TODAY'S "WHAT THE F-CK" ALBUM COVER

Freddie Gage, founder and director of Pulpit in the Shadows, is actually kind of the grandad of Christian Goth ministers, albeit in white tie and shoes rather than dressed all in black. Dedicating himself to working with youths affected by drug abuse and the influences of "dark culture," he's the kind of guy I can definitely get behind - but as to his feel-good album title and cover (on Rainbow Records!?), all I can say is WTF!

Rockwell, the guy whose album cover not even his mother could love ("Is that axle grease in your hair??"), whose one hit song had its main line sung by Michael Jackson, "I always feel like - somebody's waaaaaa-tching meeee" --- the p-sser is that he's probably getting paychecks again, thanks to that new insurance commercial using it as the theme song for a pile of money with eyeballs --

Little Richard Miller, born without arms or legs, plays piano AND bass! The back cover shows the bass draped around his neck, but no indication how he plays it. I actually own this album, and it's very inspirational, but I have to say that the cover - is - just - effin - weird --- are they trying to say he drives the tour bus, too?? If so, did he hit a hydrant, or what?

Geraldine and Ricky, Trees Talk Too - she gives him wood, he gives her splinters -

With the only cover text reading "I'm Gonna Be Raptured," is that the name of the performers, the name of the album, or just a coupla goofy kids trying to start a new catchphrase for kinky sex? And, hey, why aren't they BOTH gonna get raptured?? Which one is getting left behind? I'm betting it'll be the one who paired a green double-breasted blazer with a pink tie and loafers ----

PREVIOUS WTFs - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jul/24/wtf-album-covers---strange-bizarre-and-butt-clench/

 WHAT I'M WATCHING:

 Man, I can hardly find a single positive word about this movie online, and I’m frankly mystified – given one of the most dubious and potentially pointless tasks in movie history, “Make a sequel to Donnie Darko,” I feel the filmmakers did a thoughtful and somewhat marvelous job.  

It’s no Donnie Darko, don’t get me wrong – the original is one of my all time faves, but this story of Donnie’s little sister Samantha isn’t meant to be and shouldn’t be taken as a “continuation,” despite taking place a few years later. Rather, it’s more of a flipside – the Darko universe, where timeslips can cause ripple effects that destroy reality, as it relates to the “manipulated dead,” who are charged with the task of at least attempting to mend the damage. Whether they want to or not.

Frank the Doomsayer Bunny in the original Darko was one of the manipulated dead – this time, Frank’s POV is examined as his task falls on others (note the plural – S. Darko isn’t just the story of Donnie’s sister, even if it seems to be during the first hour or so…it’s that sort of Serling/M Night/O Henry/D Darko turnaround of all you thought you knew that allows S. Darko to successfully capture the feel of the original, while telling an altogether different story).

I recommend that S. Darko viewers listen to the DVD commentary, and you’ll see what I mean about the careful thought and consideration put into it by the writer and director. Every little detail in their film fits perfectly into world(s) portrayed in the original cult classic. They are clearly true fans of Donnie, and they truly understood (as well as anyone can) the universe created for the characters to exist within ---

Part of S. Darko’s appeal, for me, is the LOOK – filmed with a new “red camera” technology that allows for digital film that still closely mirrors 35mm, I was astounded by the Utah landscapes and the way the characters and their dusty little town appear so crisply delineated, yet still so warmly rendered, with a depth of field that flatters and beautifies both inanimate objects and the charismatic cast, all of whom are outstanding.

I’d single out S. Darko herself, Daveigh Chase, reprising her original sparse role in the original as Donnie’s little sister Samantha, as particularly riveting. Not just because she’s lovely, but for her wandering and ethereal portrayal of a lost young woman whose fate – in life and beyond – is something she seems to already know that she has no control over.

Samantha even keeps acting out her fate in various ways, as if rehearsing for a play she’s never read and doesn’t even know exists, before it actually happens to her, remaining aloof and apart from the world around her, even as events in her life illustrate her integral (if involuntary and possibly unwilling) role in saving that world.

Some people in the Darko universe have the power to change the future – but, perversely and sadly, others are doomed to play supporting roles that ensure the big-picture events play out fated. Else the universe could be destroyed.

SPOILER ‘GRAPH (most obvious spoiler, anyway): Great to be the essentially superpowered (or at least hyper-evolved, or super-aware) Donnie – except you have to die to save everyone. Bummer to be his sister, or to be one of the Manipulated Dead – except their role in saving the universe is no less important, perhaps even more so, else the powerful Donnie(s) would never know what to do or how to do it (or even that anything needs to be done at all).

