Halloween Meets Dirty Sweet at El Dorado

The mix of grimy good-looks and raw rock and roll can be summed up in two words: Dirty Sweet.

One of San Diego’s unlabeled, unsigned and unadulterated indie bands, Dirty Sweet is a pack of highly-talented artists that music fans have adored since their inception in 2004.

Ruggedly handsome with long hair, grisly beards and outfitted in 70’s vintage, Ryan Koontz, Nathan Beale, Chris Mendez-Vanacore, Christian Schinelli and Eli Wulfmeier ooze a sweet, masculine sexuality, laden with pure rock energy. The boys combine the southern, bluesy vestiges of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allan Brothers and Led Zeppelin and a modern style that is all all their own, which is sure to blow you away.

Lead vocalist Ryan Koontz, melts hearts with smooth tenor crooning with unfaltering prestige, and  hits every note dead on. Rough, cracked, yet perfectly-pitched with a broad range of choral elasticity, his vocal styling encompasses the twangy rockabilly classic rock lovers can’t get enough of.

Guitarist Nathan Beale rips apart his instrument with electric vivacity that leaves fans awestruck. Zipping up and down the neck, rapidly curling his fingers around each chord without the slightest hesitation, Beale gives Dirty Sweet its rocker persona.

With Koontz on the mic, Beale on the strings, it’s Chris Mendez-Vanacore that gets listener’s blood surging. The high-tempo and pulsating cadences signature of Dirty Sweet’s sound is fueled by Vanacore’s hard-hitting drumming. His relentless, passionate percussion is behind the bobbing heads, tapping toes and gyrating hips of concert-goers.

The winner of two San Diego Music Awards, Dirty Sweet first became a household name after playing at The Casbah, our city’s indie-rock incubator that has championed the beginning sounds of Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, The Lemonheads, Rocket From The Crypt and The Jesus Lizard.

From there the band has launched nation-wide, entertaining festival-goers at Street Scene, Bonaroo, Lollapalooza and internationally at venues sprinkled all over the Netherlands.

Amidst their rising fame and exponentially-growing fan base,  San Diego’s Dirty Sweet is coming home.

Koontz, part owner of El Dorado, a saloon-styled bar and nightclub a couple blocks from downtown, brings the essence of Dirty Sweet to its physical form. With a dark, classic western motif, El Dorado puts night owls in a time warp, where bartenders, donning pinstripes, vests, suspenders and bowler hats take a considerable amount of time mixing each delicious, homemade cocktail to perfection. Long lists of whiskeys, bourbons and beers can be ordered straight or mixed, with ingenious ingredients such as egg whites and maple syrup El Dorado has set a new standard for specialty drinks.

Courtesy of El Dorado Cocktail Lounge

For the ultimate Dirty Sweet experience, this Halloween San Diego fans, new and old, can enjoy the ambiance of El Dorado with a live performance by the band. Starting 8 p.m. the retro Zombie-themed night will be an entertaining and musically-exhilarating way to spend October 31^st, while giving admirers the chance to meet and chill with Koontz, Beale, Vanacore, Schinelli and Wulfmeier up close and personal.

For more information on Dirty Sweet’s performance at El Dorado Oct. 31, 2009, visit www.eldoradobar.com. El Dorado is located on 1030 Broadway in downtown San Diego. Tickets are $10.