Live Shows Archives — Page 2 of 8 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Gimme 5: Must-see shows this week

Steven T. Jones

-

February 4, 2014

The Bay Area music-related Internets was ablaze this week with the rumor that whiskey-fueled nights at the Mission’s belovedly divey Elbo Room may be numbered, thanks to everyone’s favorite new word to pronounce like it’s an epithet: Condos. The Elbo Room’s current owners and management say they’re just that — rumors — and until we hear more, we refuse to panic. A factual statement, however: If you don’t want your local music venues and endearingly gross watering holes to go the way of the dinosaurs (first victims of the Ellis Act, obviously), you should probably get out and see some live music. Now. Some options:

WED/5

Action Bronson
Action Bronson lives life large. Imposing both physically and lyrically, the Queens native and former gourmet chef draws upon his joys in life — food, drugs, and women — to construct poetically intricate and technically impressive rhymes. His mix tapes are full of love songs, both highly eloquent and frequently offensive, written about the grit or urban life and the beauty of a great meal. Lines about “pissing through your fishnets” are sprinkled among odes to “bone marrow roasted/ spread it on the rosemary bread/ lightly toasted,” all delivered with Bronson’s sure, sharp-tongued talent. At his live shows, Bronson is extremely interactive with his (extremely devoted) fans, passing back and forth joints, liquor, and jokes from the stage to the audience. With the brand new addition of Odd Future thrash punks Trash Talk to the lineup, this show is sure to be insane. (Haley Zaremba)
With Trash Talk
8pm, $25
Slim’s
333 11^th Ave, SF
www.slimspresents.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfP7qK0khuQ

THU/6

Marcus Shelby
It’s tough to think of a harder working man in the Bay Area’s jazz scene than Marcus Shelby. The upright bassist and 15-piece band-leader is a force to be reckoned with in his own right; the people he surrounds himself with take live shows to the next level. At this special Black History Month performance, the band will be joined by Martin Luther, Kev Choice, Tiffany Austin, Valerie Trout, and Howard Wiley, with legendary, Mississipi-born jazz and blues vocalist Faye Carol in a featured role. The orchestra will draw from past compositions, including “Harriet Tubman,” “Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” and “Port Chicago,” as well as performing some of a new musical work called “Walls,” which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Law.
8pm, $20
Yoshi’s SF
1330 Fillmore, SF
www.yoshis.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrSBoArCUJ0

Oneohtrix Point Never
Picking up on the ’90s-era abstract, contemplative side of Warp Records, recent signee Oneohtrix Point Never’s R Plus Seven is thoroughly brain busting. The elements are disparate: vocals that begin without reference and depart without finishing, gamelan reminiscent rhythms seemingly performed on the Cosmic Key, and an ever-present effect best described as the stuttering sound of audio on an overburdened CPU. Partly playful, with New Age and stereotypically “world” music samples ripped off of Pirate Bay (where, to be fair, R Plus Seven gets the “plunderphonics” genre tag), the album still manages to sound wholly reverent. To what? Let me get back to you on that. (Ryan Prendiville)
With Holly Herndon (Live A/V), Marco de la Vega, DJ Will, Chad Salty
10pm-3am, $17.50-20
1015 Folsom
1015 Folsom St., SF
www.1015.com

FRI/7

Lucius
Do you ever enjoy feeling like your life is the end credits of a coming-of-age movie, wherein you loved and lost and learned and are now careening down the highway, wind in your hair, on to new adventures? No? Well then don’t go see Lucius, because that’s how this refreshingly earnest, uber professional indie-pop five-piece from Brooklyn makes us feel. Considering how big Lorde got last year, it’s almost confusing that lead vocalists Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, with their clear, sweet harmonies and Berklee-bred sensibility aren’t huge yet, but you get the feeling that they’re more concerned with having fun on stage than “blowing up.” Still: Catch ’em before it costs an arm and a leg.
With You Won’t
8:30pm, $16
Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
www.theindependentsf.com

SAT/8

Tony Molina

He’s perhaps still best known as a veteran of SF’s hardcore scene (fronting Caged Animal, among others), so Tony Molina surprised a few people with last October’s Six Tracks EP. Solo, he’s still loud, electric, full of restless energy — but there are also nods here to ’80s hair bands, with a sweet, angsty, hook-heavy frame that riffs off the poppiest Guided By Voices and Dinosaur Jr. songs. It’s no surprise, then, that Molina told Spin: “To me, hardcore is about being in a band, and pop’s more about writing and recording. I’m always going to want to try playing in a new hardcore band. But I also love the idea of trying to make something that gives you the feeling you get when you hear a Teenage Fanclub record.” Mission accomplished.
With Life Stinks, Violent Change, and Swiftumz
9pm, $5
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
www.hemlocktavern.com

Chillwave’s poster boy grows up

Michael Redmond

-

January 21, 2014

0

by Kyle O’Brien

It’s been an adventurous four years for Ernest Greene. In 2009, the musician now known as Washed Out was producing music in his childhood bedroom, considering law school, and planning his wedding. Perry, Ga., is not widely known for its indie/electronica scene, so Greene posted music to his MySpace page and recorded it on a few cassette tapes for road trips. It was a low-key type of thing — until blogs like Pitchfork started paying attention.

This is about the time I became a fan. I was a freshman in college, brand-new to San Francisco, and Washed Out sounded like the future. Most mainstream electronic production at the time seemed made for rappers, or was heavily drum-and-bass influenced. Washed Out was all ’80s influences, hazy, and chilled out. “Retro lo-fi,” “dream-pop,” “synth-pop.” Chillwave is the genre most seem to have settled on — but two EPs, two studio albums, international tours, a deal with Sub Pop, and a Letterman appearance later, Greene doesn’t seem like he’s settling in any other way anytime soon.

“It really took me a couple of years to figure out my own approach to live shows, how to make them happen in a controlled way,” says Greene, 31. He’s currently touring in support of 2013’s Paracosm with a five-piece band (including his wife, Blair, on synth and vocals) — a notable departure from his beginnings as a bedroom artist with a DJ setup. He’ll bring the show to the Fillmore Jan. 28 and 29. “There were a couple of technological breakthroughs I had…where [earlier] some of the things I was doing in the studio, I wasn’t able to figure out how to accomplish live.”

Coming out from behind the computer screen has had its challenges, he says, but he’s committed to creating live music with a band rather than simply pressing play — a move that’s shifted his focus to vocal performance.

“In the studio, I could double my voice 100 times if I wanted to,” he says. “But if we’re on stage and it’s just five of us, by necessity it’s kind of stripped-down, and the live shows definitely have a different vibe because of that.”

“But harmonies have always been a pretty important part of the Washed Out sound,” he says. “When I first started the Washed Out project, actually, I wasn’t really thinking about singing myself — I was going to bring in someone else to sing, and I was just recording myself as a holding place. I didn’t feel like my voice was very good, so part of the process was layering a ton of different vocal takes on top of each other just to make it sound better. After a long period of doing that, it became the sound, and the music was discovered, and it kind of took on a life of its own.” Most of the vocals on the new record are still layered several times over, he says. Vocals, to Greene, are “just an instrument in the mix.”

A longtime friendship with electronic artist Toro Y Moi — Greene and Chaz Bundick met in school in Georgia — has also meant a like-minded artist to bounce ideas off of.

“He’s probably the most talented musician I’ve ever worked with — just a super creative guy,” says Greene. “We were really lucky that we started getting recognition around the same time, and eased into doing this professionally together…I didn’t have any contacts in the music business [starting out], and I remember having phone calls with him where we would catch up, [talk over] what we were going through. I didn’t have that with anyone else.”

“His music just keeps getting better and better,” Greene adds. “Plus all the guys in my band grew up with the dudes in the Toro Y Moi band, so it’s kind of like a big family.”

The first half of 2014 will see Washed Out touring nearly non-stop, including an appearance at Coachella. He’s ready for it. He’s energized by Paracosm, with its warm, lush instrumentation, its constructed sense of escapism — the album’s title itself refers to the concept of a fantasy world. That correlates heavily with the newer record’s vibrant visual art, he says, as opposed to the stark white design of 2011’s Within & Without.

“This newer stuff is a lot more vibrant-feeling, so the colors seem to suit it well,” he says. “It’s all about the music. That will lead the way most of the time.”

Washed Out
With Kisses
Jan 28-29, 8pm $25
Fillmore
1805 Geary, SF
www.thefillmore.com

Rockin’ New Year’s Eve

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

-

December 27, 2013

5

TOFU AND WHISKEY If you’re like me, you’d much rather chug the Champagne of Beers straight from the can in flower-print stretch pants while loud music ricochets through your skull than hit a club club on New Year’s Eve. You’re down to party, but you want to keep it cheap, right? Or at least keep it weird.

Clearly, the cheapest way to do NYE is to hit a house party or an underground show. And obviously, I’m not here to rep those secret gems, because, you know, cops and party poopers. Go out and find those on your own, check Facebook feeds and emoji-filled text message chains and keep pestering your most social friends.

But there’s another option: that awesome live show or local bar party that, while not so underground, is still not a $150 nightmare of sputtering randos in a warehouse. These are some quality events at which to gather your favorites and ring-a-ding-ding in 2014. (All take place Tue/31.) Find more NYE dance parties here and fun general events here.

BLOND:ISH
“Hello Earthlings. We are just landed.” If you really want to get down on NYE, London-via-Montreal duo Blond:ish can help put you in the mood. It’s all pulsing bass lines and feather-thin synths leaping along, like a beautiful insect just pushing forward, following the path it’s been given and dispensing drips and drops along the way, all to the all-important beat. Blond:ish comes as part of the Mighty Mammoth Masquerade, which also includes (whoa) visuals, a photo booth, free food bites, and the very-important midnight Champagne toast. With Pink Mammoth resident DJs Gravity, Moe Moe, Jonathan Will, and more. 9pm, $40. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com

DANNY BROWN
Weirdo rap forever, am I right? There’s little more invigorating than a Danny Brown cut. The Detroit rapper’s flows feel like warped tickles, his rhymes tight and clever, and his beats fresh and trippy. He’s ridden the hype train for the past few years, and in 2013 played Coachella, toured with Baauer and Kitty (Pryde), and released Old (Fools Gold), the successor to 2011’s excellent XXX and 2010 breakout The Hybrid. His live shows are playful and animated, that adorable gap-toothed grin shining like a bolt of light from the stage, quickly hidden and then flashed again while its owner leaps and bounces along the front, spitting words and revving up the already-freaking crowd. With Flatbush Zombies and Traxamillion. 9pm, $45. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com

CALEXICO
Born on the border of the US and Mexico, Calexico has long been indie rock’s dusty, crunchy sidekick, blending elements of Americana with Latin American style and instruments. As is breathlessly reported in every mention of 2012’s Algiers, the Tucson duo’s most recent full-length was raised in New Orleans, far from the band’s origins. But despite the total scene change, the album stays true to Calexico’s comforting songwriting prowess and light instrumental flourishes, like a pair of dirty, perfect-fitting boot cut jeans. Also keeping with Calexico tradition, the album maintains political undercurrents, named after a Louisiana neighborhood that was deeply affected by Hurricane Katrina. But beyond Algiers, Calexico has a stable of lovely albums, notably 2006’s Garden Ruin and 2008’s Carried to Dust. If you want to make like John Wayne, or even Troy Dyer, consider pulling up a stool to Calexico at the Fillmore. 9pm, $65. Fillmore, 1805 Geary, SF. www.thefillmore.com

EL ELLE AND GOLD CHAINS
Things will likely get sexy at this show: Provocative solo artist El Elle, aka Lisa Light of cultish favorites Lovemakers (who now splits her time between LA and SF), is a showstopper. She blends mod style and sonic substance, analog synth with bass and whispery, dreamy vocals, Beyoncé-slick moves — and butts, in her video for “Heartbeat” — and Kate Bush organic songwriting. Or at she puts it, “experimental pop/New Age dance party.” Plus, naughty, heart-pumping local club music producer Gold Chains will join her — um, he has a 2013 album called Sluts (Gold Club) — as will Everyone is Dirty, and super secret special guest DJs. As is tradition on this night, there’ll be a Champagne toast at midnight. 9pm, $10. Night Light, 311 Broadway, Oakl. www.thenightlightoakland.com

FRESH & ONLYS
This is San Francisco, and in San Francisco, we call the Fresh & Onlys home. The quartet — led by enigmatic front person Tim Cohen — formed here, lives scattered across the city, works at Amoeba and beyond, and records its demos at the top of battered old Victorians. It lives and breaths a certain breed of SF, which unfortunately seems to be dimming; it’s a last vestige of a scrappier DIY time. (Case in point: after this issue went to bed I got the news that SF music scene fixture John Dwyer is heading to LA. And actually, Cohen has already flown the coop, for Sedona, Ariz.) So yes, we’ll ring in the New Year at our newest music venue, but with our beloved rock’n’roll troubadours on hand to close out the year, with the opening shimmer of Vetiver, Sun Araw, and Pure Bliss. How does that sound, San Francisco? Yes, it’s been a Long Slow Dance, to borrow the Fresh & Onlys 2012 album title. And it sounds pretty damn good. 9pm, $25–$30. Chapel, 777 Valencia, SF. www.thechapelsf.com

GLITTER WIZARD
Sometimes you need some glammy theater in your scummy psych metal: Enter Glitter Wizard. The band is building its own legend, of flowing long hairs and swinging hips, and the combo is just right for a debaucheries NYE. The rounded out Hemlock Tavern lineup is great too — Alternative Tentacles act Pins of Light and Ovvl, the latter a band of local brothers (plus a sister-in-music bassist) just back from a ripping six-week tour of Europe. 9pm, $15. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. www.hemlocktavern.com

MELVINS AND REDD KROSS
Is there anything more classic than the Melvins? They’re doomy, punk-metal, rock’n’roll touring machines, playing up and down the coast all year long, repeatedly blowing minds while keeping their cool. They’ve been playing since 1983, and fro-y front person Buzz (Roger Osborne) has maintained throughout, leading the wild pack through various lineup changes (even now they sometimes play as a trio or five-piece) and more than 20 records. In 2013 alone the group released two full-lengths: Everybody Loves Sausages and Tres Cabrones (both on Ipecac Recordings). Everybody Loves Sausages is a blistering cover album of very loudly reimagined tracks like the Jam’s “Art School,” Lead Belly’s “Black Betty,” and an inspired take on Venom’s “Warhead.” Oh, and this time they’re playing with a legendary late-’70s punk band called Redd Kross — yes, that Redd Kross, the bratty Hawthorne, Calif.-bred brothers who fed power pop through a meat grinder and pumped out records like B-movie-aping Teen Babes From Monsanto (1984) and heavy Neurotica (1987). It’s safe to assume your face will be melted off by early 2014. With Frightwig. 9pm, $40. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. www.slimspresents.com

REMONES (RAMONES TRIBUTE)
Holidays bring out the best tribute shows. And who doesn’t wanna hear all the Ramones hits of yore played by a live band in a beachy dive bar? As that meme’d pie chart side-by-side of the things the Ramones want versus things the Misfits want, the Ramones were the biggest fist-pumpers. Ramones wanna 1. “Sniff Some Glue,” 2. “Be Sedated,” and 3. “Be Your Boyfriend” (the joke is that the Misfits only want “Your skulls”). All that punked-up energy makes for some killer classic possibilities. And since most of the Ramones are now dead and gone — RIP — your best bet for getting what you wanna get is the Remones, SF’s party Ramones act since 2009. And don’t worry, it’s not just the sound; the band dresses the part in tight jeans, shaggy hair, and leather jackets. This is a free-for-all, no-cost Outer Sunset retreat back to the late ’70s before we fast-forward to the future now. 9pm, free. Riptide, 3639 Taraval, SF. www.theriptidesf.com

Tofu’s New Year’s rockin’ Eve

Erica Hanna

-

December 25, 2013

0

TOFU AND WHISKEY If you’re like me, you’d much rather chug the Champagne of Beers straight from the can in flower-print stretch pants while loud music ricochets through your skull than hit a club club on New Year’s Eve. You’re down to party, but you want to keep it cheap, right? Or at least keep it weird.

Clearly, the cheapest way to do NYE is to hit a house party or an underground show. And obviously, I’m not here to rep those secret gems, because, you know, cops and party poopers. Go out and find those on your own, check Facebook feeds and emoji-filled text message chains and keep pestering your most social friends.

But there’s another option: that awesome live show or local bar party that, while not so underground, is still not a $150 nightmare of sputtering randos in a warehouse. These are some quality events at which to gather your favorites and ring-a-ding-ding in 2014. (All take place Tue/31.)

BLOND:ISH

“Hello Earthlings. We are just landed.” If you really want to get down on NYE, London-via-Montreal duo Blond:ish can help put you in the mood. It’s all pulsing bass lines and feather-thin synths leaping along, like a beautiful insect just pushing forward, following the path it’s been given and dispensing drips and drops along the way, all to the all-important beat. Blond:ish comes as part of the Mighty Mammoth Masquerade, which also includes (whoa) visuals, a photo booth, free food bites, and the very-important midnight Champagne toast. With Pink Mammoth resident DJs Gravity, Moe Moe, Jonathan Will, and more. 9pm, $40. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com.

DANNY BROWN

Weirdo rap forever, am I right? There’s little more invigorating than a Danny Brown cut. The Detroit rapper’s flows feel like warped tickles, his rhymes tight and clever, and his beats fresh and trippy. He’s ridden the hype train for the past few years, and in 2013 played Coachella, toured with Baauer and Kitty (Pryde), and released Old (Fools Gold), the successor to 2011’s excellent XXX and 2010 breakout The Hybrid. His live shows are playful and animated, that adorable gap-toothed grin shining like a bolt of light from the stage, quickly hidden and then flashed again while its owner leaps and bounces along the front, spitting words and revving up the already-freaking crowd. With Flatbush Zombies and Traxamillion. 9pm, $45. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com.

CALEXICO

Born on the border of the US and Mexico, Calexico has long been indie rock’s dusty, crunchy sidekick, blending elements of Americana with Latin American style and instruments. As is breathlessly reported in every mention of 2012’s Algiers, the Tucson duo’s most recent full-length was raised in New Orleans, far from the band’s origins. But despite the total scene change, the album stays true to Calexico’s comforting songwriting prowess and light instrumental flourishes, like a pair of dirty, perfect-fitting boot cut jeans. Also keeping with Calexico tradition, the album maintains political undercurrents, named after a Louisiana neighborhood that was deeply affected by Hurricane Katrina. But beyond Algiers, Calexico has a stable of lovely albums, notably 2006’s Garden Ruin and 2008’s Carried to Dust. If you want to make like John Wayne, or even Troy Dyer, consider pulling up a stool to Calexico at the Fillmore. 9pm, $65. Fillmore, 1805 Geary, SF. www.thefillmore.com.

EL ELLE AND GOLD CHAINS

Things will likely get sexy at this show: Provocative solo artist El Elle, aka Lisa Light of cultish favorites Lovemakers (who now splits her time between LA and SF), is a showstopper. She blends mod style and sonic substance, analog synth with bass and whispery, dreamy vocals, Beyoncé-slick moves — and butts, in her video for “Heartbeat” — and Kate Bush organic songwriting. Or at she puts it, “experimental pop/New Age dance party.” Plus, naughty, heart-pumping local club music producer Gold Chains will join her — um, he has a 2013 album called Sluts (Gold Club) — as will Everyone is Dirty, and super secret special guest DJs. As is tradition on this night, there’ll be a Champagne toast at midnight. 9pm, $10. Night Light, 311 Broadway, Oakl. www.thenightlightoakland.com.

