San Diego CityBeat • Apr 10, 2019

2 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Maienschein’s first test

B

rian Maienschein has been relatively Rules Committee does without having to do quiet on Twitter since switching po- three different Google searches). Simply put, litical parties back in January. Not they decide under what rule a bill can come that the State Assemblymember from Dis- to the floor for a vote. They decide how fast trict 77—which begins in Clairemont and a bill gets through for a vote and they set the stretches up to Lake Hodges—has ever been conditions for how it will be debated. What’s particularly prolific on Twitter, but I can’t more, they also have the ability to sit on a bill, say I blame him for wanting to just avoid the ostensibly killing it or, at the least, killing its spotlight for a while. After all, it’s not every momentum.

Looking at that last sentence, I suppose day, or every political career, when lifelong rivals are suddenly your BFFs and lifelong I should have chosen my words more carefriends are calling you everything but Judas. fully, because all of this was a means to point For those who missed it, Maienschein out just how much I’ll be monitoring Maswitched from Republican to the Democratic ienschein as Assembly Bill 392 heads to the Rules Committee. Also known party just as the new Assembly as the California Act to Save session was set to begin. While Lives, the police officer usehis Democratic collagues emof-force bill would reform, or braced his switch, GOP leaders rather, update the language cried foul, seeing Maienschein in which officers can use leas an opportunist of the worst thal force from “reasonable” kind. They pointed out that to “necessary.” For many—inhis defection was motivated cluding the bill’s author, local more by his district moving left. They also pointed out, and Brian Maienschein Assemblymember Shirley Weber—the bill is common-sense probably rightly so, just how disingenuous it was for him to have accepted reform to an all-too-common tragedy: the political campaign funds from the GOP, win disproportionate amount of people of color the election by the skin of his teeth, and then who are unnecessarily dying at the hands of police officers. Still, while the bill is backed immediately switch parties.

Yeah, it’s not great optics for Maien- by dozens of organizations across the state, schein, but hey, the Dems have one more groups such as the California Fraternal Order member in their supermajority so who am of Police are also pushing back just as hard.

On Tuesday, the bill passed the Public I to complain? One unforeseen result from Maienschein’s departure from the GOP, Safety Committee and will now head to the however, was that he lost many of his com- Rules Committee.

I realize Maienschein has but a small role mittee appointments. This is no small matter, mind you. As a senior Republican and in on the Rules Committee compared to Assemthe minority party, he did have some sway as blymembers such as Ken Cooley and Jordan vice chair of the Judiciary, Housing and Com- Cunningham, who serve as the Democratic munity Development, and Human Services Chair and Republican Vice Chair respectively. committees. Now a Dem, he gets to remain But given Maienschein’s reputation as someon those committees, but obviously can’t one who, even when he was with the GOP, was serve as vice chair. He was also removed from able to work across the aisle to get things done, I hope he uses his new appointment to help several other committees.

But there were some perky new appoint- get this bill through. The dust has settled on ments for his coming over to the left. He got the controversy over his switching parties and a seat on the highly coveted Appropriations it’s time to put his money where his mouth is.

Committee, as well as the Rules Committee. He might risk the wrath of law enforcement The latter is a 14-member board (10 Demo- organizations that have supported him in the crats and four Republicans) that is highly past. He might even be putting his political important in the legislative process. (Any- life on the line, but this is a small price to pay one reading this will look super smart in the when there are literal lives at stake. future for finally knowing what a legislative

—Seth Combs For pesky mosquito inquiries, please email Zack.Combs @SDCityDeet.com

Volume 17 • Issue 34 EDITOR Seth Combs WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos STAFF WRITER Andrea Lopez-Villafaña COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Ryan Bradford, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Rhonda “Ro” Moore CONTRIBUTORS Christin Bailey, Torrey Bailey, Jackie Bryant, David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Ombretta Di Dio, Julia Dixon Evans, Michael A. Gardiner,

Sara Harmatz, Glenn Heath Jr., Peter Holslin, Alfred Howard, Lizz Huerta, Tigist Layne, Jonathan Mandel, Lara McCaffrey, Scott McDonald, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Ian Ward

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Comden

EDITORIAL INTERNS Steven Buriek, Marlee Drake, Gabi Levitt

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Interested in advertising?

Call 619-281-7526 or e-mail advertising@sdcitybeat.com.

PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jason Noble ACCOUNTING Perla Castillo, Linda Lam HUMAN RESOURCES Andrea Baker

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Steven Persitza

The advertising deadline is 5 p.m. every Friday for the following week’s issue.

EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICE 3047 University Ave., Suite 202 San Diego, CA 92104 Phone: 619-281-7526 Fax: 619-281-5273 sdcitybeat.com

San Diego CityBeat is published and distributed every Wednesday by Southland Publishing Inc., free of charge but limited to one per reader.

Reproduction of any material in this or any other issue is prohibited without written permission from the publisher and the author. Contents copyright 2019.

@SDCITYBEAT

APRIL 10, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS

YES, ONLY WE CAN SAVE US The writer of this piece is absolutely right; only we can save us [“The ripples of white supremacy,” Backwards & in High Heels, March 27]. We certainly cannot count on our so-called “president” who has repeatedly stoked the fires of racial and religious prejudice among our citizenry. The office of the Presidency of the United States that I was raised on was supposed to be an institution that stood for all Amercians, not just the ones who voted for whomever was occupying the White House. Sadly, that is no more.

Somehow, the people of this nation must find it within themselves to rise above the current rancor and vitriol that is being spewed by the current occupant of the Oval Office and those who support him. It is my belief that these individuals are in the minority. The majority who don’t agree with this “MAGA” mania must step up, show up, and speak up for justice, tolerance and equality, the ideals that this country are supposed to be about!

It is not just our Constitution and rule of law that are under threat under the current “administration,” but those very ideals. The Latin phrase on the U.S. Dollar sums it up: “E pluribus Unum,” which translates as “out of many, one.” Our nation is made up of many cultures, faiths, and ethnicities; people who came to this country to find a better life in a nation where they were safe to live as they choose, say what they choose, worship as they choose, etc.

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

That principle of “E pluribus Unum” must not be torn asunder. Those who still believe in what this phrase stands for must act to protect the world’s greatest experiment in democracy from destroying itself.

A.F. Kaplan, via sdcitybeat.com

RENT CONTROL IS NOT THE ANSWER I hope you take it in good faith that we are on the same side. I don’t want to see people kicked out of their apartments everywhere.

But rent control is almost universally panned by economists [“Who’s really afraid of rent congrol?,” From the Editor, March 27]. 93 percent of economists surveyed in a study agreed that “a ceiling on rents reduces the quantity and quality of housing available.”

It’s simple supply and demand. Less return on their investments make landlords less willing to do maintenance. Studies also show that 29 percent of rent controlled properties had deteriorated vs. 8 percent of uncontrolled properties. That’s enough to cause real blight, and turn a neighborhood into a slum.

Also, it’s not clear that rent control helps most lower income people, just the ones who park themselves in a rent-controlled apartment and never move. The people who come after them are faced with a market with less inventory and thus higher prices. Look at rent-controlled [San Francisco] for an example.

It seems that there are other solutions to skyrocketing rents that would not distort the market so much—like housing subsidies and tax breaks for low-income people.

And, of course, the real long term solution to rising housing costs is to build more housing. Supply and demand rules.

HJW, via sdcitybeat.com

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

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

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

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

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

3 4 5 6 7

FOOD & DRINK World Fare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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

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

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

Anatomy of a Cocktail Scene . . . . . . . . . 9 Final Draught. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

THINGS TO DO The Short List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11

ARTS & CULTURE Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Feature: Lynn Schuette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19-20

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

IN THE BACK Astrologically Unsound . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 CannaBitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

@SDCITYBEAT

JOHN R. LAMB

UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE

JOHN R. LAMB

Single-family squabbles Southern California, where the American Dream came too true.

—Lawrence Ferlinghetti

W

hen it comes to the elusive search for an affordable housing formula that everyone can embrace, San Diego’s penchant for fits and starts is legendary.

“We engage in hours and days and weeks and months and years of debate, hold elections—sometimes repeated elections, each supposed to settle the question, but each result questioned by some person or group trying to prevent final realization of the project and to reopen the issue of plans and location.”

As true today, those words actually emanated from a former city attorney (Shelley Higgins) who coauthored a hilarious history book titled, This Fantastic City San Diego.

In 1956!

While he was talking about public buildings at the time, the same

@SDCITYBEAT

could be said about our ability, more than six decades later, to move the needle forward on any challenging topic—none more so than housing.

The seriousness of the subject matter could be gauged merely on the number of acronyms it has generated. The subject of housing is like looking at a bowl of alphabet soup.

The YIMBY vs. NIMBY takes on the subject have spawned an entire cottage industry of spinoffs, from QUIMBY (Quality in My Backyard) to PHIMBY (Public Housing in My Backyard) to the recent IHMBY (Inclusionary Housing in My Backyard).

Our own lame duck mayor, Kevin Faulconer, has proclaimed himself a YIMBY. He even joked about it at a recent Downtown Partnership dinner.

“As you’ve probably heard, I recently came out as a YIMBY,” he told the crowd. “Some of you may still be wondering what a YIMBY is. Me too. But basically it means I support more housing, and I like

cutting regulations that stop it.

Back in my day, that was just called being a Republican.

“But if you say you’re a YIMBY, you’re like a rock star. People lose their minds.”

Faulconer’s YIMBYism, however, does appear to have its limits.

When asked recently if he supported a portion of Senate Bill 50 (SB 50), the hotly discussed legislation from State Sen. Scott Wiener (DSan Francisco), that would, among other things, permit upzoning in single-family neighborhoods, Faulconer stuck to his preference of pursuing multi-family construction along transit corridors.

“I think that’s the right approach,” he told Los Angeles Times reporter Liam Dillon.

Wiener’s bill, currently winding its way through Sacramento, would broaden that approach to include single-family zones, where building anything but detached homes has been verboten for decades.

Howard Blackson, a local urban planner ensconced in the so-called “missing-middle housing” movement, said, “it’s a quaint notion of the 1950s” that single-family neighborhoods are pure picket fences and porch swings.

“Every neighborhood south of Mission Valley has multiple units,” he said. With the San Diego City Council’s recent decision to allow so-called granny flats in singlefamily backyards, Blackson added,

With Kevin Faulconer dodging the subject, more apartments in single-family neighborhoods could be a hot topic for mayoral wannabes Cory Briggs, Barbara Bry and Todd Gloria. “that’s the first crack” in the protective shield single-family zones have raised for decades.

Next, residents need to recognize that multi-family apartments are scattered throughout singlefamily zones. “The second crack,” Blackson said, “is understanding that we’ve already been doing this for a very long time historically.

Back after World War II, we had a housing crisis. We’ve had a housing crisis ever since the Catholics showed up and made all the Indians live in compounds.”

Mike Stepner, who served as city architect from 1988 to 1992, recalled trying to convince thenmayor Maureen O’Connor—a vociferous opponent of apartments and condos in single-family zones— that her childhood neighborhood of Mission Hills included multifamily accommodations.

“I explained to her that there were granny flats and small apartment complexes and duplexes all mixed in,” Stepner told Spin, “and she said no that couldn’t be true.

They were literally on her block!”

During those years, there were similar battles over building, with developers constantly doing battle with no-growthers (the NIMBYists of their time). Numerous neighborhoods like North Park and University Heights fought back by downzoning their residential areas. Single-family neighborhood protection programs sprang up as some homes were replaced with apartment buildings.

The most famous of those, the so-called Huffman six-packs, became a rallying cry for the neighborhood-character crowd convinced that their American Dream was under attack.

Described by detractors as “Motel 6” in nature with parking strips in front and back, the Huffman designs make modern-day designers wrinkle their collective noses, but they filled a demand.

“What’s ironic is, it’s truly your affordable housing base that has propelled so much of this city forward,” said Steve Huffman, son of

Ray L. Huffman who built 575 such apartment complexes throughout San Diego over 30 years.

“You have housing where you don’t have to drive so far,” Huffman said, adding with a laugh, “But of course, I’m a developer’s son, so you’re going to get a bias.”

With zoning and regulations as they are, Huffman said what his father accomplished – sometimes having as many as 70 projects under construction at one time— could never be replicated.

“He would build a nine-unit building for $72,000,” his son said.

Today, the per-unit cost runs about $400,000, he added.

And yet, if he were still alive, his father “would probably be doing the same thing and be pounding his head like most developers over all these regulations and how long it takes to build.”

Local YIMBYs have said little in regards to their future vision of single-family zones, instead focusing more on transit areas for the time being. Mayoral candidate Todd Gloria, a proclaimed YIMBY himself, has danced cautiously around the topic. His top challenger, Councilmember Barbara Bry, has said even less.

Not so shy on the topic is mayoral candidate and activist attorney Cory Briggs, who suspects developers are just trying to find new locations for market-rate luxury homes.

