San Diego CityBeat • Mar 8, 2017

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FEBRUARY 22, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 1

2 · San Diego CityBeat · March 8, 2017

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March 8, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Fighting fire with fire

F

or those who follow local politics, it was easy to get bogged down in any number of things last week. There was the City Council’s decision to ostensibly hope for the best when it came to the SDSU study that concluded that Blacks and Latinos are significantly more likely to be stopped and searched by San Diego police during traffic stops.

But I digress.

There was also the beef between City Attorney Mara Elliott and Councilmember Chris Cate who accused Elliott of “playing politics” when it came to her recommendation that the city sign on to an amicus brief supporting a suit filed by a transgender student in Virginia. There was certainly part of me that wanted to agree with Councilmember Chris Cate (who did not vote on the measure to support the brief) when he said that Elliott should “refocus her efforts from chasing national poliChris Cate cies to promoting public safety” locally, but I could also argue that Elliott’s role as the attorney for the City Council means that she should bring their attention to these types of national matters.

But, again, I digress.

I think what struck me the most this past week in local politics was Cate’s letter to Gov. Jerry Brown concerning the recent parole approval of Jesus Cecena. For those who don’t recall or who are too young to remember, back in November of 1978 Cecena brutally gunned down San Diego Police Officer Archie Buggs during what has been characterized as a routine traffic stop. He shot him six times to be exact. He was 17 years old, tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole until an appellate court modified the ruling in 1982 to give him the possibility of parole.

And now here we are in 2017. Cecena’s recent parole approval marks the third time since 2014 that the board has recommended he be released with Gov. Brown denying the request each time. Cate, along with fellow law-and-order thumpers and nearly every police organization in the state, are staunchly against Cecena getting out of prison. Cate’s position is cer-

tainly understandable given that his father is a veteran Highway Patrol officer. In his letter to Brown, Cate said he was “deeply disturbed” by the parole board’s decision and that Cecena “continues to pose an unreasonable risk to our community.”

But, really, does he? I understand that the very notion of releasing a convicted cop killer seems completely ridiculous, but isn’t it the job of the parole board to distinguish whether Cecena still poses a risk?

And if he did still pose a risk, do you think the board would approve his parole not once, not twice, but three times? The reality is that Cecena is now a 55-year-old man with bad knees and, after a religious conversion in the ‘80s, hasn’t had a single disciplinary offense in prison since 1987.

Now, before readers fly off the handle, please know this: I do not support the release of Cecena. Sorry, but it’s just too early. However, as someone who believes in redemption and forgiveness, I do not think that Cecena should “rot” forever (as one commenter on a message board put it) nor do I subscribe to the notion that the parole board approved Cecena’s release simply to free up room in our overcrowded prison system.

This is a complicated issue, and please bear in mind that the person writing this is someone who has contributed funds to organizations like the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, which financially assists families of fallen soldiers and officers.

I understand the motivation to say “hell no” when it comes to granting freedom to murderers, but I also believe that people, even the ones that seem the most heinous, are capable of changing.

Councilmember Cate is certainly not wrong in his opinion, but to characterize a man as an “unreasonable risk” for the actions he committed when he was 17 is unfair. While we embrace movies Jesus Cecena such as The Shawshank Redemption and Dead Man Walking, why do we find it unfathomable that a man could commit one of the most horrible crimes imaginable, spend nearly 40 years in prison, and not be redeemed?

After some soul-searching, I count myself among those who believe that Cecena should not be released.

However, I also think that we should never be so quick to judge those who seek mercy and forgiveness, however despicable their past actions might be.

—Seth Combs

Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat is dedicated to Vince the rhino. May your death be avenged and your afterlife as a meme be as fruitful as Harambe.

Volume 15 • Issue 32 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

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4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

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March 8, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

UP FRONT | LETTERS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BUCKET BOY

GOD BLESS

I attended AWP in D.C. and had a completely different experience than Mr. Bradford [“Thriving, resisting and flipping off the White House,” March 1]. Good panels and great discussions about books, writing and teaching.

I must say, it pains me to think readers, via CityBeat, get the idea that this is the contemporary “version” of the writer. Some doofus who drinks whiskey and visits movie sets and parties at conferences (go to any panels? have any ideas? participate in any discussions on literature?) and “writes” a book repeating Donald Trump is a loser 1,000 times! These people aren’t writers and their vampire/decapitation fantasies prove it. Books are serious business; they’re not junior high cut-and-paste projects for guys and girls who give the finger to buildings. I would think CB might have a higher editorial standard than to pay for this snark. It’s not even snark because snark issues a laugh or two. Snark is conscious, often, of the moral questions it’s trying to articulate.

Bradford is the kind of writer who shits in the same bucket that he drinks from. I’d appreciate it if he got out of the way of actual writers who are involved in literature as a means to the important questions about doubt and belief, about the possibilities and ambivalences of our ethical nature in ourselves and in fictional characters, about treating language as an aesthetic and actual means to communicate with each others instead of this circus swill.

Jeff, I rarely find the need to write a publication but in this case, I felt compelled [“Funk Off,” March 1].

Thank you. These guys [the Red Hot Chili Peppers] are horrible and have been since forever. Keep enlightening people and god bless Nick Cave. And if you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing him, don’t miss him in June. He is brilliant live.

Thomas Larson via sdcitybeat.com

[Editor’s note—The fella who wrote this is a staff writer for a rival publication. We neither confirm nor deny the existence of any such bucket]

BY THE WAY Hey Jeff Terich. I am similarly disgusted by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Anthony Kiedis in particular.

It’s almost as if you crawled into my skull, removed a very small portion of my brain (the “Red Hot Chili Peppers Gyrus”) and splattered it across page 25 of the March 1 CityBeat [“Funk Off”]. Invasive, but well worth it.

Chris Bowd Ocean Beach

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

UP FRONT

Sam Gardner Bay Park

GOO-GOO-GA-GA THANK YOU for finally putting in writing what I’ve thought for years [“Funk Off,” March 1]! What’s up with The Chili Peppers??! Every time I hear Anthony Kiedis’ goo-goo ga-ga baby-talk rhymes I lose my mind. Glad to see I wasn’t alone.

Vinnie Meehan Bankers Hill

From the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Spin Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sordid Tales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

At The Intersection . . . . . . . . . .

4 6 7 8 9

FOOD & DRINK The World Fare. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Dishing It Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Beerdist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

ARTS & CULTURE Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 FEATURE: Shinpei Takeda. . . . 21 Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-24

MUSIC FEATURE: Japandroids. . . . . . . 25 From The Smoking Patio. . . . . 26 If I Were U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Concerts & Clubs . . . . . . . . 29-32

THINGS TO DO

LAST WORDS

The Short List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . 13-14

Advice Goddess . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

ON THE

COVER

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.

Nashville-based photographer Luis Garcia (luisgarciafoto.com) shot the striking portrait of local artist Shinpei Takeda that graces our cover this week. Garcia says he shot the pictures as part of a magazine spread about Takeda and his Alpha Decay series of exhibitions. The article ultimately never ran, but Garcia, who was living in Tijuana at the time and shot the portraits around the city, remembers the shoot fondly. “We did some shots without the costume in his studio, but when he came out with the suit, I was not expecting anything like that,” says Garcia, referring to the radiation suit that Takeda had used in his “Alpha Decay 3” piece. “He kind of relaxed more once he was wearing the suit.”

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UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE

JOHN R. LAMB

Ambassador Papa?

An ambassador is not simply an agent; he is also a spectacle.

—Walter Bagehot

A

pparently the presidential rise of Donald J. Trump has been like a B-12 shot to the 74-year-old tush of local archconservative kingpin of the big-ass development world, Douglas Frederick “Papa Doug” Manchester.

Unchained now from the line of work he clearly struggled with— running the Union-Tribune—Manchester has been a veritable beaver of activity of late: talking up his prized bayfront Pacific Gateway project as it lumbers toward commencement; boasting he will do “everything in my power” to keep pro football in San Diego; moving his corporate HQ to Bankers Hill; and apparently still siring children.

So when word leaked out in reports that Manchester “has already told associates,” as CNN put it, that he’s been tapped as the

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next U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, well let’s just say Spin had to find a chair, pronto. This guy is tuckering!

Rumors of the Trump envoy choice date back to late December, when the website BahamasPress. com posted this with no further explanation or sourcing: “Lyford Cay Resident Papa Doug Manchester is being tapped as the next US Ambassador to the Bahamas under a Trump Administration.”

In diplomatic circles, Spin imagines it would be poor horsemanship to declare such a bestowment of duty prematurely, considering the hoops—both practical and political—that ambassadorsin-waiting must navigate before assuming their posts. Hence, it’s no surprise Manchester has remained publicly silent so far on the purported nomination.

But as these kinds of appointments go, Manchester has certainly earned his consideration. An early

Trump supporter, Manchester portrays himself as a devout Donald disciple, frequently shrouding his gray dome with the trademark-red “Make America Great Again” cap and preaching to anyone who will listen that this president is “an incredibly smart man with a big heart.”

In politics as in Hollywood, there is room for poetic license, so in the interest of personal well-being (“Serenity now!”) Spin will let that slide for the time being—this apparently being Papa’s chance to shine on an international stage.

One might presume that this position—officially known as the “Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Bahamas”—is one of those plum posts you hear about that major election-campaign contributors pine for and typically get. Well, you’re right, but it won’t be all conch fritters and turquoise-blue waters.

For one thing, the last nominee to the position during the Obama Administration, Cassandra Butts, literally died while awaiting confirmation, which was blocked by Republican senators in a dispute with the president for more than two years. Since 2011, interim appointees have filled the post.

Last week, the embassy issued a “security message” for tourists during spring break in the Baha-

JOHN R. LAMB

Trump devotee Doug Manchester might be in line for a sunny ambassadorship. mas. Suggestions ranged from “avoid being alone with strangers, jet ski, taxi, or scooter operators” and “do not swim while drinking” to stern warnings about marijuana use (“entrapment is a frequently used law enforcement technique in the Bahamas”) and hospitalization (“typically expect immediate cash payment before medical services are provided”).

An ambassadorship is also a full-time job. Fortunately, as noted in the BahamasPress.com posting, Manchester owns a home in Lyford Cays, described as one of the most exclusive and wealthiest gated communities in the world, with such notable inhabitants as the Bacardi rum family, actor Sean Connery (the location is a favorite of the James Bond franchise) and Czech fugitive financier Viktor Kožený. So at least he’s been there.

If confirmed, Manchester would be the most noteworthy ambassadorial pick from the region since the late M. Larry Lawrence, Democratic Party impresario and longtime owner of the iconic Hotel del Coronado.

The similarities are striking, from the blustery personality traits to the obsession with real estate development and politics.

(Slight tip of the ego goes to Manchester, though, who can’t resist slapping his name on every building he settles into, as evidenced by recent exterior renovations to his latest acquisition, the famous Mr. A’s building at 5th Avenue and Laurel Street.)

Laurie Black, a political dynamo herself who was Lawrence’s daughter-in-law, remembers in painful detail the saga of Lawrence, Ambassador to Switzerland.

Appointed in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton, Lawrence would serve in the post for about three years before dying from a blood disorder after a long battle with leukemia.

The joke at the time was Switzerland, a neutral country militarily, served as the best possible location for Lawrence “because it was the one place he couldn’t start a war,” Black recalled with a laugh.

Lawrence became the first person disinterred from Arlington National Cemetery when it was discovered that he had fabricated his World War II service in the Merchant Marines when actually attending college in Chicago. A 1997 New York Times story, headlined “Body, and Tombstone of Lies, Are Removed,” detailed the whole sordid tale of deception and prompted a cursory examination of the ambassador-vetting process.

Black, who said her family refers to the episode as the “Unbury Larry” chapter, offered the simple advice of “less is more” for Manchester going forward. “You have to declare everything,” she said about the vetting process. “Our family was interviewed by the FBI. I don’t know if that means his tax returns, but they’ll take a look at his wives, his children, grandchildren, everything.”

Black said she’s convinced Lawrence made up his military record—including fake “suicide mission” heroics that garnered Russian Embassy accolades—in order to gloss over his lack of diplomatic experience. “It was a Democratic Congress, and they were not nice to him,” she said.

