My mom loves Crystal Bowersox. Crystal Bowersox grew up about 10 minutes from our out-in-the-boonies home in Ohio. So when Crystal was on American Idol singing Janis Joplin, my mom had no choice but to support her wholeheartedly. Fast forward about ten years, my mom is in my living room, flipping through channels for the morning news, when she uncharacteristically pauses on Fox News. Before I had a chance to remind her that my TV would self-destruct if left on that channel for more than 3 seconds, we both realized Crystal Bowersox was playing on the morning news! And she was here in San Diego! Tonight at Belly Up! Approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds later, we had 2 tickets for the show and were doing our happy dance.
Belly Up has been a San Diego establishment since 1974, and has been voted “San Diego’s Best Live Music Venue” about a million times. Enough said. I love it for its unpretentiousness, its guacamole, and its excellent acoustics. Plus it only holds 600, so every seat is a good one. Crystal Bowersox and Belly Up lived up to our expectations. My mom and I might have gone all groupie on the guitar player, Guitar Dave, before the show. This paid off as my mom got a shout-out during the show…“Is that Jan out there?!?” Way to go mom.
Hands down, one of my favorite spots in San Diego. I’d consider moving to Solana Beach just so I could catch a show every night. And eat their guacamole.
