San Diego CityBeat • May 4, 2016

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May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Shilling for the Citizen’s Initiative

F

ive signature gatherers waved stacks of peti- surrounded by empty stadium seats. (Wouldn’t it be tions at me while I strolled down India Street ironic if killer whales were sitting in the pretend staduring last weekend’s busy Mission Federal dium seats?)

ArtWalk. The sky above was blue and sun Kansas City-based MANICA, which did not redappled; the pitch from signature gatherers was turn phone calls from CityBeat, is the same firm that gray and cloudy. designed the Chargers stadium for a forgotten time The latest slew of folks who want to be paid when the team was intent on moving to Carson. Go upward of $15 for your John Hancock are stalking to manicaarchitecture.com and compare designs. registered voters who’ll support the Citizen’s Ini- Check out the renderings for both projects that intiative. This is the November ballot-wannabe that clude daytime fireworks—seemingly a must-have in calls for hiking up the local hotel tax to help pay today’s NFL. for a new East Village football stadium for the San If you go to Chargers.com to look at the “New Diego Chargers, as well as a noncontiguous expan- Stadium” section to get a feel for the conventionsion to the downtown conRON DONOHO related specs, note the disvention center. claimer about the project renderings: “This is a conI engaged with petitionceptual design intended to ers to see how they were convey the Chargers’ vision selling the initiative. One for what the stadium and commonality: It’s a bid to convention center expanpay for a stadium for San Dision could look like.” egans on the backs of tourThis we think we do ists who’ll incur the 4-perknow for sure, according to cent hotel tax increase. the Citizen’s Initiative: The So if I’m visiting San Diconvention center expanego, I’m paying for this stasion will be 385,000 square dium? feet in net floor area of ex“Yup. But if you don’t hibition halls, ballrooms and live here you can’t vote on meeting rooms. it,” was the nodding reply Without that convento my question from a guy tion center expansion, an in a Chargers visor. (No, it ArtWalk signature gatherer wasn’t coach Mike McCoy.) A signature gatherer at ArtWalk solemnly informs me, “We’ll There was no consensus lose Comic-Con.” among signature seekers, Hells Bells! Really? however, about a specific benefit to the local conven“We are constantly perplexed by our message tion industry.

I asked one petition signature gatherer how con- being misinterpreted by others,” says David Glanventioneers would get from the current convention zer, chief communications and strategy officer for Comic-Con International. “We have said it before center to the proposed annex a few blocks away.

“Don’t worry,” he said matter-of-factly. “They’re and will say it again, Comic-Con believes that a congoing to connect the two with a gondola.” It’s pos- tiguous convention center expansion (one that is sible this gentleman was confusing a long-floated connected to the current facility) would be best for proposal to connect downtown to Balboa Park by an Comic-Con, and most beneficial for any large event aerial cable-car system. Could an aerial gondola sys- San Diego might host in the future. A facility built tem be incorporated into the estimated $1.8 billion across the street or blocks away is problematic for “convadium” project? Chargers spokesman Fred any number of reasons…It just doesn’t seem to make sense to book two convention facilities blocks apart Maas could not be reached for comment.

Hey, who knows? MANICA Architecture has when other cities offer contiguous space.”

Hmm. So could that mean we’re not getting the presented the public with a rendering of a boat show being held on the playing field of a new East Village gondola? stadium. In that rendering a flotilla of sea crafts

—Ron Donoho tower over a modest crowd of boat enthusiasts, all Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com This issue of CityBeat thinks Carly Fiorina was making a break for it, and Ted Cruz is right behind her.

Volume 14 • Issue 39 EDITOR Ron Donoho MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich ARTS EDITOR Seth Combs WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Torrey Bailey COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

CONTRIBUTORS David L. Coddon, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Peter Holslin, Jessica Johnson, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Susan Myrland, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Tom Siebert, Jen Van Tieghem, Amy Wallen EDITORIAL INTERN Elizabeth Pode PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia

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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 2016.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

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May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

UP FRONT | LETTERS

NORTH PARK HOMELESSNESS

I read your article [“Making homelessness a story”] in CityBeat on April 20, 2016. I agree with your analysis as far as it goes. I have been dealing with the issue of homelessness in North Park for about 10 years, when my wife and I retired from the Seattle area.

In my previous life, I was on the board of the Northshore Multi-service Center for 14 years, four as the president. I am as frustrated with the issues surrounding “homelessness” as is evident in your article. And there is a fundamental issue that cuts across this phenomenon throughout our nation and affects more than returning veterans.

My direct experience here in San Diego has been in Florida Canyon. This is one of the major “repositories” of the city’s fourdecade-long management strategy of benign neglect. We are “...reaping the whirlwinds...” from the seeds of our past policies of “warehousing” the homeless in our back alleys, doorways and city parks!

I am as guilty as the citizens of San Diego and our service providers of secretly preferring to maintain my own anonymity. So much better to be strangers, and be unaccountable. Until that reality is removed from the service equation, there will be no solution to the problem; the solution rests on personal engagement by all parties! “White noise” or the “shield of anonymity,” is everyone’s preferred environment for avoiding dealing with the homeless “problem.”

And stop playing with the numbers. There is a game being dealt out, starting with the number 8,900 homeless in San Diego, The actual number is much greater; over 12,000. And pretending that our veterans are 10 percent of that is just as fictitious.

Yes, we need housing to serve as a “catchment” strategy for our homeless. But it would easily take three thousand (3,000) new SROs just to handle the veterans and get them into mental health and employment programs. But that will still leave a real population of some nine thousand (9,000) individuals on our public streets, alleys and parks.

I harbor no illusions about the costs to provide sufficient mental health and medical attention, along with psychological counseling and employment training to address the decades of abuse and neglect. But let’s get real folks, and be honest with ourselves as we peel off the layers of

6 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

issues on the onion that is represented by homelessness.

Alan Bennett, San Diego

THE DEAN SPANOS SOLUTION

Building on Dean Spanos’ brilliant idea of increasing the hotel tax to get visitors to pay for San Diego’s 10 days of football recreation and pleasure I’d like to build on his concept to help all of San Diego prosper [“Padres v Chargers: Dawn of Injustice,” April 6].

This win-win idea will guarantee the long-term success of the city’s finances while thrilling the San Diego population.

As you may know the city now issues IDs to city residents so they can enjoy lower rates at Torrey Pines and Balboa.

I propose the city issue ID cards to all city residents which when presented for any sales taxable event they (we) pay just 7.5 percent sales taxes (the legal minimum) making San Diego the lowest taxed city in California. The populace will be thrilled.

I further suggest that the property tax rate be cut by 50 percent, which of course will make housing more affordable for all. Again the citizenry will go wild.

No doubt you’re wondering how will the city ever meet its financial obligation of about $3.2 billion with such drastic tax cut?

I call it the Dean Spanos Solution…

Let’s begin with the single most critical fact that drives the Dean Spanos Solution. The fact comes from the San Diego Tourism Authority, which states that tourists account for $8 million in direct spending.

People without the city ID card will pay 20 percent sales tax, more than making up for the cut to resident’s sales tax and property tax decreases.

This Dean Spanos Tax Solution will generate about $1.6 billion, or nearly half of the city’s entire budget.

This will reduce San Diego citizen’s tax burden while building on Dean’s idea of getting other people to pay for our services.

Brilliant or what?

Of course my numbers might be off a tad but you have to hand it to a guy who dropped this brilliant concept in our laps.

Personally I think it’s the only way to go and will make San Diego a leader in tax creativity.

Yours in search of modest solutions.

Ron Jackson,

Little Italy

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

Letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OPINION: Spin Cycle. . . . . . . . . .

OPINION: The Homeless. . . . . .

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

4 6 7 8 9

FOOD & DRINK The World Fare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 In The Spirits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Beerdist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

ARTS & CULTURE THE SHORT LIST: Three you have to see. . . . . . . . 13 Event Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . 13-16 Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 FEATURE: Pacific Beach. . . 17-21 Seen Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Films . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-24

MUSIC FEATURE: Beyoncé . . . . . . . . . . 25 Notes from the Smoking Patio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 If I Were U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Concerts & Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

LAST WORDS In The Weeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

ON THE

COVER

Wunderkind associate editor Torrey Bailey shot the cover and wrote our fifth installment of Neighborhood Watch, this one focusing on seaside Pacific Beach (starting on page 17). Bailey’s cover subject was also one of the “colorful characters” from the feature—Jack Conca, who manages Mr. Frostie on Garnet Avenue and is regularly referred to as “Jack Frostie.”

Go fig. The family business was “scooped up,” notes Bailey, by Conca’s grandparents because a budget-friendly ice cream store seemed like a recession-proof idea.

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Up Front | opinion

spin

john r. lamb

john r. lamb

cycle

Even the Magic Budget Fairy can’t save the TMD from itself The freedom of the city is not negotiable. We cannot negotiate with those who say, “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is negotiable.”

—John F. Kennedy

ention TMD to any plugged-in policy wonk in town, and the most likely response will be, “Yeah, what about the Tourism Marketing District?”

Spin Cycle, however, could make the argument that TMD actually stands for Thoroughbreds Making Decisions. You will never witness a more agreeable bunch of folks outside of a dictatorship-led hellhole of capitulation like North Korea.

At least the meeting venues it selects are swanky. For the TMD’s most recent board meeting the location chosen was The Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter just a stoner’s throw from aromatic Horton Plaza.

A smattering of hotel types, City Hall reps and press dotted some of the comfy beige audience chairs within the beige walls of the hotel’s Harbor Room. (Spin Cycle has no idea why the name, since the railings of an outdoor terrace blocked views from the room.) In the next-door Coronado Room, board members hunkered down in closed session well after the appointed starting time for the day’s public hearings.

Spin should note the term “public hearings” might be considered a bit of a misnomer for the average layperson, since the meetings move along at such greased-lightning speed without the use of microphones that it’s a marvel the public can follow along, let alone feel a part of the action.

But no matter—attendance is typically so low that the board makes it a habit to take the time at the outset for everyone in the room to introduce themselves, including audience members. There are no stealth visitors at a TMD board meeting.

Agendas for meetings are typically scant in detail and rarely come with backup materials until the day of the meeting, laid out in stacks on a table. Monday’s materials were limited to a few head-scratching spreadsheets purported to show budget amendments and two pages of brief minutes from a previous gathering.

When the board members finally emerged from next door and shuffled into the public den, the face of TMD’s chairman, hotelier Bill Evans, was priceless in its puzzlement as his eyes caught a glimpse of one audience member: thorn-in-the-TMD-side activist attorney Cory Briggs.

Briggs, representing San Diegans for Open Government, is ensconced in a fever-pitch battle with the city over the legality of the TMD’s existence, and has strung together a series of courtroom wins to the point where most sane people wonder not whether the TMD will collapse on itself, but when.

Things got so weird last month that Briggs held a press conference to announce a settlement in the proceedings after word leaked to the press—some believe by Evans himself—of a pending deal, needing only Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s blessing. Evans later released a statement, claiming the TMD board had taken no such action but welcomed continued “productive conversations” with Briggs.

At Monday’s hearing, board members voted unanimously to boost its fiscal year budgeting for legal servic-

M

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Did Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith abandon ship on a TMD settlement? es by $162,000, suggesting preparation for ongoing legal wars. “We are scheduled in court in August,” Evans wrote Spin, later. “I guess we will see what the judge has to say on the issue.”

The board also agreed to whip through an operating agreement amendment within three weeks—tied to its scheduled budget hearing before the City Council in late May—that will seemingly cost the district revenue. The plan, in essence, is to return to an earlier time when only lodging establishments with 70 or more rooms were assessed a 2 percent surcharge on hotel rooms to promote tourism. In 2012, the council approved a change assessing all lodging businesses, just at a reduced rate of 0.55 percent for those with fewer than 30 rooms, and 2 percent for those with 30 or more.

Why the change was necessary never really emerged from the brief board discussion. Evans later declined to address the reasons publicly. Could it be that some of Briggs’ clients include smaller lodging establishments, thereby putting at risk the standing of his ongoing legal battle? Evans wouldn’t say.

