San Diego CityBeat • Apr 25, 2018

2 · San Diego CityBeat · april 25, 2018

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UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

OK, one of you has to go

I

’m not always prophetic on this page, but when I am… *pats self on back* Back in February, I speculated on whether or not it was a good idea for politicians and organizations to endorse candidates so early in the primary season. The conclusion I came to was that it couldn’t hurt given that California has a non-partisan primary where voters can vote for any candidate in either party, and whichever two candidates get the most votes will go on to be on the ballot in November. And, as I stated then, it’s not inconceivable that the Democrats running in the 49th Congressional District (aka Darrell Issa’s House seat) could split or spread the vote so thin in June, that two Republican candidates would end up on the ballot in November.

This argument has since gone from Chicken Little-type conjecture to a very real possibility. Both the U-T and KPBS have since speculated about such a scenario. Now, the Associated Press has caught wind of

the story, running a piece on Monday with Democratic strategist Katie Merrill quoted as saying that recent super PAC conducted polls show that Democratic shutouts in the primaries are a real possibility. She went on to call such a scenario an “unintended consequence of increased Democratic enthusiasm.” The hosts of Pod Save America were practically begging a Democratic candidate to drop out on their podcast on Monday.

Meanwhile, I fully expect the Republicans to come out of their May 4 state convention with an endorsed candidate. Of the 16(!) candidates currently running in the 49th, Board of Equalization member Diane Harkey and Assemblymember Rocky Chávez are the clear GOP frontrunners (sorry Kristin Gaspar, but your lame attempt to ride Trump’s coattails doesn’t seem to be panning out). The Democratic side is still murky, with four candidates (Doug Applegate, Mike Levin, Paul Kerr and Sara Jacobs) all placing in the top six in a recent 10News/Union-Tribune poll.

On the surface, this sounds great, until it’s pointed out that the margin of error in that poll is five percent, and that if one or

even two of the Democrats were not there, it’s likely Applegate or Levin would be in the overall lead. Think of it this way: If the Republicans come out of their convention with a clear choice of who their candidate is going to be (my money is on Chávez despite the fact that Harkey was endorsed by Issa), that means that candidate will get a nice bump in the polls. Now for the sake of argument, let’s say it’s Chávez. That would put him at 21 percent of a 16-person field. Now, sensing that she could still place second, Harkey decides to stay in the race, while the remaining Democratic candidates all vie for progressive votes.

It’s time for one or two of the main Democratic candidates to drop out. One thing the GOP has going for them is that they often put the party over themselves, and it’s time for Democrats to do the same. The midterms are just too important. If they don’t decide soon, then they’ll all be considered villains on June 5 and even more so on Nov. 6.

Doug Applegate

Sara Jacobs

Paul Kerr

Mike Levin

—Seth Combs Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat really wants to know what’s happening now—eh, rather, what’s poppin’ tonight?

Volume 15 • Issue 36

EDITOR Seth Combs

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Torrey Bailey

MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich

EDITORIAL INTERNS Alex Noble

WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford

COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos

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

PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse

CONTROLLER Kacie Cobian

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Comden

MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia

ACCOUNTING Perla Castillo, David Garcia, Linda Lam, Yiyang Wang

PUBLISHER Kevin Hellman

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jason Noble ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES RIchard Diaz, Beau Odom

HUMAN RESOURCES Andrea Baker

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APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS

DO A LITTLE MORE RESEARCH Jeff, I read your article [“Genre Tourism,” April 18] and while I can agree with some points, I feel like you might want to do some more research. I am a member of the Dubplates band. Our album has tons of Jamaican DNA on it. We have the original King of Dancehall (King Yellowman), Future Fambo, Elephant Man, Zumjay and Junior Reid (former lead singer of Black Uhuru) on the album. It’s an eclectic mix that people just happen to love. It’s more on the Dancehall side, which you might not be familiar with. It’s kinda hard to culturally appropriate on a dancehall flavored album with Jamaican Dancehall artists. As a member of the Gullah Geechee Nation, I also suggest you research the links between Gullah Geechee culture and West Indian culture. I understand that there is sometimes a thin line between appreciation and appropriation, but I’d like for you to dig a little deeper before making sweeping statements like you did in your otherwise poignant article.

Robbie “Papa Robbie” Ellington

Charleston, South Carolina Editor’s note: This letter was one of the more eloquent responses to Jeff Terich’s article on cultural appropriation in reggae music. It was astonishing the amount of responses we received about the article, most of them from white reggae fans angry that our music editor had the audacity to point out that some people find their music to be problematic. Over the past week, we’ve been threatened both physically and legally, accused of racism and been called every name you can think of, including being called “cunts” on our Facebook page by the drummer of a prominent local reggae band.

We have no doubt that most of the bands playing contemporary reggae music are good people.

What’s more, we would never question their love of the music genre they’ve chosen to play. However, for fans and even members of those bands to become so violently enraged over one writer’s opinion of a genre only serves to prove the point of the article.

And that’s not to say that they can’t get upset, but the fact remains that the vast majority of the people who are getting upset are white men. Yes, Jeff finds certain aspects of current reggae music to be problematic, but he’s not the only one. I’ve received letters and comments from people who agree with his points including many POC. However, most of the comments left online are com-

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

ing from people who would rather not explore the racial nuances not just of reggae music, but also of all music.

They make points like “were the Rolling Stones racist for co-opting the blues?” or “what about Eminem? Can he not rap because he’s white?”

This is a deflection. And naturally the answer to those questions is of course not. Those bands are not racist for taking or co-opting a sound and neither are the reggae bands discussed in the article.

However, this type of praise and respect for people who paved the way is often more the exception than the rule. And while there are certainly many artists who have made a lot of money playing what has traditionally been a Black genre, there is no disputing the fact that many of those artists also benefited from their whiteness. Reggae is a glaring example, and that is what Jeff was attempting to point out. To ask white reggae artists—or any white artist playing in any genre for that matter—to consider how they might have benefited from being white isn’t racist. It’s an important question.

Let’s be clear: We’re not telling anyone that they can’t do something. We’re not saying they’re racist for playing this type of music.

We’re not telling them to stop. We’re not playing the part of PC police.

And we’re certainly not going out of our way to be controversial. The article, however sarcastic it might be at times, was meant to make people think about what it means to be accessible. Talent is one thing, but it’s a fact that if you’re white in the U.S., you have a leg-up on the competition when it comes to accessibility.

If you don’t believe that and think we live in a world where everyone is afforded the same opportunities no matter their race… well, then we don’t know what to tell you. It’s simply not true.

And again, while we do think a lot of these bands truly do appreciate and respect the roots and origins of reggae, for them to not think that they have benefited immensely from their skin color is just ignorant. From Elvis to Eminem, artists should be asked questions about race and appropriation and many have been open and honest about the artists that influenced them. And while there has been plenty of nuanced discussion and writings about race when it comes to genres such as blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, hip-hop, etc., reggae doesn’t seem to get the same amount of scrutiny and exploration as those genres.

It’s telling that many of the aggrieved band members taking us to task for the article have not had to deal with these kinds of questions

UP FRONT From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Spin Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Backwards & In High Heels. . . . . 6 Well, That Was Awkward . . . . . . 7

FOOD & DRINK World Fare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Anatomy of a Cocktail Scene. . .10 Revenge of the Beer Nerd . . . . . 10

THINGS TO DO The Short List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . 11-12

ARTS & CULTURE Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 FEATURE: Sugardale . . . . . . . . . 16 Seen Local. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Film. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19

MUSIC FEATURE: Strawberry Moon. . 20 Notes From The Smoking Patio . . . . . . . . . . . 21 About Last Night. . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 If I Were U. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . . . . . . 24-26

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

before. The fact that one writer’s opinion gets them so defensive to where they feel like they must attack back makes us think that they’re not ready for these types of discussions.

Meanwhile, many artists (read: artists of color) deal with this issue every day. They have to have these types of discussions. They don’t have a choice. This is especially true in San Diego, precisely because reggae is very popular here.

Look, if you’re white and play reggae, homage doesn’t begin and end with shout-outs of your reggae influences on your website or at your concerts. It means giving back to that community and also taking a step back to maybe consider why other artists have not been given the same opportunities as you. Some artists, such as Slightly Stoopid, do a good job at this. Props to them.

But again, they’re the exception to the rule.

We say play whatever music you want. All that we ask is that, perhaps, folks who love, play and listen to reggae take a moment to consider some of these questions. We’re sorry if that’s hard for some of you to hear, but maybe think about it. #OneLove

@SDCITYBEAT

JOHN R. LAMB

UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE Making a DIFference We talk about affordable housing in this campaign year… but we don’t act.

—Margarita Lopez

A

s San Diego housing prices continue to soar while new construction hobbles along, the opportunities and options to put a dent into this vexing problem seem to be dwindling. But one idea Mayor Kevin Faulconer is tinkering with offers a small ray of hope.

What’s more, it may not even require a political fight.

It’s been a long time coming, but the city of San Diego seems prepared finally to tackle an important—albeit wonky—conundrum that affordable-housing advocates and magnates of the construction industry alike agree has stifled development of smaller housing units, even as so-called “micro-units” have gained worldwide notoriety.

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JOHN R. LAMB

These tiny homes—generally anywhere from 300 to 600 square feet in size—have spawned their own television series and drawn the attention of a wide spectrum of people who are looking (perhaps even praying) for some semblance of a solution to a housing shortage that has hit California’s metropolitan cities especially hard.

Last week, Councilmember Lorie Zapf perked up Spin’s ears when she asked how the mayor’s office was coming along with plans to change the city’s methods in determining development impact fees, which, just as the name implies, are fees developers are charged to cover a wide range of community impacts. These impacts include things like increased water and sewer use to public safety and park development.

The fee—sometimes referred to as DIF—is currently charged on a per-unit basis and varies wildly from neighborhood to neighborhood, based on a community’s

public-facilities needs. During last week’s Smart Growth & Land Use Committee meeting, Zapf noted the problem.

“If you built a small condo or a $2 million home, the DIF fee was the same because it was per unit,” Zapf said. “Now don’t you think that people living in a big four- or five-bedroom house have more impact than a one- or two-bedroom?”

She said the result has been to create an incentive for developers to build larger, more luxurious homes at the expense of smaller, more naturally affordable homes requiring no public subsidies.

Elyse Lowe, the mayor’s director of land use and economic development, told Zapf at the Smart Growth meeting that Faulconer intends to bring a proposal to the City Council for adoption sometime “this year” with the intent to “incentivize the production of smaller units by changing the DIF methodology.”

Although the details are scarce, that change could involve moving away from a per-unit charge to a square-footage calculation involving total livable space in a home or condo or apartment building.

Arian Collins, a supervising public information officer with the city, said consultants with Keyser Marston Associates are reviewing various methodologies employed by other cities. She also said that they

When Mayor Faulconer finishes tinkering with development fees, will modular micro-homes like the one at this year’s Earth Fair take off? have been directed “to move forward with analyzing a methodology that will scale the fee for residential units based on unit size and unit type versus the current practice of only by unit type (i.e., single family and multi-family).”

Workshops and public hearings will commence once the consultants have completed their analysis, Collins said, although no specific timeframe was offered.

For now, the mayor’s office won’t commit to one formula over another until it sees the analysis.

“Square footage is likely to be one of the options,” Collins said, “but we’re not foreclosing other options to ensure a more refined fee assessment based upon the size and type of units.”

Despite the uncertainty, affordable-housing advocates cheered the news.

Colin Parent, executive director of Circulate San Diego, which last year issued a report detailing a host of policy changes that it said would spur more housing development near transit, noted that the mayor emphasized fee restructuring in this year’s State of the City address.

“I will send legislation to the City Council to revamp fees so developers are encouraged to build smaller units that people can actually afford,” Faulconer said during the January speech, drawing an enthusiastic round of applause.

