Believe the Propaganda

By Rosemary Bystrak

| Saturday, Mar 31, 2012 | Updated 5:38 PM PDT

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Christina McCord, courtesy Dead Oceans

The Donkeys perform a hometown show to release their new record, Born With Stripes.

Downtown has never been much of a staple when it comes to music. There are a few large theatres that have occasional shows, and in the past year or so, the Hard Rock Hotel has stepped up to provide monthly music nights, but outside of these and the occasional pop-up show, live, original music hasn't been part of the DNA of downtown. The Propagandist is a new bar on Fifth Avenue that hopes to bring a new character to downtown. The space has been open since last year, but they finally have things in proper order to celebrate with an official grand opening this Saturday night. The venue installed sound equipment identical to the Casbah to make sure it was done right, and the 280-capaciity basement room is casual, comfortable and feels completely different than anything in the bustling area. Though the Donkeys are from San Diego, they don't play in town very often, so this is a great chance to check out a new bar while enjoying one of San Diego's coolest bands.

Saturday, March 31:

Grand Opening Party featuring the Donkeys @ The Propagandist (835 Fifth Ave.)
Casbah presents Henry Rollins (spoken word) @ San Diego Womans Club
The Nervous Wreckords, Gram Rabbit, Maren Parusel, Low Volts @ Casbah
Super Diamond, INXSive @ Belly Up (sold out)
The Burning of Rome, Black Hondo, Archery for the Blind @ Soda Bar
Midnight Rivals, Shake Before Us @ Bar Pink
Silian Rail, Housewives, Nicely, Roswell That Ends Well @ Tin Can
Deadbolt, the Mission Creeps, Fink Bombs, Zombie Surf Camp @ Til Two Club
Santos, River City, Harpco, DJ AJ @ Eleven (3 p.m.)
Valentino Frankenstein, Coda Reactor, Residual Dreams, Samion & the Spades @ Eleven
The Black Rose Phantoms, the Saints and Sinners & the Frighteners @ The Shakedown
Dance Party @ Whistle Stop
Club Sabbat 14 year Anniversary @ The Flame
The Sickstring Outlaws @ Claire de Lune
Dave Humphries & Friends @ Rebecca’s Coffee (4 p.m.)
Heartsounds, Tony Sly, Versus the World, London’s Falling, the Getdown @ Ruby Room
Race Against Space, Someday Assassin @ Ken Club
Pool Party, featuring Joint Custody, DJ Who & DJ Daddy Krabs @ The Griffin
The Bloodflowers, Gone Baby Gone, Sleazy Listening DJs @ Tower Bar
Party Rock Saturdays, with Rekon, Office Twins, DJ Carlo @ U-31
Stranger, Tribe of Kings @ House of Blues (5th Avenue Sidestage)
Amplified Access presents Animal House @ House of Blues
LA Showcase @ Lestat's
The Gaffer, DJ Tomas Lendell, Dying to Wake, the Big Small, Hectors Revenge, "d," the Universal @ Brick By Brick
Red Headed Stranger (Willie Nelson tribute)@ Winston's (5 p.m.)
Cubensis @ Winston's (9 p.m.)
Benedictum, Back 2 Black (AC/DC tribute), Arrogant Bastards @ 710 Beach Club
The Contortionist, Burdens Arise, the Suicide Chords, Thirty 30, Blow Me Down, S.I.G.M.A Project @ Soma
Kiss the Concrete presents Metal, Mustache, featuring Destruction of a King, Killing the Messenger, Cold Blooded Theory, Arbors, A Void Within, Alyssa Is Red, Terra Firma, Echoes, The I in Self @ Epicentre
Bobby Sanchez Combo @ Tio Leo’s Napa
Piano Man John Foltz @ Marble Room
Yale Strom, Elizabeth Schwartz @ Templar’s Hall Old Poway Park
The Monsters @ Humphreys Backstage Lounge (5-7p.m.)
Rising Star @ Humphreys Backstage Lounge (9 p.m.)
Kingsland @ Flying Elephant
Candyrat Guitar Night, with Ewan Dobson, Gareth Pearson, Craig D'Andrea and Matthew Santos @ Anthology (7:30 p.m.)
Jade Element @ Anthology (9:30 p.m.)
Forever Plaid @ Birch North Park Theatre
The Fab Lushes, DJ Chelu @ Gallagher's
OC vs SD @ El Dorado
Brodinski @ Voyeur
West Coast Entertainment presents Glasses Malone @ Spin
Showstopper, with Sid Vicious and Rico DeLargo @ Fluxx

Rosemary Bystrak 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.