Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Archives — Page 2 of 4 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Live Shots: La Sera at the Chapel

Tony Robles

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November 13, 2012

It was nice to see that “Kickball” Katy Goodman hasn’t grown up too much since leaving the Vivian Girls. Her big smile, bubbling stage banter, and virginal attire—a lacy white dress to match her white Fender bass guitar — added a saccharine candy coating to the dark, jangly pop of La Sera, her Los Angeles-based solo project.

Swaying and hopping across the Chapel stage last Saturday night in all black Converse All Stars, Goodman whipped her all-male backing band through a surprisingly short set, clocking in at just around 45 minutes.

La Sera was within the first ten bands to grace the stage at the Chapel, San Francisco’s newest music venue at 18th and Valencia in the Mission; the venue celebrated its opening in conjunction with this year’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival last month. The Chapel is a stripped down, well, chapel — complete with stained glass windows and an arching, pitched ceiling with beautiful dark wood rafters.

As an added bonus, in contrast with everything I know and understand about music venues, the Chapel is astonishingly clean. For now, it smells of wood stain instead of stale beer. The 500 capacity venue also offers a small dinner menu and seating spread around the room at simple, wooden tables that match the hardwood floors.

The audience during La Sera was extremely engaged, if mellow, watching with quiet attentiveness and occasionally chuckling at guitarist Tod Wisenbaker’s bad jokes (“He writes his own material,” quipped Goodman. “It’s pretty impressive.”)

La Sera’s newly released sophomore effort Sees the Light picks right up where the last left off, sounding a bit like a co-ed Dum Dum Girls or, as you might expect, Vivian Girls. The live show, like the new album, offered few surprises. Goodman, despite being a veteran of the stage, was surprisingly tame and uncharismatic for a frontperson. For the last song, however, she jumped off the stage and sang directly to some excited audience members, giving a stronger finish to an otherwise good, but unremarkable show.

The real highlight of the night was the opener, San Francisco’s own the She’s, a beach-tinged girl band with a slightly doo-wop vibe and a seriously good groove. So good, apparently, that La Sera’s drummer bought a the She’s shirt between sets to wear for his own performance. If the She’s next album is as good as the material they played Saturday night, they could definitely be a band to watch out for.

Raise your skinny fists

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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October 16, 2012

2

emilysavage@sfbg.com

TOFU AND WHISKEY Sitting on a pilled blanket out in Golden Gate Park, watching Australia’s folk-noise instrumental outfit Dirty Three tear shit up on violin, petting my SPCA-adopted chug and sipping my homemade beer, I thought, “this is magic.” And then, “I’m pretty drunk.” And finally, out loud, “I’m a cliché right now.”

No mind. This is San Francisco. We all fall prey to a rainbow of snarky categories. And this was the breezy, free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Gooey, grey-streaked hippies were dancing all around me. So I’m a cliché and late feminist punk icon Poly Styrene’s magnificent screeching vocals ring through my ears every time the thought returns: “I’m a cliché/I’m a cliche,” (off Germ-Free Adolescents).

Just a few ticks after the 1977 punk era that spawned Styrene, an LA doom metal band called Saint Vitus arose in ’78. Last Tuesday, a configuration of that heavy, Black Sabbath-loving, long-haired freak band played the Independent, much to my delight.

It was a new experience, seeing a true metal show at the Independent; it seems like those bands are usually saved for the Elbo Room, Sub-Mission, Slim’s, DNA Lounge, or the like.

There’s another venue in San Francisco we need to talk about now that’s entirely non death-metal affiliated but incredibly deserving of attention and unfortunately, concern. The Mission’s educator-run jazz outlet, Savanna Jazz (www.savannajazz.com) is in dire straits right about now.

Club co-owner Pascal Bokar Thiam — jazz guitarist, professor, Mission resident — and his two fellow co-owners are in danger of losing their building.

The picturesque jazz venue on Mission Street near 24th Street hosts live music six nights a week, and is one of just three true, full-time jazz clubs left in the city. It opened in 2003, and the educators purchased the building, including the four apartments upstairs (one of which belongs to Thiam) in 2005.

“It is so important to have jazz venues for the heart and soul of this nation, so that the younger generations can actually walk into a venue and see and learn about Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Benny Goodman,” says Thiam. “You have to have a place to incubate this process, and give the younger generation a chance to learn about what made this music an art form.”

Thiam and the two other owners were in the midst of a loan modification with their bank, Sonoma National, when Sterling Bank of Spokane, Wash. acquired Sonoma’s assets. Sterling refused the modification. Then, “Sterling forced a strategic default by refusing to take our mortgage payments unless we paid the totality of our property tax due to the City and County of San Francisco,” says Thiam, adding, “We have substantial equity in the building and the bank refuses to let us access it and it is now trying to take the property.”

By rejecting their mortgages, and putting them in strategic default, the bank was also able to claim a notice of sale after 90 days. They filed a notice of default in mid-August. So, as Thiam notes, the clock is now ticking. Sterling Bank of Spokane had no comment.

Supervisor David Campos and organizer Buck Bagot of ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment) and Occupy Bernal have been working with Thiam to spotlight Sterling Bank’s tactics and work as a third party between the bank and the venue. “If Sterling doesn’t agree to speak with him, and to give him a fair and affordable loan modification, then we’ll kick their ass,” says Bagot, sitting in Thiam’s office. “We’ll call them, email, and visit them in large numbers. People’s homes and businesses are at risk. It takes that kind of concerted action to get their attention.”

It’s a complex issue, but for Thiam, who has always paid his mortgages on time and maintained the facility, it’s all about the music, some of which comes piping in via bellowing horns from the main room while we discuss the venue in his cluttered office. “We’ve been trying to promote the aesthetics of the American art form, jazz,” he says simply. “We have students who come here from the community, from other states, from across the globe, to perform here at Savanna.”

“We talk about jazz, but we often forget that jazz gave America its identity markers away from the cannons of Europe in the beginning of the 20th century. Jazz elevated it to the level of a cultural superpower. It reflected a new consciousness.”

For more on the ongoing struggle between the jazz club and the bank, visit SFBG.com/Noise.

ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN

Picture an orchestra tuning, beginning, then wholly dropping to the center of the earth, while playing all the way down. Godspeed You! Black Emperor‘s first album in a decade, Alleluja! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (Constellation Records, Oct. 16) doesn’t stray too far from the Canadian collective’s proven track record: forceful plucks of orchestral strings (cello, violin, hurdy gurdy), swelling guitar riffs, crashing mid-tempo percussion, gloomy, dystopic atmospheres that feel like they’re swallowing you up whole, reaching a climax (err, crescendo) then tumbling back down to earth and respawning anew. It’s a tiring, beautiful, and emotional journey. Having spent a year falling asleep nightly to 2000’s Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven so as to create my own powerful dreamscapes, I’m ready to return to my nightmares with Alleluja!.

CLARION ALLEY BLOCK PARTY

If you’ve never been to the Clarion Alley Block Party, then you’re not yet a true San Franciscan. That’s an exaggeration, but it seems like a true rite of passage for SF folk. The ever-evolving walls will boast new, brightly saturated murals, and in between them, a robust showcase of local musical talent on two stages: Future Twin, Moira Scar, Apogee Sound Club, Brass Liberation Orchestra, Afrolicious, Grandma’s Boyfriend, and more. Who doesn’t love an alley party?

Sat/20, parade at noon (led by Brass Liberation Orchestra), noon-8:30pm, free. Clarion Alley Mural Project, between 17th and 18th Streets, Mission and Valencia, SF. Facebook: Clarion Alley Block Party.

Party Radar: SFDJ Showcase to pave way for massive local fest

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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October 7, 2012

1

Party Radar: SFDJ Showcase to pave way for massive local fest

It’s strange to me, in the wake of Lovevolution lesving the city a few years ago, that we have all these music-oriented street festivals (and park — Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was a hardly strictly madhouse this past weekend), yet nothing devoted to local DJs, of which we have many of great quality. CMAC, the California Music and Culture Association, which helps protect and lobby for local nightlife concerns, is out to change that with a huge fest next year.

But first, a fundraiser toward that lofty and laudable goal, the SFDJ Showcase, on Mon/8 at 8pm at Mighty, which also doubles as the opening party for the intense SF Music Tech Summit, and features DJs Syd Gris, Maneesh the Twister, Sleazemore, and many more. Full details after the jump.

From the press release:

About the SFDJ Showcase: This is a first in series of themed party fundraisers to build up for San Francisco’s first major DJ street party set for October 2013. To kick off the series CMAC will host an electronic dance themed SFDJ Showcase, which will also be an opening party for SF Music Tech Summit!

About the DJ’s: Headlining the show is Syd Gris, founder of Opel Productions , along with other long time pioneers of niche S.F. Party scenes such as Maneesh the Twister of (Surya Dub). Maneesh is a producer of far Eastern styles mixed with modern club scene dub beats. We’re also proud to have Fringe DJ’s Blondie K & subOctave of the sassy monthly electro-indie music video dance party! ..and to truly represent the diversity of the S.F. music scene we have rave classic electro glitchy DJ’s from Lights Down Low! and rock’n juke-jit-booty-ghetto techno house provided by FootwerksSF

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating our right to party!

CMAC SFDJ SHOWCASE

October 8th, 2012

8pm – 1am, $5 CMAC members,$10 nonmembers, free entrance with $25 purchase of CMAC membership

Mighty

119 Utah, SF.

Facebook invite here

Reborn on the Bayou

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October 3, 2012

0

Tofu and whiskey is music editor Emily Savage’s new weekly music column.

emilysavage@sfbg.com

Tofu and Whiskey There are loud grinding noises and those cinematic electric sparks shooting from a machine below a church pew-like balcony. It’s musky and filled with dark bordello wood. The arched main room, the one you see when you walk in the front door of 777 Valencia Street and turn a quick corner, is outlined in bright, bloody red, and there’s a stage.

Despite this transitional state a few weeks back, this stage at brand new Mission venue, Preservation Hall West at the Chapel — named after the jazzy New Orleans venue that inspired it — will hold star-powered spillover from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com) this week, beginning Thu/4; the fest itself is Fri/5 through Sun/7. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band of New Orleans will perform each night of the long weekend with double-dipping special guests including Elvis Costello, Robert Earl Keen, Justin Townes Earl, and Steve Earle. Maybe this means we’ll see a bespectacled Costello riding a bicycle from Golden Gate Park to the Mission, with a guitar slung on his back? One can dream.

Back to reality: “There’s no shame in construction,” said Tracey Buck of Slim’s, who, along with Britt Govea of (((folkYEAH!))) and certainly others in the future, will be doing consulting and programming at the new all-ages venue. The building, now owned by Jack Knowles, was built in 1914, formerly housed the New College, and before that was a mortuary — which gives it a sort of macabre back story. The idea for the Chapel came from Knowles’ friend Ben Jaffe, creative director for the beloved New Orleans venue, Preservation Hall, and leader of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

In early 2013, the West Coast sister venue will have a full restaurant attached serving fare with elements of New Orleans cuisine. But for now, there will just be concerts, including the aforementioned HSB-linked shows and upcoming visits from the likes of Woods, White Fence, and Here We Go Magic — but not to worry, the Chapel does have its liquor license now, and the bar should be ready to serve.

I pushed for fears about the venuenot being ready in time for its rapidly approaching opening date, anxiety about the relatively short distance between that morning two weeks back and the first show this week, but got back little more than nervous laughter. “It’s crunch time, but everyone knows what needs to be done,” said Buck, diplomatically.

It’s no surprise. First of all, if you live in the neighborhood, or have been near it recently, you’ve undoubtedly poked your head in and have seen what I saw — constant work. Secondly, as rabid HGTVers know, programs like Love It Or List It and their ilk show designers and construction workers whipping out brand new pads in a matter of weeks. Buck even referenced the show Restaurant: Impossible, where they quickly turn around a doomed eatery. So, it can be done.

There was also some less literal rebuilding at the actual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in 2012. After the death late last year of the fest’s founder, head cheerleader, and billionaire backer, Warren Hellman, the crew had some personal reconstruction to work on.

Buck has been working the festival since it began 12 years back, and felt the loss personally. “It’s been tough, and I realize it more and more every day. But his spirit is there.”

Sheri Sternberg, technical director for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, also ruminated on Hellman’s passing, “There was something really great about having our first meeting with Warren each year…how excited he got about all the bands. If it was up to him, we would keep adding stages and days.”

The lineup this year is interesting, it’s a bit smaller — no more Thursday shows — but heavy on seriously disparate musicians such as Dwight Yoakam and Jenny Lewis and actor-bluegrass enthusiast John Reilly, and Cowboy Junkies, along with Giant Giant Sand (Howe Gelb’s hour-long opera) and a handful of younger acts such as Beachwood Sparks, the Civil Wars, and the Head and the Heart, along with the fest pillars like Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark, and Steve Earle. Sternberg says Gary West is gathering a “greatest hits” of the festival to pay tribute to Hellman, Earl Scruggs, and Doc Watson, all of whom died last year, in a set called “The Founding Fathers.” It’s kind of the theme of this year as well. That tribute will likely be kicked off with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band doing a second line.

I asked Buck if it was hard to nab artists from Hardly Strictly to play an unknown, nearly unfinished venue like the Chapel and she claims it was the opposite: “They were really eager. I think it’s just exciting to finally have a venue opening — rather than closing.”

LAURA MARLING

While bone-rattling noise has its very important place in my heart, there’s something to be said for warm cooing and surreal lyrics. For that, you can crawl up the grand staircase of the Swedish American and opera clap for English folk plucker Laura Marling. Her honest lilt and fluttering riffs have gained her comparisons to Joni Mitchell, but she has a distinctly British affect to these American ears. She played Grace Cathedral earlier this year and returns this week on her “Working Holiday Tour” to play from her most recent album A Creature I Don’t Know (Ribbon Music, 2011) at this far more intimate venue.

Wed/3, 8pm, $25. Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market, SF; www.cafedunord.com.

NOM DE GUERRE

Best band name of the week goes to members of San Francisco’s Butt Problems: Fuck You Cop, You Fucking Cop opens for Street Justice at the Knockout.

Thu/4, 10pm, $7. 3223 Mission, SF. www.theknockoutsf.com.

TOYS THAT KILL

Here’s to Recess Records — the independent punk label formed in 1989 and thriving in the current web-and-micro record shop musical landscape — and its friendly kingpin, Todd Congelliere. The snot-nosed singer-guitarist-label owner, who also fronted F.Y.P. and Underground Railroad to Candyland, returned this year to his early Aughts punk outfit, Toys That Kill. Todd and the Toys That Kill gang released its first new album in six years — the energetic and well-received Fambly 42 (Recess Records, 2012) — earlier this summer and have sparingly journeyed up the coast from their mythic Sunken City homebase of San Pedro, Calif. to play it live. Fambly 42 might have taken so long to get here because Todd (jokingly?) told me that good bands only put out three albums then quit to form new ones. With Pins of Light, Elephant Rifle.

Fri/5, 9:30pm, $10. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF; www.hemlocktavern.com.

