Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Lofty job of Brian Ross

Students learn the ins and outs of concert booking

Brian Ross
Brian Ross

"I'm excited about getting through this week — because we've had three sellout shows," Brian Ross, program and events manager for University Centers tells the Reader. "I'm amped about my student staff and what they continue to book. The first was a group named Typhoon out of Portland, very popular with the students and very popular off campus. Then there was Cherub with Mansions on the Moon, very electronic, like a dance-party. Finally, the international artist José González, who's huge coming out of Europe. Several of his songs have well over a million 'likes' on Spotify. He really resonates with the students and off-campus. It's nice when we have that kind of mix because the venue is a hybrid. It's not meant to only serve the students, but also those who wouldn't normally come to campus."

Sponsored
Sponsored

The venue is the Loft, the all-ages UCSD nightclub located on the second floor of the Price Center. Although Ross has been booking shows at the university since 2004, he is quick to point out that his job is a collaboration. "The room has always had about three booking sources: one is my office, with a staff of 13 students who handle the day-to-day management. The next is Art Power, who do 20 to 30 dates annually, and then you have the Associated Students, they will draw up 4 or 5 shows per quarter."

Ross, who's worked for the owners of Winston's and the now-defunct 4th & B, among other venues, sees a definite advantage to working at a place like UCSD. "My students are a group of 19- to 21-year-olds that are functioning on the same career level as someone in their 30s or 40s. It's really fun to be around them because they always bring a new perspective. It's part of the job to be discovering what's up and coming, and the students always bring something fresh and exciting."

So what's coming up at the Loft? "Joe Garrison is bringing Night People, a 15-piece band, Lucian Ban and Jorge Silvester are coming with Mark Dresser, Anthony Davis, and Hugh Ragin opening, and Hunter Hunted has a show here on November 13 that has Soda Pants on the bill. They just won the Best New Artist at the SDMA. Soda Pants is a band that developed at UCSD, and it's a really great opportunity to see and hear a San Diego/UCSD band with a national group like Hunter Hunted, which has been featured on the Conan show. Also, Noah Gundersen performs on November 22."

Is there a philosophy behind the shows he books? "I'm always trying to get some level of cross-pollination going," says Ross, as we take in the José González sound check. "And the students pick up on this — one time we had drummer Steve Smith (from Journey) sit in with a group of students; it can be really fun when it's planned right."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Brian Ross
Brian Ross

"I'm excited about getting through this week — because we've had three sellout shows," Brian Ross, program and events manager for University Centers tells the Reader. "I'm amped about my student staff and what they continue to book. The first was a group named Typhoon out of Portland, very popular with the students and very popular off campus. Then there was Cherub with Mansions on the Moon, very electronic, like a dance-party. Finally, the international artist José González, who's huge coming out of Europe. Several of his songs have well over a million 'likes' on Spotify. He really resonates with the students and off-campus. It's nice when we have that kind of mix because the venue is a hybrid. It's not meant to only serve the students, but also those who wouldn't normally come to campus."

Sponsored
Sponsored

The venue is the Loft, the all-ages UCSD nightclub located on the second floor of the Price Center. Although Ross has been booking shows at the university since 2004, he is quick to point out that his job is a collaboration. "The room has always had about three booking sources: one is my office, with a staff of 13 students who handle the day-to-day management. The next is Art Power, who do 20 to 30 dates annually, and then you have the Associated Students, they will draw up 4 or 5 shows per quarter."

Ross, who's worked for the owners of Winston's and the now-defunct 4th & B, among other venues, sees a definite advantage to working at a place like UCSD. "My students are a group of 19- to 21-year-olds that are functioning on the same career level as someone in their 30s or 40s. It's really fun to be around them because they always bring a new perspective. It's part of the job to be discovering what's up and coming, and the students always bring something fresh and exciting."

So what's coming up at the Loft? "Joe Garrison is bringing Night People, a 15-piece band, Lucian Ban and Jorge Silvester are coming with Mark Dresser, Anthony Davis, and Hugh Ragin opening, and Hunter Hunted has a show here on November 13 that has Soda Pants on the bill. They just won the Best New Artist at the SDMA. Soda Pants is a band that developed at UCSD, and it's a really great opportunity to see and hear a San Diego/UCSD band with a national group like Hunter Hunted, which has been featured on the Conan show. Also, Noah Gundersen performs on November 22."

Is there a philosophy behind the shows he books? "I'm always trying to get some level of cross-pollination going," says Ross, as we take in the José González sound check. "And the students pick up on this — one time we had drummer Steve Smith (from Journey) sit in with a group of students; it can be really fun when it's planned right."

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Next Article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.