San Diego CityBeat • Apr 18, 2018

2 · San Diego CityBeat · april 18, 2018

@SDCityBeat

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Supervisors choose to ignore the facts

by the federal courts. The Board’s vote is a largely symbolic move that will create fear and divisiveness in our region, waste taxpayer funds and create distrust of law enforcement and local government within many communities... I am proud to represent all the residents of my richly diverse supervisorial district and will continue to stand up for them.”

—Seth Combs

As this issue went to press, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 to join an amicus brief in support of a Trump lawsuit against California’s immigration laws, including the California Values Act (Senate Bill 54). More specifically, the all-white, allRepublican board—who are the second highest paid elected officials in the county—decided it was their job to speak for the citizens of San Diego in supporting a racially motivated lawsuit that will do nothing but Despite a turbulent year spent suppressing workplace further the spread of nationalistic rhetoric spouted by misconduct allegations, local labor leader Mickey Kasour president on a daily basis. parian continues to infect San Diego politics. Earlier this For those unfamiliar with the lawsuit or SB 54, it month, the Kasparian-led United Food and Commercial basically breaks down like this: SB 54 was signed into Workers Union Local 135 created a political action comlaw back in October. The law protects Californians in a mittee to support Measure B. Via UFCW Local 135 and number of ways. It prohibits state and local authorities Laborers’ International Union of North America Local from asking someone’s immigration status, for example.

89, $50,000 was contributed to the PAC COURTESY OF INDIVISIBLE SAN DIEGO However, the real issue that Trump and therefore to the success of Measure and his Justice Department have B, which is suspicious in its own right. with these laws are that they claim If adopted, Measure B would repeal they will keep local authorities from voter-approved term limits for the Nacooperating with federal authorities tional City Mayor’s Office and create a so that they can deport, as Trump loophole for termed-out Republican puts it, “violent criminal aliens.”

Mayor Ron Morrison to run for reThis is absolutely not true. election. Morrison supports Measure B And while the Trump adminCitizens gather outside the (shocker), placing his ethical grounds istration will argue in court on County Administration Center into question. Many are calling this a whether “sanctuary” laws are Conpolitical power grab, including Nationstitutional or not, the law’s Constitutionality is not at al City Democratic Councilmember Alejandra Sotelothe heart of the lawsuit. It’s red meat for an anti-immi- Solis who’s running for National City mayor. grant base that would rather not get bogged down in “I sought the [San Diego and Imperial Counties] real facts like the fact that Latinos are less likely to call Labor Council endorsement, and I am supported by police, even when they’re the victims, if they fear po- labor, the 125,000 employees and working families lice will ask about their immigration status. And they through the labor council,” said Sotelo-Solis. conveniently ignore that illegal immigrants are 44 So why now would UFCW Local 135 support a percent less likely to be incarcerated than U.S. citizens. measure to help a Republican candidate, rather than Or—and this is the big one—that cities with “sanctuary a Democrat who has historically been on labor’s side? laws” on the books have seen crime rates fall.

Kasparian didn’t return CityBeat’s request for comThat isn’t #fakenews. Those are facts. But on Tues- ment (again, shocker), but it’s hard not to speculate day, the Board of Supervisors, led by a politically des- whether the political action committee could be, at perate Kristin Gaspar, chose to ignore constituents, least in part, an act of retaliation. Sotelo-Solis was many of whom showed up to be heard despite the fact one of the local politicians who signed a February that the Supervisors session was closed to the pub- 2017 letter calling for an independent investigation lic. The Supevisors chose to ignore the facts and align on Kasparian following accusations of sexual assault, themselves with the nativist policies of an admin- gender discrimination and more. istration that would rather tear families apart than “I can’t speak for [Kasparian], but the people who come up with sensible policies. have endorsed me believe in my campaign and believe The statement from Supervisor Greg Cox (District in what I stand for and my last nine years on council 1), the lone dissenting vote, probably says it best: have been for labor,” said Sotelo-Solis. “[Kasparian] is “The County joining the lawsuit between the fed- hedging his bets on Ron Morrison, and I don’t think eral and state governments is unnecessary because that’s the horse to bet on.” this is an issue that is properly going to be addressed —Torrey Bailey

More Kasparian shenanigans

This issue of CityBeat is letting you use its bald head to roll a blunt.

Volume 16 • Issue 35 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

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APRIL 18, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS

GOTTA HAVE FAITH

Edwin, Your recent column on Anthony DeStefano [“Are atheists the most arrogant, ignorant, dangerous people on Earth?,” April 4] was enormously entertaining, but it did not point out that, like most zealots, he conflates atheists with antitheists and misotheists.

The Catholic church differentiates between speculative atheists and practical atheists. If it had an Order of Atheists, I would become a priest.

God is not real, but faith is. A profession of faith means little; it is an expression that matters, and the uniquely human need to believe that is endlessly fascinating.

Yours in Baloo, D.M. Ross Lake Murray

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

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

ON THE

COVER It’s official now: Every time we need a 4:20-friendly cover for this particular issue, we always turn to local artist Aubrey Sawicki, who goes by the name Skindiana Bones.

Her love of skate culture, riot grrrl music and graphic novels is often evident in her paintings, but for “Kween Kush,” she says she wanted to “combine the supernatural potency of marijuana with the eccentric, oddball-vibe of urban girl gangs.”

“Weed isn’t just Spicoli-esque burnout fuel anymore, and currently there are legions of badass business women at the forefront of the cannabis industry whose tenacity and radical progressivism matches that of most feminist collectives,” says Sawicki. “My cover piece aims to illustrate the unity of these amazing tribes, and to promote and celebrate the empowerment of women through sisterhood and the com-

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

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

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sordid Tales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

There She Goz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 4 5 6 7

FOOD & DRINK World Fare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Final Draught. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

THINGS TO DO The Short List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11

ARTS & CULTURE Books: The Floating Library . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 FEATURE: 420 Headcrammers . . . . . . . . . 15 Thank You For Staring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-18

MUSIC

munal effect of marijuana.” Right on! Readers should definitely check out more of Sawicki’s work at skindianabones.com or on Instagram at @skindiana_bones.

FEATURE: White Reggae. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Notes From The Smoking Patio . . . . . . . . 20 If I Were U. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-25

IN THE BACK Astrologically Unsound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 CannaBeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | NEWS

TORREY BAILEY

Righteous reasons Sacred Source Sanctuary challenges cannabis laws on First Amendment grounds

By Pamela Jayne

O

n Feb. 1, Sacred Source Sanctuary, located in the Midway District of San Diego, was raided by San Diego police. Officers took seven pounds of cannabis, which they approximated to be worth $30,000, seized $1,200 in cash, confiscated a .45 caliber handgun and also caused $75,000 worth of damages. As a result of the raid, five people were cited for allegedly illegally selling cannabis; their cases are pending.

Charges include possession with the intent to sell, a violation of the Health and Safety code and a violation of the San Diego Municipal Code for unpermitted land use.

Although Sacred Source Sanctuary does have a business tax certificate issued by San Diego for its operations as a church, it does not have a Conditional Use Permit, which is needed to be a legal cannabis outlet. Sacred Source Sanctuary representatives argue that city regulations are so restrictive that it doesn’t have a chance to compete with other cannabis outlets and that the framework creates an “undue burden on the free exercise of their religion.”

Sacred Source Sanctuary is part of The Association of Sacramental Ministries, founded in 2017 by Brent David Fraser, who is a former actor and recovering addict.

Though in its infancy, the faith already has its own scripture, called “The Nine Epiphanies,” written by an attorney named Matthew Pappas, which came from a series of dreams in which anger, illness, suffering and fear are overcome with the use of ancient wisdom and cannabis.

A press conference held by Sacred Source Sanctuary on Feb. 22 began with a peaceful mantra, but ended with an ultimatum where Sacred Source Sanctuary all but dared authorities to respond.

Alanna Reeves, president of The Association of Sacramental Ministries, and also a minTWITTER

Brent David Fraser @SDCITYBEAT

Sacred Source Sanctuary ister for The Emerald Church of Open Faith, told reporters, “I hope that they take this as a warning to not bother any of the churches in the Association of Sacramental Ministries, because they are all sincere and legitimate.”

Attorney Anthony Bettencourt, representing the church on behalf of the Law Offices of Michael Cindrich, addressed reporters saying, “This is a First Amendment issue protected by the [United States] Constitution. It’s also a free exercise issue, protected by the California Constitution. What’s at issue is whether or not local government and state law is allowed to pass laws that create an undue burden on the exercise of these religions.”

He went on to explain that the state of California has framework for transactions of medical and recreational cannabis, but points out that the recreational framework relies on local permitting, and the medical framework relies on a physician issuing a recommendation.

“There is no spiritual test to that. State laws for California, which otherwise prohibit transactions of marijuana are placing an undue burden on churches to practice their First Amendment right, the free exercise of religion,” says Bettencourt. “On those grounds, as well as federal laws, we are saying that our client, this church, cannot be prohibited from its activities when they are done so in a thoughtful and sincere way that relates to their religious beliefs.”

The church filed a tort claim with the city of San Diego on Feb. 21, asking for $1.1 million dollars to cover losses and damages that occurred during the raid. The claim is now with the San Diego Risk Management Department. If the claim is rejected, the church plans to file a federal lawsuit. In oth-

er words, the fate of the church now rests upon the outcome of its claim to religious freedom.

Sacred Source Sanctuary member and press liaison Marla James spoke on behalf of the church, stating, “We want the cities to know that when you raid our churches,

you are breaking the law. We have a right to our cannabis, it’s our religion.”

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

APRIL 18, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5

UP FRONT | OPINION

EDWIN DECKER

SORDID

TALES

No retreat, no surrender

T

his Friday, April 20, 2018 is a historic day for California. Thanks to the passage of Prop. 64, it will be the first 4:20 celebration to occur after the sale and recreational consumption of marijuana became legal in our state.

So this April 20, when you and your friends are packing that first, celebratory bowl of the holiday, please remember to sprinkle a few pinches of shake on the ground to honor a local hero of the 4:20 movement. His name was Steve McWilliams and he was one badass activist.

I remember first reading about Steve circa 1995. It was a time when many people still clung to the reefer maddening idea that legalizing pot, even for medical reasons, would lead to the collapse of society. It was maddening because the not-doctors in Congress turned a deaf ear to people suffering from cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, etc. who were all howling, “Hey assholes! The shit actually works! Why you gotta pot block?” And McWilliams was one of those people.

For McWilliams, it began with a head injury from a 1992 motorcycle accident. It was the start of a lifetime of chronic pain including debilitating migraines. For this, doctors had prescribed all manner of opioids. The only problem was that they left him “disoriented and in more pain than before.”

So, he turned to cannabis, and the stuff actually worked.

Fast forward to 1996, when California passed Proposition 215, known as “The Compassionate Use Act,” which permitted possession and cultivation for medical reasons.

This was a victory for human rights, and McWilliams, personally, was ecstatic that his preferred method of pain management would finally be legal. It also allowed him to help others. Or so he thought.

At great risk to himself, he opened several medical cannabis collectives like Shelter from the Storm which was treating, among others, a 73-year-old woman with leukemia and a 70-year-old man with prostate cancer. Dude was helping people—actual sick and/or dying people.

And while the police ignored the fact that Prop. 215 was now the law of the land, they certainly didn’t ignore the people who voted for it. They continued busting medicinal providers as if nothing had changed, including McWilliams’ cannabis club in Valley Center. That raid lurched his activism into high gear. He began protesting on the steps of City Hall, bombarding the City Council’s open sessions (sometimes with a pot plant in hand), flooding the media, blazing joints

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

in public and generally throwing up a lot of, um, smoke to get the city to comply with 215. He even ran for City Council. I asked Toni Atkins, now President Pro Tem of the California Senate, what she remembered about McWilliams.