Our Weekly Picks: October 3-9

Andrew Lam

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October 2, 2012

0

WEDNESDAY 3

Spring Standards

The musicians who comprise the Spring Standards got their start playing small folk festivals and around the campfire back in high school. After a break from their collaboration, Heather Robb, James Cleare, and James Smith found themselves in Brooklyn, inspired to pick up where they left off. It’s difficult to pin a genre on this trio. “We’re accessing old school harmony-driven folk rock music that was big in the 1970s,” Robb explains, “but sometimes we’ll play a heart wrenching ballad or a really loud White Stripes song.” The Spring Standards released double EP yellow//gold in May. (Mia Sullivan)

With Dylan Champagne, Ed and the Red Reds

8pm, $8

Hotel Utah

500 Fourth St., SF

(415) 546-6300

www.hotelutah.com

THURSDAY 4

Pierrot 2012

It’s been 100 years since poet Albert Girard’s eternally moonstruck clown Pierrot first took to the stage to sing about sex, love, death, and religion in composer Arnold Schoenberg’s atonal masterwork Pierrot Lunaire. The score, full of crepuscular squiggles and elegant mood swings, made Pierrot the 20th century’s resident existential harlequin, both the hero and the fool of those violently artistic times. Lively sextet Nonsemble 6, composed of recent graduates of the SF Conservatory of Music, will help revive that indelible clown for a new era – he’s even on Facebook! – with new video, art, and staging and costumes by Brian Staufenbiel (and possibly clown makeup. You’ve been warned). Two other pieces, Dan Becker’s 1996 “S.T.I.C. (Sensitivity to Internal Conditions)” and Hans Eisler’s Hanns Eisler’s “14 Ways of Describing Rain, Op. 70” from 1941, are also on the program. (Marke B.)

8pm, $15-$20

SF Conservatory of Music Concert Hall

50 Oak, SF

(415) 864-7326

www.nonsemble6.com

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and Alone in the Dark

The Vortex kicks off an October of cinematic frights with two seldom-revived but golden oldies. First up is the original Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, a 1973 TV movie that’s still creepier than the disappointing, Guillermo del Toro-produced 2010 remake. Kim Darby plays a housewife whose fears that something is very wrong with her new house are dismissed as neurosis by the husband (Jim Hutton) she’s having problems with. Then 1982’s seriocomic slasher Alone in the Dark features the inimitable Jack Palance and Martin Landau amongst a quartet of asylum escapees who make life very hairy for their new therapist’s family. (Dennis Harvey)

9 and 11pm, $7 (suggested donation)

Vortex

1082 Howard, SF

Facebook: TheVortexRoom

Mount Eerie

Phil Elverum’s output as Mount Eerie doesn’t flow like the vast majority of indie rock; it moves like the weather. Erratically structured songs about the moon, the ocean, the meaning of life, and the universe are recorded into precarious analog equipment, creating an ambiance of fog, mildew, and tape hiss that evokes the misty Pacific Northwest with Twin Peaks-ish potency. On Clear Moon and Ocean Roar, both released this year, Elverum weaves meditative acoustic folk, buzzy quasi-metal, tribal drums, and Lynchian drone with a coherence and sense of purpose he hasn’t shown since his acclaimed recordings as the Microphones. Yet, when performed solo with just voice and guitar, the Mount Eerie songbook somehow retains every ounce of its existential weight. (Taylor Kaplan)

With Bouquet, Tortured Genies

9pm, $12

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 621-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

Niki and the Dove

Sweden is exporting a lot more than bedframes and meatballs. Stockholm’s Niki and the Dove is an electro duo giving a dark depth to pop music. Vocalist Malin Dahlström and keyboardist Magnus Böqvist met when writing music for the theater, giving their recorded music and their live shows a dynamic, dramatic quality that pop so often lacks. Dahlström’s sugary voice soars above the churn and chime of Böqvist’s catchy and sometimes unsettling beats. Their 2012 debut album Instinct was nominated for BBC’s Sound of 2012 poll, which seeks to highlight each year’s best new artist. Though they finished fifth, Niki and the Dove are just getting started. After all, pop never really goes out of style. (Haley Zaremba)

With WOLF GANG, Popscene DJs

9:30pm, $15

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(415) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com

FRIDAY 5

Mix Master Mike

Continually evolving and rising to the top of his game before, during, and after his time with the Beastie Boys, Mix Master Mike is keeping his act fresh by fusing hip-hop with dubstep. His latest album, Napalm Rockets, mixes global dubstep, new electronic, and classic hip-hop samples, aggressively organizing and layering them with “hardcore psychedelic scratching” to keep the signature hip-hop attitude. Still quick at the tables as he works up a sweat, changing records and ripping his famous tweak scratch, he’ll be performing alongside the Low End Theory residents to welcome back the equally innovative Gaslamp Killer from his summer tour. Come prepared for a night of psychedelic, glitch, IDM, and avant-rap. (Molly Champlin)

Low End Theory with Daddy Kev, Nobody, the Gaslsmp Killer

10pm, $20

1015 Folsom, SF

(415) 742-1015

www.1015.com

Laetitia Sadier

French singer-songwriter Laetitia Sadier’s deep, velvety voice may sound familiar to you. I’m not referencing the fact that she sometimes sounds deliciously similar to Nico. You’ve probably heard her before as the voice of British post-rock band Stereolab or as the French vocals in Blur’s radio hit “To the End.” Though Stereolab entered the dreaded “indefinite hiatus” in 2009, Sadier has been far from dormant. 2012’s Silencio is her second solo album in two years. The album is a politically charged collection of protest songs with perfect timing for an election year. Never before has political commentary sounded so gentle. (Zaremba)

With Orca Team, Pageants

9:30pm, $14

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St, SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

SATURDAY 6

Pancakes and Booze Art Show

Curator and cameraman Tom Kerlin understands exactly what is missing in the gallery art scene: fun. And he is serving it up by the plateful. This is the antithesis of your high-end, half empty art gallery opening. Kerlin’s brainchild, “Pancakes and Booze,” began in LA and has traveled to cities across the country, drawing out crowds for all-you-can-eat pancakes and walls full of raw, up-and-coming, local artists. But the art doesn’t end there; bodies are canvases for live art and will portray the living dead in Friday night’s Zombie Fashion Show. Pair this with DJs and drinks and you’ve put the fun back into art function. (Champlin)

8pm, $5–$10

Gallery and Bar 4N5

863 Mission, SF

(415) 522-2440

www.Gallery4N5.com

www.pancakesandbooze.com

Jenny Lewis

Jenny Lewis doesn’t mess around. At 36 years old, the LA singer-songwriter has acted in over a dozen films (mostly in her teens) fronted indie rock band Rilo Kiley for a decade, formed a duo with her boyfriend called Jenny and Johnny, and released two solo albums. She’s also provided a stunning amount of backing vocals for rockers such as Elvis Costello and Bright Eyes, and shines as the female voice in many of the songs on the Postal Service’s beloved one-and-done album Give Up. Her most recent solo release, 2008’s Acid Tongue is an Americana tour-de-force that only improves in concert. If you don’t catch her at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass this weekend, make sure to catch her night show. (Zaremba)

9pm, $21

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com

TUESDAY 9

“Two Guys from Chicago”

Is there such a thing as simultaneously humble and sardonic humor? Maybe it’s the self-awareness of their cynical tendencies or a shared belief in challenging the status quo, but it seems like both Daniel Clowes and Dave Eggers have mastered it. Both authors are creative minds who never cease to find new outlets for their love of literature. Eggers takes his passion for writing beyond the novel with his free-thinking publishing company, McSweeney’s, and nonprofit projects promoting literacy while Daniel Clowes upset his Pratt Institute art teachers and the whole comic book genre with his seriously literary graphic novels. Together they have quite the story to tell about letting creativity run rampant through all that you do. (Champlin)

8pm, $15

Z Space

450 Florida, SF

(415) 626-0453

www.litquake.org

Radio Ambulante LIVE!

In a country where we’re still fighting for our children’s right to even learn about Latino culture and history (major side eye, Arizona), the idea of a public radio show featuring stories from the Latin American diaspora — en español no less — is tragically radical. But local writer, Lima-born Daniel Alarcón and his partner Carolina Guerrero aren’t worried about Fox News readying the cannons. The two head up a team spread over the Americas that will be bringing to the airwaves important stories that won’t lose an ounce of potency due to translation. Join the two and ZYZZYVA managing editor Oscar Villalon for a live taping of the show, presented through those intrepid Litquake types. (Caitlin Donohue)

7pm, $12-15

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

2868 Mission, SF

www.missionculturalcenter.org

Grizzly Bear

In a globalizing music world, where the cross-pollination of genres and influences has become the norm, Grizzly Bear’s multifaceted approach still sounds quite strange. Over a foundation of shaggy, dusty indie-rock, the Brooklyn four-piece blends elements of Yes-style prog wankery, anachronistic glee-club vocal arrangements, and heady, spacey production values, with an old-school, album-rock continuity. Whereas Yellow House (2006) was defined by its ambiance and sense of space, and Veckatimest (2009) presented itself as a straightforward song-cycle, this year’s Shields displays a deft balance between these tendencies, emboldened by the most dextrous musicianship and airtight hooks of Grizzly Bear’s tenure thus far. Sharing the bill is Baltimore’s Lower Dens, whose Lou-Reed-meets-Autobahn zen-rock generated sizable buzz on this year’s Nootropics. (Kaplan)

8pm, $33

Fox Theater

1807 Telegraph, Oakl.

(510) 302-2250

www.thefoxoakland.com

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Heads Up: 6 must-see concerts this week

Tony Robles

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October 1, 2012

0

So much to talk about this week, but the biggest news of course is both Hardly Strictly Bluegrass’ return – for the first time since the death of founder Warren Hellman – and new venue Preservation Hall West at the Chapel.

Below, you’ll get the basic need-to-know info on the shows you must see; but check Tofu and Whiskey, my music column in this week’s paper, for the details behind it all. A sort of Behind the Music on the newly constructed Mission venue and the cherished Golden Gate Park fest, if you will.

Here are your must-see Bay Area concerts this week/end:

Patrick Wolf (acoustic)
The glitzy British multi-instrumentalist returns, this time repping hefty sixth record, Sundark and Riverlight. The double album is a career retrospective – marking 10 years since debut studio album, Lycanthropy – that will include rejiggered acoustic versions of his favorite songs. It sees release Oct. 15 on Bloody Chamber Music/Essential Music.
With Woodpigeon
Tue/2, 8pm, $21
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
www.slimspresents.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCoJXqGn_kg

Laura Marling
While bone-rattling noise has its very important place in my heart, there’s something to be said for warm cooing and surreal lyrics. For that, you can crawl up the grand staircase of the Swedish American and quietly opera clap for English folk plucker Laura Marling. Her honest lilt and fluttering riffs have gained her comparisons to Joni Mitchell, but she has a distinctly British affect to these American ears. She played Grace Cathedral earlier this year and returns on her “Working Holiday Tour” to play from her most recent album A Creature I Don’t Know (Ribbon Music, 2011) at this more intimate venue.
Wed/3, 8pm, $25
Swedish American Hall
2174 Market, SF
www.cafedunord.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR-AOZfLh7w

Niki and the Dove
“Sweden is exporting a lot more than bedframes and meatballs. Stockholm’s Niki and the Dove is an electro duo giving a dark depth to pop music. Vocalist Malin Dahlström and keyboardist Magnus Böqvist met when writing music for the theater, giving their recorded music and their live shows a dynamic, dramatic quality that pop so often lacks. Dahlström’s sugary voice soars above the churn and chime of Böqvist’s catchy and sometimes unsettling beats.” — Haley Zaremba
With WOLF GANG, Popscene DJs
Thu/4, 9:30pm, $15
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
(415)861-2011
www.rickshawstop.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2f6UbMnlq4

Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Robert Earl Keen
The new, all-ages Mission venue kicks its doors wide open for the first time this Thursday with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band – of the much-loved New Orleans venue that inspired the West Coast version. The swinging Pres Hall Jazz Band will play with various Hardly Strictly Bluegrass acts throughout the weekend, but the first show goes to country-folk singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen.
Preservation Hall West at the Chapel
777 Valencia, SF
Ticketfly: Preservation Hall West
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7M8ZkQma3I

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
It’s free; it’s the best swarming, long-running outdoor bluegrass-folk-rock’n’roll fest in San Francisco. Do you need more? Well there’s Elvis Costello, Chuck Ragan, Jenny Lewis, Lumineers, Robert Earl Keen, the Chieftains, Steve Earle, Red Baraat, the Head and the Heart, Cowboy Junkies, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley, Dwight Yoakam, Patti Smith, and more. You get it.
Fri/5, 10am-7pm; Sat/6-Sun/7, 11am-7pm
Golden Gate Park, SF
www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eciObRuQZk

Conor Oberst
For those who just can’t get enough Conor Oberst: Oberst will also be playing Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and will likely bring some of his friends from the fest to this show. (Thinking Jenny Lewis, perhaps? That’s my best guess.) Here’s hoping he plays a broad spectrum of trembling, angsty folk, from Bright Eyes to the Mystic Valley Band.
Sun/7, 8pm
Fillmore
1805 Geary, SF
(415) 346-3000
www.thefillmore.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfW5cYIIqHc

Heads Up: 7 must-see concerts this week

Tony Robles

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August 27, 2012

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It just so happens that some of the screamiest, gnarliest, most brutal sludge, grindcore, and hardcore acts born of the 1990s (and still out there cracking skulls today) will descend upon the Bay Area this weekend. The list includes Eyehategod, Dropdead, Iron Lung, Bastard Noise, Noothgrush, Citizens Arrest — shockingly, on its first ever West Coast tour — and more. Get ready to go hoarse screaming along, and to return home with less hair and bruises on your toes.

Of course, if you’re not into such death-doom-despair, there are some jazzier (Béla Fleck and Marcus Roberts), folkier (Brown Bird), post-hardcore-rier (Desaparecidos) and discoish (Tiger and Woods) options out there for you as well. Plus, since the coming weekend is of the elusive three-day variety, I’ve gone ahead and added in next Monday’s epic show too (Hot Snakes!). I aim to please.

