Get the Spins
As my friends know all too well, when I drink, I like to DJ. So when I heard about a new dive bar in Midtown called B-Side, where you could play your own records, I wondered why I hadn’t thought of this brilliant concept myself.
B-Side is operated by the time-tested trio that brought Shady Lady to the forefront of Sacramento cocktail culture. But unlike Shady Lady, B-Side has a laid-back dive-y atmosphere. There’s no velvet damask wallpaper and moody lighting; there aren’t even drink menus. It’s the kind of place where you’re not going to be out of place in a hoodie and can get anything from a $3 Oly on tap to a fancy you-call-it cocktail with its corresponding high price tag.
“As much as we all love cocktails, there’s something to be said for a simple bar with no frills,” says Garrett Van Vleck, one of the managing partners at B-Side. “People seem a little surprised when we tell them there’s no cocktail list but they also quickly realize how nice it is to order whatever they want. We wanted a back-to-basics dive bar, but if you order something like an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan, you’re going to get the same quality drink you would at Shady Lady.”
While Shady Lady’s decor is decidedly prohibition-era themed, B-Side has a sleazy ‘70s audiophile vibe. Rope lighting lined the bar shelves with record sleeves serving as the sole non-alcohol bar adornment. A collection of antique audio equipment backed the prominent DJ booth while a Russ Meyer film played scenes of gratuitous nudity of mod babes with blue eyeshadow and big hair. Between the patrons and DJ Roger Carpio spinning an eclectic mix of vinyl, it was very loud.
“We started with the idea of doing a vinyl record-centric concept and the ‘70s vibe sort of developed as an extension of that,” explains Van Vleck of the inspiration for the bar concept.
Sacramento DJ veteran Shaun Slaughter heads up the event booking at B-Side. During one of the regular events, “Loose Change,” the DJs pass out request books and people can pick from a selection of 45s. At another event, Vixens of Vinyl, female DJs headed up by DJ TrashEpiphany spin psychedelic, garage, punk, glam and trash. Open turntable night encourages anyone to bring a couple of their favorite records and take turns DJing.
Slaughter enthusiastically describes his approach to B-Side’s entertainment.
“My idea is that all the DJs should make it feel like a house party,” says Slaughter. “Each night has its own theme, but the only instruction I gave them was to have fun and don’t think about it too much … Originally I thought about booking only ‘70s-sounding stuff to align with the bar concept, but Garrett really emphasized doing all kinds of music. We’ve been having a blast!”
Bret Bair, known locally for his ownership of Ace of Spades and part ownership of Goldfield, also owns the building in which B-Side resides, along with its liquor license. The building formerly housed the defunct, but legendary, Monte Carlo.
Van Vleck explains how the Shady Lady gents (which includes Jason Boggs and Alex Origoni) came to lease the B-Side space.
“Bret Bair from Ace of Spades bought the building a couple of years ago and kept it running for a little while as the Monte Carlo,” says Van Vleck. “Then he shut it down and started doing some rehab on the building. About a year ago we reached out and inquired about teaming up to do a project. We all felt like the B-Side concept was a good fit for the space and moved forward from there.”
{Alex Origoni and Jason Boggs}
Origoni, Boggs and Van Vleck have their hands in many regional projects, including Brewster’s in Galt, Fieldhouse in the Arden area and upcoming establishments Amaro (an Italian bistro slated to open in the R Street Corridor and partly owned by Deftones’ Abe Cunningham) and Sail Inn, which will revamp an existing bar on the West Sacramento riverfront.
One would think that working so closely together on so many diverse projects would wear on their friendship, but Van Vleck divulges that they get along better as time goes by.
“The three of us have polar opposite personalities and that works to our advantage,” says Van Vleck. “There’s no yes men and you never have to worry about getting an honest opinion. We argue all the time about every detail of every place, but in a constructive way. At the end of the day there are no egos, we just debate the ideas until we settle on the best one, then have a shot of whiskey.”
While good music and libations flow freely at B-Side, one thing you won’t find—yet—is a bite to eat. But times will change.
“We are going to add on a patio and do a food truck program as often as possible,” says Van Vleck. “Right now, we’re just concentrating on getting the bar running smoothly, but hopefully the food side will come along soon.”
