Noise Pop, the group that books shows at venues all over town including Rickshaw Stop, Bottom of the Hill, and The Fillmore, is taking over programming at the historic Swedish American Hall venue at 2174 Market Street near Duboce Triangle.
"The Swedish" is reopening after a year of renovations and will be the headquarters for the 2015 Noise Pop Festival, running from February 20 to March 1. The space, originally built in 1907 to host events for the Swedish Society of San Francisco, was purchased by the owners of Woodhouse Fish Co. and West of Pecos last year.
Here's Noise Pop's announcement:
We are proud to finally announce that Noise Pop will be reopening the historic Swedish American Hall as a new live music venue, where we will be curating year-round concerts and cultural programming. As many of you will remember Noise Pop has already hosted several memorable performances at the Swedish American Hall in years past, including Joanna Newsom, Vic Chesnutt, Rilo Kiley, Bob Mould and Britt Daniel (of Spoon).
As was reported in January, the hallowed Swedish and basement level Café du Nord have been under renovations for nearly a year now, in part to accommodate the 200 new residences being put in next door at the site of a former gas station, notes the Chronicle and du Nord will actually be reopening as less music venue, more full-fledged restaurant/lounge, with food from the Flour + Water/Central Kitchen team, as we reported earlier. Also at the venues, expect a working elevator, improved soundproofing, and new floor plan.
Jordan Kurland, co-owner of Noise Pop Industries, sounds like he lucked out in landing the venu. "The place lends itself to shows that are special and unique," he tells the Chron.
The cocktail squad known as the The Bon Vivants (a.k.a. the Trick Dog guys) will curate the bar programs at both upstairs and downstairs spots, and food will be available upstairs as well. Additionally, as noted earlier, you can expect a new, street-level Basque-inspired spot called Aatxe (pronounced "ah-chay," named for a figure of Basque mythology meaning "young bull." The chef there will be Central Kitchen's Ryan Pollnow.
Expect the Swedish American Hall to come online in time for Noise Pop in February. After that, Noise Pop will take over curating acts for the 300-person space. It's unclear if Aatxe will open any earlier.