Here are your must-see Bay Area concerts this week/end:

Desaparecidos
“Omaha, Nebraska’s indie rock king and side-project junkie Conor Oberst has had a busy summer. After a 10-year hiatus, his post-hardcore band Desaparecidos are back, and they’re pissed off. Continuing the harsh sociopolitical criticism established in their first and only album Read Music/Speak Spanish, Desaparecidos precluded their summer tour by releasing two new scathing singles.” — Haley Zaremba
With the Velvet Teen
Tue/28, 9pm, $25
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St., SF
(415) 621-4455
www.bottomofthehill.com

With the Velvet Teen
Regency Ballroom
Wed/29, 8pm, $25
Regency Ballroom
1290 Sutter, SF
(415) 673-5716
www.theregencyballroom.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC2m2IzHPVU

Béla Fleck and Marcus Roberts Trio
After inventive five-stringed banjoist (and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass mainstay) Béla Fleck and classical jazz pianist Marcus Roberts met at a jam session in Savanna, Georgia, the musicians did a one-off performance, then recorded jazzy-bluegrass record, Across The Imaginary Divide. Now, Fleck and Roberts (along with Roberts’ trio) will bring that peculiar bled to Yoshi’s for a series of lively performances.
Wed/29-Sat/1, 8pm, $30-$40; 10pm, $26-$40
Yoshi’s
1330 Fillmore, SF
(415) 655-5600
www.yoshis.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeOXF5WhfsU

Eyehategod
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the metal community feared the worst for tortured vocalist Mike Williams of pioneering sludge metal band Eyehategod. His home was flooded and he was nowhere to be found. There were countless rumors in threads across the web that Williams was amongst the missing. Turned out, dude was arrested. He’d been arrested on narcotics charges in nearby Morgan City, Louisiana and in the process, subsequently kicked his heroin habit. He emerged, and wrote the song, “New Orleans Is the New Vietnam” about the response to the disaster. Side note: you might also know Eyehategod from the Gummo soundtrack. Tonight’s brutal line-up is filled out with post-Man is The Bastard act Bastard Noise (a.k.a Don’t Steal My Skull Logo, Akron/Family) and doomy Bay Area legend Noothgrush.
Fri/31, 7pm, $20
Oakland Metro
630 Third St., Oakl.
(510) 763-1146
www.oaklandmetro.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UW_3Ed6BZk

Tiger and Woods
“Tiger and Woods are electronic music’s Batman and Robin, a mysterious disco-spinning duo whose origins are little known. They lurk in the shadows, devoting themselves to the search for the rarest funky cuts on vinyl to remix and remaster. They travel around the world, performing in masks (well, wide-brimmed hats) and concealing their identities while dropping their latest funkified remakes. Last year’s Through the Green served as both an homage to and a fun romp through 1980’s keyboard-laden, post-disco.” — Kevin Lee
With Lovefingers, Kenneth Scott, Rich Korach, Brian Bejerano
Fri/31, 9pm, $15–<\d>$20
BeatBox
314 11th St., SF
(415) 500-2675
www.beatboxsf.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa9BQtMbCyc

Dropdead
Long-running Providence, Rhode Island hardcore act Dropdead plays two shows of the three-day Prank Fest 4. And the pro-animal rights, anti-authoritarian band arrives in the Bay Area this weekend for the first time in eight years. Shit’s about to get fast. The fest also includes Citizens Arrest at Oakland Metro on Saturday, and two-piece powerviolence act Iron Lung at the Gilman Sunday night.
With Citizens Arrest, No Statik, Bumbklaat, Effluxus, Deathraid, Merdoso, and more
Sat/1, 7pm, $20
Oakland Metro
630 Third St., Oakl.
(510) 763-1146
www.oaklandmetro.org

With Bumbklaat, Permanent Ruin, Vaccum, Elegy
Sun/2, 1pm, $10
Thee Parkside
1600 17th St., SF
(415) 252-1330
www.theeparkside.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyBYJpG7hyU

Brown Bird
And here’s yet another – entirely contrary – Providence, Rhode Island act deserving of your attention. Brown Bird (MorganEve Swain and David Lamb) last year traveled with similarly soulful folk-punk/bluegrass act Devil Makes Three. Earlier this year, Brown Bird came by with Yonder Mountain String Band. This week, the foot-stomping twosome is in the headliner spotlight at the Independent.
With These United States, Halsted
Sat/1, 9pm, $14
Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421
www.theindependentsf.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_LMMQqBwjk

Hot Snakes
Hot Snakes, the reunited band of noted San Diego musicians, led by John Reis and Rick Froberg, looked like they were having a blast earlier this year at Bottom of the Hill, positively ripping through thunderous post-hardcore classics off 2000’s Automatic Midnight, 2002’s Suicide Invoice, and 2004’s Audit in Progress. Given their backgrounds and sonic exercises in post-Hot Snakes bands (Obits, Night Marchers), there wasn’t a rusty nail in the bunch. So they’ve rejoined their post-Drive Like Jehu act and toured, and are now touring once again; I guess it’s post-reunion at this point, though no less exciting for the wild-eyed fans.
With the Mallard
Mon/3, 8pm, $23
Slim’s
333 11th St., SF
(415) 255-0333
www.slimspresents.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgfvRmQ5f4Q

Are free Golden Gate Park events fading away?

Sasha Cuttler

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August 24, 2012

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Are free Golden Gate Park events fading away?

San Francisco’s countercultural community was built at least partly through free concerts and gatherings in Golden Gate Park, including the legendary Human Be-In and Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane concerts in the late-’60s. But these days, as corporations starve local government but seize public spaces, grassroots groups and populist performances are being forced out of the park.

Events without expensive tickets and corporate sponsorships (such as this month’s Outside Lands) or endowments from dead billionaires (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, coming up in early October) just can’t afford the rising fees charged by the Recreation and Parks Department, a reality that is quietly ending an important San Francisco tradition and legacy.

A few weeks ago, organizers of the Power to the Peaceful Festival – a free concert featuring Michael Franti and Spearhead and other big acts, which drew tens of thousands of people to the meadow formerly known as Speedway annually for more than a decade – announced that it was canceling next month’s event because of onerous fees.

“The only way to have produced the festival this year would have been to turn it into a ticketed event,” organizers wrote in their July 31 announcement. RPD officials were going to charge the event $77,000 in permit fees this year, dealing it a death blow after also forcing the cancellation of last year’s event by instituting a strict 40,000 attendee cap, which was nearly impossible to enforce for a free event.

If we accept the neoliberal perspective that has taken hold of San Francisco – which sees government’s role as facilitating whatever corporations want to do and hoping they share some of their profits, or at least create some good jobs – it makes sense. After all, the cash-strapped RPD made $1.7 million in profit-sharing off Outside Lands this year, up from $1.4 million last year.

The same logic has caused RPD, under the mercenary leadership of Director Phil Ginsburg, to rent out its recreation centers to the highest bidders and fire the recreation directors that used to treat them as public resources, and to let the private City Fields Foundation cover many parks in artificial turf. Again, through a strictly economic lens, it makes a certain amount of sense.

“As the steward of our parks, the Department works with event organizers to host diverse events in our parks, it is our shared responsibility to make sure the City and the event organizers have plans and resources in place to care for our park land and ensure public safety. The Department is always ready to work with all event organizers to modify their event planning for safe and successful events,” RPD spokesperson Connie Chan told us.

Power to the Peaceful – ironically, an event celebrating the plight of ordinary people against powerful political and economic interests around the world – just didn’t have the resources to meet the standard, so out they go. Same thing with the venerable Anarchist Book Faire, which was also forced from the park by rising fees this year after 17 years in the park’s County Fair Building.

Again, there’s a note of irony to this exodus, with city officials suddenly deciding the anarchists could no longer police themselves and needed to pay for four Park Police officers to watch over a festival that has been without violent incident throughout its history, unless you count a speaker getting pied last year (which the self-sufficient anarchists easily dealt with on their own).

“We had put this thing on for 17 years and there were no problems until this new guy came,” Joey Cain of Bound Together Bookstore, which puts on a free event whose fees have steadily risen to almost $14,000. “We’ve had to increase our rates every year, and we were starting to lose some vendors.”

On top of that, city officials had also cracked down on free offerings that surrounded the free event, banning Food Not Bombs from serving free meals to visitors and people from setting up information tables outside the main event.

So now the event, coming up in March, will be held at the Armory. Cain admitted that rent on the building they used in Golden Gate Park was still fairly cheap compared to similar sized venues around town, “as it should be, being owned by the city.”

But when city departments like RPD become dependent on corporate contributions, public spaces become commodified, and we begin to lose access to the last places in town where our creator endowed us with the right to assemble freely and pursue our happiness: our public parks.

ABCs of tuneage

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August 21, 2012

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emilysavage@sfbg.com

FALLS ARTS The official last day of fall is Dec. 20 (seems really late, doesn’t it?). In between now and then, and in these brisk summer days leading up to the official seasonal shift, there’s a wide array of noise, just waiting to burst your eardrums ’till they bleed with joy.

Here’s a mnemonic device to help you remember some noteworthy upcoming shows and a few general SF music factoids. Read aloud:

A is for Apogee Sound Club, the local disjointed scrap rock band playing the Knockout, Sept. 4. www.theknockoutsf.com.

B is for Bimbo’s, Bottom of the Hill, Brick and Mortar Music Hall, and the Boom Boom Room, which are all venues you should be frequenting in the city.

C is for Chromatics, driving into Mezzanine, Aug. 31. www.mezzaninesf.com.

D is for Desaparecidos, Connor Obert’s reunited early Aughts post-hardcore band, hitting Bottom of the Hill, Aug. 28 and the Regency Ballroom, Aug. 29. www.regencyballroom.com

E is for 8-bit, the video game music made by acts such as Crashfaster, Minusbaby, and Awkward Terrible, who all play DNA Lounge, Aug. 26. www.dnalounge.com.

F is for festivals. Still up this fall: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (Oct. 5-7) and Treasure Island (Oct. 13-14). www.strictlybluegrass.com

G is for Gibbard, Ben. The Death Cab For Cutie/Postal Service frontperson travels solo to the Palace of Fine Arts, Nov. 13. www.palaceoffinearts.org.

H is for Hunx and His Punx, the local bubble-gum garage pop band that just released new album, Hunx. Facebook: Hunxandhispunx.

I is for Bay Area bred torch song writer Chris Isaak, bringing croonership to the Masonic Dec. 13. www.masonicauditorium.com.

J is for Justice, the French duo returns Nov. 4 to the Warfield. www.thewarfieldtheatre.com.

K is for KUSF — still in exile; and for KALX, celebrating 50 years on air with events beginning Sept. 7. at the Rock Paper Scissors Collective. kalx.berkeley.edu.

L is for Lightning Bolt at the Rickshaw Stop, Sept. 4. www.rickshawstop.com

M is for Major Lazer’s spectacle stage-show, Oct. 19 at the Fox Theater. www.thefoxoakland.com.

N is for Noothgrush, playing with New Orleans sludge band Eyehategod at Oakland Metro Opera House, Aug. 31. www.oaklandmetro.org.

O is for British electro-dance duo Orbital, at the Regency Ballroom, Sept. 24. www.theregencyballroom.com.

P is for PrankFest 4, hosted by San Francisco’s punk-hardcore label, Prank Records, with Citizen’s Arrest at Oakland Metro, Sept. 1 and Dropdead at Thee Parkside, Sept. 2. www.theeparkside.com.

Q is for bumping queer parties, such as Honey Soundsystem and Daytime Realness. www.honeysoundsystem.com.

R is for Red Fang; the Portland, Oreg. stoner-metal band plays Slim’s, Oct. 27. www.slimspresents.com.

S is for Six Organs of Admittance, hitting Bottom of the Hill, Sept. 22. www.bottomofthehill.com.

T is for Tiny Telephone, the San Francisco studio where so many Bay Area bands hope to record with local legend John Vanderslice. www.tinytelephone.com.

U is for Under the Central Freeway, Public Works’ live music fest with both Kelley Stoltz, and food trucks in the parking lot (which is located under the freeway, natch), Sept. 30. www.publicsf.com.

V is for guitar legend Steve Vai, playing the Regency Ballroom, Oct. 9. www.theregencyballroom.com.

W is for Watt, Mike. The former Minutemen leader hits the New Parish, Nov. 8. www.thenewparish.com.

X is for the xx, headlining Treasure Island this fall. treasureislandfestival.com.

Y is for Yoshi’s, celebrating 40 years of classy and experimental jazz superstars. www.yoshis.com.

Z is for Zeros, the iconic punk band plays Brick and Mortar Music Hall, Sept. 14. www.brickandmortarmusic.com.

Note: Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead or check the venue’s website to confirm bookings and hours.

Hardly Strictly hints

Tony Robles

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July 25, 2012

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Hardly Strictly Bluegrass released its first of four teaser medleys today, take a listen and start tallying the acts. Everyone loves a guessing game, right?

At press time, HSB commenters have pointed out snippets of Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle, the Mekons and the Head and the Heart. Take a listen.

The event, always free, takes place Oct. 5, 6, and 7 in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Crucial Noise: Stern Grove kickoff, Ty Segall tour, Emily Jane White album, and more

Tony Robles

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June 12, 2012

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Crucial Noise: Stern Grove kickoff, Ty Segall tour, Emily Jane White album, and more

Important bits and pieces, odds and ends of Bay Area music news. Or, what’s in my inbox?

Return to the misty grove with Anita Baker

The Stern Grove Festival kicks off its 75th season in less than two weeks (Sunday, June 24) with a free Anita Baker, Family Stone, and Glide Ensemble concert at 2pm. How lucky, that we have both the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Fest and (unrelated, but akin in spirit) Stern Grove; that combination helps with sailing gracefully through the cruel, cruel summer and into the likewise gray fall.

The Stern Grove Festival has racked up more than six million visitors over these past seven decades, checking out a total of 750 live acts (including the favorable yearly appearances by the San Francisco Ballet, Opera, and Symphony).

Upcoming Stern Grove Fest concerts (always free, always outdoors and picnic-friendly, but bring a heavy jacket ’cause it gets mighty chilly out there):

July 1: Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Stone Foxes
July 8: San Francisco Symphony
July 15: Nitin Sawhney and Meshell Ndegeocello
July 22: The E Family featuring Pete, Sheila E, Juan and Peter Michael Escovedo
July 29: San Francisco Ballet
Aug. 5: Ozomotli and SMOD
Aug. 12: Al Jarreau and the George Duke Trio, Mara Hruby
Aug. 19: San Francisco Opera
Aug. 26: OK Go and the Family Crest

All concerts begin at 2pm at Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, SF.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-7cykntxsw

Vociferous hometown heroes
Today local garage-punk golden boy Ty Segall announced a co-headlining tour with everyone’s favorite SF psych-monsters, Thee Oh Sees.

The prolific Segall, known for an abundance of releases and relentless touring (in 2012 thus far he has already released Hair, a split with White Fence, and is about to drop Slaughterhouse with the Ty Segall Band, plus played the epic Bruise Cruise), also debuted today his “Drag City Limits” video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VliWkE7HW34

Only issue here – there don’t seem to be any Bay Area shows on that list of co-headling dates yet. There’s got to be one coming up though, right?

Ode to joy
Finger-picking Bay Area singer-songwriter-guitarist Emily Jane White‘s latest album Ode To Sentience is out today on Antenna Farm Records. As with her previous work, the haunting Victorian America, this dark-folk LP is inspired by the America of yore, literature, and stories referencing past eras of this weird country, along with all the gossamer visions of our own ghostly past, specifically, “Depression-era blues…Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s [1892 short feminist work] The Yellow Wallpaper.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-fJcO52LFw

She celebrates the release with a show tonight at Brick and Mortar Music Hall, and another Sunday at Amoeba in Berkeley.

Tue/12, 9pm, $5-$8
Brick and Mortar Music Hall
1710 Mission, SF
(415) 800-8782
www.brickandmortarmusic.com

Sun/17, 4pm, free
Amoeba Music
2455 Telegraph, Berk.
(510) 549-1125
www.amoeba.com

Damn the man
Former KUSF music director, and current Save KUSF spokesperson Irwin Swirnoff sent out an informal update today regarding the state of the station sale, and the need to continue fighting for its rights.

