50 San Diego Reader April 6, 2017
the inside track
hard rock. (As I Lay Dying had just been dissolved.) Phil Sgrosso now plays in
Secretly angsty. Bar ownership Rule No. 1: You snooze, you loose. “We learned its not real
easy,” says Shannon Sgrosso, part of the rock-star contin- gent that swooped in to save the struggling Brick by Brick three years ago. “After three years, we haven’t really had a day off. If you don’t check your email one day, you may end up not getting a show.” Rule No. 2: It’s not easy.
But in the case of Brick, no one’s bitching. “We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t want to.” By the time Shannon and
her guitarist husband Phil and his two fellow ex–As I Lay Dying bandmates guitar- ist Nick Hipa and drummer Jordan Mancino came into the Brick picture in the Spring of 2014, San Diego’s oldest continuously opened rock venue was in trouble. Its
Wovenwar’s Hipa, Mancino, and Sgrosso (left–right), after running Brick by Brick for three years, “haven’t really had a day off.”
I Lay Dying was just starting. “We didn’t want to see it go away,” said Sgrosso. They bought the bar despite the fact it was failing and that San Diego didn’t support
Sgrosso about how national hard-rock bands had been avoiding San Diego. “It was a struggle convincing agents to let their bands come back. [Bay Area groove metal
liquor license was suspended for non-payment of sales tax. The three rockers had
fond memories of playing the Bay Park venue when As
Poison Headache. Hipa and Mancino play in Woven War, which uses Brick by Brick as a “home base” practice pad when the band isn’t on tour. Both bands tour internation- ally and record for Metal Blade Records. “San Diego had fallen off the map for a long time,” says
band] Machine Head hadn’t played San Diego in ten years.” Shannon said San Diego
had developed a national reputation for producing soft audiences for hard-rockers. “Soma had some huge metal shows on its main stage in the early 2000s. And the Casbah does metal now and then. But the metal scene hadn’t had a good home base in San Diego.” When they first took
over, they used two different talent buyers (the second, Anilee Griffin, died recently at 35). “Eventually we decided to take everything on ourselves.” Sgrosso tells the Reader she handles the booking while Mancino is the onsite manager. She and Hipa handle the graphics and occasionally work behind the bar. “And Nick will sometimes do security…. We didn’t used to be hands-on, but we learned nobody cares about your own livelihood like you.” She says she welcomes
outside promoters: “One spe- cializes in tribute acts, one in
Bleached found this year’s SXSW more maneuverable: “There was a big blizzard on the East
Coast...some bands came in two days late.”
European death metal,” and the Brick is open to other venues who want to bring their own bands in. “The guys who do Psycho in Las Vegas just brought in Truck- fighters from Sweden.” With a 400-capacity
space, the Brick is twice as large as the Casbah. They’ve managed to succeed by focusing on metal. “We had six sold-out shows in Octo- ber,” says Sgrosso. “Despite what some people might think, metal is alive and well in San Diego. A lot of people here want aggressive music.
San Diego is secretly angsty.” — Ken Leighton
Can you deal? Los Angeles’ Bleached played South By Southwest last month where they were pleasantly surprised by a less claustrophobic atmo- sphere. According to guitarist Jessie Clavin, “The traffic wasn’t as horrible. I guess there was a big blizzard on the East Coast and some bands missed their flights and came in two days later.” With a little help from
Mother Nature, the quartet were able to get in and out of the festival with a bit more ease than is usually the case. The band’s next adventure will be 17 dates with punk band the Damned in celebration of the
CONCERT CALENDAR VIEW ALL UPCOMING SHOWS AT
BRICKBYBRICK.COM
MAC SABBATH AND METALACHI GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST
WEDNESDAY APRIL 5, 7PM | $20 ADV & $25 DOS | 21+ DAYSHELL
SILVER SNAKES, WEIGHT OF THE SUN, WOLFWAKER THURSDAY APRIL 13, 8PM | $12 ADV & $15 DOS | 21+
GOOD RIDDANCE
SCREW 32, WESTERN ADDICTION, BOSSFIGHT FRIDAY APRIL 14, 8PM | $20 ADV & $25 DOS | 21+
MOONSHINE BANDITS COUNTRY ROCKIN’ REBELS
MONDAY APRIL 17, 8PM | $18 ADV & $22 DOS | 21+ Live Music & Dancing
4/06 Blue Largo 4/07 Graceland with Marlon Von Ratibor “The Voice of Elvis”
4/08 Russ Allen’s Karaoke Show 4/09 Mike Eldred Trio 4/11 Sue Palmer, Suesday Swing Night 4/13 The Fremonts 4/14 High Plaines Drifters 4/15 Alan Iglesias & Crossfire 4/18 Sue Palmer, Suesday Swing Night 4/19 24th St. Wailers
5302 NAPA ST. • SAN DIEGO 92110 619-542-1462 •
TIOLEOS.COM
HORISONT DIRTY STREETS, MONOLITH THURSDAY APRIL 20, 8PM | $12 ADV & $16 DOS | 21+
TRAP THEM CALL OF THE VOID
FRIDAY APRIL 21, 8PM | $12 ADV & $15 DOS | 21+ ASPHYX
EXTREMITY, GRAVEHILL, SKELETAL REMAINS, DEFIXION TUESDAY APRIL 25, 7PM | $15 ADV & $20 DOS | 21+
INTRONAUT BELL WITCH, CLOVEN
FRIDAY APRIL 28, 8PM | $13 ADV & $16 DOS | 21+
METAL MONDAYS - FIRST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH OPEN FROM 8:30PM ‘TIL CLOSE! DRINK SPECIALS, RAD TUNES, AND MORE!
1130 BUENOS AVE. SAN DIEGO 92110 l FOR INFO & TIX CALL (619) 276-3990
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