“Their plan is more transparent than crystal,” Briggs said. “They’re launching a missile to kill a mouse.”

There have been rumors that the AirBnB industry would like a seat at the TMD table, so perhaps it has something to do with that. Again, Evans remained publicly silent.

Briggs was unconvinced. “If AirBnB were the real problem, they’d simply fix the voting procedures for board members by cleaning up their corporate bylaws,” he argued. “Opening up the entire TMD structure tells you that this ruse is actually just litigation strategy.”

And thus, you get a taste of the loggerhead position this city seemingly embraces at every turn.

If only there were a way to break the stubborn public silence on the good stuff…

As Spin’s forehead crashed on the coffee table back at home, there was a commotion on the balcony.

“What the hell with these invisible screen doors, guy?” came the familiar voice of longstanding Spin Cycle character Magic Budget Fairy, its feelers quite bent from the impact.

“Hey Budget Fairy. To what do I owe this visit? And how do you know where I live?” Spin asked.

“First question: You seemed perplexed. Second question:

None of your business,” Fairy said, shaking the cobwebs free.

“The mayor, obviously pleased with my work on next year’s budget, sent me in to see if I could fix this stupid TMD snit.”

“It’s a pretty big snit, considering the TMD has to sit on nearly $20 million in tourist taxes it may have to return if it loses in court.”

“Choose whatever word you want,” extorted Fairy. “It sure beats searching sofa cushions to pay for anti-homeless ‘rock gardens.’ How’d you like that turn of phrase I came up with?”

“Not so much. Seemed a bit, um, cold?”

“Oh, you heart bleeders! Spruce up a place, and what does it get you? Grief!” Magic Budget Fairy growled. “But enough of this chatter. Let’s clear the boulders about TMD and this guy Briggs. You know the mayor is not a fan?”

“That would be an understatement, yes.”

“Well then, what’s not to figure out?” Fairy seemed to forget it is on the inside and Spin is out in the rock garden.

“The TMD had a settlement with Briggs until it was waved under the nose of City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, who likes Briggs even less than the mayor. Goldsmith hit the roof, and that was that. Funny, considering he’d told both sides to resolve this privately.”

Fairy proceeded to describe a draft interim ordinance hammered out to ensure tourism-marketing money continued to flow while a legally defensible new TMD was formulated.

“But Goldsmith said there was no such thing,” Spin said, head spinning.

Irked, Fairy pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and tossed it. Written by a TMD board member in early April, it read: “I think if we present a compelling case that this ordinance works, this will ultimately be driven by the mayor’s office…BTW, while there was no public announcement yesterday, you should know that no TMD board members objected to the settlement terms. That is huge. The strong sentiment of our board was to have the city bless the deal in advance of an announcement.”

Fairy smiled, not at all blown away that legal matters appear to remain unsolved because the boys can’t play nice in the sandbox.

Spin Cycle appears every week.

Write to johnl@sdcitybeat.com.

May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | opinion

Michael Mcconnell

The homeless numbers that count Making sense of San Diego’s new raw data

by Michael McConnell

H

omelessness—what if it was you experiencing it, or your brother, sister, mother, father, friend? What if you saw the plight of our vulnerable neighbors every day as you left your warm and safe downtown condo?

You’d be as frustrated as I am, frustrated by our inability to make the significant inroads we should be making locally. In 2015, San Diego was ranked fourth highest in the nation—at 8,742—in the number of people experiencing homelessness, only behind Seattle, Los Angeles and New York City.

Homelessness is a word with so many implications and stories behind it, and an issue that I’ve been passionate about helping to solve for many years. Having lived downtown, I’ve seen the heartbreaking struggles that our homeless neighbors face on a daily basis.

The problem also deeply resonates with me on a personal level,

because my brother suffered from mental illness—a disease that afflicts many people experiencing homelessness—and I often meet people on the streets who remind me of him.

Since 2009, I’ve served on multiple local and regional homelessness advisory committees in San Diego and acted as the San Diego team leader for “25 Cities,” a national initiative to end veteran and chronic homelessness. I am also an active member of the Regional Continuum of Care Council (RCCC), an organization that engages stakeholders in a community-based process to end homelessness.

The conclusion I’ve reached through my experience? It’s simple: Not enough is being done to solve the problem.

When I was approached to contribute to CityBeat on a regular basis, I welcomed the oppor-

8 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

tunity to speak for those whose voices often go unheard. I will use this platform as another tool to continue to push the city and government agencies to implement policies and procedures that effectively address the problem, while advocating for the fair and humane treatment of people experiencing homelessness.

By now, you may have heard that the 2016 point-in-time count (PITC) numbers of people who are homeless in San Diego have been released. The overall num-

A homeless encampment in East Village bers were virtually unchanged less. This approach would provide from 2015. While the PITC gets the information needed to pria lot of attention and is often the oritize resources for those people most quoted number, it is far from who need them the most. the most important piece of in• Create a coordinated entry formation in this large puzzle. system: This prevents duplicaMultiple factors can cause an in- tion of services, which is both accurate number, including how costly and ineffective, by creating many volunteers have signed up a mechanism that allows all agento count people and the weather cies across the county to access conditions, so we must be careful information about people experiwhen deciding how much impor- encing homelessness in real time, tance to place on it. and deploys resources quickly and The PITC, conducted in the effectively. early-morning hours on one day For instance, a military veteran each January, when a horde of might be experiencing homelessvolunteers fans out across the ness and in need of help, but lacks county and engages with people the wherewithal or know-how living on the streets, consists of to determine how to access the two main components: the counts financial benefits to which he’s of sheltered and unsheltered peo- entitled, has no way to get himself ple experiencing homelessness. into housing (other than a shelter The sheltered count, which is by that he has to check himself into far the most accurate part of the and out of every day) and no one PITC, is determined by looking to help guide him through the at the occupancy of San Diego process.

County’s shelters and temporary A coordinated entry system will housing beds. The unsheltered improve communication and coorcount looks at those who are liv- dination among providers, increase ing on the street, in tents or other his access to services (with better structures, and in cars. results), and monitor his status and The unsheltered count has progress. This also results in better problems: It does not tell us how data quality, so we can benchmark long people have been homeless, and measure results. and it’s often unclear whether The bottom line: We don’t these same people were the ones need to reinvent the wheel. Other counted last year. This informa- cities across the nation have altion is vital, because it plays a ready shown these systems to be key role in determining how well effective in the fight to end homeour homeless services system is lessness. Now is the time for San functioning.

Diego to roll up its sleeves, take So, what should we be doing action and implement these proto remedy these problems? We cedures so that maybe next year, should be implementing strate- the number of formerly homeless gies that have been proven effec- people housed will be greater than those still living on the street. tive in other cities: In future columns, I’ll cover the • Develop a by-name list: We need to develop a by-name list of latest developments, setbacks and the people counted, which would progress on this issue, and highinclude specific information light some of the local “heroes” about each person’s unique needs and “hooligans” in the homelessand how long they’ve been home- ness arena.

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Up Front | Opinion

Sordid

Edwin Decker

Tales

There are no transgender predators in public restrooms

A

s you have probably heard, North Carolina passed a bill called the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, which requires transgender individuals to use the public restrooms that match their birth certificate rather than their gender identity. It is commonly called the Bathroom Safety Law, but also includes facilities such as showers and changing rooms. At least 10 more states are considering similar legislation.

The law caused an instant uproar with boycotts coming from such celebrities as Ringo Starr, Michael Moore, Bruce Springsteen and corporations such as Pepsi, PayPal and Target—the latter of which recently designated their store washrooms as transgender friendly.

On the other side you have the usual suspects, nervous cisgenders who say that bathroom safety laws are needed to protect women from sexual predators.

“As the dad of young daughters,” said presidential candidate Ted Cruz, “I dread what this will mean for our daughters—and for our sisters and our wives.”

Now, I do not believe Ted Cruz is necessarily a bigot because he is worried about a grown man using the same shower as his daughter. I even kind of understand people being skittish about sharing a lavatory. Most of these potty

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police types have never encountered a transgender person. They’ve been relegated to the closet for so long now, the fact that the trans community has loudly and proudly emerged into the mainstream is freaking some people out. And it’s all because of that prehistoric human defense mechanism we call Fear of the Unknown growing wild and unchecked in their little lizard brains.

Not that it matters. Whether your intentions are hateful or ignorant, the overall impact on transgender persons is the same. And when I say “transgender persons” I mean, you know, your fellow fucking human beings; people who live among you—who have hearts and minds, who are trying with all their might to participate in a society that systematically immiserates them. For that reason I do not give a grand goddamn how afraid or uncomfortable it makes you, your wife or your daughter. Because their fear and discomfort is but a freckle on the pimple on the ass of a flea on the dog of the discomfort and fear a transgender person feels every time they walk into a public restroom.

What a bunch of cissygenders! All wound up and horrified over the idea that a man in a dress is going to enter the powder room, walk up to your daughter at the vanity counter, stick out his big, veiny hand and say, “May I borrow your compact?”

Look, it is not entirely unreasonable for people to be uncomfortable about grown men showering in facilities designated for women and girls. And maybe public baths are where we draw the line. But it is utterly absurd to say that without these safety laws men will commit sexual assaults.

As if there is even a shred of evidence of this happening in the 200-some U.S. cities that currently have trans-friendly bathroom policies.

As if Dressed to Kill was a true story.

As if it isn’t blaringly obvious to anyone who doesn’t own a poster of Pat Robertson holding up the disembodied heart he carved out of a drag queen as sacrifice to the baby Jesus

that if anyone needs protection in public facilities it is the trans community!

The transgender bathroom predator scenario is a myth.

A cooked up, dreamed up, made up, straight up myth designed to arouse fear in the cissygender masses. Such as we see with the American Family Association’s petition against Target, which at the time of this writing, has fear-mongered 700,000 cissies into signing it. The company did this by saying that Target’s pro-transgender washroom policy encourages sexual predators because “a man can simply say he ‘feels like a woman today’ and enter the women’s restroom.”

Wow. Are these people for real? If a man is deviant enough to commit a felony sexual assault in the ladies’ room, do they really believe a bathroom safety misdemeanor will be the thing to stop him?

Think of what they are saying. The AFA is claiming that a straight, cis, male sex predator won’t even need to put on a dress to assault women in a Target ladies room.

He will merely have to approach the door and announce, “I feel like a woman today” and that will give him license to go inside and start doing rapes on people. And we know this is going to happen because of the countless reported cases in the 200-some cities that have trans-friendly bathroom policies. And when I say “countless” cases I mean it literally—as in zero.

Can we please just turn off our lizard brains for a bit and curtail our fear of the unknown? Sure, it has served us well in the past, like when we first encountered a sabre tooth tiger. But does it do us any good now? I mean, unless an army of cyborgs descend on our planet bearing flags with an image of the Earth inside a circle with a line through it, well yeah, at that point it might be prudent to fear the unknown. I would even support an anti-cyborg restroom law. But until then, can we keep the fear in check and let these poor people piss where they want to piss? It’s called dignity. How about letting them have a little?

May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner

the world

fare

A different kind of IPA

I

f sun and sand don’t define our city’s national image, craft beer does. And if there’s one type of beer that put San Diego on the sudsy map, it’s the IPA. The hop-forward nature of the IPA style is a shockingly good match with barbecue, another bona fide San Diego trend. And that’s where a different IPA comes in to play: Iron Pig Alehouse (1520 Garnet Ave.) in Pacific Beach.

If there’s one style of barbecue that San Diego seems to do well, its Texas barbecue. Coop’s West Texas Barbeque in Lemon Grove has done an excellent take on it for some time. The ambiance at Grand Ole BBQ y Asado is as close as you can get to the Texas experience this side of the Guadalupe Mountains.

Iron Pig Alehouse, on the other hand, is Texas barbecue done San Diego style.

IPA’s rib tips (a byproduct of butchering St. Louis ribs) are an excellent starter—bits of succulent meat around a cartilaginous structure.