In the email, Swirnoff explained the FCC media bureau’s ruling last week:

“On one hand, they fined USFand CPRN $50,000 – yet in a private back door meeting a month ago with those parties they reached an agreement to approve the sale. Once again the public’s airwaves were being silenced and sold off behind closed doors with no public input or transparency.”

Swirnoff added that those working to save KUSF are forging ahead with an appeal, despite these setbacks.

“This issue is bigger than KUSF – this is a national crisis of universities selling off the public’s airwaves to the highest bidders. The players who are buying these stations are doing so to create a media monopoly on the left side of the dial, and strictly using their place on the public’s airwaves as a means to raise money for private institutions, often using classical music as a way to reach the wealthiest donors.”

In the conclusion of the letter, he included another compelling reason why the sale of KUSF is important to the rest of San Francisco, beyond fervent listeners.

“We are losing true diverse, local, cultural programming that really reflects the vibrancy of our city. This is about the commodification of the non-commercial side of the dial. As the public’s access to true, non-commercial, and free media becomes less and less, it’s so important to protect the last vestiges of true community media/culture.”

2012 Summer Fairs and Festivals

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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May 15, 2012

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Through May 20

San Francisco International Arts Festival Various venues. (415) 399-9554,www.sfiaf.org. Check website for prices and times. Celebrate the arts, both local and international, at this multimedia extravaganza.

May 19

Asian Heritage Street Celebration Larkin and McAllister, SF. www.asianfairsf.com. 11am-6pm, free. Featuring a Muay Thai kickboxing ring, DJs, and the latest in Asian pop culture, as well as great festival food.

Uncorked! San Francisco Wine Festival Ghirardelli Square, 900 North Point, SF. (415) 775-5500,www.ghirardellisq.com. 1-6pm, $50 for tastings; proceeds benefit Save the Bay. A bit of Napa in the city, with tastings, cooking demonstrations, and a wine 101 class for the philistines among us.

May 19-20

Maker Faire San Mateo Event Center, San Mateo, www.makerfaire.com. $8–$40. Make Magazine’s annual showcase of all things DIY is a tribute to human craftiness. This is where the making minds meet.

Castroville Artichoke Festival Castroville. (831) 633-2465 www.artichoke-festival.com. 10am-5pm, $10. Pay homage to the only vegetable with a heart. This fest does just that, with music, parades, and camping.

May 20

Bay to Breakers Begins at the Embarcadero, ends at Ocean Beach, SF, www.zazzlebaytobreakers.com 7am-noon, free to watch, $57 to participate. This wacky San Francisco tradition is officially the largest footrace in the world, with a costume contest that awards $1,000 for first place. Just remember, Port-A-Potties are your friends.

May 21

Freestone Fermentation Festival Salmon Creek School, 1935 Bohemian Hwy, Sonoma. (707) 479-3557, www.freestonefermentationfestival.com. Noon-5pm, $12. Answer all the questions you were afraid to ask about kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, yogurt, and beer. This funky fest is awash in hands-on demonstrations, tastings, and exhibits.

May 26-27

San Francisco Carnaval Harrison and 23rd St., SF. www.sfcarnaval.org. 10am-6pm, free. Parade on May 27, 9:30am, starting from 24th St. and Bryant. The theme of this year’s showcase of Latin and Caribbean culture is “Spanning Borders: Bridging Cultures.” Fans of sequins, rejoice.

June 2-3

Union Street Eco-Urban Festival Union Street between Gough and Steiner, SF. (800) 310-6563, www.unionstreetfestival.com. 10am-6pm, free. See arts and crafts created with recycled and sustainable materials and eco-friendly exhibits, along with two stages of live entertainment and bistro-style cafes.

June 9-17

San Mateo County Fair San Mateo County Fairgrounds, 2495 S. Delaware, San Mateo, www.sanmateocountyfair.com. 11am-10pm, $6–$30. Competitive exhibits from farmers, foodies, and even technological developers, deep-fried snacks, games — but most important, there will be pig races.

June 8-10

Queer Women of Color Film Festival Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, SF. (415) 752-0868,www.qwocmap.org. Times vary, free. Three days of screenings from up-and-coming filmmakers with unique stories to tell.

June 10

Haight Ashbury Street Fair Haight between Stanyan and Ashbury, SF, www.haightashburystreetfair.org. 11am-5:30pm, free. Celebrating the cultural history and diversity of one of San Francisco’s most internationally celebrated neighborhoods, the annual street fair features arts and crafts, food booths, three musical stages, and a children’s zone.

June 10-12

Harmony Festival, Sonoma County Fairgrounds, 1350 Bennett Valley, Santa Rosa, www.harmonyfestival.com. One of the Bay Area’s best camping music festivals and a celebration of progressive lifestyle, with its usual strong and eclectic lineup of talent.

June 16-17

North Beach Festival, Washington Square Park, SF. (415) 989-2220, www.northbeachchamber.com. free. This year will feature more than 150 art, crafts, and gourmet food booths, three stages, Italian street painting, beverage gardens and the blessing of the animals.

Marin Art Festival, Marin Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael. (415) 388-0151, www.marinartfestival.com. 10am-6pm, $10, kids under 14 free. Over 250 fine artists in the spectacular Marin Civic Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Enjoy the Great Marin Oyster Feast while you’re there.

June 22-24

Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, Mendocino County Fairgrounds Booneville. (916) 777-5550, www.snwmf.com. $160. A reggae music Mecca, with Jimmy Cliff, Luciano, and Israel Vibration (among others) spreading a message of peace, love, and understanding.

June 23-24

Gay Pride Weekend Civic Center Plaza, SF; Parade starts at Market and Beale. (415) 864-FREE, www.sfpride.org. Parade starts at 10:30am, free. Everyone in San Francisco waits all year for this fierce celebration of diversity, love, and being fabulous.

Summer SAILstice, Encinal Yacht Club, 1251 Pacific Marina, Alameda. 415-412-6961, www.summersailstice.com. 8am-8pm, free. A global holiday celebrating sailing on the weekend closest to the summer solstice, these are the longest sailing days of the year. Celebrate it in the Bay Area with boat building, sailboat rides, sailing seminars and music.

June 24-August 26

Stern Grove Festival, Stern Grove, 19th Ave. and Sloat, SF. (415) 252-6252,www.sterngrove.org, free. This will be the 75th season of this admission-free music, dance, and theater performance series.

July 4

4th of July on the Waterfront, Pier 39, Beach and Embarcadero, SF.www.pier39.com 12pm-9pm, free. Fireworks and festivities, live music — in other words fun for the whole, red-white-and-blue family.

July 5-8

High Sierra Music Festival, Plumas-Sierra Fairgrounds, Lee and Mill Creek, Quincy. www.highsierramusic.com. Gates open 8am on the 5th, $185 for a four-day pass. Set in the pristine mountain town of Quincy, this year’s fest features Ben Harper, Built To Spill, Papodosio, and more.

July 7

Oakland A’s Beer Festival and BBQ Championship, (510) 563-2336, oakland.athletics.mlb.com. 7pm, game tickets $12–$200. A baseball-themed celebration of all that makes a good tailgate party: grilled meat and fermented hops.

July 7-8

Fillmore Street Jazz Festival, Fillmore between Jackson and Eddy, SF. (800) 310-6563, www.fillmorejazzfestival.com.10am-6pm, free. The largest free jazz festival on the Left Coast, this celebration tends to draw enormous crowds to listen to innovative Latin and fusion performers on multiple stages.

July 19-29

Midsummer Mozart Festival, Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness, SF (also other venues in the Bay Area). (415) 627-9141,www.midsummermozart.org. $50. A Bay Area institution since 1974, this remains the only music festival in North America dedicated exclusively to Mozart.

July 21-22

Renegade Craft Fair, Fort Mason Center, Buchanan and Marina, SF. (415) 561-4323, www.renegadecraft.com. Free. Twee handmade dandies of all kinds will be for sale at this DIY and indie-crafting hullabaloo. Like Etsy in the flesh!

July 21-22

Connoisseur’s Marketplace, Santa Cruz and El Camino Real, Menlo Park. Free. This huge outdoor event expects to see 65,000 people, who will come for the art, live food demos, an antique car show, and booths of every kind.

July 23-August 28

The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Various locations, SF. (415) 558-0888, www.sfshakes.org. Free. Shakespeare takes over San Francisco’s public parks in this annual highbrow event. Grab your gang and pack a picnic for fine, cultured fun.

July 27-29

Gilroy Garlic Festival, Christmas Hill Park, Miller and Uvas, Gilroy. (408) 842-1625,www.gilroygarlicfestival.com. $17 per day, children under six free. Known as the “Ultimate Summer Food Fair,” this tasty celebration of the potent bulb lasts all weekend.

July 28-29

27th Annual Berkeley Kite Festival & West Coast Kite Championship, Cesar E. Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina, Berk. (510) 235-5483, www.highlinekites.com. 10am-5pm, free. Fancy, elaborate kite-flying for grown-ups takes center stage at this celebration of aerial grace. Free kite-making and a candy drop for the kiddies, too.

July 29

Up Your Alley Fair, Dore between Howard and Folsom, SF. (415) 777-3247,www.folsomstreetfair.org., 11am-6pm, free with suggested donation of $7. A leather and fetish fair with vendors, dancing, and thousands of people decked out in their kinkiest regalia, this is the local’s version of the fall’s Folsom Street Fair mega-event.

July 30-August 5

SF Chefs Food and Wine Festival, Union Square, SF. (415) 781-5348, www.sfchefsfoodwine.com. Various times and prices. Taste buds have ADD too. Let them spiral deliciously out of control during this culinary fair representing over 200 restaurants, bars, distilleries, and breweries.

August 4-5

Aloha Festival, San Mateo Event Center, 1346 Saratoga, San Mateo. (415) 281-0221, www.pica-org.org. 10am-5pm, free. You may not be going to Hawaii this summer, but this two-day festival of crafts, island cuisine, Polynesian dance workshops, and music performances might just do the trick.

Art and Soul Oakland, Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway, Oakl. www.artandsouloakland.com. $10 adv.; $15 at door. Sample delectable treats, joyfully scream through a carnival ride, get a purple unicorn painted on your forehead — all while rocking out to live jazz, R&B, acoustic, and gospel performances.

Nihonmachi Street Fair, Post between Laguna and Fillmore, SF. www.nihonmachistreetfair.org. 10am-6pm, free. Community outreach infuses every aspect of this Japantown tradition — meaning those perfect garlic fries, handmade earrings, and live performances you enjoy will also be benefitting a number of great nonprofit organizations.

August 5

Jerry Day 2012, Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, 40 John F. Shelley, SF. (415) 272-2012, www.jerryday.org. 11am, free; donate to reserve seats. Founded in 2002 when a dilapidated playground in the Excelsior was being transformed to what is now Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, Jerry Day continues as an art and music event brimming with local San Franciscan roots.

August 10-12

Outside Lands Music Festival Golden Gate Park, SF. www.sfoutsidelands.com. $225 regular 3-day ticket. Musical demi-gods like Stevie Wonder and Neil Young are headlining this year, and the rest of the jaw-dropping lineup makes us wish it were 2035 already so we can clone ourselves and be at opposite sides of the park at once.

August 11

Festa Coloniale Italiana, Stockton between Union and Filbert, SF. (415) 440-0800, www.sfiacfesta.com. 11am-6pm, free. When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that’s amore. When you dance down North Beach, visiting every food truck you encounter, you’re in love.

August 18

Russian River Beer Revival and BBQ Cookoff, Stumptown Brewery, 15045 River, Guerneville. (707) 869-0705, www.stumptown.com. Noon-6pm, $55. You can’t really go wrong attending a festival with a name like this one. Entry fee includes live music, beer, cider, BBQ tastings, and your resurrection.

San Francisco Street Food Festival, Folsom from 20th to 26th St.; 25th St. from Treat to Shotwell, SF. (415) 824-2729, www.sfstreetfoodfest.com. 11am-7pm, free. You may think there is nothing quite as good your own mother’s cooking, but the vendors at La Cocina’s food fair are up for the challenge.

August 25

The Farm Series: Late Summer Harvest, Oak Hill Farm, 15101 California 12, Glen Ellen. (415) 568-2710, www.18reasons.org. 9am-5pm, $50. Head to Sonoma with Bi-Rite’s head farmer and produce buyer to check out Family Farm and Oak Hill Farm. Lunch is included in the ticket price and carpool drivers will be reimbursed for gas.

August 25-26

Bodega Seafood Art and Wine Festival, 16855 Bodega, Bodega. (707) 824-8717, www.winecountryfestivals.com. $12 advance, $15 at gate. The seaweed is usually greener on somebody else’s lake — but not this weekend. Have your crab cake and eat it too during this crustaceous celebration of food, wine, beer, and art.

September 8-9

Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival, Ghiradelli Square, 900 North Point, SF. (800) 877-9338, www.ghiradelli.com. Noon-5pm, $20. It’s finally time to put your at-home ice cream noshing skills to the test. For two-days only, chocolate lovers unite to celebrate all that is good in life — and by that we mean eating contests, chef demonstrations, and local dessert samplings.

September 9

EcoFair Marin 2012, Marin County Fairgrounds and Lagoon Park, Civic Center, San Rafael. (415) 499-6800, www.ecofairmarin.org. 10am-6pm, $5. This sustainability event brings together speaker presentations, exhibitions by energy reducing and conserving business leaders, and tasty raw and vegan food vendors, as a community effort to help bring about a healthier planet.

September 14-16

Ceramics Annual of America: Exhibition and Art Fair, Festival Hall, Fort Mason, Buchanan at Marina, SF. (877) 459-9222, www.ceramicsannual.org. $10. Contemporary ceramics from Korea, China, Mexico, Australia, and Italy, as well as top American artists’ works, will be showcased in this one-of-a-kind art show. Tours and discussions regarding the clay medium will be provided as a way to foster knowledge regarding the clay medium.

September 16

Comedy Day, Sharon Meadow, Golden Gate Park, SF. (415) 820-1570, www.comedyday.com. Noon-5pm, free. There are two secret cures for depression: sunlight and laughter. Comedy Day brings the two antidotes together for a cheery day of priceless (literally, it’s free) entertainment.

September 21-23

Eat Real Festival, Jack London Square, Oakl. (510) 250-7811, www.eatrealfest.com. Free. Processed foods really do have a bunch of weird named ingredients that trigger horrific thoughts in one’s imagination. At Eat Real, suspicion is taken out of the eating experience, as everything is handmade, fresh, and local — so you can just eat.

September 22

Superhero Street Fair, Islais Creek Promenade, Caesar Chavez at Indiana, SF. www.superherosf.com. 2pm-midnight, $10-20 suggested donation. Fantasy and reality merge through live music performances, a climbing wall, sideshows, interactive games, and a cobblestone walkway of art. The festival hopes to set the World Record for the largest number of superheroes in one location — or at least put Nick Fury to shame.

