San Diego CityBeat • Feb 21, 2018

2 · San Diego CityBeat · february 21, 2018

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UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Empty pages

A

s I’m writing this, the Florida House just voted down a motion to consider a ban on assault weapons. This, as actual teenagers, survivors of the terrorist attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, looked on in shame, anger and confusion.

Insensitive and tactless as it may seem on the surface, this is not a new strategy on the part of Republicans. The strategies remain the same: pivot the debate (it’s about mental illness, not guns), discredit experts (there’s no way to prevent these types of tragedies), offer the requisite “thoughts and prayers” and, eventually, everyone will move on. That is, until the next massacre occurs, in which the same political song-and-dance will play out again.

This is essentially what the Union-Tribune was trying to convey when, the day after the Douglas massacre, the paper ran an empty white page with the lone headline, “Another School Shooting? We Already Know What Congress Will Do Next. This:” It was, indeed, jarring to see the space emptied of words.

Editorial and opinion director Matthew T. Hall explained that the white space was being used to show Congress “we’ve lost our faith in it on this crucial issue” and “to shame its leaders into doing something.”

I agree with the sentiment.

And while some, nay, most locals saw the paper’s white space as a profound and provocative statement, I saw it differently. I saw it as only perpetuating a defeatist attitude toward an issue that now, more than ever, needs declarative words written by strident voices. For me, it was the editorial equivalent of saying “yeah, wow, that sucks. Too bad nothing changes.” As clever and creative as it was, that white space represents something we already knew.

What readers needed then were ideas, facts and strategies on how they can work to change things so that massacres like this don’t happen.

Instead, the person in charge of the opinions section of our paper of record revealed his own opinion on an appearance on KPBS on Friday when he said, “It won’t change.”

Well, it can. Here’s a few idea on how: Start talking to gun rights supporters about “red flag” laws. The vast majority of Americans believe that people who are mentally impaired shouldn’t have guns. California has some of the toughest “red flag” laws in the country, which allow family members and even friends to report someone if they feel that person poses a threat to themselves or others. A restraining order is issued and that person will have their guns taken away before they commit any acts of violence (they get them back eventually). Even

Jeb Bush just came out in support of them in Florida.

It’s reasonable to think these laws should be in every state, but as of right now, they’re only in five.

Increase funding to mental health services.

Now. While California has some of the best gun laws in the country, we suck when it comes to retaining counselors and social workers for troubled teens. In fact, California has the fewest counselors per student than any state. San Diego Unified School District in particular is set to cut some counselors from its budget. Parents should not let them.

Commit with your wallet. Do not support corporations that sell guns. Pick up your kids’ soccer gear at an independent outlet and not sporting goods stores like Big 5 and Dick’s. Stop shopping at Wal-Mart.

Do. Not. Support. Candidates. Backed. By. The. NRA. If readers want more sensible gun policies and laws, let’s start with the politicians. Congressman Duncan Hunter’s campaigns, for one, have been backed by the NRA to the tune of $13,000, the ninth most of any candidate in California. Take it a step further. Readers should demand that their local representatives not take money from the gun lobby. Harass them on Twitter and Facebook. Show up at their offices. Better yet…

Support orgs that work to combat the NRA’s efforts. It can sometimes be hard to conceive of a gun reform org that has as much lobbying power as the NRA. Imagine if there were political action committees devoted to gun-control legislation that lobbied and donated just as efficiently as the NRA. There’s no reason there can’t be. Gun enthusiasts can join the NRA for $40. Imagine if everyone who believes in sensible gun laws gave $5 a month to the Brady Campaign, the Violence Policy Center and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ Americans for Responsible Solutions.

To be fair to the U-T, they have devoted a good chunk of their opinion pages over the last few days to discussing some of these topics. It’s my opinion, however, that they need to take it a step further. When Hall was asked by a fellow reporter on Twitter whether the U-T’s opinions section would “no longer consider endorsing any candidate who takes money from the NRA,” Hall said that he’d give it some thought, but quickly backtracked by saying that it was “a complex issue” and that the “world’s too complicated and nuanced and messy for that.”

We writers and journalists can compose all the editorials we want, but if we don’t stand for something now, then when? If we resign ourselves to the idea that “it won’t change,” then empty white pages are just that: empty.

—Seth Combs

Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat kneels when Fergie sings the National Anthem.

Volume 16 • Issue 27 EDITOR Seth Combs MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos ASSOCIATE EDITOR Torrey Bailey COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer Edwin Decker Minda Honey John R. Lamb Alex Zaragoza

CONTRIBUTORS Christin Bailey, David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Rachel Michelle Fernandes, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Lizz Huerta, Lara McCaffrey, Scott McDonald, Kinsee Morlan, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Jen Van Tieghem, Amy Wallen, Ian Ward EDITORIAL INTERNS Alex Noble

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jason Noble ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES RIchard Diaz, Beau Odom CONTROLLER Kacie Cobian ACCOUNTING Perla Castillo, David Garcia Linda Lam, Yiyang Wang HUMAN RESOURCES Andrea Baker

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FEBRUARY 21, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS

WELL, ACTUALLY… ON WEED! If you quoted her correctly, lawyer Kimberly Sims erred in stating, “current law doesn’t allow for cannabis cuisine in restaurants” [“High Dining,” Feb. 14]. Cannabis is a species of plant which includes industrial hemp. Prop. 64 redefined industrial hemp to be excluded from the definition of “marijuana” and perpetuated the ineptitude of «marijuana» comprising only one species, Cannabis Sativa, of Cannabis. There are two other species of Cannabis, both highly intoxicating, which are not competently defined as “marijuana,” i.e., Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Ruderalis. Unlike marijuana, industrial hemp (a subspecies of Cannabis Sativa) is clearly legal under Prop. 64 as to the seeds, plant, concentrates, and byproducts. State regulation is to defer to counties and this county does not yet regulate it. Until the state regulates CBD or recognizes federal regulation of it, industrial hemp, its concentrates and its byproducts are clearly legal under non-federal law in restaurants, foods and beverages.

Robert Burns Attorney & Counselor at Law Ocean Beach

SHOCK AND APPALL I was shocked and appalled to learn that SD County is going after Kelly Davis for her bril-

liant and comprehensive reporting on jail deaths in county jails [“We care,” Feb. 14].

This is outrageous! How is this not a frontal assault on the First Amendment? Who are the people responsible for this? Are they elected officials? If so, we know what to do.

This is a blatant Trumpian tactic. Attack the messenger and try to chill the sources. This needs a strong response from all of us.

Grant Walpole

Ocean Beach

FOOD CHOICES Ryan Bradford’s article is the typical narrative and example of how our food choices complicate the lives of others [“Beware the Veganing,” Sept. 13]. I stopped eating meat soon after my dad slowly bled a goat to death in our garage, the gurgling of blood in its throat had a profound impact on me.

It seemed so unnecessary. I stopped letting people know years ago that I do not eat meat, and I have been a vegan for almost twenty years. I’m 34. People get very defensive when they learn you’re vegan, I began to understand early. When my best friend in high school found out I was vegan, he said god put animals on earth for a reason, and we got into a heated discussion that compromised our friendship. I since stopped letting people know of my food choices. No one at work, where I volunteer, at my MMA gym knows I’m vegan. I treat this as a need-

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

to-know basis, and so the only person who knows about my dietary life is my girlfriend.

Kevin Fierro City Heights

WE WANT FEEDBACK Did you read a story in San Diego CityBeat that made your blood boil, or caused you to laugh so hard you pulled a stomach muscle? If something inspires you to send us your two cents we welcome all letters that respond to news stories, opinion pieces or reviews that have run in these pages. We don’t accept unsolicited op-ed letters.

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

UP FRONT From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Sordid Tales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 There She Goz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

FOOD & DRINK World Fare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 The Beerdist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

THINGS TO DO The Short List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12

ARTS & CULTURE The Floating Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 FEATURE: Voices of Our City Choir. . . . . 15 Thank You For Staring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-18

MUSIC FEATURE: Spiritual Cramp. . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Notes from the Smoking Patio . . . . . . . . 20 The Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 If I Were U. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-26

IN THE BACK Astrologically Unsound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 CannaBeat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

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february 21, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

NEWS | OPINION

HAM OF THE WEEK

By Torrey Bailey and Seth Combs

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Rodney Scott, who in addition to looking like a villain from an ‘80s action movie, decided this week to restrict family meetings at Friendship Park to 30 minutes and allowing only 10 people at a time. Since becoming Chief in December, he’s also cancelled “Door of Hope” events and a March event where children with disabilities could visit with their parents on the other side of the border.

THE ISSUE: City officials and state assemblymembers are addressing San Diego’s housing crisis by introducing new legislation to address it. In addition to housing plans presented by Mayor Faulconer (“Housing SD”) and Councilmember Georgette Gómez, there are now two new pieces of legislation: California State Assemblymember Todd Gloria introduced AB 2372 (or, California’s Sustainable and Affordable [CASA] Housing Act) on Feb. 14, state legislation that will spur the production of affordable workforce and low-income housing within transit priority areas. The bill is city-sponsored and piggybacks off of Gómez’s plan. The City Council also recently voted 4-1 to look at a $900 million bond, proposed by the San Diego Housing Federation, to fund affordable housing that would be funded by a property tax of $19 per $100,000 of home value.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: “A large part of the severity of California’s housing crisis is the pressure it puts on middle-class families. These are Californians who have jobs, work full-time and are still priced out of the market yet unable to qualify for subsidized housing. This bill [AB 2372] provides a solution.”

—Assemblymember Todd Gloria “I appreciate that this is definitely for those who are most in need, and I can respect that, but there are also people who own homes that are struggling every day too, and this is an additional tax on them.”

—Councilmember Chris Cate, on the housing bond, to the Union-Tribune

“We need to take aggressive action to deal with the statewide housing crisis and this new legislation is another tool that will help us create more housing affordability for working families.”

—Mayor Kevin Faulconer OUR TAKE: It’s getting hard to keep track of all the proposals, but that’s a good thing. City officials seem

to be coming around to what residents have known for a long time: We are at a crisis level situation when it comes to affordable housing. It is not only becoming increasingly difficult for longtime residents to live here, but San Diego is now the 12th most expensive place to live for renters. Median rents have increased by 36 percent since 2000, while income has only risen by four percent. And while homeowners are sitting on a ton of equity, low-income renters are spending up to 69 percent of their income on the rent alone according to a report from the California Housing Partnership. The plans above aren’t gong to be immediate solutions, but both are steps in the right direction and we appreciate Gómez’s incentives for developers who build more units in mass transit-friendly areas. The Housing Federation’s bond will also be, as Executive Director Stephen Russell put it to Times of San Diego, a “significant step toward addressing homelessness.”

NEWSY BITS 2/14 BEST DAY EVER!

S.D. County Board of Supervisors unanimously approves new Climate Action Plan with main plan to achieve 90 percent renewable electricity by 2030. Criticized by environmental groups for having “no plan” to combat transportation emissions.

We love a good dog meme around the office, but the ones that include a “study” are always looked upon with journalistic skepticism. Take this one, for example, which sites the “University of California”? OK, which one? That dog is jealous? Why? That bro is clearly not a threat.

Luckily, the lovely folks at Snopes tracked down the actual study, and it came from none other than UC San Diego psychology professor Christine Harris. According to the 2014 study, she found that “dogs do engage in what appear to be jealous behaviors but also that they were seeking to break up the connection between the owner and a seeming rival.” And while the truthiness of this meme is definitely the exception to the rule, we still mostly enjoy it for the scowl on that husky’s face.

All the seriousness, silliness and stupidity of the past week

2/15

2/16

2/17

2/18

2/19

LimeBikes begin to show up in San Diego.

SDSU West plan secures enough signatures to appear on November ballot.

Luis Eudoro Valencia sentenced to six months in prison for attempted smuggling of Bengal tiger cub across the border.

City Attorney Mara Elliott begins aggressively pursuing gun violence restraining orders, filing a dozen orders against a dozen people who will be forced to sell or surrender firearms.

Eric Hosmer joins Padres.

San Diego Gulls prove they’re the only local sports team worth a damn by winning their eighth straight in front of a sell-out crowd.

A frost advisory in East County?

Locals collectively shit themselves after a lone pink flamingo is spotted in Imperial Beach.

A Valentine’s miracle!

FML

SurveyUSA poll finds Democrat Doug Applegate and Republican Rocky Chavez initial frontrunners in 49th congressional race.

Flu deaths in San Diego rise to 251 people.

County health officials also warn of possible whooping cough epidemic and encourage pregnant women to get vaccinated.

