DISCUSSION/THEATER: Before Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse rose to fame with shocking original choreography, directorial genius, and having a penchent for abusing dancers, we had Jerome Robbins. The mastermind of steps behind such famous works as Gypsy, West Side Story, and Fiddler on the Roof, just to name a few, will be discussed in length tonight at "Words on Dance Celebrates the Life and Career of Jerome Robbins." The panel discussion will be hosted......

We volunteered to meet and greet sell Noise Pop merchandise to festival attendees who often ended up spending all their money on band merch (as if) and/or beer (or more specifically in Cafe Du Nord's case -- Fernet Branca and Poppy Jaspers). It was quite a fun experience though, and we highly recommend it. Contact them about volunteering at next year's event! Tuesday: Our first Noise Pop night was on Opening Night at the Rickshaw......

Nicole Atkins starts this week off strong with some soulful tunes from the Jersey shore over at The Independent, starting at 8pm. She's crazy-cool and has a voice of gold. If you're more of a rocker, than get to Cafe du Nord early to see Cold Hot Crash and Filter play. It looks like the only way you can buy tickets is at the door and there's not too many of them. A Fine Frenzy,......

Yes, we are a bit late with the listings but that doesn't stop us from being excited for this week's music offerings. It's Noise Pop - something we've been talking about since December. Since there is so much going on this week, we are going to highlight some shows that we know you can still get tickets to. Let's start with tonight: Minipop, from San Francisco, will be headlining at Bottom of the Hill......

LIVE MUSIC: Parenthetically named '80s pop outfit Was (Not Was) is known for the song, "Walk the Dinosaur" And that ditty? Went a little something like this: "Open the door, get on the floor/Everybody walk the dinosaur/Boom boom acka-lacka lacka boom." Bring your favorite Gen-Xer to hear them live at Cafe Du Nord. *FILM: Just in time to make you feel less bad about being single on Valentine's Day is Woody Allen's Annie Hall.......

Café du Nord will be the setting for a showcase of three talented local rock bands tonight: Raised By Robots, The Aimless Never Miss, and The Paper Sons. The Paper Sons, four extremely talented guys from the Bay Area, are known for their real alternative-rock sound (a bit of a throw back to the early 90's but somehow still very current). We got a chance to talk to Tom McCullough (pictured second to the left),......

SFist interviews Raymond Raposa of the Castanets...

Wow, one show on Monday and twelve on Friday. This week we definitely start off a bit slow, but by the end of the week, we have a ton of choices. Wednesday, there is the sold-out Ingrid Michaelson show that had to be moved from Cafe du Nord to Slim's because apparently everyone is into "librarian chic" right now. Though it's sold-out, you can still find tickets on craigslist; the prices aren't too inflated, yet.......

Rickie Lee Jones: Easy listening-ish jazz and pop/R&B songstress ("Chuck E.'s in Love") sings tonight at 8:30 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord; $30. SOLD OUTThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007): "An action western surrounding the private life and public exploits of America''s most notorious outlaw, Jesse James," starring pretty boys Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, and the best actress in the entire stratosphere, Mary-Louise Parker. Screens at 8 p.m.......

The Sound of Young America Live: Live public radio featuring Jesse Thorn, Morgan Murphy, Merlin Mann, Danny Hoch, and Bucky Sinister perform le stand-up hot. Zach Rogue (of Rogue Wave) provides the music. It's indie rock and comedy all rolled into one. Ta-da! Oh, and it's part of SF Sketchfest, so you know it's good. Show starts at 8 p.m. at the Eureka Theatre; $10.BiFriendly Social: A bisexual coffee klatch for men and women......

Back in December, The Lovemakers, a glam-rock outfit from Oakland, decided to stay put and forego their national tour to record their next full-length album entitled "Love is Dead." (For a band called "The Lovemakers," that's quite a title!) According to their blog, they've also decided to "be a 3-piece [band] again for the next while live. Scott, Lisa and Michael Urbano on drums. Back to basics. Very cool. Very fun." What we didn't......

If you haven't decided what you are doing to celebrate the New Year, it's okay - it seems that limited tickets are still available to tonight's biggest shows. We have a feeling they will go quick. If you don't like crowds, you can check out Radiohead's New Year's Eve bash on your couch with a bottle of booze. For the partiers, there are several options ranging from $8 at Hotel Utah to $100 at Cafe......

-- Unsilent Night: New York-based composer Phil Kline’s holiday concert creates "an outdoor ambient music piece for an infinite number of boomboxes. It’s like a Christmas caroling party except that [you] don’t sing, but rather carry the music, each [member] playing a separate track that is a "voice" in the piece. In effect, we become a city-block-long sound system" So ... there you have it. Tapes and CDs will be handed out to participants.......

Kids, it's time to get rocking. (Especially before the "Private Party" dry spell that is coming on. Yikes.) This week, the San Francisco music gods are offering a vast array of newbies and veterans - something that we will graciously partake of any day of the week. Now that the bets are in (okay, so no one really cast any bets - how boring is that?), you can go to Cafe du Nord, tonight,......

We had twenty but it's down to the last five. Live 105, a big supporter of local music scene (see popscene) is at it again. Each December, Live 105 hosts the "Not So Silent Night" event which brings a host of great bands - this year it's Modest Mouse, Jimmy Eat World, Angels & Airwaves, Spoon and Paramore - to San Francisco. (Seems like a great line-up to us.) To make it even more......

Judging from the range of performers this week, there is something for everyone. Starting first, in our weekly recommendations, is New Zealand singer-songwriter, Brooke Fraser. Prior to this post, we knew nothing about this accomplished 19 year-old but a quick visit to her MySpace page and we were hooked. Tuesday, you can catch this gorgeous, pop-writing sensation at Cafe du Nord. If not, download her latest release, Albertine on iTunes. Wednesday, we are welcoming......

