There are lots of fun events to go to as the month of May comes to an end.
FRIDAY –
The PADRES will be taking on the Pirates, who have one of the worst records in baseball. So let’s hope the Pads can gain some ground on the Dodgers.
And on the subject of Padres, former player turned singer/songwriter – TIM FLANNERY will be with San Diego music legend Jeff Berkley at the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library in LA JOLLA.
JEFFERSON STARSHIP will be landing at PALA CASINO. They may only have one original member left, but they have a female singer taking over for Grace Slick who played Janis Joplin in “Love, Janis” and has some incredible pipes (not the hookah kind, but the voice!).
If you prefer cheesy and schlocky ‘70s tunes, check out A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL at the Civic Theatre DOWNTOWN all weekend. Neil Diamond himself was a part of creating this show. Wear those leisure suits or blue jeans.
SATURDAY –
The 44th Annual FIESTA DEL SOL, a free music and arts festival, is back in SOLANA BEACH. Of all the bands playing on the first day, I’m intrigued by the B-52s cover band, Atomic Groove, and a band I’ve seen many times – Missing Persons. Dale Bozzio still sounds great as a singer. The festivities start at 7:30 a.m.
In sports, the PADRES play their second game against the Pirates at Petco Park.
At Snapdragon Stadium, the SAN DIEGO FC battle Austin FC.
For those that love the big classic rock bands, but they either aren’t touring or you can’t afford the tickets, there are lots of tribute bands to choose from:
JUMPING JACK FLASH doing the Stones at the Omni LA COSTA Resort.
BILLY NATION doing a Billy Joel tribute at the POWAY Center for Performing Arts. I’ve seen them a few times and they’re great. And a band I’ve seen about 25 times over the years –
WILD CHILD is a Doors tribute at the Belly Up Tavern in SOLANA BEACH.
I was sad to hear of the passing of guitarist/singer Rick Derringer. Another guitarist he reminded me of, who never made it quite as big is PAT TRAVERS. One of his songs (Snortin’ Whiskey) was used nicely in the movie “Sideways.” And he has a banger with “Boom Boom (out go the lights). He’ll be at the RAMONA Mainstage Nightclub.
SUNDAY –
FIESTA DEL SOL is still going strong in SOLANA BEACH, starting at noon. You’ll see bands that are doing a Willie Nelson tribute, a Tom Petty tribute (the PettyBreakers are great, despite the goofy wig the singer wears), White Buffalo, and The Aggrolites. Their reggae stylings will be perfect for the beach.
And you can wrap up your weekend, watching the PADRES wrap up their series against the Pirates at Petco Park.
If you want to stay home and watch stuff on the tube (side note: I need to see if you can still call it the tube, since TVs no longer have cathode ray tubes) –
HACKS (with the very talented Jean Smart) airs the season four finale on HBO.
AND JUST LIKE THAT, with the “Sex and the City” crew, is back with season 3 on HBO.
The season finale of FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS is on Apple TV+.
And BONO: STORIES OF SURRENDER is on Apple TV. It’s a documentary, but you’ll obviously hear a lot of U2 tunes.
At the movies –
KARATE KID: LEGENDS - I was in 9th grade when the original “Karate Kid” came out. I liked seeing Ralph Macchio in it, as I had seen him a few years earlier in a season of the TV show “Eight is Enough.” I didn’t care for him or the overrated movie “The Outsiders” but hey – Karate Kid had Arnold from “Happy Days” (Pat Morita). It was cliche filled. And I never bought that Daniel would’ve ever beat the blonde bully, but it was Rocky for us kids, and we liked it. I didn’t see the sequel, or the versions with Will Smith’s kid. I’ve never watched the show “Cobra Kai” either. I thought I would hate this movie, but it had a lot of things going for it. One of those things would be the cast: Ming-Na Wen as the mom. Jackie Chan as the uncle. Ralph Macchio as the mentor. And Ben Wang is very likable as the new kid moving from Beijing to New York. He has to navigate a new country and the cliche bully (who is way over the top as a bully). His love interest (Sadie Stanley) was good, but the movie just felt like it was recycling everything we’ve seen before. It also has this goofy subplot about the kid teaching her dad how to properly fight so he can pay back loan sharks (and fight them off when they attack). All these scenarios might have worked in 1978, but they just seem silly now. I laughed a few times, and the chemistry between the characters worked. The movie as a whole just didn’t work, and all the songs they put in, were just annoying. Yet the audience at the screening had a blast with it, and it got big applause when the credits rolled (with a funny cameo in the closing credits). 2 stars out of 5.