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

Saving Ray

New leadership injects life into longstanding event

“Playing on a street corner...is spontaneous and exhilarating.”
“Playing on a street corner...is spontaneous and exhilarating.”

Art Walk: Ray at Night

Chill Pill’s Mystery Cave...that’s the dude’s name

it’s Saturday night on North Park’s Ray Street and the pavement is humming with life. A dude in zebra tights and a tank top twirls around with a hula hoop while a crowd gathers to soak up the spacious sounds of Chill Pill, a project of San Diego beatmaker Mystery Cave. Vendors line the sidewalks furnishing handmade crafts, hot food, and all manner of artwork. The vibe is akin to the energetic bustle of Ocean Beach’s farmers’ market, but it wasn’t always this way.

A year ago, Ray at Night was a dying movement marred by vacant galleries, lackluster attendance, and a near-sterile ambiance as North Park for the Arts, a nonprofit organization made up of local business owners and volunteers, struggled to keep the 14-year-old event alive. In January, Brian Beevers, owner of nearby shop Simply Local and organizer of several San Diego farmers’ markets, took the reins with his sights set on reinvigorating the monthly (second Saturdays, 6 to 10 p.m.) art walk.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“What Brian did the first month he was operating was move the live music from the west side of Ray Street to the corner of Ray and University where all of the foot traffic is, making live music a main feature,” says Katie Howard, a 26-year-old musician who Brian brought onboard to book bands after her group Citrus & Katie performed at his debut night. “That one simple gesture changed it all.”

Katie aims to boost the scene’s morale

Katie later booked local modular synth experimentalist Prettyhowtown (John Noble) and, in May, he joined the team as sound-production manager. Now, Katie calls him the “meat and potatoes” of the live-music side of the event. “He brought out equipment including stand-up speakers, front monitors, and stage lights, really increasing our sound and visual quality by 100 percent.”

In addition, eclectic VJ !ZeuqsaV! (Xavier Vasquez) frequently comes out to provide large-scale projections on the sporting-goods store behind the stage. On this night, however, IMD of San Diego collective Drumetrics is projecting multicolored static snow as buses roar by and SD/LA haunted trip-hop duo Angels Dust cast spells from the street corner.

“Our vision is for Ray at Night to be considered an important outdoor music venue in San Diego,” Katie says, “a highlight street-fair event that people look forward to visiting. Every month we gain attendance because of the growing caliber of talent that is willing to come out and perform.”

Angels Dust cast spells — wooOOOoooo!

She estimates monthly attendance at around 1000 to 1500, a stark difference from the dwindling crowds in times prior. As a crowd gathers for Angels Dust, Katie scrambles to the back of the stage, where she interviews Chill Pill for the event’s nascent podcast (soundcloud.com/rayatnightraydio).

“My main vision is helping the San Diego music scene gain a stronger morale and to be a part of a movement, however big or small it may be,” Katie later tells me. “Music brings people together. This is an opportunity for exposure for both parties: the musician and the observer. It is educational to our culture. Playing on a street corner of a happening area of town is spontaneous and exhilarating. It’s an experience that no dive bar could provide. It is an opportunity for the average person to see what is going on in our community, what our generation is creating, and a chance to take a glimpse into our ever-evolving music scene.”

On Saturday, November 14, San Diego Music Thing is taking over the Ray at Night stage with a free showcase featuring Triumph of the Wild, Super Buffet, Podunk Nowhere, and Brad Perry.

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

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
“Playing on a street corner...is spontaneous and exhilarating.”
“Playing on a street corner...is spontaneous and exhilarating.”

Art Walk: Ray at Night

Chill Pill’s Mystery Cave...that’s the dude’s name

it’s Saturday night on North Park’s Ray Street and the pavement is humming with life. A dude in zebra tights and a tank top twirls around with a hula hoop while a crowd gathers to soak up the spacious sounds of Chill Pill, a project of San Diego beatmaker Mystery Cave. Vendors line the sidewalks furnishing handmade crafts, hot food, and all manner of artwork. The vibe is akin to the energetic bustle of Ocean Beach’s farmers’ market, but it wasn’t always this way.

A year ago, Ray at Night was a dying movement marred by vacant galleries, lackluster attendance, and a near-sterile ambiance as North Park for the Arts, a nonprofit organization made up of local business owners and volunteers, struggled to keep the 14-year-old event alive. In January, Brian Beevers, owner of nearby shop Simply Local and organizer of several San Diego farmers’ markets, took the reins with his sights set on reinvigorating the monthly (second Saturdays, 6 to 10 p.m.) art walk.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“What Brian did the first month he was operating was move the live music from the west side of Ray Street to the corner of Ray and University where all of the foot traffic is, making live music a main feature,” says Katie Howard, a 26-year-old musician who Brian brought onboard to book bands after her group Citrus & Katie performed at his debut night. “That one simple gesture changed it all.”

Katie aims to boost the scene’s morale

Katie later booked local modular synth experimentalist Prettyhowtown (John Noble) and, in May, he joined the team as sound-production manager. Now, Katie calls him the “meat and potatoes” of the live-music side of the event. “He brought out equipment including stand-up speakers, front monitors, and stage lights, really increasing our sound and visual quality by 100 percent.”

In addition, eclectic VJ !ZeuqsaV! (Xavier Vasquez) frequently comes out to provide large-scale projections on the sporting-goods store behind the stage. On this night, however, IMD of San Diego collective Drumetrics is projecting multicolored static snow as buses roar by and SD/LA haunted trip-hop duo Angels Dust cast spells from the street corner.

“Our vision is for Ray at Night to be considered an important outdoor music venue in San Diego,” Katie says, “a highlight street-fair event that people look forward to visiting. Every month we gain attendance because of the growing caliber of talent that is willing to come out and perform.”

Angels Dust cast spells — wooOOOoooo!

She estimates monthly attendance at around 1000 to 1500, a stark difference from the dwindling crowds in times prior. As a crowd gathers for Angels Dust, Katie scrambles to the back of the stage, where she interviews Chill Pill for the event’s nascent podcast (soundcloud.com/rayatnightraydio).

“My main vision is helping the San Diego music scene gain a stronger morale and to be a part of a movement, however big or small it may be,” Katie later tells me. “Music brings people together. This is an opportunity for exposure for both parties: the musician and the observer. It is educational to our culture. Playing on a street corner of a happening area of town is spontaneous and exhilarating. It’s an experience that no dive bar could provide. It is an opportunity for the average person to see what is going on in our community, what our generation is creating, and a chance to take a glimpse into our ever-evolving music scene.”

On Saturday, November 14, San Diego Music Thing is taking over the Ray at Night stage with a free showcase featuring Triumph of the Wild, Super Buffet, Podunk Nowhere, and Brad Perry.

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

2024’s Best Bitcoin & Crypto Casinos – Play BTC Casino Games Online

Best Bitcoin Casinos (2024): Top 10 Crypto Casino Sites for BIG Payouts
Next Article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
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.