Reports from the scene

Photo by James Norton.

Shot on scene

General club-style rule-of-thumb: When you head to the Hard Rock Hotel to check out Fat Joe and you order bottle service, it might be a good idea to do laundry. That way, when you decide to take off your shirt to show your awesome Jesus tattoo (you know, to let the ladies see that you’re the type of guy they can take home to Mom), your underwear matches your supposed bankroll. Fruit of the Loom boxer briefs don’t exactly scream making it rain. They scream, “I paid for this bottle—and my friend’s deep-V cardigan—with my dad’s credit card.”

Locals only

Jazz man Gilbert Castellanos has found a new home for his weekly “Jam Session” after it was recently discontinued at Onyx Room. Starting on Jan. 27, the new Wednesday night session will be at Super El Camino, the new restaurant and bar in Little Italy.

In new-band news, Pinback and Goblin Cock mastermind Rob Crow will debut his project, Mission:Valley at The Casbah on Tuesday, Jan. 26, with Dead Ghosts and Gravatorium supporting. Although the band doesn’t have a website or MySpace page, a source describes the band as more “punk-influenced” than Crow’s previous projects. Three Mile Pilot and Black Heart Procession member Pall Jenkins has also started a new project called Myth with his girlfriend, hip-hopper Addiquit. The group hasn’t yet posted any music to its MySpace page but will make its live debut on Friday, Jan. 22, at Tin Can Ale House.

Some music releases of note: Singer-songwriter Astra Kelly will celebrate the release of her new EP, Battling the Sun, at a show on Saturday, Jan. 23, at The Ruby Room. Republic of Letters, Medicine for Madison and Evan Robinson are set to open. Indie-pop mainstays Secret Apollo will play on Friday, Jan. 22 (with openers Knives! and Joanie Mendenhall), in celebration of their third album. And on Wednesday, Jan. 27, singer-songwriter Alyssa Jacey will play at the Belly Up to celebrate the release of her new album, Here’s to Change, with Josh Damigo and Jasmine Commerce supporting.

In altruism news, several benefits are scheduled for the next week. Hardcore bands including Rats Eyes and Age of Collapse will play at The Yard on Friday, Jan. 22, to help raise money for musician Matt Kelly (see Page 25 for details). On Saturday, Jan. 23, at 11 a.m., friends of Steve White—a musician who’s no longer able to perform following cancer surgery—will host a yard sale and concert at Old Time Music Store in North Park to help raise funds for White’s medical costs. For sale will be music gear donated by Gregory Page, Lisa Sanders, Chuck Perrin and dozens more. Finally, on Saturday, Jan. 23, Love Beats War, Breaker Breaker One Niner, Eskera and others will perform at a dual benefit for Che Café and UCSD radio station KSDT at—where else?—Che Café.

—Seth Combs

The Enrique Experience

The amount of shit you can buy for five bucks at Chula Vista’s United Cerebral Palsy thrift store leaves you feeling like a regular Rockefeller. After the strenuous task of digging though Richard Simmons’ Sweatin’ to the Oldies VHS tapes or a mound of Danielle Steele books for that coveted Granny Dan first edition, it’s only natural that you’d want to wet your whistle. Luckily for the budget dandy, the South Bay’s crown jewel, the Manhattan Cocktail Lounge (400 Broadway) is right across the street.  

A makeshift ashtray (a rusted coffee tin hanging from a wire) welcomes you, while a brass spit bucket proudly sits by the draft station. Maximum capacity is 78—which is about the same number of security cameras you’ll find here. A Costco-sized vial of genuine Bayer aspirin rests between a bottle of Crown Royal and Chambord, while a sign by the bar’s end, reading “The Bullshit Corner,” brings the classy look together. So what if the worn burgundy scrolled carpet and grizzly-faced patrons are more Laughlin than uptown?

Mechelle, the bartender, might not be a New Yorker, but her attitude never got the memo. She was too busy drinking coffee from a mug that said “I DON’T do mornings” and gossiping to do her job. In those precious drive-by rounds, I asked her about a collection of key chains dangling from a board. Turns out they’re for pool lockers.

“Some guys like their sticks locked-up tight,” she said. There were also stacks of brightly colored plastic chips marked with monetary value ranging from a quarter to $3, completing the casino feel. I asked her about those, too, and she begrudgingly mumbled something along the lines of handing them over to patrons when someone buys them a drink, Tijuana brothel-style, or something. Who knows? Apparently bitch DOESN’T do evenings, either.

After a couple of patrons walked in only to use the ATM, a miffed Mechelle said that that’s how she likes her men: “Easy in, easy out.” She then commented on their butts, which apparently were not up to her standards.

“They’re as flat as a wet diaper,” she told another gal there.

Classy, indeed.

—Enrique Limón

Sweet Beats

Our semi-regular look at the local DJ and electronic scene.

Artist: Apres Fellini (aka Ivan and Anthony Araiza)

Sound: Hard-hitting electro-house—in the vein of MSTRKRFT and Bloody Beetroots and locals like Shark Attack and Harvard Bass—made by two über-dreamy brothers. They’re like the Jonas Brothers of the local DJ scene, minus the promise rings and Disney connection.

“It’s like electro punk,” says Anthony, who admits that both he and his brother grew up in L.A. listening almost exclusively to punk. “Our music is something that you can really get energetic to.”

Stats: Not much. They’ve been putting together their own mixes for only a year, but they’re climbing the ranks fast through word-of-mouth and playing every house party they can get. They’ve landed some choice gigs at Beauty Bar, but they’re quick to admit that they might be the electro scene’s rookies of the year for more reasons than one.

“I’m only 20 years old and my brother’s only 18,” says Anthony, who shares a house in Imperial Beach with Ivan. “It’s hard to get gigs sometimes when they find that out.”

The name?: Don’t let the good looks and ages fool you. The brothers are some pretty cultured dudes, as evidenced by their name.

“Apres is French for ‘after’ and ‘Fellini’ is the last name of Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini,” says Anthony. “His art, his films, were different and mind-opening. I want our music to be like that, as well,”

—Seth Combs

Night Moves

Our semi-regular guide to Scene Wolf-approved after-dark events we’re either crazy about or just really looking forward to.

“Generations Party” @ U-31: What a concept! Instead of doing the ubiquitous and overdone ’80s party, why not get some of the area’s best DJs, like Steve1der and Artistic, to mix music from every decade. The new night was a blast last week. Thursday, Jan. 21.

Andy Moor, Victoire Dinaire, Sharky @ Voyeur: While still certainly danceable, Brit Andy Moor specializes in sexy trance that’s a nice alternative to the overzealous big-beat DJs playing the rest of Downtown. Friday, Jan. 22.

“Grown Folk Music” @ Wit’s End: The Hillcrest club has been stepping it up lately. It just landed this club night—a huge draw when it was at El Dorado on the strength of DJs like the Husky Boy All-Stars. Saturday, Jan. 23.

—Seth Combs