September 23

Folsom Street Fair, Folsom between Seventh and 12th Streets, SF. (415) 777-3247, www.folsomstreetfair.com. 11am-6pm, free. Time to get out that spiked collar and latex gloves once again. Don’t forget your nipple clamps or the vibrating magic wand, either! Might as well bring out the leather whip and chains too — not that you’ve been anticipating this huge fetish extravaganza all year or anything.

September 29-30

Polk Street Blues Festival, Polk between Jackson and California, SF. (800) 310-6563, www.polkstreetbluesfestival.com. 10am-6pm, free. The blues festival will feature two stages, a marketplace of crafts and food booths, and enough saxophones and harmonicas to get you rollin’ and tumblin’.

September 30

Petaluma’s Fall Antique Faire, Fourth Street and Kentucky from B Street to Washington, Petaluma. (707) 762-9348, www.petalumadowntown.com. 8am-4pm, free. Watch as downtown Petaluma transforms in to an antique marketplace of estate jewelry, furniture, art, and collectables from over 180 dealers.

October 4-14

Mill Valley Film Festival, California Film Institute, 1001 Lootens, San Rafael. (415) 383-5256, www.mvff.com. $13.50 per screening. The 11-day festival presents international features, documentaries, shorts, and children’s films, as well as workshops and seminars dedicated to the art of film-making.

October 5-7

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Golden Gate Park, John F. Kennedy at Marx Meadow, SF. www.strictlybluegrass.com. Free. Warren Hellman has left us in February, but the bluegrass music festival he gifted to San Francisco goes on in memory of its esteemed founder.

October 6

Steampunk Oktoberfest Ball, Masonic Lodge of San Mateo, 100 North Ellsworth, San Mateo. (650) 348-9725, www.peers.org/steampunk.html. 8pm, $15 adv.; $20 at door. Steampunk is a combination of modern technology and Victorian fashion tastes. Think steam-powered airships and breathable corsets. Nineteenth century waltzes, mazurkas, and polkas set the soundtrack to this year’s revelry of costumes, dancing, and anachronistic inventions.

October 7

Castro Street Fair, Castro at Market, SF. (415) 841-1824, www.castrostreetfair.org. 11am-6pm, donations collected at entry. Founded by Harvey Milk in 1974, this community street festival joins hundreds of craft vendors, various stages of live entertainment, and an impressive array of outfits and wigs as a celebration of the Castro’s ever-growing diversity.

October 13-14

Treasure Island Music Festival, Treasure Island, SF. www.treasureislandfestival.com. $69.50 for single day tickets; $125 for regular 2-day tickets. For those who are normally discouraged by large music festivals because of the usual mobs of people, this is the event for you. The festival always sports a great bill of performers, all of which you can enjoy while having a relaxing a picnic on the grass, watching the sunset fall over the Golden Gate Bridge. The lineup will be revealed later this summer.

October 15

Noe Valley Harvest Festival, 24th St. between Church and Sanchez, SF. (415) 519-0093, www.noevalleyharvestfestival.com. 10am-5pm, free. Fall into autumn’s welcoming leaves — there will be circus performers, dog costume contests, jack-o-lantern decorating booths, and a pumpkin patch to make you forget all about your fleeting summer crush.

October 26-28

International Vintage Poster Fair, Fort Mason Center, SF. (800) 856-8069, www.posterfair.com. $15. This is the only show in the world that offers over 15,000 original vintage posters. Throw out your duplicate copy, and run here now.

San Francisco honors the memory of Warren Hellman with a free daytime concert

Tony Robles

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February 17, 2012

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San Francisco will honor the memory of philanthropist Warren Hellman this weekend with a fittingly free, live bluegrass showcase. The event includes performances by: Poor Man’s Whiskey, John Doe, Kevin Welch, Kieran Kane & Fats Kaplin, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, The Wronglers (Hellman’s old band) with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Gillian Welch, Boz Scaggs, Old Crow Medicine Show, Robert Earl Keen, Emmylou Harris with special guest The Go to Hell Man Clan.

The Warren Hellman Public Celebration takes place Sun/19 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. down by Ocean Beach, in the Great Highway (Hwy 1) parking lot between JFK Drive and Lincoln Avenue. The event also will be streaming live at www.strictlybluegrass.com.

As Guardian city editor Steven T. Jones expressed the week following Hellman’s death late last year, “Warren Hellman left a hole in the heart of San Francisco when he died.” As most San Franciscans know by now, Hellman, a venture capitalist, was a music lover at heart – he bankrolled the city’s prized fall festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YDTx_yXfeI

When culture writer Caitlin Donohue visited Hellman in his office two years before his passing she noted, , “I realize that central to [Hellman] is bluegrass music. His corner office is comfortably packed with stacks of banjos and guitars, a signed CD from Emmylou Harris that wishes him a happy birthday, a metal sculpture that wears aviator sunglasses and a white cowboy hat, thank you plaques from the Berkeley music venue Freight and Salvage, where Hellman is a keystone donor and acted as chairman for the club’s fundraising campaign in years past. It’s impossible to avoid the music in the room, indeed the music is the room.”

Warren Hellman Public Celebration
Sun/19, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., free
Great Highway (Hwy 1) parking lot
Between JFK Drive and Lincoln Avenue, SF
www.strictlybluegrass.com

Conversation on Golden Gate Park concerts continues

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February 15, 2012

11

“I call for this hearing each year,” said District 1 Supervisor Eric Mar. The focus of the hearing was large events in Golden Gate Park, and each year, hundreds of San Franciscans have something to say about it.

At the Land Use Committee meeting Feb. 13, the room was packed with concert industry representatives, local artists, police officers, a couple dozen members of the Carpenters In Action from the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 22, and neighbors. Lots and lots of neighbors.

Many of the Richmond and Sunset residents who spoke are furious with the many large concerts that take place in Golden Gate Park throughout the year, including Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Alice’s Summerthing, Outside Lands, and Power to the Peaceful.

They spoke of unbearable noise, impossible parking, and crime spilling over from the event crowds. One man said that during Outside Lands, his house shakes so much that he feels “trapped inside an acoustic guitar for three days straight.”

The Recreation and Parks Department has implemented several measures addressing these ongoing concerns since the first annual hearing on this topic in 2009. Dana Ketchum and Nick Kinsey represented the department at the hearing, speaking in detail of tightened permitting measures, increased outreach to the community about upcoming events, and a hotline set up so neighbors can call in noise complaints more efficiently during large concerts and performances.

Ketchum said that noise complaints have resulted more than once in Rec and Parks representatives threatening to pull the plug on amplified sound in the park if partiers don’t turn it down. One neighbor called the hotline, “more useless than yesterday’s spit.”

Proponents of the events, too, were passionate.

Local hip hop artist Tom Shimura, aka Lyrics Born spoke on the importance of the events to the San Francisco music scene. Shimura praised how the Outside Lands lineup is 20 percent local artists.

“These festivals launch careers and create Bay Area success stories,” said Shimura.

“I just wanted to say that I’m a big fan,” said Supervisor Mar.

Many supporters cited a recently released San Francisco State University Study, which finds that Outside Lands generates “more than $60 million for the San Francisco economy,” and even claims the festival creates “683 full-time equivalent jobs” in the city.

Some Richmond residents demanded that all the festivals be cancelled, and, barring that, that they be issued the personal cell phone numbers of the Rec and Parks staff.

“It’s clear everyone supports these events,” said Supervisor Mar at the hearing’s conclusion.

“It’s a matter of collaboration.”

Live Shots: Fitz and the Tantrums

Tony Robles

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January 27, 2012

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A steady backbeat. The swirling organ. Lots of saxophone. Two singers who double as dancers. One skunk striped haircut. Without a doubt, Fitz and the Tantrums have their act together, and worked it Thursday, the first of two nights at the Regency Ballroom.

The Tantrums, a stylish soul revival band with pop tendencies, are led by singer-songwriter Michael Fitzpatrick, a skinny man with a skinnier blonde streak in his ‘do. Fitzpatrick’s voice is somewhere between blue-eyed soul artists Daryl Hall and Michael McDonald (the Doobie Brother, not the guy from MadTV, although there is a striking resemblance to the latter). Fitz is matched vocally by Noelle Scaggs, whose hair no longer matches the band’s banner. It’s the chemistry between the two that drives the band onstage, complementary but also competing to be more bombastic. Neither seems afraid to work up a sweat, but Scaggs for her part apparently picked up an old trick from Tina Turner, which is to hold the tambourine in hand and just shake the whole body.

In the last year, the group has been getting a lot of attention, mainly through festival performances, including Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. The Tantrums won me over at Sasquatch in Washington, with some nice placement before Sharon Jones. The show on Thursday was essentially the same, down to the banter, audience interaction, and requests to “get low.” Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it comes off more natural than mechanical – a level of polish and chops that would sweep X Factor or American Idol. If, however, that reality competition dreck comparison is a little too safe for comfort, rest assured that Fitz, for his part, drops way too many F-bombs for network TV.

Setlist
1. Don’t Gotta Work It Out
2. Winds of Change
3. Breakin’ the Chains of Love
4. Wake Up
5. Pickin’ Up the Pieces
6. Rich Girl (“Rich girls will break your heart, but a poor girls will take all your fucking money.”)
7. 6 AM
8. Tighter
9. Lovesick Man
(“This is where the motherfucking dance party will begin.”)
10. LOV
11. Steady As She Goes (Raconteurs)
12. Dear Mr. President
13. News 4 U
Encore
14. We Don’t Need No Love Songs
15. Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics)
16. Moneygrabber

Money and values

Andrew Lam

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December 27, 2011

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steve@sfbg.com

Warren Hellman left a hole in the heart of San Francisco when he died on Dec. 18 at the age of 77. That’s where he existed, right in the city’s heart, keeping the lifeblood of money and values flowing when nobody else seemed up to that task. But as the outpouring of affection and appreciation that followed his death attests, he set an example for others to follow…and maybe they will.

Hellman was born into one of San Francisco’s premier wealthy families, a status he maintained by becoming a rich and famous investment banker. His great-grandfather founded Well Fargo, as well as the Congregation Emanu-El, the spectacular temple where Hellman’s memorial service was held Dec. 21, attended by a huge crowd ranging from Gov. Jerry Brown to young country music fans.

Hellman was more than just a philanthropist who funded key institutions such as the San Francisco Free Clinic, the Bay Citizen newsroom, and a variety of programs and bond measures benefiting local public schools. He was more than the go-to guy for mediating sticky political problems such as this year’s pension reform struggle.

Hellman was the conscience of San Francisco, reminding his rich friends of their obligations to fair play and the common good. And he was the rhythm of the city, single-handedly creating and funding the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, perhaps the greatest free music festival in the country. And he was so much more.

“What do banjos, garages, Levis, 50- and 100-mile runs, ride and tie, investment banking, public policy, ballot measures, free medical clinics, and a zest for women,” U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at his service, causing the room to erupt in laughter at the misstated last item, “for winning — correction, a zest for winning — have in common? The answer, of course, is simple: Warren Hellman.”

It was a gaffe that Hellman probably would have appreciated as much as anyone. Speaker after speaker attested to his marvelous, and often risqué, sense of humor. It was a theme that ran through the testimonials almost as strongly as two of his other key qualities: his competitiveness and his compassion.

For a charter member the 1 percent, Hellman had a deep appreciation for the average person of goodwill, and he found those people as often on the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder as he did on the top. While most of his contemporaries in San Francisco’s uber-wealthy class, such as Don Fisher and Walter Shorenstein, often used their money to wage class warfare on the 99 percent, Hellman used his wealth and influence to bridge the divide.

He generously gave to good causes and advocated for higher taxes on the wealthy to lessen the need for such charity. Hellman understood that we all help make San Francisco great, and that perspective animated his love of bluegrass music, which he called “the conscience of our country.”

As he told me in 2007, “A big passion of mine is to try to help — and people have defined it too narrowly — the kinds of music that I think have a hell of a lot to do with the good parts of our society.”

Hellman may have started the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival because it was music he loved and played, but he turned it into such a major spectacle — booking some of the biggest acts from around the country, going as big as the city and space would allow — because he thought it was important to the soul of his city.

“I’m glad that we have first-rate opera, but it’s equally important that we foster the kind of music, lyrics, etc., that support all this,” Hellman told me. And by “all this,” he was talking about the grand social bargain, the fact that we’re all sharing this planet and we’ve got to understand and nurture one another.

At the memorial service, that attitude came through most strongly in the words — spoken with a country twang — of musician Ron Thomason, who became good friends with Hellman through their shared loves of bluegrass music and horseback riding, including the endurance rides in which they each competed.

“I know I’m amongst all good folks,” Thomason told the packed synagogue. “The plain truth is Warren didn’t tolerate the other kind.”

That was true. No matter your perspective or station in life, Hellman wanted to know and appreciate you if had a good heart and curious mind. And if not, he would let you know — or cut you off, as he did with the political group he helped start, SFSOS, after its director Wade Randlett launched nasty attacks on progressive politicians and advocates.

Thomason joked about how ridiculous much of this country has become. “It’s hard to believe that only half the people are dumber than average,” he said. “But I don’t think anyone ever saw Warren Hellman talk down to anybody.”

He told the story of meeting Hellman backstage at Hardly Strictly. Thomason knew Hellman from equestrian events and didn’t know that he was a wealthy banker or that he created and funded the festival. And Hellman didn’t immediately offer that information, telling his friend that he was just backstage because he knew someone in management.

“He knew everyone in management, and he expected them to do right,” Thomason said, later adding, “In his mind, there should not be any disenfranchised.”

It was a perspective that was echoed by people from all parts of Hellman’s life, from his family members to his business partners.

“He taught us to respect people from all walks of life,” said Philip Hammarskjold, the CEO of Hellman & Friedman and Hellman’s business partner of 17 years, describing how Hellman was as engaged with and curious about the firm’s low-level support staff as he was its top executives, an attitude that infected those around him. “His culture is now our culture. His values are now our values.”

“Money meant noting to Warren,” said his sister, Nancy Bechtle. “But in business, money was the marker that you won and Warren always wanted to win.”

He was a competitive athlete and an investment banker who wanted to give companies the resources they needed to succeed, rather than slicing and dicing them for personal gain. And he used the wealth he accrued in the process to make San Francisco a better place.

“He treated San Francisco as if it were part of his family, nurturing its health and education,” said his granddaughter, Laurel Hellman.

Personally, he was an iconoclast with a lively sense of play.

“He never worried about the things that most parents worried about,” said Frances Hellman, the eldest of Warren’s four children. Rather than getting good grades and staying out of trouble, Hellman wanted his children to be happy, hard-working, respectful of people, and always curious about the world.

She told stories about taking Hellman to his first Burning Man in 2006 (along with Rabbi Sydney Mintz, who led the service), an event he loved and returned to the next two years, and watching his childlike pleasure at leaving his painted footprints on a sail that was headed around the world, or with just sitting on the playa, picking his banjo, watching all the colorful people go by.

“I love him and I miss him more than I can express,” she said.

As Hellman told me in 2007, he just loved people and was genuinely curious about their perspectives.

