A beer festival in Tijuana, a musical based on a popular blog, and a band from Columbia have our attention this weekend.
Guests:
Maya Kroth is the editor of Where San Diego and Performances magazines.
Enrique Limon is San Diego CityBeat's man-about-town and editor for the website El Zonkey Show.com
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ST. JOHN: You're living to Midday Edition here on KPBS. I'm Alison St. John. This promises to be a sweet summer weekend weather wise here in San Diego. Not too hot, not too cool. What to do to enjoy our fair city and all it has to offer? We've got a pool party, a sing along, and a great Colombian band in the mix. Here to give us some inspiration are Maya Kroth, who is the editor of Where San Diego, and Performances magazine.
KROTH: Nice to see you, Allison.
ST. JOHN: And Enrique limonis San Diego City beat's man about town.
LIMON: Thanks for the invite.
MAUREEN ST. JOHN: Let's start with the Lafayette pool. The Lafayette hotel is hosting a pool party this weekend. Is there something special about this pool?
KROTH: There is. It was reportedly designed by Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller back in 1946. More personal, it's one of the only hotel pools for miles around that invites nonguests to come by and swim, which is a very important factor when you live uptown far from the beach. No water in sight, it's really nice to have a pool that you can go to.
ST. JOHN: It must get pretty crowded.
KROTH: It does. It's a scene and a half. Have you been?
LIMON: Oh, yeah. I've gotten kicked out of there so many times. Someone told me it was clothing optional once, and I just ran with it.
ST. JOHN: But it's that kind of scene, you thought you might take the risk, it's a really cool party, and it's definitely worth checking it out.
KROTH: A lot of tattoos, a lot of ray bans, it's the hipster answer to Pacific beach in the summer time.
ST. JOHN: Just be sure you're wearing a cool swim suit, and you'll have a good time. What about the music?
KROTH: There are gonna be a couple celebrity DJs on Sunday afternoon. King con from the shrines will be there, along with members of the psyche rock band the Gree-Gree they're not going to be playing a live set though. They're just gonna be DJing. So who knows what kind of music they'll be spinning? But it should be interesting. If it's interesting like the kind of music king con plays, he's been described as a coked out James brown before, which is somewhat redundant, but we'll see.
ST. JOHN: Food wise, how do you pronounce this? The Mijo gastrotruck?
KROTH: Yes.
ST. JOHN: I saw some neat pictures of that. What's the buzz?
KROTH: They do what they call farm to street food. You've heard of farm to table restaurants, well, which is the street food version of it. The two guys that run it used to look at it is the Linkery, which was one of the first restaurants in San Diego to go 100% small organic farmers. They use grass fed beef, local strawberry, and high quality ingredients which you wouldn't expect to find on a food truck of old.
ST. JOHN: So the Lafayette hotel also hosts Friday night concerts on a regular basis?
KROTH: They do. The hotel is doing a big renovation right now. They've recently done some work on their Mississippi bawl room, and they have been inviting local bands to play every Friday night for the month of will judge. This week, there's two bands, tropical popsicle, and rocky Jones. Tropical popsicle sounds exactly what you think it would sound like.
ST. JOHN: So that's Friday night?
KROTH: That is.
ST. JOHN: And the pool party takes place this Sunday at the Lafayette hotel and swim club in Northpark. Now, Enrique, there's a musical opening this week called doctor horrible's sing along blog U.
LIMON: It's based on the tremendously popular three part series that ended up going viral and reminded us that aspiring super villains have a heart too.
ST. JOHN: Okay. So what made the web series so popular?
LIMON: Well, it was actually written during the 2008 writers' guild strike. It was born from an incessant need to create free from modern day Hollywood. It's a relatable and hilarious take on so it really managed to strike a really broad cord.
ST. JOHN: Sounds like it'll translate really well to the stage.
LIMON: I think it will actually translate seamlessly. Think of it as a modern day Othello for the web 2.0-generation. It has all the makings of a new rocky horror picture show.
ST. JOHN: Is this a great of local actors? Is the director local?
LIMON: Yeah, actually Comicon was a huge part of the web series' success. So it's fitting that Chinese pirate productions is behind the adaptation. And the best SD has to offer down to set design, which is in the hands of David wiener of La Jolla playhouse fame, and Paul Peterson who's in charge of sound design.
MAUREEN ST. JOHN: And it's called a sing along. Do people get to sing along?
