While San Diego County Fair officials tried to prevent off-duty cops from showing up with concealed guns, promoter Willie Carter hired at least one pistol-packing guard for an all-age show at the El Cajon Masonic …

Revolutionary Comics, founded in San Diego by Todd Loren in 1989, published about 300 unauthorized rock-and-roll comic books based on Elvis, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, and others. Some of the artists portrayed -- such as …

"We Get 'er Done," says singer/guitarist Paul Shaffer of Private Domain. Shaffer and guitarist Jack Butler have played together locally for 27 years (first as Bratz). The two have outlasted every other band and most …

Pacific Beach business owner Kevin Frank says the PB Block Party has gotten out of hand. As the owner of New Seed Nutrition on Garnet Avenue, Frank concludes that this year's attempt to bring in …

"I actually have a mafioso in my neighborhood," says electronica artist El Poeta (Angelo Gastelum). Last month, the techno-savvy laptop whiz went freelance as a Web designer so he could concentrate on music. He and …

"Ground Zero Concerts presents our last show ever." That was the announcement on groundzeroconcerts.net in reference to the June 11 show that included My American Heart, Get Back Loretta, and Goodbye Tomorrow. The 600-person--capacity room …

Last November, Brian Witkin opened Real 2 Reel, a record store at Mira Mesa's Epicentre, an all-ages venue. He says business is good. "I have five [part-time] employees now with workers' comp and all that," …

"Oldies isn't dying, it's being murdered," says local rock DJ Rich "Brother" Robbin about the "oldies" radio format. He suggests the people who run radio conglomerates are too lazy to make the format work. Last …

"He's the man," says Pepper drummer Yesod Williams about L.A. DJ Jed "the Fish." Three months ago, the KROQ DJ got his station to play the reggae/rock trio's "Give It Up." That airplay spurred other …

Harder to Cross the Border for Eek-A-Mouse. "Rumor has it he can't get back in this country," says Coach House Records CEO John Bullard about his label's dancehall-reggae star. For the past 15 summers, you …

"They need to understand they can't make a living on what the Belly Up did," says Belly Up Tavern talent buyer Jeff Gaulton. What the House of Blues did was snag Neil Diamond tribute band …

"What do indie musicians and Tupperware have in common?" That's what an article in the June 20 issue of Newsweek ponders as it suggests local O.B. reggae-rockers Slightly Stoopid have tapped into a hipper version …

"The days are over when a single local independent promoter will dominate the local scene," says longtime promoter Harlan Schiffman (Fineline Entertainment). Schiffman reflects on the life of Jim Pagni, San Diego's first major rock …

"The last thing I remember was flying out the window," says 21-year-old drummer Sid Hilarides. "I flew about 30 feet." Hilarides and two of his Irieside bandmates were traveling north on I-5 from a Solana …

"Vice officers went into [Winstons on] May 27 to do a regular check of their permits," says SDPD Lieutenant Lawrence McKinney. Winstons management told the undercover vice detectives that permits were not needed because the …

"The army shows that to get somewhere you have to prove something to yourself and others," says 23-year-old guitarist Kelli Ruddick, an Israeli army veteran. Ruddick, who plays Lestat's, E Street Cafe, Twiggs, and the …

Attorney Sandy Troy says he's tried to mediate the problems between Hot Monkey Love Café owner Alma Phelan and her El Cajon Boulevard neighbor. "He's put a chain across the driveway while customers are there," …

"We'd have burlesque dancers onstage with us," says drummer Morgan Young about his decision to leave the Millionaires, a glam band that packed the Casbah, Ken Club, and the Alibi during its three-year run. "A …

Tracy Johnson, general manager of KFMB (100.7 FM), says he had second thoughts after he dropped his live DJs, quit playing new music, and switched to an '80s-oldies format called "Jack 100.7." "I'd wake up …

"We got our name because we're all getting a little bit older, and it's about time to send us off to the glue factory," jokes Greg Lowther, 40-year-old drummer for Glue Factory. "We're not hiding …

"We sold around 350,000 albums [worldwide]." Sprung Monkey drummer and co-founder Ernie Longoria is proud of his band's track record. "We cracked the top 20 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart. We got MTV play." Active …

"They haven't died out, but they ain't got no work," says singer Dottie Whitsett. "A lot of the old blues people don't try and do blues no more. I can't find them." Whitsett has performed …

"The reason is vocal soreness," says Interscope Records spokesman Chris Lehman as to why the Audioslave show was canceled last week. Yet, the day after the cancellation, posters went up along El Cajon Boulevard promoting …

Hillcrest's Off the Record closes its door on Fifth Avenue tomorrow (...to reopen June 4 on University Avenue in North Park). About a block away, record junkies can still get a fix. Thirsty Moon Records …

