San Diego CityBeat • Mar 13, 2019

2 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

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UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Get out of the car

I

’ve been walking to work a lot lately. This was inspired by a number of factors—the desire to live a healthier lifestyle and leave less of a carbon footprint being two reasons—but mainly I simply want to start getting used to driving less.

This all started a little over a year ago after I went to visit a friend in London. After a few days of riding buses and the London Underground, I naturally gravitated toward a conversation about how I wished San Diego’s public transit system was as functional and convenient. Sure, I found London’s system to be a bit overwhelming at first, but I could see how it would be very convenient once someone knew the routes and settled into a routine.

“How far do you live from work?” my friend asked.

“Just a little over a mile,” I replied.

“Wait, and you drive to work? What the hell is wrong with you?”

I think I felt a little attacked at first, but she was absolutely right. This was coming from someone who woke up every morning and braved the rain, cold and sometimes snow to walk to a bus station, ride that bus to the tube, and then walk another half-mile or so to work once she got off the train. As a Londoner, this was normal. This was expected. And here I was, jumping in my car on a sunny day only to drive the equivalent of seven blocks.

I realize not everyone has it so good. The vast majority of San Diegans have to commute much further for work, but for those who live and work in San Diego’s urban core, it’s now time to start considering alternative modes of transportation. San Diego’s relationship with cars is about to change. It’s not coming overnight, but it is coming.

First, there’s the influx of electric scooters and bicycles. Not only are they affordable and convenient, but the city is finally instituting some much-needed guidelines and stepping up enforcement of traffic laws so that people aren’t riding them on sidewalks or leaving them in places where disabled citizens would have to navigate around them. It’s time for the whining to stop and for citizens to begin to embrace the idea that these are functional modes of transportation that will become increasingly safer to ride (seen those new

Downtown bike lanes yet?). We need to, as the popular bicyclist saying goes, share the road.

Which brings me to my second point: Our centrist Republican mayor now sees housing as his last chance to leave some kind of lasting political legacy. That’s not to decry his efforts on other important issues, but this issue has teeth and is one that most of us should be able to support. We need affordable housing and with Mayor Faulconer adopting a YIMBY (“yes in my backyard”) stance on the issue, it’s important to remember that with denser housing, comes less parking. It’s time for San Diegans to begin to accept that this is inevitable. For those communities such as Hillcrest and even Golden Hill—where parking spaces are already a rarity—it’s time for the city to consider parking permits similar to the ones we already have in places like the College Area.

Finally, after years of scandals and overhauls, it was extremely encouraging to hear the new head of the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), Hasan Ikhrata, speaking pragmatically about a region-wide public transportation system that is not only convenient, but inexpensive as well.

“The only change that will make San Diegans leave their car in the garage, or some of them at least, is a state of the art transit system—a system that we haven’t seen in San Diego,” Ikhrata told KPBS last week. “A system that is priced right, that people are guaranteed a safe, reliable, on-time arrival and departure—that’s what SANDAG is going to be doing in the next nine-to-twelve months.”

Once SANDAG has an idea of what that system looks like, it will likely be up to voters to approve such a plan. I’m not so sure San Diegans are fully ready to embrace initiatives (likely in the form of a sales tax) that would create such a public transit system, but I’m hopeful. In the meantime, a halfcent sales tax to fund MTS proposed for the 2020 ballot could serve as an indication as to whether or not we’re truly ready to get up, walk out the door and try something new when it comes to getting from point A to point B.

—Seth Combs

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MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS I STAND BY “NOT MY PRESIDENT” I must disagree with the writer of this piece when he states that, “Trump is our president” [“Words mean something,” From the Editor, Feb. 13]. He is not mine, not now, not ever, no way! In time, I am sure I will call Individual 1 a lot of things, but the word “president’ will never be one of them!

Nor is he the “president” of the rest of America because his election was not legitimate. More and more evidence is coming to light every day that the 2016 election was significantly interfered with by the Russian government, under the direction of Vladmir Putin. Trump is Putin’s “president” and puppet. Not mine, not the rest of this country!

A.F. Kaplan, via Facebook

YOU’RE THE RACIST!!

While you are allowed to have your opinion on music, you cannot call us racist or imply that our songs are racist [“Great Local Music Review,” March 6]. The words to “Bones” are referring to how music is all riding on the previous artists, and has zero to do with racism or slavery. Your racist assumption was totally incorrect, as were the lyrics. In addition, calling us “a bunch of white guys” is a falsity. Only one of us is white, not that it matters, clearly you are the only racist in this equation. Not that I give a fuck about your opinions on my music, but in no way are you allowed to call us racist. Feel free to come call any of us racist to our faces without hiding behind your shitty

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

local news source. Please either edit or remove the review of Loosen The Noose album.

Concerned,

Christian Schinelli

An Italian bass player Response from the editor: At no point in my review of Loosen the Noose’s self-titled album was the word “racist,” “racism,” or any derivation of the word “race” ever mentioned. I understand the defensiveness and in hindsight am willing to admit that I was presumptuous in labeling the band “a bunch of white dudes.” I apologize for that. However, I stand by the main point that I was trying to make: that the name of the band is highly problematic. I talked with a number of friends and colleagues, all of whom were people of color, and every one of them said they found the name to be either offensive or, at the least, off-putting. One mentioned that if she saw the name of the band outside a music venue, not only would she not want to hear their music, but she’d also want to speak to the club owner about it. This all might seem like people being overly sensitive or too easily triggered (some of the band members’ friends called me a “cuck” on social media, a favorite word of men who want to belittle other men for being too sensitive), but the fact remains that a word like “noose,” no matter the context, remains exceptionally steeped in very bad memories and experiences for many people of color. This includes vile, violent acts of racism. I’m originally from the South, and there’s no way a band name like Loosen the Noose would fly in certain parts of

the region. If that makes me a cuck, then I guess I’m a cuck. I have no doubt (none!) that Loosen the Noose did not mean to offend anyone with their name, but I also think that they should perhaps think about the people who could be offended by it. A great local example of this was a band called The Soft Pack. They were originally named The Muslims, but after quite a few people pointed out that they found the name to be hurtful, or that it could be taken out of context, the band changed it. And they did this despite the fact that they had already garnered national buzz under The Muslims moniker. Loosen the Noose are not obligated to change their name by any means, but they may want to consider how many potential fans may not ever want to listen to them in the first place simply because of the band’s name. I understand their hearts are in the right place, but if someone points that out, it’s worth considering. And yes, it should be considered even if the point is delivered in the form of an acerbic music review.

TABLE OF CONTENTS UP FRONT From the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

Backwards & In High Heels. . . . . . . . . . .

Well, That Was Awkward . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 4 6 8 9

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

THINGS TO DO The Short List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13

ARTS & CULTURE Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Feature: White Privilege. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-20

MUSIC

WE MESSED UP In last week’s editorial, “’Unacceptable bullying,’” we misattributed a quote about Rep. Ilhan Omar as being from local Rep. Susan Davis. The quote was actually from an NPR reporter also named Susan Davis. We apologize for the error.

Feature: Karl Denson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Black Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The Spotlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 If I Were U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Concerts & Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-26

IN THE BACK Astrologically Unsound . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 CannaBitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN RAYMOND MIRELES

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MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5

JOHN R. LAMB

UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE

JOHN R. LAMB

The dimming of Mara Elliott Keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the shadow.

S

—Helen Keller

an Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott may have learned something important this week: Standing in the sun under an opengovernment magnifying glass can leave serious burn marks on a political legacy.

While she wasn’t in the room on Monday, Elliott nonetheless drew bipartisan scorn from nearly all San Diego City Council members for her wildly unpopular effort to alter state public records law.

Elliott’s baby, Senate Bill 615, was being carried in Sacramento by a seemingly less-than-enthusiastic Sen. Ben Hueso. The bill had garnered widespread condemnation from journalists and open-government advocates alike for its call

to add new hurdles in the already complicated steeplechase embodied in California’s Public Records Act. While Elliott and Hueso argued the bill was intended to streamline the public-records-request process, opponents of the bill noted that it adds an extra step that requires record seekers to meet in “good faith” with the targeted agency prior to filing a lawsuit. It also makes it harder to recoup attorney’s fees when prevailing over a government agency in court by requiring that a “preponderance of evidence” proves an agency knowingly withheld public records.

Sitting in for Elliott at Monday’s council session was Assistant City Attorney Sanna Singer. She defended the proposed bill, contending that it “in no way diminishes the public’s right to information or the right to sue. It simply forces good-faith communication

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

before litigation and will likely speed record production.”

What seemed to irk councilmembers on both sides of the political aisle the most, however, was being kept in the dark about Elliott’s sponsorship of the bill.

Legally, the city attorney can pursue legislation on her own that, according to Singer, “benefits the city in her capacity as the city’s prosecutor and the city attorney.”

The problem arises, however, when a City Council may not agree with such a pursuit. With the volume of bills being introduced in Sacramento every year, Councilmember Mark Kersey envisioned a scenario where “if you saw the city attorney was sponsoring a bill, you would just maybe assume that the whole city was behind it. And in this case, none of us even knew about it.” Kersey said he’s aware that city attorneys can sponsor legislation without vetting at the council level, but added, “I think it’s more a question of whether they should, not whether they can.”

Councilmembers Chris Cate and Vivian Moreno, typically political foes, issued a joint memo condemning the bill. “SB 615 does not support greater transparency in government and, in fact, decreases the public’s ability to remedy a government agency’s unlawful denial of public documents,” the memo noted. It urged—and the City Coun-

City Attorney Mara Elliott vs. open government —anything but enlightening cil unanimously agreed—to add language to the council’s platform to “oppose legislation that undermines, impairs or erodes the intent of the California Public Records Act or the public’s ability to access public records.”

Councilmember Barbara Bry, now a mayoral candidate, bristled at Elliott’s absence from Monday’s discussion (to be fair, she was busy defending the city in the pensionbusting Prop. B case) and said she was “disappointed” the council wasn’t consulted about SB 615.

Another mayoral candidate, activist attorney Cory Briggs, appeared before the council to rip into SB 615. Briggs represents former councilmember Donna Frye in a lawsuit seeking the release of conflict-of-interest waivers issued for outside attorneys who have represented the city in the past but now represent private clients against the city.

The lawsuit has dragged on, with legal bills rising, despite a settlement that’s been offered.

“Yet the City Attorney’s Office refuses to put the offer on your closed-session agenda,” Briggs said.

He went on to argue that the public should be able to see the city’s legal advice and the council should endorse such a plan.

“You’re the ones who have to face the voters over your policy decisions,” Briggs said. “If you make a bad call and you did it based on the advice of the City Attorney’s Office, the public should know that you’re not to blame.”

While it appears no one has plans to step up to challenge Elliott for her seat, Frye said she hopes someone decides to do so.

“I’m very disappointed,” the open-government maven told Spin on Monday. “I’m really disappointed because some of this stuff is so basic and so simple. At this point, it’s not a case of whether you have a D or R next to your name. It’s a case of whether or not you’re going to actually conduct the public’s business in a proper way.”

As CityBeat was going to press, Hueso issued a statement Tuesday

saying he had decided to pull SB 615.

“After hearing from stakeholders on both sides, I concluded the discussion about how to accomplish efficiency in that system requires a lengthier conversation between all interested parties,” he said in the statement.

Public-record requests are always a crapshoot. Recently, Spin requested information about the city’s current relationship with DecoBike, the Miami-based company that secured a 10-year agreement with the city in 2013 to provide a docked-bike system in town. Some spreadsheets were finally forwarded, but not something else.

That something else was a Feb. 5 letter of termination sent by the city’s Corporate Partnership division to DecoBike ordering all stations and equipment be removed by April 6. The termination, the letter noted, “is necessitated by DecoBike’s material breach of this agreement which has been extensively documented and was mediated on December 5, 2018, by the city and DecoBike…”

A subsequent letter—provided this week by the mayor’s office— offered the company a 60-day extension if it agreed not to sue the city, but it is unknown if the company took the offer.

Neither letter was copied to anyone at the City Council level. Asked about that, a mayoral spokesman said, “It’s an operational matter. Council isn’t involved in operational matters.”

Frye isn’t buying that.

