“Suicidal Tendencies and The Last Gang shirts, I knew you would be exceptional people,” exclaims Agusto from South America, who is complimenting my wife and me on our T-shirt choices. The man himself is wearing …
April 20, 2023
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Stories by Spike Steffenhagen
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Gonzo Report: Bruising show at Ocean Beach’s Holding Company yields pure punk bliss
Dustin Lothspeich leaves behind a legacy that sets a top bar
“Dustin wanted to turn my parents’ dining room into a music room,” says Jen Lothspeich, widow of Dustin Lothspeich, who died unexpectedly of natural causes in his La Mesa home on March 23. “On more …
April 20, 2023
Gonzo Report: Sad Silent Comedy doc premieres in Oceanside theater
“Where the fuck is the red carpet?” I think to myself as I mosey into the lobby of the Sunshine Brooks Theater. My ticket for this segment of the Oceanside International Film Festival clearly states, …
March 30, 2023
Zach Goode – the new mouth of Smash Mouth
“Well, like anything else, showing up is half the battle,” says Smash Mouth singer Zach Goode. Goode, a longtime local musician, is talking about the voiceover work he’s done for commercials, including a Taco Bell …
March 29, 2023
San Diego Reader 2023 Music & Arts issue
On May 11, the Federal Department of Health and Human Services will end the Covid public health emergency. But the bureaucratic behemoth is a slow-footed beast; John Q. Public knows the pandemic ended some time …
March 29, 2023
Is it punk to defend Ace Frehley and KISS?
“I don’t think there is animosity toward KISS in the punk scene,” says Lenny Bly, best known for playing bass in Inciting Riots and Social Spit. “Most people just think Gene [Simmons, KISS’s bassist] is …
March 16, 2023
Gonzo Report: Ass shaking Latin robots at North Park’s AC Lounge
On the night in question, The Air Conditioned Lounge in North Park is offering “Bootydew feat. Booty Selectors,” an electronic dance night featuring genres described on the venue’s website as “Electronic, Latin, Ass Shakers.” Which, …
March 2, 2023
Gonzo Report: Sitting through Dad Rock to get to Enrique Sotelo
It’s a Wednesday at The Belly Up in Solana Beach, and I pass the time eavesdropping in line as a young woman named Abby discusses a helicopter that is flying at that very moment over …
February 9, 2023
Some Kind of Nightmare tours while Social Spit stays home
“I’m 64 years old with one leg. I don’t need any help falling down,” Social Spit frontman Cliff Cunningham tells me. He’s not spewing random trivia; he’s responding to my question about whether he’s drunk …
January 26, 2023
Gonzo Report: Iron Maiden’s undead mascot Eddie surfing...on sharks... on a shirt
Chula Vista’s North Island Credit Union Amphitheater is less than 30 miles from D.Z. Akin’s, the place from which Mrs. Steffenhagen and I set out at 4:30 pm. The Iron Maiden show isn’t slated to …
January 18, 2023
Gonzo Report: Memories of leaping and Lemmy
A short trolley ride brings me to San Diego’s House of Blues, where a video monitor at the entryway — emblematic of the modern concert venue — warns “Hate will not be tolerated here!” The …
January 5, 2023
San Diego – Fentanyl City
“Fuck Fentanyl” — a slogan you may have seen on a T-shirt or hoodie around San Diego of late. Or perhaps you’ve spotted it on social media: local designer Luis Romero posts shots of his …
December 14, 2022
Gonzo Report: Feeling feline at North Park’s Whiskers & Wine
The orange cat jumps into an older man’s lap like they’re best friends. I never catch the animal’s name, or at least I don’t retain it, because there are at least ten more of her …
December 14, 2022
Gonzo Report: North Park’s Full Contact Rock-N-Roll wants your two-headed frog
When Full Contact Rock-N-Roll owner Davit Buck tells me that KISS guitarist Ace Frehley once came into the store and asked if they carried any albums by his former band, I could feel my inner …
December 8, 2022
Reader writer studies drawing at Little Fish
I was attending Comic Fest 2022 at the Four Points Sheraton on Aero Drive when I ran into Alonso Nunez, co-founder and lead instructor at Little Fish Comic Book Studios, a nonprofit that aims, according …
November 9, 2022
Gonzo Report: Vetting Van Halen while Belmont Park blonde bawls
Stumping for Sammy: The blonde woman at Belmont Park’s Beach House Tequila + Taqueria says she’s done with “fat old ladies and douchebags with 619 tattoos that can’t keep their fucking hands to themselves.” The …
November 3, 2022
Post-Covid serendipity in East San Diego
As I loiter in the smoking section across the street from D.Z. Akin's, I am sometimes privy to the one-sided conversations, held by people (usually on their phones) who are talking to someone I can’t …
October 5, 2022
Steam Powered Giraffe’s Rabbit transition
“I had a brand and a character that looks very different from the character I portray now,” says Isabella Bennett, who plays Rabbit, one of the musical steampunk robots in Steam Powered Giraffe. The band …
September 1, 2022
Robert Walter is rebuilding Pink Floyd’s Wall
“I had never seen either [Pink Floyd or Roger Waters]; I regret not going when I was younger,” says Robert Walter (Greyboy Allstars, Robert Walter’s 20th Congress), who occupies maybe the best seat in the …
August 18, 2022
Bondage, bitches, and Divine talk at Queen Bee’s in North Park
