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in this issue Issue 19_20 /// September 25-October 8, 2019

San Antonio Current Publisher: Michael Wagner Editor-in-Chief: Sanford Nowlin

48 Feature

Editorial

Food & Nightlife Editor: Lea Thompson Calendar Editor: Kelly Merka Nelson Contributing Arts Editor: Bryan Rindfuss Staff Writer: Chris Conde Digital Content Editor: Sarah Martinez Contributors: Ron Bechtol, Daniel Conrad, James Courtney, Jade Esteban Estrada, Dan R. Goddard, Lance Higdon, Steven G. Kellman, Hannah Lorence, Kiko Martinez, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney Editorial Interns: Diana Amaya, Brianna Espinoza, Georgie Riggs

Lucky Number Seven

San Antonio Music Showcase’s 10-venue celebration highlights a vibrant and eclectic local music scene

Advertising

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BY C H R I S CO N D E &

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J A M E S CO U R T N E Y

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Creative Services Manager: Tina Corbeil Graphic Designer: Samantha Serna Graphic Design Interns: Pedro Macias, Raquel Prado, Jacqueline Rivas

Antonio Music Showcase dissect the Alamo City music scene

Circulation

Circulation Manager: Justin Giles

Business

Business Manager: Sonia Acosta

Euclid Media Group

Chief Executive Officer: Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers: Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services: Stacy Volhein Creative Director: Tom Carlson Digital Operations Coordinator: Jaime Monzon Senior Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni Director of Digital Sales: Fran DiCarlo www.euclidmediagroup.com National Advertising: Voice Media Group (888) 278-9866, vmgadvertising.com San Antonio Current 915 Dallas San Antonio, Texas 78215 sacurrent.com Editorial: (210) 227-0044 / Fax - (210) 227-7755 Display Advertising: (210) 227-0044 Fax: (210) 227-7733 Classified: (210) 227-CLAS / Fax - (210) 227-7733 The San Antonio Current is published by Euclid Media Group Verified Audit Member San Antonio Distribution – The Current is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. Get listed 1. Visit sacurrent.com 2. Click “Calendar” and then “Submit an Event” 3. Follow the steps to submit your event details Please allow 48 hours for review and approval. Event submissions are not accepted by phone. Copyright: The entire contents of the San Antonio Current are copyright 2019 by Euclid Media Group LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Subscriptions: Additional copies or back issues may be purchased at the Current offices for $1. Six-month domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $75; one-year subscriptions for $125.

Oscar Moreno

07 News

Lasting Harm

The contamination around the South Side’s Air Force facilities remains, and residents say it’s still taking a toll

Sitting Ducks

Democrats won’t hesitate to weaponize Texas Republican lawmakers’ inaction on gun violence

Bexar’s Needle Exchange Program Is Finally Funded

16 Calendar

Calendar Listings Art Picks

29 Arts

Hometown Is Magic

Comedian and Houston Native Mo Amer Returns to His Home Turf for Fall Tour

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes Delivers Psychic Cats and a Videogame-Style Plot Welcome to the WOO Lab

UTSA’s new ‘cabinet of curiosities’ aims to put the ‘A’ in STEAM

39 Screens

A Star is Mourned

Oscar winner Renée Zellweger carries all the emotional baggage on her own in Judy

It’s (Somewhat) Alive! After a promising start, Frankenstein tale Depraved comes unstitched in the final act

Daniel Johnston’s San Antonio Friends and Collaborators Remember His Troubled Genius Music picks

64 Etc

Crossword Puzzle

41 Food

Where in the World is Andrew Weissman?

San Antonio’s fine-dining revolutionary is leading a lower profile these days. And he’s OK with that.

The Take Away: SoHill Cafe’s Jean-Francois Poujol Isn’t Content With Being ‘Just OK’ What We’re Drinking Right Now: Blackberry Fojito Table Talk

48 Music

Banding Together

Members of groups playing the San

On the Cover: The San Antonio Music Showcase will bring together a sampling of the city’s best musical artists for a takeover of the St. Mary’s Strip. Cover by: Melissa McHenry

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news

Southwest Workers Union member Sandra Garcia discusses contamination in Leon Creek.

Lasting Harm

Rhyma Castillo

The contamination around the South Side’s Air Force facilities remains, and residents say it’s still taking a toll BY RHYMA CASTILLO

eflecting the golden light of the summer sun, the flowing waters of Leon Creek at Rodriguez Park seem soothing and tranquil. Children toddle near the shallows, while birds and deer sip from its cooling surface. But something potentially dangerous lurks under the surface of the peaceful waters. In 2002, the Texas Department of Health issued an advisory to San Antonio residents, warning them not to consume the creek’s fish, which are potentially contaminated by PCBs — chemical compounds with a wide range of applications, including use in coolant fluids, flame retardants, sealants and more. The Environmental Protection Agency also considers PCBs highly toxic human carcinogens. “On the Southwest side, we have long histories of constant contamination. … We don’t drink our tap water anymore,” said Sandra Garcia, a member of the San Antonio-based social justice group Southwest Workers Union. “If you did, you could get cancer. You could become infertile. Children could be born with birth defects.” Garcia lives in a community close to Leon Creek, and has dedicated the past 13 years of

her life to fighting groundwater pollution. Leon Creek is a tributary stream of the Medina River that flows adjacent to both Lackland Air Force Base and the former Kelly Air Force Base, now Port San Antonio. According to years of EPA research, contamination from the bases spread PCBs and other hazardous chemicals into surrounding areas. The area around the facilities has been dubbed San Antonio’s “Toxic Triangle,” where contaminants have affected the soil and water sources of roughly 25,000 working-class residents. The overwhelming majority of these residents are people of color, primarily Latinx indivduals residing within low-income neighborhoods. Air Force officials did not respond to an interview request for this article. However, they have told other media outlets that the military began acknowledging the problem decades ago and has made contamination cleanup a priority.

Forever Chemicals Two of the most recently discovered pollutants are Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)

and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). According to a 2016 study published in the journal Chemosphere, these compounds were present in foam used by the military to extinguish aircraft fires in the 1970s. “PFAS chemicals have been linked to a wide range of health effects, including cancer, low birth weight, thyroid disease, elevated cholesterol and effects on the immune system,” says Laurel Schaider, a scientist at environmental research group Silent Spring Institute. Known as “forever chemicals,” PFOA and PFOS are problematic because of their strong resistance to decomposition, not just in the environment, but also in living tissue. While the usage and disposal practices of these compounds weren’t seen as an issue at first, EPA research suggests that they have long been a hazard for residents living near military bases. Especially when the pollutants — just two among many — leak into surrounding soil and groundwater around military sites. Installing new water infrastructure can be costly for communities, so many low-income neighborhoods on the South and Southwest side still use the city’s old infrastructure. This older infrastructure remains connected to groundwater sources that were safe at one time but now may be dangerously polluted. “When the foam was developed, obviously we didn’t know what we know today,” Cornell Long, Joint Base San Antonio’s installation support section chief said to a NEWS4SA TV crew recently. The military discontinued the use of PFOAand PFOS-based products and has since switched to a different kind of foam. “We deem it safer in the environment because it doesn’t stick around as long,” Long said. “It doesn’t build up in tissues as much as some of the older foams do.” Although the Department of Defense is now working on a fluorine-free foam, pollutants from the older foams still linger. In 2015, the EPA issued a health advisory for PFOS and PFOA warning residents not to drink water with contamination levels over 70 parts per trillion. Contamination levels near military bases can reach up to 680,000 parts per trillion, according to a 2018 EWG and Northeastern University study.

Race and Class Environmental clean-up costs are high, and improvements have been minimal, critics charge. The federal government’s remediation is largely summed up in two words: natural attenuation. That term essentially means leaving things as they are and hoping the problem dissipates on its own. For residents like Garcia, that strategy 96

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CURRENT | September 25-October 8, 2019 | sacurrent.com

news

U.S. Air Force / Wikimedia Commons

Kelly Air Force Base used industrial chemicals during its work on aircraft such as the C-5.

6 7 amounts to little more than an excuse to avoid the high costs of building cleanup systems. “I was told many times that I couldn’t have children,” Garcia said. “Luckily, I was able to bear one, but he had a lot of medical issues the first two years of his life.” According to Diana Lopez, executive director of Southwest Workers Union, the unwillingness to address the contamination in South Side neighborhoods is a matter of race and class. “This becomes an environmental racism issue when we see multiple sources of contamination reaching the same communities,” Lopez said. “Back in the ’70s, the Air Force used to release jet fuel over those neighborhoods when they landed their planes. It’s obviously the same low-income, Spanish-speaking communities are being affected over and over again.” Issues with environmental injustice can be seen beyond San Antonio’s military bases, Lopez added. Polluters such as waste management facilities and high-emission energy plants are purposefully situated in low-income neighborhoods “because of their [lack] of access to land, financial resources and community organization.” While advocacy groups have pushed back, they’re usually often met with strong resistance from major polluters. To point, the original draft of San Antonio’s Climate Action & Adaptation Plan was intended to bring major change by requiring industrial polluters to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, the plan was re-drafted under pressure from industrial interests such as CPS Energy, Valero Energy and the San Antonio Manufacturers Association, and some of its most aggressive targets were scaled back.

‘Our Neighbors’ Troubles’ Char Miller, director of environmental analysis at California’s Pomona University, said it’s vital for the larger San Antonio community to recognize the environmental problems facing all of its neighborhoods, not just those in high-income zip codes. “Part of the problem is that people see themselves as being separate from the issue,” says Miller, who has extensively studied the city’s environmental woes. “If they aren’t being affected, it doesn’t worry them. If changes are going to be made, we need to start seeing our neighbors’ troubles as our troubles.” Miller’s advice may prove more important now than ever. Garcia, the neighborhood activist, said taking action is becoming more difficult for the members of her community. “I’ve seen a bunch of my neighbors get cancer,” she says. “I remember meeting with a bunch of community members to try and organize. Now, if you go into that area, you can no longer see those people around. ... People say there’s strength in numbers. How can we continue to [organize] for change in our neighborhoods when our numbers are diminishing, when our people are dying?”

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Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons

Sitting Ducks

Democrats won’t hesitate to weaponize Texas Republican lawmakers’ inaction on gun violence BY SANFORD NOWLIN

un control activist Molly Bursey has witnessed a change in Texans’ willingness to talk about tightening the state’s famously lax firearms laws. Three years ago, when she started a New Braunfels chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, she got used to showing up alone at public meetings — and to being shouted down. Now, Bursey’s chapter counts 50 active members and recently expanded into nearby San Marcos. The back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso and Midland that last month took the lives of 29 people have heightened the urgency of having a serious debate on firearms issues, she said. “I’m seeing a change in attitudes and a willingness to actually do something here,” the former special ed teacher said.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made headlines this month by saying he’s willing to stand up to the NRA and call for background checks.

Political observers warn that Republicans, who have used their longtime control of the Texas Legislature to push policies such as the open carry of firearms, ignore citizens like Bursey at their own peril. Democrats view Texas as the nation’s biggest 2020 battleground state, and party officials recently unveiled plans to deploy more than 1,000 organizers during the election cycle. While much of the attention will be on national races, experts said an increased Democratic turnout will factor in down ballot — and gun issues are likely to play a role in mobilizing voters. Southern Methodist University political science professor Cal Jillson said Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision not to call a special session of the Texas Legislature to address gun violence could be a misstep that hurts GOP lawmakers, especially those in vulnerable suburban districts.

He likens the Republicans’ strategy on gun issues to Muhammed Ali’s rope-a-dope trick — staying just out of reach while Democrats wear themselves out trying to land ineffective punches following mass shootings. “That strategy has worked in the past, but Abbott is more vulnerable now,” Jillson said. “If another tragic shooting were to happen in the short term after he refused to call a special session, there’s a good likelihood he’d be washed away.”

Hemmed In While Abbott didn’t reconvene the Lege in response to the recent shootings, he did issue eight executive orders this month in response, mostly strengthening law enforcement’s ability to respond to future incidents of mass violence. A commission he put together in response also suggested that the Lege look for ways to make it easier for private gun sellers to voluntarily conduct background checks. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick took it a step 13 6 sacurrent.com | September 25-October 8, 2019 | CURRENT

CURRENT | September 25-October 8, 2019 | sacurrent.com

news COWTOWNBOOTS.COM 21 0- 73 6- 09 90

Ruperto Miller / Wikimedia Commons

Mourners gather outside the El Paso Walmart where a gunman opened fire and killed 22 people.

6 11 further, making headlines by announcing he’s willing to break with the National Rifle Association and support mandatory background checks for certain private gun sales. But critics charge that the call for voluntary background checks is an empty gesture. They point out that private sellers already have the option of performing background checks and many simply don’t. What’s more, there doesn’t seem to be any support from the leaders’ own party ranks. Earlier this month, the 62-member State Republican Executive Committee passed a resolution unanimously opposing red flag laws and enhanced background checks. “State leaders are hemmed in by their caucus,” said Ed Scruggs, board president of Texas Gun Sense, which has lobbied for expanded background checks and other firearm regulations. “They really haven’t been given any room to move on this.”

