Comprehsive 2006 Golden Hill Block Party Photo Set

all the photos, in one place. plenty of band and crowd shots, enjoy!

Comprhensive 2006 Golden Hill Block Party Photo Album

show review: The Golden Hill Block Party

talk about a conflict of interest! reviewing your own show! oh yeah- it was great, the most amazing show since the invention of rock and roll!!!



2006 Golden Hill Block Party Pictures, set 1

2006 Golden Hill Block Party Pictures, set 2

2006 Golden Hill Block Party Pictures, set 3


Instead, I will offer a self evaluation in different areas that i consider important to making a good show.

line up: A

is there any doubt left in your mind that san diego music has it goin' on right now? in fact, i think there is really something going on in the greater southern california area- i suppose it's always pretty vibrant- but- there is a lot of local talent. we didn't even exhaust the talent in the golden hill area- not even close really. that was the new motherfuckers first concert out of los angeles area- so that was a good get.

sound/lights: B

adam and danny are an integral part of the cat dirt crew and they are really the unsung heroes of last night. the fact that this concert existed is basically due to them stepping up and offering to do everything for free- including getting generators. that saved me over $1500 and it is seriously doubtful that the show would have ever been planned with out them. how about getting society ready to play in 15 minutes? how about that? none the less there were obvious difficulties- speakers cutting out, and we clearly needed a bigger generator. but let me make one thing clear- cat dirt lives and dies with adam and danny. they are as much a part of cat dirt records as me and fifty on their heels- not in an ownership sense, but spiritually. the lighting was hampered by the generator situation.

crowd: A

almost entirely perfect. kudos to everyone who showed up! any bigger turnout and i would have felt uncomfortable. my own estimate that at the largest point- i.e. the performances of fifty on their heels & iSociety! the crowd was between 250-300 people. like sessions fest, people came and left, which probably doubled the total number of people who stopped by. i was pleased to see bart mendoza, lyn chick rawker & annamaria(starting her own blog soon!) show up.


Narrative

the key for this block party was lowering the price point- in the absence of any revenue for the forseeable future, keeping costs low low low is the ticket to making this thing work going forward. the other option is to actually try to make money on the deal- but i don't see that happening. it's impossible to analyze an event like this without talking about the relationship with the city of san diego- the permitting process was, again, quite reasonable- it just takes a month to take care of all it. the police (officer martin?) were kind of heroes for letting iSociety! play to 10:30 PM. I really thought we were going to get shut down right at 10 PM. The 10 PM limit on events within the city of san diego is fucking insane- i couldn't help but notice that monster bash, in the gaslamp(presumably within the city of san diego) goes till midnight. why can they, a commerical event, go late, but not us? This is something I want to change, because the fact is- people don't come out in any significant numbers until 8PM. the upshot? no more five band bills at the block party ever again- more like three.

a 10 PM time limit for these events is per se unreasonable- there is no rational reason for having one guideline for week day and weekend events. this rule contributes to the perception that san diego is a backwards place filled with country rubes. what world class city fucking rolls up the carpet at 10 PM? Iowa City, Oklahoma City, Omaha? not Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York...

San Diego is blessed with a climate that allows for year round, out doors events- it's ridiculous that we have this silly regulations(is it even an ordinance? or just a policy?) that limits the ability of community organizations to celebrate in neighborhoods past 10 PM. it's just arbitrary- it needs to change. as long as that rule is in place, there will be a limit to what can be achived in san diego- without that restriction- who knows what kind of cool could get going here. we won't know till the 10 PM rule goes away.