Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Guinness played its part

Minus 5’s Dungeon Golds features some of popular rock keyboardist Ian McLagan’s (Small Faces, Stones) final performances.
Minus 5’s Dungeon Golds features some of popular rock keyboardist Ian McLagan’s (Small Faces, Stones) final performances.

Having gigged with everyone from Robyn Hitchcock to R.E.M., Scott McCaughey brings his Minus 5 to Balboa Theatre downtown on March 24. He took some email questions from the Reader.

What San Diego music memories come to mind?

“The Young Fresh Fellows had a few memorable shows at the old Casbah. Jim’s vintage Danelectro Longhorn bass got its neck broken at one. Of course, Skid Roper was there, yeah! But my best San Diego concert memory is of the Minus 5 opening for Wilco at 4th&B in 2002. [Tweedy, featuring Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and his son Spencer, will open this week’s show.] At the end of Wilco’s show, Peter Buck and I and the rest of the Minus 5 were in the venue lobby with acoustic instruments playing songs around the merch table. So many people crowded around us that it was jamming things up so they kicked us outside. We kept shouting out tunes there until a couple squad cars pulled up.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Tweedy and the Minus 5

  • Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
  • Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Avenue, San Diego

The new album (Dungeon Golds) contains some of the final performances of keyboardist Ian McLagan. How did you meet him?

“I think the first time I actually talked to Mac was when he was playing with Billy Bragg and they were doing a double bill with Wilco outside Seattle. I was thrilled to have a few pints of Guinness with him backstage, and then over the years we just met up in Austin and Portland, whenever our paths crossed, which was fortunately pretty often! I always felt so lucky to have become friends with him — beyond my appreciation for his work, he was just such a wonderful guy.”

How did you find out he’d died?

Alejandro Escovedo called me from the hospital the morning after his stroke and let me know that the decision had been made to take him off life support. It was not a great day in my life — but Mac had so many people who loved him, so I was feeling for them, too. I worked on music with friends, which was very therapeutic, and then Guinness played its part.”

What’s in the future for the band and yourself?

“We’re going to the toppermost of the poppermost! In May I’m doing a solo tour of Spain, which is a bit crazy. Hopefully, more Minus 5 dates will get squeezed in if possible, and there must be more songs to write — I just have to find them. Or, more likely, they will find me.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Minus 5’s Dungeon Golds features some of popular rock keyboardist Ian McLagan’s (Small Faces, Stones) final performances.
Minus 5’s Dungeon Golds features some of popular rock keyboardist Ian McLagan’s (Small Faces, Stones) final performances.

Having gigged with everyone from Robyn Hitchcock to R.E.M., Scott McCaughey brings his Minus 5 to Balboa Theatre downtown on March 24. He took some email questions from the Reader.

What San Diego music memories come to mind?

“The Young Fresh Fellows had a few memorable shows at the old Casbah. Jim’s vintage Danelectro Longhorn bass got its neck broken at one. Of course, Skid Roper was there, yeah! But my best San Diego concert memory is of the Minus 5 opening for Wilco at 4th&B in 2002. [Tweedy, featuring Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and his son Spencer, will open this week’s show.] At the end of Wilco’s show, Peter Buck and I and the rest of the Minus 5 were in the venue lobby with acoustic instruments playing songs around the merch table. So many people crowded around us that it was jamming things up so they kicked us outside. We kept shouting out tunes there until a couple squad cars pulled up.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Past Event

Tweedy and the Minus 5

  • Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
  • Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Avenue, San Diego

The new album (Dungeon Golds) contains some of the final performances of keyboardist Ian McLagan. How did you meet him?

“I think the first time I actually talked to Mac was when he was playing with Billy Bragg and they were doing a double bill with Wilco outside Seattle. I was thrilled to have a few pints of Guinness with him backstage, and then over the years we just met up in Austin and Portland, whenever our paths crossed, which was fortunately pretty often! I always felt so lucky to have become friends with him — beyond my appreciation for his work, he was just such a wonderful guy.”

How did you find out he’d died?

Alejandro Escovedo called me from the hospital the morning after his stroke and let me know that the decision had been made to take him off life support. It was not a great day in my life — but Mac had so many people who loved him, so I was feeling for them, too. I worked on music with friends, which was very therapeutic, and then Guinness played its part.”

What’s in the future for the band and yourself?

“We’re going to the toppermost of the poppermost! In May I’m doing a solo tour of Spain, which is a bit crazy. Hopefully, more Minus 5 dates will get squeezed in if possible, and there must be more songs to write — I just have to find them. Or, more likely, they will find me.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.