The following post is from our advertisers, Virgin America, Tourism Toronto, and Only in San Francisco. We know what goes through your head when you board a Virgin America flight and see that signature purple glow in the cabin: I wanna dance! Or maybe: Get me a drink, let's party! Perhaps even: Is there room for a talented indie rock band to perform in here? Sadly, there's not much room in the aisle for busting moves, and it's not often that bands perform during flight (but, believe it or not, it's happened before). Sure, you can order a drink, but the fasten-your-seatbelt sign will still be laughing in your face. more ›

The following post is from our advertisers, Virgin America, Tourism Toronto, and Only in San Francisco. This isn't your grandmother's trip to Toronto. The winner of Virgin America's Hometown Hideout Contest will fly from San Francisco to Toronto to stay at the Hilton Toronto and spend Halloween at the trendy new eatery Parts and Labour while enjoying a private performance by Broken Social Scene. Worried about missing out on your friend's Halloween party? Take the party with you! There's room for nine of your friends to come along. more ›

The following post is from our advertisers, Virgin America, Tourism Toronto, and Only in San Francisco. Ever dream of going to Toronto and taking nine of your friends with you? And while you're there seeing a private concert with Broken Social Scene on Halloween? Well, with The Hometown Hideouts Contest, your friends at Virgin America are giving you the opportunity to make it happen. And, it’s easy too! Just share some of your favorite hometown spots by emailing a 3-day San Francisco itinerary to us, we'll post it, and people can 'like' it. Plus, you can link to it, tweet about it, post it to facebook, send it to all your friends and get them to vote for you. more ›

The following post is from our advertisers, Virgin America, Tourism Toronto, and Only in San Francisco.

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What do Broken Social Scene and Peaches both have in common? Leslie Feist! The Canadian singer-songwriter performs at the Fillmore tonight with Grizzly Bear. 1805 Geary St., SF. more ›

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... more ›

It's been a few months since we raved about Ratatat and gave away their CD, so we figure it's time again to extol their greatness. Like we said last time, RATATAT's music is so melodic, varied and compelling that it makes vocals and lyrics seem superfluous. The Brooklyn duo expertly mixes snakey synth lines with sneering guitar, cello, sleigh bells and samples like the appropriately primal roar in "Wildcat". File under: Things That Make You Go "ROWR!" more ›

On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? more ›

San Francisco grups were in full effect Friday night, as the hot demographic of 30-something indie-yuppies swept into the Cafe Du Nord Noise Pop event of the evening. For the record, it was singer-songwriter night, with Jason Collett (from the Canadian Broken Social Scene crowd) headlining, but the crowd had that vaguely open-minded/not-as-plugged-in-as-they-once-were feel of "let's go check out some New Indie Rock on Friday night after work." (We totally put ourselves in that group! We read that article about the Broken Social Scene in the New York Times!) When indie rock is no longer your life, and is instead your after-work hobby, you approach the whole concert thing differently. For instance, we saw folks IMing on corporate Blackberries and having loud conversations about office politics throughout the entirety of the Submarines' delicate set. No one was shouting out the names of obscure B-sides for any of the performers. It was actually kind of nice to have all that indier-than-thou pressure off, though we did feel bad for the Submarines. Etienne de Rocher's set was notably enlivened by an old-fashioned really-into-it indie rock fan, who flung out her Solid Gold dance routine, all thrashing head and horse-kicking calves. It was especially cool because de Rocher's set was actually kind of medium-tempo and introspective, like Jeff Buckley. Highlight of the evening: at the climax of one of de Rocher's songs, this woman let out a triumphant shriek, and the entire audience involuntarily took a half-step back. She definitely brought an indulgent smile to the faces of the crowd. I used to love indie rock that much!, you could see people thinking. Collett's set of rainy Sunday afternoon songs closed out the evening at around 1:30 a.m., as folks on the 9-to-5 stifled back their yawns of fatigue from the end of the work week. It's hard committing to the indie rock lifestyle when you've got bills to pay! more ›

SFist reviews Feist, John Vanderslice, Youth Group, and The Boticelli's at Bimbo's as part of the Noise Pop festival more ›