CH-CH-CHANGES IN SAN DIEGO’S

LIVE MUSIC LANDSCAPE

San Diego’s live music landscape looks drastically different today than it did at the beginning of the year.

The string of changes began in January when George Scolari decided to sell his North Park punk dive/local institution Scolari’s Office to Ted Lithopoulos and the Bar Dynamite crew. Shows were relocated to Chasers and the bar was reopened as The Office six months later in June, newly renovated and completely cleaned up — with windows even.

Scolari's Office becomes The Office

(Before)

(After)

Not long after, Chasers would be sold to Cuong Nguyen and Adam Cook of Bluefoot Bar & Lounge and closed for renovations, with reopening scheduled for December. In the meantime, another North Park punk haunt The Zombie Lounge was sold to Chris Heaney of Club Kadan and reopened as The Radio Room, receiving an interior renovation which traded kitsch for black chic and included an upgraded sound system and larger stage, though retained booking through Another Zeke Productions.

(Before)

The Zombie Lounge awakens as The Radio Room

(After)

Then thanks to a SDPD crackdown, The Tower Bar in City Heights, still under the ownership of Mick Rossler, had to stop booking bands because it lacked the necessary cabaret license and had received complaints from neighbors. This resulted in the end of Lady Dottie and the Diamonds’ four-year-long Monday night residency at The Tower Bar, a weekly show that landed the bar a spot in Spin’s “101 Best Nights Out” list.

Tony Vee sold his Hillcrest bar, the San Diego Sports Club, to two new partners potentially looking to make it a burlesque lounge. And most recently, The Static Lounge, an 18-and-up live music venue that commonly hosted both local and touring hip-hop acts, has pulled the plug on its live music programming after a fight broke out in front of the club that left a security guard wounded with a gunshot to the neck. Even John Reis’ North Park watering hole Bar Pink Elephant has had to change its name to Bar Pink after receiving a C&D from New York night club chain Pink Elephant Club for use of its name.

However, there have also been some positives to this scenario. As local San Diego music blog Cat Dirt Sez posted, these changes have resulted in “significant upgrades in terms of equipment, new energy in ownership [and] management.” It’s hard not to agree that better sound and no more sewage leaks are great for bands and patrons alike. Further, opening in the former home of Buster Daly’s last year, U-31 is also the result of such change and it’s safe to say it’s been a positive one.

As clubs switch hands and, in turn, personalities, it will undoubtedly take some time for both local music lovers and bands to adjust to their new live music scene. It’s ultimately up to the individual — and time — to decide whether these changes are to the benefit or detriment of the local music community, but San Diego is proving resilient and still getting out there and supporting live music, no matter the name or décor of the establishment.

In the News

Castanets, the project of tireless troubadour Ray Raposa, will release full length number four, City of Refuge, on October 7 through Asthmatic Kitty Records. The 15-track disc is the result of three weeks alone in a Nevada desert motel room, with minimal overdubs by friends Jana Hunter, Sufjan Stevens, Dawn Smithson, Scott Tuma and co-producer Ero Gray added later. Raposa will return this month from a European tour.

www.myspace.com

/castanets

After last month’s 12-date U.S. tour with Spiritualized, Grand Ole Party will team up with The Black Lips this month for a string of California dates that kick off at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach on October 2, include two nights at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, and conclude back in Southern California at the Glass House in Pomona on October 8. On October 4, the San Diego trio will also perform at LA Weekly’s Detour Fest.

www.myspace.com

/grandoleparty

The Silent Comedy is set to tour the western seaboard this month in support of their latest self-titled EP, teaming up with Portland’s BoomSnake on October 5 at the Morro Bay Harbor Festival and playing together for the majority of their remaining dates. After the friendly departure of former drummer, Joseph Nelson (J. Benedict), The Silent Comedy will have a new drummer in tow for this tour, Andy Ridley of the local band Fono. At press time, The Silent Comedy was still in search of a “permanent rhythm master.”

www.thesilentcomedy

.com

Most San Diego residents are already familiar with Lady Dottie and the Diamonds — the winner of many a SDMA and an institution at The Tower Bar, now relocated to U-31, the bluesy soul rocker and San Diego staple has been playing in the city for over a decade. Her new self-titled record is out now on M-Theory Music owner Eric Howarth’s Hi-Speed Soul label. The 12-track album is being released as both a CD and LP plus digital download card.

www.ladydottieandt

hediamonds.com

The Donkeys return home this month from a national tour in support of their new Dead Oceans release, Living on the Other Side. The album is the result of two long years of hard work and follows the San Diego four-piece’s 2006 self-titled debut on Antenna Farm and last year’s split 7-inch with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.

www.myspace.com

/thedonkeys

The San Diego-by-way-of-Toledo quintet Emery Byrd has released its debut full-length album, Mrs. Young Versus the Modern Ones. This is the follow-up to the band’s 2006 EP, The Parade.

www.emerybyrd.com