“Circulate San Diego is happy to see progress from the City of San Diego for reforming development fees,” Parent told Spin. “Reforming development fees would eliminate an incentive for developers to lower their fees by building fewer and larger units. The result should be more homes built, and they should also tend to be more affordable since they won’t be artificially large.”

Eric Naslund, a former city Planning Commission chairman and a principal at Studio E Architects, a firm hip-deep in the microunit movement, said when it comes

to housing, “size does matter in every sense of the word.” He also said that the per-unit development fee model is “absolutely a hindrance to doing smaller things, no question about it” and that “using square footage is a way more reasonable way to do these things.” He said that “tons” of deals to develop housing in City Heights, for example, have been killed simply because the community is so short on park space that “you couldn’t build units without providing that open space on site,” preventing projects from penciling out financially.

At the Earth Fair this past weekend, a corrugated steel box had been transformed into what appeared to be a quite livable space. A bedroom, living room, small kitchen and bathroom all tucked into 320 square feet of metal. The local company pushing the prefab-micro-home concept, C&N Modular Structures, is a spin-off of a shiprepair business in National City.

Bill Link, who retired from Navy civil service after 40 years, is now an enthusiastic pitchman for the small-home idea. The Earth Day crowd confirmed his suspicions.

“It was rewarding to see so many people interested in alternative solutions,” he told Spin Monday. “A homeless woman came by— she lives in a tent now—and she said this is the perfect long-term solution, a good, secure approach.

She was thrilled!”

He also had a landowner from Barrio Logan approach him about using the stackable containers (made new, rather than using old shipping containers that can contain lead paint and rat poison) for an upcoming project.

Neither the city nor county have yet signed off on his stackable plans, but Link remains undaunted.

“It’s an exciting new world,” he said.

Spin Cycle appears every other week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5

UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

Devonte Hart and the myth of “nice white families”

T

he news cycle has moved on, but I have not. I can’t stop thinking of Devonte Hart.

For those who have forgotten which Black victim he is in the endless list of them: Devonte was murdered at the end of last month, along with his five siblings, by their white mother when she drove her family off a cliff in Mendocino. (Note: 15-year-old Devonte’s body and that of his 16-year-old sister, Hannah, have not been found; they are presumed dead.)

Toxicology tests revealed that Jennifer, who committed the final heinous act of abuse after what is turning out to be a history of it, was drunk. Her wife Sarah, also guilty of abuse, was in the passenger seat, while the kids were in the back. Both had large amounts of a Benadryl-like substance in their systems.

So much for the Disney-esque narrative these parents liked to portray of their blended family. So much for the fairytale that adoption is a winwin for everybody.

There was no win for Devonte and his siblings. There was no win for their birth families.

Devonte’s aunt had tried to adopt her nephews and nieces, but the state swooped in and took them away only to give them to the more preferable white couple.

The children’s birth parents have come forward to share their outrage and grief. And they are entitled to it. Even if the adoption was against their will, it is reasonable for them to expect their children would be cared for, safe and loved.

This should be the bare minimum in a society addicted to value judgments resulting in Black children being removed from their parents in lieu of nice white families. We assume that white families will do a better job raising children, and that wealthy parents are better parents than poor ones. We believe these things and as a result, kids suffer.

When I heard about this atrocious story, I felt physically sick. Back in December 2014, I wrote a column about the Harts after an image of a sobbing Devonte embracing a white cop was shared to the point of becoming immediately iconic. Devonte, his face twisted in what to me looked like anguish, was the sudden mascot for faux racial healing following the acquittal of Darren Wilson, the cop who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

I didn’t feel right about the photo at the time; it felt staged, the child tokenized. It also didn’t feel right when his child-collecting, white adoptive mothers shared extremely personal details about Devonte’s history with the public. His story.

Adopted people are the only people who have a right to tell their stories. Period. Full stop. The Harts had no right to tell the world about any of their kids. And the fact that they said what they did about

Devonte angered me.

And while I gave them a pass at the time and assumed they loved their kids as much as any parent, the reality was more sinister. Theirs wasn’t love at all, but a type of self-reverie and narcissism. No, I didn’t feel right about any of it.

It turns out my instincts were right.

In an act of what I consider to be overt child abuse, Jennifer and Sarah Hart had given their son a “free hugs” sign the day that photo was taken and forced him to stand with it in the streets of Ferguson, facing down a police barricade. Think about that for a moment: A then-12-year-old Black child was literally made to confront a bunch of cops. During a protest.

Against the murder by police of a kid who looked like him.

This is like shoving your kid off a high dive so he’ll come to grips with his fear of heights... only, times a jillion to the infinite power. And also with sharks.

Jennifer Hart explained this particular parenting philosophy: “My son,” she wrote at the time, “struggles when it comes to living fearlessly when it comes to police.”

With their metaphorical shove and obtuse defense of it, the couple revealed the lie of good whiteness. The incident offered a glimpse into their willful ignorance of any historical context for Devonte’s fears and to their children’s realities.

And those realities—from being arrested in a Starbucks for not making a purchase and being shot at by a neighbor when asking for directions, to dying in a hail of bullets while minding your own business in your car—also include a history of Black people’s truths not being believed.

When, for example, Devonte and one of his sisters repeatedly sought refuge and food at the home of neighbors, they were cared for momentarily and then returned to their abusers. Did the neighbors not believe a child who came to them at 1:30 in the morning?

They ultimately did call the authorities, but that raises questions. Who does one call, exactly? A social worker? The police? Which authority is going to believe a Black teenager over his white parents? Which authority is going to protect the Black abused child?

Which authority is going to look out for the wellbeing of a Devonte, a Markis, a Hannah, a Sierra, a Jeremiah, an Abigail?

Because as far as I can tell, nobody was looking out for these kids even as signs were visible for anyone who wanted to see them. Everyone just assumed Jennifer and Sarah Hart were some of the good guys.

We assume that white families will do a better job raising children, and that wealthy parents are better parents than poor ones. We believe these things and as a result, kids suffer.

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aarynb@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS

AWKWARD

Pretending to be an art director

T

here’s an old episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry David volunteers to be a car salesman for a day—a job he feels he could do despite having no training. Long story short: He’s not good at it.

I think about this episode quite often. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my professional career, it’s the importance of winging it. The only job I’ve ever had that’s provided sufficient training has been a government job—the rest of the time I’ve been forced to improvise. And besides an existential hollowness that forces me to confront my own inadequacies on a daily basis, I’m better for it. Expertise be damned.

So, when CityBeat’s art director, Carolyn Ramos, left on a week-and-a-half vacation, I summoned my inner Larry David and stepped up to fill in.

Day 1: So this is one of those “computers” everyone is talking about, right? Ha ha. Just kidding.

I know what a computer is. Enjoy your vacation, Carolyn! This paper is safe in my handss [sic].

Day 2: The first two pieces of content arrive, ready to be laid out. I open the corresponding template and begin pasting words and adding pictures. I feel a surge of power knowing that this work is going into irrefutable, uneditable print. I could get used to this kind of control.

It almost feels divine. I don’t feel like God, per se, but a god.

I look at the clock and realize that I’ve spent the last two hours trying to squish a bunch of words to fit around a photo of a burger.

Day 3: I arrive to work with reignited vigor, ready to conquer the beast that is print media. I don’t necessarily want to reinvent the wheel, but I want to leave my mark. I look at the work I did on the previous day and am disgusted by it. How could I allow myself to make this? It is le trash! Dull. Uninspired. Not the work of an art director, but an art detractor!

I spend an hour digitally cutting a musician out of a picture using Photoshop, freeing his body from the confines of the photo’s square shape. There are too many goddamned squares in this paper’s layout. And in life! Too many borders, too many walls. Bodies need to be free. I magnify the picture 500 percent while I erase the background from between the musician’s legs, right underneath his crotch. Viva la revolución.

I look upon my creation: a goofy bassist who appears to be skanking among the lines of text. The image is so beautiful, I almost weep.

Day 4: Over the weekend, I have a stress dream about our upcoming deadline day. In the dream, none of the fonts I’ve chosen match CityBeat’s style guide. Not only that, but I’ve forgotten everything I

know about fonts. I scroll through the endless variety and try to find the match, but—as per usual in my dreams—everything is just a little off. The entire staff watches over my shoulder as I attempt one font after another. “What’s the difference between Times New Roman and PT Serif?” I ask.

I wake up with a jolt. Considering the power of the mind to conjure unlimited wonder and possibilities during dreams, the fact that I just had a nightmare about scrolling through fonts makes me incredibly sad.

Day 5: I descend into a mental rabbit hole thinking about the nature of printed words. Why, as a news organization, are we limiting ourselves to these outdated Roman symbols? Shouldn’t we try expanding to different forms of visual interpretations? Like, what are words, really?

Then a sobering thought interrupts my downward spiral.

I could get used to this kind of control. It almost feels divine. I don’t feel like God, per se, but a god.

@SDCITYBEAT

DID I

REMEMBER

TO

CLICK

SAVE?

Day 6: I’m throwing words and pictures on the pages with lightning speed. Not even the computer can keep up with me. It’s like that scene in 2001 when the dude is traveling through space and seeing new colors, but all my colors are in the CMYK spectrum. I become a master of kerning—I can bend the shape of words to my will. Carolyn’s mouse becomes slick with my sweat (sorry, Carolyn). Might as well call this issue RyanBeat because I alone am saving the print medium.

Then a huge batch of calendar listings come in, and my brain gently processes this moment with 100 pt. font:

K I L L M E N OW Day 7 (deadline day): By the seventh day, I’m exhausted. My editor buys pizza to ease the stress and I eat it like a stupid wild animal. Somewhere in the back of my mind, there’s some humanity left, but it’s distant. I scroll through Carolyn’s Instagram stories and look at her exotic adventures with numb indifference.

We put the paper to bed five minutes before hitting the deadline. I’m done. Carolyn, come home. You can have your job back.

Well, That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com

APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | FOOD

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE From the ashes

I

t’s a clichéd sentiment that is found in countless songs: You don’t miss a good thing ‘til it’s gone.

Surprisingly, the worst thing about that cliché is not how bad most of those songs are, but the fact that they actually got it wrong. K Sandwiches (7604 Linda Vista Road) in Clairemont is a case in point: I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until it was back.

It was just before 9 p.m. on August 4, 2015 when an oven fire got out of control and engulfed K Sandwiches. With more than $1.5 million in damages, the structure was declared a total loss. Jan. 5 of this year, about two-and-a-half years later, K reopened to long lines and with a slightly airier, more modern look and feel.

K Sandwiches is best known for its banh mi sandwiches. Banh mi are among the most prominent culinary relics from France’s colonial hold on Vietnam. The bread is Vietnam’s version of the baguette, albeit a bit shorter, airier (due to the inclusion of rice flour) and with a thinner crust than its colonial forbearer. It is this bread that is the great glory of K’s sandwiches: warm and with an intoxicating aroma that hits the moment the sandwich is unwrapped.

The basic formula of a banh mi is simple: that house-baked bread, mayonnaise, pickled daikon and carrot batons, garnishes and proteins. The latter is the main variable. My favorite banh mi at K was the grilled pork. The slightly sweet, deeply savory and almost barbecue-like flavor of the pork paired perfectly with the heat from the jalapeño slices, pickled vegetables and the cilantro with the stems left in place.

The #1 K Special—featuring pâté, pork loaf and cold cuts—is pretty much the classic, prototypical version of the banh mi. The combination of the three proteins yields a balanced sandwich. It would

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

be better if the quality of the pâté were higher, though that feels like a bit of a quibble: There’s simply no shortage of flavor in the sandwich.

One of the most unusual of K’s offerings is the shredded pork skin. It’s not fried—like chicharrones—but rather it has the ever-soslightly gelatinous texture that’s popular in Asian cultures (and with me) and that meat-n-potatoes ‘merikins tend not to favor in their savory foods.

For the adventurous, though, it’s a playground of MICHAEL A. GARDINER

Grilled pork banh mi

textures with the pork skins contrasting with the crispy bread and the crunch of that jalapeño.

