2 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
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UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR
YIMBYism for dummies (and we’re all dummies)
B
ack in December, I used this space to preview how housing (among other issues) would be one of the main points of contention when it came to Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the new city council. Whether it’s skyrocketing rents or greedy landlords, or the seemingly never-ending political ineffectiveness when it comes to helping our homeless neighbors, it all comes back to one issue: lack of housing. “The general outlook is changing when it comes to the housing crisis. In the past, NIMBYism (NIMBY is an acronym for ‘not in my backyard’) has often won out,” I said in that December column. “But the San Diego Planning Commission’s recent opening of a new affordable housing apartment complex in Pacific Highlands Ranch, as well as the approval of an affordable housing unit in Clairemont— despite naysaying from some community residents—are a step in the right direction. Organizations such as Uptown Planners and YIMBY [‘yes in my backyard’] Democrats of San Diego County are leading this progressive counter-movement and now have some political muscle behind their causes.” So yeah, I couldn’t help but feel like I totally called that one especially after hearing the mayor’s State of the City address last Tuesday where he used a good chunk of his speech to broadly address housing and publicly declare himself San Diego’s first “YIMBY mayor.” “The bureaucracy has been set up to empower anti-housing forces that delay or deny projects at every turn,” Faulconer said. “Obstructionists must never again be able to halt the housing that San Diego needs.” When it came to local politicians and insiders, there seemed to be a general betterlate-than-never attitude when it came to the speech, but some remained tentative. Council President Georgette Gomez said she was hopeful, but was going to wait to see what kind of concrete details the mayor proposes. State Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez was even more skeptical. “My personal reaction to Kevin Faulconer’s Democrat-like State of the City Address: yeah, ok, I’ll believe it when I see it done,” she said via tweet. Gonzalez later gave the mayor “big props” on the “aggressive” YIMBY comments, but her first tweet could be seen as a challenge. It also could be seen as a threat. You see,
when the mayor refers to these “anti-housing forces” and “obstructionists,” he could be referring not only to environmentalists and lobbying groups, but to politicians in Sacramento as well. And whether it’s state or local legislation, it’s these environmental regulations, costs and fees that Republicans often see as a detriment to developers building large-scale housing. So, yeah, while YIMBYism is progressive at its core (it helps tackle raising rents, homelessness, etc.), it makes sense that Republicans would hitch their wagon to it when it comes to getting rid of pesky laws and fees that their rich developer friends find burdensome. There’s a certain amount of cognitive dissonance when it comes to the overall tenets of YIMBYism. Do we do it at the cost of the environment? What about parking spaces? Public transit? Rent control? And what about short-term vacation rentals? It’s one of those strange issues that politicians say they agree with, but then end up sounding as if they disagree. If readers are feeling particularly masochistic, head to Twitter and find the thread that began with a simple retweet from @yimbysd that begins with, “I remember scheming years ago about a YIMBY PAC…” What began as a simple retweet of Voice of San Diego editor Scott Lewis plugging the outlet’s podcast (where there’s a great interview with the mayor about his newfound YIMBYism), turned into one of the best “well, actually”-style threads I’ve read in a long time. The thread got to a point where some of the people tweeting seemed to have talked themselves out of their original stances. Think of it this way for the sake of simplicity: everyone believes in the overall concept that there needs to be more housing, but when it comes to NIMBYism, progressives and conservatives have fundamental differences on what the best course of action is when it comes to new housing. One could argue that I just defined politics in general, but it’s worth pointing out that this is the first time in a long time where both parties are embracing the idea that it’s time to build, build, build! Here’s hoping they don’t screw it up.
—Seth Combs
Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com
This issue of CityBeat also hates the parking situation at the UTC mall.
Volume 17 • Issue 23 EDITOR Seth Combs WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos STAFF WRITER Andrea Lopez-Villafaña COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Ryan Bradford, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Rhonda “Ro” Moore
CONTRIBUTORS Christin Bailey, Torrey Bailey, Jackie Bryant, David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Ombretta Di Dio, Julia Dixon Evans, Michael A. Gardiner, Sara Harmatz, Glenn Heath Jr., Lizz Huerta, Tigist Layne, Jonathan Mandel, Lara McCaffrey, Scott McDonald, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Ian Ward PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jason Noble ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Richard Diaz Jr. ACCOUNTING Perla Castillo, Linda Lam, Yiyang Wang HUMAN RESOURCES Andrea Baker VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Comden ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Steven Persitza
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JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3
UP FRONT | LETTERS
FEARMONGERING STATEMENTS Nice article and photos about artist David Adey by editor Seth Combs. It’s a shame, however, that Mr. Combs was unwilling to share the artist’s desire to learn as much as he can about the topic, in this case guns. Repeatedly referring to the AR15 as an “assault rifle” demonstrates a failure to understand the most basic terms about firearms. The AR15 is not considered an “assault rifle” by anyone other than the deliberately deceptive California legislature. It is not used by any army, because it simply can’t put out enough bullets for battlefield use. It cannot fire fully automatically, or “machine gun” style. Furthermore, the fearmongering statement that “you can 3-D print the lower receiver” and make an untraceable AR15 might be technically true, but patently false, as it would require an industrial grade fabricator capable of producing the high strength steel needed. Not exactly something your typical computer geek or crazed killer could obtain or operate.
Mark Clem Bay Park
TABLE OF CONTENTS Note from David Adey to the editor in response to Mr. Clem’s letter: I’m not an expert on guns or gun laws, so it is very possible that I’m wrong on any number of issues, and I’m always open to being corrected. My project is a work of art, and a creative expression based upon my observations and experience. It is not intended to offer a comprehensive view on guns or gun law. I agree with your reader that the definition for an “assault weapon” is very difficult to clarify, which is a large part of the problem for legislators. He is correct that it depends upon whose definition you are using, CA legislators, military, etc. I’m not sure if there is a universal definition. Your usage of the term is not inconsistent with commonly used language, but it is often an irritant for gun enthusiasts who possess more specialized knowledge than your average citizen. So that is a long answer to say that in my opinion, he’s not wrong, but neither are you. The one factual error I noticed in your piece is that you referred to a shotgun as a rifle. Regarding the 3D printing question, in a way your reader and I are both wrong. The lower is not normally made from “high strength steel”
4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
as he suggested. They are usually aluminum. They can be made from 3D printed plastic, but “fully functional” is a bit of an overstatement in hindsight. A 3D printed plastic lower receiver will break eventually. It is not nearly as strong or durable as a commercially made aluminum lower. However, it can be functional, and there are countless youtube videos of people firing AR rifles with 3D printed plastic lowers. I do agree with your reader that the threat of 3D printed guns has been overblown in the media. However, the technology gets better and better every day, so it may become a more realistic threat in the very near future. The data is out there, and there is no way to get it back. That’s what I’m more interested in from a creative perspective. Note from the editor in response: I love guns, but just like most gun owners, I believe in common sense gun control measures. However, that wasn’t my aim with this story and other than the shotgun/rifle editing mistake, I believe the story was a fair and objective piece on Adey’s work and in no way attempted to propagandize or misrepresent either side of the gun debate. And you can call me Seth.
UP FRONT
ARTS & CULTURE
From the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A Side-Eye of Sanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Sordid Tales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Feature: Yasmine Kasem. . . . . . . . 14 Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-18
FOOD & DRINK World Fare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Final Draught. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
THINGS TO DO The Short List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12
MUSIC Feature: Dani Bell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Notes from the Smoking Patio. . . . . . 21 The Spotlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 If I Were U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . 23-25
IN THE BACK Astrologically Unsound. . . . . . . . . 24 CannaBitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
ON THE COVER That gorgeous shot of local singer Dani Bell on this week’s cover comes courtesy of Kristy Walker. In addition to just being an amazing portrait photographer, Walker has been serving as sort of the in-house documentarian for Redwoods Music, snapping starling photographs of artists like Al Howard, Birdy Bardot and Shelbi Bennett. But Dani Bell is one of her favorite subjects. “There is a high chance of me having a successful photo shoot with Dani as my subject, even if I’m having a moment of uncertainty,” says Walker. “The mask definitely helps her stand out in a crowd. I specifically remember walking around with her last year at the Bottlerock Music Festival in Napa and after their set was done, she kept the mask on most of the day. All day new fans were coming up to her, or others were asking about the mask and why she was wearing it. She always seems to have a pretty funny answer.” Readers can see more of Walker’s work at kristywalkerphotographer.com or on Instagram at kristywalkerphoto.
