Options for a New Year’s Eve: stay home and mope, go to a house party and make questionable decisions, or you can make a good decision (followed by subsequent questionable ones) and go to a local show for the night. In fact, NYE in San Francisco is a beautiful reflection of just how vibrant our nightlife scene is. Below are our 10 picks (largely not sold-out) for the best NYE shows in the city, that are all guaranteed to be a fine way to give 2016 a big middle finger on it’s way out, each in it’s own special way. What a time to be alive.
Best Show That Should Be Sold Out But Isn’t Yet: De La Soul + Del The Funkee Homosapien + Ali Shaheed Muhammad at Mezzanine
De La Soul never lost a step. They’ve always been a high quality live act, no matter which of their eight LP’s they were touring. They’ll be armed at the Mezz with material from their latest and the Anonymous Nobody as well as classics from their storied 27-year career. Joining them is Oakland’s Hieroglyphics Crew lyrical savant Del The Funkee Homosapien and a DJ Set from A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad. There’s a hosted vodka bar for an hour, free champagne toast at midnight and some smooth VIP options if you wanna get your swag on. How the hell is this not sold out yet? Y’all should fix that.
Best Open Bar Show: Unknown Mortal Orchestra at The Independent (2 Nights!)
$99 for an open bar at The Indy with one of the best live indie acts on the planet is a pretty sweet deal. Ruban Nielson’s UMO is a trippy guitar-driven journey into tropical psychedelia. The band is nothing short of a must-see act and if you’ve got a house party in mind or something, you can always check out Nielson and UMO on the 30th for a cool $30 (no open bar though.)
Best Way To Find Your Inner Soul: Con Brio at The Chapel (2 Nights!)
Con Brio singer Ziek McCarter is a revelation — Dude is part James Brown and part kid who cut his teeth in the Fillmore District. He leads a stellar group of artists, who are crushing the funk and soul charge in the Bay. Consequence of Sound named Con Brio the best act of this year’s Outside Lands Festival for a reason. This show — at the lovely Chapel — is about as much of a sure thing as you’re gonna get on NYE. (They’re also playing on the 30th)
Best Electronic Option That’s Not an EDM Show: Bonobo w/ Nickodemus at The Midway
The Midway’s Dogpatch warehouse is sort of in no man’s land on the corner of Marin Street with Illinois Street, but it’s a stunning gallery, show space and intriguing venue for NYE. Bonobo has been making tasteful electronic music for over a decade and he’ll be joined by tropicalia-leaning NY producer Nickodemus. There’s potential for the beautifully unexpected at this party.
Best No Fucks Given Dance Party: Harlot of Gold NYE with Marcellus and Devon Baldwin
Maybe a club vibe is more your speed? If so, Harlot and their very “gold” theme for the evening is where it’s at. Local loverboy DJ Marcellus will be spinning Top 40 hip-hop all night, so you can just get down on the dancefloor and not give a shit about anything else. Singer Devon Baldwin is also making an appearance. Tickets are a reasonable $20 or $30 and dressing up to fit the gold theme is highly recommended. In fact, the crew that best represents the theme with their attire gets a $700 bottle of Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades as a prize. Sure.
Best Excuse To Overpay For A Sold-Out Show On Craigslist: Anderson .Paak + Kaytranada at 1015 Folsom
Anderson .Paak and Kaytranada put out two of the best albums of 2016, so naturally this $115 show sold out quickly. Both are fantastic performers, Paak — with his mic-to-drumset toggling on-stage — is especially memorable. If there was ever a reason to overpay a bit for a sold out show on NYE, this is it. Tickets are currently going for between $150 and $200 on Craigslist. Want more? There's five rooms of music in the space. "Yes lawd!"
Best Reason To Spend NYE in Oakland: Wine & Bowties presents Syd Tha Kyd, Duckwrth, Rayana Jay & more at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle
Gotta hand it to the Wine & Bowties crew...The Oakland art & music collective dropped a real cool lineup for their NYE party. The incomparable Syd Tha Kyd (of The Internet) headlines with a DJ set, but it’s the eclectic Duckwrth’s return to Oakland and fly R&B up and comer Rayana Jay that make the complete package worth a trip across the Bay for the ball drop. Geoffrey’s is a jazz club downtown right off of 12th St Station and BART is running til 3am, so don’t even sweat the trip.
Best Way To Party Like It’s 1996: Sleater-Kinney at The Masonic
90’s alterna-rock powerhouses Sleater-Kinney made a triumphant comeback with last year’s No Cities To Love. Corin Tucker has an amazing voice that’s damn near impossible, Carrie Brownstein is a straight-up renaissance woman who released a New York Times bestselling book and stars in Portlandia, and drummer Janet Weiss has remained prolific through the years as a member of Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and Wild Flag. Come to The Masonic for Sleater-Kinney and you’ll get an opening set from The Thermals and most excellent Spoon frontman Britt Daniel as the evening’s DJ.
Best Way To See The World Without Leaving SF: Afrolicious at Rickshaw Stop
Afrolicious founders Joe and Oz McGuire have been a staple in the local scene at clubs like Elbo Room, Madrone, Boom Boom Room and more. For NYE, they get the Rickshaw Stop as the home for their live dance music orchestra, that runs the gamut from Afrobeat to Latin to funk and beyond. Wallflowers need not attend.
Best Place to Zone Out to Chill Local Bands: Cool Ghouls, Smokin’ Ziggurats, Sugar Candy Mountain, Midnight Sons at Brick and Mortar Music Hall
Pretty solid lineup of upstart local bands for $15 advance and $20 at the door. Headliner Cool Ghouls come with a 60’s-inspired psych/surf rock that’s hard not to like... They always make me think of the Allah-Las. Sugar Candy Mountain is even trippier and more psyched-out. Their sound isn’t a far cry from early Tame Impala recordings. If you wanna hit up a solid local show and not break the bank, look no further.