FRESH & ONLYS

This is San Francisco, and in San Francisco, we call the Fresh & Onlys home. The quartet — led by enigmatic front person Tim Cohen — formed here, lives scattered across the city, works at Amoeba and beyond, and records its demos at the top of battered old Victorians. It lives and breaths a certain breed of SF, which unfortunately seems to be dimming; it’s a last vestige of a scrappier DIY time. (Case in point: after this issue went to bed I got the news that SF music scene fixture John Dwyer is heading to LA. And actually, Cohen has already flown the coop, for Sedona, Ariz.) So yes, we’ll ring in the New Year at our newest music venue, but with our beloved rock’n’roll troubadours on hand to close out the year, with the opening shimmer of Vetiver, Sun Araw, and Pure Bliss. How does that sound, San Francisco? Yes, it’s been a Long Slow Dance, to borrow the Fresh & Onlys 2012 album title. And it sounds pretty damn good. 9pm, $25–$30. Chapel, 777 Valencia, SF. www.thechapelsf.com

GLITTER WIZARD

Sometimes you need some glammy theater in your scummy psych metal: Enter Glitter Wizard. The band is building its own legend, of flowing long hairs and swinging hips, and the combo is just right for a debaucheries NYE. The rounded out Hemlock Tavern lineup is great too — Alternative Tentacles act Pins of Light and Ovvl, the latter a band of local brothers (plus a sister-in-music bassist) just back from a ripping six-week tour of Europe. 9pm, $15. Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. www.hemlocktavern.com.

MELVINS AND REDD KROSS

Is there anything more classic than the Melvins? They’re doomy, punk-metal, rock’n’roll touring machines, playing up and down the coast all year long, repeatedly blowing minds while keeping their cool. They’ve been playing since 1983, and fro-y front person Buzz (Roger Osborne) has maintained throughout, leading the wild pack through various lineup changes (even now they sometimes play as a trio or five-piece) and more than 20 records. In 2013 alone the group released two full-lengths: Everybody Loves Sausages and Tres Cabrones (both on Ipecac Recordings). Everybody Loves Sausages is a blistering cover album of very loudly reimagined tracks like the Jam’s “Art School,” Lead Belly’s “Black Betty,” and an inspired take on Venom’s “Warhead.” Oh, and this time they’re playing with a legendary late-’70s punk band called Redd Kross — yes, that Redd Kross, the bratty Hawthorne, Calif.-bred brothers who fed power pop through a meat grinder and pumped out records like B-movie-aping Teen Babes From Monsanto (1984) and heavy Neurotica (1987). It’s safe to assume your face will be melted off by early 2014. With Frightwig. 9pm, $40. Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell, SF. www.slimspresents.com.

REMONES (RAMONES TRIBUTE)

Holidays bring out the best tribute shows. And who doesn’t wanna hear all the Ramones hits of yore played by a live band in a beachy dive bar? As that meme’d pie chart side-by-side of the things the Ramones want versus things the Misfits want, the Ramones were the biggest fist-pumpers. Ramones wanna 1. “Sniff Some Glue,” 2. “Be Sedated,” and 3. “Be Your Boyfriend” (the joke is that the Misfits only want “Your skulls”). All that punked-up energy makes for some killer classic possibilities. And since most of the Ramones are now dead and gone — RIP — your best bet for getting what you wanna get is the Remones, SF’s party Ramones act since 2009. And don’t worry, it’s not just the sound; the band dresses the part in tight jeans, shaggy hair, and leather jackets. This is a free-for-all, no-cost Outer Sunset retreat back to the late ’70s before we fast-forward to the future now. 9pm, free. Riptide, 3639 Taraval, SF. www.theriptidesf.com. *

This Week’s Picks: December 25 – 31, 2013

Erica Hanna

-

December 24, 2013

0

Spawning the “Condescending Wonka” meme

WEDNESDAY 12/25

Contemporary Jewish Museum Community Day

For those who don’t celebrate Christmas (and for those who do, but know the kids will have ripped through their Santa harvest and be climbing the walls by noon), the Contemporary Jewish Museum opens its doors for its annual free Community Day. Here’s your chance to check out new exhibit “Frog and Toad and the World of Arnold Lobel,” filled with illustrations from Lobel’s gentle tales, including 1970’s Caldecott Honor-winning Frog and Toad are Friends. In addition, there’ll be a “Frog and Toad Studio” for crafting character puppets, and performances by puppet-wielding group the Pop Ups (at 11:30am, 1pm, and 2:30pm; space limited, with tickets available on a first-come, first-serve basis). (Cheryl Eddy)

11am-4pm, free

Contemporary Jewish Museum

736 Mission, SF

www.thecjm.org

THURSDAY 12/26

Kwanzaa San Francisco

Celebrate the seven principles of Kwanzaa — unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith — at San Francisco’s eighth annual honoring of the week-long holiday. Each event takes place at a different venue (most are in the Fillmore or Bayview neighborhoods), and each will feature both candle-lighting ceremony and live entertainment, with an eclectic array that includes a reggae band, spoken word artists, a gospel choir, dance performers, and more. (Eddy)

Through Jan 1, free

Today, noon

San Francisco City Hall

1 Carlton B. Goodlett Place, SF

Also today, 7pm, West Bay Conference Center

1290 Fillmore, SF

www.kwanzaasanfrancisco.com

FRIDAY 12/27

Blatz

Some know Blatz as an awful, awful beer. Others know Blatz as a ’90s East Bay band. As 924 Gilman rats, they played punk that incorporated anarcho and crust elements. The band existed from 1989 to 1998, and the band’s pinnacle was a split with fellow Gilman-ites Filth — appropriately named The Shit Split. Now they reunite for one evening of aged punk bliss, to support a fellow aging punk in his time of need. Mike-O the Psycho, of Filth, has cancer. Tonight, Blatz, along with Special Forces, Death March, Aspbergers, and World of Shit, take the stage to help offset Psycho’s medical bills. Come help support a Gilman rat in need. (Erin Dage)

With Special Forces, Death March, Aspbergers, World of Shit

7pm, $5-$20 (plus $2 annual membership)

942 Gilman, Berk.

www.924gilman.org

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

No, not Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the garish Tim Burton-Johnny Depp take on Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book. We’re talking ’bout the 1971 version — scripted by Dahl, directed by Mel Stuart, and starring Gene Wilder as the eccentric, exacting candy maker. Wilder’s iconic performance has proven enduringly popular — even spawning the versatile “Condescending Wonka” meme — but the rest of the film (chockablock with surreal elements and singing Oompa Loompas) holds up admirably, too. If you haven’t yet checked out a movie at the gorgeous, Art Deco Paramount, here’s your chance. Snozzberries never looked (or tasted) so good. (Eddy)

8pm, $5

Paramount Theatre

2025 Broadway, Oakl.

www.ticketmaster.com

Devil Makes Three

For more than a decade, Santa Cruz trio Devil Makes Three has blended classic country, ragtime, bluegrass, folk, and more with its own fiery attitude and approach, creating a sound and style that captures the magic feel of a dusty old 78, but with an immediacy and newness that translates from records to raucous live shows without missing a beat. The band’s latest album, I’m A Stranger Here, was produced by Buddy Miller and showcases the group’s infectious, booze-stained lyrics and American roots-influenced music — a potent combination that just might lead you to think its members made some sort of a deal down at the crossroads. (Sean McCourt)

9pm, $25

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

www.thefillmore.com

“Well-Strung: The Singing String Quartet”

Hey girl. I know you think you’re not that into classical music. But Mozart’s white wig had nothing on our slick ‘dos. Chopin may have owned a pistol, but we’ve got two guns each on our string-caressing arms, and they come ready-cocked. Vivaldi made music for Four Seasons, but the four of us can keep you warm all year long, as long as you don’t mind a little serenading with an accompaniment from our violins, viola, and cello. How about some Adele? Rihanna? Yeah, we can do that with a bow, and unlike Legolas, our bows make love, not war. Did you know that a quartet is just another word for a foursome? Girl, we’re Well-Strung, and we’re, well … strung, so you should check us out at Feinstein’s this weekend. (Kaylen Baker)

Tonight, 8pm; Sat/28, 7pm, $25-$40 ($20 food and beverage minimum)

Feinstein’s at the Nikko

Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason, SF

www.feinsteinssf.com

SATURDAY 12/28

“America’s Next Top Bachelor Housewife Celebrity Hoarder Makeover Star Gone Wild!”

With a show contained under the best combo-platter title since 1996 Wayans brothers classic Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, the Kinsey Sicks (“America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet”) return to San Francisco to celebrate 20 years in the comedy-crooning biz. Armed with sky-high hair and smooth, four-part harmony, Rachel, Winnie, Trixie, and Trampolina negotiate the world of reality TV — a topic they can sing about with authority, since they made a memorable appearance on America’s Got Talent. This Castro gig will feature special guests, plus a moderated discussion presented by the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center of the SF Public Library, which will host a Kinsey Sicks exhibit next year. (Eddy)

8pm, $25-40 Castro Theatre

420 Castro, SF

www.cityboxoffice.com

“Champions of Magic Live!”

It sure was a busy year for prestidigitation, with high-profile TV appearances by David Blaine and Criss Angel, plus films like Now You See Me, Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay, and (my personal favorite) Magic Camp. But nothing can really take the place of seeing magic performed live, particularly when it’s done with such skill and flourish as the award-winning posse collected in this show: SoCal’s Christopher Hart and Dana Daniels, Las Vegas’ Jason Andrews and Mark Kornhauser, and SF’s own Jade — the lone female in the group. If that’s not enough to lure you, a promo video suggests props will include a talking dog. Abracadabra, indeed! (Eddy)

Tonight, 7:30pm; Sun/29, 2pm, $20-$60

Julia Morgan Theater

2640 College, Berk

www.championsofmagiclive.com

Club Chuckles 10-Year Anniversary Bash

Any comedy night founded by Hemlock Tavern booker Anthony Bedard — keeper of the hilarious @Folder_Rock Twitter account, famed for highlighting cringe-worthy excerpts from band press releases — is destined to be a good time. So it’s no surprise that Club Chuckles (which had to instill a “10-drink maximum policy in the wake of a heckler uprising”) is still going strong after a decade. Tonight, toast the comedy night that hosted early gigs by future stars like Reggie Watts and Amy Schumer by gathering ’round for an all-star gaggle of current CC faves: Chris Thayer, Donny Divanian, Caitlin Gill, Sean Keane, Jesse Elias, Joey Devine, Couples, musical guests Freakotronic, and others. Here’s to 10 more years! But not 10 more drinks. At least not in one night. (Eddy)

9pm, $5

Hemlock Tavern

1131 Polk, SF

www.hemlocktavern.com

SUNDAY 12/29

BL’AST!

While many of the early hardcore punk bands to emerge from California came from established music centers and big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, BL’AST! formed in the early ’80s in Santa Cruz, and quickly started releasing music on influential SST Records. The band ultimately met its demise in 1990, and performed a handful of reunion shows in 2001 — but now Bay Area fans have the chance to hear new music and see the group live once again — original members singer Clifford Dinsmore and guitarist Mike Neider got back together earlier this year and remixed a batch of old, unreleased tracks with Dave Grohl. The result, released as the excellent Blood, found them returning in fine, ferocious form. (McCourt)

With Neurosis, Yob, the Body

8pm, $30

Regency Ballroom

1290 Sutter, SF

www.theregencyballroom.com

TUESDAY 12/31

Japanese New Year’s Bell-Ringing Ceremony

Tonight, you’ll be knocking back champers like a champ, but there’s something to be said for devoting some of your pre-debauchery New Year’s Eve time to quiet reflection. Or not-so-quiet reflection, in the case of the Asian Art Museum’s 28th annual ceremonial bell ringing, in which a 2,100 pound, 16th-century Japanese bronze bell clangs loudly 108 times. Why the seemingly random number? Some Buddhists believe that’s the number of earthly temptations that must be overcome to achieve total peace of mind. For everyone else, the ceremony is more symbolic; there’ll be a purification ritual led by Rev. Gengo Akiba, followed by a hands-on bell bonanza to help participants “leave behind the bad experiences, wrong deeds, and ill luck of the previous year.” As you might expect, this clean-slate opportunity is a popular one, so make sure you arrive by noon to get a chance to participate. (Eddy)

11:30am-1:30pm (arrive by noon), free with museum admission ($8-$12)

Asian Art Museum 200 Larkin, SF

www.asianart.org

Bye bye irony

Michael Redmond

-

October 8, 2013

0

emilysavage@sfbg.com

Tofu and Whiskey Furry, greased-up man child Har Mar Superstar — the singer-songwriter who’s become known as the R&B Ron Jeremy — is changing his act. Sorta. He still gets sweaty at his live shows, so naturally he will shed a few layers of clothing.

“I just don’t need to take off my pants anymore because people focus on that too much,” he tells me from a tour stop in Philadelphia. The tour kicked off with a few supporting slots with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, stopped by his spiritual home base of Minneapolis for Har Mar Superstar Day, as declared by Mayor R.T. Rybak, and swings through San Francisco next week (Tue/15, 8:30pm, $12. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St, SF. www.bottomofthehill.com).

But the real maturing of Minnesota-bred, New York-based Har Mar, aka Sean Tillmann, can be heard on new record Bye Bye 17 (Cult Records). On it, Har Mar glides gracefully from old school soul on “Lady, You Shot Me” to doo-wop on “www” to Beck-worthy retro funk on “We Don’t Sleep.” It’s all a far cry from raunchy earlier beat-based releases like cult Beth Ditto collaboration “Power Lunch.”

The hooky “www” takes place in San Francisco, and has a melancholy story beneath the shimmy-worthy riffs. Opening the song, he croons “woe is me/I missed another opportunity/another day gone/another day older.”

“I was thinking about that documentary The Bridge, about all those people from all over the place who travel to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge…It made me think about San Francisco, making a pilgrimage there to die. When I found myself thinking about it more, the sentiment of it is so…there’s something about suicide that’s so selfish that you have to slap yourself out of those thoughts.”

The album, rooted in grainy production and endless pop hooks, was recorded with Spoon’s Jim Eno, and released through Julian Casablancas’ (the Strokes) record label, Cult Records. Har Mar had been wanting to work with Eno for years, having met him more than a decade before at Eno’s show in Milwaukee on Thanksgiving. Har Mar was in town to spend the holiday at his mom’s house so he brought Thanksgiving leftovers for the band to the show, and they’ve been friends ever since.

Bye Bye 17 — the title of which is meant to convey “a rebirth into weird musical manhood” for the 34-year-old — takes Har Mar’s voice and backs it with powerful horns, Eno’s masterful drumming, and swinging guitar.

“I hadn’t written an album on guitar for Har Mar, and I wanted to try that,” says Har Mar. “And I thought it was time to write an album for my voice, more than just picking cool beats and writing songs around them, which I used to do.”

But despite the sonic shifts on Bye Bye 17, Har Mar’s funkified voice has been there all along: he’s always had the pipes to back up the sound. It was just packaged differently than one might expect, with a beer belly, which seemed to throw people. On previous records like 2002’s You Can Feel Me and 2009’s Dark Touches, that vocal gift was layered thick with ultra-sexuality which often translated into hipster irony for the lazy masses. Though it was still totally fun party music, regardless. And that sensibility remains.

It’s where the Har Mar character started, way back in the early 2000s, with a desperate urge to continue the party. Before Har Mar, Tillman was the bassist and lead singer of noise band Calvin Krime in the late ’80s, following that up with Kill Rock Stars pop act Sean Na Na. When he was on tour with Sean Na Na, he often played with fellow KRS acts like Bangs and Gossip, and he claims the best part of the night would often be the after-parties, at which Tillman and all the girls would dance and sing along to songs like TLC’s “No Scrubs.”

“It was just like, the show almost seemed like something we had to get through to have the party. And I was like, I want the show to be the party. So I merged my lives into one tidy package.”

Plus, Sean Na Na was already closing with a cover of R. Kelly’s “When a Woman’s Fed Up.” And it was “slaying.” Having personally witnessed this, I can attest to the awesomeness of the tribute.

As Sean Na Na was still touring when the Har Mar concept was hatched, Tillman at first claimed Har Mar was actually his younger brother, though he eventually gave up on the ruse. “It started out as a character, but it’s not really one anymore. Now I just am that guy.”

So Har Mar’s tight package (see what I did there?) was born with 2000’s self-titled KRS record, and Tillman began stripping down, break dancing, and erotically humping pillars at live shows. All well and good, but the press often lambasted him, assuming that as a sleazy white male singing R&B, he was a novelty act. But despite his early noise, Har Mar’s contemporary R&B and pop roots run deep.

“I was, like, 12 when I started my first band. I was really into the Pixies, Nirvana, Velvet Underground. I wanted to sound like that but it took forever to figure it out,” he says. “But I was into R&B at the same time. I was listening to the Dead Kennedys and New Edition on my paper route, you know what I mean? I was always into pop radio at the same time as all this punk and weird stuff.”

He name checks youthful favorites like Keith Sweat and all the New Jack Swing stuff, and says he rediscovered his love of contemporary R&B pop during college in Chicago in the ’90s with Aaliyah, Ginuwine, and that Brandy and Monica song (“The Boy is Mine”). All those inspirations came out in some form or another on early Har Mar records.

Now, his biggest inspiration would seem to be soul pioneer Sam Cooke, both sonically on Bye Bye 17, and in first track “Lady, You Shot Me” — the title comes from Cooke’s supposed last words.

With Bye Bye 17, Har Mar melded himself and Har Mar into one act, taking bits and pieces from early Sean Na Na soft pop days, vintage soul superstar inspiration, and his own vocal capabilities to create an album that’s both thoughtful and entertaining.

“I finally got to be in the winter in New York when I was writing it, and I think that kind of took it in the direction it went. I came back to a form and took two styles I’d done before and put them together and it became more of a soul thing, which is awesome.”

The music may be more authentic and personal but he still prefers a passionate live show to a snoozer.

“It just comes from wanting the audience to not be bored. There’s a lot of boring shit happening,” he says. “I’ll still end up shirtless and probably making out with people but that’s just because it’s fun as fuck. My job rules.”

GET FUZZED

The golden-locked golden child Ty Segall returneth, pounding and hollering behind the drums of newish group Fuzz. Fuzz, which includes frequent Segall collaborator Charles Moothart on guitar and vox and Chad Ubovich on bass, just last week released a self-titled debut full-length on In the Red. The noisy record, tripped-out and heavy, is said to be influenced by both Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix. Picture that in a cloud of smoke with the backbone of California’s most prolific weirdo rock’n’roller and you’ll have a good sense of what goes down on this debut.

FUCK BUTTONS

Avant-garde British electronic noisemakers Fuck Buttons haven’t released an album since 2009’s searing Tarot Sport, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been forgotten: Two of the band’s tracks played during the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremonies (“Olympians” and the awesome “Surf Solar”). And this month’s Slow Focus (ATP Recordings), the band’s third album, proves it’s still quite hard to ignore. Slow Focus is a jumbly, forceful mix of the elements: doomy vocals, beeping synths, keys, analog drumming, moody droning, zips, zaps, and bleeps. First single “The Red Wing” sounds like an alien spaceship anxiously hovering above the forest before cautiously zooming in for a landing. And there’s a contest with that song: build, glitter, or decorate a gold cube like the artwork for “The Red Wing” and tweet/Facebook a photo to @FuckButtons with the hashtag #slowfocus for a chance to win tickets to your local show.

