SYMPHONY STRIKE GETS UGLIER | THE PODCASTER BEHIND I F**KCING LOVE SAN ANTONIO | THE GRAVE BABES WON'T STAY DEAD NOV. 3 - NOV. 16, 2021
A quiet place.
Here's what's at stake as a task force reviews the city's noise ordinance
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AUTO AUCTION
DEC. 22, 2021 at 3:00P at
SAN ANTONIO VEHICLE IMPOUND FACILITY ALL VEHICLES LISTED WERE IMPOUNDED BY SAN ANTONIO POLICE DEPT. AND WILL BE SOLD VIA JOYRIDEAUCTOS.COM. Registered owners may pick up vehicles ID# YEAR by showing proof of ownership & paying 4252338 1999 all towing & storage fees prior to Auction. Celebrate Dyslexia Schools is pleased to announce our application for a proposed Generation 27 open enrollment public charter school. CDS is on a mission to provide every dyslexic learner with an emotionally and physically safe environment, guiding each individual student to be self-driven while experiencing academic success as a pathway to pursue life goals and aspirations. The vision is to be a premier hub for best practices in teaching and learning for dyslexia for all stakeholders in the entire education ecosystem including administrators, teachers, parents and most importantly students. With strategic community partners, this work will not just affect the CDS campus, but saturate the San Antonio community with well trained teachers and educated students. We are hosting a public community meeting and would like to invite you to attend to learn more. Details below. The school will be called Celebrate Dyslexia School
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This will be an open enrollment campus with a unique design model for the dyslexic learner to experience academic success
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Celebrate Dyslexia Schools is the sponsoring entity and the founding board members are:
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• Jasmin Dean • Tracy Weeden • Shereen Radusca
• Roger Hackett • Michelle Cantu • Alfred Breuer
The Public Meeting will be November 29, 2021 from 5:30 - 6:30 pm. An in person or virtual option are available. The in person attendance address is Mission Library at 3134 Roosevelt Ave, San Antonio, TX 78214. The online platform is zoom. To join the virtual meeting, please use the following link: https://zoom.us/ j/4127747867?pwd=YXNWRnh6MnhPZ2R1Q2FqOHQzYU1RQT09 The Meeting ID: 412 774 7867 and the Passcode: celebrate We invite the community to participate.
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in this issue San Antonio Current
Issue 21-22 /// November 3 – November 16, 2021
35 Music
Editor-in-Chief: Sanford Nowlin General Manager: Chelsea Bourque
Dead, Not Buried
Editorial
The Grave Babes have ended a seven-year run (maybe), but not before releasing an album as their epitaph
Digital Content Editor: Kelly Merka Nelson Contributing Arts Editor: Bryan Rindfuss Food and Nightlife Writer: Nina Rangel Contributors: Ron Bechtol, Daniel Conrad, Jade Esteban Estrada, Dan R. Goddard, Lance Higdon, Steven G. Kellman, Hannah Lorence, Kiko Martinez, M. Solis, Gary Sweeney, Lea Thompson, Abe Asher, Mackenzie Cook Editorial Interns: Katelyn Earhart, Yukiko Yamazaki
Music Listings
Marketing and Events
Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni Events Manager: Chelsea Bourque Account Manager: Nathan Sokul Senior Account Executive: Mike Valdelamar Marketing Interns: Julia Bentley Social Media Manager: Meradith Garcia
Creative Services
Graphic Designer: Samantha Serna Production Interns: Pedro Macias
Circulation
Circulation Manager: Justin Giles
Euclid Media Group
Chief Executive Officer: Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers: Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services: Stacy Volhein Director of Agency Services: Mindi Overman Digital Operations Coordinator: Jaime Monzon Senior Marketing and Events Director: Cassandra Yardeni 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) 332-5448 Display Advertising: (210) 332-5448 Classified: (210) 227-CLAS / Fax - (210) 227-7733 The San Antonio Current is published by Euclid Media Group
Jaime Monzon
12 Feature
A Quiet Place
Here’s what’s at stake as a task force reviews San Antonio’s noise ordinance
09 News
The Opener News in Brief
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.
CityScrapes The 14% Solution
17 Calendar Calendar Picks
22 Arts
‘I Just Like to Make Work’
A peek inside the weird world of enigmatic San Antonio artist James Smolleck
Waging War
Symphony Society slashes health benefits as latest volley in ongoing musicians’ strike
Pulling No Punchlines Transgender stand-up comedian Joan Riviera Simoncelli explains what Dave Chappelle got wrong
SYMPHONY STRIKE GETS UGLIER | THE PODCASTER BEHIND I F**KCING LOVE SAN ANTONIO | THE GRAVE BABES WON'T STAY DEAD NOV. 3 - NOV. 16, 2021
29 Screens Acting in the Apocalypse
San Antonio native Nicolas Cantu wants to up his character’s kill numbers during the final season of Walking Dead spinoff
31 Food
A quiet place.
Here's what's at stake as a task force reviews the city's noise ordinance
Pouring One Out
The I F**king Love San Antonio podcast has spun its “Cheers for Local Beers” segment into a standalone show
Hot Dish
O
n the Cover: Musicians and venue owners are nervous as a task force considers changes to the noise ordinance. Some have been through this drill before. Cover design: Samantha Serna.
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A new investigation by TV station KSAT shows that San Antonio police officers who turn off their body cameras are rarely suspended. Even though SAPD policy requires officers to turn on their body cameras during interactions with the public, the investigation found that of the 256 body camera infractions the department has reviewed over a three-year period, only 42 resulted in an officer being suspended — a rate of less than one in five.
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Five members of San Antonio City Council have filed a proposal to expand the city’s eight-year-old non-discrimination ordinance to cover all private businesses with 15 or more employees. The ordinance, which protects people against various forms of identity-based discrimination, currently applies only to city employment and contracts, housing, public accommodations and board appointments. Under the proposal, the ordinance would also be expanded to include legal assistance for complainants and increased penalties for violators.
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The popular Delta-8 cannabis extract remains illegal in Texas after a state district judge in Austin denied a request for a temporary restraining order sought by the CBD retailer Hometown Hero. Many CBD retailers thought that the sale of Delta-8 was permitted in the state following the passage of federal and state laws legalizing the sale of hemp. A Texas regulatory agency last month declared Delta-8 a Schedule I drug, meaning its sale is technically illegal. A new comedy series from muchloved local author Shea Serrano is headed to Amazon-owned streaming service IMDb TV. Serrano will write and produce Primo, about a teenager trying to navigate his academic and social lives. It draws from Serrano’s childhood in San Antonio. Michael Schur of The Good Place will serve as executive producer. — Abe Asher
YOU SAID IT!
“Whether [CPS Energy CEO Paula Gold-Williams] stays or not, I was not going to support it. We have to get our house in order first.” — Janie Gonzalez,
CPS Energy Trustee to the Express-News on the utility’s proposed rate hike
ASSCLOWN ALERT
Saying the quiet part out loud with Texas Rep. Matt Krause Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark. Last week, State Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, demanded that Texas school superintendents provide an accounting for books addressing racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights and gender issues which he said received “objections from students, parents, and taxpayers.” Krause, a founder of the Tea Party-affiliated Texas Freedom Caucus, made the request Monday in a letter sent in his capacity as chair of the House Committee on General Investigating. His probe comes a month after he announced plans to run against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the GOP primary. Among the books on a 16-page spreadsheet that accompanied Krause’s letter are The Fight for LGBTQ+ Rights by Devlin Smith, Black Lives Matter: From Hashtag to the Streets by Artika R. Tyner and What Is the Black Lives Matter Movement? by Hedreich Nichols. The list of nearly 900 books also includes fiction titles such as the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron and Follow Your Arrow by Jessica Verdi, a young adult book dealing with themes related to sexual orientation. Further, Krause’s letter asks the superintendents to catalog books on campus dealing with human sexuality, HIV/AIDS and any subject that makes students “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish”
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, filed a bill last week designed to hold down natural gas prices during environmental disasters such as February’s winter storm. The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, would place a limit on natural gas trading during emergencies and establish fines for gas-related businesses that engage in price gouging. It would also open a federal inquiry into energy companies that made billions during the February storm. U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert is again in the news for the wrong reasons. The East Texas congressman was IDed as one of several Republican lawmakers whose offices met multiple times with the organizers of the January 6 coup attempt, Rolling Stone reports. Citing two people involved in organizing former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, the magazine reported that Gohmert and other pro-Trump GOPers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Lauren Boebert, were “intimately involved” in planning the Jan. 6 events.
news
That Rocks/That Sucks
Twitter / @RepMattKrause
because of discussions of race, sex or gender. He requests the superintendents to share how many copies of each book their districts possesses and at what campus locations. He also asks them to identify how much the districts spent to buy the books. In a statement, the Texas State Teachers Association said Krause’s letter “smacks of a witch hunt.” Which may be putting it politely, considering that the bulk of Krause’s list seems to center around books exploring matters of race, gender and sexuality. In post-Trump America, Republican lawmakers don’t just feel empowered to say the quiet part out loud, they now see potential political gain from it. And this assclown is certainly no exception. — Sanford Nowlin
Bexar County is set to receive more than $12 million in payments from Johnson & Johnson in the company’s settlement for its role in perpetrating the opioid crisis. The county will receive $4.1 million to settle its 2018 suit against the company and $8.5 million more as part of Texas’ settlement with the company. The county is expected to receive its money by year’s end. — Abe Asher
Shutterstock
Find more news coverage every day at sacurrent.com
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news
Sanford Nowlin
CITYSCRAPES
The 14% Solution
After the February freeze, it’s time for San Antonio to break its addiction to CPS Energy’s revenues BY HEYWOOD SANDERS Editor’s Note: The following is CityScrapes, a column of opinion and analysis.