"If they arrested every male who looks at pictures of naked women, there would be no free men left in our society," says attorney Sandy Troy, who's working pro bono in defense of singer/songwriter John …

"I coached him at Helix High from 1998 to 2001." San Diego's only known DJ/prep football coach, Mike Aitken, can brag that he coached former Helix High quarterback Alex Smith before he became this year's …

"We'd be in this converted chicken coop playing, and this mortar would come in. It was the loudest, most scariest thing you ever heard because you knew it came from guys who were trying to …

"We'll have to find a guy on the heroin diet." Guitarist Jeff Simpson says he's kidding about finding a strung-out singer for his Stone Temple Pilots tribute band, but he wants someone who looks like …

"All eight tires on both of our vans were slashed," says an FM-94/9 employee. "No other tires in the area were slashed." During the two-day Coachella Music and Arts Festival (April 30 and May 1), …

"I guess they wanted to make the event more family-accessible," says Timothy Joseph, singer/guitarist with Buckfast Superbee. Joseph's band and other P.B. Block Party favorites such as Slightly Stoopid are not being asked to perform …

"I know for a fact he lives there." Ruggy, the sidekick on the 91X morning show, broke the news recently that Metallica front man James Hetfield lives in Fallbrook. "My sister works in Starbucks," said …

For the first time in its 31-year history, Solana Beach's Belly Up Tavern will host a headliner brought in by an outside promoter. Casbah talent buyer/co-owner Tim Mays will host his first Belly Up show …

Radio wars are common, but when Arbitron identifies a "ratings distortion" by a station, it's a rarity. Last week, Arbitron told advertisers that Clear Channel--owned KUSS ("U.S. 95.7," a country station) had ratings numbers that …

"If you go to an all-guys' school, you're not going to write a song about grass growing," says singer Murphy Martin, 16, of Muff. One of their songs employs the band's name and a lewd …

Pro-pot bands cheapen the value of industrial hemp, says Jordan Loder. "They stereotype hemp as being psychoactive [and] revel in the fact that they are breaking the law. They behave the same way people did …

The largest concert company in the U.S. (Clear Channel) will not buy the second largest (House of Blues) because of what is happening in San Diego, according to House of Blues CEO Greg Trojan. He …

"It is an extremely difficult market to be profitable in because there are so few players," says former veterinarian Jim Palenscar, who recently opened the second steel-guitar store in California. "I must know all 30 …

"For a family of four to get good seats, you are looking at $1400. If you add the price of gas and, say, $50 for concessions, you are looking at quite a price tag." Darrel …

"I owned the name. They didn't want to buy it back." Guitarist Joe Wood wasn't one of the founding members of the Orange County punk band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), but as the original …

One insider said that the biggest news may still be forthcoming from the station formerly known as Star 100.7 and now known as Jack 100.7. This insider believes that the top-rated morning duo of Jeff …

"It breaks my heart. I still don't understand it." Jen Sewell started as an unpaid intern 11 years ago at Star 100.7. "I was with the station from day one when it started as Star …

"Until my boss says something like, 'Hey, Carrot Juice,' when someone buys the CD," Lindsey Troy says customers buying Louis XIV's new CD, The Best Little Secrets Are Kept, at the local Music Trader have …

Last week 4th & B general manager Ray Johnson confirmed rumors that he and owner Ali Nilforshan were going to turn over the booking of all national acts at the 1500-seat downtown nightclub to Viejas …

"He is spending between $200,000 and $250,000 on talent alone," said one insider about first-time promoter Chris Wepsic's Festival Del Mar, April 16 and 17, at the fairgrounds in Del Mar. Twenty-six bands will perform …

"The San Diego Symphony told us Embarcadero North would not be available this summer. That, plus a lack of sponsorship caused us to cancel this year," said Michael Kinsman, a business writer for the Union-Tribune …

"They were rehearsing at the Fox Studios near Rosarito Beach for two weeks," said an insider, with close access to U2, about the Irish band's activity before they kicked off their U.S. tour last Monday …

"This video is a porn cartoon," e-mails Jack Sparrow, a fan of Unwritten Law but not of the alternate version of the band's song "Save Me." The animated video appears on Unwritten Law's unofficial website …

"It's a format in trouble," said one former 91X employee about the alternative format used by 91X and 94/9. "Six years ago there were 125 modern rock stations in the country. Now there are 70." …

What promises to be the biggest local concert of the year happens tomorrow, and chances are, you won't see it. Kiss, Ted Nugent, Godsmack, Destiny's Child, and Cedric the Entertainer are appearing for some 35,000 …

Singer Steve "Crabby" Cabler was the only American (out of eight) who survived after a terrorist bomb exploded in a Bali nightclub while he was on a surf vacation in October 2002. It took 180 …