Education of the Modern Doctor: Marcus Welby vs. House 
Lights On
- Photo by Deb Caponeira
Wednesday, July 28
PLAN A: Rachelle Ferrell @ Anthology. A jazz singer with a range spanning six octaves, Rachelle Ferrell belts, murmurs, even sings super-high whistle notes—sometimes in single phrases. Let’s hope the big screen onstage gives us a better look at her mouth’s amazing expressions during what I’m expecting will be a breathtaking performance. (She’s also playing Thursday, July 29.) PLAN B: Nathaniel Rateliff, Pearly Gate Music @ Bar Pink. Rateliff ’s rich pipes grasped me within moments of hearing “Whimper & Wail” from the folkie’s well-received debut, In Memory of Loss. BACKUP PLAN: Black Mamba, Aunt Dracula, D/Wolves @ Tin Can Ale House.
Thursday, July 29
PLAN A: Joanna Newsom @ San Diego Woman’s Club. The enigmatic songstress continues to mesmerize with the sprawling songs of her new triple album, Have One on Me. (See our feature on this page.) PLAN B: Kenseth Thibideau, Cry For Us Black Swans, Immovable Objects @ Tin Can Ale House. Local mainstay Kenseth Thibideau is celebrating the release of Repetition, an excellent record of laid-back guitar grooves. PLAN C: The Night Marchers, Obits @ The Casbah. The Night Marchers pair John Reis (Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes, etc.) with a rhythm section “suspended by Ionic fortitude and bathed in a distilled olive oil suitable for the same rectal lubrication that eased in democracy and the Olympics,” according to MySpace. Need I say more? (Youngsters: The Night Marchers will play at Hensley’s Flying Elephant while the Obits play at Che Café on Friday, July 30.) BACKUP PLAN: Three 6 Mafia @ 4th & B.
Friday, July 30
PLAN A: E-40 @ 4th & B. Bay Area rapper E-40 changed the world with his 2006 track “Tell Me When to Go,” which compelled countless people to put their cars in neutral and dance alongside them—leading to countless accidents, a handful of deaths, at least one car theft and so many fond memories. His most recent albums show that he’s still a hustler 20 years into his career. PLAN B: The Side-Wynders, Roy Rapid & The Rhythm Rock Trio, DJ Stack-Aly @ Soda Bar. A night of great vintage rockabilly. BACKUP PLAN: Beach Fossils, The Ferocious Few @ Bar Pink.
Saturday, July 31
PLAN A: Transfer, Lights On, Mister Loveless, Aaron Swanton @ The Casbah. Rarely does a band headline The Casbah twice in the same month—let alone two days in a row, as local big-shots Transfer will this week. (They’re also playing on Friday, July 30.) Tonight’s highlight is indie-rockers Lights On, who’re getting tons of buzz for their stirring, pitch-perfect debut, Here Comes the Ocean. PLAN B: Nero’s Day at Disneyland, Mincemeat or Tenspeed, Bubblegum Octopus, Take Up Serpents, Nerfbau @ Che Café. Oakland’s Nero’s Day at Disneyland mashes up 15th-century sacred music with break-core la Squarepusher. (See our feature on Page 25.) BACKUP PLAN: The Vibe Out, Smalls Uno, Broken Dreams, OPhrap & 5thP, DJ InDJnous, Universal Greetings, Fifty Fathms, Rock Bottom, DJS Zole, Deprave, W. Steele @ Beauty Bar.
Sunday, Aug. 1
PLAN A: Kinky Friedman, Mojo Nixon @ Belly Up. With his cowboy hat and Texas twang, the eminently quotable Friedman writes goofily controversial songs like “They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore” and “I’m Proud to Be an Asshole from El Paso.” He’s also expounded on various topics on cable-news networks, and he once ran for Texas governor. BACKUP PLAN: Otep, The Birthday Massacre, Beneath the Sky, The Agonist, Unset @ Brick by Brick.
Monday, Aug. 2
PLAN A: William Fitzsimmons @ Lestat’s. That this singer-songwriter can turn something as insipid as Katy Perry’s hit “I Kissed a Girl” into a tenderly beautiful folk ballad attests to his talent. But it’s not just his fragile voice and lingering song-craft that sets him apart—his enormous beard makes Scene Wolf ’s legendary mane look like a 5-o’clock shadow. PLAN B: Dead Animal Mod, Conceptus, Paper Forest @ Soda Bar. I don’t know what sewer local trio Dead Animal Mod crawled out of, but I’d love to go down there some time to hear them practice their sludgy, squirming, spellbinding guitar interplay. BACKUP PLAN: Young the Giant, SoftLightes, Swim Party @ The Casbah.
Tuesday, Aug. 3
PLAN A: Fruit Bats, These United States, Breathe Owl Breathe @ The Casbah. You
can’t deny the perfect combo of Fruit Bats’ thoughtful folk-rock tunes,
These United States’ pedal-steel guitar and a few shots of Jack
Daniels. PLAN B: YellowFever, New Mexico, Roxy Jones @ Soda Bar. Preferring
to make her own food while on tour, YellowFever’s Jennifer Moore
recently got arrested in the Houston airport for leaving a kitchen knife
in her carry-on—which says as much about our dysfunctional legal system
as the hippie-dippy nature of the Austin duo’s softhearted garage-pop. BACKUP PLAN: Jeans Wilder, Peaking Lights, Metal Rouge, Sam Hamilton @ Tin Can Ale House.
Email show listings to peterh@sdcitybeat.com.
