San Diego CityBeat • Apr 26, 2017

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Someone, anyone

T

tent in touting a nine percent decrease in homeless vets (still well below the initial goals he set in 2016) as a small victory while he also doubles down on the lawand-order stance he took at this year’s State of the City address, stating that people sleeping in tents on the streets is “a problem that we cannot allow to continue.”

Really? That’s the problem? The tents?

To be fair to the mayor, perhaps what he meant is that people shouldn’t have to sleep in tents at all. That the continued rise of tent cities along the streets and al• Homelessness in San Diego County increased leys of Downtown, as well as the banks of the San Diego by over five percent.

River, cannot and should not continue. If that’s the case, • Homelessness in downtown increased by then I couldn’t agree more, but something tells me that 27 percent. the arbitrary raids and destruction of homeless property • Homelessness in North County increased by will continue.

11 percent.

Local politicians don’t seem to see the big picture • There are over 9,000 homeless people countywide. here. After all, they seem unfazed by the murders and More than half are unsheltered. weekly raids on encampments, not to mention the fact Pretty shocking, right? However, swift and sub- that our streets are looking more and more like “Calstantive legislative action from the City Council or cutta,” as McSwain put it, which will only deter touran executive decision from the mayor doesn’t seem ists. So should we, as citizens, simply give up on trying to be forthcoming. Despite JAMIE BALLARD to change their minds? the alarms raised by citizens The answer, of course, is and journalists alike, most a decisive and declarative in local government seem “no.” The only way to stop to be either unconcerned or the proverbial bleeding in unprepared to deal with what the short-term is for somehas become a clear, present one, anyone, in a position and permanent crisis. of power to do something City Councilmembers now. And it is up to us, as have taken to pursuing their citizens and voters, to reown plans of action to admind local politicians that dress the issue. Chris Ward, the time for talk is over. This who recently became Vice problem—this very real and Homeless tents are not the problem. human crisis—cannot wait Chair of the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, has worked in public and for a special ballot measure in November that, even if behind the scenes to get the mayor to allocate more successful, won’t do all that is needed to address the money from his proposed Convention Center expan- issue. Someone, anyone needs to take a position of sion ballot measure to go to homelessness-related true leadership on this issue. Someone, anyone needs programs. Republican councilmember Scott Sher- to be reminded that taking a strong position on this man, who recently took the opportunity to point out issue would politically benefit them vastly more than that some homeless people “would rather be out in a soccer stadium, a convention center expansion or a the streets,” seems content in painting the homeless fixed pothole. population as a criminal matter. He recently toured Someone, anyone in local politics needs to step up a homeless encampment along the San Diego River to the plate. To get their hands dirty. To call out othnot to help, but rather to point out how the “polluted ers who aren’t doing anything. Citizens can and have site” was filled with “trash, human waste and stolen been demanding this for over a year now. When will items.” they listen?

Mayor Faulconer has not released an official statement on the point-in-time count nor did his office re —Seth Combs turn a request for a statement as of press time. Given his initial comments on the count, it seems he is con- Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com

o the extent we have outsourced our compassion to government, local government has failed us.”

So ended Dan McSwain’s brilliant, front-page editorial in Sunday’s Union-Tribune. He was referring to the release of a report on Thursday by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless that revealed what we’ve all known for a while, but is nonetheless startling. In case readers missed it, here’s it is:

“

This issue of CityBeat is not asking for a friend.

Volume 15 • Issue 39 EDITOR Seth Combs MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos ASSOCIATE EDITOR Torrey Bailey COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer Edwin Decker Minda Honey John R. Lamb Alex Zaragoza

CONTRIBUTORS Matthew Baldwin, David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Lizz Huerta, Lara McCaffrey, Scott McDonald, Sebastian Montes, Jenny Montgomery, Kinsee Morlan, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Jen Van Tieghem, Amy Wallen, Ian Ward

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jason Noble ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Beau Odom, Mark Schreiber Jenny Tormey

EDITORIAL INTERNS Jamie Ballard, Sofia Mejias-Pascoe Nicole Sazegar

ACCOUNTING Sharon Huie, Alysia Chavez Linda Lam

PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse

HUMAN RESOURCES Andrea Baker

DISPLAY ADVERTISING MANAGER Massey Pitts

VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE Kacie Sturek

MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS David Comden

CONTROLLER Kacie Cobian

PUBLISHER Kevin Hellman

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES Interested in advertising?

Call 619-281-7526 or e-mail advertising@sdcitybeat.com. The advertising deadline is 5 p.m. every Friday for the following week’s issue.

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

San Diego CityBeat is published and distributed every Wednesday by Southland Publishing Inc., free of charge but limited to one per reader. Reproduction of any material in this or any other issue is prohibited without written permission from the publisher and the author. Contents copyright 2017.

@SDCITYBEAT

APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS Mr. Combs, In my 8 years of art schoolin’, one of the most infuriating comments I ever heard someone make about about their work was, “I just wanted to see what a male artist could make.”

The answer, it seemed pretty plain to me, had been spelled out through the majority of canonical Western art history. Your emphatic “NO” at the conclusion of your article, “Should Parents Bring their Kids to Art Shows?” [April 12] seems similarly canonical, and without an eye towards a history that’s been exclusionary since its inception. From what I read, the article doesn’t question the classist idea that art shows need to be a childless affair. It neglects to ask who the parents are, why the parents might need to bring their children with them, and why the parents might feel a need to be there themselves.

You responded to critics of your article that you were “trying to start a conversation.” I think artist and mother Siera Hyte said it best when she commented, “it’s all well and good to want to ‘start a conversation’, until you build your argument around a sentiment that’s historically kept the art world as a space most accessible to economically secure, white, single men.”

Your article neglects to point out key facts that might help someone such as yourself from feeling so annoyed next time the see a child at an art show.

• According to the NEA nearly 60 percent of working artists are “close” to the poverty line

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau 80 percent of single parent households are headed by a mother • According to the U.S. Census Bureau 40 percent of single parent households are living in poverty

•Despite nearly 60 percent of arts graduates being female, they make up only 45 percent of working artists (BFAMFAPhD)

These things are interconnected. Poverty, gender and race are, as you may have heard, intersectional. When you tell artists, curators and arts patrons to leave their kids at home, more likely than not you are making members of underrepresented communities in the art world choose between their children and work.

Because, and this is something you also fail to address, that “schmoozing and chatting” is more than frivolity. Much of what is happening is professional development; artists engaging in conversations with other artists, meeting curators and potential collectors. It stands to reason then, that if you are an artist or a professional within the art world, you find it necessary to attend openings, especially in a city with such limited resources, such as San Diego.

While I am happy to air my grievances as an artist and exhibition maker, I must admit it feels wrong. If yours is truly a widespread sentiment in San Diego, then CityBeat—and the city itself—would be better served by writing a full and well-researched article on the topic.

I’m not a parent, but it wouldn’t hurt to ac-

tually ask some of them. Ask more artists and gallerists from both project spaces and commercial spaces. Might I suggest the issue in the second week of May? It would make a nice Mother’s Day gift to all the amazing artists that were left out for far too long in Western art history.

Morgan Mandalay Hillcrest [Editor’s response: Why can’t every letter be like this one?]

EXCLAMATION POINT I would like to add a comment about the recent editorial about the Wall [“A pig is still a pig and a wall is still a wall, April 12]. CityBeat’s editorial about the wall really was so enlightening!

I would like to share a little info with readers who may still thing the wall is the way to go! In Florida, thousands of illegal South Americans enter the US through Miami everyday! Many go to work in New York hotels; I’ve seen them there! And don’t forget the many French Canadians, who mosey illegally across the border seeking higher paying US jobs! So should we build a wall around the entire U.S. to keep all the “illegals”out? Gimmie a break!

Vivian Marlene Dunbar San Ysidro

TABLE OF CONTENTS UP FRONT From the Editor................................ 3 Letters ..............................................4 News: One nation...Indivisible........ 5 Spin Cycle.........................................6 Backwards & In High Heels............. 7 Well, That Was Awkward...............8

FOOD & DRINK The World Fare................................9 Anatomy of a Cocktail Scene ....... 10 Final Draught.................................. 11

THINGS TO DO The Short List................................. 12 Calendar of Events................... 12-14

ARTS & CULTURE Theater........................................... 16 FEATURE: SheWolves................... 18 Seen Local...................................... 19 Film........................................... 20-21

MUSIC FEATURE: The Wedding Present .22 Notes from the Smoking Patio......23 If I Were U......................................24 Concerts & Clubs..................... 26-29

LAST WORDS Advice Goddess.............................30 COVER PHOTO BY TORREY BAILEY

@SDCITYBEAT

PHOTOS BY TORREY BAILEY

UP FRONT | NEWS

Indivisible they stand Local left-leaning groups are fired up, but are they built to last?

By Torrey Bailey

D

“

“Some people have said, ‘I woke up on arrell Issa, you’ve got to oversee. You need to check and bal- November 9 and realized my country wasn’t ance him, before it’s World War what I thought it was, and I needed to get III,” sang more than 300 people more involved,’” Stadler said.

While Indivisible is a moderately leftist to the tune of “Oh! Susanna” outside District 49 Rep. Darrell Issa’s Vista office on organization, its guide borrows strategies April 18. Passing cars honked in support, from the Tea Party playbook. But where the unphased by the weekly Tuesday morning Tea Party reacted to the Obama presidency rallies that are now routine for hundreds by pushing uber-conservative agendas and of constituents. Similar protests have taken congressmen, Indivisible wants to paint the place in District 50 to put pressure on Rep. House blue. Their common tactic is pushDuncan Hunter. At these rallies, men and ing obstructionist agendas locally to break women wave homemade picket signs that ground nationally, said Brian Adams, a San reflect disdain for their representatives and Diego State University political science President Trump, as well as their concerns professor specializing in local democratic for issues such as climate change and health practices.

“In the American political system, it’s care.

The Vista rallies are led by organizers a lot easier to block things than it is to of Indivisible 49, a local subgroup of the actually accomplish something construcleft-leaning, national nonprofit Indivisible tive,” he said. “If your goals are simply to Project. Ellen Montanari, the event coor- obstruct, you have a much higher level of dinator for Indivisible 49, said she’s seen success, especially thinking about what Insome progress in the interaction between divisible is doing by engaging in activities, constituents and Issa since the rallies began having large numbers show up to meetings and circulating petitions. If you think about in December.

“He’s never talked to his constituents Black Lives Matter, which isn’t really trying unless they were Republicans. He went to to obstruct anything, but is trying to actuRepublican events, he would go to things ally have positive social change, it becomes like parades, but he wouldn’t sit down and a lot harder.”

Adams predicts Indivisible will be suctalk to constituents, and that’s why we’re here. We started back at the inauguration cessful in flipping the seats of Republicans trying to get him to come out, and today he in moderate districts.

“You can plausibly imagine giving some did,” she said of the April 18 rally.

The Indivisible Project fired up on Dec. of those Republicans second thoughts about 14, 2016 with a Google document outlining finally going along with Trump’s agenda.”

The pushback of similar organizing a plan to resist the Trump Agenda, specifigroups has made a nacally within the first 100 tional impact, such as the days. In the plan, foundsurprisingly strong showers called on the Ameriing of Georgia Democrat can people to organize Jon Ossoff for a historilocally and to contact cally red seat in Geortheir representatives to vocalize their opinions. gia’s sixth congressional The document aggrandistrict special election, dized into a formal guide according to The Atlantic. that has since been down“National media outloaded more than 2 millets have framed the conlion times, according to test as a high-stakes trial the Indivisible website. and potential indicator of On April 29, the first 100 whether Democrats can days of Trump’s presichannel anti-Trump ferdency will be complete, vor into the votes needed marking a turning point to win back Congress,” for Indivisible groups nathe article reported.

District 49 Rep. Darrell Issa tionally and locally.

But in San Diego, Inaddresses protestors divisible’s impact will be In San Diego County alone, there are between 120 and 125 in- gauged by the 2018 special elections. Maindividual Indivisible groups and more are taining momentum until then will be one of always popping up, said Kathy Stadler, a the movement’s most profound obstacles, member of Hillcrest Indivisible. She adds Adams said. that anywhere from 9,000 to 10,000 people “By definition, momentum doesn’t last make up these groups in the county, with forever,” he said. “If they don’t have that, about a 50/50 split between members who over time people will just stop participatwere previously activists and members that ing because it does get tiring trying to block were activated by the election. what the opposite party is doing, showing

@SDCITYBEAT

Senator Cash up and yelling and screaming at town hall meetings.”

Hillcrest Indivisible founder Riley Cormack said that, for most people, that longterm motivation is Donald Trump, so he expects Indivisible to stay afloat until the president is either impeached or out of office. But he also notes that Indivisible must tread lightly so as not to inundate its members with too many emails or tasks.

