San Diego CityBeat • Mar 28, 2018

2 · San Diego CityBeat · march 28, 2018

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UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Time to share ideas on bike-sharing

R

emember how excited most people were when pacts my work. Often, I can’t take the time to lean a the City Attorney cleared the way for other bike- bike in a good spot where it should have been placed sharing companies to begin operating in the in the first place.” city? Up until then, we only had one option (the dockSome business owners are doing just that. In reable DecoBike) when it came to bike-sharing. But for sponse to the bikes turning up all over the neighbora month now, we’ve had a rainbow of options (green, hood, Little Italy business owners and members of the yellow, orange), all of which are easy to find and leave Little Italy Association began manually moving all the behind since we no longer have to locate a dock to bikes into one location at the end of the neighborhood park them. on State Street. However, the bikes are still blocking a What could possibly go wrong? significant portion of the sidewalk. While the associaWhile I initially thought the naysaying would tion did a good job in parking the bikes vertically and eventually die down and people would come around up against the wall, they are still becoming stacked to sharing sidewalks with bikeshares, it now seems as with one bike right next to another. if the backlash is catching on. And while it’s easy to Still, we can’t blame the Little Italy Association get caught up in the narrative about San Diego sim- for responding to an issue that could have been preply being “not ready” to be a truly bike-friendly city, vented in the first place. When I spoke to someone SETH COMBS that is simply the most obvious and who works at City Hall last week, convenient of arguments. Both lohe couldn’t help but remark that cals and tourists like to walk around that this is precisely the reason why this city and not have to worry about sometimes things take time and are falling over a parked bike in the middebated and amended in what can dle of the sidewalk seem like endless City Council sesFor able-bodied people, we often sions. Reached for comment via take these minor inconveniences for email, Councilmember Chris Ward granted. For the 6.1 percent of San seemed genuinely concerned, as he Diegans who have some kind of disrepresents most of the neighborability that affects their mobility, hoods directly affected by the bikedodging parked bikes can be espesharing programs. cially difficult. While there have not “We need to ensure that our sidebeen any serious incidents, the issue walks are easily accessible by all and of mobility and accessibility for disthat the bikes and scooters are used abled locals is one that has taken a and left responsibly,” says Ward, backseat to reports of NIMBYism or adding that he immediately began how it might hurt local businesses.

Downtown locals walk to work with the City Attorney and “I totally get it. It’s a great way to around an Ofo bike Mayor Faulconer to address various navigate around the city, and I conlegal concerns after the bike-sharing sider myself a bicycle advocate,” says Ian Døsland, a bonanza. “My neighborhoods are ideal for biking, but Navy vet who works as a “wheelchair bike messenger” we need to better educate both users and operators on and deposition officer at CalExpress Attorney Servic- the laws we have on the books. Users need to be better es. “However, the way these dockless bikes are care- informed on how to properly ride and park these bikes lessly strewn about the downtown sidewalks makes so as not to obstruct our public right of ways.” things difficult for me. This whole job is a game of Ian Døsland, however, thinks this should have alminutes.” ready been done.

In addition to it affecting his livelihood, Døsland “I would’ve loved if the city had done outreach begoes on to say that it’s becoming increasingly more dif- forehand to bring these topics to light,” Døsland says. ficult to navigate through the parked bikes even if he’s “Right now it is like someone threw a bunch of rocks relatively mobile compared to other disabled citizens. in our pond, and maybe we just have to wait a bit for “These bikes are constantly being left in the the water to settle. We can’t expect the city to take middle of the sidewalks where there is room to walk care of everything, so we need to be more conscious around, but definitely not room for a wheelchair. It’s and mindful of where we put the bikes.” even more difficult for wider electric wheelchairs.

Their only options are to try and move the obstruction

—Seth Combs or go across the street to pass. I am fortunate enough to be in a very light and narrow chair, but it still im- Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com Эта проблема CityBeat действительно понравится, если вы измените настройки Facebook, чтобы сначала увидеть наши.

Volume 16 • Issue 32 EDITOR Seth Combs MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos ASSOCIATE EDITOR Torrey Bailey COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer Edwin Decker Minda Honey John R. Lamb Alex Zaragoza

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

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

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MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS

ON THE

THINGS ARE NOT BETTER

LIBERAL INTOLERANCE

In response to your editorial “Storage Wars” [March 21], I think it is naive to think that something is “finally being done” on the issue of homelessness, and that the Hepatitis A outbreak was the turning point. You are believing what you would like to believe, like we all do. The things being done have no chance of changing the number of homeless in any effective way, but do cause a lot of media attention, a huge distraction. The Lincoln Club and the Mayor are facing a critical election June 5, like they did in 2010 under Mayor Sanders, and need to make it look like things are changing.

They’re not. A Sheriff, District Attorney and critical County Board and City Council seats are up for election this year. In 2010, Los Angeles PATH was brought into San Diego, amid protests regarding their inhumane treatment of the homeless in L.A. That launched my San Diego Homeless News. The next “critical” election will be in the year 2026, and I will be 73 years old if still alive. What we are seeing right now is a very specialized and intense form of footdragging on the homeless issue, disguised as big help.

Alex Zaragoza’s March 21 piece (“The future is young, bright and pissed”) exhibits classic liberal intolerance. She celebrates her right to free speech on her jacket “We’re all a bunch of fucking sheep” over an inverted American Flag, clearly meant to insult others. Yet when her teacher tried to motivate a classroom, she tried to have him “reprimanded by the school.” What’s the matter, Goz… free speech only applies to you?

Dr. John Kitchin Downtown

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

COVER

FOOD & DRINK World Fare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Final Draught . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Mark Clem Bay Park

WE WANT FEEDBACK Email letters to editor Seth Combs at seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com, or mail to 3047 University Ave., Suite 202, San Diego, CA 92104. For letters to be considered for publication you must include your first and last name and the part of town where you reside.

Note: All comments left on stories at sdcitybeat.com will also be considered for publication.

UP FRONT From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 News / CityWeek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Spin Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Backwards & In High Heels. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Well, That Was Awkward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

THINGS TO DO We fell in love with local freelance photographer Nadia Mishkin’s photos from Saturday’s March for Our Lives when she hit us up on Instagram.

Mishkin’s portfolio features fashionable portraits and live music shots, but her March photos prove that her true specialty is what she likes to call “storytelling photography.” “Going to the recent marches and protests has been cool, because seeing people and even young kids come together to stand up for their rights is really inspiring and a glimmer of hope in sketchy times,” says Mishkin, who rarely leaves the house without her trusty Canon EOS 60D. Readers can see more of her work at nadiasfotos.squarespace.com.

The Short List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-14

ARTS & CULTURE Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 FEATURE: March For Our Lives . . . . . . . . 16 Seen Local. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19

MUSIC FEATURE: Kelly Lee Owens. . . . . . . . . . . 20 Notes From The Smoking Patio . . . . . . . . 21 About Last Night. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 If I Were U. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-26

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

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march 28, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

NEWS | OPINION

HAM OF THE WEEK

By Torrey Bailey and Seth Combs

THE ISSUE: Local social media went nuts when radio deejay Kevin Klein tweeted a promotional pic for his new show on 97.3FM that included a photo of the Coronado Bridge and the caption “JUMP*” in large font and “*to a new morning show” in smaller font. The tweet and pic drew criticism from Padres fans (97.3 is the official station of the Padres), as well as people who felt the pic made light of the issue of suicide.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: “I won’t dignify it by retweeting it, but it’s shameful for anyone to make light of suicide the way 97.3 has with its Kevin Klein ads. The ads should be taken down, Klein taken off the air and the Padres should break their contract to make a statement. Disgusting.”

—The Lightning Round podcast, via Twitter “Kevin Klein should also have to make a public apology.”

—Director of Communications for San Diego Tourism Authority Candice Eley, via Twitter, after the Padres issued an apology on behalf of Entercom, the owners of the radio station “It’s sad when a radio guy who begged for a job at our new station, but didn’t get it because he’s a ‘lazy bore’ now tried to get us fired before we even go on the air by tattling on us with his troll bots. I wouldn’t want to have to go up against us either. Sweet dreams.”

—Kevin Klein, via Twitter

OUR TAKE: Are you not entertained?! Yes, on the same day the Union-Tribune ran a frontpage story on the unveiling of Coronado Bridge suicide prevention prototypes, everyone was entirely too focused on calling out some dumb bro shock jock for being, well, shocking. After continuing to ridicule people on Twitter and claiming the bridge pic was part of a larger marketing campaign that included pics of other iconic San Diego locations, Klein eventually bowed to public and corporate pressure and issued a regret-by-numbers apology letter. Said Klein: “I’ve failed at making a good first impression, but I hope that you will give me another chance to provide entertainment and good natured laughs when I go on the air on Thursday morning.” Way to get that plug for the show in there, Kev. And while Klein certainly deserved to get dragged, where does that leave us? He succeeded in promoting his new show and the Coronado Bridge prototypes story fell by the wayside, as the U-T devoted almost the entire day tweeting out the latest developments in what we can only describe as San Diego’s imbecilic version of Bridgegate. We feel dirty just from having to rehash all of it here.

NEWSY BITS 3/21 BEST DAY EVER!

Sen. Toni Atkins becomes both first woman and first lesbian leader of the CA State Senate.

Judge dismisses murder case against Tieray Jones, who was accused of the 2002 death of his two-yearold stepson, Jahi Turner.

FML

On Friday, the Chula Vista Police Department said goodbye to its fourlegged partner, Griffen, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois who died of an undisclosed medical condition. Griffen often worked night shifts with his handler, Officer Chancellor. “It is hard to overstate the bond that a K-9 and his handler have when working long hours in dangerous situations.

CVPD’s law enforcement family extends deepest sympathies to his partner officer,” CVPD stated. CVPD later tweeted this photo of Chancellor and Griffen that had us crying at our desks.

All the seriousness, silliness and stupidity of the past week

3/22 New poll reveals local Republican John Cox in second place in Governor’s race behind Democrat Gavin Newsom.

3/23

Assemblymember Todd Gloria helps introduce legislation to restrict local police forces and law enforcement agencies from accessing military-grade weapons.

Southern California Edison announced they’ve stopped loading spent nuclear fuel rods into canisters after discovering the canisters were defective. (source: KPBS)

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

In case you haven’t heard, former DA Bonnie Dumanis received illegal campaign contributions from a Mexican businessman several years ago. Dumanis quickly returned the $1,400 given to her re-election campaign in 2014. However, that wasn’t the case with the $13,250 contributed to her failed 2012 mayoral run.

She said she wanted to wait until the cases settled before donating the money to charity. Then Dumanis said she’d reopen her campaign committee to pay out the city treasury instead, for the sake of transparency. The final sentencing occurred last month. Instead of making that payment to the city treasury as promised, Dumanis coughed up receipts totaling $10,000 in charity donations, but only after the U-T pestered her with emails. Then, she dug up another $5,000 donation receipt after they questioned the math. Slow clap.

Even with many reported errors in the CalGang database, judge rules that local man will stay in the database despite being no longer affiliated with gangs.

3/24

3/25

Thousands gather in Downtown for March for Our Lives and gun control reform.

3/26

County Supervisors announce overhaul to county drug and alcohol addiction programs, with substance abuse treatment funding expected to increase by over $100 million.

Despite declines in reported cases of Hepatitis A for the rest of the county, UnionTribune story reveals sharp uptick of cases in North County.

3/27

Mexico pledges $4.3 million to clean Tijuana River.

Dead whale turns up off the coast of Torrey Pines. Dudes keep golfing.

U.S. drought monitor finds that San Diego has entered into moderate drought conditions and it’s likely to get worse.

Marine recruit dies of a heart attack at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any dumberer, President Trump suggests that the U.S. military should pay for the border wall.

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UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE Birthday wish list If things do not turn out as we wish, we should wish for them as they turn out.

—Aristotle

O

K, San Diego. Just because Michael Turko up and retired last week doesn’t mean we should go off the rails.

As of Tuesday, it had been four days since Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s last tweets—an homage to KUSI’s long-time troubleshooter, wrong-righter and resident curmudgeon (at least on camera).

The mayor urged Turko to enjoy his retirement after nearly two decades at the right-leaning local station.

“Thanks for keeping us on our toes!” Faulconer said.

The mayor, ever the PR man at heart, also took the opportunity to pat himself on the back for repairing “more than 700 Miles” of roadway since 2015, which might

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JOHN R. LAMB

give people who don’t know Turko the impression that he was only some sort of Pothole Pete or something.

Spin would prefer to remember Turko as San Diego’s Bulldozer of Bullshit, barging into slumlord offices or fly-by-night businesses with microphone in hand ready to root out evil—or at least scare the shit out of a front-office receptionist.

