San Diego CityBeat • Sept 24, 2014

Fall arts

Our guide to this season’s best art, dance, literature, music, film and theater happenings

P.19

2 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

A change in the climate San Diego City Councilmember Scott Sherman can consistently be counted on to articulate the dimmest, most black-and-white view of a policy debate.

When Councilmember David Alvarez on Monday asked his colleagues to support a resolution calling on Mayor Kevin Faulconer to hurry up and release his version of a plan for the city to do its part to fight climate change, Sherman said, “I think there’s a lot of politics being played with this issue right now.”

Well, OK, sure. That’s sort of true, in the sense that council Democrats want to put pressure on a Republican mayor to move on a progressive policy initiative and council Republicans don’t.

Councilmember Mark Kersey seemed angry and was more dismissive of the resolution, calling it “meaningless.”

Well, OK, sure. That’s sort of true, in the sense that all resolutions that don’t include mandates are meaningless. Absolutely nothing changes as a result of the resolution’s passage. Fair enough.

But from a different perspective, there’s more to it than partisan politics and it’s not meaningless at all. As City Council President Todd Gloria noted on Monday, the City Council is an equal partner in San Diego’s governance structure, and, as the policymaking body, it’s making a strong statement about moving quickly on a policy matter that gets more urgent with every passing day.

By now, anyone who’s not completely blind knows that if humankind doesn’t dramatically reduce the volume of ozone-depleting greenhouse gases it spews into the atmosphere, Earth isn’t going to be inhabitable for very much longer. At the very least, San Diego has to live up to California’s mandates for carbon reduction, but the council Democrats want the city to go further and become a leader in the climate-change battle. So do we.

And we’re optimistic. We expect Faulconer in the next couple of weeks to release a Climate Action Plan (CAP) that doesn’t deviate in any very important ways from the one Gloria put together when he was the interim mayor. It won’t include the highly controversial requirement that all existing buildings be made energy-efficient at the point of sale.

And that’s really OK. It would be a significant burden on many folks who want to sell their homes, and it represents only a tiny portion of the overall

carbon reduction in the plan. There will likely be ways to make up that difference.

The good news is that the overall carbon-reduction goals for the years 2020 and 2035 will likely remain unchanged from Gloria’s version, and we expect two much more important possible solutions to be intact: reducing emissions by decreasing reliance on cars and reaching a 100-percent renewable-energy portfolio, potentially through what’s known as community choice aggregation.

Community choice aggregation essentially means taking over from SDG&E the purchase of power on the open market.

And that makes sense, not only from a policy perspective but also politically. San Diegans are generally environmentally inclined. By and large, we’d like to extend humanity’s lifespan. Though Faulconer didn’t initiate the CAP and certainly didn’t campaign on it, he gets to carry it over the finish line. He campaigned as a political moderate, Lindsey Voltoline and his friends in the business community haven’t let him tack left on anything yet. One could argue that he needs the CAP. He doesn’t want to give Gloria, a potential challenger for the Mayor’s office in 2016, yet another issue (along with the minimum wage, among others) with which to beat him over the head in what would likely be a tough race.

Still, setting goals is one thing; implementing them is another. Faulconer would need to at least stay out of the way of community choice aggregation, which would mean separating politically from SDG&E, and he’d need to join forces with transit advocates and help change the dominant car culture at SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments), the regional transportation-planning agency. We think he’d also need to tread deep into the NIMBY minefield that is neighborhood density, to cluster people, homes and jobs in more than a dozen transit hubs around the city.

Giving Gloria another weapon in 2016 would be nice. But making San Diego more walkable, bikable, livable and sustainable far into the future is much more important. We have high hopes that Faulconer, for whatever reason, will do that right thing on this one.

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

In high school, this issue of CityBeat was voted most likely to end up on a street corner.

Volume 13 • Issue 7

Cover design by Grant Reinero and Lindsey Voltoline

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

Web Editor Ryan Bradford

Production artist Rees Withrow

Art director Lindsey Voltoline

Intern Narine Petrosyan

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

Vice President of Operations David Comden

MultiMedia Advertising Director Paulina Porter-Tapia

Publisher Kevin Hellman

Editor David Rolland Associate Editor Kelly Davis Music Editor Jeff Terich

Senior account executive Jason Noble Account Executives Beau Odom, Kimberly Wallace Circulation / Office Assistant Giovanna Tricoli Accounting Alysia Chavez, Linda Lam, Monica MacCree Human Resources Andrea Baker

Advertising inquiries Interested in advertising?

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

Editorial and Advertising Office 3047 University Ave., Suite 202 San Diego, CA 92104 Phone: 619-281-7526 Fax: 619-281-5273 www.sdcitybeat.com

Vice President of Finance Michael Nagami

San Diego CityBeat is published and distributed every Wednesday by Southland Publishing Inc., free of charge but limited to one per reader. Reproduction of any material in this or any other issue is prohibited without written permission from the publisher and the author. Contents copyright 2014.

4 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

Decker’s shock-and-awe I read with great interest and enjoyed Edwin Decker’s Aug. 13 “Sordid Tales” column on his colonoscopy. I, too, have had to suffer through that procedure twice in my life to date. I may be of an age where I probably won’t have to do that again. Thank God! You do have a way with words and expressing yourself in a quite dramatic manner. I purchased my Movi-Prep via my mail-order pharmacy, so I didn’t have to go through a checkout line like you did. Whew!

Keep up your shock-and-awe articles, Ed. I read them all, for they add a bit of levity to my day when I read them.

Lou Cumming, La Jolla

Prisons Getting better at rehab In your Aug. 20 editorial, you call rehabilitation within California’s prison system “a sick joke.”

That view is unfair and outdated. What you fail to recognize is the significant and ongoing expansion of rehabilitative programming for inmates since the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) dramatically reduced its inmate population.

During the last two years, CDCR has hired hundreds of educators for both academic and vocational instruction who help inmates earn nationally recognized certificates in trades that can earn them a livable wage or better upon release. These trades include auto body repair / painting, computer operating systems, electronics, cosmetology, welding,

carpentry and heating, ventilation and air conditioning, just to name a few.

CDCR has also launched more than a dozen “Reentry Hubs” throughout the state where inmates who are close to their release date receive employment and housing support, medical-insurance enrollment, substance-abuse treatment, family reunification and dozens of other services that will help their successful transition back into society.

These new programs have already helped inmates’ rehabilitation, even while still incarcerated.

That has allowed CDCR to open Enhanced Programming Yards where inmates can take advantage of a violence-free environment to focus on their own rehabilitation and success.

We invite CityBeat to visit any of our prisons to witness these inspiring changes for themselves.

Dana Simas, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

CityBeat’s great cover art I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your picking such great artwork for the weekly covers for CityBeat. The Aug. 13 cover—by Gregory Bada—was my favorite, so I dragged my boyfriend to the Art Walk down in Liberty Station to see Greg’s work.

My boyfriend liked it as much as I did, so he bought it for me. I’m sure Greg thanks you as much as I do.

Keep up the great work.

Darlena Del Mar, Solana Beach

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

6 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

Kelly Davis

Demetrice Sightler stands on his balcony where, on Sept. 9, several police officers held him at gunpoint.

The wrong man City Heights incident raises questions about police response

by Kelly Davis From the balcony of his City Heights apartment, his view obstructed by two large trees, 33-year-old Demetrice Sightler counted at least four police officers with guns pointed at him. The red dots on his chest, from riflescopes, told him there were more officers out there that he couldn’t see.

“That’s when it’s starting to sink in,” he says. “These cops have guns on me, there are these dots on me, they’re not listening to me.”

Sightler, who’s African-American and has a beard, lives in Apartment 3 in the front of the building; Apartment 5, whose occupants include an African-American Late afternoon on Sept. 9, a case of mis- man with a goatee, is at the back of the taken identity resulted in Sightler being building. When Sightler poked his head held at gunpoint by San Diego Police offi- outside to see if his girlfriend needed help cers for roughly 10 minutes. Lt. Kevin May- with groceries, he was ordered to step onto er, a department spokesperson, declined to his balcony—which faces the street and say how many personnel responded, but a overlooks the apartment’s parking lot—and video of the incident shows several police put his hands in the air.

Mayer says officers spotted Sightler “becars either parked or pulling up to the building, officers with semi-automatic weapons, fore [they] could identify the exact location a canine unit and a police helicopter over- of the apartment in question.”

A neighbor recorded the incident on vidhead. Mayer says police were responding to a call saying that a man was holding a gun to eo, and Sightler posted it to YouTube where, a woman’s head; a call log CityBeat obtained as of Tuesday afternoon, it had been viewed under the California Public Records Act more than 55,000 times. In the video, Sightshows officers were directed to Apartment ler, a self-described nerd who likes to read, 5 at 3:40 p.m. (CityBeat has opted against in- play video games and care for his Spanish cluding the street address so as not to iden- Timbrado canaries—“feed my birds, mind tify people who may or may not have been my business,” he says—holds his hands in the air as he tries to explain to officers that involved in alleged domestic violence.)

they have the wrong man. “My girlfriend called?” he says after an officer tells him that they’re responding to a report of domestic violence. “Who’s my girlfriend?” he asks. The officer tells him the name.

“You have the wrong house!” Sightler yells. “You’re looking for Apartment 5.

That’s the unit in the back.”

It’s not the first time police had received a call about domestic violence in Apartment 5. Kristina Baca, Sightler’s girlfriend, says she called 911 a few months ago after hearing the couple fighting; and the call log, which covers the last 90 days, shows police responded to Apartment 5 on a domesticviolence call in late August.

Sightler and Baca say that a police sergeant later compared the call they received on Sept. 9 to a “game of telephone,” where information had been passed along to the point of being vague.

“They got a call from someone who got a call from someone,” Sightler says. “I believe that they didn’t have the full story to begin with, and they definitely didn’t have a full description [of the suspect].”

Sightler says that when he tried to get more information from a captain at the scene, he was instead asked whether he had a criminal history.

“The level of response just seems way out of line,” says Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, policy director with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. In the video, two officers run up the street, brandishing what DooleySammuli says look like M16s, a military rifle.

In 2008, the San Diego Police Department acquired 75 M16s from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), according to records recently obtained by the investigative-reporting website MuckRock. San Diego-based inewsource.org then put together a database showing all vehicles and weapons acquired locally under the DOD’s Excess Property Program, also known as the 1033 program, which has received scrutiny after reports that vehicles and weapons police used to respond to protestors in Ferguson, Missouri, were purchased through the program.

“On the one hand, you have police coming up on a scene where they think there may be weapons,” Dooley-Sammuli says.

“On the other hand, they roll up with quite heavy-duty machinery and engage this man

Wrong CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Wrong CONTINUED from PAGE 7 on the balcony based on very little information.”

Mayer says he can’t comment on tactics.

“I’m sure you can understand the extreme danger the victim was allegedly in, as well as the officers responding,” he says.

Sightler and Baca say that the alleged victim and her alleged abuser are still living together in Apartment 5. The man was never arrested and, as far as Sightler knows, never questioned. Sightler doesn’t think he was even in the apartment the afternoon of Sept. 9. He knows for sure the girlfriend wasn’t, because she drove up shortly after Sightler was allowed to leave his balcony.

Mayer says the police department has forwarded a case involving the suspect to the City Attorney’s office, but he couldn’t provide any additional information. A spokesperson for the City Attorney’s office said the case is under review and declined to say anything beyond that.

Last week, when Sightler tried to photograph the man, the man threatened him. Sightler says he wanted to document that two of them look nothing alike— the man’s lanky and has a goatee and short hair, while Sightler’s heavyset and has a full beard and a ponytail. Sightler was standing on his balcony with his camera when the man started yelling at him. “‘I’ll take your life’ and a lot of profanities,” Sightler recalls. “A lot of not very nice things.”

Baca called police.

“I let them know then that he was threatening me,” Sightler says.

The officers told Sightler that they’d talk to the man, but when they returned, they told Sightler,

8 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

who recorded the conversation, “to avoid him” and that “it’s not against the law [for the man] to say whatever he wants.”

Shortly after the Sept. 9 incident, Sightler and Baca went to the Mid-City Police Station to file a complaint.

They were told that Sightler first needed to speak to a sergeant; that sergeant happened to be one of the responders on Sept. 9. Sightler says he didn’t feel comfortable lodging a complaint with the guy he was complaining about. He says the station’s captain tried to convince him that he didn’t have a valid complaint, either. He left the station and called the department’s Internal Affairs Unit. He says they recorded a statement, and he’ll meet with a sergeant from that unit this week to provide a second statement.

Standing out on his balcony last Friday evening, Sightler brings up the end of the video when police finally acknowledge he’s not the guy they’re looking for and Sightler becomes irate, swearing at officers who, he says, still hadn’t lowered their weapons.

“I probably shouldn’t have said those things,” he admits now.

“I was mad,” he says. “I tried to tell them multiple times, ‘You’ve got the wrong place; you’ve got the wrong apartment.’ I gave them my name so many times.”

He says that when he looked down at the officer positioned closest to him, whose rifle’s red dot was still on his chest, he saw a smirk.

“It just made me feel like I wasn’t a person, like I wasn’t a human being, like they don’t care about my rights.

“I thought I was going to die,” he says. “I thought I was going to get killed on my balcony. They never lowered their guns.”

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

edwin

sordid tales

decker A letter from my younger self to my present self Friends, I have unsettling news: As we speak, a funkel says in his video letter (et tu, Garfunkel?). trend gathers momentum—a trend so insidious, it “Singing brings joy [gag]. If you can embrace the could very well result in the collapse of society. I’m differentness of another, tightly fused in beautiful talking about the increasing number of people who dissonance, you give power to music, to the musilike to send letters to their younger selves. cianship, to the partner [retch]…. I met many beauI don’t know how long it’s been going on, but I tiful women through the focus of fame…. I took caught wind of it in May when a video called “Love flight into the open ended artist’s realm.” That all Advice to my Younger Self” wormed its way onto translates to: I liked singing. It got me laid. I also may my Facebook page. Now it seems that everywhere have been gay for Paul Simon.

I turn, another one of these abominations rears its As gaggeriffic as Oprah’s, Tyler’s and Art’s letabominable head, abominably. ters are, however, the most annoying thing is when Just Google “letter to my younger self” (LTMYS), the present self cracks wise with the younger self, and it’ll return about a gazillion hits. Some are celebwhich typically comes off like an old man with a rity letters. Other letters are from regular Joes. There minor case of dementia muttering to himself in a are tons of YouTube messages, magazine features sitting room, such as the Houston Rockets’ Dwight and several books. Brad Paisley wrote a (gag) song Howard’s letter to his younger self. “Dear Little to his younger self. ESPN.com published a feature Dwight, That’s what they call you now. I know that called “Dear Me” in which 12 athletes wrote letters because I’m Big Dwight, 27, and I’m writing to you to their younger selves. Then there are the websites from the future. Weird, right?” such as LettersToMyYoungerself.com, where you My point exactly, Dwight. It is weird. The whole can enroll in workshops that focus on writing LTendeavor—effing weird!

MYSs, register for a LTMYS retreat or just browse On DearYoungMe.com, where regular Joes send the “Tips for Writing a Letter to your Younger Self.” tweet-sized LTMYSs, they often try to advise their “When writing your letter,” says website foundyoung selves against bad consumption choices, such er, author and speaker Ellyn as, “Dear Young Thin Me, Don’t “Of Course Her First Name eat that third slice,” or “Dear is Spelled with a Y” Spragins, Young Healthy Sober Me, Don’t You snort it up, then you “pretend you are holding your ever start drinking….” lean back on the couch younger self by the shoulders I guess if I were to reach and rock out to the and speaking to her or him.” out to my younger self, it’d also While there are many difbe to advise on his / my poor great, glorious sounds ferent types of LTMYS, what consumption choices: “Dear of Led Zeppelin. most of them have in common Young Ed, while rocking out is that they’re nauseatingly selfto Led Zeppelin’s Presence in involved, self-pitying, hyperyour friend Dave’s basement melodramatic essays from people attempting to bedroom, he will pull out a little baggy containing commend themselves, hoping it won’t be recoga magic white powder. It’s at this moment that you nized as self-praise. must remember these two, all-important warnings.