A
nd I sincerely doubt many know that 14% of CPS Energy’s revenues are remitted to the City of San Antonio’s general fund each year, accounting for 20% of the city’s operating budget.” — Bill Greehey, Foreword, Powering a City, 2017. “If the truth be known, after all the breast beating and flailing about gas prices, the city government was an accomplice in the increases to consumers … The city is addicted to the CPS payment just as irrevocably as if it were an advanced state of heroin dependence. This is because the payment has covered the holes in our tax appraisal system [and] allowed large taxpayers to get away with low appraisals.” — Councilmember Henry Cisneros, December 1977. For decades, the city government of San Antonio has been able to receive up to 14% of CPS Energy’s gross revenues, constituting a significant share
of the dollars that pay for general fund services including police and fire, parks, recreation, libraries and street maintenance. The trust indenture that was part of the city’s purchase of the San Antonio Public Service Company in 1942 called for up to a 14% return, or “profit,” to the new owners: the residents of San Antonio. That return had some particularly valuable features, unlike the property tax that largely funded the city at that time. The new public utility, City Public Service, provided gas and electricity to areas outside the city limits, effectively levying a San Antonio “tax” on residents of Olmos Park, Alamo Heights and Terrell Hills, as well as unincorporated areas of the county. And the city’s take of CPS revenues meant that as prices of natural gas and coal went up, the city government profited. Everything worked just fine with that arrangement. Until the mid-1970s, when natural gas prices went through
the roof. The city sued its natural gas supplier, and CPS was obliged to raise its rates. By 1977, with public dissatisfaction growing with CPS and the city government over the gas price increases and monthly utility bills, city council chose to reduce the “take” on the gas portion of CPS service. The return on the utilities’ overall revenues was reduced from the 14% to 11.5%. That decision by council made clear that the 14% figure was a maximum — the city could, and did, choose to take a lesser fraction, lowering the burden on consumers. But just as the city could lower its take, it could boost it as well. And so, notwithstanding then-councilmember Cisneros’ deep concern over the city’s “addiction,” the Texas oil crash of the 1980s changed the city government’s financial situation, and the political dynamic. Facing a serious budget deficit in early 1987, city council was forced to consider some unpleasant alternatives. City Manager Lou Fox initially proposed cutting dozens of vacant positions. But when it became clear that wouldn’t eliminate the millions in projected deficit, Councilmember Yolanda Vera argued for taking the full 14% return on CPS revenues. The alternative, a boost in the property tax rate, was clearly anathema to city council — and to politically ambitious Mayor Cisneros, who was pushing to build a domed stadium. So, the final new budget adopted in September 1987 included taking the full 14% of CPS
revenues. What the council could reduce, the council could later increase. The change back to the 14% take was a short-term fiscal fix. But it effectively became permanent, much as Cisneros had argued with his “addiction” comment in 1977. Still, city council — not CPS Energy — has the choice of where to set the city’s share of those revenues. Now, facing the bills for last winter’s freeze and the prospect of a serious rate hike as CPS finally deals with adapting its infrastructure to a future of more severe winter weather amidst climate change, is the time to revisit the 14% return. The recent increases in property tax revenues from the growth in values have given the city government something of a windfall, despite the impact of the pandemic. Our councilmembers need to do what’s right and assure the public that the city won’t take the full 14% on the unusual costs of the big freeze, whatever the outcome of CPS Energy’s various lawsuits against natural-gas suppliers it accused of price gouging during the storm. San Antonio residents shouldn’t have to pay for the mistakes or failings of CPS, or the cost of remedying them. It’s past time to revisit the “addiction” Henry Cisneros described in 1977. Heywood Sanders is a professor of public policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
sacurrent.com | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | CURRENT
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news
Jaime Monzon
A Quiet Place
Here’s what’s at stake as a task force reviews San Antonio’s noise ordinance BY SANFORD NOWLIN
L
ongtime San Antonio musician Roland Delacruz vividly remembers the city’s early ’90s noise crackdown that disrupted the St. Mary’s Strip during its boom years. His band at the time, the Haskells, was trying to play a gig at outdoor venue Tycoon Flats when police showed up with noise meters. After officers threatened to write tickets to both the bar and the group, Delacruzand his bandmates cranked down the volume on their amps. “They kept checking the meters, and it got to the point where cars driving by were louder than we were,” said Delacruz, who now plays in the rock band Pinky Ring. “When it gets to that level, it sort of becomes ‘What’s the point?’” A feeling of déjà vu is setting in for Delacruz and other musicians and live music fans as a newly minted San Antonio task force considers possible changes to the municipal noise ordinance. People familiar with the discussions say they’re concerned the group may recommend setting arbitrarily low decibel levels for noise enforcement, limiting music venues’ hours
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or requiring special permits to stage certain types of performances. The task force is meeting as the city evaluates a three-month pilot program kicked off in early October that dispatches a half-dozen code compliance offers Thursdays through Saturdays to respond to noise complaints called in from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. The results of that program are expected to play into the task force’s recommendations, which city council would likely vote on — either in the form of a revamped ordinance or changes to the way the city handles enforcement. “That pilot program data is going to be crucial,” said Samantha Wickwire, who oversees zoning and planning for District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry, who called for the creation of the task force. “That will help us understand if it’s even businesses or whether things like house parties are a bigger problem or if it’s just a few bad apples.” Perry and then-District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño ordered the creation of the group earlier this year after they received complaints from neighborhood
The Lonesome Rose has stopped having live music on its outside stage after being approached by code compliance officers.
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groups about noise emanating from nightlife areas in their districts. In Perry’s case, it was the bars around Broadway and Loop 410. In Trevino’s, it was the St. Mary’s Strip and Southtown.
Convenient scapegoats It’s not lost on local musicians that much of the frustration over noise levels comes as gentrifying neighborhoods around the St. Mary’s Strip and other nightlife areas contend with parking, litter and bad behavior from clubgoers. Performers worry live music will end up being collateral damage as part of those cleanup efforts. “It’s a situation where people moved into an area because it’s cool and hip, and now they’re worried about the noise and traffic,” said Chris Smart, a San Antonio musician whose resumé runs from early ’80s post-punk band Lung Overcoat to David Lynch collaborator Chrystabell. “So, where do they want us to play?” Smart and others said the ticketing of venues and performers during the early ’90s contributed to the decline of the St. Mary’s Strip, whose fortunes were also marred by a pair of high-profile shootings and pressure from neighborhood groups. Only in the past decade has the entertainment district fully recovered
from that decline. Anyone who wants to live in the center city needs to expect they’ll be in for a noisier experience than if they buy a house in the suburbs, Smart said. While he lives in the normally quiet River Road enclave, he regularly hears wedding parties from nearby Brackenridge Park, he added. David Uhler, president of longtime German American social club Beethoven Männerchor, said he’s concerned the task force could yield draconian new rules that stop his group from staging music in its beer garden, something it’s done since 1920. He said the longtime King William fixture has tried to be responsive to its neighbors by shelling out several hundred dollars on its own noise meter and is even looking into creating a soundproof barrier to separate it from its nearest residential neighbors. “I understand the frustration of the community,” said Uhler, who’s been attending task force meetings. “I just hope they can be a little patient with us as we sort things out.” Of the 53,000 noise calls San Antonio police received from Jan. 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, just 3% were lodged against bars and venues, according to Uhler. He worries the task force recommendations could be driven not by those facts but by individual members with an ax to grind.
Task force resignation Indeed, the task force has already had one high-profile departure from a member who’s voiced similar concerns. Blayne Tucker, who owns The Mix and serves as president of the North St. Mary’s Business Owners Association, resigned from the group in an Oct. 20 email in which he complained about its lack of geographic diversity and willingness to compromise. In the email, Tucker noted that, at the time of his departure, six of the city’s 10 districts had no representation on the task force. The group is “disproportionately comprised of individuals in district 1 who have very narrowly-focused disputes against specific establishments that reside in their immediate vicinity,” he added. To Tucker’s point, eight of the task force’s 15 members are neighborhood representatives, while just four speak for businesses. The remaining three are city staffers. “I fail to see the efficacy in allowing a task force consisting of folks who predominantly live near the city center [to speak for] residents and businesses in other parts of the greater San Antonio community, who lack any voice in this assessment,” Tucker wrote. “I fear that the lack of diversity on this task force will have a discriminatory impact, especially on folks in impoverished areas of the city.” During the group’s Thursday, Oct. 28 meeting, the conversation was largely cordial and productive. Most of the Zoom gathering was devoted to hashing out processes, including the role city employees would play in decision making and how input from people not on the task force would be handled. At one point, task force member Dawn Ann Larios,
executive director of the San Antonio Restaurant Association, expressed frustration when one of the neighborhood members argued that city council gave her group more of a voice than residents. However, others noted that businesses in the group were interested in doing the right thing. “I don’t think we’re that far off on this stuff,” neighborhood representative John Brenneman said near the call’s conclusion.
‘Fucks with the vibe’ Despite that sentiment, some entertainment-district businesses said they’re already feeling the effects of a crackdown. They worry it may get worse. The three-year-old Lonesome Rose, a honky tonk on the far south end of the St. Mary’s Strip, pulled the plug on early evening performances on its outdoor stage after a visit from code compliance officers three months ago. After those officials pointed out that the bar’s zoning doesn’t specifically say it can stage outdoor performances, music became an inside-only option. While city staffers didn’t explain what prompted their visit, Lonesome Rose partner Garrett T. Capps said it came after the bar faced complaints from the Tobin Hill Neighborhood Association. “It does feel like we’re being targeted,” said Capps, who added that the Lonesome Rose is in dialogue with the association. Capps is a touring alt-country musician who’s emerged as a musical ambassador for the Alamo City via albums such as his recently released I Love San Antone. He said it’s frustrating that as he and other musicians work to put the city on the map, they face the prospect of their gigs being limited by neighborhood pushback. “It fucks with the vibe big-time,” he said. “Especially since San Antonio doesn’t have that many entertainment districts. … It’s an uphill battle to make music in San Antonio, no matter what the genre. It seems like we’re trying to wave our flag as a culturally rich city, but stuff like this really puts us back.” Similarly, Beethoven Hall’s Uhler said his organization is smarting after receiving its first ticket under the pilot program. The penalty came after a group rented the beer garden for a private party and
brought its own band, which showed up with way too much sound system for an outdoor gig. “We regret that that happened, and we’re genuinely concerned about the situation,” he said.