“In 1999, when I was running for City Council, Steve was one of my opponents. He lived in Normal Heights. As odd as it may seem, I actually gave him a ride to at least one debate when we faced off. [He] was a gentle and good soul. He fought the good fight… I can only imagine what he would think today.”

Atkins went on to say that we should remember Steve for his pivotal role in shaping cannabis policy and public opinion.

Spoiler alert: Atkins won.

But it did not deter McWilliams.

He ramped up the protesting to the point that it put a target on his back, causing him to be raided and/or arrested several more times, culminating with a 2002 conviction for violating The Controlled Substances Act. It seemed obvious to many, including Patrick Dudley (McWilliams’ attorney) that he was bushwhacked.

“The DEA spokesman has publicly stated that the impetus to Steve’s federal prosecution is that he ‘flaunted’ it,” Dudley told CityBeat in November 2002, “thus, prosecuting Steve for exercising his free speech rights.”

Dudley fought the conviction, and McWilliams was set free pending appeal. However the judge ordered random drug tests to ensure he would not partake—a particularly cruel act knowing McWilliams’ adverse reaction to prescription drugs. It all went downhill from there. He was wracked with pain, addled with rage and lobotomized by methadone. He felt his government was trying to kill him and did not believe he could survive a stint in prison without access to effective pain relief. On July 11,

2005—his 51st birthday—McWilliams swallowed a fatal dose of pain pills.

Oh yes, stoners, Steve McWilliams was a beast for the cause. And it is damn near blasphemous that I have to condense what is an epic tale of heroism and tragedy into a measly thousand words or so; that I have to use phrases like “fast-forward” and “one thing led to another” to squeeze it all in. Because what he gave and how he suffered, it would take a book to do it justice. So I’ll leave you with his final words, the suicide note, which says more than ever I could (edited slightly for length): “Dear All, This is my time to say goodbye… Taking the methadone was only supposed to shut down the pain from the headaches which lately have been very bad. I wanted to stop the pain but that got out of control too. I didn’t realize what I was taking.

I just wanted the pain to go away. But now, with everything that happened I know I will never be whole again. . .

As an activist I believe in acting when the time is right… I believe that my [death] can help move the discussion of medical marijuana back to what’s good for the patient…

This was my last chance to help the medical marijuana movement and others that I care about… After last week my mind and body have not been the same. Thinking is much, much more difficult. I still feel very dizzy and nauseous. I know that I will not be able to recover to the pain level I was at before… I believe now though that I will be locked up in some kind of cell. I refuse to allow the govt. to control my life. That’s what so much of this has been about—my right to use a medicine that worked for me. As an activist I’ve given everything to the cause—all my possessions, my time and my life. You can’t give more than that. NO Retreat. NO Surrender.

Love, Steve.”

He began protesting on the steps of City Hall, bombarding the City Council’s open sessions (sometimes with a pot plant in hand), flooding the media, blazing joints in public and generally throwing up a lot of, um, smoke to get the city to comply with 215.

Sordid Tales appears every other week.

Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | VOICES

THERE SHE

ALEX ZARAGOZA

GOZ

Pro-weed with caution

M

y relationship with weed has been long and complicated. As with any given activity, it takes trial and error to learn our limits and how to engage with it. It also has the side effect of teaching us something important about ourselves.

Weed has been instrumental in helping me handle my anxiety and stress. Learning when I get high, how I get high and the rituals I’ve created around getting high have been vital in managing my mental health and also feeling chillllllllll.

But getting to this point—hooo boy! Let me tell y’all a little story.

A while back I was working at a job that kept my stress levels at code red. I had never felt worse, both physically and mentally. The constant sensation of not wanting, but absolutely needing, to jump out of my skin and run as fast as possible plagued my body. One day it was especially bad.

I had recently started taking CBD oil to manage my stress and had great results. However, I had run out of the brand I was using, and was in desperate need of something in that moment. A friend suggested I use the app Eaze and have CBD delivered.

Within an hour and a half, I was able to sign up, get a doctor to provide a medical marijuana card (via an awkwardly hushed FaceTime conversation in my office), and order two bottles of CBD oil.

It was delivered right into my hand by a dude wearing Tevas and who told me to have a mellow day. Thumbs up, included.

During the ordering process, I got a bit confused. My experience with CBD and weed in general was intermediate at best, so deciding between CBD oils with a 20:1, 1:1 or 1:4 CBD to THC ratio was difficult. I was already in the midst of an anxiety spiral and the different ratios got my shitty-at-math brain looking like the Confused Math Lady meme. I read the description of each, then re-read, then read again. I eventually settled on the 20:1 and 1:1.

Office door closed, I opened the paper bag and pulled out my CBDs, reading the instructions of each repeatedly. Again, I went Confused Math Lady, then I started to freak out that my office door was closed for too long and that the evil HR beast would notice. So I took half a droplet of the 20:1 and waited. An hour later, I was still anxious. So I made the mistake every person who has ever taken an edible has made and took another half a droplet. Then I took a quarter drop of the stronger CBD. This move proved to be my undoing.

In the middle of g-chatting with my friend Michelle, it hit me. Very, very hard. I went from totally normal to my head being knocked back by an invisible force and feeling like I was falling down a building.

I waved my hand in front of my face. Colors. Blurs.

No! This can’t happen! I stood up calmly and gently walked to my office door like a robot programmed to walk like a human. Step, step, step, close door, turn.

Then I fell into a crouch in full freak out. I crawled under my desk and texted my best friend, Monica, to please come save my life.

Then I had to attempt to send a human-sounding email to the HR beast telling her I was not feeling well and had to leave abruptly. Technically, it was not a lie.

And technically, fuck it, get me outta here!

Monica texted she was downstairs, and I attempted to make my way out of the building without being detected while also walking like Nosferatu. My body refused to be upright, and I felt like a crushed up Pepsi can bouncing down the stairwell. Once I had made it downstairs, I sprinted in crouch-mode to Monica’s car, looking eratically in every direction to make sure the coast was clear. Monica, the sweet angel that she is, bought me a torta, took me home and stayed with me all night as I paced up and down my living room, speaking gibberish and wildly swinging my arms around.

“Dude, I really wanna get on your level,” she said, and took a bunch of the CBD. She did not get the same results, much to her disappointment. Eventually I was able to fall asleep in peace.

Back then, I hated feeling high. It made me feel terrible.

That freak out made me proweed with caution, being careful to ask what I was buying and how I’d be feeling while high.

And even so, that relationship has shifted for me. There was a topless weekend in Palm Springs where I smoked indica, napped in the shade and created a character named Carla Bandana (a naked—aside from a bandana on my head—Carlos Santana-based guitarist that chillshreds to the Santana-sampled guitar part in DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts”). These types of adventures rejuvenated me. Since then, weed has helped me through anxiety-rooted insomnia because I learned how to allow it to do so. To let go of my fears, but not pushing myself into anything I’m not comfortable with. And while I better understand what works for me, it may not be what work for others.

Listening to my body, how it reacts to different strains of weed and discovering what makes it feel good or calm or silly has been instrumental in building a healthy relationship with weed. It got me to a point where I can get high just for fun. Thumbs up, included.

I waved my hand in front of my face.

Colors. Blurs. No! This can’t happen!

I stood up calmly and gently walked to my office door like a robot programmed to walk like a human.

@SDCITYBEAT

There She Goz appears every third week.

Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com.

APRIL 18, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | BEER

BY BETH DEMMON

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE O

Alpine Beer Company bites the dust—maybe

Battle of the burger chains

ne’s a West Coast legend, the second is an East Coast behemoth and the third is a San Diego upstart.

One is endorsed by a TV food celebrity, the second is created by one of the country’s top restaurateurs (Danny Meyer), and the third, well, it’s got pretty much no one famous behind it. It’s In-N-Out versus Shake Shack versus Burger Lounge. These facts won’t decide who’s got the best burger in town, but to paraphrase an old Schaefer beer ad, it might just decide where to go when you’ve had more than one.

Shake Shack’s a huge company. Founded in 2004, it has 162 locations across 12 countries. To put it in perspective of just how big it is, remember it’s taken over 60 years for In-N-Out to grow to 328 locations (all in the Southwest). While it’s still a family-owned company, valuation estimates hover around $1.1 billion. Burger Lounge has only 25 locations, just five of which are outside Southern California. There’s little, if any, readily available financial information on the chain: It’s that small.

To compare the three chains, I ordered the signature burgers and French fries at each. The quality of the meat in Shake Shack’s burgers is very good, it’s well seasoned and the smash technique used in cooking them results in good crisping and caramelization. It’s the rest of the burger that’s the let down: a jacket of American cheese and a potato bun that squishes to essentially nothing. My favorite of its burgers is the SmokeShack. The chopped cherry peppers and Niman Ranch bacon balance out what the cheese had thrown out of whack.

In-N-Out’s Animal-style burger (a Double-Double burger with the meat fried with mustard, and topped with caramelized onions, extra pickles and Thousand Island) is the most famous item on its not-so-secret “secret menu.” It is, per-

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

FINAL DRAUGHT

MICHAEL A. GARDINER

T Lounge burger and fries at Burger Lounge haps, the ultimate representation of the fast-food burger. The story, though, is the reverse of Shake Shack. The bun is nicely toasted, the lettuce is crisp and the cheese doesn’t dominate. It’s the meat that’s the problem: overdone, too small and with no textural contrast and pretty much no caramelization.

Burger Lounge’s signature Lounge Burger, on the other hand, offers a burger that’s the best a fast food joint has to offer. At one level, it’s not fancy: meat, cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato and Thousand Island. At another level, it is: The beef is grass-fed, the cheese is organic and there’s real care that goes into the construction and execution.

It’s a juicy, fast-food burger that doesn’t eat like a fast food product. And the turkey burger option may be even better.

I was suspicious of Shake Shack’s fries: crinkle cut (suggesting they were frozen, not freshly cut on site). But they were thick, nicely seasoned with perfect potato flavor and texture. And while InN-Out’s much-vaunted fries were thin, cold and unevenly fried, Burger Lounge’s fries (fried in GMO-free peanut oil) were thicker, hotter, perfectly seasoned and much tastier.

At the end of the day, if the battle is between In-N-Out and Shake Shack, I’ll give the win to the Eastern seaboard. With Burger Lounge in the mix, though, give it to San Diego. Give it to the upstart.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

he dust has started to settle in the beer scene. Green Flash Brewing Company is fresh off a cataclysmic series of announcements that ultimately ended with it being sold to the newly formed WC IPA LLC. Craft beer fans everywhere are finally coming to grips with the reality that Green Flash, as we know it, is over.

“It feels like watching a very slow train wreck,” says Natalie McCain, former senior communications manager for Green Flash who was part of the mass terminations in January. Other former employees and fans took to social media, launching hashtags like #FuckHinkley in protest against former Green Flash CEO Mike Hinkley and his purported mishandling of the brand. Even more have been spreading the misconception that Green Flash was ceasing production. At the time this column was written, Green Flash is still producing beers as usual.

K. GRAHAM

Alpine pub I get the backlash. It’s personal to people, many of whom lost their jobs in the recent turbulence. But it’s easy to look back and spew how things should have been handled, especially by people who don’t own their own breweries. However, it’s not the Green Flash news that really chaps my ass. It’s the dissolution of Alpine Beer Company, whose cultlike following took a hit when it folded into Green Flash’s corporate umbrella in 2014. I’m only one of the devoted Alpine fans disheartened when the new pub opened, as it lacked the charm of

the original location. Still, I stuck with Alpine and have been relatively satisfied with its beers as of late.