So be careful what you wish for, Pappy D. It won’t be all play in the sand and getting a nice tan.

The Bahamas has its problems— the highest rate of sexual assaults in the Caribbean, according to a 2012 United Nations report, with a wealth of islands historically “favored by smugglers and pirates,” the State Department says.

Best of luck!

Spin Cycle appears every week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com

MARCH 8, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | OPINION

EDWIN DECKER

SORDID

TALES

A thorough mocking of an idiotic CPAC panel

O

ver recent months and years it has been suggested—by a fair amount of friends, readers and editors—that I should refrain from mocking religion so much in my writing. Admittedly, it is a pet subject which I tend to overdo, and I have relented lately. But every once in a while something comes down the God-pike that is so stupid, I don’t have the will to resist.

I am referring to one of the events at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Apparently it had a panel discussion called—wait for it—”If Heaven Has a Gate, A Wall and Extreme Vetting, Why Can’t America?”

Yes, that is the real title. And I would very much like to embark on this mock-fest by requesting that readers take another moment to appreciate—I mean, really truly marvel in all its hysterical glory—the name of that panel. It is, after all, such a pure and perfect example of absurdity, it must be displayed in a paragraph of its very own, like a culture within a sealed petri dish where less hilarious specimens can’t contaminate it.

If Heaven Has a Gate, A Wall and Extreme Vetting, Why Can’t America?

The panel was moderated by former Rep. Bob Beauprez (RColo.) and two current House Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.), among others. For the purposes of their extreme mock-over, let’s not even bother with the obvious answer to the question posed which is, of course, that there’s no such thing as Heaven ya nitwits! Well, that and that the First Amendment prohibits using religion as a basis for public policy.

Still, in an effort to extend this mock opera so that we may extract as much hilarity from it as possible, we will concede that Heaven does exist. So the question becomes, if there really is an invisible city floating in the sky, would it have a wall? Doubtful. Because that would mean our all-knowing, all-powerful Overlord did not consider the manner in which people arrive at Heaven in the first place. That the souls of the dead emerge from their physical bodies and float up, and up, and all the way up to the gates of Heaven. The point being, the dead can fly! So what’s to stop them from flying over a stupid wall? Not to mention what a view-blocking wall like that will do to the property values!

It just seems that an all-knowing, all-powerful deity would think of a better idea for border control.

Even I—a hardly-knowing, hardly-powerful mortal— can imagine better. Right off the top of my head I’m thinking ISD (Invisible Smart Dome).

If God can do anything, why not create an ISD to insulate Heaven’s border? The dome could be powered by a “smart” energy field that is able to self-scrutinize Heaven’s immigrants at the point of entry. This way

nobody can fly over, nobody’s view will be blocked and Saint Peter could go back to his old job working as a much-needed harp tuner.

It’s kind of a no-brainer.

But hey, for the purposes of this Mocky Horror Scripture Show, let’s just say there is a Heaven and that it actually does have a big, stupid, view-blocking wall. Well that hardly means that America needs a wall as well. Remember, Heaven is a city trimmed in gold with the streets all paved in silver. In Heaven, nobody gets old or sick or fat and you don’t catch malware from internet porn. The Walking Dead airs a new episode every night and Johnny Cash plays the square every day. Everyone you have ever loved lives on the same block in Paradise, where potholes are always filled and garbage men sweep and straighten the cans after they leave.

Now compare that to America, where the streets are made from grime, computers come with malware pre-installed and sport franchises bail on their cities so often the team names don’t match the location anymore. I mean, since when did Utah become the home of Jazz?

Last night, for fun, I imagined what it was like in the Potomac ballroom where that CPAC panel was held. I imagined the questions that were posited by the audience at the end of the session.

Thanks for taking my question, Congressman Biggs. So, I was wondering, if America is like Heaven, does that mean Mexico is Hell?

And if so, can we send Kanye down there?

Great panel Mr. Beauprez. Did you know Jesus builds the houses in Heaven? Maybe we should get him to build our wall?

I could go on mocking, but I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, enough Christian bashing already! And I understand that. However, keep in mind—as an opinion/humor writer licensed with The State of California Office of Farce and Frivolity (SCOFF)—I have certain obligations.

For instance, pursuant to Chapter 4, Section f.23 of the SCOFF Manual of Ethics and Standards, if a writer of an opinion/humor column is made aware of a major political conference which hosts a completely serious, unironic panel about modeling its country’s immigration policy after that of an invisible city that floats in the sky—and this panel was moderated by former and current members of Congress who discussed this concept as solemnly as if they were discussing the budget or foreign relations—he or she has an obligation, nay, a sworn duty, to make a complete and utter mockery out of it, its creators, its attendees and anyone else associated with it in any way. It is the law.

In Heaven, nobody gets old or sick or fat and you don’t catch malware from internet porn.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

Sordid Tales appears every other week.

Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com. @SDCITYBEAT

CULTURE | VOICES

MINDA HONEY

AT THE

INTERSECTION

To the women who show up every day

M

arch 8 is International Women’s Day. Women in the U.S. and around the world are honoring the historically political nature of the holiday with a women’s strike. In the ongoing fight for feminism that benefits the 99 percent, on this official “Day Without a Woman,” the organizers have made a call in the The Guardian “to mobilize women, including trans women, and all who support them in an international day of struggle—a day of striking, marching, blocking roads, bridges, and squares, abstaining from domestic, care and sex work, boycotting, calling out misogynistic politicians and companies, striking in educational institutions.”

Last week, when I sat down to write this column, the only thing I had on my calendar for March 8 was happy hour margaritas. I’m sure it’s possible to write a think piece about how drinking margaritas is a feminist act, but I didn’t want to be that woman, so I immediately got to Googling events I could participate in. As a full-time freelance writer, I don’t have to put my job on the line in order to stand in solidarity with other women.

I have endless amounts of respect for the women who are risking financial instability to make a difference.

However, I do want to take a moment to think about the women who want to strike, but can’t. Whether it’s because they got mouths to feed, lives to save, their health won’t allow it, or a reason all their own.

Because while those women might not be at an International Women’s Day event, they show up in other ways on regular-ass Wednesdays, not to mention every other day of the week. They show up when the system doesn’t, when families don’t and when friends turn their backs. They are there.

I’m talking about my friend who reached out to other friends about a co-worker in need. The co-worker just had a baby and learned she wasn’t going to be able to breastfeed. She was on unpaid maternity leave and didn’t qualify for government assistance—how was she going to afford formula to feed her newborn?

A new mother should never be faced with that question. A new mother should never leave a government assistance office in tears. A new mother should never have to plead with her doctor for formula samples.

She, like all new mothers, should be able to spend time at home bonding with her baby.

One Facebook status later, my friends had gathered enough formula, diapers and cash to take care of a stranger’s baby for months. I heard the woman said she knew God would come through and one of my friends joked, “Jesus taking credit for Black women’s work.” There won’t be a news story about their

heroics, but because of them, a mother and child are healthy and happy.

I’m talking about my baby sister who has dedicated the last several years of her life to nonprofit work and community organizing in cities such as Louisville, Chicago, Detroit and Youngstown, Ohio. She did this work even when it meant dealing with daily microaggressions and full-on aggression. When it meant being down to her last dollar and a cup of Ramen felt like an extravagant luxury. When it meant sleeping in tents and then getting up the next day to do backbreaking labor like hacking trails through woods and boarding up abandoned homes. Who doesn’t mince words, even when she’s calling out the chief of police.

There won’t be supporters gathered around her waving signs with witty sayings about how woke they are, but because of her, many communities are stronger.

I’m talking about the friends who won’t be there because they’re going through it right now, but who have always been there for us in the past. Who’ve stood up in front of state and city officials and told the tough stories about why women’s reproductive justice matters, why it’s mattered to them in the past, and why it will matter to another woman in the future. Who’ve pushed us as a community to seek out mental healthcare and who’ve made space for Black mental health and helped others find resources. Who’ve smiled and held us even when they were hurting and asked, “But how are you?”

And who, when they feel strong again, will get right back to it.

On March 8, there won’t be photos of these friends in our Instagram feeds, their strength on display for us to like and repost to all of our followers. Still, because of them many of us have often found the help we needed.

These women and so many more show up every single day. That’s just what women do. We show up for others. And on March 8, we’re showing up for ourselves en masse and the optics will be so powerful. But I want to honor the women who show up even when the world isn’t watching. I don’t know where I’ll be on International Women’s Day, but whether I find myself in a crowd of protestors or raising up my happy hour margarita in celebration, I’m going to say the names of these women. I won’t say their names in the somber tones we use for those we lost. Nah. I’m saying their names like a powerful incantation: Nubia. Ashley. Ryeshia. Pam. Women like these might not be present today, but we will all be drawing on their strength to get us through—just like we always do.

There won’t be a news story about their heroics, but because of them, a mother and child are healthy and happy.

@SDCITYBEAT

At The Intersection appears monthly.

MARCH 8, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

UP FRONT | FOOD

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE

Haute altitude, haute cuisine

F

or decades Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort’s owners have aspired to turn the place into an upscale, A-list destination resort like Aspen or Vail. With the mountain’s natural snow catch basin, unparalleled lift system and proximity to Hollywood (as well as San Diego), it always seemed like a natural fit. Successive owners have poured money into the place, giving the hill the look of an upscale resort, but the beautiful people haven’t exactly followed. Then there’s the case of Skadi Restaurant (94 Berner St., Suite A).

Where Mammoth’s masters have proclaimed their ambitions but struggled on the execution, Skadi Chef Ian Algerøen has worked quietly for the better part of two decades to give Mammoth a high-end restaurant worthy of a celebrity ski town. And he’s definitely done so. Algerøen is half Norwegian, and the place is named after the Norse goddess of skiing so it should come as no surprise that the restaurant features Scandinavian-influenced cuisine.

It is not so much Noma-style New Nordic as much as that Algerøen’s food is, as he puts it, “reflective of my Alpine life, European training and my Norse heritage.”

Take, for example, Skadi’s Canadian duck breast with Arctic lingonberries, juniper and aquavit. Algerøen pairs these Scandinavian flavors with brown butter spaetzle, creating a dish that is at once classic and exciting. One of the marquee mains was a grilled medallion and a sausage of venison (originally from his business partner’s ranch) coupled with a porcini mushroom risotto cake, roast mushrooms, garlic confit and spinach. The earthy flavors of the mushrooms tamed the slight gaminess of the venison while enhancing its heady qualities.

One of Skadi’s newer dishes is a pork trio featuring pork belly confit and roast spiced tenderloin along with house-made jagerwurst. The porks— ranging from the leanest to fattiest cuts—create an enormous soundstage that Algerøen populates with sauerkraut, fingerling potatoes and apple-

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

sauce, balancing the richness of the pork. The textural contrasts between the three meats alone— ranging from the crispy top of the pork belly to the tenderness of the lean tenderloin—is feature enough. But the presentation, quite nearly an abstract painting, is every bit as remarkable as the dish is tasty.

Skadi’s appetizers emphasize charcuterie. It is impossible to go wrong with the torchon of foie gras with toasted brioche and glögg-poached pear slices. The spice of the glögg cuts perfectly through the richness of the foie gras. Some of the best starters are the house-smoked trout with horseradish cream and a classic Norwegian gravlax (cured but not smoked salmon) risotto potato cake, cucumber salad and mustard-dill sauce. It is Algerøen at his most classic.

MICHAEL GARDINER

Braised lamb shank Skadi’s desserts are both delicious and visually stunning. From the sculptural qualities of the gateau financier with peach sorbet (not to mention the contrast between the fruity sorbet and the rich, moist almond flour cake) to the gorgeous, painterly strokes of the Meyer lemon panna cotta, lemon curd and lemon pistachio biscotti, they’re not to be skipped. Ski them off tomorrow.

Mammoth may never be the celebrity-magnet resort it so badly wants to be when it grows up.