Waiting game In the meantime, musicians, fans and business owners are in a holding pattern as they wait for the pilot program to play out — and for the task force to make sense of the data. One possible outcome is that the task force recommends better enforcement of the existing statutes, said Wickwire with Councilman Perry’s office. “Our first thought was ‘Maybe this is on our end,’” she said. “Maybe this is something we can fix inhouse.” District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo, who inherited the task force from Treviño, his predecessor, said he understands residents don’t want their sleep interrupted by blaring sound systems. At the same time, he’s heard from bar owners who opted not to book live music because they’re worried about being ticketed. “Live music is a great part of our culture,” Bravo said. “We’ve got to find a balance here.” That sentiment was echoed by Mayor Ron Nirenberg in an emailed statement supplied to the Current. “There has to be a balance between maintaining a high quality of life in the neighborhoods and a vibrant live music scene,” the mayor said. “I look forward to thoroughly evaluating the task force’s recommendations.” Meanwhile, musicians like Delacruz still remember the overzealous noise enforcement of the early ’90s, and it’s something they’re not eager to live through again. Especially as they try to get back to normal after the pandemic put the brakes on live performances for more than year. “Now that a little normality is back and we’re starting to play again, this makes it kind of rough,” De La Cruz said. It’s easy to understand residents’ frustration with parking snarls, litter and shouting drunks at 2 a.m. But, to Delacruz’s point, pulling the plug on live music isn’t exactly going to remedy those problems.
Courtesy Photo Beethoven Mannerchor
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SPORTS
SPURS VS. MAVERICKS Following a 96-102 loss to the Nuggets in Denver, where he paced San Antonio with 27 points, Spurs forward Keldon Johnson succinctly summed up his team’s turnover-plagued performance. “Just bad decision-making,” Johnson told reporters. “We just made some stupid decisions. It happens in basketball. We’re a young team. We’ll just go into tomorrow’s game and make some corrections and get better.” The young Spurs responded with a 111-121 defeat at the hands of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks in San Antonio, reminding hoops realists that there are no moral victories in the association. Improved ball movement and cohesion on the defensive end of the floor have been early season calling cards for the Spurs, with expectations that these enhancements will ultimately translate to wins. A pair of Southwest Division showdowns with Luka Doncic and the longtime rival Dallas Mavericks will offer a fresh opportunity to fight through the growing pains for the Spurs. $15-$1,909, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3 and Friday, Nov. 12, AT&T Center, One AT&T Center, (210) 444-5000,
Courtesy of Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
WED | 11.03
attcenter.com, Bally Sports Southwest. — M. Solis
SPECIAL EVEN T
ALTON BROWN LIVE: BEYOND THE EATS
THU | 11.04
Twitter / @spurs
COMEDY
calendar
WED | 11.03 FRI | 11.12
Award-winning chef, bestselling author and creator of the Food Network’s hit show Good Eats, Alton Brown is stepping out of the kitchen and onto the stage to deliver a wide-ranging variety show featuring comedy, music, cooking demonstrations and what’s described as “culinary shenanigans” and “potentially dangerous sciencey stuff.” Brown, who relaunched Good Eats in 2019 for two more seasons after a seven-year hiatus, also started two new YouTube cooking shows last year, Pantry Raid and Quarantine Quitchen. He’s also been featured on several reality TV series over the years, including Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Cutthroat Kitchen and others. On his new tour, Brown will call on volunteers from the audience to help him on stage. He is, however, looking for individuals who have “spent a considerable fraction of their life absorbing Good Eats episodes.” There’s a 20-question quiz online to see if you have enough knowledge to assist Brown, so seek it out — and make sure you know where the Tamale Trail is located. Beyond the Eats is the third national tour of Brown’s career. $45.50-$160.50, 7:30 p.m., Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 2238624, tobincenter.org. — Kiko Martinez
HASAN MINHAJ: THE KING’S JESTER The past few years have been busy for standup comedian
People in the World. For the magazine, current Daily Show
productions in the past, such as 2017’s Somos Flamenco,
Hasan Minhaj. Best known for six seasons of his Peabody
host Trevor Noah wrote, “We’ve needed Hasan’s voice since
featuring the Spanish dancer Pilar Andujar, recent years
Award-winning comedy series Patriot Act on Netflix and for
Donald Trump came down that golden escalator and turned
have seen a move toward community-driven events such as
the time he spent working as a news correspondent on The
immigrants and Muslims into his targets.” Now, with his
flamenco in the park and fashion runway shows. In the 2019
Daily Show, Minhaj also served as the featured speaker at
new standup act The King’s Jester, which will eventually hit
WeFlamenco program, the last before the COVID-19 pan-
the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2017, the first
Netflix, and his recurring role on Apple TV+’s The Morning
demic, Sullivan wrote, “The people responsible for flamen-
of the Donald Trump era. Thin-skinned Trump skipped out,
Show, Minhaj continues to have an impact on audiences
co’s growing reputation in San Antonio are many. Through
of course, marking the first time in 36 years that a sitting
with stinging jokes and real-world observations. $44.50-$95,
this festival we acknowledge their passion and dedication
president didn’t attend. “Now that King Joffrey’s president,
7 p.m., Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium
to the art of flamenco.” This year’s festival kicks off on Nov. 4
it feels like the Red Wedding in here,” Minhaj said at the
Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — KM
at Carmens de la Calle with a tribute to Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain featuring the Pete Rodriguez quartet and dancer
ceremony. Oh, and then there was that little list Minhaj landed on in 2019 – Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential
THU | 11.04 SUN | 11.14
Jackie Rodriguez-Navar. Sure to be a highlight of this year’s
Reminder:
SPECIAL EVEN T
WEFLAMENCO FEST After last year’s socially distanced and mostly online performances, the WeFlamenco Fest returns for a 12th year with a full set of events throughout the city. The festival, founded by Joel Settles in 2010 and headed by Paula Sullivan since 2014, highlights both students and professionals and aims to “celebrate, educate and invigorate” the local dance Courtesy Photo / Tobin Center
community. While WeFlamenco has produced large stage
Matt Bynum
Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.
improvtx.com/sanantonio | 618 Nw Loop 410, SaN ANTONIO, TX 78216 | 210•541•8805 NOV 4 NOV 6
NOV 12 NOV 14
NOV 18 NOV 21
NOV 24 - NOV 28 & DEC 2 - DEC 5
DEC 9 DEC 11
Gina Billon
JJ Williamson
arnez j
steve treviño
Christina P
Special guest:
THIS MONTH! N O V E M B E R 1 1 - M A J E S T I C T H E A T R E Tickets available at majesticempire.com
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CURRENT | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
calendar
events is designer Lisa Perello’s flamenco fashion show “La Moda Sigue” at Fabrictopia on Nov. 11. For students of dance, this year’s workshops include virtual masterclasses directly from Amor de Dios in Madrid, one of the most prestigious dance schools in the world. WeFlamenco Fest will close Nov. 14 with “A History of Flamenco in San Antonio” at the Teresa Champion Dance Academy, an appropriate ending to more than a week filled with dancing and entertainment. In 1954 Teresa Champion introduced flamenco to San Antonio, later appearing in the John Wayne film The Alamo. The WeFlamenco Fest continues the rich legacy of dance in the city. For a full list of events visit facebook.com/ weflamencofest. $15-$75, Thursday, Nov. 4- Sunday, Nov. 14, various times and locations, facebook.com/weflamencofest. — Marco Aquino
FRI | 11.05 SUN | 11.14 CULTURE
WURSTFEST
Jose Villalobos
Longtime fall fan favorite Wurstfest is back in New Braunfels for its 60th year celebrating German culture and food. This year’s festival marks the first in the grounds’ new Marktplatz building, the original Courtesy of LOL Comedy Club
THU | 11.04 SAT | 11.06 COMEDY
GINA BRILLON
Puerto Rican standup comedian Gina Brillon is on a high this year with the accolades she’s receiving from her latest comedy special Gina Brillon: The Floor is Lava. She won a 2021 Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation for the special, now streaming on Amazon Prime. She was also nominated for an Imagen Award, which recognizes positive portrayals of Latinos in the entertainment industry. During the special, the Bronx native talks about everything from growing up broke to watching both Spanish- and English-language TV as a kid. “A lot of the programs were similar, it’s just that Latinos, we gotta be extra,” Brillon says. “We looked at regular soap operas and were like, ‘You call that drama? That’s cute.’” Brillon was also a finalist this year on the 16th season of the popular reality TV series America’s Got Talent. She didn’t win the competition, but the exposure she got was immeasurable. It’ll probably help her sell more “One Catastrophe at a Time” merchandise on her website, which is basically the opposite of how her career is going right now. $40-$160, 8 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, 618 NW Loop 410, (210) 541-8805, improvtx.com/sanantonio. — KM
SAT | 11.06 SPECIAL EVEN T
DIWALI SA FESTIVAL Created in 2009 to commemorate the signing of a sister-city partnership with Chennai, India, through a national initiative — San Antonio currently has 11 sister cities — the Diwali SA Festival brings Indian culture and tradition to the Alamo City during a one-night event. This Mickie Farias Photography
year, the 13th annual festival will feature traditional Indian dance,
having been destroyed in a fire days after the 2019 gathering. Just like
food, music, yoga, fireworks, arts and handcrafts as well as a bazaar.