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

2/20

Citing multiple female employees, a Washington Post story documents billionaire and Bahamas ambassador-nominee Doug Manchester’s time as Union-Tribune owner from 2011 to 2015, describing it as a “toxic” environment of sexual harassment and inappropriateness.

Fresh off his disastrous homeless feeding ban, El Cajon Republican Mayor Bill Wells announces run for Congress, challenging Rep. Duncan Hunter in the 50th district.

U-T Watchdog story reveals SDPD spent $50,000 on supplies in preparation for protests at Otay Mesa border wall prototypes including pepper spray projectiles, rubber bullets and nearly $6K worth of sack lunches and Costco pizza.

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UP FRONT | OPINION

EDWIN DECKER

SORDID

TALES

Wow, I guess I’m a bigot after all

M

ost of the hate mail I receive starts off with schools? You’re a bigot if you cannot tolerate some something heart-felt like, “Dear Gigantic warmongering politician whose answer to every forDouchebag,” followed by an inquiry as to eign-policy problem is “invade” even though the only which farm animals had copulated in order to con- “invading” he ever did was a midnight panty raid with ceive me and ending with a cleverly veiled threat such his frat brothers at Harvard?

By this definition, everybody on the planet—yes, as, “I am going to stab you repeatedly in the neck and Gandhi, Mandela and even effin’ Mother Teresa—is a play Twister in your carnage.”

Always preferring to take the high road, I typically bigot. Every standup comic is a bigot. Every politician, respond by writing something conciliatory like, “Hey, every poet, every athlete, every construction worker, Scum Slurping Assbag—I humped your mother while every Wall Street butt hump—any person who ever your father watched,” and from there, we continue to mocked somebody else’s worldview, no matter how obtuse, is, by definition, a bigot. discuss the issues (not).

You can’t even be intolerant of bigotry without beHowever, every now and then, I get into an exchange with a disgruntled reader who, while quite an- ing a bigot. If I wrote a scathing article about what gry, is also eloquent, thoughtful and even succeeds in buffoons white supremacists are—how their message putting me in my place without ad hominem attacks. is preposterous, their fashion is boobish and their music is as aesthetically pleasing Such a discourse happened reas the screech of a deaf-mute teencently when reader Jim Fabiszak By this definition, ager who dropped her smartphone responded to my column “The Purpose of Marriage.” everybody on the planet in the toilet—I would be every bit bigoted as the white supremaIn his email, Jim bemoaned the —yes, Gandhi, Mandela as cists. fact that I openly mocked his reliBut, whatever. If that’s what the gion—Christianity. In closing, he and even effin’ Mother word means, then fine, I’m a bigot. wrote, “May I suggest bigotry beTeresa—is a bigot…

If saying out loud that Sean Hannigets bigotry? You have the power ty, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly are of the pen. Break the chain.” any person who ever hypocritical, dipshit blowhards Now, I’ve been called a bigot mocked somebody makes me a bigot, then go ahead plenty before, but it never bothand sew a scarlet “B” on my lapel. ered me, because, well, I know that else’s worldview, no If I’m a bigot because I verbally I’m not one. Indeed, I have been matter how obtuse, is, lambasted some blue-haired, antisquawking against prejudice for as marijuana busy bee who said that long as I’ve known how to squawk, by definition, a bigot. “cannabis is a scourge on society” have always been on the side of as she puffed her Pall Mall, then civil rights and have gleefully used this column to attack those who aren’t. This I was able brand a Circle B on my bovine ass.

If I’m a bigot because I openly laugh at rightto do guilt free, thanks to a sincerely held belief that it’s not bigoted to mock the opinions of others (opin- wing politicians who try to explain how the female ions are fair game); rather, it’s bigoted to discriminate reproductive system works—then fine, I’ll bunk with against people for reasons of race, gender, sexual pref- Hitler in Hater Hell.

If I’m a bigot because I write that Justin Bieber’s erence—the sort of characteristics they have no control over—which is what I wrote to Jim in my follow- belly button is an outtie and his penis is an innie, then sign me up for the KKK bake sale and charity drive. up letter.

If I’m a bigot because I think Phil Robertson of Duck “I’m not sure where you pull your definition of bigotry from,” he responded. “However the accepted defi- Dynasty is a blithering nincompoop for his medieval, nition is, ‘intolerance toward those who hold different anti-gay comments, then call up CityBeat and try to have me fired. opinions from oneself.’”

If I’m a bigot because I think that those who tried Gawd, I hate it when people out-dicktionary me.

But, yes, to my dismay, it was true—after looking it to have Robertson fired for his comments are equally up in several sources, the lexicographical consensus is nincompoopish, then call up Homeland Security and that “bigotry” is not only an intolerance of things like get me on the No Fly list.

If I’m a bigot because I write that a person who race, gender and sexual orientation—but also of opinions. Here’s a definition from Collins English Diction- believes in an invisible man in the sky who listens to ary: “Bigot: a person who is intolerant of any ideas our prayers, sends angels to watch over us and takes other than his or her own, esp on religion, politics, or a keen interest in our football games is unfit to be a city council member, much less governor or president, race.”

When I read that, I thought, Wow! I guess I must re- then, by all means, write me a letter and tell me what ally be a bigot after all, considering all the insulting, of- a bigot I am. It don’t bother me none. I’d rather be a fensive, condescending missiles I’ve hurled at people bigot and call people out on their horseshit than cluemerely because their opinions were f?u?c?k?i?n?g? less and quiet, never saying a bad word about anyone. ?i?d?i?o?t?i?c? different than mine.

But then I thought: Hold on now. That’s a terrible definition! You’re a bigot if you criticize a reli- Sordid Tales appears every other week. gious zealot who wants creationism taught in public Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com.

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FEBRUARY 21, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | VOICES

THERE SHE

ALEX ZARAGOZA

GOZ

Looking for some D, so to speak

I

t’s been eight years since my dad passed away, and my mom doesn’t miss him. She never has. She’s gotten wistful here and there, but her life is better since he’s been gone. As a woman, I completely understand, though it’s been a tough pill to swallow as a daughter.

Amelia Zaragoza is 65 years old. She married my dad, Francisco, when she was 19 and with a belly full of baby. Throughout their forty-something years of marriage, my mom, as she puts it, did everything she was supposed to do. She fulfilled their vows, even when he didn’t, and took care of my dad until the day he died, which is why she’s been able to let go easily.

“Yo cumpli con lo mío,” she says.

For years my mom suffered through regular stroke-like spells that my family and I now refer to as “chiripiorca,” named after a weird body twist move done by the character Chaparrón Bonaparte on the classic Mexican comedy Chespirito. Doctors believed it was tied to her mental health issues, but when my dad died the chiripiorcas went away. I can’t remember the last time she had one, so we figured out quickly the root cause. He was not an easy man.

Amelia is no weak bird in a Sur la Table apron though. She’s a tough, no-fucks-giving lady with a sharp sense of humor who you’ll never see looking a mess.

If there’s a floral print pant and white caftan blouse out there in the world, she can rock the shit out of it.

Since my dad passed away my mom’s life has been fuller, calmer and happier. She goes on regular vacations with her friends and hits up those sales racks at Marshalls. She devours books on politics and culture and goes to the theater.

She just chills. For most of my life, she was never able to just sit alone in a quiet room and chill.

It’s bittersweet, missing my dad so much, wishing he were still here, but also knowing that my mom’s better without him. That after 40-something years, her life is all the way hers again and that she deserves it, even at the expense of my dad’s life. Even typing that feels weird, as though I’m happy he’s gone.

Now, after eight years of being happily on her own my mom is ready for a new man. When she came to me asking if I’d help her set up an online dating profile, I was a bit surprised. She and I have always been very close, but that’s something I’d imagine being awkward for a mom to tell their kid. The fact that she confided in me and knew I wouldn’t judge her made me feel really honored. We’ve had conversations in the past about her fears of being with a new person,

especially since she’d only been with my dad. Ever.

Well, there was one old white guy named Tom whom she met on a cruise, but we think he died.

We got to work on her profile right then and there, and I smiled thinking I might just get the chance to yell “you’re not my dad!” at some old man one day. My adolescent dream.

Dressed in her best furry vest, the preferred means of warmth of the Tijuana mom set, I posed her for some photos. I had her walk away and turn around to get that candid fresh-faced look that will hopefully get the blood running through a cute, grey-haired retired professor with a dead ex-wife. She smiled stiffly and I yelled at her to give me more!

More! Work it, honey! Yes, bitch!

Get me a new dad!

We added her photos and began writing out my mom’s requisites for dick. She likes traveling and going to the theater!

She loves to laugh and cook!

“Tell them I don’t want their money or anything from them!

And I don’t want to get married so don’t even ask. And I just want someone to spend time with, but then they leave me alone when I don’t want to see them,” she yelled at me, roughly jabbing at the iPhone as I attempted to type that out in less insane words.

Having dabbled in online dated myself, I immediately felt worried. I don’t want my mom to get Dirty Johned, though I doubt that would ever happen to her because she really is a Grade A hard-ass. But more than anything, the thought of her being disappointed breaks my heart.

Thinking she might feel devalued because she’s older while men seek youth like dogs sniff buttholes. It fills me with concern, but this is her choice and I just have to be there along the way whenever she needs me.

We hit the button to activate her profile and up popped some matches nearby. At the very top of the matches was a profile that looked familiar. It was the dad of one of my best friends. I erupted in laughter, and texted her “Dude, let’s be sisters!”

My mom is out there now, swiping right and meeting men for coffees and lunches. She recently told me of one date where the man proclaimed his deep desire to give his heart completely to another and feel love on a passionate level. “I told him I’m not interested in that,” she said. “Guácala! Que asco!”

Like I said, she’s a hard ass, but anyone would be lucky to have her.

It’s bittersweet, missing my dad so much, wishing he were still here, but also knowing that my mom’s better without him.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

There She Goz appears every third week.

Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com.

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UP FRONT | FOOD

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

A

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BEERDIST

Trolling Stone

Born, raised and worth it $6.5 million renovation comes with some expectations. Big ones. To be good, even very good, just isn’t going to be enough; only excellence will do.

And while Little Italy’s Born & Raised (1909 India St.) hardly offers cutting-edge cuisine, it went about pursuing excellence in its own way and made it both fun and exciting. Paul Basile’s Art Deco-inspired design is nothing short of spectacular. The Great Gatsby and Mad Men are the most common reference points mentioned, but it’s much more than that. Basile evokes both references without slavish copying or Disneyland cartoonery, and does so with a sense of humor and by highlighting through-lines that most designers would miss. What’s with the photographs of rappers on the walls? And why don’t they seem out of place? It’s all true to the vision.

Steakhouses have a limited palette from which to paint. Born & Raised makes the most of it, using every color and texture available. Executive chef Jason McLeod’s ambitious dry aging program—which the menu correctly identifies as “why you’re here”—gives the steaks a tenderness and depth of flavor beyond the ordinary. This fact is reflected in the price.

Perhaps the best way to approach those steaks is with the Porterhouse for two. It’s not cheap, but none are (the cheapest is $35). At $3.75 per ounce, it’s decent value.

The cut is luxurious, the sear perfect and the meat is phenomenally tender from the dry-aging.

Another classic dish is the Tournedos Rossini, a French steak dish of filet mignon over a trimmed French bread crouton with foie gras, truffles and a Madeira sauce. It’s hard to conceive of a more prototypically luxurious dish and, here, that’s not a bad thing.

THE

MICHAEL A. GARDINER

FARE

BY ANDREW DYER

I

Dry aged porterhouse for two The appetizers shine, from the simpler, direct (but still luxurious) slab of perfectly seared foie gras to the classic French onion soup. The best, though, might be the “Mary’s Snails.” It is, essentially, a classic garlic, basil and butter sauce on escargot, and arranged around a tower of bone marrow.

But as well executed as the menu at Born & Raised truly is, that’s not what puts the place over the top. It is, ultimately, the service and the overall experience. The service at any high-end restaurant has to be good, but this is a step beyond and has entertainment value in-and-of itself. The staff communicates a level of expertise, hospitality and even pampering that is rare in today’s “hospitality” industry.

It feels like a throwback to a different day and age, which is invoked in the restaurant’s design, menu and just about everything else. The net effect is that the customer doesn’t just have a meal but has an experience. From the moment that diner passes through the big front door and into the warm light of the richly wooded interior, there seems to be a single message sent. $6.5 million does a lot to help that message get sent, but in the end, it is the nearly flawless execution of every detail that makes sure that message is received.

Born & Raised may not be the most creative restaurant, sure, but its vision and realization of that vision make anyone dining there forget that. Expectations?

