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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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