For the last several years, music fans have been taunted by news of Prince performing really cool shows at random intimate venues. While other so-called legends choose to tour and play in stadiums, Prince does things his way. This Friday, he'll start his two night stand at the Hard Rock Hotel's Legends Ballroom. The 1000-capacity room (Belly Up is about 600 capacity and House of Blues is about 1200 capacity for reference) will no doubt be fitted with state of the art stagings and sound to meet Prince's specifications. There's no telling if or when the opportunity to see Prince will come again, so you probably shouldn't miss your chance. However, if the $250 price per ticket is too steep, the indie rock scene is still alive with Black Mountain at the Casbah, math rockers Maps and Atlases at Soda Bar and super quirky songwriter Adam Green is joined by Binki Shapiro at the Griffin.
Friday, May 3:
- Prince (7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.) @ Hard Rock Hotel Legends Ballroom
- Black Mountain, Sleepy Sun @ Casbah
- Casbah and Soda Bar present Maps and Atlases, Young Man @ Soda Bar
- Adam Green & Binki Shapiro, La Sera, Buddy Banter, DJ Andrew Mills @ The Griffin
- Civil War Rust, Bankers Hill, Tod Allen, All Things in the End Pay Off @ The Void
- Kaskade @ Voyeur
- Natural Heights, Brothers Gow, Arden Park Roots @ 710 Beach Club
- First Friday with DJ Artistic and NosuckerDJs @ Bar Pink
- Atomic Groove (5:30 p.m.), Pine Mountain Logs with Charlie Vaughn & the Daily Routine (9:00 p.m.) @ Belly Up
- Cherie Currie (voice of the Runaways), Roni Lee, Get Rockin, Core @ Brick By Brick
- Paul Richards, Bert Lams & Hideyo Moriya with Tom Griesgraber @ Dizzy's (SD Jet Ski Rental)
- Nectar with DJ Brett Bodley @ Fluxx
- Vamonos, DJ Sammi B @ Gallagher's
- Viva Santana @ Humphreys Backstage
- The Gregory Page Show @ Lestat's
- Knobs Live, Ciren, Netika, Josh the Bear @ Ruby Room
- The Gravities, Pulse Liberation, Selis, the Winders, Spider & the Ant @ Soma
- Hip Hop vs Punk 2-Year Anniversary: The Lumps vs. First Power Crew, BDP&T vs. the Mice plus DJs Unite, Mr Henshaw, Sesh and Pelengue @ The Tower Bar
- Leanna May & the Matadors, Hello Penelope, Ed Ghost Tucker @ Tin Can
- Leon's Old School Karaoke Show @ Tio Leo's
- DJ Don Rivers @ U31
- PartyQuake @ The V Lounge
- Polyester Express @ Dreamcatcher
- Steven Garza and Tommy Lucero (6:00 p.m.), Jet West, The Stircrazies and True Press (9:30 p.m.) @ Winstons
- Mantras, Beats and Bass @ World Beat Cultural Center
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.