Wed/9, 9pm, $20. Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF. www.independentsf.com.

Weekly Picks: October 2 – 8, 2013

Michael Redmond

-

October 1, 2013

0

Among the undead.

WEDNESDAY 10/2

“How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse”

Who hasn’t thought about who they would want on their zombie apocalypse team, how they would escape the city, or where they would go if they got out? But that’s just the first 24 hours. What about some oh, 28 days later? What about 28 weeks? What about doing more than just surviving? The collection of workshops offered by Curiosity Atlas this fall could be the key to your happy post-apocalypse. Join Curiosity Atlas on opening night to preview such workshops as “Defending Against Multiple Attackers,” “MacGyver Night,” “DIY Herbal Apothecary,” “Aging and Collecting Beer,” “Apocalypse Baking,” and other essential skills for living the good life among the undead. The night will feature hands-on demonstrations, live performances, and human-friendly refreshments. (Nina Glasov)

7-10pm, $10

Verdi Club

2424 Mariposa, SF

www.curiosityatlas.com

THURDAY 10/3

The Drunken Botanist

For most drinkers, the word “booze” ignites cerebral images of fluorescently-lit bars and the night, however wild or relaxing, to follow. But for Amy Stewart, author of 2013 New York Times bestseller The Drunken Botanist (Algonquin Books), the sloppy story begins much earlier, as the plants involved evolve, grow, reproduce, ferment, and distill in the days, weeks, and even millennia leading up to liquor’s transformation. Amid overhanging vines and tropic air in the Conservatory of Flowers, Stewart will discuss these diverse herbs, flowers, fungi, and fruit that end up our cups, as well as global drinking practices, comical anecdotes, gardening tips, and some of her favorite razzed recipes. After grabbing cocktails mixed by Amanda Victoria of Lillet and Mark Stoddard of Hendrick’s Gin, don’t leave the event wasted — get your own signed copy of The Drunken Bontanist. (Kaylen Baker)

7pm, $35–$40

Conservatory of Flowers

100 John F Kennedy, SF

(415) 831-2090

www.conservatoryofflowers.org

THURDAY 10/3

Father John Misty

It’s easy for musicians to hide behind personas, but when Joshua Tillman (formerly of Fleet Foxes) stopped recording under his real name and released an album — last year’s Fear Fun — as Father John Misty, it was a moment of revelation. Contrary to the faux-sincerity that has made the revivalist strain of folk rock damn near unlistenable in the last few years, Misty embraces a vivid self-awareness that avoids the usual mix of solemn preciousness and vain humility, humorously detailing his own mushroom tripping genesis (“I’m Writing a Novel”) and possible legacy (“Now I’m Learning to Love the War”). This solo show, with support from comedian Kate Berlant, should showcase the real Father John Misty. (Ryan Prendiville)

9pm, $25–$30

Slim’s

333 11th St, SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slimspresents.com

FRIDAY 10/4

The Wicker Man

Just to get it out of the way: Yeah, the 40th anniversary “definitive new restoration” of British cult-horror classic The Wicker Man (1973) — we shall not speak of the 2006 bee-laden remake — owes its crisp clarity to digital projection. But if the not-on-actual-film tradeoff means seeing the movie uncut, as director Robin Hardy intended, perhaps it’s worth it. A stodgy, Jesus-loving Scottish cop (Edward Woodward) is in for the shock of his life when he travels to pagan stronghold Summerisle, with residents including Christopher Lee (as flamboyant Lord Summerisle) and sexy-dancin’ Britt Ekland. The eerie folk-song soundtrack, which will presumably sound better than ever, is reason enough to catch this DCP event. (Cheryl Eddy)

Through Sat/5, 7 and 9:30pm (also Sat/5, 4:30pm), $8.50–$11

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

www.castrotheatre.com

SATURDAY 10/5

WestWave Festival

Balancing ingredients and flavors is a good way to plan a menu. It seems to work in dance as well. At least that’s what the five-member panel, which chose the artists to be commissioned for the second of this year’s West Wave programs, seems to have had in mind. All the choreographers are women but they bring a huge range of tastes to their practice. Moving here after 20 years in the other dance capital, modern dancer Anne-René Petrarca is creating a quartet about the power of female energy. Anandha Ray calls her fusion piece “tribal belly dance,” remembering its birthplace in India. Gorgeous Flamenco artist Holly Shaw is translating her passion into choreography that considers the figure of the outsider. And finally, ballet dancer Casey Lee Thorne is using the kinetic power of light in her contemporary vision of an old language. Bon appétit everyone. (Rita Felciano)

8pm, $15–$20

West Wave Dance Festival

ODC Dance Commons, Studio B

351 Shotwell, SF

www.westwavedance.org

SATURDAY 10/5

It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman

42nd Street Moon kicks off its 2013-2014 season in celebration of 75 years of the Man of Steel. From the songwriters of Bye Bye Birdie and Annie comes the 1966 musical It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman, opening this month at the Eureka Theatre. Starring Lucas Coleman as the man himself, Jen Brooks as Lois Lane, and Darlene Popovic as Dr. Agnes Sedgwick, the show follows Clark Kent/Superman as he juggles heroics and romance. With such lively tunes as “You’ve Got Possibilities” and “Pow! Bam! Zonk!” audiences are in for some riotous fun featuring one of the most prolific superheroes of all time. (Kirstie Haruta)

Through Oct. 20 (Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri, 8pm; Sat, 6pm; Sun, 3pm), $21–$75

Eureka Theatre

215 Jackson, SF

(415) 255-8207

www.42ndstmoon.org

SATURDAY 10/5

Billy Bragg

British folk-punk rocker Billy Bragg’s debut album, Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy, came out 30 years ago. If anything, time has only strengthened his writing and resolve, as well as his social activism bent, as evidenced on the troubadour’s latest release, Tooth and Nail, on Essential Music. Fans have two chances to see Bragg this weekend in the city, one at the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park — and for others who prefer to skip the crowds and dust, you can see him up close and personal tonight, appearing with his friend Jon Langford. (Sean McCourt)

9pm, $35

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com

SUNDAY 10/6

“Bikes to Books”

You admired the artful, informative “Bikes to Books” map, created by Bay Guardian contributor Nicole Gluckstern and local-history buff Burrito Justice, in our Sept. 11 issue. Now comes the map’s official release party. Begin with a group bike tour that visits all 12 San Francisco streets named for notable artists and authors (Jacks London and Kerouac, Isadora Duncan, etc.) with local ties. And since City Lights founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti helped mastermind the street-naming project back in 1988, it’s fitting that the party portion of the day (complete with literary reading hosted by Evan Karp) takes place in Jack Kerouac Alley, just outside the famed bookstore. (Eddy)

Bike tour: 10:30am-2pm, free

Meet at Jack London (north side) and South Park, SF

Reading: 2-4pm, free

Jack Kerouac Alley (near Broadway and Columbus), SF

www.burritojustice.com

MONDAY 10/7

Iconic Hair Movie Night

When you think of memorable ‘dos in classic horror films, who else but Elsa Lanchester comes to mind? To honor her famous style, Morphic Salon is screening Bride of Frankenstein for free as part of its Iconic Hair Movie Nights series. Watch as Dr. Frankenstein, revealed to be alive by Mary Shelley, builds a bride for his first monstrous creation. And while you’re at it, perhaps you’ll be inspired to get a shock of white in your own hair to match the leading lady! RSVP for this event at info@morphicbeauty.com. (Haruta)

Free, 7 p.m.

Morphic Salon

660 Market, SF

(415) 789-6682

www.morphicbeauty.com

MONDAY 10/7

Tom Odell

Singer-songwriter Tom Odell tends to capture powerful if fleeting feelings of young love and wistfulness, yet with a cheerful energy. Perhaps thanks to bouncy piano chords and Odell’s robust vocals, the British singer’s performances manage to escape the deep, tormented-soul identity adapted by many young acoustic soloists. His 2013 debut album A Long Way Down reached No. 1 on the UK Official Chart earlier this year. And the musician hit an even higher note last month when he reimagined Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” at the annual BRITs awards program to honor John as the first ever recipient of the BRITs’ Icon Award. This charming singer makes his way to the Chapel tonight, where he’ll share the stage with Australian Vance Joy. (Hillary Smith)

9pm, $15

Chapel

777 Valencia, SF

www.thechapelsf.com

TUESDAY 10/8

Fucked Up

Toronto-based hardcore punk outfit Fucked Up has made a career of being unapologetically over-the-top. Look no further than its borderline-corny name (how can it be the first punk band to come up with that one?), its insanely ambitious concept albums, and the unparalleled insanity of its live shows. Always on the verge of taking things too far, Fucked Up flirts with that fine line between insanity and brilliance, and occupies the space between with authority. No other band can create high-minded, multi-instrumental rock operas of this magnitude and get away with it (although Titus Andronicus is sure trying). As if its fervent, fearless creativity wasn’t cause enough to go see this band (co-headlining with Terror) also know that frontperson Damian Abraham is seriously the nicest dude in the entire world. (Haley Zaremba)

With Power Trip, Code Orange Kids

7pm, $16

Oakland Metro Operahouse

630 Third St, Oakl.

(510) 763-1146

www.oaklandmetro.org

TUESDAY 10/8

La Tigre e la Neve

Somehow, Italian screenwriter Vincenzo Cerami always succeeded in capturing beauty in his films, through the highs as well as the lowest lows of life. The third and final screening of the IIC’s series “A tribute to Vincenzo Cerami,” features actor Roberto Benigni in Cerami’s La Tigre e la Neve (2005) as Attilio de Giovanni, a besotted Italian poetry teacher. Though Giovanni’s children and students adore him, the woman of his heart, Vittoria, spurns him, leaving Italy with another poet for Iraq. When the second Gulf War erupts and Giovanni hears that Vittoria has been injured, he chases after in an attempt to bring Vittoria to safety. Expect hope, despair, laughs, and underlining it all, a sense of utter, expanding beauty. (Baker)

6:30pm, free

Italian Cultural Institute

814 Montgomery, SF

(415) 788-7142

iicsanfrancisco.esteri.it

TUESDAY 10/8

The Babies

The Babies have been pegged as a super-band of sorts from the start, with Cassie Ramone from Vivian Girls on guitar and Kevin Morby from Woods on bass. In their latest release, 2012’s Our House on the Hill, the Babies strive to break free from their lo-fi attachments in previous bands and experiment more with country, blues, and folk elements. The Babies aren’t a side project, as much as an entirely new entity with something different to offer. San Francisco’s Tony Molina, hardcore frontperson turned “punky” indie act also plays this show. His newest record, Dissed and Dismissed, released by Melters this year, is impressive. Loaded with undeniably catchy, fuzzy tunes, the album at times harkens back to an era when bands like Guided by Voices and Pavement were king. Get some drinks and get fuzzed out in more ways than one at the Hemlock Tavern tonight. (Erin Dage)

With Alex Bleeker and the Freaks

8:30pm, $8

Hemlock Tavern

1131 Polk, SF

(415) 923-0923

www.hemlocktavern.com

Hardly strictly anything

Michael Redmond

-

October 1, 2013

14

emilysavage@sfbg.com

TOFU AND WHISKEY A precious indie rock troubadour from Omaha, a comedy legend, and an aging punk icon — not exactly the types you’d picture as major players at this weekend’s annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. Then again, that’s the organizing wizardry of the free Golden Gate Park based fest: the ongoing surprises, unexpected performers, and uncanny mix of live acts from disparate genres that somehow blends seamlessly over a single fog-filled park weekend.

Overall, the fest seems to be getting a tad hipper in 2013, or at least even more experimental. One of the acts mentioned above (that punk one) is outspoken Minor Threat and Fugazi frontperson Ian MacKaye, who comes to HSB courtesy of his off-kilter indie rock duo, the Evens — with MacKaye’s partner Amy Farina.

Two of those aforementioned acts — Conor Oberst and actor/banjoist Steve Martin — are now old hats to this Hardly Strictly rodeo; they’ve each played multiple years. Though this year Martin and his Steep Canyon Rangers feature New Bohemian Edie Brickell.

This is the third year that Oberst will play the festival, and also the third year of “Conor Brings Friends For Friday.” He curates the Rooster stage on Friday each year and picks all of the acts.

Oberst’s excellent lineup this year includes First Aid Kit, a darling, wood-fairy folk sister duo from Sweden. Johanna and Klara Söderberg of First Aid Kit have a twirling, twangy track called “Emmylou,” if you wanted to guess who influenced them, and then add to that June Carter Cash, Gram Parsons, and Simon & Garfunkel.

The lineup also features new-to-HSB rising artists like Father John Misty, a solo folk musician (J. Tillman, formerly of Fleet Foxes) that takes New Weird America to another level, and makes it authentically compelling. And there’s also breezy LA surf-rockers Allah-Las.

Other interesting picks for the weekend include I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise soul singer Bettye LaVette, droning minimalist Sub Pop mainstay Low, local heroes like Sonny and the Sunsets and soulful folk-rockers Tumbleweed Wanderers, and white-haired legend Nick Lowe.

“Cruel to be Kind” British new wave singer Lowe has seen an impressive second act with fellow artists like Ted Leo covering his early songs, a resurgence on record (2011’s The Old Magic on Yep Rock) and with gracefully played, always-packed live shows. Note that he also has a cheeky holiday album — his first! — coming Oct. 29 on Yep Rock, Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection For All The Family. Given his charm, style, and that dapper accent, he’s basically the Michael Caine of pub rock. Bringing Lowe in to Hardly Strictly was a clever choice, another bridge between newbie and veteran park-goers.

On that same note, there’s British folk-punk activist/singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, who, in his mid-50s, is still beloved by young punks. Before the fest, check out the 30th anniversary edition of Bragg debut Life’s a Riot with Spy vs Spy.

One of the bigger surprises in the lineup this year is blisteringly high-energy New York gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, led by Ukrainian wild-man Eugene Hütz. The boisterous, occasionally grating eight-piece band, which includes members on accordion and electric fiddle, will surely shake up the lounging crowds, perhaps lulled by folksier melodies of earlier performers.

Another curiosity is the Forest Rangers with Katey Sagal. If you watch Sons of Anarchy, you hear the Forest Rangers on the soundtrack every week. And if you watch Sons of Anarchy (or Futurama or Married With Children), you know actress Katey Sagal. You do the math with this one, readers.

And of course, there’ll always be the beloved regulars like Robert Earl Keen, and Boz Scaggs, and perhaps the most exciting pick of the lineup, at least, according folks on the Internet: blues singer-songwriter and slide guitar legend, Bonnie Raitt (who, by the way, I peeped up in a balcony at the San Francisco Symphony opening gala last month; the flaming red hair with a shock of white was a dead giveaway).

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass takes place this Fri/4-Sun/6, at Hellman Hollow (formerly Speedway Meadows), Lindley and Marx meadows in Golden Gate Park, SF. As always, it’s free and open to the public. Don’t forget to pack a jacket, a blanket, and some food — and seriously, respect that park, residents and visitors. For more information, visit www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com.

FUTURE FREEBIES

The free park concerts don’t end this weekend. Friends of the Amphitheater at McLaren Park’s free Saturday afternoon concerts at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater continue through the fall. Next week, (Oct. 12 at 2pm) there will be ska-toned rock steady and early reggae locals the Titan Ups, Sweet Felony, and the Eddie Neon Project. Facebook: Saturday in the Park McLaren.

DEVIL NO MORE

After nearly two decades of service as a Polk Street music venue, the Red Devil Lounge will shutter on New Year’s Day, 2014. And what’s going to be in its place? Another craft cocktail bar, this time via Jamal Blake-Williams, who currently runs the bar at the Tipsy Pig. Recent acts at the venue have included Martha Davis & the Motels and Pop Rocks. The lounge’s calendar is still booked through the end of the year. But after that, hello craft cocktails and likely a whole different kind of crowd. Red Devil owner Jay Siegan will focus on events at the other venues at which he already promotes shows, like Bimbo’s, DNA Lounge, Cafe Du Nord, Regency, Warfield, and Fox Theater.

MARA HRUBY

Young Oakland soul singer Mara Hruby introduced herself in 2010 with From Her Eyes (self-released), a beat-filled covers EP marked by Hruby’s velvety vocals. On the album, she reimagines tracks by Andre 3000, D’Angelo, Mos Def, and Bob Marley, creating complex and lovely new and modern versions. After that EP dropped, she’s been on the verge of superstardom ever since, the steady riser. She’s consistently played local fests and venues, but has yet to release a follow-up full-length, leaving her rapt fans ready and waiting for more. In the meantime, spend an evening with the talented artist live, before she bursts even bigger, beyond the bounds of the Bay. Featuring Chris Turner.

Wed/2, 8pm, $18. Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero W., Oakl. www.yoshis.com.

MUSIC FOR PEOPLE & THINGAMAJIGS FESTIVAL

Dennis Aman’s re-tuned Fisher-Price instruments, Fred Firth’s homemade string instruments, the premiere of David Samas’ new opera incorporating found objects from the sea. The People & Thingamajigs festival — now in its 16th year — explores unexpected ways to make sound, incredibly far from the normalcy of your standard music fest. This year’s event takes place Friday through Oct. 14 at the Meridian Gallery and the Center for New Music in San Francisco and at the Berkeley Arts Festival. It includes mind-expanding performances by Aman, Firth, Samas, “professional bricoleur, junkyard maven and young audio-gadgeteer” Sudhu Tewari, cellist-composer Doug Carroll, and multi-instrumentalist Bob Marsh, who also is the leader of String Theory. Come for the thingamajigs, stay for the music.

Oct. 4-14, $10–$15. Various venues, SF and Berkeley. www.thingamajigs.org.

ALLAH-LAS

True, you can see Allah-Las for free at HSB this weekend, but this band is so worth going out at night for. The sunny LA surf rock group blew me away at Noise Pop a few years back, opening for Budos Band. The group’s riffs seem to dance along and ripple like waves, as any good surf band’s guitar work should, creating a sugary blend of beachy So Cal cool and trippier psych that would fit right in somewhere along the Haight a few decades back. Even better, the group plays the Chapel tonight with twinkly baroque pop multi-instrumentalist Jacco Gardner. With Light Fantastic.

Sat/5, 9pm, $20. Chapel, 777 Valencia, SF. www.thechapelsf.com.

PUBLIC WORKS BIRTHDAY

The many-roomed experimental Mission music venue that is Public Works celebrates three years of club nights and live shows with an eclectic lineup befitting of its history. The main draw is legendary Austrian DJ Peter Kruder of Kruder & Dorfmeister, but there’s also Christian Martin, J Boogie, an Afrolicious DJ set, John Vincent, Vitamin Devo, and Honey Soundsystem’s Jackie House. Along with the DJ sets, there’s a Radio Silence curated happy hour show with live bands Yalls and Churches in the loft.

Sat/5, 9pm (happy hour at 8:30), $10–$20. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

Porn, punked?

Michael Redmond

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September 24, 2013

17

culture@sfbg.com

SEX + MUSIC Girls put out for bands. Thrashing drums and driving bass have been known to leave a babe or two with autographed cleavage, missing panties, and a backstage pass. Sacramento band Get Shot!, the self-proclaimed “sleaziest punk band in the world,” decided to reap more than the usual rewards from its crew of exhibitionist groupies, starting a porn site — GetShotGirls.com, of course — that combines its members’ greatest loves: naked girls and rock and roll.