Sure. Excellence? Achieved.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

n many ways, Greg Koch, co-founder of Stone Brewing, has built his reputation on being insufferable. Stone’s first hit beer was “Arrogant Bastard,” which dared drinkers, on its label, not to buy it. “You’re not worthy,” it proclaimed.

When it comes to big beer, Koch is as responsible as anyone for the David versus Goliath attitude that is now pervasive in the industry.

Being this outspoken has made Koch a target. In a video published in conjunction with a news release on Monday, Feb. 12, Koch announced Stone Brewing was suing big beer—specifically, MillerCoors, the makers of Keystone and Keystone Light.

In its complaint filed in U.S. District Court for Southern California, Stone says that in 2017, Keystone Light’s cans underwent a redesign, with the words “Key” and “stone” being separated.

Depending on how one looks at a can, all that is visible are the words “STONE” and “Light.”

That’s not all. In several advertisements, MillerCoors encouraged consumers to “hunt the Stone” as part of a contest. Its repackaged cases prominently display the word “Stone.” Corporate law strategist David Lizerbram called it a “clear-cut case” of copyright infringement in an article for Voice of San Diego.

Agreement that the case had merit was nearly universal. However, it was the way in which Stone went about announcing the suit that brought out the naysayers.

There’s a pervasive idea among some national beer writers that anything craft brewers do relating to their battles against big beer is to be looked upon with

suspicion, as though the only correct take is a contrarian stance.

This is especially true with a polarizing figure like Koch.

Several commentators, from Twitter to Reddit, took issue with Stone’s PR regarding the lawsuit. A video and announced hashtag campaign— #TrueStonevsKeystone—were their main targets, as was the wording of the complaint itself. One prominent publication said the lawsuit looked more like a marketing campaign.

The contrarian backlash and reactionary trolling has nothing to do with the viability of Stone’s case or Koch’s persona and everything to do with how assuming a nagging, naysaying posture can inject one’s self into the conversation, resulting in retweets, replies and—if you’re lucky—a Greg Koch long, argumentative back-and-forth with Koch himself.

Everything in the suit is very much onbrand for Stone. Koch built his entire public persona around his fight against, as the aforementioned Arrogant Bastard label put it, “fizzy yellow beer.” He’s been one of the most vocal critics of big beer’s strategy of purchasing craft brewers, declaring in 2016 that Stone would never sellout.

There is little harm in taking advantage of the inevitable deluge of news surrounding the lawsuit to further promote the core ethos of the brewery, and it’s entirely onbrand for Koch to do so.

Note: This is my final Beerdist column in San Diego CityBeat. It has been my privilege over the last three years to cover this vital local industry and the wild, eclectic and close-knit community represented within. I’m still @beerdist on Twitter, for now at least, and I’m always down for a beer. Cheers.

FEBRUARY 21, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

SAN DIEGO

ALL YEAR LONG Both Black History Month and Black Solidarity Week (Feb. 17 through Feb. 24) will be ending soon, but we’d like to encourage readers to keep the spirit going all year. And no, this does not begin and end with a screening of Black Panther (although it’s rad). Here are a few options for readers to show their pride and solidarity as we close out February.

Start the week at the Price Center East Ballroom on the UCSD campus (near the corner of La Jolla Village Drive and Gilman Drive) for Alsarah & the Nubatones on Thursday, Feb. 22. The group specializes in an infectious brand of East African pop that’s anchored by Yemeni via Sudan singer Alsarah’s gorgeous voice. It happens at 8 p.m. and tickets are $30 at artpower.ucsd.edu. For North County residents, stop by the California Center for the Arts, Escondido (340 N. Escondido Blvd.) for Black Violin, the hip-hop duo that also happens to be classically trained string instrumentalists.

It happens at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $20-$45 at artcenter.org.

Begin Saturday, Feb. 24 at the Central Library (330 Park Blvd., East Village) for a discussion about the new book, Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA. Author Dr. Duchess Harris will talk about the real-life women who were recruited by NASA in the 1950s, a story most recently made famous by the film Hidden Figures.

SOUTH PARK

HERMANOS IN ARMS Barrios Hermanos is an art collective that seeks to foster exchanges of culture and ideas between San Diego and Mexico. Their latest Border Art exhibition at Rose Wine Bar (2219 COURTESY OF THE ARTIST 30th St., South Park) will showcase pieces from two prominent Mexican artists, Jorge Tellaeche and Rod Villa. Painter Tellaeche is based in Mexico City, but locals may remember him from his days in San Diego.

“Together we At just 15-years-old, Stand Strong” he presented his first

by Jorge Tellaeche exhibition here at the Sony Art Walk and he occasionally returns for collaborations with the Museum of Contemporary Art. Villa is an accomplished painter and tattoo artist, best known for his colorful murals that adorn the streets of his native Mexicali. Both artists will be on hand to discuss their work at an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23. Food, wine and the artists’ work will all be available for purchase. facebook.com/ BarriosHermanos

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

COLIN BRENNAN

Black Violin The 1 p.m. event is free but be sure to register at sandiego.librarymarket.com. Later that evening, the San Diego Symphony presents Affinity: A Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson Tribute, a Jazz @ The Jacobs concert that features an all-star quintet paying homage to the legendary jazz bassist and pianist. The concert starts at 8 p.m. at Copley Symphony Hall (750 B St., Downtown), but be sure to show up early for a performance from the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory. Tickets are $25-$68 at sandiegosymphony.org.

Finally, end the week where it began at the Price Center East Ballroom for a rare appearance from the New Breed Brass Band, a New Orleans ninepiece known for mixing the second-line brass band sound with funk, rock, jazz and hip-hop. It happens on Wednesday, Feb. 28 and tickets are $35 at artpower.ucsd.edu.

CITY HEIGHTS

ACT NATURAL An architect, a homemaker, a logger, salesmen and coyotes walk into a bar…

Actually, it’s onto a stage and it’s not the preface of a joke, but the puppet cast of Animal Cracker Conspiracy’s latest iteration of Paper Cities: or how to avert the oncoming megalopolis. The storyline follows this mix of humans and animals as they navigate the relations that bring them together. Through a combination of puppetry, dance, original film and animated objects, Animal Cracker Conspiracy will explore what happens when humans exist in an untamed environment.

This City Heights Puppet Project-produced show will be performed at the City Heights Performance Annex (3795 Fairmount Ave.) at 7:30 p.m. beginning Thursday, Feb. 22 through Saturday, Feb. 24. Tickets are $15 at papercitiesshow.brownpapertickets.com.

COURTESY OF ANIMAL CRACKER CONSPIRACY

Paper Cities

WRES Third Wednesdays at WRES, 930 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Watercolors by Susanne Slater and Bonnie Woods, plus vintage style hand-cut original collages on canvas or watercolor paper by Ramona Szczerba. From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21. Free. 619-347-9866, facebook. com/events/167531960635900

Jen Wang at Comikaze Liberty Station, 2750 Historic Decatur Road #101, Point Loma. The graphic novelist will be making an appearance to promote her latest project, The Princess and the Dressmaker. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28. Free. 619363-0004, mystgalaxy.com

DANCE

The Life and Deeds of Dr. Shih-Liang Chien at San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, 328 J St., Downtown. This new exhibition focuses on Dr. Shih-Liang Chien, his family and their precepts (family rules for living) via photos and rare artifacts. Through April 8. Opens from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. Free$5. 619-338-9888, sdchm.org

Visions Til-Two at Til Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Visionary Dance Theatre will perform a modern dance program as well as burlesque in hopes of raising funds for the company’s education fund.

At 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. $14-$20. 619758-8112, visionarydancetheatre.org

HBorder Art at The Rose, 2219 30th St., South Park. Hosted by Barrios Hermanos, an art collective that seeks to foster crossborder exchanges of culture and ideas, this event will showcase the work of celebrated Mexican artists Jorge Tellaeche and Rod Villa. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23. Free. facebook.com/barrioshermanos

HClaremont Modern: The Convergence of Art + Architecture at Midcentury at Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Paul Bockhorst’s documentary film surveys midcentury modern architecture in Claremont with an emphasis on the interaction between artists and architects. A Q&A with the director will follow. From 5 to 8 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 22. $8-$10. 619-2390003, mingei.org

HChicano Park Day Fundraising Art Show at Chicano Art Gallery, 2117 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. A wide variety of Chicano art will be available for purchase at discounted prices that benefit the longevity of Chicano Park. Plus music from DJ Kutz. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. Free. facebook.com/ events/167107517393299

BOOKS HFrancisco Cantu at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Tucson-based writer and former Border Patrol agent will discuss his new memoir, The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border, with fellow writer John Wilkens. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com HKareem Abdul-Jabbar at Point Loma Nazarene University Crill Performance Hall, 3900 Lomaland Drive, Point Loma. The NBA champ and writer will discuss her career and his new book, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court. At 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. $5$20. 619-849-2200, pointloma.edu/writers HLGBTQ Author Panel at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. Authors MG Hennessey, Tim Floreen, Kristin Clark and Brie Spangler will sign and discuss their respective books with genres ranging from YA to thrillers. At 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23. Free.

858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HDr. Duchess Harris at San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. The author will discuss her new book, Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA, which was inspired by her grandmother who was one of the first 11 black women recruited to work at NASA in the 1950s. From 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. Free. 619-2365800, sandiego.librarymarket.com Alice Waters at The Vegetable Shop at Chino Farm, 6123 Calzada del Bosque, Rancho Santa Fe. The chef, author and food activist signs her memoir, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook, a New York Times Bestseller that discusses the challenges Waters faced throughout her career. The event is a fundraiser for The Edible Schoolyard Project. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25. Free. 858-756-3184, facebook. com/events/415480505557789 Robert Dallek at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The historian and bestselling writer will discuss and sign his new book, Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

H = CityBeat picks

FILM

HLa Frontera Short Films Program at Sherman Heights Community Center, 2258 Island Ave., Sherman Heights. A series of short films inspired by the dreams and conflicts one faces at the border. Includes six films telling stories of DACA recipients, cultural shifts among generations and more. From 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. Free. 619-232-518, facebook. com/events/185006372264183 HCynthia Maughan w/ Lissa Corona at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. Space Time Art presents a rare screening of video works created by Cynthia Maughan between 1973 and 1979, followed by a live performance by local artist Lissa Corona. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. $7. spacetimeart.org

FOOD & DRINK HSan Diego Winter Brew Fest at Fleet Science Center, 1875 El Prado, Balboa Park. The sixth annual beer fest will feature over 80 breweries and cider makers, as well as live music and the chance to check out the Fleet’s latest exhibitions. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. $40$60. 619-234-2544,sandiegobrewfest.com Border X Brewing 3rd Anniversary at Border X Brewing, 2181 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. The brewery celebrates the third anniversary of its Barrio Logan location with live music, Loteria and food.

Plus the brewery will be releasing a new beer. From 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. Free. 619-501-0503, facebook.com/ events/1799411043405252

MUSIC HAlsarah & the Nubatones at Price Center East Ballroom at UCSD, La Jolla Village Drive and Gilman Drive, La Jolla.

The group specializes in an infectious brand of East African retro-pop that’s anchored by Yemeni via Sudan singer Alsarah’s voice. At 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. $30. artpower.ucsd.edu HBlack Violin at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. This hip-hop duo also happens to be classically trained string instrumentalists and is known for their lively performances. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. $20-$45. 760-839-4138, artcenter.org.

HBuilding Bridges Between Nations at various venues. Choral group SACRA/ PROFANA will perform works by Austrian composer Ernst Krenek, British composer

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 @SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

february 21, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 Benjamin Britten and others who came to the U.S. from Europe in the years before and during World War II. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23 at Mingei International Museum (1439 EL Prado, Balboa Park) and Saturday, Feb. 24 at Oceanside Museum of Art (704 Pier View Way, Oceanside).

619-566-6584, sacraprofana.org HSounds of the Big Easy at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts, 15498 Espola Road, Poway. This latest theatrical music production from Six String Society features performances from Gregory Page, Sue Palmer, Nathan James, Casey Hensley and more. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. $15-$50. 858-748-0505, powaycenter.com HAffinity: A Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson Tribute at San Diego Symphony, 750 B St., Downtown. Some of today’s best jazz artists pay tribute to the Oscar Peterson Trio. Bassist John Clayton, Ray Brown’s protégé, along with Larry Fuller and the Jeff Hamilton Trio will be there to celebrate Brown and Peterson’s legacy. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. $30-$68.

619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org.

Beat Quest! A Musical Journey Through Rhythm, Time and Place at San Diego Symphony, 750 B St., Downtown. From swinging jazz to Beethoven, this concert will trace the origins of several musical genres and how their distinctive rhythms transport us around the globe. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25. $10-$25. 619235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org.

