Notes from the smoking patio
Noise complaints threaten Hot Monkey Love and other local music gossip
Some of San Diego’s most popular local musicians have contributed songs to a CD that will benefit victims of the 2007 wildfires. The project, which will be released on Sounden Recordings is the brainchild of Jerry Lindahl, who licenses music for television and films. Artists contributing to the CD include Switchfoot, Angels and Airwaves, Greg Laswell, Gregory Page, AJ Croce and Nickel Creek. The album will be released at a fire benefit show—featuring Tim Flannery, Bushwalla and others—on Jan. 17 at Anthology. Tickets to the event, which include a copy of the CD, are available online. All proceeds will be split between the San Diego Foundation and the Fire Fighter Fund.
With a new year comes new releases and new tours. Steve Poltz, who also appears on Lindahl’s fire relief CD, will release Traveling on his own 98-Pounder Records on Jan. 22. Poltz—currently touring in Australia—will be in New York the day of the release before returning to San Diego for a free in-store performance at M-Theory Records on Jan. 23 and his official CD-release show on Jan. 24 at the Belly Up.
The Muslims, The Prayers and The Sess finally got around to rebooking their West Coast tour, which was originally supposed to happen in the fall. The bands, who kicked off the tour on Sunday at the Tower Bar, will play eight stops along the coast, getting as far north as Seattle before returning home.
Hot Monkey Love Café, which moved east on El Cajon Boulevard—from 5960 to 6875—in 2006 because of noise complaints, is now facing similar issues at its new location. In an e-mail, Hot Monkey proponent and local artist Bob Rob Medina said that in 2007, the café was cited and put on probation for 18 months for violating the city’s noise ordinance. “The café has been receiving a reoccurring complaint from a neighbor who is adamant about wanting the space shut down,” Medina writes. Hot Monkey Love generated the bulk of its income from hosting live shows, and the probation has hurt the club financially to the point that the venue might be forced to close.
In other venue news, The Ken Club has recently made some upgrades, removing the carpet, staining the wood floors, installing new booths and adding a fresh coat of blood-red paint. The venue is expected to continue the renovations with an upgraded, ceiling-mounted sound system.
The Static Lounge, an 18-and-older club downtown, will start hosting live-music shows and is seeking bands for Monday and Tuesday gigs. The venue will also host battle-of-the-bands competitions with the winner getting a show at House of Blues.
Finally, after two successful years of booking and managing Beauty Bar, Erika Jessup has given her notice and will now take over booking duties at new North Park bar U-31. Along with Jessup, promoters Gabe Vega and Saul will be taking their “Feel the Noise” promotions to the new club, which plans to eventually host live music up to three nights a week.
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Published: 01/08/2008
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Correction- The Ken Club has sealed their concrete floors that were revealed when the decades old carpet was removed. Wood floors would be cool, but the Ken Club does not have them.
San Diego's problem is that it doesn't have an aread devoted entirely to live music like other cities do (for example, 6th Street in Austin). San Diego's venues are all located in residential areas, or there are dwellings near them. We need to re-examine how we zone our city.