There’s more than just banh mi at K. The barbecued pork in the shrimp and pork spring rolls elevate the appetizer staple. The pork banh bao are Vietnam’s take on steamed buns familiar from Chinese dim sum. They’re fluffy, they’re savory and they’ve got surprises inside such as ground pork, mushrooms, hard-boiled quail egg and sausage.

The pâté chaud is a savory puff pastry filled with ground pork and is another tasty testament to France’s influence.

But K Sandwiches is about the banh mi and those banh mi are the best in town. I didn’t realize how long those two-and-a half years were. I didn’t realize how much I missed them. I do now.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

April 25, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

UP FRONT | DRINK

ANATOMY OF A COCKTAIL SCENE #30: Fine-wining at Cowboy Star

were very few creative outlets in bars back then; very few places in which you can impart your own style into a cocktail. The sanhave a love/hate relationship with san- gria was one of those things from a bartendgria that goes back over a decade. My er’s perspective that you could hold sway opinions on the arrhythmic concoc- over. Craft, change and make your own.

The first cocktail book I ever owned was tion have fluctuated throughout the years based on learned knowledge, and then a sangria cocktail recipe book given to me by the owner of that diner. I started applypromptly questioning that knowledge.

I first became intimate with sangria ing these recipes to the sangrias that we during my first bar manager job back in used to serve. Then at some point I stopped the day. It was circa 2005 and I was work- following them and started creating my ing at a family-owned restaurant in an old own. I began changing the lemon to grapefruit and started adding ranboxcar diner in Williamsburg, GARTH FLOOD dom kitchen ingredients such Brooklyn. One of the owners as cloves, cinnamon and even was also an internationally truffle oil. It was exciting and known chef and his wife loved new. No one I knew was doing sangria. It was a staple of the it, but no one ever said it was bar menu for years before I arwrong. For me, it was harmless rived and remained after I left. experimentation that helped The owner also loved sanshape the years to come. gria for a few reasons, the priFew establishments still mary one being that it is inserve sangria. Luckily for San credibly cost efficient to any Diego, Cowboy Star (640 bar. The old wine that was Sangria at 10th Ave., Downtown) didn’t about to get dumped down Cowboy Star gravitate to this idea. It is one the sink was magically transformed into a new revenue generator at of the small places in San Diego that has ten dollars a glass. This was a no-waste been doing sangria well, and has been dorestaurant and while this is now com- ing it well for a long time.

Sangria is often a tricky thing to make mon, back in 2004 it was still somewhat good, much less describe what makes it unheard of.

One of the things that was different in taste good. To me, a good sangria has mi2004 was that it was pre-modern mixology. nor hallmarks of wine. It shouldn’t really There were a handful of people floating taste like wine at all. It should go through around Manhattan at the time making cre- the process of becoming itself; finding its ative cocktails, but for the most part, there own character. Its own life. Its own being.

I know what Cowboy Star sangria tastes like because I have had it for years. It is balanced and untethered from wine charSANGRIA acteristics. A true product of its maker, as prepared at Cowboy Star Beverage Director Garth Flood, the sangria 4 oz. Red wine ½ oz. Crème de cassis is textured, contains light fruit qualities 2 oz. White wine ½ oz. Bourbon and feels robust and effervescent. Flavors ½ oz. Peach schnapps ½ oz. Dr. Pepper imparted by the bartender, the way sangria should be.

I

Combine all ingredients and let rest together.

Serve in a wine glass with ice. Garnish with sliced oranges.

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

BY DAVEY LANDEROS

BY IAN WARD

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

REVENGE OF THE BEER NERD All grown up

ingly, the beer has a crisp, dry finish that cleans up a mouthful of flavorful hops that wave of beer history washed over me Beach refers to as the “sexy good stuff.”

Finally, I tasted the OPP (On Point Por(so to speak) as I entered the Mission Brewery Plaza in Middletown ter) which is measured at a fair 6.8 percent (1795 Hancock St.). The Plaza was built in ABV. This porter has a decadent mouth1913 to house the original Mission Brew- feel and is brewed without any roast or ery and over a century later, Acoustic Ales black malts. The aroma and palate are moved in and revived the brewing opera- filled by a wonderful range of chocolate tions. But now Acoustic has outgrown the notes, which Beach says comes from the space and intends to open up a facility in Midnight Wheat, Simpson’s Chocolate Carlsbad. Recently, the Latchkey kids—that and Carabohemian malt.

The beer was delicious, but the best part is, Latchkey Brewing—have moved in and was learning about how much West, Dolhave taken over brewing Acoustic’s recipes to help it meet production demands until lente and especially Beach want consumers the new facility opens. They’re also brew- to engage with their beer. They know that the process starts with the staff and want ing some tasty beers of their own.

DAVEY LANDEROS every employee to spend After touring the brewsome time brewing. They house with co-founders and also plan on showing the brothers-in-law Matt West recipes to consumers in the and Gerald Dollente, as well front of house. as head brewer Anthony “We have no secrets,” Beach, we spoke in-depth says Beach, who hopes that about their plans and phiLatchkey Brewing will be a losophies. CityBeat readers haven for consumers that can catch up on their pediwork in the local beer indusgrees on the brewery’s webtry. site (latchkeybrew.com), but The tasting room felt a Latchkey Brewing these individuals intend on little cozy, but West tells me appealing to local consumers, tourists and beer professionals alike. that they plan on developing the remainThey proudly announced that they refuse ing parts of the tasting room to include an to put out any beers with off-flavors and independent kitchen, an outdoor beer garden and small exhibit that highlights the have a “not-afraid-to-dump” attitude.

The San Diego 1915 Lager was the first history of San Diego beer. Once Acoustic beer Latchkey brewed in the space and they Ales finally settles into its new space, Dolspecifically decided that the name should lente and Beach have plans to introduce pay homage to the century old tradition kettle and traditional sours, funky saisons of brewing that hangs in the atmosphere. and a barrel program.

These Latchkey kids have worked in Coming in at 4.6 percent ABV, this refreshing lager is crisp and flavorful with a unique, myriad places over the years, such as Cutresidual sweetness in the back end. It’s as if water, Ballast Point and Green Flash, but it seems like they’re all grown up now (is it gently whispers “just one more sip.”

Next I had the Real Slim Shazy Pale, a Latchkey men a thing?) and found a col4.9 percent ABV hazy pale ale that mar- lective home together. ries the traditions of the West Coast and the trends of the East Coast IPA. With over Write to Davey at daveyl@sdcitybeat.com three pounds of hops per barrel, the hop or check him out on Instagram at aroma jumps out of the glass. More surpris- @daveythebeernerd.

A

@SDCITYBEAT

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

SAN DIEGO

SPRINGING INTO SPRING

Spring is here, and the last weekend of art projects from Artist & Craftsman Supply and April is always a busy time when it comes to sea- even an experimental pop-up art tent from Vansonal celebrations. One of the more iconic events, guard Culture. It all happens from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. of course, is Art Alive, the annual floral art exhi- on Saturday and Sunday. More info can be found at artwalksandiego.org. bition at the San Diego Museum of BAUMAN PHOTOGRAPHERS And we didn’t forget about foodArt (1450 El Prado) in Balboa Park. ies and music lovers. The annual free Now in its 37th year, the annual musical walkabout, Adams Avenue showcase features 100 flower-arUnplugged, returns this Saturday, ranged interpretations of SDMA’s April 28 from noon to 10 p.m. For most famous works. There will also those unfamiliar, a two-mile stretch be various accompanying events, of Adams Avenue will be blocked off including artisan showcases and for 24 stages of music from over 80 even a flower crown-making workbands and artists (most of them loshop (like, OMG). The main floral cal). There will also be performances exhibit is on display from 9 a.m. inside local eateries and businesses to 5 p.m. Friday, April 27 through along Adams Avenue. Check out adSunday, April 29 and single-day amsavenuebusiness.com for full list tickets cost $25 for non-members of acts and route maps. at sdmart.org.

Finally, there’s the WaterAnother springtime tradition front Chocolate Festival at the is the annual Mission Federal ArtWalk, which will take up 17 Art Alive Maritime Museum of San Diego in Downtown (1492 N Harbor Drive). blocks of Downtown and Little Italy. Whatever type of visual art readers are into can The seventh annual fest includes dozens of venbe found at the fest, be it painting, sculpture, glass dors, as well as cooking demonstrations and wine work, photography, fine jewelry and more. In addi- and beer chocolate pairings. It happens Sunday tion to the hundreds of vendors, there will also be from noon to 4 p.m. and tickets range from $13 to live music, spoken word performances, interactive $25 at sdmaritime.org.

SAN DIEGO

TO LIVE AND DINE IN S.D. While living with HIV is no longer a death sentence, it’s easy to forget this wouldn’t be the case if so many people hadn’t started events to raise awareness as well as much-needed funds for HIV/AIDS causes. That’s why events like Dining Out for Life are still so important. For one night, dozens of local restaurants, coffeehouses and bars will donate a portion or most of the night’s sales to local HIV/AIDS services at The Center. San Diego will be celebrating its 12th year on Thursday, April 26. Some of our favorites include Big Front Door, Urban Mo’s, La Puerta and Waypoint Public, but there are tons to choose from on the list of participants, which can be found at thecentersd.org.

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS & BARRIO LOGAN

BOLD BOOKS For those looking for some enlightened books, there are a couple of events this week that should help with that. First, local writer Kirsten Imani Kasai will read from and sign her African-American gothic novel, The House of Erzulie, at La Bodega Gallery (2196 Logan Ave.) at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 28. The reading (more at verminonthemount.com) will be followed by a discussion on othering, spiritualism, female empowerment and the mixed-race experience. Then, on Wednesday, May 2 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Eden Tattoo Gallery (3001 Madison Ave.), artist Derek Hess (derekhess.com) will be promoting his new book, 31 Days in May: A Visual Journal of Mental Illness and Addiction, an art book that documents pieces that deal with his personal struggles with bipolar disorder and substance abuse. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

ANGELO MERENDINO

All Things Good at Bluefoot Bar and Lounge, 3404 30th St., North Park. A popup art show curated by Thumbprint Gallery. Features music by resident DJs Habitat and Hevrock. From 7 p.m. to midnight.

Thursday, April 26. Free. facebook.com/ events/1806964809607315 HArt Alive at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Over 100 local designers present floral interpretations of famous works of art from SDMA’s permanent collection. This annual floral exhibition is accompanied by three full days of events.

See site for full schedule and tickets. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, April 27 through Sunday, April 29. Free-$25. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org HNancy Lorenz: Moon Gold at San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

The first major solo museum exhibition to showcase the art and alchemy of New Yorkbased Nancy Lorenz. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Friday, April 27. Free-$10. 619-232-7931, sdmart.org HGeometric Milk at Vivid Space SD, 2420 India St., Little Italy. Opening in conjunction with the Mission Federal ArtWalk, this exhibition features geometry-inspired work by artists Lexi Campbell and Melissa Walter.

Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 28. Free. 760-330-7865, vividspacesd.com HFemme Forme at Title TK, 4274 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. A networking event encouraging female-identifying artists to meet and collaborate. There will be music, pop-up shops and more at this intergalactic-themed event. From 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, April 28. $3 suggested donation. facebook. com/events/199921510780865 HMission Federal ArtWalk at Downtown and Little Italy. The 34th annual festival and event will fill 17 blocks and feature over 350 artists showcasing every medium, including painting, sculpture, glasswork, photography, fine jewelry and more. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29. Free. artwalksandiego.org HAfter Nauman at Sandbox, 325 15th St., East Village. SPACE TIME presents a one night exhibition of two early films by artist Bruce Nauman, along with a dance performance directed by Justin Morrison inspired

by Nauman’s performance films created in the late 1960s. At 7 p.m. Sunday, April 29. $5-$7. spacetimeart.org Prom Dress: Seventeen on Being 17 at Cannon Art Gallery, 1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad. Seventeen female artists’ works give perspectives on the hype and expectations associated with being a teenage girl at prom and the meaning it holds years later. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, April 29. Free. sdncan.org

BOOKS HNEA Big Read Panel at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. Speculative fiction writers Kali Wallace, S.B. Divya and Kirsten Imani Kasai will sign and discuss their latest offerings. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 27. Free. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com HIndependent Bookstore Day at various locations. A one-day national event where local stores will feature author signings and other fun stuff. There are also exclusive books and literary items that you can only get on that day. See website for participating stores, times and details. Saturday, April 28. Free. indiebookstoreday.com HWilliam H. Overholt at D.G.Wills Books, 7461 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Harvard University author will discuss his timely new book, China’s Crisis of Success. At 2 p.m.