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UP FRONT | OPINION
And they’re off! Quick primers and early odds on San Diego’s 2020 candidates for mayor (so far) By Seth Combs
T
here’s been a lot of attention paid over the last few weeks about who will be running against Donald Trump in 2020, which may have drowned out the news that San Diego has a few declared candidates running for mayor that year. With Rep. Scott Peters officially announcing that he will continue to serve in the House of Representatives, here’s our (really) early takes on the Democratic candidates hoping to replace Faulconer come January 2021. On your mark, get set…
The candidate: Todd Gloria Who is he? A third generation San Diegan, Gloria became House Rep. Susan Davis’ district director in the early ’00s before successfully running for City Council in 2008, replacing Toni Atkins. He served as the chair of the city’s Budget and Finance Committee, Council President and as interim mayor after the
resignation of Bob Filner. He then went on to become a State Assemblymember in 2016, where he has served since. Pros? On paper, he’s the perfect progressive candidate. He’s young (he’s 40), gay, mixed-race and has an impressive record of progressive legislation including gun-control laws and election reform. Recently, he led the push for the state auditor to investigate the city and county’s handling of the hepatitis A outbreak. Cons? Critics have often pointed out that Gloria didn’t do enough with his time on the city council to address the issue of homelessness back at a time when it could have conceivably been much more manageable. He has addressed this, but we expect the Republican nominee will bring it up again. Either way, if he wins in Nov. 2020, he’s going to inherit a bit of a mess. Odds to win: 1 to 1
The candidate: Barbara Bry Who is she? She’s the President Pro Tem of the San Diego City Council and serves as the Chair of the Budget and Government Efficiency Committee. Her humble roots are charming, as she was one of the co-founders of ProFlowers. com, as well as a UCSD professor and a business journalist. She even served as the founding editor and CEO of Voice of San Diego. Pros? We got an early glimpse of Bry’s rallying cry of “it’s full
STEAM ahead” at the San Diego Opera’s opening night. STEAM, in this instance, is an acronym for “science, technology, engineering, arts and math.” It’s a savvy move for her to immediately brand herself as the candidate who will fight for education and the arts. The fact that she’s been here (as opposed to Sacramento) throughout all the problems of the past four years will also be a notch on her political belt. Cons? Same as that last pro. She’s been on the council throughout the past four years and a lot of the city’s problems have grown into bigger problems. Her handling of the short-term vacation rental situation blew up in her face and a potential darkside to the whole “full STEAM ahead” mantra is Bry’s pro-tech outlook. Not that we’re anti-tech, but San Diego doesn’t want to be a beachside Silicon Valley or Seattle. The rents are already high enough, so just think about how high they’ll get when tech companies start relocating here. Odds to win: 2 to 1
The candidate: Cory Briggs Who is he? An often “controversial” and outspoken environmental attorney best known for fighting for open government policies and, more notably, suing developers and politicians attempting to skirt environmental laws and restrictions. Pros? A true dark horse candidate and one that we welcome. The environment does often take a backseat when it comes to mayoral campaigns especially in the midst of issues such as homelessness and housing. A political junkie, we expect him to be gunning for anyone running on the Democratic ticket. Along with community leader Tasha Williamson, who is also run-
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ning as an anti-establishment candidate, we expect them to play the part of no-nonsense truth-tellers against any boastful or exaggerated claims by the other candidates. Cons? Because he’s a longshot candidate, he could potentially do nothing more than play the part of spoiler or even taint Bry or Gloria’s candidacy before the primaries. And his hard, unwavering stance on development is often difficult to defend, especially in the face of the severe housing crisis when most candidates, as well as the current mayor, are looking at ways to try to build more housing. Odds to win: 18 to 1
The candidate: Waldo Who is he? OK, so the animated bear from that one episode of Black Mirror is not going to win, but it will have to serve as a convenient placeholder until other candidates emerge, as the Republicans are yet to find a viable candidate to replace Mayor Faulconer, who is termed out. Will it be any of the current or former city councilmembers (Lorie Zapf, Mark Kersey, Scott Sherman and Chris Cate)? Maybe Assemblymember Brian Maienschein? Maybe Kristin Gaspar will move downtown and start yelling about immigration. Who knows? The proverbial night is young. But look, let’s be realistic: Republicans see the writing on the wall even if the election is nearly two years away. They know that anti-Trump (or Pence, if indeed, Trump resigns by then) voters will be out in full force all over the nation, and as San Diego increasingly shifts from purple to blue, the chances of a Republican winning in 2020 are minimal at best. Unless Filner decides to run again, in which case all bets are off. Odds to win: 4 to 1
JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5
6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
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CULTURE | VOICES
RHONDA “RO” MOORE
A SIDE-EYE OF
SANITY
Pride in ownership
S
o just in time to capitalize on the “New Year/ New Me” frenzy, Netflix launched a show starring Marie Kondo that focuses on decluttering one’s living space. I applaud anyone’s efforts to optimize their surroundings especially if it leads to donating usable items. But if one more person tells me purging my collection of books is the way to reorganize my apartment, we’re going to have problems. No, I’m not about to bash the KonMari Method. I’ve read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It’s an interesting read full of useful tips. There’s nothing to take issue with when it comes to Kondo’s overall philosophy. I do, however, take issue with the narrow vision of recent converts to this philosophy. Dear KonMari Method Bandwagoners, keep away from my book stacks. Anyone quoting “30 books” at me as the magic number to literary happiness is asking to be stabbed. Seriously, I. Will. Fight. Everyone. But I told my mom I’d extend my felony-free streak another year and I’d like to keep that promise. So, let’s discuss this concept of letting “joy” guide the search for the perfect home environment instead. “Tokimeki” is the Japanese word Marie Kondo uses when referring to the concept that items should “spark joy” or not be kept. Upon first hearing the word, I wondered if a more literal translation might aid me in understanding this philosophy. After I looked it up and learned that the word’s meaning is closer to “excitement,” “heartbeat,” or “throb,” it clicked. The KonMari Method advocates removing any items that don’t directly serve an immediate need. It also advocates throwing out any items that don’t elicit a positive emotional connection with the owner. That’s simple enough. Of course, this isn’t an objective standard, which means outsiders shouldn’t make judgment calls on what’s “essential” or “sparks joy” for someone else. I don’t, nor do I wish to, live a minimalist lifestyle. There’s no perfect or set number of tangible items I keep in my surroundings. The first thing I do, anywhere I move, is find a library… or two. I love books but growing up I couldn’t afford to own as many as I read. So I made it my business to know where I could get books. When I was 10, reading made moving to—and living in—the South manageable. I grew up on a military base. Civilian life, and all the associated fuckery, was a seriously nextlevel fish-out-of-water experience. Libraries became my true north and they’ve remained that way. Once I began working, I added trips to bookstores. Naturally, repeatedly checked-out titles soon found their way into my permanent collection. I’m from a working-class family, and as a working adult, I’ve rarely lived more than a few paychecks
away from a serious financial downturn. As a freelance writer, that line is even thinner. The ever-present need to make ends meet directly impacts every other aspect of my life, particularly when it comes to what I consider to be earned pleasures. Budget-making has always been an exercise in pragmatism and project management. I’m not frivolous with money. I’ve never had enough, in my estimation, to afford to be frivolous. I work damn hard to keep what I need to live comfortably in my everyday surroundings. Part of that means the things that I naturally gravitate toward—like books—are readily available. This approach serves me well. If I decide to keep something I own, there’s a reason for that decision even if it’s not immediately obvious to others. I’m not allowed to drive anymore (I lose feeling in my hands without warning; so yeah, car parked forever). This means getting to the library via rideshare isn’t an expense I can regularly put in the budget. So I have to have a lot of books on hand. I buy them when I can afford to, so I always have something to read. I also keep a stockpile of anchor household items (toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, etc.) in bulk and stored in a fashion that could earn me the title of “prepper.” It’s a practical necessity because it could be months before my budget permits buying household items. It’s a huge privilege to not have to budget ahead when it comes to shopping. Most folks don’t even think about it. But consider this: Welfare recipients can’t use SNAP (CalFresh) to buy household items. Those must come out of their paychecks; along with rent, lights, water, gas, insurances and all the other bills that comprise a life. Like me, these folks must figure out how to spend a dollar eight ways on a regular basis. My buying-ahead habits come from watching my mom keep ahead of a house full of active kids and a husband with a habit of paying bills out of order. I learned that a household budget should always have an “Oh shit, that was unexpected” clause. My shopping and home organization habits still reflect these lessons. I’d give up cake before books. By the time this runs, the fervor to “Kondo” things may have died down but people projecting their motives onto others won’t have. So, when confronted with a bibliophile, assume books spark joy all over the place. Even if our face is buried in a book while having a seriously ugly cry and shoving ice cream in our sobbing mouths. Moral of the story? Be careful not to end up as the item not bringing someone joy. Marie’s been clear on what to do when that happens.
If I decide to keep something that I own, there’s a reason for that decision even if it’s not immediately obvious to others.
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A Side-Eye of Sanity appears every other week. Follow Ro Moore on Twitter at @BookBlerd.
JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7
UP FRONT | OPINION
EDWIN DECKER
SORDID
TALES
All atheists go to heaven
I
wonder if readers have heard about the conversation between Pope Francis and the young boy who wanted to know if his recently deceased atheist father went to heaven. According to the Huffington Post, Francis was visiting a small parish outside Rome where—during a Q&A with parishioners—a tearyeyed lad named Emanuele was called to the microphone. Emanuele explained to the pope that his unbelieving father was a good man who had all four of his children baptized. “Is my dad in heaven?” the boy asked. When I read that I thought, zoinks! How is Francis going to talk his way out of this can of canaries? On one hand, lying hardly seems an option. John 3:18 says, “… whoever does not believe stands condemned,” and I just can’t imagine The Almighty being too keen over his director of communications running around deceiving kids about how to get into Heaven. On the other hand, it would be damn near abusive to tell a grief-stricken child that his dad is doomed to toil in a vat of lava while demons sing, “Drop it Like it’s Hot,” over and over through eternity. So how did the pontiff respond? Well, he went with the yes-Virginia-there-is-a-Santa-Claus approach. That is to say that, with great style and grace, he lied. Yessiree, Pope Francis—he the keeper of righteousness, he the infallible conduit to The Messiah, he who once said, “Where there are lies, there can be no love”—lied like a snake selling snake oil to a snakepit of snakes. “If this [boy’s father] was able to create children like this,” Francis said to the audience after Emanuele returned to his seat, “then it is true that he is a good man.” Lie! Shitty parents produce likeable kids too. “Your father had his children baptized,” Francis continued, turning to Emanuele, “so he had a good heart.” Lie! Clearly it was Emanuele’s devout mother who pushed the ablution issue. Atheist parents don’t give a crap about a baptism. “God surely was proud of your dad, because it is easier as a believer to baptize your children than to baptize them when you are not a believer.” Lie! It’s easy as pie for non-believers to have their children baptized. Worst case scenario, it’s one less bath they have to give. “God has the heart of a father—your father was a good man. He is in heaven with Him, be sure.” Lie! According to scriptures, being good won’t get you into the heavenly kingdom. Being good won’t even get you a walking tour of its sewers.
Naturally, there are many in The Church who think Francis flubbed it. For good reason. Given what Catholics believe about hell, wouldn’t it be dangerous to give children bad information about how to avoid it? When the vicar effectively told Emanuele that atheists can get into heaven, he placed the boy’s immortal soul—and millions more who were listening—in grave danger. It’s pretty simple really. A person needs to believe to get into heaven; not be a good dad, not volunteer in a homeless shelter, not dial 1-877-kars4kids to pledge a minivan. Someone either believes or they perish. And if the pope tells a kid otherwise, they may not take the rule seriously and wind up in purgatory. Not to say that I didn’t sympathize with His Grace’s conundrum, but I did find his response to be telling. It tells me he either doesn’t believe the Bible’s teachings on the subject, or he made a conscious decision to gamble with Emanuele’s immortal soul. Because, if I believed hell existed, and that all skeptics are sent there, I would have answered quite differently. I don’t have kids but if it were my son mourning the death of his mother, and he came to me and asked, “Dad, is mom in heaven?” I would sit him down and say (as matter-of-factly as I could muster), “Not a chance, son. Your mother is totally in hell.” And as he bawled in despair, muttering, “No, no, no, don’t tell me that, dad,” I would add, “Oh yeah, she’s in hell, all right—sure as devils don’t say grace at dinnertime—because your mother didn’t believe in the baby Jesus or follow his rules.” Then I would lock the little heretic in his room for a week and blast, “Drop it Like it’s Hot” over and over until the message fully sunk in. And yes, of course, this is using terror to manipulate a child, but I want him terrorized. This is the netherworld we’re talking about! We all know what goes on down there: flames jutting out of the shower nozzles, mosquitos the size of biplanes and they have to use postage stamps for toilet paper—for eternity! Yes, eternity! As in a thousand times more than a Katrillbazillilamimillion years to the power of Batrillkazillamagillion. And that’s not an exaggeration. It’s an understatement! My point being, I wouldn’t want a hangnail for that long, much less a lava bath. So yeah, better my imaginary son live in fear for a few decades so that he may live for an eternity in Lollipop and Licorice Land eating Pop-Tarts and Gobstoppers on a cloud.
It’s easy as pie for nonbelievers to have their children baptized. Worst case scenario, it’s one less bath they have to give.
8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
Sordid Tales appears every other week. Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com.
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UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK
BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER
THE WORLD
FARE I Bring the heat
t’s in one of the least tony, more crime-ridden neighborhoods in San Diego. And that neighborhood, while it has its charms, is not the place one would expect to find an excellent example of a slightly obscure Asian cuisine. It’s Bane Phonkeo’s (110 47th St.) in Lincoln Park and the food is so good, there isn’t a neighborhood I wouldn’t travel to for its laab. The green papaya salads may be even better. The food (like the ownership) at Bane Phonkeo’s is Lao (or Laotion). Like Thai cuisine, Lao is characterized by a balance between spicy, sour, sweet, salty and bitter flavors. How that balance is struck between the two cuisines differs: Thai is sweeter, whereas Lao is a bit more of both the bitter and pungent. One place to experience the difference is that green papaya salad. It’s a dish at the core of Lao cuisine. The Lao name— tam mak hoong (“pounded papaya”)—perfectly describes how the dish is made. Bane Phonkeo’s offers numerous takes on the theme. The familiar Thai-style version features tomato, dried shrimp and peanuts along with the shredded and pounded green papaya. But don’t miss the Lao versions. The key difference is the inclusion of padaek: think Thai fish sauce only way more pungent because of its long fermentation. One Lao take on the dish features crab paste, while another features raw, long beans. But perhaps my favorite has shredded carrot. Bane Phonkeos’ light touches of padaek emphasizes the umami, which gives the papaya salad both depth and resonance. The key to all these dishes is the balance of the flavors and the textures. At the core of these—not only at Bane Phonkeo’s, but in most of Southeast Asia as well—is heat. A few words about spiciness at Bane Phonkeo: it is no joke. Not at all. I like a lot of spice and “mild” at Bane Phonkeo’s is “spicy as hell” just about anywhere else. Order anything beyond a “mild” distinction and diners will be entering the
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realm of what many travel and food writers refer to as “adventure eating.” As great as Bane Phonkeos’ salads are, it’s their laab that shouldn’t be missed. Laab is minced meat, ground toasted sticky rice, lime, chilies, scallions, lemongrass and herbs. Whereas in Thailand the meats are usually fully cooked, the Lao (and Isaanese) versions are sometimes raw. It’s an option at Bane Phonkeo’s, but for those not ready for that leap, try the dish with rare beef (my favorite version on three trips). Or you could try the version that includes bile to emphasize the bitter element. It is, however, a bit of an acquired taste and one I haven’t yet acquired. MICHAEL A. GARDINER
Beef laab Perhaps the biggest surprise at Bane Phonkeo’s was the mok pah: river fish steamed in banana leaf with herbs, vegetables, egg and sticky rice. The resulting dish was, essentially, a Lao answer to tamales. Utterly delicious and well balanced (without even a hint of heat), it was also an aromatic, exotic packet of savory goodness. Bane Phonkeo’s is, frankly, exactly the type of place I want to support: a little mom-and-pop shop cooking up dishes as if they were making them for someone just returning home from work in the old country. That’s the flavor, the atmosphere and the feeling. And that’s why it is totally worth the trip to Lincoln Park. The World Fare appears weekly. Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.
JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9
UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK
FINAL
BY BETH DEMMON
DRAUGHT Flying high in Oceanside
COURTESY OF HORUS AGED ALES
I
t’s easy to get déjà vu drinking beer in San Diego. There are nearly 200 breweries and tasting rooms across the county, and yet sipping a nondescript IPA—while perched atop a backless stool with a dog at one’s feet and board games within reach—still pretty much encapsulates the current local craft beer experience. But there are outliers. Horus Aged Ales (horusbeer.com) is one of them. At Horus’ Oceanside facility (4040 Calle Platino, Ste. 120), there’s no tap list. There’s no stainless steel brew system behind the bar. In fact, there’s no bar, because there’s no tasting room at all. Instead, there are rows and rows of oak barrels filled with some of the most coveted brews in the region. (For reference, Horus’ first bottle release in February 2018 sold out in a mind-boggling two seconds during the online sale.) Horus is a one-man show run by Kyle Harrop, who works as an accountant for an aerospace engineering company by day, and then as an accomplished homebrewer-turned-beer blender and barrel-ager by night. His setup consists of 129 barrels, four puncheons and one foeder with two more foeders on the way. (Puncheons and foeders are basically large and supersized wooden barrels for aging alcoholic beverages that provide a higher beer-towood ratio than standard barrels.) They’ve mostly stored red wine, but Harrop also uses barrels that he says formerly housed “mezcal, jun, rum, port, sherry, aquavit and lots of bourbon.” Harrop has drawn inspiration from breweries all over the world, from Cantillon in Belgium to Cascade in Oregon, while also building relationships with many of them. He’s been in the game for years, but has flown somewhat unnoticed outside of hardcore beer circles until launching Horus in 2017. Since then, he’s churned out a number of absurdly sought-after releases with big-name brewery partners like The Answer (Richmond, Virginia), Beachwood Blendery (Long Beach, California) and Alvarado Street Brewery (Monterey, California). Harrop lists the annual Boss Tycoon collaboration with Miami’s J. Wakefield as a personal favorite collaboration. But he really likes the recent Cellarmaker pastry stout and Great Notion bourbon barrel-
10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
Horus Aged Ales’ Goshawk’s Grasp aged “french toast” imperial stout as well. Many of these breweries and more will be on hand for the inaugural Horus HOOTenanny, a joint beer festival with Hop Culture Magazine at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido on Saturday, Jan. 26. Before anyone rolls their eyes at the thought of another beer festival, Harrop points out that he thinks this fest provides something no one else has done. “I’ve been going to a lot of beer fests the past few years and I felt like this kind of niche fest was missing from our area,” explains Harrop. “A lot of the breweries that are coming have never poured their beer in California. A lot of the breweries are teeny-tiny, so they don’t get outside their counties, much less their states.” Far-flung breweries of note include Vermont’s Foam Brewers, Maine’s Bissell Brothers, Dry & Bitter Brewing Company from Denmark and Florida’s Cycle Brewing. After the HOOTenanny, Harrop plans to continue focusing on barrel-aging beers and his sour program. He also plans to travel for collaborations in Brooklyn, Copenhagen and more this year. Overall, it makes sense that Horus is named after the falcon-headed Egyptian god of the sky since, it seems, the sky’s the limit. Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com or check her out on Instagram at @thedelightedbite.
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EVENTS
SHORTlist
ART
the
THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE
COORDINATED BY
SETH COMBS
SAN DIEGO
CARNIVAL SEASON
a show that’s both unique and smart. He performs Monday, Jan. 28 and Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m., Could it be that all this time we’ve lived in and tickets start at $32 at northcoastrep.org. San Diego, we never noticed that the beAlso on Tuesday is Isabella Rossellini’s Link ginning of the year seems to be prime time for carni- Link Circus at the David and Dorothea Garfield vals and circuses? Like, who doesn’t Theatre inside the Lawrence Famlove a carnival? And with Circus ily Jewish Community Center (4126 Vargas coming to town in a few Executive Drive, La Jolla). The weeks, one has to wonder: is there amazing actress from films such as even such a thing as carny season? Blue Velvet and Wild At Heart has That spirit of carnival perforalways had the spirit of a theater mance is alive and well with Steam actor and Link Link combines pupPowered Giraffe, a local troupe petry, acting, performance and even that combines elements of music, Rossellini’s short films to argue for pantomime, puppetry, performance Darwin’s theory of evolution. It and even dance, all of which serve happens at 8 p.m. and tickets start to tell the story of intergalactic roat $58 at lfjcc.org. bots trying to unravel the mystery Finally, save the date for The of something called “The Echo EnMadhatter’s Ball: Down the Rabgine.” They perform Saturday, Jan. bit Hole on Friday, Feb. 1 at The 26 at 6 p.m. at the California CenObservatory North Park (2891 Uniter for the Arts, Escondido (340 N. versity Ave.). If the name didn’t give Isabella Rossellini’s it away, the Alice-themed event is a Escondido Blvd.). Tickets are $30 at Link Link Circus costume-friendly, old-school dinartcenter.org. Next, there’s Carney Magic at the North Coast ner and a show. It begins with a pre-fixe dinner Repertory Theatre (987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Ste. at neighboring West Coast Tavern and is followed D) in Solana Beach. The “Carney” in this instance is with a party that features performances from aerial comedian and magician John Carney, who combines artists, contortionists, acrobats and more. Tickets sleight of hand tricks and personal storytelling for start at $35 at northparkcarnival.com.
BALBOA PARK
RAISING THEIR VOICES The world could really use some more empathy right about now. That’s the general theme behind Collective Voices: The Power of Empathy, a new group show opening Friday, Jan. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the San Diego Art Institute (1439 El Prado). This isn’t the standard group exhibition, but rather the result of a program called Collective Voices, run by local nonprofit AjA Project with the aim of giving young Muslim women a voice. Every year, AjA and organizations such as United Women of East Africa team up to provide workshops for young girls where they learn not only about their culture and solidarity, but how to express themselves via artistic outlets like photography. The results are three amazing collaborative pieces that will be on display at the opening. For more details, visit sandiego-art.org. COURTESY OF AJA PROJECT
GASLAMP
FIERCE FEET There’s a lot of attention paid to Shen Yun, the lavish touring dance extravaganza that will be in town in a few weeks, but there’s more to Chinese dance than just the traditions. Beijing Dance Theater is case in point. Chorographer Wang Yuanyuan combines traditional elements with modern and contemporary sensibilities to create a style all his own. What’s more, he teams up with visual artists for an evocative stage show that’s visually stunning. For their show at the Balboa Theatre (868 Fourth Ave.), Wang will present three performances: an original piece, one inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet and one inspired by the poetry of Chinese writer Lu Xun. It happens Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. and tickets start at $30 ($9 for students) at artpower.ucsd.edu. HAN JIANG
HEvery Fragment—A Prayer at 1805 Gallery, 1805 Columbia St., Downtown. Exhibition of multi-media works created by Egyptian-American artist Yasmine K. Kasem who explores themes of identity, religion and lifestyle. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24. Free.1805gallery.com A Tribute to Pam Whidden: Models are to Artists Like Flowers are to Bees at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Exhibition curated by artists Stephanie and Ken Goldman highlighting the historic impact that model Pam Whidden had on the local art modeling community. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24. Free. sandiego-art.org HCollective Voice: The Power of Empathy at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Young people from the AjA Project’s Collective Voices program will present three collaborative art pieces focusing on ideas of solidarity, building through differences and mental health awareness. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25. Free. sandiego-art.org HBack Pocket and In House at Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., North Park. Opening of two exhibits from installation artist, Max Lofano, and multi-media works from fellow local and Art Produce owner Lynn Susholtz. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26. Free. 619-5002787, artproduce.org HSanctuary Print Shop Activation at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 1100 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. Join others at this series of workshops from artists Sergio De La Torre and Chris Treggiari as they transform the museum into a space for collaboration, dialogue, and to create protest posters. From noon to 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26. Free. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org HLGBTQ+ SD: Docent-Led Tour at San Diego History Center, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. Experience local LGBTQ+ history in a guided, interactive tour focusing on themes of identity, persecution, pioneers and the power of community. From 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26. Free. sandiegohistory.org
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Beijing Dance Theater
DANCE HJanus III: Dancing the Future at San Diego City College Saville Theatre, 14th St. and C St., East Village. As part of the part of the San Diego Symphony’s Hearing the Future Festival, this special performance celebrates the iconic life and legacy of Jean Isaacs and her contribution to the modern dance world. At 2:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25 and Sunday, Jan. 27, and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26. $15$40. sandiegodancetheater.org HBeijing Dance Theater at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp. Choreographer Wang Yuanyuan and visual artists Tan Shaoyuan and Hanjiang present a collaborative and worldly dance performance based on everything from Hamlet to the poems of Lu Xun. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30. $9-$50. artpower.ucsd.edu
FILM Adventure Film Festival at San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado, Balboa Park. Lineup of hand-picked independent, adventure films which highlight a range of outdoor activities including climbing, surfing, paddling, mountain biking and more. From 5:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24. $20-$22. adventurefilm.org/sandiego
FOOD & DRINK HCaffeine Crawl San Diego at various locations. Sample beverages from dozens of different bistros, coffeehouses and cafes around San Diego at this fourth annual event. See website for start locations and routes. At 11:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 25, 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 26 and Sunday, Jan. 27. $28-$37.caffeinecrawl.com
Harmony at Sparks Gallery, 530 Sixth Ave., Downtown. A group show featuring a selection of works exploring the traditional movement of the body in motion, as well as abstract works with bursts of colors and shapes. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27. 619-696-1416, sparksgallery.com
HThe Horus HOOTenanny at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. Horus Aged Ales and Hop Culture present this craft beer festival benefitting the Wildlife Waystation with brews from over 80 different breweries, food trucks, live music and more. From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26. $20$100. horusbeer.com
HLoving the Land at San Diego Watercolor Society Gallery, 2825 Dewey Road, Point Loma. Exhibition juried by awardwinning artist Stan Goudey with around 100 original ready-to-hang paintings. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27. Free. 619-876-4550, sdws.org
HSan Diego Restaurant Week at various locations. Over 180 restaurants throughout the county will participate in this culinary tour offering prix-fixe menu options for lunch and dinner. Times vary. Through Sunday Jan. 27. $10-$50. 619233-5008, sandiegorestaurantweek.com
BOOKS HDavid L. Toler, Jr. at San Diego History Center, 1649 El Prado, Ste. 3, Balboa Park. As part of the Nyaiwait Chiwayp / In Our Words: Kumeyaay series, the Ipai descendant of the La Chappa, Guachena and Nejo clans will read from and discuss his book, Blood of the Band: An Ipai Family Story. At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24. $10. 619-232-6203, sandiegohistory.org HHuda Al-Marashi at Run For Cover Bookstore, 4912 Voltaire St., Ocean Beach. The Encinitas-based writer will sign and discuss her memoir, First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27. Free. runforcoverbookstore.com
“Miriam” from Collective Voices: The Power of Empathy
HSusan Orlean at the Mission HillsHillcrest Library, 215 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. The bestselling author of The Orchid Thief will read and discuss her latest work, The Library Book. From 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29. Free. 619-2365802, libraryshopsd.org/events
R.D. Kardon at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekends With Locals series, the local writer and former pilot stops by to sign and discuss her novel, Flygirl. Free. At noon Sunday, Jan. 27. Free. warwicks.com
H = CityBeat picks
MUSIC Young Artists in Harmony at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Art of Elan oresents this concert performed by Art of Élan musicians and students from A Reason to Survive. Matt Aucoin will also perform “Dual” for cello and double bass. From 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23. $5-$10. sandiego-art.org HSheila Jordan and Cameron Brown at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla. The Jazz at the Athenaeum music series continues with a performance from vocalist Sheila Jordan and her longtime duo partner, bassist Cameron Brown with special guest vocalist Zion Dyson. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24. $23-$28. ljathenaeum.org HStephanie Richards at White Box Live Arts, 2590 Truxtun Road, Studio 205, Point Loma. The kickoff concert of the Fresh Sound music series, trumpeter Richards, alongside with a band, will perform “Take
EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11
BOOKS: THE FLOATING LIBRARY
EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 the Neon Lights,” a series of songs inspired by poetry written about New York City. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25. $10$20. freshsoundmusic.com Matt’s Playlist: Echoes of the Future at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Conductor Matt Aucoin leads cellist Coleman Itzkoff through a selection of his favorite parts of songs including pieces from Beethoven, Mahler, Stravinsky and even his own opera. Part of the Hearing the Future series of concerts. At 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27. $20-$100.��������������������� �������������������� 619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org HGeneration Next: Hearing the Future of Jazz at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Local jazz trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos curates an all-star band of locals for a one-of-kind performance in the spirit of the San Diego Symphony’s Hearing the Future series of concerts At 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26. $24-$76. 619235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org HFestival of New Trumpet Music West at Quartyard, 1301 Market St., Downtown. The last in a series of concerts featuring a community of trumpet and brass players including Euphoria Brass Band, Gilbert Castellanos, and more. From 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27. 858-822-2026, fontmusic.org HCamera Lucida at Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. A chamber music performance from the acclaimed group highlighting the music of the late 18th and early 19th centuries with Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. From 7 to 10 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28. $37. boxoffice.ucsd.edu HMaxwell String Quartet at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jol-
la. The Scotland-based chamber music ensemble plays a program by Haydn and Beethoven, as well as Scottish folk music selections. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29. $40-$45. ljathenaeum.org
PERFORMANCE HSteam Powered Giraffe at California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The local steampunkinspired musical project presents a show that combines sketches, pantomime, improvisation, theater and original music. At 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26. $30. 760-8394138, artcenter.org HCarney Magic at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. Comedian, actor, and sleight of hand virtuoso, John Carney performs his one-man show, which includes storytelling, personal anecdotes and magic. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28 and Tuesday, Jan. 29. $32. 858-481-1055, northcoastrep.org HIsabella Rossellini’s Link Link Circus at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theatre, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. The acclaimed actress from films such as Blue Velvet and Wild At Heart performs a show that combines puppetry, acting, performance and even Rossellini’s short films to argue for Darwin’s theory of evolution. At 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29. $58. lfjcc.org.
TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS HDrunk on Lettering at Luce Loft, 1037 J St., Downtown. The popular design podcast will record live as they interview Erik Marinovich on stage over a few drinks. From 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25. $37.50. 619-244-6735, drunkonlettering.com
12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
Always a fire somewhere
T
he note at the beginning of Patrick Coleman’s outstanding new poetry collection Fire Season reveals that the poems were originally composed on a digital recorder during Coleman’s commute to work from Ramona to the San Diego Museum of Art. The poems often reflect on these journeys from the bucolic fields and pastures of East San Diego County to the heart of the city. There are horses and mountain ranges and things one might ordinarily encounter in nature poems, but they give way to 21st century concerns. “These are lucky horses, in a way. Moved here, protected by fences, photographed often, Facebooked. I should see myself so lucky as well. I have 187 friends, plus or minus two, depending on whether I’ve posted something political recently.” Coleman’s prose poems (each poem takes the shape of a paragraph, and there aren’t any line breaks) reflect the tension of the commute, of moving from one place to another, from a world of the familiar and into one that is decidedly less so. But even the familiar has been rendered strange by upheavals both in the author’s life and outside of it. In 2007, parts of Coleman’s neighborhood burned during the Witch Creek Fire. And shortly before the composition of these poems, Coleman’s family welcomed a new baby.
Naturally, many of the poems are ruminations on the world his child will inherit. All parents experience this existential dread in way or another, but in the title poem, these anxieties are poignant. “My wife saw the fire start from where she nursed on the couch. The lightning of a summer thunderstorm that came in from the desert struck the mountain two ranges over. This is in Southern California. We have a baby. There’s always a fire somewhere, and we spend our days pacing out the distances between there and now.” The notion of “there’s always a fire somewhere” works in many contexts: the pressure of being a new parent, the collapse of stable governance, the growing calamity of climate change. Yet Coleman’s poems are oddly soothing. Each poem is presented alongside a reproduction of a classic work of art, which adds another layer of meaning. These images of paintings and sculptures from centuries ago reassure the reader that just as the human project has endured plagues and invasions and weapons of mass destruction, we will survive this crisis. We will make more babies and more art and more problems to worry about. Maybe. —Jim Ruland The Floating Library appears every other week.
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THEATER KARLI CADEL PHOTOGRAPHY
Getting their dues
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here’s a thin line between gospel music and rock ‘n’ roll. That’s one of two resounding statements made in George Brant’s Marie and Rosetta. The other is that the woman known as Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a veritable musical pioneer, a genre-bending artist whose vocal and guitar stylings would influence rock artists of the ’50s, ’60s and beyond. Brant’s one-act work, directed at Cygnet Theatre by Rob Lutfy, follows Tharpe (Noel Simone Wippler) and her young protégé, Marie Knight (Amaiya Holley), in Mississippi circa 1946 as they rehearse for the first time as a duo and learn about one another’s lives. Among other things, Rosetta teaches Marie the merits of clubbing up the church and churching up the club. While the story behind the music is historically important, particularly where Sister Rosetta was concerned, it’s the live musical performances by Wippler (chiefly on guitar) and pianist Holley (also a wonderful singer) that fuel Marie and Rosetta. Their collaborations on tunes such as “Four Five Times” and “Strange Things” make the show’s non-musical moments drag by comparison, though Brant has crafted a clever and affecting ending. Marie and Rosetta runs through Feb. 16 at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. $30-$65; cygnettheatre.com
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comedy written by Ken Ludwig (Lend Me A Tenor, Fox on the Fairway) comes with some absolute guarantees: hapless misunderstandings, slamming doors, strenuous sight gigs. So goes his 1995 play Moon Over Buffalo, currently onstage at North Coast Repertory Theatre, where Ludwig has become something of an audience favorite. The Solana Beach company first staged
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OPENING: Aubergine: With help from a visiting uncle, a Korean-American chef attempts to concoct a legendary soup in hopes it will save his ailing father. Written by Julia Cho, it opens Jan. 24 at the Lyceum Theatre in the Gaslamp. sdrep.org Quibbling Siblings: Two kids find themselves competing in a game show that pits family members against each other in Greg Evans’ world premiere musical. It opens Jan. 25 at the Patio Playhouse in Escondido. patioplayhouse.com Smokey Joe’s Café: The hit Broadway musical features the songs of the iconic songwriters Leiber and Stoller, the duo behind hits such as “Charlie Brown,” “Jailhouse Rock” and “Stand By Me.” Directed by Tony Houck, it begins in previews Jan. 25 at the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. newvillagearts.org
Marie and Rosetta this play back in 2000 and has also offered up Lend Me A Tenor and Fox on the Fairway. Like those farces, Moon Over Buffalo is a pure, pratfalling and broadly acted piece of entertainment. Arthur Hanket and Katrina Ferguson star as dueling married couple George and Charlotte Hay, who together front a hapless repertory troupe. The story’s chief crisis is whether they (especially George) can keep it together long enough to impress a visiting, star-hunting Frank Capra. Two supporting members of the cast—Jacque Wilke as their daughter, and Roxane Carrasco as Charlotte’s crusty grandma—walk away with this North Coast Rep production directed by Matthew Wiener. Moon Over Buffalo runs through Feb. 10 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. $45-$56; northcoastrep. org
Theater reviews run weekly. Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.
—David L. Coddon
A Boy and A Girl: In another Greg Evans musical, two children born on the same day form a bond despite growing up among very different circumstances. It opens Jan. 26 at the Patio Playhouse in Escondido. patioplayhouse.com Dancing Lessons: A young autistic man prepares to accept an award with help from an injured dance instructor. Written by Mark St. Germain and presented by Scripps Ranch Theatre, it opens Jan. 26 at the Legler Benbough Theatre at Alliant International University in Scripps Ranch. scrippsranchtheatre.org Familiar: A Zimbabwean-American family is upended when their daughter insists on having a traditional African wedding. Written by Tony-nominated playwright Danai Gurira, it opens Jan. 26 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org Herland: In this new play, a septuagenarian and her friends plan a utopic retirement inside a garage with help from a teenage intern. Written by Grace McLeod, it opens Jan. 26 at the MOXIE Theatre in Rolando. moxietheatre.com
For complete theater listings, visit sdcitybeat.com
JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13
HOLLY SUTOR
tions of Islam. Those memories still cause her to feel anger toward the ignorance she encountered, she says, but that it helps to remember the people who have been supportive in her life. “I grew up definitely being aware of discrimination but also being aware that people will give you the benefit of the doubt,” she says. “Or they will support you and stand behind you.” From those experiences with Islamophobia, Kasem dedicated her early artistic career to continue sparking conversations about Muslim culture in order to address misconceptions. Her sculptural work in the past has often explored the power behind the female form by depicting the bodies of Muslim women. But as she began to learn more about the experiences of Muslim women, such as the practice of wearing a hijab, Kasem realized that she was making art that wasn’t reflective of her experience. “I was representing issues that I didn’t actually practice,” says Kasem. For a while, Kasem felt she did not understand or connect with every aspect of Muslim culture, and became insecure about her religious identity. “I had to talk myself out of that eventually,” says Kasem. “You can’t ever totally connect 100 percent to someone on everything,
CULTURE | ART
COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
Yasmine Kasem asmine Kasem tightens her grip around a cord of cotton piping and slowly begins to expand the material into smaller strands. “It really does peel away like string cheese,” she says, then laughs. The outlines of her fingernails are stained with blue dye as she continues to pull the cotton apart. “There’s a lot of respect that goes into it as well because it’s such a delicate material.” In the last month, Kasem has spent almost every day tearing, weaving and dying cotton strands into Islamic prayer rugs for her upcoming exhibition Every Fragment - A Prayer: Yasmine Kasem at 1805 Gallery in Little Italy (1805 Columbia St., 1805gallery.com). The Egyptian-American artist is using prayer rugs to explore how her identity, lifestyle and religion create what she refers to as a “third experience.” The exhibit will run from Jan. 24 through Feb. 23, with an artist reception on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. There are two rugs on the floor of the gallery, and although the dye is still wet, Kasem lifts each one up to show the pattern that transferred onto the paper underneath. “Each rug is going to represent a different spiritual space that I felt a connection with, or that I’ve been in,” she says. One of those spaces is an auxiliary building behind a Catholic Church that Kasem remembers going to when she was five years old. The green and brown prayer rug on the floor, titled “The Mosque of St. Joan of Arc,” is a representation of that space. She goes on to say the building had a big “ugly” room
divider and the walls had dark wood paneling, which inspired the colors she used on the prayer rug. There wasn’t a traditional mosque in her hometown of Kokomo, Indiana, so places such as homes and rented park buildings were often transformed into places for Muslims to worship. “When I was a kid it wasn’t weird to me at all, because I thought ‘oh, yes, this is how ANDREA LOPEZ-VILLAFAÑA
Yasmine Kasem inspecting her piece “The Mosque of Saint Joan of Arc” all Muslims worship, we all just kind of rent spaces and we travel around. We don’t need a specific dedicated building—we can just worship anywhere as long as we are together and we can pray on anything,’” Kasem says. The struggle of balancing her identity, sexuality and religion became the premise for her residency at 1805 Gallery. The fine
14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
art graduate from Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis is currently working on her MFA at UC San Diego. The 1805 Gallery residency is the first of her career. Kasem says she became attracted to the idea of creating prayer rugs after reflecting on the memories of praying in different buildings, as well as the experience of praying on rag rugs, bed sheets or whatever was available. “I’m expanding this very intimate space where I have felt very at peace and serene; a place where I don’t feel the oppositional forces within myself are at war with one another and I can kind of expand that on this small map on the ground,” says Kasem, referring to the prayer rugs on the floor. Her work in the past has focused on confronting misconceptions about the Islamic religion and Middle Eastern culture, but Every Fragment - A Prayer is a reflection of her own experiences with being an EgyptianAmerican Muslim woman from a small, midwestern town. As a child, Kasem recalls she had a limited understanding of her race and religion. That changed in 2001 when she was about eight years old and the attacks on Sept. 11 occured. Islamophobia became the new normal and something she witnessed every day. “I remember kids (saying), ‘let’s just bomb the whole Middle East,’” says Kasem. “So I was like, ‘my family is there. You want to kill them?’” She learned from watching her father that it was important to take the time to speak with people about their misconcep-
“ The Mosque of Uncle’s House” by Yasmine Kasem but you can find people who feel like they are kind of floating in limbo like you too.” Through her work, she is trying to reflect her personal identity but also show that there is diversity in Muslim culture. Since moving to San Diego in 2016, Kasem says she’s met more people like her who connect to feeling like they don’t entirely belong within their cultures and live in what she calls that “third experience.” “I found that having that conversation with people and having them understand it blossomed out here,” she says. Even if her identity, sexuality and lifestyle are not in line with more conservative practices of Islam, she is embracing her uniqueness and portraying that in her future work. “I’ve given up on trying to say I am specifically an Egyptian-American Muslim woman. Now I just say I’m a Muslim or I’m a woman, because I think trying to subdivide each label isolates me further,” says Kasem. “I’m a big believer that nothing is monolithic.”