Alma Rodriguez, owner of Queen Bee’s, escorts me into the North Park venue for “Dark Euphoria.” Before the end of this July 23 night, the pulse of gothic electronica will have carried me through lessons …
August 11, 2022
Gonzo Report: Punchy pit punctuates Tourist show in Point Loma
“No booze, no bullshit” reads the digital flyer I receive from Se Vende singer Collin Smith. It’s an ad for an underground punk show at a print shop, but the show is not being publicly …
July 27, 2022
Crying Lizard tears over Comic-Con
"In a world where science and sorcery have brought peace to the galaxy, a young warrior's belief system is shattered when an evil robot and an ancient witch attack his kingdom, forcing him into a …
July 21, 2022
Gonzo Report: Part Time Lover sells the sound
As we approach the Art Déco facade of Part Time Lover in North Park — where Bar Pink operated for over a decade — I remind my wife Shelley that I’m on assignment. Because Wednesday …
June 30, 2022
Gonzo Report: Secret show in the Cajon Zone
If you don’t know, you’re not invited I’m easily distracted on the best of days. Just now, with my Rangers in the playoffs, the timing of this “secret show” could not have been worse. The …
June 23, 2022
Sprung Monkey’s sobering moment
“I watched a bandmember of mine almost die a couple of times, and I still didn’t get it,” says Sprung Monkey guitarist Will Riley. “I was a drug addict, and I didn’t understand that. A …
June 23, 2022
Gonzo Report: Opening Day at Goblin Shark Emporium
“This place was built on alcohol, weed, and ‘shrooms,” says the blonde man behind the counter at Goblin Shark Emporium. “The true Oceanside way, for the last 30 days.” It’s May 1, and the doors …
May 26, 2022
Stevie Salas was destined for the MC5
MC5 guitarist and co-founder Wayne Kramer replies without hesitation when asked where Oceanside’s Stevie Salas ranks among the guitarists with whom he’s worked. “He’s just…my hero. I would say he’s just about the best. He …
May 5, 2022
What San Diego Reader writers would shell out cash for
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a music writer isn’t going to get rich plying his trade, but at least he’ll get free stuff: albums, concert tickets, swag, perhaps even the occasional backstage pass. …
April 13, 2022
Violinist Alex DePue killed in Mexican car accident
On January 27, a car accident in Mexico claimed the life of violinist Alex DePue, The Modern Paganini. DePue lived up to that 2018 album title, winning competitions from an early age and playing with …
March 3, 2022
Trash Lamb Gallery hosts Rick Froberg’s illustrated history
“He has a book out? I love that guy! I love that band!” Rick Froberg shows the enthusiasm of a teenage metalhead when discussing former Hillcrest resident and Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, who recently …
February 24, 2022
Cable TV’s newest Fooz fight
“Him [Jimmy Fallon] and [Foo Fighters frontman] Dave Grohl are good friends, so I think they looked around and tried to find Foo Fighters tribute bands, and it was slim pickings,” says Fooz Fighters guitarist …
January 6, 2022
Documenting KGB’s FM Radio Revolution
“There’s something magical about a transmitter sending music across the airwaves, music that becomes unscrambled in your car to become the soundtrack of your life,” says Professor Raul Sandelin about his latest documentary project, KGB …
November 25, 2021
Jefferson Jay’s San Diego Music Hall Of Fame chooses legacy over the latest
“It’s in no way, shape, or form an awards show,” says Jefferson Jay, founder and President of the San Diego Music Hall Of Fame. Rather, the New Jersey transplant fell in love with this city …
October 21, 2021
Trading Q-clearance for compositions
“When I worked at Los Alamos in the ’80s, I had a Q-clearance, and I did a full reveal on my family still in Hungary,” says Oceanside (by way of Hungary)-based musician Geza Keller. Q-clearance …
September 30, 2021
Matt Hoyt hallowed
Multiple creative scenes in San Diego reeled from the news of Matt Hoyt’s death on August 14. According to KPBS, he had been diagnosed just a week earlier with the rare and aggressive illness that …
September 2, 2021
Katie Ladubz credits the late Black Hesher
“I didn’t want to throw it all away, and I wanted to actually do something with it and not just be getting high and rapping in my car and not ever recording anything.” So says …
August 12, 2021
San Diego Comic Fest — so (intentionally) not Comic-Con
The fifth annual San Diego Comic Fest makes its debut in a new venue, Four Points By Sheraton, running February 17 through 20. Music-themed events will include discussion panels, a live band trivia contest, and …
February 13, 2017
Music and comics
Launched in 2012, San Diego Comic Fest is organized by several original promoters behind the first San Diego Comic-Cons. This year’s edition, staged at the Town and Country Resort (February 12–14), features music performances by …
February 3, 2016
Comic-Con rocks!
Comic-Con-themed music events around town on Thursday include Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions at Embarcadero Marina Park South, with orchestral arrangements performed to visuals drawn from video games. The House of Blues will host its annual musical …
July 8, 2015
San Diego fans remember Lennon’s death 25 years ago
Along with many vidiots my age, television was the teat that nurtured us all, and I was less weaned than most. I recall "discovering" the Beatles on a Smothers Brothers show from October 1968 (which …
December 8, 2005