“The idea is that we want to bring them in and give them a piece so that they feel like they’re making a difference but not overwhelming them,” Cormack said.

The ability to strike this balance and achieve longevity is a defining quality of the Tea Party, unlike Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter whose brevity was blamed on a lack of a singular vision and leadership.

Indivisible’s leadership is unique to each individual group, but some within the City of San Diego are trying to change that by organizing at a county-wide level. Leaders from the Hillcrest, Downtown and Central Indivisible groups, among others, have met on a monthly basis to unify efforts and build a San Diego County Indivisible website.

Montanari, who heads the Issa rallies in

District 49, said she’s uninterested in being involved on that level.

“One of the dangers of any organization is that, the larger it gets, sometimes the less in touch with people it can be,” she said. “If you look at the Indivisible guide, it talks about being in small groups, and no matter what, we cannot forget that. It’s all about activating individuals who live around the county, and for me specifically, in our district to get out and vote.”

However, Cormack explained that the organization isn’t meant to be a formal, dictating structure. Rather, it’s unifying groups so that they aren’t doubling up on media efforts and can enhance communication to reach goals past the 100-day mark.

Stadler, who’s also involved in Hillcrest Indivisible, predicts the focus will tighten on local issues, instead of Trump, after April 29.

“As bad as we considered Trump to be and as damaging we consider his policies to be, it has also presented us with a pretty amazing opportunity to establish a longlasting, effective, progressive movement here in San Diego, especially in a way we certainly haven’t seen in my lifetime.”

Write to torreyb@sdcitybeat.com APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5

JOHN R. LAMB

UP FRONT | OPINION

SPIN

CYCLE

JOHN R. LAMB

Sheriff Bill’s competition If time were the wicked sheriff in a horse opera, I’d pay for riding lessons and take his gun away.

I

—W.H. Auden

f 32 years in the San Diego Sheriff’s Department has taught Commander Dave Myers anything, it’s that change has come to the region and resistance to it is not an option.

Myers, who grew up in Allied Gardens, recently announced that he will run against his boss, Sheriff Bill Gore, for his job in 2018.

The decision surprised many— including state Sen. Toni Atkins, who endorsed Gore for re-election last October.

Now that the Sheriff’s Department’s highest-ranking openly gay employee has declared his intentions, it has Atkins scrambling to explain to her Democratic supporters her earlier endorsement of the Republican incumbent.

The pushback seemed to escalate when an email emerged two weeks ago inviting folks to Gore’s May 10 re-election campaign kick-off. Topping the list of “special guests” presumably attending was Atkins, a Democrat, followed

by Mayor Kevin Faulconer, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, Tax Collector Dan McAllister and all five county supervisors, who are all Republicans.

Atkins will not be attending the fundraiser nor providing campaign money to Gore, “but she did authorize the use of her name when she endorsed him,” Atkins’ political adviser Doug Case told Spin. “And again, that was well before she realized Dave Myers was running.”

Case said Atkins and Myers would be meeting soon, but he made it clear that a retraction of her support for Gore was unlikely.

“She doesn’t back down on her word,” Case said.

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

In a recent email from Case that Myers provided, the Atkins adviser noted, “She has made clear that her decision is firm, so a meeting to attempt to get her to reconsider would not be productive.”

Myers had sought a meeting with Atkins, whom he described as inspirational to his decision to challenge Gore. “She’s actually one of the reasons why I decided to run,” he said. “I’ve heard her speak at events about supporting LGBT candidates and the positive message they bring when they do run. And I heard the call.”

But, he added, “I didn’t decide to run for sheriff to get in a pissing contest with Toni Atkins or anybody else. My focus is June of 2018 and providing a substantive message to what is resonating with the public now from their local law enforcement—real, transparent accountability. We need a true and honest conversation.

Some of it may not be comfortable for those in my field, but in order to create a true, trusting relationship, you’ve got to start there and build on it.”

On that subject, Myers said Gore has been an abject failure.

He points to leadership ranks that are predominantly “hetero white dudes.” Changing demographics in the county should be reflected in the ranks of the department be-

Commander Dave Myers has a message for Sheriff Bill Gore: Diversity is good. cause it helps create trust in the community and drives recruitment.

“If we don’t keep up,” Myers said, “we’re going to be even further behind when it comes to the trust factor if we don’t even look like the people we represent.”

When Gore promoted Myers to his Commander post in 2012, the sheriff lauded his decision. “Dave is a motivator and innovator,” Gore said in a press release. “Dave will undoubtedly bring new ideas and thinking to the table.”

Unfortunately, Myers now says, his ideas were generally met with resistance. Disappointed doesn’t begin to describe how Myers feels about it, given his extensive track record in practically every lawenforcement position you could hold. He’s worked in the field, the jails, on homicide investigations, on border-crime issues, and now oversees security in the county’s handful of courthouses and also special events.

His policing philosophy is straightforward. “If my mom called for help, how would I respond?” Myers said. “And everyone should be treated that way because everybody’s got a mom.”

And if you don’t think being gay and in law enforcement is a challenge, think again. Myers, who was married with two children at the time, said he came out 15 years into his career at the Sheriff’s Department. His father’s unexpected death from a brain tumor discovered only 10 days before shook him hard, particularly because “I’d never gotten to tell him who I was.”

Getting shot at twice—including one incident when a gun put to his head failed to discharge— also convinced him that life is too short to be anybody but yourself.

His family has been extremely supportive. He even joked that his

ex-wife’s response was, “Oh thank God. I thought you were leaving me for another woman.” And his young kids? “They said, ‘Oh, OK whatever. What’s for dinner?’”

Myers also serves on the county’s retirement board, and generated some media buzz when it was reported in 2015 that some board members were nervous that he brought his gun to meetings.

“I had to point out the fact that I am an on-duty peace officer at the time, so by policy I have to be armed,” he said, adding the media claims had “no substance and went absolutely nowhere.”

Myers even said he and the board colleague at the center of the media dustup, Samantha Begovich, are now “best friends.” In a brief email reply, Begovich told Spin, “True.”

The commander has assembled a campaign team that includes Robert Dempsey, who ran Doug Applegate’s narrowly losing 49th congressional district campaign against Darrell Issa, whom Gore endorsed. Myers should have his official website at davemyersforsheriff.com up and running soon.

Gore political adviser Tom Shepard said he thinks his client “has done a good job” in the eight years he’s held the job, “and there’s nothing I’m aware of that would make him vulnerable.”

Myers thinks otherwise. When the Deputy Sheriffs Association endorsed Gore before he announced his re-election bid, Myers said 200 deputies reached out to him and were “very upset.”

“When you demonstrate and value diversity,” he added, “you’ll see that come out in the men and women in the department. Those are the ones I want here.”

Spin Cycle appears every week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | OPINION

AARYN BELFER

BACKWARDS & IN

HIGH HEELS

Empty nesting boot camp

S

ixth Grade Camp.

Those three words are relatively meaningless to this California transplant. We Utoids (that is, someone from Utah) didn’t have such a thing in Salt Lake City, probably because we went camping all the damned time.

But the simple mention of those words never fails to bring a skyward glance of nostalgia, and an immediate smile to the face of pretty much any native San Diegan.

It’s quite the rite of passage apparently, this sevendecades-old ritual which sees 11- and 12-year-old kids go into pre-camp boot camp. Organizers actually tell you to have your kid practice taking a three-minute shower. They then squish sleeping bags into stuff sacks and load backpacks with the few limited allowable items for their five-day wilderness adventure, away from parents and far from home.

Wilderness is a loose term: The kids are in barracks with cots and bathrooms and running water. No need to dig a hole to bury your poop here. And they only get the impression that they’re far from home.

Geographically speaking, a homesick kid could easily grab a Lyft back to the city. Cuyamaca Outdoor Camp, as it is officially called, is a whole 45 minutes from my front door to the parking lot adjacent to the swimming pool where the bus driver, a parent chaperone and I dumped all the kids’ stuff upon arrival last week.

More surprising even was that, back at our house, the parent camp experience was—I’m going to be 100 percent honest here—really fucking awesome. This I had not anticipated. Lo! The freedom!

Reader, my house was quiet. As in a total absence of an adolescent human noise machine moving from room to room testing out all the various sounds it can make. Oh, the octaves it can traverse! The acoustic variance of a Lil Jon-influenced voice bounced off bathroom tile versus kitchen hardwood floors! The lack of constant babble with the dog (“Hey, Boo! How are you, Boo? Did you miss me, Boo?”) that is totally adorable until it isn’t! The absence of all of this was nothing short of nirvana. The bliss of hearing only the hum of our fan and birds chirping cannot be overstated.

Until I quickly discovered, almost as soon as I’d been able to hear my own thoughts, that I could drown those right out with the sounds of my music.

No more goddamned Andra Day. No more goddamned Shakira.

No more goddamned Pitbull and Ed Sheeran and Drake.

Lord save humanity from Drake. Drake is proof that there is no God. Anyhoodle. Before the sun set on day one of Sixth Grade Camp, I’d moved from trance-like silence to trance-like explicit music played at 11. Kendrick Lamar’s brilliant new album DAMN. stayed on repeat without any need to load the stupid clean version.

Screw censorship.

I’m so fuckin’ sick and tired of the Photoshop / Show me somethin’ natural like afro on Richard Pryor / Show me somethin’ natural like ass with some stretchmarks /

Still will take you down right on your mama’s couch in Polo socks, ayy Other cool side perks to the absence of my not-solittle Little: My man took my stretch-marked ass down on our couch in my Polo socks. Okay, so that didn’t really happen. My ass is dimpled more than stretched, I don’t own Polo socks, and I’m in a deep depression.

But this scenario totally could have played out at any moment, and it’s the possibility that matters. We did watch all the television we wanted, a reprieve from episode after episode of The Voice.

Sam could smoke a joint inside his own home. I could leave my medicinal marijuana sitting out on the kitchen counter. This is both legal and medically regulated, respectively, but still has to remain hidden because, well, Nancy Reagan.

My house was as clean as the husband and I wanted it to be and with very little effort. Laundry?

Reduced by mountains since the four-outfit-a day perpetrator wasn’t mixing it up. Dishes? Just a couple at a time rinsed immediately after use and then put away in the dishwasher. Everything was in its place. My hairbrush or perfume or nail clipper didn’t randomly disappear; those things were right where I left them. Go figure.

There was no carpooling, scheduling, piano, tennis or playdates. And there was zero nagging. No nagging to put away shoes, random socks, art supplies, Legos, books, cereal boxes, the yogurt container. No cacophonous reminders to empty the trash, load the dishwasher, close the refrigerator door, feed the dog (“Hey, Boo! You hungry, Boo? You want your breakfast, Boo?”). No nagging to brush your teeth, brush your teeth, brush your teeth (that one’s never gonna die).

And, there was no slime. OH MY GOD, THE SLIME! Did you know slime was a thing? To the point that Michael’s has a “Slime Station” in their stores, it is a thing. Indeed, my baby girl makes slime like Walter White cooked meth. There’s Space Slime, Cocoa Slime, Rainbow Slime and Three-Ingredient Glop Slime. You name it, she makes it. The kid even took to slinging little bags of it at school before spring break. Her father and I couldn’t be more proud. This may be how she helps fund her eighth grade trip to Europe. Or college.

I could just cry looking back on the freedom Sam and I had to simply exist together. Just me and the other grown-up and just like it was during the days before we were parents. Life is coming full-circle and then we die.

Jeeze. I kinda missed the kid. The freedom was freeing and all, but there was a bit of melancholy, too. By the end of the week, I was definitely ready for her to come home and roll her eyes at me again.

But if anyone says the three magic words to me in the future, I’ll look toward the sky with nostalgia, smile and look back with fondness on my Sixth Grade Camp experience.

And, there was no slime.

OH MY GOD, THE SLIME! Did you know slime was a thing?

@SDCITYBEAT

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aarynb@sdcitybeat.com.

APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | OPINION VOICES

RYAN BRADFORD

WELL THAT WAS

AWKWARD

A family trip to a polygamist stronghold

C

olorado City is not in Colorado, and calling it a city is generous. “Compound” is a more accurate desciption. It straddles the border of Arizona and Utah. Some of the roads are paved, but most aren’t. At first glance, the convenient grid-like system of roads that run through town is the same as most small towns in Utah, but the prison-caliber fences that surround Colorado City’s properties and the omnipresent security cameras hanging off every eave negate any and all small-town charm.

Above the fences and the trailers and the mansions, there’s a red rock plateau. It’s not enough to erase the hostility of the place, but there’s no denying the beauty of the landscape.

Polygamists definitely know how to pick their settlements.

Colorado City is a stronghold for followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). Or, the offshoot of Mormonism that holds tight to polygamy, which remains illegal in all 50 states, essentially making Colorado City a haven for outlaws.

It is also where my family wants to go on Spring Break.

We’re all ex-Mos, and I’ve recently read Jon Krakauer’s seminal masterpiece chronicling the Mormons’ violent history, Under the Banner of Heaven, so it’s not difficult to convince everyone else to make the side trip to Colorado City.

It’s a Sunday when we pile into my sister-in-law’s SUV to make the trip out to Polygamyville. When we arrive, it’s a ghost town, but there’s this eerie, unshakable feeling of being watched. I can’t help but feel that it’s an apt comparison to being religious: never at ease because God is always watching.

I sit next to my 5-year-old nephew in the very back of the car. He’s listening to an audiobook called The Magic Treehouse, but he doesn’t like to wear headphones, so the zany adventures of the central characters and their wizard friend fill the otherwise silent car. In the story, the character encounters a ghost.

“This is kind of creepy,” my nephew says, inadvertently voicing what everyone else in the car is thinking. Sure, ghosts aren’t the same kind of creepy as prairie-donned sister wives, incest and coerced child brides, but he’s saying what we’re all thinking.

“I think this is it,” my mom’s boyfriend says. We drive past a building with walls so high it’s nearly impossible to see the roof—a structure more akin to a small meatpacking warehouse than a home. It’s the former residence of Warren Jeffs, the leader of the FLDS, who is currently serving a life sentence for sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault of children.

Jeffs, the man who was once on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, just after Osama Bin Laden. Jeffs, the man whose imprisonment only strengthens the feeling of martyrdom in the eyes of FLDS followers.

One book of The Magic Treehouse ends and another begins. Whoever they got to read the audiobook has a soft, raspy voice that veers into sultry moaning when she says dialogue—a disconcerting mix of grandmotherly dramatics and porno actress whisper. In this new book, the characters are planning to confront a giant spider. This is very exciting for my nephew because of his newfound obsession with bugs (he’ll often say inadvertently horrifying things like “wouldn’t it be cool if there were spiders everywhere?!”), but for the rest of us in the car, the spider plot exacerbates the feeling that we’re becoming prey—digging ourselves deeper into the web of this hostile, creepy town.

We pull into Colorado City’s cemetery. The burial plots jut from the ground, as if the polygs just lay the bodies on the ground and cover them with dirt. The only person who has a remarkable headstone is Rulon Jeffs, Warren’s father. Far off, two sister wives walk among the graves, a sight slightly reminiscent of the original Night of the Living Dead.

As we leave the graveyard, my sister-in-law notices a white SUV trailing us. Where it came from, no one knows, but it almost certainly belongs to the private FLDS cops who are known to hassle outsiders. We exit the graveyard and drive down Uzona Avenue, the street that runs along the border of Utah and Arizona, and enables polygamists to jump to a different jurisdiction if the law becomes too hot.

“Let’s get out of here,” my sister-in-law says. No one objects. The SUV follows us until we’re out of town.

Later, we get frozen custard in St. George, because that’s what you do in Mormon country. I’ve heard there’s a bar in this city, but I don’t see it.

As we park the car, we see a gang (gaggle? flock? murder?) of sister wives enter the custard shop.

They’re the first of their kind that I’ve seen in the wild, and I can’t stop staring.

“They’re just like us!” my sister-in-law whispers, mimicking an US magazine article.

I take a creepshot, but I’m not very covert, and the oldest woman stares right into the camera. She doesn’t look happy. It’s petty, I know, but I take a little joy in how uncomfortable it makes them to be in our world. Eye for an eye, or something. I don’t know—is that something they say in the Bible?

Far off, two sister wives walk among the graves, a sight slightly reminiscent of the original Night of the Living Dead.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

Well, That Was Awkward appears every other week.

Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | FOOD

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

fat. Nowadays, it’s pork belly rolled around center cut pork loin. At its best—as it was on two trips for me—Roast’s porchetta is glorious, with crispy skin and deeply savory, salty and satisfying meat. On the third, my dining companion got a bowl with a paltry portion of porchetta “featuring” sad, unRoast is who they are and roast crisped, limp and pretty much unappetizing skin. is what they do I prefer to see that as an unfortunate aberration.

The roast beef was everything you want roast ’m a sucker for a place that does one thing and beef to be: crispy, salty and savory outside with a does it well. It’s a testament to a virtue, increas- rosy, medium rare interior. This is the roast beef ingly lost of late, that competence matters and sandwich you wish your mother made you to take in having the courage of one’s convictions. Roast to school instead of leftovers. The sandwich and Meat & Sandwich Shop (2820 Historic Deca- bowl versions of the roast beef come with pink tur Road) at the Liberty Public Market in Liberty pickled onions and a tangy chimichurri sauce.

Roast chicken is a seriously cheffy thing. Ask Station has that competence and has that courage. five chefs what they want to put MICHAEL GARDINER on their menu and six will say “roast chicken.” And Roast’s is very good. The restaurant describes it as “lemon rosemary, crispy skin.” And it is, indeed, all of that (including crispy) as well as seriously juicy. But did they really have to advertise it as “crispy?” It’s almost a case of overpromising and underperforming. It would have seemed crispier if they’d said so less.

Part of the problem with the chicken, indeed an overall problem with everything, was the pace of service. On the good side, every order is hand carved. On the bad side, every order is hand carved. And they take real care with each one. Seriously. What Carving the roast beef that means is that if you have two orders, the second one is beThe menu at Roast is short: meat and sides. ing hand carved while the first one is getting cold.

The roasted meats—porchetta, beef and chicken— So when I got my roast chicken before my dining come in sandwich, bowls (sandwiches without the companion got her porchetta, the roast chicken got annoying bread stuff) or portions (half pound for cold (and the skin less crisp) as the porchetta (and the porchetta and beef, and whole, half or quarter a sandwich were being made). That happened every chickens). There are also sides: roasted potatoes time.

The bottom line, though, is that what Roast and vegetables, kale Caesar salad, chips and chicharron (sold by weight). But don’t go to Roast for the does—namely, roast meats—is very much worth sides, not even the roasted potatoes or the chichar- checking out. It is what it does and most of the time ron. Go there for roast meats. it does it really, really well.

Traditionally, porchetta is a pig deconstructed, deboned and put back together with skin as sau- The World Fare appears weekly. sage casing enclosing layers of stuffing, meat and Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

FARE I

@SDCITYBEAT

APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

UP FRONT | DRINK

ANATOMY OF A

BY IAN WARD

COCKTAIL SCENE #4: Getting boujee at Coin Op

probably designed at the last minute under pressure from managers. Or, something that is intenduch like undercover cops and paying ed to be refreshing but nothing else, some version taxes, among bartenders, making vodka of a lemonade. Maybe a lemonade with cucumber. cocktails has become a thing to be avoid- Maybe one with mint. Maybe one with both. But ed at all costs. I’m not talking about vodka sodas rarely one with intended substance. or vodka Red Bulls. Under the right circumstances, That is what made my first encounter with the when a guest orders those drinks, they are unknow- “Bad and Boujee” cocktail at Coin-Op Game Room ingly bringing a smile to my face. After all it is much (3926 30th St.) in North Park so pleasantly surpriseasier to make a vodka tonic, than ing. Although the cocktail contains say, a Ramos Fizz, and at my core I both tequila and vodka, it can easily am a pretty lazy man. fall under the category of “refreshNow, when I say vodka cocktails ing vodka cocktail,” and does, but are to be avoided, I mean those cockthere was some thoughtfulness to tails that are forcibly placed onto its inception, not something that cocktail menus. In many fine estabcame about as a result of a hole in lishments, management and owners the cerebral condom. know that a decent proportion of The vodka used in the “Bad and their guests exclusively imbibe vodBoujee” is the recently released ka-based cocktails and, as a result, Horchata-flavored vodka from Cutinsist on having at least one vodka water Spirits. It lends both weight cocktail on the menu. Therefore the and complexity to this easy drinklead bartender, cocktail curator, mixing springtime tippler, and the cinologist or person by any other such The Bad and Boujee namon from the vodka stabilizes moniker, is begrudgingly assigned the freewheelin’ tropical ingredithe task of creating one of these “vodka cocktails” to ents with a baking spice backbone. appease both their clientele and the powers that be.

One might argue that the “Bad and Boujee” is Some might be asking why there is so much dis- more of a tequila cocktail than a vodka one, but dain for vodka cocktails among the bartender com- one sip will have you realizing that the Horchata munity. The answer is that this is very specific to the vodka is the dominant component and seems to “Craft bartender” community, who have collectively give support to the tequila, rather than the other come to the conclusion that all vodka simply has no way around. But that’s just my opinion. If readers taste and lends no character to a cocktail. It gener- like it like I did, thank bartender Caleb Bonilla for ally has no elements of bitter or sweet, or character- not falling into the craft bartender pitfall of makistics derived from wood like other aged spirits do. ing lazy, thoughtless vodka cocktails.

So, more times than not, when you encounter a vodka based cocktail on a menu, it is usually some Anatomy of a Cocktail Scene appears every other haphazard thing, recklessly thrown together and week. Write to ianw@sdcitybeat.com

M

“ BAD AND BOUJEE ” as found at Coin-Op Game Room

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

¾ oz. Lime Juice 1 oz. Pineapple ¼ oz. Coconut Syrup ¼ oz. Orgeat ½ oz. Horchata Vodka 1 oz. Rancho Alegre

Place all ingredients in to a mixing tin and whip with pebble ice. Transfer ingredients into a Collins glass with fresh pebble ice. Garnish with grated nutmeg and umbrella.

@SDCITYBEAT

UP FRONT | DRINK

FINAL

BY BETH DEMMON

DRAUGHT Craft beer cracks down on sexism

requires advertising to be executed in a “socially responsible and respectful way,” but that’s going to vary n April 12, the Brewer’s Association up- and leaves it open to criticism when it does decide dated its Marketing and Advertising Code to drop the hammer on someone. They’re damned to prohibit marketing mateif they do and they’re damned if they rials that “contain sexually explicit, don’t. Maybe this change is just a big lewd, or demeaning brand names, conspiracy concocted by Big Beer to language, text, graphics, photos, vidfurther squash craft creativity. But eo, or other images that reasonable I’m going to go out on a left-leaning adult consumers would find inapprolimb and say nahhh. priate for consumer products offered Let’s be clear about one thing— to the public; [or] contain derogatory sexist doesn’t equate sexy. Little or demeaning text or images.”

Miss Brewing’s logo is sexy. Hillcrest Many applauded this change.

Little Miss Brewing Brewing Company’s Crotch Rocket Others—not so much. branding Irish red ale tiptoes the line of quesI can already hear the cries of “Get tionable but can get chalked up to your politics out of my beer!” mixed cheekily juvenile. Mother Earth Brew with the ever popular “It’s just beer, Co.’s controversial “Got Cans?” ad don’t take it so seriously.” However, was inarguably in bad taste. Belching before anyone gets their manly pantBeaver Brewery is comically gross. ies in too big of a twist, let’s evaluate Reckless Brewing’s Pop My Cherry what this amendment really means.

Ale and Oral Pleasure steam beer This new politically correct crackwon’t be on my to-try list anytime down doesn’t state that breweries soon. And the forthcoming Full Body can’t be Brewer’s Association memBrewing looks to blow them all out of bers or even win awards at the Great the water when it comes to being obAmerican Beer Festival and World noxiously distasteful.

Beer Cup. It just means the abusive There’s a difference between in“Got Cans?” ad by herently sexist and just going for name of the beer or brewery won’t be Mother Earth Brew Co. shock value. But even those going for promoted if they win. What it doesn’t mean is the people supporting the the gasps have to expect backlash. change don’t have a sense of humor.

Brew better beer, don’t cheapen a We’re just fed up with the sexist, brand with gimmicks, and if one does, objectifying bullshit that we’re condon’t act surprised when reasonable stantly surrounded by. human beings don’t find it hilarious.

It’s not just the beer industry, of It’s not about being “allowed” course. It’s generations of patriarto make jokes. It’s about consumchal misogyny and racism reinforced ers continuing to call them out on across the world in any number of it and someone finally taking acways. (How the Redskins are still a tion. Telling customers and fellow legitimate mascot is beyond me.) But Full Body Brewing brewers to “lighten up” won’t fly the number of women in craft beer is website graphic anymore. That’s the type of thinkrising, and our patience—along with ing that people need to get over. the patience of many other gender-identifying participants—is waning.

Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com, check her out on One problem lies with the very subjective clas- Instagram at @thedelightedbite, or via Twitter at @ sification of “reasonable.” The Brewer’s Association iheartcontent.

O

@SDCITYBEAT

APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

SHORTlist

EVENTS

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

SAN DIEGO

1 TIME TO REAWAKEN

We’d like to think that the majority of CityBeat readers remember how it felt to wake up the morning of November 9th. Faced with the awful reality that Trump had been elected the 45th President of the United States, millions of people felt a sense of dread and despair. However, once that reality set in, we collectively decided it was time to fight back. We donated money to worthy causes. We began to organize. We began to write letters and make phone calls.