The idea isn’t exactly radical at its core. Sites like SuicideGirls, God’s Girls, and BurningAngel all encourage masturbation to the same platter of “alt” women: tattoos, piercings, short bangs, and thick eyeliner, usually with few diverse options in terms of shape, size, and ethnicity.

But GetShotGirls is a great PR move — visit the site and you get a few girls, plus a lot of Get Shot! And bandleader J.P. Hunter argues GetShotGirls has a fresh perspective: women sans airbrushing paired with hard-to-discover NorCal punk music. He swears there’s more to it than horny male rockers capitalizing off willing fans and their own egos. But the proof is in the porn. We called him up to pry for more details.

SFBG: You say rock is too serious today. Is there as much stimulation during your live shows as your site offers?

J.P. Hunter: Yeah, there’s stimulation all right. I cum on the crowd during the last song.

SFBG: Wait, what?

JPH: We’re not a gimmick band, but during our last song I do end up wearing a four-and-a-half foot long penis that shoots whipped cream. People start licking it off each other and everything. Feels great. Feels really great. I especially like to aim for couples.

SFBG: Sounds like you’ve got a great thing going onstage. Why move to Web porn?

JPH: I’m capitalizing on having fun. Porn is a fun, interesting industry. I’ve been doing a lot of research on what’s out there and over the years corporate backing has gone up while quality has gone down. But we’re all natural, with little-to-no editing. We’re committed to keeping girls in natural settings and giving them full creative control. Then we feature unsigned bands in our movies. Soon we’ll have a radio station. We’ve already got music from about 50 bands ready to go. We’re not just promoting ourselves, we want to promote all unsigned artists. We want to be just as rock and roll-oriented as we are porn-oriented.

SFBG: So who are the girls on the site?

JPH: Some are friends. We’ve also put up ads. Started getting girls for band photo shoots and met girls coming to shows. We start a friendship with them, they dance for us, and then we take their pictures. Some do it for their own personal portfolios. Some like the female empowerment, power over men through seduction. And they like us. We’re nice and fun to hang out with.

SFBG: Let’s be real: Are you doing this to get laid?

JPH: Actually no. I’ve been in a relationship for a couple years now. My girlfriend, Jilian Haze, does makeup and hair for all the models.

SFBG: You have a new female bass player, Laura Lush. What does she think?

JPH: Laura is a sexually open person. She contacted GetShotGirls about modeling for the site. Shortly after, she saw that we were looking for a bass and ended up being a great fit. She’s a tough chick — she broke both her legs at a Death Angel concert. And she’s bisexual.

SFBG: What about including some naked boys for the ladies and gay boys who like punk? And how about adding more diversity? So far all your ladies are pretty similar…and white.

JPH: We just did a photo shoot with a Mexican girl. And there’s an Asian girl on the site. But yeah, we definitely want to expand on that. I don’t think we’ll go the gay route because we don’t have to, marketwise. And we’re a heterosexual band. But we do want to add more girl-on-girl action. Straight women like lesbian porn.

SFBG: Once you get more cash flow, what’s your next step for the site?

JPH: A movie with a band getting fucked after their show, behind stage, by groupies.

Grouplove talks Haight love, the Seesaw Tour, and spreading rumors

Tony Robles

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September 10, 2013

0

Grouplove’s existence is a strong argument for fate. In 2009, Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi met on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Feeling an instant connection, Hooper invited Zucconi to an artist residency in Greece on the island of Crete, which she was heading to just a few days later, and he said yes. At this residency, in a remote mountain village, the pair formed a fast friendship with three other musicians. Within the year, Grouplove was formed.

Two years after that, the band exploded into the music scene with its cheekily titled, megacatchy album Never Trust a Happy Song. Touring constantly since its inception, Grouplove is still going at full sprint, with its second album, Spreading Rumors, coming out Sept. 17, accompanied by the ambitious Seesaw Tour, in which the band will spend two nights in every city at intimate venues, playing one electric and one acoustic show.

I caught up with Hooper during one of her rare moments of semi-downtime (if that’s what you call standing on a busy street corner waiting for Zucconi) to chat about hometown shows, Haight Street, and (group)love:

SF Bay Guardian I saw you play in San Francisco almost exactly two years ago to a nearly empty Bimbo’s, and it was an absolutely amazing show. There was this incredible energy and because there was a sparse audience, it felt truly special to be there. Now you’re playing to much bigger audiences and selling out two nights in a row in SF. How do you feel about this change in dynamics?

Hannah Hooper It’s really exciting! It’s kind of surreal in a lot of ways. When we get to play a show we’re excited no matter what, so the scale of it blows our minds. With the Seesaw Tour, we’re kind of underplaying and getting to actually see our fans again. And we’re playing the Independent, which is one of the first venues we played in SF.

We personally love playing any size, but there’s a level of intimacy that’s hard to capture [in a bigger venue]. It’s a very special thing. As a fan, I love to see high-energy bands in small venues. That’s what we want to do before we gear up to do a bigger tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x1wjGKHjBI

SFBG How did you come up with the idea for the Seesaw Tour? Why this format?

HH We were talking about bands. I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I’m a big fan, but I’ve never had the opportunity to get close to them. I’m always in the back behind like thousands of people. I had this vision of how cool it would be to see them play one night electric and one night acoustic.
It will be a challenge for us because we’re definitively an electric band.

SFBG Grouplove has a very vigorous touring schedule. How do you keep from getting burned-out?

HH That’s a good question! We stopped to record our album that’s about to come out, which is really the first time we’ve stopped touring in three years. But recording is not that different from touring — we still are living in tight quarters and spending all our time together.

If you stay in motion you don’t notice how exhausted you are. Even when you’ve traveled halfway around the world and you’re like, “are we going to be able to do this?” When you get up on stage, you just respond to the audience. It’s a back and forth. When you see people there screaming your name, you just have to bring it. It’s so fulfilling to give all that you have every time you get on stage. We just get into a trance friendship mode.

SFBG Do you all really love each other as much as your name and your live show suggests?

HH We do! We really love each other. We have this ability to share this crazy experience together; we’re vulnerable and we’re funny together; we’re stronger together than we are separate. It really works.

There was a freedom when we first got together because we didn’t know each other. We all got to be exactly who we are. We met at a really special time and our friendship really shows that. We write a lot of songs on the road and we genuinely go out together…You have to want to make it work. This is our dream, this is what we want to do. It’s an outlook that we all quietly agreed to have.

SFBG There is a unique pressure associated with sophomore albums. Have you felt a need to prove that you’re not a one hit wonder with this record?

HH Coming from a painter background I didn’t really realize the “pressure of the second album.” We had this catalogue of songs we had written on the road and we basically drew straws to see which songs made the album. We’re really lucky. We make a point never to combine fear of success with making artwork and writing songs. There’s nothing you can do — you can’t predict whether people will like the songs. All you can really do is be genuine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGvHnDeS12o

SFBG What does the title of the album Spreading Rumors mean?

HH We’re kind of bringing it back to the way that people used to talk about bands and spread the word before the Internet. Despite all of the Internet attention we got for [2011 single] “Tongue Tied,” people were also telling their friends about us and our live shows. The rumor that keeps spreading…we really are this crazy bunch of wild animals let loose.

SFBG Since you’re playing two nights in a row here, you’ll have some time to spend in the city. Any special SF plans?

HH Well, my brother, sister, mom, and dad live here. I grew up in Upper Haight. I really miss SF. I just like walking down Haight Street. Thrift stores in SF are the best. I can’t tell you how much I love San Francisco.

[Playing here is] like playing a hometown show which is always secretly the most nerve-wracking. It’s always funny to see people you’ve known your whole life in the audience. You really get a sense of how far we’ve come. I’ll probably get emotional up there.

SFBG Anything else you feel that people need to know about Grouplove? Any parting words?

HH [I’ve learned] through all this touring and meeting all these bands that everyone has their own flavor. We have love, heart, honesty, and passion. Our goal is to have people see that there’s no bullshit up there [on stage] and leave feeling happy. We’re not trying to be cool or sexy. We want to inspire kids to not to care what they look like or whether they’re cool and just be themselves.

Grouplove
With the Rubens
Sat/14, 9pm, $20
Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421
www.theindependentsf.com

Grouplove (acoustic)
Sun/15, 9pm, $22
Chapel
777 Valencia, SF
(415) 551-5157
www.thechapelsf.com

Elegant alchemy

Michael Redmond

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September 3, 2013

0

cheryl@sfbg.com

MUSIC Though San Francisco musician Jill Tracy is deeply fond of the macabre, “gloomy” is not an accurate word to describe her personality. The day I speak to her, she’s in exceptionally high spirits, having just wrapped up a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign.

“It’s really special to feel like it’s a big group effort,” she says. The funds will help complete a pair of videos lensed by Jeremy Carr, who directed Tracy in the 2006 thriller Ice Cream Ants. Appropriately, key scenes were filmed on a spooky night in Red Hook, Brooklyn — former ‘hood of horror author H.P. Lovecraft.

“[Carr] wanted to shoot me walking through these mysterious alleyways, but there was this sudden, intense thunderstorm. Hail coming down the size of golf balls, flooding — it was so dangerous it was like, how are we gonna do this?” she recalls. “But the universe intervened, and the rain finally tapered off. And it was so gorgeous, because there was still lightning in the sky. A lot of that will be kept in the video.”

Also caught on tape was intervention of another kind. “At one point there was this glowing amber light swirling around. I look over — and it was the cops, wondering what we were up to,” she says. “They were really nice and let us keep going, and it turned out that they were responsible for the most beautiful shot.”

Happy accidents, strange coincidences, unexplained phenomena: These are all things the composer-singer-pianist welcomes with delight. Her distinctive sound — she’s often described as a “neo-cabaret artist” — sparked a recent twist of fate, when Showtime contacted her about using a song to promote the final season of Dexter.

“That came out of the blue,” she says. “They said, ‘We think that your music would be perfect for this.’ That’s when being an independent musician is a great thing — because I own my song and my publishing. They just have to contact me and I can give permission [to use it].”

She continues. “I didn’t know what they were going to do with the song. I was so excited — are they just gonna use five seconds of it? But it ended up that it’s almost like a music video. I sing, ‘I’ll tie you up,’ and you see [star] Michael C. Hall tying up a body! I was really thrilled with what they did.”

It’s a testament to Tracy’s unique style that the Dexter song, “Evil Night Together,” dates back to her 1999 sophomore album, Diabolical Streak. (Her diverse discography also includes 2002’s Into the Land of Phantoms, a score for 1922 silent film Nosferatu; and last year’s holiday-themed Silver Smoke, Star of Night.)

“I strive for timelessness in my music,” Tracy says, noting that the Dexter exposure made some listeners assume that “Night” was a brand-new song. “It meant a lot to me because that’s [my intention], that it could be played at any time and still sound unique.”

Without trends to guide her, Tracy has sought inspiration elsewhere. After years of incorporating on-the-spot compositions (she calls it “spontaneous musical combustion”) into her live shows, she had an idea: why not test the vibes at a more off-kilter venue? At one memorable gig, both performer and audience experienced something … extraordinary.

“I was in Victoria, BC at Craigdarroch Castle, which is supposedly haunted,” she says. “At one point, someone in the audience is like, ‘Look at that lamp!’ And this old, brocade-shaded lamp had just started to flicker. So who knows! Strange things will happen like that.”

Tracy’s repertoire also includes “musical séances,” in which audience members bring in objects of personal significance to help her channel music. Along with violinist Paul Mercer, she hosted one such event earlier this year in Los Angeles, “at the mansion of a murderer from the 19th century.” (Clearly, she ain’t no fraidy-cat.) She’s hosted similar events at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.

“We did a beautiful night tour of the Conservatory, followed by a performance,” she says. “People bring these items — we’ve had everything from cremated remains, to antlers, to a toothbrush. Swords! Haunted portraits! It’s almost like Antiques Roadshow for the netherworld. But the one thing I’ve learned through all of this is that every object, every place, and every person has a story to tell that will break your heart.”

Some of her most memorable tales come courtesy of the Mütter Museum, a medical-oddities collection that’s part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. She’s the first musician to receive a grant to compose inside the museum.

“This whole project is, like, the total goth girl dream come true,” Tracy laughs. “I was able to spend nights alone in the museum, writing music among the collection, and I just fell in love with the place. You look around, and you see all these skeletons and specimens in jars, but you don’t realize at first that these were all lives — brave souls who endured these rare afflictions, many of which you never see today. I was so moved, and I wanted to know their stories.”

Not only did the museum allow Tracy overnight access, it also let her do research in its library. She hopes to to spend the next year transforming her Mütter encounters — with subjects like conjoined twins Chang and Eng, and “Ossified Man” Harry Eastlack — into an album as well as an accompanying storybook. “It will probably be the biggest project that I’ve done to date,” she says. “It’s been almost like an excavation, digging into this information and creating pieces to honor these individuals. I want to give emotional context to the people in the collection.”

With all of her site-specific events and ongoing endeavors — in brief: a perfume line; a 7-inch split with Blixa Bargeld based on the writings of a 19th century Polish occultist; a set at Sat/7’s “ManulFest” benefit for wild cats held at a temple in Geyserville; a speaking engagement at LA’s Death Salon later this fall — it’s advisable for SF fans to hit up Café du Nord for what’s becoming an increasingly rare rock-club gig.

“I’m doing fewer shows at places like the du Nord, because I want to do more of a theatrical performance,” she says. “Today, my work is all about honoring the mystery, the beauty, and the romance of the dark side. I strive to transport people into what I refer to as ‘the elegant netherworld,’ and I find that music, that emotion, creates the portal for you to go there. Doing what I do, I feel like kind of a gatekeeper to this other place.”

JILL TRACY

With This Way to Egress and Vagabondage

Sun/8, 7:30pm, $12

Café du Nord

2170 Market, SF

www.cafedunord.com

Live Review: My Bloody Valentine’s SF show feels like something beamed in from another decade

Tony Robles

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August 29, 2013

17

Live Review: My Bloody Valentine’s SF show feels like something beamed in from another decade

Swirling guitars… cooing vocals… that all-engulfing wall of noise. It’s difficult to describe My Bloody Valentine‘s sound without veering into borderline erotica, and understandably so; in the guitar rock landscape, few bands make music that’s so tactile and exhilarating.

For many of its devoted fans, the band’s seminal 1991 LP, Loveless, is inextricably tethered to private moments of introspection and sexuality. Its delicate balance between loud and quiet, menace and seduction, resulted in a sense of emotional ambiguity, allowing the listener to project their own perspectives and yearnings onto those immaculate pop songs.

Fresh off the heels of this year’s long-awaited Loveless followup, simply titled mbv, My Bloody Valentine stopped by SF this past Friday for its first Bay Area appearance since 2008, on its first tour in support of new material since the early ’90s.

By the looks of the crowd, the band’s overwhelming paralysis was in full force. As wary as I am of audiences too “cool” or self-conscious to dance at live shows, this crowd’s stillness felt wholly appropriate. The band’s output rarely feels conducive to dancing, or jamming out; it’s music to surrender to, and My Bloody Valentine had the crowd in the palm of its hand.

Given My Bloody Valentine’s inconsistent production sound, from the tinny Jesus-and-Mary-Chaininess of Isn’t Anything (1988), to the fuller, more tactile Loveless, to the thuddy brawn of mbv, one of the highlights of last Friday night’s show was hearing a career-spanning set of songs, all delivered with similar depth and richness. It was quite the thrill to hear older material, like “Feed Me With Your Kiss,” and “Only Shallow,” delivered with the generous low-end of MBV circa 2013.

As new songs like “only tomorrow” and “who sees you” suggest, the band’s dynamics have grown more boomy and forceful, yet alternately, groovier and more relaxed. Much of the credit goes to the rhythm section of Deb Googe and Colm Ó Cíosóig, who plucked and smacked their instruments ferociously, providing much of the backbone that defines My Bloody Valentine’s second wave. It all makes sense, considering Googe’s muscular bass-lines on this year’s excellent Primal Scream LP, More Light, and Ó Cíosóig’s recent move to the Bay Area, and subsequent role as drummer for his wife Hope Sandoval’s post-Mazzy Star project, the Warm Inventions.

Otherwise, it seems things haven’t changed much, and thankfully so. Ever the recluse, bandleader Kevin Shields stood calmly on stage left, away from the spotlights, equipped with some heavy-duty Marshall stacks, and an arsenal of guitars and pedals. Abusing the whammy bars on his Fender Jaguars and Jazzmasters, Shields delivered beautifully on the queasy tremolo of his signature “glide guitar” technique. Alternately, Bilinda Butcher occupied center stage, supplying the soft-as-snow vocals that contrast so harmoniously with Shields’ outpouring of sound and feeling.

“Honey Power,” “Come In Alone,” and “Soon,” were wonderfully performed, delivering especially well on the loud/quiet, sweet/snarly binaries of My Bloody Valentine’s sound, and those hugely dense progressions that create an itch with one chord, and scratch it with the next. There’s a reason why the band’s influence has gone so far beyond rock music, into electronic and industrial realms; the live renditions of these songs were a masterclass in My Bloody Valentine’s ability to warp genre boundaries with standard rock instrumentation.

Seeing “Cigarette In Your Bed” performed live was a treat, as it allowed Shields to bust out the acoustic guitar for once, while “new you” offered a glimpse of My Bloody Valentine in full-on pop mode. “wonder 2,” the band’s experiment with Jungle music, was suffocating in its blend of reverb-soaked drum’n’bass beats and jet-engine guitars, while “You Never Should” offered the same claustrophobia in a rock setting. Perhaps most impressively, though, was the noisy, chaotic “holocaust section” of the band’s infamous closer, “You Made Me Realize.” What started out as a cacophony of guitars, bass, and drums, slowly hypnotized the listener, gradually resembling a monolithic, industrial roar, like cruising the Transbay Tube with the windows down.

My Bloody Valentine is one of the last great rock bands of the album era, and as such, every gesture at Friday night’s show was a big one: from handing out free earplugs at the door, to the giant Marshall stacks onstage, to the band’s decision to book the overly big/beige/bloated Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Much like mbv’s total disconnection from the modern musical landscape, the band’s live show felt like a concert-going experience beamed in from another decade.

The audience, consisting of everyone from metalheads, to ravers, to garden-variety hipsters, might’ve been a bit perplexing, but made total sense, given My Bloody Valentine’s inability to fit comfortably into any one scene. Given its dense, borderline-electronic chords, abrasive guitar squalls, and overriding sense of calm, the band’s sound offers practically any subcategory of listener something to cling onto, providing a gateway to new musical realms.

For those skeptical about My Bloody Valentine’s ability to recapture the singular wonder of Loveless after a two-decade hiatus, mbv was a wonderful surprise, in its insistence on picking up right where the band’s first era left off. Last weekend’s show felt like an extension of this “new” strategy, with the band’s four members commanding the stage as if the past 22 years never happened. Countless groups have tried their hand at pushing the shoegaze genre forward in the post-Loveless wake, but as Shields and Co. resoundingly proved on Friday night, My Bloody Valentine remains the undefeated champion of “swirling guitars.”