Take Oprah’s ghastly letter to her younger self: First—and I say this as loud as the siren atop every “Dear beautiful brown-skinned girl [gag], I look police car that has pulled you over since then—you into your eyes and see the light and hope of myself do that cocaine, boy! You snort that powder deep [because you are yourself, you narcissistic twit]. In into the back of your brain. You snort it up, then you this photo you are [almost 20] posing outside the lean back on the couch and rock out to the great, television station where you were recently hired glorious sounds of Led Zeppelin. Secondly, resist as a reporter. You’re proud of yourself for getting the urge to go out the next day and buy Presence.

Cocaine lies. That album is for shit.” the job, but uncertain you’ll be able to manage all Of course, I won’t be sending any letters to my your college classes….” Translation: See how hard I younger self. OK, maybe if such a thing were posworked to get where I am? sible, I would. But my message would say, “Dear Then there’s Tyler Perry’s emotionally riveting Young Ed, please whack Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Per(and by “riveting” I mean “hammering a handful of ry and Dwight Howard.” Or, better yet, I’d have my metal pins into the base of my brain”) video mesyounger self write a letter to my present self. sage on CBS: “Dear Child of God,” Perry says as you “Dear Present-Day Ed, please don’t send any try to not throw up from your eyeballs, “I know that maudlin letters about how things will get better, or you are having it really hard right now…. As I search to never give up, or to avoid the same mistakes you your young face for some sign of myself, believe it made. Sending messages to your younger self will or not I am able to smile. Because just behind all of only make you look like a narcissistic, sappy twit, that darkness, I see hope…. And when you get older, and I need my future reputation intact so I can get you will use it in your work to uplift and encourlaid, OK? Sincerely, Young Ed.” age and inspire millions of people…. I’m so proud of you.” Translation: See how rough my childhood was?

Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com Yet here I am. I rule. and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

“Here are some things that I know,” Art Gar-

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

by michael a. gardiner Michael A. Gardiner

tortellini. Schroeder, it seems, has a particularly deft hand with fish, coaxing out all of its inherent richness—in this case assisted by the tortellini—without sacrificing any moistness or texture. He paired these with a refreshing pickled-fennel salad, tomatocaper relish, chanterelle mushrooms and a Chardonnay emulsion.

Nor does Schroeder give red meat short shrift. One fixture on his menus—which change every night—is a spice-roasted rack of lamb, which he generally pairs with chutney (peach on a recent visit). This he served over a fennel purée along with white-cheddar braised potatoes, broccolini and a lamb jus. The dish was defined by interplay between the lamb, the chutney and the jus, the spice and sweetness of the chutney pulling one way, the earthiness of Alaskan troll king salmon and lobster-prawn tortellini the lamb the other and the jus elevating the whole affair.

Another regular on Market’s menus is grilled prime steak with a Cabernet reduction and potato-leek cake. This is not wildly creative.

It is, however, tremendously tasty. Cabernet is also featured in one of Schroeder’s signature dishes: Cabernet-braised short ribs served over a Eclectic, elegant simplicity sweet-onion potato purée with shishito peppers that made the entire dish pop. It was a standout.

At the heart of nearly all great high-end cookDesserts at Market, the domain of James ing—regardless of cuisine, culture or style—is Foran, are well worth the calories. His S’mores simplicity. It may seem somewhat counterintuiBar is a chocolate mousse with toasted marshtive: Elaborate dishes, exotic preparations, luxmallow, cocoa chiffon and caramel ice cream. ury ingredients and ultra-modernist techniques But the real kicker to the dessert was the addi= simple? And yet, restaurants like Jean-Georges tion of an overtly savory applewood-smoked sea in New York, Alinea in Chicago and Alma in Los salt. The Ricotta cheesecake with walnut crust, Angeles have one thing in common: simplicity. spiced honey-plum sorbet and shredded phyllo And Chef Carl Schroeder’s food at Market might not have been as surprising, but it was a Restaurant + Bar (3702 Via de la Valle in Del terrific end to the meal.

Mar, marketdelmar.com) bears the same mark of Schroeder’s flavor profiles go beyond strictly simplicity. Take, for example, the miso-glazed loEuropean, often taking on a Far Eastern, Southcal black cod with gingered dumplings. The fish, ern Asian or even Latin tinge without ever quite beautifully caramelized on the outside and moist veering off into those cultures or, for that matter, inside, was paired with dumplings that echoed the minefield that is “fusion.” Rather, these eclecthe textural contrasts in a distinctly different way. tic elements serve as references and accents, proThese were set off against roasted shiitake mushviding resonance and commenting on the star room, tempura green beans and a dashi-ponzu ingredient. What they don’t do is sacrifice the esfoam. Each highlighted the Japanese theme in sential, simple message of the dish. Instead, they deliver it. a playful way. Everything on the plate was there for a reason.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com Also quite good, if somewhat less simple, was and editor@sdcitybeat.com. the Alaskan troll king salmon and lobster-prawn

the world

fare

10 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

by ian cheesman

chees

Revved-up reviews deux There are many beers. I cannot drink them all, but, damn it, for you I’ll try.

Booze Brothers’ Old Crow IPA (6.2-percent ABV): Deciding what beer I wanted to pair with Labor Day was surprisingly difficult. My first thought was “all of them,” but that approach is incredibly expensive and typically comes with legal consequences. Instead, I opted for Old Crow IPA, a medium-ABV beer with big tropical-fruit hop notes. It was a straightforward IPA that didn’t feel overwrought or labored, making it a perfect accompaniment for the holiday.

AleSmith’s Evil Dead Red (6.66-percent ABV): Evil Dead Red is a seasonal favorite of mine and arguably one of the best beer recipes in the Necronomicon. The ruby-colored tribute to unspeakable demonic forces has a pungent floral aroma and hop punch to match. Its syrupy texture and malt backbone admirably balance that substantial flowery bitterness. At 6.66-percent ABV, this is a beer you can savor during an allnight grave-digging session and be content doing so.

Benchmark Brewing’s Dubbel (7.5-percent ABV): Most Benchmark beers have pretty unassuming names. The beer is their sole representative of the eponymous style, and that’s all there is to it. I can respect that, though I can’t help but think the brewery would do well to hire a hype man to play it up. I’d wager Flavor Flav is available if there’s any interest.

In any case, this dubbel doesn’t need a lot

of pretense. It’s sweet with a notable molasses, berries and brown-sugar character, but it’s not cloying or heavy. It undeniably scratches that dubbel-itch and delivers to the standard.

Montejo (4.5-percent ABV): I gave this InBev import every reasonable chance to succeed, I really did. I waited until an extremely hot day to enjoy it, assuring that I had a substantial thirst to slake. I had several beers beforehand, all but guaranteeing that Beer Snob Ian was quieted enough to allow “More Alcohol! Woo!” Ian to emerge. So, when I raised this cerveza clara to my lips, it had very little to do to impress me.

And it didn’t. It tastes like Meyer-lemon-infused seltzer water. This straw-colored beer certainly looks the part but delivers even less than I expected. The finish is slightly sweet, which actually diminishes its viability as something to sip in the sweltering heat. It doesn’t taste bad in any way, but it sure doesn’t taste right.

Twisted Manzanita Ales’ Iron Mountain IPA (6.8-percent ABV): This copper IPA has a big nose of flowers and red peppers. It’s fullbodied with a robust assortment of hop flavors, most prominently featuring pine and oranges with hints of pepper and fruit. It tastes a smidge boozy but not to the point of distraction. It has all the presence of an Imperial Red but tilts the balance just enough toward the hops to keep its rep intact. Not to put too fine a point on it—this is a mighty fine IPA. Write to ianc@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Ian Cheesman

beer &

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

by jenny montgomery Jenny montgomery

plate of the battered bread, laid out in a line of perfect triangles. They don’t overdo it or even tempt you with ice cream for this humble platter, but the custardy treat gets a wonderful upgrade with a thick drizzle of raspberry mascarpone glaze over every piece, not to mention the always-needed warm maple syrup. This is such a great version of a classic. Nothing is deconstructed or piled with nonsense. Top-notch ingredients come together with an elegant twist, and an everyday dish we all crank out in our Beach Plum’s French toast kitchens becomes something that makes breakfast in a restaurant the special treat it should be.

Now, for those of you who are smarter than us cake-eaters over here, there are plenty of protein and veggie items for the offering. I will point you toward the migas, a barely spicy bowl of shredded tortillas, crumbled chorizo, pepSweet and polished pers and eggs, cooked together until the eggs are just scrambled. Thankfully, our version was not I wish I were one of those people who could enoverdone, an all-too-common tragedy with most thusiastically start the day with egg whites or an restaurant egg dishes. Our illogically paralyzing acai bowl or something filled with protein and fear of salmonella has completely skewed our righteousness. But I just want simple carbs covexpectations when it comes to the delicate egg, ered in syrup. And, yes, I always feel slightly ill but, thankfully, Beach Plum seems to get the line after downing a giant stack of pancakes, followed between cooked just right and “this tastes like by ravenous hunger less than an hour later, but burnt sadness.” The migas are hearty enough to that never seems to kill the allure of sweet cakes start your day without weighing you down and for breakfast. inducing a post-breakfast nap.

My taste buds, if not the rest of my body, are Beach Plum also bakes some delicious paspretty pumped about working their way through tries in-house, including buttermilk biscuits and the menu at Beach Plum Kitchen, a polished a very satisfying version of coffee cake. And don’t new locale in Carlsbad (6971 El Camino Real, miss the coffee, roasted by San Diego charmers Suite 201, beachplumkitchen.com).

Virtuoso Coffee. That never-ending cup of joe Even my love of a sugary start to my day usuwe’re all used to at most breakfast places? It’s a ally draws the line at ice cream for breakfast, but gourmet treat at Beach Plum.

I have to applaud Beach Plum’s flair. Do check Beach Plum Kitchen has the style and charm out the lemon ricotta pancakes (ricotta in a panyou’d expect from a tony La Costa-area locale, cake is so wonderfully perfect) with a scoop of but with friendly service, quality favorites and vanilla-bean ice cream, and let’s all embrace the generous scoops of ice cream, this is a neighborlatest naughty food trend. hood eatery worth visiting again and again.

French toast can run the gamut from dry to Write to jennym@sdcitybeat.com gloopy, but thanks to the spongy-wonder Sadie and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Rose brioche, Beach Plum turns out a beautiful

north

fork

12 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

urban

by Nina Sachdev Hoffmann

scout

Four local retailers to follow on Instagram Instagram is a glorious tool for stalking other people’s cute baby and cat pics, and it’s also really addictive if you like food and food porn. Another thing that one of the fastest-growing social-media platforms is good at: selling stuff! For many smart San Diego retailers, Instagram’s become a very popular and useful vehicle for engaging with customers who otherwise wouldn’t know where to find them. With real-estate prices what they are, you won’t find traditional brick-and-mortar shops for most of the city’s most talented designers and small-business owners. What you will find are exclusive sales and promotions, beautiful photos of high-quality, handmade products and even a glimpse into the lives of the people who make our retail scene what it is. Here are some local brands to check out from the comfort of your couch: Instagram: @homesteez Company name: San Diego Vintage OK, so this relatively new shop specializing in restoring vintage furniture does have an actual store you can go to (605 East Valley Pkwy.), but it’s in Escondido! Nobody wants to go to Escondido in a heat wave! Luckily, these photos do this shop justice.

If you’ve ever been interested in seeing before-and-after pictures of beat-up vintage furniture, with emphasis on the beautiful craftsmanship of the aftermath, then consider this your signature furniture-porn brand. Owner Seth Karaein gets his eye for interesting pieces from his days as a TV and film set designer. He’s a master of turning vintage throwaways into must-have credenzas and sofas, lounge-y pet furniture and more.

Instagram: @bungalowboo Designer name: Emily Calabro One of my favorite kitchen tools, unfortunately no longer available on the Internets, is a spoon rest that has a picture of Lionel Richie and the words “Hello, is it me you’re cooking for?” Bungalowboo’s customengraved Walter White (Breaking Bad) cutting

board also ranks high on my list, especially because it’s made from bamboo (hello, sustainability!). If you have experience in the kitchen, you know bamboo cutting boards are superior: They resist water (and bacteria), are low-maintenance and hold up nicely to even the most intense choppers. Scroll through Bungalowboo’s photos, and you’ll find that Emily Calabro is wonderfully creative in her designs. Also, enjoy the dog pics. etsy.com/shop/BungalowBoo Instagram: @cageandlantern Designer name: Marissa Kovach I.can’t.stop.looking.at.these.baby.shoes. I don’t know what’s better: adoring these moccasins from afar and imagining how cute your baby’s little rolypoly feet will look in them or actually squeezing your baby’s feet into them and then taking a million pictures and posting them to your own Instagram account. (Obviously, I have plans to do both.) Kovach’s Etsy shop says she’s on maternity leave, but there may be some baby booties left at Make Good down in South Park. etsy.com/shop/CageandLantern Instagram: @naturallogskateboards Company name: Natural Log Skateboards There’s a lot of back-and-forth about whether or not skateboarding is on the decline. You wouldn’t know it by looking at what Natural Log Skateboards has to offer. What began as a project on Kickstarter back in 2012 eventually turned into one of the coolest skate shops around. Each one of these bad boys is handmade, hand-lacquered, hand-everything.

With clean lines and minimal designs or screenprinting on the decks, they’re actually quite elegant. And with beautiful San Diego as the backdrop for many of their product images, the pictures are really fun to look at. naturallogskateboards.com Write to ninah@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

the

SHORTlist

ART

COORDINATED BY KINSEE MORLAN FRANK LUNA

Photocity: Reflection, Expression, Action at Mission Healthcare, 2385 Northside Drive, Ste. 200, Mission Valley. A photography show from The AjA Project, which teaches youth to critically examine issues that affect their lives and communities.

Opening from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. homewithmission.com Concetta Antico at Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16, Point Loma. The artist demonstrates her techniques and shares secrets in this live painting session. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. $3-$5.

619-955-5285, womensmuseumca.org Bill Evarts: Baja California and the Art of Landscape Photography at San Diego Natural History Museum, Balboa Park.

The local award-winning landscape photographer and author will share his favorite images captured over many years exploring the Baja California peninsula. Opening from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. $11$17. 619-232-3821, sdnat.org

Inside The Church, before and after folks were invited to paint the walls

1

CREATIVITY CATALYST

When Platt College art instructors Frank Luna and Mark Escobar moved into 2151 Logan Ave. on Aug. 1, they decided to make the space a blank canvas—literally.

“We opened the doors to the community,” Luna says. They provided paint; others brought their own.

“From kids to graffiti artists to amateurs to pros came and painted every single inch of our walls.”

It might not all be pretty, but it’s a fascinating cultural experiment.

“Some of the art bleeds with one another,” Luna says. “There’s perverted stuff; there’s stuff that kids do. There’s some pretty hardcore stuff, but for us, it was, Let’s see what the community had. What are they saying?”

On Saturday, Sept. 27, during the Barrio Art Crawl (facebook.com/barrioartcrawl) you can see exactly what that looks like. From 5 to 8 p.m., there’s

2

AURAL PLEASURE

Music from around the country and some of the best craft beer in the world— promoters call it the largest free, two-day music event in Southern California. The Adams Avenue Street Fair in Normal Heights will celebrate its 33rd anniversary from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28.

The event features 110 music acts on eight stages, including the Austin-based indie-rock group Heartless Bastard, San Diego favorites The Burning of Rome and Los Angeles-based R&B saxophonist Big Jay McNeely. Along with a craft beer garden, there will be carnival rides and more than 300 vendors along the street. adamsavenuebusiness.com

an open house of sorts for what Luna and Escobar have dubbed The Church (the space was a former Jewish temple). Future plans include a music academy for kids and teens focused on digital-audio production and a record label (there’s an on-site recording studio). Artist Andrea Aliseda will host a (very) soft opening for Milk and Honey, her curated shop and gallery located inside The Church.

From 8 to 10 p.m., the evening will go adults-only with Dirty Conversations, an open-mic / spokenword where folks will be talking about sexy stuff.

Then, from 10 to 10:15 p.m., Luna and Escobar will screen a video sneak preview of BLK VLVT, an upcoming gallery show at The Church. Like Dirty Conversations, it’s also adult-themed.

Luna says the goal for The Church is to be an incubator for a range of artists.

“How do we eliminate however many barriers to see our ideas through and help other people get to their ideas?” he says. “Sometimes it’s just the dumbest little thing that’ll prevent someone from making that short film or drawing on that canvas.” facebook.com/thchrch

3

COOLNESS CONTINUES

Jean Isaacs might be one of the coolest choreographers in contemporary dance.

There are so many things to dig about her annual Trolley Dances series. Site-specific, mostly outdoor choreography challenges artists to come up MANUEL ROTENBERG with performances that work within the constraints of the urban environment, often resulting in inspired, original work in an unexpected context. Another plus is the focus on public transportation. Trolley Dances activates the seemingly boring ol’ Metropolitan Transit System’s trolley lines, making public transit look sexy and fun as dancers perform everything from hip-hop to contemporary dance. There are six tours, from 10 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27 and 28, and Oct. 4 and 5. TickBig Jay McNeely ets are $35. sandiegodancetheater.org

14 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

HAllison Wiese and Pat MacGillis at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. Wiese debuts a new installation using common materials and textual diversions, while MacGillis presents new works composed of mixed-media paintings and drawings. Opening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. ljathenaeum.org After the Fall at 57 Degrees Wine Bar, 1735 Hancock St., Middletown. A multimedia gallery event featuring artists like Jack Roybal, Monica Cuyto, Guy Lombardo, Leslie K. Monroy and more. Opening from 6:15 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26.

619-234-5757, fiftysevendegrees.com HBarrio Art Jam at La Bodega Studios and Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. The annual event showcases some of the best talent in poster art and Latin music.

Featured bands include Cantua, Surefire Soul Ensemble, Agua Dulce, Israel Maldonado and more. From 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. $10. facebook.com/la.bodega.1 HFamily Mess Fest at New Children’s Museum, 200 W. Island Ave., Downtown. A night of paint splattering, mud-pie-making and cookie-creating fun. Admission includes dinner from Rubio’s, drink tickets for the adults and free parking in the NCM garage. From 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept.

27. $20. 619-233-8792, thinkplaycreate.org HOccupy Thirdspace at Space 4 Art, 325 15th St., East Village. A showcase of contemporary artworks that question the transborder condition and the effect of the border on the lives of individuals.

Artists include Alida Cervantes, Cognate Collective, Julio Orozco and more. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27.

619-269-7230, sdspace4art.org HMilana Braslavsky and Annette Isham at WSOHOIDPS, 2690 Via De La Valle, Del Mar. Braslavsky will show photography from her “The Purse” series and Isham will present “Woman and Landscape,” a series of experimental video collages and photo transparencies. There’ll also be a performance by Malian musician Oumar Konate. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. shipinthewoods.com HBack Alley Art at Chicano Art Gallery, 2117 Logan Ave. #1, Logan Heights. In conjunction with the Barrio Art Crawl, this show will feature treasures and curiosities found in Barrio Logan, with art work

by Acamonchi, Waistknot, Spencer Little, Sholove and more, plus a DJ set by Viejo Lobo. From 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept.

27. facebook.com/ChicanoArtGallery HNasty City Approved Part 2 at Visual, 3776 30th St., North Park. Artists Unique, E.vil and Keemowerks collectively show

off their street art/graffiti, stencil art and graphic design. Opening from 6 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 27. visualshopsd.com HSCAA Gallery Opening The Sergott Contemporary Art Alliance holds its first show at a private residence in Rancho Santa Fe. Participating artists include Alicia Dunn, Duke Windsor, Ingrid Croce and over a dozen more. Email scaainbox@ gmail.com to RSVP and for directions to the house. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. 619-501-5585, sergottart.com Melanjolly at Basic, 410 10th Ave., Downtown. An artistic tribute to the films of Tim Burton featuring work from Jacki Geary, Jared Yamahata, Carrie Anne Hudson and dozens more. Cosplayers welcome.

Includes music from DJ JoeMama. Opening from 7 p.m. to midnight. Tuesday, Sept. 30. ThumbprintGallerySD.com

BOOKS HChristine Forester at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The wife of the late artist Russell Forester will discuss and sign, Red, White, and You: A Time to Earn One’s Right to Bitch, her take on what it means to be a patriot. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. warwicks. indiebound.com HSarka-Jonae Miller at Barnes & Noble La Mesa, Grossmont Center, La Mesa. The local author will be signing Between Boyfriends, her funny fiction series. At 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 25. She’ll also do a reading and signing at noon Sunday, Sept. 28, at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. warwicks.indiebound.com HAll-Day Banned Books Read-Aloud Read-a-thon at New Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. Observed since 1982, the annual Banned Books reading marathon helps raise awareness regarding censorship. Features librarian readers and special guests. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. sandiegolibrary.org Andrew Mayne at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The TV star and magician will be promoting, Angel Killer, his latest about FBI agent/magician Jessica Blackwood. At 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. mystgalaxy.com HLadies Literary Tea: Susan Vreeland at Westgate Hotel, 1055 Second Ave., Downtown. Vreeland stops by to discuss her newest novel, Lisette’s List. From 2:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. $40. 619238-1818. westgatehotel.com HTod Goldberg at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont. The author will be signing his third novel, Gangsterland, which centers on Chicago hit man Sal Cupertine. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. mystgalaxy.com HMichael James Roberts at D.G. Wills Books, 7461 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The SDSU professor will discuss his new book, Tell Tchaikovsky the News: Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Labor Question and The Musicians Union, 1942-1968. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. dgwillsbooks.com Chloe Coscarelli at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The vegan chef and winner of the Cupcake Wars will present her latest, Chloe’s Vegan Italian Kitchen. There’ll also be a cook-off where patrons can have Coscarelli judge their vegan Italian dish. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29. warwicks.indiebound.com Barb Schmidt at Warwick‘s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The spiritual adviser will present The Practice, which encourages you to follow a daily routine of being present and letting go. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30. warwicks.indiebound.com

COMEDY Corey Holcomb at American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. The comic just finished working on new seasons of The Ricky Smiley Show and the Adult Swim pilot, Black Jesus. At 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, and 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 26-27. $20. 619-7953858, americancomedyco.com HArden Myrin at Mad House Comedy Club, 502 Horton Plaza, Downtown. You might recognize her from MadTV, Conan, Key and Peel, Inside Amy Schumer and more. At 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 26-27. $20-$30. 619702-6666, madhousecomedyclub.com HThe World According to… Keiko Agena at Finest City Improv, 4250 Louisiana St., North Park. FCI‘s weekly series where they invite a San Diego personality to tell stories. Keiko is best known for the TV show Gilmore Girls, where she played Lane Kim for seven seasons. At 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. $10. finestcityimprov.com

DANCE HTrolley Dances at San Diego City College, 1313 Park Blvd., Downtown. Visit several stops along the trolley line to see sitespecific performances at this annual event.

Beginning at City College, dancers will take to the streets of Downtown and southeastern San Diego. At 10, 10:45 and 11:30 a.m., and 12:15, 1 and 1:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27-28; Saturday and Sunday Oct. 4-5. $15-$35. 619-225-1803, sandiegodancetheater.org Mojalet Dance Collective and Rhythm Talk at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The contemporary dance company teams up with Swiss percussion band Rhythm Talk for a collaborative piece that celebrates both music and movement. At 4 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1. artcenter.org

FASHION HVIXEN Pop Up Boutique at U-31, 3112 University Ave., North Park. There’ll be a runway show from Cecilia Aragon and Andre Soriano, a DJ and live art by North Park artists. From 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. Free before 8 p.m. $10 after.

HRecycled Materials Runway Show at The Centre Escondido, 1205 Auto Park Way, Escondido. A fashion show using recycled, re-purposed materials with a focus on emerging fdesigners. From 6 to 9 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 27. $35 suggested donation. escondidoarts.org HFashion Week San Diego at Port Pavilion on the Broadway Pier, 1000 North Harbor Drive, Downtown. The weeklong event celebrates its seventh year, with runway

Seeing inside the Invisible World

THEATER

Enough already with The Crucible! Arthur Mercy doesn’t want to hear it. Nor does Miller’s 1953 play about the Salem witch tri- blowhard Reverend Peck (Nick Young), hick als is as omnipresent in San Diego this fall as farmer Judah (Christopher Murphy) and sticky weather. It’s the backdrop for La Jolla tavern girl Rebekkah (Olivia Hicks), who Playhouse’s Kingdom City, in which a group embark upon a kangaroo court to convict Abof high-school teenagers putting on the play igail as a witch herself. Into the fray comes begin to act out like Miller’s characters. And an imposing stranger in black (Jorge Rodrinow it’s getting a sequel of sorts at Moxie guez), who all (perhaps even Abigail) believe Theatre, where two of The Cruis Satan himself. cible’s principal figures, Abigail The impromptu trial is awkand Mercy, are seen 10 years after ward and stagey, rescued by the witch trials in Liz Duffy Ad“Satan’s” pre-intermission pyroams’ A Discourse on the Wontechnics. In Act 2, when Abigail ders of the Invisible World. and the stranger are alone on the Regardless of what you think tavern roof, the play’s bombastic about The Crucible, Moxie’s tenor abates and the revelations 10th-season-opening producabout worlds visible and invistion, like Kingdom City, rises and ible, and about what real atrocity falls on its own merits. the witch trials are covering for, A Discourse is a period piece, become clear. Glover and Rodriwith director Delicia Turner guez unearth these discoveries Sonnenberg’s cast in circa-1700 thoughtfully and tenderly. The costumes (nicely designed by play as a whole, however, flirts Jennifer Brawn Gittings). The Jo Anne Glover with comedy and melodrama in setting is a New England tavern equal measure before settling for run with full military vigor by Mercy Lewis pensive discourse. Its spirited cast aside, it (Wendy Waddell), who 10 years earlier had could benefit from another draft. cried “Witch!” and brought about numerA Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisious executions. A surprise visitor to her ble World runs through Oct. 12 at Moxie Thedoor is fellow former “witch hunter” Abi- atre in Rolando. $25-$27. moxietheatre.com gail Williams (Jo Anne Glover), who’s been —David L. Coddon off seeing the world and, more profoundly, finding the tragic wrong in her and Mercy’s Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com. fatal indictments. shows, shopping, after-parties, and more.

Monday, Sept. 29, through Oct. 5. $15$200. fashionweeksd.com

FOOD & DRINK

Sysak, chef at Stone Brewery and professional and certified cicerone. The event will also feature live music and games.

From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. $40-$50. 619-843-2433, sdcheesefest.org

Oktoberfest at Hotel Del Coronado, 1500 Orange Ave., Coronado. Experience a Bavarian-style beer garden on the Hotel Del‘s Sun Deck with authentic food, plus daily keg tappings and live music by German rock band The Broken Stems. From noon to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Sept. 26-28. 619-522-8490, hoteldel.com

HKarl Strauss Oktoberfest at Karl Strauss Brewery Tasting Room, 5985 Santa Fe St., Old Town. Karl Strauss celebrates 25 years in business with 25 beers on tap, VIP brewery tours, hot pretzels, authentic German grub, music by The Young Wild and a commemorative beer stein. From 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept.

27. $15. 858-273-2739, karlstrauss.com

HSan Diego Cheese and Beer Festival at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens Point Loma, 2816 Historic Decatur Road, Ste. 116. Attendees can select up to 12 cheeses and 12 beers, paired by Bill

Taste of Asia at House of Pacific Relations International, Balboa Park. The twoday fest features pan-Asian dishes, Chinese pipa music, Korean, Indian classical and Bollywood dances. There’ll also be

OPENING The Clean House: In case you missed it at PowPAC in June, it’s the story of a woman, her maid who doesn’t like cleaning houses and her husband who falls in love with another woman who’s dying of cancer. Opens Sept. 26 at New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. new villagearts.org Fool for Love: Performed in rotation with True West, Sam Shepard’s drama tells the tale of a woman resisting the offer to return to a dysfunctional existence with an old flame. Presented by Cygnet Theatre, it opens in previews on Sept. 24 at the Old Town Theatre. cygnettheatre.com The Graduate: MiraCosta College’s Theatre Department celebrates its 50th anniversary with the stage adaptation of the classic 1967 film about young Benjamin and that sultry seductress, Mrs. Robinson. Opens Sept.

25 at the MiraCosta Theatre on the Oceanside campus. hub.miracosta.edu/theatre Next to Normal: A gripping musical about a suburban family coping with mother Diana’s bipolar disorder and delusions of her dead son. Presented by San Diego Musical Theatre, it opens Sept. 26 at the North Park Theatre. sdmt.org Rabbit Hole: SDSU’s School of Theatre, Television and Film takes on the story of a husband and wife struggling as they mourn the loss of their 4-year-old son. Opens Sept. 26 in SDSU’s Experimental Theatre. ttf.sdsu.edu True West: Performed in rotation with Fool for Love, Sam Shepard’s dark comedy is about two formerly estranged brothers—younger Austin, a screenwriter, and older Lee, a thief who horns in on Austin’s career. Presented by Cygnet Theatre, it opens in previews on Sept.

25 at the Old Town Theatre. cygnettheatre.com

For full listings,

please visit “T heater ”

free children’s lantern crafts, henna and names written in Chinese. From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 2728. balboapark.org HSpirits of Mexico Festival at Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. The 11th annual festival is the largest tasting event in North America for agave-based and other Mexican spirits. Guests can sample hundreds of premier spirits, and taste Latin-inspired dishes. From 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. $27-$110. 727947-3522, thespiritsofmexico.com HStarlite Seven Day Charity Initiative at Starlite, 3175 India St., Mission Hills. To celebrate its seventh anniversary, Starlite will also offer seven evenings of giving back to local charities, donating a portion of sales to seven local nonprofits. See website

at sdcit ybeat.com

for details and specials. Monday, Sept.

29, through Oct. 5. starlitesandiego.com

HALLOWEEN The Scream Zone at Del Mar Racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar. One of San Diego’s largest Halloween attractions, featuring a huge House of Horror, a Haunted Hayride and a Zombie Paintball Safari.

From 7 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 7 to 11 p.m. all other days. Opens Friday, Sept. 26 and runs through Nov. 1. $18-$32. thescreamzone.com The Haunted Trail at Marston Point, Sixth & Laurel, Balboa Park. San Diego’s only all-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

outdoor haunted attraction. Also features “The Experiment,” which Trail creators call “3,500 square feet of freak infested terror”. From 7 to 11 p.m. weekdays and 7 to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Opens Friday, Sept. 26 and runs through Nov. 1. $19-$26. hauntedhotel.com

MUSIC HThe PICKnic at 98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. A new project called the MARS (Music, Arts, Rhythm, Social Change) Experience will debut its first pop-up event featuring local musicians who’ve chosen nonprofit organizations to represent with their performances. From 7 to 11 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. $10. 619232-6678, facebook.com/MARSFestival

Christopher Hollyday Quartet at Westgate Hotel, 1055 Second Ave., Downtown.

The local foursome specializing in traditional jazz will perform on the Westgate’s pool terrace as part of their Sunset Poolside Jazz Series. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 25. westgatehotel.com HSan Diego School of Rock at Sunset Temple, 3911 Kansas St., North Park. The students of the local rock school will perform a British Invasion show at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, Alice Cooper vs. Kiss at 2 p.m. and a “Best of the 2010-2014s” show at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept 26. $10. 619795-3630, sandiego.schoolofrock.com HBach Collegium San Diego The group opens the 2014-15 season with two concerts featuring the music of Bach’s Leipzig church Thomaskantor tradition.

16 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

Performances are at St. James by-theSea Episcopal Church in La Jolla at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, and at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. $10-$45. 619795-3630, bachcollegiumsd.org

um, Balboa Park. Featured artist Dale Chihuly will perform music by Amirov, Ligeti, Rota, Rachmaninov and Dick Kattenburg accompanied by flute, violin, cello and piano. At 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. $25$30. classicalmusicsandiego.com

La Jolla Library, 7555 Draper Ave., La Jolla. A celebration of international folk music from Kenya, Scotland, Syria, India, Sweden, Venezuela and more, sung in native languages. At 1:15 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. 858-552-1657, sdplsingers.org

HAdams Avenue Street Fair at Normal Heights, Adams Park Lawn & Mansfield St. The two-day music festival celebrates its 33nd anniversary with more than 90 bands spread out over multiple stages and venues. There’ll be beer gardens, carnival rides, food and arts and craft vendors. See website for line-up. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. adamsavenuebusiness.com

Jessie Chang and Friends at First Presbyterian Church, 320 Date St., Downtown.

