I made it through the first 55 years of my life without ever seeing The Schizophonics and now I’ve seen them four times this year already. I was doing it wrong! The first time I saw The Schizophonics I had no idea what to expect. It was a crowded night at The Casbah and I was near the back craning my neck looking for the second guitarist. I turned around to say something to my friend and he was doing the same damn thing! Continue reading
Next up on this perfect day for local music was Cardinal Moon. The last time I saw this band was at their debut performance at the Redwoods Revue at the Music Box in early May. The creative duo behind this new San Diego band is singer/guitarist/songwriter Dawn Mitschele and Al “another band? sure, why not” Howard. Continue reading
There were so many great bands to see at last weekend’s Art Around Adams festival but fortunately whoever scheduled this event managed to have all my favorites playing at different times.
First up was Imagery Machine. I imagine the beginning of this group to have gone something like this: “Hey, we should start a band!” – “Good idea, what kind of music should we play?” – “Let’s play all kinds.” – “Ok, I’m in!”
That’s an exaggeration of course but Imaginary Machine does have an expansive sound that draws on many different influences. Just check the two videos posted below. The first clip is of “Lyon”, a summery rock song with a gorgeous vocal melody by Jennie Lynn and intertwining guitar leads. The second is “Drum Winds”, a full blown reggae jam that gives everyone in the band a chance to shine, including the two backup singers, Kristin Jennings and Daechelle Hernandez. It’s a highlight of the song when they switch from providing harmonies for Jennie to becoming co-lead vocalists for a chorus in the middle of the track. And check out the solos by James Howard (Retra) on guitar, Tyler Shimkus (Mittens) on drums, and Will Mino and bass – these guys can flat out play plus you can easily tell just how much fun they are having throughout the performance.
Imagery Machine bills itself as a rock/reggae/prog band – and that’s an interesting combination already – but even that doesn’t fully describe the scope of their sound. This is a relatively new band, having formed just last November, yet already they have performed on some of San Diego’s best stages like The House of Blues and The Belly Up Tavern. As nice as those venues are, on this day a sun-splashed stage next to the Kensington Library was the perfect setting and a great start to a day of art and music on Adams Avenue.
Here’s “Lyon” and “Drum Winds” at Art Around Adams:
Imagery Machine links: website • instagram • facebook • spotify • youtube
2014 Flashback…
If anyone needed a reminder of how fun rock ‘n’ roll can still be, they should have been to this show at The Casbah in San Diego. The Casbah was celebrating its 25th anniversary and was hosting bands from throughout its storied history, along with the kind of acts that should keep the venue vital for another quarter of a century.
First up on an all San Diego bill were newcomers, The Phantoms. This group features Victor Penalosa, the current drummer for the Flamin’ Groovies, on guitar and vocals, and a fantastic backing band of Xavier Anaya on lead guitar, Chris Iandolo on bass and Jarrod Lucas (from The Dragons) on drums. They opened with the lead song from their self-titled debut album, “Baby Loves Her Rock and Roll”, which sounded like a revved up long-lost song by The Beat (Paul Collins’ not English). The Phantoms then charged through their 10 song set as if they were the headliners with songs like “Stab My Broken Heart”, which besides kicking ass throughout, ended with the opening riff to “Love Gun” by KISS. The set then ended with a garage rockin’ version of Bob Seger’s “Rosalie” and then an homage to the bassist for glam-rock heroes Mott The Hoople with “The Ballad of Overend Watts”. These guys seem to be channeling the late 70’s/early 80’s power pop of The Plimsouls, 20/20 and the aforementioned Beat and are definitely a band keep an eye on.
Did you love the 90′s? Everyone loves the 90’s!. Apparently so does The Palace Ballroom, an indie/post-grunge/melodic alt-rock band from San Diego. And really, fuck it, don’t worry about genres or labels or styles – just click the white arrow in the red box, turn your volume up, and rock out
This atmospheric track off the San Diego duo’s debut LP, The Grey, has a timeless quality to it and is perfect for when you want to just chill out. Lion & the Lady is comprised of Al (I’m not happy unless I’m in 17 bands) Howard and Trent Hancock of ghostbird
Check out Lion and the Lady here: facebook
There seems to be no end to the supply of two piece guitar/drum duos in rock n’ roll these days. Here is Gloomsday, the self-described “doom pop” band from San Diego, rockin’ out on a track from their Sunburn Sessions EP, released in 2015. Gloomsday is easily one of my favorite San Diego bands – more on them soon…
One of my favorite bands in San Diego for a couple years now has been Soft Lions. I was fortunate to see them in their debut show at the Soda Bar at the end of 2013; I saw them again the next year opening for Small Black and Snowmine, and then again this past summer at a headlining record-release show at the Casbah.
San Diego is a great city to be a live music fan. I know there are cities with better local scenes (Austin, Seattle, Chicago) and cities that get more big touring bands (Los Angeles, New York, The Bay Area) – but we still have it pretty good here.
We have small clubs like The Casbah, The Soda Bar and The Merrow that support local bands as well as bringing in touring acts that often play bigger venues elsewhere; there are several nice mid-size venues like the Belly Up in Solana Beach, the Observatory in North Park and the House of Blues downtown that bring in acts from around the country and the world; and of course we’ve got a variety of amphitheaters, sheds, theaters and arenas – each with its own character and personality.
But my favorite venue in San Diego is Humphrey’s by the Bay on Shelter Island. It seats 1,400 but the way it’s configured you are never too far from the stage – there really aren’t any bad seats here. They do a good job on sound and for a medium sized outdoor stage they pull off some impressive lighting and stage effects. But most of all I enjoy the setting of being outside, on a gorgeous evening, with a cold craft beer, listening to great music right on the harbor in San Diego.
[click on pics for larger versions – photos above by @happyplacemedia]
I’ve got to admit, I had this Big Pink show on my calendar for some time, but as it approached I wasn’t sure if I would make it. I really only knew the band from their first album, A Brief History of Love, from 2009, and remembered two of the stronger tracks from it: “Velvet” and “Dominos”. After that, though, I lost track of the band and they didn’t come back on my radar until I saw this show coming up at the Soda Bar. As the day of the show arrived I decided not to go after all – I had a really busy week and it wasn’t the best night to head out. Then about an hour before the show I figured I’d better listen to that CD just to be sure. By the mid-point of the first track, “Velvet”, with its pulsing synth line and massive, droning guitar chords, I knew I was going and within the hour I was walking up the sidewalk toward the venue.
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