HNew Breed Brass Band at Price Center East Ballroom at UCSD, La Jolla Village Drive and Gilman Drive, La Jolla. A New Orleans nine-piece known for mixing the second-line brass band sound with funk, rock, jazz and hip-hop. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28. $35. artpower.ucsd.edu loudbang at Conrad Prebys Concert Hall at UCSD, Russell Lane at Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The New York City-based new music chamber group is known for brining a more contemporary take to chamber music and was called “cultivated” by The New Yorker. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28. $10.50-$15.50. musicweb.ucsd.edu

PERFORMANCE ABBA Mania at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp. This concert experience from London’s West End attempts to recreate the legendary performances of one of the world’s biggest pop groups. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. $32. 619570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org HPaper Cities: or how to avert the oncoming megalopolis at City Heights Performance Annex, 3795 Fairmount Ave., City Heights. Animal Cracker Conspiracy’s

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

latest iteration of their puppetry performance that also incorporates dance, original film and animated objects. At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 22, Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24. $15. papercitiesshow. brownpapertickets.com HTurandot at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Gaslamp. San Diego Opera’s lavish take on Puccini’s classic about the icy Chinese princess who is being pursued by the cunning Calàf. At 7 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 23, Tuesday, Feb. 27 and Friday, Mar. 2. At 2 p.m. Sunday, March 4. $30-$303. sdopera.org HA Time To Dance at California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The Center Chorale, symphony orchestra and soloists join the Mojalet Dance Collective in the west coast premier of Alec Roth’s modern cantata. Also on the program will be the Magnificat of J. S. Bach Soloists. At 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25. $20-$30. 760-839-4138, artcenter.org

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HVAMP Dirty Talk: The Fetish Show at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park.

So Say We All’s monthly storytelling night features stories about leather, straps and all the other things that float people’s boats behind closed doors. Readers include Jennifer Coburn, Jessica Hilt, David Latham and more. From 8:30 to 10 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 22. $5 suggested donation. 619-284-6784, sosayweallonline.com HPoetry & Art Presents at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Readings from Al Howard, Anna Zappoli, Viet Mai and CityBeat’s own Ed Decker.

Hosted by Michael Klam and music from Gill Sotu. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. $6.

619-957-3264, sandiego-art.org HThe Foundry at The Rose, 2219 30th St., South Park. A reading series in which writers of various genres, backgrounds and experience levels read live. This installment will include readings by authors Kirin Khan, Michael Konik, Amy Wallen, Brooke King and Bernard M. Cox. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. $5 suggested donation. sosayweallonline.com

POLITICS & COMMUNITY HLovett or Leave It at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp. Former Obama speechwriter and co-host of the popular Pod Save America podcast Jon Lovett will do a live recording of his other podcast with special guests. At 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23. $25. 619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org

SPECIAL EVENTS HKuumba Fest at San Diego Repertory

Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, Gaslamp. San Diego’s longest running celebration of African-American expression, culture and heritage. Includes traditional African art, educational workshops, an African marketplace, a health fair, guest speakers and much more. From 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, 2 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, and 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25. Free-$20.

619-544-1000, kuumbafest.com Mythbusters: The Explosive Exhibition at Fleet Science Center, 1875 El Prado, Balboa Park. The new hands-on exhibition based on the popular reality show features interactive stations where patrons can test out popular myths and experiments. Open daily through Sept. 3. Opens from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. $21.95$24.95. 619-238-1233, rhfleet.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS Target North Park: Informational Open House at Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. The North Park Community Association hosts an open house-like event for residents to learn about Target’s proposed plans at University Avenue and Ray Street. Target representatives will be available for questions. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. Free. 800-413-6722, facebook.com/ events/943904702429382 HSisters In The Struggle at San Diego City College, 1313 Park Blvd., Downtown.

This panel discussion and presentation led by African-American women activists and scholars will discuss the trajectory of Black women activism in the U.S. from 1940s to the present. From 12:45 to 2:10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26. Free. facebook. com/events/200469650690393

WORKSHOPS HConflicted: Telling the Stories of Conflict at Point Loma Nazarene University, 3900 Lomaland Drive, Point Loma.

Hosted by Writer’s Symposium By The Sea, this writing workshop will examine how creativity is born from conflict. There will be a Q&A with panelists Kelly McEvers, Al Letson, Brooke King and Jean Guerrero. From 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. $10. 800-733-7770, pointloma.edu/events/ writers-symposium-sea Brooke King: Facing Violence on the Page at Mission Hills United Methodist Church, 4044 Lark St., Mission Hills. The Foundry’s new series, Master Class, presents a course on how to effectively write about violence, and is hosted by King, a writer and Iraq veteran whose work has appeared in The Atlantic and more. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24. $35$40. sosayweallonline.com

@SDCITYBEAT

BOOKS: THE FLOATING LIBRARY The uncertainty principle

T

he long-awaited adaptation of Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer’s breakthrough work of speculative fiction published by FSG in 2014, hits the big screen this week. The question on everyone’s mind is how faithful director Alex Garland’s version will be to the source material.

The novel follows an expedition of unnamed explorers into Area X: a wilderness area cut off from the rest of the world where all manner of strange flora and fauna flourish. There are impenetrable swamps, enormous wild boar and a living text made out of organic material with a menacing message: “Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead to share with the worms...”

Not exactly welcoming. Even worse, this rambling, run-on sentence goes on and on in a seemingly endless subterranean tunnel.

The team, made up of four women, finds evidence of the gruesome fate of the expedition that came to Area X before them.

It’s a classic trope handed down from stories about seafarers encountering ghost ships, treasure seekers plundering lost tombs and space commandos stumbling upon derelict vessels. These discoveries all raise the same questions: What happened here? Will it happen to us?

The answers are especially relevant for the narrator of Annihilation because her husband was part of the doomed expedition just prior to her. This sets

@SDCITYBEAT

the stage for a confrontation with whatever it is that’s lurking in Area X. So what can we expect from the movie? Garland suggests a loose interpretation of VanderMeer’s story when he calls his movie “a dream of the book.”

Maybe so, but it’s a little disassociating to read new, tie-in copies of the book and see five explorers pictured on the cover, not four. And there are many aspects of the trailer for Garland’s film that’s don’t sync up with the story as it unfolds in VanderMeer’s novel.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. VanderMeer’s story is extremely cerebral. Part of what makes the book so compelling is the reader is never sure to what extent the weirdness of Area X has infected the narrator and compromised her mental state.

“It may be clear by now that I am not always good at telling people things they feel they have a right to know,” she confesses toward the end.

The narrator’s unreliability heightens the reader’s suspense in a way that will be challenging to present in a visual medium. That ought to push Garland’s adaptation in a direction that’s a bit less ambiguous than the original, which is, after all, the first of three novels.

No matter how you plan on visiting Area X, prepare to have your expectations annihilated.

—Jim Ruland

The Floating Library appears every other week.

FEBRUARY 21, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13

THEATER

JIM COX

Jay O. Sanders and Yvonne Woods in Uncle Vanya

Languid longing in four acts

M

isery loves company on the grounds of the Serebryakov country estate where ashen spinster Sonya Alexandrovna (Yvonne Woods) and her deeply disillusioned (with exis� tence and with himself) Uncle Vanya (Jay O. Sand� ers) head a dour, mostly joyless household that op� erates on duty, humdrum decorum and little else.

Visits by the local doctor Astrov (Jesse Pennington) only add to the sense of ennui and the increase in vodka consumption. It’s when Sonya’s father, Al� exander Serebryakov (Jon DeVries) arrives with his comely young wife Elena (Celeste Arias) that the tenor of the environs shifts dramatically.

That’s Uncle Vanya, Anton Chekhov’s quietly simmering (until the end of Act III of IV) dissection of life’s longings, impossible dreams and harsh real� ities. This dissection is manifested in the fate of the unfortunate folks who occupy the estate together for four months. The Globe’s staging is a world pre� miere translation ���������������������������������

by Richard Pevear, ���������������������� Larissa Volok� honsky and Richard Nelson, who also serves as the director. It’s also a production that plays both to the intimacy of the performance space and to the con� fidences and mostly muted confrontations between Chekhov’s characters. In a technique called mi� crophone matrixing, the actors, rather than being mic’d individually, perform beneath low-hanging microphones. Audience members are given special headphones that will amplify the sounds from the stage, though they really aren’t necessary, as the Sheryl and Harry White Theatre acoustics are more than sufficient.

Sanders’ title-role portrayal is a stalwart one and his Act III detonation is startling and potent.

The quiet strength of Sonya, too, is deftly con� veyed by Woods, who elicits compassion just as she gives it. Pennington, speaking in one soft register throughout, manages to make Astrov both likable and unlikable.

Uncle Vanya is ponderous and its principals’ selfpity and finger pointing begin to tire over four tense but slowly unfolding acts. It will, however, reward the patience of those who stick with it, because its yearnings and its heartbreaks mirror life itself.

14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Uncle Vanya runs through March 11 in the Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Balboa Park. $30 and up; theoldglobe.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: He Was a Slave: Paul William Taylor Sr.’s one-man show about a former slave who is brought to the present by a mysterious cloud. Presented by Community Actor’s Theatre, it opens for three shows Feb. 23 at the Calvary Lutheran Church in Oak Park.

Outside Mullingar: Two introverts about to hit middle age connect in rural Ireland in John Patrick Shanley’s romantic comedy.

Presented by Oceanside Theatre Company, it opens Feb. 23 at the Brooks Theatre in Oceanside. oceansidetheatre.org

NOW PLAYING: The Addams Family: A musical comedy based on the creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky but otherwise beloved family. Directed by Rayme Sciaroni, it runs through Feb. 25 at the Coronado Playhouse. coronadoplayhouse.com Anything Goes: An evangelist, a stockbroker, a British lord and a gangster walk onto a luxury cruise liner, and hilarity ensues in Cole Porter’s classic musical. Presented by Ovation Theatre, it runs through Feb. 25 at the David H. Thompson Performing Arts Center at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad. ovationtheatre.org BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!): A world premiere comedy that reimagines Ancient Greek heroines as pill-popping suburban housewives in the ‘60s. Written by Jami Brandli, it runs through Feb. 25 at the MOXIE Theatre in the College Area. moxietheatre.com Cloud Tectonics: This “magical tale of love lost in time and space” centers on two star-crossed lovers who meet at a rainy bus stop. Presented by New Village Arts’ Teatro Nuevo Pueblo, it runs through Feb. 25 at the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. newvillagearts.org

Find more theater listings at sdcitybeat.com

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PHOTOS BY TORREY BAILEY

CULTURE

Diane Davis and Stephanie Johnson t’s almost noon on a Friday in the East Village. The tall, yellow-and-turquoise concrete walls of Living Water Church of Nazarene serve as the backdrop for a unique rehearsal. A guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, drummer and choir director are playing with more than 30 standing singers, each of whom have experienced homelessness in some capacity.

This is where the members of Voices of Our City Choir meet for practice every week.

Following her solo in Jill Scott’s “Golden,” Diane Davis retreats with a humble grin when one of her fellow choir members tells her she’s stolen the show once again.

“I’m actually really shy,” says Davis, a caregiver by profession and University of Cambridge alum. With two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s from the university, she breaks the expectations many hold of someone who is experiencing homelessness. But until a year ago, Davis had slept in a tent on the city streets warding off attacks.

“The choir helped my sanity,” she says. “I was going down crazy street and seriously, I can’t say they saved my life, but they saved a part of me that I would’ve lost to PTSD. I still do have PTSD from traumatic force. I’ve been attacked, I’ve been stabbed. [Homelessness] is a dangerous road to be on, especially if you’re single woman. You don’t have a friend, or a man, or even a dog.”

Now, Davis lives in her close friends’ home, working as their live-in caretaker, but still incorporates the choir into her weekly routine. The ensemble’s next performance will be at the premiere of The Homeless Chorus Speaks, a new documentary on Voices of Our City Choir, which debuts in a private screening this week.

Davis, not so coincidentally, has a starring role in the film as well. The filmmaker, Susan Polis Schutz, is based in La Jolla and has seven films under her belt, with subjects

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ranging from anxiety to families with children coming out of the closet. At the premiere of her last film, she announced that she’d be taking a yearlong hiatus, but the next day she saw a news clip about the choir and felt an urgency to tell their story.

“I went to a rehearsal, and I was talking to some of the homeless people and it was just a beautiful experience. I knew I had to make a film to show that these people are not what you expect in homeless people,” says Polis Schutz. “These were intelligent, smart people with problems or who were just down on their luck.”

Voices of Our City choir She says that having in-depth conversations with the choir members and getting to know them on a personal level changed her own view of the homeless.

