As we walked down the steep, dungeon-like stairs at the back of the Great American Music Hall, the ceiling inched toward our heads with every step. By the end of the staircase it felt as if we were dropped off in the imaginary world of Alice and Wonderland. Instead of chasing the white rabbit, we quickly followed the tour manager through the twists and turns of the underground halls. While we never met up......

Dun Hunter is not your average Texas teenager. He created his own band, PlayRadioPlay! and released his debut album, Texas just this month. (We featured PlayRadioPlay! as "Albums: Looking Forward to 2008" back at the beginning of the year.) He's being noticed and not just by us. Rolling Stone included PlayRadioPlay! as one of the "Artists to Watch: Seven Acts Who Are Defining Rock, Soul and Hip-Hop in 2008" - not bad for being only......

MUSIC: As we already mentioned, Why? is performing this evening along with Dose One, Cryptacize, DJ Odd Nosdam, DJ Jel. 8 p.m. // Great American Music Hall [859 O'Farrell] // $13 *THEATER: Eve Ensler's Obie Award-winning play the Vagina Monologues -- featuring such monologues as I Was Twelve, My Mother Slapped Me, My Angry Vagina, My Vagina Was My Village, The Little Coochie Snorcher, and more -- takes the stage in the Castro for......

Sfist interviews Yoni Wolf of Why?...

If you're like us you spend every Friday afternoon glued to DJ Ted Leibowitz and the Bagel Radio Friday Live Show. If you aren't like us, you should be - it's the best rock radio show around. Ted has been a huge part of the indie rock world here in San Francisco for quite some time, he's a friend of SFist, and his wonderful Web radio show has been a huge boost to any number......

Shit. It's Valentine's Day this Thursday and by the looks of it most of you have already planned your perfect date. Three shows are already completely sold-out: The Kills at Rickshaw Stop, Slightly Stoopid at The Independent and Common at Mezzanine. While there are still several shows you can chance Thursday night, it might be wise to stay home and wait till the weekend to take your crush out. We are. Friday, the local music......

The Coachella 2008 line-up was announced last night. The reason you didn't hear anything about it was because they announced it in Mexico City, something to do with creating international ties. “This is really a way for us to get closer to our fans throughout Latin America who have been supportive of Coachella for the past 10 years,” says Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett. Super; we just care about the line-up. We instantly checked to see who......

The Rod's Three-Year Anniversary: Has it been three years already? Oh my. Anyway, help Bus Station John as his gaggle of alterna-queer fans celebrate the birthday of this club night, which has spawned many imitators over the last few years. The music is late 70's/early 80's retro-homo rarities; the scene is Converse shoes, angular haircuts, and cologne-free; and the time of your life is tonight. (Although we secretly hope Castro clones will show up......

-- The Gold Rush (1925): The Tramp makes his stamp here (via playing with his food) as one of America's most beloved comedic characters of the silent era. Screens tonight at 8:45 p.m. at the Castro Theatre; $6-9. -- Juliette and the Licks: Idiosyncratic actress/Scientologist and her (pretty damn good) vanity project perform along with opening acts Scissors for Lefty and Suffrajett. Music fans, the celebrity-curious, and thetans converge at 8 p.m. at Great......

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,......

SFist interviews Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes....

Nice package. -- Of Montreal: Someone was talking of this art-rock outfit the other night -- quite controversially, in fact -- and we thought that they were talking about the city in Canada. Because we're old. Of Montreal goes on tonight with Grand Buffet and MGMT at 9 p.m. at Great American Music Hall; $18. (They also perform tomorrow night and on Wednesday; the kids just love them that much, you see.) -- Donuts:......

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......

Let's make this short and sweet: Sara Bareilles is incredible. Not only do we love her rich yet effortless voice, but her clever music is indeed what pop music needs right now. We don't need another bubble-gum star who masks their voice through electronic mechanisms, or wears little or no clothes while shaking their ass on MTV (Not that we don't appreciate an ass shaking -- we just don't need another one.) See, Bareilles......

Sara Bareilles (Bar - rell - is) -- summer's hottest, as they say, new singer/songwriter -- has gained a broad fan base throughout the U.S. via her extensive touring and #1 selling album, Little Voice, on iTunes, resulting in an impressive debut on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart at #45. Praised by critics for its depth and honesty, even Rolling Stone raved "Bareilles' writing voice is uniquely her own." Luckily, we were introduced to......

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......

-- "Kim Nalley Sings Nina Simone": Local legend/songstress pays tribute to Dr. Nina Simone's brilliance, goddamn. Nalley blesses us with two sets at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. at Jazz at Pearl's; $15, $20. -- Phantom of the Opera (1925): Oh, an Andrew Lloyd Webber jab would be trite, so let's just say: catch this silent-era version of the Phantom. Warren Lubich on the Mighty Wurlitzer provides tonight's non-Webberian score.  7 p.m. at the Castro......

-- "Trans Am": Hipsters, gipsters, and then some keep coming back to this "rock 'n' roll disco faggotry" night. And it's easy to see why with drag alternatif acts from Dizzy and No-See-Um ("Charlie Horse" regulars), plus a live set from the Blacks. Starts at 10 p.m. at Eight (Christy Turlington's old venue, Up & Down Club!!), 1151 Folsom. $TBD. -- "Animal Masquerade": The originators of the Edwardian Ball whisk together such acts as......

SFist reviews Band of Horses at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco...

SFist gives away tickets and album for Voxtrot at Great American Music Hall on 5/30/07...

Here's what on tonight around the city - assuming you survive the Zombie Mob Invasion... Carnaval weekend in SF jumps off at the Great American Music Hall, with Sila and the Afro Funk Experience. Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Funk, Afro-Latin beats get the party going right, starting at 10 pm. Tickets are $18, 859 O'Farrell Street, SF. Emerging San Francisco fashion designs show off their wares at the De Young tonight.Designers Jasmin Zorlu, Gregory Sovik, Antonio Luna,......

SFist ticket contest to hear Jello Biafra at Great American Music Hall ...

Here's todays wrap up of the news...

SFist interviews Eric Allen, bass player for the Apples in Stereo...

Ah yes, the weekend. Finally! It's been a hectic week-- earthquakes, landslides, the whole Kenneth Eng fiasco, those purple latex gloves-- where will it all end? We don't know but we could sure use a drink and a good old fashioned shindig-- too bad that most of the Noise Pop shows have sold out. We've put together a list of runner-ups for the weekend in the city. Sure, its not Ted Leo, Cake or The Donnas, but you can get just as drunk for half the price. Here's a rundown of the haps:...

SFist re-runs an interview with John Vanderslice. He's playing at Noise Pop tonight. ...

SFist interviews Jason Quever of local band the Papercuts...

Light - Castro Tree Lighting at Harvey Milk Plaza. (Market @ Castro) Festivities include performances by the SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, the GLAM Youth Choir, the SF Gay Men's Chorus and the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of SF! Celebrity appearances by Supervisor Bevan Dufty, Assemblyman Mark Leno, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and more. (6:30 - 7:30pm) Heavy - It appears the Melvins show at the Great American Music Hall is sold out, so we direct your attention......

There's a lot of tastiness going on tonight on both sides of the bay. Here in SF, there's the "Tastes of the City" event for young philanthropists - we're just giddy thinking that some of the Hot 20 under 40 might be there. Aiming at opening the designer wallets and handbags to kick down to charity, this party features food and beverages from the Bay Area's top restaurants and beverage companies including: Frisson, Vignette,......

When not performing Skinnerian experiments on us with the ever-increasing supply, yet less-than-expected demand for FasTrak lanes that makes weekend drives over the Bay Bridge look worse than rush hour, CalTrans is engaging in further operant conditioning by closing the Bay Bridge eastbound lanes over Labor Day Weekend. Convenient for vacationing tourists who intend to stay in SF, this closure is inconvenient for those of us who live in the Bay Area who enjoy the......