Remember what a great feeling that was?

Sure, we could have used this space to promote an event that would serve as excellent distraction from the chaos, but as Trump’s 100th day in office approaches (April 29, to be exact), it’s time, once again, to get woke.

There are some great events this week that aim to get us all reenergized.

First up, there’s the Protect the Pussy fundraiser on Friday, April 28 at Diego Tattoo Gallery (3434 University Ave., North Park). At this Planned Parenthood benefit from noon to 9 p.m., patrons can get a tattoo for $50 with all proceeds benefit-

BALBOA PARK

2

IN BLOOM

While people are sitting in traffic for hours to see the poppies in Antelope Valley, the San Diego tradition Art Alive is bringing flowers COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART and art right to San Diego. This year, floral designers at the San Diego Museum of Art (1450 El Prado) will be interpreting works from Diego Rivera, Henri Matisse, Goya and more into floral displays.

The museum’s Rotunda will also be transformed into a Portrait Of A Boy grand floral design At The Spanish Court

by Carlos Franco of Green Fresh Florals. The annual Art Alive also serves as a fundraiser that provides support for SDMA’s education, outreach programs and special exhibitions. These floral interpretations will be on display from Friday, April 28 to Sunday, April 30 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission ranges from free for members and children age 6 and under to $25 for nonmembers and $5 for kids age 7 to 17. sdmart.org

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

ing PP. There will also be a pop-up shop from local boutique Little Dame (littledameshop.com).

The San Diego Art Insitute (1439 El Prado, Balboa Park) will have two cool events over the weekend. On Saturday, April 29, local arts org FIGMENT San Diego (sandiego. figmentproject.org) will hold a fundraiser from 1 to 7 p.m. that includes vendors, raffles and food and drinks. On Sunday, April 30 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Bridge and So Sew Co collective will host a Resist Stitch, a “socially engaged art workshop” where aspiring activists can learn sewing skills that can serve to create resistance art and fashion. sandiego-art.org Finally, let’s not forget International Workers’ Day on Monday, May 1. There are several protests and rallies across the county, but we’d suggest joining others at 3 p.m. for the Workers & Community Resist! march from the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building (880 Front St., Downtown) to Chicano Park.

Whatever readers decide to do, remember: Now is not the time to get complacent.

LA MESA AND MISSION VALLEY

3

BLACK AND PROUD

As our region’s largest and first black film festival of the year, the San Diego Black Film Festival promotes AfricanAmerican and African Diaspora cinema with a variety of films from comedy and animation to documentary and features. This year’s highlights include the world premiere drama, Then There Was You, a heart-wrenching love story about a ladies man who falls for a spoken-word artist, as well as Taking Israel, a documentary about the experiences of young African-American students in Israel. The film festival starts on Thursday, April 27 with an opening reception and screenings and runs through Sunday, April 30. All screenings and events happen at Reading Cinemas in Grossmont Center (5500 Grossmont Center Drive) and AMC Theatre Fashion Valley (7037 Friars Road).

Tickets range from $10-$50. sdbff.com ADEWALE BAJARE

HApostasy at Teros Gallery, 3888 Swift Ave., North Park. An art show inspired by death metal and featuring the work of STENCIL FACE (Paul Vargas) and NIHILIST666 (Jorge Gutierrez). Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, April 27. Free. facebook.com/events/156277121567757 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 28 through Sunday, April 30. $20.

619-232-7931, sdmart.org HVenus at La Bodega Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. An all-women exhibition featuring artists from around the world including Carolina Seth, Celeste Byers, Erica Shaw and dozens more.

Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 29. Free. labodegagallery.com HMission Federal ArtWalk at Little Italy. The 33rd annual festival and event will fill 17 blocks and feature over 350 artists showcasing every medium, including painting, sculpture, glass work, photography, fine jewelry and more. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30. Free. artwalksandiego.org HTelescope at Teros Gallery, 3888 Swift Ave., North Park. Artist Tetsunori Tawaraya will have works on display and will be promoting the release of his new risograph book. Also includes music performances from INUS and Horselover Fat. Opening from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Sunday, April 30. Free. facebook.com/ events/1867507756804371

BOOKS HIndependent Bookstore Day at various locations. Bookstores all over San Diego will feature readings, specials and exclusive items that will only be available that day. See website for details and full list of participants. Various times. Saturday, April 29. indiebookstoreday.com HDavid Coddon at San Diego Writer’s Ink, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16, Point Loma. Join CityBeat’s own theatre critic for a “wine and sign” event celebrating the release of his new novel, The Romancer. At 6 p.m. Saturday, April 29.

Free. sandiegowriters.org

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 25 to 75 percent of sales will go to local HIV/AIDS services and prevention programs. Various times. Thursday, April 27. Prices vary. diningoutforlife.com Chocolate Festival at Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 N Harbor Drive, Downtown. The sixth annual fest held on multiple vessels features over 15 vendors showcasing and sampling various types of chocolate. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 30. $13-$33. sdmaritime.org

MUSIC Commune at Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Pianist Kyle Adam Blair invites vibraphonist Berndt Thurner to premiere Stuart Saunders Smith’s chamber vibraphone concerto. At 7 p.m. Friday, April 28. Free. musicweb. ucsd.edu HAdams Avenue Unplugged at Adams Avenue. The sixth annual event will feature more than 100 artists on 30 stages along Adams Avenue, from University Heights to Kensington. Headliners include John York, Jack Tempchin and more. From noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 29.

Free-$19. adamsavenueunplugged.com Nikolay Khozyainov at The Auditorium at TSRI, 10620 John J Hopkins Drive, La Jolla. The acclaimed Russian Pianist performs masterworks by Beethoven, Stravinsky and Schumann. At 8 p.m. Saturday, April 29. $30-$70. 619-235-0804, ljms.org

PERFORMANCE HLa Traviata at San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., Downtown. The last performance of the San Diego Opera season is the age-old story of man-meets-prostitute and falls in love, with disastrous results. At 7 p.m. Friday, April 28 and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 30. $50-$299. sdopera.com

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD

Ryan Dalton, Aprilynne Pike, Stephanie Elliot and Melissa Marr at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. Four Arizona-based Young Adult authors will be on hand to promote their respective new titles, The Black Tempest (Dalton), Glitter (Pike), Sad Perfect (Elliot) and One Blood Ruby (Marr).

At 4 p.m. Saturday, April 29. Free. 858268-4747, mystgalaxy.com

HVAMP: Putting the Fun in Funeral at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. So Say We All’s monthly storytelling night features stories about having fun in the unlikeliest of places. Featured readers include Jennifer Coburn, Kersten Deck, Audrey Jacobs and more. From 8:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday, April 27. $5 suggested donation. 619-2846784, sosayweallonline.com

Betsy Jordan at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals program, Jordan will be signing and discussing Going the Distance: Caring for a Loved One with Lewy Body Dementia. At noon Sunday, April 30. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

POLITICS & COMMUNITY

Susannah Meadows at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The author and former writer for Newsweek will discuss her new nonfiction book, The Other Side of Impossible, with local writer Amy Finley. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 3.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

FILM HSan Diego Black Film Festival at various venues. The annual fest promotes Afri-

And Then There Was You

can-American and African Diaspora cinema with a variety of films from comedy and animation to documentary and features. Various times from Thursday, April 27 through Sunday, April 30. $10-$50. sdbff.com

H = CityBeat picks

HPeople’s Climate March at Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Highway, Downtown.

Join hundreds of others in marching for clean energy jobs and climate justice.

Includes live music, a Native American ceremony, and a Kid’s Zone with games and facepainting. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday, March 29. Free. peoplesclimatesd.org HWorkers & Community Resist! at Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building, 880 Front St., Downtown. Join others in marching for worker’s rights at this annual May Day/ International Workers’ Day celebration. At 3 p.m. Monday, March 1. Free. facebook.com/events/1882665731946850

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 @SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

april 26, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS

AFTER DARK: ABOUT LAST NIGHT Snapchat or it didn’t happen

RAPID EYE

A

t some Starbucks locations, baristas ran out of pink and sour blue powder, or ingredients as the company calls them, on the first day the Unicorn Frappuccino was sold. During its five-day stretch that ended April 23, the colorchanging sugar bomb was hashtagged on Instagram more than 150,000 times and continued to trend on Twitter days after, even though Anthony Bourdain said the drink was “the perfect nexus of awfulness.”

The drink’s viral status is thanks to that social media presence, or its social currency, which is a brand’s ability to interact with customers.

“In today’s age, building social currency is probably the most important investment companies can make to create value for themselves,” according to brand strategy firm Vivaldi Partners.

So when another taco shop, El Chingon Badass Mexican (560 Fifth Ave.), opened in the Gaslamp Quarter, the marketing team took a swing at social currency to try to make it stand out. When the restaurant brought out a live donkey and a sombrero-wearing little person who poured shots from on top of the bar, selfies followed. From the eye socket-burning light beams to the blasting smoke machines, the opening was experience-driven and catered to social media.

“People are bottle service and VIP crazy,” says DJ Artistic, who spins at El Chingon. “It is a super huge culture and people

El Chingon are paying $500 to $2,000 for a table to have a presentation, to have the bottle come out, the sparklers, the confetti, have their song play and then have their friends Snapchat it, Instagram it, Facebook Live it, and that’s their experience.”

Kevin McLaughlin, founder of Gaslamp District Media, says “It’s definitely a different kind of beast for San Diego,” referring to the bar/restaurant/nightclub hybrid.

He traces back the bells-and-whistles approach to Scottsdale, Arizona and says the hybrid bar presence is growing in the Gaslamp now that American Junkie (628 Fifth Ave.) opened last weekend. While it’s a sports bar rather than a taqueria, American Junkie has also grounded itself throughout Scottsdale and Southern California by shapeshifting into the showmanship of a nightclub by dark.

“The more that these venues offer bottle service and an experience, the more client base they can actually reach out to,” says DJ Artistic. “It’s one of those things that puts the cherry on top of your particular social media persona.”

Or, the blue powder on top of a Unicorn Frap.

—Torrey Bailey COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

SPECIAL EVENTS HArtPOP! at San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, College Area. The inaugural campus arts festival showcases visual and performing arts by SDSU students, faculty and staff. Includes live music performances, art displays and art-making activities.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, April 27. Free. artsalive.sdsu.edu HProtect the Pussy at Diego Tattoo Gallery, 3434 University Ave., North Park. Patrons can get a tattoo for $50 with all proceeds benefiting Planned Parenthood. There will also be a pop-up shop from local boutique Little Dame. From noon to 9 p.m. Friday, April 28. littledameshop.com HFIGMENT San Diego at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Local arts org FIGMENT San Diego holds a fundraiser that includes arts and crafts vendors, raffles and food and drinks. From 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 29. $5. sandiego.figmentproject.org Tour de Cure at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Cyclists of all levels will join forces to raise funds for the American Diabetes Association. Waiting at the finish line will be more than 25 vendors and refreshments. From 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 29. $30. 858-755-1161, diabetes.org/sandiegotourdecure April 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 29 and Sunday, April 30. Free. encinitas101.com HCiclaVista at Chula Vista, Third Avenue from E Street to H Street. Chula Vista’s inaugural open-streets celebration, welcomes anyone outside of the car to rediscover the South Bay neighborhood by walking, biking,

14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

“Telescope” by Tetsunori Tawaraya will be on view at Telescope, a solo show and book release event opening from 6 p.m. to midnight Sunday, April 30, at Teros Gallery (3888 Swift Ave., North Park.). skating—anything besides driving in a car. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 30. Free. ciclavista.com

WORKSHOPS HResist Stitch at San Diego Art Institute, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Bridge and So Sew Co collective host this “socially engaged art workshop” where aspiring activists can learn sewing skills that can serve to create resistance art and fashion. From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, April 30. Free. 619-236-0011, sandiego-art.org

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

april 26, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

THEATER The science of ego

DAREN SCOTT

A

nton Myrvold is a brilliant physicist.

He’s also a pompous, conscienceless narcissist. Who wouldn’t love to play a man like that? At the Lyceum space in downtown, Ruff Yeager sinks his teeth into the meaty role of Myrvold, the central figure of Will Cooper’s trenchant drama Margin of Error. This world premiere is the inaugural production of San Diego’s newest theater company, the Roustabouts, co-founded by Cooper, Yeager and actor/ director Phil Johnson. It’s a tightly wound affair skillfully directed by Rosina Reynolds that begins with the Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?-type setup of a mature couple (Yeager and Roxane Carrasco, as Myrvold’s wife) hosting a young couple (Joel Miller and Kate Rose Reynolds as Myrvold’s former students, Gray and Britt) in an evening that turns explosive. There, any comparisons end. Margin of Error revolves completely around Anton Myrvold, whose Jupiter-sized ego at the outset of the story is further inflated by the arrival of a letter all but predicting an impending Nobel Prize.