“This unfortunate statement from the mayor’s office reflects an arrogant pattern of keeping the public uninformed simply because they can,” Frye said in response.

“Perhaps during Sunshine Week they will reflect on what open government is all about,” Frye added, referring to the annual event organized by journalists.

Her advice to Elliott? “It’s always a good day to rethink dumb stuff.”

Spin Cycle appears every other week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

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MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

Justice for the Jenkins’

H

elp me. I can’t breathe.”

Those were the last words spoken by 24-yearold Aleah Jenkins, who died on Dec. 6, 2018 after being arrested during a traffic stop 10 days earlier.

While the circumstances were different, what happened to Aleah Jenkins echoed that which befell Earl McNeil, who died six months earlier after his arrest by the National City Police Department. Both were demonized in the press as having been on drugs, as if this fact somehow justified the outcome. Both were in custody for a short time before being hospitalized.

Both ended up at UC Medical Center where both died from brain injuries.

Unlike McNeil, who sought help from police, Aleah was picked up by San Diego police officers on a misdemeanor warrant during a traffic stop in La Jolla.

Her mother, Keiala Jenkins, was allowed to watch heavily edited body cam footage of the arrest. She said her daughter was polite and compliant with Lawrence Durbin, the arresting officer.

But somewhere after polite and compliant there was a 105-minute ride from La Jolla to central booking where, according to the SDPD, Aleah became unconscious. What Keiala Jenkins says she saw on the edited video tells another story: During the nearly two-hour ride, Aleah began to convulse and asked for help. “I can’t breathe,” she said.

But Officer Durbin thought she was play-acting and told her that she was headed to jail. He told her she was fine.

But Aleah wasn’t fine and Officer Durbin must have known it because he pulled his patrol car over—on the freeway—to check on her. At this point, Aleah was unresponsive. Yet Officer Durbin didn’t check for a pulse or reach for a dose of Naloxone (used in suspected overdose situations), nor did he attempt to administer CPR. He didn’t throw on his siren and point his patrol car toward any number (and there are many) of area hospitals or urgent care centers. He didn’t call for emergency services.

Instead, he got back in the car and drove the rest of the way to the SDPD station where he and another officer pulled Aleah from the car, laid her out on the ground, fingerprinted her and put her back in the patrol car. She was unresponsive the entire time.

“Her skirt came all the way up around her waist,” her mother said, exasperated. “You could see her entire backside.”

According to Jenkins, the video was edited at this point, and the next scene is of an officer bringing water to her unconscious daughter who was sweating profusely. It was at this point, more than two hours after the traffic stop, that reality set in. Aleah was again removed from the patrol car, laid on the ground for a second time and given CPR for the first time.

That is what Aleah Jenkins’ mother had to watch:

“

Her daughter, dying before her eyes in the back of a police car while the arresting officer chose to do nothing.

Until Keiala Jenkins and a small group of protestors conducted a sit-in at the police station last Thursday morning, the Medical Examiner’s report had been sealed, and the SDPD maintained that Aleah died of a drug overdose. But in a surprise move Thursday afternoon (coincidence or nah?), the DA’s office invited Aleah’s mother to view the examiner’s report the next morning and unsealed it shortly thereafter.

The cause of death: hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy or lack of blood and oxygen to the brain.

The manner of death: accident.

But how is it an accident to not provide emergency services to someone who needs them? Aleah did have methamphetamine in her system, but that isn’t what killed her, nor—just like Earl McNeil—did she deserve to die because of it. (I reached out to the SDPD for comment but did not receive a response.) What killed her was inaction on the part of Officer Durbin who had a duty to provide appropriate medical treatment to the person in his care.

According to Section 6.12 of the San Diego Police Department Policy Manual, “Officers at the scene of a medical emergency shall administer first aid to the extent of their abilities until the Fire-Rescue Department personnel or paramedics arrive and assume medical control,” and, “Officers transporting persons in need of emergency medical treatment shall take them to the nearest primary emergency facility.”

This conveniently vague language (who makes the determination as to what constitutes a medical emergency?) leaves a lot of room for the SDPD to weasel its way out of culpability. And this isn’t unique to the SDPD; this is universal. As if to underscore the point, on the same day as the sit-in, a federal judge dismissed two lawsuits against the El Cajon Police Department and Officer Richard Gonsalves in the killing of Alfred Olongo. That’s just one more travesty putting San Diego on the police-killing-Black-people map.

However imprecise the guidelines, it isn’t an accident to not fulfill your sworn duty. That is called negligence and Officer Durbin should be held accountable for his.

Keiala Jenkins has lost a daughter and three children lost their mother because a police officer who swore to protect and serve did neither. The SDPD bears responsibility and should release the unedited body cam footage to the public. What’s more, every law enforcement agency in the county should be held accountable for the actions—or inactions—of its officers.

Rest in Power, Aleah. You didn’t deserve what happened to you. You didn’t deserve to die.

That is what Aleah Jenkins’ mother had to watch: Her daughter, dying before her eyes in the back of a police car while the arresting officer chose to do nothing.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aarynb@sdcitybeat.com.

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UP FRONT | VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS

AWKWARD

Finding solace in parody songs about poop

I

f I were to visualize my brain, it would probably resemble something like a pasta press: slowly churning out slimy noodles until it’s something mama mia!-worthy. There are only a few times in my life when I’ve had a lightbulb moment—an idea that struck me so hard that it felt like an epiphany: 1.)

When I invented pre-buttering my toast before putting it in the toaster (I invented this, don’t @ me); and, 2.) when I recently wrote the lyrics to “Bad Shits From Buffalo Wings,” my karaoke parody of Smashing Pumpkins’ “Bullet With Butterfly Wings.”

I’m on my third glass of white wine when the idea for “Bad Shits” strikes. Outside, the night is dark and stormy—a perfect setting for mad scientist brilliance or, in my case, concocting ideas for Pants Karaoke’s “What Would Weird Al Do?,” a karaoke parody night.

It’s a great concept: Pick a song from KJ Pants’ massive songbook, rewrite the lyrics, and then Pants will create custom karaoke screens, which are then displayed for all to see. Even though it’s not a competition, the last two iterations of parody night have brought considerable one-upmanship amongst Pants’ regulars. I know people are going to bring it, but dare I expose myself as the toilet-humorobsessed bro that I am?

I text a couple of karaoke chums to feel out the idea. Turns out my friend Taylor has been working on a parody of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” called “I Totally Shit When I Fart,” which makes me thankful that beauty can still exist in this rotten world.

I sit at my computer, metaphorical quill in hand, and open a blank document. If I were to guess, I’d say the act of penning a diarrhea-themed parody song is akin to the reverie Shakespeare felt when he wrote a dope sonnet. I paste the lyrics “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” into the doc, and go down the page, replacing Billy Corgan’s genius* wordplay with my own. (* ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) “The world is a vampire” becomes “My world is an assfire.”

Hark! Brilliant, old chum! I think. The inspiration begins to flow.

“Despite all my rage, I’m still just a rat in a cage” becomes “Despite all this ranch, I’ll still need new underpants.”

Ideas move through me like... well, like the thematic content of the song. “Tell me I’m the only one, tell me there’s no other one” becomes “sorry that I have the runs, my butt is going number one.” When I finish the song, I sit back in my chair, winded from the creative journey, and kiss my finger tips.

Next, I begin work on “My Chopped Boner,” a parody of The Knack’s “My Sharona.” This is actually a

collaborative project that began three years ago with my Utah friends Ryen and Steph. Recently, however, I find renewed interest in writing a penis mutilation song ever since watching and obsessing over the Lorena Bobbitt documentary on Amazon Prime.

Just for fun, I “write” a parody of Crash Test Dummies “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” which changes nothing except transforming the “Mmms” to “Nnns.”

(Later, when I perform this, I hear someone in the audience say, “What an asshole”).

I arrive at Til Two Club just as Taylor begins “I Totally Shit When I Fart.” It’s a gorgeous performance complete with fart sounds where the canons blasts usually go. Regulars trickle in until the bar is brimming with karaoke jokesters. Most people wear Hawaiian shirts in honor of our patron saint, the great Weird Al. If anyone is unfortunate enough to be here expecting to sing Tracy Chapman or Journey or whatever normies sing, too bad for them.

I was right to suspect people would bring it this year, because there’s not one bad song. Someone changes The Cardigans’ “Lovefool” into a politically charged “Vote Blue.” The Chromatics song, “Cherry,” becomes “Jerry,” an exhausted plea from Jerry Seinfeld’s theoretical girlfriend. Hall & Oates’ “Maneater” becomes “Mansplainer.”

The Killers’ “Human,” becomes a song about not being able to tell the difference between white celebrities (“John Travolta or Glenn Danzig? / Steven Spielberg or Steve Jobs?”). The award for most awesomely-offensive parody goes to “Man, I Feel Like A Woman,” which is changed to “Man, I Feel Like a Gang Bang”: “Oh oh oh I’m bonin’ on Darren / still married to Karen / But that don’t mean shit / Ooh whoa oh oh It’s my birthday / I’m riding all the D / Oh oh oh I’m grindin’ on Larry / His dong kinda scary / Feels like it’s 3 feet wide.”

While someone performs a Notorious B.I.G. song using a Kermit the Frog puppet, I begin to wonder: What’s the bigger lesson here? What’s the point? If I were to guess, I think our culture is so simultaneously sensitive and outraged that any extreme expression is met with equally extreme judgement or backlash. But in front of the mic, we can be as dumb and gross as we want. At the risk of sounding pretentious, we’re all just looking for a connection that probably can’t exist anywhere else.

My turn comes. I climb the stage. The graphic appears: “Bad Shits From Buffalo Wings.” The music starts and I let loose. I mean, figuratively. Figuratively!

Turns out my friend Taylor has been working on a parody of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ called ‘I Totally Shit When I Fart,’ which makes me thankful that beauty can still exist in this rotten world .

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Well, That Was Awkward appears every other week.

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MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

ANATOMY OF A COCKTAIL SCENE

BY IAN WARD

#53: Having nice things at Small Bar

nouncement truly means is that there is about to be stiff competition in the future, and those who don’t or those who missed the news, the Michelin step up will inevitably step out.

Guide recently announced that they have now Take, for example, a recent article expressing extended their much-lauded ratings through- major gripes with the newly remodeled Small Bar out all of California. In recent years, Michelin has (4628 Park Blvd.) in University Heights. The article only focused on the Bay Area and Napa within the expressed disappointment that the new Small Bar Golden State. However, they will now wasn’t as brooding as it was before and IAN WARD be considering restaurants in Los Anthat there was now a strong focus on geles, Santa Barbara, Orange County craft cocktails. The article drew some and right here in San Diego. criticism and has since been edited—it This is huge news for not only is now softer and slightly more welthose of us who are employed by or coming than the original text. There’s operate restaurants, but for the comnot much point in getting too far into munity as a whole. it, other than to say, this is the reason It is rumored that Michelin has we can’t have nice things! already inspected the restaurants it Yes, more clean, thoughtful, qualis planning on awarding stars to in ity things are coming to replace all our June. There is a lot of speculation on beloved shitholes. which restaurants those might be, but As for the new Small Bar itself, it I’m not going to focus on that here. gravemakers and certainly is a noticeable change from gunslingers the first iteration. I, for one, am truly The reason I bring this up is simple: The local industry needs to step up its fucking glad. As a rule of thumb, I do fucking game. not revisit bars for reviews. I’ve actually never done For a very long time, many of San Diego’s restau- it, and choosing to write this column took some rants have been more than happy to put out sheer consideration. However, once I walked through the mediocrity. They smile in your face when they drop doors of Small Bar, it felt like a totally new place. off the check, knowing full well they served patrons Besides, the cocktail program put forth by mildly consumable product. What this Michelin an- Frankie McGrath is phenomenal. It is approachable, yet noticeably labor intensive. It showcases multiple techniques and the dedication to the craft is clear.

GRAVEMAKERS I ordered the Gravemakers and Gunslingers, a AND GUNSLINGERS heady mix of brown butter-washed bourbon, gomas prepared at Small Bar me syrup and Angostura bitters. On paper, it is a simple variation on an Old Fashioned, but way more Fat wash technique for making the delicious. Brown butter makes the cocktail nutty as brown butter-washed bourbon: all hell (in a splendid way) while I extracted a lot of 8 oz. Irish butter for one liter of bourbon. Melt butter on high buttered popcorn notes from the bourbon. The medium heat until butter starts to separate solids on top. cocktail is deceitfully simple looking, with beautiReduce to low heat for 45 minutes and skim solids off top ful rich aromatics and lingering tones of toast and until butter is golden brown. Cool. butter.

