50 San Diego Reader November 3, 2016
Pirate promoter. A for- mer bouncer who launched his own security company and then parlayed his concert access into a gig as the tour manager for Guns ’N Roses, penetrated San Diego’s closed-shop concert business. “I think its super impor-
The “two behemoths,”
AEG/Goldenvoice and Live Nation, control most of the major venues in town and who plays them. It is hard for independent
promoters like Reese to bring major headliners to a local venue without their approval.
the inside track
on a show. I’m looking to create destination events. For Ye Scalawag we needed a special kind of venue to do a craft beer, food, and music festival. You’ve got pirate ships right across the street. I’m looking for destination events with a theme that will appeal to a certain niche. This would have never worked at Sleep Train.” Reese, who has also pro-
moted specialty comedy and EDM shows here, knows San Diego is not America’s finest concert market. “San Diego is a very
tant for small guys to be able to do stuff in the music industry,” says John Reese, whose Synergy Global Entertainment (SGE) just promoted the Ye Scalawag
Reese admits he was able
to pull in headliners Bad Religion and NOFX partly because of his personal his- tory of working directly with the bands.
laid-back town with perfect weather. It’s always been hit or miss in San Diego. It’s hard to predict what will work here.” He says his Scalawag
show neared its 8500-capac- ity mark. Reese says he isn’t ready yet to outline his next
San Diego event. — Ken Leighton
Soundtrack of my life. Out-and-proud punk-pop- pers Pansy Division hit Soda Bar November 4. Cofounder Chris Freeman took some email queries. What are the band’s most
Event organizer John Reese: “It’s always been hit or miss in San Diego. It’s hard to predict what will work here.”
Fest at Waterfront Park. “The industry doesn’t need just two behemoths to control every- thing. You still need small guys like myself or Len [Paul] from Soma to do things.”
WEDNESDAY • NOV 2 HAYDEN JAMES ELDERBROOK
THURSDAY • NOV 3 GRAM RABBIT • RAFTER SEABASE
FALL BREWING ANNIVERSARY PARTY THE CREEPY CREEPS SCHIZOPHONICS MC5 REVUE THE WIDOWS • JON COUGAR CONCENTRATION CAMP
PAINT FUMES • THE KABBS SATURDAY • NOV 5
SUNDAY • NOV 6 LEWIS DEL MAR PRINZE GEORGE
THE SKIDS • SCHIZOPHONICS OXYMORONS • DJ ARTISTIC
WEDNESDAY • NOV 9 NEW MEXICO • SPOOKY CIGARETTE • SOL ORCHID DJ SORRY SHARK
casbahmusic.com
TUESDAY • NOV 8 ASTRONAUTALIS
MONDAY • NOV 7 SOUTHERN CULTURE ON
THE KING KHAN AND BBQ SHOW
FRIDAY • NOV 4 888-512-7469 •
casbahmusic.com
COCKTAILS • LIVE MUSIC • 21 w/ID 2501 KETTNER BLVD.
THURSDAY • NOV 10 BADABING • PARADE OF HORRIBLES • THE BABES SUMMER KNOWLEDGE
HAR MAR SUPERSTAR SWEET SPIRIT
FRIDAY • NOV 11
SATURDAY • NOV 12 OM •
M.GEDDES GENGRAS
SUNDAY • NOV 13 THE DICTATORS NYC MOTOR 66
THE TOUCHIES
MONDAY • NOV 14 BRANCHES
TUESDAY • NOV 15 THE RECORD COMPANY
WEDNESDAY • NOV 16 NUKEM • DAEMOS
But the Orange County–
based concert promoter doesn’t want to take on the big guys. “I don’t want to rent out the Sports Arena and put
memorable San Diego gigs? “Opening for Green Day at
the Sports Arena on Hallow- een 1994. That was the first big arena we’d ever played and it was totally nerve- racking! Many shows at the Casbah, including when Rob Halford from Judas Priest
THURSDAY • NOV 17 DAVID RAMIREZ
FRIDAY • NOV 18 WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS
SATURDAY • NOV 19 NIGHT BEATS • MYSTERY LIGHTS • WARBLY JETS
SCREAMING LORD STAX AND THE SAVAGES
SUNDAY • NOV 20 MILLIONAIRE BEACH BUMS TORCHE • BOSSWITCH
WEDNESDAY • NOV 23 BOOTY BASSMENT
FRIDAY • NOV 25 MOTHER HIPS
SATURDAY • NOV 26 MOTHER HIPS
SUNDAY • NOV 27 HOT CHIP DJ SET GOOSE^MAVRK
WEDNESDAY • NOV 30 DOYLE BRAMHALL II
facebook.com/CasbahMusic instagram.com/casbahsandiego
TUESDAY • NOV 22 RED FANG
MONDAY • NOV 21 ZOMBIE SURF CAMP JASON HANNA AND THE BULLFIGHTERS
On tour, Pansy Division, an openly gay punk band, is seeing “a shit- ton of Trump signs in yards,” making them exceptionally nervous.
Diego around February of 1996, when he interviewed us before a show and ended up in the band later that year. He’s originally from Tijuana.” Who were your big-
gest influences? “My biggest influ-
ence growing up was the Beatles. All of my earliest memories have Beatles songs attached, so they are truly the soundtrack of my life. “The first two records
I bought with allowance money were Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies and Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I saw Kiss on Midnight Special and that blew my mind. Someone recently told me that Kiss was a gateway band for a lot of musicians, and that’s certainly true for me, although now they are an embarrassment.
Blondie. I loved Devo and Judas Priest equally to the disdain of many of my high school friends, so I never fit in anywhere. I knew many people who threw away their old record collections when they discovered punk. I didn’t understand that — if I love something, I love it whether it’s cool to love it or not.” How nervous are you
about the election? “I’m exceptionally ner-
vous. Trump could actually win — his supporters don’t care how heinous he is. It would be a horror show if he won, and I’m not sure why any of his supporters don’t see that. Misinformed, I guess. Or blinded by those who are. Or blinded by their religion. I also have a lot of friends who are anti-Hillary and won’t vote for her. I’m
came up and sang with us in ’97. He sang with us the next day at San Diego Pride, too. “We met Luis [Pansy
Division’s drummer] in San
“Later, I got into punk
from reading magazines with Kiss on the cover, describing the ‘New York sound’ from bands like the Ramones and
not sure why that is either. “On tour, I was not
surprised to see a shit-ton of Trump signs in front yards everywhere, especially the suburbs. I don’t see any in L.A., but that is a bubble, not the norm.”
— Andrew Hamlin
Hip-hop believin’. In 2006 local Iraqi-American rapper Timz got national attention when his anti-war video got him exposure on Fox News. “From there it went viral,” says Alvin Shamoun, who, like Timz, was a member of San Diego’s Spring Valley Chaldean community. “I was his man- ager.” Shamoun had done well with his check cashing, cell phone, and marijuana dispensary businesses. “We started a record label,” Shamoun says. “I built him a studio.” But his artist, who had a degree from USD, became a celebrity. “He ended up getting letters of support from senators and other movers and shakers he met from doing the video. He quit music when he got a scholarship to go to Cal Western law school.” But Shamoun could rap
himself, so he became Biggie Babylon. “People started liking it.” When his dispen- sary closed after threats of property seizures, he made a commitment to music, got signed to Bungalow/Univer- (continued on page 52)
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