Your Guide To This Week’s San Diego Concerts

It’s a flashback kind of weekend for San Diego. All of these acts seem to channel the music and attitudes of bygone eras. Go back to simpler times and enjoy reliving the glory days—whichever time period that was for you.

Powerman 5000 – 1/26

Brick by Brick

Linda Vista

Did you ever play Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2? Yeah—then you definitely know Powerman 5000’s “When Worlds Collide.” If not, then you might recognize their cover of “Relax” from the movie Zoolander.

Like pulp science fiction references with your industrial metal? Powerman 5000 was tailor-made for you. Check out their campy costumes and not-quite-singing vocals.

More interesting trivia: frontman Spider One is the younger brother of Rob Zombie. Guess it runs in the family.

Cold War Kids – 1/27

The Observatory

North Park

Cold War Kids are from a town just a short drive up the coast: Long Beach. It’s always nice when a band gets to perform in and around their home turf.

Cold War Kids has been playing indie-rock with a distinctly blues-edge since the early 2000s. In fact, 2016 was the ten year anniversary of their debut album Robbers & Cowards.

Come check out what the next decade has in store for them at the Observatory in North Park.

Wheeland Brothers – 1/27

710 Beach Club

Pacific Beach

Nate “Frogg” and Travis Wheeland play what they refer to as “beach rock reggae.” With a debut album titled Toast to the Coast and an initial single called “Sand in My Sheets,” I’m inclined to believe them.

If you’re a fan of any of those words, the Wheeland Brothers are probably right up your alley. Remember when all you needed were some tasty jams and waves?

Oh, yeah—they give “free high-fives at every show.” If that isn’t incentive, I don’t know what is.

Hamilton Leithouser – 1/28

The Casbah

Little Italy

Hamilton Leithouser sounds like Bob Dylan at his most plaintive—and that’s not a bad thing. Everyone needs music that makes them re-think their lives.

Last year, Leithouser teamed up with former Vampire Weekend producer Rostam Batmanglij to release I Had a Dream That You Were Mine. Critically acclaimed, the album made Pitchfork’s lists of The 20 Best Rock Albums of 2016 and The 50 Best Albums of 2016 as well as The A.V. Club’s Top 50 Albums of 2016.

Devendra Banhart – 1/28

The Observatory

North Park

Devendra Banhart is no stranger to California. After living with his mother in Venezuela until he was fourteen, Banhart moved with his family to Los Angeles.

His lo-fi freak folk mixes together psychedelia and Americana to make idealistic and fantastical lyrics come alive.

Released in September of 2016, the album Ape in Pink Marble has garnered positive reviews.

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