San Diego CityBeat • Apr 11, 2018

2 · San Diego CityBeat · april 11, 2018

@SDCityBeat

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

A true legacy

W

hen most of us think about retirement, we often envision doing the things we’d most like to do now, but don’t have the time: traveling more, enjoying quality time with family, catching up on all those books that have been piling up.

Almost 10 years ago to the day, former CityBeat associate editor Kelly Davis reported on David Ross’ struggle to get more portable toilets in the downtown area for the homeless citizens. Known by most as “The Water Man” or “Waterman Dave,” the then68-year-old Ross had previously made a good living as a Mercedes-Benz salesman. Once he retired, he likely could have spent the rest of his life doing what most people do when they retire, but chose instead to become an advocate for the homeless. He often used most of his social security income to buy bottles of water to hand out to homeless citizens, hence the nickname.

But Ross wasn’t content simply handing out water and hugs to the San Diegans who needed it most.

He relentlessly advocated for public restrooms, storage facilities, public feedings and better treatment from the San Diego Police Department. In 2010, he filed a lawsuit against the city after a police officer roughed him up for handing out water. Ross said at the time that he suffered a concussion and a torn rotator cuff, and while no charges were filed against the officer, the incident spoke volumes about his resilience and how he was unafraid to stand up against laws he felt were unjust and unnecessary.

And he wasn’t just a tireless advocate on the street either. He would often show up to city council sessions to rail against councilmembers and the mayor. For over three years, he lobbied the City Council relentlessly, specifically focusing on thenCouncilmember Kevin Faulconer (whose district included downtown) to fund more public restrooms.

While some would say he was too outspoken and lacked tact, he succeeded in getting some funding with help from other homeless advocacy organizations. But as we all know now, the public restroom situation in downtown was never fully addressed.

Despite being mugged and even stabbed; despite suffering multiple strokes and, in the end, succumbing to brain cancer this past week, Ross continued to be a champion for San Diego’s homeless citizens. And as many local politicians tweet and send out statements about Ross’ death and legacy, it’s worth taking a moment to not only remember Ross, but to also

David Ross think about how many who honor him now didn’t take his warnings seriously while he was alive.

He wasn’t San Diego’s first homeless advocate nor will he be the last. I only met him once very briefly, but his enthusiasm and passion for the cause was infectious. He had a way of explaining things where you couldn’t help but agree with him. I see that same commitment and outspokenness in homeless advocates such as Michael McConnell, Steph Johnson and John Kitchin. I’ll leave it to those who knew Ross better to properly eulogize his entire life, but what a legacy he left in his golden years. I’m happy to have received a hug from him once and can only hope that, when my time comes, I leave behind a legacy as amazing as his. At the end of the day, we should all strive, as he put it, to help restore “some semblance of human dignity” to those who most need it.

—Seth Combs

Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat is dedicated to the fine people of Vietnam. Please send our art director back to us in one piece.

Volume 16 • Issue 34 EDITOR Seth Combs MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos ASSOCIATE EDITOR Torrey Bailey COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer Edwin Decker Minda Honey John R. Lamb Alex Zaragoza

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

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

PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Comden

MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia

PUBLISHER Kevin Hellman

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Interested in advertising?

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

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 www.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 2018.

@SDCITYBEAT

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS

ON THE

COVER

AMERICA’S BIGOTED CITY Hats off to CityBeat editors for highlighting the San Diego County Supervisors comments on the Trump administration’s lawsuit against California sanctuary city laws. Apparently Supervisor Dianne Jacob feels that our communities and public safety are at risk from invading immigrants. Radio talk show host Carl DeMaio is now encouraging listeners to support Trump’s lawsuit. Both are thumbing their nose at all California mayors and legislators who do support sanctuary city laws in our state. Apparently Carl DeMaio, who holds no public office, knows better than L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell and even our local Chula Vista mayor Mary Salas, what’s best for our communities. The audacity of these individuals seems to know no bounds. DeMaio and Jacob seem oblivious to the negative impact our outdated immigration laws are making on our communities. Thank you, CityBeat, once again for alerting us to the fact that the thoughtlessness of individuals like Dianne Jacob and Carl DeMaio are about to turn America’s Finest City into America’s Most Bigoted City.

Vivian Marlene Dunbar San Ysidro

Editor’s response: Thank you for your letter, Vivian, but we’d also like to point out that while Carl DeMaio does not hold any public office, he once was a member of the San Diego City Council. That is, before he ran for mayor and congress and failed epically at both. Just FYI.

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

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.

UP FRONT From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

News/CityWeek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

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

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

3 4 6 7 8 9

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

Our cover photo of Priests this week was shot by Erika Reinsel, a San Francisco-based photographer who originally hails from Philadelphia.

She captured the band backstage at San Francisco’s Swedish American Hall and was inspired by the “cathedral atmosphere” of the venue.

“There was this table stand in the corner that oddly enough reminded us of an exorcism, so we jumped on the opportunity to take our spin on that,” she says. “Sometimes you’re limited to a confined space for portraits, but Priests were great to make many poses and create some of my favorite photos to date.” Reinsel has shot other bands including STRFKR and Hinds, but she also specializes in landscapes, which can be seen on erikareinselphotography.com.

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

ARTS & CULTURE

Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 FEATURE: Mission Revival architecture. . . 16 Seen Local. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19

MUSIC FEATURE: Priests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Notes From The Smoking Patio . . . . . . . . . . 22 About Last Night. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 If I Were U. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-26

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

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

April 11, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

NEWS | OPINION

HAM OF THE WEEK

By Torrey Bailey and Seth Combs

Bonnie Dumanis’ campaign consultant, Jason Roe, takes the cake this week. On Friday, the U-T editorial board posted audio files and transcriptions of its interviews with each of the District 4 county supervisor candidates (Bonnie Dumanis, Nathan Fletcher, Ken Malbrough, Omar Passons and Lori Saldaña).

Soon after, Roe called up U-T opinion editor Matthew Hall to complain about it on behalf of Dumanis, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore and San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan. On Twitter, Matt Hall pointed out that “‘on the record’ means ‘on the record’” to which Roe replied, hashtag #fakenews. Now that’s just petty.

THE ISSUE: As this issue went to press last week, President Trump was in the process of announcing a new plan to send military troops to the southern border with Mexico. Since then, National Guard troops have been dispatched to the border in the three other states that border Mexico. Gov. Jerry Brown has not said whether or not California National Guard troops will participate.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: “The continued militarization of the U.S./Mexico border distorts the reality of life on the border; this is not a war zone but instead is comprised of many peaceful and lawabiding communities that are also generous in their response to human suffering.”

—Bishop Robert W. McElroy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, via a statement signed by eight border bishops.

BIKE SCARING

“It would be nice to see California help in the effort instead of being an impediment to public safety.”

—Joshua Wilson, Border Patrol agent and vice president of the San Diego chapter of the National Border Patrol Council, via Fox5 San Diego.

“Trump has destroyed what this country was and our children are watching. His most recent action of ordering troops to our southern border removes all doubt of his hate for Mexico and, as former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, Trump is “an idiot.” NO MAS! Trump needs to be removed from office, before he removes all of us from mother earth.”

—Enrique Morones, executive director and founder of Border Angels

OUR TAKE: This should not be viewed as anything more than what it is: Trump throwing racist, rancid red meat to the more fringe elements of his base (Ann Coulter and Fox News, for example), who have been criticizing him relentlessly for not building his border wall. What’s worse, he’s using our troops as pawns in his own ego-driven agenda. California is definitely headed toward some kind of larger standoff with the President, and while it’s likely that not much would change at San Diego County’s border with Mexico, local leaders both here and in Sacramento should speak up and use whatever influence they have to encourage Gov. Brown to call Trump’s bluff.

NEWSY BITS 4/4 BEST DAY EVER!

4/6 National City Councilmember Mona Rios calls for outside investigation of fellow councilmember Jerry Cano, who is suspected of using his position to solicit preferential treatment for building code violations.

Menendez brothers reunited in San Diego prison. Still look creepy AF.

FML

Despite outcry from residents, city of Escondido votes overwhelmingly to join Trump’s lawsuit against California’s sanctuary laws.

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

One pedal forward, two pedals back. Just as San Diego got some pretty cool bike-sharing options, local business associations and governments seem to be in open rebellion against the dockless bike system. The Little Italy Association has taken to gathering the bikes all in one area and is reportedly collecting bikes and hauling them out of the neighborhood (see pic above). In response, local non-profit BikeSD rolled out some signs for businesses that are bike-friendly and support bike sharing.

To top the week off, U-T environmental reporter and former CityBeater Joshua Emerson Smith reported on Friday that Mayor Faulconer is further delaying the construction of a nine-mile network of protected bike lanes in downtown. Mayor Faulconer had initially said the bike lanes would be completed by 2019, but now his office concedes the city won’t hit that deadline and is now simply hoping that a third of the lanes will be completed by 2020.

All the seriousness, silliness and stupidity of the past week

4/5

Jury finds Adam Shacknai liable in wrongful death lawsuit of Rebecca Zahau, awarding the family $5 million.

ANDY TAYLOR / TWITTER

A semi-regular department where we explore some of the battles and beefs being waged in order to make San Diego a more bike-friendly city.

4/7

Councilmember Chris Cate tells Voice of San Diego podcast that he doesn’t support SoccerCity initiative despite the fact that he leaked confidential memos to supporters of the initiative.

Jason Riley King gets 17 years in prison for 2015 drunk driving accident that killed two UC San Diego medical students.

Citing an increase in tourism and ongoing distribution issues, Union-Tribune forecasts a summertime marijuana shortage in San Diego.

4/8

Carlsbad police officer Jeffry Edwards arrested for burglary and stalking his exgirlfriend.

4/9 Rep. Scott Peters says Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg needs to prove to Congress that the company will keep users’ data secure or “government has to step in.” (source: San Diego Union-Tribune)

Union-Tribune Watchdog story reveals that despite a policy of immediately announcing deaths of people in custody, San Diego Sheriff’s Department did not do so for more than 100 people.

4/10 600 city employees get muchneeded pay raises after a five-year moratorium on city employee pay hikes expires.

Mayor and City Council proclaim April to be “Fair Housing Month.”

The irony that April is almost half over is not lost on us.

New story in Voice of San Diego reports that the San Diego Sheriff’s Department regularly restrains pregnant inmates in labor despite a state law that limits the use of restraints.

Homeless advocate Dave “Water Man” Ross passes away after a long battle with brain cancer.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE Tick-tock time for homeless committee There is a magic in that little world, home; it is a mystic circle that surrounds comforts and virtues never known beyond its hallowed limits.

W

—Robert Southey

ant to get depressed?

Just hang out at a meeting of the San Diego City Council’s Select Committee on Homelessness.

Spin Cycle did just that Monday—the day this city lost its patron saint of the downtrodden, Dave “Water Man” Ross, to brain cancer—and the experience did little to inspire hope that any transformative solutions are just around the corner. Just the opposite, frankly.

That’s not to say that San Diego isn’t blessed with some whipsmart people who appear motivated to put a dent in the crisis. And if you don’t think it’s a crisis, well

@SDCITYBEAT

JOHN R. LAMB

you haven’t been to one of these committee meetings.

For one thing, the committee met for only the sixth time since its formation in May of last year. Apparently, as a “select” rather than “standing” council committee, its meeting schedule is restricted to only five gatherings this year. The council’s legislative calendar lists only three more planned meetings.

This despite it being a committee addressing what Mayor Kevin Faulconer has deemed his top priority.

And yet judging by the reports offered to the committee Monday, the multi-pronged approach city leaders seem intent on pursuing to tackle homelessness seems barely in the embryonic phase of political gestation.

Carol Spong—a La Jolla interior designer who chairs the housing committee for the local chapter of the NAACP—pleaded with the bipartisan committee on Monday to elevate itself to a full, standing committee of the City Council, similar to the Rules Committee or

Smart Growth. With the severity of the problem, Spong said she’d like to see the committee meet twice a month, given the heavy lift required on multiple levels and at multiple governmental agencies.

Councilmember Chris Ward, one of the whip-smartest of the bunch and who chairs the select committee, acknowledged Spong’s concern after the meeting, but said his focus is securing a sixmonth extension of the committee from council colleagues later this month.

Ward noted that the current council direction regarding its committees seems headed more toward consolidation rather than expansion of duties, so for now the future of a committee dedicated solely to homelessness remains cloudy at best.

