The past five years have seen a detonation of liquor licenses in downtown Fullerton, and with the urination, vomiting, fights and other alcohol-related niceties has come a similar proliferation of venues offering live music. On just about every night of the week, you can hear live, local bands at 10 venues downtown or on the periphery. And while there are a lot of bands who . . . well, the less said about them the better, there are certified diamonds in the rough. Count Roman Alexander and the Robbery as one of the brightest. Led by the charismatic and soulfully tuned voice of Alexander, the outfit play some 12 shows per month from San Diego to Sonoma, but their home base is downtown. The five-person ensemble emphasize original songs that are equal parts funk, reggae, blues and rock. They've sold 4,000 copies of their eponymous first CD, and they are busy working on their second, Songs for the Ride Home, which will be released early next year. But though the band have played more than 350 shows in and around Southern California, locals may be running out of chances to see them on a regular basis. Since 2008, they have opened up for Steel Pulse, the Dirty Heads and the Wailers and headlined at the House of Blues in August; the band are now secure enough with their large, local fan base they're planning tours to Florida, Washington and Tennessee.
