Biebs at La Cave (It's Not a Joke)

JUSTIN BIEBER AT LA CAVE
Yes, Justin Bieber was at La Cave last week with Selena Gomez, to surprise singer/songwriter Ernie Halter, who performed at the Costa Mesa spot. Bieber had covered Halter's song "Come Home to Me," so he drove down from LA to join Halter onstage. Here's the big question: How did the 17-year-old Bieber get in the usually 21-and-over venue? Server Leilani Huebner, who waited on the Bieb and Gomez, explained, "As long as we're still serving food, people can be in here. And we were serving food till really late last night." The Bieb had "no bodyguards . . . but it was pretty cool because people didn't overwhelm him; people didn't know he was here." Of course, Halter had to tweet about it: "I'm speechless. @justinbieber and @selenagomez came to see me play tonight and Justin sat in. All I can say is wow." Not to be outdone, Bieber tweeted, "@erniehalter thanks for the night. Glad we could surprise u. U r the real deal. Congrats to u and the wife. And . . . @erniehalter Never Say Never aint no BS. Haha. Thanks again." From a May 20 Heard Mentality blog post.

IKEY OWENS REMEMBERS BRADLEY NOWELL
Long Beach resident Ikey Owens—former Long Beach Dub Allstars member, Free Moral Agents front man and Mars Volta keyboardist—gives us his memories of Bradley Nowell and Sublime back in the day. "To this day, there's no band that draws as many people in OC/LB as Sublime did in 1992. . . . Before they were signed by a record label, before the Internet, they would just draw so many people. Stoner kids liked them, metal kids liked them, hip-hop kids liked them, frat boys liked them. It was THE band. . . . In Mars Volta, we had a saying: 'You bring your country with you wherever you go.' They were one of the first bands I saw that brought their country with them. I was in love with not only the music, but also this whole culture. When I was lucky enough to be in Long Beach Dub Allstars, I felt like I already knew what that culture was just from listening to those records. . . . All those people were true. And that culture carried on far beyond Nowell's death. Sublime put their culture on record: Long Beach, punk, reggae, the drugs they did, the dogs, etc. They managed somehow to put more than music on a cassette tape. It's beyond talent, and it's something I'm still trying to learn. I'm still trying to put Free Moral Agents culture on record." From a May 20 post.

This column appeared in print as "Justin Bieber at La Cave."