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Disastrous Wait? Earlier this month, Democratic state legislators held joint news conferences across the state urging Abbott to call a special session. The Democrats demanded debate on universal background checks, limits on high-capacity magazines and other regulations. State Rep. Ray Lopez, D-San Antonio, said Texas’ GOP lawmakers may be able to convince constituents in the short term that they’re holding off as they wait for the federal government to take action. But that excuse won’t hold up indefinitely. “It would be nice to say that if Congress doesn’t do something in the next 60 to 90 days, then we’ll call a special session,” Lopez said. “If they fail on that, it will be disastrous for the Republican party in Texas.” Abbott and Patrick recognize the shift in public opinion, SMU’s Jillson said. However, the changes they’re calling for come across as inauthentic given their lengthy history of loosening gun laws. “I don’t give either Abbott or Patrick much credit,” Jillson said. “You can’t forget the decade they spent working for open carry and campus carry.” Moms Demand Action’s Bursey said she and other activists will continue to make the case to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. At least three organizers with the group have even registered to run for the Lege in 2020. Among them is Becca DeFelice, who’s running as a Democrat against GOP Rep. Steve Allison in San Antonio’s District 121. “We’ll be block walking and phone banking and talking to our neighbors,” Bursey said. “Some of us are also willing to sit behind a desk and write the laws and vote for the laws our current legislators are unwilling to enact.”

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CITY CURRENT

Bexar’s Needle Exchange Program Is Finally Funded. Lawmakers Should Make Sure It Stays That Way.

A l a m o H ei g h ts

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

Joe Mabel / Wikimedia Commons

Editor’s Note: The following is City Current, a column of opinion and analysis.

fter 12 years in limbo, Bexar County finally has a funded needle exchange program. The Texas Legislature in 2007 cleared the county to become the state’s ﬁrst to pilot a program giving drug users clean needles to battle the spread of infectious diseases such as Hepatitis C and HIV. However, a lack of support from district attorneys prevented the idea from gaining traction. Susan Reed, who served as DA until 2014, shut down the measure by threatening to prosecute anyone distributing drug paraphernalia. Her successor, Nico LaHood said he supported the idea but never delivered on concrete action. Enter Joe Gonzales, who was elected DA in 2018 and has taken a more enlightened approach than Reed on drug issues. Gonzales, you may remember, championed the cite-and-release program that tickets people rather than jailing them for low-level, nonviolent oﬀenses such as possessing small amounts of weed. With Gonzales’ blessing, the county earlier this month approved $80,000 in funding for the program. “Joe’s been very progressive, very bold, and it’s clear he wants this,” said T.J. Mayes, chairman of the county’s opioid task force.

But that support could evaporate if voters decide they’re tired of Gonzales’ approach and bring in a DA with a more archaic approach to drug oﬀenses. That would be unfortunate. While the county and partners such as UT Health San Antonio are still ironing out some of the program’s details, exchanges in other cities have brought measurable improvement in public health. Beyond swapping out dirty needles for clean ones, Bexar’s program will help connect drug users with treatment programs and testing for infectious diseases. It also will provide users with the overdose-reversal drug Narcan. “Every time we engage with someone, it’s an opportunity,” said Lisa Cleveland, an associate professor of nursing at UT Health involved in the program. During the past legislative session, Rep. Ina Minjarez, a San Antonio Democrat, authored a bill to remove criminal penalties for providing clean needles to promote public health. That would have ensured the ongoing health of Bexar’s program and allowed other Texas counties to follow its lead. Unfortunately, Minjarez’s bill never made it to the ﬁnish line. Given the enormity of the opioid epidemic and its health challenges, Bexar’s program should be given the chance to succeed — even if political winds change. State lawmakers must work in the next session to ensure no future DA can stand in the way of progress.

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WED | 9/25 FILM

THE ULTIMATE WILLY WONKA PARTY WITH LIVE Q&A 5

Courtesy of Landry’s SPECIAL EVENT

OKTOBERFEST IN SAN ANTONIO

Brew-connoisseurs all over the city are dusting off their favorite pair of lederhosen for fall’s arrival. While that sweet, golden nectar may be the star of any Oktoberfest celebration, it’s impossible to forget about beer’s best — and wurst — friend, German sausage. Often served inside a toasted, buttery bread roll and topped with tangy, bittersweet sauerkraut, wurst is the perfect complement to a cold drink. Aside from the large selection of traditional German cuisine, visitors can also enjoy attractions such as carnival games, amusement rides and live music. If you simply can’t wait for New Braunfels’ Wurstfest in November, we’ve rounded up some preliminary events to satiate your need for all things Oktoberfest. — Rhyma Castillo PARKTOBER FEST SUN | 9/29 The Brackenridge Park Conservancy and the YMCA are joining forces to celebrate San Antonio’s German heritage with Parktober Fest. This free event will feature a beer tasting where guests can sample local brews from Alamo Beer, St. Arnold, Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling and more. Visitors can also enjoy hearty German cuisine from venerable San Antonio deli Schilo’s. This year’s musical showcase will include performances by the Beethoven Maennerchor, the Dirty River Dixie Band and the Jim Cullum Jazz Band. In honor of Cullum, who died in August, the event will also include a tribute dedicated to the bandleader’s legacy of preserving traditional jazz. Free, 3-6 p.m., 3700 N. Saint Mary’s St., Koehler Pavilion, (210) 207-7275, brackenridgepark.org.

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory is such an enduringly popular hit that the subreddit r/grandpajoehate has 95,000 subscribers dedicated to ragging on Charlie’s Grandpa Joe for his perceived laziness. The 1971 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic novel has delighted and terrified generations of children with its portrayal of the whimsical yet extremely dangerous Wonka Candy Factory, which juxtaposes glorious gardens of candy with the psychedelic fear-fest of the Tunnel of Terror. While Gene Wilder’s showstopping performance as candy-maker Willy Wonka is nothing to shake a stick at, some of the movie’s most memorable moments are the various pickles the Golden Ticket holders find themselves in, from Augustus Gloop’s tumble into the chocolate river to Violet Beauregarde’s gum-induced blueberry transformation. For this special screening at the Alamo Drafthouse, actors Paris Themmen (Mike Teevee) and Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt) will be on hand to answer audience members’ burning questions about the film. Plus, there’ll be oodles of candy, sniffable wallpaper, a pre-show karaoke contest and more surprises for die-hard Dahl fans to enjoy. $22, 6:30 p.m., Alamo Drafthouse Park North, 618 N.W. Loop 410, (210) 677-8500, drafthouse.com/ san-antonio. — Kelly Merka Nelson

FRI | 9/27 THEATER

TWELFTH NIGHT q

There’s Shakespeare, and then there’s British actors doing Shakespeare. One

Warner Bros.

of the oldest touring Shakespeare theater troupes, Actors from the London Stage, is back in town courtesy of ARTS San Antonio. You may have caught them last fall when they brought preeminent tragedy Hamlet to the Alamo City, but this year the group is looking for laughs with the comedy Twelfth Night. Maybe you were recently enamored by The Classic’s modern rendition of Romeo & Juliet and fell back in love with the playwright, maybe you’ve always been a fan of the Bard’s work — or maybe you’re just curious to see the play behind the Amanda Bynes flick She’s The Man. Whatever the case, it may be worth checking out this top-tier performance of Shakespeare’s comic tale of misplaced love. $29-$792, 7:30 p.m., Charline McCombs Empire Theatre, 226 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 226-3333, artssa.org. — Georgie Riggs

FRI | 9/27 – SUN | 9/29 COMEDY

DEON COLE AT LOL COMEDY CLUB

American actor, comedian and writer Deon Cole will bring his dry, witty humor to San Antonio on his latest tour. Cole began his career in Chicago, and is best known as a member of the writing staff for The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and Conan. Blurring the line between political correctness and unabashed honesty, Cole shares

OKTOBERFEST AT BEETHOVEN MAENNERCHOR FRI | 10/4 – SAT | 10/5 San Antonio’s own Beethoven Maennerchor is going all out with a four-night festival featuring live music, hot food and cold beer. And why wouldn’t it? This 150-year-old German social club is no newcomer to the Oktoberfest game. Beethoven’s food line will offer its usual array of bratwurst, Reuben sandwiches, goulash, Leberkäse and potato salad. Of course, guests can also expect a full selection of German and craft beers in the clubroom and back bar, along with wine available by the glass. $5, 5 p.m.-midnight Fridays and Saturdays through October 12, Beethoven Maennerchor, 422 Pereida St., (210) 222-1521, beethovenmaennerchor.com. OCTOBERFEST AT TOWER OF THE AMERICAS SAT | 10/5 Taking place at the base of the Tower of the Americas, this Octoberfest event has everything visitors need to get a taste of German culture in San Antonio. Beer tastings? Check. Live musical performances? Check. German cuisine? Check. Guests can nosh on a free bratwurst or pretzel on a first-come, first-served basis, and brews from at least eight different European countries will be available for sampling. If that’s not enough, expect giveaways and a costume contest. Sounds like the perfect excuse to don German folk attire. $35-$40, 2-5 p.m., 739 E. Cesar Chavez Blvd., (210) 223-3101, toweroftheamericas.com. Courtesy of ARTS San Antonio

16 CURRENT | September 25 - October 8, 2019 | sacurrent.com

Matthew Martinez

his life experiences as a black man in a way that can make some well-to-do white people squirm. In a promotion for his upcoming show Black Box with TBS, Cole pokes fun at racial stereotypes, advertising himself as “just the right amount of black” to draw in a white audience. Cole has racked up awards and accolades throughout his career, including two Emmy nominations as a writer for Conan. If you’re looking for a casual night of sarcastic comedy, this show may be worth catching. $30-$40, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 NW Loop 410, (210) 541-8805, improvtx.com/sanantonio. — RC

SAT | 9/28 – SUN | 9/29

Courtesy of Monster-Con SPECIAL EVEN T

MONSTER-CON

Sink your plastic fangs into weekend full of monsters, fake blood and spooks as the Wonderland of the Americas Mall hosts its 7th annual Monster-Con. Got a dress made from human ﬂesh? Show it off to all the ghouls in the Scream Queen Beauty Pageant. Want some cool Halloween and horror goodies? Browse vendor and artist booths, who will be selling their scary creations — and maybe even their souls. Like getting jiggy to the Monster Mash? Howl along to some live music and performances hosted throughout the weekend. This year’s guest lineup includes three actors featured in Rob Zombie’s cult classic House of 1000 Corpses: Jennifer Jostyn (Mary Knowles), Walter Phelan (Dr. Satan) and Robert Mukes (Rufus). For those who dare get close, the horror trio will be taking killer photo-ops with their fans. Free, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday, Wonderland of the Americas, 4522 Fredericksburg Road, (210) 785-3500, monster-con.com. — Brianna Espinoza

ART

SITE-SPECIFIC W-I-P L

Appreciating artworks displayed in exhibits and galleries is one thing, but it’s not every weekend we’re afforded the opportunity to watch artists as they work and to follow up with questions about their methods and intentions. Seven artists will create pieces tailored to the beautiful behemoth that is San Antonio Public Library’s Central branch before our very eyes Saturday and Sunday. W-I-P, the San Antonio nonprofit at the event’s helm, has arranged for Claire Rousay, Jennifer Edmonds-Jones and Do-

calendar

SAT | 9/28 – SUN | 9/29

meinic Jimenez to take Saturday’s spotlight; Matthew Eric Mendez, the pair of Laura Rios Ramirez and Rosie Torres and finally Brandon Bulls will round out the event Sunday. When the artists are finished making their site-specific works each afternoon, W-I-P will present a light reception before attendees can engage in discussions modeled after Liz Lerman’s “Critical Response Process” method — a manner of facilitating openness and transparency between artists and their audiences. Free ($5–$20 suggested donation), 1 p.m. Saturday

Brian Skerry

and Sunday, Central Library, 600 Soledad St., (210) 207-2500, mysapl.org. — Daniel Conrad

SUN | 9/29 SPECIAL EVEN T

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC LIVE: OCEAN SOUL WITH BRIAN SKERRY \

Ever wonder how National Geographic gets such beautiful photographs and videos from all across the world, or want to know more about the people behind the lens? You can read all about it in underwater photographer Brian Skerry’s new book Ocean Soul — or, better yet, hear it directly from the man himself. Skerry will take to the Tobin Center to discuss his 20-plus years working with National Geographic and the four decades he’s spent serving the world’s oceans, enabling marine conservation efforts and bolstering our understanding of underwater ecosystems. Skerry boasts more than 10,000 hours spent underwater in search of Nat Geo photos. You read that right: ten thousand. Stick around afterward for a Q&A and a chance to snag your own copy of Ocean Soul. $20–$45, 4 p.m., The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — DC

