Friday is quite a day and night for music, so hopefully you can squeak out of work early to prepare yourself for a night of fun. Traffic to Chula Vista should be pretty thick as 91x once again hosts X-Fest at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. The bill -- stacked with indie and alt-rock newbies early in the day and '90s alt-rock strongholds by nightfall -- demonstrates why the station has sustained so long. Sticking with the tried-and-true like 311 while cultivating up-and-comers like Phantogram and Ms Mr. If, however, the lineup isn't your cup of tea, you should definitely be excited for M.I.A. at SOMA. The musician is known for her fun dance beats and strong lyrics about topics like politics, feminism and mockery of the YOLO generation. After the show, pop by the Shakedown for some of our favorite locals like Low Volts and Creature & the Woods, another project of Shelbi Bennett of the Midnight Pine.
- 91x X-Fest 2014, featuring 311, Foster the People, Panic! At the Disco, Iration, Phantogram, Capital Cities, Ms Mr, Bleachers, Kongos, Cherub, Skaters, Sir Sly @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
- M.I.A. @ SOMA
- Chet Faker, Sweater Beats @ Casbah (sold out)
- Merle Haggard @ Belly Up (sold out)
- Low Volts, Creature & the Woods, Los Apaches, Runson Willis, Jess Roberts @ The Shakedown
- Soda Bar presents: Perfect P----, Potty Mouth, DivaCup @ Che Cafe
- Mimi Zulu, Soul Ablaze @ Bar Pink
- Thousand Watt Stare, Implants, Castoff @ Soda Bar
- Danny and the Tramp, DJ LYA @ Gallagher's
- Atomic Groove (5 p.m.) @ Belly Up
- Kaus, DJ Inform, Emphasize @ Bancroft Bar
- Dave Scott & the New Slide Quartet @ Croce's Park West
- Gonzalo Bergara Quartet @ Dizzy's
- DJ Question, Charlie Rock @ El Dorado
- San Diego Reggae Fest, with Seedheads, Triloc, LIVN, Grim Graves, Sol Remedy @ Epicentre
- Sister Speak, Betamaxx @ Humphrey's Backstage Live
- Wages, Manuok @ Whistle Stop
- Kyle Flesch @ Fluxx
- Ryhthm & the Method @ Queen Bee's
- Quino, Timothy Pacheco @ Hideout
- Ron Pope, Marty Shannon @ House of Blues
- FIJI @ House of Blues
- Ben Ottewell, Buddy @ House of Blues
- Etc! Etc! @ Bassmnt
- Adult Swim, featuring Wolfgang Gartner @ Harrah's Resort Southern California
- Halo, Jon Dadon @ Bang Bang
- Billy Bonnell, Greg Santos, Mal Hall @ Tipsy Crow
- Mason James, Leather Tramp, Savanna Shai @ Lestat's
- 2014 US Air Guitar Qualifier @ The Merrow
- Dan the Blue Grass Hole @ 710 Beach Club
- Wild Nite @ Tio Leos
- Psydecar, Mafard @ Winston's
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.
