San Diego CityBeat • Aug 13, 2014

Tembabichi P.6 colonoscopy P.10 Beyonce P.26 Cover artist P.22 Meet our

2 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

Kevin Faulconer and poverty Kevin Faulconer a moderate? Ha! That’s nonsense.

During the special election earlier this year to replace former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, while David Alvarez went full-on progressive, Faulconer’s campaign team smartly positioned him as the kind of middle-of-the-road politician that San Diegans love to elect.

It was easy for him to say that he’s moderated his views on social issues, such as marriage equality, because in municipal government, social issues take a back seat to economic policy. And when it comes to economic policy, Mayor Faulconer is revealing himself to be as conservative as conservative can be.

Last month, the San Diego City Council voted to raise the city’s minimum wage incrementally to $11.50 by January 2017 ($9.75 in January 2015, $10.50 in January 2016) and eventually index the wage so that it rises automatically with the local cost of living. The law also requires employers to give workers five paid sick days per year. Last Friday, Faulconer vetoed the ordinance. The council can override the mayor’s veto with six votes, and since the ordinance passed on a party-line 6-3 vote, a successful override is expected. The council has until the end of the first week in September to do so.

If that happens, opponents of the minimum-wage increase would then have 30 days to collect the roughly 34,000 signatures required to place a referendum on the ballot in the next regularly scheduled election, which will be June 2016. If they get that many signatures, the minimum-wage increase would be effectively dead until voters decide its ultimate fate.

So, 2.5 percent of the city’s population can delay the wage increase and sick-day mandate. Is that fair?

Debatable. That question is important because if the law were to go into effect as scheduled and remain in effect until the election, we’d be able to see its impacts. The opponents—led by Faulconer and his most important constituent, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce—are claiming that raising the minimum wage will kill jobs and hurt poor people. We believe that’s utter nonsense, and if the law were to be implemented for nearly a year-and-a-half before opponents could attempt to convince voters to keep the lowest wage as low as possible, we think

voters would see that Emperor Faulconer and his plutocrat friends are wearing no clothes.

Not long ago, Mark Cafferty, executive director of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, said in a Twitter conversation with a couple of CityBeat writers that, behind the scenes, leaders in the business community often discuss how to combat poverty. We like Cafferty. He’s a good and decent person, and we don’t think he’s a liar. We’ll take his comment as the truth. So, the question, then, is: Why don’t business groups ever propose any antipoverty policies on the local level?

The only time we ever hear them talk about poverty is when liberal activists propose policies such as an increase in the minimum wage, and, invariably, what they’re saying is something like, “We all want to help people escape poverty, but this isn’t the right David Rolland way to do it.” But then we never hear what the right way is—that is, besides letting the free market do its magic: Get out of the way and watch unfettered capitalism deliver us all to the Promised Land.

It’s interesting that right now on the federal level, the Republican Party seems to have finally understood that the American public wants something to be done about poverty. Why else would Congressmember Paul Ryan, the Republicans’ point person on economic policy, come out with a detailed anti-poverty plan.

Kevin Faulconer Ryan at the very least recognizes that there are significant barriers that low-income folks must overcome in order to rise in the economy—things such as racial injustice and lack of affordable child care, just to name two of many—but, overall, his plan is problematic, to say the least. Still, misguided though the plan may be, and regardless of the motivation, Ryan’s at least talking about fighting poverty.

Faulconer? Not so much. As worker wages continue to lag further and further behind the rising cost of living, as the local poverty rate increases and more people struggle to afford basic expenses, he’s content to do nothing except parrot the talking points of the Chamber of Commerce, and it’s impressive that he can do so with his head buried so deeply in the sand.

What do you think? Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

This issue of CityBeat was just a victim of a run-by fruiting. (Google it.)

Our cover art is by Gregory Bada.

Read about him on Page 22.

Volume 13 • Issue 1

Arts Editor Kinsee Morlan

Contributors Ian Cheesman, David L. Coddon, Seth Combs, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Nina Sachdev Hoffmann, Peter Holslin, Dave Maass, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Susan Myrland, Mina Riazi, Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Jen Van Tieghem

Staff Writer Joshua Emerson Smith

Production Manager Tristan Whitehouse

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4 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

Questions unanswered Good for John R. Lamb [“Spin Cycle,” July 9] for going to the court hearing regarding the San Diego chapter of the Sierra Club, which cleared up none of my questions about the takeover of the local chapter by its national office. I would like to know what schism within the chapter caused this unfortunate outcome and will look to CityBeat for the story, since no one else seems to be talking.

For the first time since 1981, I have declined to renew my Sierra Club membership because of this draconian maneuver by the national office. John Stump is an activist, as you said, but I also know that he is, himself, a lawyer and sometimes a purposely provocative figure. I’d really like to know what happened here and whether I can re-up in good conscience. Or do I have to wait out the fouryear suspension.

get (many of which no one else will consider taking) and go on to become pillars of our working class?

And what have we come to when we are protesting against terrified children who are desperately seeking asylum in our wealthy country? How selfcentered and heartless have we become?

But put aside all of those arguments. We do not have enough children to support our aging baby boomers. Why would we turn away young people who are eager to grow up, make a living here, pay taxes and pay into social security? We need children in this country. Children are the future and the lifeblood and the wealth of a country, and we’re getting volunteers! In my humble opinion, we should be sending “Thank you” messages to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Valerie Hansen, East Villiage

Frances O’Neill Zimmerman, La Jolla

We need these kids Regarding your July 9 editorial: Whatever happened to “Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free; The wretched refuse of your teeming shore / Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me / I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”?

This is what made the United States the country it is. Immigrants from all over the world, taking a giant and risky leap of faith and coming to a new country to try to make a life for themselves. Correct me if I am wrong, but is it not the first- and second-generation kids that work so hard in school, at any jobs they can

Will Faulconer act?

After reading your July 9 editorial about the immigration protests in Murrieta, I posted this on Kevin Faulconer’s Facebook page: “Has anyone in the Faulconer camp read the CityBeat editorial? Why isn’t Kevin acting on the child-immigration issue? Is he going to sit by and tentatively and weakly allow the frothing-at-the-mouth idiots to yell at women and children to ‘go home!’? Or is he going to put up and act as the more moderate Republican he claims to be? Where are your cojones, Kevin?”

Aaron Buckley, Ocean Beach

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Source: San Diego Metropolitan Transit System

Lindsey Voltoline

A map of the “impossible railroad”

Bad track record MTS-backed Pacific Imperial Railroad likely claimed fake asset

by Joshua Emerson Smith Two men from Nevada traveled to Tijuana around 2006 in an effort to take control of a property in Baja Mexico called Tembabichi. One of the men was embattled Nevada District Court Judge Steven Jones, who, according to prosecutors in an ongoing judicial discipline hearing, made the trip in connection with a scam that left three unsuspecting investors out $20,000 each. Making a string of headlines in Las Vegas, Jones also now faces a federal indictment that includes charges of money laundering and multiple types of fraud.

The other man was Dwight Jory, the central figure in San Diego’s most recent quagmire surrounding what’s known as the impossible railroad—a 148-mile rail line between San Diego and Plaster City, just west of El Centro, which over its century-long history has been plagued by flooding, fires and now scandal.

The two men met with a woman named Linda Chavez, who, despite the best efforts of the Nevada duo, retained control of Tembabichi, according to court documents. However, as recently as 2012, Pacific Imperial Railroad, a company financed by Jory, secured a 99-year government lease to operate the rail line while touting Tembabichi as an asset worth more than $563 million.

Adding to mounting evidence that Jory and his associates in the railroad business might not have

the region’s best interest in mind, additional documents have surfaced that not only point to Chavez as the owner of the property but also call its purported value into question.

When the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) in 2012 granted Pacific Imperial Railroad (PIR) the lease to operate the rail line, owners of Mexican factories, known as maquiladoras, were hopeful. Businesses like Toyota had long desired to move freight using the Desert Line, a 70-mile stretch of rail between Tecate and Plaster City, where the Union Pacific Railroad picks up and connects to eastern markets.

The problem was the rail line needed more than a $100 million in repairs, including improvements to multiple bridges and tunnels, according to MTS. Using a 2009 appraisal report of a 5,685-acre property in Baja Mexico, known as Rancho Tembabichi, officials with PIR claimed they had the assets needed to raise the money to fix the rail line.

Recently, Congressman Duncan Hunter wrote several letters to Paul Jablonski, CEO of MTS, calling into question PIR’s ownership of Tembabichi and the company’s financial solvency.

It turns out, the property’s real owner is Linda Laree Child de la Toba, whose married name is Linda Chavez, according to a copy of the appraisal report obtained by CityBeat. The exceedingly obtuse docu-

6 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

ment also shows upon close inspec- from the Nevada Group, which is tion that the appraisal is actually for owned by Jory. The group, he said, a far-fetched development project had owned the property since the referred to as “Rancho Utopia.” “early ’80s” and sold it to him for Donald Stoecklein, CEO of around $200 million in PIR stock.

PIR and owner of Stoecklein Law “Once I did that, I was going to Group, did not dispute CityBeat’s use it to leverage it against and go reading of the document. borrow money to essentially build “That’s like buying into one of out the railroad,” he said. these buildings before it’s built,” In 2013, Stoecklein hired prolhe said, adding, “Certain parts of fessional fundraiser Ernie Dah�� the property had to be developed man as PIR’s CEO. Dahlman, in turn, brought on 30-year railroad out, yeah.”

Located on undeveloped desert veteran David Rohal to run the roughly 50 miles east of the small operation as president. The new Baja town of Ciudad Constitucion, team convinced Stoecklein that the property is only accessibly by having the Tembabichi property off-road vehicle, small plane or on PIR’s books looked suspicious. boat, according to the appraisal. While the Nevada Group agreed There is no electricity, plumbing to “buy” back Tembabichi, the or running water. Several wells controversy surrounding PIR had only begun. provide drinking Before setting water for a small “They told us off to find invesfishing commutors for PIR, Ronity living on the they were the hal sank $750,000 northeastern part worst background of his own money of the property. into the project.

To meet the reports that PIR hired a paystated value of they’d ever seen.” roll company, emroughly $563 mil—David Rohal ployed an accounlion, the appraisal tant, created a outlines an eyehuman-resources popping list of projects that would need to be department and retained a Washcompleted, including a desalina- ington D.C.-based lobbying firm to tion plant, a sewage-treatment compete for grants.

In late December, they headed plant, a landfill system, agricultural reservoirs, a 100-acre solar-and- to Wall Street to look for investors. windmill electricity farm, a high- At first, prospects seemed promisrise condominium with parking, a ing with potential backers pledglow-rise resort hotel and spa, a ma- ing about $30 million, Rohal said.

“They were excited about the rina, a yacht clubhouse, an 18-hole PGA golf course, a fire station, a li- business potential and our track brary, a non-denominational wor- record,” he told CityBeat.

However, things quickly began ship facility, a mixed-use complex with restaurants and retail outlets, to fall apart when seasoned Wall a 25-acre freshwater fish farm and Street investors did their homework on Jory and his associates, hatchery and an airport.

Using preferred stock in PIR, Rohal said. “They told us they were Stoecklein said he bought the the worst background reports that property somewhere around 2011 they’d ever seen.”

At the same time, PIR’s new accountant began to get concerned that hundreds of thousands of dollars were being paid to a company owned by Jory called AC Funding. At that point, Rohal said, PIR had only about $3 million and a few beat-������ up locomotives; he didn’t understand why the company was making the payments.

An independent forensic audit, contracted by Dahlman and Rohal, found that PIR had paid AC Funding close to $1.17 million, much of which was billed as consulting services with no corresponding statement of work and a “�������� questionable” stock transaction.

Having personally signed the checks, Stoecklein—whose law group took home more than $250,000 during that time—said a large portion of the money paid to AC Funding was loan repayments.

“I talked them into putting a million dollars up, early on, just to tee it up until we could get some money in the door,” he said, referring to Jory.

Calling those checks “loan repayments” is a “fiction,” Rohal said. “Why would you be repaying loans in the startup phase?”

With the company nearly����� broke, Dahlman and Rohal brought their concerns to officials at MTS, who promptly sided with Stoecklein and PIR. “I think the real question is, if they have been swindled out of that money, why haven’t they filed a lawsuit?” said MTS spokesperson Rob Schupp. “Why haven’t they brought any claims?”

Rohal said he’d consulted with attorneys and was told that though he’d likely prevail in a lawsuit, it was doubtful PIR would pay up.

If Dahlman and Rohal do decide to file a lawsuit, they won’t be the first.

In 2002, MTS granted Carrizo Gorge Railway (CZRY) the right to operate the rail line, but starting around 2006, the company began facing significant shareholder and creditor disputes. The controversy started shortly after Jory and his business partner Charles McHaffie became heavily involved in CZRY and its efforts on the Desert Line.

While Jory served at various times as both a stockholder and the president of CZRY, McHaffie’s role was more nebulous. Acting as the face of the company at public and private meetings, McHaffie claimed to have routinely gone without formal payment for his work, relying on “loans” from his boss to survive.

In a 2007 court proceeding

Track CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Down with pepper spray How San Diego’s juvenile hall scandal could change state policy

by Dave Maass and Kelly Davis The feds haven’t said yet whether they will investigate the extreme use of pepper spray at local juvenile halls, but basically everyone in the juvenile-justice community—and beyond—thinks they should.

Everyone. San Diego County supervisors. Committee chairs. Outraged talk-show hosts. Frustrated citizens.

Even the probation department—which oversees the county’s five juvenile-detention centers—has said they “welcome the opportunity to participate in any inquiry the Department of Justice decides to conduct.”

Some advocates have suggested that the feds might go further and force the entire state of California to change its policies. The facts are that bad.

Two years ago, CityBeat raised questions over the extreme use of pepper spray at the county������������������ ’����������������� s juvenile detention centers—there were 461 incidents in 2011. That set off a chain of events, including an independent investigation by the Youth Law Center (YLC), a San Francisco non-profit.

On July 25, YLC and a coalition of legal and human-rights groups submitted a complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Based on an analysis of two years of incident reports, the complaint revealed a culture of “spray first, write a report later.” By the probation department�������������������������������������������������� ’������������������������������������������������� s own records, staff used pepper spray for everything from punishing youth for sitting in the wrong spot to forcing suicidal teenagers to submit to strip searches.

Few juvenile institutions in the U.S. use pepper spray— also known as oleoresin capsicum, or OC spray—with most juvenile-justice experts considering it a throwback to a time when punishment and control took precedence over safety and rehabilitation. Right now, only five states and Puerto Rico allow juvenile-detention staff to carry pepper spray.