“We think your committee can be a powerful force for change, and we want you on the job,” Spong told the committee Monday. “Sadly, homelessness is not a temporary problem. Increasing income inequality, defunding of anti-poverty programs and the coming tsunami of automation are only going to exacerbate the problem.”

Indeed, committee members were bombarded with a blinding array of data that suggests San Diego is losing the war on homelessness while picking at the fringes.

Newly minted Assistant Police

JOHN R. LAMB

A homeless woman struggles with her belongings outside City Hall Monday.

Chief Paul Connelly provided a litany of depressing statistics, most notably that 80 to 90 percent of homeless individuals contacted by police every week initially decline social services.

Connelly focused his comments primarily on the department’s month-old Neighborhood Policing Division, which basically brings all things homeless-related under one chain of command in hopes of better coordination and addressing not only outreach efforts but the challenging quality-of-life issues that are a byproduct of homelessness.

“The mission,” Connelly told the committee, “is simply to enhance the safety of neighborhoods through collaborative problemsolving partnerships and compassionate enforcement of quality-oflife issues in our community.”

Not everyone is sold on the compassionate part. Michael McConnell, a fierce homeless advocate cut from the same cloth as Dave Ross, continues his quest to chronicle the police sweeps of homeless encampments and predicts little change will come of the division shakeup.

“San Diego’s criminalization of homelessness has been able to cut down on the number of tents on downtown sidewalks,” McConnell told Spin. “Other than that visible result, I have not seen or heard any data that shows more people are being helped out of homelessness.

So the people are still there, hiding more in the shadows maybe, but still there.”

The police crackdowns have been ongoing for more than two years, he said, but he’s seen “a significant ramp-up” in the last six months. McConnell said he’s eager to see the results of January’s Point-in-Time Count of the homeless “so we can tell if people are just being moved around.”

Last year’s count countywide found more than 9,100 people living in shelters or on the street, a

5 percent jump from the previous year.

If that wasn’t depressing enough, local housing officials also provided grim statistics, including local re-housing efforts that are woefully below national standards.

While this is not surprising for a city long on talk and short on action, it is nevertheless a major disappointment.

The most jarring stat? Local socalled “rapid re-housing” efforts— aimed at getting homeless families and individuals into permanent housing—have worked 55 percent of the time, meaning 45 percent wind up back on the street, not even close to the national standard of a 90 percent success rate.

Given the current low unemployment rate, there was some testimony suggesting that the focus should now be on finding the homeless employment first, which is all well and good. But in cities like Denver, homeless advocates are finding that many of those jobs are short-term rather than permanent, making it difficult to secure permanent housing.

To add the cherry on top of the depressing cake, let’s wrap up with the environmental toll homelessness takes on San Diego’s streets, riverbeds, creeks and canyons.

Mario Sierra, head of the city’s Environmental Service Department, reported that more than 500 tons—tons!—of trash associated with homelessness have been collected since a pilot program was instituted in September.

Even Councilmember Ward’s jaw dropped when he heard that news, knowing that many communities await similar cleanups.

But Dave Ross, may he rest in peace, never gave up the good fight, and neither should San Diego. Even as depressing as this week’s news was.

Spin Cycle appears every other week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

The assumption of guilt

H

ere we are again: In the past three weeks, police in America shot three Black men to death.

While not at all surprising, the recurrence of state-sanctioned violence against Black men continues to be an affront to humanity.

Last week, on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Saheed Vassel of Brooklyn was shot on sight by four of five officers responding to calls of a man with a gun. Vassel, who was waving not a gun but a silver pipe, had a history of mental illness and substance abuse.

On March 22, Houston resident Danny Ray Thomas was in an altercation with another man that involved shoving and no weapons. Thomas’ pants were around his ankles (he was wearing underwear) when he was shot once by an officer whose body camera (issued to him the same day) was charging in his car.

Thomas suffered from depression and, in 2016, his children were drowned by their mother.

And on March 18, 22-year-old Stephon Clark was shot in the back eight times by Sacramento police officers who suspected Clark of vandalism.

The officers chased Clark into his own backyard where they opened fire claiming they mistook his cell phone for a gun. Clark was a father of two young kids.

We have a problem—or, rather, we have layers of problems.

Shortly after Clark was killed, the Sacramento DA accepted $13,000 in donation money from two local law enforcement unions. It is tax time, but the optics of this don’t look good, and the DA is going to be challenged in November. This is good.

In direct response to the protests, State Assemblymember Shirley Weber introduced legislation to make it easier to prosecute police officers. This, too, is good. But it addresses the aftermath rather than prevention in the first place.

Each of these incidents varies in specifics, but not by all that much. Clear themes emerge and challenge the functionality of our policing and “justice” systems.

That is, all of these fatal interactions feature issues we fail to address as a society: substance abuse, mental illness, poverty and—at the root of it all—racism.

Yes, this is absolutely about race. Black men, women and children are not viewed the same way by police as whites. The assumption of guilt is always preeminent, whereas we white people are given the benefit of the doubt.

When I think about Stephon Clark, for instance, I think about Dylann Roof. He’s the white dude who prayed with a group of Black people in their Charleston church before executing nine of them. He was peacefully apprehended, and police officers took him to Burger King on his way to jail because the poor guy was hungry.

When I think about Danny Ray Thomas, I think about Jason Russell, the co-founder—and white savior extraordinaire—of Invisible Children. Russell had a men-

tal break in 2012 and ran naked (as in, no underwear) through the streets of Pacific Beach. He was peacefully apprehended and taken to the hospital for treatment and rest. He was never charged with any crime.

When I think about Saheed Vassel, I think about San Diego resident Lance Tamayo (and a jaw-dropping list of so many other white guys), who pointed a gun at other citizens and then police in a standoff at Mission Bay. Tamayo was peacefully apprehended and sentenced to 180 days in jail, four years of probation, 200 hours of community service and mental health treatment.

Policing is a difficult, dangerous, stressful job, as evidenced by the body cam footage of the officers pursuing Clark. Communities need police and everyone should have an expectation of protection. And, of course, not all cops are bad.

But research—reams of it—proves that implicit bias influences officers. Further, and even more disturbing, FBI data has shown police departments across the nation have been infiltrated by neo-nazis and white supremacists. Adding to the problem is that when it comes to defusing tense situations, there’s still an emphasis on shooting a gun rather than exhausting all other methods.

Most police departments do not prioritize de-escalation training. Jeranimo Yanez, the cop who killed Philando Castile, went through 42 hours of training in use of force, another 36 on street survival and 20 more on firing his weapon. This equates to three months of training during five years on the police force. The amount of time he spent in training focused solely on defusing situations? Two hours.

Some argue that individual cops are the problem, and there is zero question that there are bad cops. But to pin this epidemic—and it is an epidemic—on individuals is an obtuse simplification that allows those who aren’t (disproportionately) impacted by racist policing to do nothing.

Had rubber bullets been used, Stephon Clark would still be alive. It’s possible Danny Ray Thomas could have been apprehended if a mental health team had been deployed. Rubber bullets or a taser might have been sufficient to stop Saheed Vassel so that he, too, could have had an opportunity to get help for his substance abuse.

The truth is that the problem is systemic and reform is needed to teach and prioritize de-escalation.

It’s clear deescalation is possible—just look to the above examples of white dudes behaving badly and living to tell about it. We, as citizens who continue to bear witness to such injustice, must break the cycle and demand reform. Or this will continue and in no short time, we will find ourselves here again.

When it comes to defusing tense situations, there’s still an emphasis on shooting a gun rather than exhausting all other methods.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aarynb@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS

AWKWARD

Life lessons I learned from the Fonz

T

here’s a line of hip-looking people waiting to get into the Horton Grand Theater. They look like they’re trying out to be Angelenos—lots of leather jackets; lots of ridiculous hats, but it feels a little wannabe L.A. There’s a red carpet out front, but even that feels phony. It’s only about 15 feet long, which hardly seems adequate for tonight’s guests of honor: comedian Bill Hader and Henry Winkler, i.e. the Fonz, the coolest man in history. They are in San Diego to promote their new HBO show, Barry, about a hitman (played by Hader), who falls in love with acting after following a target into an amateur acting class.

The class is taught by Henry Winkler’s character.

“I’m going to have you stand right here,” says Maggie, the PR person in charge of tonight’s event.

She places a sheet of laminated paper on the edge of the carpet, “San Diego City Beat” it reads. I stand on it, dutifully. To my left side, KUSI’s Mark Mathis is quietly pacing and getting in the zone. I can’t stop admiring the whiteness of his teeth, and I’m probably being weird about it. On the other side of me, there’s another TV crew.

I’m surrounded by high-powered entertainment journalists, and I just have my flimsy little notebook. I’ve never done a red carpet interview before, and I feel the stress manifesting on my palms and in my armpits.

“Maggie,” I say, confused by how everyone looks ready to inteview him now. “Are we doing the interviews out here or in the green room?”

“You can ask some questions out here, and then I’ll make sure you get some one-on-one with Henry in the green room,” she says. “Henry’s a delight.”

A car pulls up and Henry Winkler and his wife Stacey Weitzman step out. The line outside Horton Grand goes crazy.

Mark Mathis’ smile becomes blinding white in the KUSI camera’s spotlight. He and Winkler hit it off like two schoolhouse chums. I try to pay attention to their rapport in an effort to emulate it, but I am also just in awe of Winkler’s ability to be so personable.

“This is Ryan from San Diego CityBeat,” Maggie says, introducing me to Henry Fucking Winkler.

“CityBeat,” Winkler says, offering me a fist-bump.

“What are we doing here today?”

“I uh... heard we’re to see the premier of your new show,” I say, stating the obvious. I’m failing, stumbling. Is that disappointment creeping over Winkler’s face? “I was actually um... wondering if I could ask you some questions in the green room?” It’s a strange thing to say—especially surrounded by all the other reporters—and I feel a little like a pervert.

Maggie jumps in, alleviating the awkwardness by ushering Winkler to the next interview. I feel like a chump. Bill Hader arrives and I step away from my

spot so he doesn’t confuse me with an actual entertainment journalist.

Afterwards, a security guard escorts me, Winkler and Weitzman through the labyrinthine backstage of the Horton Grand Theater. As we climb up a flight of stairs, Winkler says, “I don’t see why we couldn’t have done this out there.”

Oh God. I’ve upset the Fonz. The coolest, most delightful man in showbiz, and I’ve managed to piss him off.

We enter the green room—a sparse room with a fridge—and Hader is there by himself, looking at his phone. I shake his hand, and yet again, I panic because all my questions are Winkler-centric.

“So what is the harshest acting lesson you’ve ever received?” I ask, playing off what I know of the basic plot of Barry.

Winkler tells me of famous acting coaches that have said he undermined their class. He tells me about making famous acting instructor Robert Lewis cry. These stories feel like Winkler’s been telling them for years, but they’re entertaining and Hader laughs big time at them.

“You’ve lived a life of coolness,” I start.

“Only on screen,” Winkler says.

“So, I’m a nervous guy. How would you direct me to be cool?”

Winkler’s demeanor changes a little. Earnestness washes over him.

“Okay, let me tell you. Honest to God, cool is not outside you. If you’re asking me a real question, I will tell you: being authentic, just being who you are, is cool.

It is magnetic. There is nothing, there is no motion, there is no way to be, there’s no hairstyle, there’s no clothing. And because you are who you are, everything looks great. And that’s true.”

Holy shit, I think. I’m getting real-life advice from the Fonz! Eyyyy!

I move to turn off my recorder, but he continues: “But I have to tell you—I’m nervous a lot. I give speeches publicly and I used to be scared all the time.

‘What happens if they don’t care about what I’m saying? What happens if tonight’s the night they throw vegetables?’ And then I said, ‘You know what you’re doing. Just do it.’ And I’m telling you…” Winkler makes a small whistle sound. “It changed overnight.”

I end the interview and ask Winkler if I can get a picture with him. “Are we doing a selfie?” he asks. He takes my phone from my hands, I throw two thumbs up, and he snaps a few photos. It’s pretty goddamned cool.

Oh God. I’ve upset the Fonz. The coolest, most delightful man in showbiz, and I’ve managed to piss him off.

@SDCITYBEAT

Well, That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

UP FRONT | FOOD

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE Lost in the meze

F

alafel is nearly ubiquitous in the Holy Land.

Both Israelis and Palestinians claim it as their own, not unlike the land itself. The truth may be different—the deep-fried balls of chickpea and fava bean dough were probably first made in Egypt—but it’s unlikely there’s any better place to eat falafel than deep in the maze that is Jerusalem’s Old City.

