San Diego Unseen: An Urban Portrait
JP Inc.
PLAN A: Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Jim Kweskin, Geoff Muldaur @ Belly Up. A smartly dressed Arkansan who’s collaborated with Tom Waits and Elvis Costello, guitarist Dan Hicks blends country, folk and jazz in a style that brings to mind the raffish guitar virtuoso played by Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown. His new Christmas album, Crazy for Christmas, is as silly as it is swingin’. PLAN B: Gene Taylor Blues Band feat. Dave Alvin, The Bedbreakers @ The Casbah. Blues pianist Gene Taylor has put out some great solo material, but tonight he reunites with bandmates from ’80s rock group The Blasters to play boogie-woogie and vintage rock jams. BACKUP PLAN: Billy Idol @ House of Blues.
Thursday, Dec. 16
PLAN A: Brawley @ Bar Pink. I hereby award Nena Anderson (who we write about here) a Medal of Badassery: In addition to writing solo material, Anderson fronts Brawley and The Neverout, making her one of the hardest working—and coolest—single moms in the city. (If you miss her tonight, catch her most Tuesdays at Riviera Supper Club.) PLAN B: Los Lobos, Los Fabulocos, Kid Ramos @ Belly Up. East L.A. rock legends Los Lobos cover everything from gritty rock to cumbia and norteño on their latest album, Tin Can Trust, which critics agree sounds pretty damn good. BACKUP PLAN: Jon Wayne, eLan, Griefshare, DJ Pound @ Kava Lounge.
Friday, Dec. 17
PLAN A: Oliver Lake @ Sushi Performance and Visual Art. Check out our feature on free-jazz veteran Oliver Lake, a saxophonist / flutist who paints and writes poetry when he isn’t performing with the avant-garde World Saxophone Quartet or collaborating with the likes of Bjork and A Tribe Called Quest. The Never Never, Catwalk, Dirty Gold, The Clouds @ Tin Can Ale House. I dig The Never Never’s adorable boy-girl vocals and Catwalk’s jangly pop-rock guitars, but I’m mostly looking forward to Dirty Gold’s live debut. A new trio of high-schoolers from North County, Dirty Gold have been getting some blog love for “California Sunrise,” a sublime track with sunny vocals, hazy keys and Afrobeat-style percussion. Here’s hoping they can pull it off onstage. BACKUP PLAN: The Greyboy Allstars, Fitz and the Tantrums @ Belly Up.
Saturday, Dec. 18
PLAN A: Jason Robinson, Gilbert Castellanos, Joshua White, Rob Thorsen & Brett Sanders @ Dizzy’s. I couldn’t have asked for a better local combo to play the works of Wayne Shorter. Avant-garde saxophonist Jason Robinson has a taste for wild improvisation, trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos is a veteran of the scene and up-and-coming pianist Joshua White is a phenom to watch out for. PLAN B: The Mau Maus, Cardiac Kidz, northern Tigers, The Last Years @ Til-Two Club. Old-school Hollywood punks The Mau Maus play straight-up gutter-rock while old-school San Diego punks Cardiac Kidz sound more like Gang of Four with their faux-British accents and sideways grooves. BACKUP PLAN: RAC, Adam Salter, Eric Diaz @ El Dorado.
Sunday, Dec. 19
PLAN A: X @ Belly Up. Christmas comes early for fans of this legendary punk band. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of its landmark debut, Los Angeles, the L.A. quartet will screen the 1986 documentary X: The Unheard Music and then play Los Angeles front to back. And since this is a holiday show, you can also expect tunes from the 2009 Christmas collection, Merry Xmas from X. PLAN B: Fuzzy Baby, Muff Attack, Mermaid, Bastidas, Spider Problem @ Soda Bar. The adorably named Virginia duo Fuzzy Baby employs all sorts of curious instruments (guitar, clarinet, tuba, a wood rattler called a Mule’s Jaw) to play far-ranging vaudevillian folk. BACKUP PLAN: Lady Dottie and the Diamonds, The Howls, The Styletones, Old Tiger @ The Casbah. The city’s two funkiest bar bands—Lady Dottie and the Diamonds and The Styletones—face off at this free holiday bash.
Monday, Dec. 20
PLAN A: Lesands, White Apple Tree, Sleepwalkers, DJ Qenoe @ The Casbah. Fans of synth hooks, dance-y beats and fun in general won’t want to miss this one. Lesands and White Apple Tree always put on an awesome show, but don’t skip out on Sleepwalkers, a relatively new electro outfit featuring former members of defunct electro-rock group Buddy Akai. BACKUP PLAN: Tina’s Nightmare, Gun of a Son @ Ruby Room.
Tuesday, Dec. 21
PLAN A: dornob @ Tango Del Rey. Members
of dornob have been playing Persian classical music with a jazzy twist
for 25 years. Tonight, the group celebrates the release of a new record
full of pretty folk songs and beautifully ornate classical pieces played
with traditional instruments along with synthesizers and fretless bass.
PLAN B: JP Inc., DevFits, Little White Teeth @ The Casbah. I have no idea
how the subdued indie-folk group Little White Teeth ended up on this
bill: DevFits is Rob Crow’s Misfits / Devo mash-up, and JP Inc. play
hilariously corny electrorock.
Correction: This article originally reported that blink-182 would play at Che Café on Tuesday, Dec. 21. That's what the Che listed on its website. It turns out that it's a blink-182 cover band.
Want your show to be considered? Email peterh@sdcitybeat.com.
