With so many cover bands operating in and around San Diego (lol, I’m in one of them), I figured it might not be a bad idea to start showing some love to those of us who will never land “The Big Deal” but continue to play anyway… Even if it is someone else’s material…

Enter the Venue Report, a new segment I’ll be doing reviewing music venues I’ve had first hand experience with so first timers will have an idea what to expect before hitting the road. Starting with, in no particular order…

1st Street Bar - 656 S Coast Highway 101 - 4 sets - 9PM to 1AM

This is one of my favorite venues because of the mix of people who show up there. You really get everything from non-descript locals to people who, by their attire obviously started out at a fancy restaurant earlier in the evening. Either way, there’s definitely eye candy for all. The stage is very small and I really don’t know how 4 and 5 piece bands manage. I play in a trio and am still constantly on the lookout against hitting the neck of my guitar on a poll on the left side of the stage. They have small JBL’s (I believe they’re 12’s w/horns) mounted overhead in front of the stage but they do not have a mixer or power amps. You’ll need to supply your back line, a powered mixer, and monitors if you want to hear yourself on stage. There is one group of outlets for power in the back corner of the stage but you’ll need a strip and or extension cord to access any additional power. They have some stage lighting but nothing on a chaser, nothing blinking.

Like many clubs, this place starts really getting fired up around 10:30 or 11PM so make sure you leave yourself some “A” material for the third and fourth sets. It’s also the kind of place where if you just stand there and play your music without attempting to engage the crowd verbally, they’ll ignore you. 1st Street has the kind of crowd that can be “too cool for school” in that you’ll see them boppin to the music and singing the songs but then they won’t clap for you… You have to artfully call them out when you see they’re having a good time but aren’t making any noise. Some nights, there’s just nothing you can do, some nights you can get them fired up enough that they’ll ask for as many encores as management will let you get away with.

There’s good parking in the back with load in pretty easy through the back door. The only negative is the smally dumpster you have to endure that’s about 20 ft from the back door. A little incentive to make for quick set up and break down.

Generally there is very little fighting at this club BUT, occasionally things can get a little rambunctious by the end of the night. We tend to finish up our last set with some pretty bombastic stuff… Seek and Destroy, Bro Hymn, Guerrilla Radio just to name a few… Management has asked us to stop more than once because people were getting too fired up at such a late hour. They still love us though because we tend to make people drink

I’m not going to go into compensation here because first timers aren’t going to get the kind of money we get but I will say this… Like many bars, you do a good job for them, they’ll take care of you.

Next time, we’ll go North and check out something in the Temecula area…

Okay, so it’s taken awhile but here at last is a pseudo-in depth look at the Independence Jam artists appearing on the Casbah/Local 94.9 Stage. We looked at the acts on the main stage in a previous post and for my taste, they’re only batting 50% with the line up. Yea to Flogging Molly, The Ting Tings, Santogold and The Whigs - Nay to The Cold War Kids, The Hold Steady, MGMT and Nortec Collective. The way I see it, I’m at $10 per band if I plant myself in front of the main stage and don’t move. Let’s see if there’s something on the local stage to add value to my experience… Same rules apply, we’ll look at the bands and list them by MySpace stats and see what’s what…

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Transfer - Obscure Magpie Records MySpace Friends 7091 / Profile Views 142,218

Wasn’t real familiar with this band but I listened to their top two songs on MySpace, “Bring a Knife” and “You are The Wolf”. I was shocked at how much I like both songs right off the bat. I mean seriously, listening to these guys left me wondering why I’m getting stuff like Nortec Collective jammed up my ear’s ass when in this listener’s opinion, Transfer is going to sell more tickets by comparison with a little air play. I’m just listening on my iMac, but it didn’t seem like the production value was sub par for radio play, especially for an independent station. If 94.9 would have played “You Are The Wolf” as many times at they rode Nortec Collective’s “Brown Bike” it might have been a better use of marketing air time. I guess since the show is in Chula Vista, they’re trying to attract some show goers from South of the Border…

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Final word - I’ll pay money to see this band - Yea

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Kill Me Tomorrow - GSL and Silver Girl Records MySpace Friends 6794 / Profile Views 101,804

This is a tough call… I really have mixed feelings about this band. I listened to all their songs and for every song I like, there’s one I really dislike. “How Are Things” is cool, then I hit “Xerox My Hand” and it becomes hard to make a decision. This might be a band that grows on me but initial instincts indicate that if I’m having trouble deciding than I’d have to say no, I wouldn’t spend my money. Kudos for making an interesting choice in the name of diversity, but I think a narrow margin of appeal as it borders on artsy industrial noise at times.

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Final word - Just not for me so, - Nay

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The Wrong Trousers - No Label - MySpace Friends 3800 / Profile Views 141,218

This band does a fairly cool cover of “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles but other than that, they’re keeping with the trend of “just too eclectic for me” set on the Local 94.9 / Casbah Stage. I think I mentioned at some point in the review of the main stage bands that for me, live performances are about energy and I just don’t feel a lot of that based on the MySpace tunes.

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Final word - Just not for me so, - Nay

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The Silent Comedy - Singleton Records MySpace Friends 1982 / Profile Views 69,389

These guys are good at what they do but they’re a very niche’ kinda band if you ask me. I mean, they’ve totally captured the whole silent film era thing they’re doing (based on their songs and MySpace theme) and I would expect to see Charlie Chaplain as a roadie dropping stuff on stage, but I don’t know if it’s what I want to see at an outdoor festival. Like “Kill Me Tomorrow” props for diversity but I wouldn’t normally spend money on this.

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Final word - They’re fine musicians, just not for me - Nay

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The Muslims - No Label MySpace Friends 1918 / Profile Views 90,779

Ha! At first I was a little put off by the name quite frankly, but then I saw their MySpace caption read “fuck these fuckers”…

These guys are like a low-fi garage band with a pretty catchy sound. I’m on the fence about spending money on them, however. I think the real question is how they deliver live. That low-fi sound can be awesome when done right, but if you’re going for that raw feel and the sound person doesn’t have a firm grip on what they’re doing (it happens more than you think) it can turn on you and come out sounding like amateur hour. While they have only a couple fewer friends than the band that precedes them in the list, it’s worth noting they have a lot more views…

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Final word - I’ll go ahead and take a chance - Yea

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Blackout Party - No Label MySpace Friends 1613 / Profile Views 37,631

Well, I’m afraid it’s just not my cup of tea and I find it suspect that the only thing they have booked on their MySpace calendar is this event. To quote Forrest Gump, “That’s all there is I have to say about that.”

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Final word - Fine musicians, not for me - Nay

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So in looking over the totals here, I’m down for 6 of 18 bands for this years Independence Jam. Four on the main stage and two on the local… That would end up at $6.67 per band I want to see plus, they’ve added shuttle bus service from strategic locations around San Diego. I’d have to say that all in all there’s a lot worse way to spend an afternoon. I may not like a lot of the bands appearing but based on what I’ve heard online and on the radio, they’re all certainly competent musicians and a good representation of diversity in San Diego Music. I think I might have to post my own “fantasy line up” for an Independence Jam of my own over in the forum and see how my picks fair…