But now, the future of Alpine is murkier than ever. Under the new owners, there’s entirely different leadership for both breweries. They include a former manager at Anheuser-Busch, a reported “vulture capitalist” (as podcaster Brian Beagle put it) and Hinkley, who is now a vice president and manager. But there are two names conspicuously missing: Alpine’s founder, Pat McIlhenney and his wife, Val. The McIlhenneys are OGs of the craft brewing scene. The fact that they are now formally and completely disassociated with the brand they built from the ground up is a bitter pill for fans to swallow. Adding to injury, they’ve lost over seven figures in the fizzled deal (a claim that Pat McIlhenney has gone on record with, contrary to Hinkley’s allegation otherwise). I can practically hear the beer mobs sharpening their pitchforks in preparation to storm Hinkley’s home in retaliation.

I’m bummed about the whole debacle, but there’s one thing I have to remember: Not only does McIlhenney cop to the fact that he willingly sold the company, but capitalism can be a wily bitch. Breweries who decide to remain small and limit their output are skewered when bottle releases sell out in seconds or people have to wait in long lines for special events. And god help any brewery who goes the corporate buyout route. Expansion always comes with risk.

Sometimes that risk doesn’t pan out.

Overall, I don’t think this news signals that San Diego beer is in a freefall. Maybe Hinkley really is a greedy Antichrist who should single handedly be blamed for Green Flash’s demise. But until Green Flash—and by extension, Alpine—sells to Big Beer, I’ll be bathing in as much Duet as I can find.

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

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EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

DOWNTOWN

PERSONAL POLITICS

Being politically engaged in the current and thinking about what was at stake and why they national climate can be overwhelming at best. As we were fighting. It was essentially to protect their each form our own political stances and the collec- families from police brutality and poverty.”

As Barnette’s first touring exhibit, the artist has tive history continues to take shape (and sadly repeat itself in many ways), it’s nice to be reminded adapted the work’s presentation to fit each space. of just how the personal is very COURTESY OF THE ARTIST MCASD’s being the largest to date, Barnette is including admuch political. ditional pieces, such as sevSadie Barnette’s highly eneral sculptures, to flesh out gaging and relevant exhibit, the space. The exhibit is also a Dear 1968,... at the Museum special one for Barnette, as UC of Contemporary Art San DiSan Diego is where she earned ego (1100 and 1001 Kettner her MFA so this will be sort of a Blvd., mcasd.org) explores homecoming. how personal, family and po“It felt like this really nice litical history can intertwine. return, in a way, to the city The exhibit, which mixes sewhere I had first really struglections from Barnette’s fagled and wrestled with what ther’s 500-page FBI file (main“Untitled (Dad, 1966 and 1968)” my voice was going to be or ly due to his involvement with

by Sadie Barnette what tools I could use to propthe Black Panthers) with her own hand-drawn graphics, rhinestone decals, pink erly communicate all the things I was passionate spray paint, family photos and childhood artifacts. about,” says Barnette.

The opening, which takes place this Thursday, The result is both a tender love letter and a searing indictment of the criminalization of Black political April 19 from 5 to 8 p.m. during the museum’s monthly free Downtown at Sundown event, also resistance.

“It’s this intergenerational conversation,” says features a special talk by the artist. The show runs Barnette. “Sort of like this Reagan-era hip-hop through Sept. 2, during which Barnette hopes a child looking back on all of this work that my father wide audience will be able to interact and converse and mother and so many people were engaged in over the work’s political implications.

SOUTH PARK

STONE FREE LGBTQ coming-of-age novels aren’t as rare as they used to be. And coming-of-age novels set in post-WWII America are certainly not a rarity. But a lesbian coming-ofage novel set in post-WWII America… well, that is something we don’t read every day. That’s what makes local writer Martha K. Davis’ new book, Scissors, Paper, Stone, particularly special. The story alternates narrators in order to tell the story of Min, an adopted Korean-American girl who, over the course of 20 years beginning in 1964, has to adapt to an often-racist society while also struggling with her sexuality. Luckily, she, her mom and BFF are there to help her along the way.

Winner of the 2016 Quill Queer Literary Award, Davis will be discussing and signing the novel on Friday, April 20 at The Book Catapult (3010-B Juniper St.) at 7 p.m. thebookcatapult.com

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DOWNTOWN

T ‘N’ T! Couldn’t make it to Coachella? Well, the Taco & Tequila Music Festival has practically every San Diego staple covered at a fraction of the hassle and commotion. Starting at noon on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22, spend a day (or two) by the water with tacos and tequila, as well as live music and arts and craft vendors. Happening at Embarcadero Marina Park South (200 Marina Park Way), the tequila tasting will take place on Saturday followed by a “Mas Margaritas” portion on Sunday.

While general admission for either day is $10, Saturday’s tequila tasting costs $40 including entry. You can also opt for a weekend pass for $60. For more information, call 805-628-9588 or visit tequilaandtacomusicfestival.com.

COURTESY OF CALIFORNIA BEER FESTIVAL LLC

*Mesh and Bone at UC San Diego Visual Arts, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla.

The opening of UCSD MFA student Corey Dunlap’s thesis exhibit, which features digital prints and sculptures related to questions of life, motion and more. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 19.

Free. 858-822-7755, calendar.ucsd.edu *Yve Laris Cohen: Meeting Ground at Museum of Contemporary Art—Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. Cohen’s first solo museum presentation on the West Coast will feature new works, which incorporate visual art and dance, situated within genealogies that include Minimalist sculpture, institutional critique, postmodern dance and classical ballet.

From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 19 through Sunday, Sept. 2. Free-$10.

858-454-3541, mcasd.org *Dear 1968,… at Museum of Contemporary Art—Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. Artist Sadie Barnette mines personal and political histories using family photographs, recent drawings and selections from the file that the FBI amassed after her father joined the Black Panther Party in 1968. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 19 through Sunday, Sept. 2. Free$10. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org *I Walk the Line at Museum of Contemporary Art—Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. Artist Mowry Baden’s iconic 1967 yellow sculpture that invites viewers to straddle the sloping rail and walk the aisle of the oversized construction. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 19 through Sunday, Sept. 2. Free-$10. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org *Prospect 2018 at Museum of Contemporary Art—Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. MCASD’s curatorial staff will showcase artworks to be considered for acquisition by members of Contemporary Collectors and International Collectors.

This year’s presentation includes work by Meschac Gaba, Thomas Glassford, Camille Henrot and more. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 19 through Sunday, Sept. 2. Free-$10. 858-454-3541, mcasd. org *Downtown at Sundown at Museum of Contemporary Art—Downtown, 1001 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. MCASD’s afterhours event offers free admission and guided tours of exhibitions at MCASD and the SDSU Downtown Gallery. Includes specials at local businesses and live music. From 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 19.

Free. 858-454-3541, mcasd.org The Rabbits of Rabbitville at The Chuck Jones Gallery, 232 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp. A special exhibition of 14 seven-foot-tall fiberglass rabbit statues that were commissioned in May 2017 to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Gaslamp Quarter. Artists include Carly Ealey, Matt Forderer, Mario HerbelinCanelas and more. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 19. Free. gaslamp. org/150-2/rabbitville *About-Face at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. An exhibit exploring representation, sexuality, gender and heritage via various mediums.

Features work by Alanna Airitam, Morgan DeLuna, Michelada Think Tank, Quyên Nguyen-Le, Jimena Sarno and Dana Washington. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, April 21. Free-$5. 619-2360011, sandiego-art.org *Israel: 70 Years of Craft and Design at Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. A collaborative, retrospective exhibition highlighting Israel’s diverse and lively craft and design. Includes over 100 objects such as Yemenite jewelry,

Taco & Tequila Music Festival

H = CityBeat picks

Bedouin textiles, contemporary garments, sustainable and industrial design, furniture and ceramics and more. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 21 through Monday, Sept. 3. Free-$10. mingei.org *Journey at The Hill Street Country Club, 530 South Coast Hwy, Oceanside. A group show and fundraiser featuring new works donated by local contemporary artists to benefit art, music and science programs in Encinitas and South Carlsbad public schools. Includes works by Jay Bell, Allison Renshaw and more. Opening at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 21. facebook.com/ events/179912995981593

BOOKS *Martha K. Davis at The Book Catapult, 3010-B Juniper St., South Park. The award-winning local author will discuss and sign her debut novel, Scissors, Paper, Stone, about a Korean-American lesbian, her adoptive mother and her boy-crazy best friend. At 7 p.m. Friday, April 20. Free. 619-795-3780, thebookcatapult.com Mishell Baker at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The bestselling thriller writer will sign and discuss her latest book, Skyjack.

At 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 20. Free. 858268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Understanding San Diego County Mammals at Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center, 301 Caspian Way, Imperial Beach. In honor of the release of The San Diego County Mammal Atlas, biodiversity experts from the Tijuana Estuary discuss indigenous wildlife. There will also be a book signing by author and mammalogist Scott Tremor. At 10 a.m. Saturday, April 21.

Free. 619-575-3613, trnerr.org Deborah Salazar Shapiro at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals Program, Shapiro will sign and discuss her new children’s book, The Magical Mindful Day. From 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 22.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com *Jonathan Evison at The Book Catapult, 3010 B Juniper St., South Park. A meet and greet with The New York Times-bestselling author of All About Lulu, West of Here and The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving as he celebrates his newest release, Lawn Boy. At 7 p.m. Monday, April 23. Free.

619-795-3780, thebookcatapult.com *Brian Keating at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The astrophysicist at UC San Diego and director of the Simons Observatory will discuss and sign his new book, Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science’s Highest Honor. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, April 23. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

COMEDY *Stand-up Comedy at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park. Riff City Comedy presents a night of stand-up featuring Kurt Metzger, Sean G. Grant, Dustin Nickerson, and more. From 8 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 25. $5. 619-284-6784, whistlestopbar.com

DANCE *Live Arts Fest at San Diego Dance Theater, 2650 Truxtun Road Suite 108, Point Loma. Ten nights of dance performances spanning modern and postmodern to installation art, including three international artists/groups. Various times.

Through Sunday, April 22. $20-$150.

619-225-1803, sandiegodancetheater.org

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

APRIL 18, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

FILM *San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase at Ultra Star Mission Valley, 7510 Hazard Center, Mission Valley. The eight-day event will screen 15 new Asian and Asian American films from nine different countries.

Various times. Thursday, April 19 through Thursday, April 26. $9-$100. sdaff.org

FOOD & DRINK The Hemperor HPA Launch Party at The Roxy Encinitas, 517 South Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas. New Belgium will showcase its new Hemperor HPA beer and will donate $1 of every barrel sold to increasing public awareness and promoting hemp-friendly legislation at the federal level. RSVP recommended. From 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, April 19. Free. newbelgium.com San Diego Mac & Cheese Beerfest at Lane Field, 900 W Broadway, Downtown.

A festival with unlimited complimentary craft beer samples and gourmet mac and cheese for sale. There will also be two stages with live performances by local bands and DJs. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 21. $35-50. cheeseandbeerfest.com

MUSIC *Daymé Arocena at The Loft at UC San Diego, Price Center, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The acclaimed jazz singer will perform from her newest album Cubafonía, a soulful mix of Latin, jazz and R&B influences. At 8 p.m. Friday, April 20. $23-$35.

858-534-8497, boxoffice.ucsd.edu *Adam Tendler at Bread and Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. A performance from the acclaimed pianist, who is known for his authoritative, electrifying performances of modern works by American composers. From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, April 20. $10-$20. 619-987-6214, freshsoundmusic.com RACH 3 at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Jahja Ling makes his debut as the San Diego Symphony’s first conductor laureate with a program that includes works by Leonard Bernstein, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s and Dmitri Shostakovich. At 8 p.m. Friday, April 20 and Saturday, April 21 and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 22. $20-$98.