Myrvold’s prize should be his humanrights activist wife Sunita, who loves and tolerates him, but he is a man of unprincipled ambition and ethical vacancy, to which not only Sunita, but also Gray and Britt are subject. In Margin of Error, the

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

when confronted by Sunita or in Myrvold’s predatory clutches, ring truer than any empirical principles Britt might have espoused on the way to her doctorate. Her cuts are the deepest.

Margin of Error runs through May 7 at the Lyceum Theatre in Horton Plaza, downtown. $42; theroustabouts.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: Almost, Maine: John Cariani’s famous play that features nine separate stories about love and loss in a small, New England town. Directed by Eric Bishop, it opens April 27 at the MiraCosta College Theatre in Oceanside. miracosta.edu

Ruff Yeager and Roxane Carrasco in Margin of Error question isn’t when the smug Myrvold will be undone, but how. If there’s a narrative defect in the undoing, it’s that the play’s emotional explosions in the end are deactivated in a kind of everyone-loses alleviation engineered by the hurt but enlightened Sunita. Given the wounds inflicted by that point, there should be more damage.

Even academics have been known to lose it.

Yeager is Margin of Error’s engine— orating, flaring, stalking. Carrasco does well with a Sunita who is almost too calm to be true, while Miller’s straight-laced Gray has to be either solicitous or pissed off. The other standout here is Reynolds, who sublimely brings to the surface Britt’s own ethical conflict, ambition and moral ambiguity. Her pained silences, either

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 the San Diego Shakespeare Society, it happens April 29 at the El Prado Promenade in Balboa Park. sandiegoshakespearesociety.org

For full theater listings, visit “Theater” at sdcitybeat.com under the Culture tab.

@SDCITYBEAT

Fam FR A ily EE Eve nt

Sunday, April 30, 2017 • 11am in Downtown Chula Vista on 3rd Ave between E & Roosevelt Street Come to Downtown Chula Vista on 3rd Ave. between E St.and Roosevelt. The streets will be closed down to cars and completley open for people to roll and stroll–walk, ride bikes, and roll on skateboards, scooters, roller skates! Walk your dog! Bring your kids! There will be live music, shopping, food and fun for all ages! CiclaVista is the culminating event for Walk+Bike Chula Vista.

@SDCITYBEAT

8

9

7

10

E St

25

B

HUBs A SD County Bicycle Coalition B SD Mountain Bike Association C Bike Walk Chula Vista/Los Cruzadores D Rec. Dept./Walk+Bike Chula Vista E Circulate San Diego

1 SDCCU 2 Living Coast Discovery Center 3 Chula Vista Animal Care Facility 4 Chula Vista Conservation 5 Chula Vista Community Collaborative 6 Chula Vista Public Library 7 Super Wash & Dry 8 MTS 9 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 10 OVRP 11 F Street Promenade 12 SANDAG iCommute 13 Third Avenue Village Association 14 Chula Vista BMX 15 Southwestern Community College 16 Eastlake Education Foundation 17 Age-Friendly/Healthy Chula Vista Initiative 18 Trek Bicycle 19 SDG&E 20 South Bay Community Services 21 South Bay Stingrays Rugby Club 22 Chula Vista Police Activities League (CVPal) 23 Kids Love Soccer 24 CSA SD County Fair Housing 25 Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County

+

Davidson St

Third Ave

16 24

C 6

F St

11

5 20

23

Memorial Park

Center St

19

12

4

13

D 22

Madron

21

a St

Park Way

14 3

15

G St HUBs

+

First Aid Station Portable Restroom Exhibit Booths

Roosevelt St

Third Ave

A

17 18

2 1

+

E Alvarado St

APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

CULTURE

omen have long fought to create spaces for themselves. Whether it’s through the feminist movement, an all-ladies scrapbooking meet-up or a writers group for women of color, women seek each other to build a safe space to talk, support one another and do what they love.

The SheWolves bike crew was born out of this long tradition. Three years ago, Angie Beaulieu and Magz Lemaster came together to build a biking community for femaleidentifying individuals. Every third Thursday of the month, the SheWolves come together in their cycling caps emblazoned with their crew name on the flip side of the brim, and take to the streets of San Diego in their bikes.

The group came as a response to the male-dominated bike scene in San Diego, though the scene is the same across the country. Countless articles documenting female-centric bike crews that have sprouted up in response to the sausage fest of a scene in cities like Los Angeles, Long Beach, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Toronto and beyond are just a Google search away.

“We wanted to create a safe space for women to feel comfortable riding their bike,” says Lemaster. “They didn’t feel safe or confident in the male-dominated rides. There weren’t enough girls. We’d asked women and they’d say it felt intimidating or uncomfortable to ride with the guys.

Or they get hit on. Girls will come out to ride and the guys are like wolves. Guys, back up. Give them room to breathe.”

Seeing a lack of women on rides or at bike races and events pushed Lemaster and Beaulieu to start the SheWolves, which has grown from a group of about four to 15 to 20 riders. As Lemaster puts it, “I rode with all these guys and it was great, but I felt like I was missing something.”

Beaulieu, co-owner of Retrogression bike shop in North Park, adds, “I always push the SheWolves and other women

to do these bike races. I’m not sure why they don’t show up. It might be a confidence thing, or maybe they just don’t know about it. Or they think, ‘well, I’m not going to win so why bother.’ It’s not about winning. It’s about being involved and showing other women they can do it.”

Through the SheWolves, Beaulieu and Lemaster aim to empower women and boost their confidence on two wheels so it stays with them when they’re on two feet. To keep the space safe, they refrain from politics because they believe it alienates riders. They keep it simple: girls riding bikes, drinking beer and hanging out.

Even so, when the SheWolves first formed, they didn’t feel the warmest welcome in the local bike community. A few people, both male and female, felt their group was too exclusive or didn’t understand the need for an all-female ride to exist.

“We had a rough patch there,” says Lemaster. “It’s like, you have like 14 rides. Let us have one!”

The SheWolves represents a wide range of woman.

There’s service industry workers, a zookeeper, teachers, business owners, a physician and a fish monger, to name a

few. It includes trans and gender-neutral individuals, as well as gay and straight riders. Lemaster identifies as genderneutral and uses they/them pronouns. They also have an annual co-ed ride for which they invite their male supporters.

“We had to try and explain that we feel excluded on regular rides,” says Beaulieu. “But for every guy that’s a hater, we have 50 dudes who fully support what we do and think it’s rad. And our co-ed anniversary rides prove that with 80plus riders showing up.”

Sexism in the bike community doesn’t just exist on the streets. It’s in the shops too. Beaulieu says people often ignore her when she offers them help in her shop, opting to speak with her husband Dave, who owns the shop with her, instead. Or they’ll call her “honey,” “mansplain” basic information on bike maintenance to her or comment on her bike having the color pink on it. She once had a fellow shop owner explain to her that she needed to take a bike apart before shipping it in a box, even after she told him she owned a shop and worked on bikes.

Insert eyerolls here.

“This is why when a woman comes into my shop, I try extra hard to make them feel comfortable,” she says. “Because I feel the sexism myself in bike shops.”

The sexism female bike shop owners and riders experience make the need to create a community for them by them even more vital.

“Everyone involved makes you feel so welcomed and important,” says Gia Hanrahan, a member of the SheWolves who, along with other members of the crew, has been empowered to raise money for AIDS/LifeCycle, a seven-day fundraiser bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles that supports HIV/AIDS research and awareness. “SheWolves has been my savior.”

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

@SDCITYBEAT

KARISSA HALLY

SheWolves

CULTURE | ART

SEEN LOCAL

thing,” says Hudnall. “A dramatic cut in our support from the City of San Diego would mean hiring fewer teaching artists to facilitate creative writing workshops for veterans. It would mean we couldn’t pay as many one-on-one mentors to work with students at community colleges, and high schools, and outreach programs.”

CityBeat reached out to Commission for Arts and s Trump recently rolled out a federal budget Culture chair Larry Baza, who did respond but said he that saw deep federal cuts to the arts and hu- hadn’t yet drafted an official statement. manities, it was certainly concerning when, Still, this isn’t the end by any means. Just as with this past Thursday, Mayor Faulconer released his Trump’s budget, the mayor’s proposed budget is just proposed budget for fiscal year 2018. The proposed that: a proposal. It’s reasonable to think that the budget revealed a $4.7 million cut in arts and cul- numbers will shift as negotiations begin with the City ture funding from 2017. Much of this cut is needed, Council. Many arts orgs will rethe mayor’s office states, in orMATTHEW BALDWIN member a 2010 standoff when der to maintain recent spendthen city councilmember Carl ing increases in infrastructure DeMaio demanded a 25 perand homelessness. The mayor cent decrease in arts funding did reiterate as well that the in order to balance the budget. amount spent on the arts would A statement to CityBeat from remain above the amount spent Councilmember Chris Ward’s in 2015. office is telling.

While a decrease in arts “Councilmember Ward is funding will affect nearly 150 very concerned about the draarts organizations, from the matic cuts that have been proOld Globe Theatre to the MuCOURTESY OF THE NEW AMERICANS MUSEUM posed, and expressed these seum of Contemporary Art, it’s concerns in Council when the the smaller arts institutions, Mayor formally presented the programs and non-profits that proposal,” read the statement. will likely suffer the most. The “He believes that the proposed city’s 15-member, all volunteer cuts to arts funding are too Commission for Arts and Culdeep and will continue advoture allocates the city budget cating throughout the budget funds via grants and if the mayprocess for funding levels that or’s budget is implemented, balance our fiscal constraints smaller institutions might lose with our civic responsibility to city funding altogether. foster our dynamic arts and cul“While we are appreciative ture community.” of the mayor’s 2016 support, it Other organizations who is nonetheless disappointing may be affected include proto see proposed budget cuts to grams as diverse as choral group arts and culture, as it speaks SACRA/PROFANA and the to a broader disconnect of the LAMBDA Archives, as well as impact that arts and culture photographic non-profits such programming offers to our loas Outside the Lens and the AjA cal communities,” says LinProject. All of them received da Caballero-Sotelo, executive a bump in funding in 2016. director of the New Americans What’s more, the funds also Museum, which saw an increase go toward community events, in funding from the city’s 2016 COURTESY OF SACRA/PROFANA and a decrease in funds could year budget. “We had begun to mean less cultural festivals. make strides in recent years As recently reported by Kinsee with committed AC funding by Morlan in Voice of San Diego, city leadership. However, these the Commission for Arts and recent cuts signal a step backCulture also recently changed ward. If anything, I hope the the application process, making mayor and City Council find, it easier to apply for city fundwell, creative solutions to ading. As great as that sounds, the dress budget shortfalls without combination of more groups sacrificing full support to arts applying and a $4.7 million cut and culture, and in turn, our So Say We All, New Americans Museum to the budget could mean that creative economies.” and SACRA/PROFANA could see a there just isn’t enough funding Local literary arts org So decrease in city funding for those who had previously Say We All also benefited from benefited from it. the last budget. The group has “The wonderful thing about the Commission for already been able to expand their educational pro- Arts and Culture’s Organizational Support Program gramming, which benefits military veterans and stu- funding is that it’s unrestricted,” says Hudnall. “We dents. Founder and Executive Director Justin Hudnall can apply it to programs that otherwise don’t directly is concerned about what these cuts might mean to fund themselves or are underfunded.” these types of programs.

And what will it mean if it goes away?

“It’s always a good policy to run a non-profit or“That’s inevitably going to mean less for the most ganization—especially one in arts and education— vulnerable populations and fewer jobs for the people in a way where it won’t live or die by grant fund- who serve them.” ing, but a loss of funding always winds up having a

human face for us because our workforce is every- —Seth Combs

BUDGET BLUES

A

@SDCITYBEAT

APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

CULTURE | FILM

Depth charge

My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea

Dash Shaw’s lava lamp animation turns high school into a disaster zone

by Glenn Heath Jr.

D

isaster and high school go hand in hand. Just the haunting experience. Yet the film’s topsy-turvy ask any overly emotional teenager who’s expe- trajectory evokes the feelings of a stress nightmare, rienced a relationship gone bad or failing test something an overworked and over imaginative stuscores. But in the animated feature My Entire High dent might suffer from the night before a final.

Clocking in at just 75 minutes, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, written and directed by graphic novelist Dash Shaw, catastrophe turns literal. School Sinking Into the Sea is breathlessly paced to fit After an earthquake hits Southern California’s coast- the time-sensitivity associated with a rapidly evolving line, the titular institution falls off its foundation calamity. Still, there are pockets in the narrative for sending students, teachers and one stoic cafeteria reflection on themes like guilt, regret and desire. All become embodied in the character of Lunch Lady Lorworker into an underwater abyss.

