San Diego CityBeat • Apr 1, 2015

Solar

Powers

Bill Powers (yep, that’s his name) snubs the power grid and lives off homespun energy by

J oshua E merson S mith

Culture The podcasts, TV shows & other offerings worth head cramming Music Grooving in San Diego with the Sure Fire Soul Ensemble

2 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

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April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Up Front | From the editor

Coffee talk on race relations There are plenty of reasons to keep ripping into Starbucks’ ill-conceived #RaceTogether campaign.

Let’s not, however, throw the baby out with the iced caramel macchiato.

A couple weeks ago, the coffeehouse behemoth suggested its baristas put those hashtags, and similar stickers, on customers’ cups. Management encouraged rank-and-file workers to engage with the public on the current poor state of race relations.

This perky plan skunked in less than a week. And pundits burned the roofs of their mouths drinking so quickly from this scalding brew-ha-ha.

When the initiative first went public, Conan O’Brien quipped on his late-night talk show: “A barista asked me if I wanted my coffee ‘African American, or with a splash of Caucasian.’”

Just this past weekend, Saturday Night Live mocked Starbucks with a fake commercial by Pep Boys, encouraging its mechanics to initiate conversations with the public about gender and sexuality differences. When two SNL cast members, dressed as Pep Boys grease monkeys, tell a customer that “Ellen DeGeneres used to be a man,” the customer implores that they just go get her car, now.

Point made. America’s service workers are not paid enough, or professionally trained, to start a dialog on race relations.

I don’t drink coffee. But to see if any beans were still grinding, I went to three Starbucks (two in downtown San Diego and one in North Park) to engage baristas, during non-peak hours. At my first stop (where I did not identify myself as a journalist), the 30-something female behind the bar seemed to honestly have never heard about #RaceTogether.

At two other locations, I told the employees I was a member of the media. I assume they were all GoGo’s fans, because, after that, their lips were sealed.

There are more than 20,000 Starbucks worldwide; more than a dozen in downtown San Diego, all a five-minute walk from each other. (Best-ever Onion headline: “Starbucks opens Starbucks in own restroom.”) But my field research was over.

Is the conversation, however, now a nonstarter?

Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz shouldn’t be using the employees in his mega-chain to espouse his politics, foreign or domestic. Even behind a very positive message, it still reeks of Starbucks using race relations as a publicity ploy to push product.

The knuckle draggers at Chick-fil-A figured out the down-side of the corporate bully pulpit. After it awk-

wardly served conservative propaganda with boneless chicken-breast sandwiches a few years ago, Chickfil-A released a statement that said: “Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”

OK. But if we rely on politicians to kick-start the race-relations dialog, that ought to just get us an icebreaker in time for the country’s tri-centennial.

Let’s not wait for government action, or another national incident.

Late last year, Ferguson, Missouri, stepped into the spotlight after a black man was killed at the hands of white police officer, and the subsequent grand jury decision not to indict that officer. Protesters marched all over the country, including here in San Diego.

One peaceful march traveled from the Convention Center to Horton Plaza and back. Like many strolling along Fifth Avenue, I was interested to see what the spectacle was about. Unlike most, I accidentally discovered my teenage daughter was marching with the group. Parentally obliged, I trailed behind for the entire route.

The protesters voices’ echoed inside Horton Plaza. Shoppers there put consumerism on hold, if only for a moment, to listen. It freaked a father out when the marchers stopped in the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Market Street, holding up traffic, protected by the police but drawing the ire of passersby.

The takeaway for me, stalking the event, was the buzz caused in its wake. When protesters walked by, the sideliners stopped to gauge intent, message and manner of presentation. Time and again, after the marchers passed, folks on the sidewalk turned to each other to weigh in on what they’d just seen. One nearsighted woman wondered why anybody was protesting in San Diego about something that happened in Missouri.

A guy who’d stepped out of a bar for a smoke took a drag on his cigarette, exhaled and said, “Yup, that’s the Ferguson thing.”

While not high on insight, that’s actually an opener to dialog on race relations. You can do that while eating a slice of pizza. Or, even over a cup of coffee.

Do discuss. Go ahead and protest peacefully (but warn your dad). Don’t just yell into a polarized echo chamber. Start a meaningful, sustained conversation. It needn’t be sponsored by a multinational corporation.

—Ron Donoho Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com.

This issue of CityBeat is dedicated to April Fools’ Day. Or, is it?

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Up Front

On the

Cover

San Diego CityBeat staff writer Joshua Emerson Smith photographed Bill Powers at his home in University Heights for this week’s cover news feature, which looks at the electrical engineer’s quest to create an affordable, off-the-grid solarenergy system. Carrying his old, reliable Nikon D200, Smith followed Powers on his roof to take pictures of the homeowner beside his solar-panel array. Due to scheduling issues, the shoot happened around 10 a.m. as the sun was fast rising into the sky. However, with a little luck, Smith snapped a few solid shots before the sun got too bright. To find links to more of Smith’s writing and photography, follow him at twitter.com/jemersmith.

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April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Up Front | News Joshua Emerson Smith

An activist snubs the power grid and lives on homespun energy

by Joshua Emerson Smith

Grid

Unlocked I

t’s easy to miss the rooftop solar panels on Bill Powers’ house in University Heights. On the cul-de-sac where he lives, other neighbors have panels, too, and the technology looks commonplace in the urban Southern California landscape.

However, as he rolls up his garage door, the scene gets decidedly more unusual. Opposite stacks of papers and technical drawings, an eye-popping wall of neatly arranged electrical equipment quietly blinks. On the floor sits a 4-foot-high Plexiglas box filled will 12 lead-acid batteries, weighing roughly 1,500 pounds.

“That’s the grid connection,” says Powers, pointing to a traditional breaker box, which is surrounded by the other apparatus. He flips a switch and pauses. “Now we’re not hooked up to the grid.” Nothing happens. The lights stay on. And that’s the point.

After years of working with electric utilities at the state level, Powers, a sort of accidental activist, has decided to boycott what he sees as a flawed and monopolistic system.

Using solar panels, batteries and a backup generator to charge the batteries, the 58-year-old electrical engineer has built an off-the-grid solar system, hoping to inspire others to also divest from big energy.

“The only reason why I’m doing it is to demonstrate that multiple people can and should do it,” he says.

Given current technology, becoming energy self-sufficient, especially in sunny San Diego, isn’t the hard part, Powers explains. Making it affordable is the challenge.

“The point of this is all economic,” he says. “It’s got to pencil out.”

Spending roughly $40,000 to develop and build his solar system over the last few years, Powers has made the project more financially viable by leasing an electric car.

Based on his previous energy and fuel costs, Powers believes his system will pay for itself within 15 years.

However, as technology improves, he hopes the cost for such an off-the-grid system will become significantly more affordable.

“Why does the utility seem to get so agitated about rooftop solar?” he says. “Because it really does have the potential to revolutionize the business.”

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Bill Powers stands next to his rooftop solar-panel array at his home in University Heights.

he son of a military officer, Powers moved around a lot growing up. He attended high school at the International School Bangkok. At 26, after earning a graduate degree in environmental science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he moved to Ventura and went to work for the Navy as a civilian engineer.

In the mid-’90s, Powers started his own consulting practice helping to develop electric-generation systems for private power-plant developers. Far from a born radical, his original clients were the types of folks he would eventually go up against.

In 2001, the energy crisis hit, and Powers started to have something of an epiphany. By 2010, Sempra Energy—the holding company of San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E)— agreed to pay $400 million to settle accusations of Enronstyle price manipulation during the crisis. Somewhere in there, Powers became an ardent opponent of big energy.

“What struck me about the energy crisis was the blatant rip-off nature of it—that companies that would otherwise be the paragon of the local economy were shaking us down, essentially,” he said.

As a result, Powers started working as a consultant with nonprofit groups opposing power plant expansion.

For the last decade, he’s regularly participated in lawsuits and campaigns trying to stop new development of regional power plants.

Within the environmental community, Powers is viewed as a “leader,” said Nicole Capretz, executive director of Climate Action Campaign and chief architect of the city of San Diego’s climate action plan.

“He’s always been the engineer who has told us that we needed to completely transform our energy grid and change the way we deliver energy,” she said. “While it’s easy for us to conceptualize the future and what we want to see, he helps us understand the mechanics of how that would manifest.”

As part of his advocacy work, Powers has regularly appeared as an expert witness before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the statewide government agency that regulates utilities and approves rate hikes.

“I have to duel with the experts from SDG&E and nu-

merous commissions on the accuracy of what they’re saying,” he said. “I get cross-examined by them in the hearings, so if I want to maintain my credibility, I have to do my homework.”

Officials with SDG&E declined to be interviewed for this story. The company sent an email to CityBeat that outlined its solar-energy program.

“SDG&E’s foundational principles for customer rates are to ensure fairness and transparency and to encourage energy conservation,” wrote Stephanie Donovan, the utility’s senior communications manager. “We are strong supporters of solar and proud of our accomplishment of having nearly one-third of the energy supplied to customers from renewable-energy resources, including utility-scale solar.”

The San Diego region produces the second-largest amount of solar energy in the country behind Los Angeles and is fourth in per capita generation, according to a recent report by the Environment America Research & Policy Center.

That’s likely due in part to California’s weather and its Net Energy Metering program, which controls rates for those with rooftop solar. Such regulation has helped make it easier for companies, such as Northern California-based SolarCity, to offer leases or loans on solar panels that provide instant savings.

“I see the grid evolving to incorporate more distributed solar, more storage for resiliency,” said Jonathan Bass, SolarCity’s vice president of communications. “I don’t necessarily see people retreating into silos off the grid.”

At the same time, rate hikes can also drive people to invest in cost-saving technology, such as rooftop solar panels.

Over the last decade, electric rates at the large investor-own utilities have steadily increased, according to data from the CPUC. Reaching an average cost of 18.1 cents a kilowatt hour last year (up from 13.8 cents in 2005), SDG&E’s rate increases have consistently outpaced the two other major utilities in the state, Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison.

The CPUC approves rate increases so a utility can recoup from ratepayers the cost of building new infrastructure, such as power plants and transmission lines. Howev-

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Up Front | News Timeline: Big Energy’s attempts to expand in the San Diego region 2009

2013

2014

2015

Sempra opened the Costa Azul liquefied natural gas terminal in Ensenada.

CPUC denies proposal

by Charlotte, N.C.based Cogentrix to sell power from its Quail Brush Energy Generation Project to SDG&E.

SDG&E’s Pio Pico Energy Center in Otay Mesa approved by the CPUC.

A power purchase agreement between SDG&E and NRG Energy for the proposed Carlsbad Energy Center was preliminarily denied by an administrative law judge.

Once hailed as a future economic powerhouse for importing natural gas across the Pacific, the $1 billion project is now operating at roughly 5 percent of capacity.

Sunrise Powerlink proposed by SDG&E approved by California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

Last year, the California Energy Commission suspended until 2015 certification proceedings on the plant, which borders Mission Trails Park and Santee. Residents have vocally opposed the project.

Unanimously rejected by the CPUC in 2013, the $1.6-billion proposal was resurrected by utility executives and nowdisgraced former commission president Michael Peevey.

The plant’s approval is now part of a federal and state investigation of the commission.

The commission could still approve construction of the $2-billion plant, a roughly 600-megawatt natural gas power plant that would replace the 60-year-old Encina Power Station.

Joshua Emerson Smith

The transmission line connects the San Diego region to a 1,000-megawatt solar project in Imperial Valley.

The cost of the project was nearly $2 billion.

er, tacked on to rate increases is also a guaranteed profit margin of around 10 percent.

“That’s a perverse incentive because there’s no disincentive to just keep building infrastructure,” Bass said. “And so something like [rooftop] solar comes along and reduces the need, provides a tremendous benefit, but the utility can’t necessarily generate profit from it.”

This situation, along with a weak In his garage, Bill Powers explains his off-the-grid solar system, regulatory agency, has lead, over the last which includes a dozen 130-pound lead-acid batteries. decade, to the building of a significant amount of unnecessary and often fossil-fuel-based infraThat alternative is called “micro grids,” he said. The structure, Powers said. idea is that an off-the-grid solar system, such as his, can “There’s a lot of news in the press lately about every- be scaled up to serve an entire city block or even a neighbody’s rates going up, up, up,” he said. “Well, the usage borhood. That means costs could potentially be reduced as hasn’t gone up significantly. Really, what it reflects is a cap- residents share infrastructure, such as a backup generator, tive commission approving everything.” between multiple houses.

That future may be closer than many realize. Several comhe list of utility projects that Powers has opposed in- panies, including SolarCity, now offer solar-powered micro cludes construction of a liquefied natural gas plant in grids. The systems are mostly used in case of a blackout to Ensenada, the Pio Pico Energy Center and an ongoing provide backup power for the military, hospitals and college fight over construction of the Carlsbad Energy Center, a campuses, as well as to service remote off-grid communities. natural gas power plant.

While in most cases the micro grids are hooked up to But, Powers is probably best known for his opposition to the wider utility grid, the technology has significant implithe Sunrise Powerlink, a transmission line connecting San cations for ratepayers. Using storage capacity, the system Diego to a 1,000-megawatt solar project in Imperial Valley. flattens the amount of energy that’s drawn from the util“We’re going to build a $2-billion extension cord out ity at any one time, significantly reducing demand charges, to Imperial County, and all the disruption that that will fees paid by large energy users for peak consumption. cause, so that we can connect to the same panels that are “Let’s say you have a whole bunch of electric vehicles sitting on my roof?” he said. “It’s substantially cheaper for that you plug in for one hour in a month,” said Daidipya me to just put them here.”

