The Dum Dum Girls played The Belly Up in Solana Beach on Wednesday, May 16, 2012.  Touring to support their new album, Only in Dreams (released in September), the blonde wig-clad Kristin “Dee Dee” Gundred and her band played a 15-song set, followed by a two-song encore. “Mine Tonight,” “Heartbeat,” “Rest of Our Lives,” and “Coming Down” were crowd favorites.

 

SISU, opened up for the Dum Dum girls at The Belly Up on Wednesday. Lead singer Sandra Vu (also the drummer for the Dum Dum Girls), played a guitar heavy, yet cool and ethereal set of songs.

Milow (pronounced Milo), a singer songwriter from Belgium opened up for Dead Feather Moon and The White Buffalo. He resided in San Diego a few years back and mentioned that he always hoped he would play at The Belly Up. Milow releases his new album in July 2012.

Dead Feather Moon, was a treat to see. This San Diego band have a strong, loyal following and it is easy to see why – on stage they are inviting, easy-going, and completely focused on playing good, good music. Fans of the band pressed themselves to the front of the stage and sang along to crowd favorites “Dark Horse,” “Everything I Haven’t Said,” and “My Sun.” The band ended their set with a great performance of “Hellhounds.” Next time Justen Berge, Jesse Kling, Tyler Soule, Chris Bowling, and Greg Peters hit a stage, make sure to catch their show – they put on a good one.

He sings about murder. He sings about prostitution, dark memories, and drunkenness. He also sings about love. The White Buffalo (aka Jake Smith) is being heralded as one of the best and most powerful folk/countrish-rock singers of recent years. He played a sold-out show on Saturday, April 28th at The Belly Up in Solana Beach. What makes Smith such a compelling performer? Well, he definitely doesn’t hop on to the stage and greet the audience with heavy metal devil’s horns nor does he swing his arm around and around in a full circle as he completes a guitar solo. About as rock-n-roll as he got was yelling out to the crowd, “How you doin’ motherfuckers?” Quite simply, Smith’s voice is what rivets the crowd – everyone hangs on to every note he plays, every syllable he sings. His band is made up of Tommy Andrews (who has quite a San Diego following – one fan hollered repeatedly, “T.A! T.A! I love you T.A!) on bass and Matt Lynott on drums. There was also had a guest musician playing lap steel guitar. All four of these musicians bring an incredible amount of expertise to the stage.

Smith’s voice is similar to Eddie Vedder’s, but it is deeper, fuller, more authentically pained. The White Buffalo played 19 songs and came back to the stage for four more songs as part of his encore. The crowd was still anchored in place until 1 a.m. Highlights of the set were “Everynight, Everyday,” “Damned,” “The Pilot,” “John Jameson,” which he dedicated to anyone in the crowd who likes whiskey, and “Love Song #1,” a song he wrote for his “beautiful woman.”

The House of Blues hosted Brighton, England’s biggest band, The Kooks, on February 29. Luke Pritchard (vocals), Hugh Harris (guitar), Paul Garred (bass), and Alan Lavian (drums) played an energetic set of their best known songs, “She Moves in Her Own Way,” “Ooh, La,” “Seaside,” and “See the Sun.” Pritchard pumped up the crowd with his rock-n-roll dancing and prancing on a catwalk positioned at the front of the stage. He asked the crowd, made up of mostly teenagers, “Are you doing all right? Come on! Are you doing all right?” The high-pitched squealing could be heard blocks away.

Canadian band, Hey Rosetta!, played  The Belly Up on last Tuesday night.  Their set mainly featured songs from their newest CD, Seeds, but also contained songs from Into Your Lungs.  Lead singer Tim Baker introduced the song Bandages by saying, “I wrote this song for myself and all of my forlorn friends.”  Other crowd favorites were, Yer Fall, Welcome, and Seeds.

Gomez stopped by The Belly Up in Solana Beach on their Quinceanera Tour. They started off their first set with California. Other crowd favorites were Hangover and Blue Moon Rising. Their second set contained songs that were voted on by fans. Highlights included, Get Miles, How We Operate, Get Myself Arrested.

Mutemath bring their blues-y, funk-y, electronic-y and SUPER high energy performance to San Diego’s 4th and B.  Complete with confetti, mattress dancing, Jaggerish moves, and lots of LOUD drumming, Mutemath’s show are not to be missed.

Canon Blue open up for Mutemath with a solid set of folktronica at 4th and B.