“My beef is the whole reason we’re doing this comes down to growth for the sake of growth,” Briggs said. “If we don’t do this right, we’re just going to build a bunch of expensive housing and fuck up neighborhoods forever, and we will accomplish none of our clean-air goals, our diversity goals, our affordability goals. None of this stuff will happen.”

As Shelley Higgins said in 1956, “We’re always stirring up something.”

Spin Cycle appears every other week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

APRIL 10, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5

UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

Save me from the cat people

I

’m about to piss off some folx with this column so readers may want to steady themselves.

Those who count themselves among the aggrieved before we’re done here, it’s likely they’re part of a rabid, cult-like group, relentless and single-minded in its agenda. At first glance, its members are a seemingly inclusive and harmless bunch. But no matter how politely someone disagrees with them, it never takes but a few rounds of debate before their eyes bulge and their voices become pitchy. They will throw out countless examples as to why anyone who doesn’t see things as they do is so terribly misguided. Just like the slick legal experts on nightly news shows, these people word-salad all over themselves to bring people to their way of thinking. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll resort to angry insinuations—passive and overt—that there is something wrong with whoever is debating them.

No, I’m not talking about Bernie Bros or New England Patriots fans. I’m talking about cat people.

Dear Universe, what is it with the cat people?

After my most recent column about KEVIN!!!, my hot-mess of a loveable bruiser muppet dog, I received a very nice email from a cat person. Let me say here, I am appreciative of all my readers. Those who love me and those who hate me are my favs among readers because, either way, they’re in their feelings and feeling deeply is my jam. It’s the undecided folx who leave me cold. Those who go ¯\_( ツ)_/¯ are the most disheartening.

There’s nothing worse than apathy and I’d rather have a big reaction than a meh, blurgh, whatever.

So I appreciate that some cat loving human took the time to read my work, and then write a 297-word note encouraging me to do a story on the travesty that is the declawing of cats and the fact that San Diego is the declaw capital of California.

That sound readers may have just heard was a deep breath in and followed by a sigh so loud, it might cause cancer like a wind turbine.

Here’s the thing, Boo. Just because I write about my pup does not mean I’m interested in your cat—or anything having to do with any cat or cat issues or cat problems. Declaw activism is not my life’s work.

Now, for my part, I’m sensitive to the fact that some people don’t like dogs. That’s cool with me. And out of respect, I never launch into doggie dialogue unless there is obvious consent from the other person. If someone says to me, “Yah, friend, you’re dope as hell but I just can’t with the dog…” I move right along in subject matter. Why offend someone with canine convo when I can offend with my direct talk about racism

instead? I will never hesitate to go there.

But cat lovers seem to be universally lacking of this etiquette. At a cocktail party several weeks ago, I struck up a conversation with an otherwise seemingly cool person. All was going well until she mentioned she had a cat and asked if I, too, had a cat.

“Mmmm, no,” I said. “I have a 9-month-old puppy.

I’m not down with cats.” That should have been her cue to redirect the chatter. But no. This was a cat person I was talking to. Predictably, as if there is some secret cat person agreement to torture anti-cat people, this cat person—like so many others—launched into a 15-minute storytime, regaling me with all the silly, loveable and just downright perplexing things her very unique and not-like-other-cats cat does. So many adorable things! If only I could meet her catzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

This chick cornered me between her and the appetizer table.

Lots of words spilled from her mouth; her eyes bulged; her voice pitched. But I’d stopped listening 14 minutes and 50 seconds earlier and was figuring out how to get as far away from her as possible. I thought I might have to get catlike and claw her tongue out of her face to make her stop with her cat proselytizing. Luckily for this woman, as well as the party host and for me, I’m declawed. Also, my ability to smile politely and feign interest lasted just long enough for me to catch my husband’s eye. I gave him the For-Fuck’s-Sake-It’s-AnotherCat-Person look and he rescued me just as I was about to make a fullon scene for the ages.

“I fucking hate cats, OK?” I would have screamed over the din of the party. “I hate them barely more than I hate Bernie Sanders! I hate them almost as much as I hate Nazis.”

Already, my inbox is filling up with angry responses. And trust me on this: I will get more email for saying I hate cats than for anything I’ve ever said about the injustice of cops shooting Black people; or the crooks and white supremacists occupying our government; or the children they’re stealing from parents and putting in cages; or the girls in those cages who are being raped and forced to have babies; or those babies and stolen children being placed for adoption with the help of Bethany Christian Services, which receives funding from Betsy DeVos and her family and all of whom embody some of the most vile cat-like traits. What cat-like traits am I referring to?

The fact that they don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves or who they have to hurt to maintain their power and lifestyle.

’I fucking hate cats, OK?’ I would have screamed over the din of the party. ‘I hate them barely more than I hate Bernie Sanders!

I hate them almost as much as I hate Nazis.’

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aarynb@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS Punched out!

T

AWKWARD

rue story: I’ve never completed a punch card, but I love the idea of them. The prospect of a reward for simply following a routine is something my mind craves. Just do the same thing over and over again and get a prize? Yes, please.

A display of cards rests at the reception desk at the YMCA. I pick up one of the cards and examine it.

Twelve blank, white squares—inviting like soft, little marshmallows—stare back, waiting to be filled in with signatures. A punch card.

“Oh, hello,” I exclaim. I read the details: If I get 12 signatures—one for each visit—I’ll be entered to win a free month of membership (approximately $70 value).

“Hmmmm,” I say as a mix of excitement and anxiety washes over me.

I take the card. I promise myself that this won’t be like all the other times. My wallet is haunted by the ghosts of unredeemed sandwich punch cards.

What’s the saddest short story ever written? I believe it goes: “Free hoagie, never eaten.”

Twelve days of exercise in a month doesn’t sound hard, but after sweating through my first punch (30 mins on a treadmill at 6.0 speed and 1.5 incline), I realize that I have to do this almost every other day if I want to succeed. I curse God under my breath. I curse the doctors who have discovered the health benefits of exercise. I curse my body for existing. I don’t know if anyone knows this, but it’s really easy to not exercise.

Plus, this is going to seriously fuck with my stack of other daily routines—which is the visual representation of everyday life in my head.

This mental stack has about four boxes that represent the processes that fill my day. These boxes are titled “Home,” “Work,” “Sleep,” and “Misc.” While those first three boxes are stagnant and solid, I can switch out the contents of the “Misc.” box. I can put “binge watch a show” or “work on my novel” in there, or, in this instance, “go to the gym 12 times.” There’s no room in the “Misc.” box for two items, because overfilling the box often leads to stress-induced breakdowns. And so resolving to do the gym thing means my novel will have to wait. But seriously, who needs artistic dreams when there’s a punchcard to be completed?

Imagine me breaking the intricacies of my neuroses while running on the treadmill—slack-jawed and tongue-a-flappin’—while staring at the punch card that I’ve placed gingerly beneath the machine’s digital display. After two punches on that card, it feels like the goal is impossible. If I were smarter, I’d be able to recognize that while I’m running in place, I’m breath-

ing and grunting like a pug getting its belly scratched.

The sweat flies off me, splatters the treadmill and probably the two women on either side of me.

During one particular week, I decide to hit the gym five days in a row because the white spaces on the cards bother me. Let’s get this mutha filled up! I tell myself in the most insincere coach voice. I run before work some days, and after work other days. The muscles threaten to separate from the shins. Everything takes on the stench of dirty gym clothes; I smell it everywhere. I dial my workouts back down to three days a week.

Sometimes I run, sometimes I swim and sometimes I lift. Each completed box fills me with unequivocal joy. With seven punches on my card, I feel like a new man, better than everyone else. I finally understand the gym-rat mentality, because exercise doesn’t make me happy per se, but fills me with superiority.

When I add 10 lbs. to my bench press, it feels better than adding 10,000 words to my novelin-progress. It’s not even about losing weight, getting stronger or feeling mentally healthy—the punch card is proof that I can be better than someone else.

One of the YMCA employees comments on my progress when he fills in the 10th square. ”You think you’re going to make it?” he asks.

“We’ll see!” I say, snatching the card back. Yeah, me gonna make it, I think, primitively. My brain is dumb from lack of intellectual stimulation that often goes in the “Misc.” box, which has grown to an enormous, insurmountable size. The other boxes in the stack crumple beneath it. Power surges through my legs, and I push the treadmill speed to a 7.0 speed.

I get the 11th box punched, but I don’t want it to end. Put some more white squares on this mutha! I think. My internal monologue now sounds like a ’roided-out bro.

No balloons drop from the ceiling when I get the 12th punch. No ticker-tape parade. But that’s fine. The Y employee sincerely congratulates me, and that feels good. Did I lose weight, or get any stronger? I don’t know. Probably not, but I do feel better than usual. It could just be the feeling of setting out to do something and actually doing it. It could also be the feeling of holier-than-thou self-righteousness that flows unmitigated through my veins. Or maybe it’s just the feeling that I never have to exercise again.

I hope I don’t win that free month.

What’s the saddest short story ever written? I believe it goes: ‘Free hoagie, never eaten.’

@SDCITYBEAT

Well, That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com

APRIL 10, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE

How much pre-cut sushi is too much?

W

hen I heard the new all-you-can-eat sushi spot, Little Sakana Sushi Bar & Grill (8270-E Mira Mesa Blvd., littlesakana.com), was landing in Mira Mesa, I knew I had to go. There has always been a collision between my firm conviction that there’s no such thing as good, cheap sushi and my guilty pleasure enjoyment of a good all-youcan-eat joint. One of them had to give way.

Mira Mesa is in the process of transforming into Convoy North.

And it’s doing so quickly. Excellent Chinese, Korean and hot pot spots are joining the Filipino and Vietnamese places the neighborhood’s been known for.

Little Sakana, though, is an odd fit. It isn’t high-end, by any means, but it isn’t exactly cheap either. What Little Sakana sells is commodity sushi and the perception of value. It’s as if the only limitation to the customer’s ability to get that value are the limitations of that customer’s capacity for packing away sushi in quantity.

Still, unlike some all-you-caneat sushi places, Little Sakana isn’t a buffet: its nigiri and rolls are assembled to order. That’s a good thing. What they’re not, however, is cut to order. The fish sits in the sushi bar case pre-sliced just waiting to be sat on the rice. That’s not a good thing. In the end, one limitation on the quality of Little Sakana’s sushi is the length of time that fish sits pre-sliced in those cases. The inevitable result is uneven quality, even if some of the sushi is decent.

The lemon roll—featuring a filling of surimi (fake crab), avocado and cucumber topped with salmon, yellowtail and lemon slices, and then doused in ponzu—was downright tasty. The citrus’ brightness (both the lemon and the ponzu) made up for any lack of fresh spark in the fish itself. It also made up for the shortcomings of the rice. It is,

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

perhaps, a bit of an exercise in damning by faint praise but the end result was, in fact, an enjoyable sushi roll.

The VIP roll was similar to the lemon roll. This one included a spicy surimi as the filling’s base and was topped with albacore, seared tuna and lemon slices with a cilantro-lime sauce. Again, even if it lacked the vibrancy of really good sushi, the roll was still an enjoyable eat.

Little Sakana’s deficiencies were more readily apparent in the nigiri. The knife cuts on the fish were inconsistent, with paired nigiri simply not looking alike. And that’s not just a matter of aesthetics, because it noticeably impacted the overall MICHAEL A. GARDINER

Nigiri at Little Sakana Sushi Bar & Grill flavor of the nigiri. The spicy scallop was poorly wrapped—downright misshapen, in fact. The best of the nigiri were the marinated and cured items: umami oil and citrus-marinated salmons and the cured mackerel. Yet again, these treatments served to mask the raw ingredients’ deficiencies.

In the end, neither my suspicion of good, cheap sushi, nor my love of a good all-you-can-eat restaurant had to give way. While Little Sakana sadly didn’t qualify as “good, cheap sushi,” neither did it qualify as a “good” all-you-can-eat option. It was, ultimately, no more or less than an endless supply of less-than-spectacular food.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

ANATOMY OF A COCKTAIL SCENE #55: Seasonal OCD at Clara

BY IAN WARD

I

IAN WA RD

with mint, cucumber and seasonal fresh fruit.

@SDCITYBEAT

FINAL DRAUGHT The Gooze is loose

days later. Alas, BPT also crashed, forcing Lost Abbey to then move the sale to eople thirsty for both beer and EventBrite. Thanks to a setup error, the drama are prepping for Duck Duck brewery massively oversold their available Gooze Day, which happens April 15. inventory and was eventually forced to The ultra-limited gueuze produced by cancel all orders.

The Lost Abbey (lostabbey.com) is only This beer boondoggle sparked severe available for purchase once every three backlash on social media, compelling Lost years and is made by blending batches of Abbey to post multiple apologies and exunfruited sour ale aged in oak barrels for planations on the website and social meone, two and three years. Adam Mardia over the multi-week disaster. But tinez, director of media and marketMartinez assures me that this year’s ing at The Lost Abbey explains how DDG sale should go smoothly. the DDG phenomenon came to be.