“Most people, they really think these are all a bunch of people that don’t want to work.

That they’re lazy or that they’re on drugs, and it’s just not true. Some of them have three jobs, they have these horrible jobs, they make less than minimum wage, and there’s no way they can afford an apartment.”

Voices of Our City Choir co-founder Stephanie Johnson echoes that sentiment.

“I thought everybody was looking at this compassionately, like everybody could see

that this could happen to anybody, but people don’t know that,” Johnson says.

The documentary, which none of the choir members have seen yet, is a mixture of member interviews and live footage. Much of the latter was filmed by local homeless advocate Michael McConnell (full disclosure: McConnell sometimes contributes to San Diego CityBeat) and includes footage of police ticketing the homeless, doing encampment sweeps and more. Polis Schutz says that before making the film, she was blind to the extent of brutality homeless people endure and how little the city has historically done to help.

“Now, I have such a stake in trying to help these people and get the problem off them,” says Polis Schutz. “It’s sure not going to happen through our government, so it has to happen through a movement of people that just won’t put up with this anymore.”

Aside from working as an eye-opener to the public, the film also serves to document the choir members’ progress. Johnson says the filming started at the very beginning of their practices, and that since then, many of the members have come into their own as performers. That progress extends farther than their singing though. In January, the choir celebrated Juan Campbell, who became the 25th member to find housing within the past year.

“I won’t be celebrating July 4th with you guys,” says Campbell with a chuckle. “I got my place Jan. 18, and that’s my Independence Day. That’s the day I can declare independence of my life, for the control of my life out here on the west coast.”

He thanks Johnson for encouraging him to move into one of the city’s large temporary tent shelters, which resulted in him finding housing two weeks later. Johnson says these tents have been beneficial in cases like Campbell’s, but adds that the city is still not doing nearly enough. She specifi-

cally cites the necessity of decriminalizing homelessness.

The city’s elected officials have been invited to this week’s private screening of The Homeless Choir Speaks, but Johnson says that “of course the mayor is not coming.”

Juan Campbell “The only way change is going to happen is if what the politicians are doing becomes unfavorable with the masses,” says Johnson, who hopes the film serves as a vital step in changing the overall narrative toward people experiencing homelessness.

The film will debut to the public on KPBS on March 22 at 8:30 p.m. with a public screening on March 28 at 6:45 p.m. at the San Diego Central Library. Considering the growing housing crisis, the relentless encampment sweeps and the recent Hepatitis A epidemic that took the lives of 20 homeless people, there seems to be no time more pressing than now for the film’s release.

“We are the people on the side of the road, so that you don’t have to be the people on the side of the road,” says Campbell. “We are you. Just try to be us and respect us as you would yourself. Half of San Diego is one paycheck away from this, and we don’t have enough room for you guys out here. We’re trying to get where you’re at. So if you can’t help us, just don’t hurt us.”

FEBRUARY 21, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 15

CULTURE | VOICES

RACHEL MICHELLE FERNANDES

THANK YOU FOR

STARING

This must be the place

C

raig Abenilla is interested in stories, and not the multiple stories of boring luxury high-rises. After studying fine art at the famed Rhode Island School of Design, the New Jersey native became an architect in New York City, quickly learning the limitations of working for high-end firms.

“You kind of get pigeonholed into a certain dayto-day thing in the architecture offices in New York City because you’re working on really big projects,” he says. “There was no sense of place making. It was this idea of designing a building, charging as much as you possibly can per square foot and then moving on. It just was not rewarding or fun.”

Abenilla knew he wanted to relocate and, after considering Miami, ultimately chose San Diego in 2000.

“San Diego was definitely burgeoning back then,” he recalls. “Everyone said how amazing it was, but I didn’t feel like it was really amazing. Other than the weather, I really didn’t see anything innovative, and I thought that was kind of a unique opportunity to get myself out there and find a firm that was doing interesting stuff.”

After working on some residential projects, Abenilla met Mike Burnett, an award winning architect and graduate of Woodbury University, a program known for its emphasis on working with affordable housing. In 2008 they created Foundation For Form [FFF], a firm they describe as “a design studio specializing in mixed-use developments, multi-family housing, urban design, custom residential, furniture design, space activation and good fun.”

“I was doing really high-end homes here, and I was starting to get burned out with that too, because people aren’t appreciative,” notes Abenilla. “Mike was the opposite where he was doing too much affordable housing, and there was not enough creativity. So I had the creativity side, he had the affordable housing side, and we kind of just came together.”

After living down the street from one of FFF’s signature projects in Golden Hill on 25th street, a place they call “You Are Here,” I became enraptured with the design, especially the open courtyard that’s available for anyone to sit, work on projects or even host events. I’m also fascinated by the inclusion of the property’s original service station, which Abenilla says is their way of incorporating the story of Golden Hill’s automotive history.

I ended up meeting Abenilla at Golden Hill eatery Counterpoint, located across the street from “You Are Here.” It also also happens to be the site of their offices and first project, mxd830. I wanted to find out more about his story and how projects such as theirs are meaningful to the arts community in San Diego.

Specifically, I wanted to know how infill architecture or “land recycling”—that is, using existing infrastructure as a way to combat urban sprawl—can help San Diego advance as a culturally relevant city.

“I was building a three and a half million dollar house for a private client in Point Loma for a single mother who wound up being one of my best friends through the process,” recalls Abenilla. “We wound up finishing the house and Mike was finishing up at Woodbury. She was like, ‘what are we going to do next?’”

And so they began with their first FFF project, mxd830, which they not only designed but also own and manage.

“Here was a property that was under-utilized, under-used, under-valued and that had everything going against it,” Abenilla explains. “It was next to a historic Irving Gill home next to a Shell station. There was a crack den around the corner that was like a car wash during the day. There were people squatting at night and it was Golden Hill, which, 10 years ago, was not desired. We thought we could really make a difference and bring new businesses and a new energy to the neighborhood.”

The building, as well as “You Are Here,” have not only the inviting inclusive space, but also include affordable housing units upstairs. It’s a marriage perfect for San Diego, which suffers from a shortage of affordable housing.

And the public space is perfect for creative meetings and exchanges of social capital, a central tenant to placemaking.

But as cool, useful and inclusive of the community as FFF’s projects have been, working with the city has often been a big challenge. Acquiring “You Are Here”— which at the time was a cityowned property—required daily phone calls for years and cutting through a lot of red tape in order to be acquired.

Their latest project in North Park forced them to give up on incorporating public art due to frustration with city permitting.

“There was an opportunity for the developers to bring us in to help pick an artist in the design, in the public right of way. We were working on it for two years and then decided to just scrap it, which is super unfortunate,” Abenilla laments.

This is not the first time that I’ve heard about the difficulty with city permitting and public art. Beryl Forman, director of the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, has been trying to get a placemaking permitting process in place, which she hopes will make the process easier.

In the meantime, Abenilla plans to use a “fabricator” to execute FFF’s vision for paying homage to the site’s important historical relevance for the LGBTQ community (it was where the founders of the San Diego LGBTQ Center lived and held their first meeting).

“We want to do something to commemorate what happened on this property,” says Abenilla. “It’s an important story.”

Specifically, I wanted to know how infill architecture or “land recycling”—that is, using existing infrastructure as a way to combat urban sprawl—can help San Diego advance as a culturally relevant city.

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Thank You For Staring appears every other week.

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CULTURE | FILM

Dark days

Have A Nice Day

Liu Jian’s brisk animated feature paints a bleak picture of modern-day China

by Glenn Heath Jr.

A

ny pleasantries in Have a Nice Day end with its experience permanent trepidation. The only thing title. Liu Jian’s bleak, animated neo-noir oper- that connects them all is self-worth defined by money. ates at street level in the gutters and alleyways Xiao’s brazenly misguided decision to risk everything of modern industrial China. Smokestacks stretch high for something as superficial as cosmetic surgery starts into the sky looming over cracked infrastructure and to make a lot of sense when filtered through this logic.

Liu eschews straightforward film noir convenloitering vagabonds. Those with enough energy to move are propelled forward by pipe dreams of wealth tions, instead favoring strange tonal tangents that and freedom, dead-end imaginings conjured up to help complicate the seemingly simple motivations pass the time and shoot the shit. Capitalism has root- born from greed. One such example occurs when an ed itself into the collective subconscious like a virus elevator ride to the gallows is interrupted by a rousing karaoke video that doubles as a dream sequence for that spreads with every impulsive decision.

One of the many afflicted, Xiao Zhang (voiced by the occupants.

Vibrant images conjured from China’s past proZhu Changlong) decides to steal a bag of mafia money in order to remedy his girlfriend’s botched plastic sur- paganda machine are appropriated to envision what gery. This infuriates crime boss Uncle Liu (Yang Sim- Shangri-La looks like for cash-strapped vandals. ing), who promptly dispatches one of his most reli- As if to invoke the complete opposite mood, Have a Nice Day cuts away to the subable assassins, a solemn butcher lime picture of vast ocean waves named Skinny (Ma Xiaofeng), to delicately changing color. Is this deliver a pound of flesh. That he HAVE A NICE DAY meant to remind the viewer that makes the call while torturing somewhere far away from all this one of his childhood friends over Directed by Liu Jian man-made madness, Mother Naan unpaid debt speaks to the Starring Zhu Changlong, ture soldiers on as a visual comfilm’s casual viciousness.

Yang Siming and Ma Xiaofeng pliment to the film’s opening Have a Nice Day splinters Not Rated Tolstoy quote? If so, the solace outward to include other prickly feels otherworldly in a film othnarrative barbs. News of Xiao’s erwise devoid of it. theft travels quickly through Speaking of higher beings, seedy social circles, riling up lowlifes who would otherwise balk at sticking their when the topic of religion comes up in conversation neck out from the shadows. Usually introduced in both God and Buddha are described as “big bosses,” pairs, these characters feed off of each other’s des- synonymous with Uncle Liu in terms of power and peration or cynicism until they garner the fleeting sway. Conversely, technology is often referred to fondly, especially by Yellow Eyes (Cao Kou), a budding inventor courage to act.

Audible references to Donald Trump and Brexit who happily inserts himself into the mayhem. Without root Liu’s film in our modern malaise of endless dis- it, he says, “we just can’t win.” Exactly who and what location. But the characters themselves are less inter- victory he’s referring to is up for interpretation.

Have a Nice Day (opening Friday, Feb. 23 at Digiested in the impact of global developments than the immediacy of their economic survival. Talk of start-up tal Gym Cinema and Angelika Film Centre - Carmel companies and financial independence represent the Mountain), ends with a freeway kerfuffle reminiscent worthless proliferation of delusional words that are of the grand finale in Johnnie To’s Drug War. More broadly, it’s a savage takedown of China’s hypocrisy usually followed by acts of sudden violence.

Clocking in at a brisk 77 minutes, Have a Nice Day toward capitalism, as if the great director Jia Zhangke is a lean and mean breaker of wills, residing some- reimaged No Country For Old Men, only meaner. where between misanthropic and nihilistic. Experienced killers like Skinny navigate the toxic landscape Film reviews run weekly. with numbing indifference, while the weak are left to Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

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FEBRUARY 21, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

CULTURE | FILM relationship. Opens Friday, Feb. 23, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

Annihilation: Director Alex Garland (Ex Machina) sends Natalie Portman’s scientist into a world where the laws of nature are turned upside down in this daring scifi thriller. Opens Friday, Feb. 23, in wide release.

Game Night: Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams lead an all-star cast in this dark comedy about a group of friends whose weekly game night goes horribly awry.

Opens Friday, Feb. 23, in wide release.

Have a Nice Day: In this breathtaking animated neo-noir, a driver steals money from his boss and must deal with the consequences over the course of one night.

Opens Friday, Feb. 23, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

A Fantastic Woman

In Between: Three Palestinian women attempt to balance faith and tradition with their modern lives while living in the heart of Tel Aviv. Opens Friday, Feb. 23, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

tance of music in Marina’s life; up to that point she has been almost completely deprived of it. Singing represents safety and confidence, as witnessed when she serenades Orlando early on. That A Fantastic Woman returns to this motif in the final scene—this time with Marina performing in a professional venue with a captive audience—signifies how passions and personal expression evolve based on life experience.

These complex themes emerge slowly, much like the opening credits that appear almost organically from mist produced by the famed Iguazu Falls. A Fantastic Woman (opening Friday, Feb. 23, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas) correlates the unmatched beauty of this natural wonder with genuine emotional connection between two people that some within Chilean society refuse to recognize or accept.

The Party: Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) hosts a dinner party for friends to celebrate her promotion in Sally Potter’s indie drama. Opens Friday, Feb. 23, at Angelika Carmel Mountain – Film Centre.