But it already has an A-list quality restaurant ready for those stars should that eventuality ever come to pass.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

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UP FRONT | FOOD

BY JAMES VERNETTE

DISHING IT

and Latin America and since both these cultures have a strong footing here in San Diego, you’re starting to see insects appear in specialty markets and on restaurant menus. Chef Trey Foshee sees a buggy world in the future of food—at least at his restaurant Galaxy Taco (2259 Avenida De La Bugging out Playa, La Jolla). He’s featured chapulines in menu items in the past and is adding an avocado tostada eaders with an interest in history books or topped with chapulines to the menu as this is bad ‘80s-era sitcoms probably already know being written.

“I’ve had no negative comments about that sushi was once considered exotic food.

Yes, there was a time when many people seriously [insects],” Foshee says. “But I suspect some people won’t try it at all, while others might try it and like freaked out about the idea of eating raw fish.

Flash forward three decades and every Vons has it. And then there are the daring types—the people a sushi bar, and the only people seriously freaked who like to sample the hottest sauce they can.”

But Foshee isn’t adding chapulines because out by sushi are angry because there’s not enough they’re trendy. uni or tako in their specialty roll.

“They’re seasoned with spice and citrus and are Tastes change. a little smoky,” he says. “I’m not JAMES VERNETTE putting them on the menu because it’s weird. I’m putting them on because they’re delicious.”

And, it should be noted, insects go great with beer.

“Insects are served in bars and as street food all over Asia,” says local Cathlyn Choi, host of Cathlyn’s Korean Kitchen, which runs locally on Channel 4 on both Time Warner and Cox cable channels.

Choi herself didn’t try insects until her late teens, but has adapted them into many of her dishes.

“I’m trying to use more lighter proteins these days,” Choi says.

One of her personal favorite Silkworm cocoon stir-fry dishes is a stir-fry dish using One taste treat that is starting to pop up on the silkworm cocoons. “I’ve also had stir-fried local scene involves entomophagy, the practice of crickets—they taste like shrimp!”

So far, stir-fried silkworm cocoons aren’t on eating insects. Most of the world eats insects in some form or another. They have lots of protein, many—if any—local restaurants' menus, so Choi and the hard shells of crickets and grasshoppers makes the dish using pickled cocoons she gets at also have fiber. In fact, if there is any place in the Zion Market, an Asian grocery store in Clairemont U.S. where eating insects could and should catch (7655 Clairemont Mesa Blvd).

“You can’t get them fresh,” she laments. “I on big, it’s San Diego. We’re close to Mexico where chapulines—a dried cricket flavored with lime and like them with chopped garlic, chili pepper, and chili—are a popular snack. There’s also the fact Korean Gochujang chili sauce. The aromatics that we’re in a desert and, because of climate are important. But silkworm cocoons aren’t like change, we need to think of sustainable foods for crickets. Crickets have no taste. Silkworms, you bite in and liquid sometimes comes out. That’s why future generations.

Insect cuisine is especially popular in Asia I batter them.”

OUT R

@SDCITYBEAT

MARCH 8, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

UP FRONT | DRINK

THE

BY ANDREW DYER

BEERDIST The Younger is getting old

E

Monkey Paw Muriqui, at 10 percent ABV, is San Diego’s most likely Pliny-slayer. It’s among the sweeter of the triples I tried in my, uh, research, but it’s consistently great and relatively easy to find.

Thorn Street Brother Scotty’s Triple IPA, 10.5 percent ABV, is another local dive into the Pliny pool. It’s got a little bit more of a fruity flavor than Muriqui but most subtlety is lost flying this high.

Green Flash Palate Wrecker is an O.G. San Diego triple IPA. At 9.5 percent ABV, it’s a little on the weak side for the modern understanding of the style. Still, this is a classic triple with a hearty malt backbone supporting all those hops. Bitter till the end, it’s still one of my favorites.

very February since 2005 Russian River Brewing’s Pliny the Younger has been poured at the brewery and a select few taprooms.

Younger is a pioneer in big, boozy and over-hopped IPAs. Over the years, other breweries have produced their own “triple” IPAs—some more successfully than others. But as the industry has matured, so have the tastes of consumers. The hype, crowds and cloying flavors of Younger have grown stale.

This hasn’t slowed down the hype. Publicans still spend the month of February promoting their one-or-two kegs of the brew. Both Tiger!

ANDREW DYER Tiger! and Blind Lady Ale House sold tickets for separate one-day, one-hour events at $40 a pop. That $40 was good for .4 liters—about 13.5 ounces—of both Pliny the Younger and its double IPA, more readily available cousin, Pliny the Elder. The events sold out, but 100 percent of the funds did go to the ACLU. Fathom Bistro used its keg of Younger to fundraise for Planned Parenthood. This undeniably noble co-opting of the hype was a bit more palatable, but, at $80 for a 20-ounce pour and unlimited carnitas tacos, it was still difficult to justify in the value-per-ounce department.

In the hype and hustle of fanboys lined Triple IPA flight at Machete Beer House. Not only do up outside beer bars they otherwise never they look mostly the same, they taste that way, too. patronize, how many actually like the beer?

An endless stream of photos and threads Some triples can be found bottled (unlike proliferate across social media and its insufferable Younger) and are better, more modern examples of presence is impossible to escape. the style. Beers like El Segundo Power Plant, Knee The problem with Younger, and all triple IPAs, is Deep Simtra and the aforementioned Palate Wreckthat as the ABVs ratchet up some unwanted flavors er can be found at most bottle shops around town. begin to slip through. Beers in the style are cloying With so many better alternatives, it is difficult and sweet by nature, but some hide it better than to rationalize or justify Younger hype. I can’t even others. All are unavoidably boozy and can be dif- stand waiting in line for tacos at Tacos El Gordo, ficult to drink—they are better sipped. and those are actually worth the hassle. The bad Gone are the days that anyone wanting to try news about these alternative brews is there’s much such a beer would have to wait in a ridiculous line, less social media validation to be had. take a two-hour lunch break or purchase gratuThere’s always next year, bro. itously overpriced tickets. Several local breweries also crank out unquaffable hop-bombs, and they The Beerdist appears every other week. can be found without hassle.

Write to andrewd@sdcitybeat.com

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

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SHORTlist

EVENTS

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

DOWNTOWN

1

SEX & VIOLENCE

Locals have always had a casual relation- that happened in a specific time or place,” says ship with the San Diego Opera. While we love the Gedeon. “So it just became kind of a statement on idea that it’s there and often take it for granted, the the psychological dynamics of jealousy, dominance, insecurity and psychosis.” reality is that far too many SAN DIEGO OPERA This statement includes people still consider opera sex, violence and plenty of to be too inaccessible and adult situations, most of stuffy to really give it a fair which revolve around the shake. opera’s main characters This could change with Carmen (played by Peabody The Tragedy of Carmen, Southwell) and her jealous the latest production in the lover Don José (played by S.D. Opera’s inaugural ShiAdrian Kramer). And while ley dētour Series. The optraditional opera audiences era’s website says the series might find the untradition“combines the expressive al detour a little shocking, nature of opera with the poGedeon says that the expertency of intimate theatre.” imentation will ultimately In the case of The Tragedy help the city’s reputation as of Carmen, “intimate” might be the key word. Based on an opera city.

Peter Brook’s adaptation of “There is definitely nerGeorges Bizet’s iconic 1875 vousness, but I feel like it’s Peabody Southwell as Carmen opera about a gypsy woman tinged with excitement,” who plays a naïve soldier, the San Diego production says Gedeon. “It feels like the San Diego Opera is the first performance to come with a “for mature wants to take risks and see it as part of nurturing audiences” advisory. For stage director Alexander opera culture.”

Gedeon, Brook’s adaptation seems perfect for auThe Tragedy of Carmen opens Friday, March 10 diences who may want something more edgy and at 7 p.m. and runs through Sunday, March 12 at contemporary. the Balboa Theatre (868 Fourth Ave.) Tickets start “Peter Burke basically erased a lot of the details at $25 at sdopera.org.

NATIONAL CITY

2 MÚSICA AUTÉNTICA

While some readers might be tempted to drop $1,000 on Coachella tickets, there’s really nothing that indie or cultural about a festival like that. The fifth annual International Mariachi Festival serves a real alternative to the typical music festival and is a fantastic way to immerse oneself in music that everyone finds agreeable and festive. In addition to world-renowned mariachi performances from Javier Rodriguez & Los Aventureros, Mariachi Femenil Nuevo Tecalitlan and more, there will also be Aztec dance, ballet folklórico, tequila tastings, art exhibits, a beer garden and family friendly activities. The festival will be held on Sunday, March 12 at the waterfront Pepper Park (3299 Tidelands Ave.) from 11 a.m. to 7p.m. And don’t worry about dropping a bunch of cash. Admission is free. mariachifest.com COURTESY OF INTERNATIONAL MARIACHI FESTIVAL

DOWNTOWN

3 TOAST THE COAST

Another day, another beer festival here in San Diego. However, the Best Coast Beer Fest does have the distinction of being Will Ferrell’s beer festival of choice. What’s more, a portion of the proceeds will go toward Cancer for College, a nonprofit that offers scholarships for cancer survivors. And there’s quite the selection with over 300 different beers to taste from local breweries, as well as 15 restaurants and food trucks. Between brews, attendees can also check out local cover band Saved by the ‘90s. It goes down Saturday, March 11 at the Embarcadero Marina Park Bay (200 Marina Park Way) from 2 to 5 p.m. Tickets range from $45 to $105 for the VIP “Classiest of Class” tickets, which come with a souvenir pint glass and access to “private executive restrooms,” whatever that means. bestcoastbeerfest.com EDER PHOTO

HDia de la Mujer at The FRONT Arte Cultura, 147 W San Ysidro Blvd., San Ysidro. The tenth annual exhibition features over a dozen women artists working in a variety of mediums. Names include Emily Hicks, Norma Campos, Kate Rose Clark and more. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, March 9. 619-428-1115, facebook.com/TheFrontArteCultura Undergraduate Studio Honors Open Studios at UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. A showcase of the artists in the UCSD Studio Honors Program with work in a variety of disciplines. Includes work from Jessica Ballenger, Gabrielle Ramlow, Peter Chen and many more. Takes place on the second floor of the Mandeville Center. Opening from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 9. 858-534-2230, visarts.ucsd.edu A​ ​Taste​ ​of​ ​Art:​ ​Georgia​ ​O’Keefe​ ​​at​ ​ the​ ​​Oceanside​ ​Museum​ ​of​ ​Art,​ ​704​ ​Pier​ ​ View Way,​ ​Oceanside.​ ​A​ ​presentation​ ​on​ ​ Georgia​ ​O’Keefe​ ​by​ a ​ rt​ ​professor​ R ​ obin Douglas​ ​with​ ​appetizers​ ​and​ ​beverages​ ​ followed​ ​by​ ​a​ ​hands-on​ ​workshop​ ​on​ ​how to​ ​create​ ​a​ ​painting​ ​inspired​ ​by​ ​the​ ​artist.​ ​ From​ ​6​ ​to​ ​8​ ​p.m.​ ​​Thursday,​ M ​ arch 9.​​ ​ $35-$45.​ ​oma-online.org HOtherwise at Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., North Park. New oil paintings from Leslie Nemour, who specializes in depicting the dissociated narratives from cinematic sources. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 10. Free. 619584-4448, artproduce.org Mechanics of Desire and Sweet Emotions (Just Can’t Get Enough) at basileIE + CM Curatorial, 2070 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. The closing reception for the two new shows featuring works from Alex Dikowski and Adrian Sierra Garcia. From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 11. Free. basile-ie.com/cm-curatorial Natural Beauty at Distinction Gallery, 317 E Grand Ave., Escondido. A new exhibit featuring Heather McKey’s ethereal and bird-inspired acrylic paintings. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 11.

Free. 760-707-2770, distinctionart.com HThe Toy Room at Thumbprint Gallery, 920 Kline St., La Jolla. Over a hundred new works by Zard Apuya, who specializes in custom toys that are influenced by pop culture, TV, food and his childhood in Guam. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 11. Free. 858-354-6294, thumbprintgallerysd.com Dancing Shadows at Monarch | Arredon Contemporary, 862 Prospect St., Suite A, La Jolla. An art exhibition featuring sculptures by father and daughter artists Randy and Carol K Cooper. Participants will be able to meet the artists and watch them make sculptures. Event runs 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 11.

