HOLY F .......Tuesday in December

Man, I gotta say we got some cool shit that Im excited for. When you run/own restaurants (ask anybody), you dont tend to like to go to your own place, because you can't have fun there. You can't "let down your hair" or guard, you get annoyed by little things like trash on the floor, you have to talk to people that are pissed off for some reason or another, you can't flirt with the bartender (keyword: sexual harrassment), and the sound is never just right. a little too loud, a little too soft, etc.etc. BUT I have to say, there are a few shows coming up that override my nuerotic idiosyncracies that Im going to FOR SURE. Top five upcoming shows and why:

1. Unwritten Law Christmas Unplugged. I f'ing love unplugged shows. Great songwriting, and the genius bleeds through the distortion. This is going to be sick. 12/13

2. Ellis Hall in December on Tuesdays. The only thing I can attribute this to is good karma since someone stole my surfboard in manhattan off the beach. I knew I had something good coming. Tuesdays in December. He is a modern day Ray Charles.

3. Justin Nozuka. Cant get that friggin "golden train" song out of my head. 11.25.

4. Chris Pierce + Amber Rubarth. CP has more soul than my favorite Vans. Amazing.

5. Justin Hopkins w. Katie Costello. LOCAL. can you say SUPPORT LOCAL MUSIC?????

Hope to see you all there. Introduce yourself - would love to meet anybody that reads this gibberish :)

Allen

FIRST LIVE STREAM SHOW

This weekend, Jay Nash, will be our first artist to be a part of our live streaming show. Log on to www.saintrocke.com this Friday night at 7pm to check it out. Worldwide from the South Bay.

An Amazing Visit (Ellis Hall)

Last week I went down to have some wine at Soundbox on Wednesday, and our friend Bryon Holly was tasting (by the way, he works at CostPlus on Hawthorne - go buy some wine from him), and invited his friend ELLIS HALL down to play some piano and sing. Ellis is a blind, black man, and he is supremely talented as I found out throughout the night. He walked (yes, he's blind) around the stage, playing every instrument on the stage - bass-guitar-drums-piano-vocals- and killing it at every turn. He covered some Paul Simon, Otis Redding, played some of his own stuff, and just absolutely blew me away, so much so, that I had to write how much I respected his musical talent, and how much I enjoyed his music. These days, I listen to almost TOO MUCH music, and the one thing that's always missing for me is what I call MOVEMENT: the ability to take me somewhere else. Ellis, thank you for giving me movement last week, and hopefully, if I get my way, you'll be playing at Saint Rocke regularly and blessing the south bay with your music. check him out...and keep your ear out for when he's playing next.

If you were me....

What would you do?????? I honestly don't know, so help me out.

You book a show, 5 months out, agent telling you its gonna kill, and you pay a pretty penny for it. You then forget about the show, how much you've shelled out, and go about your merry way. Sure enough, 30 days out, you realize that this show has sold 3 tickets. Then 4 days out, 20 tickets. You are headed for a trainwreck (in the financial sense), so you.......

1. cancel the show for 50% loss

2. ask the agent if you can pay the band less (split the trainwreck)

3. take it in the pants. your fault for putting out that over.

4. Close your eyes, and wish it would all just go away.

Welcome to my world. What would you do?

TOOTIN YOUR OWN MOTHERF'IN HORN...

So when is okay to toot your own horn, or pat yourself on the back. You dont want to be cocky, thats to be sure - cocky bastards are the worst (and yes, girls, you can be cocky bastards too). I'd say its a 50/50 split. But sometimes, you do some cool stuff, and you just feel like you need to relish a little bit. Well, our team at Saint Rocke over accomplished something that no other venue EVER EVER has done. We have developed the technology & system to LIVE STREAM our shows nightly in a 4 camera high-def stream, with super audio & video clarity. Dont believe us? check it. www.justin.tv/saintrocke Now it's in the tweak portion, and we haven't even started advertising it, but seriously, pretty f'ing rad. So, to the team that made this happen, nice job (i keep wanting to use the F word).

SAVE THE DATE - 12/19/09

We are doing our first show outside the 4 walls of Saint Rocke at the Hermosa Playhouse on Saturday December 19, 2009, where Saint Rocke presents: Lou Giovannetti and his big band, playing all the great holiday & classic big band hits in a 500 seat room. With special guests, and holiday cheer, going to be amazing. Great christmas present to take your folks or grandparents to as well. Old skool classy music, with cocktails at 630pm and show at 8pm. go to http://www.saintrocke.com/ to buy tickets.

LIVE STREAMING

So we're super excited here at Saint Rocke - big week for us. Our beta platform for live streaming is being tested this week. Dont want to spoil the big surprise, but for music lovers its going to be pretty kickass. If you happen to be on the internet this sunday night, shoot over to http://www.saintrocke.com/ for a minute and check out some venue history. We like to be humble, but there may be a new trend in live music a stirrin...

ITS BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE IM KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR, BUT I STILL CAN KNOCK SOME MORE. what an amazing lyric. random.

I finally figured out Monday Night Football

I finally figured this perplexing puzzle out. Monday night football. Its on about the football, or the game...its about the fact that its Monday, and monday kinda sucks (usually bad news at work is doled out on Monday), and so people want to hang out Monday night, but they feel bad, and this game gives them a defendable reason. By the way, I know football lovers just like the game so I'm not talking about them. Im talking about the groups of 30somethings (men and women) at Saint Rocke for the game last week, but nobody really caring/paying attention to the game. I loved it. Background white noise. And secondly, all the bars & restaurants are caught up competing for that Monday business that they offer ridiculous specials (exactly like $1 beers & sliders) to showcase their place. But the football? Nope. secondary. I'd even bet that most of the people out on Monday watching the football (Sharks cove exception) dont really even watch much football. Agree?

November 3 Special Show

Cant tell you what I booked yet - until Monday. But going to be one of the coolest shows we've had since we opened. Check back for sure. This will sell out in 1 day. Gonna be amazing!!....................................SO ITS MONDAY. MATT COSTA is playing NOVEMBER 3. If you dont know this artist, you need get out from under your turtle shell. He usually sells out House of Blues, and the SOUTH BAY is on the run this time! Get tickets at the calendar page of http://www.saintrocke.com/

BUZZWORD in songwriting: Soul Mate

So, I listen to a fair amount of singer songwriter music, and they all do it. In one way or another, using an analogy here, a metaphor or simile hear, comparing it to the faded pair of jeans they had in the fifth grade, all these writers use the good ole subject of LOVE in, I'd say, 70% of their tunes. Some are angry, some are happy, some are longing, some are trying to just figure it out like the rest of us. But this one word I keep coming across, SOULMATE, is a pretty hefty philosophical endeavor...What does that mean? First it infers we have souls (what exactly are those? more than the nuerons firing in our brain? some kind of invisible cloud in our body?) and second it infers a predetermined connection to another human being. Makes my head hurt...but somehow after listening to some of these tunes, I start to believe. Maybe its just more romantic to believe it, or makes life seem a little better, dont know. Is this insane? Are there soulmates?

Mike Tysons Punch Out

Just wanted to let any old schoolers know that I got a screaming deal on an old Nintendo, and I bought Mike Tysons, Kung Fu, and Super Tecmo. When I set it up at Saint Rocke, you can play anytime, and I buy the entire tab if anybody can put the beat down on Iron Mike. Im calling impossible.

Dealbreaker Number 42,358

For those of you that don't know what a Dealbreaker is, it's a term I use often in my dilapidated dating world that is defined as "an action, characteristic, stylism, or vibe that an individual exudes or displays that makes it completely impossible to further any type of dating, sexual, or romantic relationship." See below for other people's dealbreakers...but I just found another one...I was listening to some music the other night at the Rocke, and a certain person just kept asking me question after question while someone was playing. It's like interrupting during a movie. Unacceptable. Hate it. Dealbreaker. agree?

the infamous FREE show

Sometimes when I go see live music, and I walk up and its free, it does the opposite. It's like when people who dont know wine go to the Vons market and look on the top shelf, and pick the second most expensive pinot noir (only because they saw Sideways, which by the way, fuck that movie bc it busts on merlot, which is my favorite red wine) and buy because it has to be good if it costs more money. Well, hate to say it, but sometimes I fall into that with live music. The other day a friend and I were talking though, and he told me that Robert Cray played the Shed in Louisiana and the show was free, because he was intent on keeping the old feel of a southern blues show. I dont know about you, but that warms me up inside, that someone in this grey day and age still has the soul to do things like that. But in the end, and Im not just saying this, I feel guilty when I go to a show for free. We all make a living doing our shit, and then artists play their hearts out and we dont want to pay for it? hmm. dunno. thoughts?....by the way, shows this weekend are free for those of you that disagree. come check out the friggin rocke.

PANAMA

I just got back from Panama, and I got the opportunity to surf a break that hasn't been surfed before off a remote island in Panama through a dense jungle river and out into the open ocean. I attached a pic of the wave - what an experience. There are still spots left!

Live Venue VS Sports Bar

I use this blog to show you into what it's like owning a venue, the good and the bad. In our endeavor to spread live music in the South Bay, and in life's endeavors, we inevitably hit tired spots in the road, and today is one of them. Working with artists, agents, managers, road managers, etc. can be convincingly defeating at times, and I've even talked with other venue owners that feel the same in certain ways. Sometimes I wonder - would the South Bay rather a sports bar be at 142 pch than a live venue? For the labour of love, is music strong enough in the south bay that it's worth doing? Then, the paradox arrives. We have Guitar Shorty in last night, and it isn't sold out or even super packed, but he plays his heart out and everyone in their feels it. And my question is answered. Nothing, no other hobby or game, imbibes the soul and the energy that music does.