This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

East County Nightlife: Beating the Late-Weekend Blahs

Your Patch guide to East County nightlife, July 28-31.

A trend has been emerging lately—more and more events seem to fall on Thursday or Friday, while Saturday and Sunday seem quieter.  Maybe it’s just because it’s summer, and people are inclined to start their weekend a bit early, or maybe it’s not a trend at all, just a random imbalance of event scheduling.  The point is—Thursday’s been rocking it the last few weeks, and Friday always promises a good time.  Between the two of them this weekend, you’ve got live music, performance art, and a festival so deep in East County you’re practically in Imperial’s West County.

It actually works out—by living it up early in the weekend, you’re giving yourself the end to relax, catch up on things, work on some projects, or mostly just relax until Sunday night when you scramble to get ready for Monday. So don’t lament the slim choices available for tearing up East County on Saturday night or squeezing the last drops out of a Sunday afternoon. The late-weekend blahs are just ahhs with an extra syllable.

THURSDAY

Find out what's happening in Santeewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

AM FOREVER

Where/when: Berry Street Park, 7071 Mt. Vernon St., Lemon Grove, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Find out what's happening in Santeewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Why Go: Only a few decades ago, AM radio used to involve much more than traffic updates, sports reports, or bloviated punditry.  Kick off your weekend a little early and step back in time with local band AM Forever’s hits from the 60s and 70s at Lemon Grove’s series.

Price: Free.

PHAT CAT SWINGER

Where/when: Town Center Community Park, Santee, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

Why Go: Another relic of days past is the multi-instrument big band, which saw its heyday in the earlier half of the 20th century.  But just because big band music isn’t tearing up modern charts doesn’t mean it’s gone and forgotten—Phat Cat Swinger, a nine-piece swing band, will show you just how alive their music style still is at series.

Price: Free.

FOURTH THURSDAY OPEN MIC

Where/when: Spacebar Internet Café, 7454 University Ave., La Mesa, 7:30 to 10 p.m. Thursday.

Why Go: With budget cuts slashing through educational arts programs from grade school all the way through college, fans of the arts have to find new ways to keep creativity alive.  Join host Jim Moreno for this monthly open mic event and express your artistic side through spoken word, poetry, song or dance.

Price: Free.

FRIDAY

PINE VALLEY DAYS

Where/when: Pine Valley County Park, 28810 Old Highway 80, Pine Valley, 5 to 10 p.m. Friday.

Why Go: Pine Valley is almost as east as East County gets, and like other far-flung locales like Julian and Campo and Jacumba, it often seems like an entirely different county.  Come hang out amongst the pines with a deep-pit barbecue dinner and live music by the Emerald River Band, or save the trip for Saturday, which will feature food, craft vendors, a climbing wall and more.

Price: Free admission.

VACCINE AND JOHNNY MUDD & THE MUDD ROCKERS

Where/when: Fannie’s Nightclub, 9143 Campo Rd., Spring Valley, 9 p.m. Friday.

Why Go: Tired of the same old cover bands?  Locals Johnny Mudd & the Mudd Rockers are known for their feisty rock originals, but they will throw out a few recognizable tunes just for fun.

Price: Free.

NORTH COUNTY COWBOYS

Where/when: Prescott Promenade, El Cajon, 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.

Why Go: Wait, what?  Cowboys in North County?  Apparently East County doesn’t have a monopoly on SoCal cowboy culture.  No doubt their brand of country music is good enough for El Cajon to select them to play at the series, so go easy on them, even if they are outsiders.

Price: Free.

Where/when: 16232 Sequan Truck Trail, Alpine, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Friday.

Why Go: Ever feel out of touch with our earliest ancestors, who had to hunt for their food instead of buying it packaged, jarred and bagged in a grocery store?  Even if you’re not keen to shoot what you eat, you can still find enjoyment in the challenging skill of shooting target “birds” with the Lemon Grove Gun Club.

Price: $3 members, $5 non-members.

SATURDAY

JUST PRESS PLAY

Where/when: Viejas V Lounge, 5000 Willows Rd., Alpine, 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday.

Why Go: Unlike most cover bands, Just Press Play welcomes slightly slurred requests shouted from the dance floor.  If you can jam to it, chances are they know how to play it—now that is customer service.

Price: Free.

SUNDAY

KARAOKE CONTEST

Where/when: , 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove, 9 p.m. Sunday.

Why Go: Did one of the many non-famous judges at the American Idol auditions earlier this month break your heart and dash your dreams?  Well, you have a whole year to practice for next time, and what better way than entering karaoke contests?

Price: No cover. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?