“I’m so grateful for the friendship of Warren, to know this incredible man,” singer Emmylou Harris — one of Hellman’s favorite musicians — said before singing for a crowd of others who felt just the same way.

Editor’s notes

Andrew Lam

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December 20, 2011

2

steve@sfbg.com

Hugely influential political figures died in the last week: Czech playwright-turned-president Vaclav Havel, North Korea’s “dear leader” Kim Jong-Il, and writer Christopher Hitchens, who shaped perceptions of war and religion. But it was the death of investment banker Warren Hellman that has most affected me and the rest of San Francisco.

It wasn’t just because I knew and greatly respected the man, but it was how I came to know Warren and the unique role that he played in this polarized city. Up until 2007, I saw Hellman as just another wealthy Republican power broker pumping money into conservative campaigns that the Bay Guardian and progressives were constantly fighting.

Even before Occupy coined that new paradigm, I saw him as part of the one percent working to keep the 99 percent down, and I bitterly resented what the very rich were doing to San Francisco. But increasingly, Hellman began to break with his downtown allies, partnering with bicyclists, burners, and music lovers on various pursuits. So I decided to do an in-depth profile of this courageously independent man (see “Out of downtown,” 5/19/07) and that evolved into an ongoing relationship.

Like everyone else, I appreciate what Warren has done for San Francisco, particularly his creation of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, the Bay Citizen, the San Francisco Foundation, and other important institutions. He felt an obligation to use his wealth for the common good.

But even more striking was his humble and cooperative approach. He believed luck matters more than ability in people’s socioeconomic status. So Warren brought goodwill and real curiosity to all his interactions — he wanted to learn from San Franciscans of all kinds, to let them shape him and this city. I can think of no better example to follow during this holiday season and the fraught political year that follows.

Warren Hellman, the 1 percent exception

Sasha Cuttler

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December 19, 2011

103

San Francisco lost a piece of its soul when Warren Hellman died last night. In a deeply polarized city, where Occupy’s paradigm of the 99 percent versus the 1 percent resonates more than anywhere, Hellman showed how an extremely wealthy investment banker could champion the interests of all San Franciscans.

I first got to know Warren in 2007 when I did a series of in-depth interviews with him for a Guardian cover story. Before that, he had been a bit of a villain to progressives as he worked with his downtown friends, such as the late Gap founder Don Fisher, to fund political initiatives and groups that aggressively pushed a pro-business agenda, from the Committee on Jobs to the parking garage under Golden Gate Park.

Born into the family that founded Wells Fargo Bank, he became the youngest partner to join Lehman Brothers before founding one of San Francisco’s largest investment banking firms, Hellman was solidly in the 1 percent. But he was a curious man with a good heart, compassionate soul, nimble mind, and strong sense of integrity.

So when the progressives he previously battled over the parking garage pushed for more car-free hours in the park – something Hellmann and his allies had pledged to support if the garage was built – he joined them and battled with his former garage allies who had abandoned that pledge, eventually forcing a compromise when it seemed the car-free crowd was headed for defeat.

That was the reason I got to know him and the focus on my “Out of downtown” story, but it was only the beginning. I came to know about how he was spending his money to help the schools and the poor, about his generous/selfish gift of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, and about his belief that George W. Bush and other neo-conservatives – those who so shamelessly and short-sightedly helped consolidate this country’s wealth in fewer and fewer hands – were sullying his Republican Party.

So we stayed in touch and had early morning breakfasts together every six months or so, talking about the issues of the day. We talked about Burning Man, an event he loved and one I was covering and writing a book about. He listened as I complained about my shrinking staff at the Guardian and how the contraction of journalism was bad for San Francisco, and we talked through some possible solutions.
It bothered Warren to see the San Francisco Chronicle being decimated by an out-of-town corporation, and he wanted to help. So he took that kernel of an idea, mulled it, and discussed it with a wide variety of people who had expertise on the topic, just as he would do with his myriad investment banking ideas.

And with that steady heat that he applied to this kernel, he popped it into The Bay Citizen, a non-profit professional newsroom that has already done a great service to San Francisco, and which owes its existence to Hellman, who subsidized it with millions of dollars of his own money and encouraged his rich friends to give millions more. That is among his many legacies, although he was probably most proud of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, probably the country’s best free concert. Warren loved that music, and he told me it was mostly because it told the stories of common people so beautifully. “The kind of music is the conscience of our country,” he told me. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors last week offered a bit of appreciation for Warren’s gift, renaming the main venue of Speedway Meadows as Hellman’s Hollow.

I’ll let the Bay Citizen and other media outlets write Warren’s full obituary. What I’m choosing to think about now is the man, and he is someone who I will truly miss. San Francisco just won’t be the same place without the example he set, but I hope it lives on in the hearts and minds of those in a position to help San Francisco find its heart and realize its potential.

The Performant: Cinéma contradictoire

Andrew Lam

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October 10, 2011

2

While I spent a good deal of time out of doors last weekend taking in, among other things, an obligatory pilgrimage to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, a jaunt on the historic schooner Alma with the WE Players, the 30-year anniversary of the Sea Chantey Sing, and Chicken John’s book release party, it was the introspective medium of the cinema that captured my attentions most of all. From the Star of Tyche at ATA, to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at Lost Weekend’s “Offline In-Store” Film Festival, I devoured a sumptuous visual feast the satiating effects of which still linger days after.

The expertly-crafted, surrealistic films of Nara Denning have a decidedly ephemeral quality about them. Soaked in sepia tone and fantasia, they appear to be both of this world but adamantly not tied to it, flitting around the edges of stark reality like moths ready to plunge into a deadly yet strangely compelling fire. Her deeply-compelling yet minimal storylines tend to feature quixotic protagonists who have somehow lost their way, treading unworn paths through incongruous scenery, from jungle islands to funhouse rides to oceanic squalls, while trapped in the dubious limbo between waking and dreaming.

Scored by Stoo Odom, and featuring a slew of talented guest musicians, the films sound as good as they look-which is to say, exquisite. Over the weekend at ATA Denning presented five new films, each more haunting than the next, collected together on one DVD entitled Under the Pavement.

The first film of the new series, The Pendulum Heart, starring Christine Bonansea and Christopher Comparini, is set in a tangled, wooded area where a masked Bonansea dances, struggling, against a backdrop of branches and darkness before encountering a hybrid tree-man (Comparini) with whom she makes a connection. The tormented and hilarious Dogmatique, starring Will Franken, opens with a Monty Python-esque sequence of feet walking in place on a treadmill of giant gears accompanied by an effervescent Allison Lovejoy composition: “Dog Rag”.

Surrounded with a city full of men who have turned into dogs (literally), Franken struggles to retain his humanity, a battle he is increasingly in danger of losing. Sentenced in court to “the bone mine,” forced into a ring to face off against a suited canine opponent (one “Peter Bones”), Franken eventually gives himself over to the soothing jazz of the full moon (sung by the Blue Fairy, Momo Cheeskos).

Two nightmare-tinged vignettes Narcissus and The Nun (presented together as Still Life), starring Nirmala Nataraj and Emi Stanley respectively, plumb the depths of violence and regret shrouded in Denning’s characteristic sepia tones and billowing fabrics and featuring an especially mournful sax solo played by Willy the Mailman.

The last film of the evening, the Odyssey-inspired Star of Tyche, floats on an ocean of unease, as Julia Zeffiro steers her fragile craft on an increasingly treacherous voyage. Encountering goddesses (Margaret Belton), mercenaries (Wylie Huey), and spirits of the dead, Zeffiro never makes it to shore, exiled to endless navigation of the unsympathetic waters and other-worldly obstacles. An ending one suspects is occasionally entertained by Denning herself, but if the quality of this latest batch of films is an indicator, it is a fate she will handily avoid.

On the Cheap Listings

Andrew Lam

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October 4, 2011

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WEDNESDAY 5

Poetry World Series Play-Off San Francisco Public Library, lower level, 100 Larkin, SF. www.sfpl.org. 6 p.m., free. Has the Giants’ lackluster season struck you as less than poetic masterpiece? Time to regain some baseball-themed inspiration. The SF Public Library is hosting this showdown between local poets – celebrity judges (including Lemony Snicket himself, Daniel Handler) will “pitch” poem topics at the bards so that they can improvise sonnets onstage.

“Architectural Books and the Art of the Bookstore” Scanners Bookstore, 312 Valencia, SF. (415) 374-9379, www.scannersproject.com. 6:30 p.m., free. Watch City Lights Bookstore head buyer Paul Yamazaki and architecture bookstore owner William Stout in conversation about, well, what they know best. San Francisco entrepreneurs take center-stage at this Litquake literary festival event.

THURSDAY 6

“Windows and Mirrors” Afghani culture art opening University of San Francisco, Kalmanovitz Hall, 2130 Fulton, SF. www.windowsandmirrors.org. 5-7 p.m., free. After a speech by Veterans Against the War activist Matt Southworth you’ll be free to stare at the walls. Or better yet, at the 45 murals dedicated to the lives of Afghanistan’s citizens. An inter-faith peace vigil will also be held.

FRIDAY 7

Armenian Bazaar and Food Festival St. Vartan Armenian Church, 650 Spruce, Oakl. (510) 893-1671, www.stvartanoakland.org. 5:30 p.m.-midnight, $3. Bounce to the Khatg Jinigirian Ensemble, who’ll be taking the stage at this open-air fair. You’ll need to burn calories if you’re a beoreg, boorma, or kufta fan, anyways.

SATURDAY 8

“Cakeland: Your Deadly Desserts” art exhibit Modern Eden Gallery, 403 Francisco, SF. 6-9 p.m., free. Scott Hove room of cake has a secret. You’ll find it out quickly if you step into the overpoweringly sweet lair – despite the sugar, this cake is armed with multiple, vicious-looking maws.

San Carlos Art and Wine Faire San Carlos between El Camino and Walnut, plus Laurel between San Carlos and Arroyo, San Carlos. www.sancarloschamber.org. Also Sun/9. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free. The so-called “City of Good Living” is strutting its stuff this weekend. Lisa Loeb will turn in a performance, the cinnamon-roasted almonds, garlic fries, and sparkling wines will be flying, and families will find ample things for their kiddos to do.

Open Studios: Sunset, Richmond, Haight, Hayes Various locations, SF. www.artspan.org. Also Sun/9 11 a.m.-6 p.m., free. The second week of the 36th annual SF Open Studios hits the western neighborhoods and the Haight and Hayes Valley areas. Would be the perfect reason to bike out (and around the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass crowds)

Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle DeFremery Park, 1651 Adeline, Oakl. www.estriabattle.com. 11 a.m.-6 p.m., free. For five years, this event has bringing some of the best graffiti artists from around the country (Hawaii included) to duke it out with aerosol in Oakland. In the days leading up to this park side main event there will be a San Francisco premiere of the spray art movie Bomb It 2, a Pecha Kucha presentation night at Oaksterdam University on women and public art.

h.Naoto-New People boutique opening New People, 1746 Post, SF. www.newpeopleworld.com. Noon-4 p.m., free. Another J-pop fashion designer has joined the sleek and silly folds of the New People Japantown mall. Naoto Hirooka is that man, whose edgy designs will be sure to wow the gothic Lolita set.

SUNDAY 9

The Great Night in Buena Vista Park Buena Vista Park, Buena Vista Ave. and Upper Terrace, SF. www.litquake.org. 4 p.m., free. Chris Adrian’s new novel The Great Night takes place in the selfsame Buena Vista Park, following the intersection of the fairy world with that of our own (or at least, that of who we were back in 2008). Tonight, some of the magic hopes to be made manifest – Adrian will be performing a book reading, a string quartet will take to the plain air, and you and your picnic blanket can be present to witness it all go down.

Rockridge Out and About College between Alcatraz and Lincoln, Rockridge. www.rockridgeoutandabout.com. Noon-6 p.m., free. This North Oakland neighborhood welcomes visitors for chef demonstrations, dancin’ in the street, and an event being produced by clothing brand Oaklandish.

Excelsior Arts and Music Festival Mission and Ocean, SF. wwweagsf.org. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., free. Dip into the southern neighborhoods for Excelsior’s family day. Bayonics, The Blind Willies, Estrada Real, and Cassandra Farrar will provide the live music.

On the Cheap listings are compiled by Caitlin Donohue. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

The Hangover: Sept. 30-Oct. 2

Andrew Lam

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October 3, 2011

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Jounce with us, if you will, through the Guardian staff’s frenzied weekend. Here’s our live reviews, hot raging, random sightings.

**The wonderfully energetic (and wonderfully tall) Robin Simmons puts on an occasional gig in the middle of Dolores Park called the Boombox Affair, hooking up a wall of old boomboxes as turntable speakers and letting disco-minded DJs go nuts with their all-vinyl obsessions. On Friday’s Odyssey party at Deco Lounge, he went indoors and at night hosting a three-hour set by DJ David Harness that reminded of those ancient “back in the day” days. Just 30-40 freaks, many of whom were previously unfamiliar to each other, jacking all night in the dark to some heavy tunes as the walls sweat and pounded. Hopefully the party will come back around soon. (Marke B.)

**I was not acquainted with the work of dOP before I attended Friday night’s Liaison Showcase at Public Works — the French techno trio has some excellent grooves and an absurdly over-the-top “sexy” aesthetic that would make their hits like “Horny” hilarious, if they weren’t actually very, very horny. Example: the chain-smoking boys are just fine wiggling around onstage half-naked, and the singer-rapper-screamer is one of the hottest little tattooed bear cubs I’ve ever seen. He spent most of the set playing with his nipples and shaking sweat from his shoulder hair. The crowd ate it up. (Marke B.)

**Saturday at the Warfield for Amon Tobin’s ISAM tour was like entering the 22nd century, except surrounded by young Pixar workers who couldn’t stop screaming, “Amaaazing!” everytime one of the realtime 3-D effects of the stage set was unveiled. Why? Because it really was amaaazing. Opener Eskmo did an entrancing job live-sampling cookware and plastic Coke bottles to build left-field grooves that weren’t afraid of floor-bending tempo changes. (Marke B.)

