Gonzo Report
It was the day of my company’s holiday luncheon at Eddie V’s in La Jolla. That meant happily filling up on filet mignon and beers on the company’s dime. Afterwards, a couple of my supervisors …
2023 warped by in the blink of a tiger’s eye, and now everybody’s sharing their annual Spotify wrapped sheet via social media. I didn’t share mine, but I will let you know that my number …
I booked 6:30 reservations for two at Madison on Park Boulevard. I had decided to ask a date out for the evening, and to my amazement, she had accepted. Our Lyft dropped us off under …
“He died in Sweden; I’m so sorry,” says a man named Daniel who’s checking out my Cliff Burton tattoo. Though Daniel hails from Sweden himself, I doubt he had anything to do with Metallica’s tour …
“Does anyone complain about the dicks on your shirt?” I ask Keshaun, one of the bar staff at Little Italy’s Music Box. He’s sporting swaag from Dwarves, a punk band as notorious for their shock …
Years ago, I watched a full band open for comedian David Cross at ‘Cane’s in Mission Beach. I thought it was the most unusual opening act/headliner combo I had ever witnessed — at least until …
I thought I bought tickets to see Citizen Cope. Instead, my scattered head bought tickets to see a band called Citizen. A blunder of this magnitude told me I needed to meditate and turn away …
It started with three of us. I was driving, while Matt and Francisco held down the passenger duties of radio selection and wry commentary, respectively. With a Spotify Destroy Boys playlist spilling through the speakers, …
“I think I dropped a couple of verses there,” jokes <a href="http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/color-forty-nine/">The Color Forty Nine</a> singer-guitarist Phil Beaumont. “Maybe they’re on the floor.” Or maybe it’s drummer-singer John Meeks who’s talking. I can’t see either …
The Mountain Goats are an intensely personal band. Last year, I had the chance to spend a couple of days in Palm Desert with my wife. We set out in the evening at the end …
My last encounter with Jesse was nine years ago; it began with him standing, barefoot, outside my downtown Seattle apartment, calling my name from six stories below as he clutched a plastic hospital bag containing …
In late September, I headed north to Vista’s Aztec Brewing for Brew Game Plus 5, an eight-and-a-half hour overdose of bands performing video game songs. My friend and I had never been to the brewery …
In my youthful and more formidable years, I typed out Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas line for line, chapter by chapter, just as the original gonzo journalist did with The Great …
The tears came before we even made it down to The Shell to see Counting Crows on September 3. She didn’t expect them. But she hadn’t heard their hit “Round Here” in close to 30 …
“What’s with the boots?” I ask several people as they pass the empty footwear resting on the overpass leading to Corazon Del Barrio. The boots, sturdy workman types, could be protecting the feet of any …