The Vintage & Handmade Market 
Photo by Jeff "Turbo" Corrigan
What’s the new craze in Hipsterville? Moustache accessories! If you’re a fella heading out to Voyeur on Saturday night, you know the ladies go crazy for a good upper-lip flavor-saver. But stray hairs can send an otherwise willing scenestress running. So what do you do? Just bust out your pocket-sized moustache comb! And, ladies, you’ll be shunned by fellow Magnum P.I. lovers if you don’t have the latest accessory: the moustache comb pendent. Sure beats getting a ’stache tattooed on your finger. God, where’s Billy Mays when you need him? Oh yeah, he’s as dead as this moustache trend.
Locals Only
Rocker Lauren DeRose got a pleasant surprise last Saturday night while she was playing a set with her band at the Sight & Sound event at Queen Bee’s. Two songs into her set, she looked down and spotted songwriter and producer Linda Perry in the crowd.
“I saw her right away. I was like, holy crap, and then I died,” DeRose jokingly recalls to CityBeat.
Perry, the former singer of 4 Non Blondes and creative muse for artists like Christina Aguilera and Pink, was in town visiting friends who also happen to be friends of DeRose, and the friends suggested that they all go see DeRose perform. Perry was impressed—she bought both of DeRose’s albums and invited her and her friends back to her suite at The Andaz Hotel. By the end of the night, they were exchanging info and Perry was asking about DeRose’s next show.
“She’s my hero,” DeRose says. “She’s been a huge influence on my music. Her band was the first cassette that I ever purchased with my own money when I was 11.”
Judging from a post written by Perry on DeRose’s Facebook wall, the admiration is mutual:
“Hey Kid. I just wanted to say, you have some great friends looking out for you it was a pleasure meeting you. To witness the smile that was brought to your face upon seeing me, well that was worth more than I can express. If ever I doubt my creative ability and start feeling like I’m not making a difference I will think about that look on your face to get me back on track.”
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In a phone call to CityBeat last Wednesday, The Album Leaf mastermind Jimmy LaValle confirmed that last Friday’s show at the North Park Birch Theatre was the last one he’ll play with many of the musicians he’s performed with for more than eight years. Among those moving on include longtime drummer and percussionist Tim Reese and guitarist Drew Andrews. LaValle says the latter wants to focus exclusively on his solo material, while Reese will soon be moving to Denver, which would make performing and collaborating together difficult, especially with LaValle now residing in Santa Cruz.
“We’ve been together for a really long time,” LaValle says. “It just seems like the right time for doing something different.”
LaValle will be playing as The Album Leaf on the festival circuit this summer, but he says it will be with a more “stripped-down” three-piece including longtime collaborator Matt Resovich and new drummer James McAlister (formerly of Tulsa, Okla., band Ester Drang).
“Right now, I just want to create a mystery. Is The Album Leaf going to be this three-piece thing? Is it going to be two guys and a string section? Is it going to be a full band? That’s the way I want to look at it, to keep it open-ended.”
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Greyboy Allstars and DJ SK will play on Wednesday, May 19, at the Belly Up to help raise money for Greyboy bassist Chris Stillwell’s sister, Kelly Stillwell, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Also, At the Surface, Awaken the Alchemist, To Build an Empire and others will play on Saturday, May 22, at the Epicentre to help raise money for Rady Children’s Hospital.
Translation: Audio will play at Beauty Bar on Thursday, May 20, to celebrate of the release of their debut album, Sunday, Maybe. Long Live Logos and The Gift / Curse will also perform. Also, post-punks The Very will celebrate the release of their debut LP, Dangerous Game of Russian Roulette, at Tin Can Ale House Friday, May 21, along with Secret Apollo, Semi Sweet and Post Crush. On Saturday, May 22, at Tin Can, folk-rockers The Flowerfthief will play with Mia Valentine and The Paragraphs in honor of the release of The Flowerthief’s sophomore album.
—Seth Combs
The Enrique Experience
Google On the Rocks (656 E St. in Chula Vista) and you’ll find out that a man was shot in the back outside the South Bay haunt not that long ago in an apparent gang-related crime. Did that scare me? Hell no. It just made me wear extra layers as a way of creating a DIY bulletproof vest.
Sandwiched between Fonda’s His & Hers Hair Clinique and a WIC office, it’s the kind of place that car alarms were invented for.
Fancy tropical-themed carpet adorns the place down low, and up high is the most inventive AC system I’ve ever witnessed: upside-down floor fans hanging from cutout holes in the drop ceiling. The home of “Funky Fridays” and “Saturday Sessions with the Needle Ninjas” also boasts what an in-house advert says is a “state of the art” dance floor—apparently Pergo flooring is high-tech stuff down here.
It wasn’t karaoke night, but the crowd roared in unison with every gangsta-rap song that came out of the juke, often roughhousing over pool cues used as mics.
Fuck getting buzzed. I ordered a St. Pauli non-alcoholic, and I liked it.
Trying to spark a conversation, I asked the bartender about “the shit list” posted atop the bar. Apparently, it’s to keep track of regular patrons spotted at the Dakota Inn (your guess is as good as mine). Starting to feel in my element, a norteño cover of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” randomly interrupted the all-2Pac, all-the-time musical program, and all eyes were on me. Now, I relish messing with patrons’ sacred jukeboxes every once in a while (Mariah Carey at sports bars, for example, is the dive equivalent of salt to a slug), but, for once, I wasn’t the culprit.
As I was racing toward the car, a lady who was either born a man or has just led a very harsh life asked me for a toothpick. “I wore mine down to the nub,” she boasted.
Sure, the locale’s name might hint otherwise, but shadiness here apparently is served straight-up.
—Enrique Limón
Ears We Trust
This here is a new feature, wherein we ask some musical tastemakers to hip us to new bands and artists that have blown their minds.
Brooke Burt (co-founder, Indigenous Promotions): “I’ve had Little Deadman on repeat for weeks. Apparently, they have been around for a year or so, but I’ve only recently discovered them. I have a sweet spot for their kind of ruckusy sound. They remind of the bands that sucked me into the indie-rock scene like old Strokes, The Walkmen and Arcade Fire, but with a new twist.”
Tim Pyles (promoter / 94.9 deejay): “I just witnessed Jungle Fever at the Soda Bar featuring Kelly [Alvarez] and Cara [Bowman] formerly of Wild Weekend. The band has a nice following built in from their previous band and do not disappoint. They have great dual vocals from the ladies in the group and their sound is reminiscent of some of my favorite girl groups. The blogosphere should be calling soon.”
Nicole Novak (event planner / promoter, U-31): “People gotta check out up-and-coming DJ duo Stircrazy. They’re a couple of SDSU grads who got their start throwing parties at Beauty Bar sometime last year and soon were slotted for events like Halloween at 4th & B with Benny Benassi, and the opening day of Wave House’s ‘Sundaze’ night with Kill the Noise and Christopher Lawrence. Their sets go from deep house and electro to more surprising material like Pink Floyd remixed. They always keep me guessing and they’ve got energy for days.”
—Seth Combs