Internationally acclaimed concert pianist joins four friends from the S.D. Symphony for an evening of chamber music. At 6 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 28. $20. FPCsd.org

AIDS Walk Concert For Life at Heat Bar and Kitchen, 3797 Park Blvd., North Park.

In conjunction with AIDS Walk San Diego, three hours of live music featuring Tori Roze and The Hot Mess, Roman Palacio Group and the Manny Cepeda Trio. From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. $35$40. facebook.com/AIDSWalkSD

Mingle @ the Mingei: A Moment of Happiness at Mingei International Muse-

Vibes Up Strong at Sunset Temple, 3911 Kansas St., North Park. Bands like Vibes Up Strong, Psydecar and Elijah Cruz play a family-friendly concert where kids get in free. At noon Sunday, Sept. 28. $7 suggested donation. sunsettemple.com San Diego Public Library Singers at

Giovanna Gattuso: The King is Dead at Convivio Center, 2157 India Street, Little Italy. The renowned vocalist premieres her new album and video with producerarranger Ted Perlman. At 6:30 p.m. Sun-

Sept. 25. makersquarter.com HOktoberfest in El Cajon at German American Societies of San Diego, 1017 S. Mollison Ave, El Cajon. This authentic German fest features German food, German beers, German liqueurs, oom-pah music, a kids zone and more. From 4 to 10 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 26, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. $5. oktoberfestelcajon.com HSan Diego Modern Home Tour View eight of San Diego’s finest modern and mid-century homes in this self-guided driving tour benefitting the San Diego Architectural Foundation. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. $30-$40. 512535-1801, modernhometours.com

“Plaid Purse” by Milana Braslavsky will be on view in an exhibition featuring Braslavsky and Annette Isham, opening from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at WSOHOIDPS in the Flower Hill Promenade. day, Sept. 28. $5. conviviosociety.org HCurtis Taylor Quintet at New Central Library, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. The local trumpeter and his band are one of the best jazz groups in the city. At this performance, they’re teaming up with acclaimed pianist Kamau Kenyatta. At 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. sandiegolibrary.org

PERFORMANCE HVAMP: Animal Kingdom at Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. So Say We All’s monthly live storytelling show featuring stories about cats, dogs and all the other animals that have made our brief lives on this planet so much weirder. At 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. 619-2846784, sosayweallonline.com

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HMama Tokus at Women’s Museum of California, 2730 Historic Decatur Road, Barracks 16, Point Loma. The “comic performance-poetess” performs poetry on the subjects of womanhood, technology and futurism, as well as age, fashion, music and more. At 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept.

26. $20. womensmuseumca.org HDirty Conversations at TheChurch, 2151 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. Hosted by RAEL J, an open-mic to share your dirty thoughts, sexual triumphs and fails. Closes with a sneak peak of Blk Vlvt, an adultthemed exhibition. From 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. facebook.com/thchrch Adam Deutsch at Room 113, SDSU Storm Hall, 5500 Campanile Drive, College Area. Join a publishing salon with the owner of Cooper Dillon Books and learn the ins-and-outs of working as a poet and running a small press. From 2 to 3:15 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 1. 619-594-5200

SPECIAL EVENTS Lagunitas CouchTrippin’ to NOLA at SILO in Makers Quarter, 753 15th St., East Village. Lagunitas Brewing celebrates its special CouchTrippin Fusion Ale with a “Beer Circus” and performances from the bands Jamestown Revival and Houndmouth. From 6:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday,

National Public Lands Day Restoration Event at Border Field State Park, 1500 Monument Road, San Ysidro. Join the Tijuana River Action Network for a restoration project and help install more than�������� 100 native plants. At 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27.

619-575-3613x330, tjriveraction.net

garden, live music, a bathing suit show, a chili cook-off, children’s area and over 100 vendors. From 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. missionbeachcentennial.org Cabrillo Festival at Cabrillo National Monument, Point Loma Peninsula. A celebration of Cabrillo’s landing on the shores of San Diego Bay. There’ll be educational activities, cultural demonstrations, folkloric performances and vendors. From 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. cabrillofestival.org Bridal Bazaar at San Diego Convention Center, 111 W Harbor Drive, Downtown.

Taste cakes, peruse flowers and gowns and take in a runway fashion show. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. $12.

760-334-5500, bridalbazaar.com HGenome: Unlocking Life’s Code at

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, Balboa Park. Produced by the Smithsonian and the National Institutes for Health, this exhibition highlights developments in the field of genomic research. Opens Sunday, Sept. 28. $14.95-$17.95. rhfleet.org Museum Mash Up at Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, 404 Euclid Ave., Lincoln Park. This family-friendly kick-off of “Kids Free in October,” will feature hands-on projects and live performances From 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept.

28. sandiegomuseumcouncil.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HTwo Scientists Walk Into a Bar Head

over to one of more than a dozen participating bars and ask a scientist anything.

They’ll be easy to spot. Just look for the sign that reads: “We are scientists. Ask us anything!” See website for times and locations. From 5 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. 619-222-1620, rhfleet.org HShattering the Glass Ceiling at New Central Library, Mary Hollis Clark Room, 330 Park Blvd., East Village. Women in professions traditionally dominated by men share their experiences. From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1. unasd.org

For full listings,

please visit “E vents” at sdcit yb eat.com

Book and Craft Sale at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla.

Purchase art and crafts by local artisans.

Proceeds benefit the Athenaeum. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27.

8584545872, ljathenaeum.org Spring Valley Fiesta at Spring Valley Library, 836 Kempton St., Spring Valley.

There’ll be live music, a Ballet Folklorico competition, an art exhibition by muralist Sal Barajas, laser tag, video games, henna tattoos, face painting, low rider cars, food vendors and more. From 1 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 27. sdcl.org HTour de Fat at Golden Hill Park, 2596 Golden Hill Drive. New Belgium Brewing is back for this annual event that features a bicycle parade, performances by The Handsome Little Devils and Beats Antique and beer samples. Proceeds go towards making San Diego a better place to ride bicycles. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. newbelgium.com/events.aspx AFA Vaudeville Variety Show at Point Loma Assembly, 3035 Talbot St., Point Loma. Comedy, music and dance, plus cocktails, vegan hors d’oeuvres, a raffle and games. Proceeds benefit America for Animals. From 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. $15 suggested donation. americaforanimals.org/varietyshow HSan Diego Vintage Market at Mission Bay High School, 2475 Grand Ave., Pacific Beach. Score one-of-a-kind furniture pieces and check out the Loveseat app booth, which will be doing demos and selling furniture from a virtual marketplace. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. sandiegovintagemarket.com Smithsonian Magazine 10th Annual Museum Day Museums across the county will open their doors free of charge. Participating institutions include the Mingei, San Diego History Center, the San Diego Automotive Museum and more. Saturday, Sept. 27. smithsonianmag.com HAIDS Walk at Fifth and University avenues, Hillcrest. Commemorate the 25th anniversary of AIDS Walk & Run San Diego and honor the community’s commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS. From 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27. Donation suggested. aidswalk.org V Elements Festival at Port Pavilion on the Broadway Pier, 1000 North Harbor Drive, Downtown. Enjoy live music, workshops and art and food vendors and decor at this one-day yoga, music and arts festival. From 9 a.m. to midnight. Saturday, Sept. 27. $40-$60. velementsfest.com HMission Beach Centennial Festival at Belmont Park, Mission Boulevard and West Mission Bay Drive. There’ll be a beer

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Kinsee Morlan

Seen Local Barrio art grows again A cool, wedge-shaped building at the corner of Commercial Street and Ocean View Boulevard in Barrio Logan has been transformed from a quiet office space into a buzzing new cultural center.

Acá (1904 Ocean View Blvd.) looks more like a cozy living room than an art gallery, and that’s by design. Artist Mario Chacon— who’ll help curate and program the space along with artist Hector Villegas and a charismatic building manager who prefers to go only by his nickname, Rafa—says the spot is meant to be casual and informal.

“What you’ll see here is not only art on the wall, but art integrated into the nooks and crannies,” Chacon says as he walks through the small building, which also serves as a curio shop featuring mostly vintage goods and knickknacks that Rafa finds around the neighborhood. “When you come in, you’ll feel like you’re kind of at an art show, but in a living room.”

Chacon and Villegas both have small studio spaces inside the building and will serve as resident artists. They’ll show their own work at openings but have already started reaching out to other Chicano artists. They’ll kick things off with a solo exhibition of Chacon’s vivid paintings, opening from 7 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 27.

There’s no website or Facebook page for Acá, and that’s also intentional. At first, at least, they want to keep things somewhat organic and underground, which is why they were somewhat leery of even inviting CityBeat in to take a look.

Mario Chacon (left) and Hector Villegas at Acá “It’s pretty low-rider, low-tech for now,” Chacon laughs.

In fact, while the three know they want to show art and host events like poetry readings, they’re not exactly sure yet what Acá will ultimately become (“Acá,” by the way, translates to “here,” but Rafa says that in cholo slang, it means “cool” or “fresh”).

Currently, it’s a nice place for their friends to hang out and have a cup of coffee. And their friends have helped get the space cleaned up and ready for its public opening.

“We were naming this place today, and we were, like, ‘Acá what?’” says Rafa, a de-facto interior designer with a knack for seeing potential in old buildings (he runs two nearby buildings that have been transformed into community hangouts). “‘Are we a gallery? Are we a store?’ I said, ‘No, we’re a stadium.

We’re a convention center.’ I want to think big…. We could be everything.”

—Kinsee Morlan

Collector’s now a dealer “If you scratch an art collector, you know what you’ll find?” asks Tom Sergott, a local retired plastic surgeon. “An art dealer.”

For years, Sergott’s been adding to his personal art collection. When he retired a few years ago, he decided to get even more involved in the arts and began renting out booths at international art fairs like Art Basel. He represents mostly San Diego artists at the fairs, showing and selling their work, hoping that his contemporary-art-collecting cohorts will start paying more attention to the quality work being produced in his neck of the woods.

Recently, though, the collector-turned-dealer decided to dig even deeper into the local arts scene.

“I’ve been thinking about what more I can do for the arts,” Sergott says. “Supporting local artists with a gallery seemed like a reasonable venture.”

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, Sergott will open his private home in Rancho Santa Fe to the public as Sergott Contemporary Art Alliance Gallery, which will feature new exhibitions every few months. The inaugural show will include nearly 20 local artists, like Duke Windsor, Ellen Dieter, Ingrid Croce, Amos Robinson, Sean Brannan and Sarah Stieber. (Email scaainbox@gmail.com for the address and to RSVP, or hit up sergottart.com for details.)

For each show, Sergott says he’ll donate a percentage of sales to local arts nonprofits. The first show will benefit the San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN), a volunteer-run organization that provides information about and resources for local visual artists.

18 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

Tom Sergott Sergott, who, before he began his medical studies, dabbled in performing arts and documentary filmmaking, says that Patricia Frischer, SDVAN’s founder and coordinator, is one of the main reasons he decided to get involved in San Diego’s art scene.

“I can blame it all on Patricia,” he laughs. “She’s responsible for all this. She’s been a great supporter and advocate for local artists.”

Sergott says he’ll continue to work the art-fair circuit with the San Diego artists he represents, but he says sales have been slow lately. He blames that partly on the market’s oversaturation—new art fairs seem to be popping up everywhere, he says.

“There are just too many now,” he says, adding that he feels there’s more than enough room for another contemporary art gallery in San Diego.

—Kinsee Morlan Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

l l Fa s t r a Fall arts

Here’s what’s covered in our annual survey of cultural happenings in San Diego: San Diego Museum of Art’s Gauguin to Warhol ... and more visual art P.20

Author Chuck Palahniuk’s new novel and raucous reading ... and more literature P.24

The La Jolla Athenaeum’s jazz series

Richard Baird’s New Fortune Theatre Company ... and more theater P.21

Cros One’s Freestyle Session b-boy battle ... and more dance P.26

Rebecca Webb and UCSD’s ArtPower!

... and more music P.27

... and more film P.28

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

Fall arts

Visual Art

Gauguin to Warhol promises a textbook lesson in the evolution of modern art • by Susan Myrland of its holdings, and San Diego is the second stop on the tour.

“This is a big deal,” says Plotek, SDMA’s associate curator of modern art.

“It’s a rare opportunity to see such exemplary pieces, where a Jackson Pollock could be the very best, as is the [Willem] de Kooning, and the [Mark] Rothko, too. It’s the sort of collection that would be very hard to assemble today.”

Albright-Knox is known for making waves, from the highly contentious 1926 purchase of Pablo Picasso’s “La Toilette”—which will be on display at SDMA—to the 2007 decision to sell off hundreds of antiquities, Medieval and Renaissance art in order to buy

20 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

Susan Myrland

Ariel Plotek has to decide where the Van Gogh should go. It’s the 1888 painting “The Old Mill,” done shortly after the artist left a wintry Paris for the warmth of southern France, when he was embracing the interpretive use of color.

The problem is that Plotek has more than 70 works like the Van Gogh, each a masterpiece in its own right. It’s one of the challenges facing the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) with the upcoming Gauguin to Warhol: 20th Century Icons from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, opening Saturday, Oct. 4, and running through Jan. 27.

Balboa Park will be the only West Coast site for the traveling exhibition, which presents key works from 150 years of collecting by the New York-based Albright-Knox Art Gallery. It’s the first time the museum has loaned a significant portion

Lautrec’s “Woman Lifting Her Chemise” to Francis Bacon’s unsettling “Man with Dog.” Gauguin to Warhol provides a standard by which museums can be judged today—to ask whether directors are taking the same risks and making the same investments as the Albright-Knox leadership did. It’s a savvy move for SDMA, kicking off its Balboa Park Centennial programming, and it took a seven-figure check to do it.

Plotek hopes future members will look back at this moment, recalling what it was like to stand before a groundbreaking work of art, take in the details and experience what he calls “the deep satisfaction that I’d rather be nowhere Ariel Plotek (left) and “The Liver is the Cock’s Comb” else than in front of these pieces.

by Arshile Gorky “If it can be done, and we’ve more contemporary from Salvador Dali, Arshile Gorky, made it happen,” he adds, “then it works. Gauguin to Marc Chagall and Frida Kahlo. doesn’t really get any better.”

Warhol shows the Monumental paintings and organization’s com- sculpture require special accomMore art mitment to set the modations. They travel in small Boundaries obliterated: The San Diego cultural pace. It’s a groups, like heads of state, never Art Institute continues down its revamped look at how museums change art, too many on any one vehicle. path with Beyond Limits: Postglobal transforming the avant-garde into SDMA had to rearrange exhibits Mediations, which opens from 6 to 8 p.m. sanctioned blue-chip gems worth that had just gone up. Plotek had Saturday, Oct. 4. Curated by SDAI’s new Ginger Shulick Porcella, and Bramillions of dollars. to choose which pieces would director, zilian curator Denise Carvalho, it features And it’s a rocket ride through receive prime placement on international artists striving to highlight how art history—the greatest hits from SDMA’s tallest walls and how to “the future of the arts lies on a borderless, post-impressionism to pop—with lead the viewer from the alluring instantly recognizable pieces roundness of Henri de Toulouseart CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

Theater

New Fortune Theatre Company set to launch in October •

by

David L. Coddon

Starting a nonprofit theater company from scratch is nothing new to Richard Baird. The actor / director founded San Diego’s Poor Players Theatre back in 2005, producing and performing what he likes to call “garage-band Shakespeare.”

Now, “it’s time for it to grow up,” said Baird, who, nearly a decade later, is at it again, this time with his New Fortune Theatre Company (newfortunetheatre.com). The company, which, at the outset, will stage its shows at Ion Theatre’s BLKBOX space in Hillcrest, premieres Saturday, Oct. 25, with a production of The Bard’s Henry V. Baird will star and co-direct with Matt Henerson from Los Angeles. (It begins with previews Oct. 23 and 24 and runs through Nov. 9.)

Baird’s New Fortune team includes fellow actors Matt Thompson, who will serve as associate artistic director, and Amanda Schaar, the company’s managing director. In addition to producing Shakespeare, New Fortune plans to offer new translations of plays by the notable likes of Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov.

“We seek to make the classics original and to make original classics,” Baird explained in his deep baritone that’s familiar to San Diego theater-goers who’ve seen him perform everywhere from North Coast Rep to The Old Globe. He’s also performed at Chicago Shakespeare and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and let’s not forget the Poor Players, for whom coffeehouses were not uncommon production venues.