Patwa, SolarCity senior product manager. “That one hour Powers’ desire to build his off-the-grid solar system will dictate part of your bill because it’s the maximum you largely resulted from frustration with the CPUC’s deci- pull from the grid at any given point. So when you deploy sions to approve development of new centralized power- storage and backup generators, you can lower that maxiplant infrastructure. But, while he’s cynical about the ef- mum that’s used at any part of the month.” fectiveness of the state’s regulatory structure, he’s optimisThat innovation has huge implications for empowering tic about technology’s ability to benefit ratepayers. the ratepayer, Powers said. While customers may never We have almost no growth in power demand, and yet, fully disengage from the grid, technology is making the we’re building like gangbusters,” he said. “Is it possible utility increasingly less necessary. that the agency that’s supposed to make sure we don’t “It will be a matter of disengaging,” he said. “It will be spend any more than we need stepped out of the driver a matter of building micro grids that still are connected [to seat, and all of the shareholder-driven corporations that the utility grid]. But, instead of that being their primary they’re supposed to be regulating are driving? link, it’s a backup link.”

“Even if you capture every commissioner again and again and again, we have an alternative.”

Write to joshuas@sdcitybeat.com.

T

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Plastic bags, all trash, making policy waves for city, state Two environmental policies that may define the longterm health of San Diego’s waterways are being evaluated at the local and state level: a San Diego plastic bag ban; and amendments to the California State Water Board’s plan to keep the ocean trash-free.

Both policies are stirring up the water.

There have been several attempts to implement a city ban on plastic bags. The most recent effort was stalled by Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s office waiting out SB270, the statewide bag ban that would have gone into effect in July. Now, though, that legislation is due up for a vote on the 2016 ballot, after aggressive campaigning by the American Progressive Bag Alliance, a consortium of plastic bag manufacturers.

Roger Kube, an advisor for San Diego Surfrider, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, said that by delaying the statewide vote, 16 billion plastic bags would be kept in circulation, with $150 million in profits for the manufacturers.

“It really sparks the debate,” Kube said. “It opens up people’s eyes to what’s wrong with a plastic bag and anti-disposable plastic.”

San Diego could get ahead of the 2016 ballot.

“Immediately after the referendum on the statewide plastic bag bill qualified for the ballot and halted the implementation of new regulations, I directed City staff to resume with the environmental review of San Diego’s proposed plastic bag ordinance,” Faulconer said in a statement.

Based on statistics gathered by San Diego Surfrider and San Diego Coastkeeper, another nonprofit environmental advocacy group, plastic bags make up 4 percent of the litter found during San Diego beach cleanups.

But more are in the waters surrounding the city, Kube said, and there is no surefire way to count those bags.

Kube is confident the mayor’s ban proposal will be voted in by the City Council in the next few months.

••• Some backers of the state amendments to reduce garbage on beaches and in watersheds say passage would be a major step for California’s goal of reducing water pollution.

However, the statewide trash amendments would supersede efforts by the city’s Transportation and Storm Water Department to drain waterways of pollutants. By city standards, garbage is not the highest priority, and the city is busy developing a plan that would diminish bacteria, using sophisticated catch systems.

“The problem is a shorter timeline,” said department spokesperson Bill Harris about the trash amendments. “[It will] upend our efforts and be inefficient.”

Harris said in order to comply with the new policy, which will be voted on by the State Water Board on April 7, the city would have to make and manage a new system that specifically reduces trash in waterways within 10 years. It would become obsolete by the time the city needs to come into compliance, he said, while diverting time and Matt O’Malley resources from the bacteria reduction plan efforts, which should be finished by 2032.

The State Water Board’s policy is modeled after Los Angeles’s trash program, with a goal of no trash being present in any ocean waters, bays or surface waters, according to a California Coastkeeper Alliance statement.

“It’s obvious trash is a major problem in our waterways,” said San Diego Coastkeeper representative Matt O’Malley. “It’s another thing that people will have to address with their stormwater system.”

—Carly Nairn

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | opinion John R. Lamb

John R. Lamb

Spin

Cycle Everybody’s showing their teeth No man likes to have his intelligence or good faith questioned, especially if he has doubts about it himself.

—Henry Brooks Adams In every political drama, there comes the shark-jumping moment.

In the escalating Charger’s stadium war of words, the media battleship U-T San Diego may have produced it last weekend with an article that posed the question: “Did Mark Fabiani jinx the Chargers-Raiders stadium plan for Carson?”

Below a photo of former President George W. Bush’s infamous 2003 “Mission Accomplished” visit on board the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, the story strained to compare arguably The Most Miscalculated Wartime Boast Ever to a routine news advisory from Carson2gether, the citizens group backing a Chargers-Raiders stadium proposal up north.

“The Chargers special counsel oversees the politics of all the team’s stadium machinations, so the wording of a release from its citizens organization up there seemed peculiar,” the story teased.

No, the press release didn’t refer to the team as the Los Angeles Chargers or drop a neener-neener on Mayor Kevin Faulconer and his glacial decision-making machine.

But it did announce that stadium supporters would be delivering boxes of signed petitions to Carson City Hall via a “Petition Mission Accomplished Parade.”

“The term ‘mission accomplished’ carries considerable political baggage, and that can’t be lost on Fabiani, a Democratic strategist who has worked at the highest levels of national politics,” U-T government and politics editor Michael Smolens hypothesized, while reminiscing about Bush’s declaration of the end to

8 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

major combat operations in Iraq, 12 years and counting too early.

“In political circles at least,” Smolens wrote, “the term ‘mission accomplished’ is still uttered with irony or outright derision. It does not denote success. (Note: Bush never used those words.)”

No, but he stood on the flight deck off San Diego’s coast with a monstrous banner emblazoned with those words hanging behind him. So, wildly overblown message received.

Conversely, Smolens acknowledged that the Carson citizens group did “successfully deliver petitions with seemingly more than enough signatures” to qualify the stadium project for the ballot.

“And the overall fate of the Carson stadium won’t hinge on those two words,” he added. “Unless, perhaps, the political gods feel they’re being taunted.”

Yes, ladies and gents, it appears the occult has wiggled its way into the mainstream conversation over the future whereabouts of San Diego’s antsy professional football franchise.

For his part, Fabiani took the poke with a shrug. “We’ve got a tremendous amount of work to do and so haven’t had the time to focus on this kind of commentary,” he told Spin Cycle in an email, adding, “As the commentary it-

Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the Chargers’ Mark “The Jinx!” Fabiani self concedes, though, the event was focused on the signature gathering effort—which resulted in almost twice the number of required signatures in just eight days. So that’s really the bottom line, isn’t it?”

Meanwhile, the bottom line for Team Faulconer seems to be simple: Keep jabbing needles into the Chargers PR voodoo machine and hope it causes some heartburn over thoughts of moving north.

The mayor’s wordsmiths will tell you momentum is on San Diego’s side, now that the county has agreed to join the cause by splitting a half-million-dollar tab with the city to hire some stadium experts that will vet whatever financing plan Faulconer’s hand-picked Citizens Stadium Advisory Group (CSAG) comes up with by May. “Positive momentum is building for a fair and responsible stadium plan,” Faulconer said last week. “This partnership will make it official that the entire San Diego region is united and making progress toward a real solution that will garner broad public support.”

With Faulconer providing the smiles, CSAG spokesman Tony Manolatos, a former Faulconer staffer, is busy sinking his teeth into what he perceives as Fabiani’s disingenuous motives.

“As I’ve said recently, Mr. Fabiani’s goal is to convince NFL owners that the Chargers can’t get a new stadium built in San Diego,” Manolatos said in an email to media outlets Tuesday. “He’s decided one of the ways to try and do that is to criticize just about everything occurring in San Diego. Progress is being achieved on multiple fronts, but if Mr. Fabiani can make San Diego appear divided and dysfunctional, the league’s owners are more likely to green light the team’s move to Los Angeles.”

Spin could spend several columns exploring the notion of whether San Diego needs assis-

tance in appearing “divided and dysfunctional.”

It could also be argued that this progress the mayor projects is simply an acknowledgement that the task of negotiating a stadium deal is way over the city’s head. Even City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, who attended the citycounty presser last week, recently admitted to KUSI that he knows little about stadium negotiations.

That could explain why city leaders seem to be viewing this endeavor as they would any political campaign: Put on a brave face and kick your opponent when opportunity knocks.

What Faulconer’s folks appear to get now is their target demographic really isn’t San Diego city or county voters, but rather the 32 owners of NFL teams, 24 of whom will have to sign off on which team (or teams) move to L.A. That means nine owners can scuttle any team’s dream, which also explains why you hear the phrase “good faith” bandied about by both sides. NFL policy lays out a laundry list of factors to be considered in a proposed relocation.

“Because league policy favors stable team-community relations, clubs are obligated to work diligently and in good faith to obtain and to maintain suitable stadium facilities in their home territories,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a 2012 memo to owners.

Last week, a U-T editorial suggested that the team is not acting in good faith. “As we have written on this page several times,” it read, “a new stadium in San Diego is not possible without the enthusiastic cooperation and participation of Spanos and his organization. It’s not happening.”

Apparently the solution is just to smile more, and insert a few more voodoo pins.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

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Up Front | Opinion Aaryn Belfer

Backwards & in

high heels

Smorgasbord: punk pilots, Chargers chumps and slut-shaming There’s no shortage of big news lately, providing an abundance of fodder for someone with opinions. The problem with relentless media coverage of humanity is that I’m suspended in purgatory somewhere between Short Attention Span Theater and Deep Thoughts, By Jack Handy. (Millennial and Gen Z readers: Google those references.)

Being trapped in the land of So Many Topics to Choose From, I’m compelled to weigh in on as many as will fit on this page. Prepare for the smorgasbord I’m going to lay before you.

First: If you’re a mentally ill airline pilot with suicidal tendencies, seek help. Get a shrink. Call a suicide hotline. If that doesn’t work out so well and you still resent the burdensome O2-to-CO2 exchange? Then please, by all means, kill yourself. But only yourself. Do not report to work and take out— in a spectacularly horrific manner—149 other people. That’s just some coward-ass bullshit.

Cowards are not cool.

Also not cool are duplicitous hucksters like our city and county leaders who have banded together on the Chargers Stadium issue. Our mayor and county supervisors have agreed to pony up as much as halfa-mil on… consultants. Could they be less creative? No, they could not.

According to KPBS, these nice folks will “make sure that San Diego taxpayers are getting a good and a fair deal with a proposed new stadium.” Ah, yes. As predictable as empty seats at a Chargers game, here we are again. (I blame former Mayor Filner the Face Licker for this retread.)

To current Mayor K-Faulc & Co., I propose a good and fair deal of my own, no consultants required. My proposal is both of my middle fingers extended way up in the air.

Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, conversely, gets two big thumbs up, seeing as she’s actually working in the best interests of voters. This novel approach, known as genuinely giving a crap about your constituents, led to 2014’s Paid Sick Leave law. So far this year, she’s proposed legislation to eliminate sales tax on diapers, end gender bias against women in worker’s comp, and attain employee rights for professional sports cheerleaders.

(Don’t worry, the Charger Girls will be covered in Carson.) And as if all that wasn’t enough to make me LG’s No. 1 Fan Girl, last week Gonzalez proposed an Oregon-style universal voter registration law, increasing the probability that San Diegans might give the aforementioned scoundrels their walking papers.

Perhaps Missouri leaders will consider similar

legislation. After all, it was a dismal 12-percent voter turnout that handed James Knowles the keys to Ferguson. Even though voting won’t solve racism, it couldn’t be a bad thing—as they clean house over there—for residents to rid themselves of their doltish mayor who’s claimed there’s no racial division in his city. (Insert my audible gasp.) He also thinks the Department of Justice focused way too much on race during their investigation into that predominantly black community’s predominantly white police department. (Insert audible gasp plus open-palm forehead smack.)

Paging Lorena: Can you talk to some people in the Heartland and help ’em draft some useful legislation? ’Kay-thanks-I-love-you! Also: You have amazing hair.

Speaking of which, Monica Lewinsky is bravely baring her jugular and is getting victimized all over again. As the self-appointed captain of Team Monica, I used up all but two of my remaining audible gasps when the gleeful slut-shaming started up again. Sadly, even feminists play at this game. One awesome friend of mine argues that Lewinsky “brought shame to the White House,” a statement I respectfully disagree with.

Bill Clinton brought the shame. Truth be told, I don’t have a single fuck to give about whom our electeds poke, so long as a) It’s consensual. b) They’re not legislating who anyone else pokes. Or how they poke.

Or where they poke. In other words, I support equal opportunity poking, even as I’d advise young up-and-comers (ahem) to consider the ramifications of said poking behavior.

Poor Monica has paid a resonating price for her bite of that apple. Her loins led her astray. As one who made mistakes at 22 that I’d rather the world not see, I can only imagine the trauma she’s endured. It might make someone want to fly an airplane into a mountain. But let’s remember that Monica wasn’t the one with the power. She was young and reckless and had the exact right anatomy required for being thrown under the bus. Can we all agree it’s well past time we stop backing it up and repeatedly driving it over her?

To keep it real for just a moment: What rosycheeked, sparkly-eyed, bouncy-haired 22-year-old isn’t going to do the humpty dance when the most powerful and arguably most charismatic man in the world offers her a cigar? All I’m saying is thank Eros I wasn’t smart enough to get a White House internship during the Clinton years.

“

If you’re a mentally ill airline pilot with suicidal tendencies, seek help. Get a shrink. Call a suicide hotline.

”

#SDCityBeat

Write to aaryn@sdcitybeat.com.

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | Food by michael a. gardiner Michael A. Gardiner

The spicy bean jelly was exceptionally good. The fishcakes are particularly savory, almost meaty. And steamed broccoli with spicy mayonnaise is a banchan I’ve never seen in San Diego.

But Do Re Mi’s lunch is more than these starters.

The menu offers value, but is also varied and flavorful. At the expensive end ($12-$16), are combinations of tofu stew and grilled meat (think Korean BBQ) or bibimbap.

While neither portion is as large as the entrée versions, you won’t walk away hungry.

A bento-style box including an order of grilled meat with some fried dumplings, rice, salad and a seafood salad is less expensive.

Do Re Mi’s tofu stews, howDo Re Mi House’s bibimbap ever, are not their strong suit.

The kimchi jjigae (fermented kimchi tofu stew) was a bit angular, the spice and heat of the aged kimchi dominating without balance from the pork broth. The dumpling soft tofu stew was watery, the dumpling working overtime in vain to provide flavor to the dish.