But if Jerusalem is the best place to experience Israel’s national dish (regardless of the truth of origin), the best place to experience the Palestinian claim to falafel in San Diego is likely Fattoush Mediterranean Fine Cuisine (6686 El Cajon Blvd.) in the College Area. Where so many stateside versions of falafel are spherical, barely edible rocks, the version made by this Palestinianowned restaurant is more like those Old City versions: crisp on the outside, moist and fluffy inside.

One could make the argument that the perfect accompaniment to Fattoush’s falafel is its Turkish coffee (“black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love,” as the proverb goes), but there’s also a case to be made for the garlic dip. That dip is essentially toum: a traditional Lebanese garlic, oil and lemon juice dip with potato added to aid the emulsification and tame the garlic’s bite. It’s excellent with some pita, just as it’s great as a dip or sauce for just about any dish at the restaurant. It’s so good it probably wouldn’t suck on an old shoe.

That garlic dip is Fattoush’s best meze, a class of Middle Eastern small dishes analogous to Spanish tapas. They are more than enough to make a whole, very satisfying meal in and of themselves. Take another example of meze, stuffed grape leaves, and pair them with that dip. Indeed, many meze are dips, the most familiar ones being hummus and baba ganoush. Muhammarah—a spread of red pep-

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

pers, walnut and pomegranate with olive oil, cumin and a touch of heat (which may have been Aleppo pepper)—is less so.

One irony of Fattoush’s meze offerings is that the restaurant’s namesake dish—a bread salad that is, in essence, a Levantine answer to Italian panzanella—appears nowhere on the menu. There are salads on the menu, just not a fattoush.

The best dish at Fattoush, though, is its lamb shank. It’s braised slowly in a garlic sauce with tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and no shortage of spices, and it is remarkable. Fattoush serves the shank in a rich broth of the braising liquid and alongside rice. The dish has an outstanding depth of flavor, and while it may not be the best looking MICHAEL A. GARDINER

Falafel

lamb dish on the planet, few could be more flavorful.

Middle Eastern food is not exactly the first cuisine that comes to mind when this town is mentioned. Fish tacos? Check. Falafel? Not so much.

That may be changing. After successive waves of immigration from various parts of the Middle East—Iranians in the ’70’s, Iraqis (particularly Kurds and Chaldeans) in the 2000s and Syrians more recently—the food scene is just starting to reflect that reality. Fattoush may not just be proof of that, it may be its best example.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | DRINK

ANATOMY OF A COCKTAIL SCENE

#29: Anticipating a heart attack at Polite Provisions

ered the bun with ketchup and more fresh pepper. He finished it by wrapping the whole thing in tin foil, like a gift, and hand’ve recently taken to putting kimchi ing it to his customer with a smile. He did on my breakfast sandwiches. It started this for 40 years. All day. Every day. It was simply enough. One day I was at Trader humbling to watch, magnificent to smell, Joe’s, and I saw kimchi. I bought it, expect- magically delicious to eat, and all born out ing nothing more than to snack on it while of pure love. I know eating a bacon, egg watching old episodes of Rick and Morty, and cheese one day is going to kill me, but I don’t care, because it is a part of me. or The Office, or some other nonsense.

There is something in Polite ProviI tend to start out most mornings with sions (4696 30th St., University Heights) a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich, fully aware that it is one day going to kill me. that reminds me of my grandfather’s deli.

My grandfather died of a heart attack. The marble. The woodwork. The skylight.

There is also something in Elliot Mizuki’s My father, a far more healthier man bartending skills that reminds me than me, has already had a heart of my grandfather. The warm attack. And they too started smile. The hospitable nature. each morning with a bacon, The deliberate movements, with egg and cheese. thoughtfulness and care; there You see, when I was growis an attention to detail that is ing up, my grandfather owned often lost among industry “proa deli. It was a small, quaint and fessionals.” unassuming family deli nestled But back to the bacon, egg and inside of some pre-war Oceanside cheese with kimchi. It’s terrible. apartment in Queens, New York, 38th Parallel I don’t know why I keep making in which my family also lived. The it. Perhaps it is because these are deli had no grill, no broiler, no fryer. Just a two things I love and I want them to work. four-burner stovetop in which my grandBut they don’t. It’s a failed marriage. A father made everything.

Every bacon, egg and cheese started the painfully drawn-out relationship.

On the menu at Polite Provisions is a same. First, he placed the slabs of bacon in a hot cast iron pan. When finished, he cocktail titled 38th Parallel. This too, conremoved them and toasted the bun in the tains two things I love: kimchi and gin. bacon fat, then fried the egg in there with This, on paper, seems like a disastrous resalt and pepper. Then he placed a slice of lationship to me. I mean, if I can’t make cheese on top of the egg, while he slath- something work with bacon—the universal binder of all things delicious—how can it work with gin?

38TH PARALLEL Again, I was wrong. The botanicals and as prepared at Polite Provisions mint aromatics lasso in the fermented cabbage. It’s savory but refreshing. Spicy 1 bar spoon of 2 oz. kimchi-infused but herbal and cooling. Sweet and sour.

Sriracha hot sauce Beefeater Basically, all of the elements that make Pinch of mint 3/4 oz. fresh something great. It’s masterfully thoughtlime juice Pinch of sea salt ful, skillfully made and habit-forming just 3/4 oz. simple syrup Dried red chili pepper like my grandfather’s sandwiches.

I

IA N W ARD

Combine all ingredients in mixing tin with ice, shake and pour over crushed ice. Garnish with the mint, lime and chili.

@SDCITYBEAT

BY DAVEY LANDEROS

BY IAN WARD

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

REVENGE OF THE BEER NERD

Drafting new standards

is choppy, the lines and layout are off. If it’s too fast, the beer is too warm and the fter several years in the food and glycol unit isn’t being maintained. Too beverage industry, I’ve developed a slow is a lack of pressure and balance in keen nose for smelling what I call the system.”

I also realized that there are myriad “bar rot.” I hate smelling it when I’m tending the taps, and I will turn right outside other aspects that make up a good draft the doors if I sit down at a bar and get a system. Gravity, distance, temperature, location, pumps or beer gas, direct draw verwhiff of that nasty smell.

A good bar will control its bar rot by sus long draw… the list goes on and all are wiping down its drip tray and sanitizing the factors that Birklund considers when buildfaucets. When it comes to beer, owners will ing draft systems. Birklund also says that often let distribution companies send out there are only a handful of cleaning techs a cleaning tech to take care of the draught in the market, and that many have less than lines and handles that their products oc- a minute to clean when the process should take at least 15-20 mincupy. It’s a logical system for utes if done correctly. bar owners and managers.

“If you ever smell Unfortunately, it’s also butter or vinegar in your a system that’s outdated. beer, it might not be the With such a huge concenbrewery,” says Birklund. tration of self-distributing “It’s probably a tap that breweries in this county, it wasn’t cleaned correctly.” can be expensive to send out To learn more about a rep to clean lines. Though cleaning, I sought out Misome local breweries such chael Peacock, Draught as 32 North, Societe and EpReed Birklund of Beverage Specialist at pig have made the leap, it’s 21st Draft Systems TapCraft and a profesfar from standard practice. sor at SDSU’s Business The new reality is that the cleaning and maintenance of a good draft of Craft Beer program. I stopped by one system now lies solely on the bar serving of his “Draught Systems” classes where he rigged up a miniature glycol draft system. the beer.

I sat down with Reed Birklund of 21st He used this system to demonstrate how Draft Systems (21stdraftsystems.com) a long-draw glycol system actually funcand asked him about draft systems. Turns tions and demonstrated how to properly clean and maintain the beer lines with out the key is to watch the bartenders.

“The way that they hold the pint glass food dye.

The common thread that I found betells a lot about the draft system and whether or not it’s working properly,” says tween Birklund and Peacock is that they are craft beer drinkers. They understand the Birklund.

Beer flows uniquely because it is a chi- importance of helping bar managers serve mera of sugars, liquid and gas that can be consumers the best beer experience. There quite the handful if not treated properly. is simply too much competition and stanTemperature, line diameter and pressure dards are too high in San Diego to excuse a all affect how fast or slow beer moves lack of cleanliness and maintenance.

A

through a system. Birklund says that beer should be flowing between 36°F and 38°F at an ideal rate of two ounces per second.

“If the beer flows inconsistently and

Write to Davey at daveyl@sdcitybeat.com or check him out on Instagram at @daveythebeernerd.

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

EVENTS

the

TASTE OFF COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

SAN DIEGO

STAY ACTIVE

Deciding on the week’s best events is never an easy task, but given that the primaries are less than two months away, it’s time to get pumped and there are a number of cool happenings this week to help in that department.

First, there’s comedian Billy Eichner’s Glam Up the Midterms event.

In case readers aren’t familiar with Eichner, he’s a fantastic gay comic who’s on a nationwide tour to draw attention to important election races. On Thursday, April 12, he’ll be in Oceanside to draw attention to the important 49th District congressional race. Oh, and the event is called “Vote Classy, San Diego: A Conversation with Ron Burgundy and Billy Eichner,” so attendees should expect a special appearance from San Diego’s favorite newscaster. The event is free, but readers who want to go have to register to vote and sign up on headcount.org/glamup2018 in order to get location and time.

Starting on Friday, April 13, Weird Hues: Crossover is a two-day arts festival devoted to empha-

sizing cross-border “unity in these dividing times.”

Dozens of artists from both sides of the border will display works on Friday from 6 p.m. to midnight at a warehouse space at 3025 Beyer Blvd. #104 in Otay Mesa and then on Saturday, April 14 at the Nett Nett space in Tijuana (on Revolucion and Constitucion). Check out facebook. com/weirdhues for more info.

Also on Saturday, the second annual March for Science is happening at 10 a.m. at Waterfront Park (1600 Pacific Hwy.) in Downtown.

Join others—including UCSD professor Rob Knight and San Diego City Councilmember Barbara Bry—in supporting the local science comTend Living munity and protesting the Trump administration’s backward policies.

Finally, on Sunday, March 15 from 1 to 4 p.m., it’s time to relax and shop for a good cause at the Raise Progress Community Pop-Up shop at Pixie Salon (2236 30th St.) in South Park. Nearly a dozen local vendors and artisans such as Kim’s Ceramics, Cordial Organics and Tend Living will have their wares for sale in order to support Raise Progress (raiseprogress.org), a non-profit devoted to supporting progressive policies.

ART *Art that Cuts at Mesa College Art Gallery, 7250 Mesa College Drive, Clairemont Mesa. An exhibit of 30 artists from Southern California and Tijuana in which all works are connected under the theme of cutting, whether literally or metaphorically.

Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12. Free. sdmesa.edu *The Agency of Art at UCSD University Art Gallery, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla.

The final exhibition in a two-year celebration marking the 50th anniversary of UCSD’s Visual Arts Department. This show highlights the impact of alumni from the past two decades. Opening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12. Free. 858534-2230, visarts.ucsd.edu *Weird Hues: Crossover at various locations. Weird Hues hosts this two-day festival in which artists from San Diego show their art in Tijuana one day, and Tijuana artists display their work in San Diego the next. See event page for details and locations. From 6 p.m. to midnight. Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14. Free. facebook.com/events/1618443048192453 BAM: Barrio Art Mart at La Esquina Barrio Logan, 2222 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. A monthly art market presenting local barrio artists, makers and designers in a curated show of fine art, photography, jewelry, sculpture and home goods. From 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 14. Free. facebook.com/events/160790384628198 *Silent Light: Alfred Mitchell at The San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. This new exhibition will feature paintings by the late local artist, known for his evocative views of the geography of San Diego using stark contrasts of dark and light. Opening from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 14. $8-$15.

619.232.7931, sdmart.org *PostSecret at San Diego Museum of

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

With a new, buzzworthy eatery seemingly opening every day, there’s so much great food to try in this city and so little time. This week, two neighborhoods are offering opportunities to curb that growing list of Yelp bookmarks.

Taste of On Saturday, April 14, there’s the annual Taste Liberty station of Hillcrest. From noon to 4 p.m., 35 restaurants will be doling out samples of their best drinks and dishes. Tickets are $30 presale and $35 the day of the event. Just a few days later, head west for Taste of Liberty Station. On Wednesday, April 18, Liberty Station will also be providing free samples along with live musicians and artisans from 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $30. For more information on Taste of Hillcrest, visit fabuloushillcrest.com, and for Taste of Liberty Station, check out libertystation.com.