before, spend the day — or if you choose to make it all ten, we under-
The Diwali SA Festival is also known as the “Festival of Lights” since
stand — listening to live music while sampling the Bavarian cuisine
the celebration represents the triumph of good over evil — or light
and plentiful bier that makes Wurstfest, well, Wurstfest. Stop by the
over darkness. During the festival, a lighting ceremony will take place
carnival or play minigolf if you need a break between all the sausage
where hundreds of floating candles, or diyas, will be placed on the San
and suds. Starting Nov. 1, you can even donate and customize your own
Antonio River. The festival is organized by Anuja SA Inc., a nonprofit
brick to be placed in the new Marktplatz building next year. The funds
that promotes Indian culture and fosters relationships between the
go to more than 20 area nonprofits. Tickets for the festival are available
people of San Antonio and Chennai. “We hope that you keep faith in
online and in person, so whether you’ve been waiting since the last fest
the certainty that light will emerge and prevail,” Anuja SA president
or decide to go day-of, you’ll be ready to party New Braunfels style. $18-
Kausi Subramaniam said during last year’s virtual event. In 2019, before
$20, 120 Landa St., New Braunfels, (830) 625-9167, wurstfest.com. — Dana
the pandemic, the festival welcomed 40,000 attendees. Free, 6-10 p.m.,
Nichols
Hemisfair, 434 S. Alamo St., anujasa.com. — KM
Courtesy of Diwali San Antonio
sacurrent.com | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | CURRENT
19
THE MOST PROMINENT
ARTS FESTIVAL
IN SOUTH TEXAS
SAT. NOV. 13TH • 6 PM - MIDNIGHT AT HEMISFAIR & HENRY B. GONZÁLEZ CONVENTION CENTER JOIN US IN CELEBRATING THE ARTS
FINE ART • THEATRE • LIVE MUSIC • FILM • POETRY • INSTALLATIONS • DIGITAL ART
SUPPORTING LOCAL ARTISTS TO INSPIRE OUR COMMUNITY @LUMINARIASA
LUMINARIASA.ORG
COMMUNITY PARTNERS H-E-B • Phil and Linda Hardberger • Alamo Music Center • Guillermo Nicolas • The Lifshutz Foundation • The Newman Foundation Stu Schlossberg & Bonnie Reed • VIA • The Mexican Cultural Institute • UNAM San Antonio Hilton Palacio del Rio • CDI Technology Services • Lachlan Miles • Angelika Jansen
20
CURRENT | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
calendar FRI | 11.12 FI LM
OFFICE SPACE If Office Space taught us one thing, it’s that sometimes the best way to deal with work-induced stress is to take a printer into a field and smash it up with a baseball bat. Or maybe it’s to flip off your punctilious manager and storm out of your underpaid foodservice job (for good). With strikes ongoing nationwide — including the Symphony musicians’ strike here in San Antonio — and labor issues at the forefront amid the pandemic crisis, this 1999 comedy remains strikingly relevant. At the very least, it’s still entertaining. If it gives you any ideas about your position in the capitalist rat race, well, that’s just icing on the cake. Free, 7:30 p.m., Peacock Alley, 110-118 Broadway, centrosanantonio.org. — KMN
Courtesy of McNay Art Museum
SUN | 11.07 WED | 11.10 ART 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
SAT | 11.13 SPECIAL EVENT
YANAGUANA INDIAN ARTS FESTIVAL In celebration of the artistic traditions of Native American communities, the Briscoe Western Art Museum will hold the free Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival to share art displays and artifacts of the local Native
STEVE PARKER SOUNDS: SANCTUS
In addition to the work he currently has on display at the McNay Art Museum as part of the Texas Biennial, Steve Parker is bringing his installation Sanctus to the museum’s lawn for a four-day activation. Constructed of salvaged brass, parabolic sound dishes, copper tubing, concrete acoustic mirrors and birdseed, the sculpture plays four liturgical psalms composed by the 12th century abbess and polymath Hildegard von Bingen. With Sanctus, Parker seeks to create a sanctuary for birds and people, bouncing Bingen’s psalms off of the parabolic dishes, while the concrete acoustic mirrors, which were used as surveillance devices during WWII, serve as birdfeeders. Visitors are invited to activate the piece on the McNay’s grounds — lawn chairs, blankets and “chill vibes” are all welcome. The installation’s Sunday debut coincides with the McNay’s Free Family Day “The Sweet Life,” which will feature activities and entertainment in the museum’s galleries and on its grounds from 1-4 p.m. Free, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday, McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.org. — Kelly Merka Nelson
American tribes that helped shape the kind of city San Antonio is today. Through storytelling, artist demos, workshops, lectures, drum circles, music, pottery, weaving, carving and a sampling of Native American-inspired food, the festival invites all attendees to immerse
pillars of Western Art,” Briscoe President and CEO Michael Duchemin
Festivalgoers can enjoy food and drink onsite while exploring the
themselves into the culture. “Yanaguana” is the word used by the
said in a statement. “The Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival offers the
installations, and they can also enjoy performances by artists including
indigenous Payaya tribe to identify the San Antonio River. The Payaya
opportunity to see, interact and celebrate with Native American artists
the Ballet Folklorico Sol de San Antonio, Alyson Alonzo, Los Texma-
are the earliest known inhabitants of the San Antonio area. Some
and performers. The performances and art tell a story that’s compel-
niacs featuring Flaco Jimenez, URBAN-15, Heartless the Monster and
also believe “Yanaguana” was the name of the Payaya village. “Native
ling for all ages, making the event a true family affair.” Free, 10 a.m.-5
many more. Free, 6 p.m.-midnight, Hemisfair, 434 S. Alamo St., Henry B.
Americans are a key component of the American West and one of the
p.m., Briscoe Western Art Museum, 210 W. Market St., (210) 299-4499,
González Convention Center, 900 E. Market St., luminariasa.org. — KMN
briscoemuseum.org. — KM
SAT | 11.13 SPECIAL EVEN T
LUMINARIA Billed as “the most prominent arts festival in South Texas,” Luminaria features a wide array of artists and performers representing various disciplines including visual art, dance, fashion, film, theater and poetry. The annual festival returns to downtown San Antonio this year after a pandemic-induced cancellation in 2020. It will take place across Hemisfair, the Henry B. González Convention Center and the River Walk, showcasing performances and installations from more than 45 Courtesy Photo / Briscoe Western Art Museum
Texas artists and groups, representing more than 150 individual artists.
Jaime Monzon
sacurrent.com | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | CURRENT
21
Bryan Rindfuss
‘I Just Like to Make Work’
A peek inside the weird world of enigmatic San Antonio artist James Smolleck BY BRYAN RINDFUSS
W
hile some artists are driven by the prospect of fame and fortune, others are simply driven by the need to create. San Antonio native James Smolleck easily falls into the latter category. “I always kind of knew I was going to be an artist,” Smolleck told the Current during a recent studio visit. His business-minded father teased him about his chosen career path by handing him the classifieds and asking, “You see any jobs for artists?” Undeterred, Smolleck stuck to his guns but found his way through the unexpected discipline of skateboarding. As a teen attending Churchill High School in the 1980s, he palled around with fellow skaters Aaron Curry and Erik Parker — both of whom went on to become renowned artists. “Around ’86, ’87, skateboarding was pretty underground,” Smolleck said. “So we kind of all found each other. … It was really formative. The graphics and just the whole idea of doing your own thing — that’s actually what got me more into making artwork: skateboarding.” Those strange bedfellows became further intertwined when Smolleck studied art at UTSA then 22
CURRENT | November 3 - November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
purchased Zulu’s — a local skate shop he and his business partner renamed Goodtimes and operated until 1998. Nevertheless, he drifted away from skating as he started taking painting and drawing more seriously. A pivotal moment arrived when Curry, who was then studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, returned to the Alamo City and invited Smolleck to Blue Star to check out an exhibition of paintings by Peter Saul, a boundary-pushing artist known for his cartoonish aesthetic and biting social satires. “Seeing that show really got me [inspired] to paint,” Smolleck explained. While Saul emerged as a major influence on Smolleck’s early work, the UTSA community also played a key role in his artistic development. “Ken Little was one my first professors,” he said. “I had him for drawing. It was a really good experience. I had Connie Lowe for painting. … Dario Robleto was in one of my classes. … Hills Snyder was a graduate student. So, it was a real melting pot at that time.” During his senior year, Smolleck started shifting away from Saul’s poppy sensibilities, honing his painting skills and embracing the aesthetics of Flem-
Artist James Smolleck in his home studio with recent works including the 2021 drawing The Goblin Skapegoat.
M
ish and Italian masters. “When I finished school, my dad asked me, ‘What are you gonna do now?’ And I was like, ‘I’m gonna do carpentry.’ He said, ‘What the fuck? I just paid for this school,’” Smolleck recounted. “I always knew I [would] have to find a way to make revenue, because there’s no way to [earn a living] just making artwork. … So, my wife’s father hooked me up working in a mill shop. … I worked for this contractor for a year — the worst year of my fucking life. But I learned a lot … and I was making a shit ton of artwork … it was just piling up in my studio.” Around that time, Smolleck ran into Ken Little at First Friday, and he scheduled a studio visit from his former professor. Little was so taken by the quality and volume of Smolleck’s work that he arranged a meeting with Chris Erck and Gabriela Trench of the influential Finesilver Gallery. “Gabriela just started selling [my work],” Smolleck said. “She was like, ‘Let’s find homes for all this stuff.’ And so that’s how I ended up working with Finesilver for a while.” Upon the birth of his daughter in 2006, Smolleck decided to take a break from creating work. “Having my daughter opened my eyes up to a lot more things,” he said. “[I stopped caring about] trying to do shows or what this person might think. When she was born, I was like, ‘I don’t give a shit about any of that stuff. She’s the coolest thing ever.