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JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 15
SETH COMBS
CULTURE | ART
SEEN LOCAL DEFYING PHYSICS
I
am not a creature of habit. I have addictions and preferences, but I’m generally not one for repeated actions. And yet here I am on a cold December morning, repeating the same action over and over again. The irony of doing this on the day before New Year’s Eve— a time when most people are thinking about ways to break patterns of behavior—is not lost on me. Cut the paper, add the adhesive, stack. Cut the paper, add the adhesive, stack. Cut, add the adhesive, stack. It goes on like this for a while, but it doesn’t even faze local artist Melissa Walter (melissawalterart. com) at this point. She answers my scatterbrained questions while diligently playing her part in the assembly line production of what will end up being thousands of paper shapes that will, eventually, make up her upcoming, large-scale installation piece inside the Ice Gallery at Bread & Salt. Throughout the gallery sit boxes of completed and semi-completed triangular pyramids, tetrahedrons and what she calls “weird geometric shapes” that will eventually be bonded together to form a giant, floor-to-ceiling piece. “The idea of it is that we’re not alone in the universe,” Walter says when asked about the concept of the multiverse, the inspiration behind the still untitled sculpture. “There are many more universes and there are theories that there are infinite universes and in those infinite universes, versions of yourself exist. It gets me thinking about the repetition of that theory and so the repeated forms that I’m creating are one thing, but I’m also recreating the form of the window in a special way for the installation.” The large windows of Ice Gallery, and one window in particular, will play a large part in her piece. To hear Walter explain it, once the viewer has a general grasp on the concept of the multiverse, interpretations can start to form. Interpretively speaking, the idea is that seemingly infinite amounts of identical shapes band together to form one thing. Separate, but repetitive. Forever. Literally speaking, it’s a sculpture with thousands of intricately designed pieces of paper which are then crafted into shapes and sequenced together to create a massive piece of installation art that will extend onto the floor, up the wall, around the ceiling and back down to the window. “It’s a structure,” I think. Almost. Yes, maybe. “She’s building a structure within a structure.” Again, almost. Walter doesn’t get offended when I naively liken the
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Melissa Walter shape she’s describing to me as a wormhole. It’s as if she senses that my conceptualizations of what wormholes look like are primarily culled from Star Trek. “Mainly, it’s me taking that theory of the multiverse and breaking it down as simply as I could,” she says. “What is the multiverse about? It’s about many of one thing. And how can I create many of one thing?” It wasn’t simple. Walter, who used to work at NASA before devoting herself full-time to art, says her initial ideas often “defy physics.” She often reads a ton of science papers and journals, and becomes immersed in a topic while also trying to distill that info into an artistic statement. She initially thought she’d need 6,000 shapes, and it took her one hour to complete six of the shapes. The amount of shapes has since gone down, but not because of lack of ambition. Rather it’s simply a result of the overall project taking form. Still, six shapes in one hour? To create so many of one thing still seems unreasonable even to the most diligent and patient of artists. She needed 2,689 total (“2,761 just in case,” as she puts it). The process began last fall and into the winter. A few weeks after my visit, with help from many friends who volunteered their time, Walter had completed all of the 2,761 shapes. Now the fun part. Kinda. “Really, I just want people to come in here and see something that’s engaging,” says Walter, who, understandably, isn’t sure when the exhibition will open, but knows that it will be soon. “Something beautiful and makes them ask questions.”
—Seth Combs
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CULTURE | FILM
The long goodbye
Cold War
Heartbreak never ends in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Polish melodrama by Glenn Heath Jr.
P
Separation enables a kind of romantic mythmakawel Pawlikowski’s two most recent films feature lead characters stricken with doubt, in both ing to occur between the long lost lovers. Once reunitthemselves and the oppressive governmental ed, the relationship settles into a more typical cycle ideologies that control their lives. Ida situated those of mundane arguments, petty jealousies and miscomuncertainties in the struggles of a young nun caught munications. Fittingly, Cold War portrays some diffibetween her allegiance to religious faith and a desire cult truths about the dangers of getting swept up by the throngs of passion. to pursue emotional freedom. Running parallel to the personal is a larger sense Cold War also looks at the push/pull between institutional responsibilities and personal want. Both that history is an unstoppable force rushing forward. films are shot in academy ratio (essentially a square No matter what’s going on with Zula and Wiktor, the frame) in striking black and white by cinematogra- Soviet Union as a collective idea thrives through the pher Lukasz Zal, which creates an eerily similar sense focused and calculating character of Kaczmarek (Borys Szyc). It’s unclear whether the bureaucrat’s brazen of spatial claustrophobia. With the traumas of WWII still lingering, Cold War opportunism is driven by ideology or greed, but he opens in 1949 as pianist Wiktor (Tomasz Kot) travels comes to represent the kind of middle management the Polish countryside with colleagues recording and cockroach that will always survive because they don’t documenting rural folksongs. Their intensions are not care enough about people to compromise themselves. As Cold War careens toward its staggeringly bleak only curatorial; hopes are that the team can recruit enough raw talent to form a performance troupe that ending, Pawlikowski—who, as this issue went to press, was nominated for an Academy would tour the country promoting Award for Best Director—makes regional music and dance. Zula and Wiktor’s world smaller and Zula (Joanna Kulig) stands out COLD WAR smaller. Twentieth century events from the pool of impoverished perDirected by Pawel Pawlikoski like the space race and nuclear esformers for her raw talent and stage Starring Joanna Kulig, calation are never mentioned or refpresence. Wiktor is immediately Tomasz Kot and Borys Szyc erenced. The two characters are so smitten despite warnings from Rated R concerned with the disruptions and those who suspect the younger outbursts related to their personal woman may be trouble. But he remelodrama that everything else fuses to heed this sage advice, and blurs into the background. the two quickly become lovers. Time doesn’t matter when you’re this madly in After some time passes, they eventually make plans to illegally cross into West Berlin while their love. But what’s lost is a sense of individual identity. group performs on the communist side of Germany. Zula utters a fateful line of dialogue to Wiktor when Leaving would mean Zula giving up a flourishing ca- they are contemplating their new life in the West: reer and personal identity that has now become de- “Who will I be?” she asks. Her question is a valid one fined by communist propaganda. It seems love is no he can only answer through flimsy promises of togetherness. They will be one, but it is just suffocation match for ambition. The romantic in me wants to see Cold War as a trage- disguised as poetry. Pawlikowski populates Cold War (which opens Fridy. By breathlessly charting an ill-fated, decades-spanning 20th century love affair, the film inspires a certain day, Jan. 25, at Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinemas) with a level of operatic sadness in the viewer. Every time it number of elliptical jumps that suggest chances for seems like Zula and Wiktor might experience true hap- change. No such evolution ever occurs. Zula and Wikpiness, fate (and the state) disrupts their lives together. tor are caught in a spinning whirlpool of their own But the cynic in me won’t quit questioning this design, and drowning together feels like the only suitparticular reading of the film. To blame their melodra- able endgame. matic situation purely on the humorless and forbidding mechanisms of communism dismisses the self- Film reviews run weekly. destructive tendencies exhibited by both characters. Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com
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JANUARY 23, 2O19 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17
CULTURE | FILM
Quartermass and the Pit
Genres in focus
F
ilm Geeks San Diego is a cinephile collective organized by Horrible Imagining’s festival director Miguel Rodriguez and KPBS film critic Beth Accomando. The collective is dedicated to bringing repertory cinema to the region, and will present not one, but two yearlong series at the North Park’s Digital Gym Cinema in 2019. The Breaking the Commandments series will present a list of naughty, pre-code entries made between 1930 and 1934, before the Motion Picture Production Code enacted more strident regulatory guidelines related to onscreen content. The list of screenings includes Ernst Lubitsch’s saucy Design For Living (March 3). The film, about a constantly oscillating love triangle, works as a wonderful introduction to the director’s seamlessly sexy style. Busby Berkeley and Melvyn Leroy’s classic Gold Diggers of 1933 (Aug. 11) should also not be missed, both for its ambitious scope and emotionally moving, trendsetting dance numbers that have been copied and emulated countless times. While the pre-code screenings will occur the first Sunday of every month, the films in the Visions of Science Fiction series will screen on every first Monday. Any series on the genre runs the danger of simply reaffirming a canon of classics, but Film Geeks is taking a different approach. Looking at the schedule, it appears their program wants to expand viewers’ understanding of how sci-fi has evolved throughout the 20th century. The spring portion will include Arthur Crabtree’s Fiend Without a Face (Feb. 4) and Roy Ward Baker’s insane British monster movie Quartermass and the Pit (March 4). The latter mixes Cold War paranoia, telekinetic visions, and mankind’s penchant for monstrous acts. Sure, there may be aliens but it’s the humans who are the real threat. That will likely be a theme throughout the series.
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For more information on both film series, visit digitalgym.org.
—Glenn Heath Jr.
OPENING Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Melissa McCarthy plays a failing writer who begins forging personal letters from famous stars in order to pay the bills. Re-released on Friday, Jan. 25, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park. Cold War: A pianist and a singer try to keep their romance alive despite the realities of living in the communist juggernaut during the 20th century. Opens Friday, Jan. 25, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas. The Kid Who Would Be King: A young British tween stumbles upon the mythical sword Excalibur and finds himself knee deep in his own modern retelling of the King Arthur legend. Opens in wide release Friday, Jan. 25.
