Results tagged “clubs”

As we all know, San Francisco nightlife has been under fire quite a bit lately. In addition to the ongoing saga of the Alcoholic Beverage Control's enforcement of arbitrary rules they've set for all-ages music clubs, a group of conservatives have been showing up at hearings at City Hall claiming that night-time entertainment is the cause of "violent crime, murder, prostitution, public urination and defecation and any host of problems that the city has been facing for decades."

The week kicks off with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White playing several just-announced all acoustic sets at Yoshi's Oakland. Then on Thursday, jangly French pop band Phoenix is at The Warfield, and their set will surely include the single "Lisztomania" (video above) from their latest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The lyrics are charmingly foreign, including the refrain, "Lisztomania / Think less but see it grow / Like a riot, like a riot, oh ! / I'm not easily offended / It's not hard to let it go / From a mess to the masses." We think it's about socialized medicine, or something. Anyway, it's fun.

by Moses Namkung
What do you get when you mix members of the Smashing Pumpkins, Hanson, Fountains of Wayne and Cheap Trick? Apparently... Tinted Windows. Aidan Vaziri at SFGate has an amusing interview with Taylor Hanson, the 26-year old father of four, in which he says, and we quote, "Heroin has a real down side, so I try to stay away from the hard stuff" and "I've figured out what to do with my hands ... onstage... I subtly molest the mike stand." The kid apparently has grown up a lot in the 12 years since 1997. You can catch the demi-supergroup at GAMH on Friday. Select list of shows around the city, after the jump...

by Moses Namkung

Outside Lands has arrived. Remember last year? Substantial Muni fail, Radiohead's sound cutting out, Mr. Clothezoff, and other freshman-year festival growing pains... this year, we have a gaggle of headliners and acts that hit their prime a generation ago, but also an array of potentially promising Outside Lands night shows the entire week, including The Dodos (sold out, unfortunately), Holy Fuck and Os Mutantes. And that's on top of a week that's already front-loaded with Ted Leo at BOTH and Pete Yorn at the Fillmore on Monday and SubPop's Fruit Bats at Ameoba SF and the Independent on Tuesday. We've been analyzing the schedule, trying to figure out which day of the festival we are the most (and least) excited for. For some reason though, while we do so, we're finding ourselves drifting off and daydreaming of the Flaming Lips, Girl Talk and Grizzly Bear...

Select list of shows around the city, after the jump...

by Moses Namkung

This week, the Bay Area plays host to Third Eye Blind, Green Day and the Warped Tour -- quite the triumvirate of throwback California alternative rock. Just wondering, is anybody out there going to the 3eb gig? Ever since we stopped contemplating purchasing their debut and/or ) on Tuesday and also has J. Tillman of Fleet Foxes fame on Sunday for a solo show. See you out there.Select list of shows around the city, after the jump...

SonicLiving is ramping up its crusade against the Alcoholic Beverage Control's unreasonable crackdown on San Francisco's all-ages music venues with their first Stop the War on Fun benefit concert at the Uptown Nightclub in Oakland tomorrow night. The Uptown is donating 100% of the proceeds to benefit the venues' Legal Defense Fund. (Unfortunately the Uptown is a 21 and over venue.)

by Moses Namkung

Did you miss out on buying tickets to the secret show for Sonic Youth at the Independent tonight? Never fear, they're available for... oh, wait... somebody's asking for the extortionary amount of $175, or 5x face, on craigslist!? For shame. If you aren't in the mood to shell out that kind of dough to see some aging rockers from two decades ago, you can still kind of get your 80's fix with Black Francis, aka the big, bald white guy from the Pixies, Frank Black, at Hotel Utah on Thursday and Friday.


Two other shows of note, both on Thursday, include Harlem, recently signed to Matador at Rickshaw Stop and The Dry Spells
celebrating their CD release at Cafe du Nord. Otherwise, it's a bit of a slow week in the Bay Area, so to keep you entertained, here's a nice mixtape of KZSU digital sessions, courtesy of the recently and dearly departed SF music blogger ipickmynose.

MUSIC: He might appear rather nerdy to those who haven't been fortunate enough to hear his music, but Jarvis Cocker's titillating voice and songwriting are sure to throw his fans into quite a tizzy at the Fillmore tonight.

by Moses Namkung

The Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival,
the two-week long extravaganza featuring an array of "local
independent concert promoters, musicians, artists, filmmakers, dancers
and multi-media performance artists",
finishes this week with shows throughout the city including tonight's
gig at Cafe Du Nord featuring singer-songwriter Miranda Lee Richards.
Her soft folky tunes can help sooth the pain of Monday, but if you're
instead in the mood to shell out $30 to hear audience members yell for
more cowbell, you can see Blue Oyster Cult at Slim's tonight, as well.


Also of potential interest later in the week, the heavily-hyped (translation: got 8.0+ on Pitchfork?) The Pains of Being Pure At Heart will return to Rickshaw Stop, while electro-pop duo La Roux heads up Cafe Du Nord on Wednesday. Over in the east bay, funky Of Montreal and Halle Berry's ex-husband will head up shows at Fox Theater on Friday and Sunday, respectively. See you out there.


Select list of shows around the city, after the jump...

Two men were shot inside Impala, a Broadway nightclub frequented by types who still think bottle service is cool, at around 1:15 a.m. this morning. According to 's cover story this week on "the failures of the San Francisco Entertainment Commission to adequately regulate violent clubs." Oops. Rightfully livid about this morning's violent shooting, Sam Young, owner of the nearby Dragon Bar, shot off a cross email to City Hall this morning, saying, "This should come as no surprise since I stated numerous times that this would happen ... As usual, City Hall does absolutely nothing and now there is another shooting, which could have and should have been prevented."

The week ahead in music is a quiet one, as if the Bay Area needed some time off to nurse it's collective post-Pride hangover. Quiet doesn't mean silent, however, and there are still plenty of offerings for those who want a little auditory stimulus for their come-down. Two shows featuring roots music are worth checking out this week: Deer Tick at The Independent on Wednesday and The Moondooggies at The Rickshaw Stop on Thursday. The B-52's make an apperance on the peninsula on Tuesday, continuing to surprise those who see them live with their durability and tight musical chops. As you plan ahead for the Fourth of July weekend, make sure to check out the Fillmore Jazz Festival, consistently one of the best street festivals in San Francisco. The fest regularly features top-notch talent from across the jazz spectrum while celebrating the musical heritage of the Western Addition neighborhood. Best of all, it's free. Highlights of this year's festival include: Spencer Day, Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Kim Nalley, Sila & the AfroFunk Experience, Norman Bautista, and many more. Check out www.fillmorejazzfestival.com for more details. If you feel the need to escape the city for the weekend, you can always head up to the Marin County Fair and join graying hot-tubbers as they sway to the retro sounds of Sha Na Na and the latin rock of Los Lobos.

7 x 7 created this great video featuring Dawn Holliday, co-owner of Slim's, Guy Carson, owner of Cafe Du Nord, and Amy Miller of Sonicliving.com speaking about the Alcoholic Beverage Control's recent "crackdowns" on all-ages venues. The clubs' funds are all being depleted from fighting lawsuits, and staff morale is very low since they don't know how long they'll have jobs. Guy Carson has been in the business for twenty years and has never had any ABC violations. His question is, Why now, all of a sudden? His answer is that the folks in Sacramento are simply forcing their worldview onto San Francisco, which is pretty scary.

Brooklyn-based quartet Grizzly Bear has had the indie music community abuzz with rave reviews of their latest album, Veckatimest, which even cracked the Billboard Top 10 a couple weeks ago, just ahead of... Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts. Yes ladies and gents, they've hit the big time. All Shook Down certainly loved 'em last night (apparently it was better than seeing a unicorn) and they're back for more tonight. Also, the Greek Theatre in Berkeley has David Byrne and Wilco back to back nights; as for recommended local acts, A.A. Bondy and Telekinesis are hitting up Cafe Du Nord and BOTH, respectively. See you out there. Select list of shows around the city, after the jump...

It's bits-and-pieces of '90s cult alterna-band week in San Francisco, with members of both Ween and Primus (Gene Ween and Les Claypool respectively) gracing the stages of Great American Music Hall and the Warfield. Meanwhile Steve Albini's noise-rock band Shellac will be making a two night stand at the Great American Music Hall and indie rock powerhouse Grizzly Bear, freah from the release of their latest album Veckatimest, will begin their two night gig at the Fillmore on Sunday.

The Harmony Festival, coming up this weekend in Santa Rosa, will feature Michael Franti & Spearhead, India.Arie, Cake, ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra), Balkan Beat Box and countless other musical acts over the course of the three day festival. Come join up and see that "at the Harmony Festival, it becomes obvious that we are all one." Er, yes. Go out and feel those good rhythms of humanity, brah. Select list of shows around the Bay Area after the jump...

The last time we saw Jens Lekman, as his set ended he apologized that he had run out of time. The lights went on, he hopped down from the stage to mingle with the crowd, and then said, "I'd like to keep playing music. Do you know of anywhere else we can play some more music? I'm not from around here." Phew, such a nice guy. We suggested Union Square in NY, went there and waited in the cold, but he sadly never showed - he apparently "got lost in Halloween weekend traffic".

by Moses Namkung Exciting week ahead, yes? Yes. Our favorites? We'll be catching St. Vincent on Wednesday, Jenny Lewis on Friday and the Thermals on Sunday! See you out there. Monday, May 25 Flight of the Conchords @ Berkeley Community Theatre, $39

by Moses Namkung Over at ipickmynose, Adrian Bischoff is consistently producing superb, original local music coverage including this garden tour today with local resident John Vanderslice; in it, the two discuss, among other things, strawberry trees, succulent plants and echium. Vanderslice will be playing an in-store tonight at Amoeba Music and will be playing tomorrow at Rickshaw Stop.

by Moses Namkung

BENEFIT: Glen Park's Bird & Beckett Books & Records are having an 11-Hour Charlie Parker Jam Session to help Bird & Beckett "beat the banks." It's going on as we speak with a whole line-up of bebop players and special guests.

The curse of Nelly's "Hot in Herre": since that summer in 2002 when the song came out, every time somebody says, "man, it's hot in here", there's a decent chance some goon will instinctively say, "so take off all your clothes!". Shhhh! Anyways, Jenny Owens Youngs, who comes to Bottom of the Hill on Friday, also sings that cursed song kind of sweetly, acoustic-style. Yeah, acoustic covers of rap songs... here are a couple lists/threads with boatloads of them, in case you're interested: list one and list two.

Last year, Mayor Newsom and Supervisor Maxwell introduced legislation aimed at reforming the nightclub industry. Apparently, not much has been accomplished since then.

Busy-ish week last week: Glass Candy, Dan Deacon, Vivian Girls... this week, we'll see Thao Nguyen on Thursday and Van the Man on Saturday (by the way, we wonder who is shelling out three hundred and fifty bones for pit seats to this gig in the midst of the Greatest Depression of All Time. One pit seat = 70 dinners at Popeye's).

by Moses Namkung

by Moses Namkung

by Moses Namkung

by Moses Namkung

FILM: A pre-bloat Val Kilmer shines in 1980s teen comedy Real Genius. You remember, it's the one where (SPOILER ALERT) laser energy hi-jinks result in a massive volume of popcorn popping. Good stuff.

SF Entertainment Commission, the mafia-like overlord of entertainment permits, wants more control over San Francisco nightclubs. This time, though, they want club owners to take more responsibility for the trash that lingers outside their venues (i.e., 715 Harrison, 1025 Folsom, wherever women congregate to do "the whore dance" [you know, where two girls "freak" each other while waving one hand in the air?]) The new nightlife law would double "the area outside a venue the club is legally responsible for, from 50 to 100 feet." Also, according to the Chronicle, the new Newsom- and Maxwell-introduced legislation would the SFEC executive director to "unilaterally shutter a club for up to three days if a crime occurred on the premises. The changes also would allow the director to fine a business for excessive noise or for not following city-approved security plans." What we want to know is, who is responsible for removing the locks on single-occupancy bathrooms at bars and clubs? That's just downright mean.