When CityBeat first reported on the issue in May 2012, the probation department downplayed the problem. However, facing increased scrutiny from oversight boards, youth advocates and a new county supervisor, the department over the last year has incrementally reduced the number of pepper-spray incidents. But advocates complain that probation has not implemented new policies to protect detainees. While the department remains largely silent, here����������������������������� ’���������������������������� s how the slow wheels of reform are turning on the local and state levels.

County

Two years ago, county supervisors Ron Roberts and Di-

anne Jacob were unswayed by Citys investigative reporting. RobBeat’������������������������������� erts thought the “the policy of using pepper spray first seems proper,” while Jacobs called the county’s practices “responsible and reasonable.” Other supervisors resisted weighing in, except to say that it merited further attention.

Following the YLC complaint, both Jacob and Roberts have changed their position. Jacob says she welcomes a DOJ investigation.

And when a constituent, Samantha Ollinger, wrote to Ron Roberts, asking that Chief Probation Office Mack Jenkins be fired, Roberts responded that the incidents outlined in the complaint were indeed “troubling and need to be fully investigated,“ and pledged to personally monitor the situation.

But another county supervisor has been investigating probation all along. After he was elected in 2012, Dave Roberts—himself a father to a number of adopted children—assigned his staff to examine the juvenile halls, focusing specifically on the use of pepper spray in non-fight situations, such as forcing resistant youth to leave their cells.

Dave Roberts noted that the county has made an effort to find other means of de-escalating volatile situations, leading to a reduction in pepper-spray use, but he remains concerned and says he also welcomes a federal investigation. Roberts’ office has yet to see new policies in writing—despite requests—or been granted access to the training officers receive.

The county���������������������������������������� ’��������������������������������������� s Juvenile Justice Commission, a watchdog task force of the San Diego Superior Court, has also expressed concern about pepper spray. They demanded to see changes to policies and procedures to clearly reflect that pepper spray could be used only when there was a threat to physical safety and never “to gain compliance with an order or for punishment in any circumstance.” They further encouraged the department to eliminate the use of pepper spray altogether.

That was in February; the probation department has yet to provide new policies.

State of California

Spurred by reports out of San Diego, the Juvenile Justice Standing Committee, a state advisory board, began to examine the use of pepper spray on the state level (the

David Rolland

Supervisor Dave Roberts says he welcomes an investigation into pepper-spray use at juvenile facilities. committee has limited jurisdiction over local facilities).

They found that state policy offered few guidelines for the use of chemical restraints on juveniles and that no statewide data existed on use in local facilities. While the committee intends to issue recommendations, the next shot at changing state policy won’t come until 2016.

“The allegations in the [YLC] complaint are shocking on their face—that’s me speaking,” the committee’s chair, David Steinhart, said. ����������������������������������� “I think San Diego has a lot of explaining to do about how those incidents are consistent with commonly accepted law and practice. That’s what’s going to play out in terms of a [federal] investigation.”

San Diego children’s advocate Sandra McBrayer sits on that committee and chairs a federal oversight committee that has also been investigating pepper-spray use.

Since the DOJ already had to straighten out Los Angeles County on this very issue, and now there are problems at California’s second largest county, McBrayer predicts the DOJ may shift to a top-down strategy and force statewide change, rather than pursue county-by-county reform.

And Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez is considering introducing legislation in response to revelations in the YLC complaint that the probation department pepper sprayed both female and male offenders who refused to submit to strip searches in front of staff of the opposite sex.

Write to davem@sdcitybeat.com, kellyd@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Track CONTINUED from PAGE 6

gruntled CZRY shareholder seeking to block MTS from granting PIR the operating lease, Karen Landers, general counsel for MTS, submitted a declaration under oath that in part reads: in connection with a yet-to-be-paid judgment of “MTS has met with PIR and its bankers and roughly $1.6 million against him, McHaffie denied confirmed that the project is moving forward having any money. He said he had done some “con- and that PIR appears able to obtain the financing sulting work” for Jory, but added, “I don’t know if I needed. This financing will be secured by assets Joshua Emerson Smith got paid from him.” controlled by PIR and not assoTo pay for necessities, such as ciated with CZRY.” food for his son, McHaffie said, While PIR no longer claims to own ������������������������������ Tembabichi�������������������� , has scant resourcJory loaned him money, often es and faces allegations of fraud, cash. He went on to explain that Stoecklein said he will continue to he lived in a house in Rancho Santry to raise the money needed to reta Fe with a $2,500 a month rent, habilitate the rail line. For example, which, he testified, he wasn’t conhe said, Los Angeles-based firm sistently obligated to pay.

Diamond Capital Advisors has re“Do you believe you owe rent cently shown interest in PIR. this month?” asked the lawyer “The irony is that all this pubquestioning him. licity that it’s been given, I get calls “It hasn’t been a subject of here every day wanting to get inconversation or topic for me,” volved in the railroad now. I never McHaffie responded. got those before. So whatever’s Since 2006, CZRY has been inDonald Stoecklein happened is like the old Donald volved in more than 40 lawsuits and subject to state, county and federal tax liens, as well as Trump line: ‘All press is good press.’”

On a side note, Stoecklein mentioned to Citynumerous judgments. At one point, Gina Seau, wife of the late football player Junior Seau, sued McHaffie Beat that he and the Nevada Group still have plans for about $2.5 million, claiming he suckered her into to move forward with the large-scale development project in Tembabichi—for which, yes, they’re looka scam involving the rail company.

All told, it’s been widely reported that the prin- ing for investors.

“I have a whole development plan, golf course, a ciples involved in CZRY and PIR have been named hotel; you could have all that,” he said. “You could in more than 120 lawsuits.

Still, Jablonski and MTS seemed happy in 2012 to cattle-raise on a portion of it.” hand over the 99-year operating lease to PIR after its Write to joshuas@sdcitybeat.com principle players ran CZRY into the ground.

In response to a 2012 lawsuit brought by a dis- and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

8 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

edwin

sordid tales

decker Making an appointment for my midlife-crisis-oscopy If there’s a signature event in a man’s existence curmudgeon vomit or a gallon of warm strainedthat’s sure to trigger a midlife crisis—more than his sickly-old-curmudgeon vomit? If the taste weren’t first gray hair, more than when he starts hearing the bad enough, there is—to really make this night as punk bands of his youth on the oldies station, more memorable as possible—the persistent, frequent than the first time he sits on the toilet and feels the diarrhea. I tell you, dear reader, you have never bottom of his scrotum sinking into the cold, still pissed out your butt the way you will piss out your water—it’s got to be the colonoscopy. butt after a dose of MoviPrep. I’ve been on massive If you’re 50 or older, the American Cancer Sowhiskey-and-Coke binges in Vegas—eating nothciety advises you to make an appointment to have ing but coffee grounds and string cheese for three a camera shoved up your ass via 5-foot tube so that days—that didn’t liquefy my stool the way one dose a team of physicians can thoroughly examine that of MoviPrep did. Worse still? I had to change my private, secret place where everything you’ve ever underwear five times because there was not enough eaten goes to die. time to get to the bathroom after the first warning However, for all its potential for suckosity, it’s signal, largely because the first warning signal is a the day before the colonoscopy that’s the worst: warm wet feeling in your pants.

You’re permitted to eat only chicken broth, which The colonoscopy: Everyone told me I’d be uncan hardly be defined as “eating” and, thanks to a conscious during the procedure, but I was mostly special concoction called MoviPrep, will spray out awake. It didn’t hurt, mind you; it was just, you of your sphincter no more than three minutes after know, weird. I was lying on my side, facing the monyou consume it. itor while they shoved the tube What’s MoviPrep? you ask. further in. Because they were all “As comfortable as one Well, it ain’t a combo kit of popbehind me and didn’t know I was corn, candy and a comedy DVD awake, I was able to enjoy their can be with a film crew to distract you from your upunabridged commentary about rooting around in coming date with Satan’s anal my most private innards. They plunger. Nay, the “Mov” in Movexcitedly discussed and argued his intestines,” I said. iPrep refers to certain, you know, about what was happening on the movements—and I don’t mean TV, as if my colonoscopy were a the kind you might hear in a Beethoven sonata. football game and it was Super Bowels Sunday.

After I retrieved the MoviPrep from Rite Aid, I I was quite surprised to learn that I have an imrounded up a few other items and got in line. When pressively clean and healthy colon, for which I am it was my turn, I approached Ms. Blabbermouth at ever grateful to the ass gods. Part of my fear of this Register 2, who started ringing up my items. whole procedure was worrying about what they were “What is this?” she asked, picking up the shoegoing to find up in there. I mean, we’re talking about a box-size package. guy whose diet consisted primarily of slaughterhouse “Oh, it’s just something from the pharmacy,” I said. beef, hormonally infused fowl, the mite-infested flesh “It’s covered by insurance, so nothing to ring up.” of corporate farm swine and pretty much everything Now, you would think that my having mentioned else that’s made out of cancer and polyps. Indeed, I “pharmacy” would have been her cue to stop prying, abused my digestive tract so horribly that I was exbut she persisted with her psychological colonospecting my intestines to resemble the caverns of copy—prodding and digging and shoving her 5-foot Mount Doom—dark and foreboding with giant, venproboscis deeper into the bowels of my business. om-drooling spiders lurking at every turn and a hiss“Is it something to do with movies?” she asked, ing Gollum hiding behind sickly brown stalagmites. as the people behind me leaned forward slightly But the doctors all seemed impressed by my innards, and cupped their ears. causing me to beam with pride and superiority What I wanted to do was scream, “It’s a fuck“Cleaner than the colon of a vegan prom queen!” ing ass cleanser, Lady! OK? It makes you piss out I said to no one in particular. of your rectum! Here, try some!” Of course, what I “He’s awake,” one of the assistants said. actually did was whisper, “It’s for cleaning out your “Are you in any pain?” the lead doctor asked. bottom before a colonoscopy.”

“Are you comfortable?”

In her best Well-now-this-isn’t-at-all-an“As comfortable as one can be with a film crew awkard-moment-that-I-will-not-be-blabbing-torooting around in his intestines,” I said. the-girls-in-the-break-room-later voice, she said, It’s not clear if I got a laugh out of that; nor is it even clear if I said it out loud, being in somewhat of “Ah, well, it’s very important to do that, you know.” a dream state. I remember thinking to myself, just Once home, I mixed the various powders into before I fell asleep again, that if you’re going to go a pitcher of water and stuck it in the fridge. You through a midlife crisis, it’s always best to have the have to drink two gallons of MoviPrep in a short colon of a prom queen when you do. Ain’t that right, period of time, so they recommend you chill it my precious? in advance. The only problem is, it tastes like the strained regurgitations of a sickly old curmudgeon Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com on his deathbed. So, what the shite does it matter and editor@sdcitybeat.com. if you drink a gallon of cold strained-sickly-old-

10 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

by michael a. gardiner Michael A. Gardiner

do. The look and feel of the place is energy and energizing, loud and electric.

Every inch of it shouts that this is the place to be.

Ironside’s oysters are wonderful.

Each day brings fresh offerings from Baja’s Kumiai to Washington’s Kumamotos and Fanny Bays from Canada. Beautifully and freshly shucked and served with a simple, elegant mignonette, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them. It’s difficult to imagine our Kumiais being done any better, anywhere, ever. They were minerally, briny and as mysteriously perfect as oysters ever could be.

Did I mention that Ironside features a two-star Michelin chef? Had I not, you probably wouldn’t have known it after eating there. Certainly, the oyster program is wonderful. But how far can an oyster program take you? The fish and chips were, in the end, just fish and chips. They were well-executed—better Wall o’ piranhas than at Princess Pub across the street.

But they were just fish and chips. Similarly, the fried oyster po’ boy was, ultimately, a po’ boy. There’s only so far you can go with a po’ boy.

Perhaps McLeod’s best shot at pushing that envelope was the $19 lobster roll. That’s a lot of money to pay for a lobster roll. It’s a lot of lobster, though, and in very big and perfectly buttery chunks. And Well, it looks ambitious it’s served in a spectacular brioche vertical bun. It was delicious. And it was $19. For a lobster roll.

Little Italy’s Ironside Fish & Oyster was one of That gets at the central problem at Ironside.

San Diego’s most eagerly anticipated restaurant While it’s billed as Consortium Holdings’ “most openings of 2014, bringing together the cool factor ambitious, culinary-focused concept to date,” of owners Consortium Holdings (Noble Experithe reality is that its raw-bar concept leaves little ment, Polite Provisions, Craft & Commerce), the room for culinary ambition. Simple, fresh seacuisine of two-star Michelin Chef Jason McLeod, food, perfectly executed, can be spectacular. But a raw-bar concept and a design by Paul Basile. A it doesn’t exactly make for an “ambitious, culi“can’t miss” project, it made it only half way. nary-focused” menu.

One step in the place (1654 India St., ironsidefish With Ironside, Consortium Holdings did andoyster.com) and the jaw drops; Basile’s design what it does so well: It created a beautiful space is that good. It is Titanic done as steampunk fanwith a great atmosphere and ambitious bar protasy, featuring a lighting fixture cradled in the curl grams (drinks and raw). Unfortunately, the culiof a massive octopus tentacle, a wall of piranhas nary ambition promised both implicitly and exbelow stowed Victorian luggage and an immense plicitly is still left wanting. You can have a great diver’s helmet sitting at the corner of the oyster time and great oysters at Ironside, just not great, ambitious food. bar as if resting momentarily before going back down for more. It is nothing short of spectacular.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com And while you might not be able to eat design, and editor@sdcitybeat.com. you can certainly soak up a vibe. At Ironside, you

the world

fare

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

by ian cheesman

beer &

chees Cutting the cheese

Contrary to what this column’s name implies, I don’t really know much about cheese. I’ve attended enough cocktail parties to ascertain that rind-encapsulated cheeses are better than individually wrapped slices, but the rest is something of a question mark.

I’m surprised that I haven’t explored it much, because artisanal cheese has a lot in common with craft beer. Its enjoyment is usually accompanied by the confident identification of imperceptible flavors. Its descriptions tend to be flowery and heavily reliant on niche terminology (see “goaty” and “piquant”). Most importantly, it lends those who consume it a smug sense of superiority over the poor, ignorant schlubs who still thoughtlessly buy corporate cheese at supermarkets (can you even imagine?!). Fancy cheese and my inner egotist are a match made in Heaven.

All kidding aside, the news that Venissimo, an institution among cheese and charcuterie fanciers in Mission Hills, was opening an outpost within Bottlecraft (3007 University Ave. in North Park, venissimo.com) had me pretty excited. Venissimo isn’t the first retail outlet to combine such offerings, but it has cultivated an outstanding reputation for knowing how to bring them together with its many pairing seminars over the years. If anyone could teach me how to quickly feign expertise on the matching of beer and cheese, it would be Venissimo.

Venissimo is open for business in Bottlecraft, but its full potential is forthcoming. For example, the plan is to offer beer and cheese sampler flights, an idea so fun and novel that it’s necessarily being gated by government approval.

12 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

Those flights will have some set suggestions, but Venissimo president and “Cheese Wiz” Gina Frieze wants consumers to be able to open with either a favorite beer or cheese and experience a flight in either direction. “It’s really all about education and getting people excited and stoked about cheese with beer,” she shared.

Frieze saw fit to begin my education straightaway by thrusting sips of beer and skewered nibbles of cheese toward me. I’m not a fast learner, but I am a fast eater, which is almost as good in this context.

Her pairing of a 4-year-aged gouda and Lost Anita Cheesman Abbey Red Barn illustrated not only the power of contrasting flavor profiles but also the importance of choosing constituents similar in intensity. The potent, almost butterscotchlike notes of the gouda played nicely with the fruity sweetness of the beer, but were handily countered by the bright, tangy finish. 7/10, would nosh again We also explored the opposite edge of the intensity spectrum in pairing Bottlecraft’s third-anniversary German Chocolate Cake Imperial Milk Stout and Délice de Bourgogne Triple-Cream Brie, a tasting as opulent as the incredibly lengthy names suggest. The silken, briny cheese practically frosts the chocolate cake notes, which is awesome considering how foul the standard coconut topping on said cakes looks. In My new best friends fact, calling that brie “creamy” doesn’t do it full service. It might actually inhabit a new state of matter between liquid and solid. I’ve had delicious cheese before, but none with the potential to upend the classical models of brie physics. 10/10, would sell family for more This venture between Venissimo and Bottlecraft collides two craft worlds and elevates them both. You don’t have to be snobby to appreciate that. It’s more fun if you are, though.

Write to ianc@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

by jenny montgomery Jenny montgomery

north

fork Cute and utilitarian

Growing up in San Diego in the early ’80s, we had some good family friends who owned a candy store in Del Mar’s Flower Hill Mall. I could barely wrap my 7-year-old mind around the fact that someone’s job was “candy store owner,” and before I could, the friends sold the store and moved away, and my visits to candy-land became a distant memory—as did any time hanging out at Flower Hill Mall.

I still don’t spend much time there, not being a well-heeled Del Martian, but I’ve been intrigued lately at the shopping center’s attempts to hip itself up a bit. Sea & Smoke, Cucina Enoteca and the very cool ROW Collective of local artisans bring a youthful, cosmopolitan vibe to the whole enterprise.

I hoped Café Cantata (2670 Via De La Valle, mycafecantata.com), a relatively new little breakfast and lunch café that occupies the space formerly held by longtime local stalwart Pannikin, would be a part of the freshening up of Flower Hill. I will say this for Cantata: It’s cute! I even overheard fellow patrons say things like, “This place is so cute!” The wheels of a bicycle mounted to the wall

make up the word “FOOD” in a clever bit of inexpensive yet eye-catching design.

Coffee is clearly where Café Cantata shines and where its passion lies. I loved the deliciously creamy cappuccino, topped with a thick head of glorious foam. The inhouse chocolate-chunk cookie impressed with a nice, chewy texture and ample amounts of bittersweet chunks of the good stuff. It was pretty much a perfect coffeehouse pairing of sweet and caffeinated.

Scrambles, salads and sandwiches make up a large So cute! part of the menu, and with the exception of the cookies and a few scones, most of the baked goods are brought in from outside bakeries. (Say what you will about Pannikin and its explosion of knick-knacks; it does crank out some tasty cakes and sweet nibbles.)

From the Cantata kitchen, I enjoyed the baked French toast. The breakfast was simple and satisfying, bright with orange-zest-infused maple syrup. I decided to splurge and pay an extra $2.25 for “strawberry compote.” The warm, sliced strawberries were fine, but maybe Café Cantata doesn’t know that a compote is more than just a high-falutin’ cooking term? It seemed a bit disingenuous to charge extra for nothing more than sliced berries.

The turkey panini was just OK, with gooey mozzarella cheese and a crispy, buttery sourdough, but the slab of pressed lunchmeat that didn’t bear much resemblance to any part of a turkey proved that the food at Café Cantata is mostly about being utilitarian.

Avoid the scrambles: The eggs are beaten to within an inch of their lives. You can hardly identify the “egg” part of the scramble, which feels depressing to me.

With Flower Hill’s artsy renaissance, I’d hoped for more than average coffeehouse fare at Café Cantata. As a culinary destination, it falls short. As a place to plug in and linger over a cup of coffee, that’s where Café Cantata hits the sweet spot.

Write to jennym@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

urban

by Nina Sachdev Hoffmann

scout Where can I find…

Tasty, locally made snacks These days, there�������������������� ’������������������� s a diet for every ����� kind ��� of ����� life� style: paleo for crossfitters, Weight Watchers for the calorie-conscious, Atkins for the carb hat� ers. There’s also locavorism (or localism), whose only real “rule” is that you should consume your food within 100 to 150 miles of your house. Hav� ing been at this column for nearly a year now, I’m always advocating for buying goods and services from the people who live and work in your com� munity. Food is no different.

That said, I’m not here to tell you about our wonderful local farms and the organic strawber� ries and avocados and raw goat cheese that come from them. I’m here to tell you about the food that really matters—the stuff we serve at our backyard barbecues or grab handfuls of when we’re sitting on our asses watching TV: snacks.

So, what�������������������������������������� ’������������������������������������� s a would-be local snackalore (snack� alist? snackalocavore?) to do? I set off to Whole Foods in Hillcrest, knowing that’d be my best chance of finding a lot of local brands in one place.

I skipped my usual routine and walked slowly through every aisle, and I was genuinely surprised by the breadth of local products on the shelves. I mean, did you know that along that massive wall of protein bars—many of which are notorious for being chalky, dense and gross—is a company out of Irvine (Rise Bar) that’s making the complete opposite of all that? I sure as hell didn’t.

It’s time to sit back, relax and possibly bust out your fat jeans—here are four snacks, all for less than $7, that you need to try right now. (I do not recom� mend eating these at the same time, unless you are pregnant. In which case, definitely do that.)

Salty Sisters toffee My head exploded when I tried this deliciously creamy and spicy dip / hummus / spread / thing, made with fresh raw garlic and, like, only three other ingredients (all healthful). It’s so versatile that you could shmear it on a bagel in the morn� ing and then let some chicken kebabs roll around in it later that night. It is, without a doubt, the best dip / hummus / spread / thing I’ve ever had.

It’s in the unassuming refrigerated salsa section of the chip aisle, which I’ve passed by many times and never bothered to stop. Until now.

Distance: 60 miles away in Murrieta.

Is your mouth watering yet? Go to majestic garlic.com.

The brand: Sea Salt Candy Co. The snack: Claim to Fame toffee, the company’s original and highly secret recipe, involves some magical mixture of sea salt, Chico almonds, dark chocolate and walnuts. And crack. I know there’s crack in there. Also: You’re welcome, gluten-free followers. I dare you to find a sweet treat better than this.

Distance: 38 miles away in Vista.

Is your mouth watering yet? Go to seasalt candy.com.

The brand: Uncle Eddie’s Vegan Cookies The snacks: Molasses and Chocolate Chip Wal� nut. Uncle Eddie is a badass, and I wish he were my uncle. Chewy Chips Ahoy was my only expe� rience with store-bought soft-baked cookies— until I opened up these two bags and couldn’t be bothered to close them.

These have serious mouthfeel go� The brand: Tacupeto Chips & Salsa ing on; the taste of brown sugar The snack: Tortilla chips. The is unmistakable. You can also bag reads, “Crispy not crunchy.” taste the freshness, and, unlike I’m not sure what that means (if Chips Ahoy, every ingredient in anyone knows, hit me up). One here is recognizable. Don’t even of my volunteer taste-testers try to pull the “I don’t eat vegan vigorously nodded her head in cookies, bra” excuse. Are you really approval and said, “This is the kind going to make a stink about the ab� of shit you get at a Mexican restau� sence of eggs and dairy in a baked Uncle Eddie’s cookies rant.” Highest compliment ever? good this good?

Boom.

Distance: 128 miles away in Glendale.

Distance: 34 miles away in Carlsbad.

Is your mouth watering yet? Go to uncleeddies Is your mouth watering yet? Go to tacupeto vegancookies.com. chipsandsalsa.com.

The brand: Majestic Garlic The snack: Sundried Tomato & Jalapeño Spread.

14 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

Write to ninah@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

the

SHORTlist

ART

COORDINATED BY KINSEE MORLAN

SCOTTSOUNDS.COM

1

TURN IT UP!

A public library seems an unlikely place for an experimental-music festival, but San Diego’s new central library (330 Park Blvd. in East Village) isn’t your normal library. The architecturally stunning building’s hosted dance performances and art exhibitions, and from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16—it’s where you’ll find Checked Out, a free experimental-music festival curated by Sam Lopez, whose eclectic monthly series Stay Strange has made San Diego an aurally more interesting place.

Performances will be in the library’s auditorium and courtyard.

Lopez, who says he handpicked the artists for the setting, has envisioned holding an event like this at the new library for quite awhile; he credits the folks

2

TOO SHORT

If we do say so ourselves, last year’s inaugural CityBeat 5-Minute Film Festival was a humongous success. So, why wouldn’t we do it again? The second annual fest will happen from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at Sunset Temple (3911 Kansas St. in North Park). This time, we received more than 120 films that are no longer than five minutes, and our judges picked 25 of them to screen. Festival attendees will vote for their favorite movie; the winner will leave with a brand-new video camera, and their film will air on San Diego 6 a week later. Beer and soda will be for sale, and folks can also buy food from Claire de Lune Coffee Lounge next door. Tickets cost $15 pre-sale, available at sdcitybeat.com.

in charge of library programming for being open-minded.

“It takes a lot for the library to say, ‘Hey, let’s try something like this,’” he says.

Things kick off at noon with a 30-minute performance by Faro, whom Lopez describes as “e������ xperimental bass and transcendental voice.” Half-hour performances by six more acts follow. Two that Lopez is particularly excited about are Genetic Windsongs (2:30 p.m.), aka Joe Galarza, whose music, Lopez says, is “indigenous, ritualistic, primitive-meets-noise,” and ��� MoScott Paulson nochromancy (3 p.m.). “Ominous, creepy and foreboding, but on the other hand filled with light and revelatory—the sort of music that puts you into a certain kind of a trance,” is how Lopez describes the latter.

In the library courtyard, there’ll be a noisemaking workshop hosted by Scott Nielson (“musical genius,” Lopez says) from 2 to 4 p.m. when anyone 8 years old and older can build a noise box and test it through an amp. And artist Jason Rogalski will unveil a piece he’s calling “Photosynthesis Fiesta.” Part installation, part workshop, it’ll feature two tents that encourage participants to view plant life in new ways.

What if experimental music ain’t your thing? Lopez encourages folks to give it a try.

“Listen with an open mind. Be curious,” he says.

“The curiosity factor alone draws [people] in.” stay strange.com

3

SUBCULTURE WORTH EXPLORING

The word “tiki” no longer refers to just a wooden carving. Tiki is a fascinating subculture that includes its own type of cocktails (rum!), unique art (Shag!), style of dress (Hawaiian and animal prints!) and more. The annual Tiki Oasis event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (2270 Hotel Circle N. in Mission Valley), happening from Thursday, Aug. 14, through Sunday, Aug. 17, typically sells out, but right now, there are tickets left for most of the events, plus there are several events that are free and open to the public, including the Tiki Art Show, Car Show and Tiki Marketplace. This year’s symposiums (which can be acThe Tiki Marketplace cessed without a festival pass) are intriguing and include lectures on tiki history, an Ernest Hemingway-inspired cocktail class, surf-guitar lessons and more. Ticket prices Martín Tellez by filmmaker Juan Pérez vary. tikioasis.com

HCreative Nights at Lux Art Institute, 1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas. Bring the kids and celebrate the end of summer with music in the garden from School of Rock, art in the studios and the Cardiff Seaside Market serving up tri-tip. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. $5$20. 760-436-6611, luxartinstitute.org Shore Thing at MCASD La Jolla, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla. The MCASD galleries will be open late every Thursday so guests can take in the exhibitions, enjoy cocktails on the terrace, live music and more. From 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. mcasd.org HArtExpoSD: Think Tank Live at Wonderbread Factory, 121 14th St., East Village. Artists Larry and Debby Kline will discuss their “Think Tank” installation that invited veterans to share their war stories, plus see the rest of the art in the pop-up show. From 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. 619-743-0405 HArt After Dark: Kill The Kool at Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside. Check out the artwork, photography of skateboard legends like Jason Adams, Dave Hackett, Lance Cyril Mountain and more. There’ll also be music from The Skatanic Rednecks, a performance-art piece and complimentary light appetizers, beer and wine. From 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. $20. oma-online.org Evgeny Yorobe at Queen Bee’s, 3925 Ohio St., North Park. The fine-art landscape photographer presents a one-man gallery show with 15 percent of sales donated to the local Red Cross. There’ll be a hosted wine bar, appetizers and music. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. 619295-1948. sandiego-landscapes.com Gypsy Bride at Carlsbad City Library, 1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad. This exhibition

by Raziah Roushan asks the viewer to reexamine the heart of matrimony through a series of oil paintings that juxtapose iconic symbols of domestication with lanky bride-inspired figures. On view through Sept. 26. Opens Friday, Aug. 15. 760434-2870, raziahroushan.com HATTN: To Detail at TPG2, 1475 University Ave., Hillcrest. Highly intricate works from over a dozen artists including Buffalo One, Chris Spencer, Lauren Siry and more.

Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15.

858-354-6294, thumbprintgallerysd.com HLook Closely at Disclosed unLocation, 1925 30th Ave., South Park. Artists Susan Takano, Abel Guzman, Nichole Speciale and guests will be showing art demonstrating provocative uses of color, line, space, and materials. Opening from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 15. unlocation.com HGeek Chic at Chicano Art Gallery, 2117 Logan Ave. #1, Logan Heights. Local artist GMONIK shows off work inspired by pop culture. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 16. 619-792-2815 Breaking Through at Mission Brewery, 1441 L St., East Village. A one-day, popup art show to raise money for San Diego Youth Services. The event will include live music, a raffle and food trucks. From 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. Suggested donation. breakingthroughsd.com HArtWalk San Diego @ NTC at Liberty Station, 2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. Featuring over 175 local and national artists, a dozen live musicians and a variety of food and family-friendly activities. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16 and Sunday, Aug. 17.

619-615-1090, artwalksandiego.org/ntc Through a Glass, Darkly at Space 4 Art, 325 15th St., East Village. New works from Shana Demassi, Ana Teresa Fernandez and

Erika Ostrander. Using materials like tar, hair and glass, their works deal with sense and immediacy through performance, sculpture and projection. From 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. sdspace4art.org HJungle Fever at La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. A collection of paintings and installations by L.A.-based artist David Smith, whose work is a series of painted animal portraits on wood. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. 619-255-7036 Thumbnails at TPG2, 1475 University Ave., Hillcrest. Over a dozen artists, photographers and sculptors handpicked by Thumbprint Gallery interns. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. Thumb printGallerySD.com HObsidian Arrow at HB Punto Experimental, 2151 Logan Ave. Section B, Barrio Logan. Surreal, yarn-based visuals and performance art from Zac Monday. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. hbpuntoexperimental.com Stamped: China Proclaims its Changing of the Guard at San Diego Chinese Historical Museum, 404 Third Ave., Downtown. An intriguing look at the economic turmoil surrounding the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1948 and 1949 through a never-before-seen collection of stamps, currency and documents. Opening from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. $4. sdchm.org ScrapHound Studio at Nadine Baurin Fine Art, 996 N. Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas.

ScrapHound takes over the art gallery and fills it with their upcycled salvaged steel creations, which include furniture, critters, wall sculptures and lighting. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. 760-6839499, scraphoundstudio.wordpress.com Unfettered Imagination at Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor’s Center, One Father Junipero Serra Trail, Mission Hills.

An exhibition featuring artist Marc Kitaen, whose work emphasizes sacredness with nature, as well as the mysteries of science. Opening from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. 619-668-3281, mtrp.org HAll New Cheap Moves at Basic, 410 10th Ave., Downtown. Dozens of local artists pay tribute to everyone’s favorite actor: Bill Murray. Artists include Annie Hardy, David Goff, Robert Piper and more. From 7 p.m. to midnight Tuesday, Aug. 19. 619531-8869, ThumbprintGallerySD.com

BOOKS James Goldsborough at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla.

The author and former foreign affairs journalist will discuss and sign his new novel, The Paris Herald, a thriller set around the famous newspaper in the 1960s. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13. 858-4540347, warwicks.indiebound.com HSandra Urias at Ducky Waddle’s Emporium, 414 N. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas.

The local author celebrates the release of her new sci-fi novel, I Choose Mars, about 12 pioneers leaving Earth to live, breed and farm in the newly completed Mars biodome. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13. 760-632-0488, ichoosemars.com HSarah Tauber at Upstart Crow, 835 West Harbor Drive, Seaport Village. The local author will discuss and sign For Dear Life, about a young American couple embarking on a two-year adventure in Tehran. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. 619232-4855, upstartcrowtrading.com HCharles Sevilla at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The local lawyer will sign and discuss his new

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

KEN JACQUES

THEATER

Les Miz gets rousing treatment at Lamb’s Spectacle that it is and audacious in its wringing of emotions, Les Miserables is not a Broadway show you’d ever call intimate.

Whether it’s the battle of wills between Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert or the tensions and violence of the Paris Uprising, Les Miz is theater on an epic scale. So, what a wondrous treat to experience the current production at Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado.

Directed by Robert Smyth with musical direction by G. Scott Lacy, Lamb’s’ production of Claude-Michel Shonberg and Alain Boublil’s nearly 30-year-old theatrical warhorse manages to personalize the characters and the conflicts without sacrificing any of the show’s stature. The fact that it’s unfolding in a 350-seat theater in which for some the actors are practically within reach accounts for some of the intimacy. But Smyth, along with scenic designer Mike Buckley, lighting designer Nathan Peirson and sound designer Patrick Duffy, has conceived a Les Miserables that immerses audience members in the story rather than reducing them to observers from afar, as can be the case at the cavernous Pantages in Hollywood or even the Civic Theatre in downtown San Diego.

The barricades backdrop on stage—barrels, boxes, overturned chairs—looks like Grandma’s attic gone wild, but it works so

well here as a discreet seating area for the top-notch orchestra and, in some sequences, for the actors’ movements.

None moves, or performs, any better than Brandon Joel Maier, whose redemptionseeking Jean Valjean has to be the highlight so far of this talented actor’s blossoming career. The dependable Randall Dodge is a worthy adversary as Javert, and Neil Dale and Deborah Gilmour Smyth sparkle wickedly as the innkeepers Thenardier.

You know the story. You remember many of Les Miz’s numbers: the rhythmic “Look Down,” the mischievous “Master of the House,” the Act 1-closing “One Day More” and Valjean’s “Bring Him Home,” which Maier sings with heart-rending plaintiveness. And in the Lamb’s space, the song of salvation, “Take My Hand,” could not be more tender.

Lamb’s’ ambitious production pumps rich, reinvigorating life into a show that, even deservedly so, has been done to death.

It might even make you a Francophile.

Les Miserables runs through Sept. 28 at Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado. $38$78. lambsplayers.org

Brandon Joel Maier (left) and Randall Dodge

OPENING 4,000 Miles: A staged reading of a play about a troubled young man who shows up at his 91-year-old grandmother’s house after traveling across the country.

It happens on Aug. 18 in the Schulman Auditorium at the Carlsbad City Library. carlsbadplayreaders.org Dearly Beloved: Three Texas sisters plan a wedding.

Will it be Antebellum-themed? Will it be a big ol’ barbecue? Will it go off at all? Opens Aug. 15 at Coronado Playhouse. coronadoplayhouse.com My Fair Lady: On a bet, a professor endeavors to transform an unrefined girl into a lady, and it later occurs to him that he’s smitten with her. Presented by Moonlight Stage Productions, it opens Aug. 13 at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. moonlightstage.com Words by Ira Gershwin: A musical tribute to George’s older brother, who penned the lyrics to numerous classic tunes from the 1920s through the 1950s. Runs Aug. 14 through 24 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. northcoastrep.org

—David L. Coddon Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

book, Law and Disorder: Absurdly Funny Moments from the Courts, a collection of comical stories pulled from court transcripts. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14.

858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com Stephen Blackmoore at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The supernatural noir author stops by to discuss and sign Broken Souls, about L.A. necromancer Eric Carter and the sequel to Dead Things. At 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. mystgalaxy.com HJennifer Coburn at Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium, 1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad.

The bestselling San Diego author will discuss We’ll Always Have Paris, a memoir of her and her daughter’s travels through the City of Lights. At 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. adventuresbythebook.com THJim Ruland at The Ink Spot @ Liberty Station, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, #202, Point Loma. The CityBeat “Floating Library” columnist will read from and discuss his new novel, Forest of Fortune, which the L.A. Times describes as a “masterpiece of desperation, delusion and misdeed” set in an Indian Casino. At 6 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 17. sandiegowriters.org HSusan Verde at Warwick‘s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The writer will be promoting her debut, The Museum, a celebration of the emotional reactions that children have to art with illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds. At 11 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19.

858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com

COMEDY Brian Posehn at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Posehn is a regular on The Sarah Silverman Program and has appeared on Mr. Show, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends. At 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, and 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 15-

16 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

For full listings,

please visit “T heater ” at sdcit ybeat.com

16. $18. americancomedyco.com HKevin Johnson at Mad House Comedy Club, 502 Horton Plaza, Downtown. Johnson, along with his trusted bird dummies, Clyde and Matilda, performs. At 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 1516. $20-$30. madhousecomedyclub.com Bret Ernst at Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St., La Jolla. His comedy album American Comic broke the top 10 on iTunes the first week of its release in 2012. At 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 15-16. $20. lajolla.thecomedystore.com HJen Kober at Legends Comedy Club, 9200 Inwood Dr������������������������� ive, Santee. The new comedy club opens with an appearance from Kober, who’s been seen on The Mindy Project, Anger Management and more. At 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 1516. $15-$20. legendscomedyclub.com Sara Schaefer at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. She hosted MTV’s late night show Nikki & Sara Live and has appeared on Best Week Ever and Inside Amy Schumer. At 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. $12. americancomedyco.com HJesus Trejo at Mad House Comedy Club, 502 Horton Plaza, Downtown. The comic and actor is probably best known for the movie Refried Comedy and his appearances on the TV show, Sullivan & Son. At 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. $15. 619-7026666, madhousecomedyclub.com Dead Kevin at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. The comedy trio of Ahmed Bharoocha, Ryan O’Flanagan and Jack Robichaud have been featured on Funny or Die. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20. $12. americancomedyco.com

DANCE City Ballet Ballet Showcase 2014 at Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, Downtown.

A full-length performance by pre-professionals from City Ballet’s Summer Intensive program. At 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. 858-272-8663, cityballet.org

FASHION Stella & Jamie Trunk Show at Seka Boutique, 2021 San Elijo Ave., Cardiff-by-theSea. Seka’s grand opening kicks off with music, cocktails and appetizers along with the latest frocks from Stella & Jamie. From 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. 760-6331680, facebook.com/sekaboutique B. Mookie Jewelry Trunk Show at Jill Courtemanche Millinery, 410 South Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Local jewelry designer Molly Beard of b.mookie shows off her handcrafted pieces inspired by California as well as her vast world travels. From 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17.

858-876-6353, jillcourtemanche.com

Westgate’s pool terrace as part of their Sunset Poolside Jazz Series. At 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 14. westgatehotel.com El Cajon German Band at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park. The polka, waltz and ompah band perform as part of Balboa Park’s Twilight in the Park Summer Concerts series. From 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14 balboapark.org HSummergrass at Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum, 2030 N. Santa Fe Ave., Vista. If you like bluegrass, folk and everything in between, the annual event is your kind of music festival. Take in dozens of bands along with games, workshops and camping. From 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. $16-$61. 760-941-1791, summergrass.org HCirque de la Symphonie at Embar-

cadero Marina Park South, 111 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. Aerialists, strongmen and acrobats perform breathtaking acts accompanied by classical music performed by the San Diego Symphony. At 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 15-16. $22-$79. sandiegosymphony.org Gregory Page at Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Highway, Little Italy. Page performs as part of San Diego County Library’s acoustic Lunchtime Concert Series. From noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. 858-694-3030, sdcls.homestead.com Music of Our Time at Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St, La Jolla. The La Jolla Music Society perform a selection of contemporary classical favorites from Howard Shore, Lavista, Julian Anderson and more as part of the annual Summerfest series. At 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. $45-$65. 858-454-3541, ljms.org

HChecked Out at New Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. An experimental music festival curated by Stay Strange featuring six musical acts, an interactive art exhibit and a noise-making workshop. Artists include Faro, Genetic Windsongs and Bobby Bray. From noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. staystrange.com The Great Classics at Sherwood Auditorium, 700 Prospect St, La Jolla. The La Jolla Music Society perform a selection of masterpieces from Mozart, Brahms and Schubert as part of the annual Summerfest series. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. $45-$65. 858-454-3541, ljms.org HBurt Bacharach at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 111 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. One of the most accomplished composers of all time and his trio of singers will perform hits including „I Say a Little Prayer,“ „The Look of Love,“

“Walk on By“ and more. At 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 17. $22-$75. 619-2350804, sandiegosymphony.org HAnishka and Maria at Sunset Temple, 3911 Kansas St., North Park. An eclectic collection of art songs and arias by Brahms, Ricky Ian Gordon, Mussorgsky, Cuban masters and more. Translations of all songs provided as they perform, as well as the historical and cultural context of the music. At 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. $15-$20. 619-795-3630 HNathan James at Lemon Grove Library, 8073 Broadway, Lemon Grove. The one-man band, playing guitar, stomping a suitcase drum set and blowing harmonica all at the same time, will play as part of the Friends of the Library Music Series. At

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

FOOD & DRINK HWomen in Brewing Beer Tasting at San Diego Museum of Man, Balboa Park.

Enjoy beer tastings from Green Flash, Stone and more while sampling food from women-run businesses or chatting with members of the Pink Boots Society, women who work in various areas of the beer industry. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. $20-$30. museumofman.org Coronado Craft Beer Tasting Party at Coronado Island Marriott Resort & Spa, 2000 Second St., Coronado. Featuring specialty brews from Coronado Brewing, Ballast Point, Green Flash, Karl Strauss, Stone Brewery, Deschutes and more with food pairings for each beer and desserts.

From 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. $50.

800-228-9290, coronadocraftbeerfest.com Endless Summer Suds and Sausage at Academy of Our Lady of Peace, 4860 Oregon St., Normal Heights. Features local craft brews and tasty sausages, hot dogs and the Ms. Patty Melt food truck.

There’ll also be live music throughout the event. From 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. $35. 619-297-2266, aolp.org HFood Truck Fridays at SILO in Makers Quarter, 753 15th St., East Village. San Diego’s favorite food trucks every Friday throughout summer. There’ll also be fashion vendors, live music, craft beer and cocktails to benefit a different local charity each week. From 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15. makersquarter.com HStone 18th Anniversary Celebration and Invitational Beer Festival at Cal State San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos. Nearly 200 beers from 80-plus breweries, Stone brews on cask, free home-brewed sodas and samples of Mike’s Beer Cheese. All proceeds go to local charities. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. $45-$80. 760750-4000, stonebrewing.com/anniv Gourmet Food Truck Festival at Del Mar Racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. Enjoy some of the best eats in Southern California as 50 food trucks are expected. See website for full list of participating trucks. From noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. $6. dmtc.com Taste of MainStreet at Downtown Encinitas, South Coast Hwy 101 and Encinitas Blvd. Over 33 Encinitas restaurants will be handing out samples of their fare.

Take a stroll to catch some live music or sip wine and craft beer at select locations.

From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19. $25-$35. encinitas101.com

MUSIC The Afrojazziacs at Westgate Hotel, 1055 Second Ave., Downtown. The AfroLatin-jazz-punk-funk band plays on the

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19. sdcls.homestead.com/nathanjames.html Rockin’ Jazz Band at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park. The traditional big-band jazz group performs as part of Balboa Park’s Twilight in the Park Summer Concerts series.

From 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19. balboapark.org HMarc Broussard and Tyrone Wells at Birch Aquarium, 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla.

Part of the Green Flash Concerts Series, enjoy food and drinks and sunset views from the aquarium’s Tide Pool Plaza while listening to southern rocker Broussard and singersongwriter Wells. From 5:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20. $28-$36. aquarium.ucsd.edu

Hall, Point Loma Nazarene, Point Loma. Opera Neo‘s performance of one of Mozart‘s more famous operas about Prince Tamino and his sidekick Papageno on a quest to rescue a kidnapped princess. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. $12$28. operaneo.com HTechnomania Circus: Sex, Booze & Tattoos Two at Victory Theater, 2558 Imperial St., Logan Heights. A bnew art and circus variety show embracing taboo human experiences.