The grilled meats were far better. The kalbi Tasty in quantity at Do Re Mi House (marinated beef short ribs) was excellent, the quality of the meat shining through and the mariMy lunchtime group used to play “Volume nade providing the perfect balance of sweet and Sweepstakes.” It’s a bang-for-the-buck game. savory. Pork kalbi was even better with richness Whoever ordered the greatest bulk of food for joining the party. The spicy pork (daejibulgogi) the lowest price was the winner. Why seek quanadded a heady layer of heat. tity over quality? When you’ve bit off more than My favorite lunch choice was the bibimbap. you can chew (late-’80s, 11-percent mortgage) it’s The dish arrived at the table in three parts: bowls the thing to do. of rice; a variety of sautéed and seasoned vegeThe old gang would have loved Do Re Mi tables, sliced beef and a fried egg; and a bottle of House (8199 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Kearny gochujang (a slightly sweet Korean chile paste).

Mesa). For starters, take the banchan, the array It’s the diner’s job to mix them all together of intensely flavorful small plates (think kimchi (“bibimbap” means “mixed rice”). and similar dishes with daikon, bean sprouts, It’s a near-perfect meal: varied, tasty, healthcucumbers, potatoes, fishcakes) that arrive at ful and filling. It’s an explosion of different flayour table to accompany a Korean meal. Every vors (vegetables, meat and rice) with, ultimately, Do Re Mi lunch includes eight banchan (most the rice being the star of the show. And it’s a Volume Sweepstakes winner every time. restaurants offer fewer), refilled endlessly and with uncommon happiness. These banchan are Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com. quite tasty, too.

the world

fare

10 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

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Up Front | Drink

BY KELLY DAVIS

cocktail

tales The every-person’s bar

When Tin Can Ale House opened in 2009, its shtick was beer in a can—dozens of beers in cans. Over time, though, the novelty—and selection—waned. A few years ago, Tin Can added a fully stocked bar, but it often seemed the bartenders didn’t know what to do with it and you just ended up with a lot of Fireball shots.

Last month, Tin Can reopened as The Balboa (1863 Fifth Ave., facebook. com/TheBalboaSD), with Tom Logsdon at the helm.

Logsdon’s burger-focused Dood’s Foods moved into Tin Can in 2012—adding food service helped the club keep its liquor license—and, earlier this year, Logsdon was given the chance to take over the whole operation. He tapped local musician Jackson Milgaten (Cuckoo Chaos, Deadphones) to be the club’s booker and also to create a cocktail menu.

Milgaten’s been bartending at the Turf Club for years. He’s fast behind a bar, he says, but wouldn’t consider himself a craft-cocktail expert. So he and Logsdon came up with a guiding philosophy for The Balboa: have it fall somewhere between nearby iconic dive bar Cherry Bomb and Bankers Hill, the neighborhood’s eponymous restaurant known for its craft cocktails. In other words, could someone who frequents either spot find something to like here?

The overall goal is approachability, Milgaten says. Nothing on the menu’s more than $10, and most drinks are $7 or $8. The Balboa—as was Tin Can—is primarily a music venue, and folks who come to shows are there for the music, not necessarily the drinks. But an accessible menu

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could change that.

“I appreciate an establishment that’s trying to push people’s palates,” Milgaten says, “but at the same time, that alienates a lot of people.”

The 10 cocktails on the menu include easydrinking classics like The Aviation (Boodles gin, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, Creme de Violette, fresh lemon juice) and Last Word (Green Chartreuse, Boodles gin, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, fresh lime). There’s a mezcal Old Fashioned and something called the King Cole (Bulleit bourbon, Fernet, pineapple juice, simple syrup, Angostura bitters and muddled orange) that Milgaten found in a 1930s cockKelly Davis tail book that belonged to the Turf Club’s original owner. There’s also the Mexican Gimlet (Hornitos Reposado Tequila, fresh lime juice, simple syrup, olive juice), inspired by a Turf Club customer’s suggestion that a little olive juice works really well with tequila and something sweet.

In January, Milgaten was in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at La Factoria, a popular craft cocktail bar.

A bartender there had previously worked at Hotel National in Havana, Cuba, and made Milgaten the hotel’s namesake cocktail.

Jackson Milgaten On paper, the Hotel National seems like it would be one of those too-sweet tiki drinks: black rum, apricot brandy, lime, pineapple and lime juice, simple syrup and Angostura bitters. But, in the glass, it’s quite well-balanced with the Angostura adding just a hint of bitterness.

And Dood’s Foods is still there, open until midnight seven days a week. (You can find Milgaten behind the bar on Thursdays.)

“Where else can you find an amazing $7 burger at a place that also has Creme de Violette?” Milgaten says. “It’s a niche we’re trying to fill.”

Write to kellyd@sdcitybeat.com .

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

Up Front | Food by jenny montgomery Jenny montgomery

I had a decidedly good experience. Actually, the service was better than good, so a gold star in that department.

But if you asked me how my food was, I would say, “It was good!” in that high-pitched voice we all get when it sounds like we’re trying to defend an opinion no one is arguing.

I started with the Reuben Style Egg Rolls, because I loved the idea of beer-braised corned beef and housemade sauerkraut, rolled, fried, and oozing with cheese. Texturally, this unique starter was firing on all cylinders: crispy, gooey and finger-burning hot.

But the flavors didn’t have the The Reuben Style Egg Rolls pickled punch I expected.

The duck confit ravioloni was another dish whose description jumped off the page. Mascarpone, roasted root veggies and a juniper demi-glace joined the tender, oily duck in a rich, cold-weather dish. It’s hard not to enjoy tender noodles and shreds of duck, but overall there were too many flavors going on and the In a muddle at Bistro West dish needed a little less clutter.

I was pleased with the chicken-and-roastedOccasionally, a restaurant leaves me in a muddle. potato pizza. Thinly sliced potatoes melded well And not that pleasant muddle that comes from with the fresh mozzarella and savory pieces of just a bit too much food and the perfect amount juicy chicken. Punchy pesto brightened the pie of fuzziness from a few cocktails. There are times and a generous dusting of red chili flakes was I find myself feeling disappointed in my experian unexpected exclamation point to what could ence and eager to return to try again. This was the have been a fairly humble plate. head-scratching position I found myself in after I’m highlighting what disappointed me, but dining at Bistro West (4960 Avenida Encinitas, it’s only because I was intrigued by so many of bistrowest.com), a popular Carlsbad spot for date the menu offerings and felt like maybe I just had nights, business lunches and tourists looking for bad ordering skills during my visit. I can’t wait more than what comes out of a Legoland kitchen. to go back to try the fried calamari with shaved What I love about Bistro West is that they lime and coconut milk. I’m sure any of Bistro have their very own 3-acre farm a tomato’s throw West’s salads are better than any you can get at away from the restaurant itself. The farm supyour average bistro, what with their abundant plies as-fresh-as-it-gets ingredients for all their farm offerings. dishes and it’s a delight to see each season’s offerBistro West is a lovely dining room with a ings listed on the menu, as well as what’s due to fantastic farm-to-table ethos that is as streambe harvested in the coming months. It’s an idyllined as you can get. So maybe I wasn’t thrilled lic model for any restaurant to have and one that this time around, but I’m already planning a reBistro West should be lauded for. turn visit.

Unfortunately, it didn’t translate to any “wow” Write to jennym@sdcitybeat.com. moments for my visit.

north

fork

12 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

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Up Front | Shopping

urban

scout

by Hannah More

Makers Arcade highlights San Diego talent To describe Makers Arcade as a “craft fair” would be an undersell. The marketplace for artists and crafters had its third incarnation on Saturday, March 21, this time at the North Park Post Office (past events have been held at Moniker Warehouse in East Village and Glashaus in Barrio Logan). A friend who arrived at opening time (11 a.m.) found the long line to get in a bit daunting (there were swag bag for the first 125 guests, after all). But by the time I arrived around 2 p.m., I walked right in.

Was it still crowded? Yeah, but pleasantly so— if “pleasant” can describe a crowd. This was a pleasant crowd, there to browse cool, wellmade, clever goods. While it’s become a little tired to compare San Diego to San Francisco or Portland, I’ll go there: this event rivals anything you’ll find in those cities.

My wallet was feeling a little light, so I limited myself to a single purchase—a Redstar Ink notebook (more about that below), but I made notes of the vendors I want to keep an eye on for when I’ve got a little more dough to spend. All of these folks have online shops, so I encourage you to give them a look, make a purchase or at least add a bookmark for the next time you’re looking for something special. And, sign up at makersarcade.com to be notified of the next event, which organizers Jen Byard (more on her below) and Rebecca Chase say will be sometime in late November.

Grey Theory Mill Jonnie Estes sells a range of goods, from screenprinted T-shirts to notebooks to jewelry. Just before Christmas, her emoji earrings were a hit on the Today Show, but I’m a fan of her statement-piece brass necklaces. etsy.com/shop/greytheorymill Redstar Ink I have an obsession with notebooks that I can slip in my purse, and Redstar Ink’s pocket-size notebooks with chipboard covers are perfect.

Choosing which design I wanted on the cover was a whole other issue. redstarink.com

Tall Guy Tables reclaimed-wood coffee table per cute. So, too, is the Urban Kid memory game. threadandarrow.com Housgoods Housgoods’ elegant, minimalist rod-post earrings (a partial square that hooks through your ear) are high on my wish-list right now. housgoods.com Bryer You know those few items you own that might have cost a bit, but will last forever? Bryer’s Barrel travel bag is one of those—handmade from microbe/bacteria resistant German w�������������� ool felt, double-stitched and super-sturdy. It’s $420, but, like I said, you’ll have it forever. bryerleather.com Valentine Vianny Valentine makes silk-screened scarves, totes, aprons and towels, and it’s her line of San Diego flour-sack dish towels that got my attention. Printed in retro colors, they look like something a tourist might have picked up here in the 1950s or ’60s. valentineviannay.com

Le Trango I was aiming to profile only San DiThe Chick Beads ego artisans here, but I really liked When I saw Chick Beads’ chunky, colIrvine-based Le Trango’s sushi canvas orful necklaces, “baby safe” isn’t the first thing I thought. But, indeed, these Bryer’s “The Barrel” tote bag, a deal at $20. etsy.com/shop/ overnight bag LeTrango are designed with kiddos in mind— they’re nontoxic and double as a teethTall Guy Tables ing device. thechickbeads.com Please don’t tell Derek Early that he could easily sell his reclaimed-wood coffee tables, side tables Thread and Arrow and desks for far more ($225 for a made-to-order I’ve had my eye on Thread and Arrow’s T-shirts coffee table? Hell, yeah). Or, at least don’t tell him and onesies long before I knew these are Jen Byuntil after I’ve bought one. tallguytables.com ard’s creations. You’ve probably spotted ’em, too, at places like Pigment or The Library Shop—the Write to scout@sdcitybeat.com. crossed arrows with the letters LOVE or SD. Su-

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April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS

the

SHORTlist

ART

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

Imaginings at Rose Gallery, 6501 Linda Vista Road, Linda Vista. A solo show from Cathy Breslaw, whose work combines painting, drawing, mixed media and sculpture. Opening from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 2. artsatparker.wordpress.com Friday Night Liberty at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. The first Friday gallery and studio walk features open artist studios, galleries, live performances, shopping and entertainment throughout NTC’s Arts & Culture District. From 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 3. Free. ntclibertystation.com H50 to Watch at The Studio Door, 3750 30th St., North Park. A celebration of local contemporary art with 50 up-and-coming visual artists showing work. Includes Ally Benbrook, Valerie Hayken, Danielle Nelisse and more. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m.

Friday, April 3. thestudiodoor.com HFaces of the Forgotten at Outside the Lens Media Lab, 2750 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 15, Studio 103, Point Loma. Photographer Derek Slevin’s intimate portraits of the homeless folks whom he encountered while traveling the U.S. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 3. outsidethelens.org

Max Daily at a past Faust Fest performance of Golden West.

1

REMEMBERING JAKE

It’s been a decade since a San Diego police officer shot and killed Jacob Faust, believing the 25-year-old musician and puppeteer was reaching for a gun in the back of his car (it was a prop gun, and whether he was actually reaching for it wasn’t supported by forensic evidence). Every year, Jake’s friends have held “Faust

2

RITE OF SPRING

When we think of a student music recital, it’s hard not to go to the sitcom image of awkward performances by shaky kids stumbling through piano pieces. So you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that UC San Diego’s music program is blowing that perception wide open with a series of concerts from emerging musicians and composers from its music department. Springfest features five days of performances from the brightest young musical minds at UCSD. It kicks off on Tuesday, April 7, with a jazz performance by Open Loose at The Loft, and continues through April 11 with jazz, classical, multimedia and experimental-music performances at the Conrad Prebys Music Center and The Loft.

Admission to on-campus Springfest events is free. ucsdmusic.blogspot.com

Fest,” a celebration of his life featuring live music (Keepers and Vegetarian Werewolf will play this year’s event) and a performance of Golden West, Max Daily’s Punch and Judy-style take on Jake’s death (Daily, who’s been profiled in CityBeat, is one of San Diego’s most talented puppeteers). Faust Fest 2015 takes place at the Black Cat Bar (4246 University Ave. in City Heights) starting at 8 p.m. Friday, April 3. Admission is $5. Search for “Faust Fest” on Facebook.

3

WATCH OUT

With dozens of art shows and exhibitions to choose from every weekend, it’s hard to see all the up-and-coming artists. However, there will be a healthy sampling at the 50 to Watch showcase, which will feature, you guessed it, 50 local artists showing off work in a variety of mediums. The annual exhibition will include juried works from CityBeat favorites like Gloria Muriel, Lydia Larson and former cover artist Michael McAlister. There will be a preview reception with a sampling of some of the pieces from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Studio Door in North Park (3750 30th St.) on Friday, April 3, and a grand opening reception at the Solana Beach City Hall Gallery (635 South Highway 101) on Thursday, April 9. thestudiodoor.com.