“I’ve been having discussions “In Belgian brewing, there are with them [EventBrite] for the past fantastic, wild ales brewed with three years. We’re very confident naturally occurring yeast. Duck that we won’t have the issues that Duck Gooze is our homage to these we’ve had in years past.” brews,” says Martinez.

Tickets will go on sale via EventTraditionally, gueuze beer is a Brite at noon on April 15. There’s a balanced, complex and relatively four bottle limit per person, and dry Belgian lambic that’s higheach bottle is $45 plus Evently effervescent and made by Brite fees. As always, The Lost blending “old” and “new” beers Abbey will not ship any bottles of the same style. The aging or allow proxies for pickup process required to create the (meaning buyers cannot send blend means that few brewsomeone else in their place). eries have both the financial Pickup will take place during capability and storage space “Duck Days” on Saturday, May to develop a true gueuze. This 11 and Sunday, May 12 at their scarcity, coupled with the fact San Marcos tasting room (155 that most gueuzes are still Mata Way, Ste. 104). manufactured outside the People unable to acquire United States, means that the one of the precious bottles few thousand bottles of awardaren’t completely out of luck. winning Duck Duck Gooze are The Lost Abbey tends to hold something like a white whale back a few for special events in the craft beer community. and will occasionally tap a The Lost Abbey’s The first Duck Duck Gooze Duck Duck Gooze surprise keg at the brewery for release took place in 2009, with fun. But Martinez thinks beer subsequent releases in 2013 and connoisseurs will be pleased 2016. DDG devotees are still reeling from with this year’s blend. If the past years’ both the 2013 and 2016 online sales, both demand is any indication, I have a feeling of which were plagued with server crashes that even the most butthurt of beer nerds and rapid sellouts. 2016 was particularly will be logging back on for their shot to brutal for The Lost Abbey; the first on- snag this brag-worthy addition to any line sale attempt crashed the third-party craft beer collection. ecommerce platform Nexternal’s servers, leading to multiple postponements before Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com or check they switched to BrownPaperTickets a few her out on Instagram at @thedelightedbite.

P

COURTESY OF THE LOST ABBEY

This seasonality compulsion reveals itself in food and beverages as well. I have a pretty frustrating and mildly refuse to eat strawberries in winter, as hindering case of undiagnosed OCD. I well as watermelons. I can’t eat apple pie say undiagnosed because I don’t need outside of fall. Even if I was alone on a a doctor to tell me that it’s not normal to deserted island in the middle of summer have to turn my doorknob 33 times every and all there was to eat was apple pie, time I leave my house.

I wouldn’t be able to eat it. Wait, never It also seems like the older I get, the mind, of course if I was alone with nothworse it gets. When I was younger, it was ing to eat but apple pie, I’d eat the fuckonly with doorknobs and car handles. Now, ing pie. I’m not crazy. however, I have to unplug all of the elecIt is also a new development that I tronics in my house including don’t drink gin outside of spring. my toaster. I hold my cellphone I realize this is weird, but it’s under faucets and showers for true. So, when the season does exactly 33 seconds. I even come around, I drink a considtake pictures of my oven and erable amount of gin. burners, in multiples of three.

Recently, I was at Clara in The threes thing is weird all on its Carlsbad (300 Carlsbad Village own. It signals some sort of unDrive Ste. 213, claracarlsbad.com) derlying disturbance of growing and, with spring upon us, I was inup in an Irish catholic household; credibly excited to see the descripsomething that’s probably better tion of their Rosa Palermo cocktail left off as underlying. on the menu, which is made with Of all the growing ticks and gin, Cocchi Rosa and Cynar, along potentially disastrous shades of with aloe vera and strawberry lithis ridiculous disorder, my quers, lemon juice, ginger syrup Rosa Palermo and seltzer. For readers who are new favorite is my obsessive attachment to seasonality. For blissfully unhindered by seasons, instance, I cannot watch horror movies these ingredients seem like a delightful outside of October. For the entire month, I mixture year-round, but for those of us compulsively watch the shit out of horror shackled to seasonal orders, these ingremovies and television shows, but outside dients are a joyful sight to gaze upon in of October, I can’t watch them. There’s spring. Cynar, for example, is made presomething inside that rejects them out- dominantly with artichokes, which are at side of the season. It’s a strange extension the height of their season between March of OCD but one that I don’t mind. and May. Strawberries, meanwhile, hit their peak from April to June.

The Rosa Palermo is not only a strong ROSA PALERMO representation of some of the more deas prepared at Clara lightful ingredients spring has to offer, but it’s also wonderfully layered and 1/4 oz. Giffard 1 oz. Gin strawberry liqueur 1/4 oz. Cocchi Rosa tastes like the season itself. Cynar lends 3/4 oz. Fresh lemon 1/4 oz. Cynar an earthy, grounding bitterness to the juice 1/4 oz. Chareau cocktail with strawberry liqueur that 1/2 oz. Ginger syrup California aloe vera gives it a rounded sweetness. The gin and liqueur Chareau both throw off high herbal tones Short Shake all ingredients and then strain over which are always welcome in spring, reice. Top with seltzer or soda water. Garnish gardless of our compulsiveness.

BY BETH DEMMON

APRIL 10, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

BALBOA PARK

SUPER BLOOM

In addition to the amazing floral designs accompanying the art work and the multiple days of IG influencers may have ruined the oth- workshops and activities surrounding Art Alive, erwise beautiful tradition of the wild- there will also be the grand Eisenstaedt Rotunda flower Super Bloom, but San Diego has it’s own design that greets patrons as they walk through the spring tradition in the form of Art Alive, the San doors. This year, Floral Art founder Jennifer McGaDiego Museum of Art’s (1450 El Prado) yearly fun- rigle designed a large-scale floral display themed draising extravaganza where over 100 local floral around the SDMA photography exhibition, Alfred designers reinterpret SDMA’s works SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART Eisenstaedt: Life and Legacy. of art via majestic arrangements of “The installation is inspired by flowers and plants. the concept of flowers frozen in Now in its 37th year, Art Alive time just as moments are captured has certainly, eh, blossomed and in photographs,” says McGarigle, bloomed over the years. This year, who was inspired by the glamor the opening night Bloom Bash in Eisenstaedt’s black-and-white will be expanded into the Plaza de photos of movie stars. “I like EisenPanama to include a Ferris wheel staedt’s quote about his goal ‘to and even more food and activities. find and catch a story telling moSarah Grossman, manager of spement.’ I think flowers have a story cial events and coporate relations to tell as well!” at SDMA, says the Bash is already Art Alive begins Friday, April known for its thematic fashion and 12 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the sees the event as one of the more Bloom Bash happens that evening fun social events of the year. at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 for gen“I think now it’s like people are Art Alive eral admission to Art Alive (which competing with each other,” says runs through Sunday, April 14) Grossman, who mentions the many selfie-worthy and $200-$250 for Bloom Bash. Proceeds support backdrops and activities at Bloom Bash. “The fashion SDMA’s education, outreach programs and special part of all our events is one of my favorite things and exhibitions. See sdmart.org for tickets and event I think fashion and art always goes well together.” schedule.

SAN DIEGO

EAST VILLAGE

REEL LOCAL

WRITE ON

It wasn’t too long ago that being a filmmaker in San Diego was pretty tough— why bother when one could find real success 100 miles north? However, a vibrant filmmaking scene has sprung up over the years, which is what San Diego Film Week is all about. From Thursday, April 11 through Thursday, April 18, attendees will have the opportunity to see over 100 local films, participate in educational workshops and rub elbows with local celebs at an awards ceremony. We’re especially stoked about “The Thirteenth Hour,” a showcase of horror films that includes the darkly-hilarious short Kathy, about a boy whose mom’s friend is a self-proclaimed exorcist. That goes down April 18 at 8:30 p.m. at Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinema (3965 Fifth Ave.), but the rest of the fest is spread out over multiple venues. Check sdfilmweek.com for schedule and tickets, which range from $12 to $30.

GROOVEKO PRODUCTIONS

Literary, writing and book festivals have come and gone over the years, but most have seemed to focus on one aspect of the creative process. The inaugural San Diego Writers Festival is particularly exciting primarily because it is so multi-faceted and includes a little something for everyone: interactive workshops, live performances and readings, educational panels, book signings, meet-and-greets, and kidfriendly events. There’s even live music. What’s more, it includes varying genres, including poetry, screenplays, fiction, plays, graphic novels and more. Highlights include a keynote address from Piper Kerman (Orange is the New Black) and a panel called “The Power of Immigrant Stories.” It all goes down Saturday, April 13 from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the San Diego Central Library (330 Park Blvd.).

Best of all, it’s free, but attendees are encouraged to register at sandiegowritersfestival.com.

MICHAEL OPPENHEIM

Soo Dhawoow: An Evening of Somali Arts at San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. Young SomaliAmerican artists present poetry and visual art in an exhibition curated by poet Fartoon Hagi-Mohamed, followed by a Q&A with the artists. Opening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 10. Free. 619-2365800, sandiego.librarymarket.com HSubterranean at San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery, 7250 Mesa College Drive, Clairemont. Exhibition featuring 45 artists who produced more than 60 pieces of art using textile, sculpture, mixed media and clay. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 11. Free. 619-388-2829, facebook. com/events/2055615747885425 Great Artist Grande Finale Art Exhibit at The Children’s School, 2225 Torrey Pines Lane, La Jolla. Classrooms are transformed into creative art museums showcasing the student’s artistic endeavors and the program depth of education. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 11. Free. tcslj.org HArt Alive at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Over 100 local designers present floral interpretations of famous works of art from SDMA’s permanent collection. This annual floral exhibition is accompanied by three full days of events. See site for full schedule and tickets. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14. Free-$25. 619232-7931, sdmart.org HNTCH MAG Release Party at Little Dame Shop, 2942 Adams Ave., North Park. Celebrate the release of this culture and lifestyle magazine’s third issue with art and visuals from this print publication.

From 6 to 10 p.m., Friday, April 12. Free. notch-mag.com HLine & Fuzz at Quint Gallery, 5171-H Santa Fe St., Bay Ho. The closing day for this exhibition featuring the work of local artist Michael James Armstrong. He will also be giving a talk at 11 a.m. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Free. quintgallery. com Wonders Never Cease at St. James bythe-Sea Episcopal Church, 743 Prospect St., La Jolla. Lenore Tolegian Hughes presents an exhibition featuring paper-weaving collages that combine secular and divine images into icons of a thought-provoking new reality. Opening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Free. sjbts.org HBarrio Art Crawl at Barrio Logan Arts District, 1878 Main St., Barrio Logan. A self-guided tour consisting of the open studios, galleries and local businesses of the Barrio Logan Arts District. Spaces include include Bread & Salt, Chicano Art Gallery and over a dozen more. From 4 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, April 13. Free.

The Astronomer’s Cabinet at R.B. Stevenson Gallery, 7661 Girard Ave. Ste. 101, La Jolla. New works from Arizona painter Robert D. Cocke, whose work emphasizes living outside of our technological bubbles. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Free. rbstevensongallery.com HOye Como Va at La Bodega Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. Featuring artists affiliated with Flying Panther Tattoo.

Artists include Jackie Dunn Smith, Matt Howse, Frank Chavez and more. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Free. labodegagallery.com Bidi Bidi Boogie: A Selena Art and Music Tribute Show at Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2004 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. The fourth annual tribute show to the iconic chicana singer features dozens of artistic and musical tributes. From 4 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, April 13. Free. facebook.com/ events/684054138661773

Kathy 10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

Piper Kerman

H = CityBeat picks

Unfolding at VISUAL Gallery, 3778 30th St., North Park. This exhibit features contemporary San Diego artists including Andrew Alcasid, Mary Jhun and Sofia Silva.

Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Free. visualshopsd.com Long Method: New Works by Hyper Helix at Thumbprint Gallery, 920 Kline St., La Jolla. Solo exhibition featuring all new meticulously hand-drawn illustrations and character-driven work. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Free. thumbprintgallery.com The Weight of Memories: New Works by Mary Jhun at Thumbprint Gallery, 920 Kline St., La Jolla. Solo exhibition by local painter, printmaker, and muralist, Mary Jhun, which highlights aspects of the human condition.

Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Free. thumbprintgallery.com

BOOKS Danielle Paige at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave. Ste. 100, Clairemont. The bestselling author will sign and discuss her new novel, Mera Tidebreaker, with Mary E. Pearson. At 7 p.m. Friday, April 12. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HLydia Fitzpatrick at Warwick’s, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Wallace Stegner Fellow and debut novelist will discuss and sign her new book, Lights All Night Long.

From 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, April 15.

Free. warwicks.com HLorraine Devon Wilke at The Book Catapult, 3010-B Juniper St., South Park. The acclaimed writer will sign and discuss her new novel, The Alchemy of Noise. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16. Free. thebookcatapult.com Frances Mayes at Warwick’s, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The internationally bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun will discuss and sign her new book, See You in the Piazza. From 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16. Free. warwicks.com

DANCE HLive Arts Fest at San Diego Dance Theater, 2650 Truxtun Road Ste. 108, Liberty Station, Point Loma. San Diego Dance Theatre’s multi-faceted, multidisciplinary dance festival is held over nine evenings and featuring a who’s-who of local and international choreographers. At 7:30 p.m. Through Sunday, April 14. $20-$150.

619-225-1803, sandiegodancetheater.org HCinderella at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. Jared Nelson’s choreographs California Ballet Company’s take on the classic fairy tale set to Prokofiev’s classic score. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13 and 2 p.m. Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14. $21.50-$91.50. sandiegotheatres.org HLITVAKdance Spring Concert: Reimagining Suffrage & Other Stories at Sunshine Brooks Theater, 217 N. Pacific Coast Hwy., Oceanside. Performance inspired by women’s themes that transgress time and place and choreographed by Takisha Guy, Patricia Sandback, Sadie Weinberg and more. From 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 13. $18-$25. litvakdance.org/tix

FILM HSan Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase at Ultra Star Mission Valley, 7510 Hazard Center, Mission Valley. The eight-day event will screen over a dozen new films with an emphasis on South Asian and Southeast Asian stories. Various times.

From Thursday, April 11 through Thursday, April 18. $10-$15. sdaff.org HArab Film Festival at Museum of Photo-

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 @SDCITYBEAT

THEATER JEREMY DANIEL

Alice in grief land

Life After runs through April 28 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. $32 and up; theoldglobe.org

A

lice Carter’s father is dead, just hours after their last conversation. It was a bitter, angry discussion and, in the 16-year-old girl’s shock and torment, she blames herself. In Britta Johnson’s promising new musical, Life After, however, the teenager’s search for answers to the unanswerable lead her in directions she never imagined.

The entirety of Life After is told through the prism of Alice’s anxieties, self-recriminations and grief. When Alice (Sophie Hearn) isn’t expressing these feeling in words or in song, they are manifested through her perceptions of her older sister (Charlotte Maltby), her mother (Mamie Parris), her friend Hannah (Livvy Marcus) or through three omnipresent singers (dubbed by the playwright as “The Furies”) who sound out Alice’s conscience and suspicions. Because Life After reflects the attitudes and emotional instability of a teenager, it’s able to venture over the top at times and even rely on humor in an otherwise dark context.

Under the direction of Barry Edelstein, the Old Globe is presenting the U.S. premiere of the Canadian Johnson’s play, which opened in Toronto to critical and audience acclaim. The plaudits are justified. Johnson wrote not only the book, but

EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 graphic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park.

The annual event presents feature narratives, documentaries and short films that focus on promoting the understanding of issues involving the Arab and Islamic world. Various times. Through Sunday, April 14. $7-$100. sandiegoaff.org HSan Diego Film Week at Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. Screenings of over 100 local films as well as “Best of” selections from other film festivals, a film market, workshops, panels and awards presented by KPBS. Various times. From Thursday, April 11 through Saturday, April 20. $60$200. sdfilmweek.com

FOOD & DRINK HTaste of Hillcrest at various locations, Hillcrest. Sample more than 40 restaurants at the 19th annual self-guided culinary tour. All proceeds will benefit the Hillcrest Business Association. Restaurants include Gossip Grill, Urban Mo’s, and more. From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 13. $30. fabuloushillcrest.com VinDiego Food & Wine Fest at San Diego Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Highway, Downtown. The seventh annual fest will feature hundreds of wines to sample along with dozens of local chefs sharing signature dishes. From 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 13. $85-$105. vindiego.com HBattle of the Chefs at Bankers Hill Club, 3030 Front St., Bankers Hill. Culinary teams will create five dishes with the secret ingredients from the It’s All About the Kids Food Pantry while guests enjoy tastings, a silent auction raffle and cash bar. From 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 14. $20-$400. sdbattleofthechefs.com HSpring Fling Food Truck Festival at Balboa Park Conservancy, 1549 El Prado, Balboa Park. Sample food from over a

@SDCITYBEAT

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: All in the Timing: David Ives’ Off-Broadway hit is a series of one-act comedies exploring relationships, communication and intimacy. Directed by David Ellenstein, it opens April 10 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org

Life After also the music and lyrics for Life After, and while only one of its numbers, the showclosing “Poetry,” stands out, the remaining songs do advance and add layering to the story. The theme of forgiveness of self and of others, especially loved ones, resides in the heart of Life After’s songs.

Alice is a sympathetic and searching protagonist, eloquent and wise beyond her 16 years, and the expressive Hearn is well cast in the role. Bradley Dean inhabits with verve the larger-than-life part of Alice’s father, Frank, whose self-help books have

UCSB Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The award-winning coloratura soprano presents a program committed to the evolution of classical vocal music. From 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Free. musicweb.ucsd.edu

MUSIC

HSan Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory Chamber Orchestra at The Baker-Baum Concert Hall at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla. Join the La Jolla Music Society for a live taping of the NPR show From the Top, which will feature the SDYS and CCO performing selections from Kabalevsky’s rarely heard Comedian’s Suite. At 6 p.m. Saturday, April 13. $28-$68. ljms.org

Leonard Patton and Peter Sprague at Japanese Friendship Garden, 2215 Pan American Road E., Balboa Park. Music in a small, intimate environment from the local jazz vocalist and guitarist, as well as beverages and snacks. Part of the Japanese Friendship Garden Concert Series.

From 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 11. $10$30. missionbaymusic.com Steven Curtis Chapman at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The Christian singer/songwriter will perform his career hits, classics and influences.

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11. $29.50$78.50. sandiegotheatres.org Ravel and Dvoŕák with Inon Barnatan at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla. Pianist Inon Barnatan joins the San Diego Symphony String Quartet to perform works like Ravel’s Le Troubeau de Couperin and Dvoŕák’s Piano Quintet No. 2. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11. $48. sandiegosymphony.org Ling Conducts Brahms at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Conductor Jahja Ling will perform with Polish-Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, who makes his San Diego debut in the Second Concerto of Frédéric Chopin. At 8 p.m. Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13. $20-$100. 619235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org Kirsten Ashley Wiest Graduate Recital at

Servant of Two Masters: The world premiere of a

adaptation of Carlo Goldoni‘s classic comedy made him a media star even as it takes him new about a trickster who attempts to serve two masters away from his family. Shining in support are at the same time. Written by Samantha Ginn and Maltby as Alice’s blunt sister Kate, as well as AJ Knox, it opens April 13 at the New Village Arts Marcus who provides comic relief opposite Theatre in Carlsbad. newvillagearts.org Cats: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony-winning muthe main character’s sadness and doubts.

Life After is a crisp 90 minutes thanks sical about a group of felines gathering for an annual ball to decide who gets to go to the “Heavento imaginative physical staging that has side Layer.” Presented by Broadway San Diego, it its characters, as well as the set itself, in opens April 16 at the San Diego Civic Theatre in the perpetual motion. It never stops to wallow Gaslamp. or, ironically, to contemplate what comes after death. Its focus is on the ones left beFor complete theater listings, hind who have to make peace with not only visit sdcitybeat.com those who are gone, but with themselves.

dozen local food trucks while watching live music and dance performances.

From noon to 7 p.m. Monday, April 15 through Friday, April 19. Free. balboaparkconservancy.org

HOpera Wednesdays Five Year Anniversary at La Jolla Community Center, 6811 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Artists from past and present Metropolitan Opera Competition winners and guest artists will perform.

From 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 10. $10 suggested donation. 858-459-0831

Almost, Maine: Residents of a small New England town mysteriously fall in and out of love with the appearance of the Northern Lights. Written by John Cariani, it opens April 11 at the Broadway Theatre in Vista. broadwayvista.biz

HMotown The Music + The Legends at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Around 200 singers and dancers from the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus perform classics from superstars like Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie and more. At 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 13 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 14. $25-$70. sandiegotheatres.org Campanile Music Festival at San Diego State University Scripps Cottage, 5500 Campanile Drive, College Area. Criticallyacclaimed musicians will offer students and chamber music aficionados the opportunity to learn from and interact with guest artists. Times vary each day. From Wednesday, April 17 through Saturday, April 20. Free. music.sdsu.edu

PERFORMANCE HHaydn Voyages: 7 Last Words at Luce Loft, 1037 J St., Downtown. The Hausmann Quartet’s collaboration with So Say We All wherein storytellers will present prose and poetry that respond or interpret the passages. From 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday, April 14. Suggested donation. hausmannquartet.com Jay Johnson at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive Ste. D, Solana Beach. Best known for performing on the classic TV show, SOAP, the

ventriloquist performs his new The Two and Only show. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 15 and Tuesday, April 16. $30-$35.

858-481-1055, northcoastrep.org

POETRY AND SPOKEN WORD National Poetry Month, Cultures Connect at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Reading by authors Kimberly Dark, Malachi Black, Jennifer Minniti-Shippey and more followed by an open-mic and accompanied by music throughout the show. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, April 12. Free-$6. 619-9573264, poetryandartsd.com HLizzie Wann at Whistle Stop Bar, 2236 Fern St., South Park. Hear Wann read from her new book, The Hospice Bubble and Other Devastating Affirmations. She will be joined by other authors including Judy Reeves, Julie Corrales and Robt O’Sullivan. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 17. Free. whistlestopbar.com

POLITICS & COMMUNITY H30th Street Bikeway Info Session at North Park Christian School, 2901 North Park Way, North Park. Local community members will discuss how water pipelines on 30th Street are currently being replaced, which allows for the opportunity for improved bike facilities there. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16. Free. bikesd.org

SPECIAL EVENTS La Jolla Concours d’Elegance at La Jolla Cove, 1100 Coast Blvd., La Jolla. Internationally renowned classic automobile showcase with over 130 automobiles from around the world. Various times. Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14. Free$450. 619-233-5008, lajollaconcours.com

San Diego Writers Festival at San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. The inaugural festival includes interactive workshops, live performances and readings, educational panels, book signings, meet-and-greets, and kid-friendly events. From 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday April 13. Free. sandiegowritersfestival.com Quaryard 4 Year Birthday at Quartyard, 1301 Market St., East Village. The arts and events space will celebrate four years with bands, artists and beers. Live bands include The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, The Heavy Guilt and The Stoney B Blues Band. From 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday April 13. $10. quartyardsd.com

SPORTS Wheelchair Over-the-Line Tournament at W. Morena Blvd., Morena. Top level wheelchair athletes from across the region will compete in Junior and Adult divisions while family, friends and enthusiasts cheer on. From 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday, April 13. Free. 619-917-6509, ombac.org Kickball Without Borders Tournament at Los Peñasquitos Ranch House, 12122 Canyonside Park Drive, Mira Mesa. Sign up to play on a team while supporting active Engineers Without Borders projects in India, Senegal and Peru. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 13. $30. ewbsandiego.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS Cory Doctorow and Friends at San Diego Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. The international best-selling science fiction author, blogger and journalist gives a lecture on the theme of “Libraries = Stronger Communities.” From 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 11. Free. 619-2365802, libraryshopsd.org

APRIL 10, 2019· SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

CULTURE | ART

“La linea de sangre” and “Calentarse” from the Desierto Pintado series by Lynn Schuette

he walls of Lynn Schuette’s Encanto home and studio are nearly bare. This feels odd considering they are normally covered in her own paintings and art works. Most of them are gone now, picked up and transported over to Bread & Salt in Logan Heights to be installed for her upcoming solo exhibition. There is, however, in the top right corner of her living room wall, something that stands out.

“I just started collecting them and taking pictures of them,” says Schuette, referring to the enlarged photos of crane flies, the large, mosquito-like insects that have been seemingly everywhere in San Diego as of late. Later, as we head downstairs to her studio, the carcasses of over a dozen crane flies are neatly assembled on a table waiting for their close-ups. Next to them are splotches made by dribbling candle wax onto the page. Schuette explains that the wax was from something she was developing as a tribute to the children who were dying in mass shootings.

“There’s something about pouring out these memorial candles… I don’t know if I’m going there with them, but the forms were so beautiful. That’s how my process works.”

On the surface, this window into Schuette’s process would seem far removed from the work she’s more well known for, which includes fantastical paintings of and inspired by nature. The works on display at Bread & Salt for Schuette’s Warpaint exhibition—which opens on Saturday, April 13 from 6 to 9 p.m.—draws from a number of series she’s worked on over the years beginning in 2012. These include her Desierto Pintado, One Dozen Roses, Stream and, most recently, Stay Romantic. The title of the exhibition comes from a painting included in the latter. Despite the light-hearted names of the series, Schuette’s says the work deals in heavier themes. “[Desierto Pintado] were all times of day, weather conditions, no evidence of humans,” says Schuette. “So when I paint or start painting, or go through the process of painting, it takes me places that I don’t know it’s going to take me. That’s the wonder of painting. I may start out really angry, but part of me takes it back into balance.”