Well, he’s clocked out, San Diego. You’re on your own. Time to become your own personal miniTurkos, sniffing out the rubes and ruffians in your neighborhood and, well, OK, so you most likely don’t have a TV show. Don’t panic. CityBeat’s here to take your calls. (Yes, Turko preferred the old landline hookup to such modern contraptions like email, bless his stubborn heart!)

But first, let’s come up with some good ideas first. Sound reasonable? Great, because Spin’s beginning to think some of our more long-in-the-tooth political deci-

sion-makers have simply thrown in the towel and declared “What the fuck, why not?”

Case in point: Termed-out county Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Ron Roberts, most certainly with good intentions, cranked the morbid dial to 11 this week with a proposal to stash tourniquets in county buildings and parks “to boost survival rates after mass shootings and other traumatic events.”

Much like the proliferation of automatic defibrillators, the Supervisors argue such “bleeding control kits” are in keeping with a national movement known as “Stop the Bleed.” Except instead of heart attacks, these kits will come in handy after mass shootings.

Sure it makes sense, but is this what it’s coming to?

As Matthew T. Hall, San Diego Union-Tribune editorial director, lamented on Twitter about the kits, “What kind of world are we leaving our children?”

Well, for one, apparently one where folks Spin’s age, edging toward 60 and above, think the appearance of bicycles in certain communities amounts to some apocalyptic hellscape of twowheeling insurgents intent on demolishing mankind as we know it.

As we were heading to press, KPBS reporter Andrew Bowen revealed that the Little Italy Asso-

JOHN R. LAMB

So long, Turko! May the rising tide of dockless bikes survive NIMBY assaults and float your retirement boat! ciation has taken it upon itself to play dockless bicycle cop, regularly hauling the rental bikes to the eastern edge of the popular neighborhood along a stretch of State Street.

(This came on the heels of the city of Coronado declaring dockless bikes a “public nuisance.” Oy.) The association’s top honcho, Marco Li Mandri, echoed a sentiment to Bowen commonly found among opponents of dockless bike-sharing that Spin has spoken to in recent weeks. Although the reasoning never quite makes sense, the argument goes that biking is great, except for all these “ugly” bikes.

Li Mandri summed up the slam perfectly to Bowen: “We want to accommodate bikes. But we also think that if people who live in downtown want to bike, they should just buy a bike and use it. I do it all the time.”

Never mind that not everyone can afford to buy a bike, nor the notion that perhaps a significant portion of the bikes that appear in Little Italy—or Mission Hills or Point Loma for that matter—might have actually brought someone to your popular neighborhood. Seems like short-sighted economics to drive that kind of business away.

Same goes for most of the recent local TV coverage of the new mode of transport, which advocates hope will serve as an alternate to hopping in a car for short trips and filling in that first and last mile between trolley and bus stops.

Is it a perfect system? Hell no, but what is? But for this curmudgeon who this week turned 59, the bikes have offered—at a reasonable price—an opportunity to regain some semblance of a connection with my city and, by some miracle, my youth. It wouldn’t surprise me

a bit to see Turko hop on one in the near future.

But recent coverage seems intent on alerting San Diegans that we’re in the midst of an invasion that threatens our very car-centric way of living (cue the photos from China showing piles of abandoned bikes).

Frankly, we’ll probably be underwater due to sea-level rise before we’re submerged in bikes, but let the sky-is-falling crowd have their 15 minutes.

On the subject of sea-level rise, Spin has one birthday wish: Let’s have a real conversation about what our bayfront will look like in 2050 and 2100, when experts believe the San Diego Convention Center could well look more like a floating memorial to bygone days when we talked a good game but never acted.

Spin makes this point because one argument made for folding the regional Airport Authority into the Port District is addressing sea-level rise. A port spokesperson this week said the agency is aiming to complete its assessments and strategies by the state-mandated deadline of June 30, 2019.

Spin will be 60 by then, hopefully still riding dockless bikes that don’t require flotation devices for bayside trips. Or stops at tourniquet stations to stem blood flow from mass shootings. Perhaps by then folks my age will see that the youth of today did bring change, come hell or high water.

And that’s the wish for the year: To embrace what’s new and invigorating. To reject the old and tired.

Sniff out the bullshit, and in our best Turko voice, shout to the rafters, “It ain’t right!”

Spin Cycle appears every other week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

I got 99 brablems

I

’d been dreading going back to Victoria’s Secret, but I had no choice.

In early February, I’d cashed in a gift card I’d been carrying around in my wallet for more than a year, and I purchased four new bras on sight. Bra shopping is no bueno, but it was long past time for me.

Like a relationship, the care and keeping of lingerie takes effort, and the amount of effort is directly proportional to the process of aging. Without me realizing it, my lingerie drawer had become a shrine to the middle-age lady who works from home, stays in her flannel pajamas till noon and quits shaving not just in winter but well into the spring, too, because does life even matter anymore? I am the woman my 30-year-old self swore she would never become.

I dreaded having to make this purchase so my mission, once I finally embarked on it, was strategically brief.

“No thanks,” was my response to an offer by a saleswoman—a tanned, svelte, longhaired beauty who makes her own estrogen—when she offered to do a fitting. I’d worn the same size bra for over a decade, I reasoned. Never mind the ever-tightening chest band and digging shoulder straps.

Never mind the threadbare lace, the protruding underwire, the spillage of flesh in places that definitely shouldn’t spill.

Clearly, I had brablems but I was determined to Goldilocks my way around them. I whipped through the store, selected my usual bra style and size, chose my colors and bounced, deciding that everything would be just right.

But of course, it wasn’t just right because I’m in menopause, friends, and nothing is just right anymore. Not a damned thing, least of all my body, which doesn’t resemble my body any more.

Everyone who’s anyone says you gain weight during/after menopause and everyone is right. But everyone doesn’t say, “By the way, you will gain weight in your forearms. And your fingers. Also: your ribs, your back, your shoulders, your eyeballs.”

I should have known what was coming the day my gynecologist mentioned the words “vaginal” and “atrophy” in one sentence. The mouth guard I wear to prevent teeth grinding at night is only slightly less sexy than estrogen suppositories.

Couple the nightmare that is The Change with the antics of the fuckface in the White House and welp, I packed on all the pounds. Go figure, but those new bras I splurged on didn’t fit.

So I sulked about it for six weeks, wandering braless around the house and horrifying my tweenager, before I finally made my trek back to the mall last week. Once there, I sheepishly submitted to the measuring tape (right there in the middle of the store!) and the expert gaze of young women with absurdly microbladed eyebrows.

Incidentally, I am not feeling the overly designed brow that’s become a trend these days. But maybe that’s because I’m jealous, seeing as how my eyebrows are thinning. Yet one more tragedy of getting old. On second thought, nope. Not jealous. The dramatic, perfectly coiffed brow looks ridiculous.

Back at VS, the sales beauties, three of them, measured me and then delivered to my dressing room a treasure trove of demo bras in my new middle-age-lady bra size, which turns out to be ginormous with a side of padding and an extra helping of underwire. Each bra cup looked like it could double as a bonnet for a 12-pound newborn; like a yarmulke for Andre the Giant.

Long gone are the days of the dainty bra I slipped over my head; hello, extra reinforcements in the form of three rows of clasps. And speaking of clasps, I was excited at the prospect of a rather pretty frontclasp bra. That is until I fumbled and fumbled to get it hooked. You see, I couldn’t hook it because of everything I couldn’t see! At my age, everything is blurry up close without my reading glasses, which I have to wear even though I have monovision contact lenses (don’t ask). “Presbyopia” is another fun term I could never have imagined becoming familiar with a decade or two ago.

I eventually wrestled the front-clasp bra down to my waist, stretched it out far enough from my face that I could hook the clasp and then I wriggled it back up, hoisting my boobs in place. Then I waited, half naked, for the sales beauty to come back with her perfect, non-sun-damaged décolletage all up in my face. I may have started to cry just a little at that point, which is when she took pity and brought me some really beautiful, really sexy bras that fit. They are still uncomfortable as fuck because that is the nature of the bra, apparently.

I’d like to say the whole experience was humbling but it was mostly devastating. I did learn, though, that I should always carry my reading glasses. And that I look better in clothes than naked; certainly the dressing room lighting didn’t do my morale any favors. I learned, too, that although different than the body of my 30-year-old self, this new body is as it should be. It’s the only one I’ve got and it is serving me well.

To all young women out there: Appreciate what you’ve got, dear ones. Love it. Honor it. Because whatever your shape or size, it’s beautiful. Trust me on this. And it will eventually change. Trust me on this, too.

Also, regardless what size or shape you are, bra shopping blows.

Each bra cup looked like it could double as a bonnet for a 12-pound newborn; like a yarmulke for Andre the Giant.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aarynb@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS

AWKWARD

Swallow the pain away

I

’m generally not afraid of needles, but there’s something about the relative calm of the acupuncturist’s waiting room that feels deceptive. The ambient music, the lavender scent—it all seems akin to a velvet glove wrapped around a sadistic fist. If this were a fluorescent-lit tattoo parlor or medical office, then my nerves would be adequately prepared. But in this environment—where the soothing vibes clash with the impending stabbiness and potential pain— my nerves don’t know what’s what.

My wife Jessica’s back has been hurting, so she’s been going to Beach Community Acupuncture for pain management. Drop-appointments there are $25 a pop, and she’s been a couple of times. I’ve heard acupuncture is good for anxiety, and since I’m all about exploring new methods to deal with [Prince voice] this thing called life, I decide to tag along. However, I’m skeptical that it can fix me.

The receptionist leads me into into a large backroom with two rows of recliners that run down opposite sides.

The sunlight is good in here.

Comforting. Ample, even. I try to get comfortable by removing my shoes, reclining and throwing one of the provided blankets over my lap. The acupuncturist cruises around the room on a rolling stool, administering needles to patients. There’s something uncanny about her, something sci-fi-ish. Like, we’re all broken robots, quietly and eagerly awaiting the healing hand of the gentle mechanic drone.

The acupuncturist wheels over to the man sitting next to me. They chit-chat; he’s a regular. She pricks the bottom of his feet mid-conversation, and my own toes curl. I pray that I don’t have anything that requires needles in the soles of my feet.

I try to guess who’s come to get acupuncture today to treat mental illness. I’m sure this drop-in clinic gets its fair share, because when the acupuncturist wheels to my side and asks for my ailments, she knows exactly where to stick the needles when I say “anxiety.”

Apparently, two needles in the ear, two in the elbow, one in each shoulder and another two in my shins is the magical equation designed to calm my nerves. Eight needles in all.

Why the ears? Why the shins? Is that where I keep my anxiety? I wonder. Is that where my chi is located?

What’s a chi, anyway?

I’m not trying to be facetious when it comes to Eastern medicine or alternative forms of treatment.

Honest. I try to keep an open mind, but I’m partial to the things that have worked for me in the past. And what’s worked for me is drugs. Chemicals. Twenty-

five milligrams of sertraline (generic form of Zoloft) every night to make me feel normal, to enable me to have conversations with strangers without sweating, to help me sleep without grinding my teeth down to kernels. It costs $15 a month to feel this way.

There’s a slight pinch when she sticks the needles in. Not as painful as I was expecting, but it’s nowhere near anything euphoric. It feels like an old wasp trying to sting me in an effort to relive its glory days. I pull the blanket up to my chin, put in my headphones, and wait for whatever happens to happen.

I’ve only been on meds for three years, but the difference is immense. I say this because I often see friends post on social media about self-care recommendations, and the resulting answers are always the same: exercise (god, if I had a penny every time someone told me to exercise more, I’d have enough money to buy my woes away), eat healthier, yoga(!), B vitamins, sunlight, etc.

Believe me, I’ve tried exercise.

I’ve tried sunlight, B vitamins and eating healthier. Sure, they do work, to an extent. But even if I was running all the time, it would still not be enough. It gets tiring to drastically modify a lifestyle for a sense of normalcy— just to feel a comfort most people already feel without putting in the work.

Warmth floods to where the needles hang out of my skin. It’s almost like a fire runs underneath the needles, but a gentle fire.

A pleasant burn. The pinching sensation remains, but it seems muted.

Maybe it’s the relative sexiness that draws people to acupuncture, I think. It’s exotic. It’s people fucking stabbing you with needles until you feel pleasure.

That’s some real Hellraiser shit.

On the other hand, there’s nothing exciting about swallowing pills. Nothing photogenic. Perhaps in a culture obsessed with looking happy and healthy online, maybe that contributes to the continued stigma.

It’s not like I can post a photo of me popping 25 mg of sertraline with the hashtag #blessed, and expect the same amount of likes as someone doing downward dog on Potato Chip Rock.