MARIA PABLO

SHORTlist

HILLCREST AND POINT LOMA

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

LA JOLLA

AGENCY OF CHANGE

COURTESY OF ARTIST

Galleries sometimes feel like static spaces, but the most compelling works of visual art are often meant to provoke interaction, even participation. The Agency of Art—the latest show in UC San Diego’s ongoing 50th anniver- “Bicker / Banter”

By Allison Wiese sary series for the Visual Arts Department—seeks to explore the idea of social art. It highlights alumni from the past two decades and how they engage with the environment, science and technology. Twenty notable artists including Sadie Barnette, Roman de Salvo and Rob Duarte will showcase new works as a means of social interaction and as catalysts for social change. The opening reception takes place on Thursday, April 12 at 5:30 p.m., and the show runs through May 17 at the University Art Gallery (on campus just off Scholars Lane).

Hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. visarts.ucsd.edu Man, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park. This new exhibition showcases some of the millions of artistic postcards that artist Frank Warren has received over the years from people sharing all kinds of secrets. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 14. Free$13. 619-231-2001, museumofman.org Flesh & Blood at Thumbprint Gallery, 920 Kline St., La Jolla. A group show exhibiting the work of 14 artists, including Keemowerks, Aaron Cathcart, Espana Garcia and more. From 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 14. Free. 858-354-6294, thumbprintgallerysd.com S4A Open Studios at Space 4 Art, 340 16th St., East Village. The gallery space will be open to the public as part of the Downtown’s Second Saturday Art Walk.

There will be art on view, as well as live music and performances, a food truck and bar. From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 14.

619-269-7230, sdspace4art.org *Alida Cervantes and Salvador Roberto Torres at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. There will be new works by Alida Cervantes in the main gallery. Salvador Roberto Torres will be showing 39 works on paper from his Birth Of Corn series in the special projects gallery.

Opening from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 14. Free. breadandsaltsandiego.com Sparks Gallery Selections 2018 at Sparks Gallery, 530 Sixth Ave., Downtown. The first of a two-part program that highlights six emerging and established artists—Khalid Alkaaby, Paul Hobson, Monty Montgomery, Marissa Quinn, Perry Vasquez and Brady Willmott. RSVP recommended. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m.

Sunday, April 15. Free. 619-696-1416, sparksgallery.com *The Unimaginary Line at Hyde Art Gallery, 8800 Grossmont College Drive Building 25, El Cajon. A collection of paintings

H = CityBeat picks

by Cuyamaca College instructor Erin Whitman depicting the controversial border wall. A portion of sales will be donated to Water Stations, a humanitarian relief organization that maintains regional water stations. Opening from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 18. Free. 619-644-7299, grossmont.edu/campus-life/arts-culture

BOOKS Jeffrey Deaver at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The author of the bestselling The Bone Collector will be promoting her newest Lincoln Rhyme novel, The Cutting Edge. At 7 p.m. Friday, April 15. Free.

858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com *Brian Selznick and David Serlin at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Caldecott Medal-winning creator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Selznick) and the UCSD professor (Serlin) will sign and discuss their new collaborative children’s book, Baby Monkey, Private Eye. At 7 p.m. Friday, April 13. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com Frances Mayes at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun will sign and discuss her new book, Women in Sunlight, which (surprise!) takes place in Tuscany. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 16.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com *Christine Lahti at USD Warren Auditorium, 5998 Alcala Park, Linda Vista. The award-winning actress will read from and discuss her new memoir, True Stories from an Unreliable Eyewitness, which recounts her feminist journey. Admission price includes copy of the book. At 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 18. $28. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 @SDCITYBEAT

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

COMEDY *Glam Up the Midterms at location to be announced, Oceanside. Comedian Billy Eichner and Will Farrell (as Ron Burgandy) stop by on his nationwide tour to draw attention to important election races. Location and time announced the day of via email.

RSVP required on website. Thursday, April 12. Free. headcount.org/glamup2018

DANCE The Human Body Time Machine at Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla. Directed by Aurora Lagattuta, this dance performance inside and outside of the theatre is an elaboration upon a similar project recently created in Japan and inspired by the Sanbeski River. At 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12 through Saturday, April 14. $10-$20. theatre.ucsd.edu

FILM *Women’s International Film Festival at The LOT Liberty Station, 2620 Truxtun Road, Point Loma. A weekend of female filmmakers and female-directed films. Includes screenings, panel discussions, a red carpet reception and more. See website for full details and times. From 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 13, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday, April 14 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sunday, April 15. $20-$75. womensfilmfestivalsandiego.com Jon Foreman: The 25 in 24 Tour at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown.

The Switchfoot frontman plays a live performance, followed by a screening of the new documentary film, 25 in 24, about

@SDCITYBEAT

playing 25 shows in 24 hours at various venues, including a children’s hospital, a wedding and more. At 7 p.m. Saturday, April 14. $25. 619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org

FOOD & DRINK VinDiego Food & Wine Fest at Liberty Station, 2455 Cushing Road, Point Loma.

The sixth annual fest will feature over 300 wines to sample along with 25 local chefs sharing signature dishes. From 4 to 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 14. $85-$105. vindiego. com *Taste of Hillcrest at various locations, Hillcrest. Sample more than 35 restaurants at the 18th annual self-guided culinary tour. All proceeds will benefit the Hillcrest Business Association. Restaurants include Gossip Grill, Urban Mo’s, Brick Bar and more. From noon to 4 p.m.

Saturday, April 14. $30-$35. fabuloushillcrest.com *Taste of Liberty Station at Liberty Station, 2820 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. Dozens of Liberty Station restaurants and eateries will be providing free samples along with live musicians and artisans. Participating businesses include Banyan Kitchen, Dirty Birds, Le Parfait Paris and more. From 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 18. $30. libertystation.com

MUSIC *SD Soundings 2018 at UC San Diego Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Formerly known as Springfest, this annual festival curated by the UC San Diego Department of Music showcases emerging composers, performers and sound explorers. At various times

Wednesday, April 11 through Sunday, April 15. Free. sdsoundings.com *David Byrne at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. Byrne’s American Utopia World Tour features a 12-piece untethered band in support of his solo record, American Utopia.

He will play songs from his new album as well as classics from his solo career and days with Talking Heads. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12 and Tuesday, April 17. $50-$127. 619-570-1100, davidbyrne.com *Harlem Quartet at Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, 9500 Gillman Drive, La Jolla. The Grammy-winning classical group, known for drawing attention to works by minority composers, will perform a program that includes works by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Guido López Gavilán, as well as Beethoven and Mozart. At 8 p.m. Friday, April 13. $45-$59. 858-534-TIXS, artpower.ucsd.edu Jeffrey Kahane Plays Mozart at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. This pianist and conductor who led the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for 20 years is returning to the San Diego Symphony for the first time since 1999. He will play a program with pieces by Mozart, Robert Schumann and Samuel Barber. At 8 p.m. Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14. $20-$98. 619235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org Beyond the Score: Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Jeffrey Kahane performs Mozart’s final piano concerto.

The performance will include a narrator, actor, soprano, mime and other theatrical devices to reenact Mozart’s musical process.

At 2 p.m. Sunday, April 15. $20-$98. 619235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org

POLITICS & COMMUNITY * March for Science at Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Highway., Downtown. Join others—including UCSD professor Rob Knight and San Diego City Councilmember Barbara Bry—in supporting the local science community and protesting the Trump administration’s backward policies. At 10 a.m. Saturday, April 14. Free. marchforscience.com *Justice for Stephon Clark Rally and Vigil at Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Highway, Downtown. A peaceful rally to continue the conversation surrounding police brutality leading to the deaths of unarmed Black and Brown people, such as Stephon Clark. From 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Saturday, April 14. Free. facebook.com/ events/427069184424141 *District Attorney Candidate Forum at Valencia Park/Malcolm X Library, 5148 Market St., Valencia Park. The local NAACP branch invites Geneviéve JonesWright and Summer Stephan to speak and answer questions about their DA candidacy. Incumbent DA Stephan Summers has reportedly declined the invitation to speak.

From 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 17. Free. facebook.com/events/1787310244654264

SPECIAL EVENTS * Raise Progress Community Pop-Up at Pixie Salon, 2236 30th St., South Park.

Nearly a dozen local vendors and artisans such as Kim’s Ceramics, Cordial Organics and Tend Living will have their wares for sale in order to support Raise Progress, a non-profit devoted to supporting progressive policies. From 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 15. Free. raiseprogress.org

Garden Tour 2018 at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S El Camino Real, Encinitas. The California Native Plant Society hosts its 6th annual garden tour through 21 private gardens in Encinitas, Cardiff, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido. From 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15. $25-$30. cnpssd.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS *Community Conversation: Otherness, Cultural Identity & The Body at Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. A discussion exploring otherness, cultural identity and the body in Mexican art and photography. Owner of Flying Panther Tattoo, Rob Benavides, will be one of several panelists. RSVP recommended. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 12. Free. 619-238-7559, mopa.org

WORKSHOPS Write Your Fucking Heart Out! At Gather Encinitas, 414 N Coast Highway 101, Encinitas. A workshop held by local author Amy Wallen and Lauren Duke that begins with yoga, then leads into writing exercises. From 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 14. $95. 650-892-5488, gatherencinitas.com/ events *The Whole Alphabet at Babycakes San Diego, 3766 5th Ave., Hillcrest. So Say We All partners with Mission Hills UMC to host a free LGBTQ+ salon and writing workshop, leading up to a June showcase. From 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 14. Free. facebook.com/ events/163074011021638

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13

THEATER

DAREN SCOTT

Men on Boats

The river wild

M

en on Boats has to be the most exhausting show of the year to date. Not for audiences, mind you, who should be entertained by New Village Arts Theatre’s white-knuckle dramatization of an epic journey through churning waters into the Grand Canyon. But Men on Boats’ 10 actors—�������������������������������������� all of them women portraying men—tirelessly create the illusion of these adventurers challenging the wrath of the Green and Colorado Rivers by rowing, grunting, shouting and flailing. The perspiration onstage is real.

Jaclyn Backhaus’ play, directed at NVA by Melissa Coleman-Reed, follows the 1869 quest of an intrepid four-boat crew led by one-armed explorer John Wesley Powell. The U.S. governmentfunded mission was to make the first successful passage by men of European descent through the treacherous waters of the Grand Canyon. Men on Boats chronicles this dangerous trip and does so with the device of an all-woman cast, including NVA Artistic Director Kristianne Kurner as Powell.

With nothing more than projections (by Melanie Chen Cole) of the rivers’ furious white water and towering red rocks (designed by Christopher Scott Murillo) behind them, Kurner and company ably achieve the impression of an adventure that would seem extremely difficult to portray on a theater stage. It helps that the actors are in nearly perpetual motion and in a consistent state of full-throated excitement. As for the gender switch, it doesn’t add any layering of understanding to the story, though the physicality of the actors demonstrates that there is no battle with nature that is the province of one sex.

While the steady Kurner is Men on Boats’ anchor, the most nuanced performance of the ensemble is delivered by Nancy Ross in the role of William H. Dunn, who recognizes the peril of the exploit, challenges Powell’s judgment and even comes close to crumbling.

Men on Boats is better at spectacle and ingenuity than it is at being a play. Its episodes are drawn out, its humor sometimes strained, and the ending is clunky and unsatisfying. There must be, however, only admiration for its director, who must navigate

14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

a cinematic story on a theater stage. The same can be said for the 10 women who give their all and in a fashion that would have made Powell’s crew proud.

Men on Boats runs through April 22 at New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. $33-$36; newvillagearts.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Judas Unicorn: A staged reading of a new play based on Sam Wohl’s graphic novel about a family living in the woods in a future where humans are considered an invasive species. Presented

by Company 157, it happens April 12 and 13 at the VAF 302 Performance Space at UC San Diego in La Jolla. visarts.ucsd.edu Beyond Prison Walls: The Playwrights Project and San Diego State University present three staged readings of plays written by prisoners at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. Directed by Olivia Espinosa, it happens April 12 through April 15 at the SDSU Experimental Theatre in the College Area. playwrightsproject.org True West: A staged reading of Sam Shepard’s play about two estranged brothers who are reunited at their mother’s house to disastrous results. Presented by San Diego Actors Theatre, it happens April 15 at the La Jolla Riford Library. sdactorstheatre.net

NOW PLAYING: Beachtown: Based on the play Beertown, this interactive and immersive musical centers around a town trying to decide what goes into a time capsule. Presented by San Diego Repertory Theatre, it runs through April 15 at the Lyceum Theatre in the Gaslamp. sdrep.org The Happiest Place on Earth: The West Coast premiere of Phillip Dawkins’ one-man show about an infamous trip his family took to Disneyland after their father (Dawkins’ grandfather) dies. Directed by Jonathan L. Green, it runs through April 15 at the Diversionary Theatre in Hillcrest.

