56 San Diego Reader January 7, 2016
started to change.” Pritchard brought more
continued from page 55 Pritchard says he usually
won the battles. “The entertain- ment [balance sheet] made money for the last 11 of 12 months we were open...but
than jazz to Yoshi’s. “This year we had Graham Nash, Steven Stills, Herb Alpert, Booker T, the Stylistics, Ann Wilson of
Heart...Stevie Wonder just had an after-tour party there.” But Pritchard and his wife
had always planned to move back to San Diego. “We never sold our house. Our daughter is going to SDSU.” Plus, Humphreys wanted him to drop some of his famous friends into Backstage Live for occasional concerts. At first Yoshi’s
Pritchard made a name at Anthology, now books Yoshi’s and Humphreys Backstage
food and beverage kept losing money at an amazing rate. They brought in these celebrity chefs, but there wasn’t room for celebrity chefs.” Pritchard’s track record
helped him land the talent buyer’s position at Yoshi’s, the Oakland jazz club that he says was in deep trouble when he arrived three years ago. “They used to run main-
stream jazz artists like Oscar Peterson and McCoy Tyner who would play for a two-week run, two shows a night. That did well in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, but the whole business
balked. But a plan that included weekly teleconferences and a once-a-month trip to the Bay Area let him keep the gig. Under new owners,
the Anthology space
(now the Music Box) has undergone a remodeling that took out seating and more than doubled its capacity. But Pritchard says his long-
time relationships have allowed him to keep old Anthology headliners, such as Robben Ford and Poncho Sanchez, to play for him at the smaller Backstage Live. “We have Keiko Matsui on Valentine’s weekend. But when you have an artist as big as that, there is no room for error. You have to have two shows a night and all your
shows have to sell out.” — Ken Leighton
Now you know: Kids in Heat. Mikey Belknap’s helium-spiked vocals ended up at Kids in Heat’s lead micro- phone almost randomly. “My brother Stan was always play- ing guitar in bands. I wasn’t a musician, just really into skat- ing. I was in Texas when Stan and our bassist, Kong, called from California, saying it was time to go for it. Two days later they arrived, threw my stuff in the truck, and drove me back to Murrieta.” Are punks born that way, or
does it develop somehow? “It’s a natural course that
comes with being 13. Seeing these guys in leather jackets, or Stiv Bators blow snot at bologna and eating it? I got caught in a vortex I didn’t want to escape. I’m a Misfits fan, especially the song ‘Children in Heat.’” The Philippine-born
Belknap moved to Murrieta in the early 2000s, where they
Kong in Heat: “We raised hell at punk shows, skating, and doing what bored kids do in a small town during high school.”
Belknap laughs, “At the Tower Bar, a homeless lady proceeded to get fully naked and dance in the middle of everyone. People moved away from her but they ended up chanting her on, too. When the cops arrived, I said I’d last seen her running
internet show, Cat Nouveau, has been playing ‘I Got Beat Up.’ We’ll start recording a new record at the Til-Two on January 3.” I don’t think three
years is that long a wait for momentum.
met Kong, who says, “We raised hell at punk shows, skat- ing, and doing what bored kids do in a small town during high school.” The band’s quest for trac- tion has ignited some sparks.
full speed, butt naked, down the alley.” “Lolipop Records is
releasing a cassette of our first album, High Energy, Low Income, in January. We’re stoked that this Portuguese
“
Umm...no. And play-
ing punk is kind of amazing. After our set at the Knockout Bar in San Francisco, this six-foot-five guys pulled me offstage. My heart was pound- ing — I thought, This guy’s gonna rip my head off. But he rips his shirt off, then mine... then gives me a hug, saying it was one of the best San Fran shows he’d seen. We ended up hanging with him and some other friends. Kong’s outside drinking when we hear him yell, ‘Someone’s breaking into our van!’ They didn’t get anything important — just all of Kong’s clothes.” Kids in Heat plays Sunday,
January 10, at the Soda Bar with Nobunny and Stalins of Sound.
— Mary Leary Find Blurt online at
SDReader.com/blurt
CONTRIBUTORS Chad Deal, Dave Good, Dorian Hargrove, Mary Leary, Ken Leighton, Bart Mendoza, Jay Allen Sanford, David Stampone
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108