Naturally, such a setup brings to mind The Posei- raine (Susan Sarandon), whose traumatic backstory don Adventure, a big-budget disaster film from 1972 and constant courage infuse Dash and his friends with about an ocean liner that’s tipped over by an errant unexpected strength. She’s one of the few adults that actually give a damn. tidal wave. Shaw cleverly coWith this in mind, My Enopts a similar narrative, applytire High School Sinking Into ing it to his sophomore heroes the Sea can be seen as an inwho must fight their way floorMY ENTIRE HIGH dictment of the rampant buby-floor while encountering SCHOOL SINKING reaucracy and cost-saving sharks, weak-willed adminINTO THE SEA procedures that have comproistrators and barbaric uppermised America’s education classmen. My Entire High School Directed by Dash Shaw system from the foundation Sinking Into the Sea oscillates Starring Jason Schwartzman, up. References to Apocalypse between snarky and psycheReggie Watts, Maya Rudolph Now and Lord of the Flies give delic. But the stakes are real, and Susan Sarandon this critique too obvious noas witnessed early in the film tice, and at times Shaw seems when an obnoxious mean girl Rated PG-13 more interested in riffing off meets her unsavory demise. film history than staying true In a film of such fluctuating to his original vision. Casting tones and inherent volatility, it could have been easy for the characters themselves Schwartzman to voice what’s essentially an extento get lost in the shuffle. But their personalities and sion of his Max Fischer character from Rushmore is motivations remain crucial to the narrative, dictat- slightly distracting.

Ultimately, these minor issues don’t overwhelm ing action instead of the other way around. Dash (Jason Schwartzman) takes writing for the school paper the film’s many pleasures. Its lava-lamp visuals are seriously, fancying himself something of bad boy for consistently intoxicating, blurring the boundaries publishing fake news stories to liven things up. His between physical spaces in ways that feel fitting to best friend and collaborator Assaf (Reggie Watts) the scenario. Shaw’s script nails the deadpan frankbrings measured clarity and honesty to the pieces, a ness and hidden humility of modern teenagers. If quality their sweet editor Verdi (Maya Rudolph) finds high school is usually a tableau made up of pure surface, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea inverts endearing.

Normal high school movies would let this love tri- things to see what lies beneath angsty teenage showangle’s petty jealousies and insecurities simmer over manship. In the end, Dash and his crew finally get to time. My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea accel- experience firsthand what Lunch Lady Lorraine has erates the process, forcing its trio of thesaurus-loving known all along when she says, “I liked the character scribes to learn fast or die young. Shaw complements that was me.” such urgency with bleeding watercolors and fragmented 2-D animation. “It has the logic of a dream,” Film reviews run weekly. says one character, having a very natural reaction to Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

@SDCITYBEAT

CULTURE | FILM

Finding Oscar

Tragedy simplified

O

n December 6, 1982, Guatemalan Special Forces razed the peaceful village of Dos Erres during a relentless counter assault on leftist guerrilla groups operating in the region. Nearly every resident was murdered in cold blood, their bodies dumped into a well and left to rot. The lives of two young boys were spared, brought up by the unsuspecting families of different soldiers who essentially erased any trace of their traumatic past.

Finding Oscar, a new documentary from director Ryan Suffern and executive producer Steven Spielberg, attempts to locate these children nearly three decades later with the hopes of providing closure for the still suffering relatives of those families slain. The film also functions as an introductory history lesson on the destructive U.S. foreign policy decisions that enabled such massacres in Guatemala during a decades-long civil war.

Like many well-meaning works of non-fiction cinema, Finding Oscar slams its message down the audience’s throat. Stylized montages, aerial drone shots and sappy soft rock music choices are juxtaposed for maximum emotional effect.

Imagine a flashy extended episode of Dateline commissioned by a liberal NGO. Eager beaver talking heads appear as if they’re reading from cue cards. No devastating fact or figure goes unturned in the name of social justice and transparency!

These topics are undoubtedly important, but the pain experienced by countless Guatemalans deserves a more complex forum than this one. Suffern’s film poses as a hard-hitting investigative exposé, yet it’s far too polished and opportunistic to feel like a difference-maker.

When Finding Oscar finally gets around to finding Oscar, the man’s

@SDCITYBEAT

natural confusion and anger are quickly brushed aside. Only the prevailing sense of triumph has a place in an ending with all the makings of a trite infomercial.

But then again, it was never really about him in the first place. Finding Oscar opens Friday, April 28 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park and Angelika Carmel Mountain Cinemas.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING Finding Oscar: Director Ryan Suffern explores the 1982 massacre of Dos Erres in Guatemala and follows prosecutors who are trying to locate two young survivors.

Opens Friday, April 28 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

How To Be a Latin Lover: Eugenio Derbez stars in this comedy about a young man who is dumped by his wealthy 80-year-old wife and forced to move back in with his quirky family.

ONE TIME ONLY Office Space: Hating your job has never been this much fun. Screens at 8 p.m.

Wednesday, April 26, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

La La Land: A struggling actress (Emma Stone) falls in love with a lowly jazz musician (Ryan Gosling) while both follow their dreams in Los Angeles. Screens at 8 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Los Sures: This documentary filmed in the 1980s depicts the vibrant Latino communities living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn before gentrification. Screens at 3:10 p.m.

Saturday, April 29 at Digital Gym Cinema.

Selena: Jennifer Lopez stars as the popular Latina singer who was tragically gunned down by her estranged manager.

Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

For complete movie listings, visit F ilm on sdcitybeat.com.

My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea: In this animated film, three teenagers try to escape certain death after their high school sinks into the sea following an earthquake.

The Circle: After landing her dream job at the world’s largest tech company, a young woman begins to suspect there’s a nefarious agenda afoot. Based on the popular novel by Dave Eggers.

APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 21

JESSICA MCMILLAN

a pop record the next. It’s just always been that way.”

While Gedge has made a habit of looking forward, this year he’ll also be looking back.

October will mark the 30th anniversary of The Wedding Present’s acclaimed debut, George Best.

They previously played the album in its entirety when it hit the quarter-century mark, but one shouldn’t expect them to be continuing the tradition after this year. The band’s official tour page lists 14 upcoming George Best shows (with a few more to be announced in continental Europe). Just underneath that list of dates is a disclaimer that reads, “The concerts during 2017 will be the last time that The Wedding Present ever plays George Best live.”

“It’s the 30th anniversary,” says Gedge.

“I’m old. So what? We had no plans to do anything with it, really. But we’ve gotten a few invitations to play it live at festivals in Europe, so we thought as long as we were going to rehearse it anyway, we might as well do a little tour. The first and the last LPs are having a go-around this year.”

Gedge may be indifferent to his own band’s nostalgia, but he remains passionate about making music. The Wedding Present will return to London later this year to play Going Going… in conjunction with its corre-

MUSIC avid Gedge isn’t at all familiar with Abingdon, Virginia. Yet that’s exactly where the man behind veteran UK jangle-pop outfit The Wedding Present was calling from to conduct an interview; the Leeds-born songwriter had to be reminded of his current location, but it’s hard to fault him for that.

Gedge recently had flown from London to Los Angeles just to pick up his band’s equipment from storage. He then headed to Washington, D.C., for the start of The Wedding Present’s first North American tour in four years, and the singer had passed through a lot of smaller American towns along the way.

Call it irony or just keeping with a theme, but it was a similar coast-to-coast American road trip that spawned Going Going…, the band’s most recent, concept-heavy record.

Originally imagined as a vacation-first, creativity-second trek from Maine to California for collecting ideas, 2016’s Going Going… ended up materializing as an ambitious 20-track album that included a short film with each song.

“It really grew into this monster,” says Gedge with a gentle laugh. “It expounded as a theme. But there was no real plan. Not to slight it, but there wasn’t a process involved.

It was just an idea that fell into place.”

And it’s no small feat that it did. Gedge’s first thought was to visit a list of cities all over the world. But after that idea was scrapped, as he explains it, “that wasn’t a reason not to do it at all.”

Adjusting his strategy, the singer then picked 20 American destinations in 20 different states and hit the road with photographer/partner Jessica McMillan. The pair was hoping the trip would produce inspiration for both songs and images, but they were also content with just sharing the experience if it didn’t.

By their third stop, a funny thing happened—the songs and films started to inform one another.

“I didn’t go out specifically to have the films influence the music or the music influence the films,” Gedge says. “There was no initial plan to connect them. But as we continued through the process, it happened anyway. That probably cast a cinematic slant on some of the music and it all got built together. It was obvious in a way and happened at the same time.”

Although the trip took place in 2014, it

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

The Wedding Present took two years for the cross-country travelogue to be fully realized. There were a lot of changes to the project in that time, and the additional element of pairing each song with a corresponding film stretched things even further.

In the end, it took support from the other band members, as well as those who worked with the band to record it, to get Going Going… to the finish line.

With its thematic structure, multi-media component and unique touches like waiting until song five before introducing any kind

of traditional vocal, the album fits perfectly into the band’s ever-changing and unpredictable catalog. And that’s exactly how Gedge wants it.

“I’m not trying to be immodest,” he says, “but it’s always been part of the Wedding Present philosophy to stretch ourselves and take chances. It’s part and parcel of what we do. We did the twelve 7-inch singles in a year, we’ve done Ukrainian folk music, and we’ve made albums that sound completely different from each other over the years— working with Albini one minute and making

sponding films again, and, despite a heavy touring schedule, also plan on fleshing out some new ideas.

While there has been speculation that the title of their current album hints at the end for The Wedding Present, Gedge hints that he doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

“This has become such an obsession with me,” he says. “I’m always thinking of things to do and the next project. I’m not even sure what I’d do anymore if it wasn’t this. People do get disenchanted over the years. But obviously, I’m not one of those people.”

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO LOCALS ONLY

D

emasiado are playing their first show in eight years. The band, which was active between 2006 and 2009, are performing at The Casbah on Saturday, April 29 with The Midnight Pine, BSFB and Madly. It’s a long-delayed return for the hardrocking band, known for some explosive live shows during their brief period together. In a phone interview, guitarist Jon Piotrowski says that playing together has been a goal for the five members of the band, but they wanted to make sure they were ready for it.

“It was pretty short lived,” he says.

“We lived in chaos and thrived in chaos every day of our lives. What we realize now is you can have chaos, but you just have to control it. The music’s still good.

The passion’s still there. We just wanted to do it right.”

Piotrowski says that the band’s time together in the late ‘00s was tight, but eventually became volatile. Piotrowski, vocalist Damon De La Paz, drummer Wade Youman, guitarist Clayton Tryniszewski and bassist Eric Shefstad socialized together as often as they performed together. Yet that kind of closeness proved unsustainable, and they eventually went their separate ways. Piotrowski moved to Austin, while Youman began playing with Unwritten Law and De La Paz with Blackout Party and Trash Talk. Yet time and reflection has allowed the conditions to be right for Demasiado to play again.

“It’s casually mentioned. It seems like when we talk to each other it comes up each time. It just seems better now,” Piotrowski says. “We did everything to-

gether then. We all lived in the same house in O.B. Everything was Demasiado. Everything was us. There were some tiffs, and then it got dark real quick. Once we went down that wormhole, we weren’t going to come out the same way.”

Demasiado Demasiado recently released a retrospective album of archival material titled One Night in a Vision Cult. And while the band hasn’t yet figured out their next step after getting back to performing live, Piotrowski says that he’d like the band to stick around for a while.

“The big question is what to do next,” he says. “I don’t think anyone wants it to be one and done. Individually I’ve talked to everyone about the possibility of writing some new music. We’d kind of like to be a band again.”

—Jeff Terich

PICS FROM THE PIT

P

hotographer Becky DiGiglio is showcasing her live music photography at a month-long show at Dark Horse Coffee’s Golden Hill and Normal Heights locations starting on Monday, May 1. DiGiglio has been shooting bands for 15 years, and her portfolio includes bands such as Savages and Chelsea Wolfe, as well as many local, primarily Three One G-affiliated groups such as Head Wound City, Festival of Dead Deer, Doomsday Student and Silent. She moved to San Diego last year from New Jersey, and in a phone interview she says that this project is just the end result of many years of doing what she loves.

“I am always taking photos of bands,” she says.

“I’ve been gathering a lot of photos of bands that have played here, and I thought it would be cool to show them all together. There are a couple that were taken in Philadelphia and New York City, but for the most part they’re all shot here: The Casbah, Soda Bar and The Echo in L.A.” DiGiglio says that she’s done her share of photography outside of live shows, including portraits, ballet and modern dance photography. But she says that the intensity of a good punk rock show is what really inspires her.