Find more theater listings at sdcitybeat.com

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

April 11, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

TORREY BAILEY

CULTURE

he average San Diegan probably doesn’t give much thought to the California missions. For most locals, state history began with Father Serra and usually led to building some sugar cube replicas. Take a drive up Interstate 5, however, and locals can see that the mission system’s architectural impact is ubiquitous. Synonymous with the breezy Southern California lifestyle, design elements such as stucco walls and sloping arches adorn everything from hotels to fast food restaurants.

However, as commonplace as the Mission Revival Style is to most, for some it is a reminder of a painful history.

“Would anyone ever rebuild Auschwitz?” says 23-year-old Marissa Mendoza. “No. They’re not regarded as what they truly were: concentration camps.”

Mendoza is a San Diego State University senior of Nez Perce, Yakama and Tongva heritage. As president of the Native American Student Alliance for the last two years, she’s fought for the acknowledgment and respect of her people through initiatives to ban Columbus Day, as well as the SDSU Aztec mascot. She asserts that the replication of Mission-style architecture represents another piece of the marginalization puzzle.

That is, how people can simultaneously neglect and glorify Native suffering.

“Recreating Mission architecture anywhere is entirely sugarcoating the history of California Native genocide,” she says. “This is where people were starved, raped, murdered, families were separated... It’s as if it was a saving system, like a saving grace, but it wasn’t that. It was like, ‘well, they needed shelter and food and they came and we didn’t force them in,’ when actually, some of

them were chained and literally not allowed to leave. They were genocidal institutions.”

It’s estimated that over 150,000 Natives died in the California mission system. The average life expectancy in a mission was just two years. According to Mendoza, the influence of this history cuts so deep that many Natives refer to themselves by the missions of their ancestors to this day.

Despite the missions’ statewide impact, Mendoza explained that the presence of this architecture takes on greater significance here in San Diego, the birthplace of the mission system itself, and later the architectural revival style. The Kumeyaay, the indigenous people of San Diego, exercised the greatest resilience of any group missionized by this system. They not only launched an attack on San Diego Mission de Alcalá but also successfully resisted to the point where zero baptisms were performed.

SDSU’s Hepner Hall, for example, is one of the most popular Mission Revival structures in San Diego and the most recognizable building on the campus. It’s even featured on the university’s official logo. Its iconic belltower is a direct homage to that of San Diego Mission de Alcalá, the very institution that the Native inhabitants fought so hard to resist.

And while Mendoza sees this as “a very disrespectful slap in the face,” she in no way advocates for the demolishment of Hepner Hall and other Mission Revival landmarks, or even the missions themselves.

“It’s a visible, living lesson,” she said, “It needs to stay up and people need to acknowledge the wrongdoing not only in the mission history, but in the replication. I think that what we can do is just stop replicating it.”

F11PHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Santa Fe Depot 16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

Marissa Mendoza in front of Hepner Hall Matthew Schiff, the marketing director at the San Diego History Center, sees it a little differently. He says the commercial motivations behind Mission Revival architecture are too far removed from its origin to warrant any criticism “I am as aware of the atrocities of the Spanish and the mission system as anyone,” Schiff says. “But I don’t think that a housing developer trying to make money off of some red tile roofs should be held to the same scrutiny.”

Schiff explains that Mission Revival architecture was introduced at the turn of the 20th century as a means of “selling” San Diego to potential homeowners. During this period, Mission Revival morphed into Spanish Colonial Revival, and several San Diego landmarks borrowed from this style, including Balboa Park.

“They were trying to romanticize the missionary period like ‘walk where the friars walked,’” Schiff says. “The Spanish past was blown out of proportion, and the city began honoring and commemorating that past.”

As for whether it was morally right to use a city’s colonial history as a marketing angle or not, Schiff believes that the architectural style represents an opportunity to educate.

“These structures that were built and erected in a different time can help us today see how society thought and felt at the time and can be lessons for the future.”

Similarly, David Marshall, president of Heritage Architecture & Planning, feels it’s ridiculous to confer ulterior motives on adobe and plaster. He says that the only true

Mission-style buildings in San Diego County are the missions themselves.

“Every other Mission-style building, whether it’s something in Balboa Park or the Santa Fe Depot, were not built by Spaniards and were not intended to represent any political or religious movement. They were basically put there because the architect or the owner liked that particular look.”

Although Marshall stresses the importance of learning the complex history of Mission Revival architecture, he ultimately thinks that viewing the style as an extension of said history is absurd.

“It’s really a stretch to say that the physical manifestation of a building’s look and appearance are somehow driven by or glorifying a particular political or social point of view,” he says. “I think it’s just an example of people looking for something to be controversial.”

Still, while the craft of architecture certainly blurs the line between form and function, Mendoza maintains that it’s important to recognize the purpose of the original California mission system and the architectural trend that mimics it.

“The problem is that the Spanish didn’t come here and just start building houses and building buildings that weren’t missions,” Mendoza says. “The Spanish came here and built missions and then did whatever they did. People separate the origin, and they separate the art from the history.

People need to remember that the buildings of this style came to be through the missions, which weren’t created for aesthetics or beauty.”

@SDCITYBEAT

CULTURE | ART

SEEN LOCAL HOLES IN THE WALL

I

“

am excited and nervous and anxious,” says Le’Toya Jackson with a tense laugh as we approach the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on Saturday evening. “I wasn’t nervous until now.”

Jackson is one of 17 Southwestern College students assigned to create a stencil that would be projected onto a border wall prototype later that night. The stencils will also be projected during the Art That Cuts exhibit at Mesa College Art Gallery, which opens April 12 from 3 to 7 p.m.

On the U.S. side, a mile and a half of land separates the public from the eight border wall prototypes. However, through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry and two miles east, anyone can look over a 10-foot metal fence that’s just a few dozen feet away from the prototypes. I tag along to the site in a taxi with Jackson, Southwestern College Art Professor Perry Vásquez (who assigned the project to his class) and Mesa College Art Gallery Director Alessandra Moctezuma.

The road turns to soft dirt that flies up as we bounce up and down over the bumps. There is a sense of giddy anticipation for the night’s antics as we point out the various murals along the pre-existing border fence. When we arrive, UC San Diego MFA student Andrew Sturm and Tijuana-based artist Jill Marie Holslin, who projected on the wall back in November, are setting up the projector on top of Sturm’s truck. It creates a platform just tall enough to see over the border fence.

On the U.S. side, there are the eight border wall prototypes with healthy, green grass and mountains stretching on for miles behind them. On the Mexican side, there’s a dirt road several yards wide separating the fence from the

@SDCITYBEAT

homes, which are built of metal sheets, plywood and other accessible materials. Stray dogs roam around, and one lies dead next to garbage piled against the wall. It is a loud and bleak reminder of the power of geographical division.

“Last time I came here, I cried,” Jackson tells me of her first visit to the prototypes, when she was just seeking inspiration for the project.

“I got to see how the people lived right there at the edge of the border, and I was able to peek through the temporary, little fence that they have now,” she says. “There are these little holes [in the fence] and I could see the prototypes…

It’s a realization that it’s giving these people no hope. You’re making the goal even harder, and you’re rubbing it in their face, and I think everyone deserves a better life.”

While waiting for the sun to set, the collaborators, attending students and their various friends and family congregate in a circle to discuss the project’s process and what they hope will come out of it.

“It was very, very important for me as an American on the Mexican side of the border to be able to project the very messages that were being excluded from the United States by Trump,” says Holslin, of her November projections. “There’s a symbolic significance here and a political significance of the exclusion of these voices.”

“This is about understanding where people come from and understanding that there are differences between all of us in the world,” says Juan Carlo Deportillo, a student who was born in the U.S., but lives in Tijuana. He adds that he has crossed the border every day since kindergarten. “I hope this changes something and someone’s perspective about what

people look like, what people are crossing the border for or something positive.”

It’s now dark, and Sturm hops back onto his truck and says, “We’re going to play it like a movie. Here we go.”

One by one, the Southwestern College students’ drawings flash from the projector and onto a border wall prototype. The images range from text that reads “Traemos el nopal en la frente” (a clever play on an otherwise derogatory Mexican saying about English-speaking Mexican-Americans) to the hashtag #ArtTrumpsWalls. Others are images of a man scaling a rock climbing route and someone bouncing JILL MARIE HOLSLIN on a trampoline with “use in case of wall” written underneath. In another, the cartoon character Speedy Gonzales steals Trump’s toupee. As the images change, students excitedly call out which is theirs and complement one another. The final slide listed the names of the participating students at Southwestern College, and everyone erupts in applause.

“We talked about the wall as being a tiger, this very powerful predatory presence, and how a tiger seems to be #ArtTrumpsWalls unbeatable,” Vásquez says. “But I said to them, it’s not true. Even a praying mantis can beat a tiger given the right situation and the right conditions. And so this kind of a guerrilla art technique strategy should teach them that this is exactly how a praying mantis can beat a tiger. It’s all about choosing your moment, choosing a positive message that undermines the wall and using all of your wit and your compassion and your humor to take down an authoritarian message. I think that really hit home with them.”

—Torrey Bailey

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

CULTURE | FILM

Grizzly man

You Were Never Really Here

Joaquin Phoenix is a hulking force in Lynne Ramsay’s NYC-set noir

by Glenn Heath Jr.

S

cottish director Lynne Ramsay has made only four daughter, Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov), who’s being feature films in the last two decades, and each one held captive in a brownstone-turned-sex hotel. CCTV has rigorously explored the effects of violence on cameras capture Joe’s brazen hammer-wielding asyoung minds. Whatever the root cause, be it economic sault, and the grainy visuals and clinical editing drain inequality (Ratcatcher), emotional repression (Morvern the brutal imagery of any sensational essence. From Callar) or familial denial (We Need to Talk About Kevin), here, reality begins to grow more subjective as You sensory-laden images and symphonic musical scores Were Never Really Here envelops Joe in a potboiler narinfuse these thorny narratives with illusory style and rative ripe with betrayal and corruption.

Horrifying thoughts linger in Joe’s brain like iman enigmatic sense of perspective.

The same level of contradiction fuels You Were bedded shrapnel, perforating his already fragile perNever Really Here, Ramsay’s new psycho-noir set in a spective so that only fragments remain. Looking like seedy, fractured New York City. Viciousness and com- a wounded grizzly bear, Phoenix embraces his characpassion go hand in hand for Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), ter’s complex dichotomy. At times, he looks physically the hulking enforcer at the center of this entrancing unstoppable, pulled through space by an otherworldly momentum. Yet, in tender and often disjointed story. It’s scenes with Nina, his presence undoubtedly the only film in exudes the wounded vulnerabilhistory whose lead character YOU WERE NEVER ity of a scarred child. calmly polishes silver and coldRunning just under 85 minly pummels pimps with a blunt REALLY HERE utes, You Were Never Really object.

Directed by Lynne Ramsay Here (opening Friday, April 13, Brief opening credits play Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas) over errant conversations and Samsonov and Alessandro Nivola would appear to be a swift examplified noises ring out in Rated R perience on paper. But its dense Joe’s head as he cleans up the logjam of images and sounds, bloody aftermath of another flashbacks and premonitions contract job. It quickly becomes clear that the voices can’t be stopped, but they can be add up to something far more exhausting and rewardmuddled by self-asphyxiation and suicidal thoughts. ing. One could argue that it packs too much style into Still, the closer he gets to death, the more vivid his a story that could be reduced down to a single line synopsis. Still, Ramsay’s rickety balancing act is admipast memories become.

Structurally, sequences are diced up, rearranged rable, and one of the rare examples where brutishness and then presented in bits, all to the rhythm of Jonny and sensitivity feel synonymous.

Ultimately, the film abstracts the melodramatic Greenwood’s brilliantly menacing score. Childhood traumas bleed through Joe’s subconscious, even as tendencies that push family tragedies into the realm he commits vicious acts in the name of protecting of caricature. As with Ramsay’s previous work, You weak and vulnerable victims. He’s both caregiver and Were Never Really Here does not ask to be figured out or solved in the traditional sense. Formally, it sees death-dealer all rolled into one.

With his matted beard and long gangly hair, Joe the underworld from the victim’s point-of-view, as a hides in plain sight, even from his aged mother (Judith numbingly loud swirl of screams and gunshots that Roberts) who has dementia and is caught in a down- blend together like in some hellish womb. How does ward spiral of her own. To give life meaning, Joe takes one break free of such an all-encompassing headdangerous assignments from an ex-cop (John Doman) space? It’s ultimately unclear, but the business end of who specializes in finding high-profile runaways that a ball-peen hammer might be a good start. have found themselves trapped by sex-traffickers.

That’s exactly what happens when a high-profile Film reviews run weekly.

State Senator enlists Joe to find his missing teenage Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

@SDCITYBEAT

CULTURE | FILM has been stripped away by colonialism. Sweet Country listens to the tragedy inherent to this quiet statement, all while trying to restore dignity to resilient people forced to live on the fringes.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING

Sweet Country

Bloody folklore

Aardvark: Jon Hamm and Zachary Quinto star as estranged brothers who both become entangled with a young psychologist (Jenny Slate).

Beirut: Two CIA operatives (Dean Nor-

ris and Rosamund Pike) send a diplomat (Jon Hamm) to the Lebanese city to negotiate the release of a high value prisoner. Opens Wednesday, April 11.

Beuys: An intimate and in-depth look at revolutionary German artist Joseph Beuys, whose works are still influential 30 years after his death. Opens Friday, April 13, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Borg Vs. McEnroe: Featuring a tour-deforce performance from Shia LaBeouf as tennis great John McEnroe, this sports thriller is based on the dramatic true events behind one of the sport’s most famous rivalries. Opens Friday, April 13, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare: When friends partake in a harmless game of truth

and dare sinister forces change their lives forever.

Krystal: A sheltered young man with heart problems falls for an ex-prostitute (Rosario Dawson) in this drama directed

by William H. Macy. Opens Friday, April 13, at Angelika Film Center – Carmel Mountain.

Rampage: Rogue genetic experiments turn an intelligent gorilla into a massive monster, forcing his primatologist caretaker (Dwayne Johnson) to take action.

Sweet Country: Set in the harsh Australian outback, this gritty western follows an aged aboriginal farmhand who kills a white man and must flee to survive.

Marrowbone: Four siblings seek refuge in an old home after the death of their mother, only to discover that the house has another, more sinister, inhabitant, in this haunting directorial debut from Sergio G. Sánchez. Opens Friday, April 13, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

You Were Never Really Here: Joaquin Phoenix plays a mentally unstable enforcer who rescues sex trafficking victims from their kidnappers in Lynne Ramsay’s neo-noir.

Overboard: Anna Faris headlines this remake of the 1987 comedy about a woman with amnesia that originally featured Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

listings, visit Film

For complete movie at sdcitybeat.com.

T

he Australian western is not a gentle sort. And why should it be when the Outback itself feels like the seventh circle of hell, and violence perpetrated in the name of expansion stains the soil red. Like its American counterpart, this windswept subgenre evokes both grand natural splendor and deep societal injustice. The best of them—John Hillcoat’s The Proposition and Patrick Hughes’ Red Hill come immediately to mind—meld the two elements in near-supernatural ways.

Sweet Country, directed with fierce confidence by Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah), is a sturdy addition to the canon. Set in the 1920s, the film opens with a close-up of a pot of boiling liquid as racially charged threats are lobbed off-screen, an apt symbol for the simmering tension between white settlers and the aboriginal laborers they treat like slaves.

Not every landowner desires the continuation of such inequality, but pleas of good men like Fred Smith (Sam Neil), who see social change as inevitable, are drowned out by the cries of aggressive nativism.

These themes come to fruition when a drunken brute is mortally wounded by aged farmhand Sam Kelly (Hamilton Morris in a stunning performance) acting in self-defense. The incident sets off a classic chase narrative, with local constable Sergeant Fletcher (Bryan Brown) attempting to capture Sam in the vast desert of Australia’s Northern territory.

Thornton employs riveting flash forwards, all striking images shown completely without context, to further prove that linear storytelling can’t do justice to this harsh environment fraught with emotional trauma. Sweet Country (opening Friday, April 13, at Angelika Film Center—Carmel Mountain) embraces both the mystery and disorientation of its surrounding.

Late in the film, one aboriginal man speaks cynically of how his people’s culture (or “lore”)

@SDCITYBEAT

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

ERIKA REINSEL

MUSIC

From left: Fabi Reyna, G.L. Jaguar, Daniele Daniele and Katie Greer riests have played just about everywhere imaginable in the past few years.

D.I.Y. house shows, benefit concerts, dive bars and, since the release of their debut album Nothing Feels Natural in January of 2017, increasingly bigger festival stages—they’ve played them all. It’s been an eventful period for the scrappy Washington, D.C. post-punk band, especially one who just wrapped up their first album.

For Priests, however, this flurry of activity, increased visibility and higher-profile festival invites (including this month’s two Coachella weekends) comes after quite a few years of honing their skills onstage. Part of making Priests a stronger live band has been seizing the opportunity to play as many unconventional venues as they can. Their ability to adapt to new and unusual situations is what vocalist Katie Alice Greer says has made them a better band.

“We’ve been a band for six years now, and we’ve always tried to seek out unusual places to play in and unusual audiences to play to since our inception,” she says. “We’ve played

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

at a high school in Missouri, we’ve played in a movie theatre in Manhattan. We’ve played under a bridge in an underground music festival in Wyoming that a random person set up and invited us to play. We always try to vary the environment we play in, which I think has made me a better performer. So playing at 3 a.m. on a festival stage in Barcelona at Primavera Sound was weird, but no weirder than playing to an auditorium full of teenagers who were like ‘what the hell is going on?’”

No matter where Priests play, there’s a good chance the show is going to be a hell of a lot of fun. Nothing Feels Natural, itself, is a lot of fun, merging punk, noise rock, surf and disco into a raw, but eclectic mix of sounds.

Greer, guitarist G.L. Jaguar, drummer Daniele Daniele and bassist Taylor Mulitz (who has since left the band) sound like they’re constantly pushing themselves to their physical limits. On the giddy track “JJ,” Greer unleashes one of her most fiery vocal performances, while “No Big Bang” builds tension until the band sound like they’re ready to snap. And “Pink White House” eventually

spirals out into a manic, psychedelic coda.

Priests often balance that sense of fun with pointed social critiques and satire.

“Puff” climaxes in a chant of “accept the triumph of the machine!” and includes an anecdote about a friend who wants to name his band Burger King. And “Pink White House,” as its title suggests, critiques the U.S. electoral system: “A puppet show in which you’re made to feel like you participate/Sign a letter/throw your shoe/Vote for numbers 1 or 2.” The band has also participated in benefit shows for LGBTQ homeless youth shelters, arts spaces and other non-profits. For Priests, using their platform to make a difference is important, even if they view “political” art as a false distinction.

“I think it’s lazy to differentiate bands as political and certain bands as not,” Greer says. “When people make the choice to say

‘I leave politics out of it’, that’s a way to side with the status quo. But...I think it’s important to use whatever platform I have to do something useful, of course. I think I’d feel that way no matter what I’m doing. It’s just the community we come out of and our relationship with the world, nationally or internationally or whatever.”

While Priests’ platform has grown, they’re still a D.I.Y. band in a major sense: They run their own label, Sister Polygon, through which they release all their music.

Yet as their schedule has become busier, and their itinerary includes more dates away from home, it’s become more complicated to attend to the label’s needs. As the band grows, however, they hope that the label can grow with them.

“We always thought, ‘It’s just the four of us so it’ll be easy!’” Greer says. “But it’s been super difficult to do both projects simultaneously, because Priests is super busy.

So we’re trying to figure out how to do both in the long term. I think we’ll probably hire someone eventually to be a label manager when we’re on the road. But I’m so much worse at responding to emails in a timely manner now, because there’s just too many of them. Sister Polygon is something we started to put out Priests’ seven-inches and continually put out more music by people whose music we love, and I hope we’re able to continue to do that.”

Though there’s frustration and introspection in Priests’ music, it’s ultimately meant to feel good. And that includes the actual face-to-face interaction between band and audience. Greer says that she readily scraps any music that she doesn’t feel comfortable playing in front of people, and that their audience is as much an essential part of their music as the musicians playing it. And if the audience isn’t feeling it, then something isn’t right.

“I like to think of music as a conversation instead of a monologue,” she says.

“Especially in a collaborative band, it’s a conversation with my bandmates, but I want it to be a conversation with our audience too. Nobody likes being talked at and unacknowledged. I want it to feel like a living thing that’s happening in the moment.”

Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com. Follow him on Twitter @1000TimesJeff

@SDCityBeat

April 11, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

MUSIC

AFTER HOURS: ABOUT LAST NIGHT

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO LOCALS ONLY

E

scondido-based art collective A Ship in the Woods has announced its inaugural music festival, A Ship in the Woods Music & Art Festival. The festival is being held on Saturday, June 16 and Sunday, June 17 at Escondido’s Felicita Park, and it’s being headlined by Built to Spill, No Age, Bill Callahan and Shabazz Palaces.

Other artists lined up for the festival include Lonnie Holley, EMA, Ice Balloons, Tara Jane O’Neil and Moon Diagrams. There will also be visual artists, performance artists, sound installations and other attractions.

For the arts non-profit, holding a festival outside of a conventional venue offers a chance to expand the county’s musical map.

“North County doesn’t have a lot of venues for bands to play,” says A Ship in the Woods Co-Founder/Director RJ Brooks. “So having this event here is a great opportunity to bring more experimental and indie artists to the area.”

In the past, A Ship In the Woods has showcased some high-profile bands at its Escondido space, including punk legends The Mekons and Bay Area art-rock group Xiu

ALBUM REVIEW Thomas Walsh (Perfect Law)

T

homas Walsh doesn’t necessarily make it easy to wade through his various releases. He’s recorded and performed under a few different pseudonyms.

There’s Two Moons Merging, and even Thomas Walsh itself is a fake name. He also briefly played in local shoegaze/noise rock band Svelte. It feels as if he’s constantly taking a new approach to his music, which makes each release feel like a fresh start in a way.

Mechanics of Deference isn’t wholly detached from his work as Two Moons Merging, as it’s still ultimately instrumental electronic music. But that’s about where the similarities end. From the title track of Walsh’s latest cassette release, it’s clear that he aims for something ambitious and grand. Driven by the ornate sound of choral voices

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

—Jeff Terich

and dark, droning electronics, “Mechanics of Deference” is at once beautiful and unsettling, a masterful balance of contrasts that’s moving in a multitude of ways. That’s a pretty accurate way to summarize the full 11-track album, which spans a wide range of electronic disciplines, from the avant garde ambient sounds of contemporary artists such as Oneohtrix Point Never or Tim Hecker, to a more noise-driven approach in the vein of Prurient. It’s a constant tension between melodic, even soothing sounds and an underlying sense of gloom and chaos.

As much menace as there is running through Mechanics of Deference, it still largely succeeds as an ambient work of art. “Child of Light” and “Child of Light II,” for instance, still have a relaxing, atmospheric quality in spite of the strange sounds of metal and glass. And “Peregrine Saturn” is bathed in static, yet the degraded sound of piano is still comforting in a strange way. Then again, there’s a track called “Flesh Suits” that’s about as nightmarish as one might expect. Mechanics of Deference is the rare piece of music that can put the listener in both a pleasant dream state and a nightmarish dystopia.

—Jeff Terich

B

ack when I started going to festivals, you’d care about what you wore,” says Arly Stroben, owner of the local festival wear brand The Thriftsy Gypsy. Stroben has been going to music festivals for eight years, and while she says it’s always been important to show up looking good, wearing unique and bold looks has become increasingly more of “a thing.”

As festival fashion became popularized over the past decade, corporate brands such as Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters launched clothing lines marketed specifically to festivalgoers. But local clothing brands have been carving their way into the scene, injecting it with unique pieces.

“I do a lot of up-cycling,” says Stroben. “I go thrifting and I find something with a really cool print but that’s very outdated and grandma-ish. I’ll put a new spin on it and make it sexy, make it cute and make it very festival-driven.”

