"Well, looks like we’re gonna turn into a buncha condos," say the owners of Potrero Hill music venue Thee Parkside in an Instagram post featuring a video of graffiti being written saying "This Will Be Condos You Can't Afford."

It's one-two punch for the San Francisco live music scene. Following the announcement earlier this month that longtime, nearby music venue Bottom of the Hill is closing at the end of 2026, Thee Parkside announced Wednesday that they will be closing as well, and even sooner.

"We don’t have an exact end date, but we’ll be stopping live music at the end of March and then just be a bar for a few months after that."

The announcement comes after months of rumors that the venue was in danger of closing.

The owners add, "This neighborhood will be pretty boring with both us and Bottom Of The Hill gone, but I feel like we’re just one more small business dying in this city: the culture, the “weirdos”, the arts, the working class are all going to be gone. The third spaces that once thrived will be replaced with bland and expensive corporations or will sit vacant."

This is especially sad news for the local rock and punk music scenes, where indie bands have relied on smaller venues like Bottom of the Hill and Thee Parkside to get their acts off the ground. And, of course, it's a sad state of affairs all around for San Francisco as a city, with its decades of history as a nexus for music — anybody remember the Starship song "We Built This City (on Rock and Roll)"?

And this will be more fodder for all those who feel that the city has been losing its edge, and its cool, and its nightlife, for years — and they're not entirely wrong.

Also on Wednesday, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced the creation of a new leadership role at City Hall to oversee they city's arts and culture strategy, with the title Executive Director of Arts and Culture. The new person will oversee the San Francisco Arts Commission, Grants for the Arts, and the Film Commission "under a single organization and vision," the mayor's office says in a statement, "ensuring the arts remain a cornerstone of San Francisco’s identity and economic vitality."

Of course, none of those organizations can do much to save Thee Parkside or Bottom of the Hill, at least not now.

"San Francisco’s artists and cultural institutions are central to our city’s identity and our future, and they’re a powerful driver of our economic recovery,” said Mayor Lurie in a statement. “As we look ahead, it’s critical that we find the right leader to guide the next phase of San Francisco’s unified arts and culture strategy."

Lurie says that this new executive director will "help strengthen our creative economy" through grants, public art projects, and more.

Previously: Seminal SF Live Music Venue Bottom of the Hill to Close at the End of 2026 After 35 Years