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.