San Diego is gearing up for Pride weekend, and you can kick it off on Thursday night with a fun party at House of Blues featuring a ton of tribute acts, including homages to Elton John, R.E.M., Lady Gaga and others. You can buy tickets or call your friend who knows someone, because I hear there are a lot of free tickets floating around for this one. Meanwhile, Soda Bar hosts Glass Spells -- not to be confused with Craft Spells, who are performing Friday at the Hideout -- Jimbo Trout & the Fishpeople party it up at Bar Pink, and Planes Mistaken for Stars rock the Casbah. The hot show for the cool kids, however, is probably the Chain Gang of 1974. Do yourself a favor and RSVP with the free link below, then catch the free shuttle from U-31 in North Park so you don't have to worry about parking downtown. Empires and Nicky Venus open the show. All around, it should be quite a night.
Thursday, July 17:
- The Chain Gang of 1974, Empires, Nicky Venus @ 207 Hard Rock Hotel (shuttle from U-31 departs at 9 p.m. The show is free before 10:30 p.m. with RSVP) -- watch our Spotlight profile of Nicky Venus HERE
- Glass Spells, Avid Dancer, Bulletproof Tiger, Letters From Readers, Cobra Kills DJs @ Soda Bar
- Jimbo Trout & the Fishpeople @ Bar Pink
- Pride Pre-Party, with Lady HaHa (Lady Gaga tribute), Kenny Metcalf as Elton, Murmur (R.E.M. tribute), Erasure-esque, Not Exactly Mau5, Skrillish @ House of Blues
- Planes Mistaken for Stars, All Eyes West, I Wish I @ Casbah
- Henry Kapono & Band, Kevin Miso @ Belly Up
- Happy Together 30th Anniversary Tour, featuring Flo & Eddie, Chuck Negron, Mark Farner, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Gary Lewis & the Playboys @ Humphreys Concerts By the Bay
- Pete Stein, Matt Strachota, Luke Andrew Johnson @ Sycamore Den
- No Name Gang, Memory, Axis of Death @ Tin Can
- Some Ember, Body of Light, DJ Mario Orduno @ Whistle Stop
- Samantha Aiken Band, Eliza Vera Band, Savannah Philyaw @ Lestat's
- Inspired and the Sleep @ Boar Cross'n
- The Swank Bastards, Midnight Fiend, Rip Carson @ The Bancroft
- Illuminate- Pro K vs. Casa Nouva, with Dirty Prado, Fr3nzy, Strvnge Cloudz, Nats Beats, Nat Z@ U-31
- Gio Trio @ Croce's Park West
- Asher Perez @ RIMAC Arena
- Tommy Black @ Humphrey's Backstage Live
- Darkwave Garden @ The Shakedown
- El Mato a Un Policia Morizado, Dorotheo, Glasmus, Eric Curiel @ Til- Two Club
- Justin Prime @ Fluxx
- The Fremonts @ Tio Leo's
- Contemporary Menswear @ Bang Bang
- The Spazmatics (8 p.m.), Kenny & Rob (8 p.m.) @ Tin Roof
- Hazmatt, DJ Reefah, TRC Soundsystem @ Gallagher's Irish Pub
- Live Band Karaoke @ 710 Beach Club
- IZAN pre-album release @ Spin
Rosemary Bystrak is the publicist for the Casbah and The North Park Theatre, and writes about the San Diego music scene, events and general musings about life in San Diego on San Diego: Dialed In. Follow her updates on Twitter or contact her directly.