Sunday, April 29. Free. 858-456-1800, www.dgwillsbooks.com

Dining Out for Life @SDCITYBEAT

Derek Hess

H = CityBeat picks

Daymond Green at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The co-founder of FUBU and co-host of the show Shark Tank will sign and discuss his new book, Rise and Grind. Price includes copy of the book. At 4 p.m. Sunday, April 29. $29.09. 858-4540347, warwicks.com HRuby Namdar at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The Israeli novelist will sign and discuss his debut, The Ruined House. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 2. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com HDerek Hess at Eden Tattoo Gallery, 3001 Madison Ave., University Heights. The acclaimed artist will be promoting his new book, 31 Days in May: A Visual Journal of Mental Illness and Addiction. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. From 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 2. Free. derekhess.com

DANCE LITVAKdance Inaugural Performance at Molli and Arthur Wagner Dance Building, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The newly formed, Encinitas-based dance group will perform choreography by Bradley Lundberg, Dave Massey, Yolande Snaith and Sadie Weinberg. At 7 p.m. Saturday, April 28 and 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday, April 29. $15$20. 619-855-0367, litvakdance.com

FOOD & DRINK HDining Out for Life at various locations.

Visit one of over 70 participating restaurants, bars, coffeehouses and nightclubs in town on this night and a percentage of sales will go to local HIV/AIDS services and prevention programs at The Center. Various times. Thursday, April 27. Prices vary. diningoutforlife.com HBirds and Bubbly at You & Yours Distilling Co., 1495 G St., East Village. The third annual fried chicken and champagne pairing dinner featuring Chef Joann. Tickets include a five-course dinner with cocktail and champagne pairings. From 7 to 10 p.m.

Thursday, April 26. $99.85. 619-955-8755, facebook.com/events/397701940637027 HThe Quintessential Festival at Nobel Athletic Fields and Recreation Center, 8810 Judicial Drive, La Jolla. The La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club celebrates its 32nd anniversary with tastings from more than 30 local breweries, wineries and craft distilleries plus live music and more. From 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 28. $30. lajollagtrotary.org Liberty Call Distilling Fourth Anniversary Party at Liberty Call Distilling, 2739 Via Orange Way Ste 110, Spring Valley. The distillery celebrates its fourth year in business with a celebration inside the tasting room with specials, live jazz, food and new releases. From 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 28. Free. 619-630-1240, facebook.com/ events/181036499192029 HWaterfront Chocolate Festival at Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 N Harbor Drive, Downtown. The seventh annual fest held on multiple vessels features over 15 vendors showcasing and sampling various types of chocolate. Also includes cooking demonstrations and wine and beer chocolate pairings. From noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 29. $13-$25. sdmaritime.org

MUSIC HMamak Khadem at The Loft at UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The Iranian singer Mamak Khadem is known for blending her roots in the ancient poetry and music of the Persian masters that results in an altogether new sound. At 8 p.m. Thursday, April 26. $9-$30. artpower.ucsd.edu

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 Art Garfunkel at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The iconic singer will play his solo hits and Simon & Garfunkel songs with guitarist Tab Laven and keyboardist Dave Mackay. This is part of his “In Close Up” world tour. At 8 p.m. Friday, April 27. $51.50-$71. 619-570-1100, sandiegotheatres.org HMarc Broussard and Friends at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown.

This Louisiana native is known for blending southern music styles and re-interpreting classic pop hits of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. At 8 p.m. Friday, April 27. $20-$78. 619-2350800, sandiegosymphony.org HNWEAMO Festival at San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, College Area. A festival that explores experimental music and art. There will be various events throughout the day to connect people of different musical genres and styles. From 8 to 11 p.m. Friday, April 27 and 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29. $10-$20. nweamo.org The Joey Alexander Trio at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The selftaught, Grammy-nominated pianist from Bali will perform original compositions and jazz classics by Coltrane, Monk and more. At 8 p.m. Saturday, April 28. $23-$73. 619-5701100, sandiegotheatres.org HAdams Avenue Unplugged at Adams Avenue. The seventh annual event will feature more than 100 artists on 30 stages along Adams Avenue, from University Heights to Kensington. Performers include Paul Barrere & Fred Tackett, Abraham Charles, Behind the Wagon and more.

From noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 28.

Free. adamsavenueunplugged.com

HKind of Blue at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., Downtown. Trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos collaborates with fellow jazz artists to perform Miles Davis’ 1959 album Kind of Blue. At 8 p.m. Saturday, April 28. $30. 619-235-0800, sandiegosymphony.org Tina Guo at California Center for the Arts Escondido, 340 N Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The Grammy-nominated acoustic/ electric cellist, recording artist and composer performs with the San Diego Civic Youth Orchestra. Her solos have appeared in Wonder Woman, Inception and other film scores.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, April 29. $35-$65. 760839-4138, artcenter.org Lisa Sanders and Brown Sugar at California Center for the Arts Escondido, 340 N Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The countryblues duo will perform together for two performances as part of First Wednesdays at the California Center for the Arts. They have opened for artists such as BB King, Al Green and more. At 4 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 2. Free. 760-839-4138, artcenter.org

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HVAMP: Off-Leash at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. So Say We All’s monthly storytelling night features stories about pets, beasts, creatures, domesticated or otherwise. Featured readers include Beth Haynes, Ryan Hicks, Prudence Horne and more. From 8:30 to 10 p.m.

Thursday, April 26. $5 suggested donation. 619-284-6784, sosayweallonline.com HNon-Standard Lit: Foster, Huerta + del Rio at Verbatim Books, 3793 30th St., North Park. The fourth reading for spring 2018 in this ongoing series will feature Sesshu Foster (City Terrace Field Manual), local writer Lizz Huerta and poet Tamaria

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

del Rio (Madwoman Etc.). From 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, April 27. Free. facebook. com/nonstandardlit

petology and more. From 2 p.m. Friday, April 27 to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28. Free.

619-232-3821, sdnhm.org

HVermin on the Mount SD at La Bodega Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. Jim Ruland hosts a night of irreverent readings from Jennifer Corley, Adam Deutsch, Ryan Griffith, Kirsten Imani Kasai and Alix Sharp.

From 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 28. Free. facebook.com/events/185285898778243

HPet Day on the Bay at Hornblower Cruises, 1800 N. Harbor Drive, Downtown. The 18th annual dog-loving boat tour includes costume contests and photo opportiunities, with a portion of the proceeds going to Helen Woodward Animal Center. At 9:30 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. Saturday, April 28. $13.50-$27. 858-756-4117, hornblower.com

HVirgin Context: An Evening of Anthology Readings at Tiger!Tiger!, 3025 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. A night of readings from the latest releases of the Poetry International Chapbook series.

Content focuses on themes of love, shame and more while celebrating female and POC writers. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 2. Free. facebook.com/ events/1622508357847667

POLITICS & COMMUNITY HNorth County Natives at Linksoul Lab, 530 South Coast Highway, Oceanside.

A meet-and-greet with 49th Congressional District candidate Sara Jacobs, Vista Mayor candidate Sarah Spinks and Vista City Council candidate Corinna Contreras.

Includes complimentary appetizers, a drink donation bar, live DJ and guest speakers.

From 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 29. 760917-6666, thehillstreetcountryclub.org

SPECIAL EVENTS Balboa Park BioBlitz at San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado, Balboa Park. A 24-hour event to observe and document local wildlife as part of the global City Nature Challenge. Plus speak with museum scientists, including curators of botany, her-

HUH 130 at 4600 Block Park Blvd., University Heights. The neighborhood of University Heights celebrates its 130th anniversary with a block party that includes live music and food and drink samplings. From 5 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, April 28. Free-$10. uhsd.org HSpring Street Fair at Downtown Encinitas, South Coast Hwy 101 and Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. The annual fair features more than 450 vendors, a beer garden, three stages of live music and more. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29. Free. visitencinitas.org Hanamatsuri Festival at Vista Buddhist Temple, 150 Cedar Road, Vista. The annual Japanese and Buddhist cultural festival features Japanese food, taiko drumming, tea ceremonies, tea tasting, introduction to Buddhism talks, cultural performances and more. From noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29. Free. 760-9418800, vbtemple.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HDialogues in Art and Architecture at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall Street, La Jolla. A series of free public talks on the experimental edge of new art—particularly across disciplines—and archi-

tecture, addressing architectural design, urban planning and more. Moderated by iconic San Diego art critic Robert Pincus. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 25 through Wednesday, May 9. Free. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org HLet’s Talk Art at Poliform at Poliform Showroom, 7726 Girard Ave., La Jolla.

Local photographer John Brinton Hogan discusses the connection between art and land preservation. A selection of his colorful landscape photographs will also be on display. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 26. Free. 858-869-0668, mopa.org HRoxanne Jackson at San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, College Area. This mixed media sculptor who co-founded Nasty Women, a national art movement that has since raised tens of thousands of dollars for Planned Parenthood, will be speaking as a guest of the Perspective Lecture Series. At 6 p.m.

Thursday, April 26. Free. 619-594-6511, art.sdsu.edu Chilenas in the Diaspora: Culture, Resistance, and Hope at Thurgood Marshall College Room, Price Center West, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. An event honoring the artistic and activist contributions of Chilean women who sought refuge in the U.S. during Chile’s military dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 27. Free. 858-534-2860, visarts.ucsd.edu HBradford Young at Price Center Theater, UC San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Join the Academy Award-nominated cinematographer behind Selma, Arrival and, most recently, Solo: A Star Wars Story for a conversation with Professor Brian Cross. From 3:30 to 6 p.m. Friday, April 27. Free. 858-534-2860, visarts. ucsd.edu

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

April 25, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

14 · San Diego CityBeat · april 25, 2018

@SDCityBeat

THEATER

JIM COX

The Wanderers

Wandering and wondering

T

he dual worlds of Anna Ziegler’s The Wanderers never physically collide, but they are certainly intertwined in this smart, worldpremiere play directed by Barry Edelstein in the Old Globe’s White Theatre. One world is that of cerebral but detached Brooklynites Abe (Daniel Eric Gold) and Sophie (Michelle Beck). They’re both writers of the naturally tortured variety, though the successful Abe is also pretentious and in love with his every word, especially those he speaks in fits of narcissistic disillusionment. The other world is seen 20 years earlier. Its inhabitants are Abe’s father Schmuli, an ultra-Orthodox Jew in the Satmar Hasidic community, and mother Esther (Ali Rose Dachis, the cream of the cast), whose joyous spirit and freedom are oppressed by the arranged marriage.

When Abe begins an email relationship with Julia Cheever (Janie Brookshire), a beautiful devotee from one of his book readings, another layer of dysfunction is added to his deteriorating relationship with Sophie. Meanwhile, the parallel lives from the past both heighten and explain the pain and guilt that drive Abe to sabotage all that is good in his turbulent life.

The characters have just enough serrated edges to stave off what could otherwise be considered First World wallowing. The depth of Ziegler’s script, with its multiple reflections on faith and self, ensures 100 minutes of thoughtful and riveting theater.