COURTESY: MISTY HAWKINS

TINA TALLON

HLazy Left at Said Space, 766 South Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas. Golden Hill artist Dustyn Logan Peterman, aka Dusty Dirtweed, will display new work made from the pages of dust-stained combat training manuals. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, April 3. saidspace.com

14 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

“Hot Light” by Misty Hawkins

HEbony G. Patterson at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. The Jamaican artist will show off new works, which incorporate glitter, fabric, silk flowers and jewelry for an evocative statement on the changing forms of masculinity and working class identity. Opens Saturday, April 4. On view through May 30. $5. 760436-6611, luxartinstitute.org Sculptural Enlightenment at San Diego Sculptor’s Guild, Gallery 36, 1770 Village Place, Balboa Park. A large-scale sculptural exhibit from local makers commemorating Balboa Park’s Centennial. Includes sculpture tours with artists, refreshments, sculpture raffle, auctions and more. From 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 4. sandiego sculptorsguild.com

BOOKS HJohn Hargrove at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The former SeaWorld orca trainer will sign and discuss his firsthand account of the lives of captive killer whales, Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, Seaworld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 1. 858-454-0347, war wicks.indiebound.com

Oceanside Art Walk at 330 North Coast Highway. Held the first Friday of the month, multiple venues in Oceanside will host art shows, performances, music, poetry, activities, food and more. From 6 to 9 p.m.

Friday, April 3. oceansideartwalk.org

Brandon Mull at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The young-adult fantasy writer will sign and discuss the latest in the Five Kingdoms series, Crystal Keepers.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 1. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com

Matan Chaffee & Josh Edgerton at Graffiti Beach, 2220 Fern St., South Park.

New works from the local painter (Edgerton) and illustrator (Chaffee). Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 3. face book.com/events/395492050621968

Woody Wilson at Del Mar Library, 1309 Camino Del Mar. The author and retired scientist will read from his latest novel, The Utah Flu, a mystery about the spreading of a lethal disease. At 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 1, sdcl.org

HPhoto Projects: In the Dollhouse & Fallen Princesses at Madison Gallery, 1020 Prospect St., La Jolla. Two photo projects by Vancouver artist Dina Goldstein exploring the human condition through satirical photos of real-life Disney princesses as well as Barbie and Ken. Opens Friday, April 3. madisongalleries.com

Peter V. Brett at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The author of the Demon Cycle series will sign his latest, The Skull Throne.

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com

Art Takes Root at 2825 Dewey Road, #105. Opening reception for this juried exhibition by San Diego Watercolor Society members. From 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 3. SDWS.org HDare to Reuse: Joshua Krause at San Diego Art Institute-Museum of the Living Artist, Balboa Park. The local artist will lead participants through the process of creating a collage from found objects and out-of-use art books. From noon to 2 p.m.

Saturday, April 4. Free. sandiego-art.org HBow Wow at Sophie’s Kensington Gallery, 4186 Adams Ave., Kensington.

Local painter Dan Adams showcases work centered around man’s best friend.

Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 4. stmsc.org Open Studios at Brokers Building, 402 Market St., Downtown. Artists of Brokers Building host the annual event and gallery exhibition. There will also be live music

by Bobby Gordan and Bent Pitch. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 4. Free. face book.com/thebrokersbuildinggallery

Bassists Tommy Babin and Kyle Motl

Far Out at Wine Steals, 1243 University Ave., Hillcrest. More than a dozen local artists showcase works themed around aliens, spaceships, galaxies and/or just space in general. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 4. facebook.com/ events/414421692051001

HForces Unseen at Sparks Gallery, 530 Sixth Ave., Gaslamp. New works from painters Hill&Stump and Jill Hoy, as well as sculptor Steven Florman. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 4. sparksgallery.com

S.G. Browne at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The writer will discuss and sign his satirical novel, Less Than Hero, a superhero story that also revolves around the pharmaceutical industry. At 6 p.m. Friday, April 3. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Shane Dawson at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The YouTube star will appear to promote his book, I Hate Myselfie: A Collection of Essays. Price includes a pre-signed copy of the book. At 6 p.m.

Monday, April 6. $16. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Jonathan Maberry at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. A launch party and signing for the local author’s latest supernatural thriller in his Joe Ledger series, Predator One. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 7. 858268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Margaret Dilloway at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The local author will discuss and sign her latest novel, Sisters of Heart and Snow, the story of estranged sisters, forced back together by a family tragedy. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 7. 858-454-0347, warwicks. indiebound.com Judy Reeves at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Reeves will present her new how-to guide for female

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EVENTS writers, Wild Women Wild Voices: Writing from Your Authentic Wildness. At 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 8. 858-454-0347, war wicks.indiebound.com

Folk Heritage will host the energetic Southern California music collective that merges old-school bluegrass, gospel, pre-war blues and swing. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 3. $18. 858-668-4576, sdfolkheritage.org

COMEDY

CBI Spring Jazz Benefit Concert at 98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. Saxophonist Brandon Primus and songstress Daneen Wilburn play an evening of jazz, blues and gospel with proceeds benefiting the Community Business Incubator‘s youth business programs. At 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 4. $30. 619-255-7885, cbiinc.org

Ralphie May at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The comic vet was one of the breakout stars of the first season of Last Comic Standing and has appeared in numerous Comedy Central specials. At 8 p.m. Friday, April 3. $28.

619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org

DANCE HThis Land Is Your Land at White Box Live Arts, 2590 Truxtun Road, Studio 205, Point Loma. youTurn2015 presents Mark Haim’s acclaimed work with live music from Tomcat Courtney and visual art creations from Kim Neihans, Yolande Snaith and more. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4. $20-$25. 760533-5146, youTurnarts.com HE-Racism at Visionary Dance Theatre, 8803 1/2 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa. The Visionary Teen Dance Troupe presents their second concert which takes on the topic of racism and is inspired by presentday headlines. At 7 p.m. Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4. $8-$10. 619-7588112, visionarydancetheatre.org

FOOD & DRINK Taste of Leucadia: Food for Thought at Hwy 101 from Encinitas Boulevard to La Costa Boulevard, Leucadia. Try the culinary flavors and local libations of downtown Leucadia. There will also be music, poetry and performances. From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2. $20-$40. leucadia101.com Valley Center Spring Food Truck Festival at Bates Nuts Farm, 15954 Woods Valley Road, Valley Center. Sixteen gourmet food trucks will be parked under the trees including Devilicious, Sweet Treats, Chubby‘s and more. From noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 4. facebook.com/ events/1568651393411437 HChef Celebration Dinner Series at Terra American Bistro, 7091 El Cajon Blvd., La Mesa. Five local chefs come together for a five-course menu with proceeds benefitting scholarships for upand-coming chefs. Names include Jeff Rossman, Sam The Cooking Guy, Matt Gordon and more. At 6:15 and 8:15 p.m.

Tuesday, April 7. $65. 619-293-7088, chefcelebration.org

MUSIC WOW First Wednesdays: Herb Martin & Friends at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido.

The local band performs a broad range of styles including jazz, standards, pop and contemporary music. At 4 and 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 1. Free. artcenter.org HElias String Quartet at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UCSD campus, La Jolla.

The acclaimed chamber music foursome will play a program that includes music from Mozart, Dutilleux and Beethoven. At 8 p.m. Thursday, April 2, artpwr.com Pour Les Enfants at San Diego Repertory Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, Downtown.

Opera singer Kasondra Kazanjian shares the stage with 2013 America’s Got Talent finalist Branden James to benefit Project Edeline, an educational charity based in Haiti. At 7 p.m. Friday, April 3. $50-$150.

858-454-5545, sdrep.org The Dustbowl Revival at Templar’s Hall, 14134 Midland Road, Poway. San Diego

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The Music of Wonderland at PowPAC, 13250 Poway Road, Poway. One of Frank Wildhorn’s most compelling musical scores is brought to the stage by Sound Odyssey, Monte Vista High School’s award-winning show choir. At 8 p.m.

Saturday, April 4. $22. 858-679-8085, PowPAC.org

Friday, April 3. $5. 619-280-5834, face book.com/events/886944271349164 One Night with You at Queen Bee’s, 3925 Ohio St., North Park. A night of cabaret performances inspired by the Golden Era of ‘40s Latin America. Includes live music, singers, dancers, sexy costumes and more. At 7 p.m. Friday, April 3. $20-$35. brownpapertickets.com/event/1301547

POETRY & SPOKEN-WORD Sister Spit at UCSD SME Building, La Jolla. A touring open-mic where anyone is welcome to read so long as they mesh with the tour‘s historic vibe of feminism, queerness, humor and provocation. Performances by Virgie Tovar, Thomas Page McBee, Myriam

Klein Stahl and more. From 4:30 to 6 p.m.

Wednesday, April 1. Free. literature.ucsd. edu/news/currentevents/writingseries.html Storytelling: I Pity the Fool at Rebecca’s Coffee House, 3015 Juniper St, South Park. Revel in stories of the foolmerry, maudlin, melodramatic or otherwise by members of Storytellers of San Diego. From 7 to 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 1. Free. 619-284-3663, storyteller sofsandiego.org Shakespeare Reading at Upstart Crow, 835 West Harbor Drive, Seaport Village.

San Diego Shakespeare Society’s regular open reading where anyone can join in or just come along to listen. On this night: King Lear directed by Charlie Riendeau. From 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 7. 619-232-4855, sandiegoshake spearesociety.org

SPECIAL EVENTS Easter Bunny Teas and Easter Champagne Brunch at Westgate Hotel, 1055 Second Ave., Downtown. Enjoy Parisianstyle events including Easter Bunny Teas, featuring kid-friendly petit fours and mini pastries paired with afternoon tea. From 2:30 to 5 p.m. Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4, $30-$299. 619-238-1818, westgatehotel.com Lao New Year Festival at Market Creek Plaza, 5160 Federal Blvd., Diamond District. This annual fest showcases authentic foods and displays of Lao handcrafts and art works, plus folk dances, costumes, traditional alms offerings and a ceremonial procession. From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Satur-

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Spring Classics Concert at Joan B. Kroc Theatre, 6611 University Ave., Rolando. The 100-piece San Diego Concert band performs a program featuring Shostakovich, Verdi and Wagner. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 7. Free-$15. 619269-1552, sandiegoconcertband.com Box Canyon Band at Rancho San Diego Library, 11555 Via Rancho San Diego, El Cajon. An evening of traditional bluegrass with a little bit of eclectic acoustic thrown in. At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 7. Free.

619-660-5370, sdcl.org Art and Music of the Baroque: From Ecstasy to Enlightenment at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The fourth in a five-part art and music lecture / concert series given by art historian and violinist Victoria Martino, who’ll explore French and German music in the 17th Century. At 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 7. $25. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org Springfest at the Loft Part I & Part II at The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, Tommy Babin and Kyle Motl present improvisations and new compositions for two basses, followed by the Mark Dresser and Mark Helias and Mark Helias’ Open Loose with Tom Rainey and Tony Malaby.

And, at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, new music by Josh Charney with performances by Kyle Motl, Tommy Babin, and Andrew Munsey. Free. ucsdmusic. blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html The Music of Nicholas Deyoe at Conrad Prebys Music Center, UCSD campus, La Jolla. Nearly a dozen musicians come together to explore the music of composer Nicholas Deyoe. Part of the UCSD Department of Music’s annual Springfest concert series. At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 8. Free. 858-534-3448, ucsdmusic. blogspot.com

OUTDOORS HThe Sky Tonight at Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, Balboa Park. A professional astronomer leads backyard stargazers through the universe. The San Diego County Astronomy Association provides free telescope viewing outdoors on the Prado in Balboa Park, weather and operational requirements permitting. At 7 and 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 1. rhfleet.org

PERFORMANCE HFaust Fest at Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. The 10th annual Fest celebrating the life of puppeteer Jacob Faust, who was killed by SDPD 10 years ago. Local bands Keepers and Vegetarian Werewolf perform followed by a puppet show by Max Daily. At 9 p.m.

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

EVENTS day, April 4, and Sunday, April 5. Free$2. 619-527-6161, laocommunity.org Vinyl Junkies Record Swap at The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown.

Vendors selling thousands of collectible and vintage records in all genres, plus DJs spinning throughout the day. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 4. $3. 619-232-HELL, facebook.com/Vinyl JunkiesRecordSwap Filipino Sun Festival at Mira Mesa Community Park, 8575 New Salem St., Mira Mesa. The second annual fest features live entertainment, cultural programs, food and a beer garden. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday, April 4. filipinosunfestival.com Linda Vista Fair at 6900 Linda Vista Road. The 30th annual mutlicultural fair and parade on the 6900 block of Linda Vista Road features ethnic food vendors, multicultural performances on three stages, carnival rides, a kid’s zone, rock

climbing wall and more. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 4. Free. 619-7468223, lindavistafair.org Tartan Day at House of Pacific Relations International, 2191 West Pan American Road, Balboa Park. The 12th annual festival of Scottish heritage and culture. There will be food, Scottish dancing and music from the House of Scotland Pipe Band and House of Scotland Ceilidh Band. From 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 4.

Free. 619-884-3157, tartandaysd.com HSpring Faire and Boutique at Farm Stand West, 2115 Miller Ave., Escondido. The inaugural faire, Easter egg hunt (Sunday only), and boutique includes local arts and crafts, bakers, canners, seamstress, jewelry and more. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 4-5. Free. 760-738-9014, thefarm standwest.com/events Apart Magazine Release Party at La

Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. Release for the new independent art, music and skating magazine. Standards Records will have a pop-up shop and Possessed, Unicorn Horn and On Again Off Again will have their zines for sale. From 6 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, April 4. Free. facebook.com/ events/810798645680070 Oh, The Places You’ll Go at UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Held at the Thurgood Marshall College campus, the 37th annual multicultural festival features international cuisine, artisan crafts from local vendors and live entertainment.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 4.

