The Vintage & Handmade Market For websites listed below, MS=www.myspace.com. These are bands we especially dig, not full listings.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 5
PLAN A: "Love In" @ Birch North Park Theatre. The first of a four-night stint for the half-play, half-concert. A narrated trip through the music of 1967, the night will include a bevy of icons from the era, including Hendrix drummer Buddy Miles, Peter & Gordon, Jesse Colin Young, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Vanilla Fudge's Vince Martel, Eric Johnson and local tribute kings Rockola. www.birchnorthparktheatre.net. PLAN B: Peter Case @ The Casbah. The former Plimsouls frontman has aged well, a true musicologist who plays country-blues with a gravelly voice he can make sound like a didgeridoo. MS/petercase. PLAN C: The Blackout Party, Tigersharks @ O'Connells. Two solid San Diego bands: The Blackout Party is a sort of barroom tribute to the grunge era, and Tigersharks is some trad whisky-rock. MS/theblackoutparty, MS/tigersharks. BACKUP PLAN: Daryl Hall & John Oates @ Humphrey's (MS/hallandoates).
THURSDAY, SEPT. 6
PLAN A: Iris Dement @ Belly Up. Arguably, this Arkansas folky's biggest moment was the final moment of the beloved quirky TV show Northern Exposure. Dement's super-rural, piercing voice closed the series with her song "Our Town." And people simply had to know to whom the voice belonged. Eventually, she'd record with the likes of John Prine and Emmylou Harris, nabbing a Grammy in the process. www.irisdement.com. PLAN B: Planet Asia @ Kava Lounge. Fresno's native rapper hasn't quite lived up to the promise The Source heaped on him in 2001, but dude still received a Grammy and collab'd with the likes of Ghostface and Talib Kweli. MS/planetasia. PLAN C: Deep Rooted @ 710 Beach Club. One of the must-hear hip-hop outfits in San Diego, who favor soul over style. MS/deeprootedent. BACKUP PLAN: Subhumans UK, MDC, Witch Hunt @ Soma (MS/subhumansuk, MS/mdc, MS/witchhunt).
FRIDAY, SEPT. 7 PLAN A: The Silent Comedy @ Whistle Stop Bar. Whether it's on the coattails of Sufjan Stevens or just some hyperactive Summer of Love tape-trading, San Diego's whipping out some talented indie-folk. And the theatrical Silent Comedy (they dress like bartenders from HBO's Deadwood) just might be tops. Their plaintive, ghostly debut, Sunset Stables, is one of the best local releases of 2007. MS/thesilentcomedy. PLAN B: Soulive @ 'Canes. Originally an instrumental groove-jazz project à la Greyboy Allstars, the Brooklyn band recently added vocalist Toussaint and upped the funk. MS/soulivemusic. PLAN C: John Vanderslice, Bowerbirds @ The Casbah. Vanderslice is a pop mastermind on par with Spoon's Britt Daniel and Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes. North Carolina's Bowerbirds are a promising, gentle thing, like Andrew Bird with a female counterpoint. MS/johnvanderslice, MS/bowerbirds. BACKUP PLAN: Coyote Problem, The Shamey Jays @ Lestat's (www.thecoyoteproblem.com, MS/shameyjays).
SATURDAY, SEPT. 8
PLAN A: Kings of Leon, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Manchester Orchestra @ Open Air Theatre. During the past year or so, Kings of Leon have moved away from their patented (and pretty great) Southern mumble-rock and more toward soulful classic rock (which is also pretty great). While a constant letdown on record, BRMC's desperately spiritual, dark rock is much better live. And Manchester Orchestra sounds decent enough--a fuzzy, keyboard-based indie upstart from Atlanta. MS/kingsofleon, MS/blackrebelmotorcycleclub, MS/manchesterorchestra. PLAN B: Joan as Police Woman, Matt Curreri & The Ex-Friends @ The Casbah. She may be outnumbered by the bill above, but Brooklyn's Joan Wasser is the new artist to see in town this week--a blue-eyed-soul girl on a piano but raised on Sonic Youth. Curreri is one of San Diego's more talented, sarcastically witty pop tarts. MS/joanaspolicewoman, MS/theexfriends. PLAN C: The Meditations @ World Beat Center. To celebrate the Ethiopian New Year, the most authentic world-music joint in town hosts one of Jamaica's top roots-reggae melody trios. MS/anselmeditations. BACKUP PLAN: Octopus Project @ Beauty Bar (MS/theoctopus project).
SUNDAY, SEPT. 9
PLAN A: Poncho Sanchez @ Ocean Beach Jazz Festival. This show marks the end of San Diego's official "Jazz Week." Put on by Jazz 88.3, the all-day lineup is pretty impressive, with Joey DeFrancesco, The Duke Robillard Band and The Dave Pike Quartet with Mundelle Lowe. But it's headliner Poncho Sanchez--one of the premier Latin-jazz icons in the world--who really tops the week off right. www.objazz.org. PLAN B: Magnolia Electric Co., Golden Boots, Minmae @ The Casbah. Former Songs: Ohia principal Jason Molina leads Magnolia Electric Co. in some Calexico-like country rock. Golden Boots is a promising, junky, indie-folk fivesome from Tucson, and Portland's Minmae is adventurous, lo-fi electro-pop led by former San Diegan Sean Brooks. MS/magnoliaelectricco, MS/golden boots, MS/minmae. PLAN C: The Sess @ Bar Pink Elephant. The new hangout owned by ex-Rocket from the Crypt frontman John Reis bills this 2 p.m. show as "Swami Sunday Mass" and enlists one of San Diego's best in The Sess (pronounced "Sesh"). MS/thesess. BACKUP PLAN: Brenda Xu @ Brick by Brick (MS/brendaxu).
MONDAY, SEPT. 10
PLAN A: Yo Majesty @ The Casbah. Awesomeness. The Tampa, Fla., threesome are openly lesbian black girls who spare no euphemism in putting the boys in their lowly, degraded places. But they do it with such skilled interplay and 1980s electro-rap that you can't help but sing along. Even if you're the dick they're rapping about. It'll be a surprise if this doesn't sell out. MS/yomajesty4life. PLAN B: Bob Log III @ Bar Pink Elephant. Bob Log III is a freak of punk-blues--a one-man dirty Delta band who rips his guitar while playing drums with his feet. All while wearing an Evil Knievel biker suit and singing through a telephone receiver that's glued to a hole in his motorcycle helmet. MS/boblog111. PLAN C: The Slackers, Phenomenauts @ House of Blues. NYC's The Slackers are possibly the only third-wave ska band that's still enjoyable. Oakland's Phenomenauts are what happens when a good rockabilly band meets a spaceman shtick. MS/theslack ers, MS/thephenomenauts.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 11
PLAN A: MySpace @ Your Computer. Go to Google (MySpace's search function blows). Type in "MySpace" then the names of these bands (one per search): Jenny Owen Youngs, Brakes, Airiel, The Puppini Sisters, The Slats, The Budos Band, Mr. Smolin, Culver City Dub Collective, The Bongos, My Teenage Stride, Avett Brothers, Fionn Regan, White Rabbits, Panthers, Pissed Jeans, Ghost, Benjy Ferree, Locos Gringos and Friday Mile. Enjoy!
