Afro-punk swings through San Diego - 11.12.09

The weather remained warm for the Afro-punk crew as they traveled from Santa Barbara to San Diego, California-- home town of Afro-punk band, IrRAdio. Tonight's performances would be at The House of Blues, a second show night at this music venue chain while on the tour.

When the group reached San Diego- including poet and rising face on the punk scene, Saul Williams, along with CX Kidtronik and Tchaka Diallo from Krak Attack, American Fangs, and IrRAdio- they checked into their hotel, which was conveniently located right next to the venue and got ready for the night. Before the show, we had a chance to meet up with local guitarist and San Diego Afro-punk resident, Jonathan Shepherd, who took us around his favorite spots to chill. Playing guitar as a hobby, Jon, 22, is also a professional nurse, and said being a part of the Afro-punk community has only enhanced his profession. "When patients see me, they usually get the feeling like I'm not their average run-of-the mill RN," Jon, who works as a traveling nurse around San Diego, said. "The same energy I use when I am performing my guitar is the same energy I bring to my patients, it's passion," he said. Along with jamming on guitar and being a nurse, Jon also likes to surf the waves, so he took us to one of his favorite boarding spots, Ocean Beach. While we were there, we even found an etching in the rocks tagged from Afro-punk band, the American Fangs!

It was an early sound check at The House of Blues, located on 5th Avenue in the downtown area of San Diego. The venue is known for their bright and wall murals and paintings that recognizes African-American contributions of blues music and folk art.

After a quick sound check, the guys put their instruments aside and grabbed some food. Kwame, Saul's keyboardist, even showed off his new angular haircut, cut by CX Kidtronik earlier that week. "I felt like I needed a change," Kwame said. "I just told CX to come up with something cool, and this is what happened."

Here is Davin, Saul's guitarist, and Daniel Dasher, lead singer from IrRAdio eating before the show, along with a flick of Saul giving attitude while eating his salad plate.

And Kwame's dope new haircut.

The crowd filled into the venue and it was ready to kick off the night's set. Opening the San Diego show, was American Fangs, followed by hometown favorites, IrRAdio (who performed on the Afro-punk tour line-up the previous night at The Velvet Jones). The multi instrumental gang of IrRadio, comprised of Greg on drums, Rick on bass guitar, Steven on saxophone, Jim on guitar (Electric), Dan on guitar (Acoustic), and vocals, and Andrew on piano, said they were psyched to be playing with the Afro-punk tour on their home stage because they really could connect with the audience. "Afro-punk is a depiction of the evolution of music," said lead singer Daniel. "It feels good to be in a band representative of the San Diego Afro-punk scene to show the crossover and fusion of musical genres," he said. Getting hometown recognition, IrRAdio won best rock album this year at the San Diego Music Awards for their 2009 album, "I am the Horn," on local Blindspot Records.

Here is IrRAdio jamming out at The House of Blues in San Diego.

CX and Diallo from Krak Attack followed IrRAdio's set, using the entire venue as their playground. During their song "Big Girls, Skinny Girls," CX, who is seen sporting an American Fangs t-shirt, jumped off the stage and brought his performance to the top of the bar. And from the looks of it, the crowd was in full support, as they raised their beer cups into the air.

It was a continuous night of theatrics, with Saul opening his performance by hiding behind a venue wall plank until his opening song came on. For every performance, Saul comes out to the same opening instrumentals signaling his arrival, because he said, it amplifies the intensity for the show. "The crowd knows they're about to get a show when I come out on stage with the music, the make-up, and clothes," he said. Earlier in the tour, Saul even began adding a yellow cape to his Niggy Tardust costume- in true James Brown style.

Saul and his band never missed a beat, blending poetry (with no help from his band), to completely amplifying the room with his guitarist, Davin, keyboardist, Kwame, and beat machine genius, CX. Amongst the mostly white audience, Saul fearlessly asked, "now tell me where my niggas at," after spouting the words (with an urgency that demanded complete attention), "Freedom. Ignorance. Jealousy. Belligerence," to the screaming crowd.

After his performance, Saul climbed off the stage and circled the room, hugging and speaking with his fans. When asked why he feels the need to be so personal with his following, he said, "I do it to break the wall because the kind of work that I do, sometimes people can take it to a certain level where its not necessary...so it's a mutual exchange." He continued, "If I don't do that, I will have let an empty room (behind the theatre), walked onto a stage and performed in front of an audience, and then walked back to that empty room. I don't think there is anything more lonely than that."