You might recall film adaptations of Henry V—Laurence Olivier’s in 1944 or Kenneth Branagh’s in 1989—but the play itself is rarely produced these days. Still, Baird believes “it’s a play that’s always going to be relevant, because there’s always war. Part of the reason Olivier made it was for [Winston] Churchill as an answer to the Germans. Branagh’s film was really an answer to the Falklands. At the risk of being reductive, I’m certainly thinking quite a bit about Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The title role is a complex one.

“Henry V is heroic when he needs to be, a bully when he needs to be, pragmatic when he needs to be,” Baird said, pointing out that he comes from a military family and that he’s the only one who’s never served. This, he jests, is as close as he is going to get.

New Fortune’s production will fea-

Richard Baird as Henry V ture a cast of 14, including Thompson and Schaar, on Ion’s little stage, but Baird relishes the logistical challenge.

“Because of the small space, ‘the chorus’ is certainly telling us we can’t do that in here.”

But do it they shall, along with a moremanageable New Works Reading Series that takes place during the run of Henry V. This series will offer Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (adapted for the stage by Baird) on Monday, Oct. 27, and Matt Thompson’s The Cellar Door on Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Baird’s heart is with Shakespeare, however.

“We’re so focused on clarity that we’ve lost a little of the poetry,” he said of today’s theater. “Grandiosity has its place.”

More Theater

Step in the ring: The Old Globe’s intimate space in the round, the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, should transform itself nicely into a boxing ring when Rachel Chavkin directs The Royale, Marco Ramirez’s play about prizefighter Jay “The Sport” Jackson. Runs Oct. 4 through Nov. 2 at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. $29 and up. theoldglobe.org Old tale, new telling: Yes, the story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame has been told many times and in many ways (let’s not forget Victor Hugo’s original novel), but perhaps never like La Jolla Playhouse will tell it in a musical written by the venerable Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. Runs Oct. 26 through Dec. 7 at La Jolla Playhouse. $15 and up. lajolla playhouse.org Corporate corruption: Always adventurous Moxie Theatre’s second production of its 10th-anniversary season will be Enron, British playwright Lucy Prebble’s take on the 2001 financial scandal. It was originally planned as the closing show of the theater’s eighth season. Runs Nov. 13 through Dec. 7 at Moxie Theatre in Rolando. $20-$40. moxietheatre.com Race relations: San Diego Rep often stages works that examine issues of race, and Honky by Greg Kalleres is no exception. The narrative is ignited by the

theater CONTINUED ON PAGE 25 September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

22 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Fall arts

Literature

Chuck Palahniuk comes to town for a pajama party and a raucous reading of his new novel • by Jim Ruland It’s been 18 years since Chuck Palahniuk published Fight Club and 15 years since David Fincher’s film adaptation, establishing Palahniuk as that rarest of writers: a bestselling author with a cult following.

Although Palahniuk is writing a sequel to Fight Club that will be published by Dark Horse Comics as a 10-issue comic book, he continues to write novels.

Now, as everyone knows, the first rule of Fight Club is do not talk about Fight Club.

Nevertheless, Palahniuk spoke with CityBeat about his explosive new book, Beautiful You, which he refers to as “a female Fight Club.”

“Beautiful You is my attempt to synthesize my father’s kind of pornography and my mother’s kind of pornography,” he said.

The result is a work of erotica that appropriates the style of romance novels. Of course, it being a Chuck Palahniuk story, there’s also “this big, out-of-control conspirAllan Amato acy building in the background that eventually the protagonist has to come to day, Oct. 22, at UCSD’s terms with,” he said.

Mandeville Auditorium.

That would be Penny The event is co-sponsored Harrigan, a New York lawby Warwick’s bookstore yer who discovers that she’s and the UCSD Bookstore. been duped into serving as a He always puts on a show. test subject for a line of sex While some authors bring toys being marketed in a nacookies to readings, Palahtionwide chain of boutiques niuk has been known to called Beautiful You. These make people lose theirs. So, aren’t your ordinary dildos. what can we expect from a “It’s a line of overwhelmbook full of sex toys? ingly fantastic sex toys that “There are going to be drive all of their purchasers Chuck Palahniuk a lot of prizes, a lot of coninto isolation and destroy tests and a lot of throwing things,” he said. all of their intimate relationships.”

And in keeping with Chuck Palahniuk’s That’s where the conspiracy comes in.

Beautiful You, which sounds like a femi- trademark shock and awe, “there’s going to nine hygiene product, has a cult-like power be a reading that will offend.”

Tickets are $35 and include a signed over its customers.

“I wanted [the name of the company to copy of Beautiful You. Guests are encourbe] something euphemistic but also... flat- aged to wear pajamas. And it might be a tering and attractive. And, also, I wanted good idea to bring your own lube. two words—two words that would be enticing but wouldn’t make any sense in and of More Literature themselves.”

That voice, live: Every time author and humorist DaSex for sale is nothing new, but leave it vid Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Famto Palahniuk to turn it into a story of corpo- ily in Corduroy and Denim) makes an appearance on This American Life or his byline shows up in The New rate conspiracy.

“The whole book is about commodified Yorker, the LOLs inevitably follow. ArtPower! will bring the funnyman back to Downtown’s Balboa Theater at experiences,” he explained. “So many of our 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13. $35-$50. artpwr.com peak experiences are things that we buy as On coming home: The literary and performing-arts a commodity, whether it’s a movie or a va- nonprofit So Say We All has successfully tapped into cation or a book.” the famously hard-to-find-and-engage veterans comTo celebrate the book’s release, Palahniuk will throw a pajama party at 7 p.m. Wedneslit CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

24 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

day, Nov. 9, has joined forces with Redwood Media Group, a veteran in the art-fair world. While much will remain the same (Art Labs and other local tie-ins), expect a wider international reach for exhibitors. art-sandiego.com Good and small: The experimental Helmuth Projects gallery in Bankers Hill will bring back its very good Object Object! show, which will open from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1. Dozens of national and international artists will show small works that regular folks can actually afford. helmuth-projects.com Word play: Tijuana artist Marcos Ramírez Erre will experiment with language in his solo show Playing Series Serious, opening at SDSU’s Downtown Gallery from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6. The works will include stylized crosswords, word-search and Sudoku puzzles, plus a large-scale chess game, mazes and more. downtowngallery.sdsu.edu

Theater CONTINUED from PAGE 21 Jim Salvati’s “Polka Dot Dress” will be on view at Art San Diego.

art CONTINUED from PAGE 20 multidimensional circuit of experimentation.” Through Nov. 15. sandiego-art.org

porary Art San Diego’s Downtown location from Friday, Oct. 10, through Feb. 8.

One of her pieces, “Arena,” a small-scale stadium-like structure with seating surrounding a central stage, will be activated with public programming through the duration of the show. mcasd.org

Architecturally articulate: Rita McBride plays with space in her upcoming exhibition, Public Tilt. Her quizzical architectural installations will fill the Museum of Contem-

Onwards, upwards: Art San Diego, the annual contemporary art fair that’ll take over the Balboa Park Activity Center from Thursday, Nov. 6, through Sun-

shooting of an African-American teenager for a pair of basketball shoes. Runs Nov. 8 through Dec. 7 at San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Lyceum Space, downtown. $31$75. sdrep.org A writer’s demons: The title character in Tru is the late author Truman Capote.

The one-man show written by Jay Presson Allen debuted on Broadway (starring Robert Morse of Mad Men fame) in 1989 and ran for almost 300 performances.

Runs Nov. 20 through Dec. 21 at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights. $15-$50. diversionary.org

lit CONTINUED from PAGE 24 munity, offering vets of all ages free creative-writing workshops where they learn to tell their tales in more compelling ways.

Hear their stories when SSWA’s Veteran Writers Masterclass Series launches with a homecoming-themed performance

by Gill Sotu at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, at the San Diego Public Library in East Village. sosayweallonline.com Literary localism: Local author and musician Ben Johnson (A Shadow Cast in Dust) will host the first-ever San Diego Writers Mini Book Fair at Whistle Stop Bar in South Park from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. Scribes include Ted Washington, Justin Pearson, Sunny Rey, Alfred Howard and Vera Sanchez. Meanwhile, this year’s biggest annual book fair, City College International Book Fair, will happen on the campus from Monday, Oct. 13, through Friday, Oct. 17. Local writer Tamara Johnson will be reading from her recently published book Not Far from Normal.

Lyrical ponderings: Local poet Malachi Black’s debut, full-length poetry book, Storm Toward Morning, tackles death, isolation, serenity, the existence of God and other soul-feeding topics. The assistant professor of English and creative writing at UCSD will read from his book at D.G. Wills Books at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15. dgwillsbooks.com Creeps: Write Out Loud’s professional actors will bring to life the creepy-crawly works of grisly greats like Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft in Danse Macabre at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27, at the Old Town Theatre. writeoutloudsd.com

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

Fall arts

Dance Mike Herana

Cros One brings his breakdance competition back to San Diego • by Kinsee Morlan Growing up in the ’80s and ’90s in Paradise Hills, Chris Wright— known to most as Cros One—remembers impromptu breakdance sessions in garages and on street corners on nearly every block of his neighborhood.

“In school, we would even cut class to go and battle in the bathroom,” Cros laughs. “It was everywhere.”

The DJ and former dancer started taking notes at the bigger, tightly produced breaking competitions that started popping up in California, Nevada and Arizona.

He hit up every event he could, networking with other b-boys and girls, and, by 1997, he was ready to throw his own regional event. He expected about 300 people at the first, dubbed “Freestyle Session,” but more than 800 showed up.

Cros’ event quickly snow-

balled, moving to Los Angles and growing to include qualifier competitions around the globe. Last year, the Freestyle Session World Finals were held in Tokyo, attracting more than 300 international breakdance crews.

This year marks 15 years since the event was born in Chula Vista, so Cros decided to mark the anniversary by bringing the now internationally known breakdance battle back home.

From 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 8 and 9, some of the best breakdancers in the world will converge at the World Beat Center and the Centro Cultural de La Raza in Balboa Park for this year’s Freestyle Session World Finals. For $20, spectators can get up-close views of professional dancers battling it out for more than $50,000 in cash prizes

26 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

Omar “Roxrite” Delgado (left) and a shot of Freestyle Session World Finals in Los Angeles in 2012

in both one-on-one and three-onthree crew competitions.

Last year’s winner, Omar Delgado, or Roxrite when it comes to his long, successful breakdancing career, lives in San Diego, so as long as a recent injury doesn’t keep him from competing, he’ll be back to defend his title. Roxrite travels the world to compete and judge breakdance events; he says Freestyle Session is one of the best and most authentic.

“Cros has been doing a lot of big things for the community and the whole worldwide breakdance scene,” he says. “The people who come to the event who don’t know anything about it, they get to see the real essence of our dance, none of this washed-up stuff you see in movies.”

Cros says that while Freestyle Session is focused on breakdancing, it celebrates hip-hop culture as a whole. There’ll be a photography and art exhibition and big-name DJs and MCs will perform, including DJ

Qbert and MC Supernatural.

But Cros says the best part of his events is the feeling people get when spontaneous dance circles start breaking out and everyone simultaneously gets into the groove.

“It’s kind of a cliché thing to say, but at the end of the day, when all these b-boys and fans alike, when we’re all in one place, you can feel it, you don’t even have to talk— you’re just vibin’, you know?”

More Dance

Organisms alive: Pilobolus are the rock stars of the contemporary-dance world.

Their stunts, tricks and visual effects are in high demand, and they’re known for pushing human physicality far beyond what most dancers attempt. They’ll perform at the California Center for the Arts Escondido at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15. $25$50. artcenter.org Engaging experimentations: Malashock Dance is known for its edgy, artistic programming. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, the local contemporary-dance company will launch The Engagement Ring, a new series that promises to engage and interact with audiences in interesting ways. Sadie Weinberg will get things going at Dance Place San Diego in Point Loma’s Liberty Station. Donation requested. malashockdance.org Hello, Vietnam: Vietnamese contemporary-dance company Arabesque will bring “The Mist” to the stage in UCSD’s

dance CONTINUED ON PAGE 29

Music something special.”

The series continues with Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas Sound Prints Quintet on Wednesday, Oct. 15. Anchored by two established players (Lovano on tenor Little library in La Jolla celebrates sax, Douglas on trumpet), the concert will feature interpre25 years of big shows • by Seth Combs tive and improvisational takes on the catalogue of revered jazz For a quarter-century, Daniel At- of hard-bop legends Clay Patrick McBride composer Wayne kinson has lived and breathed opening the series, Shorter. Judging by jazz. He’s neither a performer nor followed by a quintet YouTube videos, the some studious insider or manager, led by two established members have a fethough he does produce an occa- players and concludrocious approach to sional album. He’s just a passion- ing with a more conplaying. It’s almost ate fellow who loves music and temporary, younger as if each is attackhas been booking what’s been one sax man. ing his instrument “That’s what’s of the most respected and revered when his respective concert series in San Diego, even most exciting about solo comes along. if some people may still not know this particular series,” It’s easy to see why Atkinson says. “Each how special it is.

The New York Times represents “I was the one who started the concert said the group’s program all those years ago, and top players from a difClockwise from Left: “rapport seemed all I’ve been running it ever since,” ferent generation and Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas but inexhaustible.” says Atkinson, the Athenaeum the different ways that and Greg Osby Finally, the Greg Music & Arts Library’s jazz pro- they approach jazz.”

The series begins on Thursday, Hubbard live album The Night Osby Four will perform on Saturgram coordinator. “When I first started it in the late ’80s, I had just Oct. 2, with The Cookers, a septet of the Cookers. Trumpeter David day, Oct. 25, featuring young mavcaught the jazz bug myself, and made up of a dream team of hard- Weiss says the group gelled and erick Osby on alto and soprano there was this opportunity to start bop vets (think bebop with touch- expanded their repertoire after saxophone. Atkinson describes Osby’s style as more “contemes of R&B) who, between them, the initial shows. something at the Athenaeum.”

“It was initially hard to get porary” and says it incorporates It seems fitting that this year’s have played with legends like Art jazz series, staged at The Audito- Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Herbie everybody together,” Weiss says. “a hip-hop sensibility.” He’ll be rium at TSRI (The Scripps Ranch Hancock and others. They origi- “We were all still doing other playing with a band that features Institute), is a multigenerational nally started in New York City as projects, but once we did, it just some of the brightest young playshowcase of talent, with a group a tribute act to the 1965 Freddie clicked, and we knew we had ers in the business.

“I think he takes jazz in a direction that it just hasn’t gone before, in terms of the influences of contemporary pop music,” Atkinson says. “But again, every one of the concerts features players that are innovators. These are rare opportunities to see artists who are the top players in their respective fields.”

More Music

Four-string serenades: The Museum of Making Music’s newish exhibition, The Banjo: A New Day for an Old Instrument, is cool and informative, and the companion shows are just as notable. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, banjoist Mark Johnson will play a show with mandolin maestro Emory Lister. And at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, Southern Appalachian native and banjo troubadour Dan Leverson will play. museumofmakingmusic.org Power players: We love UCSD’s ArtPower’s adventurous spirit when it comes to chamber music. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, Tri Minh’s Quartet will mix electronica, acoustic and traditional Vietnamese elements at The Loft. And St. Lawrence String Quartet, which also has a more spontaneous take on the chamber sound, will play at the Conrad Prebys Music Center at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7. artpwr.com So fresh, so serene: The Fresh Sound series continues to be, well, fresh in its 17th season at Bread & Salt in Logan Heights.

New York artist Neil Rolnick will perform

music CONTINUED ON PAGE 29

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Fall arts

Film Keita Funakawa

Rebecca Webb and the future of ArtPower! • by Glenn Heath Jr. ecutive Director Marty Wollesen hired Webb in 2008.

“I had strategic vision to present immersive and multisensory film-going experiences,” Webb says in an email interview, and this lined up with Wollesen’s desire to begin a film program at ArtPower!

The rest is history.

Film programming in San Diego can be a tough gig, primarily because you’re competing with so many other activities to grab the audience’s attention. Webb explains how she approaches this challenge: “ArtPower! is in a unique position, in that we are situated on a research-oriented campus and have access to some of the most creative and innovative thinkers doing fascinating work in the arts and sciences. Collaboration is essential in everything we do.”