Free. 858-454-1231, monarchfineart.com/ shadows-sculptures-cooper/ HYou Fascinate Me! at Sparks Gallery, 530 Sixth Ave., Downtown. New works from artist Li Huai, whose specialties include installation, painting, drawing, multi-media and Chinese calligraphy and often deals in themes related to East-West cultural interaction. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 11. Free. 619696-1416, sparksgallery.com HLiving with Animals at Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park. The museum’s latest interactive exhibit explores the connection between people and their pets and how it has evolved over time. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 11. Free-$13.

619-239-2001, museumofman.org HCelebrate San Diego! The History & Heritage of San Diego’s Jewish Community at San Diego History Center, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. A multimedia exhibition that attempts to understand the struggles, triumphs, contributions, and legacy of

International Mariachi Festival @SDCITYBEAT

Best Coast Beer Fest

H = CityBeat picks

San Diego’s Jewish community. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 12. Free.

619-232-6203, sandiegohistory.org HFemme Forme at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park. A music and art show that encourages creatives to come out and network. Artists include Diana Benavidez, Sarah Brown and Ella Lulla, while musical performances include Twin Ritual, Maura Rosa, Heather Hard Xore and more. From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesday, March 15. Free. tini-ebla.com

BOOKS Nicolás Obregón at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The author will discuss and sign his first novel Blue Light Yokohama, about a Tokyo inspector trying to solve a disturbing double murder. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 9.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com Ana Castillo at the National City Public Library, 1401 National City Blvd., National City. A talk with the Xicanisma author and poet about her life and works followed by a book signing. From 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 9. Free. 619-470-5831 Noah Isenberg at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The film professor will discuss and sign his new book We’ll Always Have Casablanca: The Life Legend and Afterlife of Hollywood’s Most Beloved Movie, about the famous Humphrey Bogart film. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 10.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com Brian Alexander at West Grove Collective, 3010 Juniper St., South Park. The Glass House author will discuss his new non-fiction about Lancaster, Ohio as an example of Trumpian influence on predominantly white, small towns. At 6 p.m.

Friday, March 10. Free. 619-795-3780, westgrovesouthpark.com HKelly Parsons at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The local author and professor will discuss and sign his new suspense novel, Under the Knife, about a biotech tycoon hellbent on revenge. At 2 p.m. Saturday, March 4. Free. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com Tom Clavin at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The bestselling author will be promoting his new book Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and the Wickedest Town in the American West. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 13.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com HAbeer Hoque and Stephen Beachy at Verbatim Books, 3795 30th St., North Park. Authors Hoque and Beachy will be reading from their new novels, Olive Witch and Zeke Yoder vs. the Singularity. From 7:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 14. Free. verbatim-books.com

DANCE Bereishit Dance Company at the Mandeville Auditorium, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Two dance performances that collide break dance with sleek artistry and urban cool to highlight the Korean traditional culture. At 8 p.m. Thursday, March 9. $9-$43. 858-246-1199, artpower.ucsd.edu H Balanchine and Beyond at Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway, Downtown. The City Ballet performs under the founder of New York City Ballet George Balanchine and other Big Apple legends. At 8 p.m.

Friday, March 10 and Saturday March 11, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 12. $32$105. 619-846-8774, cityballet.org

FOOD & DRINK Corvette Diner 30th Anniversary at Corvette Diner and Gamers Garage, 2965 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. Corvette Diner will celebrate 30 years with a party reminiscent of the “good old days,”

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

MARCH 8, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13

BOOKS: THE FLOATING LIBRARY

EVENTS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

Dropping Knowledge

I

“Romance” by Leslie Nemour will be on view at Otherwise, a solo show opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 10, at Art Produce Gallery (3139 University Ave.) in North Park.

EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 complete with vintage gaming, a throwback menu, photobooth, a live DJ and more. From 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, March 10. 619-542-1476, www.cohnrestaurants.com/corvettediner Around the World Whiskey & Chocolate Tasting at Vin De Syrah, 901 Fifth Ave. A tasting of whiskeys from Kentucky, Tennessee, Ireland and Scotland paired with locally crafted chocolates at Vin De Syrah. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 10. $45.

858-437-3985, syrahwineparlor.com Hops in the Hills at San Elijo Hills Park, San Elijo Road at Schoolhouse Way, San Marcos. A festival of craft brews from over 20 local breweries with food and live music.

All proceeds will be donated to the San Elijo Elementary and Double Peak Schools.

From 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 11. $40. 760-274-3460, hopsinthehills.net H Best Coast Beer Fest at Embarcadero Marina Park Bay, 200 Marina Park Way, Downtown. Will Ferrell’s beer festival of choice offers over 300 different beers to taste from local breweries, as well as 15 restaurants and food trucks. Benefits Cancer for College, a nonprofit that offers scholarships for cancer survivors. From 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 11. $45-$105. bestcoastbeerfest.com HBackroom Beer Pairings at various Barons Market locations. The grocery store will transform its loading docks and store rooms into speakeasies for tastings and pairings of Hangar 24 beers. From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 15. $15. baronsmarket.com

MUSIC J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation at MCASD Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Pros-

pect St., La Jolla. The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra celebrates Bach with text, music and video projections illustrating the musician’s inspiration. At 8 p.m. Friday, March 10. $30-$80. 858-459-3724, ljms.org HSan Diego Music Awards Kickoff Party at Karl Strauss Brewery Tasting Room, 5985 Santa Fe St., Old Town.

Karl Strauss Brewing Company and Taylor Guitars are kicking off the San Diego Music Awards with the release of a new collaboration brew, “614,” along with live performances and a raffle featuring some Taylor guitars. At 3 p.m. Saturday, March 11. Free. 858-273-2739, karlstrauss.com/ events/614releaseparty Claudia Villela and Vitor Gonçalves at Athenaeum Art Center, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. The Brazilian duo team up for jazz constructed with the piano, accordion and Portuguese lyrics. At 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 11. $10-$25. 858-4545872, ljathenaeum.org HInternational Mariachi Festival at Pepper Park, 3299 Tidelands Ave., National City. The fifth annual fest will feature mariachi performances from Javier Rodriguez & Los Aventureros, Mariachi Femenil Nuevo Tecalitlan, and more.

Includes Aztec dance, ballet folklórico, tequila tastings, art exhibits, a beer garden and family friendly activities. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, March 12. Free. mariachifest.com Art of Elan: Diverse Soundscapes at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. A concert that showcases diverse sounds to broaden the range of classical music in San Diego and expose diverse audiences to the genre. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 14. $40-$135. sdmart.org Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The celebrated banjo players will take the stage to

14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

went to the Oakland Museum of California to see an exhibit about the Black Panthers last month. All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 was a moving, beautifully curated consideration of the impact the Black Panthers movement had on communities around the country.

Toward the end, I watched a series of videos displayed on a massive screen that took up an entire wall.

They were oral histories mixed in with poetry performances, including one by Chinaka Hodge that was absolutely stunning.

While the exhibit leans into the underappreciated social programs the Black Panthers created for their communities, Hodge’s poem invokes the revolutionary spirit that fueled the organization’s creation. It’s exactly the kind of poem we need right now to fight the top-down totalitarianism that threatens to roll back 50 years of civil rights progress.

I don’t believe in fate, but the next day I popped into a bookstore on Potrero Hill and spotted a copy of Chinaka Hodge’s collection Dated Emcees, which was released by City Lights Books last year. I had to have it, and I devoured it on the plane back to San Diego the next day.

The poems are extended riffs on romantic relationships. Hodge deftly crosses over from personal experience to cultural commentary with the ease of perform music from their self-titled debut album, which won a 2016 Grammy in the “Best Folk Album” category. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 15. $27-$45. 760839-4190, artcenter.org

PERFORMANCE HThe Tragedy of Carmen at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. San Diego Opera presents this contemporary and explicit take on Bizet’s classic opera about a gypsy woman and her jealous lover. 7 p.m. Friday, Mar. 10 and Saturday, March 11, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 12. $25-$190. sdopera.org Voices of Ireland at Lamb’s Players Theatre, 11142 Orange Ave., Coronado.

Stories by William Trevor, Ron Choularton and others celebrate the Irish, plus music

by The Celtic Echoes. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 13. $20-$40. 619-437-6000, lambsplayers.org

a lyricist, and her poems are particularly poignant when the two intersect, as they do in her couplets about Tupac and her haikus about Biggie, one for every year they were alive. of all the lyrics the realest premonition rings true: you’re dead. wrong While the poems in Dated Emcees aren’t as reactionary as her performance for Black Panthers at 50, there’s no armed resistance against those we let into out hearts.

I will turn my thoughts to moths and free them one at a time into a shoebox. I’ll shake the cardboard and rattle the flightless flying things ‘til their wings fall off. And then eat them to know their taste and wonder why they don’t have bones.

That’s a description of a particular kind of feeling that didn’t have a name before Hodge pinned it to her specimen board, but it lives inside of me now. With Dated Emcees, Hodge stakes her territory as an artist with a commanding presence both on the stage, as well as on the page.

—Jim Ruland

Write to jimr@sdcitybeat.com.

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HHari Alluri at Border X Brewing, 2181 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. The local poet will be reading from his new collection The Flayed City. Also includes readings from Lizz Huerta, Julia Evans, Paul Lopez and more. From 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 9. Free. 619-501-0503, facebook.com/ events/251951555213543/ The Poetry Brothel at Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd, North Park. Dubbed, “New York’s sexiest literary event,” this interactive performance imitates old time medicine shows with poetry readings, burlesque and more. From 8 p.m. to midnight Friday, March 10. $25-$75. 347-2602847, thepoetrybrothel.com

SPECIAL EVENTS HNorth Park After Dark at various

stores in North Park. The urban shopping and dining experience returns with about 20 local stores offering special deals.

From 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 9.

Free. northparkafterdark.com HSt. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival at Balboa Park, Sixth Avenue and Laurel Street. Celebrate all things Ireland at this annual event featuring more than 120 parade entries. Also includes live entertainment on two stages, food, craft booths and two beer gardens. From 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 11. Free. stpatsparade.org

WORKSHOPS Imaginarium Pop-Up at Artist & Craftsman Supply, 3804 4th Ave., Hillcrest. Art Science Complex hosts classes on model building and still life drawing. Supplies and materials provided. From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 13. $25. 917-4067728, artsciencecomplex.com

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

March 8, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

THEATER DAREN SCOTT

Strangers in the night

T

here’s a good deal to be said for the voyeuristic jollies one gets while watching, on stage, two attractive people flirt, fondle and get it on (the latter behind a closed door). It’s about what you’d expect from a play called Sex with Strangers, right? Laura Eason’s muchproduced 2009 piece throws together two characters, Olivia and Ethan, who love themselves as much as they lust after each other, and that’s perfectly fine. It’s entertaining seeing the younger Ethan (Connor Sullivan) trying to minimize his success from chronicling his shallow sexual exploits while simultaneously seducing the older, serious novelist Olivia (Lisel Gorell-Getz). Round and round—and up and down—they go for two hours.

But when Eason’s script dwells on the transcendence o���������������������������� f writing “significant” fiction and novels that will somehow change the world, the Ethan-Olivia interplay becomes a bore. Regardless of how engaging Sullivan and Gorell-Getz are, or how fluidly director Delicia Turner-Sonnenberg has them moving on the San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Lyceum Space stage, it strains belief that these two characters are invested more in meaningful prose than they are in each other’s flesh.

Sex with Strangers runs through March 19 at the Lyceum Space in Horton Plaza,

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

emotionally repressed father (Frank Pando) truly touches the heart. Everyone else seems to flare, retreat or break down as if by remote control.