With over 70 shows since July 1st, MiGGs deserves a break but not until they play one last show in San Francisco. Featured on Monday in "This Week in Le Rock" MiGGs blend an alt/rock, emo, pop and classic rock sound to perfection. They are returning to Cafe du Nord this Saturday night before they take a month off to put the finishing touches of their newest album, Unraveled (which we'll be listening to at......

Earlier this month we mentioned that The Decemberists' five-night engagement at the Fillmore was canceled. It was going to be the highlight of our week, but we guess tofurkey will just have to do. This week, our picks are Travis who are playing with Maximo Park at the Fillmore tomorrow night. Friday night at the Fillmore, The Drones (listen to "Shark Fin Blues" here) are opening for Band of Horses, an indie-rock band based......

-- Comedy, Darling: Sleepover!: Mary Van Note hosts a new monthly underground talk and comedy show, where the stand-up is done in pajamas. Cute! Breaking the hymen of this monthly party is gangbang of hardcore comedic talent, featuring Brent Weinbach, Richard Kiss, Candy Churilla, Chris Garcia, and musical guest Jethro Jeremiah. The funny startsd at 8 p.m. at Edinburgh Castle; $8. -- M.I.A.: "Get crackin' get get crackin'/Get crackin' get get crackin'" [horny horns].......

Leaving a label and starting a new one (with her new husband), Charlotte Martin finally has the musical freedom she has craved. Since her last release, On Your Shore (2004), Martin left RCA Records and created Dinosaur Fight Records with co-producer and husband, Ken Andrews. With this newfound freedom Martin has released two EP's, Darkest Hours and Veins and her latest full-length album, Stromata. Critics have lauded her latest efforts saying, "Stromata follows adventurous suit...reveling......

-- Black Francis: Hefty former lead signer of the Pixies gets the Gen Xers up on their feet tonight, along with Eastern Conference Champions, starting at 9:30 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord; $20. -- Push It!: Rock 'n' roll aerobics care of DJ Spike. Starts at 6 p.m. at Thee Parkside; $5. -- Mulholland Dr. (2001): This different kind of love letter to Hollywood is one of the best moves made, ever. Yes huh.......

R.I.P. When The Lights Go Down In The City November 2004 - September 2007 It was SFist's first editor Jackson West who asked me to write a music column back in '04 and he also came up with the name of it. I thought, it's SF-related and a quote from a Journey song - perfect! For the past three years my aim has been to tell you about the music in San Francisco that......

Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers (a band with a breakfast cereal/basketball name - catchy, right?) have started their Dirty Ol' Fall Tour on the West Coast, starting in Long Beach, then L.A. and tonight in San Francisco at Cafe du Nord. At the beginning of December, they will end up in their hometown of Northampton, Massachusetts playing two final shows at Iron Hall Music Hall. Playing over 300 shows in the last two years Stephen......

Think back to 1997 - doesn't seem like too long ago on paper, but yeah, a lot has happened since then. Tonight we jump back to 1997 to revisit one of our favorite artists, Abra Moore who is playing Cafe du Nord, tonight at 9:30pm. 1997 was a big year for her: a Grammy nomination for her hit single, "Four Leaf Clover" and her video featured on MTV and VH1. Fast forward to this year,......

Never having been huge fans of instrumental music, we were taken by surprise when we listened to Maserati's latest record Inventions For The New Season. Their own entertaining bio describes the music as a "post-psychedelic orgy of hooks molesting the tired cliche of math-prog" and/or "a post-disco drone machine bristling with the buzz-saw sound of 1,000 angry square waves nestled on a California king size bed of shoegaze swirl." We like to think of the......

It's been a long time since we randomly clicked on a band's website and were utterly captivated by the music we heard. We saw Bowerbirds' name and photo in Cafe Du Nord's show listings and were drawn to listen to the songs they stream on their site. It's amazing the beauty you can find sometimes just by turning over a few rocks. The music is homespun and intimate; Phil's gentle croon and the spare......

-- Veronica Klaus: High-art performer and jazz songstress croons alongside her Boom Boom Boys tonight at 9 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market Street (at Sanchez); $15. -- DMX Krew: Hipsters of SF! Come and dance to this electro beat, '80s-y, rap-ish star at the tres popular club night "Eggs". DJs PJ Pooterhoots and Safety Scissors will also man the decks for your added aural pleasure. It all goes down tonight at 10......

Late August can be a bit of a slow season for touring, whether it's bands not wanting to deal with the blazing heat in most of the United States or record labels holding back tour support until closer to the lucrative fourth quarter releases. The upside is that local bands can sometimes benefit from a venue's slow month, and we're really excited about the chance to see Or, The Whale, Birds & Batteries and Social......

-- Wing: With album titles like Wing Sings Elvis, Wing Sings AC/DC, Dancing Queen by Wing, and Beatles Classics by Wing, it's easy to see why she shot to cult-icon status and became a favorite of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who ended up using her in South Park. See her tonight along with comedian Lisa Geduling at 8:30 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord, Market and Sanchez Streets; $12. -- Urban Capture the Flag:......

-- The Drift!: Soothing yet stirring indie rock-dub-ambient band performs tonight. CJ Boyd, Balmorhea open. Show starts at 9:30 p.m. at Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk; $6. -- Peter Case: Roots songwriter-guitarist performs tonight along with Ari Shine. Music starts at 8 p.m. at Cafe Du Nord, Market and Sanchez Streets; $15. -- This Is England: Set in 1983 England, a 13-year-old lad befriends a group of skinheads one day after getting into fisticuffs. Fun!......