Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Snake Sighting

Tonight’s headliners at the Belly Up, the Night Marchers, San Diego knows well; three quarters of the band’s members were together from 1999 to 2005 as Hot Snakes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The fourth Hot Snake was singer-guitarist Rick Froberg, a native son and graphic artist who transplanted to New York over a decade ago. (Before Hot Snakes, Froberg and Night Marcher front man John Reis played in Drive Like Jehu — they started out together as teens, in Pitchfork.)

Froberg returned to public music-making in 2008, fronting the New York–based band Obits, which already has a self-released single out. Those who’ve caught the Obits’ first shows this year have witnessed something different from Froberg’s previous bands: no John Reis on lead guitar, natch, and a more rootsy, blues-based rock than his earlier art-punk ensembles.

Froberg’s voice, still a formidable power-yowl, is used in more trad singing. His guitar-playing, paired with that of Sohrab Habibion (ex-Edsel), is more flowing, less choppy.

It’s a different sound. Froberg gave the hardware specs by email: “Sohrab plays an old (not sure of the year, probably ’60s) reverse Gibson Firebird, and occasionally a Gretsch Silverjet. I play a Harmony Bobcat, and sometimes my ’78 Telecaster Standard. Sohrab uses a Music Man ‘twin’ [amp] and I use a ’71 Deluxe Reverb with a Weber speaker.… I may need something a bit louder, though it does sound great.”

Earlier this month, people in Philly, NYC, and Boston got a chance to make Night Marchers vs. Obits comparisons when the two bands shared the bills.

Hot Snakes bassist Gar Wood has moved to guitar in Night Marchers, squaring off on his lefty Gibson SG against Reis’s blond Telecaster to produce a gnarly rock ’n’ roll roar.

Wood, vet of many celebrated SD bands from Fishwife through Tanner and the current Beehive and the Barracudas, recalled old gigs for early twentysomethings standing around the merch table — like the time Pitchfork opened for Danzig at the long-gone Point Loma club Rios: “Dude, so funny: Danzig comes out, their hair soaking wet like they’ve been rockin’ so hard — and they hadn’t played a note yet!”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.

Tonight’s headliners at the Belly Up, the Night Marchers, San Diego knows well; three quarters of the band’s members were together from 1999 to 2005 as Hot Snakes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The fourth Hot Snake was singer-guitarist Rick Froberg, a native son and graphic artist who transplanted to New York over a decade ago. (Before Hot Snakes, Froberg and Night Marcher front man John Reis played in Drive Like Jehu — they started out together as teens, in Pitchfork.)

Froberg returned to public music-making in 2008, fronting the New York–based band Obits, which already has a self-released single out. Those who’ve caught the Obits’ first shows this year have witnessed something different from Froberg’s previous bands: no John Reis on lead guitar, natch, and a more rootsy, blues-based rock than his earlier art-punk ensembles.

Froberg’s voice, still a formidable power-yowl, is used in more trad singing. His guitar-playing, paired with that of Sohrab Habibion (ex-Edsel), is more flowing, less choppy.

It’s a different sound. Froberg gave the hardware specs by email: “Sohrab plays an old (not sure of the year, probably ’60s) reverse Gibson Firebird, and occasionally a Gretsch Silverjet. I play a Harmony Bobcat, and sometimes my ’78 Telecaster Standard. Sohrab uses a Music Man ‘twin’ [amp] and I use a ’71 Deluxe Reverb with a Weber speaker.… I may need something a bit louder, though it does sound great.”

Earlier this month, people in Philly, NYC, and Boston got a chance to make Night Marchers vs. Obits comparisons when the two bands shared the bills.

Hot Snakes bassist Gar Wood has moved to guitar in Night Marchers, squaring off on his lefty Gibson SG against Reis’s blond Telecaster to produce a gnarly rock ’n’ roll roar.

Wood, vet of many celebrated SD bands from Fishwife through Tanner and the current Beehive and the Barracudas, recalled old gigs for early twentysomethings standing around the merch table — like the time Pitchfork opened for Danzig at the long-gone Point Loma club Rios: “Dude, so funny: Danzig comes out, their hair soaking wet like they’ve been rockin’ so hard — and they hadn’t played a note yet!”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Next Article

Live Five: Rebecca Jade, Stoney B. Blues, Manzanita Blues, Blame Betty, Marujah

Holiday music, blues, rockabilly, and record releases in Carlsbad, San Carlos, Little Italy, downtown
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader