Security stops my buddy as he attempts to enter The Magnolia in El Cajon. Whatever is in his pocket has set the metal detector beeping. He calls it a nail file. Security calls it a …
October 16, 2025
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Stories by Spike Steffenhagen
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Gonzo Report: Sparks sparks joy at The Magnolia
Gonzo Report: A mad mess of bands and books at Tower Bar
The man with lemur hands is being mindful about touching anything. It’s not because his hands are actually lemurian; it's because he’s just exited the men’s room at the Tower Bar, which is bereft of …
October 2, 2025
Victim: Back from the '80s
“Brian [Thoryk] had this smirk on his face and told me he needed to talk to me after a Skullbusters practice,” Victim drummer Junior Solis tells me. “Then he says, ‘We’re doing the Victim reunion.’ …
September 4, 2025
Gonzo Report: Echoes of the Dead, notes of Floyd, hints of Marvin Gaye
At the trolley stop, I ask Brenden Walton if he and his girlfriend Ting Goskrra are taking the trolley downtown to see King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. When he says yes, I can’t help …
August 28, 2025
Gonzo Report: Dread and joy with The Ophelias at The Music Box
“I developed into a bit of a shut-in during Covid,” Kayla tells me outside of The Music Box in Little Italy. “Then I transitioned, and the nerves were amplified. But when the ad for this …
August 21, 2025
The Reverie Room's Alfred Howard hunts honey-holes for memories worth money
“I’ve got lots of honey-holes I’ve been cultivating through the years, so I come across interesting things you don’t see every day,” says Alfred Howard of the collection that fills The Reverie Room, his recently …
August 21, 2025
Gonzo Report: Cool music & hot & sour soup at Mira Mesa's Golden Island
“Are you a swing dancer?” asks the woman from a table adjacent to mine. She smiles, verifying that the question is indeed intended for me. I tell her no, I’m a writer, but this doesn’t …
August 14, 2025
Gonzo Report: Stick Men substitute blows them away at the Bornemann
“Every time we work with an outside company, I have to keep them from trying to steal our sound guy,” says Luke Harmon, Director of Entertainment Operations at the Training, Education & Resource Institute (TERI) …
July 31, 2025
Gonzo Report: A day full of music and a belly full of pie in Julian
“He’s staring at your ice cream,” says a woman working the information booth at the Julian Town Square Music Festival. This by way of explaining her husband’s hungry stare in my direction. I can’t blame …
July 24, 2025
All Leather: taking music back from Dim Mak
“We just wanted our music back,” says Justin Pearson (Swing Kids, The Locust, Deaf Club). Founded in 2008, Pearson’s band All Leather originally released their debut EP Hung Like a Horse through Los Angeles-based Dim Mak …
July 24, 2025
Gonzo Report: Ready Set Survive thrives at The Holding Company
“See?” says my wife Shelley, “you can pee here too!” She’s not talking to me; she's talking to her friend Chrissy’s Shih Tzu puppy, while watching a large yellow dog pause his stroll along Newport …
July 17, 2025
Mike Keneally, King Crimson, and the realm of possibility
“You’re thinking of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ I get them mixed up a lot too,” guitarist Mike Keneally responds when I suggest “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas was written for trust fund hippies who …
July 3, 2025
Gonzo Report: Kitsch, community, and calamity at Nate's Garden Grill
“Fuck kale.” I declare to Cari Veach, the hostess at Nate’s Garden Grill on Euclid in San Diego. It seems that I’ve been unable or unwilling to let go of my grudge toward this “superfood” …
June 19, 2025
Louis Petrella is still Sorry It's Over
“American Idiot by Green Day was the first CD I remember stealing from my sister, and I listened to nonstop,” says Louis Petrella of Sorry, It’s Over. Petty theft from siblings is a rite of …
May 15, 2025
Gonzo Report: Jumping up for jazz at the Conrad
“I had the chance to see Miles [Davis] when I was in High School and didn’t — I still kick myself,” Brad tells me while we’re waiting for refreshments at The Conrad Prebys Music Center, …
May 1, 2025
Gonzo Report: Glitter and good vibes at Spin's SUBmerged
“Let’s get some glitter on you and bring that inner little kid out,” Megan Harper says to me on the second floor of Spin Nightclub in the Midway District. Vendors are selling clothing, bartenders are …
April 24, 2025
Gonzo Report: Keni Yarbro provides a musical cocoon at Duke's La Jolla
“Occasionally, we need to chase the younger ones out, they have no fear of people,” Katie tells me when asked the oddest thing she’s seen as a server at Duke’s La Jolla. She’s referring to …
April 10, 2025
The Music Box welcomes Napalm Death and The Melvins
Flashback: I was dubbed a “daft cunt” by Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury at Spanky’s café in the early '90s. Earache Records had signed several grindcore bands and sent them on tour. This particular event …
April 3, 2025
Gonzo Report: Troutface vs. the spontaneous
“Prince was just okay,” says a man I’ll call Troutface. We’re sitting at The Cordova Bar on the edge of Linda Vista and Bay Park, waiting for the house band to start the monthly jam …
March 27, 2025
Ramona Music Center finds a new home but keeps the same vibe
“If I hadn’t broken that string, we might not be married today,” says Cat Curry Hasz of her husband Jon. “I went in to Ramona Music Center [previously known as Blue Horse Music] in high …
March 20, 2025
Gonzo Report: Trick and Alderighi's 4 hands make light work of old songs