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CURRENT | September 25 - October 8, 2019 | sacurrent.com

sacurrent.com | September 25 - October 8, 2019 | CURRENT 19

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in Telluride, Colorado. The visit marks the fest’s second stop in a Texas city this year. Hosted by the San Antonio River Foundation, the event will follow Mountainfilm’s mission of using film, art and ideas to inspire audiences to create a better world. A reception will take place at 6:30 p.m., with the docs following at 7:15 p.m. This year, nature lovers will get to enjoy 10 short films. They include director Tahria Sheather’s Creek Session, about a musician from Montana who records the sounds of the outdoors to incorporate into her music; Pablo Durana’s Adventuring in the Name of Science, about a couple who collect data on maple trees to help fight illegal logging; and Allison Otto’s and Maria Clinton’s The Love Bugs, about a pair of octogenarians who have amassed one of the largest private insect collections in the world. $50, 6:30 p.m., Conﬂuence Park, 310 W. Mitchell St., (210) 224-2694, sariverfound.org. — Kiko Martinez

THU | 10/3 – FRI | 10/4 Detroit Hives

TUE | 10/1

relaxed or reflective, depending on who tells the story. $7-$10, 7 p.m., Brick at Blue Star, 108 Blue Star #1773, (210) 262-8653, tpr.org. — GR

SPECIAL EVENT

WORTH REPEATING: ‘WHEN IT BREAKS’ 5

September can be a rough month, hence Green Day’s wise choice to sleep through it. Come October, you might be feeling due for a little break — or maybe even a little breakdown. Texas Public Radio’s latest iteration of its monthly Worth Repeating series has got your covered with October’s theme, “When It Breaks,” which will allow you to live vicariously through seven different stories exploring breakdowns and breakouts, whatever that may mean to the storyteller. Hosted by Brick at Blue

THU | 10/3 FILM

MOUNTAINFILM ON TOUR L Courtesy of Texas Public Radio

Star, the event will also feature beer and live music, promising to make your Tuesday feel a little bit more refined,

Mountainfilm on Tour will make its way to San Antonio to feature a selection of “culturally rich, adventure-packed and incredibly inspiring documentary films” chosen from the shorts that screened at the original festival held annually

ART

‘NOTHING’

This First Friday, DAMAS gallery and studio is hosting, well, nothing. Or at least that’s how San Antonio composer Nathan Felix is billing his show, which invites guests to enter the gallery for a mysterious non-experience. He’ll provide TVs and a bed, but the rest is up to you. To figure out what it all means, you’ll have to wend your way up to Blue Star’s Upstairs Studios and participate in the, um, non-event. Free, 6-10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, DAMAS gallery and studio, 1420 S. Alamo St. #202, (207) 653-7608, facebook.com/ damas.space. — KMN

THU | 10/3 – FRI | 10/4 ART

‘ODDITIES OF SAN ANTONIO’

San Antonio’s rich history includes a cornucopia of weirdness just waiting to be uncovered by the casual observer. From La Llorona and the Ghost Tracks to the tale of the Donkey Lady, our fair city has its share of ghouls coexisting with citizenry. Híjole SA’s October exhibition celebrates all that’s odd in San Anto with a group show centered on local lore and iconic imagery that runs a gamut of weirdness. The show will feature work by 17 local artists, including Rebekah Hurst’s taxidermy art, Jacob Silva’s creepy clown photos, Lauren Raye Snow’s take on the Catholic icon Anima Sola and macabre bowls made with embedded insects and teeth by Justin Chase Black. Híjole co-founder Sara Barcus tops things off with her Odditorial Map of San Antonio, Texas, a series of 30 illustrations of major figures in the Alamo City’s spookiest legends. Free, 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, 7-10 p.m. Friday, Híjole SA, 1420 S. Alamo #205, (908) 445-6535, facebook.com/hijolesa. — KMN Courtesy of Hijole

sacurrent.com | September 25 - October 8, 2019 | CURRENT

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Principle Investigator Dr. Ameet Nagpal

For other studies, visit us at http://vpr.uthscsa.edu/findastudy/ 22

CURRENT | September 25 - October 8, 2019 | sacurrent.com

calendar | art pick

Courtesy of Joey Fauerso

FRI | 10/4 ART PICK

FALL EXHIBITIONS AT BLUE STAR CONTEMPORARY

The trinity of politics, environment and healthcare might make you want to keep ﬂipping pages — but rather than recapping another fruitless debate, we’re simply previewing a group of Blue Star Contemporary (BSC) exhibitions that speak to the troubled world we live in. One of two BSC Berlin Residency alumni in the bunch, artist and Texas State University professor Joey Fauerso is known for pensive animations, atmospheric portraits, amusing “drawing battles” and plenty in between. You may have even driven past her Canopy, a verdant, bird-ﬁlled mural she painted on the Fulton Avenue railroad underpass with assistance from Agnes Cotton Academy students. In recent years, Fauerso’s projects have braved tougher territory. Initiated in 2017, during her three-month residency at Berlin’s Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Fauerso’s ongoing project “You Destroy Every Special Thing I Make (We Fall to Pieces)” employs a graphic, black-and-white palette to address the chaotic political climate and the uncertain future awaiting her two young sons. Billed as the continuation of her investigation into culture, gender, family and humor, her “Teardowns” takes over Blue Star’s Main Gallery with a mélange of sculpture, video and a 50-foot mural inspired by the wallpaper in the Diplomatic Reception Room

at the White House. Throughout the exhibition’s run, Fauerso will erode her mural as a performative commentary on “the destructive and restorative nature of humanity.” A fellow BSC Berlin Residency alum who holds degrees in biology, painting and printmaking, Margaret Craig describes her new exhibition “Sea Islands” as “a contemplation on the ways we aﬀect the plants and animals around us, and how we may be aﬀected by them.” Informed in part by her experiences in Berlin — where she collected sea-bound detritus on walks through the city streets — her solo show in Blue Star’s Middle Gallery presents upcycled plastic sculptures as imaginative creatures that “might one day populate the ocean as trash.” A Japanese artist specializing in kinetic work, Tsuyoshi Anzai tackles the human condition in “Healthy Machines,” an installation housed in BSC’s snug Gallery 4. Posing questions of wellness, ability and imperfection, Anzai’s work appears colorful and playful on the outside but in fact stems from brain surgery that left the artist with epilepsy. If all of the above leaves you longing for a bit of escapism, head for BSC’s Project Space, where Austin-based OK Mountain co-founder Sterling Allen and San Antonio’s own Larry Graeber join forces for “Formal Proof,” a two-man exhibition without much of an agenda beyond the interplay of odd sculptures that often begin with “physical and image-based debris gathered from various sources.” Opening reception: free 6-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4; run of show: $3-$5, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday through Jan. 4, Blue Star Contemporary, 116 Blue Star, (210) 227-6960, bluestarcontemporary.org. — Bryan Rindfuss sacurrent.com | September 25 - October 8, 2019 | CURRENT

OCT

The Dancing Princesses

Saturday, September 28th 7:30 PM & Sunday, September 29th 3:00 PM Carver Community Cultural Center This production is not a presentation of the Carver Community Cultural Center or the Carver Development Board Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, Ticketmaster.com, the Alamodome and the Carver Community Cultural Center Box Office. Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization | www.alamoartsballet.org

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CURRENT | September 25 - October 8, 2019 | sacurrent.com

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Underground (which uses the same entrance as the Rock Box). $7-$12, 6 p.m.-1 a.m., VIBES Event Center and the Rock Box, 1221 and 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 2553833, therockboxsa.com. — BE

SUN | 10/9 TH EATER

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET y

Jaime Monzon

SAT | 10/5 SPECIAL EVENT

BURTON BALL L

Time to bust out the pinstripes and frazzled curly hair. Enter a dreary grey gothic world for the 8th Annual Burton Ball, an event celebrating film director Tim Burton, best known for The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Edward

Scissorhands and the Michael Keaton-era Batman movies. The dark festivities will include art vendors, themed drinks and an unearthly costume contest. Originally stationed at the Korova, which closed its doors in 2017, the Burton Ball has persevered through several venue changes before landing at the Rock Box. This year, the event has grown so big that it will be held in the Rock Box, VIBES Event Center and the new VIBES

Broadway run back in 2011, but this hit production continues to tour nationwide, including a one-night stop in San Antonio. Whether you’re putting on your Blue Suede Shoes or prefer being a Man in Black, this musical is a likely hit for musical theater nerds and oldies fans alike. $49.50-$69.50, 7:30 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com. — GR

Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this, a jukebox musical?” He would be right, except instead of a bar, it’s a recording studio and instead of a bartender, it’s Sun Records’ head Sam Phillips. Million Dollar Quartet is a dramatization of a real recording session that happened between the four music legends in 1956. The Tony Award-winning musical ended its original

Courtesy of Majestic Theatre

FRI | 10/4

THIS MODERN WORLD BY TOM TOMORROW

Courtesy of Presa House Gallery ART

‘USELESS SYSTEMS’ AND ‘GACHO STYLE’

Presa House Gallery is celebrating its third birthday with two exhibitions featuring new work by three Texans. Austin-based artists Robert Jackson Harrington and Hector Hernandez — both members of the curatorial collective Los Outsiders — have teamed up for their second collaboration. “Useless Systems” features hybrid, machine-like creations comprised of everything from skateboards to colorful brooms. The catch? All of these systems are utterly nonfunctional. The wide-ranging collab features a variety of media, including sculpture, photography, illustrations and collage. San Antonio native Robert Luna’s “Gacho Style” continues his own exploration of combinations of everyday objects like mousetraps and gas cans, which he reworks into mixed media sculptures. His playful pieces draw from his childhood experience, from integrating common refrains like “calma venado”/”calm down, deer” to crafting nunchucks from the infamous la chancla. The opening reception will feature artist Ed Saveedra as DJ, and vendors GG’s Emporium and Friendors will be slinging wares. Free, 6-11 p.m., on view by appointment through October 26, Presa House Gallery, 725 S. Presa St., (210) 445-6997, presahouse.com. — KMN sacurrent.com | September 25 - October 8, 2019 | CURRENT

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arts

Hometown Is Magic Comedian and Houston Native Mo Amer Returns to His Home Turf for Fall Tour BY KELLY MERKA NELSON

o Amer is one of our own. Most news coverage centers on his identity as a Muslim refugee, which heavily informs his comedy, but Amer is also a true Texan. After cutting his teeth in his hometown of Houston, he’s skyrocketed to success, and now has 2018 Netflix comedy special The Vagabond as well as a starring role in Hulu series Ramy under his belt. This fall, he’s balancing a North American standup tour with the filming schedule for season two of Ramy, which will release sometime in 2020. We caught up with Amer prior to his weekend-long stint at LOL Comedy Club in early October to chat about identity, politics and returning home to perform. Last year, you told Texas Monthly that in the aftermath of 9/11 you were initially afraid to be honest about yourself onstage, but now you center your identity as a Muslim refugee in your act. How long did it take to be able to truly own your identity onstage? It was directly after 9/11. That was obviously a very difficult time — we didn’t know what was going to happen, right? We didn’t know what was going on, fully, and people were upset. It just was a few short months before I started to share again, because I was sharing before. You would hear horror stories of things that were happening, just out of ignorance or anger. People were gonna do something or the show dynamic, I just didn’t know. You gotta remember I was 19 years old as well, so it was a lot for me to deal with. It just lasted a few short months, but obviously to have the ability to fully articulate what you’ve been through onstage, that takes a lifetime. In 2016, you went viral after sitting next to Eric Trump on a plane, which provided serious comedic gold. Unfortunately, with the elder Trump in office, that font of absurd cruelty seems to be unending. What are your thoughts on the current political climate, and the damage the Trump administration has done to immigrants and minorities? I mean, it’s such a complex issue. How do you slice it and dice it in a matter of a minute? Unfortunately, the damage is not only towards refugees and immigrants — and obviously that is a grotesque thing to do, to separate families. And children are dying, and it’s an obviously terrible thing for me to even have to articulate that. It’s a terrible thing, it’s just stupid to me, but unfortunately I feel like the greater effect is what it’s done to society as a whole. It’s just almost like utter chaos. It feels like

Mathieu Bitton

the way [Donald Trump] talks, the way he speaks, is the way of a bully. And to see the separation between people and the fact that there’s all these race dynamics back in play — it’s like he freed all these racists or something. And he hides behind so many lies. It’s really just mind-blowing to see how it’s happening. What do I have to say about it? It’s just disgusting. It shows how when you don’t have any control over Congress, or the people lose control over Congress and the Senate and are completely out of touch, that greed just runs rampant, and it’s never enough power. It’s a really disgusting display, what’s happening. That’s how I feel. I feel like it’s just a complete and utter joke. The whole thing feels like a complete joke.

one at 60 minutes. But it goes anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. But yeah, absolutely, it’s stuff that I’m working towards that, and the next time I come through it’ll be different material as well, and by the time I film the special it’ll be a fusion of those hours I’ve accumulated.