They’re best ordered dry rather than sauced. Savory, tender and juicy, the meat isn’t quite falling off the bone but gives just enough resistance to make sucking the last bits off the cartilage a little bowl of fun.

The baby back ribs are more of the same— tender, toothsome with the meat (as it should be) the star of the show. In Executive Chef Rick Daniels’ hands, hickory smoke plays the role of a judiciously applied spice rather than taking over as the main player. The barbecue sauce, neither cloyingly sweet nor dominantly spicy, complements the meat rather than overpowering it.

On one trip on a Monday, the sliced brisket sandwich was glorious. The smoke and sauce

10 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

framed the meat but didn’t take over. The Texas toast, buttery and caramelized, was so flavorful it could have starred but instead complemented. On a Thursday trip, it was a different story altogether.

The meat was dry; the only moisture came from the sauce drowning the meat. The hickory smoke dominated when not locked in combat with that sauce.

I would later find out why: Thursday is Chef Daniels’ day off. It’s not the day to go to IPA. The story with the rib tips ordered that same day was the same: too much smoke, too much sauce and too little meaty flavor.

But Thursdays aside, there’s much to love at IPA. The Southern greens—collards slowly cooked down in a pot liquor of smoked pork, onions and garlic so good it should be a menu item Michael A. Gardiner

Baby back ribs with southern slaw on its own—is one of, if not the best, take on this dish in town. Not much of a dessert guy, I went home raving about the perfect acid-sugar balance of the key lime pie Chef Daniels based on his grandmother’s recipe.

With or without an IPA in hand, the barbecue at Iron Pig Alehouse is some of the best in San Diego. The beach-community vibe and energy gives it a distinctly San Diego feel. If Iron Pig Alehouse isn’t what people think of when they think about San Diego, maybe it should be ( just not on a Thursday).

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

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Up Front | drink

in the

By michelle poveda

spirits Make it a mezcal

the Espadin agave species. The agaves of mezcal are typically cooked below ground in coneshaped pits using volcanic rocks or burning oak hile gringos and gringas party it up for embers, giving it that signature smoky and cooked Cinco de Mayo because they think it’s agave flavor.

Mexican Independence Day (for the love Van Leuven says the biggest misunderstanding of Quetzalcoatl, it’s not) you can independently about mezcal stems from a lack of information. celebrate one of Mexico’s finest creations: mezcal.

“The general public simply does not have that This spirit, with its rich, smoky flavors and handmuch correct information about mezcal, or agave crafted quality, is steadily gaining in popularity. spirits in general,” he says. “There is a lot of hearWillem Van Leuven knows a thing or two say and bad information out there regarding such about this south-of-the-border nectar. The San a beautiful and unique product.”

Diego brand ambassador at Cornerstone MarketThe best way to learn more about the spirit is ing for La Niña del Mezcal, he’s worked in the to go out and drink some. La Niña recently parthospitality industry for 17 years, educating bar nered with Puesto (1026 Wall St., and at downand restaurant staff on the qualities of mezcal. town’s The Headquarters) on a eugene lee mezcal infusion collaboration.

Other local restaurants that have done the same include Kettner Exchange (2001 Kettner Blvd.), Madison on Park (4622 Park Blvd.) and The Patio on Goldfinch (4020 Goldfinch St.). They all share infusions with each other to create unique mezcal cocktails. These are available for a limited time only, basically until they run out of infusions.

So how does Van Leuven prefer to drink his mezcal? “Neat, sipped slowly with a slice of orange, with a bit of spice or tajin on top,” he says. “Good friends and conversation are always a La Niña del Mezcal great addition.” *** Why is mezcal is so hot right now? “I think LAST CALL: Events that pair craft cocktails mezcal is gaining popularity because it’s such a unique and different product from anything else with food can be run-of-the-mill, but Small in the market,” he says. “There are many different Bar (4628 Park Blvd.) in University Heights has varietals of agave along with many different pro- found a unique twist. On May 24, a Mug Shots duction methods. Mezcal can be produced from and Mules dinner will pair mug shots from real any of 30 agave species, and can come from many and fictional criminals with a mule (served in a mug) that’s inspired by the crime committed different regions.”

Tequila is technically a mezcal, but there is a by the suspect in each mug shot. Yes, food is difference. Van Leuven points out that it all comes also paired. It’s $60 per person, and you get to down to production. Tequila uses only the Weber keep the copper mug. Get more information at blue agave species, while mezcal primarily uses smallbarsd.com.

W

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May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

Up Front | Drink

the

by andrew dyer

beerdist Intergalactic is out of this world

A

long time ago (last weekend) in a neighborhood far, far away (Miramar), I came to know the power of the dark side.

Dark beers were in the mix at Intergalactic Brewing (9715 Carroll Centre Road), fresh off an impressive 10-medal showing at the Los Angeles International Beer Competition. Having just moved, Intergalactic was breaking in its tasting room. The spacious new digs, if not yet well appointed, came with a small inventory issue. Although there were plenty of beers on tap, there was not a single IPA. I felt a great disturbance in the Force.

“We try to keep as many IPAs on as we can, although we’re currently out,” says Alex Van Horne, owner and head brewer. “It’s been three days. We haven’t heard the end of it.”

Van Horne attributed the hiccup to the move from its prior location.

“Right now because of our brand new expansion and moving the tasting room we kind of backed off,” he said, noting that more IPAs were coming.

Intergalactic brought home two gold medals at that recent L.A. competition—one for Red Shirt #30, an English pale ale, and another for Shut Up Wesley Wheat.

Intergalactic’s coconut porter, Space Oasis, was on tap in standard and barrel-aged form. The barrel-aged version was heavy with bourbon up front, overpowering the coconut. I preferred the standard Space Oasis; the beer’s coconut flavor balanced perfectly with its malty backbone. This brew also medalled in L.A., bringing home silver in the field beer category.

Planet Invader, a big 11.6 percent ABV imperial stout tasted a little hot at first sip, but soon found its groove with subtle notes of coffee and dark chocolate, bolstered by the steady thump of booziness.

The standout of my visit was a collaboration with nearby 2 Kids brewing, Rebel Alliance Stout.

Brewed with chocolate, vanilla and coconut, this stout hit all the right notes without being heavy or boozy.

12 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

“We like to brew traditional styles,” says Van Horne. “We also enjoy using different flavors and ingredients, making specialty beers. Our board is usually pretty eclectic.”

The Rebel Alliance collaboration was first brewed for last year’s May the 4th celebration, and this year, the two breweries are again releasing a unique Star Wars themed brew. In time for the justannounced return of pitchman Billy D. Williams to the Colt .45 family, and unique for San Diego craft breweries, a malt liquor will be debuting on May the andrew dyer

Intergalactic Brewing 4th called New Republic 501st. Named after Darth Vader’s personal battalion, it will be interesting to see how a malt liquor will fare in IPA and barrelaged obsessed San Diego. For extra geek bona fides, New Republic 501st actually began as a costuming club, but ended up being written into Star Wars canon by George Lucas (source: Wookiepedia).

Van Horne says more specialty beers are on the way for the brewery’s third anniversary in June, and that they are looking to do something ComicCon related in July.

It would not be fair to judge Intergalactic in the midst of its move or the inventory issues associated with it. Intergalactic is making great beer with a pretty cool theme. There is no better place to have a few this May the 4th, or any day you boldly go to this beer-soaked quadrant of the beer galaxy.

The Beerdist appears every other week.

Write to andrewd@sdcitybeat.com

#SDCityBeat

EVENTS

SHORTlist

ART

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

DOWNTOWN

1 RAISING THEIR VOICES

There’s nothing more American than cultural appropriation of holidays. This is certainly the case with Cinco de Mayo. Often mistaken for Mexico’s Independence Day (which is actually on September 16), the celebration of the Mexican army’s defeat of the French at the Battle of Puebla is barely acknowledged in most parts of Mexico, but in the United States, well, it’s a great excuse to drink tequila shots all day.

That’s what makes Voices for Change such a cool alternative to the usual festivities that come with Cinco de Mayo. Held on Thursday, May 5, (obvs) at 6:30 p.m. at San Diego City College (1313 Park Blvd., Building M-200), the free event will feature a spoken-word showcase and art show from City College students on the topics of identity, social justice, culture and diversity. What’s more, Chicana feminist and award-winning slam poet Mercedez Holtry will also be on hand for a reading.

“When we were planning the event, it really came down to the days that Mercedez was avail-

DOWNTOWN

2 CAJUN RAGIN’

It says something about the local appreciation for Cajun culture that San Diego has the third largest Mardi Gras event in the world.

The 15th annual Gator by the Bay Zydeco, Blues and Crawfish Festival is no exception.

More than 90 musical acts, ranging in genres from Cajun to Salsa, will perform on seven SHAWN MILLIGAN stages while f e st i va l g o ers can fuel up on 10,000 pounds of crawfish or other Crescent Citybased dishes like po’ boys, jambalaya or Gator by the Bay beignets at the French Quarter Food Court. Get an extra dose of Louisiana culture by shopping for Mardi Gras-inspired clothing, listening to stories of the music scene’s origins or watching cooking demos. The festival takes place at Spanish Landing Park (3900 N. Harbor Dr.) with varying hours Thursday, May 5 through Sunday, May 8. Ticket prices range from $20 to $200. gatorbythebay.com

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able to perform,” says Voices organizer and Spit Journal editor Karla Cordero. “When we decided on May 5, we saw it was destiny to have her perform that day. She’s a young poet talking about issues of identity and what it means to be mestiza, a GOURMETBOOKDESIGN.COM mix of identities within the Latino culture.

I thought what better fit than for people to come and listen to her talk about these issues while outside, you have people appropriating the holiday.”

Patrons will have a half-hour to check out the art and photography (there will also be snacks and a DJ set from poet Gill Sotu), with the poetry Mercedez Holtry show beginning at 7 p.m. Cordero, who works as an English professor at City College, says this kind of event helps “give students voices” and the opportunity to say something “very vulnerable.”

“For a lot of them, this is their first time reading and it’s usually about an experience they’ve never shared before,” Cordero says. “I always see their faces when they come off stage and they feel so fulfilled and empowered.”

SAN DIEGO

3 LOCAL TIME

SACRA/PROFANA isn’t your average vocal ensemble. They blend classical choral music pieces with contemporary artists and are influenced by everything from Schoenberg to Smashing Pumpkins. Paying tribute to their roots, Local Connections is a concert series focused on artists who have ties to San Diego. From UC San Diego professors to Robert Shaw and Benjamin Britten, there will be a wide array of composers representing a variety of San Diego subcultures. The first concert is on Friday, May 6, at The Maritime Museum of San Diego (1492 N. Harbor Dr.) downtown. Up next is The ARTS (A Reason to Survive) Center (200 E. 12th St.) in Chula Vista on Saturday, May 7. The Sunday, May 15, show will take place at Oceanside Museum of Art (704 Pier View Way). All shows will begin at 7 p.m. and tickets run between $5 and $30. sacraprofana.org.

WESTON BENNETT PHOTOGRAPHY

HI AM THAT at UCSD Visual Arts Facility Gallery, Russell Dr. and Lyman Ave., La Jolla. This video art exhibition from UCSD MFA candidate Stefani Byrd features two installations that explore the themes of breath, mediation and the nature of time. Takes place in the VAF Performance Space, Room 306.

Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May. 5. Free. visarts.ucsd.edu HMeeting at Square One: 2016 Undergraduate Art Show at UCSD Art Gallery, Mandeville Center, La Jolla. New works from over a dozen UCSD undergraduate students. Participating artists include Charity Algarme, Richard Lin, Joseph Maas, Ignatius Nguyen and more.

Opening from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May. 5. Free. visarts.ucsd.edu HFlying Panther Tattoo 10th Anniversary at Flying Panther Tattoo & Gallery, 2323 Broadway, Ste 101, Golden Hill.

The local tattoo shop will be offering $100 tattoo specials all weekend and regional tattoo artists will have artwork on display.