The Blameless runs through March 26 at the Old Globe ‘s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in Balboa Park. $29 and up. theoldglobe.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Kinky Boots: After his father dies, a young Brit must enlist the help of a drag queen to help save the shoe factory he’s just inherited. With music and lyrics from Cyndi Lauper, the Broadway musical opens March 9 at the Civic Theatre in the Gaslamp. sandiegotheatres.org

Lisel Gorell-Getz and Connor Sullivan in Sex with Strangers downtown. $40-$67. sdrep.org

M

•••

aybe because its ruminative drama comes wrapped in familiar family scenarios (teen promiscuity, frantically conflicting schedules, cell phone propriety and lots of exasperated yelling), the Old Globe’s The Blameless treads the path of the “very special episode” of a relevant sitcom. Its

nexus is considerably weightier than that: a family whose son Jesse was killed in a college campus shooting hosts (not to be confused with welcomes) the father of the boy, also dead, who pulled the trigger. Nick Gandiello’s play, which was developed last year in the Globe’s New Voices Festival, resides in the awkwardness of the situation and each family member’s particular way of coping with terrible grief, anger and resentment. But only the character of Jesse’s

On the 20th Century: A comedic musical about a down-on-his-luck theatre producer who is trying to convince his actress ex to play the main part is a nonexistent drama. Directed by Sean Murray, it opens in previews on March 9 at the Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. cygnettheatre.com

For full listings, visit “Theater” under the Culture tab at sdcitybeat.com

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24th Annual Latino Film Festival • 2017

24th Annual Latino Film Festival • 2017

24th Annual Latino Film Festival • 2017

COURTESY OF THE NEW AMERICAN MUSEUM

CULTURE | ART

F

“Beta Decay 7” at Inscription: A Monumental Installation

or local artist Shinpei Takeda, there are humbling experiences, and then there’s driving a rickshaw through the streets of downtown.

“That was the first few years because that was the only way to support myself,” says Takeda, who moved to San Diego in the early ‘00s. “But that’s how I really got into art in a way.”

Any artist worth their salt can relate to having to work an otherwise crappy job in order to make ends meet and, more importantly, support their creative endeavors. For Takeda—who grew up in Osaka, Japan and Düsseldorf, Germany before moving to the

Shinpei Takeda U.S.—those creative endeavors include everything from starting a respected non-profit to becoming one of the more successful visual artists and filmmakers in the region. His decade-and-a-half journey is a testament to perseverance and persistence and one that is now garnering him international attention and acclaim.

“Part of me thinks I’m ADHD,” jokes Takeda (shinpeitakeda.com).

It’s hard to imagine Takeda having been distracted when viewing the works within his recent Beta Decay series, which was an extension of his previous Alpha Decay series that examined survivors of the atomic

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bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Beta installation series—which has been shown locally as well as within galleries in Japan, Mexico and Germany—consists mostly of intricately constructed installation pieces made from fiber and thread. One of the locally shown pieces, “Beta Decay 7,” was shown at the New Americans Museum in 2015 as part of a Takeda exhibition titled Inscription: A Monumental Installation. The show included documentary-style footage and writings from 113 different people examining the concept of “arrival.” The exhibition’s centerpiece was a massive, 50-foot wall installation that used threads to represent a visual poem Takeda constructed using the audio clips of the 113 people discussing things like immigration, displacement and what it means to be home.

For Takeda, it was a particularly poignant and personal statement.

“It’s about those times and when you’re talking about the violence you have to really understand the way these things happen on the same timeline as this one,” says Takeda, who often describes himself as a “post-Americanized, culturally displaced border dweller.”

“It almost feels like these things happen, like what’s happening in Syria, it feels like it’s somewhere else in some different world but it’s the same time that we’re living in.”

The topic of immigration is important to Takeda not solely because of his own experiences (he now splits his time between living in Tijuana and Düsseldorf, Germany), but also because of his experiences with the AjA Project, a local nonprofit he cofounded shortly after moving here. The organization has become a favorite in philanthropic circles for its work with local youths, most of whom are immigrants, and getting them to engage in photographic projects. The results have been displayed in public, most notably at a 2012 City Heights mural that consisted of 1,052 student photographs, as well as a recent exhibition at the Museum of Man.

“When it started, we were trying to figure out how to really exhibit these kids’ photographs in an interesting way, and I started printing them huge and putting them in the streets and so on,” Takeda says. “I was much more wanting to know how to better communicate these issues.”

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

The AjA Project’s “Inter+FACE” at the Museum of Man Another installation within the Beta series was displayed, along with over a dozen other artists, at the City College Gallery last year as part of the San Diego Art Prize, a regional award given to up-and-coming artists. Takeda won the award and will debut new works and collaborative pieces with Irma Sofia Poeter at a showcase exhibition at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in May. He isn’t sure what kind of pieces will be on display but hopes to “do something more political.”

“I mean, the other artists are two Caucasian, older men, and then I’m like this strange Japanese-Mexicana,” says Takeda laughing. “I start getting really political, but I don’t want to be disrespectful, and I really like their art actually.”

In the meantime, Takeda has plenty on his plate. At the time of our interview, he was going back and forth between Düssel-

dorf and Vienna, Austria helping his girlfriend prepare for her own art show. He’ll then head back to the U.S. to install a new show at the Mesa College Art Gallery titled Phobia. The show, which opens March 16, will mark the beginning of an altogether new project for Takeda and will consist of a woven, tent-like installation where he will essentially schedule students and patrons to come sit with him in the tent to talk about their phobias. These discussions will culminate in a closing reception on April 6 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. where Takeda plans on discussing some of the things he’s learned.

“Maybe art plays that type of role, making a safe space, so that’s what I’m trying to do there, and I’m experimenting a little bit of course,” Takeda says. “In America, I think that’s a very important process. Just communicating, so I hope I could get to the core of my phobia at the same time.”

As if that weren’t enough, Takeda will also be debuting his documentary film, Ghost Magnet Roach Motel, at the San Diego Latino Film Festival on March 18 and 20. The film revolves around his on-and-off punk band that he’s been playing with since 2011, and who sometimes performed in bizarre costumes and among elaborate stage setups.

“I was really trying to make it as an art project and document it throughout the process of what it was like,” says Takeda, who adds that he also wanted to take an unflinching look into some of the band members’ struggle with addiction.

With so much going, it’s a wonder Takeda has time for anything else, but when asked about his schedule, he just laughs and chalks it up to the undiagnosed ADHD. “Like, I just get bored with art sometimes and I want to do a movie, and then I get bored with the movie so I’m back to music and so on,” Takeda says. “I still like being a kid. I still don’t want to accept that I can’t do everything I want to do.”

MARCH 8, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 21

CULTURE | ART

SEEN LOCAL MORE THAN A WOMAN

T

he word “intersectionality” has been popping up a lot lately, especially in the context of feminism. The political landscape has given progressive women a lot to push back against and intersectionality—that is, the concept that oppressive istitutions (racism, sexism, classism, etc.) are interconnected and should be examined as one—provides a means to combat these forces all at once.

However, this concept of not-just-thisbut-also-that is clearly on display at the recently opened Ni Solo Mujeres: Intersecting Chicana Identities, a group exhibition of ten Chicana artists at the Southwestern College Art Gallery. Translated as “Not Just Women,” the new exhibition is being held in honor of International Women’s Day and in conjunction with Shoulders to Stand On: Remembering the Chicana Activist Narrative, a traveling exhibition produced by and shown at the Women’s Museum of California in 2016.

Leticia Gomez Franco, who curated both exhibitions, says that while Shoulders attempted to look at the history and impact of the Chicana movement, Ni Solo Mujeres takes a more modern look via the art that is being produced today.

“I always felt like there was a more

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

contemporary voice missing from [Shoulders],” Gomez Franco says. “So when Perry [Vasquez] over at Southwestern College suggested bringing that show over to Southwestern College, he said we should add an art component. That was the perfect opportunity to kind of bring the historical context that we were already laying out in Shoulders to Stand On and bring it to what it means to be Chicana today.”

The exhibition, which runs through April 6, features regional artists not only from San Diego, but artists from L.A., Oakland, San Francisco and Mexico as well. San Franciscobased painter Yolanda Lopez, who was a pioneer in the Chicana movement in San Diego in the ‘70s, will have works on display dealing in themes of gentrification. Local artists Berenice Badillo and Patricia Aguayo are probably best known for their Chicano Park murals, while Tijuana street artist PANCA will have some of her pop-surrealism-inspired work on display. Curator and artist Alessandra Moctezuma will have pieces on display that she made in the ‘90s “I still question all of this especially now with the politics and what’s happening,” says Moctezuma when asked how her work still fits into a larger narrative of an ongoing struggle. “As a woman, an immigrant and a Latina, you’re questioning all the things that are happening today. You know that having a voice and being empowered by your ideas, and then presenting those ideas, can also have meaning for others.”

—Seth Combs

FINE LINES: HARI ALLURI A semi-regular column where we review notable new poetry collections and chapbooks.

N

‘Perhaps that’s what prayers do. Regardless of the city, their barks at muted streets halfway up a fence, shifting like migrants. Is the lie, ‘Here’s a person?’”

ot to put too much play on the words Passages like this make the collection achere, but local poet Hari Alluri cessible to any reader. There’s also the formatshowed a lot of promise in his debut ting, which moves much in the same vein as chapbook, The Promise of Rust. I said as much a hip-hop album. That is, it is primarily sewhen I reviewed that book in these pages quenced by chapters and is written in a proselast year. Still, whereas Rust served as a loose poem style that brings a sense of propose and primer to acquaint readers to Alluri’s varying cohesiveness. And like any decent hip-hop styles of wordplay, his recently COURTESY OF KAYA PRESS album, these poems are pepreleased debut full-length collecpered with interludes that see Altion, The Flayed City (Kaya Press), luri changing up his style without finds the poet much more thestraying too far from the overall matically and stylistically focused. narrative.

And he’s all the better for it.

But what shines the most is The collection centers on the poet’s ability to channel his memory and migration through own experience as an immigrant the lens of urban life. Rather than into something that’s selfless and make San Diego or his hometown self-actualized. More often than of Vancouver, Canada the muse not, writers choose to tackle poliin which these musings are filtics like a slam poet at their first tered, Alluri instead chooses to The Flayed City Def Poetry Jam appearance and set his poems in what is called a this can come across as blunt to “secondary world,” a term more closely as- the point of alienating some people. Alluri is sociated with science-fiction and fantasy subtle and smooth, making the struggle of evwriting. By not giving a distinct sense of ery migrant his own struggle without wallowplace, this writing method could have eas- ing in pity. He makes his city scenes look like ily backfired, but Alluri’s strength as a writer every city ever, and every conflict within that shines in pieces like “A Declaration, Love” city becomes a conflict we must fight together. and “Mirage,” where he manages to give Hari Alluri will hold a book release event at voice to the invisible people that we pass in 7 p.m. Thursday, March 9, at Border X Brewing everyday life.

(2181 Logan Ave.) in Barrio Logan.

In the former, he writes:

—Seth Combs

@SDCITYBEAT

CULTURE | FILM

Guerilla warfare

Kong: Skull Island

King Kong’s old stomping grounds are turned into a new Vietnam

by Glenn Heath Jr.

W

ar is hell, but peacetime may even be worse Kong himself is a victim of attempted genocide, according to Kong: Skull Island. Jordan with his entire family falling victim to a species of unVogt-Roberts’ violent new entry into the derground dwelling lizards that threaten to turn the giant ape canon takes place in 1973 as U.S. forces re- island into a killing field. luctantly pull out of Southeast Asia and western govRight when it needs it most, Kong: Skull Island inernments face a deepening cold war with Russia. All jects some much-needed energy with the introduction sense of adventure represented by earlier King Kong of John C. Reilly’s marooned WWII pilot Hank Marlow, iterations is replaced with the destruction of combat who has been stranded after crash landing three deand the brutal reality of young American soldiers dy- cades before. He explains all of the backstory in hilariing for no reason in far-off jungles. ously unhinged fashion, yet with the kind of nuance Bureaucratic chaos in Washington finally allows one might expect from an experienced ambassador. private contractor Jack Randa (John Goodman) and Of course, Marlow’s advice is often unheeded his team of scientists an opportunity to visit the titu- causing more unnecessary collateral damage. With lar South Pacific land mass under the guise of explo- references to Apocalypse Now and countless other ration and discovery. Such a mission also provides war films, this does seem to hardened military officer Col. be Vogt-Roberts’ core and proPreston Packard (Samuel L. foundly unoriginal argument.