Your fall tour is taking you all over the U.S. and Canada, but you’ve worked in a bunch of dates in Texas, including hitting your hometown of Houston. How does it feel whenever come back to your home turf and perform? You know, I’ve toured all over the world. I did a European tour, Middle East tour and I’m about to embark on an Australian tour later on this year, early 2020. I’ve performed at Radio City Music You’ve been working in comedy since the late Hall with legends and performed at Shoreline ’90s, but things have really kicked into high Amphitheater with Nas and Lauryn Hill and Dave gear more recently, from you being tapped by Chapelle. I have done some incredible shows with Dave Chapelle to producing your first stand-up Jon Stewart and Chapelle, and Royal Albert Hall. special The Vagabond and co-starring in Hulu’s But coming home is always way more intimidating series Ramy. Do you have anything particularly than anything else, because you have to be so new or exciting on the on-point, you know? You horizon that you’d like to have to be so put together. Mo Amer talk about? It’s hometown — you have $20-$40, 8 p.m. Thursday, October 3 I do, but I can’t talk about it people that pop up out of 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Friday, October 4 right now. But you’ll be the nowhere at these shows, and first to know! I can definitely although there’s thousands 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, October 5 tell you that I’m working on of people coming you know LOL Comedy Club my next special for Netflix, you’ve had these relationand that’s what I’m tourships for a long time, and it’s 618 NW Loop 410 ing right now, is the new really important to be put (866) 468-3399 material. I’m honing that and together. But it’s also very improvtx.com/sanantonio. bringing that to different joyful and it’s wonderful to cities around the world, and reconnect. It’s invigorating that’s what I’m focusing on and it’s definitely reenergiznow. But I do have some very exciting news coming ing to see all these great places that you grew up up — very, very exciting. with, and new fans — all these fans, either ones that have known me when I first started to the So, the material right now is new and geared ones that I’ve picked up after my special release toward a new special. and being on TV. It’s a really, really wonderful to Yeah, absolutely. It’s completely new. It varies how experience. Hometown is like, it’s magic. much I do per night, because sometimes you do Read an extended version of this interview at sacurtwo shows a night, so you have to keep the first rent.com.

Find more artsmore coverage Find news every day at sacurrent.com

arts Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes Delivers Psychic Cats and a Videogame-Style Plot BY MAX BOOTH III

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runks are notoriously more interesting as fictional protagonists than real human beings. Entertainment value triples when you’re reading about some alcoholic smartass going on adventures, rather than being forced to listen to your Uncle Jack spewing another racist rant over Thanksgiving… again. There is remotely nothing interesting about someone who drinks a lot, unless that person is in a book. Then I’m immediately on board. Cue the protagonist of Valerie Valdes’ Chilling Effect, Eva Innocente, captain of La Sirena Negra. Yeah, she often gets wasted when visiting alien planets on work-related missions, and yes, she’s often almost arrested or murdered for her actions while intoxicated. But, goddammit, her crew can’t help but remain loyal despite those flaws. They don’t even really mind that their latest contractor went bankrupt in the middle of a delivery, leaving them not only without a paycheck but also stuck with the cargo they’d been in the process of delivering: 20 psychic cats. Yes, psychic. One would think a spaceship inhabited by 20 psychic cats would be enough plot for an entire trilogy of epic novels, but that’s only the first chapter in Chilling Effect. We don’t really get going until Eva receives an alarming message from a dangerous space syndicate known as The Fridge, who claim to have her sister hostage. The ransom? Performing a series of odd errands around the galaxy that somehow benefit the syndicate.

Harper Collins

From there, Valerie Valdes takes us on a series of weird and comic adventures. The more you approach this novel like a video game, the better you’ll enjoy it, as Chilling Effect mostly consists of “levels” that become more difficult as Eve and crew progress. Despite its fast pace, this kind of episodic structure can make the story’s development feel glacial at times, which is a bit of a bummer and makes for a long reading experience. Even so, there is a lot to like here. The cast is as diverse as one can ask for, which is always a plus. The sci-fi alien stuff is also weird and wonderful, and the humor is almost comparable to Douglas Adams’ best work. I just wish we had more time with the psychic cats — but then again, who doesn’t want that?

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In the event of inclement weather, Art Party is held indoors. Art Party is a collaboration between the San Antonio Museum of Art and KRTU Jazz 91.7

200 West Jones Avenue | samuseum.org

sacurrent.com | September 25-October 8, 2019 | CURRENT

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CURRENT | September 25-October 8, 2019 | sacurrent.com

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Bryan Rindfuss

Welcome to the WOO Lab

UTSA’s new ‘cabinet of curiosities’ aims to put the “A” in STEAM BY BRYAN RINDFUSS

n an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, it’s more important than ever that our nation’s youth are prepared to bring knowledge and skills to solve problems, make sense of information and know how to gather and evaluate evidence to make decisions. These are the kinds of skills that students develop in science, technology, engineering and math — disciplines collectively known as STEM. So begins a page dedicated to STEM on the U.S. Department of Education’s website. As true as that statement may ring, many take issue with the omission of art from the buzzy STEM equation, evidenced by a determined push to update the acronym to “STEAM.” Detractors argue that adding art to the mix would distract STEM’s focus from hard sciences, but proponents suggest the more inclusive STEAM approach would add valuable elements — creative problem-solving, design skills and aesthetic appreciation among them — to a platform that’s built on the integration of disciplines. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call local artist and educator Jayne Lawrence a cheerleader for the STEAM movement. A native of Illinois, Lawrence relocated to San Antonio in 1983, co-directed the bygone Blue Star gallery Cactus Bra Space with likeminded artist Leigh Anne Lester for 19 years and has been teaching art at UTSA since 2000. While Lawrence is known for work that runs the gamut from intricate drawings of hybrid specimens and scenes seemingly plucked from surreal fairytales to conceptual, mannequin-like sculptures she refers to as her “ladies,” her latest — and potentially greatest — project recently materialized in the

educator Michele Monseau. Longtime friends with a shared history rooted in the early artist-run spaces of the Blue Star Arts Complex — Monseau ran Three Walls Gallery next door to Cactus Bra Space — the pair are both UTSA grads who now teach at the university. For their latest chapter together, Lawrence invited Monseau to inaugurate the WOO Lab with an exhibition of her meditative video pieces fielddowndeep, powerline (heave) and chaosterrain. While both were visibly excited about the lab becoming a reality, conversation drifted into fascinating territory exploring the inspirations for the space, its present-day relevance and the concepts and practices that might be employed there in the future. More than once, Monseau drew parallels between the left brain-right brain theory and trends within education systems — specifically cold, hard facts trumping aesthetics and creativity. “We have to be able to see the whole picture,” she said. Lawrence got starry-eyed musing about robotic bees, the Nature Lab at the Rhode Island School of Design, the fusion of art and science that connects author Keri Smith’s interactive guide How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum and the far-flung endeavors of MIT Media Lab professor Neri Oxman, whose notable projects include 3D-printed interplanetary survival garments enhanced with synthetically engineered microorganisms and a “Silk Pavilion” created by a swarm of 6,5000 computer-guided silkworms. “She’s amazing,” Lawrence said. “So, with all that, it is design. If we’re going to build clothing, if we’re going to create an environment, if we’re going to create a building … we have to have some sort of aesthetic.”

If You Build It, They Will Come

The WOO Lab has been on Lawrence’s to-do list for at least a decade. “I’ve been writing this [in my] annual report for 10 years,” Wunderkammer for Ontological Observation (aka the WOO Lab), a “cabinet of curiosities” housed in UTSA’s Department she said. “I am working on a nature lab.” With equal doses of sincerity and humor, she menof Art & Art History. tioned that hopeful mantra immortalized in the 1989 film As its name might suggest — ontology is the philosophical Field of Dreams. study of being — the nascent WOO Lab is both ambiguous “Not to quote Kevin Costner but … there wasn’t anyone and all-encompassing, but its goals are quite specific: to that I talked to in any field that didn’t [think the nature lab pique curiosity, spark creativity and coax visitors out of their was a good idea]. I thought, if I’m getting that, all I have to comfort zones to discover new ways to think, learn, work, do is be the facilitator,” she said. solve problems, even see the world and its inhabitants. Operating without funding of any kind, Lawrence furCurated by Lawrence as something of an evolving instalnished the lab with university lation, the lab in its earliest consurplus and then called friends figuration contains anatomical The Wunderkammer for and associates to get the word models and posters, skulls aplenty, Ontological Observation (WOO Lab) out that the lab was starting to assorted taxidermy, preserved build its collection. Within three beetles and spiders, wasp nests, Free, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday months, she’d gathered the motexotic feathers, seashells, bones 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday ley array presently on view. and complete animal skeletons in11 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday She acquired the aforementerspersed with microscopes, early UTSA, One UTSA Circle tioned magic lanterns from Dan image projectors known as “magic Department of Art & Art History Judson, whose late father Jack lanterns” and complementary 4th floor, 4.10.16 C suite, Judson displayed his enormous work by local artists including Ken (210) 458-4352 collection of projection maLittle, Alex Rubio, Judith Cottrell, instagram.com/utsa.woo.lab chines in the Magic Lantern CasMegan Harrison and Lawrence tle on Austin Highway. Lawrence herself. Save for a sunlit workstahad shared her idea for the WOO tion where guests can research, Lab with Dan Judson years ago and he asked how he could draw, write or simply observe, the visual takeaway is as much help. When Lawrence finally got the green light, she made a “gallery” as it is “lab” — and that’s clearly the point. bee-line to his office and asked for help. Two weeks after the WOO Lab opened to the public, I ar“And he did,” she said. “He just said ‘yes.’ And I said, 37 6 ranged a lunch meeting with Lawrence and fellow artist and sacurrent.com | September 25-October 8, 2019 | CURRENT

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6 35 ‘I feel like I just walked into Santa Claus.’ So, he gave us all these really cool machines that punctuate the lab.” Arguably the object Lawrence is proudest of obtaining, however, is a taxidermied hawksbill turtle — a rarity she’s careful to point out was legally and sustainably acquired prior to the Endangered Species Act of 1973. “I have received written permission from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to display it for educational purposes,” she explained. “Only 20,000 breeding females today exist. Kids can’t see those things unless you go to a special museum.” Currently being cleaned and restored, the hawksbill turtle is expected to arrive at the WOO Lab by mid-October.

WOO Lab Wish List The WOO Lab’s doors may be open, but Lawrence and Monseau are quick to admit there’s plenty still to be done. Although it’s hinted at by the mixture of natural relics and machines old and new, one of the key themes is the interplay of old and new — examining something from the past with the tools of the future. In order to further what she sums up as “futuristic possibilities,” Lawrence hopes to equip the lab with a 3D printer, a laser cutter and a green-screen stage. “We’re hoping to get further equipment,” she said. “Just to move outside your comfort zone and take a walk on the wild side a little bit, maybe just to get away from the problem and look at it from a different point of view … and that ‘aha’ moment occurs because you’re focusing on something else.” Beyond the possibilities they would open up for visual artists, the additional equipment would help solidify the lab as an interdisciplinary destination. “I see great potential for the lab across multiple disciplines,” Lawrence said. “It is my dream that, years down the road,

our lab can develop into a fully funded on-campus museum and makers’ space. … It already invites a unique way to problem-solve, using a method of focused, hands-on observation that allows students’ minds to diverge from the mental chatter created by circular thinking or overthinking. I have spoken to several engineering students who understand that sometimes the way through a problem is to ignore it and focus on something else.”

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Experiencing the Lab Speaking about the environment she hopes to conjure with the WOO Lab, Lawrence brought up the Wong Spot, a bygone gallery hybrid on South Flores that was ahead of its time. “Art was thrown into that space with spiritual artifacts. It was just a strange [space], one of those places where you walked in the door and you kind of left the world. … I see that in the lab.” Beyond a slightly surreal alternative to the unmistakable campus vibe that surrounds it, the sensation Lawrence described could easily be conjured by sitting and sketching one of the natural oddities on display — there’s a modest array of drawing supplies for those who arrive empty-handed — or gazing through a microscope at neurons, insect parts or plant life. Another alternative would be taking in Monseau’s zen-like, landscape-oriented video works, which remain on view through December 5. Staffed by Lawrence along with UTSA senior lecturer Jason Willome and grad student and teaching assistant Angelica Martinez, the WOO Lab keeps weekly hours throughout the semester, but it’s best to schedule a visit by calling the number listed below. Keep up with the WOO Lab’s upcoming special events and workshops by following them on Instagram @utsa.woo.lab.