Combine butter and bourbon in a sous vide for two hours at The Gravemakers and Gunslingers is a fantas135 degrees. Put in the freezer over night until fat solidifies. tic cocktail, but, if patrons have a problem with it Remove the solid fat and bourbon is ready to use. because it doesn’t taste like a Jack and Coke, I’ll say it again: They’re the reason we can’t have nice The Cocktail: 1/4 oz. simple or gomme things!

2 oz. Brown Butter Old syrup

F

Grand-Dad bourbon

2 dash Angostura bitters

Stir in mixing glass and serve over a big ice cube.

Garnish with a skewed cherry.

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

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

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

BY BETH DEMMON

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE An heir of Sichuan

S

an Diego sucks at culinary history.

So many of yesteryear’s great restaurants are gone, leaving behind only the memories of those who were there.

Piret’s, for example, is gone, although Jack Monaco can still tell us about it and, with a quick phone call and some of his unique planning, Andrew Spurgin can still let us taste what we’re missing.

Not so long ago, Ba Ren Szechuan was San Diego’s temple of Sichuan cuisine. But while it’s been gone for some time, one of its cooks isn’t. As a result, some of what made Ba Ren great is still accessible at Spicy Hut (9460 Mira Mesa Blvd., Ste. E8).

Spicy Hut’s best dishes are its seafood offerings (its chef was in charge of Ba Ren’s fish). Take, for example, the “Spicy Boiled Fish,” an uninspiring name for a very inspired dish. The dish consists of tender filets of white fish emerging from a boil in an angry looking broth and replete with spicy red peppers and numbing Sichuan peppercorns. The secret is to eat the fish fillets with a bit of the broth out of a rice bowl. Spicy Hut also offers an equally excellent variation of the dish featuring a deeper broth and sliced tofu.

Some of the dishes I enjoyed most were from the cold appetizer bar. The pork ears are, as always, a textural pleasure, but two new-to-me vegetable offerings (preserved daikon radish and finely chopped long beans) were especially good and featured a typically ma la (spicy-numbing) treatment. The best cold dish, however, was the restaurant’s take on the Mouthwatering Chicken, a Sichuan staple. It’s called “Cold Chicken with Spicy Sauce” on the Spicy Hut menu and while the chosen name is certainly descriptive, the taste is much more po-

@SDCITYBEAT

etic. It’s that same ma la treatment that creates the mouthwatering effect and makes the dish addictive.

One of my favorite dishes at Spicy Hut is one I’ve known for years, but had no idea that it was Sichuan: sanxian guoba, which is identified on the menu as “Crispy Rice Crust with Three Flavors.” It’s a savory, mild dish of baby bok choy, carrots, wood ear mushrooms, squid, shrimp and whitefish that is poured tableside over puffed rice. It’s fun to eat and equally fun to watch.

Spicy fried chicken is, truth be told, a combination that knows no international boundaries. A Spicy Hut take on the theme is the “Deep Fried Chicken Cubes with Hot Pepper.” It’s basically little nuggets of chicken deep fried and tossed with a truckload of dried red chilies, some sesame seeds and—in what I assume is a futile gesture MICHAEL A. GARDINER

Cold chicken with spicy sauce toward the nominally healthy—green onions. For something slightly less unhealthy, the “Spicy and Sour Cabbage” is a better bet and nothing’s lost flavor-wise.

Spicy Hut isn’t Ba Ren, nor is it a proverbial museum piece or some culinary diorama. It is far, far better than that: it is a delicious working restaurant at which patrons can taste some excellent Sichuan dishes—some of which they may or may not have tasted at Ba Ren—in real life and in real time.

That’s my kind of history.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

FINAL DRAUGHT Boots are made for brewing

COURTESY OF LAURA ULRICH

E

very March, breweries around the world bustle with women. Gloved hands keep busy raking spent grain into buckets while others sift through piles of hop pellets, inhaling deeply and nodding with approval. In one chilly openair brewhouse, a woman stands above a steaming cauldron of bubbling elixir, stirring ever-so-gently with a long paddle.

Scenes like this are not unlike covens of yore. History remembers alewives (women brewers) as the original iteration of the modern day witch. But these modern day ladies are no magicians. It’s International Women’s Day and the women of Pink Boots Society have staked their claim.

Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day is one of the biggest events of the year for the Society, an international organization whose mission statement reads “to assist, inspire and encourage women beer industry professionals to advance their careers through education.” Every year, Pink Boots chapters from all over the world take part in International Women’s Day on March 8 by brewing a beer to raise funds for educational scholarships, additional programming and other initiatives. According to Lia Garcia—a Pink Boots member and tasting room and brewery tour manager at Societe Brewing Company—over 300 breweries in 13 countries have signed up to participate this year. Local breweries include Coronado Brewing Company, Fall Brewing Company, Pizza Port Bressi Ranch, White Labs and more. (All breweries joining in the collaborative brew day can be found on Pink Boots’ interactive map.)

No two beers brewed will be the same.

In San Diego, breweries are releasing everything from a Brut passionfruit sour IPA (Home Brewing Company) to a dryhopped San Diego style Extra Special Bitter (Karl Strauss Brewing Company).

There’s even a Mai Tai-inspired pale ale from Stone Brewing. The only common denominator in these brews is an exclusive hop blend provided by Yakima Chief

Pink Boots Society at Stone Brewing Hops (YCH). The Washington state-based hops company furthers the charitable aspect by donating $3 from every pound sold right back to Pink Boots Society.

And unlike other collaborative brew days, Pink Boots is open to any woman working inside the brewing community— not just brewers. “[Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day] really gives people who might not get a chance to participate in that process regularly some insight into what really goes into these beers,” says Melissa Sanchez, brewer at Karl Strauss.

This particular initiative isn’t the only female-focused brewing event of March.

International Collaboration Women’s Brew Day is another. Both movements aim to embrace inclusivity and promote sisterhood in an industry where men vastly outnumber women. Aleks Kostka, head brewer at Culture Brewing Solana Beach explains why Culture is participating in Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day. “It can sometimes seem intimidating for women to get into this industry considering it’s male-dominated, but that’s exactly why we love doing this collaboration with [Pink Boots Society]—to get more women involved and to show them that they are just as capable as men, if not more so, to becoming successful in the beer industry.”

Most of the beers brewed in San Diego will be released in late March or early April.

Follow #pinkbootsbrew on social media for updates.

Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com or check her out on Instagram at @thedelightedbite.

MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

BALBOA PARK

BLOOM BOOM

The rain storms seems to be unrelenting these days, but ask anyone who went to go check out the wildflowers this past weekend and they’ll say the rains have sprouted a colorful bloom the likes of which they’ve never seen before. So as annoying as the rain has become, it’s doing wonders for San Diego’s green areas.

Such is the case with the Japanese Friendship Garden (2215 Pan American Road E.) and while the heavy precipitation didn’t directly inspire garden staff to extend the annual Cherry Blossom Festival to an entire week (as opposed to just a few days), it certainly is a happy coincidence.

“The rains have affected the garden, but definitely positively,” says Jon Osio, event and marketing coordinator at the Friendship Garden, as well as one of the organizers of the Cherry Blossom Festival. “Last year, we had over 300 azaleas planted so they’re coming along really nicely. The garden also has mini mondo grass planted throughout so they’re really enjoying the rain. The more rain, the better.”

To see the garden (definitely one of Balboa Park’s most underrated attractions) after such heavy rains is one thing, but the Cherry Blossom Festival is surely the main attraction. The trees have already begun to bud and blossom and festivities begin on Monday, March 18 and run throughout the week

SOUTH PARK

DOMINIC NEPOMUCENO

Cherry Blossom Festival with a variety of activities during the daytime and into the evenings. These include everything from kombucha tastings and cooking classes, to beer and dessert gardens. The weekend festival will include live performances, as well as 40 different food and merchant vendors.

“If it works for two or three days, it should work for a week,” says Osio. “It allows us to give vendors other opportunities and visitors other ways to enjoy the garden.”

Cherry Blossom Week runs through Sunday, March 24 and tickets range from $10 to $120 for a weeklong VIP pass. Check niwa.org to check blooming statuses and for full schedule of the festival.

GREEN SCENE

The youth are our future. Sure, that statement might sound like a trite PSA, but it’s still the central idea behind Scott Warren’s new book, Generation Citizen: The Power of Youth in Our Politics. Warren is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Generation Citizen, an organization dedicated to empowering youth through revitalized civics across America. On Wednesday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. at The Book Catapult (3010B Juniper St.), the author will speak of his political awakening alongside stories of how young people have always been instruments of political change.

From the Civil Rights Movement and the election of Ronald Reagan, to #BlackLivesMatter and the Parkland students’ standing up to gun violence, Generation Citizen shows that, time and again, it is the young people who lead the way to change.

More info can be found at thebookcatapult.com.

Guillermo Del Toro Fan Art Exhibit at Subterranean Coffee Boutique, 412 University Ave., North Park. A group art exhibit curated by Jennifer Cooksey, which celebrates the dark work of film director Guillermo Del Toro. From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 16. Free. facebook.com/ events/549302148919929 School of Art + Design Student Award Exhibition at SDSU University Art Gallery, 5500 Campanile Drive, College Area. Exhibition featuring the juried work nominated by faculty in various media forms from upper division undergraduate and graduate students. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, March 18 through Thursday, March 28.

Free. art.sdsu.edu/student-award-exhibition

CORONADO AND GASLAMP

YOUNG BUCKS

Remembering the Promenade at La Playa Gallery, 2226 Avenida de la Playa, La Jolla. Opening reception of a solo exhibition of renowned works of painter Ryan Tannascoli featuring a focus on the theme of shopping malls. From 5 to 8 p.m.

Friday, March 15. Free. 858-454-6903, laplayagallery.com

Everyone likes to throw on a little green on St. Patrick’s Day, but for those who like nothing more than to throw some back, there’s the annual San Diego shamROCK block party in the Gaslamp. Don’t get it twisted: this is pure revelry complete with green Bud Lights, Tullamore Dew whisky, DJs, thematic bands, games, dancing and tons more. It happens Saturday, March 16 from 2 p.m. to midnight at Fifth Avenue and G Street. Tickets range from $50 to $130 at sandiegoshamrock.com. For those who like something a bit more mellow, head to Lamb’s Players Theatre (1142 Orange Ave.) on Monday, March 18 for Voices of Ireland. Write Out Loud’s annual event features local actors, musicians and poets performing iconic Irish stories, music and prose.

It happens at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $20-$40 at lambsplayers.org.

RASHIDAH DE VORE

BOOKS HSteffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The infectious disease epidemiologist (Strathdee) and her psychologist husband will both discuss their new memoir, The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband From a Deadly Superbug, followed by a Q&A and book signing. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 13. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com Annual Used Book Sale at Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. Over 4,000 books from all genres will be for sale, alongside videos, CDs, DVDs, audio tapes, gift items, paintings, sculptures and more. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 13 through Sunday, March 17.

Free. 858-362-1141, lfjcc.org Julia Plevin at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The writer and designer will sign and discuss her new book, The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing: Finding Calm, Creativity, and Connection in the Natural World. At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 14. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com Susan Meissner at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The bestselling author will sign and discuss her new historical fiction novel, The Last Year of the War. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 18. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com HBurned: A Panel Discussion About a Crime that Wasn’t at California Western School of Law Auditorium, 350 Cedar Street, Downtown. The California Innocence Project hosts Edward Humes, who will discuss his newest book, Burned, which is about Joann Parks, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering her three children in a 1989 fire. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 19. Free. RSVP required. facebook.com/ CaliforniaInnocenceProject HScott Warren at The Book Catapult, 3010-B Juniper St., South Park. The cofounder and chief executive officer of Generation Citizen will discuss and sign his new book, Generation Citizen: The Power of Youth in Our Politics. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 20. Free. 619795-3780, thebookcatapult.com

COMEDY Randy Rainbow at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The comedian,

Scott Warren 12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

Voices of Ireland

H = CityBeat picks

actor, writer, host and internet sensation will perform a live comedy show. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16. $39.50. sandiegotheatres.org

DANCE winterWORKS 2018 at Mandell Weiss Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla. A UCSD undergraduate dance performance choreographed by Eric Geiger and featuring original works that demonstrate the creativity and technique that emerge within and through the body in mastering the art of dance. At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 14, Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16. $10-$20. 858534-4574, theatre.ucsd.edu

FILM HSan Diego Latino Film Festival at AMC Fashion Valley, 7037 Friars Road, Mission Valley, and Digital Gym Cinema, 2921 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. The 26th annual fest will showcase Latinx documentaries, feature films, shorts and animated films from around the world. Also includes parties, food events and more. Various times.