As with the words of Cormac McCarthy, one of Schuette’s inspirations, there is a talismanic beauty in her landscapes.

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

There is also an uneasy tension and elements of hypnotic surrealism in the invariant and unearthly colors that seem to transcend typical topographical scenes. One can look at a painting such as “Warpaint” and be mesmerized by the undulating waves of color, but there’s also a sense of foreboding just underneath the surface. It’s almost as if the viewer is looking outside and beyond humanity; at nature in it’s purest, unadulterated form.

“Susan Anderson, who’s the curator and art historian at OMA [Oceanside Museum of Art], told me something about what I do that I didn’t exactly realize,” says Schuette, referring to a recent OMA show she participated, which focused ANDREA LOPEZ-VILLAFAÑA

Lynn Schuette on local Surrealist artists. “She calls me a Sublime painter.

That I’m not really a Surrealist artist, but one of the Sublimes. And she’s right. I wouldn’t necessarily use that word, but I always balance things.”

Yes, it’s true that Schuette’s paintings may have something in common with 19th Century painters such as John Martin, Frederic Edwin Church and Caspar David Friedrich, but they also incorporate elements of Surrealism, Romanticism, Cotopaxi and even Luminism. The latter style emphasizes meticulous detail and the camouflaging of the brush strokes, and Schuette’s stokes work to create a dream-like world where everything is both highly detailed and effortlessly blended. Piec-

es such as “Know Your Enemy” and “Our Fault”—both from the Stay Romantic series—give the viewer the sense they’re looking at some naturally occurring phenomenon like the aurora borealis or a sunset at the Grand Canyon.

“I don’t normally use the Grand Canyon. It’s a little too grand for me,” says Schuette, laughing when asked if she uses pictures of specific landscapes for inspiration. “I actually kind of like just rocks. I think in the [Desierto Pintado] description, I said I sometimes start with Ansel Adams photographs, because they’re black and white. I don’t want to use color. I want my own sense of color.”

Schuette grew up in a small town outside of Chicago before moving to San Diego in the early ’70s. Since then, she’s been a constant presence on the local scene in varying capacities. To hear her tell it, she was working as a server in a restaurant before becoming involved with the Works Progress Administration-funded Community Arts. A look at her curriculum vitae since then is extensive and impressive, filled as it is with art shows, commissions, curatorial work, grant writing and consulting. Beginning in 1980, she served as the founder and director of SUSHI Performance & Visual Art, one of San Diego’s first spaces devoted to experimental and performance art.

And while an entire article could be devoted to the legacy of Lynn Schuette, we’re here to talk about Warpaint. One would be tempted to call the exhibition a retrospective of the last decade, but even that is understating the depth and meaning of this particular exhibition. When pressed if there are thematic elements that tie all the series together, or why she chose to name the exhibition after one particular painting (not to mention, the many double entendres found in such a title), Schuette plays it off. She’s a veteran at this point, and while she’ll certainly admit to still being a radical at heart, she thinks the meanings behind her paintings should be just like the art itself: mysterious and subjective, but always revelatory.

“The reaction that people have… you never know what people are going to think. Some people, it will scare the bejeebus out of them,” says Schuette. “Like, ‘Oh my god it’s so dark,’ while others will say it’s breathtakingly beautiful.

That’s the range you get. And I love that.”

@SDCITYBEAT

Two, Four, Six, Eight! Tacos we appreciate!

Look inside for Taco Specials and more!

presented by

Please ask for the Taco Mania specials to make sure you get the discounted deals!

$2 Street Tacos • $4 Gourmet Tacos • $6 Combos $8 Combo with New Belgium “Mural” Agua Fresca Cerveza * * At participating locations

April 10 through April 17 at participating restaurants throughout San Diego SDCityBeat.com/taco-mania • #TacoManiaSD

Taco Mania 2019

#TacoManiaSD

CityBeat brings you the 5th annual Taco Mania!

Each restauranteur and chef will prepare their unique take on the taco!

Take advantage of $2 street tacos, $4 gourmet tacos, $6 combos and $8 combos at participating restaurants.

Go to SDCityBeat.com/taco-mania for descriptions of each taco and combo!

Look for the symbol for locations carrying Mural Agua Fresca Cerveza!

BAJA BETTY’S

$4 Gourmet Tacos: Tempura, BLT & C, Mahi Mahi, Short Rib, Shrimp, Al Pastor $8 Combo available!

1421 University Ave., Hillcrest, CA 92103 (619) 295-8510 • bajabettyssd.com

BEERFISH

$4 Gourmet Tacos: Lobster Al Pastor

2933 Adams Ave., Normal Heights, CA 92116 (619) 363-2337 • beerfish.com

BLANCO TACOS & TEQUILA

$2 Street Taco: Crispy Shell Ground Beef Taco $4 Gourmet Taco: Pork Carnitas, Chicken Pastor, Grilled Avocado $6 & $8 Combos available!

7007 Friars Rd #901, Fashion Valley, CA 92108 (619) 810-2931 • blancotacostequila.com

THE BURRITO STATION

$2 Street Tacos: Carne Asada, Pollo Asado, Fried Fish, Carnitas, Adobada 3130 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104 (619) 326-8256 • facebook.com/theburritostation

#TacoManiaSD

Taco Mania 2019

CHIQUITAS MEXICAN RESTAURANT

$2 Street Tacos: Carnitas, Pollo Asada, Carne Asada, Grilled Mahi Mahi, Wild Caught Shrimp $6 and $8 Combos available!

4110 Home Ave., City Heights, CA 92105 (619) 264-2072 • chiquitasmexicanrestaurant.com

CITY TACOS

$2 Street Taco: Carnitas Taco $4 Gourmet Taco: Surf & Turf $6 & $8 Combos available!

805 Seacoast Drive, Imperial Beach, CA 91932 (619) 621-5814 • citytacossd.com 8325 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa, CA 91942 (619) 467-7999 • citytacossd.com 3028 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104 (619) 296-2303 • citytacossd.com

CRAFT HOUSE NORTH PARK

$2 Street Taco: The Pollo “Loko” $4 Gourmet Taco: The Creeper Taco, Maui Waui Taco, The Baja Taco, The Porky Taco, The Hippie Taco 4101 30th St. suite C, North Park, CA 92104 (619) 255-1151 • crafthousenorthpark.com

EL COMAL

$2 Street Tacos: Smoked Marlin, Cochinita Pibil (pork), Chicken, Potato $8 Combo available!

3946 Illinois St., North Park, CA 92104 (619) 294-8292 • elcomalsd.com

Taco Mania 2019

#TacoManiaSD

FISH PIT

$2 Street Taco: Seasonal White Fish Taco Combo: Buy any three tacos, get one free!

4632 College Ave., College Area, CA 92115 (619) 546-9369 • fishpitsushi.com

THE HEART & TROTTER BUTCHERY

$4 Gourmet Taco: The Kraken, The Blvd Bull, The Bullkrak 2855 El Cajon Blvd. #1, North Park, CA 92104 (619) 564-8976 • theheartandtrotter.com

LA CATRINA TAPAS & CANTINA

$2 Street Taco: Carnitas, Adobada, Jamaica $8 Combo available!

3139 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104 (619) 436-0060 • lacatrinacantinasd.com

MCGREGORS GRILL & ALE HOUSE

$4 Gourmet Taco: Baja Fish Taco, Grilled Mahi-mahi, Grilled Shrimp, Grilled Chicken, Carnitas, Zucchini 10475 San Diego Mission Rd., Mission Valley, CA 92108 (619) 282-9797 • mcgregorssandiego.com

THE PORCHETTA SHACK

$4 Gourmet Taco: Porchetta Taco $8 Combo available!

2632 University Ave., North Park, CA 92104 (619) 294-7675 • porchettashack.com

#TacoManiaSD

Taco Mania 2019

PUESTO

$4 Gourmet Taco: Chicken Al Pastor Taco The Headquarters at Seaport Village 789 W. Harbor Dr. Downtown, CA 92101 (619) 233-8880 • eatpuesto.com 1026 Wall St. La Jolla, CA 92037 (858) 454-1260 • eatpuesto.com

SENOR GRUBBY’S

$2 Street Tacos: Al Pastor, Carnitas, Grilled or Beer Battered Fish $8 Combos available!

377 Carlsbad Village Drive, Carlsbad, CA 92008 (760) 729-6040 • eatgrubbys.com 311 N. Tremont St., Oceanside, CA 92054 (760) 721-6040 • eatgrubbys.com

TACOS LA MEZCLA

$2 Taco: Carnitas or Chicken Barbacoa $6 & $8 Combos available!

(Inside South Park Brewing Co.) 1517 30th St. South Park, CA 92102 (619) 889-1337 • facebook.com/TacoslaMezcla 2302 El Cajon Blvd. North Park, CA 92104 (619) 889-1337 • facebook.com/TacoslaMezcla

TNT - TORTILLA N TACO FACTORY $2 Street Taco: TNT Shrimp Taco

130 S. Mollison Ave, El Cajon, CA 92020 (619) 938-2211 • tortillantacofactory.com

Instagram contest

Win $300!

*

CHECK-IN AT PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS AND USE

#TACOMANIASD *Grand Prize is $300 in gift certificates to participating restaurants.

(Must check in to a minimum of 10 locations and follow @SDCityBeat to qualify)

Taco Mania 2019

#TacoManiaSD

CULTURE | FILM

Final romance

Sorry Angel

Inevitable endings haunt Christophe Honoré’s AIDS drama

by Glenn Heath Jr.

R

ight there in its title, Sorry Angel confesses the and Jacques say their goodbyes, and each gets pulled disappointment, grief and loss that will be an back into the same old routines. Arthur tries to hold inevitable part of its DNA. The story of two gay a girlfriend he’s not attracted to, while Jacques agrees men from different generations falling in love dur- to be a caregiver for an old lover who is slowly dying ing the AIDS epidemic ravaging 1990s France is ripe of AIDS. Still, all the rom-com tropes (meet-cutes, sexual with potential tragedy. But instead of dwelling on rage or resentment, director Christophe Honoré infus- power dynamics) turn out to be distractions within a es scenes with a patient appreciation for the present world where everyday life is defined by distance and doubt. moment.

Sorry Angel honestly portrays the difficulty of conWhile strength and compassion are critical and recurring themes, Sorry Angel begins by reveling in pure necting with another person when basically all facets energy. It kicks off with a speedy credit sequence seem- of mainstream society have closed their doors on your ingly timed to the racing heartbeats of its characters. humanity. Still, Honoré’s not the kind of filmmaker to Glimpses of faces and everyday actions unspool in this have characters sulking in corners or lamenting lost barrage of images meant to conjure the pace and ex- opportunities.

During Sorry Angel’s more earnest second half, citement of a classic romantic comedy. Yet, both romance and comedy will be hard to come by throughout. both men start to feel the pressure of mortality, most notably because of Jacques’ own Romance feels like pure fandebilitating health. In the 2017 tasy to Jacques (Pierre Deladonpolitical drama BPM (Beats Per champs), who’s become increasMinute), director Robin Campillo ingly exhausted by an endless SORRY ANGEL decides to focus on the politistring of emotional failures. A Directed by Christophe Honoré cal and strategic ramifications semi-famous writer living in Starring Pierre Deladonchamps, of this health crisis. Honoré Paris, he’s involved with a fleetVincent Lacoste and doesn’t dismiss this perspective, ing younger man who keeps Denis Podalydès but he does treat it with suspiplaying with his heart. At one Not Rated cion. point, Jacques comments that he There’s one mention of an enjoys the emotional imbalance; ACT UP meeting when Arthur it seems like he’s accepted things will never evolve into something serious. Guessing visits Jacques in Paris during the climactic stretch, but political activism is almost seen as an alien exgames make life momentarily interesting.

Arthur (Vincent Lacoste) doesn’t want for dra- perience to these characters. What matters most for ma either. The 20-something student from Rennes, them is how they spend time together when it’s so whose sexuality remains a secret from friends and obviously running out. Jacques understands this even family, frequents gay cruising spots because of the when Arthur would rather live comfortably in denial.

Sorry Angel (opening Friday, April 12, at Digital rush he feels hooking up with random men. Some of the film’s most stunning aesthetic decisions heighten Gym Cinema in North Park) stings more than most weepies because of how effortlessly it embraces the these moments with a sense of intoxication.

Honoré establishes immediately that both men complexities of facing death. An eerie parallel to modcouldn’t be more different, and yet the second they lock ern day disaffection can be found in the way characeyes in a dark theater—during a screening of Jane Cam- ters leave goodbyes on answering machines, and fail pion’s epic melodrama, The Piano, no less—sparks fly. to respond to passionate letters from writers who care A stranger might think they’ve known each other for too much. No matter the historical time period, final years. As it turns out, the first night Jacques and Arthur romances are tough. They have an expiration date spend together feels just as long. that no one wants to acknowledge.