619-235-0804, sandiegosymphony.org *An Afternoon with Stay Strange at Scripps Ranch Library, 10301 Scripps Lake Drive, Miramar. The noise music collective hosts an event with performances

by Yours Truly Jane Palmer, Thomas Walsh, Misty Sunglow and Translation Has Failed. From 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 21. Free. staystrange.com *San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus: Movie

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

Night at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The 200 singers, dancers and musicians of the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus perform songs from movies such as Selma, La La Land, Willy Wonka and more. At 8 p.m. Saturday, April 21 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 22. $19-$75. 619-5701100, sandiegotheatres.org

PERFORMANCE *Super Awesome Showdown: Chrono Chaos at Tango Del Rey, 3567 Del Rey St., Mission Bay. This wrestling event draws from outer space video game superhero combat as well as pop culture. From 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 21 $5-$20. 858689-2422, superawesomeshowdown.com

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD *VAMP: What We Inherit at San Diego Mesa College, Mesa Commons Rm MC211, 7250 Mesa College Drive, Kearny Mesa. Students tell stories about what has been passed down to them, be it emotional, political, racial, familial, cultural, geographic, sexual, gender, the body, state of mind, etc. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 19. Free. sosayweallonline.com *Product of My Environment at City Heights Performance Annex, 3795 Fairmount Ave., City Heights. So Say We All partners with non-profit Reality Changers, which helps disadvantaged youth attend college. Reality Changers students will share true stories about their personal journeys. At 4 p.m. Saturday, April 21. Free.

619-641-6100, sosayweallonline.com *Steve Kowit Poetry Prize Celebration at Neil Morgan Auditorium, Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. Nominees for the award, which honors the late, local poet Steve Kowit, will recite poetry and be granted cash prizes for their literary accomplishments. Readers include Chris Vannoy, Ying Wu, Ted Washington and more. From 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 21. Free. 619-4216700, sandiego.librarymarket.com

SPECIAL EVENTS *Queen Bee Market at Del Mar Fairgrounds Bing Crosby Hall, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. The two-day shopping expo features thousands of handmade items from more than 100 local and national artisans working in home décor, accessories, clothing, paper arts, vintage items, furniture and more. From 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 20 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 21. $3. thequeenbeemarket.com *Chicano Park Day at Chicano Park, National and Logan Avenues, Barrio Logan.

Visitors to this 48th annual event will experience traditional music and dance, live bands, classic lowrider cars, food, arts and crafts vendor booths, and much more.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 21. Free. chicano-park.com *Sino Tayo: Diverse Expressions of Identities at Skyline Hills Library, 7900 Paradise Valley Road, Skyline. Barangay Arts & Cultural Movement produces an event with live visual art, poetry, live music, film and other mediums by Filipino and Filipina artists. From 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturday, April 21. Free. facebook.com/ events/190323308224885 *Happy Birthday, Mr. Shakespeare! at Old Globe Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park. Celebrate The Bard’s 454th birthday with live music, Sonnet Karaoke, a life-sized board game, interactive puppet theatre shows, and more From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 21. Free. 619-2311941, theoldglobe.org *Multicultural Earth Day Celebration at World Beat Cultural Center, Balboa Park. The 28th annual Earth Day celebration featuring food and craft vendors, African drum and dance, kids activities and a live concert featuring Triston Palma, Black Prophet, Maka Roots and more. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, April 22. Free.

619-230-1190, worldbeatculturalcenter.org *San Diego Velodrome Spring VeloSwap at San Diego Velodrome, 2221 Morley Field Drive, North Park. The swap meetstyle event features vendors selling road bike, track bike, mountain bike, and even BMX parts, as well as brand new clothing, helmets, bike parts, and just about everything you can imagine. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 22. $5. sdvelodrome.com

TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS *Cannabis Convo: The State of Legal Cannabis in San Diego at Whistle Stop Bar, 2236 Fern St., South Park. The first in a series of panel discussions on the state of legal cannabis. Panelists include Jamie Solis (editor of Culture magazine), attorney Kimberly Simms, grower Grace Olivia Hicks and more. From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 18. Free. sdcitybeat.com A Curator’s Perspective at Museum of Contemporary Art—Downtown, 1100 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. Curator Jill Dawsey and assistant curator Anthony Graham explain the artistic and social significance of pieces from the exhibits Yve Laris Cohen: Meeting Ground, Sadie Barnette: Dear 1968,…and Prospect 2018.

From 2 to 3 p.m. Monday, April 23. $10.

858-454-3541, mcasd.org

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April 18, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

BOOKS: THE FLOATING LIBRARY Triple troubled

B

randon Hobson’s Where the Dead Sit Talking explores the loneliness of a boy named Sequoyah who has been placed in foster care with the Troutt family in rural Oklahoma.

Harold and Agnes Troutt don’t have any children of their own, but they have opened their home in the country to two other children: George, a child genius with anxiety issues, and Rosemary, an artsy high school senior with a penchant for mischief that will eventually prove fatal.

That’s not a spoiler: We learn on the first page that Rosemary is not long for this world, and the novel’s suspense and unrelenting dread power the narrative to its no less startling conclusion.

All three of the foster kids are what teachers and social workers in the late ’80s, when the novel is set, would have called “troubled children.” However, each of these children are troubled in their own way and Hobson’s deft handling of his characters allows the reader to see both how they see themselves and how the world perceives them. The disparity is heartbreaking.

For instance, Sequoyah relates an incident from his childhood when his mother burned him with bacon grease. In Sequoyah’s telling, the incident is downplayed as an accident, but it’s the first thing others notice about the boy who bears the marks of his

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

mother’s neglect.

Naturally, Sequoyah prefers to be alone and frequently isolates himself.

“The room was colorless and spectral, a space where nothing happened,” he narrates. “If I died in bed, I would lie there with cold skin until someone found me. I thought the room was dreaming and I was the subject of the room’s dream.”

When Rosemary lets Sequoyah into her life, things begin to change. Although he is a freshman in high school and she is a senior with plans to attend art school, he feels an intense connection. They both have Indian blood and bond over a shared passion for cigarettes.

This connection, however, quickly tumbles into infatuation: “she could have told me to do anything and I would have done it. …[N]ot to impress her, but because she had some unknown power over me.”

When Rosemary’s attention wavers it triggers intense feelings of abandonment that foreshadow her death. With dreamlike prose, Hobson lets the reader into Sequoyah’s strange fantasies as he tries to push past the trauma that confines him. Where the Dead Sit Talking is an exploration of whether it’s possible for a person to heal when all the world sees is a battlefield of scars.

—Jim Ruland

The Floating Library appears every other week.

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April 18, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

THEATER

KEN JACQUES

Noises Off at Lamb’s Players Theatre

A big noise

T

he Brits have an uncanny knack for creating comedy���������������������������������������� that is laden with slapstick, physical� ity and shameless sexual innuendo. What’s more, American theatergoers can’t seem to get enough of it. Michael Frayn’s madcap farce Noises Off is proof positive: It’s 36 years old and still going strong on both professional and community theater stages. A revival was even running on Broadway as recently as two years ago.

So how can Coronado’s Lamb’s Players Theatre go wrong with its own production of Noises Off? Answer: It doesn’t. The combination of Robert Smyth’s direction and Jordan Miller’s choreography (not of dancing, but of breathless climbing and de� scending of stairs and impeccably timed slamming of doors) guarantees a giddily frantic pace and an exhausting onslaught of sight gags, all of which are absolute musts for Noises Off. Smyth and Miller have put together a tireless cast (stylishly costumed by Jeanne Reith): Deborah Gilmour Smyth, Brian Mackey, Charlene Wilkinson, Fran Gercke, Ross Hellwig, Jessica John, Cynthia Gerber, Jim Chovik and Omri Schein (the latter, alas, under-used here). The actors are having so much fun not taking any of this seriously that the audience can’t help but go along.

The plot of Noises Off concerns the staging in the 1970s of an English touring show by playwright Robin Housemonger provocatively titled Nothing On. While Act One of Noises Off is significantly weakened by a lot of extraneous exposition and establishment of character, Act Two—in which the stage is turned around and the Lamb’s audience sees the characters from a backstage perspective—is fast, furious and ri� otous. (Credit goes to scenic designer Mike Buckley and to the Lamb’s crew that moves things around during intermissions.) In Act Three, Nothing On comes all undone and silliness prevails.

Along the way, Mackey tumbles down stairs. ����� Hell� wig and Chovik lose their trousers. Gilmour Smyth sits in sardines. Wilkinson loses contact lenses and stares numbly into space. Gercke (as the show’s reluc� tant director) gesticulates as though guiding planes

14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

from runway to gate. There’s a total absence of ten� sion or pretense, which largely accounts for Noises Off’s enduring charm and popularity.

Noises Off runs through May 20 at Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. $34 and up; lambsplayers.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: What Happens Next: In Naomi Iizuka’s drama, an inexperienced theatre teacher is paired with some reluctant military veterans in a drama therapy program. Presented by the La Jolla Playhouse and Cornerstone Theater Company, it opens April 19 at the Challenged Athletes Foundation in Mira Mesa. lajollaplayhouse.org Anna in the Tropics: The lives of some cigar factory employees are turned upside down after a lector begins to read Anna Karenina while they’re working. Directed by CJ Keith, it opens April 20 at the Don Powell Theatre at San Diego State University in the College Area. ttf.sdsu.edu Peter and the Starcatcher: Rick Elice’s musical that recounts the origin story of Peter Pan and most of the other characters that live in Neverland. Directed by Raylene J. Wall, it opens April 20 at the Lamplighters Community Theatre in La Mesa. lamplighterslamesa.com

NOW PLAYING: Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery: Ken Ludwig’s clever adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Holmes tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Presented by Scripps Ranch Theatre, it runs through April 22 at the Legler Benbough Theatre in Scripps Ranch. scrippsranchtheatre.org Buyer & Cellar: A hit Off-Broadway comedy about an unemployed actor who becomes Barbara Streisand’s personal shopkeeper. Directed by Randall Hickman, it runs through April 22 at Vista’s Broadway Theatre. broadwayvista.biz

Find more theater listings at sdcitybeat.com

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CULTURE

CityBe a p a c k t s t a ff e r s our fa a bowl of v books orite stone y , apps , f ilms and m o re

BOOKS

Like most artists, William Blake wasn’t really appreciated while he was alive. His paintings of intense religious imagery and writings about spirituality are now considered masterpieces of the Romantic era, but they found a particularly receptive audience in the late ’50s and ’60s with the Beat poets (Allen Ginsberg claimed to have seen him in a vision). The new book, William Blake and the Age of Aquarius (Princeton University Press) explores how musicians, poets and artists of the ’60s were inspired by Blake. From The Grateful Dead’s posters and Jim Morrison’s lyrics, to Ginsberg’s poetry and Bob Dylan’s religiosity, the book explores Blake’s long-reaching influence on an era that began over a century after his death. Released as an accompaniment to a 2017 Northwestern Univeristy exhibition, the oversized book includes some of Blake’s writings, art and commentary, along with art and writings from the ’60s artists he inspired. And yeah, it’s all trippy and cathartic as hell.

—Seth Combs

MUSIC

FILM

Although my interest in anime is minimal, the promise of striking visuals prompted me to give Fullmetal Alchemist a chance.

Based on a popular manga series of the same name, the film sees two mop-headed brothers, Ed and Al, searching for the Philosopher’s Stone, an alchemistic holy grail, in hopes of bringing their mother back from the dead. The loose yet swift-moving plot, while simple enough to understand with subtitles, is secondary to the trippy action sequences. The effects are fantastic, especially given Netflix’s skimpy budget. From scenes of leg severing to melting cyclopes, the degree of violence and surrealism is unparalleled in other films of this premise and target-age demographic. Even its bizarre setting—a quaint European village with futuristic technology—manages to make (some) sense in the cartoon world setting. If you’re in the mood to be enthralled by interesting characters and immersive storytelling, Fullmetal Alchemist is not for you, but I would consider saving it to your queue for a stoney day.