The Selector: August 28-September 3, 2013

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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August 28, 2013

0

WEDNESDAY 28

The Troublemaker

Hey, daddy-o! While other outdoor movie nights program known crowd pleasers (and hey, nothing wrong with that — who doesn’t love 1980’s Xanadu under the stars?), trust the Pacific Film Archive to dig a little deeper. Directed by Theodore J. Flicker (it was the perfectly-named filmmaker’s first feature; he was also an improv comedy pioneer and directed dozens of 1970s TV episodes) and co-written with Saturday Night Live stalwart Buck Henry, 1964’s The Troublemaker offers a bouncy throwback to the beatnik era. A chicken farmer dreams of opening a coffeehouse in Greenwich Village; the Mob doesn’t agree, but the finger-snapping cool cats have his back. Wear your beret and come early for the pre-film poetry reading. (Cheryl Eddy)

8:30pm, free

BAM/PFA Sculpture Garden

2575 Bancroft, Berk

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

Resident Artist Workshop: Victor Talledos, Joy Prendergast, Rachel Elliot

A couple of years ago, Mexican-born and trained ballet dancer Victor Talledos landed in the Bay Area like a comet — fiery, fierce, and impossible to ignore. Joy Prendergast is part of a hotbed of budding women choreographers nourished by the SF Conservatory of Dance. Rachel Elliot, a recent graduate of the Dominican University/LINES Ballet program, spent her study abroad time traveling and watching dance in China. This trio of artists is the latest crop of choreographers showing work in progress they have developed at the Garage’s all essential RAW (Resident Artist Workshop) studio space — 12 weeks of four to six hours free rehearsal time with two scheduled performances.” Small is beautiful” was a mantra in the 1970s. It’s still valid. A little bit of support, consistently offered, can create wonders. (Rita Felciano)

Through Thu/29. 8pm. $10–$20.

Garage

715 Bryant, SF

www.brownpapertickets.com

“Root to Stalk Cooking” with Tara Duggan

Omnivore Books often outdoes itself with inventive workshops and tasty food contests. Still, “Root to Stalk Cooking: The Art of Using the Whole Vegetable” should truly be one for the books. Author Tara Duggan, a James Beard award-winning independent journalist and cookbook author, will talk trash. Well, technically, she’ll talk roots, stalks, tops, ribs, and other pieces of vegetables that tend to get scratched. And she’ll discuss recipes that included those too-often discarded veggie elements. The workshop is not only a unique opportunity to meet an insightful SF native author, but also to learn how to cook delicious meals while still being frugal. Stop wasting and start cooking. (Hillary Smith)

6-7:30 pm, free

Omnivore Books

3885a Cesar Chavez, SF

www.omnivorebooks.com

THURSDAY 29

Café Tacvba

There are parts of the world where ska music is still valued. “Las Flores” is a rude boy-baiting uptempo Café Tacvba song that seemed right at home in 1994, when lead singer Albarrán Ortega was sporting his Coolio-styled hair on an early episode of MTV Unplugged. But how does a song like that hold up almost 10 years later at an epicenter of up-and-coming sounds like Coachella? Well, the Coachella crowd’s enthusiasm for the ska tune spoke volumes about truly heartfelt and infectious rhythms shattering the limitations of what is currently considered cool in music. A lot of genres come and go, but groups like Café Tacvba, which has gone without member changes since its inception in 1989, will continue to motivate listeners with just about any style it plays. Expect the unexpected. (Ilan Moskowitz)

8pm, $37.50–$52.50

Warfield

982 Market, SF

(415) 673-4653

www.thewarfieldtheatre.com

FIDLAR

LA-based garage-punk band FIDLAR creates a mess of distortion-heavy guitar lines, scratchy vocals, and angry percussion, which makes for a wild show guaranteed to permit letting loose. And there may even be some reckless flailing of the arms, if you’re lucky. The group seems to attract more than the typical garage rock fan who simply loves to go batshit in the pit. Enthusiasts stalk their social media pages, pour over their every Tumblr post, and even tattoo themselves with the group’s name, all proving one thing — FIDLAR has made a serious mark in a brief amount of time. And with this almost cult-like following, the four young musicians are touring through the UK and the States until November, tearing up stages with their rambunctious, exhilarating performances. And the band’s relationship with its fans seems to be symbiotic. I suspect the fans are so die-hard and loyal because that’s exactly what the group puts out there on stage: a straightforward, honest, in-the-moment show. (Smith)

With Meat Market

9pm, $14

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St.,SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

FRIDAY 30

Macbeth

Witches, betrayals, violence, madness — no wonder Shakespeare’s Macbeth is so popular among both theater troupes and audiences. Case in point: two local companies are mounting adventurously staged versions of “the Scottish play” (does the curse count if your theater is outdoors?), opening on practically the same day, with lengthy runs and non-clashing show times that’ll make it possible for Bard diehards to catch both. Tonight, We Players — who did The Odyssey on Angel Island and Hamlet on Alcatraz — kicks off its production amid historic Fort Point’s foggy, windy, toil-and-trouble-friendly environs; tomorrow, another part of the Presidio, the Main Post Parade Ground Lawn, hosts Free Shakespeare in the Park’s production of the same. No doubt a drama-crazed town like SF has room for both. (Eddy)

We Players’ Macbeth

Through Oct 6

Previews Fri/30-Sun/1, 6pm; opens Sept 5, 6pm; runs Thu-Sun, 6pm, $30–$60

Fort Point, end of Marine Dr, Presidio, SF

www.weplayers.org

Free Shakespeare in the Park’s Macbeth

Through Sept 15

Opens Sat/31, 2pm; runs Sat-Sun and Mon/2, 2pm, free

Main Post Parade Ground Lawn, Presidio, SF

www.sfshakes.org

Hitcher

Hitcher, a movement play based off Jim Morrison’s original, unproduced screenplay, The Hitchhiker, is making its debut tonight. Hitcher combines cinema, movement, and new music from San Francisco bluegrass band dinnerwiththekids. In this production, writer and director Alex Peri tells the story of Billy, a hitchhiker accompanied by an imaginary trio of hobos making his way on the road to be reunited with a prostitute he fell in love with in Mexico. The cast features up-and-coming local artisans Derek Caplan, Michelle Hair, Earl Alfred Paus, Malia Rapisarda, and Kelly Sanchez. This should be of interest to people who worship at the altar of the “Lizard King” and those who enjoy theater and rock ‘n’ roll fusion. If you’re not able to attend its debut, there will be showings of Hitcher through Sept. 8. (Erin Dage)

THROUGH SEPT. 8,

8PM, $15

THICK HOUSE

1695 18TH ST., SF

(415) 401-8081

WWW.THICKHOUSE.ORG

Handsome Hawk Valentine’s “The Hop”

You don’t need a DeLorean tricked out with a Flux Capacitor driven by Marty McFly to head back in time to the good ol’ 1950s tonight — just head down to the Mission where Handsome Hawk Valentine presents “The Hop,” a blast from the past party with a special “Ladies’ Night” theme. Featuring bands such as local favorites Thee Merry Widows and the Rumble Strippers, the fête also boasts burlesque performances, DJs, a “beefcake contest” sponsored by Bettie Page Clothing, along with free retro styling by Peter Thomas Hair, free photo sessions, and more. Slick back that pomp or strap on those stilettos and get going! (Sean McCourt)

9pm, $13

Elbo Room

647 Valencia, SF

(415) 552-7788

www.elbo.com

SATURDAY 31

Major Powers and the Lo-Fi Symphony

Major Powers and the Lo-Fi Symphony is a raucous, humorous, piano-driven trio that sound like Queen playing symphonic punk rock. Sort of like a light-hearted, more jangly Muse. I cannot recommend its album We Created Monsters enough. It is all free on its website and worth $10 to see live. Freddie Mercury would be proud. Hell, so would Andrew W.K. Not to say that headliner the Greening doesn’t have its own merits — it’ll even give you a free shirt and a bunch of other swag if you buy advanced tickets to this show — but when one of your opening acts sounds like a mix between Madness and Queen and the other is a Latin mod band that sings catchy, upbeat tunes about telenovelas, the star slot in the show is only a scheduling formality. (Moskowitz)

With the Greening, Dot Punto

8:30pm, $10

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

Duane Peters Gunfight

Legendary pro skateboarder and eternal punk rocker Duane Peters has rightfully earned his nickname “The Master of Disaster” — it was hard won over decades of pushing the limits on wheels and decks (not to mention his own battered and bruised body) and inventing a slew of tricks now considered an essential part of skate culture. He quickly approached playing music with the same anything-goes attitude, and has been slamming stages with several bands (U.S. Bombs and Die Hunns) ever since. He comes to the city tonight with Duane Peters Gunfight. Are you ready to drop into the bowl and the pit? (McCourt)

With White Barons, Rock Bottom, Dime Runner

9pm, $10

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St., SF

(415) 252-1330

www.theeparkside.com

SUNDAY 1

Oakland Pride

Yes, yes, “we are family.” But in that case, San Francisco Pride is that loud, messy, half-dressed, downright crazy family — kind of a Kardashians without the Porsches — while younger Oakland Pride hails more from plucky, hardy, loving Little House on the Prairie stock, but with a whole lot more people of color. Not that Oakland Pride’s out in the middle of nowhere, of course, but it’s a much more down-to-earth, self-produced affair that really feels like a family picnic. Everyone’s freaking out that ’90s R&B sensation En Vogue is performing, but don’t miss the big-big Mexican-Chicago sound of Grupo Montez de Durango or the high-energy drag king shenanigans of the Rebel Kings of Oakland. Did we mention that everyone at this thing is smokin’ hot? Not to judge by looks or anything, but whoo-wee. (Marke B)

11am-7pm, $10

20th Street and Broadway, Oakl.

www.oaklandpride.org

MONDAY 2

Ty Segall

If you want to beat a case of the Mondays: Bay Area Lo-fi favorite Ty Segall is playing the entirety of his new album, Sleeper, with experimental folk artist David Novick and that guy from Sic Alps — Mike Donovan. On his new album, Segall is deconstructing his typical sound and going for a more stripped-down approach. For this show (as well as the whole tour), Segall will only be playing Sleeper, and will have a decidedly different setup, featuring two acoustic guitars, electric bass, drums, and the occasional electric guitar. The show should be a great indicator of how fans receive Segall’s new album, and whether or not the old boy still has it. If you like raw, energetic live shows — this performance is not to be missed. (Dage)

With David Novick, Mike Donovan

8pm, $18

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com

TUESDAY 3

Audra McDonald

What’s that you hear? It’s the sound of every Broadway maven, cabaret jazz aficionado, “Glee”-ful gay man, and fan of incredible music breaking piggy banks, shaking out gowns, and fluffing tuxes to glimpse the effervescent glory of show tune-blues soprano Audra McDonald at the SF Symphony Opening Gala. Singing selections from the American songbook like “Somewhere” and “I Could Have Danced All Night,” McDonald will highlight a jazzy night’s program, which includes George Antheil’s fracture-happy “A Jazz Symphony,” George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” and tons of free drinks, treats, and people-watching. McDonald’s hilarious, house-rocking performance at the Tonys with Neil Patrick Harris this year brought a new generation of Audra acolytes into the fold; expect the same wattage to light up Davies Symphony Hall. (Marke B.)

7pm-11pm, $160

Davies Symphony Hall

201 Van Ness, SF.

(415) 864-6000

www.sfsymphony.com

The Selector: August 27 – September 3, 2013

Michael Redmond

-

August 27, 2013

0

WEDNESDAY 8/28

The Troublemaker

Hey, daddy-o! While other outdoor movie nights program known crowd pleasers (and hey, nothing wrong with that — who doesn’t love 1980’s Xanadu under the stars?), trust the Pacific Film Archive to dig a little deeper. Directed by Theodore J. Flicker (it was the perfectly-named filmmaker’s first feature; he was also an improv comedy pioneer and directed dozens of 1970s TV episodes) and co-written with Saturday Night Live stalwart Buck Henry, 1964’s The Troublemaker offers a bouncy throwback to the beatnik era. A chicken farmer dreams of opening a coffeehouse in Greenwich Village; the Mob doesn’t agree, but the finger-snapping cool cats have his back. Wear your beret and come early for the pre-film poetry reading. (Cheryl Eddy)

8:30pm, free

BAM/PFA Sculpture Garden

2575 Bancroft, Berk

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

WEDNESDAY 8/28

Resident Artist Workshop: Victor Talledos, Joy Prendergast, Rachel Elliot

A couple of years ago, Mexican-born and trained ballet dancer Victor Talledos landed in the Bay Area like a comet — fiery, fierce, and impossible to ignore. Joy Prendergast is part of a hotbed of budding women choreographers nourished by the SF Conservatory of Dance. Rachel Elliot, a recent graduate of the Dominican University/LINES Ballet program, spent her study abroad time traveling and watching dance in China. This trio of artists is the latest crop of choreographers showing work in progress they have developed at the Garage’s all essential RAW (Resident Artist Workshop) studio space — 12 weeks of four to six hours free rehearsal time with two scheduled performances.” Small is beautiful” was a mantra in the 1970s. It’s still valid. A little bit of support, consistently offered, can create wonders. (Rita Felciano)

Through Thu/29. 8pm. $10–$20.

Garage

715 Bryant, SF

www.brownpapertickets.com

WEDNESDAY 8/28

“Root to Stalk Cooking” with Tara Duggan

Omnivore Books often outdoes itself with inventive workshops and tasty food contests. Still, “Root to Stalk Cooking: The Art of Using the Whole Vegetable” should truly be one for the books. Author Tara Duggan, a James Beard award-winning independent journalist and cookbook author, will talk trash. Well, technically, she’ll talk roots, stalks, tops, ribs, and other pieces of vegetables that tend to get scratched. And she’ll discuss recipes that included those too-often discarded veggie elements. The workshop is not only a unique opportunity to meet an insightful SF native author, but also to learn how to cook delicious meals while still being frugal. Stop wasting and start cooking. (Hillary Smith)

6-7:30 pm, free

Omnivore Books

3885a Cesar Chavez, SF

www.omnivorebooks.com

THURSDAY 8/29

Café Tacvba

There are parts of the world where ska music is still valued. “Las Flores” is a rude boy-baiting uptempo Café Tacvba song that seemed right at home in 1994, when lead singer Albarrán Ortega was sporting his Coolio-styled hair on an early episode of MTV Unplugged. But how does a song like that hold up almost 10 years later at an epicenter of up-and-coming sounds like Coachella? Well, the Coachella crowd’s enthusiasm for the ska tune spoke volumes about truly heartfelt and infectious rhythms shattering the limitations of what is currently considered cool in music. A lot of genres come and go, but groups like Café Tacvba, which has gone without member changes since its inception in 1989, will continue to motivate listeners with just about any style it plays. Expect the unexpected. (Ilan Moskowitz)

8pm, $37.50–$52.50

Warfield

982 Market, SF

(415) 673-4653

www.thewarfieldtheatre.com

THURSDAY 8/29

FIDLAR

LA-based garage-punk band FIDLAR creates a mess of distortion-heavy guitar lines, scratchy vocals, and angry percussion, which makes for a wild show guaranteed to permit letting loose. And there may even be some reckless flailing of the arms, if you’re lucky. The group seems to attract more than the typical garage rock fan who simply loves to go batshit in the pit. Enthusiasts stalk their social media pages, pour over their every Tumblr post, and even tattoo themselves with the group’s name, all proving one thing — FIDLAR has made a serious mark in a brief amount of time. And with this almost cult-like following, the four young musicians are touring through the UK and the States until November, tearing up stages with their rambunctious, exhilarating performances. And the band’s relationship with its fans seems to be symbiotic. I suspect the fans are so die-hard and loyal because that’s exactly what the group puts out there on stage: a straightforward, honest, in-the-moment show. (Smith)

With Meat Market

9pm, $14

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St.,SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

FRIDAY 8/30

Macbeth

Witches, betrayals, violence, madness — no wonder Shakespeare’s Macbeth is so popular among both theater troupes and audiences. Case in point: two local companies are mounting adventurously staged versions of “the Scottish play” (does the curse count if your theater is outdoors?), opening on practically the same day, with lengthy runs and non-clashing show times that’ll make it possible for Bard diehards to catch both. Tonight, We Players — who did The Odyssey on Angel Island and Hamlet on Alcatraz — kicks off its production amid historic Fort Point’s foggy, windy, toil-and-trouble-friendly environs; tomorrow, another part of the Presidio, the Main Post Parade Ground Lawn, hosts Free Shakespeare in the Park’s production of the same. No doubt a drama-crazed town like SF has room for both. (Eddy)

We Players’ Macbeth

Through Oct 6

Previews Fri/30-Sun/1, 6pm; opens Sept 5, 6pm; runs Thu-Sun, 6pm, $30–$60

Fort Point, end of Marine Dr, Presidio, SF

www.weplayers.org

Free Shakespeare in the Park’s Macbeth

Through Sept 15

Opens Sat/31, 2pm; runs Sat-Sun and Mon/2, 2pm, free

Main Post Parade Ground Lawn, Presidio, SF

www.sfshakes.org

FRIDAY 8/30

Hitcher

Hitcher, a movement play based off Jim Morrison’s original, unproduced screenplay, The Hitchhiker, is making its debut tonight. Hitcher combines cinema, movement, and new music from San Francisco bluegrass band dinnerwiththekids. In this production, writer and director Alex Peri tells the story of Billy, a hitchhiker accompanied by an imaginary trio of hobos making his way on the road to be reunited with a prostitute he fell in love with in Mexico. The cast features up-and-coming local artisans Derek Caplan, Michelle Hair, Earl Alfred Paus, Malia Rapisarda, and Kelly Sanchez. This should be of interest to people who worship at the altar of the “Lizard King” and those who enjoy theater and rock ‘n’ roll fusion. If you’re not able to attend its debut, there will be showings of Hitcher through Sept. 8. (Erin Dage) THROUGH SEPT. 8, 8PM, $15 THICK HOUSE 1695 18TH ST., SF (415) 401-8081 WWW.THICKHOUSE.ORG

FRIDAY 8/30

Handsome Hawk Valentine’s “The Hop”

You don’t need a DeLorean tricked out with a Flux Capacitor driven by Marty McFly to head back in time to the good ol’ 1950s tonight — just head down to the Mission where Handsome Hawk Valentine presents “The Hop,” a blast from the past party with a special “Ladies’ Night” theme. Featuring bands such as local favorites Thee Merry Widows and the Rumble Strippers, the fête also boasts burlesque performances, DJs, a “beefcake contest” sponsored by Bettie Page Clothing, along with free retro styling by Peter Thomas Hair, free photo sessions, and more. Slick back that pomp or strap on those stilettos and get going! (Sean McCourt)

9pm, $13

Elbo Room

647 Valencia, SF

(415) 552-7788

www.elbo.com

SATURDAY 8/31

Major Powers and the Lo-Fi Symphony

Major Powers and the Lo-Fi Symphony is a raucous, humorous, piano-driven trio that sound like Queen playing symphonic punk rock. Sort of like a light-hearted, more jangly Muse. I cannot recommend its album We Created Monsters enough. It is all free on its website and worth $10 to see live. Freddie Mercury would be proud. Hell, so would Andrew W.K. Not to say that headliner the Greening doesn’t have its own merits — it’ll even give you a free shirt and a bunch of other swag if you buy advanced tickets to this show — but when one of your opening acts sounds like a mix between Madness and Queen and the other is a Latin mod band that sings catchy, upbeat tunes about telenovelas, the star slot in the show is only a scheduling formality. (Moskowitz)

With the Greening, Dot Punto

8:30pm, $10

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

SATURDAY 8/31

Duane Peters Gunfight

Legendary pro skateboarder and eternal punk rocker Duane Peters has rightfully earned his nickname “The Master of Disaster” — it was hard won over decades of pushing the limits on wheels and decks (not to mention his own battered and bruised body) and inventing a slew of tricks now considered an essential part of skate culture. He quickly approached playing music with the same anything-goes attitude, and has been slamming stages with several bands (U.S. Bombs and Die Hunns) ever since. He comes to the city tonight with Duane Peters Gunfight. Are you ready to drop into the bowl and the pit? (McCourt)

With White Barons, Rock Bottom, Dime Runner

9pm, $10

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St., SF

(415) 252-1330

www.theeparkside.com

SUNDAY 9/1

Oakland Pride

Yes, yes, “we are family.” But in that case, San Francisco Pride is that loud, messy, half-dressed, downright crazy family — kind of a Kardashians without the Porsches — while younger Oakland Pride hails more from plucky, hardy, loving Little House on the Prairie stock, but with a whole lot more people of color. Not that Oakland Pride’s out in the middle of nowhere, of course, but it’s a much more down-to-earth, self-produced affair that really feels like a family picnic. Everyone’s freaking out that ’90s R&B sensation En Vogue is performing, but don’t miss the big-big Mexican-Chicago sound of Grupo Montez de Durango or the high-energy drag king shenanigans of the Rebel Kings of Oakland. Did we mention that everyone at this thing is smokin’ hot? Not to judge by looks or anything, but whoo-wee. (Marke B)

11am-7pm, $10

20th Street and Broadway, Oakl.

www.oaklandpride.org

MONDAY 9/2

Ty Segall

If you want to beat a case of the Mondays: Bay Area Lo-fi favorite Ty Segall is playing the entirety of his new album, Sleeper, with experimental folk artist David Novick and that guy from Sic Alps — Mike Donovan. On his new album, Segall is deconstructing his typical sound and going for a more stripped-down approach. For this show (as well as the whole tour), Segall will only be playing Sleeper, and will have a decidedly different setup, featuring two acoustic guitars, electric bass, drums, and the occasional electric guitar. The show should be a great indicator of how fans receive Segall’s new album, and whether or not the old boy still has it. If you like raw, energetic live shows — this performance is not to be missed. (Dage)

With David Novick, Mike Donovan

8pm, $18

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com

TUESDAY 9/3

Audra McDonald

What’s that you hear? It’s the sound of every Broadway maven, cabaret jazz aficionado, “Glee”-ful gay man, and fan of incredible music breaking piggy banks, shaking out gowns, and fluffing tuxes to glimpse the effervescent glory of show tune-blues soprano Audra McDonald at the SF Symphony Opening Gala. Singing selections from the American songbook like “Somewhere” and “I Could Have Danced All Night,” McDonald will highlight a jazzy night’s program, which includes George Antheil’s fracture-happy “A Jazz Symphony,” George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” and tons of free drinks, treats, and people-watching. McDonald’s hilarious, house-rocking performance at the Tonys with Neil Patrick Harris this year brought a new generation of Audra acolytes into the fold; expect the same wattage to light up Davies Symphony Hall. (Marke B.)