Thursday, March 14 through Sunday, March 24. $12-$300. sdlatinofilm.com HSuperpower Dogs at Fleet Science Center, 1875 El Prado, Balboa Park. A new IMAX movie featuring life-saving pooches from all over the world. Various times. Friday, March 15 through Monday, April 1. $18.85-$21.95. 619-238-1233, rhfleet.org H10 Drawings for Projection at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights.

SPACE TIME presents a screening of short films by William Kentridge, followed by a discussion with local scholar Melinda Guillen. At 8 p.m. Saturday, March 16. $5-$7. spacetimeart.org

FOOD & DRINK Taste of Our Community at BRICK, 2863 Historic Decatur Road, Liberty Station, Point Loma. Tastings from local restaurants, specialty cocktails, wine and beer tasting, as well as live entertainment, auctions, a special appearance from Steve Cassarino and more. From 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 14. $100-$115. optionsforall.org/events

MUSIC HThe Scottish International Tattoo and Music Parade at California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. This acclaimed group of performers includes Bagpipe players, drummers, musicians, singers and dancers, every last one direct from Edinburgh, Scotland. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13. $30$60. 800-988-4253, artcenter.org Alfredo Rodríguez & Pedrito Martinez at The Loft at UC San Diego, Price Center East, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The Grammy-nominated pianist and percussionist will perform as a duo, bringing together unique approaches to their music.

From 8 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, March 13. $9-$35. artpower.ucsd.edu Gordon Lightfoot at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp. The legendary singer celebrates his career with his 80 Years Strong Tour. With over a 50 year career of writing hits, the concert will feature some of his most popular hits from over the years. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 13. $55-$250. sandiegotheatres.org Opera Wednesdays at La Jolla Community Center, 6811 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla.

Past and present Metropolitan Opera Competition Winners, active local performers and guest artists will perform Opera.

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 @SDCITYBEAT

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13. $10 suggested donation. 858-4590831, ljcommunitycenter.org Gilbert Castellanos at Japanese Friendship Garden, 2215 Pan American Road E., Balboa Park. Hear the jazz trumpeter and San Diego Music Award winner perform in the intimate confines of the garden. Part of the Japanese Friendship Garden Concert Series. From 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 14. $10-$30. missionbaymusic.com Dream Theater at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The progressive metal pioneers will perform music from their latest album, Distance over Time, as well as their hits. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 20. $39.50-$99.50 sandiegotheatres.org

PERFORMANCE HWait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. National Public Radio’s Peabody Award-winning comedy news quiz show will quiz contestants on a review of the week’s news. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14. $39.50. sandiegotheatres.org Hershey Felder, Beethoven at San Diego Repertory Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, Gaslamp. The musician and actor performs as Beethoven in order to tell his life story. The story is inspired by Dr. Gerhard von Breuning’s memoir, which recounted how he helped care for the aging composer when he was a boy. Various times.

Through Sunday, March 24. $31.50$78. sdrep.org HThe Amazing Acro-Cats at MOXIE Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Blvd. Ste. N, College Area. The troupe of touring performing house cats features domesticated house felines rolling on balls, riding skateboards, jumping through hoops, and even playing in a live cat band. Various times. Through Sunday, March 17. $25-$40. circuscats.com

POETRY AND SPOKEN WORD Storytelling Festival at Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive, Encinitas. This event features performances, workshop, open mics, panels on storytelling, live flower arranging, a chance to record your story with Dave Drexler and more. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 16. Free. 619-8502130, storytellersofsandiego.org HSt. Patrick’s Day Open Reading of Irish Poetry and Prose at D.G. Wills Books, 7461 Girard Ave., La Jolla.

Members of the public are invited to read their favorite passages from James

@SDCITYBEAT

Joyce, William Butler Yeats, Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie and others at this 40th annual tradition. At 4 p.m. Sunday, March 17.

858-456-1800, dgwillsbooks.com HVoices of Ireland at Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado. A reading of traditional tales by guest artists Ron Choularton, Veronica Murphy and more. Irish folk band Celtic Echoes will also be performing. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, March 18. $40. 619-437-6000, lambsplayers.org

SPECIAL EVENTS Craft + Draft Pop Up Shop at Bay City Brewing Co., 3760 Hancock St., Midway District. Over 15 local makers will set up shop to sell their goods alongside local beer and bites, a photobooth and more.

From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13. Free. sandiegomade.org HShamROCK at Fifth Avenue and G Street, Gaslamp Quarter. A St. Patrick’s Day block party with three stages and dozens of participating bars. There will be performances from several Irish bands, DJs and more. From 2 p.m. to midnight.

Saturday, March 16. $50-$130. 619233-5008, sandiegoshamrock.com HSouth Park Spring Walkabout at South Park, 30th & Juniper, South Park. A quarterly evening festival that showcases all the unique and independent businesses within South Park. Enjoy complimentary treats, live entertainment, special offers and discounts, and much more. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 16. Free. southparksd.com HGot Green? at San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas.

This new festival features educational workshops, how-to demos and live entertainment, as well as a green marketplace featuring natural products, plant-based foods and much more. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 16. Free-$14.

760-436-3036, sdbgarden.org Lantern Street Festival at Liberty Station, 2845 Dewey Road, Point Loma. Enjoy music and food, and also decorate your own eco-friendly LED lantern and hang it with thousands of others during a lantern ceremony. From 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday, March 16. Free-$35. lanternstreet.com St. Patrick’s Family Festival at Welk Resorts, 8845 Lawrence Welk Drive, Hidden Meadows. Professional flying circus trapeze, an infinite obstacle course, carnival rides and a wipeout challenge alongside Irish-themed food, green beer and more. From 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17. $10-$15. stpatricksfamilyfestival.eventbrite.com HCherry Blossom Week at Japanese Friendship Garden, 2215 Pan American

BOOKS: THE FLOATING LIBRARY Lost and found

I

magine riding in a car with two young children and a partner when a news report comes on the radio about unaccompanied migrant children being held at detention centers at the border. The story is alarming and upsetting to everyone, so the radio inevitably gets turned off.

But the kids in the car want to know: What will happen to the children? What is a detention center?

Where are their parents and why can’t they be with them?

These and other questions bedevil the narrator of Lost Children Archive, the latest novel from Mexican-born writer Valeria Luiselli.

In her relatively short career, Luiselli has already produced an astonishing body of work with two additional novels (Faces in the Crowd and The Story of My Teeth), as well as a book of essays (Sidewalks and Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions). 40 Questions was based on her volunteer work as a translator for young migrants from Central America. This experience also informs Luiselli’s new novel, but the inner life of a family in turmoil drives the narrative.

Two artists embark on a trip across the United States with their two small children (each partner brought a child to the marriage). After completing a

long project together, the unnamed wife and mother fears she and her husband are drifting apart.

“I guess we—or perhaps just I—had made the very common mistake of thinking that marriage was a mode of absolute commonality and a breaking down of all boundaries, instead of understanding it as a pact between two people willing to be the guardians of each other’s solitude, as Rilke or some other equanimous philosophical soul had long ago prescribed.”

Luiselli’s characters are searching for answers to problems they cannot define, much less answer, which mirrors the situation along the southern border. What’s sad and shocking is that we are no closer to answering the question, “What will happen to the children?” today than when Luiselli conceived the novel several years ago.

As long as we see things as American problems or Mexican problems or Central American problems, and so forth, we make ourselves blind to a humanitarian crisis that isn’t going away, yet cries out for a solution.

—Jim Ruland

The Floating Library appears every other week.

Road E., Balboa Park. Festival combining cultural education with activities including arts and crafts, a tea and dessert garden and more. On the weekend, there will be 40 different food and merchant vendors and more. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, March 18 through Sunday, March 24. $10-$120. 619-232-2721, niwa.org

and Michele Romero at Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. The two photographers will share their creative process, discuss their past collaboration and take attendees behind the scenes on a few of their recent shoots.

From 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 14. $15-$25. 619-993-4811, mopa.org

Mission Bay Preservationists: Japan Fundraiser Featuring Sue Palmer at Pacific Beach Woman’s Club, 1721 Hornblend St., Pacific Beach. Chef Carlos Delgado will be serving his famous paella and Sue Palmer will perform a concert to raise money to send the high school jazz band to Japan for performances. From 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 20. $10-$20. ticketstripe.com/japanfundraiserconcert

HOLP Women’s Symposium 2019 at Academy of Lady of Our Peace, 4860 Oregon St., University Heights. Top women leaders will share their insights and pathways to success with students and community members. From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, March 15. $15-$50. aolp.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HBehind the Scenes with Art Streiber

HCraft Beer & Spirits: American Origin & Evolution at Neil Morgan Auditorium at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. Yuseff Cherney, former head brewer of Ballast Point Brewing, will discuss how the discoveries of beer and bread are responsible for the ad-

vancement of civilizations. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 16. Free. culinaryhistoriansofsandiego. com Mission Hills Architecture in the Roaring Twenties and the Swan House at Francis Parker Lower School, 4201 Randolph St., Mission Hills. This year’s Mission Hills Heritage lecture series will examine local features of the architecture era of the 1920s. From 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 16. $3-$25. missionhillsheritage.org

WORKSHOPS Cooking with California-Grown Whole Grains at Specialty Produce Warehouse, 1929 Hancock St., Mission Hills. Chef Christina Ng will talk about a multitude of varietals, cooking processes and methods, and guide participants in creating dishes. From 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 17. $25. berrygoodfood.org

MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13

26th Annual Latino Film Festival • 2019

26th Annual Latino Film Festival • 2019

THEATER LITTLE FANG

A royal romp

T

he “People’s Princess” might have very well appreciated the spirit of rebellious fun that envelops the world-premiere musical Diana, at the La Jolla Playhouse. What, in lesser hands, could have been conceived as a pious bore is just the opposite in this production written by Joe DiPietro and David Bryan.

This “biopic” of a musical chronicles, in whirlwind fashion (and that’s saying something in a two-hour, 30-minute show), the life of Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, often with tongue-firmly-in-cheek. Whether it’s portraying the paparazzi in all its predation (the tune “Snap, Click”) or the liberated Di retaliation-dancing in her famous F-U dress (“The Dress”), this production, directed by the Playhouse’s Christopher Ashley, shines brightest when it’s not taking itself too seriously.

The book by DiPietro leans heavily on the first stage of Diana’s (Jeanna de Waal) life, from her meeting with Prince Charles (Roe Hartrampf) through their storied wedding, the births of William and Harry and up to the point where the princess realizes her marriage is a sham and Charles’ true love is the married Camilla Parker Bowles (Erin Davie). The post-divorce years do show Diana’s humanitarian efforts, but there’s no mention of boyfriend Dodi Fayed. The auto accident that ended her life is treated briefly and very tastefully.

The musical score has its share of swelling ballads, each of which was orchestrated by the gifted de Waal.

Most of them bring credible passion to the production, but it’s actually the novelty numbers featuring the press and the dress, as well as one introducing the hunky James Hewitt with whom Diana had an affair, that are the most memorable.