From here, Sorry Angel subverts expectations by falling more in line with real-life disconnection rath- Film reviews run weekly. er than whimsical fantasy. Once morning hits, Arthur Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

@SDCITYBEAT

APRIL 10, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

CULTURE | FILM

Hate speech

W

The Brink

hether audiences view notorious white supremacist and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon as a vile proprietor of hate or a conservative demigod, The Brink probably won’t change any minds.

The documentary by Alison Klayman is less interested in exploring partisan ideologies than watching its wheezing subject try to endure the pressure and stress that comes with the territory of marathon politics.

This approach also makes for

a rather tedious narrative arc, one that begins in the fall of 2017 and stretches through the midterm elections of November 2018.

Throughout the course of that year, Bannon travels the globe taking clandestine meetings with farright politicians laying the groundwork for his new nonprofit that would help triangulate and unite the white supremacy agenda.

Klayman witnesses firsthand his creepy social patterns by spending so much time with Bannon during his guest speaking gigs, meetings

and photo-ops. There’s the casual (and not-so-casual) misogyny, striking mood swings and repeated attempts at charisma. And try to imagine a more disturbing line than Bannon’s flirtatious comment “a rose between two thorns” toward women during photo-ops.

The danger of making a documentary on a figure like Bannon, who boasts several times that he single handedly won Donald Trump the presidency, is that the director gives him a larger platform to perfect his hate speech.

He’s transparent about his desire to “convert” people with his extremist, anti-immigrant rhetoric.

While Klayman challenges Bannon on these issues throughout, it seems like she’s torn between remaining objective or becoming an active character in her own documentary. But being caught in the middle weakens the film overall, leaving it without a clear vision or purpose.

The Brink (opening Friday, April 12, at the Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas) doesn’t end up illuminating anything new about Bannon’s style or persona. It just traps the viewer in small rooms with a man who has convinced himself he’s larger than life. Hard pass.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING Amazing Grace: This documentary provides never-before-seen footage of Aretha Franklin’s iconic 1972 performance at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts, which went on to become the best-selling gospel album of all time. Opens on Friday, April 12, at the Angelika Film Centers Carmel Mountain and Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

Hellboy: Director Neil Marshall (The Descent) offers a new vision of Hellboy, the comic book character who’s caught between the underworld and Earth. Opens in wide release Friday, April 12.

Little: Regina Hall stars in this comedy about a woman who’s transformed into her younger self when life’s many stresses become too overwhelming. Opens in wide release Friday, April 12.

Master Z: Ip Man Legacy: A waiter living in Hong Kong gets drawn into a series of fights because of his history with the legendary Kung Fu master Ip Man. Opens Friday, April 12, at Arclight La Jolla Cinemas.

Missing Link: In this new animated film from Laika Entertainment, Mr. Link (who is half-man, half-beast) tries to track down his ancestors with the help of a scientist.

Opens in wide release Friday, April 12.

Ramen Shop: Director Eric Khoo’s latest film follows a young man who tries to discover his past during a culinary journey through Singapore. Opens Friday, April 12, at the Landmark Ken Cinema.

Sorry Angel: An older Parisian writer falls in love with a younger man only to face the obstacles of sickness and rejection along the way toward happiness. Opens Friday, April 12, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Brink: Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon travels the globe trying to garner support for his white supremacist agenda in this new documentary. Opens Friday, April 12, at the Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

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

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

@SDCITYBEAT

NIKKI CELLS

MUSIC

Mdou Moctar quick listen to Mdou Moctar’s outstanding new album, Ilana (The Creator), and it’s evident that the West African guitarist draws heavily from the “desert blues” roots of Tuareg guitar bands, such as the legendary Tinariwen from Mali. But Moctar, who was born and raised in neighboring Niger, also takes influence from some other unique sources, such as a certain spandex-clad hair metal pioneer.

“I found Eddie Van Halen on YouTube while I was on tour,” Moctar tells CityBeat in an email interview, a few days into his current U.S. tour in support of the new record. “I really liked his style of playing, and started trying it out during the concerts. I think it works well with our music.”

The Tuareg are a semi-nomadic people who make their home in the Sahara desert, ranging across the countries of Mali, Niger, Algeria and Libya. Bands like Tinariwen first started in the 1980s, as unemployed Tuareg men sought a way to give voice to their frustrations and struggles as the colonial divisions and conflicts of their desert homeland brought an end to an older way of life. Western rockers like Dire Straits and Jimi Hendrix were a big influence on the elder Tinariwen guitarists, but Moctar’s flirtation with Van Halen guitar pyrotechnics, like on the Ilana track “Tarhatazed,” might be a whole new thing.

Moctar, 34, grew up amid the rural expanse and ura-

@SDCITYBEAT

nium mining towns of north-central Niger. He came into his own as a musician while living in Agadez, an ancient city on the frontier of the Sahara. This dusty outpost has long been a hub for craftsmen, traders and smugglers of all kinds. It’s also been an incubator over the years for artists like Group Inerane and Omara “Bombino” Moctar (no relation to Mdou), who also honed their own take on Tuareg guitar music with distorted amplifiers, epic solos and harddriving rhythms.

On Ilana, released on the label Sahel Sounds, Moctar builds on this sound as he summons the ecstatic energy of his live show. He recorded the album in Detroit, camping out in the studio for a week with his bandmates—rhythm guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane, drummer Aboubacar Mazawadje and bassist Michael Coltun. They’d just come off the end of a U.S. tour and, throughout the album, they build on their

natural onstage chemistry with epic builds, surprising turns and glorious bursts of distortion.

“For this album, we decided to record in a studio, which we’ve never done,” Moctar says. “We had a bigger budget and more time to record. We also spent a lot of time working on the songs during the tour leading up to the album.”

“We don’t really record in Niger. We have small studios, but nothing like where we recorded in Detroit,” he adds.

It’s a much different approach compared to his earlier recordings, but Moctar’s desire to experiment has always been apparent. On his first album, Anar (recorded in 2008 and reissued on Sahel Sounds in 2014), he combined Tuareg melodies and guitar licks with drum machine beats and Auto-Tuned vocals. He was inspired by the Hausa-language pop hits that were coming up to Agadez from northern Nigeria, some of which were inspired by Bollywood songs.

“I heard a lot of this music in Agadez and I’m a very curious person. I wanted to see what it would do to Tuareg music, if we combined it with this sound. It was an experiment for me,” Moctar says. “Maybe it’s something we could try again. I want to try to put some electronic drums in my music. Who knows!”

It was these songs that first put him on the map for a global audience. In the early 2010s, Sahel Sounds founder Christopher Kirkley was traveling around the region when he first heard “Tahoultine,” a mellow acoustic tune with a spaced-out, FruityLoops twist. Kirkley was so amazed that he tracked Moctar down and started working with him. He released the song “Tahoultine” on the 2011 compilation Music from Saharan Cellphones, and later tapped the guitarist to star in a version of Prince’s star-making 1984 musical drama Purple Rain.

Their version of the film—dubbed Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai, or Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red in It— offered a whimsical mix of docu-fiction, rock star mythmaking and cross-cultural meta-commentary. Set in Agadez, it depicts Moctar as an aspiring star in elaborate velvet scarves, riding around town on a purple motorbike as he struggles to gain the approval of his pious father, win the heart of a love interest and best a musical arch-rival. The film became a hit among critics when it came out in 2015, and Moctar has been building on the attention he received from it ever since.

“It was because of Akounak that I got to go on my first European tour and visit New York for the first time,” he says.

Still, even as he busts out Van Halen-style guitar solos on Ilana, Moctar sounds rooted in Agadez. Singing in the language of Tamasheq, he sounds alternately wistful and heartbroken as he sings of the desert and of the struggles the Tuareg people go through today in a region scarred by drought, armed conflict and the exploitation of natural resources by multinational corporations. “Our benefits of the desert are only dust,” Moctar cries over a furious guitar riff and pummelling drums on the album’s title track.

“The song is a prayer to our creator for help for the women and children who are suffering in the desert,” he says.

As sad as they are, tracks like these feel necessary. It’s a reminder that no matter how far Moctar has come, the deserts of the Tuareg people will always be his home.

APRIL 10, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 21

BY RYAN BRADFORD

MUSIC

BLACK

ALFRED HOWARD

GOLD

Black people music

I

was responding to a Craigslist ad for free records in Santee.

I want all the free records (for anyone reading this, please make a note of this fact), but on this particularly lazy Sunday afternoon, I wasn’t sure I wanted to make the drive east.

After all, free records are often free for a reason. The records’ sleeves have been termite food. They’ve witnessed enough malevolent weather to believe in climate change. They’ve been scratched by, I assume, DJ Freddy Krueger. They’re Lawrence Welk records.

So I called ahead.

“Hey, before I come out there, what kind of music is it?” I asked, weary of sounding ungrateful for the free nature of these treats. The voice on the other side delivered that slow-as-molasses, universal redneck drawl; an accent that’s as comfortable in Tennessee as it is in Montana.

“Black people music,” he responded.

I could feel my mother’s anxiety manifesting itself as an angel on my left shoulder, shouting through the lord’s megaphone.

“Don’t you dare step into the Confederate lion’s den,” her voice said.

But the devil was on my other shoulder.

“You love Black people music! Get your Black ass over there! Really, what are the chances this ends with you in a ball gag reenacting that scene from Pulp Fiction?”

Per usual, I listened to the devil. The guy giving away the records couldn’t have been nicer and he was technically right: It was Black people music. Well, it was R&B music, but the seller just didn’t have the nuanced language of genres. He did say something along the lines of “looks like it found the right home.”

When it comes to adopting records, I don’t discriminate—white people music, Black people music, other people music

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

(note: when I try to lump all the remaining races into a category called “other,” it’s definitely a joke and an attempt to avoid a runon sentence). It’s all got a home in my ears.

Be that as it may, a lot of record sellers I’ve come across presuppose that this might not be the case. When I first started going

“Ten More Shopping Days (Till The Bomb)”

by The Weeds to swap meets—before folks began to recognize me from awkwardly carrying out leaning towers of records—there were instances where I’d begin thumbing through a stack of vinyl and the seller would say something like, “I don’t really have any rap music in there.” They’d say this as if the scope of my vision couldn’t see past Biggie, a mountainous figure that blocked out the view of rock ‘n’ roll behind him. (At the moment I’m writing these words, I’m picturing a Notorious B.I.G. solar eclipse and it’s so magnificent, I wish I could animate these articles).

Once, I even had a guy come into Cow Records, where I work, and ask me if I’d

“ever heard of Led Zeppelin.” I’m sure he fully expected the answer to be “no,” in which case his follow up question would involve him humming “Stairway to Heaven.” I diffused it with a joke.

“You think they’d let me work at a record store and not know who Zeppelin is?”

I asked this despite the fact that I wanted to bewilder him by asking, “Is that Puff Daddy’s backing band on the song ‘Come With Me’ from the Godzilla soundtrack?” Or I’d simply blow his mind by naming every song off the first six Zeppelin records (I’m admittedly a little hazy by the time I get to Presence), while also naming all the artists they stole from even though I still love them. Bring on the one-star Yelp review.

One time, I was at the Santee Swap Meet at 5 a.m. It was cold—the type of cold locals don’t necessarily prepare for, as San Diego has a way of making us forget that frigidity is an option. There wasn’t much out there at that hour, but then I saw a guy who had sold records out there before. I asked him if he had any. He hesitated.

“I do, but you won’t like them,” he remarked.

Funny thing was, we’d never met. We’d never spent long hours discussing the merits of Ten Years After, Them, The Groundhogs or The Animals. He only had one salient detail about who I was and I don’t think it was enough to estimate the extent of my taste.

“I just might,” I said. At this point, I was determined to buy these records just to prove a point. If it had been a collection of Satanic Klansman 45s, I would have purchased the lot of them just to teach someone not to judge a book by its cover. Instead, it was a bag of psych and garage-rock 45s so incredible, it’s unlikely I’ll ever top that score.

And in this lot were 15 copies of a 45 that had no history of being found before: The Weeds’ 1967 single, “Ten More Shopping Days (Till the Bomb).” It’s a slow, distorted dance of jangled guitars and patient paranoia. The title alone is everything I’ve ever wanted to say about consumer culture and dyslexic priorities. It’s honestly my favorite 45 I’ve ever found. It’s the kind of record that makes getting up at 5 a.m.—and diffusing racist assumptions—all worth it.

Black Gold appears every other week. Alfred Howard is always looking for vinyl and can be contacted at blackgoldsandiego@gmail.com.

THE

SPOTLIGHT

W

Raffi

hen my friends started having kids a couple years ago, I briefly explored the Rockabye Baby! series of albums thinking they’d be good gifts. What hip, new parents wouldn’t want a baby-friendly cover version of Radiohead? I wondered. But after a couple minutes into listening, I was disgusted and turned it off. What kind of pandering shit is this? Babies don’t care about Thom Yorke’s genius!