This is all that matters — everything else is bullshit, dude.’” That epiphany marked a turning point. As Smolleck slowly returned to the studio, he allowed himself to start addressing themes that had long interested him but hadn’t yet appeared in his work: the occult, alchemy, architecture, Persian manuscripts, even his own subconscious. “I was putting all this off,” he said. “It freed my head — like, ‘Fuck it, I don’t care what anybody thinks.’” By 2009, Smolleck had developed the signature style he works in today — dark, enigmatic and increasingly theatrical. Reminiscent of everything from fraternal organizations and secret societies to science fiction and the masked drama of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Smolleck’s meticulously rendered drawings and paintings often place hooded characters in mysterious situations he sums up as “choreographed rituals.” During the visit to his home studio, works in progress lined the walls. Smolleck estimates his drawings and paintings each take about two months to complete. He doesn’t create them with any destination in mind. “I just like to make work,” Smolleck said. “I’m fine with it just piling up. If somebody sees it, that’s cool. My end goal with making work is not to have shows or anything, just to make work.” When quizzed about his exhibition history, he replies, “My resumé is pretty pathetic.” Selective might be a better word for it. In addition to being included in the permanent collections of the San Antonio Museum of Art and the McNay Art Museum, Smolleck has exhibited in Mexico, France and Denmark, and he’s represented by David Shelton Gallery in Houston. Despite some disillusionment with the gallery system, Smolleck goes all-in when the right opportunity arises. He cites both 2012’s “Neophyte Doublestare into the Eighth Dimension” at Sala Diaz, curated by Hills Snyder, and 2018’s “Transmissions from the Blue Egg” at the Southwest School of Art, curated by Chad Dawkins, as milestones. Pondering the work that piles up in his studio, Smolleck reflects on the outsider artist and writer Henry Darger, who became famous upon the posthumous discovery of his oeuvre — especially the epic, 15,145-page novel The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. “Darger was a fucking janitor and just made all that work,” Smolleck said. “It’s just something he felt he had to do — and that’s the way I feel. If I’m not doing this stuff, it just feels weird.”
arts
A work in progress in Smolleck’s studio (top) and his painting Boundaries of Opacity.
6
Bryan Rindfuss
Bryan Rindfuss
Find more arts coverage every day at sacurrent.com
arts
Musical Bridges Around the World’s Suhail Arastu speaks in support of the striking Symphony musicians at a rally in front of the Tobin Center Friday, Oct. 29.
a
jobs are now not even possible to do and financially survive because of the time commitment and the lack of pay.”
Canceled coverage
Katelyn Earhart
Waging War
Symphony Society slashes health benefits as latest volley in ongoing musicians’ strike BY KELLY MERKA NELSON
T
he San Antonio Symphony was to have held its first performances of the season by now. Instead, its musicians are a month into a strike over unilaterally imposed contract terms they call unfair and detrimental to the orchestra. Last week, as the latest development in that dispute, the Symphony Society, the orchestra’s managing body and musicians’ employer, canceled the performers’ healthcare benefits, effective Nov. 1. While the Symphony Society has released multiple statements declaring its love for the orchestra and its willingness to negotiate, the performers paint a much different picture.
Path to the picket line In 2019, the Symphony ratified a collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, for the 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons. Amid the pandemic crisis in 2020, the Symphony’s musicians agreed to a new contract that covered the 202024
2021 season, for which they voluntarily took an 80% pay cut. Included in that agreement was the option to reopen the third year of the CBA, which management subsequently requested. When contract negotiations began again this fall, the musicians were shocked by the drastic cuts included in proposals from management. One such offer would have slashed all performers’ salaries by half, with additional cuts to health insurance benefits. While the clause allowing for talks to reopen was tied to the pandemic crisis, the Symphony Society has made multiple public statements indicating that its austere contract proposals were presented in the pursuit of what it purports to be “a sustainable artistic and financial future.” “To stabilize the organization and sustain it for the future, the Symphony must hold strong to only spending what we can afford,” Symphony Society Chair Kathleen Weir Vale said in a statement emailed to the Current in late September. On Sept. 26, the Symphony Society
CURRENT | November 3 - November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
declared an impasse and imposed the terms of what it deemed its “Last, Best and Final Offer,” which would cut the ensemble’s 72 full-time members to 42, converting 26 positions to part-time and eliminating four currently unfilled positions. That proposal had previously been rejected in a unanimous vote by the Symphony’s musicians. As a result of the imposition of terms, the San Antonio chapter of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) called a strike Sept. 27.
‘A financial albatross’ Martin Gordon moved his family to San Antonio in September 2020 to take a full-time position playing contrabassoon and bassoon for the orchestra. He auditioned for the position in January 2020, prior to the onset of the pandemic. Under the “Last, Best and Final Offer,” he would be downgraded to a part-time position, facing a loss of benefits and a pay cut of approximately two-thirds from what his salary would have been under the 2019 CBA. Gordon described the pay cut as “untenable.” “This job becomes, at that pay level, almost a financial albatross, because you’ll make nothing, and it will prevent you from being able to supplement your income,” he said. “This is an obliteration of the artistic structure of the orchestra, because the
At 4:51 p.m. on Oct. 28, Director of Orchestra Operations Sara Vreeland notified the musicians via email that the Symphony Society was ending their healthcare benefits effective Nov. 1. The Symphony’s assistant principal second violinist Karen Stiles, a single mother of a college-aged daughter, told the Current that she had to scramble to find a new plan immediately after learning of the lost benefits. A recent cancer survivor, both she and her daughter have ongoing health concerns that make the abrupt loss of coverage catastrophic. “I am angry that the Symphony management chose to notify us of the cancellation at 4:51 p.m. on Thursday, leaving us only one business day to scramble to fend for ourselves,” Stiles, a member of the orchestra since 1991, said via email. “They did not properly have COBRA in place for us, and I was unable to put my daughter on the UT student insurance plan because no official letter of termination has been provided.” At press time, the Symphony Society had not responded to a request for comment regarding the missing paperwork. “I have never felt so disrespected by our management and board,” Stiles added. In a statement supplied to the Current on Oct. 29, the board indicated that striking employees don’t earn wages and aren’t eligible for benefits. However, it added, “the Symphony carried employee benefit offerings through the month of October.” The statement asserts that “employee benefits will be forced to change on Nov. 1, 2021, to conform with the implemented contract,” referencing management’s imposed terms. Both Vreeland’s email and the Symphony Society’s statement characterize the loss of coverage as an unavoidable consequence of the strike, but Musi-
cians of the San Antonio Symphony (MOSAS) Chair Mary Ellen Goree and the group’s attorney, David Van Os, both construe the move as retaliatory. “Since the current contract [2019 CBA] does not allow the cancellation of accrued benefits, it is an act of illegal retaliation against the musicians for exercising their lawful right to strike over unfair labor practices,” Van Os said in a statement. Goree told the Current she’s been privy to a “private communication” on the subject between Symphony management and a musician. Paraphrasing the exchange, she said management implied that continuation of health insurance was “up to the orchestra committee.” “They couldn’t have made it more plain that the cancellation of our benefits is retaliatory for the strike if they had spelled it out in so many words,” she said. The Symphony Society didn’t respond to a request for comment on the alleged exchange.
An empty table “We are eager for the union to come back to the bargaining table so we can work together to move past this,” the Symphony Society said in its Oct. 29 statement. However, Goree says negotiations have remained at a standstill for weeks because management won’t accept the musicians’ terms for resuming talks. “We told [Symphony Executive Director Corey Cowart] the conditions under which we would return, which included the retraction of their so-called ‘Last, Best and Final Offer’ and the lifting of the imposed terms, and he declined
those terms,” she said. Goree said it’s up to the Symphony Society, not the musicians, to restart talks. “When you are the ones who call your proposal ‘Last, Best and Final,’ then you are the ones who have shut the door — slammed the door — on future bargaining,” she added. “I reject any suggestion that the musicians are in any way responsible for the current lack of movement in negotiations.”
Deep wounds The strike’s resolution remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: deep wounds have been opened and they’re unlikely to be repaired by simply ratifying a new contract. Goree, Gordon, Stiles and other Symphony musicians expressed incredulity, despair and a sense of betrayal when speaking to the Current about management. “I’m extremely disappointed to see how they’ve lost track of their humanity somewhere in this mess,” principal oboist Paul Lueders said via email. “I still am in disbelief that our board and our management are so evidently willing to completely blow up such an artistically respected orchestra and such an integral part of our community as the San Antonio Symphony,” Goree said. “I can’t believe that this is the legacy that they want to leave.” Those interested in contributing to the Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony can do so online at mosas.org or by mailing checks payable to MOSAS to Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony, 24911 Crescent Trace, San Antonio, TX 78258.