KONG: Jackson) and his young team Turning Skull Island into a of helicopter pilots one last proxy war for Vietnam sounds SKULL ISLAND heroic hurrah to make sense of good on paper, but the dire imDirected by Jordan Vogt-Roberts their sacrifice in Vietnam. Forplications of America’s devasStarring Tom Hiddleston, mer SAS badass James Conrad tating foreign policies deserves Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson (Tom Hiddleston) and activist more complex treatment than and John C. Reilly photographer Mason Weaver the film can muster.

Rated PG-13 (Brie Larson) join the mission Paradoxically, the overt and for self-serving reasons that simplistic political underpinare never fully fleshed out. nings uncomfortably align with Kong: Skull Island doesn’t waste any time throw- the film’s flashy pop style, which Vogt-Roberts has ing its human interlopers into the shit. After carpet- seemingly derived from the Michael Bay playbook on bombing endlessly lush valleys in an effort to chart directing. Hypnotic sunsets background mighty war geographical density, the king himself angrily appears machines captured in stirring slow motion. American and starts swiping helicopters out of the sky. The ac- flags wave and soldiers stoically salute. Classic rock tion sequence is unflinching and at times incoher- songs play in the background, simple hangout jams as ently shot, leaving the audience grasping for a sense opposed to anti-war statements. The colors are crisp of balance and proximity. After the dust settles, Col. and the jokes are snappy. Wasting a life or a country Packard and a small contingent are left stranded at shouldn’t look this good. one end of the island with Conrad and Weaver’s crew But despite its tone deaf aggrandizing, Kong: Skull on the other.

Island is not an insulting disaster. There are many afFrom here Vogt-Roberts has a blast picking off char- fecting moments that deal with the lingering cost of acters one-by-one, essentially seeing the island’s many war and the possibility of peace over profit. Despite types of monsters as symbolic booby traps in a guerilla being a supporting character, Reilly’s Marlow comes war that’s been going on for centuries. Spending more to embody the film’s best and most hopeful qualities. time on the island gives some characters such as Con- Through his eyes, Kong’s necessary place in this world rad and Weaver a different perspective on who exactly starts to make a lot more sense. is the true enemy. On the flipside, Packard’s reckless and psychotic hatred of Kong grows increasingly fun- Film reviews run weekly. damental; he’s quite obviously the film’s Kurtz.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

@SDCITYBEAT

MARCH 8, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

CULTURE | FILM

Kedi

Kitten caboodle

P

“

eople who can’t love animals can’t love people.”

This quote comes early in Kedi, Ceyda Torun’s documentary about the nomadic street cats of Istanbul, and emphasizes the necessity of empathy in any community. What could have easily been a standard fluff piece about pet lovers actually evolves into a thoughtful city symphony where animals and humans are always on equal footing.

The interview subjects are shopkeepers, boatmen, artists, street vendors and restaurant owners, all working citizens of

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

Turkey’s lower and middle class.

Collectively, they see cats as witnesses to history, symbols of culture worthy of our deep respect and admiration. Such feelings seem to be at odds with the governmental and capitalist forces that are slowly changing the city’s physical framework by building new skyscrapers.

Each subject fondly preens over their respective pet as if they were talking about a family member.

But their observations often turn philosophical, expressing the positive psychological impact these animals have. These people have

experienced trauma and heartbreak, but simply being around their cats enables them to see the world from a hopeful vantage point.

Visually, the film is often redundant, cutting to b-rolls of cats perusing alleyways and corridors, sleeping on tarmacs or scaling rooftops like Irma Vep. Admittedly, the film is more interested in patient juxtapositions that further its themes of human/feline interconnectedness.

Considering Turkey’s political crises and ongoing crackdowns against terrorism, the film’s exclusive positivity feels naïve at times.

Yet this very lightness provides a meaningful respite from the wave of darkness currently washing over the globe. While not entirely substantive, it offers a crucial reminder that reciprocity comes in all shapes and sizes, putting a breezy new spin on give and take.

Kedi opens Friday, March 10, at the Angelika Carmel Mountain Cinemas.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

feud. Opens Friday, March 10, at Digital Gym Cinema.

Classics at the Ken: Double Indemnity, Seven Samurai, and McCabe and Mrs. Miller lead a week of classic programming at the Ken Cinema. Opens Friday, March 10.

Kedi: This documentary interviews everyday citizens who care for nomadic cats in Istanbul.

Kong: Skull Island: A team of explorers and soldiers mistakenly cross into the domain of monsters and encounter King Kong.

Land of Mine: A group of German POWs is forced to dig up 2 million landmines at the end of WWII. Lovesong: Jena Malone and Riley Keough star in this tender drama about two friends who develop a romantic bond that threatens to destabilize their lives. Opens Friday, March 10, at Digital Gym Cinema.

The Ottoman Lieutenant: An American nurse falls in love with a Turkish soldier during the tumultuous days of WWI. Wolves: Michael Shannon plays the volatile father of a high school basketball star whose gambling addition threatens to destroy his family. Opens Friday, March 10, at Digital Gym Cinema.

For a complete listing of movies, visit our F ilm

OPENING

section in C ulture

Catfight: Two former college friends living very different lives meet up at a reunion only to become embroiled in a

on sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

CAMILO CHRISTEN

MUSIC

David Prowse and Brian King ne of the most memorable lyrics from Japandroids’ 2009 debut Post-Nothing seems charmingly antiquated now that the raucous Canadian rock duo has unveiled its strikingly grown-up third album, Near to the Wild Heart of Life.

“We used to dream,” Brian King sings during “Young Hearts Spark Fire,” a fiveminute fuzzbomb of youthful bliss and Post-Nothing’s second track. “Now we worry about dying.”

Back then, that line came across as a grown-up sentiment of sorts from Japandroids, who energized late-’00s indie rock with their dizzying collision of cranked-up distortion, crashing cymbals and childlike exuberance. Guitarist/lead singer King and shout-along drummer David Prowse were in their mid- to late-20s when they wrote and recorded Post-Nothing and its likeminded follow-up, 2012’s Celebration Rock.

Today, they’re both 34, and you can practically hear maturity threaded through the highly anticipated Near to the Wild Heart

@SDCITYBEAT

of Life, which finds the duo expanding its sound, both sonically and thematically.

King and Prowse, despite what they sang in the past, are still way too young to worry too much about dying. But they’re old enough to know you can’t be the “six-beers-in loud party band” forever, as Prowse puts it in a telephone interview with CityBeat.

“I think we were feeling a bit boxed in,” he says. “I think there was a bit of a feeling like Japandroids…had been a band that is played at a specific time and evokes a specific feeling and has a specific sound and we definitely wanted to push beyond that.”

On Near to the Wild Heart of Life, King and Prowse walk a tricky line by evolving Japandroids’ sound without rounding off the qualities that made their music appealing in the first place. That evolution can be traced back to the end of the Celebration Rock touring cycle, when King and Prowse took six months off from band activities to stave off burnout.

During that break, King moved from Vancouver to Toronto, and when the guys

got back together in May of 2014, they spent more time hanging out as friends, talking about the band’s direction and generally rekindling their excitement about Japandroids than they did writing or jamming, Prowse says.

“We sort of stumbled upon this formula that worked very well for us and we made a couple of records that we’re very proud of and that people really gravitated to,” he says. “So I think on some level there could be some pressure: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ But I just don’t think that would’ve been genuine. And I don’t think we would’ve been happy if we’d just made another Celebration Rock. It would’ve felt false in some way and I think our fans would’ve seen right through it.”

To be sure, Near to the Wild Heart of Life kicks off with a powerful shot of pure,

uncut Japandroids as fans have always known them. The opening track is also the title track, and it’s an unrelenting blast of wanderlust, machine-gun drums and sugary, serrated guitar riffs.

Shortly thereafter, though, you can hear King and Prowse pushing and pulling on their perceived boundaries. “North East South West” is a droning rocker with a rootsy feel, especially in its slomo, Springsteen-like coda. “True Love and a Free Life of Free Will” is a chiming ballad built on a bloodless martial beat.

The jangling acoustic guitar and yearning chorus of “Midnight to Morning” recalls mid-period Foo Fighters. And “I’m Sorry (For Not Finding You Sooner)” finds King’s lovesick lyrics buried in a snarl of smeared guitars and post-rock swells.

King and Prowse have said there’s a “loose narrative” that runs throughout the album, and recurring themes include blossoming love, the call of the road, homesickness, booze and getting older but not necessarily growing up. The duo didn’t go into the creative process with a story in mind, Prowse said, but the story emerged as songs were completed.

“It’s very autobiographical, a lot of these songs. A lot of the things Brian’s talking about are things that happened to him specifically or to us as a band or as people,” Prowse says. “It’s very easy for a narrative to take shape when you’re talking about your own life.”

With the release of Near to the Wild Heart of Life, Japandroids’ catalog is starting to take on its own narrative, too.

In the album’s final track, “In a Body Like a Grave,” King grapples with the passage of time.

But he’s found a solution: “Love so hard,” he sings, “that time stands still.”

That is, we all may worry less about dying the more we understand what life’s really all about.

“We’re just in a different place, you know?” Prowse says. “We’re older and it’s been a few years ... so I think it’s pretty natural to not be writing from the same perspective. We’re different people.”

MARCH 8, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO LOCALS ONLY

H

ot Snakes are recording a new album. Singing Serpent Studio revealed in a Facebook post that the band recorded some songs in February for what will be their first full-length album since 2004’s Audit in Progress. The band also recorded a couple of tracks in Philadelphia at the end of 2016 and intend to have at least one more recording session before the end of the year. In a phone interview, guitarist John Reis says that the group began recording without any immediate expectations.

“We just kind of wanted to take it slow,” he says.

“The band is separated by thousands of miles. We went to Philly and recorded some songs. Then we returned to San Diego and recorded some more songs.

The goal was to just see what would transpire—keep it loose.”

So far, Hot Snakes have recorded eight songs and will finish up what will be their next album in the coming months with all of the musicians who have been a part of the band in the past: Reis, vocalist Rick Froberg, bassist Gar Wood and drummers Jason Kourkounis and Mario Rubalcaba. Reis says there was no leftover material from before they first stopped performing in 2006, and everything they’ve recorded is brand new.

“Some of them were written immediately before we started recording,” he says. “It feels pretty new and fresh.”

So far, Hot Snakes haven’t shared any of the new

CHRIS WOO

Hot Snakes songs or played them live, though Reis says that while they do share a lot in common with old Hot Snakes songs, the new material does indicate a shift in direction.

“It’s varied from song to song,” he says. “I think the dissonant parts are more dissonant. But then the more conventional parts are more conventional. It feels unique to us. The goal is to make the best record we possibly can.”

—Jeff Terich

SAN DIEGO/TIJUANA HEADS TO SXSW

S

outh by Southwest (SXSW) has been making a lot of headlines in the past week for both positive and negative reasons. A positive would be the news that former Vice President Joe Biden will be speaking about efforts to fight cancer. However, there was also the revelation that artists’ contracts include language that suggests the festival organizers could contact immigration authorities if artists from foreign countries breach their contract. So, SXSW is a little more complicated this year, but it’s still happening, and hundreds of bands are still playing, including a handful from our own region. So if you’re planning on heading there this year, look out for these local acts.

Little Hurricane: This bluesy, hard-rocking duo have played SXSW many times in the past, and this year they’re hitting up a number of shows, including both official and unofficial showcases. This isn’t their first rodeo, so expect their characteristically upbeat live show. (March 17, The ABGB) Mint Field: Tijuana duo Mint Field is doing some gorgeously dreamy, shoegazey stuff right now, and they’re one of the many reasons why Baja California is a region to watch when it comes to new music. They’re performing a showcase with other Spanish-language

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

bands from Spain, Mexico and Argentina. (11 p.m. on March 17, Hotel Vegas) Rob $tone: San Diego’s hip-hop scene often gets overlooked, but then again sometimes there are huge success stories. Rob $tone’s debut single “Chill Bill” went platinum, and his debut major label album I’m Almost Ready was released last September by RCA. He’ll be performing at a showcase with heavy hitters Tinashe and A$AP Ferg. (9 p.m. on March 15, 800 Congress)

Rob $tone

TRISHES: Originally from Carmel Valley and educated at Berklee College of Music, Trish Hosein, aka Trishes, will be returning to deliver a set of loop-driven electro-R&B at the Oy Vey showcase, headlined by Kosha Dillz. (9:35 p.m. on March 16, Scratchhouse)

Vaya Futuro: Like Mint Field, Vaya Futuro are heavily steeped in effects-heavy shoegaze music, often showing off a heavy My Bloody Valentine influence. It’s heady, cool stuff and well worth checking out. They’re performing with a diverse array of bands, including Mexican post-metal group Terror Cosmico.