—Alex Noble

TV

Vic Spencer and SonnyJim hail from different corners of the world—Chicago and Birmingham, England, respectively—but they have a common trait in laid-back, weeded-out hip-hop jams. On their new collaborative effort Spencer for Higher (note the pun), SonnyJim lays down 14 tracks worth of chill, psychedelic beats over which Spencer creates surreal narratives driven heavily by his copious cannabis use. As such, he’s not the most reliable narrator, but he’s consistently a highly entertaining one, shit-talking his way through encounters with Alex Trebek and “a group of fat ugly motherfuckers with knives.” Still, it’s a consistently amazing-sounding record, courtesy of SonnyJim, who samples everything from Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke to actual clips of dialogue from Spencer For Hire. It’s one of the best hip-hop albums of 2018 that not enough people have heard, but Spencer’s confident in his abilities regardless: “They say I’m the best rapper, and I could be/I’m actually what it sound like when the hood speak.” daupe.bandcamp.com

It’s difficult to find scary TV. Sure, there’s The Walking Dead, which is gory and full of action, but never truly scary. And American Horror Story is too gimmicky and polished to cause any real nightmares. Syfy’s Channel Zero, on the other hand, scares the shit out of me.

The series takes existing creepypastas—slang for internet urban legends (“Slender Man” is perhaps the most wellknown example of creepypasta)—and fleshes them out into six-episode seasons. In contrast to the usual Syfy fare (e.g. bad CG and sharknados), Channel Zero looks beautiful and relies more on dread and nightmare logic than ridiculousness. The show just wrapped its third season, aptly titled “Butcher’s Block,” (based off the story “Search and Rescue”

by Kerry Hammond) which is kind of like Alice in Wonderland, but with cannibals. Despite an amazing, carnivorous performance by Rutger Hauer, a Lynch-inspired head worm and an ominous creature made of meat, “Butcher’s Block” also offers a poignant look at mental illness, familial ties and economic destitution.

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—Jeff Terich

—Ryan Bradford

COMICS

Whoa *Keanu voice*. Where did you come from? Who are you, really? These could be the questions of a confused stoner, but in Joshua Williamson and Andrei Brennan’s comic book, Birthright, these are legitimate inquiries. While playing catch with his father, a young boy, Mikey, gets lost in the woods and is transported to the harsh land of Terrenos. In this new world, Mikey is addressed as Hero—someone his new companions believe is destined to save them. As much as his friends insist, Mikey’s self-doubt is like Neo’s in The Matrix. Under the impression that Mikey has been kidnapped or possibly dead, his parents and brother struggle with the loss. Without spoiling too much of the story, Mikey reappears in their lives in a time-warp twist. On the surface, this could seem like a Back to the Future/fish-out-of-water/parallel universe story, which would undoubtedly entertain the masses in the upcoming film adaptation. But with The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman producing the movie, I hope the underlying darkness and guilt within the family is brought to the forefront.

—Carolyn Ramos

APPS

I once had a roommate who couldn’t sit through a movie baked. Instead, she would watch one movie trailer after another for hours so that she could take in a new plot line every few minutes. Sometimes, she couldn’t get through a whole trailer before boredom hit.

But then again, studies show bong rips impair people’s attention spans. That’s why Instagram accounts like @ifyouhigh exist. Ifyouhigh is a curated archive of short video clips that conjure those “whoaaaaaa” moments that are experienced only during peak high. For example, there’s a video where a guy wearing a boxing glove uppercuts a water balloon in slow motion, another features a crawling millipede, and a third shows an airplane’s emergency escape slide unfolding, all of which are way more entertaining than they sound. The clips hit OCD pleasure points too, such as seeing someone peel dried glue or scrape off the stucco-style popcorn on the ceiling. There are also bizarre inventions, optical illusions and other stupid shit that hits straight to the dome. The account is a trip, even ifyou(aren’t)high.

—Torrey Bailey

APRIL 18, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 15

CULTURE | VOICES

RACHEL MICHELLE FERNANDES

THANK YOU FOR

STARING

Class not dismissed, part 3: The museum is the message

F

amed media historian and philosopher Marshall McLuhan is perhaps best known for coining the phrase “the medium is the message.” When it comes to arts education, museums and their curatorial staff have the ability to send powerful messages to attendees, especially young people, through the artists they choose to include in their hallowed halls.

“It is hard for me to recall seeing a Black person represented in a museum or contemporary space as a young person,” reflects artist Erica Deeman, whose two richly nuanced and sophisticated photo series Silhouettes and Brown are set to open at the Museum of Photographic Arts as part of its “Artist Speaks” on April 27. “I reflect back upon this and wonder upon the impact for me personally. I think one of the reasons I make the work I do is to address this absence.”

Representation matters. This philosophy is something that artist-run spaces and universities often embrace, but unlike these small-scale and academic spaces, most museums—especially in San Diego—sit in heavily trafficked areas. Their locality gives them the ability to draw in a bigger and more diverse crowd.

There’s also the level of legitimacy and esteem given to work presented in a museum setting.

And then there’s the resources most museums dedicate to their educational programs, resources smaller spots usually lack.

In other words, museums have the ability to make a big impact, an ability some seem to take for granted or misuse.

Fortunately, museums such as Museum of Photographic Arts and Museum of Contemporary Arts San Diego are demonstrating what is hopefully a new dawn in curatorial decisions and programming citywide. Larger institutions are seizing this moment of cultural reckoning in our national history as an opportunity to expand the conversation about what constitutes museum worthy contemporary art.

“If we’re going to be in service to our community and be a place where the community comes to learn and understand art, we want to make sure that we connect to the realities of our visitors and that we’re representing a spectrum of perspectives,” says Joaquin Ortiz, MOPA’s director of innovation.

MOPA is one of the rare San Diego institutions leading the charge when it comes to both diverse programming and questioning methods of representation with series such as “Artist Speaks,” which features a video installation of the artist explaining the work.

“Based on research we’ve been doing with our audiences in the last couple of years, we’ve found that, even though they understand the importance and role of museums and curators, they most want to hear directly from the artist,” Ortiz says.

For Deeman’s incarnation of “Artist Speaks,” both of her photo series feature large-scale portraits of

Black men and women, using traditional mediums to question what it means to be seen as a person of color in America.

“With Silhouettes and Brown my desire is to elevate the African Diaspora and to subvert historical representations and stereotype,” says Deeman. “I am searching for the individual and in many ways I am searching for myself.”

Deeman, who is originally from the UK, also said that the shift in the way she is seen and perceives being seen in America versus overseas is a drastic one, influencing her decision to make this body of work.

“When you have a show with this kind of sensitive topical nature, it’s very helpful to have the artist speaking directly towards their work so that they can pass that information directly onto the visitor,” adds Ortiz.

Meanwhile, at MCASD, curators Anthony Graham and Jill Dawsey are also working hard to represent a variety of perspectives and artistic styles through the lens of contemporary art.

Two of the museum’s exhibits, both opening this Thursday, April 19, by current contemporary artists Yve Laris Cohen and Sadie Barnette, couldn’t be more different stylistically, at least on the surface.

Barnette’s exhibit mixes an ’80s hip hop aesthetic of her childhood with family photos and pages from the FBI file on her father’s involvement with the Black Panthers (see more on page 9). Laris Cohen’s work involves, as Dawsey describes it, an “institutional critique, minimalist sculpture, ballet. These are ways that we can historically kind of signify some the larger parameters of (his) work practice.”

Still, both shows represent a willingness by the museum to make connections between the personal and the political. While Barnette’s exhibit is touring—bringing her personal, deeply political history and own artifacts to the public—Laris Cohen’s exhibit is putting the whole notion of “fitting in” to a museum on its head, going so far as to literally claim and reconstruct portions of the MCASD’s recently demolished Sherwood Auditorium performance space. By closely collaborating with Dawsey and former Sherwood events technician Michael Scheer, Laris Cohen constructs a nuanced personal narrative which subtly points to his own complicated relationship with his body and gender while also critiquing expectations of artists and performers within institutions.

“We’re showing artists of different backgrounds, at different stages, with different interests,” says Graham, “asking ourselves, how do we show a sculptural installation from 1971 alongside two artists’ projects from this year? We try to provide a full picture—as best we can—of what contemporary art can be.”

Larger institutions are seizing this moment of cultural reckoning in our national history as an opportunity to expand the conversation about what constitutes museum worthy contemporary art.

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

Thank You For Staring appears every other week.

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CULTURE | FILM

Lonely are the brave

Lean on Pete

Charlie Plummer and Andrew Haigh deliver a sobering, moving portrait of modern America

by Glenn Heath Jr.

S

ince its inception, America—both as a democ- investment, the harbinger of any worthwhile job.

Which makes the various tonal shifts that occur racy and a mythical dream—has represented the riskiest of propositions. Its promise goes some- midway through all the more heartbreaking. After thing like this: Work hard and opportunity will pres- finally settling into a good rhythm with Del, Charley ent itself. Other variations (“pull yourself up by your experiences the sting of familial loss and cold hard bootstraps”) ignore the social, racial and economic in- capitalism at work. Refusing to go quietly into the justices that have long plagued our country. But who night, he decides to travel cross-country with Lean on needs nuance and complexity when we can reach out Pete and toward an unlikely salvation.

The rambling odyssey that transpires evokes Steinand take what we want?

Of course, this is the rationale of the privileged, beck’s nuanced portraits of broke Americana. Haigh the wealthy and the connected. Most people grapple patiently tracks Charley’s movements through mulwith an altogether more complicated version of real- tiple conundrums, both moral and philosophical and ity that can easily make one numb to circumstance. each of which revolve around the relentless pursuit of Suspicious, exhausted and disappointed, adults tend home. If the film’s first hour leans on the dusty humanism of great Westerns like Sam Peckinpah’s Junior to settle into their misery.

Bonner, the second half is deBeing young and vulnerfined by the road film’s roving able, children don’t have immediacy and uncertainty. that luxury. Some of the LEAN ON PETE Haigh avoids the sentibest films (William A. WellDirected by Andrew Haigh mental traps of most animal man’s Wild Boys of the Road weepies by refusing to turn and Brad Bird’s The Iron GiStarring Charlie Plummer, Steve Buscemi, Lean on Pete into a crutch ant, for example) explore Travis Fimmel, and Chloë Sevigny despite the subtext his name this special combination Rated R might suggest. No, the horse of resilience and desperabecomes one of many striktion, locating the pitfalls of ing influences on Charley’s American idealism through the eyes of young people, and in turn reveal layers of “memory palace” (to steal a term from the television show Hannibal) that builds over time with other, deep humanity pushed to society’s borders.

Andrew Haigh’s brilliant drama Lean on Pete is also equally impressionable experiences.

Plummer’s incredibly brave performance, guided such a film. Based on Willy Vlautin’s novel, it follows Charley (Charlie Plummer), a lonely, good-natured by Haigh’s delicate direction and Magnus Nordenhof teenager living in rural Oregon who’s often left alone Jønck’s windswept cinematography, anchors Lean on by his overworked boozehound father, Ray (Travis Pete throughout multiple emotional swells. The young Fimmel). One day, while jogging through town he actor imbues Charley with fortitude and kindness, meets Del (Steve Buscemi), a gruff local horse trainer which goes against most representations of millennial in desperate need of an assistant. Charley instantly angst.

