I've been doing this music thing for many years now, so my inbox is inundated daily by publicists trying to get attention for their artists. Everyone, it seems, is the next big thing, and it can be really exhausting sifting through dozens, sometimes 300 a day. It still stands out to me, however, when a band reaches out to me directly to write about themselves, which in itself is really hard to do, but even more so to stand out from others. Split Screens is a band from San Francisco, and lead singer Jessa Cafiero caught my attention by sharing a band video, which he hand-edited as a stop-motion collage of photos collected from retro magazines. When you think of one person creating this, it's hard to not be impressed. The music is great, and with a show at the tiny Sycamore Den, this should really be a great night of music. Of course, there are great things all over town, including Slim Cessna's Auto Club at the Casbah and Authority Zero at Soda Bar. Or maybe you just want a night of beer and authentic German oom-pah-pah music -- if so, enjoy the German American Society's annual Oktoberfest, which runs the next two weekends in El Cajon.
Friday, Sept. 26:
- Split Screens, Splavender, Art Monk @ Sycamore Den
- Slim Cessna's Auto Club, River City, Grampadrew & the Gut Strings @ Casbah
- German American Societies of San Diego Oktoberfest @ El Cajon @ 1017 S. Mollison Ave.)
- Telemagica ETERNAL Electric Magic 6.0 2014 @ Jacumba
- Authority Zero, Assuming We Survive, Guys on the Hill @ Soda Bar
- Bonkers! Dance Party @ Bar Pink
- Easy Star All-Stars, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Tatanka @ Belly Up
- The Funk Junkies Happy Hour @ Belly Up (happy hour)
- Old Order (Joy Division cover band), Ash Williams, the Brontosaurus, R(A)ndy N(E)wma(N) @ Che Cafe
- Unwritten Law, John’s Last Ghost, Desolace, Feel Good, Offshore Impact @ Epicentre
- Soul Organization@ Seven Grand
- Sensory Station, Other Mountains, Cochino, Bad & the Ugly @ Brick By Brick
- Gordon Lightfoot @ Humphrey's Concerts By the Bay
- DDD, Subtropics @ The Hideout
- Squirrelly Arts, Shadows Entwined, Imbalanced @ Tin Can
- Unwritten Law @ Porter's Pub
- Terry Matsuoka, Cynthia Lin & the Blue Moon Allstars, Ukelenny @ Lestat's
- The Kooks, Halsey, Priory @ House of Blues
- Throne, Mesita @ The Bancroft
- T Williams, the Bones @ Bang Bang
- John Reynolds Quartet @ Croce's Park West
- Beta Maxx @ Humphrey's Backstage Live
- GrooveSession, Trevor Green @ Winston's
- The Gears, the Executives, the Homeless Sexuals @ Til-Two Club
- Brett Bodley @ Fluxx
- Protohype @ Bassmnt
- Fred Benedetti @ 98 Bottles
- Official Music Lounge of the San Diego Film Festival @ Tin Roof (4 p.m.)
- Dane Drewis @ Tin Roof (6:30 p.m.)
- Stepping Feet @ Tin Roof (9:30 p.m.)
- Chancha Via Circuito, Cumbia Machin, Eddie Turbo @ Kava Lounge
- Hani Naser Band @ WorldBeat Center
- Lady Dottie & the Diamonds, DJ Arox @ Gallagher's Irish Pub
- Club Musae @ Boar Cross'n
- Endless Summer Friday @ 710 Beach Club (happy hour)
- The Great Pumpkin, the Big Lewinsky, That's Right @ 710 Beach Club
- Off the Cuff @ V Lounge, Viejas Casino
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.