From noon to 8 p.m. Friday, May 6, Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8. Free.

619-238-5713, flyingpanthertattoo.com Life is Like a Journey, Peace a Piece of Dream at Japanese Friendship Garden Society, 2215 Pan American Road, Balboa Park. Minori Yata’s solo exhibit will feature multimedia works that use fine art techniques in quilting compositions and nature-inspired sculptures. Opening from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, May. 6. $5-$10.

619-232-2721, bit.ly/minoriyata HSan Diego Art Prize at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. The San Diego Art Prize spotlights established San Diego artists together with emerging artists. This year showcases Wendy Maruyama with emerging artist Peter Scheidt and Roy McMakin with emerging artist Kevin Inman. Opening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, May. 6. Free. 858-454-5872, ljathenaeum.org HArtini at Sunset Temple, 3911 Kansas St., North Park. This community art exhibition aims to engage the San Diego community in a dialogue about the realities of HIV and AIDS and features original works from engaging local artists who participated in a “Do Art for 30 Days” challenge. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May. 7. $10$40. 619-795-3630, artinisd.com

BOOKS HAri Seth Cohen at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The former local boy and creator of the highly influential blog, Advanced Style, will be signing and discussing his third book, Advanced Style: Older and Wiser, which features inspiring pictures and stories from his senior subjects. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May. 5.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com Alex Montoya at Upstart Crow Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 835 West Harbor Drive, Suite C, Seaport Village. Local author Alex Montoya will sign his book The Finish Line, in which he writes about running a marathon relay-style with teammates with prosthetic limbs. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, May. 6. Free. 619-232-4855, upstartcrowtrading.com HJohn Hargrove at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The former SeaWorld orca trainer who made a splash in Blackfish will be back in San Diego to sign copies of his book, Beneath the Surface. At 6 p.m. Friday, May. 6. Free. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Chris Cleave at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The New York Times bestselling author will discuss and sign his newest novel, Everyone Brave is

SACRA/PROFANA

H = CityBeat picks

Forgiven. At 6 p.m. Saturday, May. 7.

Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com HMysterious Galaxy 23rd Birthday Bash at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont.

The local bookstore celebrates another year in business with author appearances and discussions all day. See website for full lineup and schedule. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May. 7. Free. 858-2684747, mystgalaxy.com Leslie Johansen Nack at Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16, Point Loma. The author will be signing and discussing Fourteen: A Daughter’s Memoir of Adventure, Sailing, and Survival. At 4 p.m. Sunday, May. 8. $5. 619-233-7963, womensmuseumca.org HWayne Pacelle at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The President and CEO of The Humane Society will discuss his book The Humane Economy, an exploration of the economics of animal exploitation. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, May. 9. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com Deo Niyizonkiza at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The CEO of Village Health Works and leading advocate for impoverished people will discuss and sign his bestselling book, Strength in What Remains. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May. 11. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

DANCE Breathing Beacons at Dance Place San Diego, 2650 Truxtun Rd, Point Loma. A night of new contemporary dance works from KSDance, The Movement Initiative, Khamla Somphanh and Caryn Ipapo-Glass.

At 8 p.m. Friday, May 6, Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8. $25. 619-225-1803, breathingbeacons.brownpapertickets.com HRomeo and Juliet at Spreckels Theater, 121 Broadway, Downtown. City Ballet of San Diego’s large scale, full company work of the classic tale complete with exciting sword fighting sequences, the famous ballroom and balcony scenes and flashy gypsy dances. At 8 p.m. Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7, and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 8. $29-$79. 619-235-9500, cityballet.org HBack to Front at Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave., North Park. A dance performance fromThe PGK Dance Project TOO that literally travels from the back to the front of the Art Produce building, to the roof, through to the inside and finishes out on the sidewalk in the front of the building. From 7:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, May. 7. $15. 619-584-4448, backtofront. brownpapertickets.com

FILM HFilmatic Festival at UCSD Qualcomm Institute, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. The third annual festival will feature digital films, sonic and 3D events, gaming exhibitions, interactive performances, workshops and much more. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, May. 7. $5-$35. 858534-8497, filmaticfestival.com

FOOD & DRINK JLSD Food and Wine Festival at La Jolla Cove, 1100 Coast Blvd., La Jolla. Enjoy raffles, silent auctions, live music and food and drinks from more than 50 local spots while watching the 142nd Kentucky Derby. Benefits the Junior League of San Diego. From 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May. 7. $85-$140.

MUSIC HSACRA/PROFANA: Local Connections at Various locations., The choral

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

THEATER Feminist fatales in Rapture, Blister, Burn

DAREN SCOTT

R

apture, Blister Burn, the closing show of San Diego Rep’s 40th season, is a schizophrenic marathon of a play (written by Gina Gionfriddo) that zigzags between feminist manifesto and soap opera of the identity crisis ilk. Its core figure, Catherine (Paige Lindsey White), is a committed academic and a knockout regular on the lecture and book circuits. But hers is a life without personal attachments, save her elderly (and of course, spunky) mother (Susan Denaker) who’s recovering after a heart attack. When Catherine reunites with her mommyitis-afflicted ex-college roomie Gwen (Sandy Campbell), the comparing of lives begins, as does an inexplicable contest between the two women to claim Gwen’s schlubby hubby, Don (Shawn Law). Also on the scene is smack-talking, wise-beyond-her years Avery (Jennifer Paredes), who joins Gwen in Catherine’s pedantic feminist theory class.

Act One tends toward the preachy, saving most of the emotional sturm und drang for Act Two. While the cast is a capable one—Campbell, whose character is the most believable, stands out–Gionfriddo’s script is excessive, and the integrity of the Catherine protagonist gets sold out.

Rapture, Blister Burn runs through May 15 at the San Diego Repertory Theatre, downtown. $33-$66. sdrep.org *** appened to overhear some guy during intermission of Lamb’s Players Theatre’s worldpremiere Dinner with Marlene, a new play by local Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey: “I thought this

H

14 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

Dinner with Marlene runs through May 29 at Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. $24-$72; lambsplayers. org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: The Boy Who Danced on Air: A new musical drama about the Afghani cultural practice of bacha bazi, where older men engage and often buy boys as young as nine-years-old to train them and “keep” them. It opens May 5 at the Diversionary Theatre in Hillcrest. diversionary.org Bedside Manners: A lighthearted British farce about a regular guy who agrees to look after his sister’s seedy country hotel. It opens May 6 at PowPAC Community Theatre in Escondido. powpac.org

Paige Lindsey White (left) and Jennifer Paredes in Rapture, Blister Burn was going to be more about Marlene Dietrich,” he said, sounding confused. Dinner with Marlene is about Marlene Dietrich, but it’s not a sexy Hollywood tell-all. It’s playwright Harvey’s stage realization of a story told to her by her father, who one night in October 1938 in Paris sat down to dinner with a group that included Dietrich, socialite Barbara Hutton and master violinist Fritz Kreisler. The undercurrent of the dinner chat turns intensely political, and the principled and heroic Dietrich (played vividly by Deborah Gilmour Smyth) emerges. It can be numbing watching eight people sitting at a table for two hours, but the last half-hour is your reward for doing so.

Hollywood: Set in the ‘20s, this world premiere noir thriller is based on the true story of the unsolved murder of director William Desmond Taylor. Written by Joe DiPietro, it opens May 10 at the La Jolla Playhouse. lajollaplayhouse.org Camp David: This new play centers on the 1978 Middle East peace talks between Israel and Egypt and of which the legacy is still felt today. Written by Pulitzer-winner Lawrence Wright, it opens May 13 at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org A Civil War Story: There is Always Hope: Follow the lives of two very different people during the Civil War, one a Union soldier and the other a runaway slave. Presented by Luminary Arts, it happens May 10 at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. artcenter.org

For full theater listings, please visit “T heater ” at sdcitybeat.com

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#SDCityBeat

May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 music ensemble, known for blending classic and contemporary styles, will perform a program of music that has local roots.

Takes place at the Maritime Museum of San Diego on May 6, ARTS (A Reason To Survive) Center on May 7 and the Oceanside Museum of Art on May 15. At 7 p.m. Friday, May 6, Saturday, May 7, and Sunday, May 15. $10-$30. sacraprofana.org Mark Dresser and Barre Phillips Telematic Performance at UCSD Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. UC San Diego Professor of Music and bass player Mark Dresser will bring a new telematic event to UC San Diego as he performs in duo with the world-renowned improvising bassist, Barre Phillips from the Delco Festival in Nimes, France. At noon Saturday, May. 7. Free. musicweb.ucsd.edu Camera Lucida at UCSD Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla.

Principal musicians from the San Diego Symphony and performance faculty from UCSD present a chamber music concert featuring selections from Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, May. 9. Free-$25. musicweb. ucsd.edu HDakhaBrakha at Price Center Ballroom, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla.

The Ukrainian music quartet creates a world of unexpected new music with influences from Ukrainian folk music accompanied by Indian, Arabic, African, Russian, and Australian traditional instrumentation. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, May. 11. $30. 858-246-0809, artpower.ucsd.edu HKallisti Ensemble: Noon at Dusk at UCSD Conrad Prebys Music Center, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla. The ensemble cre-

ated by UCSD Professor of Music Susan Narucki will present the world premiere of Noon at Dusk, a chamber opera that explores the difficulties many young couples face when juggling career aspirations and love. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, May. 11.

Free-$15.50. musicweb.ucsd.edu

PERFORMANCE HThe Intergalactic Nemesis Live: Target Earth at Moonlight Amphitheatre, 1200 Vale Terrace Drive, Vista. This touring production inspired by the golden age of radio storytelling features three actors performing all of the voices, sound effects and music while more than 1000 comic book images are blasted onto a large screen. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May. 7. $10-$25.

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HVoice For Change at San Diego City College, 1313 Park Blvd., Downtown. A spoken word showcase hosted by English instructor Karla Cordero and her City College students. There will also be a special reading from poet Mercedez Holtry, as well as an art and photography show. Takes place in Building M-200.

From 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May. 5.

Free. sdcity.edu

SPECIAL EVENTS HCincoteca at Puesto at The Headquarters, 789 W Harbor Drive #155 , Downtown. A Cinco de Mayo party featuring $2 tacos, cocktails and live music from Bostich+Fussible, Javiera Mena and Gepe.

From 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, May. 5.

Free. 619-233-8880, eatpuesto.com

16 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

First Thursday at the Lafayette at Lafayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. San Diego Made’s evening of music, makers, and libations. Includes a San Diego Made Pop-up Shop with 10 local makers, as well as live music performances. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, May. 5. Free. 619-296-2101, sandiegomade.org HGator By The Bay at Spanish Landing Park, North Harbor Drive, Downtown. C.J. Chenier and Bonsoir Catin headline this annual Cajun inspired festival. Also enjoy 10,000 pounds of crawfish, dancing and cooking demonstrations. Held at Spanish Landing Park, across from the San Diego International Airport. From 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Thursday, May 5, 3:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, May 6, 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7, and 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8. $25-$95. gatorbythebay.com Fiesta Old Town Cinco De Mayo at Old Town San Diego, 2474 San Diego Ave, 4S Ranch. The 33rd annual fest features a Ballet Folklorico competition, 20-plus bands, live entertainment, children’s area, over 100 retail and food booths, two cantina beer gardens, and much more. From 4 to 10 p.m. Friday, May 6, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, May 7 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 8. Free. cincodemayooldtown.com HSurfrider Foundation Art Gala at Paradise Point Resort, 1404 Vacation Road, Mission Beach. Enjoy live and silent auctions, live art installations and body painting while musicians Josh Damigo and Lee Coulter perform live. Tickets include entry, food and drinks. Benefits the local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. From 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, May. 6. $54-$60.