Stroben started The Thriftsy Gypsy only about a year ago after taking sewing courses at Palomar College. What started as an Etsy account has since turned into a legitimate website (thethriftsygypsy.com) and, most recently, a small livework space in Oceanside. From there and online, she sells color-bursting fur-trimmed coats, matching two-piece sets, bodysuits, accessories and more. Stroben will be attending and vending at the upcoming Desert Hearts Festival, which is run

by San Diego-based Desert Hearts, a DJ crew and record label.

Another local festival clothing brand to look out for is Little Black Diamond (littleblackdiamond.com) by local Adrienne Shon, who specializes in shimmering, psychedelic jackets, bikini bottoms, harnesses and everything in between.

Meanwhile, East Village-based clothing brand Damascus Apparel (damascusapparel.com) caters to musical circles who favor crisp, black and white designs.

“Black and white is bold, and it really stands out when it’s done right,” says Damascus Co-Founder Nate Khouli.

Damascus has also worked with countless DJs to create shirts, hoodies and outerwear since 2008.

“Our brand is a way of saying ‘Hey I’m more of a creative type, and I’m open and seeking to create with other creative types,’” says Khouli.

In each of their own rights, the brands are catering to festivalgoers who crave originality.

“People want to look good and they want to feel good,” says Stroben. “They want the coolest thing they could possibly wear, the most standout pieces.”

“

LIZZIE ROSE

Mechanics of Deference

Xiu. In a sense, the festival is an extension of these types of events, and one that’s been discussed for a long time inside the art collective.

“A lot of the fundraising events have had a musical aspect,” says Lou Niles, who handles public relations for A Ship In the Woods. “We’ve always been looking at doing more music-focused events. And these events had incubated out of those talks.”

KIRSTIE SHANLEY In addition to some of the more high profile national acts performing, the festival will also feature a handful of local artists, including Hexa, Spooky Cigarette and Pall Jenkins. Niles says that it was important for locals to be a part of the programming, as it contributes to their objective of bringing together the San Diego cultural community. But it also allows for more diBill Callahan versity and, they hope, more fun.

“People come to festivals to find out about bands that are up and coming,” says Co-Executive Director Lianne Thompson Mueller. “It’s not a new thing, but we want to carry on that experience. And we hope to do that with visual art too.”

Fest dressed

—Torrey Bailey

About Last Night appears every other week. Got a cool nightlife tip?

Email Torrey Bailey at torreyb@ sdcitybeat.com.

The Thriftsy Gypsy

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC

JEFF TERICH SATURDAY, APRIL 14

IF I WERE U A music insider’s weekly agenda WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11

PLAN A: Bilal, Rebecca Jade and the Cold Fact @ Music Box. Bilal doesn’t generally get the kind of critical attention that artists such as D’Angelo or Maxwell do, but the dude still has some similarly strong R&B chops. His most recent album In Another Life was a slept-on psychedelic soul gem. BACKUP PLAN: The Night Howls, Imagery Machine, Future Human @ The Casbah.

THURSDAY, APRIL 12

PLAN A: 2manydjs @ Bang Bang. I very rarely put a DJ set in the coveted Plan A spot, but 2manydjs is a worthy exception. Better known as Belgian band Soulwax, 2manydjs is the group’s turntablist alter-ego, having helped pioneer mashups with their As Heard on Radio Soulwax series. PLAN B: Inspired and the Sleep, Grizzly Business, Strawberry Moons @ Belly Up Tavern. Readers of our recent Local Music Issue might have noticed that The Strawberry Moons were one

@SDCITYBEAT

of our ExtraSpecialGood picks this year. Get to this show early and catch them live along with a pair of other solid acts, both of whom started here in San Diego. BACKUP PLAN: Sacri Monti, Child, Bad Vibes @ The Casbah.

FRIDAY, APRIL 13

PLAN A: Whores, Helms Alee, Death Eyes @ The Casbah.

This show is nothing but ass-kicking, eardrum-exploding noise rock, metal and punk, and it’ll be a super fun one. PLAN B: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, Syntax @ Soda Bar. Yamantaka // Sonic Titan are a Canadian band that blends a theatrical visual style with some pretty powerful art rock that they call “noh wave.” It’s trippy, heavy stuff and likely to be a spectacle.

PLAN A: Miss New Buddha, Yazan, Hours, Bosswitch @ The Lazy Hummingbird. This is a show happening at a coffee and juice bar in La Mesa, so if it seems like you’ve gone to the wrong place, don’t worry, you haven’t. The lineup features some of the best and loudest bands in town, plus Yazan, a Brooklyn duo with a bluesy streak that’s also pretty loud. PLAN B: Teenage Burritos, Keepers @ Soda Bar. This is a record release show for scrappy locals Teenage Burritos, whose sound is somewhere between AMBER MAHONEY punk and power pop, and in the vein of The Undertones or The Nerves. It’s music that is catchy and instantly gratifying.

SUNDAY, APRIL 15

PLAN A: PeelanderZ, The Touchies, Fictitious Dishes @ The Casbah. Japanese Ibeyi band Peelander-Z are a fairly absurd, theatrical group that wears outfits resembling those of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. They also make fun pop music, but the visual elements alone are pretty entertaining. PLAN B: Sheer Terror, Take

Offense, Easy Money @ SPACE. Here’s a good old-fashioned hardcore show helmed by d-beat bruisers Sheer Terror, who’ll turn SPACE into a venue-sized circle pit in no time. BACKUP PLAN: Psychotica, Draemings, The Slashes @ Soda Bar.

MONDAY, APRIL 16

PLAN A: Ibeyi, Mimi Zulu @ Belly Up Tavern. Ibeyi is a French duo of sisters from Cuban and Venezuelan backgrounds, and their music is both exotic and gorgeous. Their strengths are in their layered vocal harmonies, but new album Ash features some pretty hot beats. PLAN B: Ryley Walker, Ditches @ Soda Bar. Singer/songwriter Ryley Walker finds a happy medium between folky rock in the vein of Wilco and more intricate post-rock sounds. It’s mellow stuff, but this is one of those shows worth going to for the sake of hearing the man play guitar.

TUESDAY, APRIL 17

PLAN A: Boogarins, Takahashi @ The Casbah. Brazil has a long tradition of spectacular psychedelic music, and Boogarins continue in that tradition. They’ve been compared to the legendary Os Mutantes, and it’s actually a pretty fair comparison. Good stuff. BACKUP PLAN: Hey Ocean!, Beginners, Coral Bells @ Soda Bar.

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Danko Jones (Brick by Brick, 5/17), Cults (Soda Bar, 5/18), Angelic Upstarts (Casbah, 5/23), WAND (Casbah, 5/31), Black Milk (Soda Bar, 6/13), Get Up Kids (Casbah, 6/19), Jungle Fire (Soda Bar, 6/23), Slum Village (Music Box, 6/27), Judith Owen (Music Box, 7/24), faUsT (Casbah, 7/29), Timber Timbre (Casbah, 8/19), Attila, Suicide Silence (Observatory, 8/23), Justin Hayward (BUT, 9/5), Satan (Brick by Brick, 10/5), The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band (Soda Bar, 10/27).

GET YER TICKETS Jessie Ware (BUT, 4/19), Japanese Breakfast (Irenic, 4/20), Unwritten Law (Observatory, 4/21), Los Lonely Boys (BUT, 4/22), John Doe and Exene (BUT, 5/2), Baths (BUT, 5/3), Joey Bada$$ (SOMA, 5/3), Meshell Ndegeocello (Music Box, 5/8), Built to Spill, Afghan Whigs (Observatory, 5/9), Poptone (BUT, 5/10), The Chainsmokers (Mattress Firm, 5/11), Hot Snakes (Observatory, 5/11), Dirty Projectors (Music Box, 5/12), Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness (Humphreys, 5/13), Kendrick Lamar, SZA (Mattress Firm, 5/13), Nada Surf (BUT, 5/14), Trash Can Sinatras (Casbah, 5/16), Earth, Wind and Fire (Harrah’s SoCal, 5/18), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Observatory, 5/22), The Head and the

Heart (Open Air Theatre, 5/22), The Wonder Years (HOB, 5/22), Rufus Wainwright (BUT, 5/24), Madeleine Peyroux (BUT, 5/28), Xavier Rudd (BUT, 5/29-30), Lord Huron (HOB, 5/31), Ray Lamontagne, Neko Case (Open Air Theatre, 6/2), Iceage (Casbah, 6/5), Kesha, Macklemore (Mattress Firm, 6/12), Sunflower Bean (Che Café, 6/13), Donavon Frankenreiter (BUT, 6/20), Kenny Chesney (Mattress Firm, 6/21), Warped Tour (SDCCU Stadium, 6/22), Belle and Sebastian (Observatory, 6/22), Seu Jorge (BUT, 6/24), Fear (Observatory, 6/28), Quiet Slang (Soda Bar, 6/29), The Go-Go’s (Humphreys, 6/29), Counting Crows (Mattress Firm, 7/10), Neurosis, Converge (Observatory, 7/14), Chris Isaak (Humphreys, 7/17), Toad the Wet Sprocket (BUT, 7/17-18), Paramore (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 7/19), Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks (Casbah, 7/20), Brad Paisley (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 7/20), Wye Oak (Soda Bar, 7/20), Thirty Seconds to Mars (Mattress Firm, 7/21), Logic (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 7/24), Joe Bonamassa (Humphreys, 7/26-27), The Decemberists (Humphreys, 7/30), Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam (Open Air Theatre, 8/3), Willie Nelson (Humphreys, 8/10), Chris Stapleton (Mattress Firm, 8/16), Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/24), Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/25), Punch Brothers (Observatory, 8/25), Smashing Pumpkins (Viejas Arena, 9/1), Leon Bridges (Open Air Theatre, 9/5), Jason Aldean (Mattress Firm, 9/20), The Eagles (Petco Park, 9/22), Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band (Humphreys, 9/27), Courtney Barnett, Waxahatchee (Observatory, 10/3), The

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

B-52’s (Humphreys, 10/6), Ozzy Osbourne (Mattress Firm, 10/9), D.R.I. (Brick by Brick, 10/20).

APRIL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11 Hayley Kiyoko at Observatory North Park. Yungblud at The Casbah. BlinkFest at Soda Bar. The California Honeydrops at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Bilal at Music Box.

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

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

FRIDAY, APRIL 13 Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox at Humphreys by the Bay. Whores., Helms Alee at The Casbah. The Steely Damned 2 at Music Box. Yamantaka// Sonic Titan at Soda Bar. Common Sense at Belly Up Tavern. Grupo Codiciado at Observatory North Park.

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

SUNDAY, APRIL 15 Fleet Foxes at Humphreys by the Bay. War on Drugs at Observatory North Park (sold out). Sheer Terror at SPACE. Psy-

chotica at Soda Bar. The Chairman and the Board at Belly Up Tavern.

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

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

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

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

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

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

at The Casbah. Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern. King’s X at Brick by Brick.

Unwritten Law at Observatory North Park.

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

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

Low Points, Bit Maps at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, APRIL 24 Prof at Soda Bar.

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

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

THURSDAY, APRIL 26 5 Seconds of Summer at House of Blues. Cody Jinks at Observatory North Park. Robert Cray Band at Belly Up Tavern. Blackalicious at Soda Bar. Face to Face at Brick by Brick. Melvins at The Casbah (sold out). HIRS at SPACE.

FRIDAY, APRIL 27 Covenant, Grendel at The Casbah.

Nav at Observatory North Park. The Pettybreakers at Belly Up Tavern. Suicide

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 Machines at Soda Bar. Kiefer Sutherland at Music Box.

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

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

MONDAY, APRIL 30 Cigarettes After Sex at Observatory North Park (sold out). Bob Log III at The Casbah. Jenny Don’t and the Spurs at Soda Bar.

MAY TUESDAY, MAY 1 Rituals or Mine at The Casbah. Mainland at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2 Ekolu at Music Box. LAYNE at Soda Bar. John Doe and Exene at Belly Up Tavern. Lo Moon at The Casbah. Winter at SPACE.

THURSDAY, MAY 3 Joey Bada$$ at SOMA. Baths at Belly Up Tavern. King Tuff at The Casbah.

Kinky at House of Blues. Epic Beard Men at Soda Bar.

@SDCITYBEAT

FRIDAY, MAY 4 Khruangbin at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

The Fratellis at Observatory North Park.

Lawrence Arms at The Casbah (sold out). Cullen Omori, The Gloomies at Soda Bar. Sammy Johnson at Music Box

SATURDAY, MAY 5 Wild Child at The Casbah. Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers at Belly Up Tavern.

