Reports from the scene

The Enrique Experience

It’s hard to believe, but the current entry marks the one-year anniversary of The Enrique Experience, the swine flu of nightlife columns. To celebrate, I headed over to the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center to partake in Science on the Rocks, a quarterly shindig that brought out an eclectic mix of people. “We really want to capture those individuals that haven’t been to the Fleet since childhood or are new to San Diego and haven’t had the opportunity to visit us,” Andrea Decker, the center’s executive assistant, told CityBeat.

“We’re definitely family-friendly, but we’re also adult- and date-night-friendly.”

Dubbed “Rock the Solar System,” the mixer’s third installment included activities like creating a turbulent orb in plastic water bottles with the help of vegetable coloring and Target-brand liquid soap, all-access to hands-on exhibits (which after a few drinks, take on a life of their own) and the night’s pièce de résistance, a chance to play Guitar Hero on the center’s new 393-panel IMAX dome screen.

I gave up on video games after I rescued Princess Zelda, so I find the sight of grown men strumming toy guitars perfectly laughable—but with a 16,000-watt, digital surround-sound system, this ain’t your mamma’s analog Toshiba.

“Are you ready to rock?” Eileen Best, the Fleet’s projectionist for more than 31 years and the person behind that trippy Laserium show you probably seizured to as a kid, asked the wannabe stars as they took the stage. With no Chumbawamba available, I chose to sing “Eye of the Tiger,” which relieved Brandon, the coordinator.

“I’ve had to stomach through seven renditions of ‘Living on a Prayer,’” he whimpered.

I belted it out—falsettos and all—proving to be a regular Susan Boyle, albeit with better eyebrows. Later, feeling like trashing a hotel room and contracting a few STDs, I strapped on a shiny red Les Paul and gave Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” a try, acing what could easily be the gnarliest guitar solo of all time.

And although paper is the traditional first-year anniversary offering, waking up the next day without a mean case of carpal tunnel was gift enough.

Locals Only

The all-original lineup of legendary punk band The Zeros will reunite for the first time in 15 years for a show at Bar Pink on Thursday, June 25. Javier Escovedo, Robert Lopez, Hector Penalosa and Baba Chenelle have all signed on for the reunion. The show will serve as a warm-up before the band heads north to play two shows in Berkeley. “We have no grand plan,” says Penalosa, who, until recently, was the lone member who refused to play with his old bandmates.

“We’ve had a few rehearsals, and they’ve gone really well. It just feels right— and an opportunity to play together again. No agenda, just a good time.” The Zeros were one of the first West Coast punk bands, forming in 1976 in Chula Vista, and went on to play shows with The Clash, X, Patti Smith and The Germs. The band (minus Penalosa) reunited in 2007 for a tour of Spain, footage from which will be released on a live DVD later this year. The band has no further plans to tour after these shows.

This year also marks the 15th anniversary of B*Side Players, who are celebrating by releasing a new album (Radio Afro Mexica) this week and playing a show at House of Blues on Friday, May 8.

Last year, it was called North by North Park. This year, because the stingy folks at Austin’s South by Southwest don’t like to share, it’s called North Park Music Thing. Anyhoo, now that the name game has been played, it’s time for your band to apply to play the three-day conference and music showcase, which is scheduled for Aug. 7 through 9. Just go to www.northparkmusicthing.com, click on “Music Fest” and follow the directions. Full-disclosure time: CityBeat publisher Kevin Hellman is on the board of directors of the San Diego Music Foundation, which is putting on the Thing.