LIMON: You betcha. I've been practicing the lyrics to my freeze ray for three weeks now. So my apologies to whoever's sitting around me.
ST. JOHN: Can you given us a little --
LIMON: I'm resting my instrument.
ST. JOHN: Okay. That's doctor horrible's sing along blog. You can perhaps hear Enrique singing along, Saturday, July theh at tenth avenue theatre. And it runs through July theh. Now, my ark I'm going to ask you to pronounce the name of this band if you don't mind.
KROTH: Their name is Etercia Pelados. Enrique?
LIMON: I agree.
KROTH: Pronunciation pass?
LIMON: I stand by that pronunciation.
KROTH: It means the velvety ones.
ST. JOHN: Ask they're pretty popular internationally.
KROTH: They are. They're a duo out of Bogota Columbia. And they're known as a rock band with a social conscience. They sing about women's issues, issues relating to the environment, the political situation in Columbia. But yeah, they won Latin grammies, played festivals for tens of thousands of people. And then it's just really interesting that they come to the U.S., and they play an intimate venue like fourth and B. It's a treat for us that they manage to stay under the radar.
ST. JOHN: Let's listen to them. They are from the album el Dorado.
(Audio Recording Played).
MAUREEN ST. JOHN: That's the Colombian band Etercia Pelados.
LIMON: Nice!
ST. JOHN: Did I get?
LIMON: Yeah.
ST. JOHN: Okay, good. That's Balero flats from their album, el Dorado. They're going to be praying at fourth and B. They have haven't apparently put out an album for a couple of years now. What have they been doing.
KROTH: Touring a lot, playing a lot of the wig summer festivals. They were everywhere. They were at Coachella, Bonneroo, they were at bumper shoot. And the lead singer, she also has a solo project. So last year she put out her second solo album, do. So they have been busy with some side projects.
ST. JOHN: Okay. How did they go live? Are they good energy.
KROTH: I've actually never seen them live.
LIMON: Oh, my God. Of I have. Of it's an amazing show. Their energy is just second to none. And I really would suggest to somebody out there who just wants to get a little taste of what South American rock is all about to definitely swing by and catch the show. So good.
KROTH: They tour with a full band, and I heard that they bring indigenous instruments from Columbia on tour with them. So incorporating some sounds you've probably never heard before.
LIMON: Yes.
ST. JOHN: Fun. That's Atercia Pelados playing at fourth and B downtown on Friday night, that's tomorrow night. How, Rey Conquista, new experiments by chicle and makeshift in Barrio Logan.
LIMON: This has been Spanish 101 for you, it's like boot camp, so I appreciate it. Yes, are the word Tuesday is about reappropriating the struggles and vicissitudes of the Latin American people and everything they had to go through during the conquest. This modern version of it is out to conquer the masses of it, as you will, but with culture as the main weapon.
ST. JOHN: So chicle, he's local?
LIMON: Yes. If anyone local artist should be on your raider right now, it should be chicle. I became familiar with him when he had some pieces hanging in la Corazon coffee shop. And I got in touch with him yesterday to ask what people could expect, he told me he's going out of his comfort zone producing everything from paintings to an installation, and that he hopes that's what people really take out of it as well, that it's okay to be challenged and draw outside the lines.
ST. JOHN: I saw a couple of his work -- piece of work on Facebook.
LIMON: Yes.
ST. JOHN: That was a good titillation. It sounds like he's definitely cutting edge.
LIMON: He really has his pulse on everything that's happening right now as far as Mexican American, Chicano art, street art, whatever you want to call it. Fill in the blank. He is out to be a local super star.
ST. JOHN: Okay. That's chicle. There's also gonna be music at this event right?
LIMON: Yeah, yeah. There are going to be some sweet beats by makeshift, who is one of San Diego's top hip hop MC, as well as Buddha and adamant. As well as a performance by Tom ace riley of taco shop poets' fame, who is coming done from San Francisco just for the wig show.
ST. JOHN: Tell us about the location.
LIMON: Well, are the location is bull side the project gallery with back to back schedules filled with well curated and thought out shows, it's becoming one of Barrio Logan's main cultural hubs, it's a small space, but they make up for it about out of the box thinking and a fresh take on what the local art scene should be.