858-274-4630, sandiego.surfrider.org

HBazaar Under the Stars at Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. An outdoor shopping experience with tents filled with one-of-akind jewelry, baskets, textiles and more treasures from global artisans. Includes live music, international food and a cocktail lounge. From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May. 7. $125. 619-239-0003, mingei.org HThe Rescued Dog: Fiesta de Fido at Quartyard, 1102 Market Street, Bring furry friends to this annual fundraiser that includes a dog fashion show, live music and food from S&M, Quartyard and food trucks. From 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, May. 7. Free-$50. fiestadefido.yapsody.com/ event/index/33420/fiesta-de-fido San Diego Mother’s Day Run at De Anza Cove, 3000 North Mission Bay Drive, Mission Beach. Join Mission Valley Sunset Rotary for the fourth annual run benefiting the San Diego Rescue Mission’s programs for homeless men, women, and children in San Diego. At 8:30 a.m. Sunday, May. 8. Free-$45. sdmothersdayrun.com

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HThe New Narrative Presents: Communication at Bread & Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. Speakers from the arts, non-profit, business, academia, activism and neighborhood communities share their stories, insights and conflicts on the theme of “Communication.”

Speakers include Jennifer Gunsaullus, Jason Freeman, Yang Jiang and more.

From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, May. 7. $15-$20. thenewnarrative.org

“The Razor’s Edge”

by Stefani Byrd will be on view at I Am That, a solo show opening from 6 to 8 p.m.

Thursday, May 5, at the UCSD Visual Arts Performance Space, Room 306 (252 Russell Ln. in La Jolla).

WORKSHOPS Kombucha 101 at Sleep Bedder, 2855 El Cajon Blvd., Ste. #4, North Park. Come learn to brew your favorite gut-friendly, fermented beverage with the pros from Edible Alchemy. Includes an organic meal by Dobraya Dasha. From 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, May. 4. $30. 619-8927412, sleepbeddernorthpark.com

#SDCityBeat

(The latest in a series of features on San Diego’s most interesting communities)

TORREY BAILEY

T’S NOT PACIFIC BEACH, it’s PB. Anyone who says otherwise isn’t a local or hasn’t romped around its raucous streets enough. The shore-side neighborhood was born in the late 1880s with the advent of railroads; oceanfront property used to sell for $350 a lot. Now, thirsty 21-year-olds are stoked to split a one bedroom for that price, even when it’s 12 blocks from the sand. They’re trading in Sigma Alpha Kappa Phi Epsilon Beta Tau Omega mini hotels for beachside apartments. The result is an overwhelmingly young, attractive and rowdy population that has found itself in the local, and even national, headlines. San Diego was the last So

Cal city that allowed alcohol on its beaches—that is, until 2007 when Labor Day drinkers were labeled rioters, attracting police officers and tear gas. Cue the creation of Floatopia, where partiers bobbed in the ocean on inner tubes to sidestep drinking on the beach. But the law came down on that, too. Somewhat calmer heads prevail these days—but PB does still thrives on a constant-party mentality.

Goldfish races happen at PB Shore Club (4343 Ocean Blvd.) on Wednesdays and Taco Tuesdays at Duck Dive (4650 Mission Blvd.) are wild enough to seem like Saturdays. PB is where the perma-vacation vibe lives on, in spite of The Man.

With Garnet Avenue running west into the water and Mission Boulevard being the last perpendicular street before the boardwalk, this intersection is an obvious gathering ground. By day, throngs of beachgoers head to the sand with oversized burritos or Baked Bear ice cream sandwiches in hand. By night, the same crowd throws ’bows to wedge its way to the front of the industry line at one of a hundred local bars.

#SDCityBeat

May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

TORREY BAILEY

“I’m sure he thinks he is a little green human,” says Dennis Miller, owner of a parrot named Dry Rot. The yellow-naped amazon was in a dire state of health after being smuggled in from Mexico, hence his name. “Usually they put a little tequila down them, and they’ll go to sleep and if you use too much, especially when they’re chicks, they won’t survive,” notes Miller.

The Vietnam War veteran first met Dry Rot when the bird was four months old, recovered and vibrantly green. Now the tag team can be spotted on the PB boardwalk most days. Miller speaks to the 32-year-old bird TORREY BAILEY

Ciara Guedesse

18 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

Dennis Miller and Dry Rot like it’s his child, knowing when he’s thirsty or if he wants some cheesy scrambled eggs from Kono’s. Meanwhile, Dry Rot talks back in memorized mantras. He used to know up to 35 different phrases, but in his old age it’s slimmed down to about 12 favorites, including “Hi Babe,” and, “How are you?” Sometimes he tells Miller who’s the boss, saying, “I’m the bird man.”

Miller’s Field, Margarita Rocks, Society, Cabo Cantina, RT Longboard’s Grill, Thrusters Lounge—she’s worked at them all. Not to mention being the president of the Beach Bar Guild until it dissolved about

a year ago. As a leader in the industry, she’s had plenty of fingers pointed at her for PB’s reputation, but she thinks regulating alcohol on the beach would have been more beneficial than banning it. “I’ve seen a huge decline in tourism,” she says. “We’re not getting the big summers we used to have.” Despite seeming like the bad guys, the Beach Bar Guild worked as a safety net around town—alerting other bars of inebriated customers, finding jobs for the employees of closed restaurants and raising money for workers without health insurance. She calls it her second family, the former members of which are now trying to hand over the reins to the rookies. As she transitions out of the industry, she says the “new crop” should be warned about the summer ahead of them. “I’ve lived all over the U.S., and there’s no place like this little bubble,” she says. “It’s crazy. It runs itself.”

Okay, his real name isn’t Jack Frostie. It’s Jack Conca, but it might as well be considering the old school ice cream shack, Mr. Frostie (1470 Garnet Ave.), has been in his family since 1949 with the exception of a few years. Jack has worked here since he was about 10 years old. “We didn’t get

TORREY BAILEY

Jack Frostie allowance growing up,” he says. “We got a job.” Mr. Frostie’s prices are low enough for anyone with an allowance to buy a cone.

Jack says his grandparents scooped up this business because it was recession-proof.

“They both lived through the depression, so they wanted to have a business that was still affordable, and if there was a kind of economical crisis, people could still splurge on the small things.” He says the storefront overcomes PB’s rising prices and turnover rates by treating customers as friends, not dollar signs, and earning their respect in return. “PB has that stigma of being the drunken frat town, and I grew up down here so I get it,” he says. “But for some reason, even when people are wasted, and they get in that line, nine out of ten times they just become sober. They get their ice cream, then they go and be drunk somewhere else.”

#SDCityBeat

What’s the key to making things more adorbs, and therefore better? Make them smaller. Costa Brava’s menu fits this criterion with its selection of shareable Spanish tapas. A cup of gazpacho, calamari and patatas a la brava are just a few classy alternatives to the endless line of cheap fish tacos in PB. Wash it down with an Estrella or a pitcher of Sangria.

—Ryan Bradford

For those who are tired of waking up on a dew-soaked front lawn the next morning, there are several spots in P.B. to drink with dignity. Here are three bar/restaurant combos that will restore your faith in the neighborhood.

Nestled on the ground floor of the already fancy Tower23 Hotel, JRDN sports arguably one of the best ocean views in the area and has a pricey, but delicious menu to match.

Most of the dishes are of the surf-and-turf variety, with a popular feature being the customizable “Butcher’s Cut” steak options where diners can choose their own rub and sauce. Our recommendation? New Chef DJ Tangalin’s raw, spicy sea urchin dish.

—Seth Combs

Patio on Lamont

JRDN

#SDCityBeat

Escape PB staples such as Long Island Ice Teas and vouch for mature mixes like a Sex Panther, Mr. Chow or Brown Derby here. After a couple rounds that sunburn won’t hurt so much. Then satisfy those drunchies with small plate options such as a slow-braised short rib or Spanish octopus with pork belly.

—Torrey Bailey

Costa Brava

May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

Barrel Republic - 1

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO DRUNK Where to drink on a scale of relaxed (1) to raucous (10)

1261 Garnet Ave.

The Local - 2 1065 Fourth Ave.

Open Bar - 3 4302 Mission Blvd.

Cabo Cantina - 4 1050 Garnet Ave.

Pacific Beach AleHouse - 10 721 Grand Ave.

PB Shore Club - 10 4343 Ocean Blvd.

Firehouse - 10!

722 Grand Ave.

Avenue - 10!

1060 Garnet Ave.

Tavern - 10!

1200 Garnet Ave.

Backyard - 10!

832 Garnet Ave.

20 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

#SDCityBeat

TORREY BAILEY

If you’ve driven north on Ingraham Street and glanced right just three blocks before Grand Avenue, you’ve seen the dirt lot where an antiquated farm scene is set up…in a beach town. It’s outfitted with a rusty truck, a windmill and a barn. Maybe you’ve missed it because there was a bikini-clad babe strutting on the other side of the street, but it’s there, and the brick building actually used to be a dentist’s office, Dwight A. Oate’s Dental Office (4251 Ingraham

St.), which is closed now. But, a peek through the front door window will persuade you that’s a good thing. There’s definitely no fish tank inside. Instead it looks like a pioneer’s log cabin with a creepy clown toy, an old cot and a wagon wheel lying against the wood paneled walls. When nobody returned our phone calls, we just assumed the clown attacked the owners.

—Torrey Bailey SKIPPY HAHA / FLICKR

If you lived in San Diego between the ’70s and ’90s, then you know the iconic Velvet Touch marketing slogan: “This man wants to clean your clothes,” accompanied by an illustration of the smiling visage and bushy, spherical hairdo of Roy Rosenwald. The business itself was a humble mom-and-pop dry cleaning operation, which remained open until 2001 when Rosenwald sold the business. But the ubiquitous grin of the cartoon face embedded Velvet Touch into a local piece of pop culture. Rocket from the

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Crypt paid homage to the laundry shop with the song “Velvet Touch” in 1991; Tim Pyles posted a sketch of his own face with added afro on 91X’s website; and Enigma Piercing in Normal Heights nods to Velvet Touch in their own ads, with the caption: “This man wants to pierce your nose.” You can’t get your clothes cleaned by Velvet Touch anymore, but the face lives on: You can still buy Rosenwald’s face on a t-shirt, courtesy of the Internet.

—Jeff Terich

May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

CULTURE | ART

SEEN LOCAL

are stored by Rodriguez and loaned to fundraising organizations or presented at events like the San Diego Fringe Festival.

“Once we open up and are able to talk about [HIV] and have some real dialogue and discourse, then we will be able to address the stigma as well and talk about the realities of the disease and get away from the mistruths and misunderstandings.” eople are shocked in ways that they don’t exThe arcHIVe project is preparing for “Artini,” an pect to be,” says Rodney “Rod” Rodriguez. annual art gala that they’ll be hosting Saturday, May “They expect to hear 7,, at 7 p.m. at Sunset Temple KATHY FRITZ tragic stories of people dy(3911 Kansas St. in North Park). ing and that’s happened, but The event will feature artists you’re not going to hear those who took a 30-day art chalstories as much in the people lenge to paint every day. Still, who are living with the disRodriguez isn’t content with ease.” just having art shows. He’s Rodriguez is talking about looking into commissioning a the arcHIVe project, a nonlive dance performance and profit that focuses on blendopening a writer’s workshop ing art and HIV awareness. It to create creative outlets for began five years ago when Rothose in the HIV community. driguez noticed a large age gap While Rodriguez admits in the gay community. Artists, that it may not be the case for athletes, musicians; all types everyone, an HIV positive diof creative individuals were agnosis can be empowering. lost in the AIDS epidemic of “I can’t even remember how the ’80s, creating a huge artismany times I’ve heard sometic void. So, to counteract that body say, ‘contracting HIV loss of culture, as well as the was the best thing that ever stigma of the virus, Rodriguez happened to me because it began collecting the works of gave me a new lease on life, ’” Rodney “Rod” Rodriguez those who were living with or Rodriguez says. “Every time affected by HIV. someone is willing to be brave enough and trust in The project first began with intimate interviews us and what we do, to share their story, that’s a great where people recorded their individual journey accomplishment.” through their diagnosis. It then transformed into a —Elizabeth Pode collection of more than 160 unique pieces of art that

ARCHIVING EMPOWERMENT

P

“

CRAFT SHOOT: PETER NELSON SCHEIDT In this semi-regular column, we profile local crafters whose wares we love.