Of course, with eight needles stuck in me and the endorphins flowing, I could be wrong about all of this.

I probably am. I turn my music up and doze off with the needles still in. I’ll wake up feeling happy. Not happy enough to consider forking over the $20 per session compared to the $15 I spend per month on sertraline, but I’ll take what I can get.

It’s not like I can post a photo of me popping 25 mg of sertraline with the hashtag #blessed, and expect the same amount of likes as someone doing downward dog on Potato Chip Rock.

@SDCITYBEAT

Well, That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

UP FRONT | FOOD

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE

Korean barbecue by way of Japan

T

he relationship between Korea and Japan is, as they say, complicated. Annexations, wars, “comfort women” and other disputes get the headlines, but cultural exchange, national security and economic independence are still the rules.

Still, a spare line in a textbook or hints of a historical claim could set off an international incident.

It’s with that in mind that I went to Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ (9844 Hibert St.), the Mira Mesa outpost of a nationwide chain. The Japanese term for what appears to be their version of Korean barbecue is yakiniku, combining the Japanese words for “fire” and “meat.” Perhaps coincidentally (or not), the Korean term bulgogi similarly combines the Korean versions of those two words.

Yakiniku, like Korean barbecue, is all about pieces of relatively thinly sliced meat grilled by the diners at the table and then dipped in a soy-based dipping sauce.

There are, however, some important differences. Whereas Korean barbecue tends to have a variety of banchan (side dishes), yakiniku features fewer (none at Gyu-Kaku). Where Korean barbecue is generally eaten wrapped in lettuce or paper-thin slices of daikon radish, yakiniku meats are eaten straight. The grills are also different. At least locally, Korean barbecue grills tend to be on hubcap-like metal plates with a few slits to allow some direct contact with the meat whereas yakiniku is grilled on wire-mesh grates allowing far more direct contact.

For all the large-scale similarities, though, not everyone in Japan agrees that, despite evidence to the contrary, yakiniku was a post-war Japanese version of Korean barbecue. A Japan Broadcasting Corporation Humanity Lecture program couldn’t quite bring itself to outright admit as much, and instead asserted that “while some tend to think that yakiniku came from Korea, it was born in postwar Japan.”

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

Some of the best proteins at Gyu-Kaku are the simplest: little or no marination and little preparation beyond some knife-work (traditional for yakiniku). The thin slices of beef tongue are savory and cook quickly. Two of my favorites were the pork belly and the horumon (large intestine), both of which are gently marinated in white soy and miso.

The latter is all about the fatty goodness of something that sounds like it’s more likely to be unforgivingly tough. The pork belly is, of course, rich, but the way the small pieces (as opposed to the slabs often offered at Korean barbecue) affect the caramelization on the grill enhances everything good about the cut.

Gyu-Kaku goes somewhat further than some yakiniku spots with the marinating process. The MICHAEL A. GARDINER

Yakiniku at Gyu-Kaku

sweet soy marinade for the Angus beef ribs enhances the meat, lending it umami as well as sweetness.

For the hanger steak, it was a miso marinade that was all about warm saltiness and umami. For the shrimp, Gyu-Kaku brought the garlic.

In the end, though, while quality of meat is the main divider among Korean and Japanese barbecue joints, the main attraction is the same for both. It’s good meat done by the diner at the table. It violates mom’s “don’t play with your food” rule. It’s fun regardless of whether it’s Korean or Japanese.

And that’s not complicated.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | DRINK

ANATOMY OF A COCKTAIL SCENE #28: Coming up roses at Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant

of the weight of holiday obligations (yeah, I’m looking at you Easter). It’s reaffirming, warm, aromatic and cheery, and from a bar person’s perspective, this inexplicably alell, it appears spring has sprung, ways drives me towards gin. Well, gin and which it often tends to do this champagne, but for all intents and purpostime of year. Mother Nature, es here, I’ll stick to gin for now. she’s so wonderfully predictable when it Spring calls upon all the hallmarks in comes to San Diego. Sorry Northeast, you which gin revels: Youthful, elegant, and bunch of suckers. full of herbs and botanicals.

Spring has always been my favorite Collin Berger, bar manager at Banktime of year for dining. The incredible eders Hill Bar + Restaurant IAN WARD ible bounties that make (2202 Fourth Ave., bankertheir way on to plates and shillsd.com), currently has farm stands are easily the one of my favorite gin-formost enjoyable. Sure, sumward springtime cocktails mer has stone fruit and toon his menu. It’s simple, matoes and corn, and fall delicious, and yet embodhas apples and squash and ies all of the lovely traits I pumpkins, but spring has look forward to in a spring the most delicate, shortcocktail and in the season lived luxuries. Morel mushitself. rooms, white asparagus, For the past few years the peas, ramps and fiddlecraft bartending community head ferns. Dear god, I love has championed the cause The Rose & Crown spring. of creating three-ingredient This feeling extends well beyond the cocktails. The argument is that a balance food, of course. It’s the re-invigoration, the of three thoughtful components can acbirth of life, and the complete and total lack complish anything beautiful in a cocktail. I have never taken such a strident stand, nor do I fully buy into the three-ingredient arTHE ROSE & CROWN gument. I have absolutely no gripe with a as prepared at seven-ingredient cocktail. I think depth of Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant flavor is massively important, and if it takes 2 oz. London dry gin someone seven ingredients to create that 3/4 oz. Fresh lemon juice perfect balance, so be it. I, however, also 3/4 oz. Homemade pistachio orgeat (recipe below) understand the other side of the argument.

The Rose and Crown at Bankers Hill Shake all ingredients well and finish with a Bar and Restaurant is a fantastic, compinch of salt before straining over fresh ice in a bucket glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel. plex, three-ingredient cocktail with gin, pistachio orgeat and lemon. It is viscous Pistachio orgeat: and creamy with appropriate acidic tones 1 lb. of raw pistachio (blend with 1.5 cups of water and big, bright, gin elements. Nutty and into a smooth paste) soft, with herbal grip. It’s reaffirming, warm, aromatic and cheery.

Place orgeat paste in nut milk bag and press through. Combine resulting nut milk with equal That is, it is spring.

W

parts (by weight) raw sugar. Add 1 1/2 oz. rose water and blend in a blender until steaming hot so that the sugar mixes without adding water.

@SDCITYBEAT

BY BETH DEMMON

BY IAN WARD

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

FINAL DRAUGHT

MIDNIGHT JACK

North County’s new sound

M

usic creates a vibe that defines an establishment’s personality.

I once left a North Park brewery because they played a solid hour of Pearl Jam. The beer was fine; I’d just rather have my fingernails ripped out than listen to Eddie Vedder’s yowling. (Give me the punks and pilsner at Fall Brewing any day!)

But my personal tastes aside, the overlap between the two creative industries seems to be increasing.

Collaborations between bands and breweries like AleSmith/Sublime, Stone/ NOFX and Eppig/Weight of the Sun (just to name a few) are commonplace in and outside of San Diego. But the standard dual brews are shifting toward deeper partnerships. Most recently, Oceanside’s Midnight Jack Brewing and its corresponding venue dubbed The Echo Room.

Midnight Jack (3801 Oceanic Drive, Suite 101) has hosted live music and comedy shows since opening in 2016, but this new project aims higher. There’s now a 16-by-16-foot stage nestled in Midnight Jack’s tasting room (for comparison, the stage at The Casbah is 20-by-10. The stage was designed by Craft Sounds, a North County-based musical booking agency. The Craft Sounds tagline of “Craft Beer, Craft Music” is representative of the agency’s goal to specifically book shows in breweries. However, the agency also wants to book shows in other venues and offer a “top quality sound system, engineer, and promotions.”

In a press release, Midnight Jack outlines a plan to “rival some of the larger music venues in San Diego” by providing entertainment in an area that’s somewhat lacking in creative outlets. It will focus on “curated, local music” as well as hosting open mic nights, comedy shows and a variety of musical genres. The Echo Room also offers professional lighting and sound design to better amplify performers’ effects.

The Echo Room at Midnight Jack

"Live music is slowly becoming a staple in the North County brewery scene,” explains Craft Sounds owner and music industry veteran Tim Sams. There are plenty of breweries around the county who also host live musical acts: Pacific Islander Beer Company, Second Chance Beer Company, ChuckAlek Biergarten and BNS Brewery are just a few. But the venuewithin-a-brewery concept is a fresh twist.

Upcoming events at The Echo Room include: Shoegaze Night (Friday, March 30), The Liquorsmiths and supporting acts (Saturday, March 31), End Castle (Friday, April 6), The Dyad’s album release party (Saturday, April 7) and a Punk Rock Food Drive in June to benefit the North County Food Bank. (I’ll most likely be at Shoegaze Night, swaying to the band Runs Deep and definitely not because I had that extra pint.)

With over 150 breweries in the county, individual beer businesses are pulling out all the stops to stand out. But as an industry, San Diego independent craft beer doesn’t need many gimmicks to survive— glitter beer aside. Local music is another story. When a strong enterprise boosts other creative entities, everyone benefits.

I, for one, look forward to the further meshing of two of my favorite things.

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

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

EVENTS

SHORTlist

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

POINT LOMA

JOYFUL NOISE

It’s a rare thing for us to tell people to go to church on Easter weekend. But something much darker and more interesting than hymns and egg hunts is taking place at Liberty Station. Stay Strange is producing an experimental music showcase called Hand of God, which brings together local and international noise and avant-garde artists under one sanctified roof.

Hand of God, true to its name, is a show that’s loosely spiritual in nature, and Stay Strange founder Sam Lopez saw the chapel space at Liberty Station as a perfect venue for some acoustically powerful, droneheavy music.

“I wanted to do something that encompassed spirituality, the afterlife, religion,” says Lopez. “I had this idea for a chapel show, and when I put this idea out there, [Arts District Liberty Station] loved it.”

Hand of God will feature performances by San Francisco-based guitarist Bill Orcutt and Japaneseborn, New Mexico-based gong artist Tatsuya Nakatani, as well as local artists Monochromacy and no know (sound band). Additionally, Michael Zimmer-

LA JOLLA

DISCOVERY CHANNEL Three’s not a crowd at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library’s latest exhibit, Trio. The show brings together three of San Diego’s most prominent artists: Richard Allen COURTESY OF THE ARTIST Morris, Allan Morrow and Tom Driscoll.

The theme binding their work is the joy of discovery, whether it be through geography or by medium. On display will be Morris’ new abstract black-andwhite drawings and Driscoll’s recent Knot Series, which takes practical knot-tying to a new extreme.

It will also include Morrow’s Baja Series, “Into The Blue” a collection of birdsby Tom Driscoll eye view paintings inspired by the Southwest desert. The opening reception takes place at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall St.) on Friday, March 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The exhibition will be up through May 5 and admission is free. ljathenaeum.org

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

man will be giving a dystopian sermon, Codex Confiteor will sing audience members’ sins (as submitted to an anonymous box), and an adjacent building will feature tarot readings.

The show is made possible with assistance from Arts District Liberty Station, which ensures the artists will be paid. It will also be one of more planned collaborations CYNDI FELTON between Liberty Station and Stay Strange in the future, which will most likely take place in other venues. In the past, Stay Strange has held shows at clubs like The Void (now SPACE) as well as venues like Space 4 Art. But Hand of God could be the beginning of bringing noise into more unlikeBill Orcutt ly spaces.

“I could be caveman-ish and say this is a noise show in a church,” says Lopez. “But it’s much more than that.”

Hand of God takes place on Saturday, March 31 at 6 p.m. at The North Chapel at Liberty Station in Point Loma (2881 Roosevelt Road). Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.

EAST VILLAGE

THE OLD BALL GAME If we’re to believe a lot of the baseball writers, the Padres are likely to be a little better this year. And while tickets to opening day at Petco are sold out, fans don’t need a ticket to attend the East Village Opening Weekend Block Party. Held on Friday, March 30 from 2 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 31 from noon to 6:30 p.m., the annual festival works like a giant pep rally for fans, but can easily appeal to nonsports fans as well. The day includes live entertainment from local bands and DJs, as well as a pet parade, baseball-themed games and, of course, a craft beer garden. The whole thing happens next to Petco Park on J Street between 6th and 10th Avenues. Parking will be non-existent so ride a bike (there will be a valet) or use public transportation. eastvillagesandiego.com COURTESY OF THE EAST VILLAGE ASSOCIATION

East Village Opening Weekend Block Party @SDCITYBEAT

EVENTS ART MCASD Art Auction at Museum of Contemporary Art—Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. The biennial live and silent auction will have approximately 100 works available for purchase, including by artists John Baldessari, Liza Lou and more. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 28. $125-$275. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org HTRIO: Richard Allen Morris, Allan Morrow, Tom Driscoll at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla.

