FRIDAY night, it was late, and I was…wondering what shows were happening around town.
There’s a JAMES TAYLOR tribute show at the JAZZ LOUNGE on El Cajon Boulevard.
SANTANA SOUL will play at Fast Times in Clairemont.
The great ska band SAVE FERRIS, who have been around for over 30 years (and I thought were better than the other Orange County ska band that got bigger - No Doubt)...will be at the Belly Up Tavern In SOLANA BEACH.
For those whot like those Grateful Dead and Phish style jam bands, the STRING CHEESE INCIDENT will be at the Sound in DEL MAR, Friday and Saturday night.
This week “brought on the rain” and it’s bringing country star JO DEE MESSINA to PALA CASINO.
Journalist and rockabilly star DEKE DICKERSON and the Whippersnappers will be at LAFAYETTE HOTEL on El Cajon Blvd.
For those who want to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day early, Friday and Saturday night it’s IRISH 4 A DAY on 5th Avenue DOWNTOWN. There are lots of parties going on at over 25 venues, between Broadway and Harbor. Of course, it is 21 and up.
In sports, the GULLS face off against their bird rivals, the Colorado Eagles, at PECHANGA ARENA.
The SAN DIEGO CLIPPERS have a home game at Frontwave Arena in OCEANSIDE. It’s “Community Night” so the team will be honoring various people and organizations that make San Diego unique.
SATURDAY MORNING, lots of car shows. CARS & COFFEE will be going on in POINT LOMA, CARLSBAD, RANCHO SANTA FE, and BONITA.
While the old dudes are at the car shows, their wives can enjoy FARMERS’ MARKETS in PACIFIC BEACH, VISTA, CITY HEIGHTS, CARDIFF, DEL MAR, and TEMECULA.
The ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE & FESTIVAL will happen between 5th and Laurel. There will be lots of activities going on, rain or shine.
ShamROCK 2025 runs from 2 to 10 p.m. DOWNTOWN, with Irish and Celtic rock bands with Irish dancers.
A tribute band that has been going strong for 20 years - LED ZEPAGAIN - will again be in town, at the Music Box DOWNTOWN.
Or you can go a separate way to see a JOURNEY TRIBUTE at PALA CASINO.
An ELTON JOHN TRIBUTE is at Colabo Performing Arts on El Cajon Blvd.
BABYFACE, who is now 65 and doesn’t quite have that baby face anymore, has produced and sung over 25 #1 hits, and he’ll be doing many of those at his show at Harrah’s Resort in VALLEY CENTER.
For sports, we got our soccer team - SAN DIEGO FC vs Columbus Crew at SNAPDRAGON STADIUM.
The GULLS are running down the road, well, skating down the ice, to again play the Eagles.
SUNDAY - The St. Patrick’s Day music continues, with the YOUNG DUBLINERS at the Belly Up Tavern in SOLANA BEACH.
San Diego’s best Fleetwood Mac tribute band - FLEETWOOD MAX - will be at the Music Box DOWNTOWN.
Encinitas was home for Ravi Shankar, the best sitar player ever…and his daughter ANOUSHKA SHANKAR will be bringing her sitar and new band to the Epstein Family Amphitheater in LA JOLLA.
AT THE MOVIES…
BLACK BAG. One of my favorite, and one of my least favorite, movie moments involve director Steven Soderbergh. The best was when he came out with a brandy, and was going to be in a bar in North Park to promote it. I saw a small ad in the paper saying he’d be there, and nobody showed up! I got to talk about movies with him, and it was a blast. His body of work is great (“Out of Sight” is my favorite George Clooney film). The worst moment was watching “Black Bag” earlier in the week. That’s because I had gotten a kidney stone in the morning, and was sitting there in immense pain. Yet the film is so good, I’m glad I went. Some might be disappointed, because it’s an espionage thriller with no shoot-outs or car chases; it’s about the clever dialogue and intriguing characters. I was a bit worried because the trailers made it look like this would be a “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” scenario, with the married couple going after each other (they’re played with good chemistry by Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender). About the only thing I didn’t like was the score. Sometimes Soderbergh drops the ball in that department (the score he gave us for “The Informant” with Matt Damon, made the movie almost unwatchable). This will probably make my list of best movies of 2025, but again - don’t expect a bunch of explosions and craziness. It’s a movie made for adults who can watch a good character study, and it’s a tight 90 minute film, so you won’t get bored like you did in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” 4 stars out of 5.
NOVOCAINE. I was looking forward to this, because they were showing it to the critics in 4Dx. I had only seen one other film in 4D, at Disneyland (Honey, I Blew Up the Kids). Snakes were coming out of the screen and scaring us, a dog sneezed and we felt water hit our face and mice running around our feet. It was an amazing experience. This also gave us a spritz in the face, when a guy was shot in the head (and it was supposed to feel like blood). When guns were fired, we’d get a blast of air into our ears; but the movie wasn’t in 3D and the chairs shook so much, the novelty quickly wore off. It was annoying to see this is yet another Nepo-baby movie wth Dennis Quaid’s kid and his dopey face (which surprisingly worked in the brilliant movie “Companion” last month) and Jack Nicholson’s kid Ray (who was too over-the-top as the villain). The movie starts cute enough with a shy assistant bank manager getting a date with his dream girl. Then the credit union is robbed and it becomes a mess (in the movie, and watching the movie). The fact that Quaid’s character feels no pain, is kind of fun at first. When bad guys try to torture him and he’s pretending to be in pain - it’s funny. Also lots of San Diego references and jokes (one about the Chargers and Clippers leaving the city). I did love seeing Betty Gabriel as one of the cops (she was the maid in “Get Out”), and her partner Matt Walsh (who always cracks me up on screen - “Ted” and “Brigsby Bear” being my favorites). There were many things in this that I’ve seen done in better movies (“Memento” and “Quick Change” to name a few). And it just didn’t work for my wife or I. Yet, it’s surprisingly getting good early reviews, so what do I know? And, since 87% of all movies have a vomit scene, this has one. 1 ½ stars out of 5, and that’s just because some of the humor worked, or it would be a 0.
On HULU, a few days ago they released the documentary "LAST TAKE: RUST AND THE STORY OF HALAYNA”. It tells the story of how Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer on the set of a western he was making in New Mexico. A lot of people from the film talk about the experience on set (including actress Frances Fisher, from the great western “Unforgiven”).
Also on a bunch of various streaming services that was just released last week, you can see a terrific zombie/comedie, made by locals living in Escondido. It’s called DON’T GET EATEN. My wife and I had a blast watching this one, and it gets 4 out of 5 stars.