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Live Five: Gary Wilson, Manual Scan, Slack Key ‘Ohana, Band Argument, El Vez
DIY lounge, revivalist mod, Tiki Waikiki, art-pop, and Merry Mex-mas in Little Italy, Downtown, City Heights
Gary Wilson returns to HOB
December 18
In the 1970s, DIY lounge legend Gary Wilson and his band the Blind Dates performed all over San Diego, with Wilson donning white makeup and wild wigs, leading séances from the stage, wearing beekeeper's hats or sheets of plastic held together by duct tape, and covering himself with and tossing around pails of white flour. Club operators at long-gone area venues like the Skeleton Club and Straita Head Sound often booted him over the messes. After vanishing from the music scene for a number of years, he resurfaced as the subject of an acclaimed documentary film, began releasing new material, and even appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing alongside the Roots and Questlove. He released a new album in May called Come On, Mary, preceded by a single and video for the title track. The Little Italy show is headlined by Ariel Pink’s Dark Side.
Formed in the early 1980s, Mod revivalists Manual Scan are still headed up by founders Bart Mendoza on vocals and guitar and Kevin Ring on guitar and vocals. Releasing a string of singles beginning in 1981 and an album issued in both the U.S. and England in 1986, the band toured extensively throughout California and America, as well as England (the 100 Club and the Marquee, among other venues), Mexico, and especially Spain, where they achieved lasting national fame. Numerous performers from around the world have covered Manual Scan songs, including the Eddies ("Jungle Beat"), Afterglow ("Of Heart & Soul"), Mod Fun ("Nothing Can Be Everything"), Anna Troy ("31968"), the Kingpins ("Plan of Action"), and Static Halo ("American Way"). After a lengthy period of inactivity other than occasional live performances, the 2023 Manual Scan EP Shooting Stars marked their first new studio work in around three decades. The bill includes The Film Company and Swive.
Hawaiian “Tiki Waikiki” act Slack Key ‘Ohana is a Kaleponi (California) based guitar duo with an ever-expanding roster of guest talent rotating in both studio and live performances. With a 1940s vibe, they blend Hawaiian melodies with Beach Boys-style harmonies, using old school recording techniques. The band's debut self-titled full-length won Best World Music Album at the 2022 San Diego Music Awards. Their newest album Hawaiian Cowboy includes guests Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) and four-time Grammy-winning slack key guitar master George Kahumoku Jr. The project was recorded at the invite-only recording studio owned and operated by Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl, Studio 606, where they tracked the record live utilizing the same sound and mixing board used by Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Tom Petty, and Paul McCartney, among others.
Experimental art-pop rockers Band Argument was founded by members of Big Bad Buffalo, Jordan Krimston and Sil Damone, along with Alex Simonian and Jake Kelsoe. "This project is an analog-digital hybrid," says Krimston . "It’s a classic rock band setup - two guitars, bass, drums, vocals - but everything has a digital filter on it. MIDI pickups on the guitars, sample pads and triggers on the drums, harmonizers on the vocals." Their debut single "Buddy" dropped in December 2018, followed a few weeks later by their Patchwork EP, which was promoted with a west coast tour. They released a new album this year, If the Accident Will, featuring 17 tracks recorded live in a barn.
