Lenny Kravitz

It can be hard to take Lenny Kravitz seriously. It didn’t help that, straight out of the gate, the first thing most of us heard about him in the late ‘80s (when he was still known as “Romeo Blue”) was that he eloped with Cosby Show underachiever Lisa Bonet, and that his mom was once a regular on another sitcom. On first listen, though, he clearly had some chops, even if his fixation on hippie dippy lyrics and Lennonesque vocals did little to quell the chuckles. Around the time of “Let Love Rule,” it finally became clear that he wasn’t so much psychedelic as he was groovy (the difference being that the former spins off into nowhere, while the latter is always driving hard to somewhere). Now, 30 years later, Kravitz is the Barbra Streisand of rock, covering everything from acting to activism, furniture design, and there’s even a Tropicalismo Wallpaper Collection from Kravitz Design inspired by Brazil’s 1960s Tropicalia art movement. Kravitz is getting a little extra juice out of his 2018 album Raise Vibration by extending the support tour by around two dozen more dates, with San Diego being his penultimate stop before he takes the stage in L.A. the following night to put the tour to bed.

Buck-O-Nine

Ska-punk rockers Buck-O-Nine formed at the end of 1991 and by early 1992 had played their first club gig, opening for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones at the Spirit Club (now Brick by Brick). There are multiple claims concerning where Buck-O-Nine got its name, with the accepted version being that the band pooled their money for beer and all they had was $1.09. After breaking in their act on local stages like Soma, they released their first full-length in 1994, Songs in the Key of Bree, on San Diego label Immune Records. After a few followups and several years of touring, Buck-O-Nine began to see increased national radio airplay for the single “My Town,” with video that received limited exposure on MTV. Their album 28 Teeth sold over 200,000 copies, topping the Billboard HeatSeekers chart at one point, and appearing in the Billboard Top 200 chart for several weeks. 1997 found them on the Warped Tour and being picked by Primus as the support act on their Brown Album tour. They’ve had on and off periods since then, though they still managed to win eight San Diego Music Awards between 1995 and 2000. In late 2017, they premiered a video for “Don’t Be Afraid,” from a Halloween compilation containing their first new music since 2007’s Sustain. They released a new album in April, FunDayMental, with a video produced for “Top of the World.” They’ll play the Beerfish 30th Street Rock/DJ Stage at 8pm.

Dead Feather Moon

Based in North County, most members of psychedelic alt-country rockers Dead Feather Moon grew up around Vista, playing their first show under their current moniker in 2009 at PB’s 710 Beach Club. They released their first EP Leave Heaven to the Birds in July 2009, taking a couple of years before recording a debut full-length, Dark Sun, tracked in February 2011 at White Horse Recorders with producer Aaron Swanton. A little over a year later, it won Best Alternative Album at the 2012 San Diego Music Awards, where the group also got a nomination for Best Alternative band. They were named Best Alternative at the October 2014 SDMAs and have played notable stages such as SXSW. It’s been a long time between albums (a Facebook bio has read, for the past four years, “The band is currently writing material for their second full-length record”), but you can check out what they’re currently up to on the Casbah 33rd Street Rock Stage at 7pm.

Trouble in the Wind

Trouble in the Wind began in 2006 as a high school country rock trio called Cactus Bob. They took their current name in 2009 and, ten years later, the band still features the founding trio of Robby Gira (vocals, acoustic guitar), Trevor Mulvey (upright bass), and Kyle Merritt (guitar, banjo, accordion). Having appeared frequently at the E Street Café in Encinitas, they made their recorded debut in 2009, and then won Best Musical Talent in the 2012 Musicpalooza talent contest, an annual competition at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, taking home a $5,000 cash prize and an electric guitar donated by Taylor Guitars. A second full-length was released in 2014, Slide Rock, featuring sixteen songs mixed and recorded by the band and preceded by its first single “Taken.” That September, they were named Best Americana at the San Diego Music Awards, and their full-length Pineapple Moon won Best Country or Americana Album at the 2018 San Diego Music Awards, where they also took home the trophy for Artist of the Year. Their newest, Hammer On, was recorded live in San Diego at Rarefied Studios and engineered by Dave Matthies (the Gift Machine). They’ll play Rosie’s 34th Street Roots Rock Stage at 5:30.

Strawberry Moons

“We’re brought together by a love of strong melodies and harmonies, ‘60s pop, and psychedelic, as well as the shimmery arrangements of folk rock and the intensity of power pop and post-punk,” according to dream/psych/pop/art rockers Strawberry Moons. Their recent single “Nicole’s Song” (a Local Break spotlight track on 91X through September), as well as a single for “Cigarette Hills,” comes from a self-titled full-length making its debut at this record release show, produced by Ben Moore at local Singing Serpent Studios. “We’re currently working closely with our artist designer on the themes for the album release and the individual single releases,” Aimee Jacobs told the Reader earlier this year. “A hand-drawn image will be associated with each song - a poppy for ‘Nicole’s Song,’ a hill for ‘Cigarette Hills,’ a snake emerging from a basket for ‘Snake Charm’ - along with photos by Jay Reilly from a recent session, and our original logos.” The bill includes Stephanie Brown & the Surrealistics.