One can see this ideology in practice for the Sally of the Sawdust screening, when the Teeny-Tiny Pit Orchestra—helmed by UCSD alumnus Scott Paulson—will lead the audience in the onsite cre-

28 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

ation of sound effects for the film.

There’s rumors that a food component might be involved, too, an ArtPower! staple that has provided audiences with a unique juxtaposition of mediums.

Webb also understands the importance of fostering new and emerging talent, especially from the pool in her institutional backyard. “I am very excited to champion student work by providing opportunities to screen their work at the UCSD Up & Coming Student Film Festival, and this year we are launching a new quarterly, online theater to showcase student films, which will also be broadcast on UCSD-TV.” But it’s the Filmatic Festival that Webb sees as the one place that will connect all of her passions, civic interests and technological goals.

“The event,” she says, “was created to explore the ever-evolving Eddie Cardenas

Recently, UCSD announced that Jordan Peimer, currently the vice president and director of public programs at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, would take over as executive director of ArtPower!, the university’s influential arts organization.

But the appointment of a new head honcho hasn’t been the only big change for ArtPower! (artpwr. com) in the last calendar year; film curator and digital-technology advocate Rebecca Webb spearheaded the first-ever Filmatic Festival earlier in 2014, an event she describes as solely dedicated to “the art and science of cinema.”

Webb also curates the quarterly film programs, the next of which is D.W. Griffith’s Sally of the Sawdust at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, at The Loft on campus. Starring W.C. Fields as a gleeful carnival crook and La Jolla’s very own silent-movie star Carol Dempster, the film is both universally and locally relevant.

Excellent taste is one of the reasons former ArtPower! Ex-

Rebecca Webb (left) and a shot from last year’s Filmatic Festival ways in which we are consuming and creating media, and to celebrate what movies are to become and our experiences of these new forms.”

A few of the components involved are “scientists who visualize / sonify their research findings, physicists who create participatory 3D virtual worlds, video-game designers who create immersive gaming programs, and presentations / workshops that explore the changing nature of our relationship to concepts such as representation vs. reality.”

Like all successful film curators, Webb is constantly ahead of the curve. One has to be when the film medium keeps on morphing into something new.

More Film

Looking good: From Thursday, Oct. 9, through Sunday, Oct. 12, the inaugural San Diego Design Film Festival will screen nine full-length documentaries and four short films that spotlight “advertising, architecture, art, fashion, interiors, landscape and urban planning.” Also scheduled are conversations with filmmakers and designers and a $75 kickoff party at the new 1 Columbia Place building in Little

film CONTINUED ON PAGE 29

Sue Brenner

for its fall performances, happening at various times on Wednesday, Oct. 8, and Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11 and 12, at the Lyceum Theatre at Horton Plaza, Downtown. But artistic director Peter G. Kalivas explains that his goal is to reach audiences wherever they are and provide affordable and accessible world-class dance. $15-$20. thepgkdanceproject.org Up-close: Famed dancer Isadora Dun-

dance CONTINUED from PAGE 26 Mandeville Auditorium at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15. The performance tells the tale of the simple life of rice farmers through an

music CONTINUED from PAGE 27 mashed and sampled compositions solely on a laptop at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10.

The series closes at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, with Tim Hodgkinson and Ramón Amezcua (aka Bostich of Nortec Collective fame), who’ll combine electronic music with clarinet and lap-steel guitar. freshsoundmusic.com Center stage: The California Center for the Arts in Escondido is celebrating its 20th anniversary in style with more bigname concerts than we could possibly list here, but highlights include Latin-rockers

film

The PGK Dance Project CONTINUED from PAGE 28 eye-catching piece of choreography. $28$46. artpwr.com Back to the stage: The PGK Dance Project is known for its adventurous San Diego Dances series that brings professional performances to unexpected venues. That’s why it’s surprising to see the group express itself at a traditional venue La Santa Cecilia on Friday, Oct. 10; ukulele prodigy Jake Shimabukuro on Friday, Oct. 31; country legend Merle Haggard on Wednesday, Dec. 10; and more than a dozen others. Shows start at 7:30 p.m. artcenter.org Sing on: After all the recent drama, we’re excited about the upcoming San Diego Opera season, but it doesn’t start ‘til January. Meantime, check out the free Opera Exposed, which features up-and-coming singers performing selections from Puccini, Gounod, Mozart and more, with opera educator Nicolas Reveles providing background. It happens at libraries and venues throughout the county from Oct. 5 through Jan. 10.

Times vary. sdopera.com

Italy. The fest is part of the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s Archtoberfest.

The movies will be shown at Reading Gaslamp Cinemas. Screenings are $15 each. sddesignff.com Scary flicks: It’s going to be horrible, and that’s the point. The Horrible Imaginings Film Festival at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park promises gruesome kitsch with dozens of short films and at least one feature-length flick each night. On Friday, Oct. 10, a zombie-theme lineup will include a presentation by a neuroscientist on the walking dead. On Saturday, Oct. 11, films about madness and exploitation run throughout the day. On Sunday, Oct. 12, science-fiction fans can indulge. Day passes are available for $17 on Friday and $30 Saturday and Sunday. A weekend pass is $70.50. hifilmfest.com Buon Cinema: The eighth annual San Diego Italian Film Festival will showcase more than a dozen films produced in Italy during the last year-and-a-half, many of which have yet to show in the U.S. From Thursday, Oct. 16, to Saturday,

can’s habit of small, intimate performances in patrons’ in-home salons in the early 1900s is the inspiration for The Patricia Rincon Dance Collective’s ongoing Salon Dances series, the next of which happens at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9, at the Encinitas Library. Get an intimate view when the local dance company performs original choreography by Natalia Valerdi.

Donation requested. rincondance.org Oct. 25, the festival will feature a variety of genres, including drama, comedy and documentary. Showings take place at the Museum of Photographic Arts (1649 El Prado in Balboa Park) and La Paloma Theatre (471 S. Coast Hwy. 101 in Encinitas). Tickets are $10 and cash only. san diegoitalianfilmfestival.com Asian invasion: More than 120 movies from around the world will be showcased during the 10-day-long San Diego Asian Film Festival, from Thursday, Nov. 6, through Saturday, Nov. 15. This year, organizers will whet—nay, satisfy—your appetite with “Chew the Scene,” a $35 event at the McMillan Event Center in Liberty Station that’ll dish up Asian food from around San Diego. Check back early in the fall for the full schedule: pacarts.org.

Pencil-mustache man: Pink Flamingos, Polyester, Hairspray, Cry Baby—John Waters is one of the most creative and quirky filmmakers in American history.

He’s also an accomplished photographer, an author of six books and the guest star of one of the best-ever episodes of The Simpsons, the eighth season’s “Homer Phobia.” At 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, Waters will give what will assuredly be an entertaining talk at the North Park Theatre, for those 21 and older. Tickets are $40. thenorthparktheatre.com

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

Escape plans Tracing a complicated exodus from war

by Glenn Heath Jr. Very few war documentaries consider life beyond the front lines. Even fewer contemplate the cultural and social overlap that occurs when occupying soldiers and local citizens cohabitate for a long period of time. New professional relationships and multicultural families are forged, reminders that victory isn’t the only thing at stake when war reaches critical mass.

The Last Days of Vietnam sees each of these ideas as focal points in the telling of America’s final protocol to get his Vietnamese colleagues out of the withdrawal from Saigon, a layered and critical mo- country without his superiors’ consent. ment in history that signifies something beyond Untold stories like these are what make The Last merely a Communist victory over U.S. foreign policy. Days of Vietnam so affecting. It’s a meticulous docuConstructed like a thriller in which an entire city mentary that finds grand meaning in small human races against time to escape, the film stitches togeth- decisions made under pressure. No one felt more reer rare archival footage with revealing interviews to sponsibility than the bullish Martin, a North Carolinbuild tension. Countless stories converge, forming an ian who’d lost a son in the war. On April 29, 1975, he unimaginable grid of crisscrossing scenarios, some finally acquiesced to the evacuation of U.S. military that will end happily and others bound for despair. forces and Vietnamese citizens who’d either worked Director Rory Kennedy uses both American and for or collaborated with the Americans. Chinook heVietnamese perspectives to convey the complexity licopters spent nearly 18 hours taxiing refugees from of those waning days before the capital fell. the embassy to ships anchored off the coast. Within The Last Days of Vietnam provides a certain level this timeline, Kennedy finds a treasure trove of imof context in the opening moments for those view- portant moments that showcase the courage and ers not up on their Vietnam War history, specifically desperation organic to a city under siege. the enactment and failure of the While Martin and his staff 1973 Peace Accords spearheaded were airlifting thousands of civilThe Last Days

by President Richard Nixon in ians from the embassy, Special order to establish a détente beForces advisor Richard Armitage of Vietnam tween the warring parties. CIA was instrumental in leading the Directed by Rory Kennedy analyst Frank Snepp calls the naval evacuation of the Saigon Starring Stuart Herrington, pact signed in Paris “a masterport. With the help of naval officer Frank Snepp, Richard Armitage piece of ambiguity,” referring to Kim Diem, the two men guided and Kim Diem the blurry end game if the North more than 30 ships out to Con Son Not Rated Vietnamese forces did indeed viIsland and then on to the Philipolate the terms and invade. They pines for safe passage. Armitage did just that on March 10, 1975, emerges an integral presence in swooping south and conquering one province after The Last Days of Vietnam, a man who’d worked closely the next with deadly force. with local soldiers throughout his three tours in counKennedy charts the few months leading up to the try. “Eventually, you’re able to dream in Vietnamese,” he North’s final descent on Saigon, including freshly says frankly. So much was on the line during this mass minted President Gerald Ford’s attempt to provide exodus, including the future of many relationships. aid despite homegrown and congressional angst reIf America’s tragic involvement in Southeast Asia garding any legislation associated with the conflict. remains increasingly resonant as the years pass, it’s beOn the ground, U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin cause films like The Last Days in Vietnam—which opens stubbornly held on to the notion that the eroding Friday, Sept. 26, at the Ken Cinema and runs through South Vietnamese army would defend the city, leav- Thursday, Oct. 2—challenge the Cliff’s Notes of history ing U.S. military personnel in a precarious bind when and force us to readdress ideas and assumptions that it came to evacuating local friends and family mem- have long been ingrained in the public psyche. bers. Army Capt. Stuart Herrington saw the situation as “a moral dilemma” and decided to take matters Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com into his own hands, enacting a subversive extraction and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Glitz and glam

Bad Country

30 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

The San Diego Film Festival (SDFF), which runs Wednesday, Sept. 24, through Sunday, Sept.

28, at multiple theater locations, occupies an interesting space on the local arts calendar. A Downtown-based, party-centric event, SDFF presents a glitzy image in the vein of Toronto or Sundance.

It’s a different kind of focus than

San Diego’s other film festivals, which select their programming based largely on identity and ethnicity, often to advance the missions of the nonprofits that organize them.

SDFF’s marketing campaign has been in full swing lately, highlighting the Hollywood films, stars, industry folk and critics who’ll grace San Diego with their presence. Celebrities slated to at-

tend include the great Alan Arkin (Little Murders), talented actress Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby Gone), Beau Bridges, Alison Pill and Saginaw Grant.

Two of the marquee titles star Reese Witherspoon. Wild, which opens the festival, tells the story of a traumatized woman who undertakes a solo hike across America in order to recover from a recent tragedy. A Good Lie dramatizes the journey of Sudanese refugees coming to America after escaping a life of violent unrest.

Other films of interest include the Oscar favorite The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch, the Keira Knightley comedy Laggies and You’re Not You with Hillary Swank. Most of these films will be at local multiplexes in a few months. Bad Country, a Willem Dafoe-starring neo-Western that looks very promising, provides an edgier option.

Despite its glitzy façade, SDFF does show narratives, documentaries and shorts from around the world. There are even a few with local importance. Chelsea’s Light: A Brother’s Story, a 30-minute documentary about the Chelsea King murder, was conceived by her teenage brother Tyler.

Parties, industry functions and critic panels (unfortunately, no San Diego film writers were asked to be involved) will take place throughout the five-day event.

Individual film tickets, panel and party covers, day passes, festival passes and VIP passes range from $15 to $500. Get all the details at sdfilmfest.com.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

Opening Hector and the Search for Happiness: Simon Pegg plays a conflicted psychologist who leaves his humdrum life in London to travel the globe and research what makes people happy.

Jimi: All is by My Side: Andre Benjamin takes on the role of legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix in this biopic about the musician’s rise to fame.

Last Days in Vietnam: Documentary that uses archival footage and interviews to explore the timeline of the United States’ military withdrawal at the end of the Vietnam War. See our review on Page 30.

The Boxtrolls: An evil exterminator threatens a community of cave-dwelling trash collectors who’ve raised a young, orphaned boy as their own.

The Equalizer: Denzel Washington takes names and kicks ass in this remake of the 1980s television show.

San Diego Film Festival: Stars, feature films, documentaries and short films will be showcased throughout this five-day event beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 24.

See our story on Page 30.

Tracks: Mia Wasikowska plays a young woman who goes on an epic journey across the deserts of western Australia

with her animal companions.

Vivir es Facil con Ojos Cerrados: Antonio (Javier Camara), an English teacher and diehard Beatles fan, goes on a road trip in 1966 and attempts to meet John Lennon. Screens through Oct. 2 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

One Time Only In Secret: Elizabeth Olson is one unhappy camper in this period-piece melodrama about unrequited love and desire.

Screens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, at the Mission Valley Library.

Crazy Bitches: A group of vain women learn the true lesson of beauty as they’re picked off one by one during a weekend getaway. Screens at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, at Hillcrest Cinemas.

Ends Sept. 24 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

reunite after both escape death on the same day.

Take Me to the River: The Memphis music scene gets an in-depth documentary that follows a new album featuring legends from Stax Records. Ends Sept.

25 at the Ken Cinema.

The Zero Theorem: Christoph Waltz stars as a genius computer programmer in Terry Gilliam’s mad-hatter film set in a fantastical future dystopia. Ends Sept. 25 at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them: James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain play a couple who try to reclaim their relationship after experiencing a traumatic event.

This is Where I Leave You: Four grown siblings are forced to return home after their father passes away and states in his will that they must all live under the same roof for a week. It stars Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Jane Fonda.

The Maze Runner: In this science-fiction film, a community of boys tries to escape an elaborate maze after being kidnapped and having their minds erased.

The Skeleton Twins: Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play estranged twins who

Tusk: In this horror film by Kevin Smith, a writer goes missing after interviewing a mysterious seafarer, causing his best friend and girlfriend to follow in search.

Dolphin Tale 2: Even a dolphin needs to

find love.

No Good Deed: Idris Elba plays an excon with dangerous intentions who seduces Taraji P. Henson’s devoted housewife in Sam Miller’s erotic thriller.

The Drop: When a robbery goes wrong, a low-level thug (Tom Hardy) must lean on friends and enemies alike to survive. It’s the final film starring James Gandolfini.

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

Koch Brothers Exposed: This 60-minute documentary compiles viral videos that depict David and Charles Koch’s negative impact on American life. Screens at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 25, at the Women’s Museum in Point Loma’s Liberty Station.

The Goonies: They never say die.

Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

Casablanca: Bogie decides to give a damn at the end of this classic Michael Curtiz film co-starring Ingrid Bergman and Claude Raines. Screens at 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 25, through Saturday, Sept. 27, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Up: The first 10 minutes will make you cry; the rest will warm your heart. Screens at dusk on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Santa Clara Recreation Center in Mission Beach Park.

Mean Girls: “You go Glen Coco!” Not one but two people have said this to our film writer, Glenn Heath, in the last week.

Screens at midnight on Saturday, Sept.

27, at the Ken Cinema.

Gone with the Wind: Watch Clark Gable not give a damn in this epic Civil War saga that’s considered one of the great Hollywood films of all time. Screens at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, and Wednesday, Oct. 1, at various theaters. Visit fathom events.com for details.

In the Mood for Love: Wong Kar-wai’s sensual, swooning Hong Kong romance is one of the most astounding films about love you’ll ever see. Screens at 5 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 28, at Arclight La Jolla.

Least Among Saints: A soldier returning home from war befriends a teenager in need of help and guidance. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29, at San Diego Public Library in East Village.

Night Moves: A trio of eco-terrorists blow up a dam in Oregon, then have to face the consequences when their action causes an innocent bystander to drown. Screens at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, at the Point Loma / Hervey Branch Library.

Now Playing A Walk Among the Tombstones: Liam Neeson scours the dark underbelly of the city in Scott Frank’s ghoulish crime film, looking for the killer of a drug kingpin’s beautiful wife.

My Old Lady: Kevin Kline plays an American who inherits an apartment in Paris that houses a mysterious resident. It co-stars Kristin Scott Thomas and Maggie Smith.

Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation: Documentary about one of the most famous architectural projects ever, Antoni Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

ryan

Well, That was awkward

Bradford What to expect on your 10-day vegan-juice cleanse You begin as a decent guy. Remember that.

You count out five protein pills and place them on You’re a decent guy staring down the barrel of the back of your tongue to reduce the bitterness. a 30th birthday, and you’ve spent the last decade You float through the second day. On the way home indulging in pedestrian vices that have taken their from work, you make the mistake of walking through toll on your body. A recent examination of the Body North Park’s farmers market, and suddenly your SpiMass Index puts you just in the “overweight” catedey sense is activated. The food trucks, the Indian gory. You tell yourself that it’s probably just muscle. food—hell, even the organic soaps beg you to eat them.

You vaguely remember hearing something about You run madly to the Redbox in an attempt to escape Tom Cruise being “obese” by BMI standards. It the delicious aromas, end up renting The Lego Movie cheers you up briefly. and then get pissed when your food-deprived brain But it’s not muscle. It was never muscle. can’t keep up with the self-aware references.

You decide to start your 30s by kick-starting You switch to Lars von Trier’s Antichrist, and duryour health. You remember your mom mentioning ing the scenes of genital mutilation, you feel nothing. a juice cleanse she recently completed. At the time, Days 3 and 4: Everything sucks. Cranky. Tired. you dismissed it, but now you’re calling her like a A constant need to urinate. Can’t even muster the junkie. “Overweight” keeps flashing in your mind. effort to use pronouns.

She hooks you up with a company that doesn’t You gauge time with child-like simplicity: I will sell diets but “transformations.” You sign up for the be able to eat in six more sleeps. There’s nothing to “10-Day Celebrity Transformation.” do except watch movies, read or play on the InterThe package comes and you see the majority of net. Alcohol turns out to be pretty easy to ditch, but the “food” you’re going to eat for the next 10 days, you realize how much dining is tied to your social distilled into two giant, plastic capsules and a bottle life. A drive past a Jersey Mike’s sandwich shop of pills. Your wife wonders, in earnest, if one can die triggers grief-like symptoms. You mostly stay inside from such a diet. “We’ll see,” you say. and away from people. You consider the aesthetic Day 1: It’s not even three hours in, and you want qualities of boredom and how every model in every it to be over. “Lack” becomes your Sesame Street magazine looks bored. word of the day. The emptiness Maybe that could be me, you feels like a weight inside you. think while taking the ninth piss of Everything sucks.

You drink a power shake, and the day. it tastes simultaneously delicious Day 5: Your wife exclaims that Cranky. Tired. and repulsive, like strawberry-flashe “hates The Cleanse”—The A constant need to vored Nesquik and rabbit pellets.

Cleanse now being a nefarious tiBetween this and the 15 protein tle, an evil that possesses you. She urinate. Can’t even pills you shove down your throat hates that you can’t eat, go out or do muster the effort each day, this cleanse also marks a anything fun together. You exclaim: reintroduction to your gag reflex.

“What’s so bad about a nutritionto use pronouns. ally rich, vegan diet?!” It’s promoYou sneak into a gym to use tional copy from the company and a scale. Prison-rules dieting, you maybe the most pretentious thing you’ve ever said think for some reason. You feel sorry for everyone aloud. You watch her eat dinner by herself. in there, improving their bodies the old-fashioned Days 6 through 9: The process becomes routine, way. Suckers, you think. Smugness is the best feeland you begin to see the benefits of “transforming”: ing you’ll have today. maintained levels of energy throughout the day, conFor dinner, you mash up an avocado and eat it siderably less anxiety and the frequent shitstorms that with slices of cucumber. You eat savagely, this bearise from your suspected-but-ignored lactose intoling your first solid of the day. Before bed, you drink erance and caffeine-intake disappear. The changes in your fiber shake, which looks and tastes like someyour physical shape are subtle, but you walk around body dropped a cup into a river. Your nightcap is with an unexplainable feeling of tightness, as if you’re two tablespoons of cherry concentrate in water, and becoming more compact. And that vile, sedimentaryyou consider saying a holy invocation upon tasting filled fiber shake begins to taste good. a recognizable flavor, but you don’t because that Day 10: You’ve lost 10 pounds, but your wife is would connote your belief in God, which, after enout of town visiting family. You celebrate alone. during the first day, doesn’t exist.

The day after: huevos rancheros. It’s the dish you’ve Day 2: Upon waking, you feel great. You strut— been dreaming about for 10 days—the first meal after strut!—downstairs to greet the accolades and recogfull transformation. You wonder what long-term imnition of the sacrifices you’ve endured for one day pacts The Cleanse has brought, both evil and good. of doing the absolute basic requirements of a (let’s The dish arrives. You sink your fork into the face it: pretty common) nutrition program. steaming eggs, cheese and salsa. You hold it in front The euphoria is short-lived once you see plastic of your face. You hesitate. capsules containing your daily regimen of powders and pills. The realization hits you: You have to do Write to ryanb@sdcitybeat.com another day of this. and editor@sdcitybeat.com.

Not just another day, but nine more days.

32 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

ome Come

Victoria Davis

together together

“I can’t really envision a time when that won’t be [the case],” Beeler says. “We’re definitely a live band, and most of the energy comes from us all playing together, everybody facing each other, standing on the same carpet in the same room.”

Which brings us back to Ought’s “band day.” Turns out it was the first truly productive such day after a couple of practices that produced little, Beeler says. When you’re committed to tackling the creative process as a team, those kinds of dead-ends are going to happen.

“When you have four people who have good chemistry… you can really go a lot of different places, but you kinda have to go some places you wouldn’t necessarily want to go sometimes in order to facilitate the staying-togetherness,” he says. “You have to be willing to check out avenues that [your bandmates] are putting down. It’s sort of like if everybody’s trying to hold up an egg with four corners of a pillow. Sometimes you walk a direction you didn’t really want to walk, but you do it ’cause you’re trying to Oct. 10 keep it all together.”

Ought’s origin story is Soda Bar rooted in Quebec’s 2012 oughtontheint “Maple Spring,” in which ernet.tumblr.com students took to the streets to protest proposed tuition increases. It was a movement that Ought witnessed firsthand and drew inspiration from, though More Than Any Other Day is as much about what comes after the high of activism as it is about the activism itself: “Today, more than any other day / I am prepared to make a decision between 2-percent and whole milk!” Beeler sings on the album’s title track.

“Coming down at the end of [the protests], you’re confronted with the idea that you can’t access that all the time and that that isn’t a… reality anymore,” he says. “You’re thinking about that bigger stuff but then confronting the small stuff and finding despair and anxiety in that, but also retaining a good deal of the hope and uplift and thinking about how you can tack that onto the shit.”

So, the members of Ought aren’t marching through Montreal’s streets with thousands of their peers anymore, but that’s OK. These days, they find hope and release and solidarity in a much smaller group. So far, theirs is a creative collective that thrives on dependence and produces not only a sturdy bond, but also music that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

“If there were a song that I’d written on an acoustic guitar and I could play that at home or whatever, that’s all well and good. But then... the time when we can all get together and play it isn’t as [exciting],” Beeler says. “If we can only play it together, then you’re excited to play every time.”

OOught ught

Indie rockers Ought thrive on the dependence they have on each other

by Ben Salmon From left: Tim Beeler, Ben Stidworthy, Tim Keen and Matt May

T

he Montreal-based band Ought is home between tours, but that doesn’t mean its four members are giving each other the kind of space they crave after weeks on the road.

In fact, guitarist and vocalist Tim Beeler answers the phone for a chat with CityBeat in the apartment he shares with keyboardist Matt May and drummer Tim Keen.

(Bassist Ben Stidworthy lives just down the street.) And he does so near the end of a “band day” spent together, handling some business and jamming.

“We’ve been doing these really long daytime practices, trying to write new material,” Beeler says. “We’ve been playing the same songs for a long time.”

Many of those songs make up Ought’s debut album, More Than Any Other Day, released in April by the venerable Constellation Records label, which is headquartered not far from Ought’s practice space in Montreal’s artsy Mile End neighborhood. Constellation is best known as the home of sprawling post-rock giants Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as well as free-jazz noisemakers like Colin Stetson and Matana Roberts, which makes More Than Any

Other Day—an eight-song bundle of nervy indie rock—a bit of an outlier on its own label.

Across the album, recorded at Montreal’s Hotel2Tango studio, Ought sound more like a machine than a band, the individual parts entering from all sides, interlocking effortlessly and then chugging along in post-punk time.

The rhythm section of Keen and Stidworthy is powerful and precise, and Beeler showers the songs with shards of wiry guitar while his wild-eyed yelp recalls David Byrne (a comparison he’s no doubt tired of ) and Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

“Tell me what to do, when to feel alive,” he deadpans on “The Weather Song,” which burbles blithely behind its verses before blooming into the album’s catchiest chorus, during which Beeler so urgently declares, “I just wanna revel in your lies” that he often bites off the final word of the song’s signature lyric.

Beeler writes the words, but he doesn’t write the songs.

No individual does; every Ought song so far has been composed collectively by the band during a jam, he says. It’s an integral part of how these four guys work.

Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

notes from the smoking patio Work songs Every so often, musicians and the music industry face new challenges when it comes to adapting to emerging technologies, such as changes in physical mediums (vinyl records, CDs, etc.), dealing with downloading and, more recently, whether musicians are being fairly compensated when their music is streamed on sites like Pandora, Spotify and YouTube. Technology is constantly evolving, and as it does, there will always be organizations fighting for artists’ rights. The demand remains consistent: Musicians should be paid fairly for their work.

It’s this struggle that’s at the center of SDSU professor Michael James Roberts’ new book, Tell Tchaikovsky the News: Rock ’n’ Roll, the Labor Question and the Musicians Union, 1942-1968 (Duke University Press). An unabashed organized-labor supporter, Roberts uses the example of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM)—once the most prestigious and authoritative musicians’ labor union, representing thousands of artists—as an example of how organized labor can get stuck in its ways and, as a result, hurt the overall mission.

“The AFM was opposed to rock ’n’ roll in the early years, because they thought that rock music was a fad that would not last,” Roberts

34 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

says in an interview with CityBeat. “That attitude cost them dearly, however, as rock would soon dominate the entire music industry.”

Roberts’ book also addresses the AFM’s early successes fighting for musicians’ rights. In the 1940s, when radio shows started replacing live music with recorded music—resulting in the AFM losing tens of thousands of members— the union reached an agreement with major record labels to create a fund for out-of-work musicians.

“It was truly a revolutionary labor contract,” Roberts says, “because it proved that big corporations have the resources to compensate workers that lose their jobs when they are replaced by technology.”

Roberts says his book should appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in the history of popular music, as well as the history of organized labor, especially in the post-recession

world, where unions are steadily in decline. And while the AFM today, in Roberts’ words, “still has an important presence in the music industry,” he argues that its reluctance to accept new styles of music ultimately led to it losing a lot of ground.

“The decline of the AFM parallels, in many ways, the decline of the labor movement in the U.S. more generally,” Roberts says. “I argue that a main reason why the union lost power and influence in the industry is because they took a conservative cultural stance on music and popular culture…. Really, the lesson I draw from this story is that the labor movement needs to be more hip.”

Roberts will discuss Tell Tchaikovsky the News at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept.

27, at D.G. Wills Books in La Jolla.

—Seth Combs Write to editor@sdcitybeat.com.

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 35

if i were u

BY Seth Combs

Wednesday, Sept. 24 PLAN A: LP, Zella Day, Island Boy @ The Casbah. Despite her highly ungoogleable moniker, LP (Laura Pergolizzi) has developed a devoted following thanks to a soaring vocal range and a keen sense for pop hooks (you might remember her song “Into the Wild” from a Citibank commercial). The more campy, electro-tinged Zella Day and local band Island Boy are definitely worth showing up early for. PLAN B: James Supercave, Viv Vates, R.A. Rosenborg @ Soda Bar. Echo Park-based Supercave specialize in highly danceable jangle-pop with branches on the same musical family tree as Destroyer and Of Montreal.

Thursday, Sept. 25 PLAN A: King Tuff, Feels, Grand Tarantula @ The Irenic. Kyle Thomas is the THC-laced brain behind the garage-pop sounds of King Tuff, and, judging by the new record, Black Moon Spell, he hasn’t lost his penchant for stoner riffs and clever turns of phrase. It looks and sounds like Judah Friedlander fronting T. Rex. PLAN B: Fat Tony, Cali Cam, The Travelers Club DJs @ Soda Bar. I don’t know if I listened to any rap song more in 2012 than Fat Tony’s “BKNY,” a loving tribute to Brooklyn from the perspective of a visitor (Tony’s from Houston). Oh, and he’s named after a Simpsons character, so that’s a bonus.

BACKUP PLAN: Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes, Rebecca Jade & The Cold Fact, Wild Roses, Tori Roze and the Hot Mess @ The Casbah.

Friday, Sept. 26 PLAN A: Easy Star All-Stars, Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad, Tatanka @ Belly Up Tavern. Reggae cover bands aren’t usually my cup of Jah, but this rotating collective of, well, all-stars, has put out some amazing reinterpretations of classic albums like Radiohead’s OK Computer and M.J.’s Thriller since forming in 2003. PLAN B: Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, River City, Grampadrew and the Gut Strings @ The Casbah. The headliners have been churning out a clever mix of country, rockabilly and blues since 1992, with Cessna delivering his lyrics like some lapsed Pentecostal preacher who gave up God for booze and broads. BACKUP PLAN: Goldie @ The Merrow.

Saturday, Sept. 27 PLAN A1: The Burning of Rome, The Nervous Wreckords, Hills Like Elephants, Grampadrew, Cash’d Out and more @ Adams Avenue Street Fair.

There isn’t a better chance to see some of

36 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

the best local bands in the city than this free (!) annual street fest. Be sure to catch freakrockers The Burning of Rome, the surf-rock inspired Flaggs and acoustic wuss Josh Damigo. And since it wraps up at 10, you’ll have just enough time to catch… PLAN A2: Temples, Wampire, Fever the Ghost @ Belly Up Tavern. The Brits in Temples are all the buzz in their home country, and their debut, Sun Structures, has enough Nuggetsesque psych-pop to hold you over ’til the next Tame Impala LP. Even Oasis’ Noel Gallagher likes them, and that fool doesn’t like anything.

Sunday, Sept. 28 PLAN A1: The Album Leaf, The Loons, The Midnight Pine, The Bedbreakers, Kevin Martin and more @ Adams Avenue Street Fair. Same as Saturday. Be sure to check out soul goddess Missy Andersen, folksters The Midnight Pine and the mellow electro of The Album Leaf before heading Dan Monick down the street to… PLAN A2: Merchandise, Lower, Statues of God @ Kensington Club. The easy references are there for Tampa’s Merchandise: The Smiths, Talk Talk and Echo and the Bunnymen, and almost every song sounds like it was written for the closing credits of Pretty in Pink. Poppy King Tuff as they can be, they balance it with strange sonic experimentations that are especially impressive on stage. BACKUP PLAN: The Curtis Taylor Quintet featuring Kamau Kenyatta @ Central Library.

Monday, Sept. 29 PLAN A: Orenda Fink, The Midnight Pine, Gayle Skidmore @ The Casbah.

One-half of now-revered indie-folk duos Azure Ray and O+S, Orenda Fink continues to release ethereal dream-pop as a solo artist. Her new album, Blue Dream, is filled with bittersweet symphonies on life and the meaning of death. So, yeah, no mosh pits at this show. BACKUP PLAN: La Luz, Flaggs, Splavender @ Soda Bar.

Tuesday, Sept. 30 PLAN A: Felice Brothers, Spirit Family Reunion @ Soda Bar. For nearly a decade, the Brooklyn-based Brothers have been tinkering with Bob Dylan and the Band’s Basement Tapes sound, and the results have mostly been good (2008’s The Felice Brothers, for example). Still, their live show is the best way to experience them. PLAN B: The Picturebooks @ Tower Bar. I fully expect to hear this German duo’s brooding mix of blues and hard-rock on an episode of Sons of Anarchy any day now.