ONE TIME ONLY There’s Something About Mary: Just in time for Peter Farrelly’s inevitable Oscar nomination for Green Book, revisit this classic comedy about a slightly creepy guy (Ben Stiller) who tries to reconnect with his dream crush (Cameron Diaz). Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23 at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma. Who Am I – No System Is Safe: German computer hackers try to infiltrate sensitive corporate networks while trying to evade the government in this thriller from director Baran bo Odar. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park. The Big Lebowski: Jeff Bridges stars as a perpetually stoned bowler who becomes embroiled in an elaborate kidnapping plot involving the Los Angeles elite. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25 and Saturday, Jan. 26, and 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills. Lessons of a Dream: A young teacher in 1874 Germany experiments with a highly contested way of teaching English to his students: by introducing them to soccer. Screens at 10:30 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 27, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.
For complete movie listings, visit Film at sdcitybeat.com.
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JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19
KRISTY WALKER
MUSIC
Dani Bell f all the words that could be used to describe San Diego-based musician Dani Bell, prolific is probably the most fitting. At 25, Bell is a producer, multi-instrumentalist, solo artist and a backup vocalist with endless collaborations under her belt. In 2014, Bell joined indie pop quartet Boychick, the first “real band” she says she’d actually been in. She plays bass in an all-woman Kate Bush tribute group, Baby Bushka, and toured the UK with them last year. She regularly releases intimate songs that she writes with the help of a pocket-sized, 8-track digital recorder, which she naturally calls “pocket demos.” However, it’s with her namesake project, Dani Bell & The Tarantist, that she has managed to graduate from lo-fi, self-made entertainer into one of San Diego’s most promising performers. With Wide Eyed, their recently released sophomore album, Dani Bell & Tarantist successfully accentuate the intriguing details that characterize their previous work and their performances. Bell evokes 1960s nostalgia with the swirling guitars of “Mystery” and the Motown beat of “Driving Me Crazy,” as well as with her untouched, vibrant look during live shows (black, sleek outfits, silver curls) and those Venetian masks that she never leaves behind. Talking to the young musician, it’s evident she couldn’t
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have it any other way. If not a performer, what else could she be? “I’ve always been into music. I have always enjoyed playing guitar, writing stuff,” Bell says as she pets a white poodle that never parts from her side. “Before that, I didn’t know what I was going to do with
my life,” she continues. “Someone told me that ‘music is just a hobby, so you need to figure out what to do because it’s not going to work out for you.’ And I said, ‘Either way, whether it’s going to work or not, I am still going to do it.’ And I don’t think I’ve figured out what I would do if I wasn’t playing music.” From her studio apartment in Point Loma, which Bell shares with her boyfriend, she explains that her music blos-
soms when it’s not restrained. As long as she has her instruments—some of which are displayed on the walls around her—and her pocket recorder, she knows what to do. “I try not to force myself. I either work on something that’s already written, or I accidentally write a song,” Bell says. “I sit down, and if I come up with something that I like that I want to write. Then, I do it on guitar or bass or keyboard, and then I just add to that.” “Right after the first album, we [Dani Bell & The Tarantist] immediately started working on the next one,” she adds. “While we were recording the first album, I already had a bunch of songs that I had written… We recorded, I think, 15 or 16 songs, and we put 10 on the new album.” When Bell composes, the rest follows. Percussionist Alfred Howard captures the emotions Bell pours into her music and proceeds to turn them into lyrics. So, when Bell told Howard she wanted to record a spoken-word track, he knew that “Free” would be the answer. In an email, Howard says the song “had this impending apocalyptic vibe, and she wanted to do something that lyrically leaned on hip hop. I think it was around the presidential election, so it was really easy to get in the apocalyptic mindset.” Howard says Bell is “one of those geniuses who hears it all” and “a truly brilliant arranger.” Off stage, however, Bell doesn’t seem to take herself too seriously. She’s quiet and sometimes hesitant to answer questions. She tends to apologize and takes lots of pauses. She sometimes comes off as introverted, but will still tease you if given the chance. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says in response to why she and the rest of her bandmates in Tarantist wear masks while performing. “We don’t wear masks. I don’t know how to answer that question. I don’t think I am allowed to.” And while some of her statements are often filled with doubt and introspection, she does sometimes drop the mask, so to speak. Toward the end of our interview, Bell stands up to stir the food that is slowly cooking on the stove, warming the room with its comforting smell. A little plant, which she and her boyfriend affectionately call Merle, gives the environment an extra touch of green, her favorite color. Bell says she is not entirely sure what the album is about. She certainly knows what it means for her, or what she was feeling while writing it, but she’s not one to say how other people should interpret it. “During the making of the entire album, I was pretty depressed,” she says. “A lot of that is about that. I was living my life a certain way, and I realized I was doing that, and my eyes were opened. I realized what I was doing, and now I had seen that, and now I had acknowledged that.” “[But] It’s hard to say what the album is about completely,” she continues. “I’d rather people decide that for themselves, because I feel people can have their own personal meaning… what it means to them. I’d want them to get what they need from the album. Maybe they can relate to some of the songs… whatever they need, is what I want for them.”
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MUSIC
BY RYAN BRADFORD
NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO
THE
SPOTLIGHT
LOCALS ONLY
WIKI COMMONS /SHAREEF ELLIS
F
or over two decades, Bonnie Wright has been curating the Fresh Sound concert series, but even she’ll admit that devoting all of her free time to showcasing experimental musical artists can sometimes be a thankless affair. “I’m getting more respect now, but for a long time I was just a weird person presenting weird music,” says Wright laughing. San Diego audiences can sometimes be indifferent when it comes to live music, much less music that is experimental and sometimes even discordant, but for Wright, Fresh Sound (freshsoundmusic.com) has always been a labor of love. Her appreciation of music outside of the mainstream began early, as Wright hit up jazz clubs in L.A. and shows in New York City. That feeling of discovery, of having one’s mind blown, is something the Fresh Sound series has always strived for. “All I know is that if I like them and I think it sounds good, then I ask them to play,” says Wright, who adds that the series has garnered enough of a reputation to where artists now contact her about performing. “I’ve done this for so long that I’m now getting these requests from reputable ensembles… but I’ve always wanted to keep it small so I can keep it going.” Wright has moved the series around over the years, with shows
ALBUM REVIEW Johnny Tran Meditation on Death (Self-released)
W
hen it comes to art, at least in the broad definition of the word, there’s often this unspoken rule about staying in one’s lane. Painters should paint. Musicians should play music. Actors should act. I mean, how many times have we heard something like, “They should just stick to [insert artistic medium here]”? If the name Johnny Tran already sounds familiar, it’s because he’s been largely immersed in the fine art world for over a decade. The co-owner and co-curator of the pop-surrealism-focused Thumbprint Gallery in La Jolla, he’s probably more than familiar with the concept of becoming pigeonholed into one particular field. So when I heard that Tran was releasing an album of music, I didn’t know what to expect, but Meditation on Death is a surprising listen nonetheless. It’s a mostly electronic album that seems
taking place in venues as varied as Bread & Salt and the old Spruce Street Forum. This year’s series, which begins Jan. 25 and runs through May 11, will take place at the White Box Live Arts theatre inside Liberty Station, a homecoming of sorts for the Point Loma native. For the first concert of the season, Wright teamed up with the San Diego Symphony as part of that organization’s own BETH ROSS-BUCKLEY “Hearing the Future” festival which, much like Fresh Sound concerts before it, showcases more experimental artists. The Jan. 25 concert will feature avantgarde trumpeter Stephanie Richards—accompanied by a quartet of local jazz musicians—performing music inspired by poems about New York City from names such as Langston Hughes and Allen Ginsburg. Future concerts will feature the bass-andguitar Rosetta Trio (Feb. 28), violinist Jennifer Curtis (March 31), electronics-andBonnie Wright bass artist Scott Worthington (April 16) and ending with the percussion/piano Bent Duo (May 11). “If I get 45 people [to a show], I’m grateful,” says Wright, who has kept ticket prices at an affordable $20 ($10 for students). “That’s not a very big audience, but that’s not the point. I’m not going to change what I do to get a bigger audience.”
—Seth Combs
largely influenced by late ’90s and early ’00s genres like glitch, trip-hop and drum and bass. The album starts off with a beat cribbed straight from Eminem’s “Without Me,” but with samples of a lecture about the chemical element Neptunium. A song like “Executive Order 9066,” with its samples of Trump and his racist minions overlaying a foreboding drum and bass track, is genuinely hard to listen to, but fans of The Avalanches, Massive Attack and Unkle (or anything DJ Shadow was involved in), will find their heads bobbing to tracks such as “Devolution” and “Fibonacci.” Taken together, Meditation on Death isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but the overall style and messages contained therein could be indicative of how little we’ve evolved over time. Just as is the nature of pop-surrealism and lowbrow art, Tran’s music is a statement on the zeitgeist, as well as a tribute to it of sorts. At the end of the day, what is art if not an exercise in egotism that results from humanity’s inherent fear of death? Tran has spent enough time dealing with art to understand that to limit one’s self artistically, is just another day closer to death. —Seth Combs
I
Buck-O-Nine
t shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that third-wave ska (or ska-punk) was huge in Utah from the mid-’90s through the early 2000s. I mean, sure, ska was huge everywhere during that time given the popularity of bands like Mighty Mighty Bosstones, No Doubt and Reel Big Fish. But the genre was extra huge for those of us who grew up in the Mormon capital of the world. Unlike punk, ska had a reputation for being wholesome, fun and, well, nice (swing music also far outlived its expiration date in Utah for this reason), and driving to Provo to see a Mormon ska band was not a rare thing to do on the weekends. Listening to Buck-O-Nine now, it’s easy to see why they were so well-regarded among the righteous. There’s something undeniably sweet about a band who hit it big with a tribute to San Diego. Despite the fact that most of the things they sing about in their songs make me cringe now that I am a San Diegan (at least the part about “reggae music coming from the neighbor across from me”), hearing the song in a cold, landlocked state made this young rude boy dream of living in California. And now I do. I’m a lot older and more bitter now, but when Buck-O-Nine comes on the radio, I still turn it up, and remember when the world seemed a little nicer. Buck-O-Nine plays Saturday, Jan. 26 at The Casbah.
JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 21
MUSIC
IF I WERE U
BY CITYBEAT STAFF
Our picks for the week’s top shows
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 23
PLAN A: Pinback, Swollen Brains @ The Casbah. They’re named after a character in a John Carpenter movie and that’s all the more reason why we love them. Best known for indie-rock hits such as “Fortress” and “Good to Sea,” the local group, led by Rob Crow and Zach Smith, begins a two-night stand at The Casbah in celebration of the venue’s 30th anniversary. BACKUP PLAN: Mozes and the Firstborn, The Parrots, Billy Changer @ Soda Bar.
THURSDAY, JAN. 24
PLAN A: Peter Murphy, Desert Mountain Tribe @ The Observatory North Park. Billed as the “Ruby Celebration” tour, Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy and bassist David J have reunited for the beloved goth-rock band’s 40th anniversary. They’ll be playing Bauhaus’ debut album (In the Flat Field) in its entirety, followed by an encore of the band’s hits. So, yeah, we’re so there. PLAN B: Ruby the Hatchet, Demon Lung, Loom @ Brick By Brick. Hailing from what we can only assume are the deepest, darkest depths of New Jersey, Ruby the Hatchet play killer psychmetal with themes of paganism and space exploration. We approve of both. BACKUP PLAN: R.ariel, Kafari, Lora Mathias, Azuresands @ The FRONT Arte Cultura. TESSA ANGUS
Kendrick and more @ Copley Symphony Hall. If readers have ever wanted to see the best and brightest in local jazz all at once, this is the night. Vocalist Johnaye Kendrick has a voice sent from heaven, while pianist Joshua White is a rising star in the genre. The Young Lions Jazz Conservatory Ensemble round out this awesome night curated by trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos. PLAN B: Cautious Clay, Sophie Meiers @ House of Blues Voodoo Room. This is one of those shows attendees will look back on and say they got to see Cautious Clay before he was famous. Already a sensation on Soundcloud, the NYC-based crooner has serious pipes, so see him at this intimate show while he’s still playing small venues. BACKUP PLAN: Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, and Weedeater @ Brick By Brick.
