When The Lights Go Down In The City
Special Friday Night Lights edition
This Friday night in San Francisco offers such a great selection of shows that it's all were going to focus on this week. So here's how to use this week's column:
Step 1. Decide you're going to see live music on Friday night.
Step 2. Read about all your choices below, and be sure to listen to the music and watch the videos.
Step 3. Call up a friend or ten and get them to agree to go out with you. If you can't get anyone to go with you, put on your brave boots and go alone (trust us, it won't kill you, and maybe you'll meet some new concert-going cohorts).
Step 4. Select your show and get your tickets.
Step 5. Enjoy.
Here are your choices for Friday, April 6th:
One of our top albums of 2006 came from the Danes in Mew. They're filling The Fillmore with their grandiose rock, complete with proggy dynamics, crashing guitars and a terrifically airy falsetto. We don't really have any idea what they're talking about in the song "Apocalypso" but hearing it always gives us a rush. Listen to "Apocalpyso" via this fairly boring video:
Another one of our all-time favorite bands is in town, but unfortunately they're performing as part of the rodeo at the Cow Palace. After having seen Heart from the side of the stage at the intimate Mountain Winery a couple years ago, this scenario just isn't going to live up for us. But we can attest that they are great live, Ann can still belt like no one else, Nancy still rocks a rare high kick, and there are still good tickets for sale.
Watch Heart perform "Little Queen" in 1978. It doesn't get any hotter than that.
Mezzanine offers up a night of song-driven electro-embellished adventure. Apparently Whitey opened for Peaches on a recent tour and brought down the house, so they're back to play a giant headlining show with Home Video (who cite Edward Gorey and Massive Attack as influences), Pelaton and guest DJ Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3. We like what we heard on Whitey's MySpace; imagine the laid-back synthy cool of 80's-era Bowie built on a more modern production aesthetic mixed with Casio-esque keyboard sounds.
Listen:
Whitey
Home Video
The rest of Friday night's picks, including more songs and a video from The Gossip, after the jump.
You gotta love The Gossip. They make you want to shake and move and maybe even get off your ass and go make something happen. They're headlining Bottom of the Hill with Yo Majesty and Dolorata. Watch The Gossip's "Standing in the Way of Control".
Congrats to Catherine and Douglas who won the Mother Hips prize packs we gave away last week! Join them on Friday or Saturday at the Independent to celebrate the release of the Mother Hips' latest album Kiss The Crystal Flake. Friday's openers are The Parson Red Heads and Tom Heyman; Saturday's openers are Ride the Blinds and Paula Frazer.
A really good night of singer-songwriters happens on the intimate Hemlock Tavern stage. Strip it all down to stories, strums and voices with Cass McCombs, the slow grind of Arbouretum (Dave Heumann), and the heartbreak basement folk of David Karsten Daniels.