HOT! NEW! FRESH! Yasiin Bey a.k.a. Mos Def (HOB, 10/13), Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe (North Park Theater, 10/24), Big Ups (The Hideout, 10/25), Tegan and Sara (North Park Theater, 11/15), United Nations (Casbah, 11/15), Water Liars (Soda Bar, 11/16), The White Buffalo (BUT, 11/21), Michael Franti (BUT, 11/22), O.A.R., Matt Nathanson (California Center for the Arts, 12/6), Taj Mahal Trio (BUT, 2/19), Celtic Thunder (Balboa Theatre, 2/26), Don Williams (Balboa Theatre, 3/3).

CANCELED Children of Bodom (HOB, 11/2).

GET YER TICKETS DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist (HOB, 10/1), Boys Noize, Baauer (SOMA, 10/2), Pinback (HOB, 10/4), Chromeo (SOMA, 10/8), 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 (North Park Theatre, 10/18), Metronomy (BUT, 10/19), Charli XCX (HOB, 10/21), Tinariwen (BUT, 10/21), Carcass (Brick

by Brick, 10/24), Daryl Hall and John Oates (Open Air Theatre, 10/25), Warpaint (North Park Theatre, 10/25), Jenny Lewis (HOB, 10/25), Phish (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 10/25), Ab-Soul (SOMA, 10/26), Delta Spirit (BUT, 11/1), Iceage (Casbah, 11/3), Rhye (North Park Theatre, 11/6), Eyehategod, Today is the Day (Soda Bar, 11/7), Rob Machado

Foundation benefit w/ The All-American Rejects, P.O.D., Goo Goo Dolls (BUT, 11/10-11), Hot Water Music (Irenic, 11/12), Death From Above 1979 (HOB, 11/12), Blonde Redhead (HOB, 11/15), The Misfits (HOB, 11/16), The Ready Set, Metro Station (HOB, 11/22), Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Viejas Arena, 11/28), Jonathan Richman (Casbah, 12/2), Pallbearer (Soda Bar, 12/6), Dick Dale (BUT, 12/21), Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven (BUT, 12/30).

Club. Demi Lovato at Viejas Arena. Jeff the Brotherhood at The Hideout.

September

October

Wednesday, Sept. 24 Rival Sons at Belly Up Tavern. Interpol at House of Blues (sold out).

Thursday, Sept. 25 King Tuff at The Irenic. Jason Aldean at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Fat Tony at Soda Bar.

Friday, Sept. 26 Slim Cessna’s Auto Club at The Casbah. Unwritten Law at Porter’s Pub. Goldie at The Merrow.

Saturday, Sept. 27 Pixies at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay (sold out). Gov’t Mule at Balboa Theatre. Foster the People at RIMAC. Temples at Belly Up Tavern. Gortuary at Brick by Brick.

Sunday, Sept. 28 Colbie Caillat at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. Sir Sly at The Irenic. Paul McCartney at Petco Park (sold out). Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band at Soda Bar. Merchandise, Lower at Kensington

Monday, Sept. 29 Paolo Nutini at House of Blues. Thievery Corporation at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, Sept. 30 The Gaslight Anthem, Against Me! at House of Blues (sold out). Felice Brothers at Soda Bar. Finch at The Casbah.

Wednesday, Oct. 1 DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist at House of Blues. Ben Kweller at The Casbah.

Crosby, Stills and Nash at Civic Theatre. Jacob Whitesides at House of Blues. Reagan Youth at Brick by Brick.

Sham 69 at Soda Bar.

Thursday, Oct. 2 Blitzen Trapper at The Casbah. Boys Noize, Baauer at SOMA. Joyce Manor at The Irenic. Said the Whale at Soda Bar.

Friday, Oct. 3 Blue Man Group at Civic Theatre. Cymbals Eat Guitars at Soda Bar.

Saturday, Oct. 4 Pinback at House of Blues. Run River North at The Loft at UCSD.

Sunday, Oct. 5 The Beach Boys at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay (sold out). Living Colour at Belly Up Tavern. Little Barrie at Soda Bar. Brother Ali at Porter’s Pub. Sondre

Lerche at House of Blues.

Wednesday, Oct. 15 Wayne Hancock at Soda Bar.

Monday, Oct. 6 Ought at Soda Bar. ABC at Belly Up Tavern. The King Khan and BBQ Show at The Casbah. Angus and Julia Stone at House of Blues.

Tuesday, Oct. 7 Shonen Knife at The Casbah. Beach Fossils at The Irenic. Justin Townes Earle at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, Oct. 8 Chromeo at SOMA. Mark Gardener at The Casbah. Susan Boyle at Balboa Theatre. Saintseneca at Soda Bar.

Thursday, Oct. 9 The Eddie and the Hot Rods at Til-Two Club. Kasabian, Bo Ningen at House of Blues. Pomplamoose at The Loft at UCSD.

Friday, Oct. 10 Passafire at Belly Up Tavern. Tacocat at The Hideout.

Saturday, Oct. 11 Sleep Over at The Hideout.

Sunday, Oct. 12 The Pretty Reckless at House of Blues.

Ana Tijoux at Belly Up Tavern.

Monday, Oct. 13 The Drums at Soda Bar. The Horrors at Belly Up Tavern. Yasiin Bey a.k.a. Mos Def at House of Blues.

Thursday, Oct. 16 Turquoise Jeep at The Irenic. Washed Out at North Park Theatre. The Colourist at The Loft at UCSD. The Body at Che Café. Fujiya and Miyagi at Soda Bar.

Friday, Oct. 17 Yellowcard at North Park Theatre. The Story So Far at Epicentre. Rubblebucket at Casbah. Perfume Genius at Soda Bar. Watsky at Porter’s Pub.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Open mic, open jam. Thu: Live band karaoke.

Fri: The Great Pumpkin, The Big Lewinsky, Thats Right. Sat: EN Young, Gonzo, Beyond I Sight feat. Leilani Wolfgramm.

Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Battle of the bands.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Thu: The PICKnic. Thu: Jess Johnson, Dave Booda, The Lovebirds. Fri: Fred Benedetti.

Sat: Monette Marino. Sun: Matt Smith Neu Jazz Trio.

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

Wed: DJ Sean Maricich. Thu: DJ Paul Najera. Fri: DJ Junior the Disco Punk.

Sat: Mike Czech. Sun: DJs John Reynolds, Karma, Tripsy.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

September 24, 2014 · San Diego CityBeat · 37

com. Wed: Kate Berlant. Thu-Sat: Corey Holcomb. Sun: Full Throttle Comedy.

Tue: Open mic.

DJ Yodah. Fri: ‘Good Times’. Sat: DJs E, Yodah. Mon: ‘Kinetic Soul’. Tue: Big City Dawgs.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St, Downtown. facebook.com/BangBangSanDiego. Fri: T. Williams, Bones.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Wed: Interpol (sold out). Thu: The Kooks, Halsey, Priory. Sat: Through the Roots, Supervillains, The Room Downstairs, The Steppas. Sun: Clean Bandit, Little Daylight. Mon: Paolo Nutini, Phox. Tue: The Gaslight Anthem, Against Me!, Twopointeight.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: ‘H.A.M.’ w/ DJ L. Thu: True Stories, Scott Reynolds, Chad Price.

Fri: ‘Bonkers!’.

Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Thu: Borgeous. Fri: Protohype. Sat: Cazzette.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts.html. Thu: Adam Block Duo. Fri: Dave Gleason Trio.

Sat: Random Radio. Sun: Spanky.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Rival Sons, Soft White Sixties, Sir Madam. Thu: The Frights, Wild Wild Wets, Idyll Wild, Falling Doves, DJ Man Cat. Fri: Easy Star All Star, Giant Panda Guerrila Dub Squad, Tatanka.

Sat: Temples, Wampire, Fever the Ghost.

Sun: Michael Tiernan, Tolan Shaw, Dawn Mitschele. Mon: Thievery Corporation (8 p.m.—sold out); Thievery Corporation (10:45 p.m.). Tue: Dark Star Orchestra.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad. boarcrossn.net. Thu: Taken By Canadians. Fri: ‘Club Musae’. Sat: Shoreline Roots, Kingzland.

Bourbon Street, 4612 Park Blvd, University Heights. bourbonstreetsd.com. Wed: ‘VJ K Swift. Thu: ‘Wet’. Fri: Fish and Sparrow, Elena McCrary. Sun: ‘Soiree’. Tue: Karaoke.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’.

Sat: DJs XP, KA. Sun: ‘Noche Romantica’ w/ Daisy Salinas, DJ Sebastian La Madrid.

Mon: DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Thu: Showcash, The New Rich, 4th N Cedar. Fri: Sensory Station, Other Mountains, cochino, Bad and The Ugly. Sat: Gortuary, Godhammered, Calamitous Intent, Dark Measure, Gravespell.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joeff and Co. Sat-Sun: Oscar Aragon.

Comedy Store, 916 Pearl St, La Jolla. lajolla.thecomedystore.com.

Fri-Sat: Freddy Lockhart.

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

Wed: Anthony Hanna. Thu: Robert Dove Quartet. Fri: John Reynolds Quartet. Sat: Gilbert Castellanos and the Park West Ensemble. Sun: Besos de Coco. Mon-Tue: Ruby Duo.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Sun: Merchandise, Lower.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: Harmony Road. Thu: Ron’s Trio. Fri: Ron’s Garage. Sat: 4-Way Street. Tue: Ryan Brolliar.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: The Rayford Brothers. Thu: The Bill Magee Blues Band. Fri: Johnny Vernazza. Sat: Mystique Element of Soul. Sun: Trey Tosh. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Walter’s Chicken Jam. Porter’s Pub, 9500 Gilman Dr., UCSD campus, La Jolla. porterspub.net. Fri: Unwritten Law, John’s Last Ghost, Feel Good, Desolace, Offshore Impact. Sat: Deniro Farrar and Denzel Curry.

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ John Joseph. Thu: DJ K-Swift. Fri: DJs Dirty Kurty, Hektik. Sat: DJs Taj, Nikno, K-Swift.

Sun: DJ Cros.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave, La Mesa. rivierasupperclub.com. Thu: Man From Tuesday. Fri: Rip Carson.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd. Wed: Gilbert Castellanos jazz jam. Thu: Comedy night. Fri: Soul Organization. Sat: Jimmy Ruelas.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com. Wed: James Supercave, Viv Vates, R.A. Rosenborg.

Thu: Fat Tony, Cali Cam, The Travelers Club DJs. Fri: Authority Zero, Assuming We Survive, Guys on the Hill. Sat: Neon Cough, Brothers Weiss, Brando. Sun: Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, The Cerny Brothers, Joe Fletcher. Mon: La Luz, Flaggs, Splavender. Tue: The Felice Brothers, Spirit Family Reunion.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Fri: TNT. Sat: DJ Dizzy D.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Thu: Bring Me the Horizon, Chiodos. Sat: Post Season, Such A Mess, With Age, Firestarter, Smalls, Shipwrecks, Out With the Old.

Dizzy’s, 4275 Mission Bay Drive, Mission Bay. dizzyssandiego.com. Thu: Modern Art Orchestra.

Somewhere Loud, 3489 Noell St, Midtown. somewhereloud.com. Wed: ‘Bro Safari’. Fri: ‘Masquerave’. Sat: Meaux Green.

Epicentre, 8450 Mira Mesa Blvd, Mira Mesa. epicentreconcerts.org. Sat: Illuminate, Vile Creations, City of Crooks, Lynch the Landlord.

Stage Bar & Grill, 762 Fifth Ave, Downtown. stagesaloon.com. Thu: Superbad.

Fri: Disco Pimps. Sat: Hott Mess, DJ Miss Dust. Mon: Karaoke.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, Downtown. f6ixsd.com. Fri: Nicholas Crotes. Sat: DJ Dynamiq. Sun: DJ XP.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., San Diego, Normal Heights. sycamoreden.com.

Thu: Levi Dean, The Frances Bloom Band.

Fri: Split Screens, Splavender, Art Monk.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: Alvaro. Fri: DJ Brett Bodley.

Sat: DJ Sid Vicious. Sun: Ty Dolla $ign.

Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave, Ocean Beach. 619-222-5303. Thu: Psydecar, DJ Reefah. Fri: Lady Dottie and the Diamonds, DJ Arox. Sat: Sandollar, DJ Chelu.

Henry’s Pub, 618 Fifth Ave, Downtown. henryspub.com. Wed: Johnny Tarr, DJ Christopher London. Thu: Mark Fisher,

38 · San Diego CityBeat · September 24, 2014

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Wed: ‘SUBDVSN’ w/ Dirty Dynamics. Thu: Kizomba. Fri: Chancha Via Circuito, Cumbia Machin, Eddie Turbo. Sat: Aphex Twin listening party. Sun: ‘Roots Reggae Jah Jah.’.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd, Spring Valley. 619-469-2337. Wed: Karaoke. Fri: Throne, Mesita. Sat: Symbol Six, Standard and Poor, The Final Upset.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: LP, Zella Day, Island Boy. Thu: Clairy Browne and the Bangin’ Rackettes, Wild Roses, Rebecca Jade and the Cold Fact, Tori Roze

and the Hot Mess. Fri: Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, River City, Grampadrew and the Gut Strings. Sat: Schitzophonics, Low Volts, Neighbors to the North. Sun: Snowmine, Nightbox. Mon: Orenda Fink, The Midnight Pine, Gayle Skidmore. Tue: Finch, Ghetto Blaster, Ultragash.

The Che Cafe, UCSD campus, La Jolla. thechecafe.blogspot.com. Wed: Landbridge, Beekeeper, Diva Cup. Thu: ALASKA, Tremulant, Twin Cities, Fake Tides, Crevasse. Fri: Old Order, Ash Williams, The Brontosaurus, R(A)ndy N(E)wma(N).

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. thehideoutsd.com. Fri: Drop Dead Dames Burlesque, Subtropics.

Sun: Jeff the Brotherhood, Music Band, Roxy Jones. Tue: Part Time, Drab Majesty, Wizard Woes, DJ Matt Bahamas.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. theMerrow.com. Wed: Torn Shoes, Daddy Issues, Cardboard Truckers. Fri: Goldie, Armani Reign. Sat: Motopony.

Mon: Open mic. Tue: Buddy Banter, Soft Lions.

The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: ‘Dub Dynamite’ w/ DJs Rashi, Eddie Turbo. Thu: DJ Myson King. Fri: DJ Adam Salter, Kid Wonder.

Sat: DJs Kanye Asada, Gabe Vega. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ w/ Tribe of Kings.

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, Gaslamp. tinroofbars.com/Home/SanDiego. Wed: Rock Out Karaoke. Thu: ‘Nashville Night’.

Fri: Stepping Feet, Dane Drewis. Sat: Who Is BC?, Piano Joe and the Bootleggers. Mon: The Kracker Jax. Tue: ‘G Street Sessions’.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Thu: Diamond Lakes, West Beast. Fri: The Gears, The Executives, Homeless Sexuals. Sat: Chris Murray and the Mochilero All Stars, The Georgetown Orbits, The Amalgamated.

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

Fri: Squirrelly Arts, Shadows Entwined, Imbalanced. Sat: Wild Honey, Red Wizard. Mon: ‘Tin Can Country Club’.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Thu: The Fremonts. Fri: The Young Savages. Sat: Bump N Brass.

Tue: Swamp Critters.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Sat: Haruka, Slums of the Future. Tue: The Picturebooks, The Germans.

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: 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.); Middle Earth (8 p.m.). Mon: David Hermsen. Tue: Grupo Global (7 p.m.).

Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Wed: Odessa Kane, DayGo Produce, Apex Realm, Sighphur One. Fri: DJ Lee Churchill. Sat: Saul Q. Sun: Hercules and Love Affair. Mon: DJ R-You. Tue: Karaoke.

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

Wed: Chris G. Thu: DJ Coltron. Fri: DJ LB1. Sat: DJ Decon. Tue: Clean Cut. Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: ‘Kiss and Makeup’. Thu: VAMP: Animal Kingdom.

Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Maka Roots, SM Familia, DJ Carlos Culture. Thu: Delta Nove. Fri: Groovesession, Trevor Green.

Sat: Cubensis. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: Soul Rebel Project, Green Lion Crew.

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