7pm-11pm, $160

Davies Symphony Hall

201 Van Ness, SF.

(415) 864-6000

www.sfsymphony.com

The Selector: August 21 – 27, 2013

Michael Redmond

-

August 20, 2013

0

God is dead?

WEDNESDAY 8/21

“German Summer Films”

Though the Goethe Institut’s latest film series is dubbed “German Summer Films,” it offers a refreshingly loose interpretation of the theme. For example, the first film, Color of the Ocean (2010), is from German director Maggie Peren, but it’s set in Spain’s Canary Islands, and features an international cast in its tale of a border patrol officer (Alex González) who meets a German woman (Sabine Timoteo) entangled with a Congolese refugee (Hubert Koundé). (That said, the second film in the series, 2005’s Summer in Berlin, is more or less the quintessential “German summer film.”) The rest of the series includes acclaimed German-Turkish director Fatih Akin’s 2000 In July; and a 2009 made-for-TV adaptation of Jack London’s Sea Wolf starring Sebastian Koch (2006’s The Lives of Others). (Cheryl Eddy)

Wednesdays through Sept 18

6:30pm, $5 donation

Goethe Institut San Francisco

530 Bush, Second Flr, SF

goethe.de/sanfrancisco

THURSDAY 8/22

Cool Ghouls

Bay Area natives Cool Ghouls are fun, reckless, rude garage-rock goofballs and they know it. It’s virtually impossible to attend one of their live shows and not feel the same chill vibes they give off. The group released its self-titled full-length debut album in April of this year, and has been playing shows on it locally since. The Ghouls’ scratchy-screamy vocals backed by playful guitar riffs and tumbling percussion resonated with the young SF crowds and landed them gigs most recently at Bottom of the Hill, the Chapel, Hemlock Tavern, Brick and Mortar, and the summery Phono del Sol fest. Their enjoyably sunny sound was the perfect match. If they get much bigger, their house-party image might have to expand. So catch them while you can, and while they’re still cool. (Hillary Smith)

With Lemme Adams, Black Cobra Vipers

9pm, $10

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

THURSDAY 8/22

Melvins

And they said a stoner metal cover of Roxy Music’s “In Every Dream Home a Heartache” couldn’t be done. Well, sludge metal veterans the Melvins are here to prove them wrong. The longstanding band is making a voyage to Slim’s to play its 2013 cover album, Everybody Loves Sausages. Get ready for things to get a little weird and campy, as a bunch of middle aged dudes play a diverse selection of tunes throughout the ages. Embarking on their 30th anniversary tour, the Melvins will be playing songs by artists such as freak folk band the Fugs, the dear and departed drag queen Divine (John Waters’ muse), Queen, David Bowie, and the Jam. In short: don’t miss this hit parade. (Erin Dage)

With Honky

9pm, $22

Slim’s

333 11th St, SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slimspresents.com

FRIDAY 8/23

No Age

The newest album from LA noise-punks No Age, An Object, seems almost restrained compared to the bombast of previous records like 2010’s Everything in Between. With An Object, there’s a sense of tense build-up without release, tightly coiled guitar lines over paranoid drumming, and faraway hollers on the Sub Pop record, which comes out Aug. 20. Like much arty post-punk, it makes you feel like you’re holding your breath for the entirety of the tracks, unable to unclench. Relax and settle in: the experiment of An Object is a success, and the album is worthy of passionate intake. Continuing down the experimental route, the duo takes its live show to a more unexpected location this time: the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. And if you miss this stop, No Age will be back in Oakland Sept. 28 for the Station to Station fest at 16th St. Station. (Emily Savage)

With Devin Gary and Ross, Sun Foot

7:30pm (doors at 5pm), $7

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

2625 Durant, Berk.

www.bampfa.berkeley

FRIDAY 8/23

Nahko and Medicine for the People

Aptly named, Nahko and Medicine for the People seem like some sort of sonic cure. Nahko Bear’s versatile vocals range from a howling, soulful croon to a bouncing, jovial talk-sing. The indefinable quality of the group is further pushed in lyrics “I am a killer whale, I am a lion, I am a panther, I am coyote, I’m just a human being on another fuckin’ journey,” in “Warrior People.” According to their website, Bear is joined on stage by “truth seekers for whom Nahko’s story resonates with their own.” Nahko himself was born a mix of Apache, Puerto Rican, and Filipino cultures and adopted into an American family. Consequently, he suffered from an identity crisis at a young age. The mission of the band is simply to make people feel good, and to give solace to the culturally alienated. They do all that and then some. (Smith)

With Saritah

9pm, $15

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF (415) 771-1421

www.theindependentsf.com

FRIDAY 8/23

The Parmesans

Local countrified indie-folksters the Parmesans released their full-length debut, Wolf Eggs, this week. The record’s full of swoony multipart harmonies, plucky instruments, and a chipper sense of hot-sauced humor. All of that is on fine display in track, “Load Up on Eggs and Bacon,” which begins with a solo voice, “when I wake up/I feel shaken” then layered barbershop quartet-style with additional harmonies, “load up on eggs and bacon,” and the sound of an egg cracking. Add to that the strings of guitars and mandolins and banjos, bellowing trumpet, and a light and tight rhythm section. Then bake on high. Oh, and be sure to check the new video for “JuJaJe,” also off Wolf Eggs; there’s no food involved, unfortunately, but the sparse little vid does feature the boys clowning around in various states of lounge. Perhaps there’ll be egg on their faces in the next one. (Savage)

With Before the Brave, Garden Party, Greg Downing

9pm, $10

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St, SF

www.theeparkside.com

SATURDAY 8/24

“Sneak Peek at the Fringe”

The colorfully creative chaos that is the 22nd San Francisco Fringe Festival is mere weeks away (it runs Sept. 6-21), but diehards and early birds can check out excerpts from works by eight local companies tonight. Among them: Amy K. Kilgard’s multi-character solo performance, Triskaidekaphobia: 13 Consumer Tragedies; Sean Andries and Siouxsie Q’s tale of a love affair between a mermaid and a tourist, Fish-girl; Maria Grazia Affinato’s autobiographical ode to her Italian family, Eating Pasta Off the Floor; and Genie and Audrey’s Dream Show!, featuring Genie Cartier, Audrey Spinazola, and a “cat piano.” For all the deets — and complete info on the upcoming full fest, visit the Fringe’s website. (Cheryl Eddy)

8pm, free

Exit Theatre

156 Eddy, SF

www.sffringe.org

SUNDAY 8/25

San Francisco Bacon and Beer Festival

For the first time ever, San Francisco will host an almighty bacon and beer fest. The Boston version of the event has sold out in under 10 minutes the past three years. Chefs from more than 25 Bay Area companies presenting their best bacon dishes and local craft breweries bringing out their finest for the $50 event are reasons enough to attend the unique gathering. If you’d like one more reason to spend the cash, take comfort in the fact that all admission proceeds will be donated to Sprouts Cooking Club. The club is a Bay Area organization that strives to teach children of all socio-economical backgrounds how to cook hands-on with real chefs, using real ingredients, in real restaurants. (Smith)

2:30pm, $50

Fairmont San Francisco Hotel

950 Mason, SF

(415) 772-5000

Facebook: San Francisco Bacon and Beer Festival

MONDAY 8/26

Deerhunter

Many who have flirted with musical greatness have also teetered on the fine line between eccentricity and insanity, and Deerhunter frontperson Bradford Cox is no exception. While the Atlanta band’s garage rock albums continue to receive glowing reviews and growing numbers of dedicated fans, Cox’s mental (in)stability has also been featured center stage in the group’s evolution. His charming eccentricities — rambling and semi-incoherent stage banter — are shadowed with more off-putting stunts, as when Cox responded to a fan’s snarky request for “My Sharona” with an hour-long cover of the song in Minneapolis. A Deerhunter show is many things — insane, beautiful, confusing, and frequently very moving — but there is one thing it will never manage to be. Bradford Cox will never be boring. (Haley Zaremba)

With Lonnie Holley, Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks

8pm, $21

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com

MONDAY 8/26

Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie

A trashy pop-culture icon, a chain smoker, a right-wing maniac, a finger-jabbing screamer so notorious his fans were called “Loudmouths:” Morton Downey Jr. was one of a kind, and that’s probably for the best. New documentary Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie screens tonight in San Rafael and opens August 28 at the Roxie; it looks at his legacy through clips of Downey’s train-wreck-in-progress talk show and features interviews with the likes of Pat Buchanan, Alan Dershowitz, and Sally Jesse Raphael. (Eddy)

7:15pm, $6.50–$10.75

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

1118 Fourth St, San Rafael

www.cafilm.org

MONDAY 8/26

Black Sabbath

Before reality television and famous flame-haired wives, even before that bloody bat-biting incident, Ozzy Osbourne was simply a wild-eyed young boy from a hardscrabble town who, together with guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward, formed the world’s first heavy metal group. Black Sabbath has become a hardened, bellowing legend, though in recent years was mostly relegated to playing metal fests like Mayhem, or Ozzy solo at Ozzfest. This year, however, the original group released its first new album together in decades, 13, a lumbering return to form produced by Rick Ruben. With it came instantly timeless first single, “God is dead?” an eight-minute metal epic. Beyond all the hype, myth, and druggy tabloid brouhaha, a vital band still stands before us, wicked as it ever was, and willing to crowd-please with old tracks mixed in with the new. According to live reviews of this headlining non-fest tour, the band has been opening with “War Pigs.” (Savage)

7:30pm, $40–$149.50

Shoreline Amphitheatre

One Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View

www.livenation.com

TUESDAY 8/27

The Breeders

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album Last Splash, ’90s favorites the Breeders released a special deluxe version of the record earlier this year on CD (a seven-disc vinyl version is set to drop next month on 4AD), featuring a host of bonus live tracks, demos, a photo booklet, and more. The classic lineup of the band — Kim and Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs and Jim MacPherson — has reunited and is promising Bay Area fans it will perform Last Splash, which was recorded right here in San Francisco, in its entirety, along with its seminal debut effort, Pod. (Sean McCourt)

8pm, $30

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-6000

www.thefillmore.com

mbv4-ever

Michael Redmond

-

August 20, 2013

17

arts@sfbg.com

MUSIC This is the reunion for which we dared not hope. Until this year, My Bloody Valentine’s genre-defining masterstroke of the shoegaze movement, 1991’s Loveless, was the last we had heard from the Irish-English band, and as a result, it was canonized as one of those pristine, “perfect” albums, frozen in time and untainted by inferior follow-ups.

And then, this past Groundhog Day, the unthinkable happened: after an excruciating, 22-year wait, and countless broken promises, bandleader Kevin Shields casually posted a new record, mbv, on the web, In Rainbows style, surprising his diehard fans with the legendary third album they had been hopelessly fantasizing about only a week before.

This Friday, My Bloody Valentine will pay a visit to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for its first SF show since the release of mbv.

Headed up by Shields (the band’s mastermind, principal guitarist, and sometimes-vocalist), and backed by Bilinda Butcher on guitars and vocals, Deb Googe on bass, and Colm Ó Ciosóig on drums, My Bloody Valentine kicked off its career in 1983 as a rather inconsequential, punk-ish pop band, before moving on to bigger things.

The You Made Me Realize EP and the group’s first full-length, Isn’t Anything, (both released in 1988) showed great promise, layering Jesus and Mary Chain-ish guitar squalls atop tender pop songs, with androgynous, barely intelligible vocals submerged in the surrounding fuzz. Equally seductive and menacing, this was the sound of the shoegaze genre taking form.

The subsequent release of Loveless presented a vivid realization of Shields’ musical vision, full enough to put him in a state of creative paralysis for the next two decades, unsure of where to go next. The songs were more harmonious this time around, often reminiscent of Brian Wilson in their structures and chord progressions. Also, the guitar sound was more rounded and hypnotic than ever before; songs like “Loomer” and “Come In Alone” found Kevin Shields using his “glide guitar” method to great effect, constantly pushing and pulling on the tremolo arm of his Fender Jaguar for a woozy, undulating sound, inviting the listener to get blissfully lost in the midst of it all. Upon its release, and even to this day, Loveless presented some of the most tactile, emotionally complex guitar rock ever committed to tape.

With the exception of a cover for a Wire tribute album, some soundtrack work for Sofia Coppola’s Lost In Translation, the occasional collaboration with Primal Scream or Patti Smith, and a brief reunion tour in 2009, Shields and My Bloody Valentine remained stagnant from’91 to February of this year. Over the course of those two decades, Loveless has built the kind of reputation normally reserved for recordings of the Beatles era; even Phish’s Trey Anstasio has proclaimed it the greatest album of the ’90s. Loveless‘ seminal blend of pop purity and uncompromising noise has spawned a thousand imitators, but no worthy successor, rendering the release of mbv an uncommonly big deal in the music world, even in a year dominated by comeback efforts, from David Bowie to Boards of Canada.

Despite the skeptical fans, who doubted Shields’ ability to recapture his singular sound or take it into new realms, the response to mbv was resoundingly positive. Tracks like “who sees you” and “only tomorrow” found Shields and Co. approaching the monolithically woozy Loveless aesthetic with a fuller, beefier production sound. Halfway through the record, “new you” blindsided the listener as the cleanest, poppiest song of My Bloody Valentine’s career, seemingly lifted from a party scene in a ’90s teen movie. “in another way” found the band channeling the angular jolt of the Isn’t Anything era, while “wonder 2” suggested a new path forward, blending drum’n’bass-y electronics with Shield’s famed “jet-engine” guitar sound.

Part of mbv‘s appeal stems from its utter disregard for modern trends and developments in the music world. This isn’t the sound of My Bloody Valentine recalibrated for the new millennium; the entire album sounds like it could’ve been recorded and produced in ’96, and as a result, we listeners have no idea what was recorded in the mid-’90s, and what was made last year. The listening experience, especially in that first week after its release, was poignant and affecting, like reuniting with a friend you haven’t seen in two decades, and picking up right where you left off. Few records can make you feel 15 again the first time you press play, and mbv was one of them.

While the band’s recent live dates have incorporated new songs into the mix, many things have remained the same: namely, its infamous closer “You Made Me Realize,” the title track from its first great EP, with a 20-minute, endurance-testing wall of noise tacked on the end. The song’s live rendition has made ears bleed around the world, and remains a hallmark of My Bloody Valentine’s live shows.

Now, in 2013, it’s back, with a followup to Loveless in tow, befitting of that album’s legendary reputation. It’s been a long time coming, but My Bloody Valentine has reemerged to save rock ‘n’ roll all over again. Bring earplugs; it’ll get loud.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE

With Beachwood Sparks, Lumerians

Fri/23, 8pm, $45

Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

99 Grove, SF

(415) 624-8900

www.billgrahamcivicauditorium.com

The Selector: August 14 – 20, 2013

Michael Redmond

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August 13, 2013

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WEDNESDAY 14

SPF6

Long before SF became hospitable to starts-up and high tech biz, it fostered dance innovation. No one in the city boasts this continued support more so than the Garage, the place with the red door that welcomes all-comers. Some of those choreographers, however, have outgrown the Garage’s limited studio space. Hence, the yearly Summer Performance Festival (SPF), which throws the spotlight on those ready for the bigger world. Last year SPF moved to ODC Theater, which was a great decision. ODC offers a superb, professional, yet still intimate environment. The eight 2013 choreographers — selected from 120 — are BodiGram, Jenni Bregman, Aura Fischbeck, Gretchen Garnett, Angela Mazziota, Milissa Payne, Nine Shards, and VinnicombeWinkler. Their pieces range from solos to a dozen or more dancers; from 15 to 45 minutes; inspired by, among others, kids drawings and hot air balloons. (Rita Felciano)

Through Fri/16, 7pm and 9pm, (Sat/17, also 4pm; Sun/18, 2pm, 4pm, 7pm), $10–$20

3153 17th St, SF

(415) 863-9834

www.odcdance.org

Ivan & Alyosha

Seattle band Ivan & Alyosha creates a beautifully feel-good take on folk and indie rock. However, the group’s songs are more than just catchy tunes. The band, which was formed by Tim Wilson and Ryan Carbary, delves into darker patterns and themes on songs like “Don’t Wanna Die Anymore,” an indignant and resolute track with soft melodies that speaks of repentance and death. This balance of fast-paced, catchy, foot-stomping rhythms with earnest, ballad-like vocals gives listeners a wide variety of moods to choose from. One of its most buzz-worthy songs seems to say it all — the band is “Easy to Love.” And this summer, Ivan & Alyosha has been hitting the venues hard, touring on the latest, highly acclaimed album All the Times We’ve Had, with a stop in SF tonight. Come and see just how easy it is to love the rising band. (Hillary Smith)

With the Record Company 8pm, $15

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

(415) 771-1421

www.theindependentsf.com

THURSDAY 15

Divisadero Art Walk

For better or worse (depends who you ask), Divisadero Street, between Geary and Haight, is undergoing a transformation. Some long-standing businesses (Blue Jay Café, Little Chihuahua, Fly Bar, the Page, NOPA) remain, while others have recently settled in that Alamo Square-ian, Panhandle-adjacent nook (Bi-Rite, Rare Device, the Mill, San Franpsycho). And yet, they all exist in basic brick-and-mortar harmony along Divis, and will showcase such familial spirits at the annual Divisadero Art Walk tonight. Journey down Divis to take in the basics: art shows, store discounts, food and drink, live music. Some offerings of note: Vinyl’s got Pizza Hacker craft pizza, the Page will have an extended happy hour till 9pm, and Madrone Art Bar hosts Fred Windisch’s surf photography from the 1960s, New Orleans piano music, and a free Night Fever Disco Party. Plus, the New Liberation Community Garden at 1100 Divisadero, a project of Neighbors Developing Divisadero and the New Liberation Church, will host SF Skate Club’s skate jam, a variety show, and jazz-inspired artwork. (Emily Savage)

5pm, free

Divisadero between Geary and Haight, SF

nddivis.org

Facebook: Divisadero Art Walk

“Neon Slime Double Feature!”