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

OPENING: Lost in Yonkers: Neil Simon’s Pulitzer-winning comedy about a New York family, led by a stern grandmother, who’s just trying to get by and get along after the son leaves town for work. It opens March 14 at the Broadway Theatre in Vista. broadwayvista.biz Spring Awakening: Featuring music from Duncan Sheik, this acclaimed musical tells the tale of a group of teenagers discovering themselves and each other. Presented by the Grossmont College Theatre Arts Department, it opens March 14 at the Stagehouse Theatre in El Cajon. grossmont.edu/campus-life/arts-culture/theater-arts/ Hookman: Lauren Yee’s award-winning slasher comedy about a college freshman attempting to adjust to campus life while also looking out for a serial killer. Presented by SDSU and Moxie Theatre, it opens March 15 at the SDSU Experimental Theatre in the College Area. moxietheatre.com

Diana Judy Kaye does double duty as Queen Elizabeth and romance novelist Barbara Cartland, and she soars over the top in the latter role, but who cares? Every performance except for de Waal’s is arguably eclipsed by William Ivey Long’s costume design. The attention to historical authenticity for these costumes will blow away Diana fanatics and lifetime Royals enthusiasts.

With its gravitas taking a back seat to spectacle and flash, Diana may disappoint the reverent and the proprietary. For others who simply crave a coupl�������������������������� e hours of pure entertainment (Broadway, anyone?), this show is sure to please.

Diana runs through April 14 at La Jolla Playhouse’s Mandell Weiss Theatre, UCSD. $91-$136; lajollaplayhouse.org

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

—David L. Coddon

Menopause The Musical: Four women with seemingly nothing in common bond over the travails of their changing bodies all set to the classic songs from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. It opens March 15 at the Welk Resorts Theatre in Escondido. welkresorts.com/san-diego/theatre Next to Normal: A staged reading with music of the Pulitzer-winning musical about a suburban family dealing with mental illness. Presented by the Carlsbad Playreaders, it happens March 18 at the Carlsbad Dove Library. carlsbadplayreaders.org Seeger: This one-man-show, written and performed by Randy Noojin, tells the tale of folk singer and activist Pete Seeger via song and stories. It happens March 18 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org

CLOSING SOON: Tiny Beautiful Things: The West Coast premiere of Nia Vardalos’ (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) play that follows the complicated life of an advice columnist and the many readers she advises. Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed, it runs through March 17 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org

For complete theater listings, visit sdcitybeat.com

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COURTESY OF JOHN RAYMOND MIRELES

CULTURE | ART

“White Privilege” cards n the corner of 26th Street and Imperial Avenue, there’s a small storefront decorated with commercial decals of young Black men and women cheerfully holding “white privilege” identification cards.

Inside the storefront, there’s a couch, a coffee table and a receptionist signing people in.

“The concept is, basically, we are selling white privilege,” says John Raymond Mireles, the artist behind the Buy White Privilege Project.

For two days, Mireles’ Logan Heights art studio was transformed into a small store where people could purchase identification cards that gave them white privilege from anywhere between $1 to $100.

“The inspiration came from the many well-documented incidents where white people have acted out against people of color,” says Mireles, referring to incidents like the infamous “BBQ Becky” video where a woman who called police to report a group of Black people having a barbecue at an Oakland park. “I thought, well, what if there was an actual card that people of color could have that said, ‘It’s OK, I have white privilege?’”

Mireles put on the interactive art installation in collaboration with Kovu Allen and Ronald Williams from the open mic group Black Xpression. The overall project includes more than just the “White Privilege Card.” It will eventually involve community dialogue events and other installations.

“Black and Brown, people of color, they’re aware [white privilege] exists,” says Allen, adding that although it’s satire, the card provides validation of a greater issue. Each card has the participant’s name, photo, skin color and a fake address in a known affluent (read: mostly white) neighborhood in San Diego.

On the day of the project’s debut, Mireles goes back-andforth between greeting people and taking photographs for the identification cards. Allen speaks to participants and Williams laminates cards in the back of the studio.

Everything runs smoothly at first until Allen points out that it might be better if the receptionist signing people in is a not a white woman.

“If I were to be walking by and I see her and then see they are selling white privilege here,” Allen says before trailing off as others chime in to explain to Mireles why it would be

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best to have a Black person sitting there.

Mireles acknowledges everyone has blind spots, even him, and that this is why Kovu and Williams are an integral part of the project.

“They viscerally understand the issues raised by this project in a way that I never could,” he says. “I can empathize with the negative experience of others, but they live it.

They also keep me in check. If I say something that’s tonedeaf, they’ll call me out on it again and again.”

Initially, Mireles thought of the project as a form of protest, as well as an opportunity to encourage dialogue about racial inequality. While that’s still true, he also now sees it as a celebration.

ANDREA LOPEZ-VILLAFAÑA

John Raymond Mireles “I can’t tell you how many people said, ‘I’ve been waiting for this my entire life!’ It was a fun, lighthearted moment but it was also a bit emotional,” he says. “Our ‘customers’ were receiving validation for something they’d felt their entire lives but was always ignored or dismissed.”

Allen says that part of that “celebration” is not so much the actual card, but the power behind the conversation it creates. The group plans on taking the project to Los Angeles on the first weekend of May but is still finalizing details.

“As we take the Buy White Privilege Project to other cities, I know that we’ll spark conversations and create awareness and even controversy,” Mireles says. “But nothing will be so powerful to me as the emotional responses from our wonderful participants.”

Mireles’ past art projects have had a social engagement aspect and although he has touched on the issue of race in the past, there’s no doubt the Buy White Privilege Project is more controversial.

“I think this is a very important project, a very unique project, certainly for San Diego,” says Mireles. “Doing this kind of installation art that’s socially relevant, potentially highly controversial—to me it’s exciting.”

Even more exciting, he says, is the ability to have the first iteration of the Buy White Privilege Project in San Diego.

Mireles has been working as an artist in San Diego for over 25 years, although he is originally from Whittier, California.

One project he’s most known for is when he began taking photographs of his neighbors in Logan Heights and displaying them along his fence to bring the community together.

He recently returned to San Diego after living and working in New York City for a couple of years. At the time of his departure, Mireles sited economic unfeasibility as a reason why contemporary artists can’t “flourish” in San Diego. Still, the very reasons why he left San Diego seem to be part of the reason why he has returned. He owns his own art studio and wants to help the local art community by opening his own gallery. He also says he’ll adopt a business model that allows the space to “remain sustainable, compensate artists and actively encourage the acquisition of art by customers.”

“I don’t hold out any great hope that we are suddenly going to become an arts mecca,” says Mireles, “but things can certainly be better.”

Back at the White Privilege storefront, participant Trevon Marcel Rogers is recording reactions from people who receive their white privilege card. Some use the word “hilarious” to describe the project at first, but the conversations become increasingly more serious. Suddenly, participants are sharing what white privilege means to them and how it has affected them personally.

Later in the day, as the crowd begins to slow, Allen sits on the coffee table and explains that the art installation makes it so that the subject of white privilege can’t be avoided, even for those who won’t admit that it exists.

“When you hear the term ‘white privilege,’ some people are going to be off-put by that,” says Allen. “So we have to make it into an art installation because of the power behind it.”

MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

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CULTURE | FILM

At a crossroads

Too Late to Die Young

Previewing the 26th annual San Diego Latino Film Festival

by Glenn Heath Jr.

H

ollywood and pop international cinema have a bad habit of placing complex emotions like loneliness, anger and heartbreak into neatly constructed narrative packages. Therefore, any film festival worth its salt dedicates programming space to those diverse artistic voices that challenge these tidy preconceptions about the human experience.

Now celebrating its 26th year, the San Diego Latino Film Festival does just that with a dense, 11-day schedule of features, documentaries and shorts from around the world. Whether exploring the ChicanoAmerican experience or perspectives of female directors, this dynamic film program highlights the vast scope and ambition of modern Latinx cinema.

Dominga Sotomayor’s Tarde Para Morir Joven (Too Late to Die Young) and Federico Veiroj’s Belmonte are two standouts that examine conflicted characters at unique crossroads in their respective lives. While set in two very different locations, each film addresses changing identity through the lens of emotional and physical isolation, navigating tricky psychological terrain in the process.

Set in rural Chile during the early 1990s, Tarde Para Morir Joven follows inhabitants of an independent commune living comfortably off the grid. Their biggest practical concerns are related to infrastructure, specifically electricity and water lines. The collection of families interact in much the same way suburban neighbors would; on the surface everyone gets along, but petty grievances and jealousies arise during social gatherings and what could be seen as the commune equivalent of HOA meetings.

Most interactions are witnessed from the perspective of children who’ve either been born into this lifestyle or forcibly relocated by parents who’ve become fed up with urban living. Much like her superb 2012 debut feature, De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), Sotomayor’s film tries to make sense of the complicated world from this particular vantage point.

Teenagers Sofia (Demian Hernández) and Lucas (Antar Machado) come to represent the tension between adolescence and adulthood, experiencing unrequited love, confusion and sadness in equal measure.

Carla (Magdalena Tótoro), a pragmatic tween who loses her beloved dog in the first sequence, evokes

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the measured resilience one would expect from the grownups who’ve decided to disavow society altogether.

Collisions with the outside world reveal a Chile still recovering from the Pinochet dictatorship and the national traumas it caused. Sotomayor’s young characters are also in flux, questioning family dynamics, embracing hormonal mood swings and defying contradictions perpetuated by their parents. All of these swirling ideas come to a head in the film’s ravishing and revelatory final sequence that handily bests the forest fire in Roma.

By comparison, Belmonte is a Uruguayan character study that considers a situation far more potentially tragic. Its lead character, a successful artist and failed family man named Javier (Gonzalo Delgado), has become consumed by the collapse of his marriage and a growing disconnect from other family members. He sulks and stews, wearing defeat openly for all to see.

Only his precocious young daughter Celeste (Olivia Molinaro Eijo) brings out any sparks of joy.

As with his previous films, A Useful Life and The Apostate, Veiroj blends deadpan humor and deep pathos to create a personal headspace mired by self-destructive stagnation. Despite Javier’s ornery and defeatist attitude, it’s easy to relate to his struggle since he’s essentially been left behind by all of the people who matter. While it remains unclear exactly why this has happened (circumstances? Pride? Guilt?), his deep-seeded pain is palpable and universal.

Like with many insecure male characters ravished by doubt, Javier experiences an epiphany only when he stops blaming others for his unhappiness. Belmonte complements this journey with some magical touches and singular flourishes, stylistic anomalies that seem to be inspired by Celeste’s verve and affection for her father. They are so much closer than Javier realizes, and all of his anxiety seems rooted in the futile notion that one can control life’s inevitable shifts.

The San Diego Latino Film Festival will open Thursday, March 14 and runs through Sunday, March 24, at the AMC Fashion Valley Cinemas and Digital Gym Cinema. For more information visit sdlatinofilm.com.

Film reviews run weekly.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

CULTURE | FILM

History repeating

C

Transit

hristian Petzold’s eerie, achingly beautiful new thriller, Transit, transplants wartime fears and desperation of its source material (Anna Seghers’s 1942 novel, Transit Visa) to envision what our collective future may look like as new waves of fascism sweep across the globe.

Nazi forces have begun invading modern France, but Georg (Franz Rogowski) waits idly in a Parisian café for his inevitable fate to arrive. Instead of the new Ge-

stapo, he’s met with an opportunity; a friend fleeing the oncoming “cleansing” promises him cash if he delivers secret letters to an exiled leftist German writer.

By agreeing, Georg gets swept up in a twisty narrative of mistaken identity and paranoia that carries him to Marseille. The port city is the last vestige of hope for those looking to flee, as they attempt to catch one of the few remaining ships to Mexico or America. In order to obtain the necessary transit papers and visas, he assumes the identity of the very man he’s been tasked to find.

An off-screen narrator describes Georg’s predicament with an objective coldness, which stands in contrast to the desperation that fuels every one of his decisions. Conversations unspool more like confessions. The clock is perpetually ticking not just on democracy, but on the very nature of individuality.

Petzold creates unwavering tension from this nightmare scenario, deftly weaving together references to 21st century social issues (refugee crisis, European nationalism) with sly variations on tropes from

the classic wartime thriller. Yet, his directorial high wire act does not indulge in bravura stylistics or sensationalism.

