Loading ...Keeping it Local with 91x’s Rowley — The move to OB and the “Paddle for Clean Water” Festival
2008's Paddle for Clean Water in OB (photo from 'bakudai' via Flikr)
Wow, it’s been a while since you have heard from me. Well, life gets busy sometimes and it’s hard to plop myself down in front of the computer and type away. But now I have plenty to say.
I moved! I moved to Ocean Beach. It is a beautiful thing when I can surf, go to the store, grab a pitcher or two or three with some friends at a happy hour and then see a show at Winston’s without even having to throw my truck into drive. Walking/biking is my new favorite thing to do. Like I said, it’s a beautiful thing.
But speaking of Ocean Beach, there is an amazing event coming up that everyone needs to know about. On Sunday, September 13, the Surfrider Foundation will be holding its 18th annual Paddle For Clean Water Festival at the Ocean Beach Pier.
You haven’t heard of it? Well it’s an event that brings thousands to the beach to bring awareness to keeping our oceans and beaches clean. At 10am, thousands will be hitting the water and paddling around the OB Pier. It really is an amazing sight. Each year it gets bigger and bigger.
Okay, so why is the music guy talking about an environmental event? Well, once you are done paddling around the OB pier, you can enjoy a FREE concert with an amazing line-up right there at the parking lot at the end of Newport!
“Keeping it Local” with Andrew Rowley of 91x
When I was promoted to the title of Loudspeaker host a year and a half ago, my first goal was to produce local music showcases once a month. This may sound like a challenge to some, but it really isn’t because of the vast amount of amazing local talent right here in our hometown. It is important to have 91Xs foot planted heavily in the local music scene here for many reasons but mainly to help local music get into as many ears as possible. Loudspeaker shows have been produced all over town, everywhere from SOMA to the Belly Up, to Canes and U31. Our county is so big that we have to spread the love all over SD.
So that latest installment of the “Loudspeaker presents…” shows was absolutely one of my favorites. Happening last Wednesday night, June 17, at the always-awesome Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, this month’s show featured some of San Diego’s most entertaining bands. Syndicate was the night opener followed by Endoxi and then closing out the night was Social Green. Where do I begin to talk about this amazing night?
Well of course, my name being “rolls up late Rowley”, I show up about twenty minutes late, but it was pleasant because when I entered the building I was automatically greeted by the fast drumming and smooth bass lines of Syndicate flowing threw the venue. Stoked to see a good crowd also really set the night off right. Syndicate continued the rest of their set with tons of energy and sweat.
As Syndicate wrapped up their set and more and more people flowed into the Belly Up, Endoxi was set to take the stage. Before their set, I was back stage talking with Chris Wilson, guitar/vocalist of Endoxi. When he pulled out an electric drill with a guitar pick attached to the end of it, I was excited. After slugging down a couple beers, I worked up the courage to make a stage announcement to introduce Endoxi, and they brought a crowd! Right away they got everyone moving with their sax driven upbeat music.
It was cool to see everyone from the back corners of the Belly Up creep closer to the stage to get their party on. It definitely did not feel like a Wednesday night at the Belly Up. Weekend vibes were very present, but the night wasn’t over, as Social Green was next.
“Keeping it Local” with Andrew Rowley of 91x – The Summer of Music hits San Diego
You can hear Andrew on 91x every sunday from 8-10 p.m.
This is the summer to get your music fest on in San Diego. Last weekend, we had Fiesta Del Sol in Solana Beach, and Art Around Adams in Normal Heights. Spending time at both, I realized that San Diego has its hands wrapped around some pretty noteworthy festivals on its radar. As long as I can remember, there has always been some kind of music festival in San Diego that we could attend. Festivals such as Street Scene, Warped Tour, Del Mar Fair, and even 91X’s X-Fest have all been staples in the San Diego summer music scene. Now it just seems like there are more events popping up that want a bit of the action.
Fletchers Cove in Solana Beach was a the perfect setting for the 30th Anniversary of Fiesta Del Sol. Rain was in the forecast but the sun came out to party for this event. Produced by the Belly Up Tavern, there was a solid line-up for this years Fiesta, with a good mixture of local and national acts including West Indian Girl and Donavon Frankenreiter. Did I mention that this entire two-day festival was free? Thousands of people came out, not to mention the hundreds of dogs that I saw and petted as I was enjoying my time. It was very animal friendly. Surrounding the grand stage area were dozens of local artists, craft dealers and other vendors adding to a great vide and community builder.
So in the same weekend I went from one of the oldest San Diego music festivals to one of the more newly revamped events, Art Around Adams. Yes, I know Art Around Adams has been around for a few years now, but past years were nothing like it was last weekend. Taking place in the heart of Normal Heights, AAA took over the Adams Avenue Recreation Center. This event had a real festival feel to it, with four stages spread about the park and about 30 bands in all. The bill was mainly all San Diego bands, which I am a big fan of, so it was nice to see a bunch of my favorite local bands play all in the same place roughly around the same time. Bands like Circa Now, Dynamite Walls, The Burning of Rome, and All Leather participated in this year’s Art Around Adams. One of the more entertaining sets was by DJ Edgartronic on the main stage. His high-energy set got EVERYONE dancing; even myself and I DO NOT DANCE. It was very fun. It wasn’t just about the music though, as there was plenty of art and film to check out too. It was a very well rounded event, and I’m definitely looking forward to see what it will be like next year!
“Keeping it Local” with Andrew Rowley of 91x Loudspeaker
Andrew Rowley is the host of 91x’s Loudspeaker program, which showcases local music over the airwaves. His new column will be published weekly on www.sdentertainer.com, and will touch on various topics around the San Diego music scene. For his first installment, Andrew talks about what led him to his current position and his vision behind Loudspeaker.
I feel like I have missed the boat.
I always hear about how amazing and influential the San Diego music scene was “back in the day”, but I was unable to partake as I was either in elementary school or not born yet. I apologize if I never saw a show at the original Casbah, or that I never had the opportunity to have my face melted by a Froberg/Reis performance live.
I missed out … I couldn’t pull a decent fake when I was 12. So I am not going to sit here and type about a bunch of old San Diego music stuff that I don’t know about. I want to talk about what is going on in the music scene in San Diego now.
I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on.
My name is Andrew Rowley. I am a 23 year old native of San Diego and the host of the local music show on 91X, Loudspeaker. My first shift as the host was on my 22nd birthday, December 24th 2007. Growing up, I never saw radio in my future, but it sort of just happened. I spent the better part of my college career in college radio stations, KKSM at Palomar College and KCR at San Diego State.
I interned at 91X a few summers back and then got hired as a “promo guy” and still continued to work on my deejay skills. Then all of a sudden, I’m hosting Loudspeaker. It was literally a water cooler discussion that threw me into the position.