A joint exhibition by the three established San Diego artists, who will show their latest pieces. Their works connect under the theme of the joy of discovery. Opening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 30.

Free. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org HMucha Muchacha: Zine & DIY Art Market at The FRONT Arte Cultura, 147 W San Ysidro Blvd., San Ysidro. An art market that brings together women-identifying zine makers as part of the Dia de la Mujer Exhibition. Includes a live poetry reading.

From 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday, March 31.

Free. casafamiliar.org/thefront

You are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 4. Free. 858-4540347, warwicks.com Libby Klein at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The writer will sign and discuss her latest paperback mystery, Class Reunions are Murder. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 4. Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com

COMEDY HBianca Del Rio: Blame It On Bianca at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. A comic performance by seasoned comic Roy Haylock’s alter ego who won season six of RuPaul’s Drag Race and is known for her unapologetic humor. At

8 p.m. Friday, March 30. $39-$202.50.

619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org Nemr: Love Isn’t The Answer at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown.

A stand-up performance by the Lebanese comedian who started the comedy movement in Beirut and who was named as one of the “Top 10 Comedians to Watch”

by The Chicago Tribune. At 8 p.m. Saturday, March 31. $30-$70. 619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org

FILM HScrojo: Scoundrel, Charlatan, Savant at Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Filmmaker Brian McHugh will screen this new short format documentary about the elusive North

County artist best known for his iconic concert posters. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 28. $8-$14. bellyup.com HFrom Haarlem to Harlem at Museum of Photographic Arts, 1549 El Prado, Balboa Park. The premiere of the documentary short about local photographer Alanna Airitam, who is best known for her portrait series, The Golden Age. The screening will be followed by a post-show discussion with Airitam and the film’s directors. At 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 28. $10-$15. mopa.org

FOOD & DRINK HUncorked San Diego Wine Festival at Embarcadero Marina Park North, 400 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. The third annual

festival features more than 200 international wines, a champagne bar and cider. Plus food trucks, lawn games, a live DJ and more.

From 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 31. $64.04-$74.59. uncorkedwinefestivals.com Mission Valley Craft Beer and Food Festival at SDCCU Stadium, 9449 Friars Road, Mission Valley. More than 30 breweries and 20 restaurants gather for the annual festival, which includes unlimited sampling with each ticket. From 1:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 31. $60-$90. mvcbf.com

MUSIC 1st Marine Division Band Annual Concert at California Center for the Arts, 340

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

HDefend DACA at The Fresh Yard, 2774 30th St., North Park. A charity group art show with all proceeds donated to ACLU San Diego in defense of DACA. There will be more than 10 featured artists and music by several DJs. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 31. Free. 619-287-1980, instagram.com/thefreshyard HNorth Park Street Gallery at various locations. Watch ten local artists create live on the streets of North Park. There will also be live musical performances and specials from participating shops, restaurants and bars. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 31. Free. 619-294-2501, explorenorthpark.com

BOOKS HGayle Forman at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The bestselling author and journalist will sign and discuss her new YA novel, I Have Lost My Way, the story about three teens grappling with extraordinary personal losses. At 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 30.

Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Joe R. Lansdale at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The prolific mystery writer will sign and discuss his latest Hap and Leonard mystery, Jackrabbit Smile. At 2 p.m. Saturday, March 31. Free. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com Jenn Polish at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The fantasy writer will sign and discuss her latest novel, Lunav. At 7 p.m.

Monday, April 2. Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Tamale Making with Chef Isabel Cruz at Isabel’s Cantina, 966 Felspar St., Pacific Beach. The San Diego restaurant owner celebrates the release of her new cookbook, The Latin Table, with guided tamale making and mimosas. Ticket price includes class, tamales, mimosa and cookbook. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 3. $72. adventuresbythebook.com Scott Sigler at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The thriller writer will be in town to promote his latest novel, Earthcore. There will be a conversation moderated by Jonathan Maberry and Ray Porter. At 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 3. Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Jen Sincero at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The New York Times bestselling author and success coach will sign and discuss her new book,

H = CityBeat picks @SDCITYBEAT

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 N Escondido Blvd., Escondido. In a tradition that spans more than 70 years, a band of Camp Pendleton Marines will perform a versatile catalogue. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 28 and Thursday March, 29. Free. 800-988-4253, artcenter.org HHand of God: Conceptualizing Spirituality Through Experimental Music at The North Chapel, 2881 Roosevelt Road, Point Loma. Noise music and art collective Stay Strange presents this event, which features renowned local and national experimental musicians. Plus spoken word and prayer that interprets religion and spirituality in a daring new way. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 31. Free. staystrange.com HClub Sabbat at Spin Nightclub, 2028 Hancock St., Middletown. The gothic industrial night celebrates its 20-year anniversary with performances by Liquid Grey, Diskdroid and more. Includes fetish and rope suspension performances, as well as complimentary champagne at midnight. From 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday, March 31. $10-$15. facebook.com/ events/1591184394305338 HJames Moore and Andie Springer at Bread and Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. A performance from the New York-based duo violinist and steel guitarist, who create and perform contemporary music working in conjunction with a diverse range of composers, writers, actors and visual artists. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Monday, April 2. $10-$20. 619-987-6214, freshsoundmusic.com HRumba Descarga at La Bodega Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. A night of Afro-Cuban Rumba led by Paul M. Lopez and Jimmy Peña, with special

guests sitting in to jam. From 7:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, April 3. Free. labodegagallery.com Etienne Charles and Creole Soul at The Auditorium at TSRI, 10620 John J Hopkins Drive, La Jolla. Charles and his sextet, which play piano, saxophone, guitar, trumpet, percussion, bass and drums, perform a jazz set that taps into his Afro-Caribbean background. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 4. $30-$35. 858-7841000, ljathenaeum.org Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir at California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The iconic choir performs gospel concerts to raise funds for educational grants given to San Diego. Their music is inspirational and uplifting, and celebrates the history of the negro spiritual. At 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 4. Free. 800-9884253, artcenter.org

PERFORMANCE Anyone Can Whistle Gala Concert Reading at Moxie Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Blvd., College Area. A concert reading of Anyone Can Whistle, the 1965 musical with a book by Arthur Laurents and music by Stephen Sondheim. Money raised supports The Roustabouts Theatre Co. At 7 p.m. Monday, April 2 and Tuesday, April 3. $50. 619-728-7820, theroustabouts.org

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HVAMP: Rx at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park. So Say We All’s monthly storytelling showcase will feature tales about all the ways we medicate. Readers include Kelsey Schultz, Frank DiPalermo,

14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

Carlee Krichmar and more. From 8:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday, March 29. $5 suggested donation. 619-284-6784, sosayweallonline.com

POLITICS & COMMUNITY Sierra Club ICO Fundraiser at Border X Brewing, 2181 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan.

Learn how you can get involved with the local Sierra Club chapter over brews. A percentage of the night’s proceeds will help fund the environmental organization’s efforts to expose San Diego youth to the great outdoors. From 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 31. Free. 858-569-6005, sandiegosierraclub.org

SPECIAL EVENTS HSan Diego Beatles Fair at Queen Bee’s, 3925 Ohio St., North Park. The annual celebration of all things Fab Four includes live bands and memorabilia.

Appearances and performances from the Baja Bugs, Dave Humphries Band and original Beatles drummer Pete Best.

From 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, March 30 and 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday, March 31. $10$50. 619-255-5147, sandiegobeatlesfair. com HEast Village Opening Weekend Block Party at 1041 Market Street, East Village. Celebrate opening day of baseball at this family-friendly annual event that includes fun activities, a micro-brew beer garden, food trucks and more. From 2 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 30 and noon to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 31. Free. eastvillagesandiego.com HBuy My Junk Swap Meet at Bread and Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. The

Buy My Junk Project present their first swap meet where the vendors are artists selling their various junk for the intended purpose of funding art projects. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 31. $1. facebook. com/events/1854718081229612/ Del Mar Mud Run at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. The ninth annual muddy, obstaclefilled 5K. Registered participants receive a t-shirt, a free beer, foam showers and more post-race. At 9 a.m. Saturday, March 31. $69. delmarmudrun.com

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HWoven Women: A Discussion With Navajo Weavers at Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. A discussion with two generations of Navajo weavers, Melissa and Lola Cody, about the history and cultural significance of the art form. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 29. $8-$10. 619-239-0003, mingei.org HCrossover: Where Comics and Science Meet at San Diego Comic Art Gallery, 2765 Truxtun Road, Point Loma. Star Trek writer Mike Johnson and editor Sarah Gaydos discuss the affiliated comics and space science with a UCSD Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences scholar and a UCSD Students for Exploration and Development of Space engineer. From 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 30. $7-$25.

619-238-1233, fleetscience.org HSoutheast Stories Meetup Show at Project Reo Collective, 2335 Reo Drive, National City. Learn the role that Southeast communities played in informing five local artists’ work. The discussion will include insights from Skyler McCurine, Kelsey

Daniels, Moe Abugan, Ron Recaido and Michael Billingsly. From 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 31. Free. 619-434-8464, sosayweallonline.com HPostSecret Live with Frank Warren at The Old Globe, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park. The founder of the community art project PostSecret, in which people anonymously send in their secrets on a postcard, will discuss his inspiration and upcoming exhibit at the Museum of Man. From 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 2. $15$20. 619-239-2001, museumofman.org Homeless. Creative. Unstoppable at Tiger!Tiger!, 3025 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. Cura Caos presents a conversation with Inocente Izucar, the subject of a 2013 Academy Award winning documentary about her journey from being homeless to becoming an artist. At 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 3. Free. facebook.com/ events/155761438425213 The Beautiful and the Ugly: Who Judges, Who Cares? at The Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla. The first in a pair of lectures that takes a critical look at artworks deemed beautiful throughout history, whether these designations are timeless and who gets to decide such standards. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 3. Free. 858-4545872, ljathenaeum.org

WORKSHOPS HWeaving Demonstration at Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Melissa Cody, a fourthgeneration Navajo weaver, will showcase how she makes her works alongside the art in the galleries. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Friday, March 30. $8-$10. 619-239-0003, mingei.org

@SDCITYBEAT

THEATER

The Happiest Place on Earth

Kingdom con

S

kewering Disneyland, the self-proclaimed “Happiest Place on Earth,” is reaching for low-hanging fruit. It’s been done over and over, and yet the Mouse still roars. In his solo show, The Happiest Place on Earth, Chicago playwright Philip Dawkins certainly dwells on the ironies and incongruities of the now 63-year-old theme park, but he doesn’t bury the Magic Kingdom in loud satire or snidery.

Sure, Dawkins’ script points out that, at Disneyland, a post-ride vomiting episode is referred to as a “protein spill” and that the mess is cleaned up with “pixie dust.” Another interesting tidbit: employees are instructed to never respond to a question with “no” or “I don’t know,” but with the bright, shiny and hope-filled “I’ll find out!” But the Disneyland of Dawkins’ play is used as the backdrop for his mostly affectionate reminiscences about his family and their coping with grief. Within it, he finds wishes that didn’t come true, whether wished upon a star or not.

Diversionary Theatre is presenting the West Coast premiere of The Happiest Place on Earth, directed by Jonathan L. Green, who shepherded this play three years ago in Chicago with Dawkins telling his own story on stage. At Diversionary, Dawkins is portrayed by Jacque Wilke, an actress with immense gifts when it comes to voices, mannerisms and portraying characters young and old.

That makes her a natural for The Happiest Place on Earth, where over the course of an hour and a half, she becomes everyone from Dawkins’ grandmother and mother, to the theme park’s Cinderella who greets and smiles for photos with the kiddies.

The story is presented not only by Wilke’s storytelling, but images shown via overhead projector as well. It serves to show the Dawkins family’s perseverance after the sudden death of its patriarch. They turn to Disneyland for succor and distraction, a fantasyland where the outside world does not intrude.

There are a lot of names and backstories to keep track of, and Dawkins’ ultimate question about whether true happiness is even possible feels heavy-handed. At the same time, however, Wilke is a thoroughly engaging performer who owns the Diversionary stage and makes this short trip to Disneyland a most memorable one.

@SDCITYBEAT

SIMPATIKA

The Happiest Place on Earth runs through April 15 at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights. $15-$50; diversionary.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Yo, Vikings!: In this spirited musical, a little girl begins to act like a real-life Viking after learning about Erik the Red during a class assignment. Presented by the Theatre School at North Coast Repertory Theatre, it opens for seven performances March 29 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org Soul Doctor: Josh Young stars in this autobiographical musical about Jewish folk singer Shlomo Carlebach and his unlikely friendship with fellow singer Nina Simone. Presented by San Diego Repertory Theatre, it opens in previews April 3 at the Lyceum Theatre in the Gaslamp. sdrep.org

NOW PLAYING: Bachelorette: Leslye Headland’s dark comedy about three bridesmaids who go on a vice-filled tear after ruining their friend’s wedding dress. Presented by Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company, it runs through April 1 at the Diversionary’s Black Box Theatre in Hillcrest.