(8:35 p.m. on March 15, Hotel Vegas)

—Jeff Terich @SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

March 8, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

MUSIC

JEFF TERICH

IF I WERE U A music insider’s weekly agenda WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8

PLAN A: Six Organs of Admittance, Calcutta Kid @ Soda Bar. Six Organs of Admittance is the kind of band that rarely makes the same record twice, plucking gentle acoustic music one moment and getting into a noisy psych-rock freakout the next.

No matter what, their music is always interesting, bold and very cool. PLAN B: Blackalicious, Khalee, DJ Artistic @ The Casbah. Blackalicious has been far from prolific in recent years, but thanks to 2000’s Nia, they’ll never not have a special place in my music library. As lame as the term “conscious rap” is, the Northern California duo made social commentary and laid-back beats cool as fuck.

THURSDAY, MARCH 9

PLAN A: Bash & Pop, The Yawpers @ The Casbah. Tommy Stinson started Bash & Pop after The Replacements broke up (the first time), but with that band’s reunion tour done, Stinson is reviving his ‘90s-era project of power pop anthems.

Hear some new tracks and fill some early ‘90s gaps in your collection. PLAN B: Lady Lamb, Bad & The Ugly @ Soda Bar. Formerly known as Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, this Brooklyn singer/songwriter performs intricate and dreamy indie folk with a layer of ambient psychedelia. It’s a little mysterious and exotic, but without sacrificing the hooks. BACKUP PLAN: Dude York, Active Bird Community @ The Hideout.

FRIDAY, MARCH 10

PLAN A: Ghostface Killah @ House of Blues. A while back I wrote an article on how Ghostface Killah’s lyrics can be applied to everyday life. It still holds up, no matter how dadaist, which is why the WuTang Clan emcee remains one of the best rappers in the game. That and his songs are good. PLAN B: LVL UP, Palm, Slushie @ Che Cafe. I don’t know why LVL UP doesn’t just spell out their name with vowels, but whatever. Their high-energy, ultra-catchy, guitar-driven indie rock is good enough that I can forgive any typographical shortcomings. RCK N RLL. BACKUP PLAN: POS, Dwynell Roland @ The Casbah.

a badass hardcore band that’ll for sure rip your face off. But while you still have a face, get there early for Tombs, whose mixture of psychedelia, post-punk and black metal makes them one of the best bands in heavy music today. BACKUP PLAN: Mothership, Slow Season, Beastmaker, Red Wizard, Goya @ Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, MARCH 12

PLAN A: The Menzingers, Jeff Rosenstock, Rozwell Kid @ The Irenic. Figuring out that you don’t have to sound like a teenager to play pop-punk was a turning point for the genre. If pop-punk is even what you can call Philadelphia’s The Menzingers, which I’m not so sure about. Nevertheless, they do make punk that’s catchy and sounds great to this thirty-something’s ears. BACKUP PLAN: Causers, Soccer Babes, Troubled Minds, Help Me Sleep @ The Hideout.

MONDAY, MARCH 13

PLAN A: QUIÑ @ The Hideout. I don’t really know that much about QUIÑ, other than that her music is danceable, dreamy, soulful and lots of fun. Suffice it to say her synthladen R&B won me over pretty quickly.

TUESDAY, MARCH 14

PLAN A: Meat Puppets, Stonefield @ The Casbah. Whether you know them from hits like “Backwater,” the songs that Nirvana covered on Unplugged, or you’re actually cool enough to be a fan from way back in their cowpunk days, you know the Meat Puppets are awesome. They’re underground legends because they’ve got album after album of great twangy punk tunes.

BACKUP PLAN: The Dream Ride, Pesos, Dream Joints, DJ Andrew McGranahan @ Blonde.

SATURDAY, MARCH 11

PLAN A: Japandroids, Craig Finn and the Uptown Controllers @ Music Box. Read Ben Salmon’s feature this week on Vancouver’s Japandroids, who have matured on new album Near to the Wild Heart of Life without giving up their anthemic punk energy. They rule. PLAN B: Darkest Hour, Ringworm, Tombs, Rivers of Nihil @ Brick by Brick. Darkest Hour are

28 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

Ghostface Killah @SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Cage the Elephant (California Center for the Arts, 4/10), Lupe Fiasco (Observatory, 4/13), Ghost Bath, Astronoid (Soda Bar, 4/22), Free Salamander Exhibit (Soda Bar, 4/23), The Unlikely Candidates (Casbah, 4/23), DMX (Observatory, 4/27), Kikagaku Moyo (Hideout, 5/23), L.A. Takedown (Casbah, 5/25), Justin Townes Earle (Music Box, 6/4), Voodoo Glow Skulls (Hideout, 6/4), Michael Franti and Spearhead (BUT, 6/4-5), Adult. (Casbah, 6/7), Overcoats (Casbah, 6/8), Boston, Joan Jett (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 6/18), Chron Gen (Casbah, 6/22), The Revolution (HOB, 6/22), Hall & Oates, Tears for Fears (Valley View Casino Center, 7/19), Chevelle (HOB, 8/3), Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue (Open Air Theatre, 8/27), Depeche Mode (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 10/6).

RESCHEDULED Red Hot Chili Peppers (Valley View Casino Center, 3/21).

GET YER TICKETS Teenage Fanclub (BUT, 3/16), Portugal.

The Man (Observatory, 3/16), Bad Religion (HOB, 3/18), Wu-Tang Clan (Observatory, 3/20), Common (Observatory, 3/24), Dwight Yoakam (Observatory, 3/29), Wire (Casbah, 3/29), Why? (Irenic, 3/30), The Old 97s (BUT, 3/31), Richard

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Ashcroft (Spreckels, 4/1), Squirrel Nut Zippers (Music Box, 4/1), The Damned (HOB, 4/7), Green Day (Valley View Casino Center, 4/8), Desiigner (Observatory, 4/9), Kristin Kontrol (Hideout, 4/10), Mount Eerie (Irenic, 4/10), Of Montreal (Music Box, 4/10), Power Trip (Casbah, 4/10), A Perfect Circle (Open Air Theatre, 4/11), Father John Misty (Humphreys, 4/12), Preservation Hall Jazz Band (BUT, 4/13), Preoccupations (Casbah, 4/13), Little Dragon (Observatory, 4/16), Local Natives (Observatory, 4/17), Steely Dan (Humphreys, 4/17), Toots and the Maytals (BUT, 4/17), Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill (Open Air Theatre, 4/18), Mitski (Irenic, 4/19), Reverend Horton Heat (BUT, 4/20), Califone (The Hideout, 4/20), Beach Slang (Casbah 4/20), Lil Wayne (Open Air Theatre, 4/20), Lila Downs (Humphreys, 4/20), Lee Fields and the Expressions (Music Box, 4/20), David Crosby (Humphreys, 4/23), Vieux Farka Toure (Casbah, 4/24), Chance the Rapper (Valley View Casino Center, 4/24), The 1975 (Open Air Theatre, 4/25), Jamey Johnson, Margo Price (Observatory, 4/25), Willie Nelson (Humphreys, 4/26), Kings of Leon (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 4/28), Foreigner, Cheap Trick (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 4/29), Mariachi El Bronx (BUT, 5/5), Flaming Lips (Observatory, 5/7), Lionel Richie (Viejas Arena, 5/8), Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (HOB, 5/12), Com Truise, Clark (BUT, 5/12), Cashmere Cat (Observatory, 5/13), Conor Oberst (Observatory, 5/14), Train (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 5/14), Chris Stapleton (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 5/18), Thundercat (Observatory, 5/19), Bryan Adams (Open Air Theatre, 5/22), Rodriguez (Humphreys, 5/23), Brian Wilson (Civic Theatre, 5/24), Modest

Mouse (Open Air Theatre, 5/30), NKOTB, Paula Abdul, Boyz II Men (Viejas Arena, 6/1), Little Hurricane (BUT, 6/2), Lady Antebellum (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 6/4), Valerie June (BUT, 6/8), Def Leppard (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 6/16), Conflict (Soda Bar, 6/16), Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Civic Theatre, 6/26), Prince Royce (Open Air Theatre, 7/9), Deftones, Rise Against (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 7/7), 2Cellos (Open Air Theatre, 7/18), Natalie Merchant (Copley Symphony Hall, 7/18), Third Eye Blind (Open Air Theatre, 7/21), Metallica (Petco Park, 8/6), Diana Krall (Humphreys, 8/8), Sam Hunt (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/10), Incubus, Jimmy Eat World (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/11), Steve Martin and Martin Short (Open Air Theatre, 8/12), Sylvan Esso (Observatory, 8/26), One Republic (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 9/1), Goo Goo Dolls (Open Air Theatre, 9/12), Green Day (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 9/13), Coldplay (Qualcomm Stadium, 10/8).

MARCH WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8 Mike Pinto at Belly Up Tavern. Six Organs of Admittance at Soda Bar. Social Distortion at Observatory North Park (sold out). Blackalicious at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MARCH 9 Lady Lamb at Soda Bar. Salif Keita at Belly Up Tavern. Whitechapel at House of Blues. Irish Rovers at Poway OnStage. Bash & Pop at The Casbah.

Social Distortion at Observatory North Park (sold out).

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MUSIC CLUBS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 FRIDAY, MARCH 10 Big Thief at Soda Bar. POS at The Casbah. Tchami at Observatory North Park.

Ghostface Killah at House of Blues.

LVL UP at Che Café. Sick Puppies at The Irenic.

SATURDAY, MARCH 11 Darkest Hour at Brick by Brick. Japandroids at Music Box. Neil Hamburger at The Casbah. G. Love and Special Sauce at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

SUNDAY, MARCH 12 Daya at House of Blues. Menzingers at The Irenic. G. Love and Special Sauce at Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, MARCH 13 Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness at House of Blues. Davina and the Vagabonds at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MARCH 14 Adelitas Way at Brick by Brick. UFO, Saxon at House of Blues. Matisyahu at Belly Up Tavern. Meat Puppets at The Casbah. Zach Williams at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15 Matisyahu at Belly Up Tavern. Anna Meredith at Soda Bar. Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn at California Center for the Arts. Truckfighters at Brick by Brick. The Oxen at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MARCH 16 Portugal. The Man at Observatory North

30 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

Park. The Cadillac Three at House of Blues. Teenage Fanclub at Belly Up Tavern. Mike Wojniak at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, MARCH 17 Jay And Silent Bob Get Old at House of Blues. The Routine at Soda Bar. Julieta Venegas at House of Blues. California Honeydrops at Belly Up Tavern.

The Downs Family at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, MARCH 18 Jungle Fire at The Casbah. James Chance and the Contortions at The Hideout. California Honeydrops at Belly Up Tavern. Fartbarf at Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, MARCH 19 Lake Street Dive at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). John 5 and the Creatures at Brick by Brick. Bob Log III at Soda Bar. Umphrey’s McGee at Observatory North Park. Lettuce at Music Box.

MONDAY, MARCH 20 Maggie Rogers at The Irenic (sold out).

Kate Tempest at The Casbah. Wu-Tang Clan at Observatory North Park.

TUESDAY, MARCH 21 San Diego Music Awards at House of Blues. Palo Duro at Soda Bar. Allison Crutchfield at Blonde.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22 Modern English at The Casbah. WAND at Soda Bar. Inspired and the Sleep at Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, MARCH 23 Omni at The Hideout. Electric Guest

at The Casbah (sold out). Cro-Mags at Soda Bar. Blockhead at Music Box. Rainbow Kitten Surprise at The Irenic (sold out).

rCLUBSr

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: DJ Daniel Byrd.