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Oscar winner Renée Zellweger carries all the emotional baggage on her own in Judy BY KIKO MARTINEZ

f there’s something specific director Rupert Goold (True Story) and screenwriter Tom Edge (TV’s Lovesick) want audiences to understand about actress and screen icon Judy Garland (A Star is Born) in their new biopic Judy, it’s that there was a tremendous amount of pain behind those big, beautiful brown eyes. It’s a suffering Garland would live with her entire life and until her untimely death in 1969 at the age of 47 from an accidental drug overdose. In Judy, Goold and Edge revisit the last months of Garland’s life, when she travels to London for a series of sold-out concerts at a Westminster nightclub. Depicting their subject as someone on a steady spiral downward, Goold and Edge have no qualms about presenting Judy as a full-scale downer. Luckily for them, Oscar-winner Renée Zellweger (Cold Mountain) is more than up for the task, despite having to do all of the emotional heavy lifting for most of the picture. Although the film covers her last chapter, there are flashbacks to her time as a teenager on the set of the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. Judy opens with a young Garland (Darci Shaw) listening to an MGM studio executive talk about the opportunity she has if she’s cast in the lead

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role. He simultaneously plays mental games with her by mentioning that Shirley Temple is also auditioning for the part. “Everybody loves Shirley,” he tells the already anxious Garland. These flashbacks occur a few times throughout the film. While not as revealing as they could have been, they set a troubling precedent for Garland’s career. Every aspect of her existence is controlled by the studios — from the food she eats to the number of hours she spends working. Zellweger’s Garland finds herself in the same position as many actors today when they hit a certain age — no longer in demand in an industry that quickly moves on to the next starlet in line. Technically homeless during this segment of her career, Garland’s only real option is to leave her children behind with her ex-husband and set off to make some money across the pond. Adapted from the 2005 stage play End of the

It’s (Somewhat) Alive! After a promising start, Frankenstein tale Depraved comes unstitched in the final act

pdating classic literature for a new generation is a tough assignment for any director, especially when the story has been adapted for the screen countless times. From Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island to H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, there are plenty of literary masterworks current ﬁlmmakers have tried to reclaim for themselves while still honoring the original text. English author Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein is the most recent resource to get siphoned by a hungry screenwriter. In Depraved, writer-director Larry Fessenden (Wendigo) gives

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us his version of the horror story first made famous in theaters by Universal Pictures’ 1931 film Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff. Set in a spacious Brooklyn loft (because every mad scientist needs extra room to store hacked up corpses, right?), Depraved stars David Call (TV’s The Sinner) as Henry, a former Army medic who saw so many disturbing things on the battlefield that he returned home with PTSD. Now, holed away in an apartment, Henry is making sure he doesn’t let his surgical skills get rusty by piecing together a human specimen from the body parts of murder victims. Who (or what) he awakens is Adam (Alex Breaux), a scarred-up, reanimated being who doesn’t understand how he got there or why he’s recalling someone else’s memories. With help from Henry, Adam learns how to become

Rainbow by West End and Broadway playwright Peter Quilter, Judy is a heartbreaking tale of a unique talent whose tragic downfall is only one detail of her story. Zellweger feeds oﬀ that sadness with a fearless performance — one of vulnerability, veiled disappointment and what seems to be delirium due to a lack of sleep and an excess of pills and alcohol. There’s no doubt Garland’s life was a train wreck in its latter years, but if given the choice, most fans probably would have liked a more comprehensive representation of her as a wife, mother and entertainer. Still, with the material Goold and Edge lay at Zellweger’s feet, it’s hard to deny the heart and humanity that shines through. Judy opens at the Santikos Bijou Cinema Bistro and Santikos Embassy September 27.

more human by working on his hand-eye coordination and cognitive abilities. He also picks up some worldly knowledge from John (Joshua Leonard), a pharma bro who is bankrolling Henry’s little science experiment. While Fessenden’s take on Frankenstein explores a handful of interesting ideas in the ﬁrst hour about technology, mortality, morality and man’s natural ability to cause destruction, Depraved backpedals into cliché storytelling in the third act, relying on conventional monster-movie tropes that are a lot less thought-provoking than the sections of Fessenden’s script that work. Like the best intimate horror movies, Fessenden injects authentic emotion in Depraved. In this case, however, it comes at the front and back ends of the ﬁlm and doesn’t factor into Adam’s narrative — with the exception of the moment when he realizes he wants more out of life than just playing ping-pong and solving puzzles. If more of that sentiment was sprinkled throughout Depraved, it really might have come alive. Depraved opens exclusively at the Alamo Drafthouse Park North September 27. It is also currently available on VOD platforms. — By Kiko Martinez

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Where in the World is Andrew Weissman? San Antonio’s fine-dining revolutionary is leading a lower profile these days. And he’s OK with that. LEA THOMPSON Chef Andrew Weissman’s meteoric rise in the fine dining world is nearly as impressive as his apparent ability to walk away from it all. Among the top in his class at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, New York, Weissman returned to his hometown of San Antonio around 20 years ago to create something new — and did he ever. Where Biga on the Banks’ Bruce Auden is recognized for introducing fine dining to the Alamo City in the 1980s, Weissman is credited with revolutionizing the concept when he opened French restaurant Le Rêve in 2001. “Many chefs never try to do anything like he did at Le Rêve,” Auden said. “Andrew worked long, demanding hours to create thoughtful dishes, and he’d close the restaurant whenever he wasn’t there, because he wanted to it to meet his standards. He was and still is a perfectionist.” In addition to Le Rêve, the James Beard-nominated chef has since opened — and closed — a slew of acclaimed restaurants including Il Sogno, Sandbar at the Pearl and Moshe’s Golden Falafel. Weissman’s influence on the local culinary scene is undeniable. “The thing is, he could have left and opened successful restaurants anywhere,” said Patrick Bean, general manager at Signature, Weissman’s sole remaining fine dining restaurant. “I think it says a lot about him that he chose to do it here.” Even so, Weissman’s shift away from fine dining to focus on his fast-casual spots The Luxury, Sip Brew Bar & Eatery and Mr. Juicy may seem to many like an unfortunate shift for a culinary leader that once so thoroughly shook San Antonio’s food scene. It’s a change that’s left many local foodies wondering: where in the world is Andrew Weissman? We sat down with the 51-year-old chef and restauranteur to find out.

Lea Thompson

Your restaurant trajectory has changed in recent years, and many locals are wondering something: what have you been up to? It’s funny, people say I have a sickness, but I love the restaurant business. But my wife and I woke up one day and realized that, especially with our three children, life is just going by so fast. My oldest is about to be 13, even though it seems like we just brought them home from the hospital yesterday. I came up with this crazy idea to move our family to Costa Rica, where [my wife] is from, to slow down our life a little bit. We’d traveled back and forth for years, but we officially moved to Costa Rica in January. So, where do you call home these days? San Antonio or Costa Rica? Both. We live in Playa Negra, an area outside of Tamarindo, Costa Rica. It’s beautiful. The goal was for my family to live in Costa Rica and come back to San Antonio twice a year for holidays while I’d come back every month for a week to maintain Signature, take care of things happening at Mr. Juicy’s and the airport, and other concepts I have. But I realized that my projects needed more attention, and I needed to be home, here in San Antonio, for at least six more months while they come to fruition.

What are your plans for the San Antonio International Airport? The airport will feature two of my concepts, Sip and The Luxury, with three outlets. There will be a mobile Sip unit cruising around the baggage pickup area with cold brew and an espresso machine and a Sip brick-and-mortar in the pre-security area. The Luxury restaurant will be located just past security, right next to a Smoke Shack. It’s really exciting. What attracts me is [representing] where I’m from. I love San Antonio and I want to do things that makes my family proud. It’s kind of cool to be at the almost doorstep of San Antonio, because it’s the first thing that people see when they arrive. San Antonio’s coffee culture has exploded in recent years, how does Sip fit in to that scene? I’ve had Sip for 16 years now. Within the last two years, I’ve really started to get excited about it again. We repainted it, started to source local coffee and guest roasts from spots like FlatTrack in Austin, and our house blend right now is from Estate [Coffee Co.] on the East Side. I’m a big proponent of trying to promote restaurants and young up-and-coming individuals, so we’re 43 6

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6 41 doing that. I felt like it was time to do something to put us back into conversation at the top, with other coffee shops. You helped put San Antonio on the map as a nationally renowned culinary destination starting with Le Rêve in 2001. How have your career and goals changed since then? I have an affinity for fine dining, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that feeding that 1% isn’t as exciting as it used to be. When I started, I was wide-eyed, and was like, “Man, I want to make the best food,” but all that is ego-driven, and it’s not just me. I can’t speak for other people, but I’ve come to that conclusion, and there’s a lot of ways you can make people happy with food. And that’s really what I’m in it for, I just like when people eat my food. It’s the one thing that people have not really understood about me. I think that’s why sometimes people think, “Oh, he’s a jerk.” I am actually a really shy individual. I very rarely come out of the kitchen to say hello to people, not because I don’t like to, but because it’s almost paralyzing and just difficult for me. At the end of the day, I get satisfaction from being able to do what I love, which is cooking. You had a recent string of restaurant closures — Il Sogno and Sandbar at The Pearl, then Moshe’s. Why did they close? It’s funny, people say I’m always closing restaurants, but Sandbar was around for 18 years. We were previously on the corner of Pecan and St. Mary’s. I kind of just got tired of doing the same thing, and I couldn’t offer top quality — hook-line caught, ethically sourced fish — to my guests for a reasonable price, so I decided to shutter it. Il Sogno was the first restaurant to open at the Pearl, so they gave me a sweetheart deal. As I approached the end of my lease, I was no longer the shiny new toy, and I knew I’d get hammered over the head with the same price everyone else paid. Costwise, it didn’t make sense to stay in the space. Moshe’s had one of the most loyal clienteles, but the San Antonio demand for that kind of food, unfortunately, is very small. I’m going to resurrect Moshe’s somewhere down the road. I don’t want to pander with a hamburger place, but it’s very difficult in this town. At the end of the day, it’s got to be financially right. As part of the airport deal, I get to sell product to my airport restaurants, and one thing I wanted to do was french fries. I planned on making fries at Moshe’s but realized it’s not too far a reach to do burgers and shakes when we’re already doing fries. It makes more dollars and cents to run two businesses from one production facility. So far, it’s been an extremely good decision. It does about five times the business at about one-fifth the cost. We’ll see if it continues. What stories will you be telling with your food and restaurants moving forward? I love the idea of doing one thing and doing it extremely well. So, yes, it’s only burgers, but the fact is that we do our own pickles and buns, cut our own fries and meat and make all of our own sauces. I think that you can have a transcending food experience at any level. And that’s kind of the story I want to tell going forward here — giving people a great food experience, even if it’s fast casual.

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What are you working on at Signature at La Cantera? The area is poised for tremendous growth in the next decade, what do you see changing? I’m excited about the things that we’re doing at Signature and contemplating a lot of things to keep in the conversation and keep it poignant. Sometimes it’s tough, you know, [to get attention] when you’re outside the loop. But I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved here. Even if it seems like my career is going in a completely different direction, I still have my eyes on the ball. It can be a bit of a trek for people living in central San Antonio to get to La Cantera, but there’s a lot more restaurants there than a couple of years ago. It’s true. Bakery Lorraine has opened out here. Johnny Hernandez is out here. I think a lot of people were starting to realize the validity of bringing something new to the area. Not everything occurs around the Pearl. Read an extended version of this interview at sacurrent.com.

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food The Take Away: SoHill Cafe’s Jean-Francois Poujol Isn’t Content With Being ‘Just OK’

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BY LEA THOMPSON Name: Jean-Francois Poujol Job/Title: Owner, SoHill Cafe Birthplace: Versailles, France Years in Food Industry: 25+ Impact: Driving force behind several successful local restaurants including Soleil Bistro, Tost Bistro and Tribeca. Money Quote: “People call me chef, but I’ve never worked in a kitchen a day in my life. It’s too hot. I open and run restaurants.” Tell us about your background, and how you got where you are today. I was 18 when I arrived in California and I needed a job, so I worked in a French restaurant and then a bakery. Nobody in my family was ever in the food industry, but it was just in front of me and I was good at it. I really liked the environment and stuck with it. By 21, I was manager of a local shop. I worked my way into hospitality and was co-managing a five-star Beverly Hills hotel when 9/11 [hit the nation and hotel industry] in 2001. Fortunately, I was recruited to work in San Antonio, and within two weeks I was hired at La Mansion del Rio. It was easy for me to relocate to San Antonio, and I’m glad I did. I stepped away from hotels in 2007 and opened Soleil Bistro & Wine Bar, before opening Le Midi downtown, which closed in 2011 but it was a platform for local bartender Jeret Peña. I eventually opened Tost Bistro, which became the granddaddy of brunch in San Antonio, and sold it in 2012. I took over Tribeca Restaurant in 2013 and sold it in 2017, before I opened SoHill Café, bringing incredible pizzas to the Beacon Hill area, in 2018. What inspires you to continue working in restaurants? A chef once told me that to be great there is one rule: you never compromise. I never compromise with the idea that there’s always a way to create something great. I’m not content with being just OK. I’m always wanting to do better.

Courtesy of Jean-Francois Poujol

I love what I do. I love speaking with customers and introducing them to new things. Sharing my culture with people is rewarding. There are always long hours but this — running restaurants — is my passion. What do you wish more people understood about good service? I wish people would pay more attention to the quality of service rather than focus on the attentions of their server. A nice server doesn’t equal good service. Servers should help [customers] make the right decision, food- and drink-wise, and should be more knowledgeable than the customer. Like a sommelier, professional service is an art. What’s next for you? I’m working on a new concept called Julia’s, which will open next door to SoHill Café. It’s a casual French bistro that focuses on good, fun food. I think San Antonio is moving very fast, and it’s time for the city to have a group of chefs that can really put a spotlight on Texas. The creativity of our food will be a big factor. We’re hoping to use our unique relationship to Mexican and Tex-Mex cultures to create food that is accessible and fun but different enough for people to talk about.