W

hen the recipients of the San Diego Art Prize were announced recently, Peter Nelson Scheidt’s name definitely stood out. The annual prize—which pairs a local established artist with an up-and-coming, emerging artist—had sculptor Wendy Maruyama choosing Scheidt as her choice for an emerging artist. While Maruyama is known for nature-based sculptural works, Scheidt works primarily in woodworking and carpentry. An MFA student at San Diego State University’s Furniture Design program, Scheidt has plenty of nice-looking lamps and tables on his website (peterscheidt.com), but it’s his recent experimentation with the concepts and rules that apply to furniture making that caught the eye of Maruyama.

“Furniture has this tradition of craft and it’s still very important to me that my pieces are functional and durable, but there’s a looseness of energy that an object can have and still be functional,” Scheidt says.

“It doesn’t have to be sophisticated and planned out on paper down to the very last screw.”

As could almost be predicted, Scheidt grew up on a farm in northern Illinois.

“Carpentry-wise, we definitely had a lot of old buildings to work on all the time,” says Scheidt, who

22 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

also works as a repair machinist at SDSU. “That make-do attitude always stuck with me.”

He went to college at Brown University, majoring in what he calls a “typical Liberal Arts education” at the Ivy League institution. He says SDSU’s furniture program was a good fit and helped him focus more on what he calls the “sculptural” and “gallery” side of furniture making as opposed to commissioned work.

YVONNE MOUSER Case in point: The piece he’ll be debuting at the Art Prize exhibition, which opens May 6 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall St.) in La Jolla, will be, well, much more art-focused than anything he’s done before. He calls it a “mobile spoon-making workshop on a bicycle.”

To hear him explain it, it’s a Peter Nelson Scheidt bicycle that he’s converted into a wood-making machine.

The bicycle goes around and collects discarded furniture pieces and carves spoons out of it.

“The rules for spoon-making are very simple.

Democratic almost,” says Scheidt, who can’t help but laugh while explaining the new piece and says he got the idea while commuting around town on his bike, seeing all the discarded furniture and wishing he could take it all home. “It’s knives and chisels and basic saws so it all fits really nice on a bicycle. It does look a bit cluttered, but I like to think it looks a lot like a carpentry workshop.”

—Seth Combs #SDCityBeat

Culture | Film

The Nice Guys

Summer movie preview Redefining what’s cool for the summer…on the big screen

by Glenn Heath Jr.

S

ince the mid-1970s, blusterous big budget Hollywood films have dominated the hotter months of the calendar year. Millions of marketing dollars are spent selling these titanic products (sometimes years ahead of time) to properly rile up the masses for an event-style release. This trend has hit another recent apex with the ongoing war of attrition between the Marvel and D.C. franchises.

As a result, small art house festival films and eccentric studio fare sometimes suffocate underneath this extensive blockbuster canopy. In an effort to give these much more rewarding films their due, let’s redefine what “summer movie” means to focus on the unique trends and categories that stand out as anecdotes to blockbuster fatigue. Look beneath the hype and you’ll find another bustling eco-system of cinematic options.

The B-Movies With less pressure to perform at the box office than their far more expensive “A-level” counterparts, the B-movies of summer often take more risks with casting, story and tone. This gives them a unique identity compared to the homogenized look and feel of most Hollywood blockbusters.

Shane Black’s dark comedy/neo-noir The Nice Guys (May 20) pits Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling against each other as wise-cracking detectives trying to uncover a conspiracy in 1970s Los Angeles. Early clips promise a brutal and funny homage to the genre perfected by Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye.

From the looks of its terrifyingly bare bones trailer, Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Shallows (June 24) might be a one-woman horror show. Blake Lively’s wounded vixen sits atop a rock off the coast of a beautiful island, the shadow of something large and sinister gliding beneath the surface. The director of Non-Stop and Unknown loves to play with shifting perspectives, so this one could turn the genre on its head.

The Purge: Election Year (July1) will surely fit

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into the B-category as well, possibly with even more relevance considering the chaotic Republican National Convention that could take place three weeks after release.

The Festival Films To combat the dour monotony of summer blockbuster season enterprising distribution companies such as A24, Sony Pictures Classics and the newly minted Grasshopper Film strategically release eccentric art house films that have had solid festival runs.

Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise (May 6), a stylized adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s “unfilmable” novel, fits the bill nicely. It stars Tom Hiddleston as a tenant in a futuristic apartment building for the rich and famous where class conflict and anarchy soon reign supreme. The film has garnered much acclaim after premiering at Toronto International Film Festival last September.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ dystopian English-language debut The Lobster (May 27) is even weirder. Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz and John C. Reilly, the film is set in the not-so-distant future where all single people must attend a state-run resort in order to find a mate. If unsuccessful after 45 days, they are transformed into an animal. The film premiered to mostly positive reviews at Cannes last May. Other notable festival films that will be taking a bow over the summer are Whit Stillman’s Lady Susan adaptation Love and Friendship (May 20) starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloé Sevigny and Hirokazu Koreeda’s intimate drama Our Little Sister (July 8).

The American Indies Every summer a gaggle of independent American films hits the market, many fresh off the heels of Sundance, Tribeca and SXSW. Rebecca Miller’s long awaited fifth film Maggie’s Plan (May 27) debuted to rave reviews at its Park City premiere in January.

It stars Greta Gerwig as a single woman whose quest to have a baby is derailed when she falls in love with

film CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 May 4, 2016 • San Diego CityBeat · 23

Culture | Film

The Lobster

film CONTINUED from PAGE 23 a married man (Ethan Hawke).

The toast (or scourge) of Sundance 2016 depending on who you talk to was Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Swiss Army Man (July 1), which features Daniel Radcliffe as a farting corpse and Paul Dano as the castaway who befriends him. We’ll just leave it at that.

Other American indies of note include Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow’s portrait documentary De Palma (June 10), the latest Todd Solodnz oddity WienerDog (June 24), and the “Obamas first date” movie Southside With You (August 19).

24 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

The Auteurs Finally, there are some big budget films by major auteurs worth mentioning. Steven Spielberg’s The BFG (July 1) brings the classic Roald Dahl story to the silver screen with Mark Rylance (Oscar winner for Bridge of Spies) as the eponymous “Big Friendly Giant.” The material seems perfectly suited to the filmmaker who has so often explored the nuances of parent/ child relationships.

Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters (July 15) stands out for its all-female casting of Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as the squad of phantasm-fighting New Yorkers.

Considering Feig’s penchant for smart genre busting revisionism (see Spy), this particular reboot has the chance of being something special.

For as long as I can remember Woody Allen has released a film every summer, and the unveiling of Café Society (July 29) keeps that streak alive. This looks to be vintage Woody: Jesse Eisenberg plays a nebbish young man (surprise, surprise) who arrives in 1930s Hollywood only to get consumed by the culture of movie stars, backroom deals, and be-

trayal. Did I mention it’s a lighthearted comedy?

The underrated gem Magic in the Moonlight proved Allen still had a zest for the period piece, so let’s hope this one can deliver with equal wit and charm. The film co-stars Kristen Stewart as the main love interest, giving the world another opportunity to see how great of an actress she is becoming. I’m not joking.

Other films of interest in this category are Jason Bourne (July 29), with Paul Greengrass returning to the franchise that made him bankable. David Ayer’s bonkerslooking Suicide Squad (August 5) could also be something of an outlier for the superhero genre.

Cross your fingers.

in-fighting between Avengers Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). Can’t we all just get along?

Film reviews run weekly.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com.

The Man Who Knew Infinity: This biopic about Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar (played by Dev Patel) who was admitted to Cambridge University during WWI and proceeded to pioneer several theories with his professor, G.H. Hardy (Jeremy Irons).

Opening April and the Extraordinary World: A young girl and her cat embark on an adventure through Paris in this animated Sci-fi feature from France. Screens through Thursday, May 12, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Captain America: Civil War: The Marvel train chugs along, this time with some

Dough: Jonathan Pryce plays a Jewish baker who brings on a young Muslim apprentice in this dramedy from director John Goldschmidt.

Filmatic Festival: This groundbreaking exhibition presents “The Art of Cinema and Science,” including programs about the development of virtual reality. Screens all day May 7 at various UCSD campus venues. For more information visit artpower.ucsd.edu/filmatic.

Rio, I Love You: Directors from around the world spin short tales of love and heartache with the dynamic Brazilian city as a backdrop.

Tale of Tales: A wild and surreal deconstruction of the fairy tale genre by Matteo Garrone that mixes dark comedy, violence and fantasy in amazing ways. Screens through Thursday, May 12, at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

For a complete listing of movies, please see “Film Screenings” at sdcitybeat.com.

#SDCityBeat

MUSIC

QUEEN BEY TAUGHT ME LIFE LESSONS FROM BEYONCÉ

BY MINDA HONEY

T

HE FIRST TIME A BEYONCÉ SONG saved me, I was 24 and had broken up with my high school sweetheart.

Two weeks later, we were technically back together. Like most things, it was Kanye’s fault. That week he had just released 808s & Heartbreaks, and every time I turned on the radio he was AutoTune crooning at me, “How could you be so heartless?”

Kanye had me feeling so low. I had tossed my boyfriend’s soul like it was a trinket whose gold plating had worn away and exposed the dull metal at its core. But after six-and-a-half years there was no shine left to our relationship. We inevitably broke up again.

After our second breakup, it was Beyoncé I listened to. I didn’t know who I was if it wasn’t in relation to him. I went out drinking and dancing in a freakum dress six nights a week. And although I’d been the one to do the dumping and he’d been the one to move on first, “Single Ladies” became my anthem. At my favorite college bar, I’d grip a neon green Tokyo Tea in one hand and hold my other hand high

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in the air, wriggling my ringless ring finger back and forth. Beyoncé had given me the swagger to get to the other side of the pain and drama. I danced until my flat-ironed edges crinkled up and the arches in my feet ached. I danced until I believed every word Beyoncé preached, until the spirit of the song consumed me, until I was no longer ashamed to be a single lady.

I was delivered.

It wasn’t until I was on the verge of 29 in wintry-ass Denver where I’d been unwillingly transferred for work that I once again called on Beyoncé for guidance. I was hundreds of miles from the people I knew and loved and who knew and loved me. I’d applied to grad schools to get my MFA in creative writing and I needed to know letting go of my grip on the corporate ladder wasn’t a mistake. I was still single and felt totally out of place as a black woman in Denver. I didn’t hike or feel like yoga pants were all-occasion wear, regardless of how bomb my booty looked in them. One of my friends liked to refer to Denver as “white people’s Atlanta.” In other words, Beckys were winning and women who looked like

me were not. I had to get out and I was uncertain that my writing was enough to whisk me away.

Then she, mother of Blue Ivy, lover of Jay Z, dropped her self-titled album, Beyoncé. I played the tracks on my way to a night of bowling with other dateless black women. I didn’t need her to introduce me to feminism. I already knew what it was and what mine looked like, but I was happy she’d discovered it. I remembered that moment in undergrad when I learned the word that framed the feeling of unfairness I’d sensed all my life. Her discovery reminded me that there was more to me beyond men and love.

I had shit I wanted to accomplish.

I was a little over a year away from being 30, but here was a woman who’d crossed that threshold and become a bolder, better, unapologetic version of herself.

She was blooming as an artist and brimming with confidence in her business acumen. If this woman could do this standout thing in an industry where nearly everything had been done and clichés were what turned profits, then it wasn’t too late for me to invest in my own art. Beyoncé gave me that. She stripped away my fear that the rumors were right; that misspent twenties was time wasted. She showed me that my best years were still ahead. She redefined the power within womanhood for me and many black women my age.

This brings us to Lemonade and present-moment me, as I grow one word at a time closer to publishing a memoir about some assholes I dated (and some moments where I was an asshole, too). I’ve spent many late nights trying to figure out the polite way to say some dude hurt my feelings, or how to write about my father without really writing about my father.