Thu: ‘Libertine’ w/ DJs Jon Wesley, 1979.

Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJs Karma, Alice.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Ryan Hicks. Fri: Finesse Mitchell. Sat: Finesse Mitchell.

Sun: Finesse Mitchell.

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

Wed: Taurus Authority. Thu: The Husky Boy All Stars. Fri: Christian Taylor and the Gang, Jimmy Ruelas. Sat: The Milkcrates DJs. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Tue: The Fink Bombs.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: Joe Kay, Andre Power. Sat: Le Youth.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Nate Barcalow. Fri: Moonage Daydreamers.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Mike Pinto, The Devastators, New Leaf. Thu: Salif Keita, Monette Marino Band. Fri: Ozomatli, Kat Myers and the Buzzards. Sat: G. Love & Special Sauce, City of the Sun (sold out).

Sun: G. Love & Special Sauce, City of the Sun. Tue: Matisyahu.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Thu: Uptown Rhythm Makers.

Fri: The Heart Beat Trail, Mezzanine, Ingogrigio, Snapghost. Sat: Nebula Drag, Them Evils, Supersonic Dragon Wagon, Amigo.

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MUSIC ROBERT BEJIL / FLICKR

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Thu: ‘Pussy Galore’. Fri: Desert Mountain Tribe. Mon: Wheelchair Sports Camp, Slower. Tue: The Dream Ride, Pesos, Dream Joints.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brick 15, 915 Camino del Mar, Del Mar. Thu: Rebecca Loebe. Fri: Catie Curtis.

Sat: Darryl Purpose. Sun: Willy Porter and Carmen Nickerson.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Thu: Punky Meadows. Fri: Green Jelly, Malakai, THE THRILL KILLERS, Big Scary Robot, Van Brando. Sat: Darkest Hour, Ringworm, Tombs, Rivers of Nihil.

Tue: Adelitas Way, The Black Moods, Letters From The Fire, MANAFEST. Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown.

Wed: Blackalicious, Khalee, DJ Artistic.

Thu: Bash & Pop, The Yawpers. Fri: POS, Dwynell Roland. Sat: Neil Hamburger, JP Incorporated, Major Entertainer, Mystiki.

Mon: Davina and the Vagabonds, Casey Hensley Band. Tue: Meat Puppets, Stonefield.

SPOTLIGHT The fable of the three little pigs is ultimately a story about how hard work and patience will reward you in the end. But if you remember Green Jellÿ’s metal retelling of that tale—which became a minor hit in the early ‘90s—hiring Rambo to commit murder is just as good of a reward. Such a twisted take on a children’s story is no surprise from these schlock-rockers, who don insane costumes and commit questionably-legal shenanigans onstage (think GWAR, but with less stage blood). This show will be heavy, weird and probably make you uncomfortable. And yes, that’s an endorsement. Green Jellÿ plays Friday, March 10 at Brick by Brick.

—Ryan Bradford

Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. Fri: LVL UP, Palm, Slushie. Mon: Stolas, Mylets, Icarus the Owl, Sea of Trees.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Fri: Lady Luck. Sat: DJ Music.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Downtown. Fri: The Nathan Collins Sextet. Sat: Sinne Eeg, Peter Sprague Trio.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave. Downtown. Wed: DJ Amen. Thu: Loczi.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown.

Wed: Ride the Mule. Thu: DJ Yodah.

Tue: ‘50s/60s Dance Party.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

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MARCH 8, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 31

MUSIC CLUBS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Sat: Death by Unga Bunga.

Sun: Causers, Soccer Babes, Troubled Minds, Help Me Sleep. Mon: QUIN. Tue: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Whitechapel, Cattle Decapitation, Goatwhore, Allegaeon, Necromancing The Stone. Fri: Ghostface Killah. Sat: NateWantsToBattle, AmaLee, MandoPony. Sun: DAYA. Mon: Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness. Tue: UFO, Saxon.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: 52nd St. Thu: Kim Jackson. Fri: Viva Santana, Michele Lundeen. Sat: Detroit Underground, High Society. Sun: Arnessa Rickett, Jason Brown. Mon: Michele Lundeen.

Tue: Blue Largo.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., North Park.

Sun: The Menzingers, Jeff Rosenstock, Rozwell Kid. Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Sat: Electric Healing Sound, Mojave Daze, Los Sweepers.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: Whimsy and Heft. Fri: Peanut Butter and Jam, Reminiscence. Sat: Semi Sweet. Sun: Chris Ayers, Adam Barnes.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Coolzey, Vic Viper, Dick Baker, Ill Poetic. Thu: Small Culture, Noble War, Vakoum. Fri: Casual Encounters.

Sat: Epic, Godspeed McQueen, Nurvana.

Sun: ‘Back Alley’. Tue: Coral Bells, The Hotshot Drifters, The Cat Chasers.

Mother’s Saloon, 2228 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Thu: DJ Dub B. Fri: DJ Billie Knight. Sat: DJ Green T.

32 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 8, 2017

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Thu: Thriftworks, Dat Phat, Stoik, Infinite Points. Sat: Japandroids, Craig Finn and the Uptown Controllers.

way. Thu: Silent Planet, Hail The Sun, Dayseeker, Ghost Key, Thousand Below, Amaya Lights. Sat: Enter Shikari, Being As An Ocean.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd., Hillcrest. Fri: ‘Deviants’. Sat: ‘Club Sabbat’. Sun: ‘R&B Divas’.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St. Midtown. Fri: Selador, Dave Seaman. Sat: Lucent, Binary Finary.

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

Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs Kid Wonder, Saul Q. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’. Mon: ‘Metal Monday’.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: Mojo Jackson. Sun: The Big Decisions.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Dr Fresch. Fri: Dzeko.

Sat: Morgan Page.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: Timmy Trumpet. Sat: Joe Maz. Plaza Bar at Westgate Hotel, 1055 2nd Ave., Downtown. Fri: Gilbert Castellanos. Sat: Allison Tucker. Mon: Julio de la Huerta.

Rich›s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: DJ John Joseph. Thu: DJ Kinky Loops. Fri: DJs Dirty Kurty, Moody Rudy, Wolfgang Alex. Sat: DJs K-Swift, Taj. Sun: Mon: Tue: Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave., San Diego. Wed: Red Fox Tails. Thu: Jimmy Ruelas. Fri: ‘#ButYouCantUseMyPhone’ w/ DJ Peso. Sat: Cedrice and the Addictions. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei. Tue: Second Cousins.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Six Organs of Admittance, Calcutta Kid. Thu: Lady Lamb, Bad and the Ugly. Fri: Big Thief, Fell Runner, Henry Jamison. Sat: Mothership, Slow Season, Beastmaker, Red Wizard, Goya. Sun: Jackson Boone and the Ocean Ghosts.

Tue: Zach Williams.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Mid-

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Thu: Travis Hayes, Dead Frets, Divided Heaven, Brandon Colao. Fri: Palomino, Pumphouse, Pueblo. Sun: Pants Karaoke.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park. Thu: The Fremonts. Fri: The Siers Brothers.

Sat: Native Alien. Tue: Sue Palmer.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Thu: ‘Nightwatch Studios Zine Release.’ Sat: Dum Dum Boys, Revolt Chix, Inciting Riots, Cyka, The Dangerfields.

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

Wed: ‘Wayback Wednesday’. Thu: ‘Thursdaze’. Fri: DJ Freeman. Sat: DJ Junior the Discopunk. Sun: Ras Sojie & The Raggamuffin Soldiers, Ranking Joe, Soulective, DJ Elevation.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Wed: Tropical Popsicle, Drinking Flowers, Hexa. Thu: ‘Recommended Dosage’.

Fri: Sure Fire Soul Ensemble. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob. Sun: Bosswitch, Pueblo Escobar, Griever.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Wed: KL Noise Makerz. Thu: Elektric Voodoo, Bomb Squad. Fri: Authentic Sellout, Roman Watchdogs, Sideshow.

Sat: Jelly Bread, Escape Door. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

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LAST WORDS | ADVICE

AMY ALKON

ADVICE

GODDESS Born Jesterday

isn’t to say you should give up entirely on using preprinted notes. Save them for special occasions—those when your message to a woman is something like “Stay calm and put all the money in the bag.”

I’m a 27-year-old guy, and I’m not very funny. I know women like a guy with a sense of humor, so I was interested in these “Flirt Cards” with funny messages that I saw on Kickstarter. You write your number on the back and give the card to a woman you’d like to meet. Good idea or bad for breaking the ice?

—Single Dude

Meet Joe Blacklist

Using a pre-printed card to hit on the ladies makes a powerful statement: “I’m looking for a kind woman to nurse me back to masculinity.”

Asking a woman out isn’t just a way to get a date; it’s a form of display. Consider that women look for men to show courage. (The courage to unwrap a pack of cards doesn’t count.) And mutely handing a woman some other guy’s humor on a card is actually worse than using no humor at all—save for extenuating circumstances, like if it were the Middle Ages and you’d had your tongue cut out for unseemly behavior with the earl’s livestock (again).

Consider evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller’s “mating mind” hypothesis—the notion that “our minds evolved not just as survival machines, but as courtship machines.”

Miller explains that the mind acts as a “fitness indicator”— a sort of advertising agency for a person’s genetic quality (among other things). Humor is a reliable (hard-to-fake) sign of genetic quality—reflecting high intelligence, creative problemsolving ability, and a lack of mutations that would handicap brain function.

But it isn’t just any old humor that women find attractive. Any guy can memorize a joke. Accordingly, in a study of the pickup lines men use on women, psychologists Christopher Bale and Rory Morrison “distinguish wit (spontaneous jokes that fit the context exactly, are genuinely funny, and require intelligence) from mere humor (the pre-planned jokes and one-liners which… do not demonstrate intelligence).”

Anthropologist Gil Greengross, who studies humor and laughter from an evolutionary perspective, suggests that even a guy who’s lame at humor should at least take a run at being funny: “The risk of not even trying to make women laugh may result in losing a mating opportunity.” I disagree—though only in part.

If you’re unfunny, trying to force the funny is like bragging, “Hey! I’m low in social intelligence!”

However, you shouldn’t let being unfunny stop you from hitting on a woman. What you can do is be spontaneously and courageously genuine. Just put yourself out there and say hello to her and acknowledge and even laugh at any awkwardness on your part. This

There’s doing the right thing, and then there’s doing the right thing for the right reasons. Ideally, you refrain from shoplifting because it’s wrong to steal, not because they show videos of shoplifters on the news sometimes, and your nose always looks so big on security camera footage.

It turns out that there are two fundamental motivations for all life-forms—from microbes to men. They are “approach” (going toward good, helpful, survival-promoting things) and “avoidance” (moving away from bad, dangerous, deadly things).

Research by social psychologist Shelly Gable suggests that romantic relationships are happier when they’re driven by approach rather than avoidance motives.

So, say your girlfriend asks that you put food-encrusted plates in the dishwasher instead of leaving them out for the archeologists to find. An approach motivation means doing as she asks because you’re striving for a positive outcome—like making her feel loved—instead of trying to avoid a negative one, like having your fate in showbiz patterned after that first guy in a horror movie who gets curious about the weird growling in the basement.

The research suggests that you can happy up your relationship by reframing why you do things—shifting to an “I just wanna make her happy” motivation. To do that, set aside your career fears and just try to be fair— to both of you. The relationship may fizzle out. Even so, if you don’t do anything horrible to Daddy’s little girl, there’ll be no reason for him to see to it that you look back on a lifetime of iconic roles—like “White Guy With Umbrella” and “Bystander #5.”

My girlfriend’s father is a famous actor, and I’m on my way up. I worry that if things go wrong in our relationship, he could put a big kibosh on my career. I guess because of this, I find myself putting up with more stuff than I might normally. I wonder whether our relationship will suffer because of my secret worries about her dad.

—Marked Man

The research suggests that you can happy up your relationship by reframing why you do things— shifting to an ‘I just wanna make her happy’ motivation.

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(c)2017, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol. com (advicegoddess.com).

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