**With flickering string lights strung from the center of the grand ballroom and splayed out brass instruments across the stage, Beirut’s performance at the Fox Theater in Oakland on Saturday warmed like a fancy indoor county fair. The sound, which can be bass-problematic at the Fox, was good this evening, near perfect for the otherworldly folk-marching band from Santa Fe. Ringleader Zach Condon switched back and forth from ukulele to his beloved trumpet, singing in deep baritone throughout, once stepping to his newly rediscovered favorite, the keys. Here’s our interview with Condon from last week. (Emily Savage)

**What else is there to say about Saturday’s Hard French party besides the fact that Scott Weiner got to express his gratitude to us for his official Guardian ass towel? The queer patio shakefest at El Rio (theme: “Hardly Strictly French.” Overalls.) featured hand-wagging talents of many of the candidates for November’s city elections. Plus, Sups. Weiner and Jane Kim tagged along for the ride and they aren’t even running for anything. (Caitlin Donohue)

**The crowd at Odd Future’s show at the Warfield on Friday may have looked like Warped Tour cool kids, but you couldn’t fault them on their choice in music. The crew from Compton bug-eyed and jello-kneed through and generally crushed their set, although we were all out of their by 11 p.m. What Warfield, not into bands hurling their most enthusiastic devotees back into the crowds spine-first? Here’s the full review, btw. (Caitlin Donohue)

**So we only made it to Sunday of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, but damn if that afternoon’s Devotchka set and red wine from the bottle wasn’t a welcome entree to sunny banjo strumming. Even the crowd itself was hotter than ever (where did all these surfer-hippie hotties come from and to whence have they now returned?) — and in contrast to Outside Lands’ frenzied crowds, filtered through the fenceless areas calmly and happily. Yay free concerts! Happy birthday, Mr. Hellman. (Caitlin Donohue)

Hardly Strictly’s fresh blood

Tony Robles

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September 29, 2011

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Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a badge of San Francisco life. You move here and inevitably in your citywide journeys you’re part of a conversation debating the lineup of this unbelievably free, always-entertaining fall fest that takes in Golden Gate Park the first weekend of October each year.

It’s become a staple of the fall calendar, because well, the bands are good and we like our events free in this town. Now in its 11th year, there are still many new-to-HSB acts, along with the yearly frequenters Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Robert Earl Keen, and Ralph Stanley. Festival publicist Tracey Buck says there are at least half a dozen new local bands in 2011, and roughly 50 new touring acts.

Acquaint yourselves with a few from this year’s HSB freshman class. (Though keep in mind: they may be fresh blood at Hardly Strictly, but most have been at this whole music thing for quite some time.) The big weekend is pretty much here: Fri/30-Sun/2.

Locals:
Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally: Honky tonk at its finest. Robinson’s voice quavers like a modern-day Patsy Cline, on par with her contemporary (and fellow HSB performer) Emmylou Harris. Robinson lends her voice more to vintage sounds, than bending to current trends. It’s old time twang and classic country. (Sat/1, 6:05 p.m., Porch Stage)

The Devil Makes Three: One of the new locals that can rep the “bluegrass” marker of Hardly Strictly, Devil Makes Three plays a swinging mix of blues, rockabilly, ragtime, and yes, bluegrass. It’s roots American music with a hint of sinister mischief, all tattooed and bearded, whiskey-ed up toe-tapping fun. It’s been described as “dark bluegrass.” Expect to hear tracks off the trio’s newest output, live album Stomp and Smash, which comes out Oct. 25. (Sun/2, 1:10 p.m., Arrow Stage)

Bob Mould: Can you believe it’s Bob Mould’s first Hardly Strictly appearance? With all his local appearances, prestige, and now current Bay Area address, we could have sworn we’d seem him there before. The former Husker Du and Sugar frontperson, and current globally-adored indie rock solo artist (and recent memoirist/Herbst Theater interviewee) even inspired a tribute concert – it goes down in Los Angeles in November with Ryan Adams and No Age among others. But first, the rocker will appear at HSB. Perhaps he’ll read a passage or two from his new book See A Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody. (Sun/2, 2 p.m., Towers of Gold Stage)

Nationals/Internationals:
Kurt Vile & the Violators: One of the festival’s always-welcome surprises. Who would have guessed that straggly Mr. Vile would be playing the same event as Merle Haggard ? But actually, it makes sense. He of jangly guitars and mumbly, hoarse vocals, Vile has said that he grew up inspired by vintage records and is vocally inspired by Townes Van Zandt and Gram Parsons The critically acclaimed rocker will likely be one of the event’s highlights this year. (Fri/1, 2:25 p.m., The Rooster Stage)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4-vvlkWE4Q

Thurston Moore: Catching Moore is a pretty big coup for festival organizers and goers alike. And his slot at HSB is well-earned. After years of beating guitars to a bloody pulp with Sonic Youth, he debuted the elegant, nearly all acoustic solo album, Demolished Thoughts, this year, produced by fellow luminary, Beck. I mean, the man was named one of Rolling Stones “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” – he can play his instrument damn well. (Fri/30, 5 p.m., Arrow Stage)

Broken Social Scene: While it’s Broken Social Scene’s first time at HSB, it may also be its last, at least for the time being. Following the Canadian indie (super)group’s highly anticipated show at the Fillmore on Oct. 1 (i.e. a few hours after its Hardly Strictly appearance), the massive act will go on indefinite hiatus. Here’s your chance to catch it in the fog-hampered sunshine, free of cost. (Sat/1, 3:25 p.m., Towers of Gold)

Music Listings

Andrew Lam

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September 27, 2011

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WEDNESDAY 28

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Active Child, Chad Valley, Silver Swans Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.

Adios Amigo, Nikki Lang Rickshaw Stop. 7pm, $15-$20.

Cabin Project Hotel Utah. 9pm, $10.

Gehenna, Hoax, Neo Cons Sub-Mission, 2183 Mission, SF; www.sf-submission.com. 8pm, $8.

Lance Canales and the Flood Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Lemon Party, Art School Kids, Plastic Villians Knockout. 9pm, $6.

Jonathan Mann, Glowing Stars, Sparky Grinstead and the Mighty Backorder Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $8.

Mountains, Date Palms, Higuma Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $8.

Matt Ryd, Xoe Wise Coffee Adventures Cafe, 1331 Columbus, SF; www.myspace.com/coffeeadventures. 11am, free.

Vows/Paranoids, Siddhartha, Black Hole Oscillators Cafe Du Nord. 8pm, $10.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho with Tamar Korn, Michael Abraham Amnesia. 7pm, free.

Greg Gotelli Quartet Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 6-9pm, free.

Jazz organ party with Grahmm Connah Royal Cuckoo, 3202 Mission, SF; www.royalcuckoo.com. 7:30pm, free.

Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 6:30pm, $5.

Mitch Winehouse Yoshi’s. 8pm, $20.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Dan Mangan Hotel Utah. 9pm, $10.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita Moore hosts this dance party, featuring DJ Robot Hustle.

Club Shutter Elbo Room. 10pm, $5. Goth DJs Nako, Omar, and Justin.

Full-Step! Tunnel Top. 10pm, free. Hip-hop, reggae, soul, and funk with DJs Kung Fu Chris and Bizzi Wonda.

Mary Go Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 10pm, $5. Drag with Suppositori Spelling, Mercedez Munro, and Ginger Snap.

Megatallica Fiddler’s Green, 1333 Columbus, SF; www.megatallica.com. 7pm, free. Heavy metal hangout.

No Room For Squares Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 6-10pm, free. DJ Afrodite Shake spins jazz for happy hour.

THURSDAY 29

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

All Shall Perish, Fallujah DNA. 7:30pm, free.

Alvon Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Arrica Rose Hotel Utah. 9pm.

Dreamdate, Party Owl, Baby Talk, Big Drag Thee Parkside. 9pm, $5.

Dreams, Tartufi, Debbie Neigher Beatbox, 314 11th St., SF; www.beatboxsf.com. 8pm, $10.

Alex Metric, DJs Aaron and Omar Rickshaw Stop, 10pm, $13.

Revolver, Chateau Marmont, Mist and Mast Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.

Sugar Candy Mountain, Ramon and Jessica, Lone Valkyrie Amnesia. 9pm, $7.

Uzi Rash, Alexis Blair Penney, Hether Fortune Knockout. 9:30pm, $2-$7.

Weedeater, Saviours, Bison, Fight Amp Independent. 8pm, $18.

Young Dubliners Yoshi’s. 8pm, $20.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Blues Organ Party with Chris Siebert Royal Cuckoo, 3202 Mission, SF; www.royalcuckoo.com. 7:30pm, free.

Stompy Jones Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 7:30pm, $10.

Kai Eckhardt Group Savanna Jazz, 2937 MIssion, SF; www.savannajazz.com. 7pm, $10.

Tom Lander and Friends Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 6-9pm, free.

Robert Glasper Trio Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, SF; www.ybca.org. 7:30pm, $20-$35.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Bluegrass and old-time jam Atlas Cafe, 3049 20th St., SF; www.atlascafe.net. 8-10pm.

Twang! Honky Tonk Fiddler’s Green, 1330 Columbus, SF; www.twanghonkytonk.com. 5pm. Live country music, dancing, and giveaways.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $6. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz spin Afrobeat, Tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

Arcade Lookout. 9pm, free. Indie dance party.

Earthdance Afterparty Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com.8pm, $10.

Guilty Pleasures Gestalt, 3159 16th St, SF; (415) 560-0137. 9:30pm, free. DJ TophZilla, Rob Metal, DJ Stef, and Disco-D spin punk, metal, electro-funk, and 80s.

1984 Mighty. 9pm, $2. The long-running New Wave and 80s party features video DJs Mark Andrus, Don Lynch, and celebrity guests.

Thursday Special Tralala Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 5pm, free. Downtempo, hip-hop, and freestyle beats by Dr. Musco and Unbroken Circle MCs.

Thursdays at the Cat Club Cat Club. 9pm, $6 (free before 9:30pm). Two dance floors bumpin’ with the best of 80s mainstream and underground with Dangerous Dan, Skip, Low Life, and guests.

Tropicana Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, free. Salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and more with DJs Don Bustamante, Apocolypto, Sr. Saen, Santero, and Mr. E.

Trouble and Bass SF, Drop the Lime, Star Eyes, Deathface Mezzanine. 9pm, $15.

FRIDAY 30

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Black Carl Amnesia. 9pm, $7.

Gems, Terry Malts, Tambo Rays Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $6.

Hanni El Khatib, Nick Waterhouse, Dirty Ghosts Bottom of the Hill. 9:30pm, $10.

“Hardly Strictly Bluegrass” Speedway Meadow, Golden Gate Park, SF; www.strictlybluegrass.com. 11am-7pm. With Chris Isaak, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, Bright Eyes,Felice Brothers, Bill Kirchen, Kurt Vile and more.

High Like Five, Sweet Revenge, Cassandra Farrar Hotel Utah. 830pm, $10.

John Lee Hooker Jr. Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.

Jayhawks Slim’s. 9pm, $30.

Kindest Lines, Ssleeping Desiress, C.L.A.W.S Rickshaw Stop 9pm, $10.

Mekons Swedish American Music Hall. 8pm, $20.

Nouvelle Vague Regency Ballroom. 9pm, $30.

Odd Future Warfield. 9pm, $30.

Chuck Prophet Make Out Room. 7:30pm, $10.

Quantic Som, 2925 16th St., SF; www.som-bar.com.10pm, $10-$15.

Ralph Carney’s Serious Jass Project Beatbox, 314 11th St., SF; www.beatboxsf.com. 8Pm, $10-$12.

Struts, Rumble Strippers, Jesse Morris Thee Parkside. 9pm, $7.

Tea Leaf Green, Big Light Independent. 9pm, $20.

Victim’s Family, Two Headed Spy, Cold Steel Renegade, Street Eaters Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $12.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Black Cat Orchestra Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 9pm, $10.

Jazz Organ Party with Grahmm Connah Royal Cuckoo, 3202 Mission, SF; www.royalcuckoo.com. 7:30pm, free.

Earl Klugh Yoshi’s. 8 and10pm, $25-$35.

Petunia and the Vipers, B-Stars, West Coast Ramblers Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa, SF; www.verdiclub.com. 9:30pm, $15.

Suzanna Smith Savanna Jazz, 2937 MIssion, SF; www.savannajazz.com. 7pm, $8.

DANCE CLUBS

Afro Bao Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

Afromassive Elbo Room. 10pm, $10. With Fog Dub.

Blow Up: Designer Drugs DNA. 10pm, $20. With DJ Jeffrey Paradise, Designer Drugs (NYC).

dOP, Deniz Kurtel, Cheatau Flight, Thugfucker Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com.10pm, $25.

DJ Premier vs. Pete Rock: The Battle Mighty. 9pm.

DJ Willys Nice Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 10:30pm, $10.

Pledge: Fraternal Lookout. 9pm, $3-$13. Benefiting LGBT and nonprofit organizations. Bottomless kegger cups and paddling booth with DJ Christopher B and DJ Grind.

Teenage Dance Craze Knockout. 10pm, $4. Surf, garage, and soul with DJs Russell Quan, dX the Funky Granpaw and Okieroan Scott.

Terminator and Reality Check: T-20 Cat Club. 9pm, $5-$7. 20th anniversary party.

Vintage Orson, 508 Fourth St, SF; (415) 777-1508. 5:30-11pm, free. DJ TophOne and guest spin jazzy beats for cocktalians.

Zomby, Machine Drum, Nastynasty103 Harriet, SF; www.1015.com. 9pm, $15.

SATURDAY 1

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Basia Bimbo’s. 8pm, $35.

Dark Star Orchestra Regency Ballroom. 9pm, $33.

Fool’s Gold Brick and Mortar. 9pm, $12.

Meat Sluts, Bloody Hells, Yes Gos Bender’s, 806 S. Van Ness, SF; www.bendersbar.com.10pm, $5.

Eggplant Casino 50 Mason Social House, www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 10pm, free.

“Hardly Strictly Bluegrass” Speedway Meadow, Golden Gate Park, SF; www.strictlybluegrass.com. 11am-7pm. With Steve Earle and the Dukes, Allison Moorer, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard, Broken Social Scene, and more.

Hindi Zahra, Karina Denike, Valerie Orth Bottom of the Hill. 9:30pm, $12.

Laurie Morvan Band Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Thee Merry Widows, Undertaker and his Pals, Dirty Hands Family Band Thee Parkside. 9pm, $8.

MK4, Mengz Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.

Chuck Prophet Make Out Room. 7:30pm, $10.

Tea Leaf Green, Big Light Independent. 9pm, $20.

Nathan Temby Johnny Foley’s, 243 O’Farrell, SF; www.duelingpianos.com. 9pm..

Neon Indian, Com Truise, Purity Ring Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $20.

Toro Y Moi , Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Bass Drum of Death Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $21.

Wrong Words, Royal Headache, Paper Bags Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Alvin Youngblood Hart Biscuits and Blues. 2pm, $25.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Jazz Organ Party with Jules Broussard and Chris Siebert Royal Cuckoo, 3202 Mission, SF; www.royalcuckoo.com. 7:30pm, free.

Earl Klugh Yoshi’s. 8 and 10pm, $35.

Fernando Otero Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor, SF; www.legionofhonor.famsf.org. 2pm, $20-35.

Jerome Sabbagh, Gary Wang, Tim Bulkley Bliss Bar, 4026 24, SF; www.blissbarsf.com. 2pm, $10.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Blind Willies Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, free.

Saturday Night Salsa Ramp, 855 Francois, SF; www.facebook.com/therampsf. 5:30pm, $10.

DANCE CLUBS

Afro Bao Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

Debaser Knockout. 9pm, $5. Alternative 90s dance party with DJ Jamie Jams and Emdee of Club Neon.

Drift, SF Harlot, 46 Minna, SF; www.facebook.com/driftsf. 6pm, $10. Dance party for queer women with DJ DRC and DJ Michelle Sanz.

Icee Hot Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com. 10m, $10-$15. With Martyn (live), Bok Bok, Girl Unit, Santiago Salazar.

New Wave City Mighty. 9pm, $7-$12.