Love Never Dies: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera takes place in New York City 10 years after the original. Presented by Broadway San Diego, it runs through April 1 at the San Diego Civic Theatre in the Gaslamp. broadwaysd.com Spike Heels: Teresa Rebeck’s biting dramedy about four morally flawed New York characters caught in a series of love triangles. Directed by Charley Miller, it runs through April 7 at the OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. onstageplayhouse.org A Bench in the Sun: Two lifelong friends become rivals when they begin competing for the affection of a woman who just moved into the retirement home. Written by Ron Clark, it runs through April 8 at PowPAC Community Theatre in Poway. powpac.org A Jewish Joke: Set in 1950s Hollywood, a blacklisted Jewish screenwriter fights back against the Communist witch hunt the best way he knows how: with his jokes. Presented by the Roustabouts Theatre Co., it runs through April 8 at the MOXIE Theatre in Rolando. theroustabouts.org

Find more theater listings at sdcitybeat.com

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 15

PHOTOS BY TORREY BAILEY

CULTURE

he March for Our Lives is exactly what we needed, and is the result of a sustained and visible movement calling for common sense reforms. And it’s working.

Despite misleading headlines wondering if federal legislators will ever act, states are taking it upon themselves to pass laws that actually make a difference without curtailing someone’s right to own a gun.

But how do they keep that momentum going? Youthful energy is one thing, but these students need to begin to think about other things like, say, what they’re going to do with the rest of their lives. Their advocacy will hopefully carry over into adulthood, but if I took one thing away from the March for Our Lives, it’s that it’s now up to all of us to support them and help them carry some of the weight moving forward.

It’s still hard for many of us of in the older generations to fully grasp this issue, given that many of us never had to worry about being shot to death in a classroom. To that, I always tell my older friends, “Remember how terrifying high school was? The emotions we had to deal with? Now, imagine if we also had to worry about whether we were going to be shot that day.”

To the kids of today, I’m sorry that my generation didn’t see this coming. I’m sorry that many of us waited this long and didn’t heed the tragic warning signs. For myself, I hope that we can all do better together moving forward.

—Seth Combs

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

he second amendment and what it promises is an inherently divisive issue. So the estimated 5,000 to 10,000 person attendance at the downtown San Diego March For Our Lives was both stunning and a let down for me. It’s a remarkable step in the conversation surrounding gun control. But given the number of in-person and online conversations taking place on the topic, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the local turnout. Fortunately, the rest of the country showed up, making it one of the largest youth protests since the Vietnam War, according to the Associated Press.

And the people that did participate in San Diego mattered, particularly the kids and teens who ignited their political voices for the first time. Hopefully, those sign-toting kids will hold on to that activist spark, continuing to fight for this issue and every other. Gonzalez, Hogg and the other students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are the types of role models the younger generation needs—those who use social media as a platform for change, not vanity.

Equally important were the protesters who unabashedly identified themselves as gun owners and NRA members. They held posters that read “Gun owner against the NRA,” and “I’m a gun owner with common sense #GunReformNow.” This breakthrough in personal sacrifice and bipartisanship is something Congress should take note of.

—Torrey Bailey

@SDCITYBEAT

CULTURE | ART TORREY BAILEY

SEEN LOCAL SWAP MEETING

I

“

grew up at the Spring Valley swap meet since I was five, buying and selling textiles,” says local multimedia artist Daniel Barron Corrales. “That environment, the community is incredibly tight. I was allowed to walk around that swap meet by myself at seven or eight because everyone knew me.”

Now, along with his fellow local artists and friends Eddy Miramontes and Gina Mejia, Barron Corrales is organizing his own swap meet called Buy My Junk Project. The catch? While the vendors are all artists, they aren’t selling art.

“I’m talking about pots, pans, underpants, chairs, anything they want to sell that’s not art,” says Barron Corrales. “The only rule that we give them is no art.”

The idea came as Barron Corrales prepares for his upcoming residency at Bread and Salt, which begins in April. He thought up large-scale installations but felt too financially strapped to take them on. He recalled the days when his mom would advise him to sell his belongings at the swap meet. “‘You want to go on vacation? Go sell your stuff at the swap meet,’” he recalls his mom saying. “We’d go and do that because my mom was not the type to just hand out money. She always made us earn it. And I think art is that. It’s nice to have stipends, it’s nice to have honorariums, but being self motivated is just as important.”

The artists selling at Buy My Junk will have the same opportunity to profit off their unneeded goods.

In addition to what they sell at their booths, the funds collected from entry (which is $1) and a raffle will be split between the participating artists. But aside from raising money for the involved artists, Barron Corrales and Miramontes want to strengthen the relations of the arts community.

Eddy Miramontes and Daniel Barron Corrales

“For us to be able to hang out for a day and be able to get to know each other, it’s building community through this swap meet event,” says Miramontes.

Buy My Junk Project is also a social experiment, by way of selecting the artists and organizing their booth placement.

“If someone curates walls, we’re trying to wing them with muralists and not tell each other who the hell they are if they don’t already know,” says Barron Corrales. “That way we just promote the interaction and put people in proximity of having those important conversations in our scene.”

The event, which takes place at Bread & Salt (1955 Julian Ave.) on Saturday, March 31 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., will be documented and turned into a work that will be shown during part of Barron Corrales’ residency.

“We might not be getting all the funding we’d like,” says Barron Corrales. “But we’re still here, we’re still hustling and we’re still making it happen.”

—Torrey Bailey

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

I

n this post-Presidential election age of wokeness and intersectionality, Kimberly Dark is the perfect poet at the perfect time. An accomplished local writer, professor and journalist (with contributions in publications as diverse as the Union-Tribune to Ms. Magazine), it’s a bit of a shock to learn that Love and Errors (Puna Press) is her debut collection of poetry. No matter.

The fact that she’s saved it all for now only means there’s plenty to take in.

Written primarily in a nuanced, free verse style, Dark tackles a number of subjects that can sometimes be uncomfortable, even shocking. Still, even in her stark candidness, she finds a way to reach her fingers through our chests and massage the heart. “Resignation to Fashion” is the first such example of this. With a letter addressed to Karl Lagerfeld, Dark begins the poem by dragging the fashion designer for his antiquated ideas of beauty. However, just as we’re getting used to Dark’s, eh, dark wit, she brilliantly transitions into a heartfelt treatise on body positivity, letting the designer and the reader know just how treacherous her own journey has been.

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I was raised to count my blessings, hide my flaws, to worship the artful concealment of human diversity in favor of careful image and restraint.

So this is a renunciation of faith as well.

Dark goes on to tackle sexuality, rape, womanhood, culture and identity with a keen sense of fluidity and character development. Her role in poems like “After Five,” “Hawaiian Language Class” and “Fat Stripper” is often one of an observer, both casual and intimate. What is remarkable—nay, exceptional—is how even when some of her poems are difficult to read because of their graphic, uncensored details, Dark builds a character that is visceral and sympathetic. She draws from these characters in order to relay her own experiences. Her smooth and exquisite turns of verse render even the darkest edges of the human experience into something the reader will find relatable even if they’ve never experienced it themselves. Dark is a fantastic poet (I’d also highly recommend seeing her read in person), but she’s an even better storyteller.

—Seth Combs

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

CULTURE | FILM

Isle of Dogs

Barks of resistance Wes Anderson’s stop-motion marvel features a stunning rebuke of fascism

by Glenn Heath Jr.

C

anines have never fared well in Wes Anderson’s entirely constructed around realizing the traditional films. Remember the tragic fate of poor Buckley world anew. Along the way, Chief and his compatriots in The Royal Tenenbaums? Or how about three- (voiced by Edward Norton, Bill Murray and Jeff Goldlegged pup Cody, who gets permanently separated blum) are presented both as individuals and as part from his mariner family in The Life Aquatic with Steve of a pack. What makes Isle of Dogs so lovely is that Zissou? Often it appears these dog characters must it affords them the freedom to live both experiences perish or suffer so that their human masters can learn without compromising either one.

The equal relationship between humans and dogs the virtues of humility. Man’s best friend making the ends up being pivotal. Social subservience of any kind ultimate sacrifice.

Instead of tiptoeing around these themes further, leads to the kind of hateful trends fueling KobayasAnderson’s new stop-motion marvel Isle of Dogs ex- hi’s cat nationalist rhetoric that thrives on automaplores them overtly, even going so far as to create an tion and misinformation. The scruffy hair, scars and entire alternate universe where the civil rights, emo- yearning eyes of Anderson’s stop-motion dogs are tions and desires of hounds organically overlap with symbolic of the tangible, standing directly in opposiour own. Set in the fictional city of Magasaki on the tion to the numbing indifference perpetrated by the Japanese archipelago, the film introduces a long- cat clan (sorry feline lovers, but this film’s probably standing mythical battle of supremacy between dogs not for you).

If the dogs in Wes Anderson’s previous work were and cats that dates back centuries.

Before domestication, these animals duked it out props meant to deepen character flaws, here they are over which direction society would take, one side fully fleshed out voices. The respect for languages, both honorable and the other corrupt. Human factions fictional and realistic, is always on display. Be forewarned: The Japanese dialogue have since taken up their is not translated with subtitles, cause, with the feline-backed but the dogs communicate in clan represented heavily in English. What we are left with local government. When a ISLE OF DOGS is total trust in Anderson to major outbreak of dog flu Directed by Wes Anderson present us a moving story not and snout fever hits, Mayor Starring Bryan Cranston, always dependent on classic Kobayashi (voiced by Kunichi exposition or form.

Nomura) banishes all dogs Edward Norton, Koyu Rankin At its core, Isle of Dogs to Trash Island, much to the and Greta Gerwig (opening Friday, March 30) chagrin of activists and kidRated PG-13 functions as a timely allegory dos everywhere. that celebrates young people After heavy backstory who stand up and resist the is communicated by way of cynical status quo. Atari goes Courtney B. Vance’s stoic narration, Isle of Dogs swiftly follows young Atari (Koyu through toxic hell searching for his pet only to find Rankin) as he steals a single engine plane to search himself confronting rampant totalitarianism with for Spots (Liev Schreiber), his long lost dog that was the help of his peers, including foreign exchange the first to inhabit Trash Island’s dystopia. There he student Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig). Courage like meets a squad of alphas led by Chief (Bryan Cranston) theirs is reminiscent of those students and teachwho become Atari’s de facto guides despite the lan- ers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who are currently challenging guage barrier.

Being a Wes Anderson film, Isle of Dogs has his government officials on our inadequate gun laws trademark pop music cues, direct address and snap- with equally passionate resolve. pily repetitive dialogue. While never reaching the dizzying heights of his stop-motion masterpiece, Fan- Film reviews run weekly. tastic Mr. Fox, it’s a beautifully breakneck narrative Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

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CULTURE | FILM

Foxtrot

Bottled up

I

sraeli director Samuel Maoz sees the world through confined spaces. His 2009 film Lebanon takes place entirely within the belly of a tank. Surrounded by metal and steel, vulnerable young soldiers slowly go crazy with guilt after killing an innocent civilian. Collateral damage can only be seen through their vehicle’s target scope, which both limits and heightens the camera’s perspective.

At first glance, Maoz’s Foxtrot takes a more conventional approach to similar material. However, instead of focusing intensely on combat experiences, he expands the focus to show how immediate family members of one soldier cope with grief at home.

Michael Feldman (Lior Ashkenazi) and his wife Daphna (Sarah Adler) are stunned to learn that their son Jonathan (Yonaton Shiray) has been killed while serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Many of the initial scenes are highly claustrophobic, with overhead shots lingering above characters pacing small rooms like caged animals. Pressure builds relentlessly until word comes through that a mistake was made and that the wrong family was notified.

Foxtrot then cuts to Jonathan’s four-man squad standing guard at a desolate checkpoint in the middle of the desert. Boredom dominates their experience; they idly banter to pass the time. In juxtaposing the tense home front moment with the tedium of soldiering, Moaz subverts traditional war film conventions. Both are heavily influenced by the failures of military bureaucracy to create clear rules of engagement.

This institutional critique becomes more convoluted as Foxtrot (opening Friday, March 30 at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas) tries to connect the two perspectives through happenstance and irony.

Moaz is far more comfortable

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bunking with the soldiers in the slowly sinking, cramped container they call home. Their numbing plight has an absurdist tint, whereas Michael and Daphna’s struggles never rise above stock melodrama.