Katelyn Earhart
sacurrent.com | November 3 - November 16, 2021 | CURRENT
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CURRENT | November 3 - November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
arts
Pulling No Punchlines
Transgender stand-up comedian Joan Riviera Simoncelli explains what Dave Chappelle got wrong BY KIKO MARTINEZ
A
s a stand-up comedian, Joan Riviera Simoncelli wants fellow comics to have the freedom to entertain audiences however they see fit. To her mind, nothing should be off limits. People need to laugh. “The week after my mom died, I went on stage and made jokes about her death,” the San Antonio-area comedian told the Current during a recent interview. “When you walk through that door, the gloves come off.” As a transgender, intersex humanitarian, however, Simoncelli is disappointed in superstar comic Dave Chappelle and his latest Netflix special The Closer. There wouldn’t be as much controversy about his transgender-themed material today, she said, if he’d bothered to learn what he was talking about. “In the special, [Chappelle] said he was rich and famous,” she said. “It’s just a shame he couldn’t take some of that money and educate himself about the LGBTQIA people. We’re not a community. We’re not gypsies or some little tribe. We’re America.” Simoncelli, a Cibolo resident, said she “gets the joke” when Chappelle jabs at LGBTQ+ people about glory holes and “frumpy dykes” on the special. She understands why people laugh, but she doesn’t like it that Chappelle paints with broad strokes. It’s more
complicated than just ridiculing pronouns. “When he says he wants the transgender community to stop punching down, there’s no way transgender minorities are doing that,” Simoncelli said. “I understand that comedy is an art form, but it’s beautiful when you can use it and not hurt people. You always have to be responsible for what you say on stage.” When Chappelle makes comments like “gay people are minorities, until they need to be white again,” Simoncelli said it proves he has a narrow view of who LGBTQ+ people are. Certainly, his statement doesn’t ring true to a woman of color like her. When Simoncelli started in the comedy industry nearly 40 years ago, she said she wasn’t allowed to say she was transgender at venues where she performed. Club owners told her to keep it to herself. “I was told once that if [the audience] ever found out [I was transgender], I should run out the back door and keep running,” she said. “That’s the fear that we come from.” Simoncelli doesn’t find anything funny about walking into a comedy club restroom and seeing that someone has defaced one of her posters by drawing a penis on her dress. That’s the kind of lazy mockery comedians have been using onstage for decades, she added.
Courtesy of Joan Riviera Simoncelli
“You can only hear so many Caitlyn Jenner jokes,” she said. “[Chappelle] should see what the life of a transgender person is like. He needs to find out who they are before he makes jokes about them.” What’s more, Chappelle’s refusal to take responsibility for the things he jokes about frustrates Simoncelli as an LGBTQ+ advocate. She’s not saying that jokes about trans people should be off limits. Instead, her point is that comedians should stop treating trans people like the “villains of a horror movie” such as Psycho or The Silence of the Lambs. “Transgender people, intersex people, hermaphrodites, we’ve been beaten down so badly,” she said. “[Chappelle] needs so much more education, and it’s not only him — look at Kevin Hart and the media in general. They’re not considering the person who might be thinking about killing themselves.” Simoncelli, however, is thinking about those people, which is why she’s involved in Texas politics these days. Currently, she serves as executive committee woman for Texas Democrat Senate District 19, where she’s fighting for the rights of LGBTQ+ people across the state. “Before Chappelle became rich and famous, we were already the butt of all the jokes,” Simoncelli said. “Now, Chappelle is just lashing out. But I’m not going to let him, or society, label me. This world is full of different people. Dave Chappelle should know that. This isn’t the 1970s anymore. He needs to take the heat for what he says.” Simoncelli will perform at the Artisan Distillery Craft Bar, 402 Austin St., on December 4 at 8 p.m. For more information, visit artisancraftbar.com. sacurrent.com | November 3 - November 16, 2021 | CURRENT
27
Shop Small. Shop Local. Located in the heart of downtown, La Villita offers over 20 unique boutiques, art galleries and savory dining experiences. Shop local & have a holiday shopping experience as charming as the gifts you’ll find.
OPEN DAILY 418 Villita St. LaVillitaSanAntonio.com
TWO NEW SHOWS ADDED!
DEC. 3-4
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CURRENT | November 3 - November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
MAJESTIC THEATRE
San Antonio native Nicolas Cantu wants to up his character’s kill numbers during the final season of Walking Dead spinoff BY KIKO MARTINEZ
H
e may have only spent the first 10 years of his life in San Antonio before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, but Nicolas Cantu has fond memories of the Alamo City. “I was very young when I lived there, so I remember I liked going to Six Flags and a lot of the parks,” Cantu told the Current during a recent interview. “There’s also this restaurant called Big’z [Burger Joint]. They have this huge yard, so you could go outside and play around. There are so many nice things you remember when you’re 6 years old. Shout out to Stone Oak Elementary!” Now 18, Cantu stars in AMC+ series The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the second spinoff of the original Walking Dead TV series. On the show, currently at the midway point of its second and final season, Cantu plays Elton Ortiz, an orphaned kid who’s a survivor of the zombie apocalypse. Besides his role on World Beyond, Cantu has given voice to several characters on animated shows including Sofia the First, The Powerpuff Girls and The Amazing World of Gumball, where he plays the title character. Next year, he’ll star in The Fabelmans, a semi-autobiographical film directed by Oscar-winner Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan) about the screen legend’s childhood growing up in Arizona. Recently, Cantu caught up with the Current to talk about zombies and the one word in Spanish he says best describes the director of Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park. New episodes of The Walking Dead: World Beyond air Sundays at 9 p.m. CT on AMC+.
What are you looking forward to the most now that The Walking Dead: World Beyond is in its second and final season?
[Audiences] will get to see how it all ends. We had our first season, and people liked it. Now, we get to see where these characters go. I think it’s a great conclusion. People are going to be able to see the arcs of these characters come to a close. [Viewers] are itching for more information.
How would you describe your character as
screens
Acting in the Apocalypse
AMC
he goes into a new season?
Elton started in this community and has gone out into the apocalypse, and he’s lost a lot. But he’s also gained a lot of information and knowledge. So, he’s going into the second season with the realization that he’ll have to grow up a lot more. There’s going to be a lot more hardship coming his way, so he has to get ready for that. In this new season, he’s open to new ideas. You see Elton as this pragmatic, nihilistic guy, and then in Season 2, we explore what happens when he finds somebody who clashes with him. We get to explore that part of his psyche.
Remind us how many zombies you kill in the first season.
In Season 1, I think I actually kill one. I dispatched multiple zombies, which is like kicking them away, so they don’t bother you anymore. So, we have to get those [kill] numbers up this season.
What was that day on the set like when you finally got to kill a zombie? It was great. I always love doing stunts on the show. I’m a part of a zombie apocalypse, but up to that point, I was mostly running. I finally got to kill something, so I had some action. I enjoyed it.
What do you think keeps people tuning into zombie TV series and movies?
It’s just a fun hypothetical. Ever since I was little, I grew up playing zombie video games and watching the movies. So, we always just entertained that idea. What would I do in a zombie apocalypse? What would be the route I’d take? I think people like asking that question. Dystopia in general is just a great genre. People like diving into that no matter what form it takes. (Laughs.) People just like watching horrible things.
What about The Walking Dead franchise itself? Not many franchises get three separate TV shows like this.
Well, it’s based off those awesome comic books by Robert Kirkman. The show’s been going strong for over 10 years now. When I was watching the first two shows, what drew me into them were the characters. You were seeing them push the envelope in what TV characters could go through. There were a lot of cool, human dynamics to it. We also get to kill a lot of zombies, and there’s a lot of explosions, so it’s fun.
What’s one word you would use to describe Steven Spielberg? Un tipazo. He is just the greatest guy. He is awesome. He is so, so sick.
Find more film stories at sacurrent.com
THANKSGIVING DAY
November 25, 2021 | 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM FIGHT HUNGER WITH EVERY STEP AT THE SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK’S TURKEY TROT 5K RUN/WALK! Starting and ending in front of the Commander’s House at H-E-B’s Arsenal campus, Turkey Trot is the San Antonio Food Bank’s annual 5K Run/Walk that raises funds to help feed families during the holidays. This year, you can participate in-person or virtually.
REGISTER TODAY!
Every registration provides a turkey for a family facing hunger this holiday season. To learn more and register, please visit
safoodbank.org/turkeytrot2021 30
CURRENT | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
#TurkeyTrotSATX
food Courtesy Photo / I F**king Love San Antonio
Pouring One Out
something that I can’t wait for the listeners to experience.
The I F**king Love San Antonio podcast has spun its “Cheers for Local Beers” segment into a standalone show BY NINA RANGEL
I
t’s a running joke across the nation that Texas residents have an outrageous love for their state, and the Alamo City seems to host its own microcosm of that kind of over-the-top pride. San Antonio native Alex Arredondo, the guy behind the I F**king Love San Antonio podcast, is certainly an embodiment of that sentiment. He founded the podcast in 2017, aiming to engage and share the stories of movers and shakers in San Antonio politics, art and beer. For folks unfamiliar, past seasons of ILFSA have comprised seven episodes divided into three segments: a current events overview, a spotlight interview featuring a local disruptor in the art or political space and “Cheers for Local Beers,” a mini segment in which the episode’s participants share opinions about a new beer from a local brewery. This season, the podcast’s fourth, “Cheers for Local Beers” is splitting off into its own separate entity. That comes as Arredondo highlights more food-focused guests, including chef Jesse Kuykendall, a recent champion on Food Network’s Chopped, and Weathered Souls Brewing Co. co-founder Marcus Baskerville. Arredondo spoke with us about what’s new this season, which launches Nov. 22. He also talked about the driving force behind the new format and what makes I F**king Love San Antonio so fucking fun to listen to.
Lots of new things are shaking out for 2021-2022. First, what drove you to split the podcasts up?
You know when too much of a good thing is a lengthy thing? That’s what was going on with the original format of the podcast. It got to the point when I would be editing an episode and loved all the content we had covered. … I was left thinking, “How could I cut this? How could I cut that?” I think it was around the beginning of Season 3 when I started looking at the overall time of an episode. Three hours? Four hours? That’s long, even for a diehard local like myself. I started to think about when a split would be appropriate, and Season 4 felt right.
Tell me about your hosts for IFLSA and the new beer spinoff. What’s special about them?