SUNDAY, JAN. 27
PLAN A: No Knife, Buckfast Superbee, Systems Officer, Miss New Buddha @ The Casbah. Another great reunion show in honor of The Casbah’s 30th anniversary, No Knife are one of those bands that should have been way bigger when they were together in the early ’00s. Combining elements of punk, hardcore and math-rock—complete with epic, sing-along choruses from singer Ryan Ferguson—it’s no guarantee this band will play together again, so don’t miss your chance. BACKUP PLAN: Butt Candy, Free Paintings, Lefties @ Tower Bar.
MONDAY, JAN. 28 Transfer
FRIDAY, JAN. 25
PLAN A: Transfer, Dani Bell and the Tarantist, The Havnauts @ The Casbah. It should really say something that every band on this bill has been on our cover, including Dani Bell this week. We’re particularly excited about the reunion of Transfer. One of the bigger local bands of the past 15 years, we’ve been craving their anthemic, arena-ready indie rock. PLAN B: Stephanie Richards @ White Box Live Arts. A night of experimental trumpet music inspired by the poetry of Langton Hughes and Maya Angelou, among others. See this week’s “Notes From the Smoking Patio” section on for more info on this show, as well as all the other unique concerts in the Fresh Sound music series. BACKUP PLAN: Bad Vibes, Wild Wild Wets, Gloomsday @ Whistle Stop.
SATURDAY, JAN. 26
PLAN A: ‘Generation Next: Hearing the Future of Jazz’ w/ Josh Evans, Johnaye
22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
PLAN A: Duster, Quali, Calcutta Kid @ Soda Bar. We’re really excited about this one. Music fans of a certain age will likely remember Bay Area band Duster from their two, excellent albums of lo-fi indie-rock. They disappeared around 2001, but have since garnered quite the posthumous fanbase via word-of-mouth and old-school sharing of their music. Now they’re back, albeit 17 years later. Better late than never. PLAN B: ‘Gary Heffern’s Last Waltz’ w/ The Dils, Manual Scan, Executives @ The Casbah. San Diego punk legend Gary Heffern (The Penetrators) flies over from Finland to say goodbye to music for good with a killer lineup of bands. BACKUP PLAN: Bas @ Soma.
TUESDAY, JAN. 29
PLAN A: Elton John @ Pechanga Arena. The local stop of Elton’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour. Look, it’s always a dubious thing when legendary artists announce a “final” tour (see: KISS, Black Sabbath, etc.), but if this is indeed the last time we’ll be able to see the Rocket Man live, then we’re so there. BACKUP PLAN: Russian Tremors, Dum Cumpsters, Temple Dogs, Kids N Propane @ Soda Bar.
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MUSIC
CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!
Tulengua (Soda Bar, 2/5), Louis XIV, The Slashes, Demasiado (Casbah, 2/16), Jake “The Snake” Roberts (Brick By Brick, 2/17), Dalton & the Sheriffs (Soda Bar, 2/18), Secret Lynx, Veronica May, Nate Donnis Trio (BUT, 2/20), Kimmi Bitter (BUT, 2/21), Leftöver Crack (Brick By Brick, 2/21), Banding Together, The Shift (BUT, 2/23), Abbey Road’s George Harrison Celebration (Music Box, 2/24), DJ Artistic’s Hip Hop Battle Bot (Casbah, 2/26), Robin DeLong (Music Box, 2/26), Scars On Broadway, Daron Malakian (Observatory, 3/3), The Real McKenzies (Brick By Brick, 3/7), Blaqk Audio, Silent Rival (Observatory, 3/14), Gene Evaro Jr. (Soda Bar, 3/15), Three Bad Jacks (Soda Bar, 3/16), Madlib (Music Box, 3/16), Steve’n’Seagulls (Soda Bar, 3/22), The Driver Era (The Irenic, 3/30), Yonder Mountain String Band (BUT, 4/6), Turnover (Observatory, 4/10), Messthetics (Casbah, 4/11), AK (HOB, 4/14), Iceage, Shame (Casbah, 4/16), Kero Kero Bonito (Casbah, 4/18), The Interrupters, Culture Abuse, Skating Polly (Observatory, 4/19), Night Beats Casbah, 4/20), The Reverend Horton Heat (BUT, 4/25), The Church (Music Box, 5/7), Shy Girls (Casbah, 5/16), My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult (Brick By Brick, 6/15), Matthew Logan Vasquez (Soda Bar, 6/21), Hammerfall (Brick By Brick, 9/8).
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GET YER TICKETS Buck-O-Nine (Casbah, 1/26), Bananarama (Observatory, 1/27), No Knife (Casbah, 1/27), Gang of Four (Casbah, 2/5), MØ (Observatory, 2/5), KISS (Viejas Arena, 2/7), Louis XIV (Casbah, 2/15), Panic! At the Disco (Valley View Casino Center, 2/16), Smoking Popes (Soda Bar, 2/20), Albert Hammond Jr. (BUTk 2/24), Sharon Van Etten (Observatory, 2/28), Saves the Day (Observatory, 3/2), CRSSD Festival (Waterfront Park, 3/2-3), Waxahatchee (Soda Bar, 3/3), Band of Horses (Observatory, 3/6), Hatebreed (HOB, 3/7), YG (Valley View Casino Center, 3/7), Action Bronson (HOB, 3/13), Cold Cave (BUT, 3/19), Boy Harsher (Casbah, 3/20), Mike Doughty (Soda Bar, 3/23), Matt Nathanson (Music Box, 3/24), Queensrÿche (Casbah, 3/27), Black Moth Super Rainbow (BUT, 3/31), Vince Staples (Observatory, 4/2), Anvil (Brick By Brick, 4/4), Taking Back Sunday (Observatory, 4/6-7), Meat Puppets (Soda Bar, 4/7), T-Pain (Observatory, 4/9), David Archuleta (California Center for the Arts, 4/17), Priests (Soda Bar, 6/26).
JANUARY WEDNESDAY, JAN. 23 Trombone Shorty at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Mozes and the Firstborn at Soda Bar. Pinback at The Casbah. Jacquees at House of Blues.
THURSDAY, JAN. 24 Pinback at The Casbah. Big Head Todd & The Monsters at Belly Up Tavern. Gutter at Soda Bar. Trombone Shorty at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). No Kings at Music Box.
FRIDAY, JAN. 25 Ozomatli at Music Box. The English Beat at Belly Up Tavern. Transfer at The Casbah (sold out). Larry And His Flask at Soda Bar.
SATURDAY, JAN. 26 The English Beat at Belly Up Tavern. Whitey Morgan at Observatory North Park. Buck-O-Nine at The Casbah. Corrosion of Conformity at Brick By Brick (sold out). Steel Panther at House of Blues. Travis Tritt at Balboa Theatre. Johnny Clark at Music Box. Joshua and The Holy Rollers at Soda Bar.
SUNDAY, JAN. 27 Bananarama at Observatory North Park. No Knife at The Casbah (sold out). Ana Popovic at Belly Up Tavern. The Petty Saints at Soda Bar.
MONDAY, JAN. 28 Richard Thompson Electric Trio at Belly Up Tavern. Duster at Soda Bar. Blues Traveler at House Of Blues. BAS at SOMA.
TUESDAY, JAN. 29 Elton John at Valley View Casino Center. Sergio Mendes at Belly Up Tavern. Russian Tremors at Soda Bar. Emo Night at The Casbah.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 30 Wild Child at Soda Bar. Hawthorne Heights at House Of Blues. Silverstein at House Of Blues. A$AP Rocky at Valley View Casino Center. Death Valley Girls at Music Box.
THURSDAY, JAN. 31
FRIDAY, FEB. 8
Current Joys at The Irenic. Three Mile Pilot at The Casbah. Turkuaz at Belly Up Tavern. Tantric at Brick By Brick.
FEBRUARY
Tijuana Panthers at Soda Bar. Atmosphere at Observatory North Park (sold out). Katchafire at Music Box. AJ Mitchell at The Irenic. Groundation at Belly Up Tavern.
SATURDAY, FEB. 9
FRIDAY, FEB. 1 Cursive, Mineral at The Casbah (sold out). Okilly Dokilly at Soda Bar. Jacob Banks at Belly Up Tavern. Poncho Sanchez at Music Box.
Tijuana Panthers at Soda Bar. The Woggles at The Casbah. Radar State at The Casbah. Iration at Observatory North Park. Tainted Love at Belly Up Tavern.
SUNDAY, FEB. 10
SATURDAY, FEB. 2 Magic City Hippies at Soda Bar. Mineral at Che Café. Drama at The Casbah. Vaud and the Villains at Belly Up Tavern. MadeinTYo at Music Box. Defy The Tyrants at Brick By Brick.
MONDAY, FEB. 4
Radar State at The Casbah. Lee “Scratch” Perry at House of Blues. Danko Jones at Observatory North Park. Joshua Radin at Belly Up Tavern.
MONDAY, FEB. 11 The Holy Knives at Soda Bar.
Still Woozy at Soda Bar (sold out). The Toasters at The Casbah. Chris Shiflett at Belly Up Tavern.
TUESDAY, FEB. 5 MØ at Observatory North Park. DaniLeigh at House of Blues. Gang of Four at The Casbah. Chris Shiflett at Belly Up Tavern. Tulengua at Soda Bar.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6
TUESDAY, FEB. 12 Ottmar Liebert at Belly Up Tavern.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13 Dreamgirl at Soda Bar. Cuco at Observatory North Park (sold out).
THURSDAY, FEB. 14 Hockey Dad and Hunny at SOMA.
The Quaker City Night Hawks at Soda Bar. North Mississippi Allstars at Belly Up Tavern.
THURSDAY, FEB. 7 KISS at Viejas Arena. Marc Anthony at Valley View Casino Center. Joan Osborne at Belly Up Tavern. Passafire at Music Box.
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710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Wed: The Pink Spiders, Avenue
MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23
BY CHRISTIN BAILEY
MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23
Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Shane Hall. Sat: Takahashi, The Heart Beat Trail.
Army. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Santana Pa Ti. Sat: Cash’d Out. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: Trevor & The Jets, The Utility Players.
Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’. Thu: ‘Chocolate: Afro House & Forward Thinking Music’. Fri: ‘WE ARE YR FRIENDS’. Sat: ‘Through Being Cool’. Sun: Navjeet Sarna. Mon: ‘Blue Monday Dark ‘80s Night’. Tue: ‘Techno Tuesdays’.
Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘HIP HOP HOUSE SD’. Thu: ‘SUBdrip’. Fri: ‘House Music Fridays’. Sat: ‘Honeypot2night’. Sun: Marko Darko. Mon: ‘Organized Grime’. American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Wrenn Woods. Fri: Joel McHale. Sat: Joel McHale. Tue: Open Mic. The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Sat: Zeptune. Sun: Seven Spires, AfterTime. Mon: Trivia. Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown. Fri: Christian Martin, Lenny Kiser. Sat: Eli & Fur. Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Wed: DJ Ratty. Thu: DJs Camilla Robina, Disorder, Javi Nunez. Fri: ElectricMess, VickyVengents, Babydoll Warriors. Sat: Javier Escovedo & The City Lights. Sun: Lil Evil, The Reverbivores. Mon: Old Order, Germaine Seed, Hurricane Kate. Tue: ‘Tiki Tuesday’. Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Daniel Cervantes. Fri: The Nineteen90s. Sat: Sofa King Bueno. Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, New Breed Brass Band (sold out). Thu: Big Head Todd and The Monsters, The Main Squeeze (sold out). Fri: The English Beat, The Originators. Sat: The English Beat, King Schascha. Sun: Ana Popovic, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Mon: Richard Thompson Electric Trio, Ryley Walker. Tue: Sergio Mendes.
Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad. Fri: ‘Club Musae’. Tue: Video DJ. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Wed: Marty Friedman, Immortal Guardian, Nightshadow. Thu: Ruby the Hatchet, Demon Lung, LOOM. Fri: Primitive Man, 16, Cave Bastard, SIXES. Sat: Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, Weedeater, Mothership (sold out). Sun: Tony Macalpine, Monte Pittman, Lonero, RDG, Taz Taylor Band. The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Wed: Pinback, Swollen Brains. Thu: Pinback, Montalban Quintet. Fri: Transfer, Dani Bell and The Tarantist (sold out). Sat: Buck-O-Nine, The Downs Family, Unsteady. Sun: No Knife, Buckfast Superbee, Systems Officer, Miss New Buddha (sold out). Mon: Last Waltz, The Dils, Manual Scan, Executives. Tue: Emo Nite. Che Cafe, 1000 Scholars Drive S., La Jolla. Wed: Young Culture, The Happy Alright, Dive at Dawn, Lineup Rookie. Thu: The Total Bettys, Axis Evil, The Nova Darlings, Queen Mab. F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Thu: ‘TakeOver Thursdays’. Fri: Craig Smoove. Sat: ‘ShowOut Saturdays’. Sun: ‘Reggae Sundays’.
MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 25
24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): There is no such thing as finding a secret parking spot. There is only such a thing as ramming over a postal service box and creating one. TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Coloring outside the lines? Look, if there are lines on a paper that means you’re supposed to be coloring on it so you’re pretty much just following the rules anyway. GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Wearing your inside-shoes while outside ruins the whole purpose of having inside-shoes. However, it does fulfill the essential purpose of shoes, so it’s hard to say whether it’s wrong.
LIBRA (September 23 - October 22): Perhaps death is not the final phase of life but the beginning of its own phase. Maybe. It’s much more likely that anyone telling you that is probably trying to recruit you for a cult. SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): It can be hard not to take it personally when, out of everyone, you are the person the fly chooses to endlessly circle. SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): This week, working together as a team will be extremely difficult. Well, it will be difficult for all the other people trying to work with you on your team.
CANCER (June 21 - July 22): You should only speak when you have something to say. Suffice it to say, there are probably more pressing “shoulds” you should address before then.
CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): It’s time to stop living in the past and start living in the present, which is now the past, and now there’s the new present, which is past again. Meh, it’s too hard to keep up.
LEO (July 23 - August 22): Licking rocks is a diagnostic tool used by geologists. Even though it can be very useful and is now widely used, you sort of have to wonder about the first person who did that.
AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): You might think you’re doing something sort of illegal but it will turn out to be extremely illegal. Like when Hobby Lobby tried to buy trafficked artifacts…. from ISIS.
VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): These horoscopes aren’t based on the stars, but they are still accurate because the composition of my brain is identical to that of the universe: mostly empty with nothing really going on.
PISCES (February 19 - March 20): You do not have to deny yourself the things you want, but you should really ask yourself what is going to happen if you actually win everything you’re bidding on.
Astrologically Unsound appears every week. Follow Christin Bailey on Twitter at @hexprax.
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MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Bootleg Kev. Sat: Shabazz. House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Jacquees. Thu: The Stilettos. Fri: And That’s Why We Drink. Sat: Cautious Clay (sold out). Sun: Jerry “Hot Rod” DeMink. Tue: Robin Henkel. Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: Captain Hook. Thu: Groove Squad. Fri: GruvMatic. Sat: Wildside. Sun: Jason Brown. Mon: Whitney Shay. Tue: Mercedes Moore. Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Thu: The Flaurist, Tank Top, Nastea. Sat: ‘Jai Ho! Dance Party’. Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Nick Johnson, Van Larkins. Fri: Everything Undone, Kahlil Nash, Ganjito-Man. Sun: Pat McGee. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: ‘Comedy Night’. Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. Wed: Changemaker Film Festival. Thu: Peter Evans. Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Fish & JG. Thu: JG Duo. Fri: Mystique. Sat: Ron’s Garage. Sun: Ron’s Garage. Tue: Glen Smith. Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Esera Tuaolo. Thu: John Lloyd Young. Fri: ‘No Cover Charge Entertainment’. Sat: ‘No Cover Charge Entertainment’. Sun: Keep It on the DL. Mon: ‘No Cover Charge Entertainment’. The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: Bongie Tha YungN, Allfirst-
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names, King Hollo, Day-One, WoWo, N.I.G, L3o, Rocky The Hooligan. Fri: Levi Dean and the Americats. Sat: ‘Chaos’. Tue: Death Boys, Dark Alley Dogs, Chaos and Order. Mother’s Saloon, 2228 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Thu: DJ Dub B. Tue: Trivia.
terer, Paparazzi, Johnny Love. Sat: ‘Sabados En Fuego’. Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: ‘Mischief with Bianca’. Thu: ‘#LEZ + House Music’. Fri: ‘Electro-POP!’. Sat: ‘Shipwrecked’. Sun: ‘Stripper Circus’.
Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Thu: Three Chord Justice. Fri: The Jackstones. Sat: Cadillac Fringe. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: Karaoke.
Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’. Thu: Israel Maldonado. Fri: Bonneville 7. Sat: Joey Harris. Tue: ‘Everything and Anything Jam’.
Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy. Thu: No Kings, Aviator Stash, MDRN HSTRY, Coral Bells, Golden Howl. Fri: Ozomatli. Sat: Johnny Clarke, Vivian Jones, Roots Covenant.
Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: DJ Dougie Frosh. Fri: ‘Acoustic Revolt’. Sat: Rosa’s Cantina. Mon: ‘Jazz Jam’. Tue: Chloe Lou & Davies.
The Office, 3936 30th St., North Park. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: ‘No Limits’. Tue: ‘Trapped in The Office’.
Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave., North Park. Fri: Swinging Gypsies.
OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Cash Cash. Sat: Crankdat. Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Wed: ‘The Wednesday Jam Session’. Sat: G & The Swinging Gypsies. Sun: ‘Funk Jam’. Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: Direct. Sat: Karma. Pour House, 1903 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Wed: Open Mic. Thu: Inspired and the Sleep. Fri: James Supercave. Sat: Hard Fall Hearts. Sun: Sacri Monti. Mon: Trivia. Tue: DJ Lexicon Devil. Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Charles Burton. Thu: ‘Tomcat Courtney’s 90th Birthday Celebration’. Fri: Chris James & Patrick Rynn. Sat: Robin Henkel. The Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: Trivia. Fri: Harvard Bass, Jon Doss, Shat-
Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Mozes And The Firstborn, The Parrots, Billy Changer. Thu: Gutter, OhCult, Low And Be Told, Secret Fun Club. Fri: Larry and His Flask, Black Square. Sat: Joshua And The Holy Rollers, The Heavy Guilt, Shane Hall. Sun: The Petty Saints, Matt Caskitt and the Breaks, Corre Diablo, Downers, Making Incredible Time. Mon: Duster, Quali, Calcutta Kid. Tue: Russian Tremors, Dum Cumpsters, Temple Dogs, Kids N Propane. SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway. Sat: Malik Burgers, MobxCG & AceTakeMillions, Amon, Sustivity. SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Thu: ‘We Like 2 Party’. Fri: ‘Transmission’. Tue: Karaoke. Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Midtown. Fri: Bedouin. Sat: ‘House2Ourselves’. Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Paul Gregg. Sun:
Podunk Nowhere. Tue: Trivia. Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Sound and Color. Thu: Motive. Sun: ‘PANTS karaoke!’. Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: Ryan Robinette, Justin Lee. Thu: Scott Porter. Fri: Coriander. Sat: Coriander. Sun: Lauren Leigh. Mon: Evan Diamond Goldberg. Tue: Keep Your Soul. Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park. Wed: Leonard Patton. Thu: Rockin’ Aces. Fri: Band Overboard. Sat: Ruby Dee & The Snake Handlers, The Sea Monks. Mon: ‘Sexy Salsa and Sensual Bachata’. Tue: The Tourmaliners. Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Hagsal, Delma, Good Time Girl, Kids N Propane, Nicole Jean, Pirate Steve. Sat: Butt Candy, Free Paintings, Lefties. Sun: ‘Punk Rock Nacho Party’. Tue: Doc Hammer. U-31, 3112 University Ave., North Park. Wed: ‘Feel Good Wednesdays’. Thu: ‘BoomBox Thursdays’. Fri: DJ Freeman. Sat: Junior the Disco Punk. Sun: JAM Kwest, The Drednotz, Haileisound. Mon: ‘#31 Flavors’. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park. Wed: Volar SD Short Film Festival. Thu: ‘Love Affair’. Fri: Bad Vibes, Wild Wild Wets, Gloomsday, DJ Drug Hunt. Sat: ‘Unwind Yourself’. Sun: Richard Whig, DJ GirlGroupGirl. Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Wed: ‘Club Kingston’. Thu: Daring Greatly, Miss Violette. Fri: Super Unloader, Dark Alley Dogs. Sat: Robert Walter’s 20th Congress, Joe Marcinek Band, Chief Nasty. Sun: Full Strength Funk Band, Hit The Wall, Superjam. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: ‘M.A.S.S.’.
JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25
BY LARA MCCAFFREY
IN THE BACK
CannaBeat Hemping ain’t easy
T
o the delight of many in the hemp industry, the 2018 farm bill (aka the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018) descheduled hemp from the Controlled Substances Act. This is huge for farmers who want to start growing hemp, but some small hemp businesses in San Diego are seeing opportunities as well. Signed in December 2018, the bill reclassifies hemp for commercial use, thus moving regulation from the Drug Enforcement Agency to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is thanks in part to the inclusion of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell’s Hemp Farming Act of 2018. In a press release from his office, the Hemp Farming Act is described as one “that would empower farmers to begin cultivating industrial hemp, a crop that could play a key role in the economic future of Kentucky and the nation.” The Republican senator is staunchly anti-cannabis but not anti-hemp. Although in the same cannabis family, hemp is non-psychoactive, low-THC and isn’t used as a recreational drug, according to the National Hemp Association (nationalhempassociation.org) website. Many companies extract CBD (the non-psychoactive chemical in cannabis) from hemp. KB Pure Essentials (kbpureessentials.com), based in San Diego, has seen more interest in their hemp CBD oil products since the passing of the farm bill, according to KB founders Katie Moodie and Brooke Brun.
26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · JANUARY 23, 2019
“We’ve been bombarded with people who do merchant processing for online sales,” says Moodie. “There’s a bunch of companies now that are giving normal rates for online merchant processing so that we can accept credit cards online for a regular rate that other companies pay— not double or triple the rate.” COURTESY OF KB PURE ESSENTIALS
KB Pure Essentials Those in “high-risk industries,” like cannabis, typically pay a higher rate in payment processing compared to other types of retailers. Brun and Moodie have also heard a lot more from companies asking them to produce CBD products for them. KB Pure Essentials currently produces products for three different companies—who it declined to name—and its founders say they’re in the negotiation phases with several other companies they might produce products in the future. Stuart Tomc, the vice president of human nutrition at San Diego-based CV Sciences (cvsciences.com), thinks
hemp businesses should proceed with caution until the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalizes its hemp regulations. CV Sciences manufactures hemp-derived CBD products called PlusCBD Oil. “I can see where some smaller companies all of a sudden think that there's some kind of an opportunity here,” says Tomc. “We are of the mind that the moment that the FDA sets out their regulations, the regulations will be for any other dietary supplement company exactly the same thing.” Moodie and Brun hypothesize that the Farm Bill might also mean is bigger companies getting into the hemp game. There’s varying opinions on how corporatization might affect small businesses. KB Pure Essentials, a company with a small staff, sees corporations making hemp-based products as a good thing because it normalizes the plant. “There is plenty of room in this industry for CBD companies that pop up,” says Brun. “The benefit of a large corporation hopping on board... is that instantly normalizes it and says ‘this is safe for everybody.’” Tomc from CV Sciences, however, see things differently. He thinks that corporations making hemp-based products will push out small businesses. “The smaller players right now have to calculate their opportunity cost,” says Tomc. “As all the big dietary supplement companies get into the game, that will leave smaller and smaller market share for independent players." CannaBeat appears every other week.
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JANUARY 23, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 27