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BY LEA THOMPSON OPENINGS

San Antonio’s iconic burger joint Chris Madrid’s has finally reopened at 1900 Blanco. Expect limited business hours as the restaurant completes renovations, which began after a fire forced its close in 2017. … The chefs behind the popular local Asian noodles and bao at Ming’s Noodle Bar are planning a second restaurant location near the Pearl in the coming months. … Suck It Restaurant Group is opening a whole new restaurant Suck It Kitchen & Bar at 1167 E. Commerce St. this winter. The new eatery will bring traditional Japanese sushi, sake and whisky to diners in St. Paul Square. … San Marcos-based Binge Kitchen will open its first San Antonio location at 449 McCarty Road this fall, so get ready for delicious,

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CLOSINGS

After more than five years of serving craft beer and bites to downtown San Antonio, The Roost Pub & Café closed for good on Saturday. No word on new tenants lined up for the 1221 Broadway St. address.

N. Presa St.

Table Talk

universal vegan comfort foods. … Playland Pizza relaunched its dinner menu at 400 E. Houston St., with ever-changing, creative pizza options served daily. Playland chef Stefan Bowers also announced the restaurant is now closed for lunch. … Hopscotch will open its immersive art experience at 711 Navarro St. in spring 2020, and visitors can also expect to see local food trucks and a new bar join the site at Travis Park Plaza. … Hero’s Ramen x Sushi, located at 13444 West Ave., Suite 200, has opened for dinner service, offering ramen and sushi. Its minimart also offers Japanese snacks. … The Monterey is bringing back your favorite dishes during a one-night menu takeover at Hot Joy, on September 28.

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Oscar Moreno

Lucky Number Seven

SI NGER-SONGWRITER

San Antonio Music Showcase’s 10-venue celebration highlights a vibrant and eclectic local music scene BY CHRIS CONDE AND JAMES COURTNEY

an Antonio Music Showcase is returning for its seventh year, taking over the St. Mary’s Strip on Saturday, September 28. The Current-sponsored event will feature 35 San Antonio-based acts spanning genres from conjunto and folk to metal and goth. We intentionally slimmed the lineup this year to provide attendees with a focused, better-curated experience. Take it as a charcuterie board of local talent. That decision also allowed us to keep most of the action on the Strip for easy, walkable access. Since the lineup is scattered through 10 venues with each hosting a specific genre of music, here’s a venue-by-venue preview letting you know what to expect from each. Wristbands are only $10 and guarantee admission to every venue. For tickets, full lineup and more information, visit sanantoniomusicshowcase.com.

blend of post-punk and industrial that it’s been performing since 2016 to anyone willing to listen. From performing in dilapidated houses on the West Side to venues with pristine PA systems, Filthy never shies from putting on a memorable show. Amp Room, 2407 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 320-2122, amproom.com.

Very Old Morris is the solo folk/alt-country project of Jerid Morris, the San Antonio music veteran who helmed indie acts Muldoon in the early 2000s and Stegosaur starting in 2008. More recently, he’s turned his attention and songwriting prowess to the lush and lyrically rich alt-country of El Campo. In July, Morris released his first EP as Very Old Morris, a gritty and somber four-song affair that shows off his considerable skills as a songwriter. Chris Maddin, meanwhile, is another local music old hand whose credentials include multiple solo projects plus the once-ubiquitous rock outfit Blowing Trees. Rounding out the bill is Demitasse, the chamber-folk project of Buttercup’s Erik Sanden and Joe Reyes. Little Death, 2327 N. St. Mary’s St. I N DIE ROCK

HI-TONES

While the term “indie rock” is annoyingly broad at times, it works for this showcase since each of the bands falls underneath the broad umbrella yet sound nothing like each other. Noise Quota for instance, dishes out an eclectic blend of ’90s-inspired altrock and lo-fi bedroom pop for a buzzworthy mix. Baldemar takes an echoey, dreamy approach to pop songcraft. The performer also possesses an endearing charm that’s made him a local favorite. Bay Area transplant Emily Whitehurst rounds out the bill with her solo project Survival Guide. Formerly the vocalist for well-known pop punk outfit Tsunami Bomb, Whitehurst still delivers moments of punk tension with her new project but smooths it out with fuzzy synth tones and dance beats. Hi-Tones, 621 E. Dewey Place, (210) 785-8777, hitonessa.com.

GOTH / INDUSTRIAL

AMP ROOM

Neither black clothing nor eyeliner is required for entry to this showcase, but be warned, if you’re not donning darker attire, you may stand out a bit. All the acts on this bill write music from a macabre perspective. Goth favorites Shadow Fashion use synth arpeggiations and poppy vocal melodies to make their sad songs super danceable. SʞIN, formerly known as No.925, produces industrial music that entrances listeners to focus on the music’s abrasive textures. Regional favorite Filthy will close out the night with a 48 CURRENT | September 25-October 8, 2019 | sacurrent.com

LITTLE DEATH

COUNTRY/CONJ UN TO

THE LONESOME ROSE

Any show that includes accordion god and conjunto Courtesy of Shadow Fashion

H IP-HOP

LIMELIGHT

Limelight’s bill will deliver a diverse sampling of what San Antonio hip-hop has to offer. MadOne has been rocking mics since the late ’80s, and it shows — his ﬂow is matched by few if any in the city. The rapper has an East Coast-style cadence and masterfully uses inside-rhyme sequences for extra punch. Local emcee Apaso’s vibe may be laid back, but don’t let that fool you. He spins dexterous verses around boom-bap beats in a way that makes the shit look easy. Rounding out the bill is REL of Chisme, who just put out a solo record earlier this year and ﬂows with a cadence similar to indie rap pioneers Atmosphere and Sage Francis. Limelight, 2718 N. St. Mary’s St., thelimelightsa.com.

@jbajsel

Alonzo, a strong and deservedly beloved force in SA music, will present a set of arresting electro-soul/bedroom R&B songs. DJ and producer Yyynot will keep things moving on the ones and twos. Full disclosure: Chris Conde is a staff writer for the Current. La Botanica, 2911 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 716-0702, vivalabotanica.com. BEAT MAKER

RUMBLE

If you’re not familiar with the incredible vinyl-only mixing crew that is the Soul Spot, what are you even doing with your life, fam? Co-founded by JJ Lopez and DJ Scuba Steve in 2010, the Soul Spot originally was a bi-weekly party held every other Friday at East Side institution Tucker’s Kozy Korner. Scuba Steve has since departed, but Lopez, along with Leonard Trujillo, Matt Vasquez and Ben Luhrmann, helped build a community centered around soul, freestyle, R&B and funk and will bringing those same vibes to Rumble to make sure the party lasts all night. Rumble, 2410 N. St Mary’s St., (210) 885-3925, rumblesatx.com. ROCK

Courtesy of Chisme

INDIE/ ELECTRONICA

LA BOTANICA

La Botanica may be the site of the most diverse Music Showcase bill. Indie rapper Chris Conde is an ever-blossoming talent whose work is made all the more valuable by repping a queer perspective in a space that traditionally seemed off limits to the LGBTQ+ community. Meanwhile, Pink Leche holds it down in the experimental dance/indie electronic realm, creating stage shows that are often as boundary-pushing as their queer bass music. Rounding out this bill, singer-songwriter Alyson

music

Moreno

legend Santiago Jimenez Jr. is a can’t-miss occasion. The Grammy winner and 2016 National Arts Medal recipient has, at 75 years old, pretty much set the bar for what conjunto music should sound like. True to the Lonesome Rose’s Tex-Mex mission, Jimenez will be joined on this bill by country outfit Michael J. and the Foxes — the sad sack bravado-powered side project of Deer Vibes ringleader Michael Carrillo — and rockabilly crew the Sean Castillo Trio. The Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerose.com.

THE MIX

The fact that these three wildly different acts all fall under the heading of “rock” speaks to the wide spectrum of that genre as well as the great variety of genre hybrids San Antonio produces. The Grasshopper Lies Heavy plays a patient yet potent brand of art sludge-meets-protometal that grabs hold of live audiences and leave them wanting more. Mockingbird Express specializes in a bluesy brand of throwback rock ’n’ roll that has more in common with late-’60s bands than it does with the work of the other two acts on this bill. Crowns x Coﬃns offers up its own take on one of the mainstays — for better or worse — in SA music: alternative rock. The Mix, 2423 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 735-1313, themix-sa.com.

METAL

VENTURA

This is the only showcase located off the strip, but don’t let that deter you from making the short trek to catch an eclectic and ass-kicking lineup. Show openers Covina has been making a buzz in the scene with its hard-hitting and well-constructed take on metalcore. Only two words are needed to describe the next band on the lineup, Ammo for My Arsenal: fucking heavy. Athanatos, next on the bill, delivers technical-as-fuck death metal that periodically flashes into deathcore, adding depth and groove to its head-splitting aural assault. Nerdcore metal outfit Bitforce closes out the night with its instrumental metal versions of classic video game soundtracks such as Street Fighter, Sonic The Hedgehog and Zelda. Ventura, 1011 Avenue B., (210) 802-6940, venturasatx.com. PUNK/GARAGE

PAPER TIGER

Here’s a bill for all the misfits and oddballs. And, San Antonio, we know there are a lot of you out there. For starters, consider Whatever? — a criminally underappreciated experimental pop-punk outfit led by the estimable Tony Gnosis. Homie probably has more songwriting chops and ballistic performance aplomb than half the local acts we have celebrated in these pages over the years. Head on over to thewhatevermusics. bandcamp.com and hear for yourself. Add to the noxious Whatever? mix a dose of hardscrabble, lo-fi pop punk via the Midnight Cleaners and an unhealthy helping of psychedelic garage punk courtesy of The Wizard and you’ve got yourself one hell of a face- and mind-melting show. Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com.

Find more musicmore coverage Find news every day at sacurrent.com

1 NI G HT â€¢ 1 0 VE N UES

tickets AT

40+ LOCAL BANDS & DJS

SANANTONIOMUSICSHOWCASE.COM

THIS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 $10 ALL-ACCESS WRISTBANDS In addition to live local music, expect ambassadors from

CURRENT | September 25-October 8, 2019 | sacurrent.com

2019 lineup AMP ROOM

Goth/Industrial (21+)

10p shadow fashion 11:15p s in 12:30p filthy k

la botanica Indie Electronica (21+ after 11pm)

10p chris conde 10:45p pink leche 11:15p alyson alonzo 12:30p yyynot

the mix rock (21+)

10p crowns x coffins 11p mockingbird express 12p the grasshopper

lies heavy

lonesome rose Country + Conjunto

10p Michael J & the Foxes 11p Sean Castillo Trio 12p Santiago Jimenez, Jr

paper tiger Punk/Garage

10p whatever? 11:15p the wizard 12:30p midnight cleaners

hi-tones Indie Rock

10p noise quota 11p baldemar 12p survival guide

rumble beatmaker

10p - 1:45A the soul spot x soundcream airstream

ventura Metal / Noise (21+)

10p covina 10:45p ammo for my arsenal 11:15p athanatos 12:30p bitforce

little death Singer/Songwriter

10p very old morris 11p chris maddin 12p demitasse

limelight hip-hop

10p madone 11p apaso 12p rel of chisme

sacurrent.com | September 25-October 8, 2019 | CURRENT

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music Banding Together

Members of groups playing the San Antonio Music Showcase dissect the Alamo City music scene BY CHRIS CONDE On Saturday, September 28, more than 35 bands will take over 10 St. Mary’s Strip venues for the San Antonio Music Showcase, a Current-sponsored night highlighting some of the city’s ﬁnest homegrown talent.We hit up members of four of those acts to talk about the Alamo City’s music scene, hitting on its highs and lows.

CHRISTOPHER CRUZ, VOCALIST AND MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST, SʞIN

name from No.925 to SʞIN? To me, No.925 wasn’t turning out the way I wanted it to. I felt like I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to make something that people would like. With SʞIN, it started out by being inﬂuenced a lot by death metal and [SA-based industrial artist] Mutant, [as well as Austin noise punk outfit] Street Sects. Mutant told me to get some vintage [electronic equipment]. So that’s what I did, I remember I went out and bought an MPC 2000 XL and started making drumbeats, and I told myself, “No pressure, just start putting things together,” and that’s what I did. And I wrote two songs underneath the name SʞIN. How’s the response been to your music? It started off slow with No.925, but with SʞIN, people have been treating me differently, I guess. Especially with people who book shows here. I get a quicker response from people when I reach out. So that’s what’s keeping me going, maybe because I feel like I’m doing something that feels natural.

Courtesy of SʞIN

SʞIN is a one-man industrial act specializing in abrasive noisescapes. How long have you been playing shows in San Antonio? It started off when I met Wolf Party and Mutant, so about two years ago — when I first started No.925, right when I first moved over here [from Corpus Christi]. What was the reason for switching your

SʞIN plays the Goth/Industrial showcase at Amp Room during the San Antonio Music Showcase.