But then again, Lean on Pete (opening Friday, April becomes enamored with the racetrack lifestyle, and in particular the quarter horse that bears the film’s name. 20, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas and Angelika Film Once isolated and adrift, Charley now feels at home Center—Carmel Mountain) bucks convention at every within the structure of backside living. Del notices his turn. In quietly respecting the grueling decisions that new protégé isn’t “afraid of a hard day’s work,” but affect one economically distressed kid every waking almost immediately misunderstands why. While the moment, the film stubbornly reminds us why no matmoney Charley makes might help Ray pay for grocer- ter how hard things get, the American gamble will alies and keep him busy in the process, it’s the awaken- ways be one worth taking. ing of his spirit that drives such selfless dedication.

The horse becomes not only a friend and symbol to Film reviews run weekly.

Charley, but also an evocation of long-term emotional Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

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APRIL 18, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

CULTURE | FILM

Skipping time

C

The Endless

an we ever trust our childhood memories? That question lies at the center of The Endless, a sci-fi whatsit about two grown brothers who return to the UFO cult they escaped from 10 years previous. Aaron (Aaron Moorhead) only has rosy memories from his time at Camp Arcadia, while older brother Justin (Justin Benson) remembers the sect’s unsettling mantras and rituals all too vividly.

Upon arriving at the group’s faraway compound, both men are

welcomed back with tepid smiles and uncomfortable hugs. Life at the commune seems to be one big party, but cracks quickly form in this benign façade. Justin notices them first, being the cynic, but his character never expresses enough panic one would expect from someone who thinks they are truly in danger.

And that’s one of the big problems with The Endless; it consistently stumbles whenever trying to instill a foreboding sense of otherworldly control. Co-directed

by Moorhead and Benson, the film struggles to generate any urgency amidst a script hobbled by awk-

ward hipster banter and passive aggressive outbursts.

When it does delve into the Bmovie abyss, the film utilizes carefully placed special effects and an overly menacing sound design, attempting in part to capture the same low-budget spectacle that defined Gareth Edwards’ Monsters.

But the filmmakers fail to create a convincing synergy between fantasy and reality, opting instead to ponder verbosely themes of conformity and faith.

The Endless (opening Friday, April 20, at Angelika Film Center— Carmel Mountain) grows increas-

ingly misguided while trying to appear more experimental. At one point, life under the spell of philosophical manipulation becomes akin to a skipping record. Then Moorhead and Benson cut to an actual skipping record. Subverting the time-space continuum shouldn’t be this one-dimensionally obvious.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING 2018 Spring Showcase: Presented by San Diego Asian Film Festival, this eightday event will screen 15 new Asian and Asian American films from nine different countries. Screens Thursday, April 19, through Thursday, April 26, at the Ultrastar Mission Valley Cinemas, with a special Kamayan feast planned on Monday, April 23, at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.

A Bag of Marbles: Two Jewish boys try to escape Nazi persecution in occupied France. Opens Friday, April 20, at the Ken Cinema.

I Feel Pretty: Amy Schumer plays an insecure woman who one day awakens fully believing she is both beautiful and talented, causing an uproar in her life.

Ismael’s Ghosts: A troubled filmmaker’s life is upended even further when his deceased wife appears out of thin air, very much alive. Opens Friday, April 20, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Journey’s End: A WWI drama about British troops grappling with the impending battle to come. Opens Friday, April 20.

Lean on Pete: Based on Willy Vlautin’s novel, this moving drama from director Andrew Haigh charts the friendship between a lonely teenager and a racehorse.

Outside In: Edie Falco and Jay Duplass star in this drama about a high school teacher who reconnects with her former student after his 20-year prison sentence.

Opens Friday, April 20, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Super Troopers 2: The raunchy highway patrolmen made famous by the 2001 cult comedy must deal with a border dispute that involves Canada and the United States.

The Endless: Two brothers struggling to make ends meet decide to visit the UFO death cult they escaped ten year’s before only to discover stranger forces afoot.

Opens Friday, April 20, at Angelika Film Center—Carmel Mountain.

ONE TIME ONLY Torch Song Trilogy: Arnold Beckoff (Harvey Fierstein) is a gay man working as a female impersonator in 1970s New York City. After a series of romantic heartaches, he meets Alan (Matthew Broderick), who changes his life forever. Screens at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 18, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

A Clockwork Orange: Stanley Kubrick’s terrifying vision shows a future dystopia where psychopaths run rampant and state-sanctioned conditioning centers brainwash criminals. Screens at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 18, at Angelika Film Center—Carmel Mountain.

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

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

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MUSIC

The cultural appropriation problem with contemporary reggae

By Jeff Terich

I

f anyone ever wants to see me cringe while contorting myself into various states of discomfort, just play the first few seconds of Sublime’s “Badfish” for me. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with it—just the sounds of an acoustic guitar strumming over the sounds of indecipherable crowd banter. It’s actually almost downright pleasant, to be honest, but it still makes me want to crawl out of my skin for two reasons: 1.) I know what’s coming next, and; ER G 2.) It’s the sound of every JUN S R puka-shell necklace-wear- DE N ing, soul-patch dude with A an acoustic guitar at an open-mic in San Diego.

San Diego loves reggae. Actually, let me rephrase: San Diego loves Bob Marley, and a bunch of white dudes who attempt to sound like Bob Marley. This town has its share of homegrown, pseudohippie fluff passing for reggae, including one of our biggest success stories, Slightly Stoopid, who really sound more like Dave Matthews Band affecting patois.

Big Mountain scored a national hit in 1994 with, of all fucking things, a cover of Peter Frampton’s “Baby, I Love Your Way,” as featured on the Reality Bites soundtrack. And there’s a good chance if you turn on the radio you’ll hear two stations playing the same 311 or Dirty Heads song at the same time.

Whenever someone from another city asks me about music in San Diego, the conversation inevitably, embarrassingly, if unintentionally, turns to fratty white guys playing reggae. I’m often left with no option but to admit that we might have a problem with privileged white artists appropriating the music of marginalized people. Because, at the end of the day, the sun’s always out and we essentially live in a paradise of sorts, so

we apparently just can’t get enough of those “island” vibes.

The thing is, it’s not just San Diego that’s afflicted with its own diluted brand of reggae. In fact, reggae is pretty universally popular worldwide, but the catch is that many of the most popular artists aren’t actually from Jamaica, nor have much of a connection to reggae’s roots at all. Three albums

by Hasidic reggae sensation M a t i s y a h u have gone gold in the U.S., and one of the most popular reggae artists in Europe is Alborosie, who originally hails from Italy. For decades, dabbling in reggae has been on the itinerary of many genre

Slightly Stoopid tourists, from Culture Club to Paris Hilton.

I’m even a little surprised Taylor Swift hasn’t found a way to scrape the bottom of the #nobaddays barrel.

Tampa Bay Times writer Amber McDonald, defending contemporary reggae bands such as Rebelution and Pepper, is an interesting twist of irony. She describes in one sentence what’s actually frustrating about where reggae is now: “Attend a show by any of these bands, and you will experience an island vacation, complete with flip-flop fashion and carefree sensations.” While there’s no rule that says reggae can’t be more lighthearted, the roots reggae of the ’70s had a heavy activist streak reflecting both Rastafarian politics and the class inequality of a newly independent Jamaica.

It’s hard to square how music that was

once concerned with genuine struggle becoming the sound of privilege. Makeda “Dread” Cheatom, executive director of the World Beat Center and founder of the Bob Marley Day Festival in San Diego, says that because of cultural appropriation, reggae has become too detached from its activist roots.

“Reggae music wasn’t easy back in the day,” she says. “It appealed to people that were oppressed and suffering. Bob Marley and Peter Tosh got beaten up.

Bob Marley almost got killed. It wasn’t fun and games.

“I brought Frankie Paul to San Diego, and he was onstage with only one leg,” she adds. “All those guys died poor.”

The evolution of reggae being repackaged into the safe, apolitical, whitewashed version we hear today didn’t happen overnight, but it has been a long time coming. Eric Clapton is one of the earliest and perhaps most egregious examples of cultural appropriation in reggae. In 1974, the rich British musician made a bigger hit out of “I Shot the Sheriff” than Bob Marley did, reaping bigger rewards despite having never experienced injustice in Trenchtown firsthand.

A more ambiguous case might be made of The Police, who adopted a reggae-rock sound but arguably showed more respect to Jamaican artists, having toured with the likes of Steel Pulse and Burning Spear. Shaggy also gave praise to The Police for bringing reggae to a wider audience, but that also might seem dubious coming from an artist whose best defense was “it wasn’t me.”

Cheatom says that reggae’s similar to other forms of Black music, in that eventually white people will want to take a piece of it.

“Bob Marley said ‘who feels it, knows it,’” she says. “But it happens just like with hiphop or jazz—it gets colonized. You have to really feel it, and there are even Jamaican artists who have lost it. It’s white privilege.

They took it, and that’s what they play on the radio.”

A look at the Billboard reggae chart this week illustrates how far we’ve strayed from the genre’s roots. The number one album is

TURIYA MAREYA

Makeda “Dread” Cheatom

by Jamaican dancehall artist Romain Virgo, but the rest of the chart is occupied by artists such as South Carolina’s The Dubplates, Virginia reggae rock group SOJA and something called Tropical House Cruises to Jamaica that features, of all people, Ed Sheeran. There’s no question that reggae has a broad appeal, but if someone wants to go about making reggae music in a culturally sensitive manner, Cheatom has some advice worth heeding.

“Always know the history,” she says. “If they’re really serious, they should go to Jamaica. To get that vibe back is really hard if you don’t have that grounding, that spirituality. Know your roots. Don’t play watered-down music. Music is the weapon of the future.”

I can’t claim to know the intent of a band such as Slightly Stoopid or Pepper, and they may very well have the best of intentions.

But as far as whether it’s genuine homage or cultural appropriation, I’ll paraphrase former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart: I might not be able to easily define cultural appropriation, but I know it when I see it.

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

APRIL 18, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO

BY RYAN BRADFORD THE

SPOTLIGHT

LOCALS ONLY

S

an Diego has a large audience for electronic music, as evidenced in the number of clubs that feature EDM performers and festivals like the bi-annual CRSSD Fest. But Jamie Pawlosky, better known as fivepaw, is hoping to cultivate a different sort of electronic music scene locally. In March, he launched the debut of a monthly event called lowercase everything, which puts an unusual spin on electronic music.

More specifically, the music is made with electronic instruments, but performed live in much the same way a live band would. The first event featured performances from Otherr and Delta-Sine in addition to fivepaw.

“There’s not a hard line in the sand about what it is,” Pawloski says. “It’s all hardware-based electronic music. I don’t want it to just be people hitting the space bar and then the music plays. These are people that are actually playing the music, instead of just playback.”

The next installment will be held on April 28 at Helmuth

ALBUM REVIEW MC Flow Her Highness (Self-released)

M

C Flow loves weed. That’s probably apparent by the title of her new EP Her Highness, but even before the release of this new marijuana-centric set of songs, she built up a reputation for cannabis-infused rhymes. For Hanukkah 2015, Flow released a seasonal stoner jam titled “Pot in the Latkes,” and in honor of California’s legalization of marijuana, she shared the new track, “Welcome to the Dispensary.” And like any rapping stoner worth her weight in THC, she’s earned some press in High Times.

Her Highness is being released to coincide with the first 4/20 since recreational marijuana became legalized, and it’s a sometimes joyful, sometimes activist-minded set of songs concerned primarily with the consumption of cannabis. For the most part, it’s a lot of light-hearted stoner fun. In fact,

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

Projects, where it’s most likely to be held regularly going forward. Pawloski chose to hold it inside the arts space instead of at a more conventional rock club, since it allows more flexibility in the type of environment he can present.