Free. 858-534-2230, marshall.ucsd.edu/ student-life/cultural-celebration-2015.html Hot Import Nights at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. The international automotive festival features a world-recognized car competition, top car crews and teams, nightclub

THEATER In The White Snake, style trumps story Charming and resplendent, The White Snake is both fairytale and visual feast. If you’re interested in greater substance than that, you’ll have to wait until the very end of the 100-minute-long, one-act production. It’s then—and only then— that an enduring, even existential message is imparted. The rest of the time, The White Snake, onstage at The Old Globe Theatre with playwright and author Mary Zimmerman directing, is as light as the wispy, floating draperies that simulate ocean, sky and rain.

Zimmerman’s script is based on a Chinese fable about a snake that transforms itself into a woman, falls in love and strives to remain in the human world. But except for some comic quips and—as they say in movie ratings—adult situations, The White Snake could easily be a fantasy tailored for children. Adults, including this one, may find their minds wandering even as their eyes are dazzled by Daniel Ostling’s scenic design, Mara Blumenfeld’s costumes, T.J. Gerckens’ lighting and Shawn Sagady’s projection design.

Yes, the production staff deserves top billing, along with the instrumentalists playing Andre Pluess’ haunting original musi. Other than one startling surprise cameo by the eponymous serpent, the audience’s appreciative gasps are stirred by the spectacle of this show more than what happens in it. (The snake puppets manipulated by actors, by the way, are lovable—and you LIZ LAUREN

don’t often see “snake” and “lovable” in the same sentence.) Much of the tale is told in onstage exposition, appropriate for a fairytale, perhaps, but not completely theatrical in effectiveness. Amy Kim Waschke is near-angelic as the title character. Tanya Thai McBride, as her snake-turnedwoman sidekick, has the comic part and executes it with little restraint, while Jon Norman Schneider occupies the rather unrewarding role of the White Snake’s lover (and later, husband).

From a narrative standpoint, if The White Snake were more magical realism than fairytale, it might resonate beyond its richly inventive images. Not that there’s anything wrong with fairytales. Hollywood loves ’em. So, evidently, do a lot of theatergoers.

The White Snake runs through April 26 at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. $29 and up; oldglobe.org

—David L. Coddon Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING The Facts of Life: The Lost Episode: Diversionary Cabaret presents this comical spoof of the ‘80s sitcom. Opens Thursday, April 2, at Diversionary Theatre in Hillcrest. diversionary.org Lord of the Flies: A group of young boys regress into warring savages when their plane crash-lands on a deserted island. Adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams, it opens in previews on Friday, April 3, at New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. newvillagearts.org Mamma Mia!: A young woman searches for her real father in the days leading up to her wedding, all set to the pop anthems of ABBA. It opens for five performances at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, April 3, at the San Diego Civic Theatre in Downtown. broadwaysd.com Buyer & Cellar: A hit off-Broadway comedy about an unemployed actor who becomes Barbara Streisand’s personal shopkeeper. Opens Saturday, April 4, at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org Legally Blonde: The Musical: A musical adaptation of the hit film about a co-ed who leaves an entitled life in Malibu to chase her boyfriend to Harvard Law School. It opens for five performances at Saturday, April 4, at UCSD Mandeville Auditorium in La Jolla. muirmusical.wordpress.com

For full listings,

please visit “T heater ”

Tanya Thai McBride (left) and Amy Kim Waschke

16 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

at sdcit ybeat.com

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EVENTS stage, fashion shows, entertainment zones, festival attractions and more. From 5 to 11 p.m. Saturday, April 4. $25. 858755-1161, hin.webconnex.com Belmont Park Easter Bash at Belmont Park, Mission Beach. The third annual Easter Egg Hunt on the beach features 10,000 eggs filled with candy and vouchers for single rides, attractions and other park goodies. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, April 5. Free$5. belmontpark.com/easter DISD Design Green Week at Design Institute of San Diego, 8555 Commerce Ave., Miramar. Three days of workshops, scavenger hunts, discussions and open houses dedicated to eco-friendly alternatives associated with the interior design industry. See website for list of events and times. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, 4 p.m.

Wednesday, April 8, and 1 p.m. Thursday, April 9. Free-$15. 858-566-1200, disd.edu/greenweek.php

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS Central Library Architecture Tour at Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. Learn about architect Rob Wellington Quigley’s vision, the materials used and interior design for the Central Library.

Held the first Friday of every month. From 2 to 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 3. Free. 619236-5800, sandiegolibrary.org Robert Michael Jones at NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. San Diego artist Robert Michael Jones discusses the three sculptures he’s installed around the NTC Arts & Culture District. Takes place in Barracks 15. From 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 3. ntclibertystation.com

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“Tub & Toilet” by Dina Goldstein is on view in Photo Projects: In the Dollhouse & Fallen Princesses, a solo show opening Friday, April 3, at Madison Gallery (1020 Prospect St. #130, La Jolla).

Artist Talk: Gail Roberts at Grossmont Health Care District Auditorium, 9001 Wakarusa St., La Mesa. Roberts will discuss her works completed over the past 15 years with a particular focus on the conceptual development of Tree Lines, a permanent installation at the San Diego International Airport. At 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 6. Free. 619232-7931, sdmart.org

ist Dolores Huerta discusses fighting for social justice in an increasingly global economy. Takes place in the University Student Union Ballroom. At 6 p.m.

Wednesday, April 8. $10. 760-7504000, eventbrite.com/e/dolores-huertatickets-15039768352

HTransnational Labor: A Struggle Within the Struggle at Cal State San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos. Celebrated civil rights activ-

please visit “E vents”

For full listings,

at sdcit yb eat.com

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

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April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

Culture

Headcrammers Bust your brain with this bunch of cultural baubles PODCAST

TELEVISION

WEB SERIES

The original: There’s an A&E show that’s been on for a couple of weeks called The Returned. Skip it. Instead, watch Les Revenants, the French TV show it’s based on. Watching The Returned would be like cracking open a bottle of Yara Pilartz as Charles Shaw when there’s Camille, a revenant a really lovely Côtes du Rhône sitting right next to it. Based on the 2004 French film, They Came Back, Les Revenants tells the story of a town in the French alps where the dead come back to life. But these aren’t zombies—they’re folks who return four years, 10 years, even 35 years later, looking just as they were and totally unaware of their own demise.

What really makes the show sing is the way it’s shot— the director opted to film only in the early morning and at the end of the day, during that blue-hued period that photographers call the “magic hour.” That, plus the sparse, post-rock soundtrack by Mogwai—itself a work of art—give Les Revenants a sublime creepiness. The eight-episode first season is available on Netflix with the second season scheduled to air in the fall.

Your little will like these: The socalled Great Screen Debate rages on. If you, too, have officially given in to the many whims of your digital-entertainmentloving children, here’s a roundup of online kids’ series that entertain, while also cramming a little education into those sponge-like brains. The Amazon original series Creative Galaxy features a cute green alien, Arty, who takes kids on art-filled adventures that teach them about various movements and genres like pointillism, mosaic and action paintings. The show hits hard with its pro-art rhetoric, which is awesome. Over on Hulu, their original series, Doozers, is as good as kid TV gets. Created by the cool cats over at The Jim Henson Company, the Fraggle Rock spin-off features a team of kids who solve problems by building things (if it’s a future engineer you want, watch this show). And, finally, PBS Kids picked up the web series Plum Landing, which makes environmental science seem super cool.

On lockdown: Not all podcasts are created equal.

Some shows are cobbled together in the basements of rambling hosts who know as much about storytelling as your aunt who can’t shut up about her new hybrid car. Then there are the elite shows, which have millions of listeners. Think Radiolab or Serial. One of the newest heavy hitters flexing its mastery of the craft is a podcast called Criminal. This dark, true-crime podcast clocks in at about 15 to 20 minutes an episode, regularly featuring amazingly bizarre stories of unfortunate souls trapped in an often-flawed criminal justice system. Telling these stories in vivid detail is a veteran team out of North Carolina Public Radio, including host Phoebe Judge, as well as co-creators Lauren Spohrer and Eric Mennel. A few months ago, the show moved into the top 10 on iTunes Media. It’s now carried by podcast collective Radiotopia. And it’s riveting.

—Kelly Davis

—Kinsee Morlan

—Joshua Emerson Smith

APP It’s delivery: San Diegans are spoiled. Not only do we get weather that makes a goth kid sweat through his pleather pants year-round, we have some of the best food on the planet. The one drawback is that, unlike other major cities, not many places offer delivery. On rainy days, sick days or days where putting on pants is a nonstarter, good food delivered to your door can be a godsend. That’s why Postmates is the lazy eater’s best bud.

The free app is the Uber of food delivery.

You open it up on your smartphone, choose a restaurant, type in your order and then a Postmates driver in your area accepts the order. They then pick up your food and deliver it to you, all in under an hour. They’ll even go to Trader Joe’s! There’s a delivery fee, service fee and you can (and should!) tip on top of that, so it can get a little pricey. Still, it’s a nice treat.

—Alex Zaragoza

20 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

BOOKS You go, girl: Personally, I find those flavor-of-themonth mystery-thriller novels to be anything but mysterious or thrilling. You know the type; Gone Girl (the ending is tenuous) and Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was entirely too long). So I was skeptical about the newest Girl on the block, British novelist Paula Hawkins’ debut, The Girl on the Train. It centers around Rachel, a divorced, rather pathetic alcoholic trying to solve the strange disappearance of a young woman she’d been observing during her train commute. While Rachel is certainly the protagonist, the book is sometimes narrated by two other women (the woman who has disappeared as well as the woman now married to Rachel’s ex-husband), with all three recounting daily events from varying perspectives, leaving the reader with multiple trails of bread crumbs to follow. You’ll likely have an idea of “whodunit” by the time the climax rolls around, so Hawkins throws in a few more shocking twists for good measure. I’d highly recommend reading it before the inevitable movie adaptation.

—Seth Combs

TELEVISION Is this mic on?: It’s not so much that I liked The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, it’s more that I was unable to look away. Each time the slick title sequence scrolled by, complete with its grossly appropriate Eels-penned theme song, I felt guilty for watching such a glossy exRobert Durst ploitation of actual, tragic events. But that was nothing compared with my weekly need to find out what happened next. Did this calculating, cross-dressing real estate heir actually chop up his neighbor, make his wife disappear and shoot his best friend in cold blood? Well, if you were paying attention to American news outlets after the series finale aired two weeks ago, it appears that he did. Based on information revealed in Andrew Jarecki’s 6-part HBO series, Durst was arrested the night before the finale ran.

But many questions still remain, and it seems that Jarecki, and his crew, have become part of the plot. Watch these half-dozen episodes now, because the final chapter of this incredible story is just getting started.

—Scott McDonald

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April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Culture | Art Seth Combs

Seen Local WHAT’S THAT SMELL? When the San Diego Foundation announced the winners of its Creative Catalyst grants program this past January, Brian Goeltzenleuchter’s project certainly looked and sounded interesting.

Still, to hear him explain it, the “look” and “sound” will have very little to do with anything.

“Here, smell this,” he says excitedly in his Talmadge studio, carefully handing over a brown bottle of liquid that smells like freshly-cut grass. “This is kind of like perfume chemistry. If you mix that one with this one, you’ll get the smell of burnt grass.”

Goeltzenleuchter’s project, for which he was awarded $20,000 and paired with local literary nonprofit San Diego Writers Ink, is all about olfaction or, simply put, our sense of smell. It’s a rather curious medium, but over the past five years, he’s become somewhat of a smell chemist, mixing up liquid scents (mostly purchased online) to create concoctions meant to induce cerebral reactions in the smeller.

The San Diego native’s most recent show was in January at the San Diego Keeps Her Promise: Balboa Park at 100 exhibition at the San Diego Art Institute.

He interviewed six people about their memories of Balboa Park and created scents associated with their “smell stories.” Patrons would then smell these scents and take a self-guided tour of places associated with the memories, like the botanical garden and the lily pond (see more at bgprojects.com).

Goeltzenleuchter will extend this kind of experience to the Creative Catalyst show, but in a much broader way. The idea is to have a sort of spoken-

30th ROCKS

Brian Goeltzenleuchter in his studio word-style reading with writers’ “olfactory memoirs” accompanied by the smells from the stories.

“We’ll be pumping in a smell to a room that’s negatively pressurized so we can pump it right back out,” says Goeltzenleuchter, who’s working with an engineer to build a machine capable of this. “We need it so that within 30 seconds, an entire room of air is essentially exchanged.”

While there’s no venue yet for the show and San Diego Writers Ink is still work shopping the stories, Goeltzenleuchter is confident the resulting work will be both startling and enjoyable.

“This isn’t going to be like walking by the Macy’s perfume counter,” Goeltzenleuchter says. “We want it to be cinematic. This will be more along the lines of walking through a park. It’s not all good smells. That’s what I like about olfaction as an art form. You can choose to look at something or taste something. Smell just happens. If you’re breathing, you’re smelling.”

—Seth Combs

a classroom and 15 rentable studios upstairs.

“Most artists are introverts,” says Ashton, who worked as both a full-time artist and a communications professor at San Diego City College before shifting her focus to mentoring and helping artists market their work.

“When I retired, I was making a living as an artist and I never intended to teach art. I woke up one day and I realized I was becoming that introvert.

“I started teaching and before long, I came to see the power of an artists needing other artists,” she Seth Combs says. “I’d say 85 percent of artist’s opportunities come from other artists they know.”

The new space will host semi-monthly exhibitions, and will include work from both Art on 30th artists and non-30th artists. The first exhibition, Think Pink, opens on April 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. and centers on artists’ experiences with breast cancer.

A portion of the proceeds benefits breast cancer charities.

Ashton and other artists host regular workshops teaching a variety of topics.

“A lot of artists don’t need a class as much as they might need community and a mentor,” she says. “I hope this can be that for some people.”

