The Streets | Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA

Posted on | October 30, 2009 |

Belly Up Tavern is continually voted “San Diego’s Best Live Music Venue” by several publications including the Union Tribune, The Reader and San Diego Magazine as well as heralded as one of the hottest clubs on the west coast by Rolling Stone Magazine. All these praises are well deserved. Belly Up’s long history of bringing great live music is documented all throughout the tavern.

Previous artists posters are plastered all over the tavern’s walls. What you may not know is they are all original artwork. Scrojo is the artist behind the original posters and the posters can be purchased on Belly Up’s website. The original artwork posters are complimented with fine art paintings which go perfectly with the low light atmosphere.

Belly Up provides various seating options. To the back left of stage there are four rows of tier type bar seating. In front of tier seating there is more bar type seating which goes all the way along the stage. This allows you to be sitting right next to band which is a very unique experience. The bar is well placed near the entrance of the tavern. The bar carries quality beers including San Diego’s own Stone Pale Ale. The bar is cash only. If you get waitress service you will be able to use a card.

The sound is extremely crisp and clear. It is evident the music equipment is high quality. To the left of the stage you see the gigantic control panel which indicates the complexity of the sound system. In between bands they played “The Revolution Will Not be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron. The songs played in between sets speaks volumes about the venue, so this was very impressive.The first opening band was Hey Champ.

Hey Champ hails from Chicago and got their big break with “Cold Dust Girl”. In the summer of 2008 Lupe Fiasco heard “Cold Dust Girl” and invited Hey Champ to open for him on his tour. Since then Hey Champ has been touring and gaining fans with their unique sound. You can not help but dance or at least bop your head around a bit when listening to Hey Champ. At the base of their songs are some sick syth beats. This produces an 80s feel but the drum beats are so tight it produces a more modern sound.

Nosaj Thing took the stage next. The set started with the “ATLiens” beat by Outkast. All the sudden the beat is stripped apart and manipulated beautifully by Nosaj Thing. Nosaj Thing tears tracks apart cutting songs into amazing beats. Among some lyric samples used were “Wandering Star” by Portishead and “Dangerous” by Busts Rhymes.

After two quality opening acts The Streets took the stage at Belly Up. The Streets is the stage name for British rapper Michael Geoffery Skinner. Under The Streets four albums have been released including Original Pirate Material and A Grand Don’t Come for Free. The live line-up consists of Kevin Mark Trail on backing vocals, Wayne Vibes on guitar and bass, Chris Brown on keyboards, Magic Mike on samplers and Johnny Drum Machine as drummer and musical director. The Streets started off the set strong with their hit from Original Pirate Material “Let’s Push things forward”.

The Streets Set List:

1. “Let’s Push Things Forward” (Original Pirate Material)
2. “Fit but You Know It” (A Grand Don’t Come for Free)
3. “Escapist” (Everything Is Borrowed)
4. “Trust Me” (Computers and Blues)
5. “Has it Come to This?” (Original Pirate Material)
6. “Could Well Be In” (A Grand Don’t Come for Free)
7. “Blip on a Screen” (Computers and Blues)
8. “Everything’s Borrowed” (Everything Is Borrowed)
9. “Turn the Page” (Original Pirate Material)
10. “Don’t Mug Yourself” (Original Pirate Material)
11. “Where My Heart Has Been” (Computers and Blues)
12. “Weak Become Heroes” (Original Pirate Material)
13. “Never Went to Church” (The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living)
14. “On the Edge of a Cliff” (Everything Is Borrowed)
15. “Heaven for the Weather” (Everything Is Borrowed)
16. “Dry Your Eyes” (A Grand Don’t Come for Free)
17. “In The Middle” (Computers and Blues)
18. “It’s Too Late” (Original Pirate Material)
19. “Blinded by the Lights” (A Grand Don’t Come for Free)

Michael has great stage presence fueled by his humor. Towards the beginning of the set Michael said, “Its 6 am for me right now San Diego!” He was trying to pump everyone up and it worked. Soon after Michael said, “I am going to throw the mic into the crowd, you better catch it or the show is over”. He then proceeded to actually throw the mic in the crowd, about 3 to 6 feet out and of course it was dropped. What can you expect from a crowd of drunk fans. The mic was replaced right away and the show went on despite the threat. This just really livened up the show and got everyone fired up. Michael kept climbing up on the speakers and involving the fans constantly during the chorus, even handing the mic to a fan at one point!

The Streets rocked Belly Up Tavern with great stage presence and variety of songs from their albums! Hey Champ and Nosaj Thing provided a solid build up to the main act. Belly Up Tavern proved to be an excellent venue and I will regularly check their schedule for shows. As far as being the best venue in San Diego, I would say House of Blues and Canes Bar & Grill leave this up to discussion.

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