Everyone knows there’s beef between Los Angeles and San Francisco — and not just where baseball is concerned. But rivalries that run as deep as fault lines be damned: SoCal’s Cinefamily and our very own Roxie are making a star-spangled case for harmony — through movies! Trashy movies, no less! Cinefamily zips into town tonight carrying precious cargo: 35mm prints of 1984’s Angel (“honor student by day, Hollywood hooker by night!”) and 1982’s Vice Squad (two words: killer pimp), to be screened before San Francisco eyeballs hungry for garish, sleazy exploitation rarities. Together we can! (Cheryl Eddy)

Angel, 9:15pm; Vice Squad, 11pm, $12

Roxie Theater

3117 16th St, SF

www.roxie.com

Useless Children

Useless Children, a noisy hardcore act hailing from Australia, has made its way from down under to play with Seattle-based noise rock band Dream Decay, and North Bay stoner-garage act, the Vibrating Antennas. With its second album — 2012’s Post Ending // Pre-Completion — in tow, this will be Useless Children’s first time venturing into the US. The band, known for its chaotic sound, takes an artsy, more experimental approach to modern hardcore. And those supporters also pack a punch, both known for being rowdy and playing powerful live shows. If you like your music feedback-laden with murky distortion pedals, then this may be the show for you. Get ready for a night of violent noise rock in a bar. (Erin Dage)

8:30pm, $7

Hemlock Tavern

1131 Polk, SF

(415) 923-0923

www.hemlocktavern.com

Matatu Film Festival

The traveling Matatu Film Festival — named for a Swahili term that refers to ride-share taxis in Kenya and other East African countries — visits Oakland’s New Parkway Theater with films depicting “global journeys of humility, pride, resistance, and faith.” The fest opens tonight with Patricia Benoit’s story of Haitian immigrants in New York, Stones in the Sun (2012). It closes Sat/17 with Senegalese director Alain Gomis’ Tey (2012), about a man drifting through the last day of his life. (Both films are followed by tie-in music events at the nearby New Parish.) Among the other screenings: powerful docs God Loves Uganda and Stolen Seas (2012), well worth catching if you’ve missed them at previous local fests. (Eddy)

Through Sat/17

New Parkway Theater

474 24th St, Oakl

matatu.eventbrite.com

Best Coast

Under “biography” on Best Coast’s website, there is a single phrase: “Inspired by life and love and everything else.” Brief as it is, this little credo is really all one needs to know about Best Coast’s beach-bleached garage jangle. Frontperson Bethany Cosentino’s attention is sometimes attributed to her rock star boyfriend (Nathan Williams of Wavves) or her Internet-famous cat (the almighty Snacks) but after two successful albums — not to mention an unflaggingly devoted fan base —Best Coast’s catalog speaks for itself. The LA outfit’s simple, sunny pop songs are not particularly challenging, adventurous, or intellectual, but sometimes a hyper-listenable little slice of SoCal bliss is just what you need on a gray San Francisco day. (Haley Zaremba)

With Bleached

8pm, $25

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-6000

www.thefillmore.com

FRIDAY 16

Deadfest

Have you ever worried that you just didn’t have enough grindcore in your boring, monotonous life? For those who have had that terrifying thought, Oakland’s third annual Deadfest is the perfect remedy. Boasting headliners such as ’90s grindcore heroes Dropdead and sludge bands Noothgrush and Brainoil, this will be a weekend of hardcore not soon forgotten. In true grindcore tradition, there will be over a dozen bands in a short period of time each night on two stages. Get ready for an aural assault that will have your ears ringing for days. As the youngsters these days say: “See you in the pit!” Just a reminder: It’s best not to be 30 minutes late to this event, because you run the risk of missing two to three bands. (Dage)

Through Sat/17, 8pm, $15 per night

Oakland Metro Opera House

630 Third St, Oakl.

(510) 763-1146

www.oaklandmetro.org

SATURDAY 17

SF Street Food Fest

La Cocina’s annual San Francisco Food Street Festival gives locals the chance to sample cuisines from all over the world. Food trucks and booths line the streets at the festival in a pulsing, crowded mix of aromas and flavorful dishes like the Penang peanut tacos from Azalina’s, Peruvian ceviche from Cholo Soy, or beef pho rolls from Rice Paper Scissors. The Mozzeria stand can satisfy your cheese craving with the Margherita pizza — fresh mozzarella, pomodoro sauce, and basil. And if you desire a sweet and refreshing beverage, visit the Curry Up Now truck and try the Rose Lassi. The festival has an infinite amount of combinations, and it’s fun to try as many of them as your stomach, and wallet, will allow. Donations made at the festival support La Cocina’s business incubator program which aids early-stage entrepreneurs growing healthy, sustainable food businesses. (Smith)

11am-7pm, free

Folsom from 20th to 26th, SF

www.sfstreetfoodfest.com

“Eat a Bug! An Interactive Bug Cooking Workshop”

Oh sure, you call yourself a foodie. But would you dare snack on a scorpion or gnaw on a hairy tarantula leg? Test the limits of your taste buds (and earn some sweet bragging rights) with author David George Gordon, aka “The Bug Chef,” whose wholly unique Eat-a-Bug Cookbook contains such recipes as “Sheesh! Kabobs,” featuring “12 frozen katydids, locusts, or other suitably sized Orthoptera, thawed.” Gordon’s cooking demo is aimed at adventurous chefs of all ages — Fear Factor fans and planners of daring dinner parties alike. (Eddy)

1-3pm, $10-$20

San Francisco Botanical Garden

Golden Gate Park (near the corner of Ninth Ave and Lincoln), SF

www.sfbotanicalgardensociety.org

SUNDAY 18

San Francisco Mixtape Society: Camp

Bug juice and swimming holes, acoustic guitar strumming by the crackling fire and hand-braided friendship bracelets around your wrists, those sticky-sweet summer breezes whistling through the trees. Yes, the thought of summer camp tends to bring back warm and itchy memories for the lot of us who experienced such seasonal traditions in our youth (even for those who accidently went to Christian horse camp, but that’s another story). Put those nostalgic feelings to tape, or CD, or flash drive, then share them with that bright and bubbly SF Mixtape Society crowd tonight, at this newest installment of its quarterly gathering, centered around the theme of “Camp.” Maybe I’ll even make an accidently-religious-pony-camp mix to trade. Although, as the Mixtape Society smartly likes to keep its themes broad, the “Camp” distinction could lend itself to something else entirely, say, a campy Judy Garland track? As always, the meetup is open to all and free of charge, but you can only take a mix home if you bring your own to trade. Didn’t you ever learn the joy of sharing? (Savage)

4-6pm, free

Make-Out Room

3225 22nd St., SF

www.sfmixtapesociety.com

TUESDAY 20

The She’s

If you walked anywhere in the downtown area during July, you’re probably already familiar with the She’s. The band was featured by the Converse Represent campaign, and its image, pushing a drum kit up one of SF’s trademarked hills, has been boldly splashed around the city. Converse chose well. The She’s embody all the youth, DIY attitude, and vintage pop that San Francisco loves. Their debut album, appropriately titled Then It Starts To Feel Like Summer, retrofits dreamy ’60s pop with a crackling teenage energy (these ladies are still in high school) and they’re finishing up a much-anticipated EP, tentatively titled We’re not Best Coast (But They’re Cool Too). The band, which has credited much of its success to the open and supportive SF music scene, is giving back tonight at Bottom of the Hill, where it’s headlining this Save KUSF Benefit. (Zaremba)

With the Yes Go’s, False Priest

$10, 9pm

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St, SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

Before Outside Lands: Midi Matilda on its favorite live shows and OSL fantasies

Tony Robles

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August 1, 2013

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San Francisco based duo Midi Matilda has managed to worm its way into a corner of electro-pop music that is highly accessible. As the musicians put it, they aren’t DJs and they aren’t a live band either.

Whatever they are, they seem to be catching. After an early spring tour with Shiny Toy Guns, the pair released a cover of the Temptations “Just My Imagination,” in June which garnered close to 30,000 views in just two days. Plus, Midi Matilda’s debut EP Red Light District has acquired similar mass attention on YouTube.

As Midi Matilda’s Skyler Kilborn and Logan Grime are also set to play Outside Lands next week (Aug. 9-11 in Golden Gate Park), I chatted with them about live shows, the songwriting process, and their can’t-miss Outside Lands recommendations:

San Francisco Bay Guardian What was the last great live show you went to?

Skyler Kilborn In Sacramento at a place called Ace of Spades we saw Gold Fields, it was really awesome. The crowd [seemed] engaged the entire time. They got off stage, danced around, got on the bar, and kicked over somebody’s drink.

Logan Grime We’ve done a number of shows with guys from Capital Cities, it’s awesome to see how they’ve progressed over time, how much bigger their following has become. It was inspiring to see them.

SFBG What separates your performances from that of other artists?

LG A lot of people tell us they really enjoy the energy we bring to the stage. Our show has a lot of electronic elements to it; we don’t have people playing on stage. We both love to DJ and just make it a unique experience that‘s different from a lot of the things we’ve seen. We’re trying to push it in a new direction. We’re not DJs, or a full live band either. We’re trying something new and it’s working out so far.

SFBG What would you say is the best show you’ve performed this year, or any that really stick out?

LG For me it was headlining a show in San Francisco. We had played a lot more shows than we ever had in a year so far just in this year alone and so we were put in front of a lot of audiences that didn’t know who we were. After all that, playing a sold out show at a venue we really like in front of a lot of people.

SK It felt like the tour we just finished we played so many shows it got our performance to a new level. That show is a good example of us bringing ourselves to a level we hadn’t really achieved before, and the tour was a good way for us to practice.

SFBG Could you talk a little bit about song “Red Light District”? It’s also your EP title so it seems to have some significance.

SK It’s a very introspective tune, not really about the Red Light District. It can be if you want it to be, but it’s more about a state of mind. Bringing yourself up as opposed to bringing yourself down. Red Light District is a metaphor for bringing yourself down. It’s about connecting in a place where it’s better to bring yourself up than bring yourself down. Songwriting, at least for myself, it’s always about something I’m going through at the time. I think it’s important to access something real to you, at least as foundation for the idea. But I also think it’s fun to be a little more poetic and bring people directly to the point. Leading them there, but also giving them the opportunity to meet it at their level, wherever that is.

SFBG Are you guys looking forward to Outside Lands, are there any artists you’re definitely not going to miss?

LG The lineup this year is pretty amazing compared to some of the other years. This year’s strong in every day’s lineup. I know that no matter what I will not miss Paul McCartney. I’m excited to see so many bands.

SK I’ve been fantasizing about playing the festival since the first time I went in 2009. A group I actually love is Vampire Weekend. I have not seen them perform but I’ve listened to their music quite a bit and would love to see how they do it.

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

We are the weirdos, mister

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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July 10, 2013

0

emilysavage@sfbg.com

FILM RuPaul’s Drag Race season four winner Sharon Needles and boyfriend/season five finalist Alaska Thunderfuck rarely do live shows together. But for Peaches Christ, and her stage-and-screen showing of witchtacular occult movie The Craft (1996), they made an exception.

The Pittsburgh-based couple will star alongside one another in Christ’s Craft-based pre-movie play, as pure evil “Nancy” (originally played to perfection by wild-eyed, real life Wiccan actress Fairuza Balk) and Neve Campbell’s scarred and shy “Bonnie.” The rest of the gothy teen coven will be filled out by Christ as good witch “Sarah” and San Francisco’s first RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Honey Mahogany as “Rochelle.”

“It’s such a foursome vehicle,” Christ says in a phone call. “I said to Sharon, ‘how do you feel about working with your boyfriend?’ Obviously it makes more sense for them to split themselves up and do more gigs. And especially since Sharon was such a phenomenon and Alaska is now coming fresh off the show, and she was such a hit. But I said, ‘see if you’ll make an exception for me?'”

Christ has been sending up cult classics in San Francisco since 1998, and says that it’s become increasingly clear that she needs to keep looking for newly cult titles. (This November look out for 9 to 5 with Pandora Boxx , and likely, a Clueless send-up.) “[The Craft] was brought to my attention by some of my fans these past few years, so I rewatched it and determined like, oh my god, why did I ever dismiss this? It’s witchy goth girls. It’s everything, it’s grunge, it’s goth, it’s witch.”

And Thunderfuck and Needles were both enamored of the film from an early age.

“It was like, one of those movies that everyone knew and saw when I was in high school and it made us feel like we were witches too, which we weren’t, we were just like, nerdy theater kids,” Thunderfuck nasally says from a Best Western hotel in Chicago. “But it made us feel really badass. And everyone was a weirdo in high school anyway.”

“And I’m from the ’90s so the witchcraft was always there,” Needles adds.

The film has grown cult thanks to now-iconic scenes of the witches looking fierce at Catholic school, walking in a line down the hallways with sexy ’90s music filling the montages. Favorites scenes by the performers include the ones of the witches down at the beach, intensely invoking “Manon” then passing out after an electric bolt hits Nancy, or the next morning, walking by beached whales and sharks, or giddily casting spells on another while driving through town, or vividly messing with teen-queen parties, and throwing sleazy jerks out of windows.

During our conversation, Needles perfectly intones the Nancy line, “then why are you still bleeding?!”

“I’ll tell you, this was one of the hardest and most challenging stage plays I’ve ever had to write, because the movie is so full of moments that people love, trying to cram them into a 50-minute stage show was almost impossible — I had to go back in and kind of kill babies here and there,” Christ says. “My memory of it was that it was a lot tamer, and a lot more PG-13 then it is. It’s actually rated R and it’s harsh, and in some ways really horrifying. The way the girls treat each other, even despite the violence or the snakes — I hate snakes — just the meanness of the witches.”

That meanness should play out in some deviously amusing ways during Christ’s The Craft: Of Drag show before the film. The queens play themselves emulating characters in the movie, with key scenes thrown in (someone will get thrown out of a window, and there will be a levitating “light as a feather, stiff as a board” moment) — but with a Drag Race twist. The reason the witches all turn on Christ’s “Sarah” this time, is because she’s never been on Drag Race.

This inevitably leads to the question of why not? “I don’t think I’d survive,” Christ says. “I’ve said this to Sharon, I admire them so much for being able to go on that show but Peaches is a very established character that I’ve been doing for a long, long, long time, so it’s very hard for me in a lot of ways to be flexible. You know, I always wear that Bozo the Clown paint, and I just know I’d be ripped to shreds,” she says. Though she has been sending out signals to producers World of Wonder and RuPaul that she should come on as a guest judge for a hypothetical Scream Queen challenge.

It was the show, however, that first introduced her to Needles — Elvira was the guest judge on the first episode of Needles’ season, and she fell in love with the queen (who spurts blood from her mouth during her runway walk). Elvira immediately told Christ, and that’s why she first reached out to Needles, last year.

Along with heaps of praise for Elvira, and the show in general, Needles and Thunderfuck both tell me the drama in their seasons was all real.

Says Needles, “When you take 13 adult males and dress them up like teenage girls, take away their cigarettes and booze, and force them in front of a camera for 16 hours a day for two months, you don’t need a producer or a storyboard, it writes itself.”

PEACHES CHRIST PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS THE CRAFT

Sat/13, 3pm and 8pm, $25

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

www.castrotheatre.com

Devil may care

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June 26, 2013

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emilysavage@sfbg.com

TOFU AND WHISKEY Unlike most anticipated albums these days, Austra‘s sophomore LP, Olympia (June 18, Domino Records), came out in gleaming little drops. There were no leaked full downloads — at least, nothing massively widespread. But the sparkly bits that did trickle out, namely first single “Home” and its follow-up, “Painful Like,” were enough to build interest.

The Canadian synth-pop six-piece already had a built-in audience, thanks to 2011’s Feel It Break, mostly created by darkly operatic lead vocalist Katie Stelmanis, former Trust vocalist Maya Postepski on drums, and bassist Dorian Wolf, and made almost exclusively on a computer. Now a more fully realized unit using live instrumentation, the group, which also includes keyboardist Ryan Wonsiak and supernatural twin backing vocalists Sari and Romy Lightman, created the lush, full-bodied second record together in a studio. And it shows: there’s a richness to the sound. There’s a steady dance beat throughout the record, with the addition of sounds like cowbells and even more barreling percussion underneath all those moody vocals wailings and subtle piano keys.

“We have so much percussion on the album, I had days where I would just play all day,” Postepski says from Switzerland, on the group’s brief tour through Europe. “I think it added to the richness to it, and the realness of the sound. As much as it is an electronic record, we wanted it to have a balance with real instruments.”

That first released track “Home” seduced critics earlier this spring with a more upbeat style than typical of Austra, yet the lyrics are again deeply personal for Stelmanis, about someone not coming home at night because they’re out getting wasted, and the desperate feeling of waiting for that person to return.

Sonically, second single, “Painful Like” gets more to the core of what the group does best, meshing gothy dancefloor-ready beats and bubbly synth with crashing drums and Stelmanis’ otherworldly vocals on display.

The lyrics were inspired by “the disillusionment of growing up gay in a small town and finding solace in the arms of a lover.”

Stelmis told Spinner in 2011, “Indie music is funny. It’s really not as queer positive as you would think. In a lot of ways, it’s very centered around white men, basically. I just want there to be space for gays.”

She seems to have taken that to heart on Olympia, including even more of herself than on Feel it Break.

“The lyrics on the new album are personal, intimate reflections of what Stelmanis is going through,” Postepski says.

The new record contains hints of other moody synth-based projects like former tourmate Grimes, the Knife, and Zola Jesus, though Postepski says she almost exclusively listens to music made before 1995, specifically Grace Jones and David Bowie. She does make an exception for British techno producer Andy Stott. “That’s where all the super low bassy stuff comes from,” she explains.

While many of the tracks follow the same formula, Olympia is packed with emotional dancefloor moments. It’s the kind of record that could soundtrack a crying fit in a dark club bathroom, mascara bleeding down the face, strangers surrounding the mirror, all of the drama inherent in nightlife, then follow the main character triumphantly back out onto the floor.

“As much as it is a serious album, there’s a lot of playfulness as well,” Postepski says. “I think we struck a good balance.”

