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

Jon Spencer’s First Ten Years at Belly Up

Jon Spencer named his band the Blues Explosion, but it was never about the blues. With Judah Bauer and Russell Simins, Spencer tapped into the vein of the truest American roots music — plantation, country, rockabilly, and 1950s rock. It wasn’t hard to miss the imprint of devilish beings such as Son House or Jerry Lee Lewis or even Little Richard on Spencer, even as the Blues Explosion’s guitars howled through ragged amplifiers turned up to full power and Spencer sang like a haunted man.

“What set us apart from all the other punk rock or indie bands,” Spencer says by phone from his home in New York, “is that we were getting up onstage and working hard and putting on a show.” He laughs. “It’s not like we could just phone it in.” Spencer started the Blues Explosion in the early 1990s. By the end of 2005, the band had run out of gas. This year, the trio has reunited to tour behind Dirty Shirt Rock N’ Roll: The First Ten Years, a 22-track retrospective. “I’m really struck with how busy we were,” says Spencer.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Through all those years of manic energy, is there a common thread? Spencer responds, “Freedom. There was kind of a light element to it, you know, and some of the stuff had a sense of humor. It was alive. I think that proved to be confusing to some critics.” It was. And what a lot of the music press often missed through the years is that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is a tight and structured band. “If you can’t dance to it, it’s an interesting exercise, but it’s not really worth that much, at least for me. I’m a fan of rock and roll.”

The Dabbers and Heavy Young Heathens also perform.

JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION: Belly Up Tavern, Sunday, October 3, 8 p.m. 858-481-8140. $16; $18 day of show.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

Dia de los Muertos Celebration, Love Thy Neighbor(Hood): Food & Art Exploration

Events November 2-November 6, 2024

Jon Spencer named his band the Blues Explosion, but it was never about the blues. With Judah Bauer and Russell Simins, Spencer tapped into the vein of the truest American roots music — plantation, country, rockabilly, and 1950s rock. It wasn’t hard to miss the imprint of devilish beings such as Son House or Jerry Lee Lewis or even Little Richard on Spencer, even as the Blues Explosion’s guitars howled through ragged amplifiers turned up to full power and Spencer sang like a haunted man.

“What set us apart from all the other punk rock or indie bands,” Spencer says by phone from his home in New York, “is that we were getting up onstage and working hard and putting on a show.” He laughs. “It’s not like we could just phone it in.” Spencer started the Blues Explosion in the early 1990s. By the end of 2005, the band had run out of gas. This year, the trio has reunited to tour behind Dirty Shirt Rock N’ Roll: The First Ten Years, a 22-track retrospective. “I’m really struck with how busy we were,” says Spencer.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Through all those years of manic energy, is there a common thread? Spencer responds, “Freedom. There was kind of a light element to it, you know, and some of the stuff had a sense of humor. It was alive. I think that proved to be confusing to some critics.” It was. And what a lot of the music press often missed through the years is that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is a tight and structured band. “If you can’t dance to it, it’s an interesting exercise, but it’s not really worth that much, at least for me. I’m a fan of rock and roll.”

The Dabbers and Heavy Young Heathens also perform.

JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION: Belly Up Tavern, Sunday, October 3, 8 p.m. 858-481-8140. $16; $18 day of show.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

Haunted Trail of Balboa Park, ZZ Top, Gem Diego Show

Events October 31-November 2, 2024
Next Article

At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina

Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
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.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader