'United' they stand

This year's san diego lgbt pride celebration reaches out to 'our brothers and sisters' worldwide

By Chris Nixon
Union-Tribune
July 19, 2007

After 33 years of celebrating diversity and rights for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community in San Diego, the local Pride festival is adopting a new attitude: think globally, act locally.

By embracing this year's theme of “United for Equality,” the 33rd annual San Diego LGBT Pride Celebration hopes to lend support to LGBT communities locally and half a world away.

“Here, we can have the largest civic event in San Diego,” said Ron deHarte, executive director of San Diego Pride. “And our brothers and sisters in Eastern Bloc countries can't even go out in a group of 10 or 20 without being stoned and beaten up. So, there's a huge struggle in many places in the world still. So 'United for Equality' is a worldwide Pride theme this year.”

The celebration revolves around two popular events: a free mile-long parade along Sixth Avenue and a two-day music festival at Marston Point in Balboa Park.

Details
The 33rd San Diego LGBT Pride Celebration
When: Parade, 11 a.m. Saturday; festival, noon Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday
Where: Parade in Hillcrest along University and down Sixth Avenue; festival in Balboa Park at Sixth Avenue and Laurel Street
Tickets: Parade, free; festival, $15
Phone: (619) 239-0512
Online: www.sandiegopride.com

The festival features headliners Erasure along with nearly 100 live performances, expanded beverage gardens, a food court and many informative booths to help people get involved with LGBT rights. According to deHarte, San Diego Pride made an effort this year to include more local bands. And the lineup reflects the effort: Cover Me Badd's Blasphemous Guitars, The Shambles, Manganista, Buckfast Superbee and Spell Toronto all will perform at the fest Saturday and Sunday.

“We're really trying to create a platform for independent artists here in town,” said deHarte. “We haven't really provided that in the past. For some people there's been this image that they couldn't play Pride because they weren't gay. So, we've really started to get the word out there and break down some of those barriers. We want to give the independent bands an opportunity to have a great audience like the Pride festival.”

DeHarte wants attendees to have a good time, but also walk away with a greater understanding of others in the bigger San Diego community: “It's more than just going to a festival and enjoying different music and food. It's sending a message of visibility. It's putting a face on a community that a lot of people may not be able to identify with. That's where some of the stereotypes start breaking down.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

STRUT IT ON SATURDAY
From drag queens to muscle-bound shirtless men, the Pride Parade allows the LGBT community a chance to strut its stuff. With more than 200 floats and organizations marching, the parade is a fun-loving spectacle to behold.

The parade draws 150,000 people each year to the streets between Bankers Hill and Hillcrest near Balboa Park, making it the largest annual civic celebration in San Diego. It gets packed along the route, so come early and wear comfy shoes.

This year's Grand Marshal is Bruce Michael Abrams, a well-known San Diego attorney and a commissioner of the mayor's San Diego Human Relations Commission.

“Bruce has a tremendous history of giving back to the community,” said San Diego Pride executive director Ron deHarte. “Whether it's with legal help or fundraising in his home, he's helped dozens and dozens of organizations, literally.”

Starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, the Pride Parade is free. With a course starting at University Avenue and Normal Street, the parade travels west to Sixth Avenue, then south to Balboa Drive.

– CHRIS NIXON

A 'positive message' and some good music
July 19, 2007

A few weeks ago, the True Colors show – a tour organized by Cyndi Lauper to benefit LGBT rights – swung through town at SDSU's Open Air Theatre. In introducing the synth-pop duo Erasure, show host Margaret Cho simply said: “Erasure has provided the soundtrack to our lives.” And the crowd was ecstatic.

Since 1985, vocalist Andy Bell and musician Vince Clarke have provided the soundtrack to the gay community with their dance-floor friendly pop. Clarke – also involved in the early incarnations of Depeche Mode and the British duo Yaz – brings his style of synth composition, while Bell served as a role model to many people by simply being himself.

Singles like “Ship of Fools,” “Chains of Love” and “A Little Respect” propelled Erasure into the spotlight in 1987. This year found the duo releasing a studio recording titled “Light at the End of the World,” with the singles “I Could Fall in Love with You” and “Sunday Girl.”

This year's Pride festival expects to draw 40,000 people over two days in Balboa Park. On Sunday, many festival-goers will be in Balboa Park to check out Erasure.

“From an entertainment standpoint, they're a fun band,” said Pride executive director Ron deHarte. “But also when you look at the members in the band and the place they've held in the LGBT community and in this civil rights movement over the past 20-plus years, they really have been a part of the growing movement of bringing about equality, justice, tolerance and diversity, not just in London, but worldwide. They're carrying a positive message.”

Erasure will perform at the San Diego Pride Festival at Marston Point in Balboa Park from 6:10 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. One-day tickets to the festival are $15, a two-day pass is $21.

– CHRIS NIXON

Getting Polyphonic

Soul aim: Spree shares a joyous energy

By Chris Nixon
Union-Tribune
July 19, 2007

Joyous, rapturous, loud, boisterous. Add an indie rock mentality (sans snobbishness) to the zeal of a gospel choir and the musicality of a symphony orchestra, and you might come close to the experience of seeing the traveling caravan called The Polyphonic Spree live.

Julie Doyle, a vocalist in the band's 10-piece choir and wife of Spree founder Tim DeLaughter, explained a Polyphonic concert: “A Polyphonic Spree show is full of surprise. It's visually stimulating. Sonically, it's a huge power surge. For people who stay for the whole show, you'll see a whole theatrical experience and an entire story play itself out. It's cool, because by the end it's very interactive and the crowd is a big part of the show.”

As many stories do, the tale of The Polyphonic Spree began as another story ended. Back in the 1990s, DeLaughter – along with fellow Sprees bassist Mark Pirro and drummer Bryan Wakeland – performed in the Dallas-based neo-psychedelic band Tripping Daisy. The quintet ended it's eight-year career after guitarist Wes Berggren was found dead from a heart attack in 1999.

The death of his bandmate shook DeLaughter, who took time away from the music industry to quietly run a record store and label (both called Good Records). Instead of finding religion (like many who go through a traumatic experience), the 41-year-old singer-songwriter founded The Polyphonic Spree. With a lineup numbering in the 20s (usually 24 members), the Spree dons robes and brings the brimstone and fire in a nondenominational, unchurchy kind of way.

Details
The Polyphonic Spree
When: Tomorrow, 8 p.m.
Where: 'Canes, 3105 Ocean Front Walk, Mission Beach
Tickets: $18-$20
Phone: (858) 488-1780
Online: www.canesbarandgrill.com

“It's not about gospel or any particular religion, but it is soulful,” said Doyle during a concert stop in Detroit. “And the energy creates a feeling like (gospel music). But the robes had nothing to do with being a gospel choir or anything to do with a specific religion. The robes originally were there to distract from 20-something people standing on stage in street clothing and to also unify the group. We thought it was a beautiful image.”

Imagine a 10-person choir, a pair of keyboardists, a percussionist, drummer, bassist, guitarist, flutist, trumpeter, trombonist, violinist-violist, harpist and French horn player, a pedal steel player, a Theremin player and an electronic effects person jumping around a stage while playing blissed-out indie pop. This is a Polyphonic Spree show.

While the group works hard to deliver a transcendent show every night, touring with 24 people can be a grind involving a dizzying array of logistics.

“You know how it is. You're a human being. It's wear and tear. At the same time, I think it brings more energy to the actual performance because it's a minor victory to get to perform every night. It takes a lot to move the group from A to B. So even though there's this exhaustion, for those couple of hours each night you get this weird second wind and you pull it together.”

The dynamic live show first drew attention to The Polyphonic Spree, but three studio recordings expose a different side to the collective. While the majority of 2002's “The Beginning Stages of ... ,” 2004's “Together We're Heavy” and “The Fragile Army” (released last month) convey the blissful nature of the live shows, there also are moments of subtlety and quiet introspection. But don't expect those moments to dominate the show at 'Canes in Mission Beach.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Fight the power!

Femi Kuti picked up where his father left off – musically and politically

By Chris Nixon
Union-Tribune
July 19, 2007

From father to son, the legacy of Afrobeat music continues to inspire a new generation of Africans fighting for their rights. Like the meaning of his middle name, Anikulapo – “the one who holds death in his pouch” – Fela Kuti's musical and political vision lives beyond his time on Earth.

Fela's son walks in his father's footsteps. Like his dad, who died in 1997, Femi Kuti rails against oppressive and corrupt governments. He blows his sax sweet and hard, like an African Maceo Parker playing a form of music created by his father: Afrobeat.

Melding the joyous prolonged sounds of African high-life music with the down-dirty grit of James Brown and the Horny Horns, Fela Kuti created conscious, politically charged music. He ran for the Nigerian presidency. He seceded from Nigeria, designating his home “The Kalakuta Republic.” He married 28 women at once. He spent most days dressed in nothing but Speedos. Most importantly, he believed in music's power to change individuals and societies, boldly stating “Music is the weapon of the future.”

Details
Femi Kuti
When: Tonight, 8:30
Where: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $22-$25Phone: (619) 299-2583
Online: www.hob.com

Femi Kuti has taken the mantle laid down by his father when he passed away from complications due to AIDS and moved Afrobeat into the modern era.

Ten years have passed since Fela's death. But according to Femi, life hasn't improved for the Nigerian people since Fela's time: “It's very difficult right now for the people (in Nigeria). The price of oil has been increased again, so it's very very difficult. We have to completely eradicate corruption in our society first of all. Since we have mineral resources, we should be providing free education and free health care for the people. The resources should go back to the people.

“Africa is supplying the world with the gold, diamonds, the oil, the cocoa, the palm oil, so many resources. Why can't we use our resources to provide for our people?”

Back in his day, Fela built a nightclub and compound called the Afrika Shrine, but the Kuti family lived in an uneasy and sometimes violent coexistence with the government. The police often raided the club and Fela was beaten severely on a number of occasions for his outspoken views against the government.

His wives were also beaten and sexually abused. His mother died from injuries sustained after authorities threw her from a window. Life was not easy for Fela and his family, but he continued to condemn corruption and poverty.

Since his father's death, Femi has rebuilt Fela's Afrika Shrine in the Nigerian capital of Lagos. Part music venue and part community center, the Shrine also serves as Femi's home when he's not on tour. He holds weekly jam sessions every Sunday called “Jumps,” where Nigerians gather and dance away their daily strife.

“The old Shrine was taken from us,” said the soft-spoken Femi, currently on tour in the U.S. “When we licensed my father's back catalog, my sister and I decided to buy land and build another in his honor. We thought it was the best thing to do with the money, instead of buying cars or using it for private use. He always wanted his own place, so we though it was the best thing to do. It was good for my band as well, to have a place of our own.”

Emerging from his father's shadow, Femi's music and message deserve to stand on their own. His two studio releases – “Shoki Shoki” in 1999 and 2001's “Fight to Win” – paint a picture of a man struggling with abject poverty and a corrupt government. In a combo titled “Live at the Shrine” released in 2005, Femi allowed cameras into his life, giving a tour of the Shrine along with combined footage from a series of electric live shows at the venue.

This year, Femi issued an excellent two-disc greatest hits compilation titled “Femi Kuti: The Definitive Collection,” which features guest spots by Mos Def, Common, D'Angelo and Macy Gray. Mixing traditional Afrobeat funk with electronic beats and a touch of hip-hop style, Femi's catalog represents the modern extension of his father's music.

Despite continued pressure from authorities to remain quiet, Femi's music uses his songs as a podium to raise consciousness of the struggle of everyday life in Africa.

“We're not going to back down on what we believe just because of threats,” said a defiant Femi. “I'm not going to leave because my father is dead. We're not going to back down, that's the tradition of my family. We're not leaving because of fear, no way.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Bridwell rides high on Band of Horses

Band of Horses meets challenges of creating an album

By Chris Nixon
Union-Tribune
July 5, 2007

A lot of people may not realize it, but writing and performing your own songs takes courage. It's kind of like reclining on the psychologist's couch on stage every night, exposing your emotional innards for the world to witness. Ask Ben Bridwell. He's doing well now with the whole situation, but it took him a long time to write his own songs and sing in public.

DATEBOOK
Band of Horses
8 p.m. tomorrow; 'Canes Bar & Grill, 3105 Ocean Front Walk, Mission Beach; $15; (858) 488-1780

After working as a label owner and a member of Seattle indie rock band Carissa's Wierd (odd spelling), Bridwell forged out on his own with his Band of Horses. Seamlessly blending high-pitched Neil Youngesque vocals with the trademark Northwest indie rock sound (think The Shins and Death Cab for Cutie), the quartet's 2006 debut “Everything All the Time” (Sub Pop) is shockingly complete and beautiful for a first effort.

The ever self-effacing Bridwell credits producer Phil Ek (Built to Spill, The Shins) with helping provide structure and form to the recording sessions for “Everything All the Time.”

“I had never really been on a record singing or playing guitar before, so the first one was pretty tough for me,” Bridwell said. “Our drummer at that time, it was his first real record for him, as well. So we had some snags along the way trying to get it done.

“Phil was really good at not letting up on us and not letting us get discouraged. But at the same time, he didn't let us stray from the vision he had for the album and our performances for the record. He was essentially another band member on that record given the amount of work he put into it.”

“Everything All the Time” made many best-of lists for 2006, including that of Filter, The Austin Chronicle and The Onion AV Club. The album's 10 tracks represent one of the most accomplished debut albums in the past decade, complete with ethereal rock songs (“The Great Salt Lake”) and quiet ballads (“St. Augustine”).

After the success of “Everything All the Time,” Bridwell parted ways with guitarist and longtime collaborator Mat Brooke. The two had played together in Carissa's Wierd, and Bridwell had recruited Brooke to contribute to Band of Horses. But Brooke decided that he wanted to focus on his own business and his own band, Grand Archives.

“As much as it was kind of a bummer not to have him there anymore, things didn't really change much,” Bridwell said. “We had to keep going. If anything, we've grown so much as a band since that time. We've honed our craft a bit better since then.”

After a decade living in the Emerald City and making a name in the music business as a record label owner and musician, Band of Horses frontman Bridwell decided that he wanted to go home. So the native South Carolinian packed up his belongings and his band and moved back to the South.

“I lived in Seattle for about 10 years,” Bridwell says. “Last November, me and Creighton (Barrett), the drummer and who is also from South Carolina, and Rob (Hampton), our guitarist, we all moved to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. It's kind of strip-mallish in a way. It's a two-minute drive from the beach, and there are lakes everywhere. It's really beautiful. Once you get away from the strip malls, it's country and beautiful.”

South Carolina has provided the backdrop for a new set of songs.

“For the new album, it's basically the same process except we're more able to execute now that we're a little bit more seasoned,” said Bridwell, talking between recording sessions for a new Band of Horses album due on Sub Pop in October. “We're not veterans by any means, but a little bit more seasoned.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.