There’ll be an art show, circus performances, music, a live drunken painting contest, kink demonstrations, food and, of course, booze. At 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 16. $13-$15. technomaniacircus.com

Brian Canio’s version of Bill Murray will be HChazz Palminteri: A Bronx The Assad Brothers at Sheron view in All New Cheap Movies: A Bill Murray Tale at Balboa Theatre, 868 wood Auditorium, 700 Prospect Fourth Ave., Downtown. The acArt Show, opening from 7 p.m. to midnight St, La Jolla. The La Jolla Music tor returns to the one man show Tuesday, Aug. 19, at Basic Urban Kitchen + Bar Society welcomes the Brazilhe debuted in 1989 about a killing (410 Tenth Ave. in East Village). ian guitar virtuosos performing he saw in the Bronx when he was a program featuring music from 9. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. composers such as Copeland, $40-$77.50. sandiegotheatres.org Aug. 14. $5. expressiveartsinstitute.org Fallam, Piazzolla and more. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20. $50-$75. 858HAgrippina at Crill Performance Hall, 454-3541, ljms.org Point Loma Nazarene, Point Loma. Opera Neo’s presentation of Handel’s historic “soap opera” about the ambitious wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius Trail For Humanity at Chicano Park, who, through deliciously evil schemes Hthis at Expressive Arts Institute, 2820 Barrio Logan. The final leg of a 350-plus and often darkly comic intrigue, places Roosevelt Road, Ste. 204, Point Loma. mile march from the Bay Area to the Mexher volatile teenage son, Nero, on the The fourth performance in a series of live ico Border will begin with a ceremony at throne.

At 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 14, shows with Liam Clancy and others, who, Chicano Park at 8 a.m. and conclude with and Saturday, Aug. 16. $12-$28.

619through improv and performance, attempt a gathering at the San Ysidro Port of Entry 849-2325, operaneo.com to examine the paradigm of audience as to raise awareness for immigrant rights. co-creative. From 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, The Magic Flute at Crill Performance From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug.

PERFORMANCE

18 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

POLITICS & COMMUNITY

16. trailforhumanity.org Meet the Candidate: Chris Cate at San Diego Foundation, 2508 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma. Join Open San Diego for a casual conversation and get to know District 6 City Council candidate Chris Cate. From 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20. 843-267-0316. opensandiego.org

SPECIAL EVENTS HTiki Oasis 14 at Crowne Plaza Hotel, 2270 Hotel Circle North, Mission Valley.

Four days of tiki-themed events, including music, burlesque, art, car show, food, symposiums, a marketplace and more.

Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 1417. Some events are free, others require a ticket or pass. See website. tikioasis.com HMOPA Remix Nights at Museum of

Photographic Arts, Balboa Park. A special performance from the classical music outfit Quartet Nouveau. From 5 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 14. $6-$8. mopa.org HGreat Horror Campout at Bates Nuts Farm, 15954 Woods Valley Road, Valley Center. A camping trip for horror enthusiasts. Participants can choose from the “Chicken Zone” to the interactive “Hell Hunt.�������������������������������� ” Accommodations includes a continental breakfast, parking, movies and more From 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday Aug. 15-16. $99-$139. 760749-3333, greathorrorcampout.com HTwainFest at Old Town Historic Park, 2454 Heritage Park Row, Old Town. Sure, it’s a celebration of one of America’s greatest writers and satirists, but it’s also a 19th century-style street fair with vintage games, performances and activities.

From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. 619-491-0099, writeoutloudsd.com HCrafted at Westfield Mission Valley, 1640 Camino Del Rio N. More than 20 local artisans will be selling their work.

There’ll be food trucks, live music, food and drink samples, a dog photo booth and “leash bedazzling” station, live mural painting, kids’ crafts and more. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16.

HVintage Trailer Rally and Trunk Show at Normal Heights Masonic Temple, 3362 Adams Ave., Normal Heights.

Vintage Airstreams and travel trailers, local mobile businesses and food trucks.

Shop fashion, home accessories and arts and crafts. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. juliusandcompany.com HChula Vista HarborFest at Bayside Park, Plover Way, Chula Vista. The an-

nual celebration will feature seafood, four stages of music, a craft beer garden and the chance to view some of San Diego’s historic vessels, unique boats and exotic automobiles. From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. cvharborfest.com

the Globe at LGBT Community Center, 3909 Centre St., Hillcrest. Stuart Milk will give an update on some of the work he and the Harvey Milk Foundation are doing to advance LGBT equality. At 6 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 14. thecentersd.org

HLuau and Legends of Surfing Invitational at Scripps Pier, 8648 Kennel Way, La Jolla. The event kicks off with a surfing tournament followed by a luau with a tropical buffet. All proceeds benefit UCSD’s Moores Cancer Center. From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17. Free-$175. luauandlegendsofsurfing.org

Sharks on the Line at Birch Aquarium, 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla. Meet local researcher Dovi Kacev to hear more about the value of shark research to inform and shaping fisheries policy. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16. $12-$17. 858-534-FISH, scrippsblogs. ucsd.edu/onboard

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August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

ltol in Li nd se y Vo

What more would we

e

gain?

The second in a two-part series about how the county does and doesn’t support arts organizations

by Kinsee Morlan

I

t’s been more than 20 years since the demise of the San Diego County Arts Advisory Council, an organization that promoted the arts countywide.

Leah Goodwin, the council’s last director, noted that the panel didn’t have influence over the county Board of Supervisors’ use of discretionary funds. Instead, it managed its own modest grant program, the Voluntary Fund for the Arts, which was paid for by donations solicited by a brochure inserted into residents’ property-tax bills.

“The money didn’t amount to much,” Goodwin says. “But we were able to support public-art projects in the county; we had a program that helped cultural organizations diversify their boards, sent out newsletters about all the arts-and-cultural events going on in the county.... We did a lot with what little funds we had.”

The Voluntary Fund pulled in about $30,000 annually, which the Arts Advisory Council distributed to projects proposed by a pairing of an artist and an arts nonprofit.

“We were one of very few organizations that funded individual artists,” Goodwin said. “We found that if you give an artist just a few thousand dollars, they can come up with just really beautiful, amazing things.”

When Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Pam Slater-Price were elected to the board in 1993, they successfully pushed for the elimination of dozens of county programs that weren’t state-mandated. The Arts Advisory Council lost funding but was allowed to apply for the county’s Community Enhancement Program (CEP) funds, competing against hundreds of area nonprofits, including the very arts-and-culture organizations the advisory council served. The supervisors granted the council $150,000 the first year, but the following year—after Goodwin pushed for control of a portion of CEP money—the supervisors opted against funding the council, effectively killing it.

Last week, CityBeat looked at the two main county funding sources for arts-andculture organizations, the CEP and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Program. We talked to advocates who say that while plen-

ty of organizations benefit from the current system, it’s time for the county to look for a new, more transparent, professional and equitable option for funding the arts.

The most obvious solution is resurrecting a county arts council, yet it’s unclear what role it would play. California’s county arts councils follow varied models.

While most large urban counties like San Diego have arts councils that are official government departments, others have independent nonprofits. Some run county art galleries and amphitheaters while others work with school districts to offer arts education and/or run robust audience-development or public-art programs. Almost all county arts councils operate shared calendars that connect residents to arts happenings.

About half of the 50 county arts councils in the state operate as granting agencies that fund arts-and-culture nonprofits. The others are mainly advocacy and assistance organizations. The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, for example, doles out more than $4 million in annual grants. Orange County, meanwhile, doesn’t offer any annual arts grants, yet does have an active arts council that’s working to restore county funding and otherwise support the arts countywide.

The city of San Diego follows a much more common approach. The city’s Commission for Arts and Culture has two programs, both funded by hotel-tax revenues.

Victoria Hamilton, executive director of the commission from its inception in 1988 through 2012, said one important role of an arts council is developing professional criteria for evaluating grant applications specifically for arts groups and ensuring that the distribution is transparent and fair.

“Through my work over the years for public art agencies, I have certainly seen the benefit,” Hamilton says. “For example, when I first moved to San Diego in 1988, I found that the leaders of the arts organizations didn’t know each other and didn’t work together. Part of the criteria in the city’s grant application was asking a question about collaboration and partnerships, so I think that helped influence and strengthen that aspect

20 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

of the city’s arts community. I think there is a nurturing role an arts agency can play.”

Hamilton says the idea for starting a new county arts council has been tossed around for years, but the signals from the supervisors have been clear.

“They’re satisfied with the process as it is,” she says.

Recently, April Game, executive director of Art Pulse, has been the most active artscouncil advocate—even setting up county forums to discuss the idea back in 2011. Yet she recently told CityBeat that Art Pulse was winding down operations and she’d no longer be active in the arts community.

“If the conversation has advanced that some cultural infrastructure at the county level would be good, then great,” Game said in an earlier interview. “But San Diego is on its own now.”

Craig Watson, executive director of the California Arts Council (CAC), says it’s too bad San Diego isn’t actively advocating for a county arts council, because now is a better time than ever. He says the county’s already missed out on state funding since its arts council closed. And while the CAC currently provides just $12,000 annually through its State-Local Partnership Program to county-recognized arts agencies, Watson says the program will likely be a “significant recipient” of extra funds stemming from CAC’s enhanced budget, recently increased from $5 million to $10 million.

“As to how much, it has not been decided,” Watson says. That decision could be made at an Aug. 28 meeting. “It will be more than $12,000.”

Felicia Shaw heads up the arts-and-culture arm at the San Diego Foundation and

recently served on a panel of arts leaders for the “Thrive” component of Live Well San Diego, a county initiative to improve health, safety and wellbeing. She says the panel put together a list of recommendations for the Board of Supervisors. High on that list was making arts and culture a priority.

The county will likely do something tangible with the panel’s recommendations, but Shaw says she’s not convinced an arts council is the best solution.

“I do think the community is ready to participate in the full spectrum of decision-making for the best use of public funds, though,” she says. “And I would hope the leadership is ready to engage everyone…. But whether we actually need an arts council with all of its administrative underpinnings and costs, I really can’t say.

I think we can all come up with a more innovative way to distribute funds.”

District 3’s Dave Roberts has been the supervisor most receptive to the idea of an arts council, or at least to improving the process for distributing discretionary funds, yet even he wonders if another layer of bureaucracy is the answer.

“What more would we gain with an arts council?” Roberts asks. “I am looking at the option very closely; it’s something I’m very passionate about…. But I don’t want to just quickly jump at something.”

District 4 Supervisor Ron Roberts says he and the rest of the supervisors aren’t as open to the idea.

“It’s just not going to happen while this board’s in place,” he says.

Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

Seen Local

Kinsee Morlan

Meet our cover artist Gregory Bada was born a few centuries too late.

On the outside, he looks like a straightforward, contemporary Californian—tattooed arms, sunglasses and all. But his artwork—mostly intaglio prints that look like they were crafted in the 19th century—tells a different story.

“I always loved etching—the antiquated, atmospheric effect you get from it,” he says, standing inside Bay Park Press where the young artist shares studio space and printmaking equipment with others interested in printmaking and handmade artists’ books.

Since taking courses under master printmaker Jim Machacek, who co-owns Bay Park Press, Bada (gregorybada.com) eventually ditched a career in hospitality to become a full-time artist. The process behind the centuries-old printmaking technique he adopted is long and grueling and, since he started to regularly showing his work publicly, he’s had to learn to succinctly describe the incredible amount of work he puts into each piece. Inevitably, folks who see the distinctive prints want to know exactly how he created them, but it can get complicated.

Even in his studio, amid the decades-old etching press, his collection of etching tools and vats of acid and other pieces of equipment, it�������������������� ’������������������� s hard to completely appreciate the process.

“There’s a process called mezzotint,” Bada says, reaching into a bag and pulling out a tool called a rocker to demonstrate. “You go over the plate like this, gently rocking against the plate, and you have to grid the plate and go over it in every conceivable direction and angle. So rockering this small plate would probably take 12 or 14 hours, but it’s worth

Optimus Volts’ cut cans

Gregory Bada it because it gets you the deepest, richest, authentic black you can get in printmaking.”

Bada’s piece featured on CityBeat’s cover this week, “Room Number One,” is an etching, engraving and Chine-collé, which essentially means he spent weeks carving a detailed image into a metal plate.

Then, during the printing process, he placed small pieces of red Japanese rice paper on the plate before each print (he typically prints just a dozen) went through the etching press. The rice paper adheres so tightly to the print that it’s barely recognizable as a collage, but the little bits of paper add dramatic color and dimension.

“Room Number One” and other prints by Bada will be on view in tent No. 302 at ArtWalk NTC @ Liberty Station from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 16-17, inside Ingram Plaza (2645 Historic Decatur Road in Point Loma). More than 170 other artists will also have work on view (artwalk sandiego.org/ntc/).

—Kinsee Morlan

easy A in the class and took advantage of his art experInstagram started looking like King’s Landing last tise. Pissed off, he started in on one of his graffiti paintSaturday, as dozens of people took photos of them- ings and then quickly let his anger guide him to ripping selves sitting on the Game of Thrones-inspired sculp- apart the cans and piecing them back together in a ture hand-built by Optimus Volts for his solo show at Jackson Pollock-like colorful and chaotic wall piece that caught Schnorr’s and others’ attention.

Thumbprint Gallery (920 Kline St. in La Jolla).

Not long after coming up with the compelling “People couldn’t get enough of that throne,” laughs Isaac Coronado, who throws on a lucha-libre technique, though, Coronado dropped out of the art Frederick Callo game. Years flew by without him Mexican wrestling mask and asmaking any art at all. It wasn’t sumes the pseudonym Optimus until the artist EZ Rock found Volts for his latest body of work— him working in the paint departnefarious-looking, spikey sculpment at Home Depot and started tures made of torn-apart and repestering him to come out to configured spray-paint cans. shows that Coronado eventually Coronado’s solo show feaworked his way back into the untures 14 eye-catching sculpderground art scene. tures—including several wallPeople responded immediatemounted pieces that mimic ly to his intense work—someone taxidermy animal heads—and is liked it so much, they stole three on view at Thumbprint Gallery of his pieces from an exhibition at through Sept. 7.

“Black Rat” by Optimus Volts Stronghold (formerly The Spot) It’s no surprise that the idea for the sharp, jagged works of art came from a place of an- in Barrio Logan last year.