OR, think of it this way – gotta have apostles, even tho there’s only one Jesus, and he gets to call the shots AND gets all the glory. But every single thing we (think we) know about the Jesus story comes from the apostles, doesn’t it, and how could Jesus’ have happened without them???? ----

Sher, there are some “red herring” bits that never really pay off (and may in fact be continuity errors) in S Darko – same with Donnie, tho I admit it’s more of a challenge to piece together what you’ve just seen after viewing S. However, I DID find myself thinking about S a lot after viewing, reaching several “aha” conclusions that may or may not be valid or intended. Just like after I viewed Donnie the first time (and the second, third, and fourth times).

And the new metal bunny head, obsessively created and worn by Iraq Jack even tho it makes his head bleed, totally rocks! THIS is a bunny that’d get my attention – and inspire my life-changing and world-changing action – a lot quicker and better than the fuzzy dime-store Frank of the original Donnie!

I have to wonder if someone saw S. Darko who was completely unfamiliar with Donnie wouldn’t find it a fine movie? Maybe they’d love S’s ambiguous and thought-provoking story and cast a bunch, just like so many as they first see Donnie.

S. Darko fills in the backstory enough and efficiently, I feel, so maybe S is best enjoyed by viewers who AREN’T already fans of the Donnie original. Those original fans certainly don’t seem to be the right audience for S, as they seem to universally hate and pan the sequel.

An aside ----- If someone’s first Planet of the Apes movie they see is Escape From the Planet of the Apes, the third entry where the entire story is flipped upside down, they’ll probably like it fine, perhaps even better than the Heston original once they finally see it. The original is great, sure, but Escape – tho completely different – is also a great flick. Same universe, a couple of the same characters, but a wholly different take and setting ---

I wish more people would give S. Darko a chance. It’s no Donnie Darko, sure – but it’s a fine Escape From the Planet of the Apes.

MOWER IS PERFORMING AT PURE PLATINUM STRIP CLUB in Kearny Mesa on Saturday, August 8th.........

 Funny! Well, the place is bound to have a great in-house light system. I wonder if the same "six-foot rule" applies to how far the audience must stay away from band members (and is the band required to wear pantyhose??)?

The pairing of bands and strip clubs has been happening as long as there've been strip clubs, but its a double header rarely seen in San Diego, for some reason. Just ask the always-quotable Steven "Sugar" Cole, a local pro-am porn producer and frequent nightclub operator. “Naked girls go with rock and roll like jelly goes with peanut butter, and they taste even better,” says Cole.

 The former adult bookstore manager wants to open a local club called Groupies, which would offer both live music and nude entertainment. However, he says that city bureaucracy has made this impossible.

 “I sank fifty grand into one location on Midway with the assurance that I’d get all the permits,” he says, “but at the last minute they rejected my licenses, after lying to me for six months about what I needed to get approval. All I want is to have stripper go-go girls while the bands play, on individual podiums and on a separate stage for anyone who’d rather look at girls than the band.”

“I’d even pass on the liquor license,” he insists, “if the girls can be nude. I’m sure I could still make money, but the city just plain doesn’t issue [nude entertainment] permits, and they haven’t since the seventies.”

Cole says he’s managed similar clubs in Philadelphia and Rhode Island, the latter venue hosting a once-monthly All-Male Revue.

“It sells out every time, and I’d do it more often, if the women would buy a few drinks once in awhile. Guys in a strip club spend [at the bar] like sailors on shore leave. Women give all their cash to the dancers.”

He says San Diego officials have been more difficult about licensing than anywhere else he’s ever operated.

“All the strip clubs in this town, they got their original licenses over twenty years ago. The permits get renewed if they can prove that someone who lives in San Diego still owns the place and if they’ve been okay with vice. But opening a new place, they’ll lie and say I can get a ‘burlesque’ permit, by putting in more of a theater setup, but then they deny every other application I need to open.”

Cole claims that a vice department official once told him “You could be the head of the Mafia and you’ll still never put another nude club in our town,” and this sort of stonewalling makes him even more determined to do business in San Diego.

 “For a Navy port, it’s pretty f-ing conservative here,” says Cole. “The strippers have to wear pantyhose under their G-strings. What happened to the wild, wild west?”

“You guys [in San Diego] really need a place like Groupies. It’s not healthy for a whole city to go without any kind of sexual release.”

(Midway & Rosecrans 1979)

MOWER VIDEOTAPES BACKSTAGE PARTIES (DON'T WORRY, SCOTT STAPP AND KID ROCK WEREN'T THERE)

(www.antimusic.com reports) Mower have taken the insanity of their backstage antics and captured it on film for their new video "The Party", which can be seen online.

The video features two elements that are synonymous with the band; wild women and outrageous parties. "The Party" is the lead track on Mower's new album Make It a Double, which hits stores on July 28th through Suburban Noize.

"The video shoot for 'The Party' was the most fun out of all our videos. We had one night to call a bunch of girls and invite them to the shoot. We bought as much booze as we could, threw a party and filmed it. No script, no acting, just a bunch of people getting drunk, singing and listening to the same song 100 times and we had a blast," says Mower frontman Brian Sheerin. "It's a whiskey drinkin', Jager shooting rock n' roll song about the good times we've had partying up the coast in Los Angele, and a great way to kick off our new album Make It A Double."

Mower's Make It A Double is the group's third studio album for Suburban Noize Records and features guest appearances by Rob Caggiano (Anthrax), Mikey Doling (Snot), Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour) and Fernando Apodaca (Mad Juana). The effort was recorded in Los Angeles, CA with producer Eddie Wohl (Anthrax, 36 Crazyfists) and includes nine new Mower tracks that harness the band's explosive live energy and six songs by Mower's jazz lounge alter-ego, Slower, that experiment with creepy riffs and hazy, mellow tones. The album is available for pre-order at www.SubNoizeStore.com and comes with a limited edition autographed.

The party video can be see at www.MySpace.com/Mower ---

THE FORMER MUSLIMS - AKA SOFT PACK - HEADING OUT ON NATIONAL TOUR

PR Reports: Los Angeles transplants and irreverent rockers The Soft Pack are set to tour this fall at a slew of North American venues.

Before embarking on a headlining tour, they'll open three California shows for France's Phoenix. The talented four-piece, who play stripped down, straight ahead rock 'n roll, have had quite the year: They've had a successful residency at LA's venerable venue, Echo, criss-crossed the US and Canada on tour with White Lies and Friendly Fires, and found a new home with Brooklyn-based label Kemado Records.

In anticipation of the release of their debut LP (date TBD), which they will record with Eli Janney (Obits, Secret Machines) in Brooklyn this August, Matt Lamkin (vocals), Matty McLoughlin (guitar), David Lantzman (bass) and Brian Hill (drums) will bring infectious riffs, smart lyrics and incredible energy to stages across North America. - more on this story at antimusic.com

DAVE MUSTAINE SURGERY

Jam and Antimusic reports: Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine underwent surgery today/Thursday to mend his injured back and neck.

In a blog posting, the singer reveals he has been suffering excruciating pain and will check into hospital this week for an operation to fix damaged vertebrae in time for the band's upcoming tour, which kicks off in September (09).

Mustaine will then undergo more serious surgery later in the year, when the roadshow is over. - more on this story

 WE FIVE AT AMSD ON SATURDAY

Singer/guitarist Jerry Burgan of the folk group We Five (“You Were On My Mind”) spent his early school years in San Diego, from 1946 to 1952. “My musical roots were firmly planted there,” he says.

 “My folks had a house at 4572 36th street, in Normal Heights. I went to school at St Didicus…it was a pretty progressive parish.  My parents sang in the choir, and the church put on community theater shows. They also had music lessons as part of the curriculum. I took piano lessons at the school right along with reading and math. It stopped when we moved away…I have often wondered if I would have become a pianist rather than a guitarist, had we stayed in San Diego.”

 We Five appear Saturday, August 1, at Acoustic Music San Diego, a secular concert series held in a Normal Heights church. When Burgan recently checked out the venue, he recalled from his childhood a harrowing visit to the same house of worship. “I had gone once - only once - to see a Christmas play, but - having been raised a Catholic for all of my six or seven years - I was scared that God would strike me dead the whole time I was inside that Protestant church.  It obviously didn’t happen, and I’ve long since moved on, but I was delighted to find that same building with so much historic character is now the venue used for AMSD. To borrow a title from the flip side of You Were On My Mind, ‘Small World!’”

Burgan says he still misses San Diego. “Every fireworks show I’ve ever seen gets compared to the first ones I ever saw off Point Loma.”

 http://www.acousticmusicsandiego.com

A MESSAGE FROM ED DECKER: The North Park Music Thing is almost here! And we need volunteers. For those who don't know, NPMT is part music conference, part music showcase and part music festival. Basically, it is the SoCal version of South by Southwest (though in no way related). On Friday night is the pre-party at the Casbah. On Saturday morning and afternoon are the workshops and speakers. Saturday night San Diego's best bands perform in dozens of venues in the North Park area (shuttles provided, wristbands good for all venues). Then on Sunday is the street festival, including 3 stages of live national and local bands, food courts, beer and cocktail garden, arts and craft vendors and a live art show. Volunteering for 4 or more hours will get you free access to all the above, a free t-shirt and an insider's access to one of San Diego's greatest events. Or just buy a ticket and chill out. Either way, we're gonna have a great time. Let me know.

[email protected] •  Edwin Decker

MORE NEW MUSIC STORIES THIS WEEK

	What Am I, Your Mother? by Barnaby Monk Thursday 30 | Japandroids may not have an image yet, but they've one helluva garage-pop debut in Post-Nothing. The Vancouver duo have had a stutter-step start to ought nine, jumping to Polyvinyl from a Canadian indie for ...
	Here Today, Gone Tomorrow by Dorian Hargrove For Rob Hagey, founder and promoter of Street Scene, San Diego's largest music festival, adding the Beastie Boys to the lineup on July 10 was an unexpected coup. "It was a nice surprise. They fell ...
	Toxicana, You Feel Like Rain, Dead As Dillinger by Brian Carver Basically, the music was pretty good, the lyrics made sense, and there was a good coordination between the music and lyrics -- everything sounded great. For a local band, they could be famous. It's comparable to Incubus. It's ...
	Retro Electro by Jay Allen Sanford Rise of the Speedmen began as Gene Padigos's one-man stage show, featuring electronic prerecorded music accompanied live by various instruments, from guitar to synth, bass, and drums. "I got most of my gear with insurance ...
	One Badfinger Standing by Jay Allen Sanford When Badfinger appears at Humphrey's HippieFest on Sunday, August 2, the band (discovered and launched by the Beatles in the late '60s) will be fronted by the sole surviving member from its glory days, singer-guitarist Joey ...
	Good Asian Drivers by Dave Good Best not to go to the Good Asian Drivers expecting to hear the sassy pop in their YouTube video "I Kissed a Girl -- The Real Gay Version," because it's not them. That's not even ...
	Underage Dance Jams Not in the Starz by Ken Leighton Orange County-based promotion company Club Starz organizes weekly teenage dance parties. The event is booked into nightclubs on slow nights. The booze is put away but security is on duty, and the kids have a safe way to ...
	Joey Harris and the Mentals by Barnaby Monk San Diego perennial Joey Harris comes from a no-frills school of rock with a strict curriculum of guitar-bass-drum, life-lesson lyricism, and a '67 Caddy for a school bus. For this summer's s/t Double Barrel release, his first bearing
	From the Gut by Dorian Hargrove Sitting in the mixing room of Archival Studios in North Park, the four members of Rats Eyes listen to two of the ten raw tracks they recorded the day before. There's a discernible SoCal skate-punk ...

HARE KRISHNA MEMORIES

 Say, did you ever go to the Hare Krishna temple on Garnet in PB? I used to be addicted to their vegetarian feasts - when I lived at the Palms on 12th and Island downtown in the late '70s/early '80s, I bussed to the temple at least once a week, usually on Sundays when they had the biggest variety and desserts like rice pudding, halava and ambrosia fruit salads.

 I spent the night once and wasn't too happy about everyone waking at 4am to stare at their feet and chant on their beads (mandatory participation), but - once they served breakfast (maybe the best I've ever had, with mysterious unknown fruits and chewy grains and edible flower petals!) - I was perfectly happy to have stayed over!

 CATHRYN BEEKS’ WEEKLY LISTEN LOCAL HOTSHEET  

 Tuesday 7/28 - Bare Back Grill with Lindsay White and guests 7:00 Charlie Imes 7:30 Snooze Button 8:15 Shant 8:45 Lindsay White 9:30 Sunnie Haeger NO COVER

 Wednesday 7/29 - Backstage at The Bitter End join me on the new couches, NO COVER  8:00 Black Oak Hymnal 8:30 Lindsay White 9:00 Jesse Lafica 9:15 V Child 10:15 Kyle Van Band 11:15 EJC Band

MUSIC NEWS

 Artist of the Week:  Lindsay White hosts The Bare Back Grill every 2nd and 4th Tuesday night.  This week you can hear her Backstage at The Bitter End on Wednesday, get there at 8.  Last Wednesday we ended the night with a set from System Of A Down's side project that was in town for the convention...  see?  Fun.

 Link of the Week:  The North Park Music Thing is our SXSW so get out and get into it.  Get discounted tickets this week, hurry... they're going fast!  

I've gone through my entire collection of a decade worth of local CDs plus all the CDs I've gotten at the radio station in the past few months and wow...I have a lot of cds.  I've separated the duplicates and put what I need for the Homegrown Hour on a hardrive so now I can recycle all this great music back into the community.  Starting this week anyone who attends a ListenLocalsd.com event can dig through the basket and take home a CD of their choice.  Artists are welcome to reclaim their CDs, too.  :)  Those of you waiting for airplay on the Homegrown Hour, be patient and thanks!

Yay!  The Cathryn Beeks Ordeal was nominated for a San Diego Music Award for best Americana or Country.  We're proud to be nominated and will alert you as to when the voting begins.  Congratulations to everyone!

LAURENCE JUBER is legendary.  He has shared the stage with Pete Townsend, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Dave Edmunds, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt among many others.  He was named "Guitarist of the Year" by Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine and has won his 2nd Grammy for his performance of "The Pink Panther Theme" on the album "Henry Mancini - Pink Guitar" in 2005.  This Saturday Laurence Juber will play a Special Story Teller's Evening at The Oasis @ 8:00 p.m.  Go here for info and reservations. 

 Get yourself all sexied up!  My girl Stacey will celebrate the opening of Sugar Mama Skin Therapy on July 31st in Mission Hills.  Call her to make an appointment at 619-992-0873, let her know ListenLocalsd.com sent ya!

 August 2nd at 6:00 is the next Heroes Against Hunger Concert at Claire de Lune. The Heroes Against Hunger Concert Series spearheaded by Eben Brooks benefits the San Diego Food Bank in their mission to feed the hungry and homeless in San Diego County.  This month's show features Jinx and The Eben Brooks Band and they're asking you to bring non-perishable food or cash to donate to the SD Food Bank. 

 Hey musicians, if you're booked to play a Listen Local showcase anytime soon, make sure I have a copy of your CD for potential play on The Homegrown Hour.  Shows are posted here, if you missed this Saturday you can hear it at kprifm.com this Friday.  Have you joined the mailing list?  Join The Homegrown Hour Mailing List!

Alicia Previn and David Ybarra have just released a cool kid's book called The Earthworm Book.  Check out the site for video content and info on how to buy it for your favorite kids.  Sunday August 9th go to the Stone Brewery in Escondido to hear Alicia sing the Earthworm song (produced by David Ybarra), read the book, dig for worms and demonstrate building your own wormbox.  Nice!

August 1st Bviolin Presents: Zen House Concerts August Showcase with John Torres.  Interested parties should go to http://www.zenhouseconcerts.com for info.

That's it for this week, see you at a show!
Cathryn
ListenLocalsd.com

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LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS

Tu 7/28: Eric Bana, Silversun Pickups
We 7/29: Amy Adams, Tom Dreesen, Elbow
Th 7/30: Adam Sandler, Cage the Elephant
Fr 7/31: Regis Philbin, Dave Matthews Band

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC

Tu 7/28: Heidi Klum, Steve Zahn, Jimmy Carr
We 7/29: Rachel Maddow
Th 7/30: Paul Giamatti, Regina Spektor
Fr 7/31: Ben Harper & Relentless7

LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON, CBS

Tu 7/28: Christiane Amanpour, Johnny Galecki
We 7/29: Rodney Carrington
Th 7/30: James Spader, Rose Byrne, Franz Ferdinand
Fr 7/31: Saffron Burrows

Mo 8/3: Edie Falco, Les Stroud, Lisa Landry

LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON, NBC

Tu 7/28: Puffy, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Tom Colicchio
We 7/29: Leslie Mann, Passion Pit
Th 7/30: Ashley Tisdale, Tim Meadows, Jarvis Cocker
Fr 7/31: Adam Sandler, Jimmy Buffett

LAST CALL WITH CARSON DALY, NBC

Tu 7/28: Mr. Brainwash, the Duke Spirit (R 4/15/09)
We 7/29: Liz Hatch, Kevin Hart, Lykke Li (R 4/16/09)
Th 7/30: Cassidy Freeman, Ben Harper & Relentless7 (R 4/17/09)
Fr 7/31: Tom Lennon, Crystal Antlers (R 4/22/09)

THE COLBERT REPORT, Comedy Central

Tu 7/28: Arianna Huffington
We 7/29: TBA
Th 7/30: Kathryn Bigelow

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, ABC

Tu 7/28: Leslie Mann, Eric Winter
We 7/29: Jonah Hill, Ryan Sheckler, the Sounds
Th 7/30: Seth Rogen, Melissa Sagemiller, Jack's Mannequin
Fr 7/31: Anne Heche, Aubrey Plaza, Diane Birch

Mo 8/3: Larry King, Marisa Miller, Chester French (R 7/15/09)
Tu 8/4: Ashton Kutcher, Nigel Lythgoe, the Script
We 8/5: Vanessa Hudgens, Eli Roth
Th 8/6: Sienna Miller, Dave Salmoni
Fr 8/7: Quentin Tarantino, Rachel Nichols

THE VIEW, ABC

Tu 7/28: Jessica Lange, the Broadway cast of "Rock of Ages"
We 7/29: Ashley Tisdale, Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne
Th 7/30: Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow
Fr 7/31: Tyler Florence

Mo 8/3: A day of Hot Topics
Tu 8/4: Eric Bana
We 8/5: Selena Gomez, David Henrie, Jake T. Austin, the Broadway cast of "Hair"
Th 8/6: Adam Lambert, Regis Philbin
Fr 8/7: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Nora Ephron, Lauren Costello

LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY, syndicated

Tu 7/28: Jonah Hill
We 7/29: "Bachelorette" Jillian Harris
Th 7/30: Amy Adams, Leslie Mann
Fr 7/31: Adam Sandler, guest co-host Bette Midler

THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW, syndicated

Tu 7/28: Jennifer Aniston, Stevie Wonder (R 2/6/09)
We 7/29: Simon Baker, Miranda Cosgrove (R 2/16/09)
Th 7/30: Kate Walsh, Brooke Burke and Derek Hough, cast members from "Thunder From Down Under", piano prodigy Emily Bear (R 11/17/08)
Fr 7/31: John Mayer, Josh Groban, Lady Antebellum, Chester Pitts, Ephraim Salaam (R 2/9/09)

TAVIS SMILEY, PBS

Tu 7/28: Berry Gordy (R)
We 7/29: Lionel Richie (R)
Th 7/30: Ashford & Simpson (R)
Fr 7/31: Lamont Dozier, Raphael Saadiq (R)

CHELSEA LATELY, E!

Tu 7/28: Melissa Gilbert, Loni Love, Guy Branum, Brad Wollack
We 7/29: Chris Kattan, Big Boy, Arden Myrin, Chris Franjola
Th 7/30: Eliot Chang, Gary Valentine, Greg Proops
Fr 7/31: Margaret Cho, Jo Koy, Randy and Jason Sklar (R 7/21/09)

THE HOUR WITH GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS, CBC

Tu 7/28: Tim Robbins, Ricky Gervais (R)
We 7/29: Russell Peters, Spike Lee, Kings of Leon (R)
Th 7/30: Joe Clark, Kat von D, Eugene Levy (R)
Fr 7/31: Colin Mochrie, Richard Florida, the Killers (R)

Mo 8/3: David Frum, Levar Burton, Margaret Atwood (R)
Tu 8/4: Howie Mandel, Rush, Alex Trebek (R)
We 8/5: Chuck Palahniuk, Keith Urban, Suzy Welch (R)
Th 8/6: John Pinette, Adrien Brody, Christopher Hitchens (R)
Fr 8/7: Larry King, Steve Earle, Paul Potts (R)

THE BONNIE HUNT SHOW, syndicated

Tu 7/28: Kevin Pollak, 6-year-old entrepreneur Ethan Haney, Shenae Grimes
We 7/29: Rosie Perez, Kat Von D (R 2/25/09)
Th 7/30: Kristin Chenoweth, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (R 4/29/09)
Fr 7/31: Ashley Scott, the Bacon Brothers, Phil Keoghan (R 3/27/09)

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 STRANGE STAGE MOMENTS – Bart Mendoza

 

Agua Dulce : “We were  on stage playing during a bikini contest when a very large (contestant) collapsed on to the conga players drums. We kept playing.”

Scott Anderson / This Holiday Life: “At one show, when it was time to hit the stage, we couldn't find our drummer, Mark (Nagel). After freakin' out, we had to take the stage without him. We started into one of our most rockinest songs without drums. Meanwhile, Mark, sitting on the toilet, heard our song and thought, "Weird, why are they playing our CD right before we go on?"

Wendy Bailey:  “We played a show in East County where the only person on the dance floor was a homeless woman, who for two songs, kept flashing us. We tried to ignore it, but at least she seemed to be enjoying herself.”

 

Cathryn Beeks: “In 1998 I was performing with a Cleveland band called 3 Penny Pussy when the two lead front guys dropped their pants and each poured whiskey on their male extremities only to light them on fire a second later.  If anyone was suspicious that it was a hoax the smell of burning hair convinced them otherwise.”

Ed Been / Y3K:  “One night at The Blue Haven in Chula Vista, there was a heavy set woman in a dress that insisted on doing handstands.  Much to our horror, she was not wearing underwear at the time.” 

 

Cindy Lee Berryhill: “I was opening for Sarah McLachlan when a piece of the bridge fell off my guitar, mid-song, rendering it unplayable. Rather than stop playing, I motioned for the bassist to keep going and turned the lyric into a request for audience members to come onstage and help look for the missing guitar piece, while we continued. They found it and I reattached it as I improvised lyrics, going back into the song where we left off. That was the ultimate audience participation.”

 

James Brady / New Day Mile: “During my teens in New Jersey I attended a Sunday Bible study every week. The woman running it asked if my band would like to play at the youth group meeting at her church. We were a metal band, so we were a little shocked at the request, but we were happy to get our first gig. It turns out we were opening for a slide show that depicted our kind of music as the type that leads to violence and suicide.”

 

Brooklyn : “ I was watching a drummer friend of mine play at Humphrey's Backstage Lounge. He'd told the band he was playing with that I'm a singer/songwriter and near the end of their set they introduced me to the crowd as an up and coming singer. Well, the crowd started cheering to get "Brooklyn on stage!". (The band) pulled me on stage to sing whatever it was they were playing at the time. I don't know what they were thinking I was going to do, but it was a song I'd never heard...and it was in Spanish., so even if I had known the melody...I wasn't going to sing the correct lyrics. It must've sounded like a bunch of muffled humming. It was more than a little humiliating.”

Amy Castner / Compass Rose :  “I had a seagull crap into the f-hole of my violin while I was playing at a party on Sunset Cliffs a couple of years ago.”

Ron Fountainberry / The SoftLightes/Incredible Moses Leroy :  “Last year we were on tour with Wolfmother and in Austin one particular guy flipped me off the entire show. I don't know how he was able to keep his arms up the entire show. There were several times on that tour that I thought we would be murdered for our lack of hard rock.”

 

Greg Friedman / The Truckee Brothers: “In my old punk band we played a charity Christmas show at a school for the mentally disabled. We started off too loud and the entire audience was crying in agony. We turned down and by the end of the second song they were overjoyed and screaming out "You're better than Michael Jackson". It was amazing to be responsible for such completely opposite emotions within the span of five minutes.”

 

Larry Grano / Soul Persuaders:  “At Dick's Last Resort. I was singing and some young lady came up who had a leash attached to a dog collar around her neck ...and handed me the leash. What does one do ? After mugging Johnny Carson-style for the crowd, I read her tags and called her owner.”

Marie Haddad : “A guy came up to me during a show and told me that he was a psychic and that he wanted to do a reading for me during a break in my set. I was, of course, intrigued, and so at the break we sat down for a little bit and i listened to his reading. he predicted that I would be getting a new pair of boots for the rain! Darn it if he wasn't spot on with that one.”

Lee Harding / Echo Revolution: “A classmate (a guy) came to our show once.  He never said two words to me in class, so I was jazzed he had come out.  At some point in the set, he was 2 feet in front of me while I singing at the mic and started licking himself and dancing totally homoerotic.  Yeah.”

Robin Henkel : “I remember that I (fell) asleep onstage one time.  Before a show with Big Rig Deluxe, I'd eaten a huge Mexican meal and was sitting in this comfy chair playing steel guitar.  It was almost like trying to stay awake while driving.  After dosing off, the steel bar, which weighs about a pound, fell out of my hand and hit the wood stage with a loud clunk.  That's when I woke up right in the middle of a tune the band was playing and had no idea how long I'd been out.”

Dave Humphries:   “In England, we were playing in a workingmen's club, halfway through a number and noticed we no longer had bass. We looked around and saw our bass player with the neck of his guitar at somebody's throat up against a wall. Some guy had been messing with his girlfriend and he wasn't very happy about it. On another occasion the same bassist left the stage to sell bingo tickets while we were still playing.”

Laurie Lewis / Mamas and Papas “We were on tour in Germany and (singer) Spanky MacFarland was green as green could be. I asked her what was going on, and she just shook her head and walked back behind the stage and projectile vomited. This was an outdoor stage and she didn’t notice that there were people behind the stage as well, so she basically threw up over a whole bunch of people. But then afterwards they brought their shirts up that were covered in puke and asked if we would autograph them.”

 

Jane Lui: “I once had a chick pole dancing to a song about my dad. I loved it that she responded with her whole body. You have to be strong to pole dance.”

 

Dune Murderous / Defamation League: “One time I belligerently kicked Khemical Ali in the ribs during a performance, prompting him to start vomiting almost immediately. Somehow he didn't miss a verse and trudged on.”

 

Josh Pann / Circa Now :  “One time this really drunk guy starting dry humping my monitor. He nearly unplugged it so I couldn't even sing. I looked for help to my band mates and they were laughing just as hard. The song finished without vocals.” 