A founding member of influential punk band the Zeros, Robert Lopez later adopted the persona of El Vez, the self-proclaimed Mexican Elvis. He’s bringing his semi-annual "Merry Mex-Mas" show back to the Casbah, promising an evening full of rewritten holiday classics and yuletide mash-ups such as “Brown Christmas”: “I'm dreaming of a 'Brown Christmas'/ Just like my ones in San Diego/ Where cousins and familia are tight/ And thank God our Christmases ain't white.” The bill includes El Vez’s frequent tour mates Duderella, an L.A.-based Latino alt-punk/stoner-pop duo known for blending garage rock with Misfits/Dead Kennedys-style energy and lyrics that frequently center on queer identity experiences and issues.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Live Five: Gary Wilson, Manual Scan, Slack Key ‘Ohana, Band Argument, El Vez
DIY lounge, revivalist mod, Tiki Waikiki, art-pop, and Merry Mex-mas in Little Italy, Downtown, City Heights
Live Five: Gary Wilson, Manual Scan, Slack Key ‘Ohana, Band Argument, El Vez
DIY lounge, revivalist mod, Tiki Waikiki, art-pop, and Merry Mex-mas in Little Italy, Downtown, City Heights
Gary Wilson returns to HOB
December 18
In the 1970s, DIY lounge legend Gary Wilson and his band the Blind Dates performed all over San Diego, with Wilson donning white makeup and wild wigs, leading séances from the stage, wearing beekeeper's hats or sheets of plastic held together by duct tape, and covering himself with and tossing around pails of white flour. Club operators at long-gone area venues like the Skeleton Club and Straita Head Sound often booted him over the messes. After vanishing from the music scene for a number of years, he resurfaced as the subject of an acclaimed documentary film, began releasing new material, and even appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing alongside the Roots and Questlove. He released a new album in May called Come On, Mary, preceded by a single and video for the title track. The Little Italy show is headlined by Ariel Pink’s Dark Side.
Formed in the early 1980s, Mod revivalists Manual Scan are still headed up by founders Bart Mendoza on vocals and guitar and Kevin Ring on guitar and vocals. Releasing a string of singles beginning in 1981 and an album issued in both the U.S. and England in 1986, the band toured extensively throughout California and America, as well as England (the 100 Club and the Marquee, among other venues), Mexico, and especially Spain, where they achieved lasting national fame. Numerous performers from around the world have covered Manual Scan songs, including the Eddies ("Jungle Beat"), Afterglow ("Of Heart & Soul"), Mod Fun ("Nothing Can Be Everything"), Anna Troy ("31968"), the Kingpins ("Plan of Action"), and Static Halo ("American Way"). After a lengthy period of inactivity other than occasional live performances, the 2023 Manual Scan EP Shooting Stars marked their first new studio work in around three decades. The bill includes The Film Company and Swive.
Hawaiian “Tiki Waikiki” act Slack Key ‘Ohana is a Kaleponi (California) based guitar duo with an ever-expanding roster of guest talent rotating in both studio and live performances. With a 1940s vibe, they blend Hawaiian melodies with Beach Boys-style harmonies, using old school recording techniques. The band's debut self-titled full-length won Best World Music Album at the 2022 San Diego Music Awards. Their newest album Hawaiian Cowboy includes guests Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) and four-time Grammy-winning slack key guitar master George Kahumoku Jr. The project was recorded at the invite-only recording studio owned and operated by Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl, Studio 606, where they tracked the record live utilizing the same sound and mixing board used by Nirvana, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Tom Petty, and Paul McCartney, among others.
Experimental art-pop rockers Band Argument was founded by members of Big Bad Buffalo, Jordan Krimston and Sil Damone, along with Alex Simonian and Jake Kelsoe. "This project is an analog-digital hybrid," says Krimston . "It’s a classic rock band setup - two guitars, bass, drums, vocals - but everything has a digital filter on it. MIDI pickups on the guitars, sample pads and triggers on the drums, harmonizers on the vocals." Their debut single "Buddy" dropped in December 2018, followed a few weeks later by their Patchwork EP, which was promoted with a west coast tour. They released a new album this year, If the Accident Will, featuring 17 tracks recorded live in a barn.
A founding member of influential punk band the Zeros, Robert Lopez later adopted the persona of El Vez, the self-proclaimed Mexican Elvis. He’s bringing his semi-annual "Merry Mex-Mas" show back to the Casbah, promising an evening full of rewritten holiday classics and yuletide mash-ups such as “Brown Christmas”: “I'm dreaming of a 'Brown Christmas'/ Just like my ones in San Diego/ Where cousins and familia are tight/ And thank God our Christmases ain't white.” The bill includes El Vez’s frequent tour mates Duderella, an L.A.-based Latino alt-punk/stoner-pop duo known for blending garage rock with Misfits/Dead Kennedys-style energy and lyrics that frequently center on queer identity experiences and issues.