“As soon as I started showing this stuff, it was like, ger. As Coronado tells the origin story of what’s become known loosely as his “Bitches” series, the idea for tear- bang,” Coronado says, snapping his fingers. “They ing up old spray-paint cans and repurposing them as just love this style.” contemporary art came while he was an art student at —Kinsee Morlan Southwestern College, working under the late, great Michael Schnorr. Coronado had just been befriended Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com then dumped by three female students who wanted an and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

22 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Questions of faith Brendan Gleeson’s Irish priest confronts a community of sin

by Glenn Heath Jr. The Catholic Church has a longstanding history of self-denial. By perfecting the art of subterfuge, the religious institution has successfully hidden many of its internal demons from the public (child molestation being the most egregious), breeding a culture of repression and rage underneath a pious façade.

John Michael McDonagh’s Calvary shoves Brendan Gleeson these sins out into the open in a darkly comic way, addressing the human contradictions and con- ward the church and society at large. There’s a onesequences wrought by such damning ideological sided shootout in a bar that represents the utter futility policies. While the film doesn’t always succeed in of using weaponry to communicate a point. Conversameshing these tones together, it remains a peculiar tions feel like showdowns, with each sentence containstatement on modern faith that’s hard to shake. ing threats both idle and overt. McDonagh’s characters Calvary’s Christ figure, a troubled Irish priest have always had the gift of gab, but, here, syllables are named Father James (Brendan Gleeson), operates out uttered to inflict maximum verbal damage. of a quaint rural town nestled up against the blistery At times, Calvary scatters its thematic net too wide, coastline. His quirky flock consists of an adulteress incorporating angry undercurrents about colonial(Oria O’Rourke), her violent husband (Chris O’Dowd) ism, economic malfeasance and homophobia into the and stoic lover (Isaach De Bankolé), an atheist doctor plot. McDonagh skewers the church’s contradictory (Aidan Gillen) and a host of other fringe characters messaging in response to these historically complex that form a mosaic of earthly sin. Father James isn’t elements, but the script never treats these threads as without his own past indiscretions, having joined the seriously as those specifically linked to Catholic docpriesthood after his wife suddenly passed away, aban- trine. This creates a schizophrenic pacing that disdoning his daughter (Kelly Reilly) in the process. tracts from Gleeson’s sterling performance.

While epic helicopter shots Calvary wants to have its of lush countryside frame the cake and eat it too. Father Calvary opening credits, these picturJames has a great line that Directed by John Michael McDonagh esque images are misleadproffers some hope in McStarring Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, ingly peaceful, arriving only Donagh’s mostly bleak proKelly Reilly and Aidan Gillen after a stifling scene of veiled ceedings: “There’s too much confrontation. During confestalk about sins and not a lot Rated R sion, a faceless parishioner about virtues.” Still, where tells that a priest once abused the film ends up contradicts him and that his plan for revenge involves killing Fa- this message strikingly, leaving the viewer with a sour ther James in a week’s time. The perpetrator’s goal is taste regarding devout faith and those willing to critito make a statement against the church, murdering cize the church’s blatant disregard for human interan innocent man in retaliation for the countless guilty ests. Maybe by not taking a definitive stand, McDonsinners who’ve gone unpunished despite their horrific agh is trying to reveal the absurdity of it all, the lunacy deeds. The audience remains unaware of the tormen- of trying to glean meaning and contrition from a set of tor’s identity, but Father James recognizes the voice beliefs that have been so bastardized over the years. immediately. He refuses to share the information and Either way, Calvary—which opens Friday, Aug. 15, spends the rest of the film hoping to shift what seems at Hillcrest Cinemas—leaves an indelible mark. For a like an inevitable course of action. film about judgment, it’s amazingly non-judgmental, McDonagh made his feature-length debut with showing compassion to all types of saints and serpents.

2011’s The Guard, a cagey riff on the sheriff / outlaw Warts and all, McDonagh’s examination of conflicted template that also starred Gleeson. With Calvary, the faith practices what it preaches until the bitter end. duo once again uses the western for inspiration. Father James has sequestered himself in an outlier settlement Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com of miscreants, each harboring his own resentment to- and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Fight the power

Finding Fela

24 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

In 2009, Broadway director and choreographer Bill T. Jones unveiled a musical based on Nigerian artist and political activist Fela Kuti. The popular show introduced a whole new generation to the complicated life of an influential composer and ardent revolutionary.

Alex Gibney’s documentary

Finding Fela acts as a cinematic complement to Jones’ theatrical rendition, charting Fela’s rise to fame through archival footage and interviews with key friends, family and collaborators.

A force for social change, Fela challenged the oppressive government with his politicized art and strange lifestyle. But he never gained widespread notoriety in the United States, primarily

because his protracted songs wouldn’t fit the limited confines of mainstream radio play. Finding Fela deftly explores the creative process behind these mammoth melodies, noting both the instrumental nuance and social implications of the lyrics.

Fela’s personal life dominates most of the film’s middle portion, including his misogynist views toward women and insane desire to marry upwards of 30 brides. Here we see the delusional need for power and control over his closest allies.

If Gibney’s film presents the man himself fairly, moral smudges and all, Jones’ musical examines these flaws within a heightened, sometimes drastically intense aesthetic. The adaptation process provides a window into the relationship between fact and fiction, history and myth. When Finding Fela goes backstage to capture some of these mesmerizing moments, it’s an insightful and exciting documentary.

Regrettably, Gibney doesn’t focus on this aspect for very long. Finding Fela—which opens Friday, Aug. 15, and runs through Aug. 21 at the Ken Cinema—opts to spend ample time on Fela’s later years, when his life was dominated by extreme mysticism. At this point, the man himself seems like a distant cipher, one the film has failed to properly corner for a more in-depth inspection.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

Opening Bound by Flesh: Conjoined twins The Hilton Sisters perform in a traveling sideshow in this strange documentary about modern-day circuses. Screens through Aug. 17 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Calvary: One day a troubled Irish priest (Brendan Gleeson) is threatened during confession, sending him into a downward spiral of sin and doubt. See our review on Page 24.

Coldwater: On par with his mother’s wishes, a teenager is abducted, placed in a delinquent reform facility and forced to confront the tragic events that sent him there. Screens through Aug. 21 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Expendables 3: The 1980s have officially reassembled for the third time to blow explosions into your face.

Finding Fela: The legendary Nigerian musician’s rise to artistic and political prominence is depicted in this documentary from director Alex Gibney. Opens Friday Aug. 15 at the Ken Cinema. See our review on Page 24.

Let’s Be Cops: Two goofball friends posing as cops for a costume party get sucked into a night of debauchery and danger.

The Giver: Lois Lowry’s classic young-adult novel about a not-so-utopian future gets the big-screen adaptation starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep.

What If: Young people sit around and talk about love and friendship and wonder why nothing makes sense. It stars Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan.

One Time Only Bridesmaids: Pray for the bride. These ladies can party. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

To Kill a Mockingbird: Scout’s honor, this is one of the great films about civic responsibility and fatherhood. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, on the outdoor patio at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla.

CityBeat 5 Minute Film Festival: A collection of fiction, documentary and experimental films, all under five minutes in length. Screens at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at the Sunset Temple in North Park.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Watching

young Susan Sarandon is sublime, time warp and all. Screens at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Aug. 14 and 15, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills and at midnight on Saturday, Aug. 16, at the Ken Cinema.

Sabrina: Two wealthy men (Humphrey Bogart and William Holden) fight for the attention of a lovely woman (Audrey Hepburn) who happens to be the daughter of their chauffeur. Screens at 8:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 16 and 17, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

The Outrageous Sofie Tucker: The iconic and troubled flapper star from the 1920s gets her very own exposé documentary. Screens at 7:15 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, at the David and Dorothea Garfield Theater in La Jolla.

Big Men: This documentary focuses on the troubling corruption and economic subterfuge going on in Ghana and other African countries over energy and oil production. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18, at the San Diego Public Library in East Village.

Chasing Choo Choos and One Week: Experience these silent classics on the big screen with musical accompaniment by master organist Donald Mackenzie. Screens at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18, at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park.

Godzilla (1998): Matthew Broderick stars in this big-budget stinker that was made to get Riff-Traxed.

Screens at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19, at various theaters. Get details at fathomevents.com.

Familia: A mosaic about mothers and daughters at odds and reconciling their differences. Screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19, at the Point Loma / Hervey Branch Library.

The Neverending Story: A mysterious book offers a fantastical adventure for a troubled adolescent searching for answers. Screens at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19, at Arclight La Jolla.

Sarah’s Key: A French journalist researches the life of a girl struggling to survive in 1942 and finds that their lives are strangely interconnected. Screens at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 20, at the Scripps Ranch Library.

Point Break: Love is where the surf breaks, bro.

Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Lady Valor: The Kristen Beck Story: A former Navy SEAL decides to become a transgender woman but keeps her transformation a secret from family and friends. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, at Hillcrest Cinemas.

Now Playing A Touch of Sin: Four violent and engaging stories unfold in modern China, foretelling the institutional and political issues plaguing the nation through globalization and economic boom. Screens through Aug. 14 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

Alive Inside: Dan Cohen tries to revolutionize the eldercare industry by giving seniors with dementia and Alzheimer’s the opportunity to experience music again with iPods and headphones. The results are staggering. Screens through Aug. 14 at the Ken Cinema.

The Hundred-Foot Journey: The proprietress (Helen Mirren) of a famous French restaurant clashes with the family running a newly opened Indian eatery down the street.

Into the Storm: An onslaught of unprecedented tornados touches down and causes havoc in the Midwest. Global warming is a real bitch.

Step Up: All In: Get your grove on, again.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Watch out for Raphael. He’s a party dude.

Get on Up: The James Brown biopic we’ve all been waiting for from the director of The Help.

For a complete listing of movies, please see “F ilm S creenings” at sdcit yb eat.com under the “E vents” tab.

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

alex

there she goz

zaragoza I broke up like this The tip of my pen fell upon the paper and I paused. orchestrated way they presented their story.

Not because I wasn’t ready to sign the name I’ve At the Los Angeles stop of their tour, everything hated writing or admitting is legally mine for the seemed oddly staged. Over the course of the conlast six years, but because it reminded me of ancert, the trajectory of their love story—or, at least other moment. how these two extremely business-minded people Back in 2006, I was an idealistic, starry-eyed 22have decided we should perceive it—played out. It year-old who fell hard in love; so much so that I put started with the songs associated with their initial the tip of a pen to a sheet of paper and agreed to love courtship, “Bonnie and Clyde ’03” and “Crazy in another person until, like, forever and ever and ever.

Love.” We threw our hands in the air, yelling in exTwo years after signing that paper, I dropped him citement along with the rest of the packed stadium. off at the airport and never saw him again. Two pens, Then, shit got real. two sheets of paper, two very different meanings.

The songs took a turn, alluding to relationSitting at my desk eight years later, I read over ship strife, infidelity and pain in Bey’s heart. She tossed her perfect, ������������������������������ lace-front hair��������������� during an emothe documents that said my marriage would be offitional cover of Lauren Hill’s “Ex-Factor,” a gutcially over and I would no longer bear his last name. wrenching song with lyrics that bleed: Loving you My head and heart and stomach were concocting an is like a battle / And we both end up with scars / ambrosia salad of feelings that are still hard to put into words. It��������������������������������������� ’�������������������������������������� s exciting to officially close a chapTell me who I have to be / To get some reciprocter of my life that, for years, has felt like it belonged ity. It was like being guests at an awkward dinner to a person wholly separate from me. It’s like that party where the host couple keeps making snide entire period was a sad, shitty Lifetime movie starcomments to one another in front of everyone ring Yasmine Bleeth as an aspiring writer who must and clearly hates their life together. Even the moovercome heartbreak and find the way back to— ments of intimacy felt forced.

I������������������������������������������������ ’����������������������������������������������� ve been on both sides of the equation, and neiherself. It’s so cheesy it makes me want to DVR it, ther is fun. But I’m a nobody, and no one expects drink a bottle of wine and make fun of the entire perfection from me and probably story via live tweet. couldn’t get it even if they did.

I spent a good part of my marMy friend Michelle The couple’s performance riage being very good at pretendwas building to a climax that deing everything was wonderful, looked over at me picted them finding happiness making up stories of fun times with a furrowed brow, again. Images of them in love or cute, solvable problems (aww, with their baby, squeezing her babe, we burned the chicken!) to “Should we clap?” chubby hands into theirs, flashed those who asked how married on the screen. It’s OK, everyone. life was going. It was too embarWe’re going to make it. It all felt like a movie they rassing to admit that everything was terrible. Smilcreated to play to the audience’s expectations of ing and pretending was so easy, it was scary. Those the Carter marriage. My friend Michelle looked fake memories were so real; I can still replay them over at me with a furrowed brow, “Should we in my head to this day. clap?” I shrugged.

The ability to put on a façade of happiness isn’t Their “realness” came off as calculated and, as hard. I became scary good at the whole self-dea result, off-putting. A writer for the New Yorker precating joke to mask my sadness. Tears of a clown who was reviewing Beyonce’s documentary, Life and whatnot. Still, last Saturday, I was mesmerized is But a Dream, perfectly described the manner in and totally uncomfortable bearing witness to Bewhich the couple shares their personal lives: they yonce and Jay Z perform not only their biggest hits pull back a glittery curtain only to reveal another but also their personal lives at their joint concert. slightly less glittery curtain. You never quite know The mondo power couple has been a regular fixif what you’re seeing is truth or the truth they want ture in the tabloids, gossip blogs and even network you believe. news lately, especially after the security footage of The façade they created felt familiar. It took Beyonce’s sister, Solange Knowles, going apeshit on years to admit to my family what was really hapher brother-in-law in an elevator was leaked to TMZ. pening in my marriage—and that its less-than-ideal Despite the couple’s ongoing Instagram efforts to reality had a profound effect on me, even though I portray a life of bliss on yachts and tropical beaches, acted like it didn’t. So when those divorce papers the pristine image of the Carter / Knowles union bearrived and I took out my pen and pressed it to the gan to crack, and their “On the Run” tour seemed to paper, it was not only signing the end of that bumbe the spackle used to patch up those imperfections mer period away, but also signing a promise to myand make it all look better for the world. self to never pretend again. I want the love and the My love and admiration for Beyonce is wellheartaches I go through in life to be real real, not documented in print and social media. That must Beyonce and Jay Z “real.” be said to avoid a visit from the Beygency. I love her music. She’s an amazing, powerful, talented woman Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com whom I admire. But even this staunch member of and editor@sdcitybeat.com. the Bey Hive became weirded out by the flawlessly

26 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

Tim Saccenti

Watch his jerky movements and the flood of emotion that comes flowing through every word he croons, and just try not to be utterly mesmerized. But none of this would matter—or it would matter less, at least—if the music wasn’t a powerful force of its own.

Singles, released via 4AD Records in March, can fairly accurately be called a new-wave or synth-pop album. The Baltimore-based group infuses each song with rich layers of bass and synthesizer melodies, at times sounding like a more modern version of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark or Depeche Mode brushed up with touches of disco and, of course, Herring’s almost superhuman vocal abilities. Music critic Lindsay Zoladz once said of Herring’s vocal style, “He sings every line like Meat Loaf serenading Yorick’s skull.”

It’s in that mixture of ethereal, albeit accessible, melodies and this dynamic thespian of a frontman where Future Islands transform these appealing, if disparate, elements into one explosive whole. In a crowded and often unwieldy universe of indie rock—where irony-dispensing frontmen like Stephen Malkmus and Robert Pollard are regarded as patron saints—Future Islands stand out for evoking feelings of sincerity and romanticism. Even at their most danceable and carefree, like on “Doves” or 2011’s “Before the Bridge,” Future Islands perform every note as if their lives depend on it. In the latter, Herring repeatedly asks, “Do you believe in love?” during the bridge—straight faced, without a hint of a wink or a snicker. If it’s an emo revival you’re looking for, it’s hard to find indie music that pulses with more genuine emotion than this.

Nowhere is the band’s romantic sensibility more pronounced than on “Give Us the Wind”—that incredible set

by Jeff Terich opener at FYF and a highlight of their 2011 album On the Water. The group’s message has never sounded more drivFrom left: William Cashion, Samuel Herring and J. Gerrit Welmers en by youthful idealism and unwavering earnestness as it is t’s a hot and dusty August Los Angeles evening in 2012, tially larger audience with their single “Seasons.” In the here: “Let me cut away the darkness, and pin it to the wall,” and Future Islands singer Samuel Herring is crouched four-minute clip, the group sounds solid, but as with any of Herring sings. “Let us sing a song of beauty as before.”

In an interview published on Pitchfork earlier this year, at the edge of the stage before his band’s dusk perfor- their live shows, Herring is the focal point: He engages in a mance at FYF Fest. He gives the appearance of being the head-nodding, side-stepping choreography that only grows Herring spoke about how important it is for him to not affable everyman, dressed in a black T-shirt and khaki more exaggerated and intense. His body jerks, his hips give into cynicism or mockery. “I want to hold on to those slacks and having a casual chat with the people in the front swivel—he gets the fuck down. Seemingly nobody is more romantic ideals,” he said. “Those are things that we believe in and work hard on in our music.” impressed than Letterman himself, who later that week of the crowd—his grin never slouching.

It’s easy to look at Future Islands’ When the music finally begins, and the band starts to turned the band’s appearance into a running meme gag, heart-on-sleeve approach from a play the ethereal opening notes of their incredible 2011 bal- wherein he introduced a clip of Herring distance with skepticism, but to lad “Give Us the Wind,” Herring suddenly transforms. He by exclaiming, “Everybody dance!” hear it firsthand is an entirely difFuture Islands—once a cult band stands up and changes his expression from a warm smile ferent experience. Future Islands to an intense and distant gaze. And by the time the chorus with a passionate following—had finalAug. 22 don’t just sell the hell out of these comes, he’s practically in a trance, beating his fist against his ly crossed over to the mainstream after The Irenic ideas; they package them up beauchest in a raw, primal expression of emotion. With down- eight years. And all it took was one welltifully in a dramatic, art-pop wrapper. town L.A. as the backdrop, hundreds of people—maybe timed performance on late-night TV. future-islands.com And if the last six months have proven even thousands—watch in rapt attention, but it felt more in- Since then, the band’s been moving at anything, it’s that wistful and theatrical a relentless pace, playing festival after timate than that. It felt like our own private performance.

In March, three weeks before the release of Singles, the festival, selling out one theater show after another, includ- music such as theirs resonates with a lot of people. That, and band’s fourth album, they opened up that private show to ing their April show at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown nobody can resist some sweet dance moves. an audience of millions. In a now-famous appearance on and their sold-out Aug. 22 show at The Irenic in San Diego.

On a surface level, it’s easy to attribute the band’s run- Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com The Late Show with David Letterman—2.2 million YouTube views and counting—Future Islands dazzled an exponen- away success to how entertaining a frontman Herring is. and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

new

romantics Future Islands’ new wave is free of cynicism and irony

I

Future Islands

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

notes from the smoking patio Locals Only The Tree Ring have announced a new album, titled Ten Rivers, that‘s scheduled for release on Sept. 16.

On Sept. 17, the band will play their final live performance—a seated, headlining show at The Irenic.

“The Tree Ring has always been a ‘friends playing together when we can’ project,” says frontman and songwriter Joel P West on a Friday afternoon at Influx in North Park. “Everyone in the band has another music career outside of the band. It’s getting harder and harder to all be together.”

West, himself, has carved out a career scoring films, while the rest of the band’s members, he says, either have other bands or play music in symphonies, chamber ensembles or theatrical productions.

As a result, simply getting everyone together in the same room is enough of a challenge that they wanted to make this show feel special.

“The main reason we’re doing this is because it’s the end of an era,” he says. “We’re never going

to tour. We’re just a group of friends that like to get together and play music.”

Ten Rivers will feature contributions from everyone who’s ever been involved with The Tree Ring, which West counts at around 15 or 16 people. Its 10 songs are intended to represent 10 different journeys.

“It’s the kind of album that feels good to put on during a road trip,” West says.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean that The Tree Ring is entirely coming to an end. West says The Irenic will probably be their last traditional full-band show in a theater, but the nature and relationship of the band’s members leave open the possibility of The Tree Ring returning in some capacity, however unconventional that might be.

“We want to keep it open with the looseness of being able to pick it up when we can. We hope to keep it going,” he says. “We have a hard time not getting our instruments out when we all get together.”

—Jeff Terich

The Tree Ring will play their final show on Sept. 17 at The Irenic.

Singer vs. Song A recurring feature in which we ask musicians to name a song they never want to hear again Diana Death, Chinese Rocks: “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey. “I don’t need to hear it again until the day I drop dead ’cause I already get to hear it at every grocery store, convenience mart, karaoke bar, movie preview, and TV commercial ever made.

And, no, hipsters, it’s not even cool in an ‘ironic’ way, so just stop.”

Anders Larsson, Two Wolves / Lady Dottie and the Diamonds: “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke.

“Besides taking issue with the overt nod (theft from?) Mavin Gaye, I’ve gone through every stage with this song, from reluctant acceptance, to burnout, to breaking through and being OK with it again, and finally returning to burnout. It’s rare that I reach the point where I

28 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

can’t even hear a song as a song anymore, but I’m there with this one!”

Sutton Papanikolas, Neighbors to the North: “Rude” by Magic. “It makes my brain bleed. I am in my car most of the day, and I enjoy the radio as much as any one person can tolerate. Multiple stations I listen to play it. Somedays it feels like it is following me… stalking me even.”

Joel P West, The Tree Ring: “Kiss Kiss Kiss” by Yoko Ono. “I had a roommate years ago who used to love it and play it all the time. It’s just really chaotic and abrasive in kind of a maddening way, and when I hear it now or even think about it, my brain gets plagued for like a week. It really should have never been made, and I would love to never hear it again so I can try to wipe it clean from my memory in my old age.”

Clayton Word, Kodiak: “Toto” by Africa. “That song is so fucking good that we don’t deserve to have it grace our ears. It’s not a guilty pleasure, it’s a way of life.”

—Jeff Terich Write to jefft@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

if i were u

BY Jeff Terich

Wednesday, Aug. 13 PLAN A: The Life and Times, Modern Rifles, Sego @ The Casbah. I once saw The Life and Times in a nearly empty Casbah more than a decade ago, and they somehow still managed to be absolutely massive and deafening. The group’s built up a bigger fanbase since then, but still hands out thunderous and psychedelic art rock and posthardcore that never loses its edge. PLAN B: Foxygen, Gary Wilson @ Belly Up Tavern. I’m a little wary of recommending this show, just because of all the cancellations and fuck-ups that Foxygen’s been guilty of, but every time I hear their excellently jangly 2013 single “No Destruction,” I’m willing to give them a second chance. Make us proud, dudes. BACKUP PLAN: LIFE, Gletscher, Cabuloan @ Tin Can Ale House.

Thursday, Aug. 14 PLAN A: Woods, Skygreen Leopards, Little Wings @ The Casbah. In the past, I didn’t really get the hoopla with lo-fi janglers Woods, but I think their new album With Light and With Love might have changed

that. Maybe their songwriting is getting better, maybe they have a bigger recording budget. Either way, I think now I’m sold. BACKUP PLAN: Tactical Fever, Love Henry, The Kernels @ Tin Can Ale House.

it’s a sophisticated and artful type of pop that doesn’t always reveal all of its myriad charms on first listen. They write arrangements that catch your attention the first time you hear them, but grow more fascinating with each listen. Not that you need to do your homework before this show—no Friday, Aug. 15 matter what, they’ll offer something that PLAN A: Helio Sequence, Liam Finn @ sounds great. BACKUP PLAN: Beach Day, The Casbah. Portland duo The Helio Se- Amanda X, Sleeping Ghost, Future Age Cara Robbins @ Kensington Club. quence has been issuing electronics-tinged indie pop for quite a while Sunday, Aug. 17 now, but it’s still as catPLAN A: Mrs. Magician, chy as ever. I can’t think Viv Vates, Subtropics @ of a better way to end the Soda Bar. If you happen to week than with their taut, miss that Sonics show—or heady melodies. Here’s if you just can’t get enough hoping they pull out old of Mrs. Magician’s surffavorite “Repeater.” inspired indie rock—then head to Soda Bar for an Saturday, Aug. 16 encore performance. It PLAN A: The Sonics, sounds like they’ll at least Mrs. Magician @ The be sticking around for a Irenic. The Sonics just little while, so you might might be the first punk as well get comfortable band. Having pioneered having them back in your Foxygen a raw and uproarious life. PLAN B: Octagrape, style of garage rock in the 1960s, their blend Spray Paint @ Til-Two Club. Austin’s of R&B hooks with lots of fuzzy effects and Spray Paint have a pretty dark take on postvocal howls makes them as exciting now as punk. Their new single “Cussin” recalls Sothey were 50 years ago. PLAN B: Thum- nic Youth at their no-wave-iest, all weird tupers, Ilya, Black Map @ The Casbah. nings and jarring, discordant chords. That’s U.K. group Thumpers plays pop music, but a good thing, in case you were wondering,

30 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

and if you’re ready to brave some eerie and jittery sounds, this is the show for you.

Monday, Aug. 18 PLAN A: The Fresh and Onlys, Wild Wild Wets, Amerikan Bear @ The Casbah.

The Fresh & Onlys were born of a mid-’00s boom of Bay Area garage rock that breathed new life into trippy, fuzzy lo-fi sounds.

They’ve since progressed quite a bit, and their new album—House of Spirits—feeds a moody post-punk approach through a neopsychedelic filter. They’re one of the better bands making fuzz into unique shapes right now, so don’t miss out.

Tuesday, Aug. 19 PLAN A: Quilt, Cosmonauts, Cotillon @ The Casbah. You’d think people would eventually run out of interesting things to do with guitars, basses and drums. And we’ll probably get there eventually, but listening to Quilt’s hypnotic psychedelic pop, I’m thinking there’s still plenty of new sounds to be made from a simple, six-string approach. PLAN B: DWNTWN, Travesura, The Hunt @ Soda Bar. The all-caps, vowel-free-name trend has reached the limits of tolerability, and I might prefer it if DWNTWN just became Downtown. But stylization aside, their hook-laden, dreamy electro-pop is a winner, even if the name kind of SCKS.

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

HOT! NEW! FRESH! Deap Vally (Casbah, 9/12), The Tree Ring (The Irenic, 9/17), Finch (Casbah, 9/30), The Drums (Soda Bar, 10/13), Suicide Silence, The Black Dahlia Murder (HOB, 10/22), Carcass (Brick by Brick, 10/24), Chase Rice (HOB, 11/1), Yelawolf (Porter’s Pub, 11/7), Alvvays (Soda Bar, 11/25), The Robert Cray Band (BUT, 12/4), Dick Dale (BUT, 12/21).

GET YER TICKETS Hot Snakes (The Irenic, 9/10), Buzzcocks (HOB, 9/18), Andrew Bird (Humphreys, 9/19), Lykke Li (North Park Theatre, 9/22), Unwritten Law (Porter’s Pub, 9/26), Gov’t Mule (Balboa Theatre, 9/27), Temples (BUT, 9/27), The Gaslight Anthem, Against Me! (HOB, 9/30), DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist (HOB, 10/1), Blitzen Trapper (Casbah, 10/2), Boys Noize, Baauer (SOMA, 10/2), Pinback (HOB, 10/4), Twin Shadow (BUT, 10/9), The Horrors (BUT, 10/13), Washed Out (North Park Theatre, 10/16), Perfume Genius (Soda Bar, 10/17), Yellowcard (North Park Theatre, 10/17), The New Pornographers (BUT, 10/18), Metronomy (BUT, 10/19), Charli XCX (HOB, 10/21), Tinariwen (BUT, 10/21), New Politics (HOB, 10/30), Iceage (Casbah, 11/3), Rhye (North Park Theatre, 11/6), The Black Keys (Viejas Arena, 11/9), Death From Above 1979 (HOB, 11/12), Blonde Redhead (HOB, 11/15), The Misfits (HOB, 11/16), Psychedelic Furs, The Lemonheads (BUT, 11/17), Minus the Bear (Casbah, 11/21), Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven (BUT, 12/30).

August Wednesday, Aug. 13 Foxygen at Belly Up Tavern.

Thursday, Aug. 14 Black Kids at The Casbah.

Friday, Aug. 15 The Helio Sequence at The Casbah.

Chrome at Tower Bar.

Saturday, Aug. 16 Sonics at The Irenic. The Angry Samoans at Brick by Brick.

Sunday, Aug. 17 Grouplove at Open Air Theatre. Hawthorne Heights at Open Air Theatre. Rascal Flatts at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

Monday, Aug. 18 The Fresh and Onlys at The Casbah.

Yes at Humphreys by the Bay.

Tuesday, Aug. 19 Lila Downs at House of Blues. Quilt at The Casbah. DWNTWN at Soda Bar.

Wednesday, Aug. 20 The Zombies at House of Blues. Sylvan Esso at The Casbah (sold out).

Thursday, Aug. 21 The Naked and Famous at North Park Theatre (sold out). How to Dress Well at The Casbah. Mad Caddies at Soda Bar. Jason Mraz at Civic Theatre. Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

Friday, Aug. 22 Benjamin Booker at Soda Bar. Lake Street Dive at North Park Theatre (sold out). Future Islands at The Irenic (sold out). Buck-O-Nine at The Casbah. Jason Mraz at Civic Theatre.

Saturday, Aug. 23 Built to Spill at The Irenic (sold out).

Fucked Up at The Casbah. Whitey Morgan and the 78s at Soda Bar. John Legend at Open Air Theatre. Jason Mraz at Civic Theatre.

Tuesday, Aug. 25 Keyshia Cole at House of Blues. The Murder City Devils at The Irenic. Jacuzzi Boys at The Casbah.

Wednesday, Aug. 26 Corrosion of Conformity at Brick by Brick.

Thursday, Aug. 27 BB King at Humphreys by the Bay. Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra at The North Park Theatre. Creedle at The Casbah.

Friday, Aug. 28 Dropdead at Che Café. Nik Turner’s Hawkwind at The Casbah. Men Without Hats at Belly Up Tavern. ‘Awesome Fest’ at Soda Bar.

Saturday, Aug. 29 ‘Awesome Fest’ at Soda Bar. Marc Anthony at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Steve Aoki at Del Mar Racetrack.

Sunday, Aug. 30 ‘Awesome Fest’ at Soda Bar. Jack

Johnson at RIMAC Field.

Monday, Aug. 31 Ziggy Marley at Del Mar Racetrack.

‘Awesome Fest’ at Soda Bar.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic, open jam. Thu: Live band karaoke. Fri: Pat Hilton (5 p.m.); Battle of the bands (9 p.m.). Sat: Arson Academy, Playfight, Moonshine. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Battle of the Bands.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Thu: 22 Kings. Fri: Tonga Ross-Ma’u. Sat: Sunday Hustle. Sun: The Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St, Normal Heights. airconditionedbar.com.

Thu: ‘DIVE’ w/ DJs ALA, Mikeytown. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Undercurrent presents Church’.

Altitude, 660 K St, Downtown. altitudeskybar.com. Tue: Ron Morabito and Arun.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco. com. Wed: Guy Branum. Thu-Sat: Brian Posehn. Sun: Sara Schaefer. Tue: Open mic.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: Cali Cam. Thu: Death Eyes, Bumbklaatt. Fri: Mr. Blow. Sat: ‘Neon Beat’. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’ w/ DJ Ratty. Mon: Husky Boy All-Stars. Tue: ‘Tiki Twos-Day’ w/ Adrian Demain.

Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Thu: Firebeatz. Fri: Jayceeoh, Nick Hogan. Sat: Shogun, Late Night Alumni.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts.html.

Wed: Trent Hancock. Thu: Simeon Flick Duo. Fri: Camino Paz. Sat: Jewel City Rock Club.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Foxygen, Gary Wilson. Thu: Everlast, Big B. Fri: Julian Marley, The Devastators. Sat: Natural Vibrations, Hi Roots, Bodhi Rock.

Sun: Stepping Feet. Tue: Reckless Kelly, Mickey and the Motorcars, Cody Canada and the Departed.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad. boarcrossn.net. Thu: Elemental Roots.

Fri: ‘Club Musae’. Sat: Skunk Dub, The Outriders.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Thu: ‘Muscle’. Fri: ‘Rivalry’. Sat: DJs XP, KA. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the DiscoPunk, XP. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Thu: Cumbia Machin. Fri: Symbolic, Sinners Rage, Seventrain, On Descent. Sat: The Angry Samoans, The Screamin’ Yeehaws, DPI. Comedy Palace, 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Clairemont. thecomedypalace.com.

Fri-Sat: Adam Richmond. Sun: The Funny Thing Is: Chinedu Unaka.

Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St, La Jolla. lajolla.thecomedystore.com. Fri: Bret Ernst.

Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, Bankers Hill. crocesparkwest.com.

Wed: Ryan Shaw. Thu: Besos de Coco.

Fri: Sue Palmer. Sat: Berkley Hart Selis Twang. Sun: Choro Sotaque.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Fri: Dmitri Metheny.

Elbow Room, 5225 Kearny Villa Road,

32 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

Kearny Mesa. elbowroomsd.com. Fri: Private Domain. Sat: The Nards.

Epicentre, 8450 Mira Mesa Blvd, Mira Mesa. epicentreconcerts.org. Fri: Buddha Trixie, Oh Deer Lord, Lucky Lucifer, Me Gusta.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: Uberjak’d. Fri: Made Monster. Sat: DJ Monster. Sun: YG. Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave, Ocean Beach. 619-222-5303. Wed: Have Six. Thu: Dub Trinity, DJ Reefah, TRC Soundsystem. Fri: Temple of the Dad, DJ R2.

Sat: Noize Makerz, Kahi Lofa, DJ Chelu.

Sun: So Cal Vibes.

Hard Rock Hotel, 207 Fifth Ave, Downtown. hardrockhotelsd.com. Thu: Danny and the Tramp, Alien Monster. Sun: ‘Intervention’ w/ Bingo Players.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed: Johnny Tarr, DJ Christopher London. Thu: Mark Fisher, DJ Yodah. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: DJs E, Yodah. Mon: ‘Kinetic Soul’. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Thu: Us the Duo, Caroline Glaser. Sat: Tainted Love, DJ LV. Sun: Twloha. Tue: Lila Downs.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Wed: P Smooth.

Thu: ‘Night Shift’. Fri: ‘Junglist Friday’.

Sat: Jon Reynalds. Sun: ‘Bay to Bay Tour’ w/ Onewerd, Emcee Seven.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Sat: Beach Day, Native Echoes, Amanda X, Sleeping Ghost, Future Age. Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave, Hillcrest. martinisabovefourth.com.

Thu: It’s All About Love.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed & Sun: Jackson and Jesus. Thu: North Star. Fri: Mystique. Sat: Pat Ellis and Blue Frog.

Mon: Jason. Tue: Glen Smith.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed & Sat: Mystique Element of Soul. Thu: Myron and the Kyniptionz. Fri & Sun: Trey Tosh. Mon: Johnny Vernazza. Tue: Walter’s Chicken Jam. Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Thu: Casey Veggies.

Reds Saloon, 4190 Mission Blvd, Pacific Beach. facebook.com/RedsSaloon. Wed: John Tole.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Fri: DJs Drew G, Will Z. Sat: DJ Corey Craig. Sun: DJ Cros.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave, La Mesa. rivierasupperclub.com. Thu: Michael Dwyer. Fri: Chickenbone Slim.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd. Wed: Gilbert Castellanos jazz jam. Thu: Nathan Hubbard and Passengers. Fri: The Spark Three, Love Humor. Sat: Agua Dulce.

Mon: ‘Motown Mondays’ w/ DJ Artistic.

Shakedown Bar, 3048 Midway Drive, Point Loma. theshakedownsd.com. Thu: Lo-Fi. Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: We Are Friends, Landis, The Green Thing.

Thu: Black Kids, Misun, Idyll Wild. Fri: 77 Jefferson, True Press, Irieality. Sat: Goodnight Texas, The Bones of JR Jones, The Whiskey Circle. Sun: Mrs. Magician, Viv Vates, Subtropics. Mon: David Ryan Har-

ris, Tyler Lyle. Tue: DWNTWN, Travesura, The Hunt.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Thu: Hundredth, Counterparts, Handguns, Being As An Ocean, Forever Came Calling, Capsize, My Iron Lung. Fri: I Declare War, Oceano, The Last Ten Seconds of Life, Barrier, Invent Animate, Impale Thy Neighbor. Sat: Ryan Beatty.

Somewhere Loud, 3489 Noell St, Midtown. somewhereloud.com. Fri: ‘Toga Fest’ w/ Lost Kings. Sat: Prototype, Trollphace.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St, Midtown. spinnightclub.com. Sat: Shaun Flak Overdrive.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego, Normal Heights. sycamoreden. com. Thu: Tom Ward, Ben Powell. Sat: The Jackson Price Band. Sun: The Liquorsmiths, Mike Pope. Tue: Crow King, David Leistman.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd, Spring Valley. 619-469-2337. Fri: Jerkagram, California Bleeding, The Night Owl Massacre, Jagged Lines.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: The Life and Times, Modern Rifles, Sego. Thu: Woods, skygreen Leopards, Little Wings.

Fri: Helio Sequence, Liam Finn. Sat: THUMPERS, Ilya, Black Map. Sun: Glass Spells, Glasmus, Horse Thief, Anomally.

Mon: The Fresh and Onlys, Wild Wild Wets, Amerikan Bear. Tue: Quilt, Cosmonauts, Cotillon.

Killmor, Domar, Tripsy, Susio. Thu: Marqay, Lannie Flowers. Fri: DJ Joe Mama.

Sat: Manny Ca$h, DJ Redlight, Soulistik, LXMB, XL Tha King, Miss Kat, Trigga$, Lil Daddy. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Dacid, Jiffypop23, Mikebleeds, Wizwars, Here Between U and Me. Tue: Stevie Harris.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. theMerrow.com. Wed: Open mic.

Thu: Derrick Morris, Sam Pace and the Gilded Grit. Fri: Pink Boombox Burlesque.

Sat: DJs SS, Nympho. Sun: Karaoke.

Mon: Master Blaster Sound System. Tue: David John Carnell.

The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: ‘Dub Dynamite’ w/ DJs Rashi, Eddie Turbo. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After Hours’ w/ DJs EdROC, Huge Euge. Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs EdRoc, Kanye Asada.

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, Gaslamp. tinroofbars.com. Wed: Rock Out Karaoke.

Thu: Country Rockin Rebels. Fri: Liquid Blue, Kris Bradley. Sat: Master Splinter and the Shredders, Pat Hilton. Sun: Kris Bradley. Tue: ‘G Street Sessions’.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Fri: The Bellfuries, Roy Rapid, The Jive Bombers. Sat: The Maxies, Undercover Monsters, Water Rats, International Dipshits, Lo-Fi, Idols Plague. Sun: Octagrape, Spray Paint.

Mon: Karaoke.

The Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. thechecafe.blogspot.com. Thu: Kids, Shady Francos. Fri: Ash Williams Plastic City Pariah, Western Settings, The Gravitys, Fake Tides. Sat: Lube, Venetae, Cave.

Tin Can Ale House, 1863 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill. thetincan1.wordpress.com.

Wed: LIFE, Gletscher, Cabuloan. Thu: Tactical Fever, Love Henry, The Kernels.

Fri: Noel Jordan, Brian Wahlstrom. Sat: Daniel Crawford, Tide Pools, Bad and the Ugly. Tue: Seeking Alpha, Hot Mustard, The Have Six.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. thehideoutsd.com. Wed: DJs

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Thu: Blue Largo. Fri: Wild Nite.

Tue: Bayou Brothers.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Wed: ‘The Ratt’s Revenge’. Thu: DJs Diana Death, Heather Hardcore, Frances Marie. Sat: Sculpins, United Defiance, The Evicted, Barking Spiders, Nuclear Tomorrow, The Last Years.

Turquoise, 873 Turquoise St, Pacific Beach. theturquoise.com/wordpress.

Wed: Tomcat Courtney (7 p.m.). Thu: The Jade Visions Jazz Trio (7 p.m.). Fri: Tomcat Courtney (7 p.m.); Afro Jazziacs (9 p.m.). Sat: Vera Cruz Blues (4 p.m.); Tomcat Courtney (7 p.m.); Son Pa Ti (9 p.m.). Sun: Sounds Like Four (4 p.m.); Big Boss Bubale (7 p.m.). Mon: Stefanie Schmitz and Choro Sotaque (7 p.m.).

Tue: Grupo Global (7 p.m.).

Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: ‘Wunder Wunder’ w/ Jimbo James, B.I.D.I. Fri: Von Kiss.

West Coast Tavern, 2895 University Ave, North Park. westcoatstavern.com.

Wed: DJ Dominic. Thu: DJ Coltron. Fri: Mr. Dee Jay. Sat: DJ Will Hernandez.

Tue: DJ Clean Cut. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: ‘Wu-Tang Wednesday’ w/ DJ Cros One. Fri: ‘DJs Daniel Sant, Rob Moran. Sat: ‘80s vs 90s’ w/ DJs Gabe Vega, Saul. Sun: DJ Handsome Skeleton.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: ‘Club Kingston’ w/ Ease Up, Abya Roots, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Alley Cat Street.

Fri: MADCHILD, Atlantis Rizing, Odessa Kane, Emphasize. Sat: Courtney John Project, Layne Tadesse, King Schascha. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Raja Lyon, Ocelot, The Cosmic Kicks.

August 13, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

Brendan Emmett Quigley

Across

Bike share

1. Clumsy people 5. Dash component 10. Make a sound like a dove 13. Dropping sound 14. Saxophone star whose last name is Gorelick 15. Middle Earth thug 16. Blue-state sherpa?

19. Mom and Dad, with “the” 20. Make eyes at 21. Percussion player who works for Big Blue?

26. “Thinking about the planet” prefix 27. Ironic saying displayer, sometimes 28. It’s added to the bill 29. Babysitter for a newborn 31. Chunnel train 36. Answer to the question, “In your opinion, what do you suppose is the object most likely to scare away Dracula?”?

40. Nutritionist’s advice for the hypertensive 41. Going rate?

42. Burning anger 43. Green bit in a stir-fry 46. Stroud who hosts “Survivorman” 47. Stomachache after taking an ED drug?

53. Expectant times 54. Fruit-cup fruit 55. Riding mower that doubles as a British luxury car?

62. Country’s output fig.

63. ‘80s bombshell Tawny 64. Nation that built the first commuter rail to the suburbs Last week’s answers

34 · San Diego CityBeat · August 13, 2014

65. Severed head?

66. Quaint reply to some shocking news 67. Swing a scythe

Down 1. Make a decision 2. US women’s soccer star Krieger 3. Watch holder 4. What goes after eggs 5. Easy to handle 6. Therefore 7. Article from Le Monde?

8. CrossFit room 9. Part of the psyche that deals with reality 10. Welsh barker 11. Grad student hurdle 12. Eight on stage 14. Rapper who said “My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform” 17. Communiqué with many abbreviations 18. Expo event, briefly 21. “You can count on me” 22. End-of-the-year check 23. Seed spitting noise 24. Creature with big ears 25. Hugs and kisses, symbolically 26. Env. attachment 30. They’re chilling, for short 31. Tel. number add-on 32. Sunblock-bottle initials 33. River ducks 34. Realtors’ units 35. Hwys. with numbers 37. “Oh, REALLY now?”

38. “Redneck Crazy” country singer Tyler 39. Intestinal sections 43. West Pointers likely to be hazed 44. Actress Pompeo 45. Shortly 47. Jumping-off point 48. Levels 49. Some board members, slangily 50. Nat. protected by Iron Dome 51. “Why you little ...!”

52. “___ the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)” 56. ___ out a living 57. Often bummed thing 58. Acting coach Hagen 59. Fail a polygraph test 60. Century 21 alternative 61. “No doubt”

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