Will Haven at Brick by Brick. Charlotte Cardin at Soda Bar. Of Montreal at SOMA.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Bulevar Descarga. Sat: Shocks of Mighty, Nothing Special. Tue: Temple Lake.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Hip Hop Wednesday’ w/ MC Kahlee. Thu: ‘Space Safari’ w/ DJ Chris Lopez. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech.

Sun: ‘Church’ w/ DJs Alice, 2 bit, Will Lavin.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Lucas Brothers.

Fri: Lucas Brothers. Sat: D.L. Hughley, Lucas Brothers. Sun: D.L. Hughley.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Thu: 2manydjs. Fri: The Softest Hard.

Sat: Worthy, Option 4.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: Gurschach.

Sun: Americas, Antiphony, Rock and Roll Suicides, Brain Fragment, Alpine Circuitry.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Wed: Al Barnes, Corey and the Tribe. Fri: The Creepy Creeps, Stephen Rey Sextet, The Powerballs. Sat: Fusebox. Sun: Jake Na-

jor and the Moment of Truth, Bomb Squad.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Scratch Duo. Fri: Moonage Daydreamer. Sat: Hall Pass. Sun: Kenny Eng. Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: The California Honeydrops, The Steady 45’s. Thu: Inspired and the Sleep, Grizzly Business, The Strawberry Moons. Fri: Common Sense, Hazmatt. Sat: Pine Mountain Logs. Sun: The Chairman and the Board - Rat Pack Tribute. Mon: Ibeyi, Mimi Zulu. Tue: Tank and The Bangas, The Seshen.

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

Fri: Black Cat Sabbath, The Anomaly. Sat: Down Big, Pinkeye, Dan Dimonte Trio.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’ w/ Mikey High Jinks. Thu: Rock en Espanol night.

Fri: ‘Dance Punk!’. Sat: ‘80s New Wave Invasion Live Tribute’. Mon: ‘Blue Monday’. Tue: ‘T is 4 Techno’.

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

Thu: The Great Electric Quest. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Thu: keepitinside, Veltrek, Craig Shannon, Days Gone Bye, Unpaved Highway, Buddie Roots and the Sons of YHWH, Nick Diaz. Sun: ‘Wink & Whistle Burlesque’.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. Wed: The Night Howls, Imagery Machine, Future Human. Thu: Sacri Monti, Child, Bad Vibes. Fri: Whores, Helms Alee, Death Eyes. Sat: The Soft Moon, Boy Harsher, DJ Mario Orduno (sold out).

Sun: Peelander-Z, The Touchies, Fictitious Dishes. Mon: Dale Watson, Hotshot Drifters. Tue: Boogarins, Takahashi.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Bay

Park. Wed: Charlie Chavez y su Afrotruko.

Fri: The Syncopaths. Sat: Christopher Hollyday and Friends.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Sat: DJ Six Foota.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Deejay Al. Sat: DJ Amen.

Hooley’s, 5500 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa. Fri: Taryn Donath. Sat: Kevin Begin.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Sat: In This Moment, The Word Alive, Ded. Sun: The Como La Flor Band.

Mon: Jonathan Davis, Palisades. Tue: Joe Robinson.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: It’s Never 2L8. Thu: Rosy Dawn. Fri: Wildside. Sat: Funk’s Most Wanted, Backwater Blues Band. Sun: Hitmen of San Diego, Mercedes Moore. Mon: Missy Andersen. Tue: Michele Lundeen.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., North Park.

Sat: The Murder City Devils, Big Business (sold out).

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. Wed: Ahnnu, Lief Hall, Thomas Walsh. Thu: ‘The Fifth Gathering of Consciousness and Love’. Fri: Alison Swing, Masha. Sat: ‘Techno Sabbath 008’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Fri: The Screamin Yeehaws, The Strikers, The Fiends.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Harmony Road. Thu: North Star. Fri: In Midlife Crisis. Sat: Ron’s Garage. Sun: Ron’s Garage. Tue: Andy Duo. Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Carol Curtis. Thu: ‘Welcome to the Big Top’ w/ Anne Steele. Fri: Janice and Nathan. Sat: Anthony Federov and

Shelley Segal. Sun: Ria Carey and Don L. Mon: Andy Anderson and Nathan Fry. The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Outer Spaces, Runs Deep, The Havnauts. Thu: Braindead, Grandlord Highmaster, Pissed Regardless, War Hogs.

Fri: ‘Pasion Latina’. Sat: ‘Club Sabbat’.

Sun: ‘The Playground’ w/ DJ Heather Hardcore. Tue: Mortar, Know Ending, Steeltoe.

Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Thu: James Allen. Fri: Custard Pie RI. Sat: Jerome Dawson and Wazabe Blue. Sun: Tony Ortega jazz jam.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: Bilal, Rebecca Jade and the Cold Fact. Thu: Angel Olsen, Priests (sold out).

Fri: The Steely Damned 2. Sat: Fruition, Brothers Gow. Sun: The Foundation.

The Office, 3936 30th St., North Park. Wed: ‘1,2,3’ w/ DJ EdRoc. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs Adam Salter, Ikah Love. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs Kanye Asada, Gabe Vega. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Bingo Players. Sat: Lema.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: Gilbert Castellanos. Thu: Lorraine Castellanos. Fri: Lex and the Jewels. Sat: Montalban Quintet. Sun: Miss Erika Davies.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: Walshy Fire. Sat: Crooked.

Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Victor Marquez. Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Chris Fast Band.

Sat: Bayou Brothers.

The Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA, K-Swift. Mon: ‘Manic Mon-

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 day’ w/ DJ Junior the Disco Punk.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: DJs Kiki, Kinky Loops. Thu: Casa Nuova, DJ Kinky Loops. Fri: DJ Dirty Kurty. Sat: ‘Gay As Fuck Party’ w/ Wendy Ho. Sun: ‘Stripper Circus’ w/ DJ Cros.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Chloe Lou and Davies. Fri: The Loons. Sat: Tiki Tronic.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: Puente.

Sat: Funk Manifesto, Dreadnotz.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave., North Park. Wed: The Waylon Hicks Project.

Thu: Jimmy Ruelas. Fri: The Addictions.

Sat: Shane Hall. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei. Tue: Moth & Sons.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Blink Fest, Bleed American, Dead On Arrival, Through Being Cool DJs. Thu: Lou Rebecca, Silent Diane, Missions. Fri: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, Syntax. Sat: Teenage Burritos, Keepers, Other Ways. Sun: Psychotica, DRÆMINGS, The Slashes, Zombie Barbie. Mon: Ryley Walker, Ditches. Tue: Hey Ocean!, Beginners, Coral Bells.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Fri: Fashion Jackson, Grove, Chutes, Miles Bandit, Aquarium, Nikola. Sat: Evidence, Crooked I, Torae, Audio Push.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights.

Fri: ‘Burnout Ball’ w/ Stonefield. Sun: Sheer Terror, Take Offense, Easy Money.

Tue: Karaoke.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Middletown. Fri: Joeski & Lee Curtiss. Sat: Derrick Carter, Charles Feelgood. Sun: ‘less.is.MORE’.

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: Rosa’s Cantina. Sun: Clinton Davis, Corey Leal, Dillon Casey.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Fri: Abnormal Mammal, OrchidxMantis, Plexus. Sat: Some Kind of Nightmare, Revolt-chix, Social Spit, The Yucks. Sun: Pants Karaoke. Tue: Sole, Paperback, PVC, Stuntdouble & Tenshun, DJ Willy Guttz.

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: Kenny and Deez. Thu: Keep Your Soul Trio. Fri: Coriander, Keep Your Soul. Sat: Coriander, Keep Your Soul. Mon: Tehila Duo. Tue: Corey Gray.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park. Wed: Leonard Spins Vinyl. Thu: Gino and the Lone Gunmen. Fri: The Siers Brothers.

Sat: Alastair Greene Band.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: The Maxies, The Big News, Codename Rocky.

Sat: Midnight Track, Roman Watchdogs, Punchcard, Privileged. Sun: Wimpy Rutherford, The Cryptics, Dum Cumpsters, Good Time Girl.

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

Wed: ‘Yes Lawd’. Thu: ‘Boom Boxx Thursday’. Fri: DJ Freeman. Sat: DJ Bacon.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Thu: ‘Ugly Things’ screening. Fri: Otzi, Topographies, Witness 9. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach.

Wed: A-Mac and the Heights, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Polyrhythmics, Ghost Note.

Fri: The Routine, Sure Fire Soul Ensemble. Sat: Elektric Voodoo, Shakedown String Band, Finnegan Blue. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Sneaky Pete and the Secret Weapons.

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 11, 2018

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): If you

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22):

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): I hear you. You’ve got to spend money to make money—yeah, I’m familiar with the saying, but does it have to be my money?

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): Look on the bright side. It’s gleaming and shining, and you can’t look away. It’s burning itself into your tender corneas. I never said this was gonna be easy!

name an asteroid after yourself, it might be the one to crash into Antarctica and kill all the penguins. But I really shouldn’t have to explain vanity’s gamble to you.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): This week, practice kindness for others. But, like, do it on a doll or something. If you go outside acting like that you’re really going to freak everybody out.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): The world is in harmony, and if you hit the snooze button one more time, the energy transfer it creates will help someone else to get up early. Your good deed for the day.

LEO (July 23 - August 22): Your new life awaits. It is almost as though you could reach out and grab it. That’s the thing about perspective. But actually that barn is two miles away. You might understand one day.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): Sooner or later you just have to accept that no one else cares about the plot holes in a movie that only you saw. With the way this conversation is droning on and on, I’m thinking it’s going to be later.

You can train a dog to shake, roll over, do the thing where you shoot them with finger guns (rude) and they “die”—but try as they might, they can never teach you to smell fear.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): I’m sure there is something worth congratulating you here for, but I just don’t think that you bowling a strike in the wrong lane counts.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): Just be careful, because if you’re wearing 3-D glasses and watching a 3-D TV you probably won’t be able to tell if something really crawls out of the TV. AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): The simplest answer is usually the right one, but for the last time that doesn’t mean that the answer to every single question is “four.”

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): One time at an old job, I had to scan a $100 bill that had a note on it, and the scanner wouldn’t let me print a copy. I’m just letting you know in case that is what you were going to try first.

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

@SDCITYBEAT

IN THE BACK

BY BENJAMIN M. ADAMS

CannaBeat La Mesa considers medical cannabis tax

California could lower cannabis sales taxes

T

O

he city of La Mesa held a public medical cannabis taxation discussion on Feb. 28 to get a better idea of where its residents stand on cannabis reform. The discussion was led by HdL Companies, an outside consultant.

“We need to tax it, absolutely. But one of the things that is most important, regardless of how we do this, is to keep the rates stable for the first three years,” said Sarah Waller-Bullock, La Mesa’s city finance director. “That will provide certainty for the businesses. We also don’t want to overtax them; that would be self-defeating.”

The city’s goal, as laid out by HdL Cannabis Compliance Director David McPherson, would be to read a draft ordinance at a public hearing by April 24, send the ballot measure to the Registrar of Voters by Aug. 10, obtain primary arguments by Aug. 22 and obtain rebuttal arguments and the city attorney’s impartial analysis by Aug. 27.

n March 15, Assemblymembers Tom Lackey, Rob Bonta and three other co-authors introduced Assembly Bill 3157, which aims to drop California’s cannabis sales tax from 15 percent to 11 percent. The proposal would also suspend a cultivation tax, and cumulatively, the tax decrease would amount to a nine percent price-drop in prices for consumers, according to an assessment by New Frontier Data.

“As someone who spent 28 years in law enforcement, I know how sophisticated California’s black market for cannabis has become,” Lackey said, after announcing the bill. “Criminals do not pay taxes, ensure customers are 21 and over, obtain licenses or follow product safety regulations. We need to give legal businesses some temporary tax relief so they do not continue to be undercut by the black market.”

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

1.1

The amount of money, in millions of dollars, that is being demanded by a cannabis church that has filed a claim against the city of San Diego following a raid.

(Source: Fox5 San Diego)

12

The total number of dispensaries and delivery services that will be allowed to operate under Chula Vista’s newest cannabis ordinance.

(Source: San Diego Union-Tribune)

358,348

4

The number of Chula Vista City Council votes, out of five, that were in favor of the city’s newly approved cannabis ordinance.

(Source: San Diego Union-Tribune)

The amount of money, in dollars, that the city of San Diego collected in taxes during the first month of recreational cannabis sales.

(Source: KPBS)

APRIL 11, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 27