Walking through the front door, one immediately gets a sense of the historic nature of the Art on 30th building. There’s a decades-old Morse Security Systems mosaic on the floor (the company used to be based in the building, located at 4434 30th St.), but Art on 30th owner Kate Ashton insisted on keeping it when she renovated the space. The rest of the building has been completely revamped into an all-in-one gallery, school and artist studio space, complete with a downstairs communal area,

—Seth Combs Kate Ashton at Art on 30th Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com

22 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

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Culture | Film

The old and the restless Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts experience a mid-life crisis

by Glenn Heath Jr. What’s old is new. Or so believes the wild hipster couple Jaime and Darby (played to narcissistic perfection by Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfriend), who live by this adage almost preternaturally in Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young. VHS, vinyl and vintage: These are some of their favorite things. Married 40-something’s Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts)—who grew up with those relics of technology and have long since moved on to iPads and Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts smart phones—are shocked to experience a level of rejuvenation by simply sharing the same perate glance and verbose outburst. space as their younger, “cooler” counterparts.

Baumbach has made a career of skewering intelBut this sudden burst of excitement is just one of lectual superiority (see his The Squid and the Whale many emotional ruses at the center of Baumbach’s de- and Margot at the Wedding). Yet, While We’re Young ceptively acidic New York City comedy, which slyly frames the material in a much more playful way, deals with the universal presence of doubt in our infor- tactically destroying the assumption that documation age. Eventually, complex feelings of insecurity mentary images are automatically distilling some and resentment start to fester, specifically in Josh, giv- kind of dependable reality without descending into ing While We’re Young a dark central core that continu- full-blown satire. It’s essentially a fictional comedy ously lambastes the absurdity of generational jealousy. about non-fiction artists who tell themselves fiction Fittingly, the film begins by quoting a particularly rel- on a daily basis. Within this structure, each charevant scene from Ibsen’s The Master Builder that fore- acter will have the destructive effects of their rote shadows this tension, then continues to present un- self-seriousness displayed across the frame. comfortable situations where young and old attempt to Coming on the heels of Frances Ha, Baumbach’s find a fragile balance of perspective. truly delightful nymph of a movie The overlap in the characters’ that flashes signs of hope at every While professions becomes pivotal to this turn, While We’re Young’s slightly motif. Josh has been struggling to We’re Young more pessimistic view suggests finish his second documentary for Baumbach could be heading back to Directed by Noah Baumbach nearly a decade, while Cornelia’s Greenberg-territory (his 2010 dark Starring Ben Stiller, Naomi talents as a film producer have mostcomedy that also starred Stiller).

Watts, Adam Driver and ly been laid to waste after spending That’s not the case, though, considAmanda Seyfried years working with her father, the ering how thoroughly While We’re Rated R legendary non-fiction auteur Leslie Young, which opens Friday, April Briebart (Charles Grodin). Jaime’s a 3, generously assesses the desperashapeless new artist eager to make tion of Josh’s moral dilemma. Dura documentary about deconstructing the artificiality ing a third-act scene set at a retrospective celebration of social media, while Darby’s passions often become for Leslie’s career, Josh tries to upstage Jaime’s subobscured by her husband’s charming bombast. terfuge by making a scene in front of the city’s elite.

As a human mosaic of our self-obsessed 21st cen- Instead of giving Stiller’s character the satisfaction tury, While We’re Young explores how each charac- of momentary (and spiteful) victory, the film brutally ter’s actions feed into an overall infatuation with the humbles him, affording an opportunity for reflection. individual. Baumbach’s cagey script often exposes In the end, this decision makes all the difference. this pattern, beginning with Josh’s self-righteous Looking inward at one’s own accountability becomes questioning of Jaime’s obviously compromised mo- the film’s key lesson. Josh and Cornelia have enough tives as a filmmaker. He stands on moral high ground, life experience to admit when they’ve gone astray. It’s believing that documentary filmmaking should equal less clear if the take-first generation represented by truth, conveniently ignoring his own culpability in Jaime and Darby will ever attain the same clarity. feeding Jaime’s ego. Stiller’s performance embodies this combination of repulsion and panic in each des- Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

Defanged

Welcome to New York

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This is not a review. Abel Ferrara’s brilliant Welcome to New York, a salacious and grotesque fictionalization of the Dominic Strauss-Kahn criminal case, is being released stateside in a compromised version. Wild Bunch, the prolific production company that funds multiple high-profile international releases each year, decided to cut the film by 17

minutes to gain an R rating. The original version, which I saw at Cannes in May 2014 in its original 125-minute cut, deserves a review. And it would be a rave.

But this altered version does not.

The decision to trim down multiple pivotal scenes, including the ravenous opening act that finds a powerful business mogul named Deveraux (Gérard Depar-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Culture | Film dieu) engaging in an all-night sex bender before raping a hotel maid, was seemingly done for fear the film would be less marketable to American audiences. IFC Films, who will be handling U.S. distribution, has moved forward with releasing the film despite public outcry by Ferrara and film critics.

While public squabbles between filmmakers and their producers are common (especially when it comes to the volatile Ferrara), the Welcome to New York debacle is especially frustrating in that it reinforces the fallacy that American audiences can’t handle darker sexual impulses on screen.

In Ferrara’s original version, Devereaux is an animal, a product of

capitalist hunger run amok. We’re forced to witness his sweaty rancor toward women, his inability to understand the impact his detestable actions have on the innocent. The U.S. version cuts these scenes down, making them seem more generic.

Those curious about Welcome to New York can see the U.S. version when it opens Friday, April 3, at the Digital Gym Cinema. But if you do pay to see a film, make sure you also catch up with the international version and compare for yourself. One has lost some of its bite, and the other leaves quite a mark.

Opening

Nicaragua, a reporter (Jeremy Renner) becomes the target of a smear campaign.

Screens at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 6, at the San Diego Central Library in East Village.

An Honest Liar: This documentary explores the worldview and life of James Randi, renowned stage magician and skeptic of the paranormal.

Danny Collins: Al Pacino plays an aging rock star who discovers a 40-year-old letter written to him by John Lennon, the contents of which force him to reassess his life.

Furious 7: The criminal pit crew led by Vin Diesel and Paul Walker is back and ready to battle with Jason Statham’s villain in this globetrotting action film that is sure to have some out-of-this-world stunts.

The Lovers: Time travel, romance, and swashbuckling action: Who could ask for more from a Josh Hartnett movie?

Screens through Thursday, April 9, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Welcome to New York: Abel Ferrara’s insane film follows Mr. Devereaux (a character played by Gerard Depardieu based on Dominique Strauss-Kahn), a powerful economic titan who also has a voracious sexual appetite. Screens through Thursday, April 9, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park. See our review on Page 23.

While We’re Young: Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts play insecure and bored 40-something’s whose life together gets a boost after meeting a young hipster couple (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried).

See our review on Page 23.

What If: Daniel Radcliffe does his best to strip the Harry Potter association in this messy romance about two friends who start to fall in love with each other.

Screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, at the Point Loma / Hervey Branch Library.

Interstellar: Matthew McConaughey brings the same ponderous intensity of his Lincoln commercials to Christopher Nolan’s massively ambitious sci-fi art film.

Screens at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, at various local theaters. For more information visit fathomevents.com/event/beyondthe-world-of-interstellar.

Superbad: Jonah Hill and Michael Cera try to survive one wild night at the end of their high school tenure. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Now Playing Get Hard: A white-collar criminal (Will Ferrell) bound for San Quentin enlists the help of a smooth-talking friend (Kevin Hart) to prepare him for life behind bars.

Home (3D): An alien on the run from his own species lands on Earth and makes friends with an adventurous young girl trying to find herself.

Woman in Gold: Helen Mirren plays an elderly Jewish women who, with the help of a young lawyer (Ryan Reynolds), attempts to reclaim the possessions stolen from her by the Nazis during WWII.

October Gale: Patricia Clarkson and Scott Speedman star in this thriller about a killer stalking the residents of a remote Canadian island. Screens through Thursday, April 2, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

One Time Only

Queen and Country: John Boorman’s playful sequel to his autobiographic hit Hope and Glory finds the character of Bill Rohan entering the army right before the Korean War. Screens through Thursday, April 2, at the Ken Cinema.

Step Brothers: Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly were born to play man-children working out their parental issues by screaming adolescent obscenities at each other. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

The Imitation Game: Brilliant scientist Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) struggles to crack the Nazi enigma code while also trying to hide his sexuality from his superiors. Screens at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

The Goonies: Chunk and Sloth are one of the great movie couples of all time.

Screens at 11:55 p.m. Saturday, April 4, at the Ken Cinema.

Kill the Messenger: After discovering the CIA’s role in arming Contra rebels in

24 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

—Glenn Heath Jr.

Serena: Bradley Cooper stars as a logging baron trying to make it rich in Depression-era North Carolina. His business starts to crumble after meeting a mysterious young woman (Jennifer Lawrence) with a traumatic past.

Seymour: An Introduction: This tender documentary about pianist Seymour Bernstein doubles as a passionate love story about the power of craft and music.

The Hunting Ground: Investigative documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick looks at the wave of sexual assaults on college campuses across the United States.

Wild Canaries: The mystery film gets

a hipster twist in this madcap comedy about a bickering couple that tries to uncover the circumstances surrounding the mysterious death of a neighbor. Screens through Thursday, April 2, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Merchants of Doubt: Robert Kenner’s documentary about pundits-for-hire tells an unspeakable truth about corporate malfeasance in America today.

The Divergent Series: Insurgent: Super-revolutionary Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) confronts the powerful alliance that threatens to tear her society apart.

The Gunman: Sean Penn plays a former special-forces soldier who must clear his name after his old compatriots try to frame him.

The Wrecking Crew: This documentary tells the story of The Wrecking Crew, a group of studio musicians who helped revolutionize the West Coast sound and win multiple Grammy awards in the 1960s and ’70s. Screens through Thursday, March 26, at the Ken Cinema. ’71: During a violent battle in the middle of Belfast, an English solider is left behind to fend for himself against a hostile community.

Ballet 422: Jody Lee Lipes’ documentary goes backstage at New York City Ballet to watch the process of an exciting new choreographer named Justin Peck.

Cinderella: Kenneth Branagh’s lavish liveaction retelling of the classic fairy tale stars Lily James as the servant stepdaughter who wins the heart of a dashing prince.

Deli Man: Hungry? This delicious-looking documentary takes a look at the history of delicatessens in New York City and the United States at large.

Run All Night: A former hit man (Liam Neeson) must go back to his old ways to save his son from a mafia boss out who’s for revenge.

Chappie: Neill Blomkamp (District 9) directs this sci-fi film about a police robot who’s reprogrammed to think and feel for himself, drawing the wrath of his totalitarian overlords.

The Salvation: Starring Mads Mikkelsen as a Danish immigrant seeking revenge for the death of his family, this western set in the 1870s echoes the work of Leone and Eastwood.

The Second Best Marigold Hotel: The long-awaited, much-anticipated sequel to the movie you never thought would get a sequel, this time sporting the charms of Richard Gere.

Timbuktu: This Oscar-nominated drama

by Abderrahmane Sissako depicts the oppression of a Malian town under siege

by Islamic militants.

Unfinished Business: Three hard-working business associates travel to Europe, hoping to close a massive deal, only to get sidetracked by numerous distractions involving booze and women.

Focus: Will Smith and Margot Robbie talk wise and look sexy as grifters embarking on one last con job. It’s directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I Love You Phillip Morris).

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem: A distraught Israeli woman spends years in a rabbinical court trying to obtain a divorce from her well-respected husband.

For a complete listing of movies, please see “F ilm S creenings” at sdcit yb eat.com under the “E vents” tab.

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April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

Music Frank Shunkan

Soul city From left: Tim Felten, Matthew LaBarber, Jesse Audelo, Sheryll Felten, Bill Caballero, Kiko Cornejo Jr. and Nick Costa

The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble brings the funk to San Diego by

Jeff Terich

A

sk a random person on the street to describe the soundtrack to San Diego, and you’ll get one of a few stock answers. Perhaps it’s the feel-good singer/songwriter sound of Jason Mraz. Or maybe it’s the adolescent pop-punk—performed by grown men well beyond their adolescence—of blink-182. Then again, it might be a mixtape of laid-back reggae jams booming out of car windows along the coastline in Ocean Beach or Pacific Beach.

Nine-piece instrumental funk outfit The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble doesn’t share much in common with blink, Mraz or Bob Marley, but since forming in 2012, they’ve been offering their own unique soundtrack to their home city. Playing a style of music they call “cinematic soul,” Sure Fire has released a series of singles with titles like “City Heights” or “I.B. Struttin’,” which call out specific neighborhoods or localities that inspire their compositions.

Over a round of afternoon beers at Modern Times in North Park with guitarist Nick Costa and saxophonist Jesse Audelo, keyboardist and bandleader Tim Felten explains how San Diego has inspired his songwriting.

26 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

“I’ve lived in San Diego for about 17 the bare minimum of what the band seeks years now,” Felten says. “I love it here and to convey with their music.

I’m all about it. There’s different places I “With this type of music, it’s really imlike to hang out, and the music represents portant to tell a story, instrumentally,” Costhe vibe of those different places. I thought ta says. “A lot of people relate to a singer, it’d be cool to give a sound to a place.” right? So without a singer, you kind of have “You can really imagine yourself in to add some different elements that keep some of these places,” Audelo says. “Like the ball rolling. You have to be creative.” with ‘IB Struttin’,’ you’re struttin’ down One thing that separates The Sure Fire the boardwalk in Imperial Beach.”

Soul Ensemble from some of their influencThe Sure Fire Soul Ensemble’s self-titled es is brevity. Where Nigerian Afrobeat piodebut album—self-released in February, and neer Fela Kuti would extend his jams for 20 given Extraspecialgood status in CityBeat’s minutes at a time, or James Brown’s band Local Music Issue this year— The J.B.’s would vamp in a live finds the group taking the lissetting for much longer than a tener on a funky, 12-stop tour 45 RPM single could contain, that’s accessible, yet never Sure Fire keeps their compoApril 4 gives up the groove. At times, sitions short and sweet. The Seven Grand like on the standout first longest of the tracks on their track “Layin’ Low,” the group facebook.com/TheSure debut, “Sander’s Lament,” is showcases a heavy Afrobeat FireSoulEnsemble just barely over four minutes. influence, like a more concise Part of that comes from version of Fela Kuti and Africa 70. Yet an a desire to keep their audience engaged, upbeat jam like “Funky River” combines the but another, now-dormant San Diego band soulful immediacy of The Meters with the played a crucial influence in how they apLatin-flavored boogaloo of Willie Bobo. proach their songs.