If Lebanon was fueled by its visceral intensity, Foxtrot could use a little less of the same—the one moment it seems totally alive is when a character breaks rank to perform an impassioned dance number.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING Back to Burgundy: The estranged son of a dying patriarch returns home hoping to reconnect with his family. Opens Friday, March 30, at Angelika Film Centers—Carmel Mountain.

Foxtrot: Director Samuel Moaz confronts the horrors of war via the family of a young soldier stationed at a remote desert outpost. Opens Friday, March 30, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas and Angelika Film Centers—Carmel Mountain.

Isle of Dogs: Wes Anderson returns to the world of stop motion animation in this comedy about a young Japanese boy who goes searching for his exiled dog on Trash Island.

Ready Player One: When the creator of a virtual reality world dies, a video is released challenging gamers to find the Easter eggs that will ensure the winner a massive fortune. Directed by Steven Spielberg.

The China Hustle: This documentary traces the financial connections between Wall Street, American banks and Chinese companies. Opens Friday, March 30, at the Ken Cinema.

Tyler Perry’s Acrimony: Taraji P. Henson’s faithful wife finally decides to take revenge on her cheating husband once his infidelity becomes more brazen.

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

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

KIM HIORTHØY

MUSIC

Kelly Lee Owens elly Lee Owens never imagined she’d stay in one place for long, but after moving to London more than a decade ago she’s found herself wrapped up in a continuous string of different projects.

The Welsh electronic artist, producer and songwriter first interned at indie label XL Recordings. She then went on to play bass in an indie band, worked at a couple of record stores, and even spent some time working as an auxiliary nurse in a cancer hospital. Each stop played an instrumental part in informing Owens’ outstanding 2017 self-titled debut.

Playing in a band confirmed the singer and beatmaker’s unwillingness to compromise on her creative vision. Working at the hospital inspired her to filter creativity through the more medicinal properties of music, particularly in the healing powers of different audio frequencies. And it was at the record store job where she met Daniel Avery and James “Ghost Culture” Greenwood, two fellow London-based producers who ended up influencing her artistic path.

In addition to offering what she calls “real encouragement and support,” Avery and Greenwood brought Owens

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

into the studio and introduced her to production software such as Logic and Ableton. Greenwood even offered to be her engineer.

“Working with Dan and James really opened the door,” says Owens from her London home.

“I wasn’t confident enough in myself at that point. I didn’t even really know how to be. I was shown a way, so I jumped in the deep end and ran with it.”

The 29-year-old Owens filtered those lessons and studio experiences into her self-titled debut album, released early last year. Throughout the album, her compositions maintain a sturdy foundation of beats, dressed up in a variety of seductive, smart and stylized atmospheres that highlight her impressive patience and knack for surprise.

The bass-backed, kalimba plucking of “Bird” and the

foreboding house bump of “Evolution” fold seamlessly into the shoegaze-tinged dream pop of “S.O” and the molassesstretched drone of album closer “8.” And while the varied styles all work together to form a cohesive whole, many tracks reward listeners with stylistic surprises of their own.

For example, “Anxi.” features the album’s lone guest vocalist, Jenny Hval, whose single “Kingsize” Owens remixed in 2015.

The track starts off as a minimalist synth-driven duet and ends as a blanket of incantations draped over a solid beat.

And the orchestral beginnings of “Lucid” eventually give way to nearly 90 seconds of straightforward, low-key techno.

It’s a refreshingly assured and focused first effort, which Owens attributes to the meticulous game plan she had going into the studio, as well as her refusal to deviate from it once she got there.

“I discovered quite quickly what sounds I wanted,” she says. “And I also knew what sounds I didn’t want. And that’s where you should never compromise. There are just too many shortsighted goals, too many shortsighted things on this planet. We’ve forgotten that the process is everything.”

Part of that process is putting the same kind of attention to detail she gave her album into her solitary performances.

Although she previously performed as a member of a band, Owens ultimately didn’t want the onus of her specific vision to fall on anyone else.

“I’m the creator,” she says. “And I want to try and show that. For myself, I want to be able to put it all in a couple of Pelican cases and travel the world—present it to people in a really stripped-down way. That’s actually brought me to a much more comfortable place where I’m controlling everything on stage and am completely in my element.”

The process also seems to be paying off. While she didn’t get any kind of an advance from her label (Norway’s Smalltown Supersound) and has yet to secure a publishing deal, Owens recouped her recording expenses three months after putting out her album.

Much like the life she had before releasing her debut, Owens’ future is open to a wide range of possibilities. Owens has plans to travel more and connect with indigenous tribes, delve further into the healing properties of instruments like the gong, and bolster her cache of collected sounds. She also intends to head back into the studio at the end of the year to do some more recording. But after recently getting the opportunity to remix the Björk single “Arisen My Senses,” she also seems equally content in building a community around remixing other female artists.

No matter where she finds herself, the promising young producer continues to work with an uncompromising vision of her art and her integrity intact.

“With the first album, that was just me taking my time and making what I thought was good,” she says. “If the second one is going to be as good, or perhaps even better, then it has to be a similar thing. But it has to come from me. I really want to connect. I don’t want to put something out just for the sake of it. I will never be that artist. I’ll never be that person.”

@SDCityBeat

march 28, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

MUSIC

AFTER HOURS: ABOUT LAST NIGHT

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO LOCALS ONLY

T

he Routine and Sure Fire Soul Ensemble are two of the funkiest bands that San Diego has to offer, in their own unique ways. The Routine rock a little harder, while Sure Fire have more of a classic soul sensibility. But the two bands are pitting those two sounds against each other in a pair of shows they’ve dubbed The Funky Battle: The Routine vs. Sure Fire Soul Ensemble. At both shows, each band will play a full-length set, which will be followed by a collaborative funk jam between the two groups.

The Routine’s guitarist, Russell Ramo, says the idea arose when both bands planned a couple shows together but decided to take them a step further.

“We wanted to play two nights together, but one of the things we couldn’t figure out was who’s going to headline,” he says. “So [Sure Fire’s] Tim [Felten] came up with kind of a fun idea to make it have a boxing theme. I feel like you only see the ‘versus’ thing at a DJ night. Like ‘The Beatles versus The Stones.’”

The two Funky Battles will take place on April 13 and May 26 at Winstons in Ocean Beach, with The Routine

ALBUM REVIEW Mint Field Pasar De Las Luces (Innovative Leisure)

M

int Field make pretty music. The Tijuana band seem to permanently exist in the surreal, aftermidnight hours when everything is hazy and life seems to slow down and grow quieter. In simple terms, they play “dream pop,” but on their debut full-length, Pasar De Las Luces, it feels more like fading-consciousness pop.

Everything on Pasar De Las Luces moves slowly and gracefully, allowing every movement and subtle change in the band’s songs to have their moment. There’s some clear precedent for the sounds on the album, such as shoegaze heroes Slowdive or dream-pop/darkwave pioneers Cocteau Twins (much like Elizabeth Fraser, Estrella Sanchez’s vocals often don’t include real words). But Mint Field take those influences and update them, sometimes

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

headlining the first show and Sure Fire headlining the second. And though both shows will feature a collaboration between the two bands, Ramo says that audiences can probably expect the two bands to try to one-up each other.

“There could definitely be a little bit of that,” he says.

“We play such different styles, but it’s a fun way to see if we can push each other’s limits on MARVIN HARRIS performance and stage presence. It’s a healthy competition.”

This isn’t the first time The Routine’s planned a show of this kind.

They previously did a show with AJ Froman where, after both bands’ sets were done, they performed Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon together.

But Ramo says that more unconventional live show ideas are likely in the The Routine cards after these two.

“With anything, it’s about seeing what works well,” he says. “With these two bands, we’re in similar genres but different schools. We’re always looking for new ways to make shows more exciting for anyone who’s coming to see us. We’re always trying to push the envelope.”

—Jeff Terich

letting them breathe and unfold into spacious epics like “Ciudad Satélite,” and sometimes infusing them with traces of krautrock and post-punk as is the case with the sinister groove of “Quiero Otoño de Nuevo.” Every track on the album stays true to the band’s clearly defined aesthetic, which is always clouded in various layers of intoxicating effects. But what they do underneath those layers is where things get interesting.

There’s a lot of room for growth here, though it’s a strong showing for a band that’s still quite young. Sanchez is only 21, in fact, and was a professional bowler before starting the band, which is the kind of bio that’s far more interesting than most of us could ever hope to have. But their youth is by no means indicative of a lack of maturity or sophistication. Everything on the album sounds stunning, and often tugs at the heartstrings, like the gorgeous “Para Gali,” which was written about the death of a beloved pet. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I have something in my eye…

—Jeff Terich

The Beat goes on “[BrokenBeat] was kind of like the outcast, nerdy kid in the corner in school that somehow became cool over time,” says Walker Holland of the EDM night he co-founded in 2002.

BrokenBeat focused on glitch, intelligent dance music and other experimental subgenres of the early aughts that didn’t draw big crowds—that is until dubstep’s popularity exploded around 2006. BrokenBeat became San Diego’s longest-lasting monthly EDM night, running for 10 years. But the night was discontinued in 2012 when its home base, Kadan in Normal Heights, closed down.

“When something that amazing happens and then the chapter closes, you kind of look back and say, ‘did that really happen?,’” Holland says.

After years spent building families, exploring other projects and searching for another suited venue, Holland says he and his team are starting BrokenBeat again. And it’s happening at SPACE Bar. TORREY BAILEY “It was just perfect because it’s dark, it’s got an upgraded sound system, a dedicated sound man and they had visuals. They had a projector there so we were really excited.”

Aside from the music, visuals were a main attracBrokenBeat tion of BrokenBeat. The resident VJ Miguel Vega, who goes by Mig-X, used the night as a platform to form his skillset.

“We would have visuals on the ceiling, on all the walls and multiple projectors going,” says Holland. “We had interactive visuals, cameras on the dance floor so people could see themselves dancing on the visuals, and just all sorts of experimental things that were kind of Miguel perfecting his craft, and everybody came along for the ride.”

Now, Mig-X gets booked at large festivals such as Electric Daisy Carnival, Lollapalooza and CRSSD, but he’s joining in on the return of BrokenBeat nights. It starts back up Thursday, March 29 at SPACE Bar (3519 El Cajon Blvd.) and will continue on the fourth Thursday of each month. This time, there will be music by locals Brandon Vazquez, Austin Speed and more.

“We’re going to always keep it diverse and a little bit weird, but at the same time be conscious of the dance floor and try out all the microgenres,” Holland says.

He says many of BrokenBeat’s former fan base are coming out of the woodwork for the reunion.

“I keep hearing, even years after BrokenBeat night ended, stories like ‘we met at BrokenBeat night,’” Holland says. “So to see all of these people being really excited, it’s pretty cool.”

—Torrey Bailey

About Last Night appears every other week. Got a cool nightlife tip? Email Torrey Bailey at torreyb@sdcitybeat.com.

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MUSIC

JEFF TERICH

IF I WERE U A music insider’s weekly agenda

RAY CONCEPCION

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28

PLAN A: George Clinton, Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf @ House of Blues. George Clinton really needs no introduction. Anyone with even a passing interest in funk should be well versed in the Parliament and Funkadelic discographies. It’s good for what ails ya. PLAN B: Sisu, Witness 9, Battery Point, DJ Jon Blaj @ The Casbah. Sisu are an L.A.-based dark shoegaze project fronted

by Sandra Vu, formerly of Dum Dum Girls.

They’re joined by a couple of other great effects-heavy bands, so be ready to get lost in layers of hypnotic sounds. BACKUP PLAN: Schizophonics Soul Revue, Shake Before Us, Tigers of Bengal @ Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, MARCH 29

PLAN A: 3Teeth, Ho99o9, Street Sects @ Brick by Brick. Break out the leather and fishnets, because some industrial bands are coming to town and making some dark, heavy noise. Get there early enough to hear punk-rap outfit Ho99o9, who I interviewed last year. PLAN B: The Casket Lottery, Souvenirs, Miss New Buddha @ The Merrow. The Casket Lottery are an emo/posthardcore band who began releasing new music back in the late ’90s. This will surely be at the top of the list for anyone who can’t get enough dynamic, driving rhythms and furious guitar riffs.

FRIDAY, MARCH 30

PLAN A: Heavy Hawaii, Smokescreens, US Underground @ Whistle Stop. Spend a Friday night with a batch of local bands topped by lo-fi, synth-heavy outfit Heavy Hawaii, who recently got back to releasing new music after a bit of a break. PLAN B: Lindi Ortega, Hugh Masterson @ Soda Bar. Lindi Ortega plays a contemporary style of country-rock that’s rooted in classic sounds but fits in alongside modern artists like Jenny Lewis.

It’s beautiful, sad, wonderful stuff.

