Friday, June 1, 2007

Notes for the weekend

For me, this weekend is all about the Hold Steady tonight, but there's a couple of other things I wanted to mention.

The CD release show by L.A. indie pop band Great Northern tonight at the Beauty Bar is being hosted by two of San Diego's best bloggers: Rosey from S.D. Dialed in and Lyn from Chickrawker.



Info about the show and some MP3s

Great Northern on MySpace

If Hold Steady weren't playing, I'd absolutely be at this show because the band is really good, and it's doubly cool for S.D. music and S.D. music blogs that Rosey and Lyn are attached to the show. Both blogs are insightful, well-written and serve a niche. S.D. Dialed In has the most comprehensive gig listings in town and Chickrawker is a one-stop shop for the songs that are getting added, dropped and played from modern rock radio. Both tasks are time-consuming and done with passion, an that's ON TOP of the great general music blogging they do. Links to both sites are in the Hometown Heroes list on the right of the blog.

Ladies, my crew is at the next gig you sponsor. Promise.

Two great San Diego bands, Kite Flying Society and Emery Byrd, are playing the El Cajon Concerts on the Green series tonight, too. It's from 6-8 p.m., the perfect time for an outdoor show and worth the drive. Plus, it's early, so you can catch Hold Steady or Great Northern afterward.

El Cajon Concerts on the Green Web site

Past Baby Heisman interview with Dustin of Kite Flying Society



Emery Byrd on MySpace



If you ARE going to see Hold Steady, both opening bands are worth a listen. The first one, Blitzen Trapper, is a kind of indie/folk/country mashup of styles from Portland with a new album out in a couple of months. They recently caused some blog buzz with a cover of Heart's "Crazy On You" for a compilation CD. A good friend thinks they'll be the indie breakout band of the summer. I'm not so sure, but here's a chance to find out.

Blitzen Trapper on MySpace

The second band is Illinois, which played the Casbah a couple months back and is almost universally being called a good band on record and an effing great band live. Don't miss out.

Illinois on MySpace

And, as Rosey says, people complain there isn't anything to do in San Diego. Night like this, that's impossible to argue.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

thank you! i'm totally crazy but i am gonna hit both shows...i'm hoping to at least catch illinois before i head over to beauty bar. if you see me, introduce yourself and i'll buy you a beer!

Rosemary Bystrak said...

Looks like I'm gonna try to make Illinois, too. LOVE them. Thanks for the shout outs.