So far, B-Side seems to be a neighborhood bar in terms of the clientele. And that’s exactly what the partners are going for—although time will tell what kind of crowd will become regulars.
One thing’s for sure: these guys know what they’re doing and have a track record of successful execution of their bar and restaurant concepts. Pair that with a unique idea like B-Side and open up shop in a city full of music junkies, and you’ve got yourself a dive bar that is sure to stick around for a long time. B-Side is solid gold.
{Local artist Jose Di Gregorio hanging his art work inside B-Side}
B-Side is open at 1430 S Street from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week. Find them on Facebook to view the full events calendar.
Keep on Spinning
John “DJ Crook” Molina, aka CrookOne, has been a staple Sacramento DJ for nearly 15 years. The Los Angeles native came to Sac in the mid-’90s, and we have claimed him as our own ever since. “My first official gig was at the Monkey Bar in 2002. That kind of got the ball rolling for me. Years later, and I’ve DJed at most places that will allow it in this town,” says Crook.
DJ Crook has been known to bring his funky music palette to countless party epicenters in our area. You may have experienced his work at the Golden Bear, where he has held a residency for more than a decade every Friday night and Second Saturday, or for his randomly occurring (soon-to-be-resurrected) FFFreak dance party at The Press Club to name just a few.
He is also one of those DJs who can seamlessly go from a late-night bar/dance party setting to providing backing sets for full rock bands. When he wasn’t manning turntables at nightclubs and bars, he was working with bands like Team Sleep, Decibel Devils and Deftones, where he would intertwine his work with the likes of Chino Moreno and Zach Hill.
As a new year approaches, Crook has a whole fleet of projects on hand to fill it. He met with me for a beer to discuss the current state of his DJing endeavors, and to prove that he’s not slowing down as the years pass. Not only is his band, Team Sleep, working on new material, but his weekly DJ nights are expanding to include at least one regular slot at the new B-Side vinyl bar. His work at B-Side will be experimental at first, and as Crook told me, “a lot of different crowds have come and gone … What I was playing back then is a little different from now, but I also have to adjust to mixing the old with the new. It’s all a matter of keeping up with it all. I am grateful to be doing this.”
How did you get yourself into DJing?
I’m gonna age myself now … It started way back in the ‘80s when I was in high school and trying to do the whole break/graffiti thing. I would listen to this radio station in L.A. called KDAY, and they had live DJ mix shows. It was probably around 1985 … and I thought it was pretty interesting and something I would love to do. I would just listen to the different guys DJing and study their techniques.
Then, I moved from L.A. to Whittier and met some guys who were DJs there. I hung around them and from there, got my own turntables. I was about 15 or 16 at the time. We were all just a bunch of kids, but they were all so good at what they did. I would watch them and then go home and sit in my room and create my own stuff.
What sort of records captivated you at that time?
At that time, I would say the Planet Rocks, Egyptian Lover, Run DMC and stuff like that. Early hip-hop and mid-’80s electro were my thing. At the time, I still didn’t even have a job, or was barely in the process of getting one, so I didn’t have any records. I would go into my dad’s or stepmom’s records and try to mix anything I could get my hands on; I would take something like a Madonna and mix it with something of my own.
How did you end up in Sacramento?
My friend, Frank Delgado, and a couple of other friends of mine, moved down here. Frank got a DJing gig and actually ended up meeting the guys from Deftones and eventually joined the band as a DJ. He would always tell me to come up, so I found myself visiting really frequently … pretty much just going home to work. The year 2000 is when I decided to make the move to Sac. I saw that I had opportunities here.
You eventually worked with Deftones when you moved to Sac. Tell me how that relationship blossomed.
It was 1996 when I first met those guys, and they were beginning to get really big at that time because their first record was just getting ready to come out. So the singer [Chino Moreno] played me the record and I played him a hip-hop demo tape, and he listened to the whole thing. Back then, it was cassettes. When I moved up here, they had put out their third record. My friend Frank Delgado really connected me with those guys, and I’ve collaborated on a couple of songs and projects ever since. Chino and I are both in the band Team Sleep.
Is Team Sleep alive and well?