EMILY WHITEHURST, VOCALIST AND MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST, SURVIVAL GUIDE Survival Guide, helmed by former Tsuna-

mi Bomb vocalist Emily Whitehurst, plays synth-friendly indie pop and rock. What’s been your experience going from your old pop-punk band Tsunami

Courtesy of Survival Guide

Bomb to a solo project? Having all the control is very nice, as far as being able to make decisions on what shows I play. I can play every show if I want to. Whereas, being in a band with other members, you all have to collaborate, and your schedules have to match, which can be frustrating at times. What’s it like coming in from the outside and getting involved in the scene here? Although I have still not thrown myself into it completely, as I’m attempting to write an album and it’s going very slowly, what I have experienced in the music scene here has all been really positive, as far as musicians being super supportive of each other. I love that about San Antonio. Also, one of the best things, as opposed to the Bay Area, is just how relaxed and peaceful it is here. Do you have any critiques for bands here or the scene in general? The only thing — and I wouldn’t say it’s a negative — it’s just something that I question, is when I see artists playing all the time. Like, if I see an artist or a band and they’re like, “Here’s our upcoming schedule: we’re playing Wednesday at Hi-Tones and Saturday at the Amp Room and then next Saturday at Blue Star,” maybe that’s too much. There’s something to be said

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for exposure but also overexposure. But I don’t totally know. Maybe that’s how people are building an audience, so it’s not necessarily a criticism so much as it is an [observation]. Survival Guide plays the Indie Rock Showcase at Hi-Tones during the San Antonio Music Showcase.

SAM BERTON, VOCALIST AND GUITARIST, NOISE QUOTA Young band Noise Quota performs ’90s rock-inspired garage and bedroom pop. How long has Noise Quota been together? Noise Quota has been an idea in my head since before graduating high school in 2015. It started off as more as a garage punk kind of band, and as members changed and I got better at my instrument and my tastes kind of changed, we fell into a different kind of sound. But the Noise Quota that people would know about today has probably been going on since 2016. That’s also when we started playing shows regularly. When did you start going to shows? Honestly, I didn’t realize that there were a lot of shows to go to in San Antonio until I started playing them. It was going to

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music

It’s definitely changed. I feel like it’s gotten softer in a lot of ways. I feel like the heavy music scene is in a lull right now, and I also feel like the scene is — the scene’s always had a problem with self-segregation and has been real cliquey — but I feel like, currently, it’s been overthe-top with that cliquish nature.

Oscar Moreno

places that I wanted to play at like Imagine Books and Vapure back in 2016, that made me realize that there was a whole music scene here, so it was actually pretty late. It was around the same time that I wanted to play shows with my band that I started going to shows regularly. Being sort of new to the music scene, what are some positive and negatives you see? It’s crazy how many really talented people there are making music here in town that you don’t really have to scratch too far beyond the surface to find out about. I think it’s cool that there are a lot of supportive people in the music scene. And there are cities like Austin that — it’s really well known they’ve got this great music scene, [but] there’s not much difference as far as talent. We have a lot of talent. I just think that there are a lot of infrastructural differences between here and Austin that make San Antonio feels like it’s more underground and unrecognized. I do think that San Antonio has a lot of potential, and if younger bands can continue to support each other the way that I’ve seen coming into the scene a few years ago. If that can continue, I think there’s a lot of room for growth. Noise Quota plays the Indie Rock Showcase at Hi-Tones during the San Antonio Music Showcase.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra PRESENTS

What do you think we can do to resolve those issues? I think the most important thing is getting young kids to shows. Because there’s a lot of pissed-off young kids these days, and they need a release. When I was 16, 17, 18, that’s when music mattered the most to me, you know what I mean? And if it’s all just dudes in their mid-to-late 30s playing heavy shit, [young kids can’t always] relate to that. So, we need to do all-ages shows, get kids to shows, and hopefully kids will start punk bands and go from there.

TS TICKE LE A ON S W! NO

Another big problem with the San Antonio scene is that the hardworking bands are kind of forgotten about by the locals, bands like Haunter, who just put out a sick record and toured. And, not to toot my own horn, but Grasshopper’s done a lot of shit, but when like-minded bands come to San Antonio, we don’t get asked to play the Melvins show. Bookers don’t ask us to play shit like that.

TRANS-SIBERIAN.COM

Do you think there’s any responsibility on the artist’s end to reach out to promoters and ask to get put on these bills? Like, “Hey we sound like these guys, put us on this bill.” Yeah, and we’ve done that before, and sometimes it falls on deaf ears. But I don’t know. A lot of promoters, especially on the [St. Mary’s] Strip will book their buddies instead, and that’s a big problem. But, yeah, the responsibility goes both ways. And I think what really helps is when bands from San Antonio go on tour, meet friends and those friends’ bands come to San Antonio — that’s when I’ll book a show.

JAMES WOODARD, GUITARIST AND VOCALIST, THE GRASSHOPPER LIES HEAVY The Grasshopper Lies Heavy specialize in noisy heaviness that teeters between art and sludge.

HOURS

How have you seen the music landscape change over the 13 years you’ve been a band? Or has it stayed the same?

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Courtesy of Daniel Johnston

Daniel Johnston’s San Antonio Friends and Collaborators Remember His Troubled Genius

space at the South Side Living + Maker Spaces to Johnston’s work when the site opens next month. “Dan was an artist’s artist. His work came from the most honest, sincere, loving place that art can come from,” Wheeler said. “It dealt with all that is important in a way we could all relate to. His words were beyond beautiful and will help his spirit live on. I am so lucky to have counted him among my friends and honored to have been a collaborator. I will think of him always.” San Antonio fan Zan DuRoy met Johnston at a barbecue in the late ’90s and asked him about one of his songs she’d heard on a mix tape. What she’d expected to be a typical musician interaction — full of small talk or ego gratiﬁcation — turned into an immediate and surprising connection. “He just came across as one of those genuine souls who are driven to create and express themselves no matter what,” she said. “He didn’t want to talk about small stuﬀ. It was all about music and big ideas.” Tubular Face’s Escamilla now works as a psychiatrist and credits exposure

to Johnston’s mental illness, in part, with his own research on bipolar disorder. The rawness in the music, he added, was a direct result of the artist’s wide swings between despair and elation. “Daniel became one of those people who drove me, first, to try to help others with the problem, then later, to do research into what the hell it is,” he said. Escamilla’s last encounter with the singer happened on a visit to Germany, when by chance he spotted a flyer for one of Johnston’s gigs. Escamilla bought a ticket and watched in wonder as the sold-out hall sang along, clearly knowing every word to Johnston tunes like “Speeding Motorcycle.” “I think was a little bit of a miracle that it happened — that he got discovered and people connected so much with his music,” Escamilla said. “It would have been very easy for him just to have been written off as another weird guy on the street.” Current staffers Chris Conde and Kelly Merka Nelson contributed to this report.

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

ichael Escamilla first met Daniel Johnston in the mid ’80s when the cult singer-songwriter was handing out tapes of his music on Austin’s Guadalupe Street to anyone willing to listen. Escamilla, who now lives in San Antonio, hit it off with the quirky young man and recognized something magical in his homespun tunes. Magical enough, in fact, that he started covering some of them with his own band Tubular Face. Eventually, during a Tubular Face gig, Escamilla and Glass Eye frontwoman Kathy McCarty urged Johnston to jump onstage and play in front of an audience for what was likely his first time. “He was extremely nervous, just a nervous wreck — barely got through the song,” Escamilla recalls. “But people immediately loved it. They recognized the brilliance of what he was doing and what he was saying in the lyrics.” Escamilla is among the San Antonio musicians, artists and fans touched by Johnston, who built a worldwide following through a pure, childlike

approach to music and visual art, even as he fought a harrowing battle with mental illness. Johnson died September 11 at the age 0f 58 of a presumed heart attack. “Daniel was an outsider’s outsider, sort of an extension of the Austin tradition of folks like Townes [Van Zandt], Blaze Foley and Rich Minus with the pop sensibility of Roky Erickson, and sans the alcohol patina of the former,” said Jeff Smith, the San Antonio-based frontman for the Hickoids. Smith released Johnston’s “The Marching Guitars” as part of Woodshock ’85, a live LP documenting that year’s edition of the Austin weirdo-rock festival. It was Johnston’s vinyl debut. “Even if you didn’t care for the lack of production or rhythmically challenged nature of [Johnston’s] recordings, there was always a line or two in his songs that were identifiable to anyone in their open acknowledgment of insecurity and self-doubt,” Smith said. Jeff Wheeler, a San Antonio visual artist who collaborated with Johnston, said news of Johnston’s passing “hit hard.” He plans to dedicate gallery

Michael Sieben

San Antonio visual artist Jeﬀ Wheeler (left) is shown visiting with Daniel Johnston at his home in Waller. sacurrent.com | September 25-October 8, 2019 | CURRENT

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Friday, September 27

IRON MAIDEN, THE RAVEN AGE

THE TEXASES

Wednesday, September 25 When metal mainstay Iron Maiden blew through San Antonio a couple years ago, its set was heavy on songs from the then-new album Book of Souls. This time, Maiden’s Legacy of the Beast Tour has it in career retrospective mode — something local fans will eat up given SA’s embrace of the band during its earliest days. As if a setlist drawing deep from iconic albums like Number of the Beast and Powerslave wasn’t enough for the audience to raise devil horns over, this tour is also the band’s most visually extravagant. Expect to see a swooping British Spitfire fighter on “Aces High” and singer Bruce Dickinson brandishing flamethrowers. Over the top? Probably. But metal generally works best that way. $49.50-$125, 7:30 p.m., AT&T Center, 1 AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 444-5000, attcenter.com. — Sanford Nowlin

This week on “Things You Didn’t Know Could Be Made Plural,” The Texases are bringing their classic country covers to Floore’s. Like the Ramones, these fellers all share the same last name, Texas, which helps explain the band’s moniker. Any combo of classic country and the Ramones sounds like a win. Free, 7 p.m., John T. Floore’s Country Store, 14492 Old Bandera Rd, (210) 695-8827, liveatfloores.com. — Mike McMahan

BOB SCHNEIDER

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Wednesday, September 25

BROODS

New Zealand-based Broods craft a sound that can only be described as a cross between bedroom pop and ’80s synthwave. Since the early 2010s, the duo has been churning out catchy tunes marked by bouncy rhythms and longing lyrics. After leaving their first label in 2016, they assumed complete creative control over their image and music, resulting in their latest brainchild Don’t Feed the Pop Monster. $20-$25, 7:30 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Rhyma Castillo

MARIANAS TRENCH

The dream of 2006 is alive! In Canada, anyway. Like a time capsule from the days of bombastic pop-punk, MySpace fashion statements (think dudes with soccer mom haircuts) and theatrical concept albums, Marianas Trench may be Canada’s best-kept secret for those who still frequent emo nights. $20-$150, 7 p.m., Vibes Event Center, (210) 255-3833, 1211 East Houston St., vibeseventcenter.com. — Shannon Sweet

Thursday, September 26

FAVORITE SON

A hometown show for the trio of Cooper Greenberg, Ramon Botello and Andres Ovalle, accompanied by Sam’s patented big-branded burgers, seems like an ideal way to spend a Thursday. Especially since singer-guitarist Greenberg is a former San Antonio Guitar Wars winner. The band’s latest release is 2018’s Dream Sequence. $5-$20, 7:30 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — Jay Nanda

RIVER BARONS

River Barons hail from the musical Wild West of San Antonio, where there are no set rules. The band’s music, an ode to South Texas, is fun, messy, unpretentious and wild, just like the region it represents. Free, 8 p.m., Aquaduck Beer Garden, 9214 Espada Road, (210) 600-3280, the aquaduck.com. — SS

ZEDD, JAX JONES, NOTD

For this stacked show, EDM artist Zedd and his tourmates bust out of the cozy club confines that typically provide the

backdrop for their music and take to the great outdoors. Remember kids: hydration is even more important out in the sunlight. $36.49-$869.79, 7 p.m., Whitewater Amphitheater, 11860 FM 306, New Braunfels, (830) 964-3800, whitewaterrocks.com. — James Courtney

MESSTHETICS

Washington’s Messthetics come highly recommended for adventurous music listeners. The experimental outfit is known to slay audiences and genre divisions alike with its improvisational brand of punk infused with elements of jazz and pop. Listen up at themessthetics.bandcamp.com and hear for yourself. $13-$15, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — JC

DOC WATKINS TRIO

To label Doc Watkins multi-talented is an understatement. Not only is he his self-named trio’s leader, vocalist and pianist, he owns the Pearl Brewery venue where he’ll be performing. But wait, there’s more. Watkins, who moved to the Alamo City in 2006, co-hosts Texas Public Radio’s weekly radio show “Live at Jazz, TX.” He’s also released seven albums, plays 200 shows per year and has masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas. $10, 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., Jazz, TX, 312 Pearl Pkwy, Building 6, (210) 332-9386, JazzTX.com. — JN