Prince and MJ Madrone.9pm, $5.

Sanafrica Bollyhood Café. 9pm, $7-10. West African and Latin fusion party with Jose Luis, DJ Nado, and DJ Mignane.

Saturday Night Soul Party Elbo Room. 10pm, $10. DJs Lucky, Paul Paul, and Phengren Oswald spinning ’60s soul 45s.

SUNDAY 2

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

“Benefit for the San Francisco Food Bank.” Bottom of the Hill. 6:30pm, $10-$20. Working from Home, Deb Thorpe, DJs Leisure Addicts.

Otis Clay, Chick Rodgers Amoeba. 2pm, free.

Lisa Hannigan, John Smith Slim’s. 8pm, $16.

“Hardly Strictly Bluegrass” Speedway Meadow, Golden Gate Park, SF; www.strictlybluegrass.com. 11am-7pm. With Bela Fleck, Devil Makes Three, Bob Mould, Jayhawks, Emmylou Harris, and more.

Jacuzzi Boys, Apache, Midnite Snaxxx Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $10.

Janeen Leah Brainwash, 1122 Folsom, SF; www.brainwash.com. 6pm.

Redbush, Nerv, Culo a Boca Hemlock Tavern. 4pm, $6.

Caitlin Rose, Emily Greene Cafe Du Nord. 8:30pm, $10

Toro Y Moi , Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Bass Drum of Death Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $21.

Gillian Welch Fillmore. 9pm, $20.

Queensryche Regency Ballroom. 7:30pm, $42.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Blues Organ Party with Lavay Smith and Chris Siebert Royal Cuckoo, 3202 Mission, SF; www.royalcuckoo.com. 7:30pm, free.

Daria, David Bell, Alex Baum Bliss Bar, 4026 24, SF; www.blissbarsf.com. 4:30pm, $10.

Eldar Djangirov Florence Gould Theatre, Legion of Honor, SF; www.legionofhonor.famsf.org. 2Pm, $30-$50.

Rana Farhan Yoshi’s. 7pm, $35.

Four Strange Rivers Percussion Quartet Musician’s Union Hall, 116 Ninth, SF; www.noertker.com. 7:30pm, $10.

French and Kirby Sherman Clay, 647 Mission, SF; www.shermanclay.com. 5pm.

Will and Anthony Nunziata Rrazz Room, 222 Mason, SF; www.rrazzroom.com. 7pm, $35.

Kally Price Old Blues and Jazz Band, Emporer Norton’s Jazz Band Amnesia. 9pm, $5.

Wayne Shorter Quartet Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness, SF; www.sfwmpac.org. 7pm, $45-$85.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Mana Maddy Yoshi’s Lounge. 8pm, $7.

Sunday Night Salsa Ramp, 855 Francois, SF; www.facebook.com/therampsf. 5:30pm, $10.

“Twang Sunday” Thee Parkside. 4pm, free. With Short Fuse, Meatslab, Feral Depravity.

DANCE CLUBS

Batcave Cat Club. 10pm, $5. Death rock, goth, and post-punk with Steeplerot Necromos and c_death.

DJ Moxy 50 Mason Social House, www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 10pm, free.

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, roots, and classic dancehall with DJ Sep, Vinnie Esparza and DJ I-Vier.

Jock Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 3pm, $2. Raise money for LGBT sports teams while enjoying DJs and drink specials.

La Pachanga Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.

MONDAY 3

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Built by Stereo, Simon and the Fire Breathers, Meat Market, Younger Lovers Bottom of the Hill. 8:30pm, $8.

River Whyless, Brother Pacific, Beatbeat Whisper Hemlock Tavern. 6pm, $6.

OMD Warfield. 8pm, $35-$45.

Bob Schneider, Piers Faccini Independent. 8Pm, $20.

Stringer Belle, Tori Roze and the Hot Mess, Mermaid Bones Elbo Room.9pm, $6.

World/Inferno Friendship Society Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $15.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Al Son del Tunduki, Quijerema Yoshi’s. 8pm, $14.

Will and Anthony Nunziata Rrazz Room, 222 Mason, SF; www.rrazzroom.com. 8pm, $35.

DANCE CLUBS

Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. DJs Timoteo Gigante, Gordo Cabeza, and Chris Phlek playing all Motown every Monday.

Sausage Party Rosamunde Sausage Grill, 2832 Mission, SF; (415) 970-9015. 6:30-9:30pm, free. DJ Dandy Dixon spins vintage rock, R&B, global beats, funk, and disco at this happy hour sausage-shack gig.

TUESDAY 4

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Big D and the Kids Table, Have Nots, Invalids Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.

Big Hurt, Days of High Adventure, Over the Falls Elbo Room, 9pm, 6.

Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles, Colleen Green Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $17-$19.

Kate Fiano, Paula Boyd Sutor El Rio front room. 7pm, free.

Liam Finn, Marques Toliver Independent. 8pm, $15.

Hoax, Neo Cons, Yadokai Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Weapons of the Future, Atomic Mama, Penthouse El Rio back room. 7pm, $5.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Clairdee Rrazz Room, 222 Mason, SF; www.rrazzroom.com. 8pm, $30. Kevin Mahogany Yoshi’s. 8pm, $18.

Music listings are compiled by Emily Savage. Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead or check the venue’s website to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

Our Weekly Picks: September 7-13

Andrew Lam

-

September 6, 2011

0

WEDNESDAY 7

MUSIC

The Jim Jones Revue

On its new album, Burning Your House Down, the Jim Jones Revue has seemingly perfected its rowdy mix of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll and MC5-esque blues-punk. The London five-piece debuted in 2004 with a ramshackle garage rock style and a series of blistering live sets that won over the likes of Liam Gallagher and Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Grinderman) — Sclavunos produced the group’s new LP. The band’s relentless Jerry Lee Lewis-style piano twinkling, punk rock guitars, and rockabilly drumming, coupled with Jones’ intense vocal delivery (an endearing mix of Little Richard yelps and Motorhead gravitas) has earned it a reputation as one of the UK’s can’t miss live acts. (Landon Moblad)

With the Sandwitches

8 p.m., $13–$15 The Independent

628 Divisadero, SF (415) 771-1421

www.theindependentsf.com

THURSDAY 8

MUSIC

SF Symphony Free 100th Birthday Celebration

Ghirardelli chocolate squares, an afternoon party outside City Hall, and Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the SF Symphony with superstar Chinese pianist Lang Lang — all free? Yep, it’s the centennial celebration of our own musical starship, with two can’t fail crowd-pleasers, Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major and Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, on the menu. The engaging Lang Lang has a way with Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 — his twinkling flourishes on both its silent-movie villain and John-and-Mary romantic passages can call to mind another flashy Liszt lover, Liberace, but Lang Lang’s technical enthusiasm is all his own. (Marke B.)

11:30 a.m., free

San Francisco City Hall

1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, SF

(415) 864-6000

www.sfsymphony.org

FRIDAY 9

MUSIC

Christian Marclay

The mad genius-artist-composer-filmmaker who recently unleashed The Clock, an astonishingly well made 24-hour-long film collage on Los Angeles, is one of the highlights of an already awesome San Francisco Electronic Music Festival this year. Marclay, who was actually born just outside of San Francisco in San Rafael, before emigrating to Switzerland as a child, is a master of mezmerization. The sonic tapestries he creates with records were the precursors to turntablism, albeit a more avant-garde version than what has been popularized by DJs in the past several decades, and continue to transgress the boundaries of music and performance. The collage of sounds rendered by Marclay may seem cacophonous, but a hypnotizing rhythm always lurks just below the surface, ready to suck you in if you only let it. (Cooper Berkmoyer)

With Shelley Hirsch, Zachary Watkins, and Jessica Rylan

8 p.m., $16

Brava Theater

2781 24th St., SF

(415) 641-7657

www.sfemf.org

MUSIC

Iris DeMent

Sweet is the voice of Iris DeMent, whose Pentecostal parents kept her singing gospel even after they moved from Arkansas to Orange County. DeMent rolled her complex feelings towards the old time religion into one of the finest opening shots of any debut album: “Let the Mystery Be,” a Marilynne Robinson novel in the shape of a country song. She’s only recorded three albums since that first Infamous Angel (1992), but her songs still radiate hard-won wisdom and calm in concert. She kept the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass hillside hushed a few years ago, and one imagines tonight’s show at the Great American will be far more intimate. (Max Goldberg)

With Kiyoshi Foster

8 p.m., $35

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.gamh.com

MUSIC

Down

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the devastation was near total. In the wake of the storm, different people coped in different ways. Down used the harrowing experience as inspiration for its most recent album, III: Over the Under, soulful slab of stoner metal that helped excise some of the emotional pain. Drawing on the talents of NOLA metal stalwarts Kirk Weinstein, Phil Anselmo, Pepper Keenan, and Jimmy Bower, the super-group has stayed on tour, shouting out its heavy, Southern Rock-influenced sound in defiance of disaster. (Ben Richardson)

With In Solitude, Ponykiller

8 p.m., $25

The Regency Ballroom

1300 Van Ness, SF

www.theregencyballroom.com

(415) 673-5716

SATURDAY 10

EVENT

Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival

With a name that is among the most synonymous in the world for delicious chocolate, Ghirardelli has been making tasty treats in San Francisco since 1852 — a long standing tradition that has been joined in recent years by the annual Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival, a two-day fete where visitors can sample a wide variety of scrumptious confections from both the famous host company, along with more than 30 other vendors and producers. A variety of cooking demonstrations and live entertainment are also on tap for this sweet event that benefits Project Open Hand. (Sean McCourt)

Through Sun/11, noon-5 p.m., $20 for 15 tastings

Ghirardelli Square

900 North Point St., SF

(415) 775-5500

www.ghirardellisq.com

MUSIC

Rancid

Now twenty years into an impressively steady career, Rancid continues to make a uniquely identifiable version of punk rock that sounds entirely uninterested in modern spins on the genre. The East Bay-born group flirted with the mainstream with hits like “Ruby Soho” and “Time Bomb,” but its catalog goes far deeper than those pop-punk radio gems. From the early skate punk of Let’s Go, to the late period Clash-aping Life Won’t Wait, to the fiery hardcore influences of its self-titled release in 2000, Rancid has cemented itself over the years as one of the essential bands to emerge from the punk revival of the 1990s.(Landon Moblad)

With H20 and DJ J & Nicki Bonner

8 p.m., $24 The Warfield 982 Market, SF (415) 354-0900 www.thewarfieldtheatre.com

MUSIC

Balkans

The swallow-hard, pleading vocals of Balkans — which invoke the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas — occasionally sounds slurred, like perhaps the singer who owns those pipes knocked back a few. And who know, maybe he did. The band is after all said to be influenced by its Atlanta-hometown compatriots the Black Lips — known for destructive antics at live shows. And in a recent interview with video platform Noisey (curated by VICE), Balkans and fans did claim the band has set off fireworks, thrown raw meat, and bled on guitars during shows. Regardless of such stories, it doesn’t get in the way of the music. The fresh-faced 20-somethings, buddies since childhood, spin fuzzy ’60s pop-infused garage rock with jangly guitars — gaining comparisons to both the Walkmen and Television. Those equivalences alone are enough to want to grab a beer. (Emily Savage)

With PS I Love You

9:30 p.m., $10

Hemlock Tavern

1131 Polk, SF

(415) 923-0923

www.hemlocktavern.com

MUSIC

Totimoshi

Totimoshi has always defied categorization. The band, led by the baleful singing and scrabbling guitar of Antonio Aguilar, relies on a rock-solid rhythm section comprised by bassist Meg Castellanos and drummer Chris Fugitt to round out its idiosyncratic hard-rock sound. New album Avenger includes guest spots by Mastodon’s Brent Hinds, the Melvin’s Dale Crover, and Neurosis’ Scott Kelly, which should give you some idea of what’s in store. Catching them in El Rio’s intimate back room will be a great opportunity to see the band putting it’s best foot forward for a hometown crowd. (Richardson)

With Hot Fog, Belligerator

9 p.m., $8

El Rio

3158 Mission, SF

415-282-3325

www.elriosf.com

SUNDAY 11

MUSIC

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club

After a week-long, whiskey-fueled bender that leaves you half dead and nearly broke in a seedy motel room just outside of New Orleans, a sudden concern for your spiritual well being drives you into the dusky sunlight in search of salvation. Bleary eyed and still drunk, you stumble across a small Pentecostal church on an empty street populated by shuttered storefronts and a lone dog. A sign outside reads: “DIVINE HEALING. LIVE MUSIC. SNAKES.” Figuring you’ve got nothing to loose, really, you open the door. The healing is neat, you guess, and hey, who doesn’t love snakes, but the music is like nothing you’ve ever heard before. It’s like Johnny Cash performing an exorcism on Spencer Moody: Slim Cessna’s Auto Club (that’s who played, you later find out) put on one of the best damn shows you’ve ever seen and leaves you grinning . . . but still damned. (Berkmoyer)

With the Ferocious Few and Tiny Televisions

9 p.m., $12

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th Street

San Francisco, CA

(415) 621-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

TUESDAY 13

MUSIC

Teen Daze

Ambient pop can go one of two ways; this one goes the right way. True to its name, Teen Daze, sounds as if it he creates music under the lush and youthful haze of teenage emotion. Stretched out in bed, it’s music for you to toss and turn to, giant headphones attached to your head, wrapped in heady thoughts of loves gone by, slight trickles of keyboard optimism bursting over pillowy ambient clouds and pangs of sorrow. Presented by Epicsauce.com and Yours Truly, the show marks the release of the Vancouver, British Columbia-based synth musician’s newest record, A Silent Planet on Waaga Records. Throw on an oversized sweatshirt and let your thoughts get the better of you. (Savage)

With Yalls, Speculator

8 p.m. $6

Public Works

161 Erie, SF

(415) 932-0955

www.publicsf.com

MUSIC

The Vibrators

It’s the Vibrators! The 16-year-old with a safety pin though his cheek and Clorox in his hair that lives at the center of all that is still good in your heart demands that you go see them! Formed in London in 1976, the Vibrators was one of Britain’s first punk bands and 35 years later it’s also one of the longest lasting. Although numerous line-up changes have reduced the band to only one original member, drummer John ‘Eddie’ Edwards, the current three-piece line up can still tear through classics like “Baby, Baby” and “Whips and Furs” with the energy of the good ol’ days of punk and the precision that comes with three odd decades of practice. (Berkmoyer)

With the Meat Sluts, Sassy!!! and Elected Officials

9 p.m., $8

The Knockout

3223 Mission, SF

(415) 550-6994

www.theknockoutsf.com

The Guardian listings deadline is two weeks prior to our Wednesday publication date. To submit an item for consideration, please include the title of the event, a brief description of the event, date and time, venue name, street address (listing cross streets only isn’t sufficient), city, telephone number readers can call for more information, telephone number for media, and admission costs. Send information to Listings, the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 487-2506; or e-mail (paste press release into e-mail body — no text attachments, please) to listings@sfbg.com. Digital photos may be submitted in jpeg format; the image must be at least 240 dpi and four inches by six inches in size. We regret we cannot accept listings over the phone.