Von Bondies, May 23 at Safari Sam's

I saw the Von Bondies at the San Diego Street Scene a few years and suddenly realized that I should have seen them more than that one time. They're a bit of a cross between a few-generations-removed Rolling Stones and the White Stripes, with a slightly gritty, Detroit-rock sound. (And they probably wouldn't care for the White Stripes comparison since their second-biggest claim to fame is that Jack White beat the hell out of their lead singer, Jason Stollsteimer back in '04 but bad publicity is still publicity.) Stollsteimer is smart enough to have hot chicks as his guitarist and bassist (replacing the hot chicks that were his previous guitarist and bassist) but the music is good enough that they're not a necessary distraction. I'm surprised that they were playing a medium-sized club for their L.A. stop, since they're riding on the popularity of "C'Mon C'Mon" which apparently the theme song for Rescue Me, but for whatever reason they're playing there, I went to see them. They only had an album or two worth of material, as well as a new EP, but they played every song you would want them to (if you knew them well enough to want them to play certain songs). They actually didn't have a huge crowd, which I didn't mind, but I hope it doesn't discourage them from continuing to tour (though they came back once, at least). It was the first time I'd gone to Safari Sam's and I fell in love with the place and hoped to go back again but it had closed before I had the chance. The place was clean, with ample parking, good bar-grub, a good lay-out, nice bouncers, and great sound. The kind of place I would open if I could. It was way too good to last.

Another review of the show here.