Above all else, Transit (opening Friday, March 15, at the Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas) is a film of gutting momentum swings. For every minor victory there are countless failed escapes and false promises, leaving the devastating sense that hope can only truly be found in the sacrifices made by others.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING San Diego Latino Film Festival: Over 160-plus films, panel discussions, food events and parties will encompass this 11-day program that illuminates the diverse and engaging perspectives from Latinx artists from around the world. Runs from Thursday, March 14 through Sunday, March 24, at AMC Fashion Valley Cinemas and the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Climax: In controversial French auteur Gaspar Noe’s new film, a party for a modern dance troupe celebrating the end of rehearsals turns into an all-night LSD-infused nightmare. Opens Friday, March 15, at Angelika Film Centers Carmel Mountain and Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

Giant Little Ones: Two teenage boys and lifelong friends have their lives upended after an incident occurs on the night of a birthday party. Opens Friday, March 15, at AMC Mission Valley 20 and Angelika Film Centers Carmel Mountain.

The Invisibles: This drama follows the experiences of four Jewish characters that lived underground in Berlin throughout WWII. Opens Friday, March 15, at the Ken Cinema.

The Wedding Guest: Dev Patel plays a mysterious guest with ulterior motives as he attends a wedding in India. Opens Friday, March 15, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

Transit: Christian Petzold’s latest dramatic thriller follows a man who flees the Nazi invasion with the papers of a dead author only to meet the wife of the man’s he’s impersonating. Opens Friday, March 15, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

ONE TIME ONLY Sunrise: F.W Murnau’s iconic silent 1927 melodrama about a man torn between two women will be presented with a live orchestra accompaniment. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14 at the San Diego Symphony.

L’ordine Delle Cose: An Italian immigration official on assignment in Libya meets a refugee and their lives become inexplicably linked. Screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14, at the La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas.

Hero: Jet Li stars in Zhang Yimou’s martial arts epic about an elaborate assassination attempt on King of Qin in the 227 B.C. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday, March 15, at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.

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

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

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ROBBIE JEFFERS

MUSIC

an Diego has never been much of a funk town. Sure, the city has its fair share of funk, soul and R&B bands, most notably groups like Rebecca Jade & The Cold Fact, the Sure Fire Soul Ensemble and just about any project that drummer Jake Najor plays in.

Still, San Diego doesn’t have a connection to the history and mythology of funk in the same way as places like Detroit, Memphis or, say, Plainfield, New Jersey (the latter being the birthplace of Parliament-Funkadelic).

So when a proper funk album comes out in San Diego, that’s cause for celebration.

And local saxophonist and singer Karl Denson’s new effort, Gnomes & Badgers, is damn funky. Recorded with his long-running, ever-evolving band, the Tiny Universe, it’s a hard-driving opus of steamy drum grooves, catchy horn hooks, aching wah-wah guitar solos and political calls-to-action. It also peppers in hints of oddball humor and an uplifting message of positivity.

Gnomes & Badgers is Denson’s sixth release with the Tiny Universe. When he’s not playing with them, he’s often working as a sideman and session musician (he currently tours as the saxophonist for the Rolling Stones). He’s played many kinds of music over his fruitful 30-year music career, but he says his goal was simple for this new effort.

“I was just trying to make a funk record,” Denson says matter-of-factly, speaking over the phone before heading to lunch with his girlfriend on a recent trip to New Orleans.

“And really, I have to give credit to the band on that one. The real beauty of this record

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Karl Denson was me finally coming to a place with the band where I don’t feel like I have to tell them what to do. I just sing songs to them now.

They come up with the grooves themselves.”

Denson got his start as a touring member of Lenny Kravitz’s band in the late 1980s.

In 1993, he co-founded the psychedelic funk outfit The Greyboy Allstars. Originally formed to back up Andreas Stevens (aka San Diego acid jazz champion DJ Greyboy), the Allstars solidified their status as local legends with a two-and-a-half-year residency at the Green Circle Bar, a downtown dive bar. At those shows, the Allstars would often get bodies moving on the dance floor with its potent mix of funk, jazz and soul.

The Allstars have kept playing off-andon together over the years, and their eclectic, crowd-pleasing approach is clearly still a major influence on Denson. Greyboy bassist

Chris Stillwell and former Greyboy drummer Zak Najor both appear on Gnomes & Badgers, while guitarists D.J. Williams and Seth Freeman help lend the album a nice balance

between rhythmic funk and fuzzed-out rock.

“Change My Way,” with its Afrobeat-style drums and fuzzy guitar lick, is easily the best track on the album. It sounds like it could’ve emerged from a primordial swamp of weed

smoke and magic. The song was co-written

by New Orleans guitarist Anders Osborne, and it was inspired by the Detroit band Black Merda, who laid down grunting, call-andresponse vocals and gritty guitar solos over funk rhythms in the 1960s and early ’70s.

The first time Denson heard Black Merda’s iconic song “Cynthy-Ruth,” he was floored.

“When I heard it the first time, I listened to it for about 48 hours straight,” he says.

The title of Gnomes & Badgers is a cheeky reference to the divisive politics in Trump’s America. Republicans and Democrats have become so divided, Denson suggests, that they’ve practically become different species.

The video for “Change My Way,” directed by filmmaker T.G. Herrington, flickers with images of border militarization and shots of people from different ethnic backgrounds posing, smiling and stitching together an American flag from multiple kinds of cloth.

It ends with the hashtag #Ways2Change emblazoned on the bottom of the screen. While Denson doesn’t usually get political in his music, he’s been giving to charities for years, and now he and his team are making plans to provide support for refugees from the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

“We’re going to sit down with a couple of people and get better informed on how to actually do a foundation of some sort,” he says. “I think the fact that we as America have blown up all these countries on accident, and then we don’t like the people that we leave in the wake—we should step in and have a little more compassion.”

Still, in the end, it’s all about the funk on this album. It truly is wonderful the way that Denson’s Tiny Universe locks in so well on Gnomes & Badgers. Denson’s been playing with many of the musicians on this current version of the Tiny Universe band for years, and he says that the real pocket grooves came as a result of their familiarity and comfort with one another.

“This is a 20-year process, literally. I’ve been making records for 20 years as Tiny Universe, having different configurations [of the band],” he says. “It’s really just been a process of playing a lot of shows, and learning what everybody does well and what they don’t do well.”

And when they don’t do well? Denson is no J.K. Simmons in Whiplash, but he does give brutally honest feedback to musicians on occasion.

“I’ve definitely had guys get butt-hurt from time to time about things that I’ve had to say.”

MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 21

BY RYAN BRADFORD

MUSIC

BLACK

The big score

T

ALFRED HOWARD

GOLD

his was a big score.

I’ve had some scores in my life. An elderly woman once gave me 1,500 records because I helped her clean out her garage (by the way, I’ll happily help you clean your garage for records).

But this one was a next-level score. A friend of mine buys storage units and sells the contents at the Santee Swap Meet. We’ve done a lot of business over the past year, so he gave me a call when he got a unit full of records. I was supposed to work at my day job later that evening, but before my shift started, I went to the unit to see what we were dealing with.

The storage unit door opened and I immediately had that Christmas Morning pulse of a spoiled child. A lone tear fell slowly down my face as I stared in awe. I was hypnotized by the vastness of it all. Was this how the first person to stumble upon the Grand Canyon felt?

I called in “well” to work. “Hello, work, I’m feeling too excellent to possibly be there this evening. Can we try again tomorrow when the mediocrity of reality kicks back in? Thanks.”

There were records stacked from floorto-ceiling. There were load bearing 45s that, if moved slightly, two towers of records would collapse like a metaphor too obvious to complete. And here’s the thing: It was all Black music. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t discriminate—I’ll grab a Zeppelin record just as fast as one by Marvin Gaye, but this is San Diego. There’s like seven black dudes in this town and I’ve been mistaken for six of them.

Finding collections of Black music has a special elusive glow to it.

I didn’t know where to start. I was the overweight kid left alone in a candy store. I saw a box that said James Brown records and yet, somehow, I was still surprised when I opened it and it was filled with James Brown

records. My friend and I went to work. It was a huge locker—so deep that when I scaled the first vinyl Kilimanjaro, I still couldn’t see the back. All in all, we’d spend three days clearing this unit out. I filled my Toyota 4Runner four times with records. The car sagged under the weight of it all.

It’s interesting sorting through someone’s life like that. When the door to the unit opened, there was a heartbreaking feeling as if the previous owner were saying, “I lost my job, my family and can’t pay rent—this is all I have.”

“I Shall Not Want”

by Honorable Rev. Moore We came across family photos that captured loves wide-eyed fresh start, as well as pics of children’s basketball games, record-show flyers and evidence of an affair.

I stayed up at night contemplating where it went wrong for this guy. Why hadn’t he sold the records to pay the rent? How long had he not paid the rent on the storage unit only to throw it all away?

Some of the possessions had been in there unmoved for years. I’d find puzzle

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

pieces of evidence—naked polaroids of his wife and then revealing photos of another woman during the same time period. Had I gone too far down the rabbit hole of a man’s life? Or is this what I had to do in order to properly inherit his soundtrack?

I started to think he might be crazy because he had 100 copies of the same Earth, Wind and Fire album. Who does that?! As I posed the question to myself, I realized that I now had 100 copies of an Earth, Wind and Fire album, plus the 10 I already had at home. And as I looked around the dust, rat shit and excessive disorganization, I wondered if this Black mirror (so to speak) had a lesson for me: If I were to die in that moment, what would the vultures find as they picked the flesh of my possessions?

I eventually got all the records into my house, which freaked out the roommates.

There was a week where one might have opened the refrigerator only to find a box of 45s. It took me a month to sort through everything. It was hard to pick just one song from this score, but there was an unknown Chicago gospel album that swung so hard, I hurt myself moving to it. It’s called “I Shall Not Want” by the Honorable Reverend Moore. I feel like this record would be a collector’s dream if anyone ever heard it. The congregation is a part of the snare drum and those soulful claps drive the train to a salvation so tangible that, for a moment, I believed in something.

I also found a second little collection of naked photos from the ’80s. They weren’t graphic, but they weren’t tasteful either. There were also photos of their children with no shirts on—innocent pictures in the possession of a family. In my possession and paired with the nude candids, however, they had a creepy look that rivaled the storage unit of your average serial killer. I meant to throw them away, but I did what I do best—I lost them within all the vinyl. Somewhere in that vast sea of 10,000 records, there’s a creepy collection of polaroids that I really don’t want to own.

Now I’m just trying not to die so no one ever has to sort through my shit and wonder if I was some weird time-traveling sociopath. I had always hoped the Al Howard documentary was something my mom could watch.

Black Gold appears every other week.

Alfred Howard is always looking for vinyl and stories, and can be contacted at blackgoldsandiego@gmail.com.

THE

SPOTLIGHT

Blaqk Audio

A

FI frontman Davey Havok has always felt like something of a trend-chaser—an artist who never seems to be satisfied in the genre he’s in. This is obvious if we trace the evolution of AFI’s trajectory from jokey hardcore roots, to their full fledged Misfits phase, to their gothic anime phase, to their dark post-punk industrial phase and finally to, well, whatever they’re doing now. The man knows how to write a good song, but with the exception of dark theatrics, there’s never been a solidified AFI sound.

Because of this genre bandwagoning, Havok’s electronic-heavy Blaqk Audio feels more like an extension of AFI’s eccentricities rather than a side-project (it also doesn’t hurt that AFI’s guitarist Jade Puget is the other permanent member). Given the flashes of techno hidden in AFI’s music since 2000’s Art of Drowning, Blaqk Audio feels like Havok indulging in his most unadulterated interests.

That’s not to imply that it’s bad, because it’s not. One of their new tracks “OK, Alex”—an ‘80s pastiche complete with the decade’s signature vapidity—is annoyingly hooky and you hate yourself for dancing to it. “Unstained,” on the other hand, is as reserved and icy as any Depeche Mode song. Given how self-serious AFI has become in the last couple years, Blaqk Audio is actually quite fun in comparison, even if it’s stupid-fun.

Blaqk Audio plays Thursday, March 14 at Observatory North Park.

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MUSIC

IF I WERE U

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

Our picks for the week’s top shows

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13

PLAN A: Low @ Mous Tache Bar, Tijuana. Hopefully readers caught our feature on legendary indie-rockers Low. They’re not playing any shows in San Diego, so this will be the only chance fans get to see them here for a while. PLAN B: Headphone, Body Salt, Twin Ritual @ The Casbah. A nice lineup of local bands. Headphone specializes in anthemic, synth-based rock in the vein of latter-day Depeche Mode. Do show up for up-and-comers Body Salt and Twin Ritual. BACKUP PLAN: Jesika Von Rabbit, Dani Bell and the Tarantist, Ba Bête @ Soda Bar.