“I’ve always gone to shows since I was a kid,” she says. “I just really like to capture that energy. The majority of what I do, I’m lucky enough to be able to

@SDCITYBEAT

Becky DiGiglio shoot bands that I like. Even if I don’t know the band at all though... you kind of have to figure out on the spot what kind of photos you want to take. I still personally find that interesting.”

DiGiglio is working with Pioneers Press and Three One G’s Justin Pearson to release a zine of her photography, titled Born Upside Down, later this year.

—Jeff Terich APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23

MUSIC

JEFF TERICH

IF I WERE U A music insider’s weekly agenda WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26

PLAN A: Leif Vollebekk, Nico Yaryan @ The Casbah. Singer/songwriter Leif Vollebekk plays stark, sometimes dreamy, sometimes haunting indie folk that’s reminiscent of Ryan Adams at his most stripped down.

It’s quite gorgeous.

THURSDAY, APRIL 27

PLAN A: Pile, Gnarwhal, Mariel @ Soda Bar. Boston post-hardcore group Pile can make some seriously pummeling punk rock in the vein of ‘90s-era groups on the Touch and Go roster (Jesus Lizard, Shellac, etc.). But they also have a knack for melody that’s better than most. Combined, it makes for a hell of a show.

PLAN B: Kids In Heat, Cheap Tissue, Dream Phases, Minor Gems @ Blonde. How about a loud punk rock show with plenty of snotty teenage energy? Because that’s exactly what you’re going to get with Kids In Heat, whose songs are short, loud and fast, with lots of fuzz and attitude. BACKUP PLAN: San Fermin, Low Roar @ The Casbah.

24 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

FRIDAY, APRIL 28

PLAN A: Ne-Hi, Sixes, Half Eaten @ SPACE. Chicago’s Ne-Hi make guitar-based indie rock that’s not too loud and not too sleepy, but hits just the right spot. They’ve got the right amount of jangle and distortion to remind you of why you got into indie rock in the first place. PLAN B: Lord Howler, The Screamin’ Yeehaws, Bosswitch @ Tower Bar. For something a little louder, make your way to The Tower Bar for a hardrocking triple-threat, including the Kiss-meets-Maiden riffing of Lord Howler and the stoner party metal of Bosswitch, one of my new favorite local bands. BACKUP PLAN: Condemned, Eukaryst, Sergulath, Dethsurf @ Soda Bar.

making a trip downtown for the annual San Diego Metal Swap Meet, where you can drop some cash on some metal vinyl and merch, as well as catch a live set from power metal heroes Jag Panzer. PLAN B: The Midnight Pine, Demasiado, BFSB, Madly, DJ Mike Delgado @ The Casbah. Later in the evening, consider this showcase of local bands, headlined by the always enchanting The Midnight Pine and featuring the first Demasiado show in five years. See Notes from the Smoking Patio for more.

SUNDAY, APRIL 30

PLAN A: The Wedding Present, Colleen Green Band @ The Casbah. Read Scott McDonald’s feature on legendary UK band The Wedding Present, who celebrate 30 years of their debut album George Best.

They’re also continuously making new and

innovative records, well after they made their initial mark. PLAN B: The Walters, Summer Salt, Bad Kids, T. Rexico @ Soda Bar. I’m pretty sure that the members of The Walters aren’t actually all named Walter (or probably any of them), but I do know that they make some tuneful pop music with dreamy guitars and bright synthesizers. Since it’s Sunday and you don’t want to get too wrecked before Monday, The Walters strike a good balance.

MONDAY, MAY 1

PLAN A: Nite Lapse, Mayor Taco Ghost, Satellite Sky @ The Casbah. As I say often on this page, if you’re itching for some live music on a Monday, you should make an effort to see some locals. I suggest the newwavey Nite Lapse, who infuse synth-pop melodies with a disco sensibility.

TUESDAY, MAY 2

SATURDAY, APRIL 29

PLAN A: San Diego Metal Swap Meet w/ Jag Panzer @ Quartyard. I’m definitely planning on

Sorority Noise

PLAN A: Sorority Noise, Walter Etc., The Obsessives @ House of Blues Voodoo Room. Sorority Noise is one of those bands that fits into a lot of different categories, depending on which song you’re listening to. Sometimes they’re folky and sometimes they’re synthy, but most of the time they’re a sort of a shoegazey emo band. It’s like if M83 produced a Get Up Kids album. I’m into it.

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

april 26, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Holy Grail (Brick by Brick, 5/19), ‘San Diego Freak Out’ w/ Dream Joints (Casbah, 5/26), CRX (Soda Bar, 5/27), Barrows (Casbah, 5/30), Radio Moscow (BUT, 6/7), Circa Waves (Casbah, 6/14), The Game (Observatory, 6/23), Band of Heathens (BUT, 7/9), Dead Kennedys (Brick by Brick, 7/21), Robert Cray (BUT, 7/29), 10,000 Maniacs (BUT, 8/6), Nite Jewel (Casbah, 8/11), Springtime Carnivore (Casbah, 9/6), Black Uhuru (BUT, 9/15), Future Islands (Open Air Theatre, 9/17), Café Tacuba (Observatory, 10/17-18), KMFDM (HOB, 10/20), Brujeria (HOB, 11/18), Blues Traveler (HOB, 11/19).

GET YER TICKETS Flaming Lips (Observatory, 5/7), At the Drive-In (SOMA, 5/9), Com Truise, Clark (BUT, 5/12), Conor Oberst (Observatory, 5/14), Pallbearer (Casbah, 5/16), Chris Stapleton (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 5/18), Thundercat (Observatory, 5/19), Modest Mouse (Open Air Theatre, 5/30), Mount Kimbie (Music Box, 5/31), Dana Carvey (Humphreys, 6/2), In-KoPah 4 w/ Mattson 2, Zig Zags, Mrs. Magician, Birdy Bardot (Desert View Tower, 6/3), Elvis Costello and the Imposters (Balboa Theatre, 6/5), Sheryl Crow (Humphreys, 6/6), The Anniversary (Irenic, 6/10), ‘91X X-Fest’ w/ Phoenix, Empire of the Sun (Qualcomm Stadium, 6/11), Ziggy Marley (Humphreys,

6/12), The Body (SPACE, 6/17), (Sandy) Alex G, Japanese Breakfast (Irenic, 6/17), King Crimson (Humphreys, 6/19), The Revolution (HOB, 6/22), Maxwell (Valley View Casino Center, 6/23), Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Civic Theatre, 6/26), Cat Power (Observatory, 7/1), Deftones, Rise Against (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 7/7), Mutoid Man (Casbah, 7/12), Natalie Merchant (Copley Symphony Hall, 7/18), The Sword (BUT, 7/18), Hall & Oates, Tears for Fears (Valley View Casino Center, 7/19), Beach Fossils (Casbah, 7/20), Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 (BUT, 7/21), Taking Back Sunday (Observatory, 7/28), Steve Gunn (SPACE, 7/30), Huey Lewis and the News (Humphreys, 8/1), AFI, Circa Survive (Open Air Theatre, 8/1), Metallica (Petco Park, 8/6), Incubus, Jimmy Eat World (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 8/11), Hans Zimmer (Viejas Arena, 8/12), Royal Blood (Observatory, 8/15), X (BUT, 8/17), 311 (Open Air Theatre, 8/20), Bryan Ferry (Humphreys, 8/23), Sylvan Esso (Observatory, 8/26), Pink Martini (Humphreys, 8/26), The Gipsy Kings (Humphreys, 8/27),George Benson, Kenny G (Humphreys, 9/10), Goo Goo Dolls (Open Air Theatre, 9/12), Green Day (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 9/13), Indigo Girls (Humphreys, 9/13), Steve Winwood (Humphreys, 9/14), The Beach Boys (Humphreys, 9/23), Sublime With Rome, The Offspring (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 9/26), The Shins, Spoon (Open Air Theatre, 10/1), Father John Misty (Observatory 10/56), Depeche Mode (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 10/6), Coldplay (Qualcomm Stadium, 10/8), The Black Angels (HOB, 10/17), Carla Morrison (Humphreys, 10/22), Luke Bryan (Mattress Firm Amphitheatre, 10/27), Mogwai (Observatory, 11/20).

26 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

APRIL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26 Willie Nelson at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Leif Vollebekk at The Casbah. Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors at Belly Up Tavern. CJ Ramone at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, APRIL 27 San Fermin at The Casbah. Pile at Soda Bar. DMX at Observatory North Park. Asleep at the Wheel at Belly Up Tavern.

FRIDAY, APRIL 28 Ne-Hi at SPACE. Sallie Ford at The Casbah. Dennis Quaid and the Sharks at Belly Up Tavern. Kings of Leon at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre.

Eukaryst at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, APRIL 29 Verigolds at Soda Bar. Foreigner, Cheap Trick at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre. Superjoint at Brick by Brick. The Doo Wop Project at Poway Onstage.

The Midnight Pine at The Casbah.

SUNDAY, APRIL 30 Lil Peep at House of Blues. The Wedding Present at The Casbah. Six String Society at Belly Up Tavern. The Walters at Soda Bar.

MAY MONDAY, MAY 1 The Bad Plus at Music Box. Crystal Bowersox at Belly Up Tavern.

TUESDAY, MAY 2 Sorority Noise at House of Blues Voodoo Room. Kiefer Sutherland at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Starlito and Don Trip at The Casbah.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3 The Drabs at Belly Up Tavern. Current Swell at Soda Bar.

THURSDAY, MAY 4 Dweezil Zappa at Belly Up Tavern. Tim Kasher at The Casbah.

FRIDAY, MAY 5 Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness at House of Blues (sold out). Mariachi El Bronx at Belly Up Tavern (sold out).

Oddissee at Music Box. The Expendables at Observatory North Park.

SATURDAY, MAY 6 Face to Face at The Casbah. The Weeks at Soda Bar. Diet Cig at Che Café.

SUNDAY, MAY 7 Blue October at House of Blues. Flaming Lips at Observatory North Park.

Frank Iero and the Patience at The Casbah.

MONDAY, MAY 8 Lionel Richie at Viejas Arena. The Chainsmokers at Valley View Casino Center.

TUESDAY, MAY 9 Fuel, Marcy Playground at Belly Up Tavern. At the Drive-In at SOMA. Amigo at The Casbah.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10 Stephanie Brown and the Surrealistics at Belly Up Tavern. Gabriel Garzon-Montano at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MAY 11 Schizophonics at The Casbah. The Wind Playing Tricks at Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, MAY 12 Timber Timbre at Soda Bar (sold out).

Matt Pryor at The Casbah. Com Truise, Clark at Belly Up Tavern. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes at House of Blues. Iration at Observatory North Park.

SATURDAY, MAY 13 Common Sense at Belly Up Tavern.

Author & Punisher at Soda Bar. Suburban Legends at The Irenic. Cashmere Cat at Observatory North Park.

JOY at The Casbah.

SUNDAY, MAY 14 Train at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre.

Twin Forks at The Irenic. All Them Witches at The Casbah. Conor Oberst at Observatory North Park.

MONDAY, MAY 15 Joe Goddard at The Casbah. Brother Ali at Observatory North Park. Testament at House of Blues.

TUESDAY, MAY 16 Pallbearer at The Casbah.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

@SDCITYBEAT

@SDCityBeat

april 26, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 WEDNESDAY, MAY 17 Marty Stuart at Belly Up Tavern. Six60 at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MAY 18 Chris Stapleton at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre. Matthew Logan Vasquez at The Casbah. DIIV at Music Box.

FRIDAY, MAY 19 Robin Trower at House of Blues.

Woods at The Casbah. Thundercat at Observatory North Park. Holy Grail at Brick by Brick.

SATURDAY, MAY 20 Back to the Garden at Poway OnStage.

Magic Giant at The Casbah. Sweet Spirit at Soda Bar. Rubblebucket at The Casbah. The Iron Maidens at Brick

by Brick.

SUNDAY, MAY 21 Ann Wilson at Belly Up Tavern. The Strumbellas at Observatory North Park.

MONDAY, MAY 22 Bryan Adams at Open Air Theatre.

TUESDAY, MAY 23 Rodriguez at Humphreys by the Bay. Catfish and the Bottlemen at House of Blues. Draco Rosa at Music Box. Kikagaku Moyo at SPACE.

rCLUBS r

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Sat: Approaching Fiction, Latex Grenade, Wytte Locis. Tue: Lads Holiday.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Interconnected’ w/ DJs Impera,Yaser Aly, Brian Scanell. Thu: ‘Libertine’ w/ DJs Jon Wesley, 1979. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech.

Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJs Karma, Alice.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Scott Thompson.

Fri: Scott Thompson. Sat: Scott Thompson.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Thu: Heretic A.D., Day by Day. Fri: Meltdown, A Hero Within, The Unit, Malison. Sat: The Windermeres, A-Bortz, Punch Card. Sun: Paco Lipps.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park.