“Gerbil porn will be the instrument of my demise,” I mutter in the parking lot of Dizzy’s on Morena Boulevard, where Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi are performing this evening. Getting to the club, which …
February 20, 2025
Justin Pearson and the rest of Swing Kids reuniting for one more show
“It wasn’t something grand or unique outside of the actual simplistic meaning of friendship,” says Justin Pearson of the upcoming Swing Kids reunion show. “John Brady, the band’s bassist, is turning 50, and he decided …
February 13, 2025
Gonzo Report: Good music and great merch at T.S.O.L. show
“We have an EMT on-site if you want a Band-Aid for that,” says Observatory North Park staffer Anna when she sees my bleeding left knee. She monitors people leaving the bar area to make sure …
January 30, 2025
Gonzo Report: Substitute Gym Teacher levels the crowd at Tower Bar
“We love this place. So, even if something bad happens, we’ll still love these.” Newlywed Summer is referring to the matching tattoos she and her husband Dimitry got of The Tower Bar to commemorate their …
January 16, 2025
Queen Bee’s keeps fighting to stay put
“A city truck crashed into the building in the middle of a show,” says Alma Rodriguez, owner of Queen Bee’s Arts and Cultural Center in North Park. It’s an awful sort of poetic symbolism for …
January 2, 2025
Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard
“Are you more concerned about your drinks being stolen or someone putting something in them?” I ask a gaggle of patrons at The Quartyard in East Village where Hockey Dad, Remo Drive, and Tatiana Hazel …
December 12, 2024
Gonzo Report: Bob Long played piano for Tina Turner and Ray Charles
“How’s polygamy working out for you?” I ask a man at InZane Brewery in Vista. He looks surprised, as if I’ve just deduced something that shouldn’t be common knowledge. We engage in a staring contest …
December 5, 2024
Time’s up for Doubletime Recording Studio
“You’re the last drummer I’m ever recording in this room,” Jeff Forrest tells Declan Halloran (of Gunner Gunner) in a moment shared on social media by Halloran. Forrest, whose Doubletime Recording Studio in El Cajon …
December 5, 2024
Gonzo Report: Jazz jam at a private party
“People say I’m too nice to play jazz,” says bassist Paul Tillery. He’s unloading an upright bass to perform at California English with guitarist Jon Garner as a duo. They’re replacing Amanda Portela, who had …
November 28, 2024
Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island
“Jazz is whatever the fuck you say it is.” I tell guitarist Aaron Lind, whose organ trio is performing at Golden Island Dim Sum and Asian Cuisine in Mira Mesa tonight. Though I’m not opposed …
November 14, 2024
Gonzo Report: Gentrification is scarier than Bandhaunt
“I wonder why my phone isn’t recognizing me,” says All Monster Revue guitarist Richard “Richie” Bonnin with counterfeit astonishment. The reason is pretty obvious: the facial recognition software can’t penetrate his stage makeup, which resembles …
November 7, 2024
Gonzo Report: Watching out for one another at a hardcore taco shop concert
“You’re way too excited about a broken hand,” says someone outside Rolando’s Taco Shop in Barrio Logan to a young man hoisting his harm aloft and yelling excitedly for everyone to look at his hand. …
October 18, 2024
Happy accidents on the Bob Ross soundtrack
“I couldn’t begin to tell you how many happy accidents Dave [Klein] and I have had during this amazing process,” says Jason Lee about the creation of new soundtracks for the remastering of Bob Ross’ …
October 10, 2024
Arguing Oxford commas with WeAreJackStrong
Video:GONZO: Arguing Oxford commas with WeAreJackStrong“I’d lose that if I were you,” WeAreJackStrong bassist/vocalist Gregg Oliver advises me. He’s referring to my faith in humanity, specifically, the place of creators in a world where Artificial …
September 26, 2024
Gonzo Report: Gary Wilson rises again
“Excuse me, I have to put this fire out,” says Joseph Bursey, the doorman at The Tower Bar. I see he’s being literal as I nosily follow him to the corner of the building, where …
September 12, 2024
Brady Bunch beats Partridge Family
It was a bright and sunny day when a pop music revolution took place on a hallowed stage in Southern California. Local singer Zach Goode, who has taken over frontman duties for ‘90s alt-rock icons …
September 5, 2024
Gonzo Report: Playing truth or dare with Rogues of Chaos
Video:GONZO REPORT: Gonzo Report: Playing truth or dare with Rogues of Chaos“If I need one of those, either the spawn of Satan has been born or there’s a dead fucking doctor.” That’s what I tell …
August 22, 2024
Gonzo Report: Working it out at Spacebar’s weekly jazz workshop
“There’s a lot going on in ‘Take Five’ that you miss until you try to play it,” saxophonist and teacher Dave Good tells me. He’s speaking of the jazz standard popularized by the Dave Brubeck …
August 8, 2024
Gonzo Report: Mother Mother, Cavetown, and the medicinal power of music in action
“You’re dealing with a bunch of Gen Zers and Millennials who never get out of the house because of anxiety,” says Sonya, a mother who goes to shows with her daughter. She’s sporting a “No …
August 1, 2024
Gonzo Report: Which One’s Pink? keeps Pink Floyd alive for next generation
“Wygdjgedy Gilmour hednkjehuicehk amplifier cmoiewjcpew.” That’s not my cat walking on the keyboard, but rather an estimation of what I hear from behind me as two people carry on a conversation at normal talking volume, …
July 25, 2024
Adam Jones breaks the fourth wall at The Blarney Stone
It’s been fifteen years since Adam Jones made his debut at The Blarney Stone Pub in Clairemont. “One evening back in 2009, when I stopped in for a weekend nightcap, I heard another band covering …
June 27, 2024