Sweet Death

The Killers
Tegan and Sara
RIMAC ~ San Diego, CA
04/12/05


Canada's latest sweethearts opened for The Killers Tuesday night at RIMAC Arena on theUCSD campus playing to a sold out crowd. The fans were a mixed up combination of rockers, students of all grades, parents, and music lovers. Some being all of the above. Tegan and Sara gained a few fans during their opening act on the second night of The Killers tour. And the Killers proved to be everything you'd expect. Loud, rock with just a touch of glam, lots of lights and even a little Elvis. Yup, all Vegas. Their set opened with the high energy 'Jenny Was a Friend of Mine'. They played hits from their debut album 'Hot Fuss' as well as a couple new songs. Aside from the obvious crowd pleasing 'Mr. Brightside' and 'Somebody Told Me', my second fav and seemingly a crowd favorite, 'Indie Rock'n'Roll' was great.

The was energy was as high as expected and while the crowd surfing continued and the collage kids paraded, the band rocked with a well rehearsed and smooth show.

Pretty sounds in the Southland

Tristan Prettyman and The Southland
Belly Up Tavern ~ Solana Beach
04/09/05


You can never go wrong when going to a Belly Up Tavern show it seems. However, on the evening of Saturday April 9th, those odds seemed to go down as the opening act started her sing show. With obvious influences such as Ani Difranco and Jewel, the storytelling songstress Sophie wasn't quite able to grab her audience. From the looks of the crowd, she wasn't earning any new fans either. But as soon as Tristan Prettyman came on stage everyone seemed to remember why they came. her performance included old favorites as well as new song from her upcoming album due to hit stores this August. Prettyman told stories of her major label debut with Virgin Records, touring stories as well as a little love note saying that she is finally in a happy relationship.

Los Angeles based band The Southland came on stage to perform Love, Love, Love with Prettyman before she finished up her set. The Southland then returned to offer the crowd a delicious mix of OAR, Maroon5 and a little Jazz. The keys and bass held the songs together for a feel good sound, getting even some of the crowd dancing. Highlights from their set included a cover of the 1934 classic, 'i only have eyes for you' the oh-so-San-Diego appropriate 'Shining Sun' about not letting fucked up situations get to you, and my personal favorite, 'Radio' which Prettyman came out to take the female backup vocals.

A solid, fun and upbeat show from co-headliners, Tristan Prettyman and The Southland - perfect for a mild Saturday night.

The end of an era...take 4

Java Joe's Pub
featuring The Rugburns
02/15/05

Java Joe's closed it's doors for the 3rd...wait, 4th time in the last 12 years on Tuesday night. From Poway to OB, OB again then the inevitable move (and closure) to the Pub version in College Area. This time, there's no talk of relocating. No talk of all ages versus liquor licenses. No talk of open mic nites and cover charges. This time, the closing is for good. Joe himself is moving to the city a la sin, Las Vegas. And don't expect a Java Joe's to show up on the strip anytime soon. In Joe's words, he's "over it". Understandably, since almost a year ago the plans for Joe's sounded like something out of a San Diego music lovers dreamland. Open Mics, bigger local bands, more stage space, better sound, knocking down walls, an additional all ages Java Joe's to be opening soon! It was all too good to be true it seems. Now, with only a minor facelift over the last year and the patio, no longer aesthetically pleasing, with the fencing knocked out leaving an empty lot showing early signs of a construction site. Joe's hasn't pulled the crowd many expected it to pull. Some blame it on location. Some blame it on the lack of advertising. Some put the blame on the venue itself. "Java Joe's hasn't exactly become the local music venue we dreamed it could be," one music fan said, "Not enough stage space and an awkward audience area. But Joe did all that he could do. He tried to keep it alive, and we love him for all that he's done for local music."

The sudden closing of Java Joe's Pub caught some by surprise. Others seemed no more surprised than they were when some of the stars who got their start at Joe's, started showing up on TV daily. It seemed fitting that local super group, The Rugburns featuring Gregory Page and Steve Poltz would help bid the Pub a fond farewell. Two well known local artists who have played at Joe's various venues too many times to count. Page sang some new songs from his latest album, Sleeping Dogs and Poltz played some of his solo tunes from previous albums. Overall, the mood was upbeat as friends, patrons and lovers of the local music scene took in their last little bit of Java Joe's, reminisced about past Java Joe's and looked forward to new legends in SD music venue history.