We did a show last October in Woodstock, New York, and that record came out in July. We are working on the DVD part of the performance now. Currently, we are working on new material. Zach Hill has been super busy with Death Grips, so he hasn’t been involved this time around, but I’ll text him every now and then (mostly when I’ve been drinking), to talk about projects and catch up. He’s always working on a bunch of different things. We have Gil Sharone working with us on drums right now. He came with us to Woodstock last year, which wasn’t supposed to initially happen, but I am happy it did. He was originally scheduled to go on tour with Marilyn Manson at that time, but that somehow got delayed so he ended up with us. We are definitely working on some new things and will be chipping away at a new album for the coming year with a few shows in the works too.
How did you become connected with B-Side?
I know the owners. I’ve known Jason Boggs and Garrett Van Vleck for years, and actually Garrett used to be the door guy at Monkey Bar many years ago when I was a DJ there. Jason kind of told me what his vision for that bar was, and it was really exciting. I was just waiting and waiting for it to open, I was really anxious to just get in there.
It is really great. It’s so new, and I have only had a couple of nights there, but the environment and the way it looks is awesome. It has this old school ‘70s feel. They did such a good job with the interior. When I had my night there, we did the all-vinyl thing, and there was good energy and a good turnout. Me and a couple of guys are going to try different themed nights and see what really sticks.
What are your nights there like?
Thursday I am going to be DJing with my friend Ben [Johnson], of Delta Breeze Records in West Sac. We are focusing on modern funk. Also, on the first Saturday of every month, when he isn’t busy touring with Deftones, Frank Delgado and I will be trying to collaborate. Years back, Frank and I actually had a night at Monkey Bar we would put on called “Heavy Duty,” and we are looking to revive that concept; it has a really open format.
What sort of things are you looking forward to in 2016?
I am hosting a New Year’s Eve party at Press Club called “New Jack Fling.” I usually host it a few times a year. It’s more of a late ‘80s/early ‘90s new jack swing dance party, kinda like Tony! Toni! Toné! Also, same-era hip-hop and R&B will be included. It’s always such a fun night.
I will also be continuing to do my night at the Golden Bear. January will mark my 10-year anniversary of DJing there. Sometimes I forget how long I’ve been doing this.
Don your favorite pair of stonewashed jeans and swing down to The Press Club to see DJ Crook and others spin late ‘80s and early ‘90s hip-hop and R&B at their New Year’s Eve celebration, New Jack Fling, on Dec. 31 (duh). The party starts at 9 p.m. and the cover is just $7. Decade-appropriate attire is not mandatory, but it is encouraged. The Press Club is located at 2030 P Street in Sacramento.
Sacramento’s New Classic Sports Bar, Fieldhouse
My homegirl Liz Simpson and I stepped outside of our Midtown comfort zone to check out and document a new sports bar that had recently opened in the Arden-Arcade area, Fieldhouse. I grumbled about the name— doesn’t it seem like every new place opening up lately uses the trendy formula “Prefix-house?”
I later learned that Fieldhouse owners weren’t using some hack formula to name the restaurant, but that a field house is the structure at a ball field that houses all of the equipment and maintenance supplies for the venue. Shows how much my smug ass knows.
Fieldhouse is set in a strip mall on Fulton Avenue with a 24 Hour Fitness and other boring chains, but at least this means that the parking is a-plenty. It is decorated with sports memorabilia, old-timey sports photographs, a barrage of mounted flat-screen TVs blaring every kind of sporting event wherever one casts an eye and antique sports equipment. Fieldhouse is modern and comfortable, with understated furniture, dark wood accents, a welcoming bar at the center of the space, gray and brick walls, a shuffleboard table and darts.
The restaurant opened on March 5, 2014, by the elbow grease of Shady Lady owners (who act as consultants for Fieldhouse) Jason Boggs, Alex Origoni and Garrett Van Vleck, and owners Amir Daliri, Steve Squaglia and Mike Doherty.
Says Origoni, “Fieldhouse is a throwback inspired sports bar that pays homage to all sports, popular and obscure, throughout all eras… The menu consists of classic American pub fare with great care taken in sourcing the highest quality raw ingredients and the bar program is anchored by a large selection of high quality draft and bottled beers, as well as carefully constructed craft cocktails. All of these features combine to make Fieldhouse a casual, comfortable sports pub set in a classic environment with outstanding food and beverages.”
I was totally OK with all of those things, and by now the thirst and hunger were getting real.