It sounded like an exploitative moneygrab aimed at parents who worry that their kids aren’t hip.

But you know what’s really hip for kids to listen to? Fucking Raffi.

The Canadian singer and activist has created so many iconic children’s songs that in 1992, The Washington Post dubbed him “the most popular children’s singer of the English speaking world.” With hits like “Baby Beluga,” “Down By The Bay” and “Bananaphone,” it’s a wonder why anyone would even step up to him.

Seriously, you can’t fuck with lyrics like “Did you ever see llamas eating their pajamas?”

And guess what? In the year of our lord, 2019, Raffi is pissed. Well, as pissed as a kind-hearted, beloved songwriter can be. He recently put out Motivational Songs, which features a lot of songs about climate-change awareness and being kind to one another. It’s never too early for kids to learn selflessness, compassion and any types of lessons that will steer them away from wearing a MAGA hat in the future.

Raffi plays April 27 at the Balboa Theater.

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC

IF I WERE U

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

Our picks for the week’s top shows

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10

PLAN A: J.S. Ondara, Cat Clyde @ The Casbah. We put J.S. Ondara on our cover a few weeks ago for a reason. Not only does he have an amazing backstory (an immigrant who grew up in Nairobi, Kenya idolizing Bob Dylan and Neil Young), but his beautiful brand of earnest folk is bound to make him a star. This is the type of show folks will look back on and brag they got to see him way-back-when.

PLAN B: Turnover, Turnstile, Reptaliens @ The Observatory North Park. Speaking of pleasant sounds, Virginia Beach band Turnover specialize in that easy listening brand of indie rock that’s perfect for road tripping and rom-coms. BACKUP PLAN: Dead Soft, GOON, Grimm’s Law @ Soda Bar.

ronto were signed to Drake’s OVO imprint for a reason. They make seriously smooth jams good for grooving out or getting your groove on. PLAN B: Flipper, David Yow, Kut U Up, Planet B, Authentic Sellout @ The Casbah.

Readers can check out our feature on iconic punk band Flipper in last week’s issue. The band is celebrating its 40th anniversary and have inspired everyone from Nirvana to just about any stoner-rock band. BACKUP PLAN: Tempers, Brass Box @ Whistle Stop.

TRACEY NG

THURSDAY, APRIL 11

PLAN A: ‘La Escalera Fest OCHO’ w/ War Fever, Making Incredible Time and more @ Tower Bar. The multi-day, bi-national punk festival features a bunch of bands from both S.D. and TJ playing at multiple venues throughout the week. This kick-off show is particularly good, but check out the full festival lineup to see if there’s a night that’s more up your alley. BACKUP PLAN: Little People, Marley Carroll, Natasha Kmeto @ Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, APRIL 12

PLAN A: Panther Modern, Some Ember, DJ Jon Blaj @ Whistle Stop. Panther Modern doesn’t have much music on the web, but we do know it’s the new solo project from Sextile’s Brady Keehn. Judging by the few posts on Instagram, we expect moody, synth-based jams with striking visuals. Definitely show up early for Berlin-based Some Ember, who are about as goth as it gets.

BACKUP PLAN: Sacri Monti, Drug Hunt, Warish, Sixes @ The Casbah.

SATURDAY, APRIL 13

PLAN A: John Vanderslice, Meernaa @ Soda Bar. It’s been six years since indie-rock chameleon John Vanderslice released a new record, but The Cedars might be his most intimate statement since 2009’s Romanian Names. Twelve intricately constructed songs dealing in issues such as death, addiction and gentrification and recorded at Vanderslice’s analog-only studio. PLAN B: Baby Bushka @ The Casbah. If you’ve never seen San Diego’s own Kate Bush tribute act, it really is an amazing experience. BACKUP PLAN: Cruz De Navajas, Therapy, Gritos, Konspiracion @ Teros Gallery.

SUNDAY, APRIL 14

PLAN A: dvsn @ Humphreys Concerts By the Bay. The mysterious R&B duo from To-

@SDCITYBEAT

Kero Kero Bonito

MONDAY, APRIL 15

PLAN A: Kero Kero Bonito, Jaakko Eino Kalevi @ The Casbah. London trio Kero Kero Bonito are, in a word, fun. They’re multi-lingual, multi-cultural and their music combines elements of J-pop, hip-hop, EDM and video game music. It’s all a bit bizarre at times (especially when frontwoman Sarah Bonito starts rapping about eating too many shrimps over a flute sample), but it’s certainly novel. BACKUP PLAN: Summer Cannibals, Broken Baby, The Rightovers @ Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, APRIL 16

PLAN A: Scott Worthington @ White Box Live Arts. Known for combining acoustic bass and electronic elements, Worthington’s music is both hypnotic and jarring.

It’s certainly impressive that The New Yorker named his 2015 album, Prism, as one of its 10 best classical albums of the year, but it’s so much more than that. PLAN B: Iceage, Shame, Pelada @ The Casbah. Danish art punks Iceage always put on a great show, but we’re much more excited about British rockers Shame. Not only did we have them on the cover last time they came through town, but, according to our web editor, they “blew Protomartyr out of the water” when they opened for them. BACKUP PLAN: HYUKOH @ Music Box.

APRIL 10, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Sugar Candy Mountain (The Merrow, 4/25), Electric Mud (Casbah, 4/28), Oliver Tree (Music Box, 4/29), Chef Bands 9 (BUT, 4/29), OrchidxMantis (Soda Bar, 4/30), Brownies & Lemonade (Music Box, 5/2), The Bassics (Soda Bar, 5/4), Sekta Core (Soda Bar, 5/5), Part Time (Casbah, 5/6), Buck O Nine (Music Box, 5/11), Pride by the Beach Drag Show (BUT, 5/14), Matt Maeson (Music Box, 5/14), Birdy Bardot (Soda Bar, 5/17), I Am Through Being Cool Fest ‘19 (The Irenic, 5/25), Matisyahu (Music Box, 5/25), FIDLAR (Observatory, 5/30), The Skints (Casbah, 6/5), together PANGEA (The Irenic, 6/8), Lecherous Nocturne (SPACE, 6/9), Plague Vendor (Music Box, 6/12), The Mattson 2 (BUT, 6/20), As Cities Burn (Brick By Brick, 6/22), Okkervil River (Casbah, 6/27), Half Alive (Music Box, 6/27), Bob Log III (Casbah, 7/25), The Raconteurs (Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 7/28), Madeleine Peyroux (BUT, 9/29), Tinariwen (BUT, 10/12), Sara Bareilles (Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 10/29).

ALL SOLD OUT J.S. Ondara (Casbah, 4/10), Matisyahu (BUT, 4/10-11), Dermot Kennedy (Observatory, 4/16), Kero Kero Bonito (Casbah, 4/18), Los Lobos (BUT, 4/19), The Interrupters (Observatory, 4/19), Michael McDonald (BUT, 4/20), Steel Pulse (BUT, 5/2), El Vez (Casbah, 5/3), Omar Apollo (The Irenic, 5/4), Gone West (BUT, 5/8), The Japanese House (HOB,

5/14), IDLES (BUT, 5/21), The Lemonheads (Casbah, 5/25), John Hiatt (BUT, 5/25), Billie Eilish (Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 7/13), Death Cab For Cutie (Observatory, 8/9-10).

CANCELLED Lebanon Hanover (Casbah, 4/23).

GET YER TICKETS David Archuleta (California Center for the Arts, 4/17), Playboi Carti (SOMA, 4/18), Julia Michaels (HOB, 4/20), Earl Sweatshirt (SOMA, 4/27), Passion Pit (Observatory, 5/1), Seth Meyers (Balboa Theater, 5/3), Chromatics, Desire (Observatory, 5/4), The Spazmatics (Music Box, 5/10), Dead Boys (Casbah, 5/22), New Kids On The Block (Viejas Arena at SDSU, 5/23), FIDLAR (Observatory, 5/30), Bryce Vine (Pechanga Arena, 5/31), Brad Paisley (North Island Credit Union Ampitheatre, 6/1), Jennifer Lopez (Pechanga Arena, 6/10), Toby Keith (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 6/14), Rebelution (North County Credit Union Amphitheatre, 6/15), Local Natives (Observatory, 6/19), Rob Thomas (Humphrey’s, 6/20), Khalid (Pechanga Arena, 6/23), Aly & AJ (Observatory, 6/25), Priests (Soda Bar, 6/26), Carrie Underwood (Pechanga Arena, 10/10), The Who (Viejas Arena, 10/16), Judah & The Lion (Observatory, 10/17), Hozier (Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 10/26).

APRIL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10 Turnover at Observatory North Park.

Matisyahu at Belly Up Tavern. AJ Fro-

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

man at Music Box. Dead Soft at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, APRIL 11 The Messthetics at The Casbah. Space Jesus at Music Box. Little People at Soda Bar. Inon Barnatan at Copley Symphony Hall. Chioke Dmachi at House of Blues.

FRIDAY, APRIL 12 Kenny Wayne Shepherd at Humphrey’s. Las Cafeteras at Music Box. The Highwayman Show at Belly Up Tavern. Sacri Monti at The Casbah.

Nothington at Soda Bar. Mac Powell at House of Blues.

SATURDAY, APRIL 13 Common Sense at Belly Up Tavern.

Dabin at Music Box. Josh Abbott Band at House of Blues. Ramon Ayala at Del Mar Fairgrounds. John Vanderslice at Soda Bar. Lefties at Soma. Baby Bushka at The Casbah.

SUNDAY, APRIL 14 Flipper at The Casbah. Pink Froyd at Music Box. Young Wants at Soda Bar. Dvsn at Humphrey’s. Los Angeles Azules at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre. Joshua Bell at Copley Symphony Hall. John 5 at Brick By Brick. Mariachi Festival at California Center for the Arts. The Como La Flor Band at House Of Blues.

MONDAY, APRIL 15 Summer Cannibals at Soda Bar. FKJ at Humphrey’s. Kero Kero Bonito at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, APRIL 16 Iceage at The Casbah. Sebastian Maniscalco at Humphreys. The Hillbilly Moon Explosion at Soda Bar. The Primaveras at Belly Up Tavern. Hyukoh at Music Box.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17 Sebastian Maniscalco at Humphrey’s.

David Archuleta at California Center for the Arts. Joey Harris and the Mentals at Belly Up Tavern. Bone Thugs-nHarmony at House of Blues. Ages and Ages at Soda Bar. Manwolves at Ché Café Collective. The Lil Smokies at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, APRIL 18 Integrity at Brick By Brick. Bastard Sons Of Johnny Cash at Soda Bar. The Floozies at Belly Up Tavern. Playboi Carti at SOMA. Smino at Observatory North Park.

CloZee at Music Box.

FRIDAY, APRIL 19 The Interrupters at Observatory North Park. Monolord at Brick By Brick. Metalachi at Music Box. Kirin J. Callinan at Soda Bar. Emo Nite at The Casbah.

DMX at House of Blues. +Plus at SOMA.

SATURDAY, APRIL 20 Julia Michaels at House of Blues. Night Beats at The Casbah. Imagery Machine at Soda Bar. Pinback at Music Box. Big Thief at The Irenic. The Plot In You at SOMA. Deixion at Brick By Brick.

SUNDAY, APRIL 21 Ufomommut at Brick By Brick. Brent Cowles at Soda Bar. Puddle of Mudd at House of Blues. Pg.99 at Ché Café Collec-

tive. Mdou Moctar at The Casbah. Fanclub at SPACE.

MONDAY, APRIL 22 Wayne Hancock at Soda Bar. Ben Kweller at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, APRIL 23 Superorganism at Music Box. Epik High at Observatory North Park. Vandoliers at Soda Bar. The Strawberry Moons at Belly Up Tavern.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 Party Nails at The Casbah. Sully at Belly Up Tavern. Biskwiq at Soda Bar. Jon Anderson at Humphrey’s.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25 Los Straitjackets at The Casbah. The Reverend Horton Heat at Belly Up Tavern. Epic Beard Men at Soda Bar. Love Angels at Music Box. Aterciopelados at Observatory North Park. Reverend Horton Heat at Belly Up Tavern. Laundry Day at House of Blues. Skeletal Remains at Brick By Brick. Sugar Candy Mountain at The Merrow.

FRIDAY, APRIL 26 Psycroptic at Brick By Brick. Rebecca Jade and the Cold Fact at The Casbah.

Weatherbox at Ché Café Collective. Secrets at SOMA. Run River North at Soda Bar. The Main Squeeze at Belly Up Tavern. Vokab Kompany at Music Box. Yung Baby Tate at The Irenic. Groove Internation at House of Blues.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

@SDCITYBEAT

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 SATURDAY, APRIL 27 Com Truise at Music Box. Livin’ On A Prayer at Belly Up Tavern. Earl Sweatshirt at SOMA. Telekinesis at The Casbah. Kiefer at Soda Bar. Rivals at Brick

By Brick. Raffi at Balboa Theatre.