“I wanted more of a controlled environment,” he says.

SHAWN MICHAEL “As a whole, I want a visual that I see in the music I write. We had a lot of interesting visuals for the first event, like a stark, late ’70s, early ’80s spaceship vibe. Cold and dark.”

While lowercase everything is still in its early stages, Pawlosky sees a lot of potential in how it can grow from here.

The most exciting part for him, he says, is being able to build a small community of like-minded Fivepaw musicians.

“I’m interested to see where it goes,” he says. “As for now, it’s been connecting people from San Diego and L.A., and Tijuana as well. I just want to connect people who make music. I’m down for anything that’s interesting and electronic.”

—Jeff Terich

both “Welcome to the Dispensary” and “Pot In the Latkes” show up here, the former a funky rundown of countless strains while the latter incorporates the melody of “Hava Nagila” into a humorous anecdote about holiday edibles.

It’s not all high-jinks, though. “Oh Charlotte” is a true story of Charlotte Figi, a girl who suffered from severe epileptic seizures and used marijuana to treat them. (In fact a non-psychoactive strain, “Charlotte’s Web” was named after her.) The song itself is a little schmaltzy thanks to an appearance from Jason Mraz, but the message still lands.

By and large, Her Highness is still pretty fun, showcasing MC Flow’s clever wordplay and unending adoration for that sweet leaf throughout all five tracks. Admittedly, it might lose some of its charm if it were stretched out to a fulllength (10 full songs about weed might end up being a little one note), but this is compact enough to make its message clear. And just in case anyone missed that message, MC Flow summarizes it in “Free”: “Full disclosure, I like weed/I like it a lot.”

—Jeff Terich

KEVIN BALDES

G

Face to Face

iven how similar punk bands from the ’90s sounded (thanks, largely, to powerhouse labels Epitaph and Fat Wreck streamlining their respective signature sounds), it’s a miracle that anyone can recognize any of those bands. I mean, if you can tell the difference between a Lagwagon song and a No Use For A Name song, kudos to you.

And honestly, it’s difficult to pinpoint why Face to Face is better than their ’90s pop-punk brethren.

Musically, they’re not too different than Pennywise— both produce the same kind of fast, driving anthems for bros with backwards hats. But I can still listen to Face to Face without wincing, and that’s more than I can say about any of the other bands I listened to in high school.

One thing that Face to Face had (and still has) going for them is a sense of introspection. When other bands were raging against the system, Face to Face were raging against themselves. They even sounded world-weary on their first album, Don’t Turn Away, which included their best and most desperate song “Disconnected.” It’s surprising that they never turned into an emo band, considering how introverted their songs are (well, they kind of did for their Ignorance is Bliss album), but they never lost their edge. Even Face to Face’s saddest songs are punk; they’re masters at making something that’s personal sound political. It also doesn’t hurt that singer Trevor Keith has one of the strongest, most urgent voices in punk.

Face to Face plays Thursday, April 26 at Brick

by Brick

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@SDCityBeat

April 18, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

MUSIC PHOBYMO

JEFF TERICH

more sass. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s a lot of fun and I expect there will be some entertaining antics. PLAN B: La Santa Cecilia @ Music Box. If you missed Scott McDonald’s story on La Santa Cecilia from last fall, give it a fresh read before checking out the L.A. band, who blend traditional Mexican folk with a contemporary Latin pop sound.

IF I WERE U A music insider’s weekly agenda WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18

PLAN A: The Bronx, No Parents, Margaret Dollrod’s Heartthrob Chassis @ The Casbah. L.A. hardcore band The Bronx have been making loud, visceral, but still catchy punk rock for more than 15 years.

And despite their occasional forays into mariachi music as Mariachi El Bronx, its their harder, heavier stuff that I always come back to. PLAN B: Moonwalks, Acid Tongue, Former @ Soda Bar. Detroit group Moonwalks make loud, layered psychedelic rock that should fill a room like Soda Bar without too much issue. Honestly they’d be a perfect band to listen to on 4/20, but those looking for some stoney rock music can celebrate a couple nights early.

THURSDAY, APRIL 19

PLAN A: Jessie Ware @ Belly Up Tavern.

It’s a funny coincidence that Jessie Ware’s debut album came out when I turned 30, because that was around the time I realized I needed some smooth, grown-ass

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

R&B in my life. The UK singer continues to merge electronic sounds with Sadelike smooth soul, and it’s always amazing.

PLAN B: Cave Bastard, Nukem, Beekeeper, Bad Acid Trip, Recalcitrant @ Soda Bar. San Diego might not realize it, but we have a pretty killer metal scene.

I know I’ve been beating that drum for a while, but those looking for proof should seek out death metal outfit Cave Bastard, who have plenty of intensity to spare.

FRIDAY, APRIL 20

PLAN A: Japanese Breakfast, Snail Mail, And And And @ The Irenic. Last year I wrote about Japanese Breakfast, whose Soft Sounds from Another Planet was one of the better albums released in 2017. They merge indie rock with experimental electronic elements and an emotional core.

PLAN B: Thunderegg, Pall Jenkins, Well Well Well @ Fair @ 44. Bleeding Gold Records is hosting its first Open Air Market, featuring live sets from a number of art-

MONDAY, APRIL 23

Japanese Breakfast PLAN A: Bebel Gilberto @ Belly Up Tavists on its roster. There will also be food, vendors and, of course, records to buy.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21

PLAN A: The Dream Syndicate, Ford Maddox Ford @ The Casbah. The Dream Syndicate was originally active in the ’80s, as part of the psychedelic pop movement known as the Paisley Underground. But they’ve reunited and released a new album How Did I Find Myself Here?, which is a modern update of their jangly sound, and a very good one at that. PLAN B: Jean-Michel Jarre @ Spreckels Theatre. Jean-Michel Jarre is a pioneer of electronic music, and the progressive sounds of his 1976 album Oxygene are pretty groundbreaking. Sure, it’s a little new agey, but it’s also amazing.

SUNDAY, APRIL 22

PLAN A: Ron Gallo, The Nude Party, Twen @ The Casbah. Ron Gallo plays fiery garage rock in the vein of Ty Segall, but with a little

ern. I’m a sucker for Brazilian artists such as Antonio Carlos Jobim and Os Mutantes, and Bebel Gilberto (daughter of bossa nova legend Joao Gilberto) is no exception. Her style is a bit more downtempo and laid-back, but it hits all the right notes. PLAN B: Well Well Well, The Havnauts, Los Pinche Pinches @ Soda Bar. If you miss Well Well Well at the Bleeding Gold market, here’s another opportunity to catch them. Better yet, make it there early to see The Havnauts, a new band featuring current and former members of The Midnight Pine and The Heavy Guilt, who play a badass riot-grrl punk style.

TUESDAY, APRIL 24

PLAN A: Coast Modern, Mikey Mike, Bikini Trill @ House of Blues. Coast Modern’s music has a touch of ’90s bedroom pop throwback sound about it, back in the age when everyone was aiming to be the next Beck. Thankfully that’s not the case anymore, so their drum-machine-backed pop sounds surprisingly fresh right now.

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MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Here Lies Man (Soda Bar, 5/22), B-Side Players (BUT, 6/8), Aterciopelados (Music Box, 6/9), Jeremy Enigk (Soda Bar, 6/10), Stars (BUT, 6/19), Men I Trust (Casbah, 6/20), Shwayze & Cisco (Music Box, 6/28), Cold Cave (Music Box, 6/29), Milk Carton Kids (BUT, 6/29), Bob Schneider (BUT, 7/11), Big Ups (Soda Bar, 7/11), Paul Cauthen (Harrah’s SoCal, 8/9), Pato Banton (BUT, 8/10), Deafheaven (Brick by Brick, 8/17), Anderson East (Harrah’s SoCal, 8/23), Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Copley Symphony Hall, 9/1), Ms. Lauryn Hill (Open Air Theatre, 9/9), Boxer Rebellion (Casbah, 9/26), The Coronas (Casbah, 10/3), Ulrika Spacek (Soda Bar, 10/3).

GET YER TICKETS Baths (BUT, 5/3), Joey Bada$$ (SOMA, 5/3), Built to Spill, Afghan Whigs (Observatory, 5/9), Poptone (BUT, 5/10), 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), 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),

@SDCITYBEAT

Lord Huron (HOB, 5/31), Ray Lamontagne, Neko Case (Open Air Theatre, 6/2), Iceage (Casbah, 6/5), Sunflower Bean (Che Café, 6/13), Get Up Kids (Casbah, 6/19), Donavon Frankenreiter (BUT, 6/20), 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), Wye Oak (Soda Bar, 7/20), 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), 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 B-52’s (Humphreys, 10/6), Ozzy Osbourne (Mattress Firm, 10/9), D.R.I. (Brick by Brick, 10/20).

APRIL 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 (sold out). 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 (sold out).

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. Future-

birds 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 (sold out). 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 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.

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.

SUNDAY, MAY 6 Boombox Cartel at Observatory North Park. Los Kung Fu Monkeys at Soda Bar. Keb’ Mo’ at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Pink Mexico at The Merrow. Dwarves at The Casbah. Enjambre at Music Box.

MONDAY, MAY 7 Keb’ Mo’ at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Acid Mothers Temple at The Casbah. Sunny Sweeney, Ward Davis at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, MAY 8 K.Flay at Observatory North Park (sold

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

APRIL 18, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 out). Rogue Wave at Belly Up Tavern.

Erika Wennerstrom at The Casbah.

Meshell Ndegeocello at Music Box. Dessa at Soda Bar.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9 Built to Spill, The Afghan Whigs at Observatory North Park. Katelyn Tarver at Soda Bar. Brent Cobb and Them at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MAY 10 Vagabon at The Casbah. Poptone at Belly Up Tavern. TV Girl at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, MAY 11 Current Swell at The Casbah. Hot Snakes at Observatory North Park. Sparta at Soda Bar (sold out). The Chainsmokers at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre.

American Pleasure Club at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, MAY 12 Weird Al Yankovic at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Dirty Projectors at Music Box. Rainbow Kitten Surprise at Observatory North Park (sold out). Aghori at Brick by Brick. Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Frenship at The Casbah.

SUNDAY, MAY 13 Kendrick Lamar, SZA at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre. Franz Ferdinand at Observatory North Park (sold out). Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness at Humphreys by the Bay. Steven Wilson at House of Blues. Cat Pierce at Soda Bar. Born Ruffians at The Casbah.

MONDAY, MAY 14 Nada Surf at Belly Up Tavern. Cough at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, MAY 15 Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Stuyedeyed at Soda Bar. Ezra Furman at The Casbah.

rCLUBSr

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

Fri: Calphonics. Sat: Sensamotion, Dubbest, Ital Vibes. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: TJ Hooker.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Hip Hop Wednesday’ w/ MC Kahlee. Thu: ‘Chulitas Vinyl Club’ w/ DJ Moni Loca. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Radar’ w/ DJ Tyler Detweiler.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Josh Wolf. Fri: Josh Wolf. Sat: Josh Wolf.

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

Sat: We Had A Name. Sun: Nate Mays.

Tue: Karaoke.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Wed: Hey Ho! Let’s Go!. Thu: Jason Hanna and the Bullfighters. Sat: The Doghouse. Sun: Braggers, Justin Linn and the Rotation, Bosswitch, Half Way Home, Doc Hammer, Bruin, Well Well Well.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Frank Cope. Fri: Fish and the Seaweeds. Sat: Emotional Rescue. Sun: Sam Bybee.

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Kinky Friedman, Joey Harris. Thu: Jessie Ware, Cailin Russo.

Fri: Super Diamond, Mustache Harbor.