We posted up at the bar and were immediately greeted by a cute, freckled redhead with bangs named Kristin, who quickly and skillfully procured our drinks that Midtowners will recognize from the Shady Lady cocktail menu: a Jameson and the Giant Peach and a Paloma. Beyond the signature cocktail list borrowed from Shady, Fieldhouse offers an expansive list of draught microbrews and cheap domestic beers one would expect of an upscale sports bar.
Although I sucked mine down fast, having had a rough week, I was impressed by the Paloma’s methodical distribution of tequila and grapefruit. The cocktails here are also easy on the eyes.
While we bullshitted with the bartender and whetted our whistles, we made a game plan for grub, ordered, and were soon served a smorgasbord of radness. We learned that the head chef is shared with the Shady Lady—Kevin Ritchie. His culinary background includes Executive Sous Chef at Michael Mina in San Francisco, Sous Chef at Fog City Diner in San Francisco and Line Cook at Waterboy.
The Rally Nachos are not the thrown-together pile of low-grade Sysco ingredients you’ve become accustomed to expect from a traditional sports bar. Rather, they are a thoughtful and picture-perfect assemblage of top quality elements. The fresh tortilla chips are carefully topped with roasted green chilies, Cotija cheese, fresh cilantro, black beans, red jalapenos and drizzled with a cumin-lime crema. They are nearly too pretty to eat, but after a first bite of these slightly spicy beauties, Liz and I had no problem destroying them.
Another dish we ordered with the intention of warding off gut brick and keeping things moving through was the Oregon Bay Shrimp Louie Salad. Also a meticulous plating, it was a bed of lemon cabbage slaw and cucumber slices, upon which was stacked avocado, Vega Farms hardboiled egg, tomato horseradish cocktail vinaigrette and, of course, Oregon Bay shrimps, which were tossed in a mustard seed dressing. At the apex of the salad, two sprigs of chives were crisscrossed. The salad was a lovely balance of textures and flavors—crisp, creamy, saucy, savory, sweet, tart and awesome.
For a little Southern comfort, we requested the Fried Green Tomatoes, a dish I was fuzzily familiar with from late nights at Shady Lady. Green heirloom tomatoes are encased in a homemade breadcrumb batter and flawlessly fried crunchy but not overdone, with the edges a slightly darker shade of brown from the overall golden color. They float above a thick, sour, yet sweet tarragon remoulade below a crown of fresh-as-a-daisy microgreens.
When Boggs became aware of the purpose of our visit (to review the menu offerings), he generously engaged his head chef to bring from the kitchen a couple of additional dishes. To get a feel for their take on sports bar grub, they recommended the Whiskey Burger and the Vietnamese wings.
So there we sat, happy campers, with a five-plate spread before us, showcasing every color of the rainbow and bestowing a wealth of amazing flavors on our eager taste buds. Those sitting at the bar around us had to ask why two svelte women such as ourselves were so damn hungry.
The half-pound Whiskey Burger elicited an, “Oh dang.” This is quite possibly one of the best burgers in Sacramento. Served on newsprint food service paper with black peppercorn fries, the Whiskey Burger comes on a toasted bun with spicy, bitter arugula; bacon on point in the shape of a stiff ‘X’; a whiskey-soaked patty of local ground beef; and cheddar cheese that melts and flows like lava over the whole masterpiece.
I’m not usually a fan of wings, as I find them fatty and gristly, and feel too animal-like gnawing flesh from bone with fingers covered in hot sauce. But with the Vietnamese wings, I took no issue with picking them bones clean with my teeth. The skin is sticky, spicy and sweet, and the crisply fried exterior gives way to juicy meat marinated with cilantro, mint and Serrano chilies, with chips of fried garlic.
Stuffed to the gills and smiling, I noticed that in spite of the recent opening, the place was already beginning to fill up with patrons. Origoni gratefully explains, “We have been warmly received by the community since opening and are continuing to see more new faces as word spreads.” Looks like another home run for the team at Shady Lady and their new partners.
Fieldhouse is located at 1310 Fulton Ave. in Sacramento. Open Monday – Thursday and Sunday from 11 a.m. – 12 a.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. – 2 a.m. Check them out at Facebook.com/fieldhousesac for more details.