When my fingers hesitated over my keyboard, Beyoncé blasted back into my life with a baseball bat and lyrics airing out her husband’s trifling-ass ways and shared the “Daddy Lessons” that led to her Daddy issues. The Black Woman might be the most neglected person in America, but Beyoncé sees us and we see her. She’s telling black women we can feel pain, be angry and find a way through all of those hurt feelings to healing and forgiveness.

But forgiveness does not beget silence.

We can speak on it and we can use our tongues to twist our words into more than just words—to create art out of what the world and our men have wrought. I could forgive those men who made me feel like I was too much, I could forgive my father of his shortcomings and I could use it all to tell my story; how I became a woman. On a Sunday morning, a day reserved for renewal and rebirth, Queen Bey taught me how to squeeze blood from stone, lemonade from lemons.

BEYONCÉ

MAY 12ADIUM

QUALCOMM ST

BE YO N CE .C OM

Minda Honey is writing a memoir, An Anthology of Assholes, about squandering her youth on the wrong men. Follow her on Twitter: @MindaHoney.

May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO F

ormer members of The Marsupials and Uncle Joe’s Big Ol’ Driver have started a new project called Low and Be Told. The band features Marsupials vocalist Doug Thompson and drummer Darrin Lee and Uncle Joe’s Big Ol’ Driver bass player George Vidaurri, as well as guitarist Frank Blackcat, who previously played in hardcore bands in Palm Desert. The band’s first show was April 24 at the Whistle Stop.

Thompson says they’re deciding what they want to do next. “We just played our first show,” he says, during a conversation at Krakatoa in Golden Hill.

“The first one went so well that we’re gung-ho and ready to play more. We’re debating now whether to start recording or get some stickers or shirts made.

We’ll definitely record as long as the money comes in to pay for it.”

Right now, Low and Be Told have eight songs, including a couple cover songs (which Thompson won’t name, for the sake of not spoiling the surprise).

Ostensibly, Low and Be Told is a punk band, though Thompson says they’re not a very straightforward one, since each member brings different influences to the table.”

“Part of the beauty of the Marsupials is that there were four different people coming from four different places, and there wasn’t one person dictating our style,” he says. “Right now, Frank is mostly writing all the songs, but it gets muddied by our influences.

We all put our two cents in.”

Low and Be Told After a strong first show, Low and Be Told are energized and working on more material. They’re still fresh, Thompson stresses, so the future of the band is wide open.

“We’re all young—well, we’re all old,” he jokes.

“But we’re young as a band. We’ve just been playing for a few months.”

—Jeff Terich

TAG IT AND BAG IT If you search for albums tagged “San Diego” on Bandcamp, you’ll find some interesting stuff. In this semiregular report, we sift through recent postings and relay the findings.

Nevercrown, Temblad: This is a pretty uncompromising set of music. It’s intense, technical and rhythmically complex death metal that’s enjoyably evil while sounding pretty difficult to play. It’s always easier for me to respect this kind of music than actually get into it, simply because the technical stuff is so nerdy.

But this is pretty awesome.

Working Gears, Mazixion: Only two of the six tracks on this EP extend beyond two minutes, and most of them are highly unsettling, however brief. Each track is a slice of experimental IDM, with lots of noise and discordant effects taking over. In fact, I dare say one shouldn’t listen to this with headphones on, because it might be painful.

However, the vintage Aphex Twin style of “Iterative” hits all the right notes.

Sweeter EP, Elliot Rappaport: I mostly listened to this for the drawing of the man-eating plant on the cover. Boy, was this not what I was expecting.

Singer/songwriter Elliot Rappaport sings schmaltzy

26 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

American Idol or Glee style ballads that aren’t terribly complicated but are definitely overdone. Rappaport seems to find a way to turn one note into 12, which is fine if you’re Mariah Carey, but he could benefit from toning it down a bit.

C2, Collar John: Instrumental hip-hop with lots of weird, disorienting edits and interesting vocal chop-ups. A lot of the songs on this mixtape have numbers such as 90 or 95 in the title, though I doubt the tracks date back 20-25 years.

The production quality sounds too modern. In any case, a fun set of beat-laden instrumentals.

The Chorus, Contact: The members of Contact are credited not only by their instruments but by their vocal range (tenor, alto and soprano, for what it’s worth). That’s pretty important to understanding the band, whose vocals are all three-part harmonies, despite being a pretty roaring punk/altrock outfit. Their songs are dense and chunky, but their singing style is layered and otherworldly. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a band that so consistently features this kind of vocal layering in quite this way, and it’s pretty interesting. Contact certainly has my interest.

—Jeff Terich #SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Music Area outfit that combines black metal with the complex dynamics of post-hardcore and dark, poetic lyrics. Their album All Fours was one of the best of 2015. Don’t miss ‘em.

PLAN B: Torche, Wild Throne, Dhatura @ The Hideout. The next best bet is Torche, who are sludgy and spectacular. They rip through their songs quickly and powerfully, almost like a metal version of the Ramones.

They’re all kinds of fun. BACKUP PLAN: A music insider’s weekly agenda Dropdead, Magrudergrind, Yautja, Thanatology @ Brick by Brick. punks.

PLAN B: Cumbia Machin, MaruWednesday, May 4 PLAN A: Kool Keith, Boon League, DJ jah, Death By Snoo Snoo @ The Merrow.

Artistic @ The Casbah. Kool Keith is a Or, for a smaller scale but no less fun op- Sunday, May 8 hip-hop legend. He made a name for him- tion, check out local electro-cumbia artist PLAN A: Four Tet, Andy Stott, Ben UFO self in the ’80s with Ultramagnetic MCs be- Cumbia Machin, who turns every venue @ Music Box. Four Tet and Andy Stott fore later adopting the Dr. Octagon persona into a dance party. BACKUP PLAN: Giv- are two of the most consistently innovain the ’90s. He’s taken on a wide variety of ers, Anna Wise @ The Casbah. tive artists in electronic music today, and if styles, each one a showcase for his amazing they’re both going to be in the same place, lyrical skills. PLAN B: Explosions in the Friday, May 6 then I wouldn’t miss it. Dark, spacey beats Sky, Disappears @ Observatory North PLAN A: Beach Slang, Potty Mouth, for all. PLAN B: The Residents present Park. If you missed Explosions in the Sky Dyke Drama, California @ The Casbah. Shadowland @ Belly Up Tavern. The on Tuesday, you get a second chance to There’s really only one logical choice for Residents are one of the weirdest bands be overwhelmed by climactic instrumen- Friday night. Beach Slang make noisy, yet in rock history, and they’re bringing their tals and emotional crescendoes. BACKUP catchy rock songs about feeling young and new surrealist rock opera to our neck of the PLAN: Blockhead, Eliot Lipp, Travelers living life to the fullest and all that stuff, woods. It’ll be a hell of a trip, no chemicals so follow their lead and participate in the required. BACKUP PLAN: X, Los Lobos, Club @ Soda Bar. good times.

The Blasters, LP3 & The Tragedy @ ObThursday, May 5 servatory North Park.

PLAN A: Mariachi El Bronx, Honus Ho- Saturday, May 7 nus, Pounded by the Surf @ Belly Up PLAN A: So Hideous, Bosse-de-Nage, Monday, May 9 Tavern. Mariachi El Bronx have a stand- Griever, Empty Gods @ The Merrow. All PLAN A: Daniel Martin Moore, Spurs ing Cinco de Mayo show in San Diego, so of the best shows tonight are metal shows, @ Soda Bar. After all the big beats, metal far be it from me to argue against tradition. so strap in for something intense. The best beatdowns and Cinco de Mayo hangovers, Join in the revelry with these mariachi bet is to check out Bosse-de-Nage, a Bay maybe it’s time for something a little more

Jeff Terich

If I were u

28 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

Kool Keith low-key. Daniel Martin Moore is a singer/ songwriter from Kentucky, and he’s got just the sweet sounds you’re looking for.

Tuesday, May 10

PLAN A: Burning Ghosts, HM3, Nathan Hubbard/Passengers @ The Merrow. Burning Ghosts are an “expressionist metal jazz” band from Los Angeles, which is worth the price of admission alone, but they’ll be joined by local percussionist and innovator Nathan Hubbard with his ensemble, Passengers, which only sweetens the deal. BACKUP PLAN: Layne, Bakkuda @ Soda Bar.

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MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Curren$y (Observatory, 6/16), Lee “Scratch” Perry (BUT, 6/20), David Bromberg (BUT, 6/22), Pinegrove (HOB, 7/14), Blink 182 (Viejas Arena, 7/22), Marissa Nadler (Casbah, 8/2), Anderson .Paak (HOB, 8/3), Guided by Voices (BUT, 8/17), ‘Awesome Fest 10’ (Soda Bar, 9/2-4), The Kills (Observatory, 9/4), Glen Hansard (Observatory, 9/28).

GET YER TICKETS Beyonce (Qualcomm Stadium, 5/12), Pennywise (Observatory, 5/13-15), Aesop Rock (BUT, 5/13), Andrew Bird (Music Box, 5/13), Frightened Rabbit (BUT, 5/21), Pentagram (Brick by Brick, 5/25), Modern Baseball, Joyce Manor (HOB, 6/1), Voivod (Brick by Brick, 6/1), Budos Band (BUT, 6/3), ‘X-Fest’ w/ Offspring, Cheap Trick (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 6/5), Case/Lang/Veirs (Humphreys, 6/22), Venom Inc. (Brick by Brick, 6/25), Blue Oyster Cult (BUT, 6/26), Brian Wilson (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 6/30), Lady Antebellum (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 7/5), Toad the Wet Sprocket, Rusted Root (Observatory, 7/9), Joan Jett (Del Mar Fairgrounds, 7/9), White Lung (Casbah, 7/9), Widespread Panic (Civic Theatre, 7/12), M. Ward (BUT, 7/12), Deerhoof (Casbah, 7/14), Wye Oak (Irenic, 7/17), Psychedelic Furs, The Church (Humphreys, 7/19), The Joy Formidable (Irenic, 7/20), Nails (Brick by Brick, 7/20),

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Inter Arma (Soda Bar, 7/24), Sublime with Rome (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 7/30), ‘Warped Tour’ w/ Sleeping With Sirens, Sum 41, New Found Glory (Qualcomm Stadium, 8/5), Kurt Vile and the Violators (HOB, 8/9), The Weight: Members of the Band/Levon Helm Band (BUT, 8/18), Guns ‘n’ Roses (Qualcomm Stadium, 8/22), Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Melissa Etheridge (Open Air Theatre, 8/23), Dave Matthews Band (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/26), Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/27), Deftones (Open Air Theatre, 8/29), Huey Lewis and the News (Humphreys, 9/1), Mana (Viejas Arena, 9/9), Dierks Bentley (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/11), Ray Lamontagne (Open Air Theatre, 9/13), Counting Crows, Rob Thomas (Open Air Theatre, 9/14), Kraftwerk (Balboa Theatre, 9/16), Tegan and Sara (Observatory, 9/25), Ani DiFranco (BUT, 10/2), ZZ Top (Humphreys, 10/4), Kamasi Washington (Humphreys, 10/7), Florida Georgia Line (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 10/9), Jethro Tull (Balboa Theatre, 10/17), Tracy Morgan (Humphreys, 10/20), Peter Hook and the Light (HOB, 11/8).

MAY WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 Crystal Bowersox at House of Blues.

Explosions in the Sky at Observatory North Park. Kool Keith at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MAY 5 Mariachi El Bronx at Belly Up Tavern.

Fear Factory at Brick by Brick. Givers at The Casbah.

FRIDAY, MAY 6

Violent Femmes at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Beach Slang at The Casbah. Jim Bruer at Observatory North Park. Voodoo Glow Skulls at Soda Bar.

SATURDAY, MAY 7 So Hideous, Bosse-de-Nage at The Merrow. Torche at The Hideout. The Slackers at Music Box. Lily and Madeleine at The Loft at UCSD.

