Holding Company at the Holding Company

"I'm pretty sure this is the biggest band to ever play in Ocean Beach,” says Steve Yeng, new owner of the old Gallagher’s on Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach. The bar/venue is now called the Holding Company. Yeng also owns OB Noodle House, Bar 1502, and OB Donuts and was born and raised in San Diego’s beachside town. The “biggest band” Yeng is talking about is Janis Joplin's old backing band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, which rolls into town this Saturday.

Is the bar name matching the band name a coincidence? No, Yeng told me that the name of his place is homage to the 1960s and that he did think of using that band's name for the club and booked them for just that reason.

Two original Big Brother and the Holding Company members remain and they have hired a couple of young guns to fill out the lineup, along with lead singer Darby Gould, who sang with Jefferson Starship back in ’91.

Yeng says it is all for a good cause, “All the money raised at the front door is going to the OB Food and Toy Drive,” an annual event that kicks off around the holidays each year. “We like to give about $10,000 every year to this," Yeng adds.

"I think O.B., being a very hippie community [with] a lot of the older people who loved Janis's band, is going to come out to this. We expect it to sell out."

Big Brother and the Holding Company play the Holding Company this Saturday, October 22, at 8 p.m. Admission is $18; Obecians pay $8.