A show for all ages, obviously

Modest Mouse
SOMA ~ San Diego Ca
02/05/05

You know your high school friend's younger sister? And that 40-something year old guy in the accounting department of your office? And the mechanic that changed your oil last week? And the lifeguard from Pacific Beach? Yeah, I think I saw them at the Modest Mouse show last Saturday night. The crowd was an interesting blend which could have been brought on by the band or maybe it was the venue. SOMA is well known for it's all ages shows and, until recently, hasn't had much competition in that market. Old school Modest Mouse fans may have been a bit disappointed at this show since there wasn't a lot of older tunes played, but unlike most 10 year+ bands, with 7+ albums, that come out with new, critically acclaimed albums but really the material isn't that great (see: U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb), this group actually has a lot of great new material to play at shows this year. With that, I think it's safe to say that this is one album of 2004 that received critical acclaim, that actually deserved it. But back to the show, all my personal favorites off the new album were played such as "The World at Large", "Black Cadillacs", and "One Chance". The old tune crowd pleaser of the evening seemed to be "paper thin walls" off their 2000 album The Moon & Antarctica. It was a pleasant mood throughout the venue, the lovers, the rockers, the first date-ers, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Which is the point after all right? Modest Mouse is definitely a band I would see again. And just like I say every time I leave a SOMA show... I'd rather not go back, but I will if I have too.

If the cold doesn't catch you, the sweet sounds will

Gregory Page
featuring Tristan Prettyman and very special guest, Jason Mraz
Lestat's Coffeehouse ~ 3343 Adams Ave San Diego, CA 92116
San Diego Ca
01/30/05

The crowd began to form around 6:30pm. The fans "in the know" making a point to get there early and claim their spots in line. Fans and friends were seen mingling outside this small Normal Heights venue chatting and catching up since the last time they saw each other at the last local music event. The fans in line looked as though they could be attending 3 or 4 different shows, all ranging in age and personal style.

Lestat's doors opened at approximately 8:30pm and as the $10 cover charge was paid, people rushed to grab a seat on the chairs and floors alike. The recently signed to Virgin Records, Tristan Prettyman came on stage around 9pm commenting on the plethora of people blanketing the floors and walls, before beginning her set. Miss Prettyman's set included favorites from her 2003 Love LP such as Guest Check and Evaporated and new tunes she is set to record during her upcoming stay in New York. While on stage, Prettyman hinted at a love interest (whom she apparently caught a cold from) and briefly mentioned her recent tour with G Love & Special Sauce. After playing the song 'Love, Love, Love' she announced a "hot guy" that would be joining her for a song. Jason Mraz came on stage to, it appeared, no ones surprise. Oddly enough, Mraz seemed to be getting over a cold himself and thus, Prettyman proclaimed Mraz as the spit-swapping, cold-spreading culprit. Again, to no ones surprise. They told a brief story about the tours they had been on together and the song they wrote together before they were more than just tour mates. 'Shy That Way' was an instant crowd pleaser with slightly less than half the room singing along. Their on and off stage romance flowing through the speakers made for a very intimate and fulfilling performance. Mraz stayed on stage for four new song and anyone looking to hear the radio regulars 'Remedy (I won't worry)' and 'You and I both' were obviously in the wrong place. Mraz played simple, acoustic songs mixed with some good ol' fashioned flip-flop-hip-hop with 'Gypsy MC' and 'Mr Curiosity'. Wetting our palates for the Spring 2005 upcoming album which has been speculated as being a blend of acoustic-disco-coffee shop groovin' tracks. I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

Gregory Page, also battling a cold of his own, played crowd favorites like 'Stars Above You' and 'Always' along with new sweet sounds from his latest cd Sleeping Dogs. Which, in case anyone forgot, was what this night was all about. Sunday night was set to be a cd release party for Page's latest full length cd but ended up being deemed a "premature release" by the man himself due to the lack of cds arriving from production. In between songs Page read "shorter-short-stories" from his classic style black and white composition book such as 'Grandma's False Teeth'. While some Mraz-only types snuck out before the end of the show. Most everyone stuck around for all three sets, and those that didn't really missed out. These three are beautiful examples of the gifts we have within this local San Diego music community and we should continue to predict great things for all of them.

CAFFEINE RUSH

THE GREAT THING ABOUT COFFEE SHOP PERFORMANCES IS THAT a) MOST EVERYONE IS SITTING SO NO ONE IS IN YOUR WAY, b) YOU DON'T GET THOSE ANNOYING PEOPLE SINGING TOO LOUDLY WHETHER THEY KNOW THE LYRICS OR NOT, c) YOU SOMETIMES GET THAT 'HEY, I KNOW YOU' SORTA FEELING.

have patience...