Grief stricken

F

or a few brief minutes, A Fantastic Woman lives in perfect harmony. The blissful love shared between Marina (Daniela Vega), a transsexual woman, and her older partner Orlando (Francisco Reyes) plays out over the course of birthday dinner, drinks and dancing. But a romance bubble this insulated seems bound to burst, and that’s exactly what happens when Orlando suffers an aneurism and dies the next day.

Sebastián Lelio’s drama follows Marina closely as she grapples with the grief of his passing, and how bigotry and homophobia by outside forces threaten to tarnish the memory of their relationship. Family members of the deceased range from hostile to cowardly, with several gradations in between. Police officers question Marina needlessly only to subject her to a grossly inappropriate physical exam.

The indignities Marina experiences come from self-righteous types, but also those who are fueled by hate and intolerance. Some of these scenes border on cartoonish, but Vega’s wonderfully measured performance roots them all in a sense of determined resolve.

Only midway through the film does Lelio fully explain the impor-

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING A Fantastic Woman: When her older lover suddenly dies, a Chilean transsexual woman named Marina (Daniela Vega) confronts his conservative family’s increasingly hostile attitude toward their

ONE TIME ONLY Pretty Woman: Richard Gere and Julia Roberts star in the classic romantic comedy about a rich businessman who falls in love with a fast-talking working girl.

Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

How to Steal a Million: Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole star in William Wyler’s 1966 crime caper that revolves around the world of art forgeries. Screens at 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

I Wake Up Screaming: In this ode to the film noir, the murder of a young starlet puts her sister, her agent and the detective assigned to the case on a deadly collision course. Screens at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Sixteen Candles: Samantha (Molly Ringwald) wants the perfect sweet sixteen birthday party but suffers one embarrassment after another. Screens at 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 28, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

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

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TOM O’CONNELL

MUSIC

rop the needle on any of the tracks on Spiritual Cramp’s debut EP, Mass Hysteria, and it’s easy to come away with the impression that it’s a lost relic of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s punk era. The members of the Bay Area punk band actually weren’t even born when The Clash’s Joe Strummer and Mick Jones first strapped on their guitars. And yet, it’s uncanny—the band capture the sound of vintage power-pop and hardcore scuzz like they were actually there when such sounds were in their infancy.

Mass Hysteria, released in December via Deathwish Inc., is steeped in the aesthetics of Los Angeles and New York City punk from the first wave, along with traces of gothic rock.

Their name, for instance, is also the title of a song by iconic death-rock band Christian Death. Spiritual Cramp aren’t shy about showcasing their influences, though they’re not necessarily trying to repeat the past. It’s a vintage sound, but there’s nothing old-fashioned about how it’s applied. It’s a little goth in some places, steeped in Jamaican dub in others, and sometimes just relentlessly aggressive.

Singer Michael Bingham says that one of the important things the band has learned from their influences was not so much how to write songs like they did, but to capture the rich studio sound of their favorite records.

“Mike [bass player Michael Fenton] does the production, so he knows what the guitar tones should sound like and what the drums should sound like,” says Bingham. “He tries to make the drums sound pretty closed-in and tight. It’s important to capture the production of that too if you’re trying to do some kind of ‘70s, ‘80s punk, hardcore. You know, like The Clash or whatever. You have to take note of production too. That’s what made those bands so important. You could feel the urgency of the recordings.”

Mass Hysteria is a brief listen at just around 10 minutes, but it makes a big impression. Bingham, Fenton, guitarists Stewart Kuhlo and Jacob Breeze, drummer Blaine Patrick and tambourinist Max Wickham (yes, they have a tambourine player) play loud and with an undeniable swagger. And true to classic punk rock, Bingham’s lyrics are rife with alienation and disillusionment. On Hysteria’s opening track “All My Friends Are Out Tonight (Alright)” he sings about being

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Spiritual Cramp among people who seem happy and successful while trying to fight off his own anxieties: “I always feel so fucking strange / I always try to hide my gaze / I always trip out when I try to speak / I always feel like such a freak.”

For Bingham, songwriting is a reflection of his genuine experience, and music is a therapeutic outlet for some of his own struggles.

“I’m just trying to express who I am as honestly as possible,” he says. “A lot of the songs are about being anxious and insecure, and like not feeling like I am up to the standard of everyone else. But also that’s such bullshit, that kind of thinking. It’s such bullshit to think like that. Maybe I’m going to be a little funny about it. Like a funny air of sitting at home on your phone tripping out about everyone else. I’m certainly optimistic. I love my life and my friends. But I struggle with deep anxiety and depression and it fucks me up sometimes.

I want to talk about it, I don’t want to pretend.”

There is one track on Mass Hysteria, however, that thematically deviates from the others. “Tenderloin” is a peculiar song with a story about finding a gun “on the corner of Pine and Polk” in San Francisco. When asked whether or not that actually happened, Bingham says, “Oh man, I couldn’t comment on that.” However, living in the Bay Area does come with its share of real hazards, namely gentrification, a lack of affordable housing and a growing cost of living, all of which can complicate things for an underground punk band.

“People are really getting pushed out of their homes in San Francisco, so tech workers who make these disgusting

wages can live in their apartments and get shuttled to work,” he says. “Then working class people are being forced to move to other cities like Oakland. And they’re pushing the people in Oakland further out into smaller areas. I think that’s a progression in a lot of cities. It’s certainly prevalent here. And it sucks, and people are pissed off about it. That’s every day. All my friends deal with that. Nobody has health insurance. Not everyone is completely fucked, but we’re punks. We decided to play music instead of going to work at Google.”

Against the tech-hub backdrop of San Francisco, Spiritual Cramp seem almost anachronistic. They’re making loud, cathartic music instead of writing algorithms. And while a punk band isn’t likely to change the world in the same way a multi-national corporation has the ability to do, Bingham finds a sense of purpose in reaching people one on one. Music saved his life, and maybe his could do that for someone else.

“My life was so fucked up as a kid,” he says. “I had a tough home life and I was shuffled around a lot and had trouble adjusting because of it. And I found an identity through music because I had trouble functioning in normal life. So that’s all I could hope for, that this could give someone a new life. And I don’t mean that in a delusional way. I just want to help someone who’s going through a hard time, and could strike such a deep chord that it reprograms them.

That’s all I can hope for.”

Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com. Follow him on Twitter @1000TimesJeff

FEBRUARY 21, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO

BY RYAN BRADFORD THE

SPOTLIGHT

LOCALS ONLY

E

xperimental duo Vaginals have built up a reputation as one of the more unconventional bands in San Diego, as they’ve been bridging pop music with noise and psychedelia for a decade. As part of their mission in spreading post-modern music in San Diego, they’ve assembled a line-up of like-minded artists for Post-Modern Music Fest on Feb. 24 at Helmuth Projects (1827 Fifth Ave.). Drummer Maria Cochinita says it’s an extension of past events they’ve organized, but with a more intentional branding.

“We previously named our events ‘Bromigofest,’ so the concept evolved from those shows,” she says. “However, we thought the post-modern take was a bit more specific, as far as the kind of genre we imagine ourselves to be a part of.”

The newly branded Post-Modern Music Fest features artists such as Maki & Katja, Pat Keen and Cheap Windows, all of whom have wildly different approaches to music. Some are more accessible than others,

but they all share a similar ethos, which Cochinita admits is somewhat intangible.

“There are many different interpretaBILL WESLEY tions of what post-modern is, but one can say, generally that there’s a quality of danger and irreverence,” she says. “The best examples of post-modern music take traditional or even primitive musical aspects and turns them into something new, fresh, and exciting. Like those who invented jazz, rock, goth, techno, rap—when all these genres were new, they were odd to most audiences.”

Post-modern music might not be easy to define, but Cochinita says that there’s no shortage of innovators in San Diego in order to sustain an ongoing left-of-mainstream event like this one.

“There are many talented, cutting edge Vaginals musicians in this town,” she says, “so we feel lucky to be able to get shows like this together once or twice a season.”

—Jeff Terich

TAG IT AND BAG IT

I

f you search for albums tagged “San Diego” on Bandcamp, you’ll find some interesting stuff. In this semi-regular report, we sift through recent postings and relay the findings.

Shred/Gnarh - Teeth: Wow, this was disappointing. When I see a band or artist called Shred/Gnarh and it ends up being electronic pop music with a touch of R&B, I don’t see how I couldn’t be. It’s not bad for what it is, but it doesn’t sound like Gwar or Manowar, so here we are. The synth sounds are a little cheesy, now that I think about it. shredgnarh. bandcamp.com

with a bright turquoise background (my eyes!). The music itself is heavy rock with big melodies and driving riffs. It’s not unlike some of the weirder alt-rock of the ‘90s, and I kind of dig it. rhinocerosiii.bandcamp.com Hospital Birthday Cake - Tarnation: Oh good, more drugs! Hospital Birthday Cake claim to be exiles from the “Ice Cream Kingdom” and dedicate their album to comrades “who have melted in the mouth of class struggle.” OK then! The music is mostly weird ambient and noise, naturally. Hard to make sense of, but interesting to listen to.

Hospitalbirthdaycake.bandcamp.com

Cygnus Orb - How to Create a Universe: Shigematzu - Particle: One of the reaThis release purports to be instructions on A Call to Arms sons I love doing this feature is I invariably how to create a universe, involves a lot of deep find some unexpected new favorites and Shibass and depicts a girl sitting on what looks like the moon. So: Drugs? Probably, but this weird, ambient gematzu is one of them. He’s a producer who makes expansive electronic sounds that blend ‘90s techno and ambient music is pretty cool, nonetheless. cygnusorb.bandcamp.com with that of contemporary beatmakers like Actress. Excellent Rhinoceros III - A Call to Arms: I had to listen to this stuff. shigematzu.bandcamp.com based on how hideous the cover art was, which features a plastic horse head in front of some rhinoceros wallpaper

—Jeff Terich

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

B

Burger A-Go-Go

ack in 2012, I hitched a ride with former CityBeat music editor Peter Holslin and Volar Records founder Craig Oliver on a road trip to SXSW. It was more or less a compulsive decision on my part: None of us had official badges, and I barely knew these two dudes with whom I ended up spending 20 hours with in a car.

Once there, I attended about 10 Burger Recordssponsored shows. The Fullerton record label was everywhere that year, showcasing bands that shared the signature Burger sound: sun-drenched, acidwashed garage-rock. And it was all great. It was a sound that accurately captured the feeling of being buzzed on cheap beer, slippery from the humidity and rocking the fuck out. It all culminated when Bill Murray took the stage before Burger’s last showcase and announced, “we’re all in burger heaven!” and proceeded to throw foil-wrapped hamburgers into the audience.

Ever since then, I’ve had a very soft spot for the record label, which makes their Burger A-Go-Go tour so appealing. I’ve been a fan of headliners The Coathangers ever since I saw them nearly upstage Refused when they opened for the seminal hardcore band a couple years ago. If their name is any indication, The Coathangers play the kind of DGAF rock meant to make dudes uncomfortable, which is the real shape of punk to come. Death Valley Girls, The Flytrap and FEELS also play.

Burger A-Go-Go goes down Tuesday, Feb. 27 at Belly Up Tavern

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february 21, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

MUSIC

JEFF TERICH

IF I WERE U

A music insider’s weekly agenda

CHRIS RHODES

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21

PLAN A: Alex Cameron, Molly Burch @ Soda Bar. Australian artist Alex Cameron makes eclectic new wave pop that sometimes sounds like it was made in the ‘80s and sometimes sounds futuristic. It’s always highly melodic and a lot of fun. BACKUP PLAN: Julian Lage Trio @ Music Box.

THURSDAY, FEB. 22

PLAN A: Eyehategod, Final Conflict, Deep Sea Thunder Beast, Fantasy Arcade @ Brick by Brick. New Orleans sludge metal legends Eyehategod are known for playing slow, noisy and painful dirges. It’s epic, gnarly stuff, but make sure to get there early for Deep Sea Thunder Beast. PLAN B: Lindstrøm @ Blonde. Norwegian producer HansPeter Lindstrøm is responsible for some of the most ambitious space disco of the past decade. His 20-minute dance floor odysseys are massive and constantly evolving, but you can still dance to them. BACKUP PLAN: 1000 Mods, Telekinetic Yeti @ SPACE.

FRIDAY, FEB. 23

PLAN A: All Pigs Must Die, Baptists, Bonebreaker @ Soda Bar. Speaking of blast, All Pigs Must Die is pretty much all about intense explosions of hardcore. Their tracks are all pretty short, and they kind of have to be when they’re this heavy, loud and fast. BACKUP PLAN: The Spits, Cruz Radical, Slaughter Boys @ SPACE.