IFLSA has been super lucky with the amount of smart, motivated and compassionate people that have been involved in the previous seasons. [Former IFLSA host] Kloe Dominguez, Girls’ Pint Out’s Jackie Romero and [Mad Pecker’s] Rey Duque all played such a big role in how the podcast looked, sounded and felt. As far as Season 4 of IFLSA is concerned, we will have special guests co-hosting this season, and [Dooryard manager] James Ratnayeke and [beer authority and writer] Jeremy Banas will be co-hosting Cheers For Local Beers’ first official solo season. Together, their overall beer knowledge and personalities are
What do you look for in guests? Is there a checklist, or does it change from person to person?
Potential new guests can come from anywhere. I sometimes ask myself, “Who are the people that are trying to make something happen and improve San Antonio, their community and themselves?” We have been very fortunate to talk to people from all walks of life, but the one thing that they all have in common is that they fucking love San Antonio.
Who would be your dream San Antonian to interview? Honestly, one name comes to mind right away: Randy Beamer of News 4 San Antonio fame. Being with News 4 for over 30 years, and over 40 collective years in the news business, he knows San Antonio better than almost anyone in this town. I have so much respect for his journalism, and I would love to hear about what he is now up to in retirement.
The format of these shows is unique in that you record in actual San Antonio locations and make use of the ambient sound. What made you decide to go with an on-site format versus studio recordings?
It was always about the experience for the listener. I know that many podcasts nowadays are both video and audio; we are audio only. By adding the sounds of the environment around us when recording, it creates another dynamic to keep the audience listening and captivated. Our podcast’s on-the-go mentality and sound has always been what makes us unique.
Find more food & drink news at sacurrent.com
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CURRENT | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
food Saint City Supper Club partners with San Antonio event venue The Espee for year-long dinner series BY NINA RANGEL
S
Instagram / @cuishe_cocina
burg at the chain’s Sonterra Place location.
an Antonio nonprofit Saint City Culinary Foundation has revived its monthly Supper Club dinner series via a new partnership with The Espee, the eastof-downtown event venue formerly known as Sunset Station. The first dinner in the series — a Thursday, Nov. 18 collaboration between the foundation, The Espee and the St. Paul Square Historic District — will highlight cuisine from chef Juan Carlos Bazan of the Gusto Group. Bazan’s outfit, which operates local eateries Cuishe Cocina Mexicana and Toro Kitchen + Bar, will provide the eats, while Ilegal Mezcal will supply libations. The Nov. 18 event kicks off the revival of the Saint City Supper Club series, which raises money for HEARD, a nonprofit focused on providing mental health and teleheath services to foodservice workers. Due to the pandemic, the foundation’s recent fundraising events have been few and far between.
The rejuvenated Saint City Supper Club will hold 12 monthly dinners at The Espee. The multi-building entertainment site operated as Sunset Station until a recent rebrand, which includes renovations on the indoor spaces and the pending opening of swanky, Gatsby-esque nightspot 1902 at The Espee. Zacatecas-born Bazan — a veteran of Michelin-starred restaurants Monastrell and Taberna Del Gourmet in Alicante, Spain — will bring his elevated understanding of Spanish fare to the Nov. 18 event. Prior to setting roots in SA, Bazan studied Culinary Arts and Business Administration at the University of Durango. He studied Molecular Gastronomy while working at world-renowned Mexico City eatery Pujol. Tickets to the Nov. 18 dinner are on sale now at scsc.ticketbud.com/ november. The $75 per person price tag includes all food and drink for the duration of the event.
OPENINGS
Seasoning outfit Twang has released a limited-edi-
Missouri-based chain Andy’s Frozen Custard will
tion beer called Twang-a-Rang in partnership with
open its first San Antonio location at the RIM shop-
Fort Worth-based Martin House Brewing Co.
ping center next spring.
Alamo Heights-area eatery Adelante, which special-
New smoothie and superfood shop Jugo has
izes in healthy Tex-Mex, will close next spring after
opened in the Northeastern suburb of Selma.
40 years. West Side snack staple Tropic Express is back to North Central San Antonio’s Los Cocos Bakery has
serving fruit cups, raspas, aguas frescas and elote
closed, ending nearly half a century of baking up
after a devastating July fire.
Tardifs
serving up “bespoke taco experiences.”
unique pan dulce made with European recipes. Highly anticipated eatery Up Scale, a steaks-andEspada Coffee, the highly visible bubble gum-pink
seafood spot from the couple behind Little Em’s
Bar America owner Bryan Correa will open a
food truck, has closed permanently.
Oyster Bar, is now open in Southtown.
dog-friendly beer garden near USAA’s headquarters
NEWS
Korean doughnut chain Mochinut’s Northwest San
New high-end restaurant Tardif ’s American Bras-
Southside seafood joint Fish Lonja landed on the
Antonio store is now serving corn dogs breaded
serie has opened near the Dominion.
New York Times’ list of 50 restaurants “we’re most
with crispy ramen and Hot Cheetos.
in Northwest San Antonio. Longtime Tex-Mex staple Cha-Cha’s has reopened in Northwest San Antonio with a vegetarian-friendBubby’s Jewish Soul Food has set a Nov. 14 open-
excited about right now.” After just six months in operation, Willa Eatery, a Torchy’s Tacos has been sued by a parent who
health-focused spot near the Tobin Center, has shut
alleges their child contracted Salmonella Oranien-
its doors.
ly update.
ing date. Craft cocktail spot Pink Hill has opened just north New San Antonio food truck Tacos Cucuy is now
of downtown on the Broadway corridor.
sacurrent.com | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | CURRENT
33
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CURRENT | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
THELOCALBARSA
music
Dead, Not Buried
The Grave Babes have ended a seven-year run (maybe), but not before releasing an album as their epitaph BY BRIANNA ESPINOZA
O
minous pink and purple lights cast their glow over the stage as three women dolled up in lace, oozing wounds and copious amounts of stage blood take their designated spots. They strap on their instruments and blast out an unholy wall of sound. The lyrics, delivered with a surprising amount of vocal melody, run through subjects including blood, murder and the living dead. Nothing to fear, it was just a typical show for San Antonio horror punk act The Grave Babes. Formed in 2014 and bonded by a mutual love of the Misfits and horror movies, singer-bass player Corpse Queen, guitarist-backup singer Shelly Webster and drummer Celeste Garcia came to the consensus that an all-female horror punk group was what just what the Alamo City needed. Now, after a successful seven-year run, The Grave Babes are closing the lid on their coffin. But not before releasing their first LP, Pin-Up Killer, as an epitaph — and offering hints that the band eventually might rise from its grave. Corpse Queen said it was clear the band had a special something as early as its first jam session, where she presented a few song ideas to the gals, acoustic style. “Our first practice, we ended up finishing three songs, so we kind of just kept going after that,” she explained. After filling out its set list, The Grave Babes gained traction in the San Antonio scene. The band soon found itself opening for acts such as Calabrese, Cancerslug, Doyle and even the band that brought them together in the first place, the Misfits.
had total creative freedom. “There was no metronome, only the human timing of the drummer, which we all locked into tightly,” Webster said. “Everything you hear was played live with no copying and pasting.” Queen adds, “We even recorded during the snow we had, because we were so determined to finish and make the album — something we could say we were proud of.” To wrap things up, the Babes tapped Brant Sankey of Studio E Recording to mix the record, and the band took pictures with a swanky vintage yellow pickup truck for what would later become the album cover.
‘Determined to finish’
Creepy singles
Eventually, creative differences racked the band, as did life outside of music. Live performances dwindled to a stop and The Graves Babes went on hiatus in 2017. However, the trio’s hunger remained during that period. Not just a craving for human flesh, but one to leave an indelible mark on San Antonio’s musical history. So, they recouped during the pandemic to finally record a full-length album. The members crammed into a 10-foot-by15-foot storage unit with carpeted walls and recording equipment, using it as a makeshift studio. The conditions weren’t ideal, but they
With Pin-Up Killer due in early November, the Babes are working to gin up the hype for the release by dropping a new song each week as an online single. The first of those, the release’s title track, shifts listeners into high speed with a guitar intro reminiscent of Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades.” The song weaves the tale of a woman on a murderous rampage while dressed in her finest pin-up attire. In contrast, the second single, “RIPB,” strolls along at mid-tempo, creating a dark ambiance perfectly suited to the Halloween season.
Dark Wolf Media
Other notable, and so far unreleased, tracks from the album include a buzzing tune inspired by the classic horror film and Stephen King novel Pet Sematary, a seductive number about a graveyard girl and a Misfits-reminiscent horror punk track full of catchy “woahs” and “ohs.” While The Graves Babes are officially six feet under — as a band, anyway — the members said that may change if a spark reanimates their cold, decaying hearts. If there’s enough demand, they might perform shows again or create new projects. In other words, never say die. In the meantime, the members have other endeavors to keep them busy. Webster recently completed a stint with SA punk staple Fea, and she offers music lessons. Queen and Garcia are pursuing solo musical endeavors while juggling careers in the beauty industry. “If you ever want to learn to do your makeup, join a band of cosmetologists and hair stylists,” Webster quipped. “Worked for me!” Pin-Up Killer will be available on all major streaming sites November 9, and the band is taking pre-sale orders through an Indiegogo campaign to help fund a CD pressing and new T-shirts. The campaign is currently accessible online at indiegogo.com/projects/the-grave-babesalbum-release.
Reminder:
Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.
DAILY DRINK SPECIALS HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS $3 Wells, $3 domestics, $3 fireballs. $3 Jose Cuervo S.I.N Sunday’s $3 Deep eddy all-day Margaritas Monday $1 margaritas Free pool
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E M P LOY M E N T
Wine over $50
*Fine Wine Sale runs 11/1/2021-11/10/2021. Valid on wine bottles priced at $50 or more. Sale applies to 750ml bottles of still and sparkling wine, select large format wines, and sake over $50. No further discount on Sale Items, Final Few, or Closeouts. Sale valid in-store and online at www.twinliquors.com. Some exclusions apply. Please drink responsibly.