Bob Schneider, the widely adored country and folk singer-songwriter from ATX, will take the stage at Sam’s for a rare solo show. Sounds like an opportunity to hear his songs in their most raw and authentic form. $15-$90, 8:30 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — JC

HOLY KNIVES, ESTEREOMANCE

San Antonio-based rock duo the Holy Knives is hitting the road with trio Estereomance on a nationwide tour. The Holy Knives have a sound that can most accurately be described as a bad-boy Western: a cross between the Chris Isaak’s clean country drawl and Depeche Mode’s dirtier synth era. If you’re in the mood to feel like you’re in a Richard Rodriguez film — vampires not included — this one may be worth checking out. $5, 8 p.m., Limelight, 2718 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 735-7775, thelimelightsa.com. — RC

SHEER MAG

Locals that love heavy music should rejoice at this one. Few metal and hard rock acts do their thing quite as furiously, as impressively as Philadelphia’s Sheer Mag. $5$10, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. com. — JC

SOPHIA JOHNSON

The 1960s British Invasion was fueled by American rock and R&B. Now, decades later, British-born performer and current ATX resident Sophia Johnson takes it full circle, bringing her roots rock and Americana to the Lonesome Rose for an evening. $5, 9 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerose. com. — MM

ROBERT EARL KEEN, COLTER WALL, CARSON MCHONE

Saturday, September 28 Texas icon Robert Earl Keen has built a durable career as a singer-songwriter by figuring out how to mix introspective story songs with crowd-pleasing — yet non-douchey — country fare like “The Road Goes on Forever” and “That Buckin’ Song.” Hard to argue with someone equally adept at making fans cry into their beers and roping them into singing along with the jukebox. And the storied country institution Floore’s seems like an ideal setting for either pursuit. Hell, Keen himself has an obvious affinity for Floore’s, as evidenced by his 2016 album Live Dinner Reunion, a recording from the venue that included guest appearances from fellow Texas troubadours Joe Ely and Lyle Lovett. $28-$500, 7 p.m., John T. Floore Country Store, 14492 Old Bandera Road, Helotes, (210) 695-8827, liveatfloores.com. — SN Courtesy of Robert Earl Keen

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brew of everything from punk to psychedelia to synth rock to powerful Spanish-language vocals. The band is touring behind a brand-new album, Ahomale, released this year on ANTI- Records. $12-$14, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. com. — MM

MALUMA

Saturday, September 28 Few reggaeton performers have been able to cross over at the level Maluma has. The Colombian singer and rapper began breaking into the mainstream as early on as the release of “Obsesión” and “Miss Independent,” singles that went viral on YouTube before he even dropped his 2012 debut. Since then, Maluma’s embrace of stylish urban grooves has helped him pick up both new fans and high-profile collaborations. Earlier this year, he worked with Madonna on the song “Medellin” from her Madame X release, even performing it with her at the Billboard Music Awards. His latest LP 11:11 reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart this summer while last year’s F.A.M.E. was still kicking around in the top 20. $56-$753.50, 8 p.m., AT&T Center, 1 AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 444-5000, attcenter.com. — SN

Thursday, October 3

SOCIAL REPOSE, JOHNNIE GUILBERT, SECRET TREE FORT

The main attraction here is Social Repose, Richie Giese’s electronic dance-pop project responsible for creepily creative videos such as “Filthy Pride,” “Empress” and “Villain.” But don’t count out solid support from the other two outfits on the package tour. $17, 6 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — JN Courtesy of Maluma

Saturday, September 28

TESLA

There’s little argument that Tesla has aged better than its peers from the ’80s hair metal scene. Is it that the band rooted its sound in tried-and-true ’70s rock? Or that it never fully embraced hairstyles that required a can of Aqua Net daily? More importantly, are modern-day cowboys still modern 30 years later? Might be worth catching this one to know for sure. $35-$75, 7 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — MM

VICTOR INTERNET

Victor Internet — the viral confessional bedroom-pop wunderkind formerly known as VICTOR! — is already selling out venues such as Paper Tiger on his debut headlining tour, no radio play required. Look online for a ticket, because you never know. 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com.

COLD

Let’s take a quick trip back to the golden age of Myspace, when the embedded online music player was king. Cold, an American altrock band from Jacksonville, Florida, found peak commercial success during that era and has since sold more than 100 million records in the U.S. alone. After numerous band member switch-ups and messy breakups, the band is back with its first studio album in eight years, The Things We Can’t Stop. $18, 7 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., (210)677-9453, therockboxsa.com. — RC

Sunday, Sept. 29

BIG K.R.I.T. WITH DOMANI HARRIS The rapper who calls himself Big King Remembered In Time has made a name for

himself by dropping bullshit-free rhymes. Hailing from Meridian, Mississippi, K.R.I.T. says in his single “Get Away” that he has love for his people and just wants to let everyone get their glow on. So, it shall be, as K.R.I.T. is sure to wax poetic on today’s world of hatred, violence, inequality and social unrest. Expect opener Domani Harris to deliver his style of rap from an 18-year-old’s perspective in support of “Time Will Tell.” $27.50, 7 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — JN

like Weiland, which will come in handy as STP celebrates the 25th anniversary of its album Purple. $35-$69.50, 7 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — JN

COMBO CHIMBITA

Combo Chimbita takes a kitchen sink approach to its music, stirring up a witches’

RED

Red recently announced its support slot for a tour by Swedish metal band In Flames. Given In Flames’ legendary status, this should be a strong rec. On the other hand, Red have won six Dove Awards — the Grammys of Christian rock — so proceed with some degree of caution. $18, 8 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 255-3833, therockboxsa.com. — MM

Tuesday, October 1

IMMOLATION + BLOOD INCANTATION

Do you wanna feel like you’re fornicating with Satan himself? Well bend over, because these death metal outfits will make you feel like you’re being internally bathed in hellfire. Immolation’s “Dawn of Possession” and Blood Incantation’s “Meticulous Soul Devourment” should give clear warning that this isn’t a show to bring your born-again Christian friends to. You can, however, bring your crucifix — only if you hold it upside-down. $8-$16, 7 p.m., Rock Box, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 677-9453, therockboxsa.com. — RC

Wednesday, October 2

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS

Still armed with the DeLeo Brothers on bass and guitar and original drummer Eric Kretz, STP has soldiered on after the deaths of both vocalist Scott Weiland and one-time replacement Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. Bennington was on vocals during the group’s previous Aztec visit in 2015. But fear not if you missed that one. Latest frontman Jeff Gutt looks, sings and slithers slightly

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS, WEEKEND ONE

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Friday, October 4-Sunday, October 6 If you’re not sure what ACL is yet, you’ve most likely been living under a rock or only recently discovered the existence of popular music. Originally a three-day festival, the event held in Austin’s Zilker Park has evolved into a two-weekend affair that mixes rock, indie electronic, hip-hop, EDM and R&B. Heavy hitters Metallica, Radiohead and Jay-Z have headlined in the past. This year, Childish Gambino (who was slated to play last year but cancelled because of a foot injury), Guns ’N’ Roses, The Cure, Lizzo and weirdo popstress Billie Eillish are all rocking sets. $255-$3600, 11 a.m., 2100 Barton Springs Road, Austin, (888) 512-SHOW, aclfestival.com. — Chris Conde sacurrent.com | September 25-October 8, 2019 | CURRENT

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Monday

WU-TANG CLAN

Saturday, October 5 “Wu-Tang Clan ain’t nothing to fuck with.” Beyond being anthemic, the sentiment behind that lyric holds true. Few groups from the early-’90s gangsta-rap era have managed to sustain the success Wu-Tang has, both individually and as a collective. From scoring films to building full-on movie careers, this hip-hop juggernaut has managed to remain relevant in pop culture for over a quarter century. $79.50-$149.50, 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St., (210) 226-5700, majesticempire.com. — CC

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Tuesday

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Saturday, October 5

GOUGE AWAY, JEROME’S DREAM, SOUL GLO, AMYGDALA

Gouge Away sounds like your first time — loud, fast, and a frantic. But hey, it’s not bad if you’re into that sort of thing. Jerome’s Dream serves as a nice complement to Gouge Away’s chaos. Its ’90s punk-grunge vibe stacked with loads of discordant riffs, more closely resembles a nightmare — in the best way possible. Meanwhile, punk outfit Soul Glo sums up what it’s like to be an angry teenager raging against the capitalist machine. Local act Amygdala, like Gouge Away, delivers discordant hardcore that’s easy — almost too easy — to pop off to. $13$15, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — RC

Sunday, October 6

THE RACONTEURS

Composed of members from the Greenhornes plus Jack White — i.e. the more successful half of the White Stripes — supergroup The Raconteurs is back with a new album Help Us Stranger and support tour,

HAPPY HOUR TIL MIDNIGHT + Open Mic | 9:30P - 2A

Wednesday

Music by C liff Crawford

perhaps to help us all rinse our mouths of the sickly sweet aftertaste of mainstream rock in the last half of the 2010s. $49.50$79.50, 7 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztechtheatre.com. — SS

Thursday

VAMO S A TEQUILA! ME NU + DJ Biig Mike

Friday

Tuesday, October 8

Music by DJ Therapy

CHRIS BROWN

Do you have a lot of money laying around that you want to part with? Are you oddly attracted to garbage people that sing barely passably but dance pretty well? Are you indifferent to the idea of supporting unrepentant abusers? If you answered yes to all of the above, then, by all means, go see Chris Fucking Brown. $43.50-$253.50, 6:30 p.m., AT&T Center, One AT&T Center, (210) 444-5000, attcenter.com. — JC

Sunday

HAPPY HOUR A LL DAY Music By C3 Tri o Tri o

BAD SUNS, LIILY, ULTRA Q

Responsible for several semi-catchy radio rock songs that you don’t know the name of — their hit “Cardiac Arrest,” for example — Bad Suns are a band you’ve heard for years, even if you can’t quite sing along. $22, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com.

KALI UCHIS

Tuesday, October 8 Given how saturated the music industry seems lately, gaining any kind of recognition in it is no easy feat. That’s why watching Kali Uchis’ come up over the past couple of years has been exciting to watch. On top of dealing with the industry’s boys club, Uchis has managed to snag guest features with artists ranging from Snoop Dogg to Gorillaz while landing on music festival lineups like San Antonio’s Mala Luna. More recently, your girl was added the bill of this year’s Austin City Limits Festival. However, you don’t have to drive all the way to Austin to see the “Time Singer.” Uchis also booked a show at San Antonio’s Aztec Theatre. $35, 7 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 8124355, theaztectheatre.com. — CC

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52 5 to 2, e.g. 55 Tennis superstar, as nicknamed by his Serbian fans 60 Buffet bit 63 Like octuplets 64 “Blueprint for a Sunrise” artist 65 ___ and Guilder (rival nations in “The Princess Bride”) 66 More than enough, for some 67 The Lightning Seeds lead singer Broudie 68 Forewarning 69 Ardor 70 “Black-ish” father

DOWN 1 Pasta in casseroles 2 “Wheel of Fortune” purchase options 3 Defense missile used against other missiles 4 F or G, e.g. 5 “Vorsprung durch Technik” automaker 6 Ben Stiller’s mom 7 Curly of the Harlem Globetrotters 8 Request to be excused 9 2018 horror movie and spin-off of “The Conjuring 2” 10 Swindle 11 Not closeted 12 Mama bear, in Madrid

13 Jennifer Lien’s “Star Trek: Voyager” role 21 Head of Hogwarts? 22 Actor Rao of “Drag Me to Hell” and “Avatar” 25 Invalid 26 Money in the bank 27 Sport with clay pigeons 29 Literally, “reign” in Hindi 30 M.D.’s group 31 Island off Manhattan 32 Pool hall supply 33 “Ready or not, ___ come!” 35 Story credit 39 Calligrapher’s tip 40 Honorary poem 43 Suck in 47 Place of perfection 48 Give in 50 Hundred Acre Wood resident 53 Iranian coin 54 Pastry with some Earl Grey 56 Controversial TV health adviser 57 “Emma” novelist Austen 58 Marine predator

59 Ship’s bottom 60 Ozone layer pollutant, for short 61 Words with king or carte 62 NaNoWriMo, er, mo. ANSWER ON PAGE 21

E M P LOY M E N T COMMUNITY OF CHRIST

Camp Sionito is seeking a Resort Manager in Bandera, TX to respond to inquiries regarding facility policies & services, including Community of Christ sponsored events & other organizations, coordinate resort preparation for use and cleaning of all facilities. Food Handler/ServiceCertified & TABC Certified required. Send resume via email to nick@winocular.com and reference job for Resort Manager.

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WINE + FOOD F E S T I VA L

BECKER VINEYARDS+ LA CANTERA RESORT & SPA

It’s the place to see San Antonio’s best chefs all in one place and all you pay is the price of admission to rub elbows with some of the brightest stars in our city. Not to mention, taste, taste and taste some more of the culinary creations they’ve designed. Add to the flavors your choice of wine, beer or cocktail and the setting of the Texas Hill Country and your weekend is complete at this year’s Culinaria Festival.

Cheers to 20 Years Tickets + Details At Culinariasa.org