SUNDAY, MAY 8 Four Tet at Music Box. The Residents Present Shadowlands at Belly Up Tavern. X, Los Lobos, Blasters at Observatory North Park.

TUESDAY, MAY 10 Bear Mountain at The Casbah.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11 Wild Belle at The Casbah (sold out).

THURSDAY, MAY 12 Beyonce at Qualcomm Stadium.

Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires at Observatory North Park (sold out).

FRIDAY, MAY 13 Steel Panther at House of Blues. Andrew Bird at Music Box. Aesop Rock at Belly Up Tavern. Pennywise at Observatory North Park.

SATURDAY, MAY 14 Kris Allen at Music Box. Pennywise at Observatory North Park.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 SUNDAY, MAY 15 Pennywise at Observatory North Park.

‘Hardcore Matinee’ w/ Rob Crow’s Gloomy Place, Octagrape, Mrs. Magician at Bar Pink.

TUESDAY, MAY 17 Tech N9ne at Observatory North Park.

Joseph Arthur at Music Box.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18 King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard at Soda Bar. Yuna at The Casbah.

THURSDAY, MAY 19 Wreckless Eric at The Hideout.

FRIDAY, MAY 20 Titus Andronicus, La Sera at Che Café.

The Thermals at Soda Bar. The Cure at Sleep Train Amphitheatre (sold out).

SATURDAY, MAY 21 Iron Butterfly at Music Box. Soulfly at Brick by Brick. Jewel at Humphreys by the Bay (sold out). Frightened Rabbit at Belly Up Tavern. Dreams Made Flesh at The Hideout. Father at Observatory North Park. ‘In-Ko-Pah 3’ w/ Three Mile Pilot, Shady Francos, Madly at Desert View Tower.

SUNDAY, MAY 22 Idlewild at The Casbah.

TUESDAY, MAY 24 Son Little at The Casbah.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 Pentagram at Brick by Brick.

THURSDAY, MAY 26 Anti-Nowhere League at Soda Bar.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., San Diego. Pacific Beach. Wed: Joe Cardillo. Fri: The Sextones, The-O. Sat: Bad Neighborz, Ocean Natives. Tue: Skank Roots Project, Janelle Phillips.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, San Diego. Little Italy. Fri: David Maldonado. Sat: Curtis Brooks. Sun: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., San Diego. Normal Heights. Wed: ‘The 4th Awakens’ w/ DJs Ronnie Alting, Josh Taylor, Volz, Just Sven, Gianna, Viking.

Thu: ‘Libertine’ w/ DJs Jon Wesley, 1979.

Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Chvrch’ w/ DJ Karma.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Tolan Shaw, The Soft White Sixties, GrooveSession. Thu: Mariachi El Bronx, Honus Honus, Pounded by the Surf. Fri: Charlie Musselwhite, Guitar Shorty. Sat: Wayward Sons, Way Cool Jr.. Sun: The Residents present Shadowland. Tue: ‘Sing Merle Back Home’ w/ Nancarrow, Brawley, Jake Loban, Sara Petite.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad. Carlsbad. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA, K-Swift. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJ Junior the Disco Punk.

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., San Diego. Bay Park. Thu: Fear Factory, Soilwork, Fear Factory, Soilwork, Omnikage, Spades and Blades, Thrown into Exile.

Fri: Resurrection Kings, Symbolic, Cage, Dolan Brotherhood. Sat: Dropdead, Magrudergrind, Yautja, Thanatology.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Sat: Flamenco Dinner Show.

Sun: Buena Vista Sundays.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Thu: Kevin Nealon. Fri: Kevin Nealon. Sat: Kevin Nealon.

Cat Eye Club, 370 7th Ave, San Diego.

4S Ranch. Thu: Cool Cat Karaoke.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: Throttle. Sat: Wax Motif.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, San Diego. Mission Bay. Fri: Mesa College Jazz Ensemble. Tue: Brian Lynch’s Unsung Heroes Project.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., San Diego.

North Park. Wed: DJ Grand Masta Rats.

Thu: ‘Ceremony Night’. Fri: DJ Artistic.

Sat: DJ Mike Delgado. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Mon: ‘Wreckord Mania’ w/ DJ @ Large. Tue: The Fink Bombs.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Stupefyin’ Jones. Fri: Modern Day Moonshine. Sat: The Jones Revival.

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

F6ix, 526 F St., San Diego. Downtown.

Sat: Wellman. Sun: ‘Pole-a-palooza’.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., San Diego.

Downtown. Fri: Green Lantern.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Downtown. Wed: Blaqk Audio, Night

Riots, Charming Liars. Thu: Apocalyptica, 10 Years, Failure Anthem. Sat: Saul Hernandez. Sun: Eli Young Band. Tue: Robin Henkel.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Thu: Psilo, Defcon Uno. Fri: Fresh Brunettes, Mittens, Boychick. Sat: ‘Ascension’. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: Goodall Boys. Thu: Sophisticats. Fri: Ron’s Garage. Sat: Mystique. Sun: Gonzology. Tue: Steve Brewer.

Moonshine Flats, 344 7th Ave., San Diego. Gaslamp. Fri: Scotty Alexander .

Sat: Scotty Alexander Music Box, 1337 India St., San Diego.

Little Italy. Wed: Crystal Bowersox. Sat: The Slackers, Viernes 13, The Slackers, Viernes 13. Sun: Four Tet, Andy Stott, Ben UFO. Tue: Javier Colon.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Thu: ‘Wet’. Fri: ‘Uncut’. Sun: ‘R&B Divas’.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St., San Diego. Downtown. Wed: The Upshots.

Fri: Rosy Dawn. Sat: Family Style. Tue: Paddy’s Chicken Jam. Rebecca’s Coffee House, 3015 Juniper St, San Diego. South Park. Wed: Storytelling.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., San Diego.

Hillcrest. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Fri: DJs Dirty Kurty, Moody Rudy. Sat: DJs Taj, KSwift. Sun: DJ Cros.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz’ w/ Jason Hanna. Fri: Deadbrokendown. Sat: Baja Bugs.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

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May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30 Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Blockhead, Eliot Lipp, Travelers Club. Thu: Slumber, Jack’s Last Bullet, Project Analogue.

Fri: Voodoo Glow Skulls, Pinata Protest, Oceanside Sound System. Sat: The Wild Fires, King Shelter, Free Roary.

Sun: A Wilhelm Scream, Implants, Heartsounds, Castoff, Out to Lunch.

Mon: Daniel Martin Moore, Spurs. Tue: Layne, Bakkuda.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego. Midway. Sat: Los Shadows, Noble War, The Art Dealers, Fake Tides.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley. Spring Valley. Thu: ‘Darkwave Garden’. Fri: Lucid Season, The City Hall, The Co Founder, Art Monk. Sat: Stairs & Towers, Dirty Pennies. Sun: Richard Watkins.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., San Diego. Midtown. Wed: Kool Keith, Boon League, DJ Artistic. Thu: Givers, Anna Wise. Fri: Beach Slang, Potty Mouth, Dyke Drama, California. Sat: Manic Hispanic, The Touchies. Sun: MC Yogi. Tue: Bear Mountain, Young Empires.

The Che Cafe, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla. La Jolla. Fri: Bad and the Ugly, The 131ers, Little Green Army, Wasted Days.

Sat: Author, Sea Cycles, Traffic Bear.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Sat: Torche, Wild Throne.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., San Diego.

North Park. Sat: Anamanaguchi, Lindsay Lowend.

The Loft @ UCSD, Price Center East, La Jolla. Sat: Lily & Madeleine.

32 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., San Diego. Hillcrest. Wed: Megafauna, AJ Froman, Strange Planet. Thu: Cumbia Machin, Marujah, Death By Snoo Snoo.

Fri: Cowgirls From Hell, Raise The Guns, Mursic, Dead Chaplain. Sat: So Hideous, Bosse-de-Nage, Griever, Empty Gods. Mon: ‘Ceremony’. Tue: Burning Ghosts, HM3, Nathan Hubbard/ Passengers.

The Office, 3936 30th St., San Diego.

North Park. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King, The Fuzzy Rankins Band. Sun: Kenny Meez. Mon: ‘Planet B’ w/ DJs Luke Henshaw, Bobby Bray, Jung Sing. Tue: ‘Trapped’.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego. City Heights. Fri: 13 Wolves, Decomp, Midnight Block, Cat Chasers. Sun: Los Monjo, Ruleta Rasa, Dead on the Wire, Cruz Radical.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., San Diego.

Bay Park. Fri: The Distractions. Sat: Los Fabulocos. Sun: Tardeadas with Colour.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., San Diego. City Heights. Wed: Western Settings. Fri: ‘Hip Hop vs. Punk Rock’. Sat: Druden, Hours, Spectral Death. Sun: Scorpion vs. Tarantula, Bat Lords, Assquatch, Nervous Defects.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, San Diego.

South Park. Wed: ‘St. Vitus Dance Party’ w/ DJ Handsome Skeleton.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., San Diego.

Ocean Beach. Wed: KNG MKR, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Farnell Newton, The Othership Connection, Bleep Bloop. Fri: Poor Man’s Whiskey, Homesick Hitchers. Sat: Poor Man’s Whiskey, Homesick Hitchers.

Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Jefferson Jay Band.

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May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

Last Words

by sebastian montes

in the

weeds From hops to cannabis

T

he first half of 2015 was a trying time for Hassan Khalil and Garrett Saul.

First there was the biotech incubator in Carlsbad. Then came the office building in Mission Valley.

Both times, their cannabis enterprise KS Labs was shooed from their lab space by city officials and nervous landlords.

Another exhaustive search followed, another non-descript space. This time, thanks to a realtor who knew of a recently vacated dispensary, they landed in North Park.

Only six months prior, Khalil and Saul were just a couple undergrads at University of San Diego running chemical analyses to understand the bitterness of hops.

When they decided to apply their newfound hops know-how to marijuana—the two plants are close genetic kin—they found a

34 · San Diego CityBeat · May 4, 2016

perplexing lack of scientific rigor being applied to the ostensibly medical field.

“Things were qualitative—oh, this looks good, this smells good— but there was no solid, quantitative data to measure the quality, the safety,” Khalil said.

The fledgling 800 square feet they found in August in an unmarked building on El Cajon Boulevard is a far cry from San Diego’s other—and much larger— pot-testing enterprise, SD PharmLab, which has been operating for five years in a cheery Ocean Beach storefront with an inviting sign out front.

Where one is polished and well established, the other is a rag-tag upstart. But both labs embody the uneven reality of operating in the pot business these days. More importantly, they are both laying the industry’s scientific foundation ahead of a wave of state regula-

tions that aim to push cannabis toward wider legitimacy.

The two labs are the only local recourse for certifying the pot potency of the exploding number of cannabis enterprises.

Potency sells. The most popular strains—today’s pot du jour is Gorilla Glue No. 4—became so by testing at nearly 30 percent THC. Wax and resin concentrates exceed 75 percent.

But for all this scientific rigor, none of the testing is mandated, enforced or verified by any regulatory body.

“Right now, you can do whatever you want basically,” Khalil said. “It’s pretty much the Wild West, especially for the dispensary guys bouncing around every three months from shop to shop.”

Those freewheeling days are numbered. Years of languishing in legal limbo will end when the state imposes the weight of its regulatory might on the medical marijuana industry in 2018— through an array of licenses and other requirements.

That will be a boon for business like San Diego’s two pot labs. But some observers foresee unintended consequences from the impending regulation. Legis-

sebastian montes

Garrett Saul, co-founder of KS Labs lators are hoping pot legalization will put the black market out of business. The abundance of red tape and administrative hurdles for all but the deepest pockets, however, is already having the opposite effect in recreational states such as Colorado, Washington and Oregon.

“It’s going to create a lot of middle men, so the price of cannabis is going to go way up—which, unfortunately, is going to create a rise in the black market again,” Khalil said.

Meanwhile, they’ll get back to their soon-to-be-booming business of breaking down the marijuana experience into its numerical parts—with or without a sign out front.

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May 4, 2016 · San Diego CityBeat · 35