We’ve been obsessed with outlaw country singer Jamey Johnson since his 2008 breakout LP, That Lonesome Song. A master of the twang-heavy, tear-in-your-beer ballad, he hasn’t released a new album since 2010 so we’re hoping to hear some new songs on this night. PLAN B: Noname, Elton @ The Observatory North Park. Chicago native Fatimah Warner is a musical triple threat, as she weaves in out of poetry, rapping and singing like it’s no problem. Her 2016 debut, Telefone, is a modern classic, and her new joint, Room 25 is just as impressive. BACKUP PLAN: Beach Bums, Kicked Off The Streets, Sustivity, Oatmeal Hot Karl, Jinx @ Suite 104.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14

SUNDAY, MARCH 17

PLAN A: DIN, Karger Traum, Adiós Mundo Cruel @ Whistle Stop. Similar to the music of groups like The Knife and Arca, the synth-based IDM of L.A. duo DIN takes a little patience and attention, but once you’re into it, it’s addictive. The same goes for Oklahoma City’s Karger Traum, but with some strange, guttural vocals added for good measure. PLAN B: Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe @ The Music Box. Check out Peter Holslin’s excellent feature on local sax legend Karl Denson on page 21. This is the release show for Denson’s excellent new LP, Gnomes & Badgers. BACKUP PLAN: Ark Patrol, MOSSS @ Soda Bar. JONATHAN KOPE

PLAN A: Shing02 & The Chee-Hoos: A Tribute To Nujabes @ The Music Box. For those unfamiliar with Japanese DJ and producer Nujabes, the easiest comparison is J Dilla. Both were prolific beat-makers and producers who died way too young and reached legendary status, albeit posthumously. Japanese hip-hop artist Shing02 pays tribute to Nujabes with a killer live show that features a live band as well as old-school turntablism.

PLAN B: Moon Hooch, Lavender Fields, Elena Shirin @ The Casbah. Fans of Morphine will want to check out this Brooklyn trio, which consists of two saxophone players and a drummer creating hypnotizing and sometimes aggressive loops of sound. BACKUP PLAN: Scary Pockets, Whitney Shay and The Hustle @ Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, MARCH 18

PLAN A: Garth Algar, Owain, Vedic @ Soda Bar. Sludgy doom-metal inspired by Star Wars and The Simpsons, and named after Wayne’s BFF from Wayne’s World. Potential fans of this band will know who they are. BACKUP PLAN: Plainwrecks, Eridia, Wine @ The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MARCH 19 Alice Phoebe Lou

FRIDAY, MARCH 15

PLAN A: Gene Evaro Jr., Próxima Parada, Lily Waters @ Soda Bar. A solid lineup of soul artists to get your feet, as well as your feelings, moving on a Friday night. Evaro is a Joshua Tree-based musician whose new album, Like It’s 1965, is all over the musical map and lives up to its title. BACKUP PLAN: Spooky Cigarette, Timothy Eerie @ Bar Pink.

SATURDAY, MARCH 16

PLAN A: Jamey Johnson, Erin Enderlin, Groove International @ House of Blues.

@SDCITYBEAT

PLAN A: Alice Phoebe Lou, Loving @ The Casbah. We’ve been fans of Berlinbased singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou since hearing her song “She” in Bombshell: The Heady Lamarr Story, but her new album, Paper Castles, seems destined to be her breakout. Filled with moody lyrics and brilliant hooks, it’s the type of record that inevitably ends up on all the “Best Albums Of 2019” lists. PLAN B: Wand, Cat Scan @ Soda Bar. Los Angeles indie-rockers Wand finally got the attention they deserved with 2017’s Plum, a beautiful pastiche of styles and sounds that still, somehow, effortlessly blended together. They’re live shows are known for being just as spirited. BACKUP PLAN: Cold Cave, Adult., Vowws @ Belly Up Tavern.

MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

The Rockademy (Music Box, 3/31), Classless Act (Soda Bar, 4/4), Pink Froyd (Music Box, 4/14), The Hillbilly Moon Explosion (Soda Bar, 4/16), The Primaveras, Loosen the Noose (BUT, 4/16), Brawley (BUT, 4/17), The Floozies, Band of Gringos (BUT, 4/18), Vandoliers, Cory Branan (Soda Bar, 4/23), The Strawberry Moons (BUT, 4/23), Young Jesus (Ché Café Collective, 5/1), Steel Pulse (BUT, 5/2), Cocoa Tea (BUT, 5/5), Deaf Havana (Soda Bar, 5/10), Cowboy Junkies (Observatory, 5/18), Cash’d Out (BUT, 5/26), Sego (Soda Bar, 5/30), Helms Alee (Casbah, 5/30), Connan Mockasin (Casbah, 6/3), TTNG (The Irenic, 6/7), Jamila Woods (Casbah, 6/18), Through The Roots (Observatory, 6/22), Aly & AJ (Observatory, 6/25), John Hiatt (BUT, 6/25), Charly Bliss (Casbah, 6/29), The B-Side Players (BUT, 7/13), Stef Chura (Soda Bar, 7/26), Judah & The Lion (Observatory, 10/17), Hozier (Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 10/26), Dick Dale’s Misirlou (BUT, 12/19).

GET YER TICKETS Mike Doughty (Soda Bar, 3/23), Queensrÿche (Observatory, 3/27), Black Moth Super Rainbow (BUT, 3/31), Vince Staples (Observatory, 4/2), Anvil (Brick By Brick, 4/4), San Holo (Observatory, 4/5), Taking Back Sunday (Observatory, 4/67), Meat Puppets (Soda Bar, 4/7), T-Pain

(Observatory, 4/9), David Archuleta (California Center for the Arts, 4/17), Passion Pit (Observatory, 5/1), Seth Meyers (Balboa Theater, 5/3), Chromatics, Desire (Observatory, 5/4), Dead Boys (Casbah, 5/22), Justin Moore (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 5/31), Brad Paisley (North Island Credit Union Ampitheatre, 6/1), Local Natives (Observatory, 6/19), Aly & AJ (Observatory, 6/25), Priests (Soda Bar, 6/26), Billie Eilish (Cal Coast Credit Union, 7/13), Carrie Underwood (Pechanga Arena, 10/10), The Who (Viejas Arena, 10/16), Judah & The Lion (Observatory, 10/17), Hozier (Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 10/26).

MARCH WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13 Action Bronson at House Of Blues. Gordon Lightfoot at Balboa Theatre. Billy Idol, Steve Stevens at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Jesika von Rabbit at Soda Bar. Headphone at The Casbah.

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

MOSSS at Soda Bar. Lazerpunk at Brick

By Brick. Stephen Marley at Belly Up Tavern.

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

Gene Evaro Jr at Soda Bar. Emo Nite at The Casbah. Super Diamond at Music Box (sold out).

SATURDAY, MARCH 16 Noname at Observatory North Park. Hypocrisy at Brick By Brick. Chris Tomlin at

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl SDSU. Jamey Johnson at House of Blues. Rhett Miller at Soda Bar. Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern. (sold out).

SUNDAY, MARCH 17 Watsky at House Of Blues. Shing02 & The Chee-Hoos at Music Box. Moon Hooch at The Casbah. The Downs Family at Soda Bar. ONE OK ROCK at Observatory North Park.

MONDAY, MARCH 18 Rivers of Nihil at Brick By Brick. Plainwrecks at The Casbah. Garth Algar at Soda Bar. IL Divo at San Diego Civic Theatre. Ryan Beatty at House of Blues.

TUESDAY, MARCH 19 Cold Cave at Belly Up Tavern. WAND at Soda Bar. Catfish and the Bottlemen at House of Blues. Alice Phoebe Lou at The Casbah.

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

Green Leaf Rustlers at Belly Up Tavern.

Mat Kerekes at House of Blues.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21 Downers at Soda Bar.

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

SATURDAY, MARCH 23 Damage, Inc. at Brick By Brick. Mike

Doughty at Soda Bar. Tyler Hilton at Lestat’s West. Hot Flash Heat Wave at The Irenic. Ryan Bingham at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Boogaloo Assassins at Music Box. Foals at Observatory North Park (sold out).

SUNDAY, MARCH 24 Matt Nathanson at Music Box (sold out).

Ayla Nereo at Soda Bar. Infinite Floyd at Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, MARCH 25 Acid Mothers Temple at The Casbah.

Ryan Bingham at Music Box (sold out).

TUESDAY, MARCH 26 Plini at SOMA. The Cat Empire at House Of Blues.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27 Queensrÿche at Observatory. Blue Oyster Cult at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Jade Jackson at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, MARCH 28 Galactic ft. Erica Falls at Belly Up Tavern. Electric Six at The Casbah. Wet x Kilo Kish with Helena at Observatory North Park. Gorilla Biscuits at The Irenic.

SWMRS at Music Box (sold out). Angel Du$t at House Of Blues. The Dollyrots at SPACE.

FRIDAY, MARCH 29 BROODS at Observatory North Park.

She Wants Revenge at Music Box. Messern Chups at Soda Bar. Reyno at House Of Blues. Three Mile Pilot at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, MARCH 30 Donna Missal at The Casbah. Rubblebucket at Music Box. Citizen Cope at Observatory North Park. The Driver Era at The Irenic (sold out).

SUNDAY, MARCH 31 Black Moth Super Rainbow at Belly Up Tavern. Aborted at Brick By Brick. Sekta Core at Soda Bar. DJ Artistic’s Hip Hop Battle Bot at The Casbah. The Rockademy at Music Box.

MONDAY, APRIL 1 Whitney Rose at Soda Bar. Ruby Boots at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, APRIL 2 Dilly Dally at The Casbah. Vince Staples at Observatory North Park.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3 Al Stewart at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Missio at Music Box. Bad Suns at Observatory North Park. Cassie B at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, APRIL 4 The Havana Cuba All-Stars at Music Box. Anvil at Brick By Brick. Easy Wind at Belly Up Tavern. Trevor Hall at Observatory North Park. Reaction Phase at Brick

By Brick. Classless Act at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, APRIL 5 Girlpool, The Dip at Soda Bar. Dead Feather Moon at Belly Up Tavern. Strangelove at Music Box. San Holo at Observatory North Park. Anthem at Brick By Brick.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

@SDCITYBEAT

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Wed: Open Mic. Fri: CaliSamba, Cadu Ramos, DJ Novinho. Sat: 40 Oz To Freedom. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: BeatJackers, Lost Monarchs.

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

Thu: ‘CoolLikeDat’. Fri: ‘House Music Fridays’. Sat: ‘JUICY’. Sun: ‘Possession’. Mon: ‘Organized Grime’. Tue: DJ Elevate.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Wed: ‘The Come-Up Comedy Showcase’. Thu: Harland Williams. Fri: Harland Williams. Sat: Harland Williams. Tue: Open Mic. The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: Year of Dead Bird, Those Darn Gnomes, Pruitt Igloe.

Fri: Necrochamber, Defixion, Bourn Ultra.

Sat: Impurities, A World Without, ElectroMagnetic, Know The Ending, Silence The Prince. Mon: Trivia. Tue: Karaoke.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: Hotel Garuda. Sat: Fleetmac Wood.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Wed: Amigo, Ventralis. Thu: Trivia. Fri: Timothy Eeri, Spooky Cigarette. Sat: The Downs Family. Sun: Rat Sabbath. Mon: ‘Supermatt’. Tue: ‘Tiki Tuesday’.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Dave Gleason Trio. Fri: The Nineteen90’s. Sat: Dave Gleason Trio, Moonage Daydreamers.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., So-

@SDCITYBEAT

lana Beach. Wed: Billy Idol, Steve Stevens (sold out). Thu: Stephen Marley Acoustic.

Fri: Super Diamond, Fleetwood Max (sold out). Sat: Super Diamond, Graceband (sold out). Sun: Scary Pockets, Whitney Shay, The Hustle. Tue: Cold Cave, ADULT, VOWWS. Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: The Heartbeat Trail, The Clint Eastwood band, The Downs Family.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’. Thu: Western Settings, Doc Hammer, Braggers, Petty Saints. Fri: ‘We Are Yr Friends’. Sat: ‘Blonde 54’. Sun: ‘Spectrum: Diverse Dance Party’. Mon: ‘Goth Nite’. Tue: ‘Nocturne’.