SATURDAY, MARCH 31

PLAN A: Hand of God w/ Bill Orcutt, Tatsuya Nakatani, no know (sound band), Monochromacy @ Liberty Station North Chapel. Stay Strange always puts on really cool showcases of noise and avant garde music, and this spiritually-themed show will be transcendent. Read this week’s Short List for more info. PLAN B: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Ggoolldd @ House of Blues. Most people are probably familiar with OMD’s “If You Leave,” their mega-hit single that was featured on the Pretty In Pink soundtrack. However, they’ve got a catalog full of great synth-pop that ranges from

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Titus Andronicus super-catchy to cold and Kraftwerk-esque.

BACKUP PLAN: Vundabar, Ratboys, Exasperation @ Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1

PLAN A: Kelly Lee Owens, Carmen Villain, Mystery Cave @ Soda Bar. Read Scott McDonald’s feature this week on Kelly Lee Owens, a Welsh electronic producer whose self-titled 2017 album is a must listen. PLAN B: Mint Field, Quali, Memory Leak @ Blonde Bar. Tijuana’s Mint Field has been making some waves nationally of late, having just released new album Pasar de las Luces (see my review in this week’s Notes From the Smoking Patio). It’s a gorgeously dreamy set of pop music that’s tuneful but layered in effects. Make sure to get there early to be blown away by local shoegazers Quali.

MONDAY, APRIL 2

PLAN A: Titus Andronicus, Rick from Pile @ Soda Bar. Titus Andronicus never puts on a bad show. They’re a punk rock party band that writes shout-along anthems, and even their sort of weird Dylan-esque new album A Productive Cough has its share. BACKUP PLAN: Pumphouse, Los Pinche Pinches, Roode @ The Casbah.

TUESDAY, APRIL 3

PLAN A: KRS-One @ Observatory North Park. KRS-One is hip-hop royalty, worth watching based on his Boogie Down Productions legacy alone. Also this show is $5, which is as good a deal as anyone’s going to find for a show of this caliber.

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

TV Girl (Soda Bar, 5/10), The Chainsmokers (Mattress Firm, 5/11), American Pleasure Club (Soda Bar, 5/11), The Posies (Soda Bar, 5/26), The Sword (BUT, 6/9), Fear (Observatory, 6/28), Quiet Slang (Soda Bar, 6/29), Petal, Camp Cope (Soda Bar, 7/8), Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam (Open Air Theatre, 8/3), Leon Bridges (Open Air Theatre, 9/5), 3 Doors Down, Collective Soul (Harrah’s SoCal, 9/8), Rascal Flatts (Mattress Firm, 9/14), Needtobreathe (Open Air Theatre, 9/21), Tab Benoit (BUT, 10/27).

GET YER TICKETS The Soft Moon (Casbah, 4/14), Murder City Devils (Irenic, 4/14), Fleet Foxes (Humphreys, 4/15), Jungle (Observatory, 4/16), Dashboard Confessional (HOB 4/18), HAIM (Observatory, 4/19), Jessie Ware (BUT, 4/19), Big K.R.I.T. (Music Box, 4/20), Japanese Breakfast (Irenic, 4/20), Unwritten Law (Observatory, 4/21), Los Lonely Boys (BUT, 4/22), ‘Welcome to Night Vale’ (Observatory, 4/25), Art Garfunkel (Balboa Theatre, 4/27), Bunbury (HOB, 4/29), John Doe and Exene (BUT, 5/2), Baths (BUT, 5/3), Joey Bada$$ (SOMA, 5/3), Meshell Ndegeocello (Music Box, 5/8), Built to Spill, Afghan Whigs (Observatory, 5/9), Poptone (BUT, 5/10), Hot Snakes (Observatory, 5/11), Weird Al Yankovic (Humphreys, 5/12), Dirty Projectors (Music Box,

5/12), Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness (Humphreys, 5/13), Kendrick Lamar, SZA (Mattress Firm, 5/13), Nada Surf (BUT, 5/14), Trash Can Sinatras (Casbah, 5/16), Earth, Wind and Fire (Harrah’s SoCal, 5/18), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Observatory, 5/22), The Head and the Heart (Open Air Theatre, 5/22), The Wonder Years (HOB, 5/22), Rufus Wainwright (BUT, 5/24), Madeleine Peyroux (BUT, 5/28), Xavier Rudd (BUT, 5/29-30), Lord Huron (HOB, 5/31), Ray Lamontagne, Neko Case (Open Air Theatre, 6/2), Iceage (Casbah, 6/5), Kesha, Macklemore (Mattress Firm, 6/12), Sunflower Bean (Che Café, 6/13), Donavon Frankenreiter (BUT, 6/20), Kenny Chesney (Mattress Firm, 6/21), Warped Tour (SDCCU Stadium, 6/22), Belle and Sebastian (Observatory, 6/22), Seu Jorge (BUT, 6/24), Neurosis, Converge (Observatory, 7/14), Paramore (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 7/19), Brad Paisley (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 7/20), Wye Oak (Soda Bar, 7/20), Thirty Seconds to Mars (Mattress Firm, 7/21), Logic (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 7/24), Joe Bonamassa (Humphreys, 7/26-27), The Decemberists (Humphreys, 7/30), Weezer, The Pixies (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/11), Chris Stapleton (Mattress Firm, 8/16), Dispatch (Open Air Theatre, 8/18), Charlie Puth (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/20), Avenged Sevenfold, Prophets of Rage (Mattress Firm, 8/21), Church of Misery (Brick by Brick, 8/21), Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/24), Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/25), Punch Brothers (Observatory, 8/25), Smashing Pumpkins (Viejas Arena, 9/1), Rebelution (Mattress Firm, 9/8), The Eagles (Petco Park, 9/22), Courtney Barnett, Waxahatchee (Observatory, 10/3), Ozzy Osbourne (Mat-

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

tress Firm, 10/9), D.R.I. (Brick by Brick, 10/20).

MARCH WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28 George Clinton at House of Blues.

Schizophonics Soul Revue at Belly Up Tavern. Sisu at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MARCH 29 Galactic at Belly Up Tavern. The Garden at Soma. KOLARS at Soda Bar. Missio at House of Blues. Declan McKenna at Music Box. 3Teeth, Ho99o9 at Brick by Brick.

The Casket Lottery at The Merrow. J Boog at Observatory North Park (sold out).

FRIDAY, MARCH 30 Lindi Ortega at Soda Bar. Senses Fail at Observatory North Park. ‘Wacken Metal Battle - Round 2’ at Brick by Brick. Ella Vos at The Casbah. Yonder Mountain String Band at Belly Up Tavern. Whiskey Myers at Music Box.

SATURDAY, MARCH 31 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at House of Blues. Lido Pimienta at The Casbah. Slothrust at SPACE. The Mother Hips at Belly Up Tavern. Roy Wood$ at Observatory North Park. The Oh Hellos at Music Box. Spice Pistols at Brick by Brick.

APRIL SUNDAY, APRIL 1 Kelly Lee Owens at Soda Bar. Los Tres Tristes Tigres at House of Blues. Mint Field at Blonde.

MONDAY, APRIL 2 Moose Blood at Quartyard. Titus Andronicus at Soda Bar. Dumbfounddead at SOMA.

TUESDAY, APRIL 3 The Dickies, Queers at The Casbah.

Neighbor Lady at Soda Bar. Arlo Guthrie at Belly Up Tavern. Falsifier at Brick

by Brick. KRS-One at Observatory North Park.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 Moonchild at The Casbah. The Goddamn Gallows, Koffin Kats at Soda Bar. Brian Fallon at Belly Up Tavern. Jaden Smith at Observatory North Park.

THURSDAY, APRIL 5 Electric Six at The Casbah. Ty Dolla$ign at House of Blues. Stanton Warriors at Music Box. Hell or Highwater at Soda Bar. John 5 and the Creatures at Brick

by Brick. AJ Froman at Belly Up Tavern.

Snoop Dogg, Warren G at Observatory North Park.

FRIDAY, APRIL 6 Autograf at Music Box. Chrome Sparks, Machinedrum at House of Blues. Sadistic Intent at Brick by Brick. Luke McCombs at Observatory North Park (sold out).

Agent Orange at The Casbah. Lincoln Durham at Soda Bar. Circles Around the Sun at Belly Up Tavern.

SATURDAY, APRIL 7 Courtney Marie Andrews at Soda Bar. Jefferson Starship at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Joshua Radin at Music Box. J.D. Wilkes and Legendary Shack Shak-

ers Unplugged at The Casbah. What So Not at Observatory North Park.

SUNDAY, APRIL 8 Protest the Hero at SOMA. Kontras Quartet with Branford Marsalis at Music Box. Mud Slide Slim at Belly Up Tavern.

Prong at Brick by Brick. Sloth and Turtle at Soda Bar.

MONDAY, APRIL 9 Matt and Kim at Observatory North Park.

Kevin Morby at The Casbah (sold out).

Soccer Mommy at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, APRIL 10 Frankie Cosmos at Quartyard. Kweku Collins at The Casbah. Chromeo, Phantoms at Humphreys. Hannah Wicklund and the Stepping Stones at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11 Hayley Kiyoko at Observatory North Park.

Yungblud at The Casbah. Blink-Fest at Soda Bar. The California Honeydrops at Belly Up Tavern. Bilal at Music Box.

THURSDAY, APRIL 12 Kate Nash at Observatory North Park (sold out). Angel Olsen at Music Box (sold out). Sacri Monti at The Casbah.

Lou Rebecca at Soda Bar. Inspired and the Sleep at Belly Up Tavern.

FRIDAY, APRIL 13 Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox at Humphreys by the Bay. Whores., Helms Alee at The Casbah. The Steely Damned

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 2 at Music Box. Yamantaka//Sonic Titan at Soda Bar. Common Sense at Belly Up Tavern. Grupo Codiciado at Observatory North Park.

SATURDAY, APRIL 14 In This Moment at House of Blues. Jon Foreman at Balboa Theatre. Murder City Devils at The Irenic. Pine Mountain Logs at Belly Up Tavern. Teenage Burritos at Soda Bar. The Soft Moon at The Casbah.

Fruition at Music Box.

SUNDAY, APRIL 15 Fleet Foxes at Humphreys by the Bay. War on Drugs at Observatory North Park (sold out). Sheer Terror at SPACE. Psychotica at Soda Bar. The Chairman and the Board at Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, APRIL 16 Jungle at Observatory North Park. Ryley Walker at Soda Bar. Dale Watson at The Casbah. Ibeyi at Belly Up Tavern.

TUESDAY, APRIL 17 Miguel at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Boogarins at The Casbah. Hey Ocean! at Soda Bar. Tank and the Bangas at Belly Up Tavern. Kali Uchis at Observatory North Park (sold out).

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18 Tash Sultana at Observatory North Park (sold out). Alvvays at Music Box (sold out). Dashboard Confessional at House of Blues. Moonwalks at Soda Bar. The Bronx at The Casbah.

@SDCITYBEAT

THURSDAY, APRIL 19 Jessie Ware at Belly Up Tavern. HAIM at Observatory North Park. alt-J at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Cave Bastard at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, APRIL 20 Big K.R.I.T. at Music Box. Japanese Breakfast at The Irenic. King Krule at Observatory North Park (sold out). Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern. Brian Karcsig at The Casbah. Birdy Bardot at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21 The Moondoggies at Soda Bar. Cradle of Filth at House of Blues. King’s X at Brick

by Brick. The Dream Syndicate at The Casbah. Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern. King’s X at Brick by Brick. Unwritten Law at Observatory North Park.

SUNDAY, APRIL 22 Los Lonely Boys at Belly Up Tavern. La Santa Cecilia at Music Box. Ron Gallo at The Casbah.

MONDAY, APRIL 23 Marian Hill, Michl at Observatory North Park. Bebel Gilberto at Belly Up Tavern.

Low Points, Bit Maps at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, APRIL 24 Prof at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25 The Distillers at The Casbah (sold out).

Less Than Jake, Face to Face at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). ‘Welcome to Night Vale’ at Observatory North Park. Futurebirds at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26 5 Seconds of Summer at House of Blues.

Cody Jinks at Observatory North Park.

Robert Cray Band at Belly Up Tavern.

Blackalicious at Soda Bar. Face to Face at Brick by Brick.

FRIDAY, APRIL 27 Covenant, Grendel at The Casbah. Nav at Observatory North Park. The Pettybreakers at Belly Up Tavern. Suicide Machines at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, APRIL 28 Sum 41 at House of Blues. Smoking Popes at Soda Bar. The Sherlocks at The Casbah. The Verigolds at Music Box.