Wed: DJ L. Thu: Schizophonics, Goldettes. Fri: ‘80s vs. 90s’. Sat: Nena Anderson. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown. Fri: Louis Futon. Sat: Pusher.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Sam Bybee. Fri: Aquile Gunby Band. Sat: Slower.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, Stephen Kellogg. Thu: Asleep at the Wheel, Brawley. Fri: Dennis Quaid and the Sharks. Sat: Wayward Sons, Godspeed McQueen. Sun: Six String Society. Mon: Crystal Bowersox.

Tue: Kiefer Sutherland (sold out).

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Tightwads, Bum Deals,

28 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

Drag Superior. Sat: Mayor Taco Ghost, Clint and Bonnie, 3SPDS. Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique’.

Thu: Kids in Heat, Cheap Tissue, Dream Phases, Minor Gems. Fri: ‘Through Being Cool’. Sun: The Shivas, Candice, Caroline. Tue: ‘Star Map’.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad. Thu: Black Pussy, Great Electric Quest. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Wed: Richie Kotzen, Points North, Bred Dogs, Jon Campos and the Incurables. Sat: Superjoint, Battlecross, Child Bite, Beekeeper, Sight Unscene. Mon: ‘Metal Monday’.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Wed: Leif Vollebekk, Nico Yaryan.

Thu: San Fermin, Low Roar. Fri: Sallie Ford, Molly Burch, John Meeks. Sat: The Midnight Pine, Demasiado, BFSB, Madly, DJ Mike Delgado. Sun: The Wedding Present, Colleen Green Band. Mon: Nite Lapse, Mayor Taco Ghost, Satellite Sky. Tue: Starlito & Don Trip, Scotty ATL, Red Dot, Boon League, DJ Artistic.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. Fri: FX5. Sat: FX5.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Downtown. Fri: Ed Kornhauser Organ Trio.

The Field Irish Pub, 544 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Fiore. Thu: Nate Hancock & The Declaration. Fri: It’s Never Too L8. Sat: Midnight Ride. Sun: Allen de la Rosa. Mon: Wes Maharas. Tue: Andy Mauser.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Fri: DJ Scooter. Sat: DJ Beatnick.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Fri: JAMI. Sat: Reflex.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave., Downtown.

Wed: Ride the Mule. Thu: DJ Yodah. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: ‘Rock Star Saturday’.

Tue: ‘50s/60s Dance Party.

The Holding Company, 5046 Newport Ave., Ocean Beach. Wed: DJ Product, Trulio Disgracias. Thu: Spencer Yenson and the Squatters, Wes Maharas, Splavender, Small Culture. Fri: Ryan Chrys and the Rough Cuts, Andrea Vasquez, DJ Mancat. Sat: Green Today, DJ Ofier.

Sun: Pet Medz, Wanted Noise, Deep Yogurt. Tue: Janelle Phillips, Tunnel Vision, Animo Cruz.

Hooley’s, 5500 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa. Fri: Evans and Raney.

Sat: The Heart Band.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Thu: The Brilliance. Fri: The Choir.

Sat: 888, Coast Modern. Sun: Lil Peep.

Tue: Sorority Noise, Walter Etc., The Obsessives.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: Bayou Brothers. Thu: Rosy Dawn. Fri: Detroit Underground, High Tide Society. Sat: Diane Schuur. Sun: Wildside, Jason Brown. Mon: Missy Andersen. Tue: Mercedes Moore.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Wed: ‘Midnight in a Perfect World’.

Thu: ‘Psilo’ w/ Spyros. Fri: ‘Purps and Turqs’. Sat: ‘Divine Species’ w/ Lubelski.

Sun: A-Plus.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., Kensington. Sat: The Sleepwalkers, Tomcat Courtney, Chickenbone Slim.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Fri: Essence. Sat: Nina Francis, John Hull, Elise Truow. Sun: Whimsy, The Mailboxes, Dixie Maxwell.

Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. Wed: ‘Red Black & White - New Flamenco’ w/ Ariadna Saenz Marin. Fri: Abstrack, Cameron Calloway, Black Expression.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Sophisticats. Thu: Fish w/ JG. Fri: The Manic Bros. Sat: Never 2L8. Sun: Ron’s Garage.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Planewrecks, Causers, Mezzanine, Wine. Thu: Aviator Stash, White Fuzzy Bloodbath, Sweet Myths. Sat: Fuzz Huzzi, DAB, Finding T.H.E.T.I.S. Sun: ‘Back Alley’. Tue: Color Til Monday, Steeltoe.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: Elefante, Said Aguilar, Cantua.

Fri: Jumping Jack Flash. Sun: Strange Crew. Mon: The Bad Plus.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd., Hillcrest.

Fri: ‘Uncut’.

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

Wed: ‘Pink Floyd Under Cover’. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings.

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Two Friends. Fri: Lil Jon. Sat: Irie.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. Wed: Gilbert Castellanos jazz jam.

Sat: Besos de Coco.

Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: Splyce.

Plaza Bar at Westgate Hotel, 1055 2nd Ave., Downtown. Fri: Gilbert Castellanos. Sat: Allison Tucker. Mon: Julio de la Huerta.

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Mark Meadows. Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Sue Palmer. Sat: Nathan James and the Rhythm Scratchers.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest.

Wed: DJs Kiki, Kinky Loops. Thu: DJ Moniq. Fri: DJs John Joseph, Will Z. Sat: DJ Dirty Kurty. Sun: DJs Casey Alva, Moody Rudy.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Thu: Coastal Eddies. Fri: Trevor McSpadden. Sat: Three Chord Justice.

Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Fri: Gino and the Lone Gunmen. Sat: Chill Clinton.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave., San Diego. Wed: Miss Erika Davies and the Men. Thu: Jimmy Ruelas. Fri: Chris Youman. Sat: Jimmy Ruelas. Mon: ‘Makossa Monday’ w/ DJ Tah Rei. Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: CJ Ramone, Big Eyes, Dead on the Wire, Slaughter Boys.

Thu: Pile, Gnarwhal, Mariel. Fri: Condemned, Eukaryst, Sergulath, Dethsurf.

Sat: The Verigolds, Star Jungle, Well Well Well, DJs Mike Turi, Andrew McGranahan. Sun: The Walters, Summer Salt, T. Rexico. Tue: gobbinjr, Holling, Little Heroine.

SPOTLIGHT It’s a shame that that CityBeat doesn’t have a font to fully convey the sexiness of a Keith Sweat concert—a font that steams or drips down the page or something. Sweat has been producing his signature blend of hip-hop and R&B since the mid-’80s, making people feel weird in their pants way before the recent wave of imitators like The Weeknd. Let’s just hope that Valley View Casino has the decency to set out mattresses at the show. Keith Sweat plays Saturday, April 29 at Valley View Casino Center.

@SDCITYBEAT

—Ryan Bradford

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway. Fri: The Montell Jordans, Nights Like Thieves, Takers Leavers, Short Stories, Hideouts, Ignant Benches.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Thu: ‘Slappers Only’. Fri: Ne-

Hi, Sixes, Half Eaten. Sat: ‘80s Night’ w/ Latin Lovers.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Midtown. Fri: ‘Dance Klassique’. Sat: Eden.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: ‘Burlesque Boogie Nights’. Sat: Christian Taylor Band, Daniel Crawford and the Unkind Ravens, Grampadrew and the Gutstrings.

Sun: Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels, Chris Avetta.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Sat: ‘Soul A-Go-Go’. Sun: ‘Pants Karaoke’.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Lord Howler, Screamin Yeehaws, Bosswitch. Sat: Iguanadon, Desert Suns, Fantasy Arcade. Sun: Anti-Social, The Has Beens, Midnight Track, Let’s Face It. Tue: Batlords, Redneck Nosfearatu, Santa Ana Knights.

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

Thu: ‘Thursdaze’. Fri: DJ Havoc. Sat: DJ Freeman. Sun: Psydecar. Tue: ‘Boom Bap Sweet 16 DJ Tournament’.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park. Wed: ‘Retrograde’ w/ DJ JC. Thu: ‘Vamp’. Fri: ‘Death by Dancing’ w/ DJ Jon Blaj. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob Moran.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Wed: The Love Messengers, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Easy Wind.

Fri: Antennae, Father Bear, Stoik, Wisdom. Sat: The Gringos, VacScene, R.I.P., Time Machine. Sun: Tongue and Groove. Mon: Electric Waste Band.

Tue: Remedi, CalPhonics.

APRIL 26, 2017 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 29

@SDCityBeat

april 26, 2017 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

LAST WORDS | ADVICE

AMY ALKON

ADVICE

GODDESS Caveheart I’m a woman in my 30s. I love parties and talking to people, and thank God, because I attend networking events for work. My boyfriend, on the other hand, is an introvert, hates talking to strangers, and loathes “shindigs.” How do we balance my longing to go to parties with his desire to stay home?

—Party Girl Taking an introvert to a party can be a challenge. On the other hand, if it’s a Fourth of July party, you know where to find him: hiding in the bathtub with the dogs.

I actually have personal experience in this area.

Like you, I’m an extrovert—which is to say, a party host’s worry isn’t that I won’t have anyone to talk to; it’s that I’ll tackle three people and waterboard them with sangria till they tell me their life story. Also like you, I have a boyfriend who’s an introvert. For him, attending a party is like being shoved into an open grave teeming with live cockroaches—though, compassionately, it also includes an open bar.

This isn’t to say introverts are dysfunctional. They’re not.

They’re differently functional.

Brain imaging research by cognitive scientist Debra L. Johnson and her colleagues found that in introverts, sensory input from experience led to more blood flow in the brain (amounting to more stimulation). The path it took was longer and twistier than in extroverts and had a different destination: frontal areas we use for inward thinking like planning, remembering and problem solving. So, introverts live it up, too; they just do it on the inside.

Extroverts’ brain scans revealed a more direct path for stimuli—with blood flowing straight to rear areas of the brain used for sensory processing, like listening and touching.

They also have less overall blood flow—translating (in combination with a different neurochemical response) to a need for more social hoo-ha to feel “fed.”

Sometimes, you’ll really want your boyfriend there with you at a party—for support, because you enjoy his company, or maybe just to show him off (kind of like a Louis Vuitton handbag with a penis). But understanding that “shindigs” give his brain a beating, consider whether you could sometimes take a friend.

When he accompanies you, maybe set a time limit and be understanding if he and the dog retreat to the den.

Sure, mingling makes you feel better, but pushing an introvert to do it is akin to forcing an extrovert to spend an entire week with only the cat and a fern.

Before long, they’re on with the cable company. Tech support: “What seems to be the problem?” Extrovert:

“I’m lonely! Talk to me! Have you ever been arrested?

And do you think I should go gluten-free?”

Rubbin Hood I grabbed my boyfriend’s phone to look something up, and I found a Google search for local massage places that offer “happy endings.” He says that he and his friends were just goofing off. Am I an idiot to believe him?

—Disturbed His “goofing off” is reminiscent of the “but I was just curious!” web searches that juries hear about—stuff like “Does arsenic have a flavor?” “How much antifreeze does it take to kill a 226.5-pound man?” and “Who’s got the lowest prices on shovels and tarps?”

Sure, it’s POSSIBLE that your boyfriend is telling the truth—that he and his buddies were searching out massage parlors RIGHT NEARBY! just for a giggle.

To determine how likely it actually is, consider that people don’t behave randomly. We’re each driven by a varying combo of personality traits—habitual patterns of thinking, emotion and behavior that are relatively consistent over time and across situations. For example, an introvert will not suddenly become a party animal (unless we’re talking the taxidermied kind that’s stuck into the “fall leaves” centerpiece).

Research by evolutionary psychologists David Buss and Todd Shackelford found three personality traits that are strong “predictors of susceptibility to infidelity.” One is narcissism—being self-absorbed, admiration-seeking, empathydeficient and prone to scheming userhoood. Being low on “conscientiousness” is another—reflected in being disorganized, unreliable, lazy and lacking self-control. Last, there’s “psychoticism,” which, despite its Bates Motel-like moniker, reflects a con artist-like exploitativeness, impulsivity and lack of inhibition— not necessarily exhibiting those things while going all stabby on some lady enjoying a shower.

Consider whether your boyfriend’s “just Googling for kicks!” claim is odd and uncharacteristic or whether it’s part of a pattern reflecting one or more of the lovely cocktail of traits above. Patterns of behavior predict future patterns of behavior—for example, trying to get you to believe that he only goes to strip clubs for the music and that he really was just working late with his boss, Mr. Camerino, who seems to have developed quite a thing for body glitter.

Sure, mingling makes you feel better, but pushing an introvert to do it is akin to forcing an extrovert to spend an entire week with only the cat and a fern.

30 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · APRIL 26, 2017

(c)2017, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem?

Write Amy Alkon, AdviceAmy@aol.com (advicegoddess.com).

@SDCITYBEAT