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

Sat: Big Dude.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Thu: Lazerpunk. Sat: Hypocrisy, Fleshgod Apocalypse. Mon: Rivers of Nihil.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Wed: Headphone, Body Salt, Twin Ritual. Thu: The Slashes, Warsaw, Velvet Starlings. Fri: Emo Nite. Sun: Moon Hooch, Lavender Fields, Elena Shirin.

Mon: Plainwrecks, Eridia, Wine. Tue: Alice Phoebe Lou, Loving.

Che Cafe, 1000 Scholars Drive S, La Jolla. Sat: ‘Salinbury Festival’.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Bay Park. Sat: The Joshua White Trio.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Fri: ‘F6ix Fridays’. Sat: DJ Moe. Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Fri: DJ Kaos. Sat: Wellman.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): Within all of the variable and infinite universes that are pressed up against this universe, it is possible that, in one of them, you have succeeded in opening the jar.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Now is a great time to start a small business so long as you have at least $250 million available in venture capital funding.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): This week you are like the Olympics: your presence is destructive to everyone nearby and the only people who want to host you are only doing so for selfinvolved reasons.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): People always say that one of the biggest dangers of a fire is smoke inhalation, but I think this week you will find the actual fire a little more occupying.

LEO (July 23 - August 22): This week is all about connecting with your inner child and having a head that’s 40-percent of your body mass. Maybe try to take a bath in a sink as well.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): The world, as well as every living creature that comprises it, continues to march forward—never ceasing, no matter whether or not you can find parking.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22): The difference between victory and defeat is strategy, and sometimes the best strategy is pretending that you have the stomach flu and staying home.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): There remains one stalwart truth of the life: If you have enough traffic cones, you can do pretty much anything you want to do.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): The human spirit is resilient, no matter how many personal dreams you let starve and die. And yet you still find a way to open your heart to the possibility of killing another one.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): The pervasive myth that only lionesses hunt came from the fact that lions hunt exclusively in tall grass, and no one ever wanted to go in and see for themselves.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): You know that feeling when you’re stirring a pot of soup and the spoon slips out of your hand and sinks beneath the broth?

That’s pretty much your life this week.

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): This week, remember that no matter how insignificant you think you are, you will always matter to the seagulls who see you eating a bag of Lays potato chips.

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

MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Action Bronson. Thu: Jerry “Hot Rod” DeMink. Fri: Graham Gillot Band. Sat: Jamey Johnson. Sun: Watsky.

Mon: Ryan Beatty. Tue: Catfish and The Bottlemen.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: The Naked Eye, Evan Diamond & Company. Thu: DJ Chuck. Fri: Viva Santana. Sat: Full Strength Funk. Sun: Major Interval. Mon: Whitney Shay & The Hustle. Tue: Fuzzy Rankins.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Fri: ‘Digital Cocoon’. Sat: ‘EDEN After Dark’. Sun: Ciara B., Nathan Gorey, Mr. Wright.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Sat: Delma, Kids ‘N Propane, Punchcard, Masteria.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Fri: Kahlil Nash, Mr. J Reez, Tim Dickison. Sat: Lee Coutler, Dixie Maxwell. Sun: Chris Trapper, Mary Scholz. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: ‘Comedy Night’.

Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. Wed: Alfredo Rodriguez. Sun: ‘Lo-fi Study Jam’.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Jackson & Billy. Thu: Johnny G And The Intruders. Fri: Ron’s Garage. Sat: The Alternatives. Sun: Misty & Moby. Tue: Glenn Smith.

Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: Nadya Ginsburg. Sat: Telly Leung. Sun: Keep It on the DL. Tue: ‘Hillcrest Comedy Night’.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hill-

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 13, 2019

crest. Wed: ‘Night Bloomers: Having a Good Time’. Thu: KiNg EmErY, DrippaZay, KyiranFamous. Fri: ‘Trick: Ginger Binge’. Sat: Fishing for Chips, Avenue Army, Ready Set Survive, Mainsail. Sun: ‘In Concert Variety Show’. Mon: ‘Playground Monday Night Dance Party’. Tue: Golden Plates, Husky, Loops, Blueprint NATL. Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Thu: James Allen Band. Fri: Black Cherry Lightnin’. Sat: Sonic Tonic. Mon: ‘Tony Ortega Jazz Jam’. Tue: Karaoke.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Thu: Yung Gravy, bbno$, Tiiiiiiiiiip, Joey Trap. Fri: Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Gnomes & Badgers. Sat: Madlib, Mike Wallace, Drumetrics, John Givez, Dauche, Gabonano. Sun: Shing02 & The CheeHoos, DJ Norm Rocwell.

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

Wed: ‘Rhythm & Booze: ‘00-’18 R&B Jams’. Thu: ‘No Limits’. Fri: ‘After Hours’.

Sat: ‘Strictly Business’. Sun: Tribe of Kings. Mon: ‘Motown on Mondays’. Tue: ‘Night Shift’.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Slander. Sat: Matoma.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: ‘The Wednesday Jam Session’. Sat: Montalban Quintet. Sun: Ambassadors of Soul.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: DJ Direct. Sat: Joe Maz. Pour House, 1903 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Wed: Open Mic. Thu: Parade of Horribles. Fri: Custard Pie. Sat: Sabbath Buddy Sabbath. Sun: Kimmi Bitter.

Mon: Trivia. Tue: DJ Lexicon Devil.

Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Michele Lundeen.

Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Stoney B Blues. Sat: Robin Henkel.

The Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: ‘St. Patty’s Country Dance’. Sat: ‘March Girls Dance’. Mon: Trivia.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: ‘Mischief with Bianca’. Thu: ‘#LEZ + House Music’. Fri: ‘Dirty POP!’. Sat: ‘Fuel’. Sun: ‘Super Discoteka’.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’. Thu: Chloe Lou & Davies. Fri: Tiki Tronic. Sat: Suspicious Grits. Tue: ‘Everything & Anything Jam’.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Dab Rabb, Pat Knightly, Gabe Carson. Thu: DJ Dougie Frosh.

Fri: Tori Roze & the Hot Mess. Sat: Joey Harris & the Mentals. Sun: DJ Dunekat.

Tue: Jaron Yancey.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Jessica von Rabbit, Dani Bell and the Tarantist. Thu: Ark Patrol, MOSSS. Fri: Gene Evaro Jr., Proxima Parada, Lily Waters. Sat: Three Bad Jacks, Hard Fall Hearts. Sun: The Downs Family, Lexington Field, Johnny Deadly Trio. Mon: Garth Algar, Owain, Vedic. Tue: WAND, Cat Scan.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Sat: Life In Discord, Grenelane, Dream Haze, Smarter Than Robots, Hartsick, If Only.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: ‘Make Yourself at Home’.

Thu: Forever Ends Now, Slow Decay, Palace Of Mourning, In Spite. Fri: ‘Rollin’ Wit Tha Funk’. Sat: Trisomie 21, Shadowhouse, Void Lust. Sun: Allweather, The Midnight Block, CoreTracks. Tue: Karaoke.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Midtown. Fri: Will Clarke, Sian, Lee K. Sat: Overdrive, DJ GSP, Techniche.

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

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Thu: Deeper Shade of Soul. Fri: Timothy Eerie. Sun: ‘PANTS Karaoke!’.

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: ‘The Corner’. Thu: Keep Your Soul Duo. Fri: Coriander. Sat: Coriander. Sun: DJ Win. Mon: Lucky Devils Band. Tue: Chad & Rosie.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park. Wed: ‘Country Western Dance Night’. Thu: Mercedes Moore Band. Fri: Funks Most Wanted. Sat: Detroit Underground. Mon: ‘Sexy Salsa & Sensual Bachata’. Tue: The Tourmaliners.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Wed: Watashi Wa Dance Party, SheHerHers, Grey Matter, Wanted Noise.

Thu: ‘Houserockin’ Dance Party’. Sat: Frantic Surf. Sun: Old Fashion Assassin, Nebula Drag, Desert Suns, Mezzoa.

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

Wed: Mo Lyon. Fri: DJ Freeman. Sat: DJ Rico. Sun: Judah Eskender Tafari, The Originators. Mon: ‘#31 Flavors’.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Thu: Din, Karger Traum, Adios Mundo Cruel. Fri: ‘F#$%ING in the Bushes’.

Sat: ‘80s vs ‘90s Dance Party’. Mon: ‘Electric Relaxation’. Tue: ‘Videodrome’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Wed: ‘Club Kingston’. Thu: ‘OB Hip Hop Social’. Fri: Boostive, Mimi Zulu.

Sat: Casual Yack. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Choose Your Own Adventure, The Josh Rosenblum Band.

@SDCITYBEAT

BY JACKIE BRYANT

IN THE BACK

CANNABITCH Ad blockers

COURTESY OF LOWELL HERB CO.

C

annabis companies are making a play for primetime advertising spots. The first to try was Acreage Holdings, a medical cannabis company that currently operates in 11 states. They had their sights set on the Super Bowl, where a commercial would have been viewed alongside brands like Michelob, PepsiCo, Amazon, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Burger King and Procter & Gamble, among many others. Acreage’s ad didn’t promote any of its products—it served as a PSA about the benefits of medicinal cannabis. Nevertheless, CBS rejected it, telling the company that the ad was “not consistent with the network’s advertising policies.” CBS also told Vox that it does “not currently accept cannabis-related advertising.”

Cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, so CBS’s policy wasn’t a complete shock. It does, however, reek of hypocrisy, especially considering alcohol ads are on just about every television channel in existence. The same goes for pharmaceutical ads, which can be so convincing they even manage to make a cranky gal like me feel bad for old dudes who can’t get it up.

I’m of the firm belief that cannabis use is less harmful to individual people and society than alcohol and certain pharmaceuticals. My own experiences, however anecdotal, also seem to be backed up by some preliminary studies, so the hypocrisy in promoting and accepting ads from alcohol and pharma companies while shunning cannabis as an illicit drug is lame. And at a time when the stigma and criminality surrounding cannabis use is rightly being chal-

@SDCITYBEAT

Lowell Smokes commercial lenged, these policies are out of touch, at best.

No publicity is bad publicity, though, and Acreage received plenty of attention simply by being rejected. One of California’s largest cannabis brands, Lowell Herb Co., decided to try its hand at a 30-second spot that would have aired during the Academy Awards. ABC rejected it on both the national and the California levels.

Directed by film festival darling Cutter Hodierne (Fishing Without Nets) and starring actress Bella Thorne, the Lowell ad focuses on the American craftsmanship angle a la craft bourbons or beer. After some farming shots, the ad cuts to Lane enjoying one of Lowell’s pre-rolled joints at home (per Prop. 64 rules). It’s a gorgeous, well-produced ad that feels… well, normal.

“Normalization is important for many reasons,” says

Shawn Gold, the Chief Marketing Officer at Lowell Herb Co. “The biggest impact is about people realizing the benefits of a plant that has been used as a medicine for 3,000 years—to be able to develop clinical studies and regulate the industry for standards that bring maximum benefit.

Normalization is also important in erasing decades of propaganda that has been used to marginalize minority groups and unfairly impact the lives of so many people. It contributes to our economy, not only in bringing jobs but in changing laws that cost taxpayers billions of dollars a year for policing, prosecuting and housing those convicted of nonviolent cannabis crimes.”

I am one of those obnoxious millennials who considers herself impervious to marketing even though, of course, that isn’t true. The advertising industry often disgusts me because its messages and tactics are often insincere, exploitative and misleading. If products are being sold and marketed to the general public, there should be more of an even playing field.

Cannabis isn’t the devil product that years of brainwashing would have us believe. If I can deal with watching commercial after commercial about erections and side effects that include anal leakage and brain hemorrhages, then everyone else can deal with a weed spot about cancer patients or farming practices. It’s time to end reefer madness once and for all and media at all levels need to reform their policies when it comes to advertising.

CannaBitch appears every other week.

Follow Jackie Bryant on Twitter at @jacqbryant.

MARCH 13, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 27