SUNDAY, APRIL 28 The Kingston Trio at Balboa Theatre.

White Denim at Belly Up Tavern. Perturbator at Music Box. Show Me The Body at Ché Café Collective. Knocked Loose at SOMA. Anomalie at House of Blues.

Electric Mud at The Casbah.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Wed: Open Mic. Thu: ‘Bringing Back Rock ‘N’ Roll’. Fri: Power of Love, Wag Halen. Sat: Undecided Future, The Good Pour. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: Something Like Seduction, The Resinators.

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

Thu: ‘CoolLikeDat’. Fri: ‘House Music Fridays’. Sat: ‘Cake’. Sun: John Penate.

Mon: ‘Organized Grime’. Tue: DJ Elevate.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Wed: The Come-Up Comedy Showcase. Thu: Jono Zalay. Fri: Michael Kosta. Sat: Michael Kosta. Sun: Rafi Bastos. Tue: Open Mic. The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: Doc Rotten, Fisted. Fri: Marujah, Tesque Revolt, Semisweet, Super Cassette. Sat: Reddmen,

@SDCITYBEAT

Mice, Bull Market, Batlords, Wilt. Mon: Trivia. Tue: Karaoke.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: Black Caviar. Sat: Lucati, Dead Space.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Wed: DJ LikeItOrNot. Thu: ‘La Beat Cantina’.

Fri: Soul Acoustic Trio. Sat: ‘Neon Beat’.

Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Mon: Julia Sage & The Bad Hombres. Tue: ‘Tiki Tuesday’.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Fri: Dave Gleason Trio. Sat: Hall Pass.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Matisyahu (sold out). Thu: Matisyahu (sold out). Fri: The Highwayman Show, Sister Speak. Sat: Common Sense, The Bonedaddys. Tue: The Primaveras, Loosen the Noose, Crescent Suns.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Shoot The Glass, One I Red, GoMannGo. Sat: Slum Summer, Free Paintings, Hocus.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’. Thu: Öona Dahl. Fri: ‘WE ARE YR FRIENDS’. Sat: ‘Blonde 54’. Sun: ‘Chvrch’. Mon: ‘Blue Monday’.

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

Sat: Big Dude.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Sun: John 5.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Wed: J.S. Ondara, Cat Clyde (sold out). Thu: The Messthetics, Craig Wedren, Physics. Fri: Sacri Monti, Bad Vibes, Warish, Sixes. Sat: Baby Bushka. Sun: Flipper w/ David Yow, Kut U Up, Planet B, Authentic Sellout. Mon: Kero Kero Bonito, Jaako Eino Kalevi. Tue: Iceage, Shame, Pelada.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): This week, forget everything you thought you knew about the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae in Arcadia. For most people, this will be easy.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): The more you prepare, the better your finished outcome will be. That is, unless you are constantly preparing in order to avoid the process of actually doing.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): The universe is not indifferent. It’s like a painting where the eyes give the illusion that they’re always looking at you. Sometimes, like in Scooby-Doo, they might really be following you.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Few things in this world can be understood as simply as the fact that when an elephant gets revenge, we can be certain they were owed it.

LEO (July 23 - August 22): Killing a snake is sometimes not enough to kill a snake. Considering that it knows how to bite so well, it will keep doing it even hours after it is dead.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): You have to look out for yourself. Not for your own sake, but for the little ducklings following behind you. If you’re not careful, they’re toast!

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22): Today is going to feel like when you hand someone your phone to look at a photo and then, for no reason, they start scrolling.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): You’re experiencing that dreadful sensation of déjà vu because time is porous like the smoking section of an airplane and, on a long enough timeline, it’s just as bad for you.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): The only thing standing between you and your greatest dreams is the awe-inspiring, horrific chasm between expectation and reality.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): You know what they say: you can take a horse to water but you… wait… whose horse is this? Where did you get this horse? No, that’s not what “take a horse” means in this context.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): This week, open your heart and take a chance on that unmarked, dented and labelless tin can in the back of your pantry.

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): You are repeating the same mistakes, just like that June bug who is crashing into the window over and over and over again.

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

APRIL 10, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 Che Cafe, 1000 Scholars Drive S, La Jolla. Sun: FlowerFest.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Bay Park. Fri: Danny Green Trio. Sun: Rob Thorsen’s Jazz Ensembles.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Thu: ‘TakeOver Thursdays’. Fri: Dela Chappelle.

Sat: Jae Murphy. Sun: ‘Reggae Sundays’.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Shabazz. Sat: DJ Romeo.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Patrick “BlueFrog” Ellis. Thu: The Stilettos. Fri: Backstreet Boys vs. *NSYNC. Sat: Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Horse Head, Mirsy. Sun: AK. Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: Whiskey Ridge. Thu: DJ Chuck. Fri: Funk’s Most Wanted. Sat: Beta Maxx. Sun: Groove Squad. Mon: Billy Watson. Tue: Bayou Bros.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Thu: Ramon Bostich. Fri: ‘Tech Support’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Fri: Unsteady, The Downs Family.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Fri: Lonely Ghosts, Kate Delos Santos. Sat: Lakin Saucedo, Samer Bakri. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: Comedy Night.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Harmony Road. Thu: Jackson & Billy. Fri: Ron’s Garage. Sat: Bonneville 7. Sun: Ron’s Garage. Tue: Steve Brewer.

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 10, 2019

Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Varla Jean Merman.

Thu: Varla Jean Merman. Sat: Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp. Sun: Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: ‘Night Bloomers’. Thu: Gold Crush, Never Come Down, The Social Animal. Fri: ‘Breastacular’. Sat: Kero One, Ninjoi, QSTN. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: ‘The Playground Monday Night Dance Party’.

Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Fri: Flipside Burners. Sat: The Finns. Sun: ‘Tony Ortega Jazz Jam’. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: Karaoke.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: AJ Froman, Well Well Well, Strange Planet. Thu: Space Jesus, Buku, Huxley, Anne, Eazybaked. Fri: Las Cafeteras, Bulevar Descarga, Tulengua. Sat: Dabin, William Black. Sun: Pink Froyd. Tue: Hyukoh.

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

Wed: ‘Rhythm & Booze’. Thu: ‘No Limits’.

Fri: ‘After Hours’. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’.

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

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: ‘Undone on Thursday’. Fri: Elephante. Sat: DJ E-Rock.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: ‘The Wednesday Jam Session’. Sat: Chris Murray Combo.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: Justin Credible. Sat: Crooked.

Pour House, 1903 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Wed: Open Mic. Thu: Siren Satellite. Fri: The Howlin’ Roosters. Sat: Anesthesia. Sun: Anna Zinova, Pinkeye.

Mon: Trivia. Tue: DJ Lexicon Devil.

Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Ben Powell. Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Sue Palmer. Sat: Taryn Donath Duo. The Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: ‘Country Dance’. Fri: ‘High Freakquency’.

Sat: ‘Sabados en Fuego’. Mon: Trivia.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: ‘Mischief with Bianca’. Thu: ‘#LEZ’.

Fri: ‘Electro-POP!’. Sat: Bright Lights.

Sun: ‘Discoteka’.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’. Thu: Chloe Lou & Davies. Fri: Frankie T. & The Triple B. Sat: Gaby & La Buena Onda.

Tue: ‘Everything & Anything Jam’.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: DJ Dougie Frosh. Fri: Bonneville 7. Sat: Israel Maldonado Trio.

Mon: ‘Jazz Jam’ Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Dead Soft, GOON, Grimm’s Law. Thu: Little People, Marley Carroll, Natasha Kmeto. Fri: ‘La Escalera Fest Ocho: Night 2’. Sat: John Vanderslice, Meernaa. Sun: Young Wants, Former, Oak Palace, blankouts. Mon: Summer Cannibals, Broken Baby, The Rightovers. Tue: The Hillbilly Moon Explosion, Lara Hope & The Ark-Tones.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Sat: Lefties, Foxtide, The Rinds, Lucas Stonehouse, Leon Canoe, Kaitlyn Elizabeth, Jam N’ Slate.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights.

Wed: ‘Make Yourself at Home’. Sat: ‘BrokenBeat’. Tue: Karaoke.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Midtown. Fri: ‘Rouse’. Sat: ‘Club Sabbat 21 Year Anniversary’.

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

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Open Mic. Thu: ‘Deeper Shade of Soul’. Fri: ‘San Diego Chella’.

Sat: DASH, Stains of a Sunflower, Iridescent. Sun: ‘PANTS Karaoke!’.

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: Tony P. Thu: ‘Nashville Hot Country Nights’. Fri: DJ Jwin. Sat: Keep Your Soul Duo. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Tony P. Tue: Chad & Rosie.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park. Wed: Leonard & the San Diego Troubadours.

Thu: Gino & the Lone Gunmen. Fri: The Siers Brothers. Sat: Alan Iglesias & Crossfire. Sun: Plow. Mon: ‘Sexy Salsa & Sensual Bachata’. Tue: Sue Palmer, Michele Lundeen.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Thu: La Escalera Fest Ocho: Night 1. Fri: Röntgen, Bloody Ways, Habak, Dhatüra, New Crimes. Sat: La Escalera Fest Ocho: Night 3. Tue: Of Feather and Bone.

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

Wed: Trivia. Thu: ‘BoomBox Thursdays’.

Fri: DJ Freeman. Sat: Bacon Bits. Sun: Layne Tadesse, New Nation. Mon: ‘#31 Flavors’.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Wed: ‘Modern R&B Hip-Hop Video Night’.

Thu: DJ Will Fairfield. Fri: Panther Modern, Some Ember, DJ Jon Blaj. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’. Sun: Tempers, Brass Box. Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach.

Wed: ‘Club Kingston’. Thu: My Mynd, Kwn. Fri: Old Salt Union, MohaviSoul. Sat: King Schascha, Sandollar, Strictly Skunk.

Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

Tue: Highline Trail, The Miles.

@SDCITYBEAT

BY JACKIE BRYANT

IN THE BACK

CANNABITCH CBDoggo

A

nyone who has come within 100 feet of me in the last few months knows I recently got a dog. He is, at this point, a four-and-a-half month old, 10-pound dachshund named Romeo and, for the most part, he is perfect (just check my Instagram). He loves people, kids and other dogs and is generally sweet.

Unfortunately, he loves me and other people a little bit too much. We have been having separation anxiety issues, which means he barks when left alone. It is sad and stressful for him, as well as for the neighbors and myself.

I’m one of those dog humans who likes to think we’re living with our pets rather than lording over them. So in general, I’m loath to correct normal dog behaviors, but I also hate being an inconsiderate jerk. Excessive barking isn’t good for anyone involved, be it canine or human. More structure in training was a given, as was increasing Romeo’s exercise regimen. I also decided to include cannabidiol (CBD) in his daily regimen, something that the American Kennel Club, countless veterinarians and many others heartily endorse.

@SDCITYBEAT

Dogs have the same endocannabinoid system that humans do, so if one understands how CBD affects humans, it’s a short leap to understanding how it can also help our furry friends. Though I’ve had marketers trying to sell me on CBD bath bombs for dogs (no, thank you), I settled on tinctures and treats, as these are the best and most popular ways to administer the compound to animals.

One of my favorite oils is the Relax formula with passionfruit from local company Cannimal (cannimal.com). It uses full-spectrum CBD oil that is as organic as one can make it. This is extremely important because full-spectrum CBD oil includes other cannabinoid compounds that isolate CBD does not contain, which experts have speculated aids in its efficacy. This tincture is beef-flavored and also includes passionflower herb, which is said to be adaptogenic. That is, it contains natural compounds that are supposed to aid in relaxation. I give Romeo a 10-milligram pump twice a day.

I supplement his CBD tincture regimen with CBD-infused treats, too. My favorite are the bacon bites from Super Pups, a product distributed by San Diego-based CBD lifestyle company Design Wellness (shop-

ADELE STRATTON

Romeo and his Super Pups treat designwellness.com). Made with leftover barley and other grains from local breweries, the lab-tested, five-milligram-infused treats are a nice addition to any kind of anxiety management program. Though I

find tinctures to be more effective, it’s nice to have low-dose options on hand.

Overall, Romeo’s separation anxiety treatment has been a success. I know that training and exercise have had a huge impact on his behavior, but it’s also clear to me that the introduction of CBD has made a significant difference. Rather than appearing drugged or lethargic (CBD is nonintoxicating), it instead seems like CBD appropriately relaxes Romeo. It allows him to focus on the task or moment at hand, which in turn means that training is easier and more successful. Being happy and in the moment is a dog’s natural state. They’re not supposed to be worrying about the past or the future, which is why dog anxiety is considered a disorder.

We’re not totally out of the woods with our separation issues yet, but when I think of how far Romeo has come in the last few weeks, I feel so relieved and happy I almost get choked up. Simply put, when used in concert with other training techniques, CBD helps my dog be a dog.

CannaBitch appears every other week.

Follow Jackie Bryant on Twitter at @jacqbryant.

APRIL 10, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 27