The Wanderers runs through May 6 in the Old Globe’s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Balboa Park. $30 and up; theoldglobe.org ••• hat happens next for a circle of military veterans is discovering a means to cope with the scars of war and discovering themselves at the same time. This psychological and emotional dynamic underlies Naomi Iizuka’s penetrating What Happens Next, being presented

by La Jolla Playhouse in association with L.A.-based Cornerstone Theatre Company. The site-specific work is part of the Playhouse’s “Without Walls” program and is staged at the Challenged Athletes Foundation in Mira Mesa. Hannah Logan plays the facilitator of a small drama therapy group; her stu-

W

@SDCITYBEAT

dents are a mixture of actors and actual vets. What Happens Next is potent and very, very real. It’s also a must-see.

What Happens Next runs through April 29 at the Challenged Athletes Foundation, 9591 Waples St., Mira Mesa. $10-$29; lajollaplayhouse.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Buried Child: In Sam Shepard’s macabre drama, Vince brings his girlfriend back to his parents’ Illinois farm, but things quickly get weird. Presented by the Mesa College Theatre Company, it opens April 27 at the Apolliad Theatre at Mesa College in Clairemont. sdmesa.edu South Pacific: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical about two intercultural romances set on a Pacific island during World War II. Presented by San Diego Musical Theatre, it opens April 27 at the Horton Grand Theatre in the Gaslamp. sdmt.org Pinkalicious: A family-friendly musical about a girl named Pinkalicious who turns pink after eating too many pink cupcakes. Sensing a theme? Presented by Kelrick Productions, it opens April 28 at the Lyceum Theatre in the Gaslamp. kelrikproductions.org San Diego Student Shakespeare Festival: Teams of students from city and county schools will perform 10-minute scenes from Shakespeare on outdoor stages. Presented by San Diego Shakespeare Society, it happens April 28 along the Prado in front of the Botanical Garden at Balboa Park. sandiegoshakespearesociety.org Savin’ Up for Saturday Night: A staged reading of the country-themed musical about a bartender and a country singer who fall for the same woman. Presented by the Carlsbad Playreaders, it happens April 30 at the Carlsbad City Library. carlsbadplayreaders.org Switching Tracks: A staged reading of Matthew SalazarThompson’s dramedy about a divorced couple who reconnect after running into each other at Grand Central Station. It happens April 30 at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org

For complete theater listings, visit sdcitybeat.com

APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 15

TORREY BAILEY

CULTURE

Creator of local fashion line Sugardale wants San Diegans to care about what they wear

By Seth Combs ame a San Diego fashion designer.

No really, go ahead. I’ll wait.

For those who couldn’t think of anyone, it’s OK. It doesn’t mean that San Diego is a fashion desert by any means. We’re consistently ranked in those ubiquitous listicles of “most fashionable” or “most attractive” places in the U.S. Fashion icon Zandra Rhodes sometimes lives in San Diego. The highly successful fashion blog and Instagram account, Advanced Style, was started by former local Ari Seth Cohen. An exhibition devoted to local style, Fashion Redux: 90 Years of Fashion in San Diego, recently opened at the San Diego History Center.

Sure, San Diego might not be as fashion forward as, say, L.A., Miami and New York, but given the income disparities and cost of living, we can hardly be expected to keep up with the trends, much less set them.

But anyone who spends a significant time away from the beach or downtown knows that most locals do care about how they’re dressed. But do they care enough to support local designers?

Trista Roland seems to think so. To be more accurate, the local designer behind the Sugardale clothing line likes to think that the collective mindset is increasingly moving toward sustainability and durability with a particular emphasis on unique threads that are responsibly made and sourced.

“I think that the world needs to shift more into thinking about investing in something that’s good rather than buying something that’s already trash,” Roland says in her Golden Hill apartment and studio. “I’m hoping with my dresses that maybe somebody buys it and wears it for two years and then they can resell it. It’s still going to be good enough to do that with. Look at all the vintage that’s still out here. There’s no question as to why you can still get it; it was well made, and it’s great.”

For years, Roland has consistently been the best-dressed woman at whatever social function she was attending. Run into her at

an art opening and she’ll always have someone inquiring as to where she got her dress or shirt. The answer is inevitably the same: She made it. Some may even inquire as to how they can go about purchasing a Sugardale design, but they sometimes get discouraged by the price. After all, it’s much easier to buy something at H&M or Target even if it’s unlikely to last very long and often made in dubious, if not inhumane, factory conditions.

“I think there are some brands that are trying to push for this kind of understanding. Smaller brands like mine that are bringing that awareness to people,” says Roland, who taught herself to sew while growing up in Kansas before moving to Temecula when she was 16. “It’s not like buying something from H&M is already trash, but it’s just the thought that ‘I just spent $15 on that so it’s not a big deal.’ If you had actually spent maybe $50 or $60 on that piece of trash, you’re actually going to keep it longer.”

While the sentiment of quality over quantity isn’t new, it has been particularly relevant in an age where being “woke” and buying local is particularly fashionable.

While brands such as H&M, Marks & Spencer and TopShop are playing catch-up when it comes to sustainability and transparency, smaller and even micro fashion brands are seeing a window of opportunity to appeal to savvy customers looking for more individualistic styles. Social media has helped in this regard, with the traditional fashion industry gatekeepers rapidly losing ground to “influencers” on Instagram and Snapchat.

And while Sugardale hasn’t quite reached that level yet, Roland has done a good job at posting her new designs on social media, where she often serves as her own model.

However, she says she’s ready to take it to the next level. She recently launched a website (sugardale.net) and is currently looking at properties in hopes of opening a retail space where she’d showcase her designs and host sewing workshop. She also says she wants to host pop-up shops for vintage sellers where

Trista Roland she’d offer on-the-spot alterations. The more she talks about her plans, the more her ambition shines through.

“I also want to add sewing patterns, because I’m really into the sewing community online where people buy patterns and sew themselves, so that’s the next thing I’m actually doing,” says Roland, who grew up envying designers such as Claire McCardell and Edith Head. She even likes the idea of finding a shared factory space to produce clothes.

“I just love looking at people’s workspaces, like how messy or how clean, and just all the stuff that goes into them. But I think it’d be

Sugardale 16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

really cool to even just have the shop where you can shop for the clothes right where they’re made. I don’t know, is this crazy?”

She says her next line will be more dresses, coveralls, overalls, pants and skirts, and that, as always, there will be a stated emphasis on functionality (big pockets). She acknowledges that she’d probably get more attention and find a larger clientele if she lived somewhere like L.A., but that she needs “to stay and make it work here.” She just hopes that there’s enough people in San Diego who are willing to pay a little more for something that, while more expensive, will stand the test of time.

“I know how hard it is too because I’m not rich. For me I’m like, ‘God, would I spend that much money on a dress?’” Roland says. “But then I think, ‘Well, even if I don’t have a lot of money, and I don’t buy a lot of clothes, maybe I’ll save up for that type of thing.’ And I’ve done that. I bought a $320 pair of boots and I was so excited, but when I decided to buy them I was like, ‘well, I can’t do it this month, I have to wait until next month.’ And now, I have them and they’re probably going to last me forever. Sometimes it’s not about having a ton of money, but a willingness to save up for something that makes it worth it.”

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CULTURE | ART

SEEN LOCAL

er’s body takes hold of it? What happens when a female body or a queer body takes hold of it? And how do we move from this kind of really discreet, rather dry formalism into something that’s more about appetites and desire and about communal or interdependent actions?”

Morrison seems to have a voracious appetite for the communal. The San Diego native has been actively working to expand and strengthen the creative scene here in San Din Bruce Nauman’s groundbreaking two short films from ego. As a resident of the live/work community Space 4 Art, 1967-68, Dance or Exercise on the Perimeter of a Square Morrison not only shares his space TIM RICHARDS (Square Dance), and Walking in an with his partner Victor Adrian De La Exaggerated Manner Around the PeFuente (who’s also collaborating on rimeter of a Square, the artist films After Nauman), Morrison is also conhimself performing in the most ministantly putting out the call for artists mal of senses. As the titles of both by opening up the communal spaces pieces accurately describe, Nauman, within Space 4 Art for weekly gatherwho is not a trained dancer, executes ings, as well as lecturing at SDSU. a series of repetitive actions within “The status quo here doesn’t sata tight set of boundaries. By giving isfy me,” Morrison explains. “I have himself a narrow range of rules, Nauto have more. I want people coming man calls into question the role of an through all the time. I want interestartist’s body as material and demon- Justin Morrison (far right) and collaborators ing conversations. There’s not very strates how the movements of that much incentive for artists to stick body can serve as gestures, not unlike brush strokes. around if we don’t have some regularity to our interactions.”

The works are striking and a huge contribution to the can —Rachel Michelle Fernandes on of contemporary art. However, they are rarely screened.

“We’re kind of asking a question like, what’s after this?” says artist, dancer and choreographer Justin Morrison (justinmorrison.net). Along with 15 performers and in colontemporary art photographer John Brinton Hogan laboration with the group Space Time, Morrison is present(johnbrintonhogan.com) is not formally trained, but ing a two-hour durational installation they are calling After in many ways, it’s his unconventional journey that Nauman. It incorporates the two Nauman films (which are has resulted in such an impressive and unique body of work. to be projected in a loop) and opens Sunday, April 29 at a He’ll be showing and discussing some of these pieces on new space called the Sandbox (325 15th St.) at 7 p.m.

Thursday, April 26 at the Museum of Photographic Arts’ off“Here are these super minimalist, physical explorations site event Let’s Talk Art at Poliform, which will be held at by a dude,” notes Morrison. “What happens when the danc- the Poliform showroom in La Jolla (7726 Girard Ave.).

APPETITE FOR RECONSTRUCTION

I

OFF THE BEATEN PATH

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“I went to the school of hard knocks. I barely, barely made it out of high school,” says Hogan. “I was into rock ’n’ roll and skateboarding and have been involved in both of those businesses. That’s where my path led me.”

Hogan’s passion for skateboarding transitioned into a career of skate photography and product design that took him around the world. After working in advertising in New York City for a number of years, Hogan returned to San Diego to care for his ailing mother. It was upon this homecoming that the artist began to explore his roots and produce work in his current style, which consists of highly layered and evocative landscape portraits of the American West and the bodies that have passed through it.

“I was back in my mother’s house taking care of her and it took me back to my roots, where I spent a lot of time out in the landscape with my father,” Hogan says. “He was into motor racing and we would go all over the western United States. I was his passenger riding shotgun so I spent a lot of time looking out the windows and camping and going to these strange, remote places.”

While the photos have a strong sense of nostalgia, Hogan uses his artistic vision to elevate the material beyond what could easily be vintage postcard images. By including, and subsequently removing, the human figures in the scenes as well as manipulating the colors and textures (often adding glitter), Hogan creates dystopic, sometimes sinister landscapes that evoke feelings of personal loss, magic, time travel and even alien invasion.

As part of MOPA’s efforts to engage the public in discussions about photography beyond the walls of the museum, the partnered event with Poliform is a great opportunity to hear first hand about Hogan’s unique story and practice.

“It’s cool when people come out of something other than the traditional art school past,” says Hogan. “I wouldn’t be doing what I do without taking the path that I took.”

—Rachel Michelle Fernandes

APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

CULTURE | FILM

Out to pasture

The Rider

Chloé Zhao’s tender, affecting western charts a cowboy’s crisis of confidence

by Glenn Heath Jr.

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he great classic Hollywood director Howard for their own selfish, if not well-intentioned, reasons.

While Zhao doesn’t judge her character’s recklessHawks made a career of examining the instinctive connection between self-worth and profes- ness while trying to navigate this difficult emotional sional gusto. In films such as Rio Bravo, Hatari! and terrain, she represents what happens when unchecked Red Line 7000, among many others, working passion- male ego crashes back down to earth. Brady often visately was living passionately; the world just didn’t its his best friend Lane Scott (played by himself), who was once king of the rodeo circuit before suffering a make sense otherwise.

One could wager Hawks would have found much nearly mortal injury that has left him paralyzed and to admire in The Rider, Chloé Zhao’s portrait of the unable to speak. In these wrenching scenes of selfcowboy way besieged by emotional distress and un- less friendship and unspoken panic, both men look certainty. It is a work of staggering heartbreak pre- for hope and clarity in the eyes of the other. No easy cisely because the film confronts what Hawks’ stoic answers emerge.

