Reports from the scene

Scenesters should know

The mass migration to U31 (3112 University Ave.) has begun, but it’s not yet clear which species of bird will set up a permanent nest in the new North Park club. If owner Steve Billings has his way, hipsters and gritty punks will step it up a notch and order bottle service while kicking back to live and DJ-spun indie and electro from the comfort of U31’s custom-made booths.

See, Billings is a perfectionist who dreamt of a club with nicely lit bathrooms, a dance floor with elbow room and a U-shaped bar that would help mitigate cocktail congestion. Luckily for the San Diego native, he made enough money in real estate to turn that dream into a brick-and-mortar business. He started with the Morena Club in Linda Vista (which he still owns and operates), then bought Buster Daly’s and renovated it this summer. Today, the only visible remnant of Buster Daly’s is the trickle of former patrons who wander in looking for the hip-hop and rap sounds that used to shake the tiny space late into the night. U31 is huge—it’d look like a warehouse if it weren’t for the expensive floor finish, custom walls and lighting and a glitzy bar backed by lit Plexiglas covered in gold leaf—and hip-hop songs are few and far between.

To complete the scene, Billings hired Erica Jessup, the former Beauty Bar manager, along with DJs Gabe Vega and Saul, whose new Friday and Saturday nights promise a mix of live music on U31’s brand-new stage and DJ sessions that’ll get the giant floor filled. Local electro/indie band Buddy Akai devirginized U31 last week. The 200 or so folks who braved the rain seemed to be the kind of crowd Billings is going for—but what about the hardcore hip-hop heads without a home? The Roseary Room stopped featuring hip-hop and Landlord Jim’s closed in early January, which means that crowd is looking for an in, and U31’s Sunday nights with reggae masters Tribe of Kings, along with an occasional appearance by DJ Artistic (not to mention the surprise guest appearance of Kid Capri a few weeks ago) could be just what they need. It’ll be interesting to see who ends up ruling the roost.

—Kinsee Morlan

 
Notes from the smoking patio

North Park dive Scolari’s Office was sold recently to the owners of Bar Dynamite. Initial reports from the bar indicate that other than closing the place for three to six weeks for a remodel, everything else would stay the same—management, staff and, most importantly, the music.

About two weeks after the ink was dry, however, the bar’s live-entertainment permit expired. What appeared to be a coincidence resulted in the bar opting against a permit renewal. All scheduled shows were immediately canceled.

Donny Nanos, the bar manager, and T-Bone, who handles booking, scrambled to find venues for the bands that had been scheduled to play. The pair found a savior in Chasers. The development was serendipitous for Chasers, which had been trying to turn around its sketchy reputation. Nanos will be the new manager, and all the staff of Scolari’s will be moving in, too—we’re talking bartenders, doormen and even the karaoke hosts. Save for a few nights for which Chasers already had shows booked, all scheduled performances will move from Scolari’s to Chasers.

As for Scolari’s, Nanos will continue to manage the bar until new owners step in. He says it will close in about 30 days and remain closed for remodeling for six weeks. A “Farewell to Scolari’s” party will happen some time in February.

—Rosey Bystrak

 
View from a stool

O’Connells (1310 Morena Blvd.) is the kind of bar most drinkers can agree on—not too divey nor snooty, it’s a regular bar for regular guys, noticeable from the holdover of happy-hour patrons sitting among the smattering of hipsters that started cruising in at around 9 p.m. Friday night. The reason for said influx: local indie-rockers Apes of Wrath were playing.

Apes are very Strokes-ish, with a pinch of Bloc Party thrown in for good measure. They’re a bit indie-lite; still, the four-piece is better than most bands you’ll see for $5 on a Friday night, and they show definite potential. I couldn’t stick around to see local closers, A Scribe Amidst the Lions, because it was time to head over to The Casbah to see what all the buzz surrounding MGMT and Yeasayer is all about.

It took only half of MGMT’s show to see why the Brooklyn band is the new obsession. Compared with their album Oracular Spectacular, the boys hang loose live, foregoing the electronic leanings for a more sprawling rock sound—surprisingly awesome stuff.

As suspected, Yeasayer was the crown jewel of the night. They fuse unique Middle Eastern tribe-vibes and a new-agey hippie sensibility, sans irony. Pretty ballsy for a group that occasionally sounds like Popol Vuh doin’ the deed with the Steve Miller Band. Toward the end, the band acknowledged that it was their first time ever playing in California. With their four-part harmonies and spirited world-conscious grooves, I’m sure they’ll be welcomed back any time.