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CURRENT | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
Professional Services Delivery Architect, Specialty Domain - Rackspace US, Inc. - San Antonio. Applies a specialized product or technical knowledge to serve customers requiring consulting for infrastructure consolidation, transformation, and optimization. Req’d: Bach degree or equiv in Business or IT-related field + 5yrs exp in tech support and/or post-sales engineering architecture. Send resume to: careers@rackspace.com, Ref. 12838 Administrative Services Manager, sought by Modern Man LLC in San Antonio, TX. Bachelor's degree in Management & 5 years of experience required. Travel included. Pls send CV & cover to HR, 7400 San Pedro Ave, San Antonio, TX 78216.
Seafood Purchasing Lead. Labatt Food Service LLC, San Antonio TX. Responsible for wholesale purchase of seafood products for regional food distributor to guarantee correct cost, quality, & service levels while maintaining adequate inventory. Utilize Lean & Six Sigma to develop strategies w/ vendor partners to increase sales & customer base. Source & develop primary & alternative vendors w/in multiple seafood product categories to insure effective replenishment & to secure new products for key customers. Negotiate pricing, rebates & procurement income in conjunction w/sales & marketing departments. Lead inventory management projects incl out of stock, overstock & dead inventory. 40 hrs/wk. Reqs. Mstrs in Biz Admin w/major in finance or supply chain or foreign equiv. 2 yrs of exp in seafood procurement/ sourcing position. Submit resume & letter of interest to HR@labattfood.com.
music listings A Giant Dog
Sunday, November 7 Chris Botti Chris Botti is a critically acclaimed composer, band leader and trumpeter with four No. 1 jazz albums under his belt. The Portland native has been at the forefront of mainstream jazz since his 2004 release When I Fall in Love, and he’s shared the stage with Andrea Bocelli, Frank Sinatra and Lady Gaga to name a few. $36.50, 8 p.m. Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter. org. — EB
Wednesday, November 10 Starset, The Word Alive, All Good Things Columbus, Ohio’s Starset are an electronic-leaning rock band whose album, Horizons, blends symphonic melodies into an accessible soundscape. Post-hardcore outfit The Word Alive and theatrical rockers All Good Things open the night. $25, 6:30 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — EB
Thursday, November 11
Courtesy Photo / A Giant Dog
Wednesday, Nov. 3 Capra, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, Pinko Lafayette, Louisiana’s Capra walks a fine and furious line between noise rock and metal, which of course makes the band a fine match for San Antonio’s The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. In case you doubted this, Capra singer Crow Lotus lent vocals to a Jesus Lizard cover that Grasshopper released as a single back in April. So, there. $10-$12, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Sanford Nowlin
Thursday, Nov. 4 A Giant Dog, Pinky Ring Austin’s A Giant Dog is one of those bands that continues to defy the sub-sub-sub-genrefication of rock by playing it straight down the middle. Sure, A Giant Dog performs with a punk intensity, throws in a few nods to glam and has generated lots of indie-rock buzz. But at its heart, the five-piece group, led by dynamic vocalist Sabrina Ellis, is about delivering no-nonsense rock ’n’ roll tunes steeped in just the right amount of dark party vibes. Pinky Ring, an SA outfit with a similar appreciation for rightin-the-kisser rock provides able support. $10, 9 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerose.com. — SN
Friday, Nov. 5 Levitation Room
Los Angeles’ Levitation Room puts a modern dreamgaze spin on ’60s psychedelic rock that feels like a pleasant acid trip. Making use of contrasting fuzzy and dreamy guitars, delicate keyboard melodies and soft vocals, the band takes listeners on a soaring journey. $15, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com. — Brianna Espinoza Geoff Tate Queensryche vocalist-turned-winemaker Geoff Tate is returning to San Antonio on a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of his former band’s Empire album. That release brought the metal outfit to the height of its success as it peaked in the Billboard Top 10. Tate also consistently ranks on music publications’ lists of the top metal vocalists of all time. $30, 8:30 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — Enrique Bonilla
slammin’ good time. (And probably a pounding hangover the next day.) $20-$23, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. com. — BE The Soul Rebels From performing with Metallica, Katy Perry and Nas to headlining a TED Conference, The Soul Rebels have done it all. The eight-piece group blends funk, rock, jazz and hip-hop into the New Orleans brass tradition its members grew up on. $34, 8 p.m., Carver Community Cultural Center, 215 N. Hackberry St., (210) 207-7211, thecarver.org. — BE
Saturday, November 6 The Casualties, Piñata Protest New York’s “spiky-haired drunk punks” The Casualties keep their sound grimy and street level. The band’s sole original member, singer Jorge Herrera, has kept the dream alive with his passion for early ’80s-era British hardcore punk. Throw in support from San Antonio’s chief purveyors of Tex-Mex punk, Piñata Protest, along with The Perturbed and The Shadow Hounds, and you’ve got the makings of
The Soul Rebels Instagram / The Soul Rebels
Garrett T. Capps, Fleming Brothers, D.T. Buffkin Three San Antonio musical stalwarts will take the stage to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Period Modern, a vintage furniture store that’s dabbled in the music game by hosting shows and decorating the Lonesome Rose’s stage for its Lonesome Lounge Sessions. Capps’ vintage-sounding music blends country twang with a smidgen of alt-rock, while the Fleming Brothers and D.T. Buffkin are both adept at surprising audiences. Free, 7 p.m., Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St Mary’s St., (210) 455-0233, thelonesomerose.com. — BE
Friday, November 12 Okey Dokey As if Motown didn’t already bring plenty of feels on its own, Okey Dokey takes the genre and mashes it up with psychedelic elements. It’s a sound that perfectly matches the band’s trippy visual direction. Reformed after an initial breakup, Okey Dokey continues to create new music with the help of session and touring musicians from other bands, including The Weeks, Wild Child and others. $13.50-$16, 7 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. com. — BE The Fab Four While the world certainly doesn’t want for tribute acts right now, the Fab Four has established itself as one of the most highly polished and best known. The California-based quartet has been active since 1997, treating audiences to performances that span the Beatles’ whole catalog. The group even won a 2013 Emmy Award for its PBS special The Fab Four: The Ultimate Tribute. $34.50, 8 p.m. Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — EB
sacurrent.com | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | CURRENT
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music listings Ray Wylie Hubbard
Where ALL GUYS come together Visit www.squirt.org today to join the action
Courtesy Photo / Ray Wylie Hubbard
Ray Wylie Hubbard, Dalton Domino Revered Texas singer-songwriter-iconoclast Hubbard is celebrating his 75th birthday by performing at what’s been billed as the the oldest continually run dance hall in Texas. A go-to songwriter for performers including Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams and Jerry Jeff Walker, Hubbard has been pivotal in Texas’ outlaw country and Americana scenes, even if his rough-hewn approach has made him more of a cult figure than a household name. Just the same, his latest album Co-Starring’s list of guest appearances, including Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Larkin Poe and the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson suggests just how far his influence has spread. $20, 8 p.m., Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road, (830) 606-1281, gruenehall. com. — SN
Saturday, November 13 Sue Foley Canadian-born guitarist and vocalist Sue Foley pays homage to Texas blues on her latest album Pinky’s Blues, which dropped earlier this month. Recorded in San Marcos, the long player is a follow up to 2018’s The Ice Queen, which garnered major buzz in the blues scene and featured guest spots from Jimmie Vaughan and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. Known for her masterful handling of a pink paisley Telecaster, Foley was named Best Guitar Player in the Canada’s 2020 Maple Blues Awards. $20, 9 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — EB Julieta Venegas Widely regarded as one of Mexico’s most consistent and understated recording artists, California-born Venegas plays 17 instruments and has won multiple Latin Grammys over a 20year career that’s spanned a variety of rock and pop sounds en Español. Rolling Stone listed her 2012 release Bueninvento as the 3rd greatest Latin Rock Album of All Time. $35, 6:30 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 8124355, theaztectheatre.com. — EB
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CURRENT | November 3 – November 16, 2021 | sacurrent.com
100 gecs Depending on your affinity for chirpy autotuned vocals, hyper-distorted beats and cartoonish keyboard melodies, you’re probably either one of the people who helped 100 gecs amass millions of online listens to its debut album 1000 gecs or someone who will fucking hate them within 30 seconds of hearing their music. Either way, the duo is considered one of the pioneers of a microgenre dubbed “hyperpop” for its exaggeration of all that’s artificial and excessive about contemporary pop music. Not surprisingly, teen TikTokers have latched onto both the genre and 100 gecs, but so have highbrow critics. The New Yorker celebrated the duo’s debut as “an impressively precise maximalist exercise with no rules,” and Pitchfork named the pair to its recent list of 25 Artists Shaping the Future of Music. Pick your side now. $23, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx. com. — SN
Sunday, November 14 Jimmie Vaughan The older brother of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan and a blues guitar legend in his own right, Jimmie Vaughan is perhaps best known as a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. But the Austin-based musician has also cut acclaimed solo albums and leant his hard-hitting guitar work to plenty of other artists’ recordings, including Nick Lowe and Gov’t Mule. $35, 8 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — BE
Sunday, November 14 Myke Towers Newcomer Myke Towers has made made quick a name for himself in the urbano genre thanks to a Bad Bunny collaboration and a triple-platinum debut. You can tell Towers is hungry by the way he released two albums and an EP within the past two years. $46-$247, 8 p.m. Freeman Coliseum, 3201 E. Houston St., (210) 226-1177, freemancoliseum.com. — BE
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