The album—which also features the tal“I learned a lot from The Styletones,” ents of saxophonist Chris Lea, bassist Mat- Felten says. “They keep their songs to two thew LaBarber, drummer Pete Williams, minutes and 30 seconds, and they’ll play 30 trumpeter Bill Caballero and percussion- songs a night. I think that’s the way to go, ists Kiko Cornejo Jr. and Sheryll Pasis—is especially when you’re competing with DJs. so deep in the pocket it’s tangled in lint and That’s why we keep our solo sections short, car keys. But simply riding that groove is and we keep the set moving. There’s only so

Sure Fire Soul Ensemble

much that needs to be said on a record.”

That the band’s songs fit snugly on either side of a 7-inch single works nicely in their favor, as they make a point of releasing most of their material on vinyl. Since 2013, they’ve released “Layin’ Low,” “City Heights” and “Rise of the East” as vinyl singles, and their new album is going to be available as a proper LP as well. Felten, a vinyl collector, says that it’s “all about the way things sound on vinyl,” but there’s more to the band’s private press than the audiophile aspect.

“It adds a different aesthetic to it,” Costa says. “Not that many bands are doing it, or at least not in San Diego. It’s a piece of artwork.

Visually, aesthetically… it stands for something more in the digital age that we’re in.”

The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble have been playing together for a few years, and the longer they do it, the more positive the response from audiences. So perhaps their fusion of funk and Afrobeat grooves isn’t the first thing people might think of when they think San Diego—but people are starting to pick up on the possibility.

“I hope that people realize there’s kind of an alternative to everything they’re being bombarded with on the radio,” Audelo says. “I think it’s really cool that our scene is big enough that we can have a band like this and still get support.”

Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

Music

notes from the smoking patio

Hills Like Elephants’ Sean Davenport (far right) says their new album sounds more post-punk.

Locals Only Hills Like Elephants are preparing to release a new, full-length album called Tell Tales, it’ll be out this month, more than a year after the band’s Bedroom Colonies EP. The new record was recorded in two local studios— Lost Ark and Controls to the Sun—and features a different sound from the group this time around, including a move away from drum machines, and a greater push toward a heavy guitar presence.

“We wanted to have a lot of space,” singer Sean Davenport says in an afternoon interview at Bluefoot in North Park. “There’s more of an organic sound.”

In the process of writing and recording Tell Tales, the band took on a stylistic shift. Davenport says they wanted to go for more of a post-punk sound, and new song “Misquote,” for which the band released a video in late 2014, showcases a sleeker, slightly darker edge.

Seven new San Diego bands to watch Two weeks ago, we treated our readers to the annual Great Demo Review, which featured reviews of 122 demos from local bands, including eight we called EXTRASPECIALGOOD. But we didn’t get around to highlighting all the new bands in town, and here are seven more to look out for in 2015: The Canterbury Manor Groovetacular: Who’s ready for some steam-funk? Strap on those comically oversized goggles, fasten that leather aviation helmet, and feel the anachronistic grooves as Canterbury Manor takes you back to the 1880s.

Feed the Ape: There’s a noise coming from North County, and its name is Feed the Ape. Not much is known about this band, since its members all wear gorilla masks when performing. Their signature punk anthem, “Feed the Ape,” is catchy. Sing along: “Feed!

The! Ape!”

Candice Eley

Freak Bologna: Freak Bologna aren’t the first band to combine indie-rock and jam-band noodling, but these mellow dudes can definitely outjam Dirty Projectors or Animal Collective. Even more impressive is their 20-minute lunchmeat medley of Fear’s “Beef Bologna” and Scritti Politti’s

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“The albums that inspired us were more of a post-punk nature,” he says. “We geek out over all that Manchester stuff, Wire, The Clean, The Stone Roses, The Fall. In fact, my favorite album that I was listening to while we were recording was Liars’ WIXIW.” The band initially recorded the album about a year ago, but gave the record some space before doing any overdubs. However, while there were some changes in the editing room, the band tried to keep it as close to their live sound as possible.

“We wanted it to be more like how we play live,” Davenport says. “When you hear it live, it’s more of this raw thing.”

Hills Like Elephants are playing a record-release show for Tell Tales on April 10, at The Casbah, with Wild Wild Wets, Schitzophonics and Gloomsday.

—Jeff Terich “Skank Bloc Bologna,” which you can hear them play on this summer’s B.O.R.D.E. tour.

Searching for Meaning and Hope Against Insurmountable Odds: Searching for Meaning, or SFMAHAIO for short, might be an emo revival band, or, they might be a post-rock band. It’s really hard to tell over the sound of everyone crying at their shows.

BxGGZz: The hottest band in the up-and-coming trash-core scene, BxGGZz (pronounced “bxggzz”) make one hell of a racket. It’s hard to tell if there are any melodies underneath, but this duo can definitely sling some trash.

Takin’ It 2ne the Streets: You might be asking yourself why anyone would listen to a chiptune Doobie Brothers cover band. I can only respond, “Why wouldn’t you?” Their take on “What a Fool Believes” is surprisingly soulful for being patched together from Gameboy samples.

Wretched Mortification: To date, death-metal outfit Wretched Mortification has only one song, the 45-minute “Decapitory Retribution Suite.” Man, it’s a brutal 45 minutes. They’re reportedly working on their second song, “Decapitory Retribution Suite Part II,” which is the second in a 666-part series.

—Jeff Terich BxGGZz

Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com.

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

28 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

#SDCityBeat

Music

if i were u

BY Jeff Terich

Wednesday, April 1 PLAN A: Punch Brothers, Gabriel Kahane @ Observatory North Park. The progressive bluegrass beat is a little outside my wheelhouse, but Punch Brothers—which features Chris Thile of Nickel Creek—is some string-pluckin’ I can get behind. Their acoustic bluegrass instruments combine densely in an almost shoegaze-like texture, which is pretty damn impressive. PLAN B: Viva Apollo, The Mondegreens, Whiskey Circle @ Soda Bar. Viva Apollo was one of the more than 100 bands we wrote about in this year’s Great Demo Review, and one that we liked quite a bit, as a matter of fact.

They’ve got bluesy rock ’n’ roll chops and a vocalist with some powerful, soulful pipes.

Be here if you want your Wednesday to rock that much harder.

Thursday, April 2 PLAN A: The Shrine, Dirty Fences, Loom @ The Casbah. Tired of seeing bands with no muscle? Need to hear some heavy, badass hard rock with plenty of dazzling fretwork? Then put on that shredded

#SDCityBeat

denim vest of yours and bring that shaggy mop on down to The Casbah to get bombarded with the sounds of three loud-ashell bands that’ll get you doing some sweet air guitar moves in no time. PLAN B: The Chop Tops, The Strikers, The Gore Horsemen @ Soda Bar. Santa Cruz’s The Chop Tops are making one last stop in San Diego as part of a farewell tour. Now, I’m not necessarily the first to suggest psychobilly, but this is your last chance, folks. Grease up that pompadour and send them off good and proper.

introduced me to his album Fire on the Vine a few years ago, and I’m still haunted by his stark ballads. My bet is that after you get treated to his chilling serenades, you will be, too. BACKUP PLAN: The Donkeys, Buxton, Bitchin’ Summer @ Soda Bar.

Sunday, April 5

PLAN A: Vaud and the Villains @ Belly Up Tavern. Under ordinary circumstances, I almost certainly wouldn’t suggest you drive to North County for an old-timey cabaret show with burlesque and tubas.

But on an unusually dead Sunday night, Saturday, April 4 maybe you’ll need that kind of escape bePLAN A: His Name Is Alive, PRGRM, fore the work week. See a silly show, have Bakkuda @ The Casbah. some beers and unwind. You could do Warren Defever has been much worse. releasing eclectic pop records as His Name Is Alive for decades—pick up Monday, April 6 1996’s dreamy, fun Stars PLAN A: 22 Kings, Kristen Ford, Karina Friday, April 3 on ESP if you’re looking Frost @ The Merrow. It’s amazing how PLAN A: Disappears, for a good starting point. quiet the week leading up to Coachella is.

The Dabbers, Octagrape But no one album repre- I can’t imagine why that is—but it’s alright, @ The Casbah. Chicago’s sents the versatile whole, because local folk duo 22 Kings are here Disappears have collaboso expect to hear a broad, to save you from the monotony. Let them rated with Sonic Youth’s wonderful spectrum of entertain you with some bluesy, soulful Steve Shelley, which is one sounds. PLAN B: Sure acoustic tunes. reason you might want to Fire Soul Ensemble @ pay attention. The other is Seven Grand. Read my that their dark, shoegazfeature this week on Sure Tuesday, April 7 ing indie rock, as heard on Fire Soul Ensemble, who PLAN A: Twinsmith, The Periphernew album Irreal, is some Bryan John Appleby are providing a soundtrack als, Michael McGraw and the Butchers, deliciously sinister stuff. to San Diego that swirls Iguana Nights @ Soda Bar. In a perfect They’re arty and weird, but at the end of the together funk, soul and Afrobeat in a di- world, I’d be telling you to go see Drive Like day, their songs will take you somewhere. verse and heavily grooving stew. Then go see Jehu tonight, but you can’t. It’s been sold PLAN B: Bryan John Appleby @ The Loft the kind of rhythmic magic they can cook out for weeks. So don’t dwell on it—instead, @ UCSD. Bryan John Appleby isn’t as well- up onstage, and feel the funk flow through go check out Omaha’s Twinsmith, who craft known as Sufjan Stevens or Iron & Wine, your limbs. BACKUP PLAN: New Mexico, perfect little nuggets of reverb-laden guitar but his string-laden folk sound is certainly Sleeping Ghost, Emerald Rats, The Slash- pop. Sure, it’s not quite the same, but you’re still going to get a good show. strong enough that he could be. My brother es, DJ Clinebell Express @ Tower Bar.

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

Music

Concerts HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Manic Hispanic (Soda Bar, 5/1), Moody Blues (Humphreys, 5/6), Timber Timbre, Xiu Xiu (Irenic, 5/12), The Relationship (HOB, 5/15), The Waterboys (Humphreys, 5/15), Nothing (Hideout, 5/17), Nellie McKay (BUT, 5/17), Robby Krieger’s Jam Kitchen (BUT, 5/19), Negative Approach (Soda Bar, 5/24), Ciara (HOB, 5/27), Superheaven (HOB, 6/2), Ghoul (Soda Bar, 6/3), Mrs. Magician, Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects (Soda Bar, 6/5), Common Sense (BUT, 6/6), Jedi Mind Tricks (Observatory, 6/13), John Doe (Casbah, 6/27), Mono (Casbah, 6/28), Memory Tapes (Soda Bar, 7/13), Kevin Fowler (BUT, 7/14), Between the Buried and Me (Observatory, 7/22), The Lonely Biscuits (Soda Bar, 7/25), Jim Gaffigan (Humphreys, 7/26), Bill Maher (Humphreys, 8/2), Milky Chance (Soma, 8/3), Echo and the Bunnymen (Humphreys, 8/6), The B-52s (Humphreys, 8/15), Pink Martini (Humphreys, 9/3), Future Islands (Observatory, 9/23), Dave Koz (Humphreys, 9/25), Air Supply (Humphreys, 9/26), Florida Georgia Line (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 10/3).

Deacon (Casbah, 4/29), OK Go (HOB, 5/1), Kinky (Observatory, 5/2), Tennis (Irenic, 5/2), Mariachi El Bronx (BUT, 5/5), David Guetta, Pitbull (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/8), The Growlers (Observatory North Park, 5/9), The Sonics (BUT, 5/10), NKOTB, TLC, Nelly (Viejas Arena, 5/11), Ex Hex (Casbah, 5/16), Little Dragon (Observatory North Park, 5/18), Speedy Ortiz (Soda Bar, 5/19), Bryan Adams (Open Air Theatre, 5/20), X (Observatory, 5/22-23), Train (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 5/24), Spoon (Observatory North Park, 6/2), Sufjan Stevens (Copley Symphony Hall, 6/2), Awolnation (HOB, 6/3), The Rentals (Irenic, 6/4), Best Coast (Observatory North Park, 6/26), John Mayall (BUT, 7/2), George Lopez (Harrah’s Resort, 7/17), Third Eye Blind, Dashboard Confessional (Harrah’s Resort, 7/18), Imagine Dragons (Viejas Arena, 7/21), Melt Banana, Torche (Casbah, 7/28-29), Juanes (Civic Theatre, 8/2), Nicki Minaj (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/13), Kelly Clarkson (Viejas Arena, 8/16), Dierks Bentley (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/16).

April Wednesday, April 1 The Punch Brothers at North Park Theatre. Maroon 5 at Viejas Arena. Ed Kowalczyk at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Thursday, April 2

GET YER TICKETS

TV on the Radio at North Park Theatre (sold out).

Antemasque (BUT, 4/12), Meshuggah (HOB, 4/14), Ride (Humphreys, 4/16), Drive By Truckers (BUT, 4/22), Falling In Reverse (HOB, 4/24), Waxahatchee (Casbah, 4/26), Helmet (BUT, 4/29), Dan

Disappears at The Casbah. The Used at House of Blues. The Swellers at House of Blues. Bryan John Appleby at The Loft.

Friday, April 3

30 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

Saturday, April 4 Leftover Salmon at Belly Up Tavern. His Name Is Alive at The Casbah.

Monday, April 6 Ying Yang Twins at Porter’s Pub. Angry Samoans at Soda Bar.

Tuesday, April 7 Drive Like Jehu at The Casbah (sold out).

Wednesday, April 8 The Maine at House of Blues.

Thursday, April 9 The Preatures at The Casbah. Blue October at House of Blues. Interpol at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Action Bronson at Observatory North Park.

Friday, April 10 Hills Like Elephants at The Casbah.

Andrew Jackson Jihad at The Irenic.

