Happy birthday, Casbah

I was going to post this last night when I got home at 12:30, as it was past midnight and officially Thursday, but I was too tired and crashed (that's the kind of journalistic dedication you can expect from Baby Heisman)...

Happy 18th birthday to the Casbah — hands-down the best music venue I've ever seen. Anywhere.


My big frustration about being a music fan in San Diego is the number of bands that skip over our town. But the Casbah is a salvation. I've been up close in the 200+-person club for numerous bands that played venues twice as big in other West Coast cities. They're the kind of intimate shows that make us music fans to begin with.

To the out-of-towners, I can't stress enough how you DON'T have a club in your town just like the Casbah (unless you live in NYC, then you might have us beat). The cans of PBR, the planes flying just feet overhead on approach to the airport, the apartments above the venue, the Atari Lounge in the back (where I played my best game of Ms. Pac Man ever — photo evidence below) — there's nothing like it.


Good show tonight — Japanese Sunday, Swim Party and Roxy Jones (Autolux canceled) — but nothing too sexy going down. Owner Tim Mays says the club usually celebrates in January.

My City's a Sucker: Wednesday roundup

The blog Stereogum talks up Pinback frontman Rob Crow's latest band, Other Man. Gush practically comes out their noses, and, in the process, they inadvertently point out one of the big flaws of the San Diego music scene: we need fresh blood.

Other Man isn't just the latest in the long line of Rob Crow bands and solo projects. It's actually a renamed version of Heavy Vegetable, a Crow band that broke up in the 90s. The lead track from the new album, out March 20, sounds recycled and features the kind of lyrics usually reserved for an eighth-grader's poetry book. I won't ruin the surprise, but "girl" and "bitch" are in the first 30 seconds, which sounds even sillier considering his indie pop voice.

Other Men — Other People (MP3)

He's releasing the album on his own label, called Robcore Records. Because his name is Rob and he's ... hardcore? First sign of narcissism: name your label after yourself. Even rappers don't usually do that.

I know Crow is beloved in S.D., and maybe if I grew up here I'd feel differently. But it all just feels like variations on the same theme. Try sticking with one thing and pushing it to the limit. Ryan Adams writes reams of songs and look where it got him.

But, bear in mind, this is who we're dealing with here:
Meanwhile...

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab will go on a solo tour that will skip San Diego. There is an L.A. date, though.

Tickets for Regina Spektor's April 29 show at the House of Blues go on sale Friday. Her song "Fidelity" was one of my favorites of 2006.

Regina Spektor — Fidelity (MP3) (Highly Rec.)
Regina Spektor — On the Radio (MP3)

In a review of Monday night's Sebadoh show at the Casbah, Pitchfork referred to San Diego's beloved concert venue and it's padded back wall as an "asylum-chic stage." Photos from the show were taken by new Pfork freelancer and San Diegan Christopher Wilson, who takes photos for Seattle group Band of Horses' tours and albums and has shot a number of other bands.