 

Gregory Page: “At Lestat’s a guy walked on stage and stood at attention next to me while I was singing. I knew he was on drugs. First I asked him politely to leave, and he just stood there like a statue mumbling to himself. Then I said "Hey mister see that plaque on the wall? it reads “The Gregory Page Stage,” now get the F-ck Off My Stage." Police were called and he was taken away and I continued singing…”

 

Patric Petrie / Skelpin: “One night my skirt flew off mid-twirl during a performance at downtown’s annual “Shamrock” St. Patrick’s Day Street Fair. I was in the middle of playing a fast tune, jumping all around, and couldn't stop to grab it. What a show.”

 

Patric Petrie / Skelpin. “We were performing a corporate gig at the Embarcadero Marina in 2006, when my wireless mic’d fiddle slipped from my hand as I danced. Unfortunately, I was still in motion, so I managed to drop kick the instrument into the audience. No one in the crowd thought to catch it, instead they moved en masse out of the way. It was like watching the Red Sea part. I’ll never forget the sound it made when it hit the concrete.”

 

Jordan Reimer: “When I was on tour in San Francisco in ‘06. I was playing at a nearly empty coffee house/laundromat called the Brain Wash Cafe when a homeless man came in with a tree branch that had a large, white, blooming flower on it. He walked up to the stage and set it on top of my amp for me. For a while I thought it was really creepy, but after a while I realized the true meaning of it. He gave me all he could, and that is a very touching action.”

 

Victoria Robertson: "I was booked to sing the National Anthem at the Miramar Airshow each morning of the event. It was very unfortunate that the sound company didn't prepare for my solo as much as I did that weekend.  During Friday's show, the band began but my microphone didn't kick in until "...what so proudly we hailed", missing the first 10 seconds of the 1 1/2 minute anthem.  As if this wasn't unfortunate enough, the same mistake was repeated Saturday and Sunday.”

Randy Seol / Strawberry Alarm Clock:  “At an open air festival we played in the seventies, there were supposed to be fireworks following our set. There were problems right away. One of the guys setting them up was showing off or something. The first blast made us wonder what was going on. The second blast slightly injured the fire marshall who came over to investigate the first. By the third blast we were running.”

Randy Seol / Strawberry Alarm Clock: “We got to play a big music festival, on a side stage. It was a big production, with modern dancers and backing singers. For some reason, we had our keyboard player playing from a hot air balloon tethered to the stage. A woman ran out of the audience and started tugging at the rope and just about tipped the gondola over while our keyboard player screamed for someone to stop her.”

Amber Shaffer / Secret Apollo : “At the Ken Club, our drummer sat down on his drum stool and his phone fell out of his pocket.  It managed to fall through the 6 inch gap between the back wall and where the stage begins and slipped another 2.5 feet to the actual floor under the stage. The sound guy brought a flash light over and we saw the phone resting on a floor covered with a foot of garbage: old beer cans, set lists, sticky stuff I don't want to know about and certainly it's share of bugs and unidentifiable objects. And who was the only one with arms skinny AND long enough to fit in that 6 inch gap? It was bad enough having to lay face down on the Ken Club stage, but then to have to blindly stick my hand in that mess and dig around for a phone-like shape? Steve's still paying me back for that one.

 

Mike Stax / The Loons: I suppose (lead singer) Ray Brandes getting yanked off the stage by the cops mid-song back in the Tell-Tale Hearts days was kind of surreal. He reappeared a few minutes later with one of his best ever one-liners to the audience: "It seems I had a couple of library books overdue."

 

Anna Troy:  “I played an outdoor gallery opening in North County on a makeshift stage. The gig itself was nothing unusual except that I was told to keep an eye out for poisonous spiders, because the stage had been built in an area that was known to have them. I had a hard time concentrating on the music while looking around for spiders, especially since I noticed the soundman occasionally making “squishing” motions with his foot.”

Brandon Welchez / Crockodiles: “While in the Prayers, in Los Angeles a pretty well-known Hollywood transvestite closed our show with us with an impromptu cover of “Louie Louie.”

Rockin’ Johnny White (promoter): “I've had my share of the girl with the new boob job who wants everybody in the club to check them out. But that one always starts out like this "Do you dare me to flash my Boobs?" And I always reply "Yes."

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HIP-HOP BAND BACK FROM THE DEAD

A local “retired” hip-hop act, Kastle Vania, is back in the game, having called it quits after winning Best Hip-Hop at the 2002 SDMAs. Now calling themselves Kastle Creeps, their new album is slated to debut with a July 31 CD release party at Portugalia.