Peelander-Z at Soda Bar. Three Days Grace at House of Blues (sold out). The English Beat at Belly Up Tavern.

Saturday, April 11

Tuesday, April 14 Drive Like Jehu at The Casbah (sold out).

Built to Spill at The Irenic. Father John Misty at Observatory North Park (sold out). Meshuggah at House of Blues.

Wednesday, April 15 Toro y Moi at Observatory North Park.

Thursday, April 16 Bruce Hornsby at Balboa Theatre. Ratatat at House of Blues. Ride at Humphreys by the Bay. Clean Bandit at The Observatory North Park.

Friday, April 17 The Cribs at The Casbah. Cash’d Out at Belly Up Tavern. Good Riddance at Brick by Brick. Belle and Sebastian at Observatory North Park (sold out).

Saturday, April 18 Reckless Kelly at Belly Up Tavern. Marina and the Diamonds at Observatory North Park (sold out).

Sunday, April 19 Morgan Heritage at Belly Up Tavern.

The Underachievers at Observatory North Park. Buddy Guy at Balboa Theatre. D.I. at Brick by Brick. The English Beat at Belly Up Tavern.

Monday, April 13 St. Lucia at Observatory North Park.

Bane at Epicentre.

Wednesday, April 22 Lady Lamb the Beekeeper at Soda Bar. Drive By Truckers at Belly Up Tavern.

Thursday, April 23 Al Di Meola at Balboa Theatre. Pete Yorn at Belly Up Tavern.

Friday, April 24 Dead Milkmen at Belly Up Theatre.

Nikki Lane at Soda Bar. Turbo Fruits, Eternal Summers at The Merrow.

Sunday, April 26 Waxahatchee at The Casbah. Reptar at Soda Bar. The Six String Society at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, April 28 Buck 65 at The Casbah.

Wednesday, April 29 Dan Deacon at The Casbah. Doldrums at Soda Bar.

Thursday, April 30 Inter Arma at Soda Bar.

May

Sunday, April 12 Antemasque at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, April 21 Sebastian Bach at Belly Up Tavern.

Friday, May 1 Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Monday, April 20 Bone Thugs-n-Harmony at Observatory North Park.

OK Go at House of Blues. Manic Hispanic at Soda Bar.

Saturday, May 2 Neil Hagerty at The Hideout. Kinky at

#SDCityBeat

Music Observatory North Park.

Sunday, May 3 They Might Be Giants at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, May 5 Mariachi El Bronx at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, May 6 Moody Blues at Humphreys by the Bay.

Thursday, May 7 Herb Alpert and Lani Hall at Belly Up Tavern. The Mowgli’s at The Casbah.

Friday, May 8 Metalachi at The Casbah. Dwight Yoakam at Observatory North Park.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic.

Thu: Live band karaoke. Fri: The Moves, Boxcar Chief, The Yes Team. Sat: KBong, Wheeland Brothers, Alific, Wes Maharas.

Sun: Karaoke. Mon: DJ Royale.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Fri: Star Party. Sat: CBI Spring Jazz Benefit Concert.

Sat: Brandon Primus, Daneen Wilburn.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St, Normal Heights. airconditionedbar.com.

Wed: ‘Breezy Bliss’ w/ DJs N8-Trak, Josh Taylor, Volz, Jus Sven B2b Viking. Thu: ‘DIVE’ w/ DJs Ivan Gregory, Matthew Brian. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Church’ w/ DJs John Reynolds, Karma.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco.com.

Wed: Open mic. Thu-Sat: Steve Byrne.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St, Downtown. facebook.com/BangBangSanDiego. Sat: Wankelmut, Lee K. Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Thu: Audrey Napoleon.

Sat: EC Twins.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Ed Kowalczyk (sold out). Thu & Fri: ‘Run DMC Remixed’ w/ Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe.

Sat: Leftover Salmon. Sun: Vaud and the Villains. Mon: Knox Hamilton, Genevieve, Oliver Trolley. Tue: The Tommy Mitchell Show, Justin Froese and Zach Heckendorf.

la Negra.

Epicentre, 8450 Mira Mesa Blvd, Mira Mesa. epicentreconcerts.org. Thu: Mark Battles, Danny Luh. F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, Downtown. f6ixsd.com. Thu: Bow Wow. Fri: DJ Slowhand. Sat: DJ B.A.D. Sun: DJ Brett Bodley.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Fri: K Theory. Sat: Reflex.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed: The Fooks. Thu: Johnny Tarr, DJ Junior the Disco Punk.

Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: DJs E, Yodah.

Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Keokoa, DJ Antonio Aguilera. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Fri: The Used, Every Time I Die, Marmozets, The Eeries. Sat: DSB, The Pettybreakers.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Wed: ‘Jungle and DnB Wednesday’. Thu: Psilo. Fri: ‘Toombao’. Sat: ‘Ascension’. Sun: ‘Fully Patched’. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Fri: bMuse, Skrillish, Karma Police.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. numberssd.com. Thu: ‘Throwback Thursday’.

Fri: ‘Uncut’. Tue: Karaoke Latino.

Onyx Room / Thin, 852 Fifth Ave, Downtown. onyxroom.com. Fri: ‘Rumba Lounge’. Sat: ‘Onyx Saturday’. Tue: ‘Neo Soul’.

Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Wed: Joey Fatts. Thu: Tony Ferrari. Fri: ‘Something Nasty’. Sat: Ying Yang Twins.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Fri: DJs Dirty Kurty, Will Z. Sat: DJs Taj, K-Swift. Sun: DJ Cros.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave, La Mesa. rivierasupperclub.com.

Wed: Westside Inflection. Thu: Comedy.

Fri: Little Kings. Sat: Baja Bugs. Tue: Karaoke.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd. Wed: Gilbert Castellanos jazz jam. Mon: DJ Tah Rei. Side Bar, 536 Market St, Downtown. sidebarsd.com. Wed: DJ Kyle Flesch.

Thu: Jay Valdez. Fri: DJ XP w/ Jason Whitmore. Sat: DJ Slowhand.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’.

Sat: DJs XP, KA. Sun: ‘Soiree’. Mon: DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: Viva Apollo, The Mondegreens, Whiskey Circle. Thu: The Chop Tops, Strikers, The Gore Horsemen. Fri: The Donkeys, Buxton, Bitchin’ Summer. Sat: Masked Intruder, Success, Caskitt, Brian Wahlstrom. Tue: Twinsmith, The Peripherals, Michael McGraw and the Butchers, Iguana Nights.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Thu: Revolution Mother, Red Devil Squadron, Lose Control, The Dirty Work. Fri: Ned and the Dirt, Social Club, Hoi Polloi, 3 by Design. Sat: We Will Be Lions, The Heavns, Memoir.

Mon: ‘Metal Monday’.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Fri: Focus In Frame, Catching Your Clouds, Century, Redeem Revive, Here From The Start, Always The Understudy. Sat: The Snykes, John’s Last Ghost, Nuclear Sunday, Leave the Universe, Neveready, Papas Piranhas.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joef and Co. Sun: Oscar Aragon & Bruno Serrano.

Somewhere Loud, 3489 Noell St, Midtown. somewhereloud.com. Fri: ‘Mutinys Pirate Rave’. Sat: ‘Solar Power Sessions’.

Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, Bankers Hill. crocesparkwest.com.

Wed: Hugo Suarez. Thu: Graham Dechter. Fri: Teagan Taylor. Sat: Gilbert Castellanos and the Park West Ensemble. Sun: Besos de Coco. Mon: Nina Francis. Tue: Ruby Duo.

Stage Bar & Grill, 762 Fifth Ave, Downtown. stagesaloon.com. Thu: Superbad.

Fri: Disco Pimps, DJ Slynkee. Sat: Hott Mess, DJ Miss Dust. Mon: Karaoke.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad. boarcrossn.net. Fri: ‘Club Musae’. Sat: Roots Covenant.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Sat: Per-

#SDCityBeat

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave, Normal Heights. sycamoreden.com. Thu: Rhythm and the Method, Flakes. Sun: 22 Kings, Melly Frances, Distilled Spirit Duo. The

Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road,

Spring Valley. 619-469-2337. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: ‘Darkwave Garden’.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: The Random Folk, The Casey Hensley Band, Cloudside. Thu: The Shrine, Dirty Fences, Loom.

Fri: Disappears, The Dabbers, Octagrape.

Sat: Vinyl Junkies Record Swap. Sat: His Name is Alive, PRGRM, Bakkuda. Mon: Marujah, Social Club, Chateau. Tue: Drive Like Jehu, Ghetto Blaster, Widows, DJ Bad Andy (sold out).

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. thehideoutsd.com. Thu: Lex. Sat: Sweet Valley, Roses, Ghost Ramp DJs. The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. theloft.ucsd.edu. Thu: The Matt Hall BeBop Explosion. Fri: Bryan John Appleby. Sat: The Eeries, Splavender. Tue: Open Loose, The Marks Brothers.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. theMerrow.com. Wed: Trunk Slammers, Super Triple, Naked Walrus. Thu: Sydney Blake and the Misters, Nacosta, Cherch. Fri: Fire in the Hamptons, Kid Cadaver, Iguana Nights. Sat: Skapeche Mode. Mon: 22 Kings, Kristen Ford, Karina Frost. Tue: Eliza Rose Vera, G And The Taz Manian Devils, Gezelle and Aaron.

The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: ‘Friends Chill’. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: DJs Beatnick, Adam Foster. Sat: DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings. Mon: Lauren Scheff’s All Star Jam. Tue: DJ Ramsey.

The Salty Frog, 992 Palm Ave, Imperial Beach. TheSaltyFrog.com. Mon: Damien Pruitt.

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, Gaslamp. tinroofbars.com/Home/SanDiego. Wed: Rock Out Karaoke. Thu: Freeze Frame.

Fri: DJ Cam, Jonathan Lee Band. Sat: ‘Neon Brunch’ w/ DJ ManCat, The Jonathan Lee Band. Sun: Shane Hall. Mon: Pat Hilton. Tue: Trini West.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Fri: Christ Killer, Pissed Regardless, Ramp Locals, Bainbridge. Sat: Nikki and the Mongoloid, Preacher vs Choir, LNC Generik and Anek, Sighphur One, These Hands Create, DJ Willy Gutz. Sun: Open mic comedy. Mon: Karaoke.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Thu: Rockin’ Aces. Fri: Karaoke. Sat: Drivin’ East. Tue: The Mud Bugs.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Sat: New Mexico, Sleeping Ghost, Emerald Rats, The Slashes, DJ Clinebell Express.

Turquoise, 873 Turquoise St, Pacific Beach. theturquoise.com/wordpress.

Wed: Tomcat Courtney. Thu: The Jade Visions Jazz Trio. Fri: Gabriela and La Buena Onda (5 p.m.); Afro Jazziacs (9 p.m.). Sat: Vera Cruz Blues (5 p.m.); DJ Sachamo (9 p.m.). Sun: Sounds Like Four (5 p.m.); Adam Wolff Perspective (7 p.m.). Tue: Grupo Global.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: DJ Mo Lyon. Thu: DJ Saul Q. Mon: DJ Fishfonics. Tue: Karaoke.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: ‘Open Oscillator’. Thu: ‘Kiss and Make Up’ w/ DJs Jon Blaj, Kyle Badour. Fri: Rebecca Jade and the Cold Fact, The Verigolds. Sat: ‘80s vs 90s’ w/ DJs Gabe Vega, Saul. Sun: ‘Strange World’ w/ DJs Dead Air, Pipo.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Sunny Rude, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: The Main Squeeze.

Fri: The Maykers, Travel Agents. Sat: ‘Bass Quake’. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: AfroZep.

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

Last Words Brendan Emmett Quigley

Across

He is risen

1. Nana’s fellow 7. “Make ___ for Ducklings” 10. Civil rights org.

14. Eaglets’ shelters 15. Burning anger 16. Baseball team that plays in the shadows of the CN Tower 17. Health scare of 2002-’03 18. Fruity wine, briefly 19. City 30 miles north of Des Moines 20. Tabby perched atop an IRS return?

23. From the top 24. His Twitter handle is @SHAQ 25. Head of Chelsea 27. Film ratings for the whole family 28. Kernel holder 30. The Ivies, e.g.

32. “The Late Late Show” host Corden 34. Traffic directors 35. Cassette emporium?

38. Baker’s tin 39. Cards of tomorrow 40. Playful pond slider 41. Phillies’ div.

42. Wee, in Scotland 45. Bud 46. Chunk of grass 50. Clock setting, for short 51. Paranoid Labour opponent?

55. Call to a scalawag 56. “Mob Wives” wife “Big ___” Raiola Last week’s answers

57. Office reminder “sticky” 58. Have a problem with one’s sister, say?

59. Whole slew 60. “Problem” singer Grande 61. Cruised 62. Hunting permit application datum: Abbr.

63. Church maintenance man

Down 1. Thing unscrewed at the pump 2. Put up again, as art 3. Mountain ridges 4. Kitty’s cry 5. Anne McCaffrey’s “Dragonriders of ___” 6. “___ often is the case ...”

7. Get wrinkled with age 8. Come up 9. Gossipy gal 10. Hector’s archenemy 11. Tight pants giveaway 12. Caustic cleaners 13. ___ Ronald Reagan (carrier) 21. “Check,” in poker 22. Ukulele standard 26. Takes too much junk, briefly 28. Lies, damned lies, but not statistics 29. It could be bad news 31. “Nobody ‘___ You” (Bob Dylan) 32. Practical joke 33. “Another” caller 34. ___-Alt-Del 35. Crisp snack served with hummus 36. Go nuts 37. Orange soda 38. Really jump off the page 42. Strafed 43. Spanish wool 44. “The Valley of Amazement” author 47. “Check,” in poker 48. Looping video clips that are only a few seconds long 49. Word with grinder and donor 50. When some dinner parties start 52. Target of some “I Can’t Breathe” protests 53. Some auditors, for short 54. Era in some fairy tales 55. Ice Bucket Challenge cause, briefly

32 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

34 · San Diego CityBeat · April 1, 2015

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

April 1, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 35