SATURDAY, FEB. 24

PLAN A: The Spits, Beehive and the Barracudas, Keepers @ SPACE. Seattle punks The Spits have been making weird, fuzzy new wave anthems since the late ‘70s. And while they’re definitely loud, beneath that din is a knack for playing some catchy pop songs.

PLAN B: The Fictitious Dishes, The Heartbeat Trail, Le Saboteurs @ Til-Two Club.

For more punky, poppy goodness, local band The Fictitious Dishes provide more than their share of irresistibly fun jams, including a song about a seagull stealing churros.

SUNDAY, FEB. 25

PLAN A: CupcakKe @ Rich’s. The young, critically acclaimed and raunchy-as-hell rapper CupcakKe is earning her share of props for new album Ephorize. And in the spirit of her queer-positive message, she’s bringing her unique rap jams to LGBTQ dance club Rich’s instead of one of the more prominent live music venues. PLAN B: Exhumed, Incantation, Phobia, Festering Grave @ Brick by Brick. Apparently all of

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Alex Cameron the extreme metal bands are in San Diego this week and that’s fine with me. Exhumed are about as extreme as it gets, with absurdly intense grindcore tracks and cartoonishly gory album covers.

MONDAY, FEB. 26

PLAN A: Year of the Cobra, Desert Suns, Nebula Drag @ Brick by Brick. Year of the Cobra is a cool duo comprising a drummer and a bass player, not unlike Death from Above 1979 or Lightning Bolt. Cobra is different, however, in that they have a classic hard-rock songwriting style with meaty riffs and big choruses instead of experimental freak-outs or disco beats.

TUESDAY, FEB. 27

PLAN A: Real Estate, Bedouine @ Music Box. A lot of the most interesting shows this week involve pretty loud bands so Real Estate offers a nice break from that. They have a jangly indie pop sound that made them critical darlings. Albums like 2011’s Days is nothing but pretty pop gems. PLAN B: Exodus, Municipal Waste @ House of Blues. Alternately, back to some great metal. Exodus are one of the most influential metal bands in America, and Municipal Waste helped revive the thrash metal sound in the early ‘00s. It’s two generations of badassery on one stage. BACKUP PLAN: The Coathangers, Death Valley Girls, The Flytraps, Feels @ Belly Up Tavern.

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@SDCityBeat

february 21, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox (Humphreys, 4/13), Murder City Devils (Irenic, 4/14), Fleet Foxes (Humphreys, 4/15), War on Drugs (Observatory, 4/15), Jungle (Observatory, 4/16), alt-J (Humphreys, 4/19), HAIM (Observatory, 4/19), La Santa Cecilia (Music Box, 4/22), Joey Bada$$ (SOMA, 5/3), Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers (BUT, 5/5), Cough (Soda Bar, 5/14), Con Brio (Casbah, 5/17), The Glitch Mob (Observatory, 5/26), Subhumans (Casbah, 5/28), Lauren Ruth Ward (Soda Bar, 5/29), Dead Milkmen (BUT, 5/31), Justin Townes Earle (Casbah, 6/10).

GET YER TICKETS Antibalas (BUT, 3/8), Protomartyr (SPACE, 3/8), American Nightmare (Brick by Brick, 3/9), Talib Kweli (Music Box, 3/9), Wolves in the Throne Room (Brick by Brick, 3/11), Flogging Molly (Observatory, 3/14), Lucy Dacus (Casbah, 3/21), Russian Circles, King Woman (Brick by Brick, 3/26), George Clinton (HOB, 3/28), Titus Andronicus (Soda Bar, 4/2), Ty Dolla$ign (HOB, 4/5), Matt and Kim (Observatory, 4/9), Frankie Cosmos (Quartyard, 4/10), Chromeo, Phantoms (Humphreys, 4/10), Kate Nash (Observatory, 4/12), Angel Olsen (Music Box, 4/12), The Soft Moon (Casbah, 4/14), Miguel (Humphreys, 4/17), Dashboard Con-

fessional (HOB 4/18), Big K.R.I.T. (Music Box, 4/20), Japanese Breakfast (Irenic, 4/20), Los Lonely Boys (BUT, 4/22), ‘Welcome to Night Vale’ (Observatory, 4/25), Art Garfunkel (Balboa Theatre, 4/27), Bunbury (HOB, 4/29), Baths (BUT, 5/3), Keb’ Mo’ (BUT, 5/6-7), Built to Spill, Afghan Whigs (Observatory, 5/9), Weird Al Yankovic (Humphreys, 5/12), Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness (Humphreys, 5/13), Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite (BUT, 5/12-13, 5/15-16), Kendrick Lamar, SZA (Mattress Firm, 5/13), Nada Surf (BUT, 5/14), Earth, Wind and Fire (Harrah’s SoCal, 5/18), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Observatory, 5/22), The Head and the Heart (Open Air Theatre, 5/22), The Wonder Years (HOB, 5/22), Rufus Wainwright (BUT, 5/24), Madeleine Peyroux (BUT, 5/28), Iceage (Casbah, 6/5), Kesha, Macklemore (Mattress Firm, 6/12), Belle and Sebastian (Observatory, 6/22), Wye Oak (Soda Bar, 7/20), Thirty Seconds to Mars (Mattress Firm, 7/21), Weezer, The Pixies (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/11), Chris Stapleton (Mattress Firm, 8/16), Charlie Puth (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/20), Church of Misery (Brick by Brick, 8/21), Rebelution (Mattress Firm, 9/8), The Eagles (Petco Park, 9/22), Ozzy Osbourne (Mattress Firm, 10/9), D.R.I. (Brick by Brick, 10/20).

FEBRUARY WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21 Motionless in White at House of Blues.

Superchunk at The Casbah (sold out).

Alex Cameron at Soda Bar. Icon for Hire at House of Blues Voodoo Room.

Julian Lage Trio at Music Box.

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

THURSDAY, FEB. 22 Keys N Krates at House of Blues.

1000Mods at SPACE. Willie Watson at The Casbah. Adan Jodorowsky at Soda Bar. Sevdaliza at Observatory North Park.

Mike Pinto and Josh Heinrichs at Music Box. The Wood Brothers at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Eyehategod at Brick by Brick.

FRIDAY, FEB. 23 X Ambassadors at SOMA. Missing Persons at The Casbah (sold out). All Pigs Must Die at Soda Bar. The Spits at SPACE. Septicflesh at Brick by Brick.

Bahamas at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

SATURDAY, FEB. 24 The Spits, Beehive and the Barracudas at SPACE. Bruno Major at The Casbah (sold out). Steve Poltz Birthday Bash at Belly Up Tavern. The Aggrolites at Music Box. ‘Musicians United’ w/ Loose Cannon Band at Brick by Brick.

SUNDAY, FEB. 25 Crooked Colours at Soda Bar. Enter Shikari at The Irenic. Busty and the Bass at The Casbah. Herb Alpert & Lani Hall at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Exhumed at Brick by Brick.

MONDAY, FEB. 26 Snarky Puppy at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Jacob Sartorius at House of Blues.

Demi Lovato, DJ Khaled at Viejas Arena. Year of the Cobra at Brick by Brick.

Janiva Magness at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, FEB. 27 The Coathangers at Belly Up Tavern.

Real Estate at Music Box. Wage War at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 28 Dengue Fever at Music Box. Thurston Moore Group at The Casbah. Spafford at Belly Up Tavern. I The Victor at Soda Bar.

MARCH THURSDAY, MARCH 1 The Dears at The Casbah. Soft Kill at SPACE. Money Chicha at Soda Bar. They Might Be Giants at Belly Up Tavern.

FRIDAY, MARCH 2 Langhorne Slim at Music Box. Theo Katzman at Soda Bar. Margo Price at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). ‘Wacken Metal Battle - Round 1’ at Brick by Brick.

SATURDAY, MARCH 3 Gogol Bordello at Observatory North Park (sold out). Anderson East at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Earthless at The Casbah. Whitney Rose at Observatory North Park.

SUNDAY, MARCH 4 Stone Temple Pilots at Observatory North Park (sold out). Ex-Cult at Soda Bar. Matt Costa at The Casbah. Zach Deputy at Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, MARCH 5 311 at House of Blues. Lo Moon at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MARCH 6 Celebrating David Bowie at Balboa

Theatre. Pimps of Joytime at The Casbah. The Psychedelic Furs at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7 EDEN at House of Blues. Kenny Wayne Shepherd at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Hot Snakes at The Casbah (sold out).

The Academic at Soda Bar. K. Michelle at Music Box.

THURSDAY, MARCH 8 Antibalas at Belly Up Tavern. U.S. Girls at Soda Bar. Protomartyr at SPACE. New Politics at House of Blues.

Spawnbreeze, Innavision at Music Box.

FRIDAY, MARCH 9 Iced Earth at House of Blues. Palm at SPACE. American Nightmare at Brick

by Brick. Talib Kweli at Music Box. Mt. Joy at Soda Bar. Thunderpussy at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, MARCH 10 Billie Eilish at Music Box (sold out). ZZ Ward at House of Blues. ‘San Diego Freak Out’ w/ Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Wild Wild Wets at The Casbah.

G. Love and Special Sauce at Belly Up Tavern.

SUNDAY, MARCH 11 Norma Jean at Soda Bar. Wolves in the Throne Room at Brick by Brick. Halfnoise at Soda Bar. G. Love and Special Sauce at Belly Up Tavern. Ethan Bortnick at Music Box.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

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MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 MONDAY, MARCH 12 Chai at The Casbah. He Is We at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, MARCH 13 Hibou at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14 The Mowgli’s at The Casbah. Flogging Molly at Observatory North Park. Gaby Moreno at Music Box. Thee Oh Sees at Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, MARCH 15 A$AP Ferg at House of Blues. Rachael Yamagata at Belly Up Tavern. Emancipator Ensemble at Music Box.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16 Hippie Sabotage at Observatory North Park. Morgan Leigh Band at Belly Up Tavern. Band of Gringos, The Delta Saints at Music Box. ‘The Redwoods Revue’ w/ Midnight Pine, Birdy Bardot, Dani Bell and the Tarantist, Heavy Guilt at The Casbah. Soul-Junk, Pistolita at Soda Bar. Shoreline Mafia at SOMA.

SATURDAY, MARCH 17 Taylor Bennett at House of Blues. Blockhead at Soda Bar. Hippie Sabotage at Observatory North Park.

SUNDAY, MARCH 18 Walter Trout at Belly Up Tavern. Shopping at Whistle Stop. C.W. Stoneking at Soda Bar.

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MONDAY, MARCH 19 Chrome at The Merrow. Liza Anne at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, MARCH 20 DTO and Kiyoshi at Belly Up Tavern.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 Royal Thunder at Brick by Brick. Queens of the Stone Age at Observatory North Park (sold out). Lucy Dacus at The Casbah. Sonreal at House of Blues. Crumb at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, MARCH 22 Montalban Quintet at The Casbah.

The Night Game at Soda Bar. Queens of the Stone Age at Observatory North Park (sold out). Phillip Phillips at Belly Up Tavern.

FRIDAY, MARCH 23 Tribal Theory at House of Blues. Mako at Observatory North Park. RJD2 at Music Box. Phillip Phillips at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). The Main Squeeze at The Casbah. BirdBath at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, MARCH 24 Brett Dennen at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Pale Waves at SOMA. Dogwood, No Innocent Victim at Brick

by Brick. L.A. Salami at The Casbah.

Durand Jones and the Indications at Soda Bar. Skeletal Family at SPACE. Through the Roots at Observatory North Park.

SUNDAY, MARCH 25 Brett Dennen at Belly Up Tavern. Rhett Miller at Soda Bar. Lil Xan at House of

Blues. The Go! Team at The Casbah.

Umphrey’s McGee at Observatory North Park.

MONDAY, MARCH 26 Russian Circles, King Woman at Brick

by Brick. Butcher Brown at Soda Bar. Jake Bugg at Observatory North Park.

Nick Bone and the Big Scene at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MARCH 27 Triathlon at House of Blues. Quinn XCII at Observatory North Park.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Karaoke.

Fri: Strictly Skunk, Rebel, Shakedown, Crucial Blend. Sat: Punk Goes ‘90s Pop. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: The Tones.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Hip Hop Wednesday’ w/ Kahlee. Thu: ‘SubDrip’ w/ DJ Damon Millard. Sat: ‘HoneyPot’ w/ DJs Ideal, Lady Verse. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJs Alice, 2Bit, Will Lavin.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Dave Attell. Fri: Dave Attell. Sat: Dave Attell.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: The Earps. Sat: Falling Up. Tue: Karaoke.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: Blackgummy. Sat: Dr. Fresch.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Wed: ‘Black Wednesday’ w/ DJ Vaughn Avakian. Thu: Dream Burglar, Sixes. Fri: Grizzly

Business, Super Buffet, Class Project DJs. Sat: ‘Saturday Night Hustle’ w/ Husky Boy All Stars. Sun: Dirty Pennies, Boychick.

Mon: DJs Wenzo, Heather Hardcore. Tue: The Garners.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Douglas Benson. Fri: Part Time Model. Sat: Slower.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Secret Lynx, Dark Alley Dogs. Thu: The Wood Brothers, The Mastersons (sold out). Fri: Bahamas, The Weather Station (sold out).

Sat: ‘Steve Poltz Birthday Bash’ w/ Rugburns, Anya Marina. Sun: Herb Alpert and Lani Hall (sold out). Mon: Snarky Puppy, Banda Magna (sold out). Tue: The Coathangers, Death Valley Girls, The Flytraps, Feels.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Fistfights With Wolves, Beira, Adeumazel. Sat: The Powerballs, Dr. Explosion, Santa Ana Knights.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’. Thu: Lindstrom. Fri: ‘Dance Punk Night’. Sat: ‘Through Being Cool’. Sun: Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Creatures of Habit, Mystery Cave at Blonde Tue: ‘T is 4 Techno’.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad.

Thu: Matt Sunsteadt, Thee-O. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Thu: Eyehategod, Final Conflict, Deep Sea Thunder Beast, Fantasy Arcade. Fri: Septicflesh, Dark Funeral, Thy Antichrist, Helsott, Sergulath. Sat: ‘Musicians United’ w/ Loose Cannon, Slavesound, Alchemy, Nightshadow, Bunch of Heathens. Sun: Exhumed, Incantation, Phobia, Festering Grave. Mon: Year of the Cobra, Desert Suns, Nebula Drag.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. Wed: Superchunk, Bat Fangs (sold out). Thu: Willie Watson, Midnight Pine acoustic duo. Fri: Missing Persons, DJ Vaughn Avakian (sold out). Sat: Bruno Major (sold out). Sun: Busty and the Bass, STS x Khari Mateen. Mon: Janiva Magness, Casey Hensley Band. Tue: ‘Emo Nite San Diego’.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Fri: Cover Conspiracy. Sat: CRS. Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Bay Park. Fri: Joshua White. Sat: Bob Magnusson. Sun: The Benedetti Trio.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Fri: DJ Kaos.

Sun: ‘90s Throwback Party’.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Fri: RJ & DJ Bamboozle. Sat: DJ Shabazz.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Motionless in White, Icon For Hire, Makeout. Thu: Keys N Krates. Fri: Ron Pope. Sat: Dark Star Orchestra. Sun: ‘Chippendales’. Mon: Jacob Sartorius.

Tue: Exodus, Municipal Waste.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: Emergency Exit. Thu: Kim Jackson. Fri: Pop Vinyl, Tradewinds. Sat: Viva Santana, Y3K. Sun: R:Tyme, Missy Andersen. Tue: Mercedes Moore.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., North Park.

Sun: Enter Shikari, Single Mothers, Milk Teeth.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. Thu: ‘Future’. Fri: ‘Acid Varsity’.

Sat: ‘Afrobeat Meets Bollywood’.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Fri: The Clean Cut, Hippies, Wicked Monk. Sat: Agent 22, Marian Mulock. Sun: Ari Hest.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

FEBRUARY 21, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): It is impossible to know which one of our many choices will determine the paths of our lives.

However, it’s not unreasonable to speculate that a lot of the problems you’re having now came from drinking out of the birdbath.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22):

You will feel yourself slipping on the grocery store floor. In trying to correct your step you will only fall slower and more dramatically. I’m sorry—that’s just sometimes how it goes.

Fate, Fortune, Serendipity; all of these things are at the forefront of your mind this week… as potential names for a pair of pet hamsters.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): You can either scream in an empty wood to relieve yourself of this pain and rage deep inside your heart, or you can drive around busy strip mall parking lots just to steal spaces.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): The process of learning is its own reward, but that won’t help you feel any less humiliated when you walk into the glass door you thought was automatic.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): Is it really a sign of integrity that you refuse to compromise and won’t make accounts on websites that required a more complex password than “password”?

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Eventually someone will care about your opinions on the tastes of different brands of bottled water, but you will have to talk to thousands to get there.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): The mantis shrimp is a beautiful creature with phenomenal vision and the fastest strike of any animal. However, he only uses these extraordinary traits and talents to… be a shrimp? Wack!

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Destiny,

LEO (July 23 - August 22): Life is like a carousel. Cyclical? No, why would you think I meant it goes “round and round”? I mean that it’s boring unless you’re a child.

Sometimes there’s horses.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): You’ll finally get some time to yourself.

Unfortunately it will come when your tether to the spaceship snaps and you drift farther and farther into deep space.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18):

You are right when you think that you are before your time. You truly are a visionary suited for a future when the world is a dead, radiated husk.

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): Consider this: It is possible that things might get a lot easier for you if you would just take some time to learn how to manipulate and control magnetic fields.

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

MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla.

Fri: Jeff Parker, Bradford, Golia, Dresser Trio. Mon: Brent Faiyaz.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: JG Trio. Thu: Fish & JG. Fri: Stilettos. Sat: Stilettos. Sun: Ron’s Garage.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: The Holy Knives, Modern History, Sun Drenched. Thu: The Kathryn Cloward Band, Cherry Road, Flying Siren.

Fri: Approaching Fiction, Read Set Survive, Sea of Trees, Eridia. Sun: Luna 13, Street Cleaner, DJ Heather Hardcore. Tue: Hungover, Alive & Well, Pocket Hole.

Mother’s Saloon, 2228 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Fri: The Devil’s Due. Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Thu: Wildheart. Fri: Custard Pie. Sat: Celeste Barbier. Sun: Tony Ortega jazz jam.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: Julian Lage Trio. Thu: Mike Pinto, Josh Heinrichs, Skillinjah. Fri: Rob Garza (DJ set), Eric Medina, Andrew Wilkinson.

Sat: The Aggrolites, Slightly Stoopid, Psydecar, San Diego City Soul Club. Tue: Real Estate, Bedouine.

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

Wed: ‘1,2,3’ w/ DJ EdRoc. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs Kid Wonder, Adam Salter. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs Gabe Vega, Kanye Asada. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings. Tue: ‘Trapped’.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Markus Schulz. Sat: Kaskade.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Fri: Gabriel Sundy. Sat: Mochilero All Stars.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: Direct. Sat: Nelly.

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Michele Lundeen. Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Bill Magee. Sat: Nathan James and the Rhythm Scratchers.

The Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’. Sat: ‘Sabados en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA, K-Swift. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJ Junior the Disco Punk.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: DJs Kiki, Kinky Loops. Thu: DJs Kiki, Kinky Loops. Fri: DJs John Joseph, Will Z. Sat: DJs K-Swift, Kid Madonny. Sun: Cupcakke.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Brennan Orndorff. Fri: Vinyl Pirates. Sat: Black Market III. Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Fri: Three Chord Justice.

Sat: Acoustic Revolt.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave., North Park. Wed: Trio Gadjo. Thu: Jimmy Ruelas. Fri: Cassandra Jenkins. Sat: Jimmy Ruelas. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei. Tue: Jake Pinto.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Alex Cameron, Molly Burch. Thu: Adan Jodorowsky, Rudy De Anda, Red Pony Clock. Fri: All Pigs Must Die, Baptists, Bonebreaker. Sat: The Lexicons, Third Project, Privileged, DJ Tradskin. Sun: Crooked Colours, Running Touch. Mon: Ezla, Moon. Tue: Wage War, A Sight Unscene, A Hero Within.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Thu: Secrets, Amaya Lights, Controlled Chemistry, Lost Dakota, Kill Your Name.

Fri: X Ambassadors, Fletcher.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights.

Wed: ‘Wet’. Thu: 1000Mods, Telekinetic Yeti. Fri: The Spits, Cruz Radical, Slaughter Boys. Sat: The Spits, Beehive and the Barracudas, Keepers. Sun: BOAN, HXXS, Adios Mundo Cruel.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Midtown. Fri:

‘Progress’ w/ Guy J. Sat: Lucent, Orkidea, Shugz.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: Burlesque Boogie Nights.

Sun: The Shifty Eyed Dogs, Shane Hall.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Thu: ‘Rock N Roll Preservation Society’. Fri: The Gargoyles, The Killing Floors. Sun: Pants Karaoke.

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: Kenny and Deez. Thu: Keep Your Soul.

Sat: Keep Your Soul, Chad and Rosie. Sat: Paging the 90s, Chad and Rosie. Sun: Jen Hecht Duo, Keep Your Soul. Mon: Lauren Leigh and Sam. Tue: Corey Gray.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park. Thu: The Fremonts. Fri: Big Time Operator Orchestra. Sat: Sleepwalkers, Johnny Ramos. Tue: Jukebox Kings.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Wed: Tiger Sex, The Dodges, Mandoshanks. Thu: Jon Cougar Concentration Camp, Raging Nathans, Bossfight, Matt Caskitt and the Breaks. Fri: United Defiance, Skipjack, Surface Report, Fishing for Chips. Sat: Le Saboteurs, Heart Beat Trail, Fictitious Dishes. Sun: Good Time Girl, He Gassen, Flaunt. Mon: Free Kittens and Bread, Foxx Bodies.

U-31, 3112 University Ave., North Park.

Wed: ‘Just Friends’. Thu: ‘Boom Boxx Thursday’. Fri: DJ Freeman. Sat: DJ Junior the Disco Punk. Mon: ‘EMOndays’.

Tue: ’31 Flavors’.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Thu: ‘Vamp’. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob. Mon: ‘Electric Relaxation’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach.

Wed: Something Like Seduction, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: ‘OB Hip-Hop Social’ w/ Atlantis Rizing. Fri: SM Familia, Dread Nots, DJ Carlos Culture. Sat: Brothers Gow, Shakedown String Band. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Frankie ‘Kash’ Waddy’s Funk House.

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IN THE BACK

CannaBeat San Diego city councilmember targets delivery drivers Back in January, San Diego City Councilmember Chris Cate made it his own personal objective to crack down on illegal cannabis delivery drivers. Not only did Cate notify law enforcement, but he also singled out Weedmaps based on its comprehensive listings of delivery services.

“Currently, Weedmaps serves as an online advertising platform for hundreds of marijuana delivery services in the city of San Diego,” Cate wrote in a memo to City Attorney Mara Elliott. “A majority of these delivery services are considered illegal under the City Municipal Code. In an effort to ensure compliance with our city laws and the safe and legal access to marijuana, we respectfully request your voluntary compliance to cease the advertising of marijuana delivery services considered illegal under San Diego Municipal Code.”

According to Cate, the majority

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of delivery services in San Diego are illegal because most delivery services in the area lack a Conditional Use Permit. Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, however, provides immunity from liability for companies like Weedmaps.

Chris Cate

Medical Marijuana Inc. celebrates its largest revenue year San Diego-based Medical Marijuana Inc., along with its subsidiaries HempMeds� ������������� Mexico, Hemp����� Meds� Brazil ������� and ���� ������������� Kannaway, announced on Jan. 8 that it recorded its largest-ever revenue year in the history of its operation.

BY BENJAMIN M. ADAMS

“We are excited to have surpassed our growth and revenue goals for this year. By breaking our annual sales record (pre-audit numbers) and investing into our future expansion efforts, we can provide our shareholders with an optimistic forecast for our future success,” stated Dr. Stuart Titus, CEO of Medical Marijuana Inc. “We expect to again set company-wide sales records in 2018 and are excited about the trends within the industry, including the growing acceptance of our products to a national and international audience.”

Notably, HempMeds Mexico President Raul Elizalde recently spoke out at the World Health Organization’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence convention in Geneva, Switzerland, which may have helped the company grow to where it is today.

For the latest cannabis news and lifestyle trends, please pick up our sister magazine CULTURE every month or visit culturemagazine.com.

The estimated number of people who visited Urbn Leaf dispensary in Golden Hill during the first four hours of operation on Jan. 1 (Source: Fox5 San Diego)

The projected percentage of year over year revenue growth reported

by San Diego-based Medical Marijuana Inc. between 2016 and 2017 The estimated number of people who visited Urbn Leaf dispensary in Bay Park during the first day of operation on Jan. 1

(Source: Business Insider)

(Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The projected amount of cannabis, in millions of pounds, that Californians will purchase between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 (Source: The Hill)

FEBRUARY 21, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 27