Vista.

Thu: Blue Largo. Fri: The Distractions. Sat: Full Strength Funk Band. Tue: Sue Palmer.

The Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Fri: Chad Lada Duo, Cassie B Project. Sat:

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Sat: Jason Lee and the R.I.P. Tides.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Thu: The Walking Dudes, Wang Dang Daddies, Like Lexington. Sat: Electric Mud1921 Bacon St. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

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LAST WORDS | ADVICE

AMY ALKON

ADVICE

GODDESS Wood I Lie To You My girlfriend found a certain little blue pill in my jeans pocket, and her feelings were hurt. I explained that I’m as into her as ever; I just need a little extra help because I’m getting older. However, she’s taking this personally. How do I reassure her?

—Rhymes With Niagara Back in seventh grade, erections were easy to get—especially when you were standing in front of the class giving your oral report.

A penis is generally at its peppiest when a man’s in his teens and 20s (before genes and/or years of bad living narrow the arteries from superhighways to singlefile footpaths). That’s because erections are blood flow-powered—ultimately, anyway. They start in the brain in response to a thought or something from the environment—like being touched or seeing the hot neighbor bending over in yoga pants.

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Nitric oxide gets released and starts a chemical reaction that relaxes smooth muscle in the penis, allowing blood vessels to dilate: “Open up! Party time!” Then, sex researcher Dr. Robert Kolodny explains, “an increased amount of blood flows into the penis, where it is trapped in three spongy cylinders that run the length of the organ. The resulting fluid pressure is what causes the penis to increase in size … and to become rigid.”

There’s an elastic fibrous membrane— the tunica albuginea—that keeps the blood in the penis. And this thing being leaky— kind of like a submarine hatch with a bad seal—is just one of the things (along with narrowed arteries, anxiety, endocrine problems, smoking and diabetes, among others) that can cause a penis to stay floppy or get wilty.

Using a pharmaceutical erection helper is basically like calling in a plumber when the shower pressure isn’t what it used to be. It doesn’t make a man the least bit more attracted to a woman or more into sex than

he’d otherwise be. It just relaxes the smooth muscle and increases blood flow, making the, um, cadet more likely to report for duty.

Explain all of this to your girlfriend.

Then tell her how beautiful and sexy you find her, and tell her again. And keep telling her. Men don’t quite understand how much this means to a woman. When a woman believes her man finds her attractive, it helps her feel loved and secure. That reassurance—combined with being clued in on the mechanics of the manpart— should help your girlfriend understand that there’s no reason to take your pill popping personally. The pipes just need a little help; it isn’t the penis version of Groundhog Day—with the little feller peeking out, deciding the landscape is hopeless, and going back into hiding.

We don’t expect a 1939 Studebaker to drive like a 2016 BMW. (And hey…where’s the backup camera on this thing?!)

To say you aren’t alone is something of an understatement. In reviewing survey data from men 75 or older, UCLA urology professor Christopher Saigal found that 77.5 percent reported experiencing some degree of erectile dysfunction. And 47.5 percent have a complete inability to achieve liftoff. (P.S. This isn’t exactly a secret to women who date 70-something men.)

Unfortunately, the reality for aging penises goes poorly with the ridiculous belief many people have that intercourse is the only “real” sex. However, sex therapist Dr. Marty Klein observes that ultimately, “what most people say they want from sex is some combination of pleasure and closeness.” You can give that to a woman— even if, at 77, everything on you is stiff but Flaccid Trip the one part you’d like to be.

In “senior dating,” how, and how soon, That’s what you need to convey. But do you suggest I disclose my ED? I’m 77, don’t sit there in the bright lights of the dinand this woman I’m seeing is 60ish. er and be all, “Let’s talk about my penis…”

—Man Of Yore Wait till there’s a make out moment, and after you kiss a bit, pause the action. In tellWhen I was 13, I could read a book from ing her, consider that you set the tone for across the room. These days, it’s sometimes whether your situation is some shameful hard to make out the words on those thing or “just one of those things.” Humor ginormous highway signs unless I let my tends to express the latter pretty well—like Leader Dog take the wheel.

“I have a pet name for my penis. It’s Rip Van Lucky for me, nobody snickers that I’m Winkle, because he’s been out cold since less of a woman because I have less-than- the Bush administration.” perfect eyesight. And it’s pretty stupid that we attach that baggage to the aging penis. (c)2016, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved.

January 4, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 27