Sat: Super Diamond, GRACEBAND (sold out). Sun: Los Lonely Boys. Mon: Bebel Gilberto.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Matt Caskitt and the Breaks, Mochilero All Stars, Allweather. Sat: Funky Thigh Collectors, Sea Breaks.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’. Thu: In Flagranti. Fri: ‘Dance Punk’. Sat: ‘Bump’.

Sun: The Dodges, Avenue Army. Mon: ‘Blue Monday’. Tue: ‘T is 4 Techno’.

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

Thu: Authentic Sellout. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Thu: Amigo the Devil, Blind John Pope. Sat: King’s X, Seventrain, Brian Jones Rock’n’Roll Revival, Taz Taylor Band. Sun: San Diego music gear swap.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. Wed: The Bronx, NO PARENTS, Margaret DollRod’s Heartthrob Chassis. Thu: Grateful Shred, Mapache.

Fri: Brian Karscig, Dead Feather Moon The Hirsohima Mockingbirds, Twin Ritual.

Sat: The Dream Syndicate, Ford Maddox Ford. Sun: Ron Gallo, The Nude Party, Twen. Mon: Low Points, Bit Maps, The Exbats, Pony Death Ride. Tue: ‘Emo Nite San Diego’.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Fri: Rosetta Stone. Sat: TNT. Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Bay Park. Fri: Fred Benedetti & George Svoboda. Sat: Joshua White.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Sat: DJ Bootleg Kev.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Big K.R.I.T. Sat: Shabazz.

Mother’s Saloon, 2228 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Thu: DJ Dub B.

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

Sat: Sara Petite.

Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Thu: Steelhorse Country. Fri: The Chrome Domes. Sat: 7 Seconds to Vegas, Adrienne Nims and Spirit Wind.

Sun: Tony Ortega jazz jam.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown.

Wed: Dashboard Confessional, Beach Slang. Thu: Cody Johnson Band, Mike and the Moonpies.

Fri: Chaos Chaos. Sat: Cradle of Filth, Jinjer, Uncured. Sun: Joe Cromwell. Tue: Coast Modern, Mikey Mike, Bikini Trill.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: Bayou Brothers. Thu: Kim Jackson. Fri: Viva Santana, Fabulous Ultratones. Sun: Psydecar, Stellita. Mon: Sue Palmer. Tue: Backwater Blues Band.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., North Park.

Fri: Japanese Breakfast, Snail Mail, And And And. Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Middletown. Thu: ‘FUNKeDELIC’.

Blvd.,

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Sat: The Whiskey Circle, Polux, The Oxen.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Jackson & Billy. Thu: Ron’s Trio. Fri: Street Heart. Sat: Stilettos.

Sun: Gonzology. Tue: Sophisticats.

Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Carol Curtis. Thu: m-pact. Fri: Janice & Nathan. Sat: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: ‘Boylesque’. Fri: Runs Deep, Sundrop Electric, Little Heroine, Polux. Sat: Strange Crew, Soundslave, The Black Crowes Revival. Sun: ‘The Playground’ w/ DJ Heather Hardcore.

Tue: Daytrip, Michael McGraw, Retra.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: Alvvays, Frankie Rose (sold out).

Fri: Big K.R.I.T., Cyhi the Prince (sold out).

Sun: La Santa Cecilia, SM Familia.

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

Wed: ‘1,2,3’ w/ DJ EdRoc. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Sun: ‘Black Sunday’ w/ Tribe of Kings. Tue: ‘Trapped’ w/ DJ Ramsey.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Crizzly.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: Gilbert Castellanos. Thu: Robert Dove. Fri: The Moves. Sat: The White Blinds.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: Warren G. Sat: Silver.

Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Chet Cannon. Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Chicken Slim and the Biscuits. Sat: The Derringers.

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

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: DJs John Joseph, Kinky Loops.

Thu: DJs Ideal, Moody Rudy. Fri: DJs DrewG, Will Z. Sat: DJs Hektik, Luke Allen.

Sun: DJs Hektik, Nick Ayler.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY

MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Normal Heights. Thu: Everforward Lucyanna, Astra Kelly, Sheila Sondergard.

Sun: Mojo Jackson.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Brennan Orndorff. Fri: The Mittens, Grizzly Business. Sat: Chloe Lou Band.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Wild Hunt, Beira, Burial, Flaunt. Fri: Fishing For Chips, Dblaze Entertainment, Smoke Dog ‘n D Sol. Sat: Sacrificer, Quasar, Funeral Smoke, Pestilent Death. Sun: Pants Karaoke.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: The Patients. Sat: Songs for People.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave., North Park. Wed: The Gabriel Sundy Jazz Trio. Thu: Jimmy Ruelas. Fri: Soul Ablaze.

Sat: Crew D’Etat Brass Band. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei. Tue: Ed Kornhauser Organ Trio.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Moonwalks, Acid Tongue, Former. Thu: Cave Bastard, Nukem, Beekeeper, Bad Acid Trip, Recalcitrant.

Fri: Birdy Bardot, Creature Canyon, Mike Pope. Sat: The Moondoggies, Erik Blood, Malachi Henry and the Lights. Sun: The Powerballs, Bedlam Rebels. Mon: Well Well Well, The Havnauts, Los Pinche Pinches. Tue: Prof, Mac Irv, Cashinova, Willie Wonka.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Fri: T.Rexico, The Monsoon, BluNites, Chutes, Shameface, The Shed. Sat: ‘Battle to Open Warped Tour’.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights.

Wed: ‘Wet’ w/ DJs Dunekat, RT. Fri: ‘Off the Books’. Mon: ‘Eloteria’ w/ DJs boogieman, Josexxx. Tue: Karaoke.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Middletown.

Fri: ‘Unicorn Invasion’ w/ Marques Wyatt.

Sat: ‘Overdrive’ w/ Eddie Martinez, Jon Williams, Josh Taylor. Sun: ‘Second Nature’. Mon: Baile do Victinho.

Sycamore

Den,

@SDCITYBEAT

3391 Adams Ave.,

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: Kenny and Deez. Thu: Evan Diamond Goldberg. Sat: Keep Your Soul, Kenny and Deez. Sun: Keep Your Soul. Mon: Briana Cauz Duo, Sonic Tonic. Tue: Corey Gray.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park.

Thu: Mercedes Moore. Fri: Funk’s Most Wanted. Sat: Sleepwalkers, Mercedes Moore, Cantina Renegades.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: The Penske File, Decent Criminal, Squarecrow, The Dodges. Sat: Coyote Bred, Making Incredible Time, City Windows. Sun: Alvino and the Dwells, Blacks Beach Boys.

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

Wed: ‘Hump Wednesday’. Thu: ‘Boom Boxx Thursday’. Fri: DJ Kid Wonder. Sat: DJ Qenoe.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Wed: Surfbort, Pow, Bad Vibes. Thu: Jake Najor and the Moment of Truth, Johnny Tarr Quartet. Fri: ‘F-ing in the Bushes’ w/ DJ Daniel Sant. Sat: ‘80s vs. 90s’ w/ DJs Gabe Vega, Saul Q. Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach.

Wed: Bodhi Rock, DJ Carlos Culture.

Thu: Dirty Revival, Lance Lazwell and Vibe Tribe. Fri: Frameworks, Carlo. Sat: Orgone. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Thicker Than Thieves, Cappo Kelley.

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but what if there is a mountain in the middle. What then!? Do you have to tunnel through??

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22):

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): The

ground of your well-worn habit trails are so packed down that there’s diamonds an inch below. I meant that as a bad thing, but I’m realizing it’s coming off as kinda good.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): You are gonna want to get in on this scam…

Check it out: if you are genuinely nice to people, they might be inclined to be nice to you too.

They won’t know what hit them!

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Frank Avruch, a Gemini who famously played Bozo the Clown for many years, recently passed away. It’s so heartening to see you carrying on his legacy in everything you do.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): If we’re speaking in metaphor, you will spend this week kissing a lot of frogs. If we’re speaking literally, you will be licking a lot of toads who turn out to be psychedelic.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): This week has the same emotional trajectory as when a small shard of ice slips up through the straw and, for a second, you’re surprised by its intrusion.

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): If you want to darken the doorway like that then you really better know how to swing the saloon doors open the right way. Otherwise you might be in trouble!

LEO (July 23 - August 22): If you’re going to Google stuff like “is it a crime to lie to the police?” then you should do that on the public library computer. I mean, it’s just a hypothetical.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): You aren’t the editor of your own memories, and you don’t get to decide when they’re “Now Playing.” I don’t know who makes those decisions, but they’re definitely unionized, so good luck.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): There are many important lessons to learn from the great abundance of nature except from koalas. You can pretty much ignore them. Every single one is a fool.

Sometimes it gets hot under the spotlight—oh, wait a minute, is that… Yeah, that’s sunlight coming through a magnifying glass. You better get outta the way.

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): There will never be a colony on Mars. Humans will never live on Mars. Nobody will ever be on Mars. You really have to think of another plan.

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

APRIL 18, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

IN THE BACK

BY TORREY BAILEY

CannaBeat Dab hands

L

ast week, I got an hour-long, full-body massage by Traveling Hands Massage, a San Diego-based company that treats with cannabis-infused oils.

And I got high AF… not. Traveling Hands Massage owner and massage therapist Zac Smith says that the first question he most often gets from new clients is whether or not they’ll get high during the massage.

“Even though we use a full cannabis extract and there is THC in our oil, when you apply it topically at the concentrations we use, it’s not going to get you stoned,” he says. “Science says it’s not going to get you high, it’s not going to cross the blood-brain barrier in high enough concentrations to get you stoned or to have you fail a drug test.”

But there can be a placebo effect, Smith says.

“There’s a very small fraction of people who receive this massage who say they feel high afterwards. It’s about two percent.”

I was not part of that two percent.

“It’s a full-spectrum cannabis extract, and I say THC and CBD because those are the ones everyone is familiar with, but there’s about 118 compounds in cannabis.

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 18, 2018

Everyone is familiar with THC and CBD, and they work independently, but they work better as a whole, that’s just what I’ve seen.”

For those concerned about the drug test, there is a CBD-only option, as well as regular non-medicated oils. Overall, the massage proceeded as any non-medicated one would.

Smith came to my house—hence the “traveling” in Traveling Hands—and set up shop in my room, including providing his own massage table, heated blanket and tranquil, instrumental music. The only time it was obvious that weed oil was being slathered on my back was when Smith put the first glob of it on his hands. It smelled like the danks. But as he worked the oil, the smell subsided, and left only a faint residual scent.

“If you were to walk past somebody, they’re not going to smell it on you,” Smith told me after. “And if they do, it’s because they know what cannabis smells like.”

Other than that, it was difficult to separate the benefits of the cannabis compounds from just a regular massage—that is, until after. Normally, I’m a groggy mess postmassage. But this time I was notably awake.

And there was minimal tenderness, which normally accompanies deep tissue massages. Smith says that’s because of the canna-

TORREY BAILEY

Zac Smith bis’ anti-inflammatory properties.

“A lot of the work that I do is pretty deep, pretty intensive,” Smith says. “I don’t do fluff and buff very often, so [clients] haven’t felt sore the next day. I’ve noticed I can kind of work deeper into their tissue without their body tensing up, without them kind of pushing back.”

Traveling Hands’ website (travelinghandsmassage.com) notes that THC has “20 times the anti-inflammatory power of as-

pirin and twice that of hydrocortisone,” as well as it being a muscle relaxant.

Those qualities benefit the massage therapist too. Smith says that typically, he can massage for five hours max, but cannabis-infused oil has allowed him to carry on for as long as seven hours without any painful aftermath in his own body.

“There’s longevity for the therapists, less soreness or invasiveness for the client,” says Smith. “The stuff just works.”

@SDCityBeat

April 18, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 27