2023 warped by in the blink of a tiger’s eye, and now everybody’s sharing their annual Spotify wrapped sheet via social media. I didn’t share mine, but I will let you know that my number …

In the mid-’90s, the band Arapaho were the rock darlings of Durban, South Africa. With multiple chart-topping hits — including “Dump Truck,” which stayed at number one for multiple months, and “Butterfly Angel,” written by …

I thought I bought tickets to see Citizen Cope. Instead, my scattered head bought tickets to see a band called Citizen. A blunder of this magnitude told me I needed to meditate and turn away …

It started with three of us. I was driving, while Matt and Francisco held down the passenger duties of radio selection and wry commentary, respectively. With a Spotify Destroy Boys playlist spilling through the speakers, …

My last encounter with Jesse was nine years ago; it began with him standing, barefoot, outside my downtown Seattle apartment, calling my name from six stories below as he clutched a plastic hospital bag containing …

All this jazz at Tio Leo’s“I see a lot of familiar faces here, and I see three or four new ones. I want to let you know that, when the music is playing, we are …

In my youthful and more formidable years, I typed out Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas line for line, chapter by chapter, just as the original gonzo journalist did with The Great …

I should probably have picked up a pack of smokes for this one, because I could hear the echoes of San Diego’s punk past as it enthusiastically got the band back together for My Town …

There are silent killers walking amongst us. Many of them. Not the kind that have the thirst to kill, mind you, but the kind that could kill, can kill, thanks to the skills they’ve worked …

“The moon is in Taurus, a slow, steady, sensual energy, ideal for indulging in senses,” says Neekol, who frequents the Maya Moon Collective. “It is playing closely with Uranus — don’t laugh — which can …

Lead Pony can already spot the VulturesPsychedelic blues rock has never really gone out of style — not locally, anyway. And now, San Diego is rapidly becoming a hotbed of related “concept albums,” from the space …

Back in May, a Keanu Reeves sighting at the Casbah during a punk rock show featuring locals Doc Hammer lit up social media. I know this because one of my pals posted an Instagram selfie …

On Snapdragon Stadium’s opening day, I recall hearing stories about how the sun melted a college football crowd into a dank mess. This much is true: the new stadium, although modern and affable, fails to …

It’s finally starting to feel like Southern California again, rather than the soggy Pacific Northwest. The weather tax is finally paying its dividends. Everyone’s spirits are elevated. The sun is chirping and the birds are …

I belly up to the bar inside the dimly lit barroom of the Fraternal Order of Eagles community center in National City and order a five-buck bottle of Pacifico. Only three other souls share the …

I pull up in front of a homeless encampment on G street downtown next to the Arco, scan the meter, and pay for an hour and fourteen minutes of parking. Parking after six o’clock is …

Once upon a time, if you wanted to take part in a ceremonial psychedelic experience, you had to pay a pretty penny: a flight to Costa Rica or Peru, and then a journey into the …

When local hip-hop artist Brandon “B-Turn” Turner created a top 100 list of San Diego music artists to watch in 2023, he had no idea how wild the online ride he was about to take …

I’ve always imagined the Til-Two Club as the kind of haunt where you might have found the late author Charles Bukowski buzzing around. If he dressed in black leather and lived in San Diego when …

Nothing like a little sea moss in the system before the battle kicks off. Sixty-three-year-old Miss Sherry Elie, owner and organizer of the CRS (Cut it, Roll it, Smoke it) San Diego Rap Battle League, …

Noose Sweat’s van broke down on their way down from Vancouver. They’re supposed to headline the hardcore punk show on this early autumn night, but due to their shitty circumstances, they won’t be able to …

Some call it glam rock. Others, hair metal. My friend Joe calls it butt rock: as in, on August 28 at Petco Park, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Poison, Mötley Crüe, and Def Leppard rocked …

We were pre-gaming at the College-area Eureka! near when Whittney Blue said she was going to steal the table knife. There were four of us gathered around a table at the campus restaurant, trying to …

First Place Winner CHANGING OF THE GUARD Unexpected violence at the San Diego Zoo When people found out I worked security at the world famous San Diego Zoo, they asked: “What’s the craziest thing you’ve …