Locals Calico Horse, the third band on the Yeasayer bill, should be charged a fee for all the extra text messaging they’ve likely been causing. After seeing the psychedelic, dreamy female-fronted band live, crowd response seems to involve pulling out cell phones and text messaging friends with something like, “OMG! Nw local band r grt!” And they pull off a mighty fine cover of The Stone Roses' “I Wanna Be Adored.” Next show: Feb. 6 at The Casbah.

—Todd Kroviak and friends

 
Catching Static

On Jan. 3, Urban Beat Productions unveiled its new “Urban Underground” weekly hip-hop showcase at Static Lounge, the downtown 18-and-older club. The next installment of the Thursday-night event (Jan. 31) marks the inauguration of The Beatdown, a monthly baptism-by-fire MC battle with $100 (and, more importantly, pride) at stake. The show also features J. Sands (of Lone Catalysts) in a headlining slot with Cali acts like Humanbeings (L.A.) and Mikey Mo the MC (Bay Area) sharing the undercard with San Diego hip-hop/soul artists Touch of Cas and Miki Vale. Vale has been particularly busy as of late. The 2007 San Diego Music Awards nominee (for Best Hip-Hop Artist and Best Hip-Hop Album) is prepping for the release of an EP collaboration with Kandi Cole (called 50/50) and a new solo album to be, uh, unValed later this spring.

 
Demolition crew

Take a taxi. Hire a rickshaw. Send a carrier pigeon. If you’re a local musician, do whatever you have to do in order to get your CD into CityBeat headquarters in time for our big annual local music demo review. In fact, we guarantee that your music will be weighed and measured (if not drawn and quartered) by our distinguished panel of music writers in the March 26 issue if your CD arrives at 3550 Camino Del Rio North, Suite 207 (San Diego, CA 92108) by the Feb. 25 deadline. We accept only CDs, and we cannot return entries, but, on the plus side, we’ll do our best to make sure your pigeon gets home safely.

 
Counterculture roll call

Punk rock was revived last Friday night at the legendary ICE Gallery (3417 30th St., North Park). Vintage-themed assemblage, installation, paintings and collage by local artists Amy Faust, Lee Lavy, Max Daily, Becky Sheer and others barely clung to the broken-down walls while Lavy’s new band, BRAAIINS!, jammed out their eight-minute repertoire of garage-punk through a shoddy sound system that lacked amplification for the vocals. Who needs that when you can scream, right?

Meanwhile, in Little Italy, a more mellow form of art-appreciation was going down. Don Hollis, one of the creative creatures behind Subtext (680 W. Beech St.), stood in front of his art/design/magazine store and pointed inside at all the holes he’s had to drill into the concrete blocks that make up the gorgeous Public Architecture building that is Subtext’s home. The space is beautiful, Hollis noted, but also a pain when it comes to mounting art. Good thing Hollis and friends are up to the challenge. Subtext’s current show kicks ass, almost literally. Kicks, a collaboration exhibition with DC Shoes, features the work of 17 international artists who’ve hand-painted and printed their designs on the DC “Gatsby Canvas Shoes.” The shoes are for show and sale through Feb. 17.

 
No clownin’ downtown

The surfers and skaters in town for the Action Sports Retailer (ASR) convention donned their going-out shirts for the big convention shindig at Belo (919 Fourth Ave.) last Saturday. Most of the kids swarmed the stage to hear Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest and Naughty by Nature—that’s right, they’re still around and they still don’t hate ya—lay down some rhymes, but the main gawkers watched Skinnie mag’s top-five tattoo artists ply their craft in the middle of the club. One young woman spent most of the night having a floral design carved onto her butt and upper thigh. At the sight of the red-raised lines on the subject’s alabaster skin, a svelte blond clubber in a short black dress spoke for all: “Ew.”

—Eric Wolff

 
Dot dot dot

Goodbye Club 80s. Goodbye goth/industrial night. Shooterz’ doors are closed, the sign is down and the inside is being gutted… Hello to Tijuana’s newest night spot, Club Lobby. Located in the entrance of MultiKulti on Constitucion between Sixth and Seventh streets in downtown Tijuana, Club Lobby is lining up top indie and electro DJs and bands from L.A. to México City every Friday night. Check www.myspace.com/nazaclub for the schedule… Welcome, Dub Dynamite, to your new home at Modus Supper Club (2202 Fourth Ave.). The dub/reggae night had a good four-year run rockin’ Monday nights at Bar Dynamite (1808 W. Washington St.), but, as promoter Beau Lamontagne wrote in an e-mail, “with little notice at all, we are in a position where we must move.” So Modus it is—for now at least—every Monday night at 10 p.m. www.myspace .com/dub dynamite.