ST. JOHN: Good, yeah. So that's this -- let's see. Saturday night at voz Alta project gallery in Barrio Logan, Rey Conquista, are new experiments by chicle and makeshift. Sounds great. Now, a beer festival in Tijuana this weekend.
KROTH: Nice pronunciation on Tijuana, Allison.
LIMON: Hey! When we get together, we just --
KROTH: We roll our eyes. The.
ST. JOHN: So why should we go south of the border this weekend?
KROTH: Aside from practicing rolling your Rs?
ST. JOHN: That's a good reason.
KROTH: You tell people beer and Mexico, and they think Corona and Tecate, and that's all there is. But Tijuana is not that far from San Diego. And they have a great craft beer scene brewing just like we do. Maybe not quite as developed as ours yet. But they have a ton of different breweries popping up from big commercial operations to small home brewers just brewing in their kitchens.
ST. JOHN: Is this going to be like a street festival?
KROTH: It is. I went last year, which I think was their first annual. And they roped off a black or two and set up maybe a dozen booths with all different beer vendors where you could exchange a drink ticket for a sample of beer. They also had some restaurants set up. Caesar's restaurant, the place that invented the Caesar salad, they were there making salads on the spot. So it was just a good festival atmosphere.
ST. JOHN: Are all the beers from Mexico?
KROTH: Most of them, but not all. Stone brewing is a sponsor this year. So there's the San Diego element. And they also have some random German beers. But I think the real selling point is the beers you can't try anywhere else, the Mexican, local Tijuana beers. You can't get them in the United States , and a lot of times you can't even get them in Mexico due to the way liquor laws and beer distribution works down there. That's a great opportunity.
ST. JOHN: Sounds like it. What about the music and what else is going to entertain us down there?
KROTH: The music is -- I'm so excited because this year it's just light years above last year. I don't know what witness stand they had. It was like Julio.
RIH2: Imprecias mixed with Limp Bisquit. It was a bad thing. But this year, it's amazing. Friday night, they have Javier Batiz, they call him the Mexican -- the God of Mexican rock and roll. And they say that he taught Carlos Santana how to play guitar.
ST. JOHN: Whoa.
KROTH: And then on Saturday night, a member of the nortech collective known as Iper Borreal. He's gonna be performing as well.
ST. JOHN: Okay. Now, for people who don't go down to Tijuana that much of course I know some people used to go down a lot. But a lot of people don't go -- what's the best way to get there?
KROTH: A lot of people are reluctant to bring their cars over, and I guess that's understandable. There are plenty of inexpensive lots where you can park your car in San Ysidro row and walk over. For me, that's no beating the trolley. It takes you right there, and you don't have to worry about coming back after drinking those beers you can catch it in downtown San Diego right there along the line, and it crops down this at the San Ysidro border across.
ST. JOHN: Great. Saturday and Sunday downtown. Now beers for books at blind lady ale house. This is buying beer, but benefitting books tell us about that.
LIMON: A very good cause, 20% of all sales on Sunday at blind ale ale house will be donated to room to read, which is to establish libraries and create local language children's literature. Now, this is an event you really have to twist my arm in order for me to check it out. Beer drinking on a perfect San Diego summer day? Jesus.
ST. JOHN: I thought from time to time you were going to say, you know, books? I don't know.
LIMON: Oh, no! Please, get out there and read.
ST. JOHN: All right. Beer for books is a national charity though. So is this something which is, like, part of a string of events around the country?
LIMON: Yes, it is. They do this and very successfully, I might add, ever since they started in 2009, they've funded over a hundred thousand books, and blind lady has been there ever since year one.
ST. JOHN: Okay. So blind lady is in general, are they a good place to go for beer?
LIMON: They have an amazing beer selection. So good. I see a pattern developing here. Let's go have a beer after this. Heavy drinkers. Yeah, the house of San Diego's honest pint has around 30 beers on tap, so from saint Luis Fram was, to IPA.
ST. JOHN: Can you get there too?
LIMON: Everything from -- it's so good. Everything is locally sourced and bought. So everything from stand out starters like Carlsbad mussels steamed in white wine, to a selection of gourmet pizzas.
ST. JOHN: Okay, you got me convinced. So that's beers for books, it's a fundraiser taking place this Sunday at blind lady ale house. And that's in normal heights. Okay, sounds like you've given us some really good options. Should be a fun weekend. Like to thank you both, that's Maya Kroth, and Enrique Limon who is San Diego City beat's man about town.