SUNDAY, APRIL 29 The Weight Band ft. members of The Band at Bellly Up Tavern. Thursday at Soda Bar (sold out). M.D.C. at The Casbah.

rCLUBSr

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

Fri: Dazed and Confused. Sat: Marauak, Raggabond. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: Kathryn Cloward Band.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Hip Hop Wednesday’ w/ MC Kahlee. Thu: ‘SubDrip’ w/ DJ Damon Millard. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ DJ SG. Sun: ‘Church’ w/ Alice, 2 bit, Will Lavin.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Chingo Bling. Fri: Chingo Bling. Sat: Chingo Bling.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: Joe Bartel. Sat: Push. Tue: Karaoke.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: Bontan, Harvard Bass.

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

Thu: Call of the Wild, Amigo, Mazzola.

Fri: Melissa Brooks and the Aquadolls, The Heavy Guilt, Jason Hanna and the Bullfighters. Sat: Fictitious Dishes, DJ Ratty.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: BPeace. Fri: Dave Booda and the Leftovers. Sat: Peter Kenvin.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Schizophonics Soul Revue, Shake Before Us, Tigers of Bengal.

Thu: Galactic, Southern Avenue. Fri: Yonder Mountain String Band, Old Salt Union.

Sat: The Mother Hips, Trouble in the Wind.

Tue: Arlo Guthrie.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Year of the Dead Bird, Honeypot, Heir Gloom. Sat: Actors, Warsaw, Solve.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’.

Thu: Bedroom, Diners, Well Well Well.

Sat: ‘Through Being Cool’. Sun: Mint Field, Quali, Memory Leak. Tue: ‘T is 4 Techno’.

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

Thu: AJ Froman. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Wed: Sasquatch, Amigo, The Focke Wolves, Mortar. Thu: 3Teeth, Ho99o9, Street Sects. Fri: Temblad, Sentinel, Monarch, Gus McArthur, Gravespell. Sat: Spice Pistols, Electric Mud, Brett Ellis Band. Tue: Falsifier, Born A New, Victimized, Refuse.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. Wed: Sisu, Witness 9, Battery Point, DJ Jon Blaj. Thu: The Lil Smokies, Mapache. Fri: Ella Vos, Freya Ridings. Sat: Lido Pimienta, swsh. Mon: Pumphouse, Los Pinche Pinches, Roode. Tue: The Dickies, The Queers, Sculpins, Records With Roger.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Fri: Nemesis. Sat: Final Days.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Bay Park. Fri: Mark Dresser Quintet. Sat: Pierre-Yves Plat.

The Field Irish Pub, 544 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Chris Del Priore. Thu: Smoky Hoof. Fri: The Fooks. Sat: Clint Westwood. Sun: The Broker’s Band. Mon: Gary Flick. Tue: Fiore.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Fri: M-Key. Sat: DJ Rell.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Bar1ne. Sat: Amen.

Hooley’s, 5500 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa. Fri: The Emergency Exit. Sat: Private Domain Unplugged.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: George Clinton, Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf. Thu: Missio, Morgan Saint. Fri: Lola Demure’s Burlesque and Variety Show. Sat: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Ggoolldd. Sun: Los Tres Tristes Tigres. Tue: Marc E. Bassy, Rexx Life Raj. Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: It’s Never 2L8. Thu: Nu Vintage. Fri: Spyro Gyra.

Sat: Beta Maxx, The Reflectors. Sun: Jason Brown. Mon: Chet Cannon. Tue: January Berry Band.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): When they say look both ways before crossing the street, please remember they don’t mean up from your phone and then immediately back down again.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Spring is

here. Listen to the breeze. The air’s bright and carrying the smell of sprouting plants. The songs of birds. Your pleas for help as your head is stuck inside the birdhouse again.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Honestly?

When it comes up this week just pass on finding out the secrets of the universe. I did a couple years ago and I’ve been in a bad mood ever since.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): If someone breaks into your house, you can turn the tables by sitting sinisterly on a chair in the dark and asking a scary riddle that really freaks the guy out.

LEO (July 23 - August 22): I don’t want to say you’re getting what you deserve for disturbing the ancient relic you found hidden in that cave, but, listen, I didn’t lick it and I’m fine, sooooo...

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): Nobody really knows what’s going on

in the center of the Earth. Maybe there are primordial creatures down there. Maybe they might want to read your food blog.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22):

Say what is on your mind this week, lest you spend all day every day feeling like you drank a carbonated beverage too fast.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): What scared you as a child often must be confronted in adulthood. However, please understand that if you bare-knuckle box the Chuck E. Cheese robot, you will be prosecuted.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): Nature is chaotic and violent.

You only believe that it’s beautiful based on your shallow and egocentric view of the world. You’re right though, it is “nice out” today.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): Now is the time to follow your dreams unless it is to make the single longest, record-breaking spaghetti noodle. I’m doing that already and let me tell you, baby, I’m unstoppable!

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18):

This week take some time to connect with your inner child by stealing something from the toy aisle at the grocery store.

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): In dreams we understand ourselves through symbols; this week you may dream of a tiny terrible man with a malformed birds’ head.

That’s my friend, Trevor. Tell him to give me a call.

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

MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. Wed: ‘Midnight in a Perfect World’.

Thu: ‘Midnight Wave’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Sat: Unsteady, Lexicons, Shocks of Mighty.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘The Last Show Probably Maybe’. Fri: Tyler Hilton, Kate Voegle, Curtis Peoples, Savannah Philyaw. Sat: Fashion Jackson, Jara, Wizaerd. Sun: Open mic.

Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla.

Tue: Anomalie.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Harmony Road. Thu: Stilettos. Fri: Stilettos. Sat: Ron’s Garage.

Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: ‘The Cake and Champagne Party’. Fri: Janice and Nathan. Sat: Stellita Porter and the Corvelles. Mon: Andy Anderson and Nathan Fry. Tue: Trish, Hans and Phil.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Year of The Dead Bird, Your Friendly Bartender, Roadside Coyotes.

Thu: The Casket Lottery, Souvenirs, Miss New Buddha. Fri: Hard Fall Hearts, ONOFF, Nights Like Thieves, Sam Hell. Sat: ‘Tom of Finland Fundraiser’ w/ DJ Tristan Jaxx.

Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Thu: Dayna Lane. Fri: Blackcherry Lightnin’. Sat: Bree Jones Band, Shrimper Dan and the Bottom Feeders. Sun: Tony Ortega jazz jam.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: El Haragan y Cia, Marujah, Bipolarte. Thu: Declan McKenna, Chappell Roan (sold out). Fri: Whiskey Myers, Jobe Fortner. Sat: The Oh Hellos, Wildermiss.

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

Wed: ‘1,2,3’ w/ DJ EdRoc. Thu: ‘No Lim-

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · MARCH 28, 2018

its’ w/ DJ Myson King. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Tue: ‘Trapped’ w/ DJ Ramsey.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: ‘Undone’. Fri: Gryffin. Sat: Elephante.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: Kirill Was Here, DJ Scene. Sat: Robin Schulz.

Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Janice Edwards. Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Stoney B Blues.

Sat: Southland Soul.

Sitting On Stacy, Grove, The Bash Dogs, Big Fig Wasps. Mon: Dumbfounddead.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights.

Thu: ‘BrokenBeat’. Fri: Warhorse, Facexhugger, Street Cleaner, Spirits of the Night.

Sat: Slothrust, Potty Mouth. Sun: ‘Pocari Sweat’. Tue: Karaoke.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Middletown. Sat: ‘Sabbat 20 Year Anniversary’. Sun: ‘Sundown’ w/ Get Ugly.

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

The Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJ Junior the Disco Punk.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Fri: Punchcard, Making Incredible Time, A-Bortz. Sat: Manticore, Invocation War, Maledict. Sun: Pants Karaoke.

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

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: Greg Burroughs Duo. Thu: Laugh Out Loud. Fri: Keep Your Soul. Sat: Greg Burroughs Band, Keep Your Soul. Sun: Keep Your Soul Trio. Tue: Corey Gray.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Kick-Stomp Ensemble. Fri: Three Chord Justice. Sat: Vinyl Pirates.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: Brother Maybelle. Sat: The Bedbreakers. Tue: Coverdale and Blinn.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave., North Park. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: Jimmy Ruelas.

Fri: The Addictions. Sat: Jimmy Ruelas.

Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei. Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Michigan Rattlers, The Paragraphs. Thu: Escondido, KOLARS, Sammy Brue. Fri: Lindi Ortega, Hugh Masterson. Sat: Vundabar, Ratboys, Exasperation. Sun: Kelly Lee Owens, Carmen Villain, Mystery Cave. Mon: Titus Andronicus, Rick Maguire from Pile. Tue: Neighbor Lady, minihorse.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Thu: The Garden, Tijuana Panthers, Cowgirl Clue, Shattered Faith. Sat: Mt.Eddy,

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park. Thu: Liz Grace and the Swing Things. Fri: Lenny Fuzzy Rankins.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Wed: Deathgrave, Annapura, Bob Ross, Heat. Sat: Idiot Bombs, The Mice, OttoBahn Von VroomVroom, Inciting Riots. Mon: Doc Hammer, Sweet Girl, Nasalrod.

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

Wed: ‘Yes Lawd’. Thu: ‘Boom Boxx Thursday’. Fri: Camron Zibaie. Sat: Eddey Hyatt.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Wed: Riff City Comedy. Thu: ‘Vamp’. Fri: Heavy Hawaii, Smokescreens, US Underground. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob. Mon: ‘Electric Relaxation’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach.

Wed: Psydecar, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Smokey Hoof, The Shakes. Fri: Diegos Umbrella, Hoist the Colors. Sat: The Moves Collective, Chugboat. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Veronica May.

@SDCITYBEAT

IN THE BACK

CannaBeat Federal protections on cannabis added to spending bill

The Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment has been federal law since 2014. Each time the House has voted on it since 2014, aw-abiding patients, caregivers and the bill has gained more traction. businesspeople in states that allow The provisions have been extended in medical cannabis will be protected federal omnibus bills at least eight times. from the long arm of The United States DeThe rider bill can only be extended in partment of Justice and U.S. Attorney Genshort increments, and Rep. Blumenauer eral Jeff Sessions. told CULTURE on March 14 that it is “a reFederal protections on state medical flection of how seriously flawed the budget cannabis laws, what is known as the Rohraprocess has been here in Congress. It is tied bacher-Blumenauer amendment, now the to Prohibition on expending federal money Leahy amendment, have been included in to interfere with otherwise state-legal aca federal spending bill. On March 22, the tivities. It has been limited, in some cases, House passed the spending measure with a to a few months or a few weeks because vote of 256-167. The Senate passed the bill that is how the federal government has late Thursday. Those provisions have been been funding its operations. Rohrabacherincluded in an extensive $1.3 trillion fedBlumenauer amendment is a victim of the eral funding bill which runs through Sept. dysfunctional budget process.”

30. The 2,232-page omnibus spending bill “While I’m glad that our medical mariwill fund the government through the rejuana protections are included,” Blumemainder of fiscal year 2018. nauer said in a press release posted on his “Good work by @DanaRohrabacher, website, “there is nothing to celebrate since @repblumenauer and everyone else who Congress only maintained the status quo. fought to continue these important mediThese protections have been law since 2014. cal marijuana protections,” Marijuana This matter should be settled once and for Majority Founder Tom Angell tweeted all. Poll after poll shows that the majority of Wednesday about California Republican Americans, across every party, strongly faRep. Dana Rohrabacher and Oregon Demovor the right to use medical marijuana.” crat Rep. Earl Blumenauer.

L

Despite threatening to veto the bill, President Trump signed the spending bill on March 23.

—Benjamin M. Adams

Legal hemp legislation to be introduced by… Mitch McConnell?

D

oes California’s agricultural industry have a hero in Mitch McConnell? That might be the case, as the Senate Majority Leader from Kentucky has introduced a bill that would remove hemp from the federal list of controlled substances. Hemp is essentially the THC-free version of cannabis sativa and can be used to make clothes, oils, cosmetics and foods derived from the seeds. Sen. McConnell has been particularly vocal about the benefits of industrialized hemp farming since the 2014 Farm Bill first allowed for farms to grow it.

His home state of Kentucky has particularly benefited from hemp farming and has become one of the nation’s largest producers. The new bill would allow for even more farming and essentially fully legalize hemp so that stores could safely carry hemp-derived products without fear of raids.

Still, the bill is expected to get push back from organizations like the Narcotic Officers’ Association, who claim the bill is a bad idea because the hemp plant looks almost identical to the marijuana plant and that they’d have no way of knowing without lab tests.

McConnell is expected to introduce the bill when he returns to the Senate in April.

While California’s Proposition 64 allows for the cultivation of industrial hemp, a federal bill decriminalizing hemp would go a long way in appeasing farmers who might still fear federal raids.

—Seth Combs

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

MARCH 28, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 27