Much of The Rider feels uniquely authentic, and characters feared most—a life without expert purpose.

Rodeo hound Brady (Brady Jandreau) grew up with that’s because Zhao worked closely with Jandreau horses, learning from his Lakota parents how to train and his family (father Tim and younger sister Lilly and ride at the tender age of eight. The animal car- play variations of themselves) to convey dramatic complexities of their own real ries a mystical quality for him, life experiences. She employed a as witnessed in the slow mosimilar approach with her equaltion dream sequence that opens THE RIDER ly excellent debut, Songs My The Rider. This fact makes the Brothers Taught Me. But whereas head injury Brady suffered while Directed by Chloé Zhao that film expanded its reach to mounting a bucking bronco all Starring Brady Jandreau, include multiple members of a the more emotionally devastatTim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau disenfranchised community, The ing. Staples line the wound on and Lane Scott Rider stays focused on Brady’s his shaved head and debilitating Rated R intimate crisis of confidence. seizures wreak havoc on his once Due to near simultaneous steady grip. release dates, The Rider (openSet near the Pine Ridge Resing Friday, April 27) and Lean on ervation in South Dakota, The Rider follows Brady’s difficultly adapting to post-in- Pete will inevitably get saddled together as contemjury life. His doctors implore him to avoid strenuous plative horse movies of the moment, yet they couldn’t activity, while close friends and the occasional fan be more different. Andrew Haigh’s brilliant drama root for an unreasonably speedy return to form. Brady (reviewed in this space last week) is more about the quickly becomes consumed by this conflict of identity, struggle to retain one’s compassion and resilience in taking chances with his health by riding in the open a world where cynicism is the surest bet. In contrast, prairie and even taking up horse training for a local Zhao’s effort reveals how deeply committed professionals become accustomed to acquiring dignity rancher.

If The Rider only concerned itself with Brady’s in- through interactions with admirers and family memternal struggle, it might have succumbed to some of bers. Brady spends much of the film trying to crawl the more obvious bits of psychological western revi- his way out of this pervasive pigeonhole. The Rider sionism. But in many ways the film is more interested instills hope that he will succeed, even when the danin other people’s perceptions of Brady as a symbol of gerous call of wide-open spaces becomes too deafencowboy iconography, calling attention to the irratio- ing to ignore. nal nature of one-sided hero worship. Everyone who pressures Brady to return, be it his guitar-strumming Film reviews run weekly. peers or the older Stetson-wearing burnouts, does so Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

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CULTURE | FILM

Ghost Stories

Dread central “

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e have to be so careful what we believe in,” warns Professor Phillip Goodman (Andy Nyman), debunker extraordinaire of all things supernatural. At the beginning of Ghost Stories, the snobby academic (who also acts as narrator) is sure that ghosts and ghouls are merely manifestations of traumatized people searching for rational explanations where there is none.

That arrogance quickly crumbles when preeminent expert on

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existential terror, the decrepit Dr. Cameron (who up until recently was mysteriously missing), recruits Goodman to investigate three different cases involving unsolved paranormal activity. Each help explore the film’s argument that trauma leaves an imprint on the brain, cracking open the door for the spirit world and our own to converge.

Ghost Stories initially puts an interesting spin on the omnibus film, basically justifying an overlap between separate threads without having to rely on gimmick or exposition. The trio of sub-

jects—a guilt-ridden night watchman (Paul Whitehouse), a millennial (Alex Lawther) who habitually lies, and the numb stockbroker (Martin Freeman)—all make for worthy foils to Goodman’s suspicious cynic. The most harrowing set piece involves the cavernous catacombs of an abandoned mental asylum.

Unfortunately, co-directors Nyman and Jeremy Dyson decide to get cute with the last act. Instead of staying true to its creepy, moodinducing structure, Ghost Stories (opening Friday, April 27 at the Ken Cinema) takes a jarring left turn, employing narrative twists that feel unnecessarily cerebral.

Any momentum that has been earned thus far gets bogged down in exposition and “aha” revelations, culminating in a derivative finale.

Horror sagas like Ghost Stories too often try to impress psychological closure on knotty perceptions of grief and trauma. The film is much more effective when infusing classic horror iconography (tangled German Expressionist trees, faceless dolls) with scary ambiguity. So why waste time explaining away the terror?

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING Avengers: Infinity War: Marvel’s big dance commences with nearly every superhero from this massive franchise all converging to battle the evil Thanos (Josh Brolin).

Ghost Stories: An English professor who specializes in debunking supernatural occurrences is asked to investigate three special cases of ghostly phenomena.

Opens Friday, April 27, at the Ken Cinema.

Foxtrot: In Israel’s submission to the 2018 Oscars, a couple mourns the death of their son who died in the line of duty, but several twists reveal there’s more to the story than they initially believed. Opens Friday, April 27, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Rider: After suffering a career-ending injury to the head, former rodeo cowboy Brady must grapple with the realities of his new life. Opens Friday, April 27, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas and Angelika Film Center—Carmel Mountain.

ONE TIME ONLY I’m Not Here: Starring J.K. Simmons, this drama concerns a man who is haunted by the traumatic memories of his past and must confront the pain to move forward.

Screens at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, at Arclight La Jolla Cinemas.

Full Metal Jacket: Stanley Kubrick’s bracing anti-war film splits the Vietnam conflict into two sections: the horror at home and the madness abroad. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, at Angelika Film Center—Carmel Mountain.

For complete movie listings,

visit Film at sdcitybeat.com.

APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

MUSIC ANASTASYA KOROL

ost bands are formed out of friendship. When four or five high school or college friends get together to play songs in a garage, something special tends to happen. And even if that band never takes off, there are few things that make more sense than plugging in your guitars with your best friends and making some noise.

That’s not how The Strawberry Moons started off. Keyboardist, guitarist and vocalist Will Lerner and lead vocalist/keyboardist Aimee Jacobs didn’t actually know each other that well. As members of different prominent bands in North County—Lerner in garage-psych band Shake Before Us and Jacobs previously of The Burning of Rome— they had a mutual respect for each other’s music, but not the kind of close bond that a lot of bands typically start out with. For a lot of musicians, this might be a risky proposition, but Jacobs’ experience with her previous band got her used to the idea of jumping into the deep end.

“We kind of decided to get into a band together without really knowing each other,” Jacobs says. “It wasn’t that weird for me honestly, because when I joined The Burning of Rome I didn’t really know them well either. I was 18 when I joined The Burning of Rome, so for the first four years I didn’t know anyone because I couldn’t hang out with anybody. I wasn’t allowed in the bar.”

Judging by the dreamy, psychedelic sounds of The Strawberry Moons’ debut 4-Song EP, that risk ended up being one worth taking. Jacobs, Lerner, guitarist John Falk, bassist Jason Areford and drummer Dustin Schemensky play a hook-laden, versatile style of psych-pop that covers a lot of ground. On “Microphone,” the group juxtaposes a soulful Hammond organ backing with some fuzzy garage rock riffs, while “Smiling Face” has more of a dreampop sound, layered with chorus effects and a lead vocal from Jacobs reminiscent of Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis.

Given The Strawberry Moons’ members all come from different backgrounds (Areford and Schemensky have also played in Mrs. Henry, while Falk is a member of Shake Before Us), there are a lot of different influences coming together in the band’s songwriting. Initially, Lerner says he had an idea of starting up a less guitar-centric band, with songs in the vein of Nancy Sinatra and

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

From left: John Falk, Will Lerner, Aimee Jacobs, Jason Areford and Dustin Schemensky Lee Hazelwood’s ’60s-era collaborations.

Ultimately, though, that went out the window in favor of a more eclectic approach.

“I love albums where the album just seamlessly blends, and it’s one thing,” says Lerner. “But I grew up listening to albums like Led Zeppelin’s IV. You have your bluesrock number and your ballad and your country-ish number. So to me it doesn’t really matter as long as you have your musicianship and your voice, that’s what makes it cohesive.”

Having a lot of musicians with different tastes involved in a collaborative songwriting process does sometimes lead to disagreements,

however. Though the band members agree that conflict can often yield a much better end result.

“It’s mostly between these two,” says Falk. “It’s the push-pull kind of thing, where we’re a better band than if we were driven by just one individual.”

There’s also a great deal of commitment

that each of the members puts into the band.

While it ultimately began as a project in between their other bands, The Strawberry Moons has grown more active since forming in 2016. And being spread out in all parts of the county—Poway, Fallbrook, Carlsbad, Clairemont and Escondido—meant having to do a lot of driving just to be able to rehearse together.

They’ve since moved their rehearsal space to a central hub in Vista, and by and large they show a lot of pride for their North County backyard. For example, Lerner books live music at Oceanside venue The Pour House and puts a lot of effort into bridging the gap between North County and the San Diego music scene. And overall, they’re happy to see what the region is turning into.

“It’s definitely growing. More venues are popping up,” Jacobs says. “There are more good bands. The community is so much cooler than it was even a year ago.”

“I basically grew up in Oceanside,” Lerner adds. “Instead of moving away or just doing the family thing there, people that have a little money or influence didn’t want to come down to North Park to do cool stuff, so they’re doing stuff up there. It’s pretty neat. You have pretty cool jobs and cool restaurants, and they’re run by people who want to make the community better. For a while, Pour House was kind of the only game in town. And to me it’s just more rad people trying to bring cool stuff to North County.”

Playing together for two years, making the long drives and getting to know each other while they work has made The Strawberry Moons a stronger band. And though they started off by taking a risk, they find new ways to challenge themselves, like when the once stage-shy Jacobs decided to try her hand at some crowd interaction recently, which led to an awkward moment.

“Our last show was at the Belly Up, and I crawled off the stage during our last song,” Jacobs says. “And there’s no stairs and the stage is up pretty high, so I couldn’t get back to my keyboard in time. So I just sang the keyboard part.”

Lerner says, however, that bit of improvisation still ended up being pretty cool.

“It was haunting.”

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

MUSIC

AFTER HOURS: ABOUT LAST NIGHT

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO LOCALS ONLY

L

ou Niles has a lot of experience with giving local bands a platform. Back in the ’80s, he helped launch Loudspeaker, the all-local music program on 91X, where he still produces his “In Your Neighborhood” segments. Likewise, he’s spent a lot of time in the past few years building that into regular local live music showcases at The Pour House in Oceanside. On Saturday, April 28, he’s hosting the In Your Neighborhood Block Party in the parking lot of the Pour House, and the event is cheekily titled “Anti-Chella,” in reference to the just-lapsed Coachella festival. It’s his third spring block party, and the latest in a series of local showcases for Niles.

“The shows at Pour House started a little over two years ago,” he says.

“Loudspeaker had started its web series, so I was just doing something to build a little momentum. And over time I came up with more ideas to make it more interesting, and the block party seemed like a good way to bring the community together.”

This year’s block party features performances from Great Electric Quest, The Slashes and Heather Nation, among others. And because the In Your Neighborhood

ALBUM REVIEW Danny Green Trio One Day It Will (OA2)

O

ne of the remarkable things about jazz is how elegant it can sound at its most minimalist. When Duke Ellington, Max Roach and Charles Mingus created the legendary Money Jungle in 1963, they made magic with nothing more than piano, bass and drums.

And in 2016, pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith created a sparse yet breathtaking set of music with no percussion or additional instrumentation titled A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke, proving there’s still a lot to be explored within such a presumably limited range of sound.

That being said, there’s also something magical about jazz when it’s expanded and magnified into something much more grandiose. Local pianist Danny Green wasn’t thinking small when he made One Day It Will, which builds on the sounds of his ensemble’s post-bop and Brazilian jazz influences and adds a widescreen application

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shows take place in North County, Niles always keeps North County bands in mind when booking.

“I try to put a North County band on each show,” he says. “More than anything I try to put together a show where every band works well together, but maybe not in an obvious way.”

“Anti-Chella” doesn’t coincide with Coachella, seeing as how the festival just ended. But the inspiration for the name came about when the two events once conflicted. The name stuck, however, when Niles reasoned that the experience of the free, all-ages event is essentially the opposite of the desert festival behemoth.

“When we were setting up the first spring block party, some of the bands we reached out to said they were going Lou Niles to be at Coachella that weekend,” he says. “And I thought, why pay $8 for a bottle of water at Coachella, when you can come to ‘Anti-Chella?’ It’s free, and you can see great bands and support local businesses.” [Edit note: The bottled water at Coachella actually costs $2, but we’re still inclined to agree with Niles’ main point].

—Jeff Terich

of full string arrangements. It amounts to something that’s not quite traditional jazz, but still maintains that classic character even while expanding into something bigger and more ornate.

The leadoff track “Time Lapse to Fall” begins beautifully and gently, with repetitive pulses of piano that sound like they’d be perfect in the opening credits for a film. But when the strings come in, it grows more intriguing. It’s a tasteful use of strings and never sounds too cluttered or over-produced. Rather, there’s a stunning interplay between Green’s piano playing and how the stringed instruments harmonize with him.

What’s interesting about One Day It Will is that while the arrangements are more elaborate and intricate than they would have been if this were simply left to the Danny Green Trio, they remain subtle, almost subliminal. Much of the credit certainly goes to Green as a composer, who doesn’t just know how to create a compelling piece of music, but understands how best to use each instrument. It’s an album of large-ensemble jazz that ends up feeling surprisingly intimate, which isn’t always an easy thing to pull off.

—Jeff Terich

Drunk history

W

hile visiting Tijuana earlier this month, I overheard a San Diego local tell a Mexican citizen that she wanted to revisit Baja California during Cinco de Mayo, inquiring about how wild it gets on May 5. She excitedly spoke of itty-bitty bikinis and sombrero-wearing on Mexican Independence Day. Let’s clarify this once and for all: Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day. Cinco de Mayo marks the Mexican army’s victory against France in 1862 during the FrancoMexican War. It is not a major holiday in Mexico. I’ll admit that I didn’t always know this. But it’s difficult to believe that most local bars aren’t aware of these facts, instead prioritizing profitability over cultural accuracy.

There are club and pub-crawls planned in the Gaslamp and Pacific Beach, hosted at Tin Roof and Bub’s at the Beach, respectively. Neither venue is a Mexican joint. Mission Valley sports bar McGregor’s is hosting a Reggae de Mayo Mustache and Pinata Bash, which will have margarita and beer specials but also “irie vibrations.” The Facebook event photo features two Dia de los Muertos sugar skulls sporting Jamaican Rasta beanies from which dreadlocks hang. Barleymash is hosting Cinco de Derby, whose promotional content features a sugar skull, yet this time in a Kentucky Derby-style hat, and attendees are encouraged to wear sombreros and suits. Finally, Coin-Op in downtown is hosting Cinco de Drinko aka Tearajuana, at which moody music by Morrissey will be DJ’ed.

“I’m not against celebrating it, even though we don’t celebrate it in Mexico,” says Border X Brewing Co-founder Martin Favela. “It’s an opportunity to celebrate a culture. I think it just needs to be done in a little of a better and educated way.”

Leading by example, Border X is planning a celebration that serves as an educational platform. There will be beer paired with cuisine from the region of the battle, as well as a performance

by The Sleepwalkers, a local band with Chicano roots. Favela recommends others follow suit in at least hiring performers or DJs with Mexican ties on Cinco De Mayo, such as the Hard Rock Hotel has planned for both its parties. Or, venues can bypass a themed holiday event altogether.

“Why not just still be open?” says Favela. “Obviously people are still going to be out and about.”

He later adds, “If you want to celebrate it go ahead, but it’s about understanding that education and celebration in general. Just be smart about it.”

—Torrey Bailey

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

APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 21

MUSIC

JEFF TERICH

IF I WERE U A music insider’s weekly agenda WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25

conscious rap. BACKUP PLAN: Bart and the Bedazzled, Soft Lions @ Bar Pink.

FRIDAY, APRIL 27

PLAN A: Warsaw, The Strawberry Moons @ Bar Pink. Read my feature this week on North County psych-pop band The Strawberry Moons, who earned an ExtraSpecialGood endorsement in our recent Local NICOLE MAGO

PLAN A: Heat, Therapy, Bob Ross @ Tower Bar. This is a benefit show for AIDS/LifeCycle and features some of the best hardcore bands in San Diego, including Therapy, whose submission to our recent Local Music Issue was one of the best demos we heard. PLAN B: JE DOUBLE F, TDG, Tenshun, PVC, Kemtrell @ Til-Two Club. Stay Strange consistently puts on a lot of the best shows in town, and this one’s another variation on the experimental series, consisting solely of hip-hop artists. Strange ones at that. BACKUP PLAN: Jukebox the Ghost, The Greeting Committee @ Music Box.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26

PLAN A: Blackalicious, Jumbotron @ Soda Bar. I remember first discovering Blackalicious back when I was a teenager and being blown away by their debut album Nia. I admit I haven’t kept up with their output, but I still have a soft spot for their laid-back

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

Music Review. They’re playing with local darkwave outfit Warsaw, and though it’s a contrast of sounds, it’ll be fun throughout.

PLAN B: Gloomsday, Exasperation, Miss New Buddha @ Whistle Stop. Gloomsday are releasing a new EP this week, and at the release show they’ll be joined by two more badass, guitar-slinging bands. There’s nothing quite like spending a Friday night getting your ears pummeled with distortion.

SATURDAY, APRIL 28

PLAN A: ‘lowercase everything’ w/ Thomas Walsh, Tenshun, fivepaw, Moment Trigger @ Helmuth Projects. I recently wrote about the monthly electronic live showcase lowercase everything, which is helmed by fivepaw’s Jamie Pawlosky. And this month it features local avant garde artist Thomas Walsh along with noise hip-hop DJ Tenshun. Be prepared for some weird, cool sounds. PLAN B: Smoking Popes, Bad Cop/ Bad Cop, Odd Robot @ Soda Bar. Smoking Popes had a brief career in the ’90s and a radio hit of sorts with “Need You Around,” but they’re back to playing their punk and power-pop gems. Should be a blast. BACKUP PLAN: The Loons, The Sinister Six, Thee Allyrgic Reaction @ Tower Bar.

SUNDAY, APRIL 29

Blackalicious

PLAN A: The Weight Band @ Belly Up Tavern. The Weight Band features musicians that have performed with The Band, Levon Helm Band and Rick

Danko Group, and as expected, they perform the music of The Band. Considering how good the catalog is and how legit these musicians are, that’s something worth seeing.

MONDAY, APRIL 30

PLAN A: Eric B and Rakim, Yo-Yo @ House of Blues. Hip-hop legends Eric B and Rakim recently reunited for the 30th anniversary of their debut, Paid In Full, which continues this year with the anniversary of Follow the Leader. In New York recently, mayoral candidate Cynthia Nixon showed up to one of their shows. I doubt we’ll see such political luminaries attending locally, but you never know. BACKUP PLAN: Bob Log III, The Downs Family, Toothless George @ The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MAY 1

PLAN A: Destroyer of Light, Abyssal, Deep Sea Thunder Beast, Feeble Fetus @ Til-Two Club. Destroyer of Light live up to their name by playing some supremely heavy stoner metal with riffs that could throw a planet out of orbit. Get to the venue a little early for Deep Sea Thunder Beast, who won me over easily the first time I saw them. PLAN B: Secret Fun Club, Atomic Ape, INUS @ Whistle Stop. Any Three One G-promoted show is worth checking out, especially one headlined by tense, noisy and explosive punk band Secret Fun Club. It’ll be weird and loud.

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

April 25, 2018 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Through the Roots (Harrah’s SoCal, 5/27), Alex Lahey (Soda Bar, 6/2), Behold the Arctopus (Brick by Brick, 6/9), Yeek (Che Café, 6/10), Magic Giant (BUT, 6/30), The Regrettes (Che Café, 6/30), The Young Dubliners (BUT, 7/1), Hop Along (Irenic, 8/5), Ace Frehley (BUT, 8/9), David Cross (Observatory, 8/17), Don Carlos (Harrah’s SoCal, 8/19), Red Fang, Elder (Brick by Brick, 8/20), The Original Wailers (BUT, 9/6), Deep Purple, Judas Priest (Mattress Firm, 9/26), Loudon Wainwright III (BUT, 9/27), Mew (Observatory, 10/9), Screaming Females (Casbah, 10/13), ZHU (Observatory, 10/22).

GET YER TICKETS 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), 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), Cold Cave (Music Box, 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), Deafheaven (Brick by Brick, 8/17), Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/24), Smashing Pumpkins (Viejas Arena, 9/1), Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Copley Symphony Hall, 9/1), Leon Bridges (Open Air Theatre, 9/5), Ms. Lauryn Hill (Open Air Theatre, 9/9), 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 25 The Distillers at The Casbah (sold out).

Less Than Jake, Face to Face at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). ‘Welcome to Night

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

Vale’ at Observatory North Park. Futurebirds at Soda Bar. Jukebox the Ghost at Music Box.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26 5 Seconds of Summer at House of Blues. Cody Jinks at Observatory North Park (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 (sold out). Nav at SOMA. 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 Belly 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. Arctic Monkeys at Observatory North Park (sold out).

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. Arctic Monkeys at Observatory North Park.

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 (sold out).

Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers at Belly Up Tavern. Will Haven at Brick by Brick. Charlotte Cardin at Soda Bar. Of Montreal at SOMA. Bishop Briggs at Observatory North Park (sold out).

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 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 Hum-

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 phreys 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.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16 Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Mushroomhead at Brick by Brick. Trash Can Sinatras at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MAY 17 Con Brio at The Casbah. Tricky at Music Box. Pedro the Lion at Belly Up Tavern.

Danko Jones at Brick by Brick. ‘La Escalera Fest’ at various venues.

FRIDAY, MAY 18 Dirty Heads at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre. Horse Feathers at The Casbah.

Celtic Woman at Civic Theatre. Midnight at Brick by Brick. Tim Allen at Copley Symphony Hall. Vaud and the Villains at Belly Up Tavern. Cults at Soda Bar. Earth, Wind and Fire at Harrah’s SoCal. A Perfect Tool at Music Box.

SATURDAY, MAY 19 Peter Hook and the Light at House of Blues. The Brothers Comatose at Belly Up Tavern. Mating Ritual at Soda Bar.

@SDCITYBEAT

Smokepurrp at SOMA. Bar1ne at Music Box.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Jessica Lerner. Fri: ‘Freeze Frame ‘80s Party’. Sat: GrooveSession, Cherry Road. Sun: Karaoke. Tue: Triton Eye. Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Hip Hop Wednesday’ w/ MC Kahlee. Thu: ‘SubDrip’ w/ DJ Damon Millard. Sat: DJ Ramsey. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJs Alice, 2bit, Will Lavin.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: T.J. Miller (sold out). Fri: T.J. Miller (sold out). Sat: T.J. Miller (sold out). Sun: T.J. Miller (sold out).

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: The Utility Players, Sideshow, Dragon Dragon. Sat: Dum Dum Boys. Sun: Red Room Tease, Hot Brass Injection. Tue: Karaoke.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Wed: Rock Lotto. Thu: Bart and the Bedazzled, Soft Lions. Fri: Warsaw, The Strawberry Moons. Sat: Death Eyes, The Birth Defects, Pins of Light, War Bison.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: Jerry Folk. Sat: Felix Jaehn.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Taji. Fri: Dave Booda and the Leftovers. Sat: Rolling Heartbreakers. Sun: Frank Cope.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Less Than Jake, Face to Face, Direct Hit!, Jukebox Romantics (sold out). Thu: The Robert Cray Band,

The Mike Eldred Trio (sold out). Fri: The Pettybreakers, Chris Torres Band. Sun: The Weight Band.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Laura Oden, Raymond the Sparrow. Sat: Razor Nights, Half Eat3n.

Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’ w/ William Houseman. Thu: ‘Chocolate’. Fri: ‘Dance Punk!’ Sat: ‘Through Being Cool’. Sun: ‘Catechism’. Mon: ‘Blue Monday’. Tue: ‘T is 4 Techno’.

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

Thu: Shane Hall. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Thu: Face to Face, Sharp/Shock, Authentic Sellout. Fri: Das Mortal, Street Cleaner, Shredder 1984, FacexHugger. Sat: Trauma, The Bastard Saints, Vanguard. Sun: Warbringer, Hatchet, Monarch, Warpath, Chemical Warfare.

Tue: Razakel, Jenocia X, Majik Duce, Justinsayne N8V, A-Game, Van Brando, J.andrew, Izzy Projectz.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. Wed: The Distillers, The Flytraps (sold out). Thu: Melvins, All Souls (sold out). Fri: Convenant, Grendel, Ghostfeeder, Peter Turns Pirate (sold out). Sat: The Sherlocks, The Andrew McKeag Band, The Paragraphs. Sun: M.D.C., Flipout AA, Sculpins.

Mon: Bob Log III, The Downs Family, Toothless George. Tue: Rituals of Mine, Nicely.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Fri: Wild Rumour. Sat: Cover Conspiracy.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Bay Park. Fri: Peter Pupping Quartet.

The Field Irish Pub, 544 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Chris Del Priore. Thu: Smoky Hoof. Fri: The Fooks. Sat: Clint West-

wood. Sun: The Broker’s Band. Mon: Gary Flick. Tue: Fiore.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Fri: DJ Heart Attak. Sat: DJ Vision.

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

Hooley’s, 5500 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa. Fri: Raney/Butler. Sat: Heart Band.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Fiji, Morgan Heritage, Maoli.

Thu: 5 Seconds of Summer. Fri: Madison Beer. Sat: Sum 41, Seaway, Super Whatevr. Sun: Bunbury. Mon: Eric B and Rakim, Yo-Yo. Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: The Emergency Exit Band. Thu: Johnny Deadly Trio. Fri: Beta Maxx, Tradewinds. Sat: R: Tyme, Michele Lundeen. Sun: The Groove Squad, Jason Brown. Mon: Mercedes Moore. Tue: January Berry Band.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Middletown. Wed: ‘Midnight In a Perfect World’.

Sun: Stoner Jordan.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Sat: The Sleepwalkers, Coral Bells, Brown Party Liquor String Band, Thea the Band, Fred Heath.

Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla.

Fri: Rockin’ Roulette.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: JG Trio. Thu: Fish & JG. Fri: Mystique. Sat: Ron’s Garage. Sun: Ron’s Garage.

Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: ‘Group Therapy’ w/ Dana Goldberg. Thu: Debby Holiday. Fri: Janice and Nathan. Sat: Sophia Alone.

Sun: Ria Carey and Don L. Mon: Andy Anderson and Nathan Fry.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Q Ortiz, Tent City Christ, Sugarbrown. Thu: Locksmith, J Lately, Leon the God, Odessa Kane, 18Scales, Miki Vale, Quincey White. Fri: ‘Trick’. Sat: SoCal Shocks of Mighty, The Georgetown Orbits, Mochilero All Stars. Sun: ‘The Playground’ w/ DJ Heather Hardcore.

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

Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Thu: Dayna Lane. Fri: P.R.I. Sat: California Moon, Celeste Barbier. Sun: Tony Ortega jazz jam.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: Jukebox the Ghost, The Greeting Committee. Thu: SYML, Shane Hall. Fri: Kiefer Sutherland, Rick Brantley. Sat: The Verigolds, Band of Gringos, Star Jungle, Tah Rei. Sun: Earl Thomas, Jorge Chinolla.

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

Wed: ‘1,2,3’ w/ DJ EdRoc. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs Adam Salter, Kid Wonder. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs Kanye Asada, Gabe Vega. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings. Tue: ‘Trapped’ w/ DJ Ramsey.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Steve Aoki. Sat: DJ Turbulence.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: Gilbert Castellanos. Sat: Dave Gleason. Sun: ‘Sundays In the Park’.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: YG. Sat: TJR. Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Mark Meadows. Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Len Rainey and the Midnight Players. Sat: Nathan James and the Rhythm Scratchers.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 25

MUSIC

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY

MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Egress, Tamé Gunther. Sun: ‘Make Yourself At Home’. Tue: Karaoke.

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.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Middletown. Fri: Âme, Monolink. Sat: Lucent, Sean Tyas.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: ‘Mischief’ w/ DJs Kiki, Kinky Loops.

Thu: ‘LEZ’ w/ DJ K-Swift. Fri: Divas Drag Show. Sat: ‘Electro-POP’ w/ DJs John Joseph, Moody Rudy. Sun: ‘Voltage’ w/ DJs Tristan Jaxx, K-Swift.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: The Atta Boys. Fri: Brother Maybelle. Sat: Kris Korsgaden Trio.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: Dude Cervantes, Jesse Lee Hofbauer. Sun: Adeumazel.

ARIES (March 21 - April 19): Here it is, the moment of truth. You have been preparing for this the whole time. The second you step off this moving walkway, you will keep your stride without stumbling.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22):

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Thu: Gino and the Lone Gunmen. Fri: Big Time Operator. Sat: Bless Your Heart Burlesque.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Have

you looked into purchasing one of those Thundercoat weighted jackets? No, I know your dog doesn’t need one. That’s not what I asked.

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): You have to communicate in order to get what you want. You cannot expect others to be mind readers. Well, except that guy on the bus who you swear laughed at the joke you thought of.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): They say “ignorance is bliss”—suspicious. You have to wonder why they would say that. What are they trying to hide from you? We have to find out.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): Hey, what’s going on with the weather lately? Have you noticed the weather?

The weather sure is weather. Whether or not you agree with me, we can agree there.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Yes, it is a beautiful sculpture. But have you planned what you will do in the event that it becomes supernaturally animated?

CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19): You’re going to have to ask me in person, because when I write it down it’s all homophones, and context really isn’t helping.

Like this: live.. is it live or live? Just ask me later.

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

Sat: Alastair Greene Band.

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

Fri: K Emeline. Sat: Jimmy Ruelas. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Wed: Heat, Therapy, Bob Ross. Thu: Ash Williams, Abraskadabra, Midnight Track, Privileged. Fri: Eridia, Iguanadon, Fused. Sat: The Loons, The Sinister Six,Thee Allyrgic Reaction. Tue: The Windermeres, Surface Report, Shtty Adlts.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Fri: Nav, 88GLAM. Sat: Air Go, Everything Undone, Jara, Natural Disaster, RVRboy, We Are One. SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Thu: HIRS, Escort, Birth Waters, B!+chCramps. Sat: Body Worship,

Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Fri: Plane Without a Pilot, Hardly Human, The Rough. Sat: ‘Louder Than Bombs’. Sun: Pants Karaoke. Tue: Destroyer Of Light, Abyssal, Deep Sea Thunder Beast, Feeble Fetus.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: Acoustic Revolt. Sat: Chloe Lou and the Sump’n Sump’n.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Futurebirds, Whiskerman. Thu: Blackalicious, Jumbotron. Fri: Suicide Machines, We Are The Union, Oceanside Sound System, DJ Selector Dr. Bones (sold out). Sat: Smoking Popes, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Odd Robot.

Sun: Thursday (sold out). Mon: Jenny Don’t and the Spurs, Trevor McSpadden.

Tue: Mainland, Wilding, Rad Horror.

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND

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

Wed: ‘Yes Lawd’. Thu: ‘Broken Beat’. Fri: DJ Freeman. Sat: DJ Junior the Disco Punk. Mon: ’31 Flavors’.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Thu: ‘Vamp’. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob. Mon: ‘Electric Relaxation’.

Tue: Secret Fun Club, Atomic Ape, INUS. Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach.

Wed: Ease Up, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Pink Talking Fish. Fri: Roots of Creation, Sandollar. Sat: JAZZ IS PHSH. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 25, 2018

LEO (July 23 - August 22): As Winston Churchill once said, actually… you know what? Who cares? If you’re still looking to guidance from that guy you need to go to therapy. Or possibly The Hague.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): With all the energy you expend getting furiously mad at people making noise in the movie theater, you could captain a fishing boat.

This week will provide you with a veritable cornucopia of opportunities to exhibit… ahh, I can’t keep doing this. This is not how normal people talk to each other.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): Isn’t it strange how you pass the hour of 2:47 p.m. everyday without knowing that one day that is the time when you will die? Wait… pretend I didn’t say anything.

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): Yes,

we do need bugs in the world, ecologically speaking. I am not sure what that has to do with you acting like such a little pest though.

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

@SDCITYBEAT

BY BENJAMIN M. ADAMS

IN THE BACK

CannaBeat Bernie Sanders wants cannabis justice

T

his past Thursday just before 4/20, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders signed on as a co-sponsor of the Marijuana Justice Act, a bill that was introduced last year

by Sen. Cory Booker.

The bill would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, finally ending the disconnect between state and federal law in states that have legalized medical or recreational cannabis. Notably, the bill would also punish states with outdated and detrimental cannabis laws by withholding funding. It would compel courts to expunge past cannabis convictions and allow people to file lawsuits if they were punished under disproportionately enforced cannabis laws.

“We are spending $80 billion locking people up,” Sanders tweeted on April 19.

“Think about what it would mean if we invested that money in our people instead of more jails.”

People of color in America are punished with jail time at disproportionate rates despite consuming cannabis at similar rates compared to white people. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is also a co-sponsor of the bill.

On April 19, Sanders joined Booker in a live video chat posted on Facebook, discussing federal cannabis reform.

The money taken from restrictive states would be rerouted to fund job training and libraries. It’s one of the boldest cannabis legalization bills yet. It’s not the only federal legalization bill in the works, however. On the same day, Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he will soon introduce an entirely separate bill that would also remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances List.

Cannabis reform has proven to be a major selling point, because of its near-universal support from both Democratic and Republican Americans.

Scotts Miracle-Gro continues to grow

S

cotts Miracle-Gro has agreed to acquire Sunlight Supply Inc., with the intention of turning Scotts MiracleGro’s subsidiary, Hawthorne Gardening Company, into a hydroponic supply powerhouse, according to an April 17 press release. It’s the largest deal in the company’s history.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Sunlight Supply Inc. was purchased for $450 million—with an eye-popping $425 million in cash and the remaining $25 million in stock. This agreement will set up Hawthorne Gardening Company to serve over 1,800 hydroponic supply retail customers across the United States. The hydroponic supply brands Gavita, Botanicare, Can-Filters and General Hydroponics are all owned by Hawthorne Gardening Company.

“We are creating a game-changing moment for Scotts Miracle-Gro, for Hawthorne, the hydroponic products industry and the users of our products,” stated Jim Hagedorn, chairman and CEO of Scotts Miracle-Gro. “Combining Hawthorne’s industry-leading product portfolio with Sunlight’s unparalleled distribution capabilities and complementary portfolio will benefit consumers and all stakeholders in the hydroponic marketplace. It reinforces our confidence in the future of this industry and takes Hawthorne to a new level as a business with unique competitive advantages.”

The symbiotic relationship between Scotts Miracle-Gro and the cannabis industry is no secret and is nothing new.

The company has an endless list of nutrient mixes, some of which are suitable for cannabis, and the company sees an uptick in sales every time a new cannabis law is implemented.

This new move will put Hawthorne Gardening Company in a position to be

the most technologically advanced supply company in the cannabis hydroponics industry. While Hawthorne’s sales dropped about 30 percent from January to March due to dramatic regulatory changes in California, the company has high hopes for sales after this deal.

Sunlight Supply Inc. is based out of Marysville, Ohio and has nine distribution facilities across the U.S. The deal is expected to double the company’s sales to cannabis growers, according to Bloomberg.

The acquisition is expected to close before June 1.

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

APRIL 25, 2018 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 27