Austra, which has toured internationally with groups like the XX, Grimes, and the Gossip will test the balance on a quick jaunt through the States, only stopping in a few major cities. One lucky enclave is San Francisco — the group plays here this week (Wed/26, 8pm, sold out. Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF). Noted for its creative use of stage layout and synchronized twin dance movements (“they’re kind of like our cheerleaders!”), Austra has a lot to live up to at its live shows. Postepski tells me this very short tour includes a massive, beautiful new backdrop, rented from the Chinese Opera Group in Toronto.

“People are having fun at the shows. I just want it to be a dance party, you know?” Postepski says.

There’s another group traveling to San Francisco this week that also will likely be filling up the dancefloor — and, coincidentally, also has toured with the Gossip — Magic Mouth. To get a taste of the explosive energy Magic Mouth exudes, check the YouTube video “MAGIC MOUTH LIVE: MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS,” it’s like watching James Brown front a garage-punk band. The lively Portland, Ore. queer soul-punk quartet will play Hard French Hearts Los Homos (an event described by DJ Carnita as “an intergalactic Pride Party for all the gayliens who love to dance in outer space”).

Magic Mouth will open for fellow Northwesterners, Seattle’s THEESatisfaction at the event hosted by Lil Miss Hot Mess (Sun/30, 4-11pm, $20. Roccapulco, 3140 Mission, SF; hardfrenchpride2013.eventbrite.com). This will be the band’s second time in SF, after stopping by El Rio last fall. But other tours have taken the group around the country opening for the Gossip, and JD Sampson’s MEN.

Magic Mouth has a glut of reasons to be keyed up for the SF show.

“I’m really looking forward to playing with THEESatisfaction. We’ve been admirers of theirs from afar for a minute and in kind of the same music community,” says frontperson Chanticleer Trü. “And also to celebrate at Hard French, because we love what they do.”

Guitarist Peter Condra adds, “And I’m excited to play a party that’s dedicated to a political cause, which is Bradley Manning. With what went down in San Francisco Pride, I think that fueled the organizers’ enthusiasm about the topic and I want to help them create awareness in any way we can as a band. I think it’s cool they took a stance on that.”

A crash course on those events: The LGBTQ community was torn apart when the SF Pride Board rescinded the election of Wikileaker Bradley Manning to the position of Community Grand Marshal at this year’s Pride celebration. There are planned actions and marches in support of Manning (see pTK) at the Pride parade, June 30.

So yes, Magic Mouth comes to us on a mission of both solidarity and fun. And likely, to gain new fans.

The group’s electric Believer EP saw release in 2012, and now it’s in the process of finishing up another, Devil May Care, which was funded with $10,000 raised through Kickstarter. The foursome worked on the record with Nathan Howdeshell and Hannah Blilie of the Gossip, who walked the band through the process, gave feedback, and connected Magic Mouth with a producer. Devil May Care will be released on vinyl in late summer.

“I’m really proud of this record,” Trü says.

Drummer Ana Briseño says, “Yeah, I think it’s taking us into the next level, a little more grownup, of taking this band seriously. The quality of the recording, and getting to put it out on vinyl, and being able to be involved in the artwork — I think we’re really lucky and not a lot of bands make it to that point.”

“In comparison to our first EP, which we recorded like, between two of our friends’ bedroom studios,” Trü says. “It’s definitely been an evolution, and this time around I feel like we really captured the type of energy we bring to a live performance.”

The band formed in 2010 when Briseño and guitarist Peter Condra met and started talking about music — Nina Simone being the uniting interest. Briseño and Condra started playing garage rock versions of Simone songs, and eventually created their own, which brought them to Trü and bassist Brendan Scott (Condra and Scott had played together before in a cover band). “And Trü was definitely feeling the Nina Simone thing we were channeling,” Condra says.

The group says it’s now actualizing its influences. The band members have already played with one influence in the Gossip and is about to play with another in THEESatisfaction, but future goal spots would be alongside Erykah Badu or Blood Orange. I mishear Trü, thinking he mentioned Beyonce also, so ask for clarification. He laughs and says, “no, but you must be reading my mind.”

THE WHITE BARONS/WILD EYES

Some background: local Southern fried rock group (“by way of Atlanta, Jakarta, and two Midwest podunk towns”) the White Barons includes members of Thee Merry Widows, Winter Teeth, and Whiskey Dick Darryls, and SF’s Wild Eyes recently opened for King Khan and BBQ Show at Slim’s. This Bender’s show is a party for a few things: it’s the birthday of Bender’s doorperson and Subliminal SF booker Mikey Madfes, it’s a split seven-inch release celebration for the White Barons and Wild Eyes, and lastly, there’s a band vs. band chili cookoff (if you buy a record, you’ll get a chili sample). So you know it’s going to be a messy mix of raucous rock’n’roll and tender cooked meats.

Sat/29, 10pm, $5. Bender’s Bar and Grill, 806 S. Van Ness, SF; www.bendersbar.com.

Our Weekly Picks

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June 25, 2013

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WEDNESDAY 26

Dita Von Teese

With a seductive and sexy nod to the past, modern pin-up and burlesque queen Dita Von Teese has been at the forefront of reviving a nearly lost art form for two decades now. Bringing back the sense of classic style and glamour of the golden days of Hollywood and meshing it with the tantalizing teasing of the old-time burlesque circuit, Von Teese returns to the city this week with her “Burlesque: Strip, Strip, Hooray!” show, a live revue featuring not only her own titillating talents, but a host of other performers as well, including Dirty Martini, Catherine D’Lish, and Lada Nikolska from the legendary “Crazy Horse Paris.”

(Sean McCourt)

Through Fri/28, 7:30pm, $40

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-6000

www.thefillmore.com

“Harvey Milk 2013”

The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the world’s first chorus comprised of openly gay men, had its first unofficial public performance at a candlelight vigil for Harvey Milk. The group has since become known for its dazzling holiday concerts, but its historical origins mean it’s fitting that — as part of its 35th anniversary celebration — SFGMC is presenting the world premiere of I Am Harvey Milk. Starring its composer Andrew Lippa as Milk, with guest soprano Laura Benanti, this blend of theater and choral works traces the courageous life of the slain politician, with accompaniment by the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony. (Cheryl Eddy)

Wed/26-Fri/28, 8pm, $25-60

Nourse Theatre

201-299 Hayes, SF

www.sfgmc.org

THURSDAY 27

Clay Shirky

“I’m trying to figure out what difference communications technologies makes to society,” Clay Shirky remarked in a 2011 interview. “What is it about the Internet, what is it about mobile phones, applications built on top of them, that changes how we behave.” The New York University professor has become one of the world’s foremost authorities on gauging how technology has shifted social action. His 2010 book Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age outlined how web tools have provided new opportunities for creation in place of consumption, pointing out dynamics such as self-publication and charitable crowdfunding. Shirky has championed government transparency in recent editorials exploring the high-profile leaks of US surveillance programs. (Kevin Lee)

6:30 p.m., $20 (member, $12; students $7)

Commonwealth Club

595 Market, SF

(415) 597-6700

www.commonwealthclub.org

Tommy Davidson

Comedian Tommy Davidson might be offensive, but his keen observations about the absurdity of our daily lives and his animated delivery guarantee laughs. His ability to comment on situations that arise in all walks of life ensures everyone has something to chuckle about through his bits. Known for his roles in the ’90s hit sketch show In Living Color, films like Strictly Business (and OK, Juwanna Mann) and most recently in the spotlight for his character Cream Corn on Adult Swim’s cartoon Black Dynamite, Davidson tours pretty infrequently, so catch him while you can — likely offering fresh takes on old habits. (Hillary Smith)

8pm and 10pm, $24-26

Yoshi’s

1330 Fillmore, SF

(415) 655-5600

yoshis.com/sanfrancisco

FRIDAY 28

Y La Bamba

Indie-folk rocker group Y La Bamba has been steadily building a fan base over the past couple of years, earning high praise from NPR and loaning songs to television programs such as Bones. The Portland-based band’s hauntingly rich and ethereal sound is propelled by singer-songwriter Luzelena Mendoza, whose vocals float and weave tales above Latin-inspired rhythms and unique backing vocals. Its latest full-length album, last year’s Court The Stormwas produced by Los Lobos member Steve Berlin, and an excellent EP, Oh February was released this January. (McCourt)

9pm, $12–$15

Chapel

777 Valencia, SF

(415) 551-5157

www.thechapelsf.com

Japanther

Japanther lets everything go in its performances. Punk is its staple, and the group is known for fuzzy overtones and generally sloppy delivery. All this culminates into weird, disorienting live shows. But whether the band drops five Ramones covers on you or blasts into its own songs (likely off newest album, Eat Like Lisa Act Like Bart) with a raw, unpredictable energy, it will be fun. Keep an eye out for the duo’s signature telephone microphones and the more-often-than-not shirtless bat-shit drummer. (Smith)

With Defiance, Ohio, Psilovision

9pm, $12

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

SATURDAY 29

San Francisco FrontRunners Pride Run

For folks who love to sweat, there’s no better way to celebrate Pride than with veteran LGBT running club the San Francisco FrontRunners, who’ve hosted this event for over three decades. Choose the 5K or the 10K by asking yourself “How many times do I want to haul ass up that hilly stretch of Golden Gate Park’s JFK Drive?” — but remember, the emphasis here is mos def on fun. Sure, some speed demons do turn out (last year’s 5K winner clocked in at just over 18 minutes), but casual joggers are also in effect, as are Pink Saturday-themed athletic ensembles. Upbeat DJs and tasty food at the finish line add to the festive atmosphere. (Eddy)

9am, $40

Golden Gate Park (near Metson and Middle Dr. West), SF

www.sffr.org

In A Daughter’s Eyes

Two women, two very different circumstances: the first, the daughter of a Black Panther sentenced to death for killing an Oakland cop; the second, the daughter of the slain man. Locked in a room together, how will the women negotiate their differences — and is there any chance of forgiveness and healing? Brava! For Women in the Arts and Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience present award-winning playwright A. Zell Williams’s In A Daughter’s Eyes in its West Coast debut; though it features just one location and only two characters, expect a powerful, intense story, guided by the sure hand of veteran director Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe. (Eddy)

Through July 14

Previews Thu/27-Fri/28, 8pm; opens Sat/29, 8pm; runs Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm, $15

Brava Theater Center

2781 24th St, SF

www.brava.org

The Juan MacLean (DJ Set)

After years of producing quality electro-disco-club music for DFA Records (home to legendary sometimes-retired LCD Soundsystem), DJ and producer the Juan MacLean (stage name for John Maclean) has leapt head first into a stripped-down, nu-house sound. With vocalist and longtime collaborator Nancy Whang, MacLean released the cool, classy “You Are My Destiny” this March, completing a shift that may have taken root as far back as 2011 with his Peach Melba side project. Transitions are standard practice for the former hardcore guitarist turned electronic music artist, who has collaborated with LCD Soundsystem, !!!, and Holy Ghost! and remixed Yoko Ono and Stevie Nicks. In the midst of a relentless international tour schedule, MacLean signaled his return to dance music prominence earlier this month with a set on BBC Radio 1’s prestigious Essential Mix program. (Lee)

With Kim Ann Foxman, Blacksheep

9pm, $10–$20

Monarch

101 Sixth St., SF

(415) 284-9774

monarchsf.com

SUNDAY 30

Deltron 3030

If you’ve lived in SF for at least a year, then you probably know about Stern Grove’s awesomely free and diverse ongoing music festival. But if not, this summer-long (June 16-Aug.18) series offers the community a chance to get outside and enjoy nature while picnicking with live musical accompaniment. The beautiful, towering eucalyptus trees, redwoods, and grassy meadows provide the best possible settings for a summer music festival. This Sunday’s lineup features dance hip-hip super group Deltron 3030. Rapping about evil corporate Goliaths and space battles, often alongside an orchestral band, Deltron 3030’s performance is anything but typical. The festival itself is always worth checking out, but the group makes this Sunday’s show one of the highlights of summer. (Smith)

2pm, free

Stern Grove

19th Avenue and Sloat, SF

www.sterngrove.org

“Science On Screen: The Science of Baseball”

Hey, batter! There are very few Bay Area residents who don’t have an opinion on which baseball team to root for (default consensus: “L.A. sucks”), but there’s more to the game than trash talk and World Series trophies. Indeed, there’s some pretty serious science behind all those curve balls and home runs, and who better to break it down than the Exploratorium’s David Barker and Linda Shore? (Check out the museum’s clever and educational “Science of Baseball” site at exploratorium.edu/baseball.) Using clips from documentaries and Hollywood films, the duo gets into the nitty-gritty of baseball’s complex biomechanics — so the next time you watch Hunter Pence step up to the plate, you’ll be able to spot the physics behind his hitting prowess. (Eddy)

7pm, $12

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

1118 Fourth St, San Rafael

www.cafilm.org

TUESDAY 2

Pure Bathing Culture

Listen to Portland, Oreg.-via-Brooklyn duo Pure Bathing Culture’s ethereal, synth-laced cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” and you’ll likely tumble into a web search hole, digging out other soundscape-y Fleetwood Mac covers to quench your newfound obsession (likely finding that PBC’s is still tops). Crawl out of the hole and face your new favorite, Pure Bathing Culture, head on by grabbing a hold of 2012’s self-titled EP, an ode to dreamy 1980s pop produced by Richard Swift. Then note influences like Talk Talk and Cocteau Twins expanding on recently released tracks off upcoming debut full-length, Moon Tides. Band members guitarist Daniel Hindman and keyboardist Sarah Versprille have contributed in the past to records by Foxygen and Damien Jurado, but together as Pure Bathing Culture, they form a loosely wound union of shimmering guitars, twinkling synths, and delicate vocals, twisting along a well-worn path. (Emily Savage)

With Cocktails, Cannons and Clouds, CoolGreg

9pm, free

Brick and Mortar Music Hall

1710 Mission, SF

(415) 800-8782

www.brickandmortarmusic.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, 225 Bush, 17th Flr., SF, CA 94105; or e-mail (paste press release into e-mail body — no 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.

What we do is secret

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May 28, 2013

2

emilysavage@sfbg.com

TOFU AND WHISKEY Bay Area garage pop quintet the Mantles will release Love Enough to Leave on Slumberland Records next month (June 18) and play the Rickshaw Stop a few short days before that (June 14). The breezy group formed in 2007, but sounds like it could just have easily been hanging out at Vesuvio in Jack Kerouac Alley or across the street at Specs Bar in 1968, grasping stiff drinks and talking politics and fashion with local drunks.

Although, singer-guitarist Michael Olivares, wife and drummer Virginia Weatherby, and their new dog Jumbo moved to Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood last year thanks to rising rents in Bernal Heights, where they formerly lived. So that old-time SF scenario isn’t quite as picturesque as conjured. But the band still bleeds Bay Area. Olivares and Weatherby frequent nearby 1-2-3-4 Go! Records for vinyl, and the Night Light, the Hemlock, the Knockout, and El Rio for live shows. The band recorded its new album with local legend Kelley Stoltz, and the other three band members — keyboardist Carly Putnam, bassist Matt Roberts and, newish lead guitarist Justin Loney — live scattered throughout SF, in the Tenderloin and the Mission.

Plus, it’s really more the sound that evokes those vintage tastes, those early Nuggets-esque psych-pop ideals. Olivares gets the comparisons and appeal, though hopes his band does not come off as just a carbon copies of the past (it doesn’t). “We definitely like all of that music and other things from that era, that culture,” he says. “We’re aware enough though that I hope to not become just a blatant revivalist band that’s trying to wear tie-dye shirts and bell-bottoms or something.”

But still, the favorable comparison is applicable, “Most of the music I listen to is from that era, the ’60s and ’70s, so I’d say we’re pretty heavily influenced by it.”

This may come as no surprise to listeners still besotted with the Mantles’ self-titled 2010 debut (Siltbreeze), with its nimbly Byrds-like appeal. Yes, three years later (and EP Pink on Mexican Summer in between) the mood remains upbeat, but like the musicians who created it, there’s an older wisdom to the approach.

There’s a seen-it-all-before strength from tracks off Love Enough to Leave such as “Brown Balloon” and only slightly more solemn album closer “Shadow of Your Step.” It’s like the group time-warped and took those free-wheeling early folk popsters back to the garage with them, plugged in and showed them proto-punk, then had a serious conversation about what would happen to the Bay Area in 2013: housing prices will rise again, there will be this thing called the web that changes everything.

When asked what’s changed since he first moved to SF a decade ago, Olivares says it seems like bands have gone poppier (including his own), but also notes there’s been a shift in the sheer number of house shows in SF proper.

He says their migration to the East Bay loosely influenced title track, “Long Enough to Leave,” and “Don’t Cross Town.”

Conversely, there are some more character-based tracks inspired by books and films like Mike Leigh’s comedic camping ode Nuts in May (1976), including jangly opener “Marbled Birds” and the illusory single “Hello,” which initially seems like a pleasant conversation. Cheery to begin with, it feels like candy and turquoise rotary telephones in teenage bedrooms (a ruse, the band members are all actually in their early 30s). But then, it gets to the line, “Hello/Maybe you can help me get out of here.” Ah, the hook, and out comes the reverb. Olivares told me it was actually about a time when his friend in France was sending postcards and he kept forgetting to respond.

While the Mantles may evoke vintage San Francisco, there’s something moving in this week that’s entirely new to the area and musical landscape. The America’s Cup Concert Series at the America’s Cup Pavilion (between Piers 27/29), stricken by neighborhood complaints, finally soldiers forward (but now down to 30 concerts from 40). It’ll be SF’s largest venue — holding up to 9,000 classic rock fans in an outdoor concert bulb connected to the equally maligned America’s Cup. Teamed up with Live Nation, the Pavilion will host a barrage of top 40 acts including Imagine Dragons this weekend, Fri/31, (already sold out).

Then there’ll be Sting, the Steve Miller Band, Counting Crows with the Wallflowers, 311, Train, Sammy Hagar, and it goes on. It’s a rather stale line-up, perhaps best suited for those legitimately excited for the boat races. The youngest group is the Jonas Brothers, after that Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco (all well into their 30s). Perhaps the only really interesting additions are Weezer and the symphony. Here’s hoping the neighbors don’t keep complaining.

BAY FEVER

And now, a little spring-cleaning for Tofu and Whiskey. Some Bay Area bands are killing it in late May and June. Dreams in the Rat House (Hardly Art), the explosive new full-length from Oakland trio Shannon and the Clams dropped last week. As noted when the single “Rip Van Winkle” was released, the kings and queen of surfy doo-wop have kept up their hip-shaking guitar lines and voracious vocals with a joyfully trashy edge. There’s also now a mini doc on the band, OutofFocus TV’s “American Music Episode 6: featuring Shannon and the Clams,” which you can check on Youtube and Vimeo.

In it, Shannon Shaw, Cody Blanchard, and drummer Ian Amberson (who quit sometime during filming apparently) struggle to describe their band, which leads to a great video edit that includes snippets of each saying words such as “fantastical, ballads, cozy, weirdo, Muppet, punk, oldies.” shannonandtheclams.com. Song to check: “Rip Van Winkle”

After what seems like an eternity (three years and a brief hiatus) Rogue Wave will release new record Nightingale Floors Tue/4 on Vagrant Records. It’s the band’s fifth studio album, and newest since 2010’s Permalight. On Nightingale Floors, bandleader Zach Rogue and longtime drummer Pat Spurgeon battle out demons (death, personal tragedies) and come out the other end with trusted jangly guitars, Rogue’s delicate vocals that still sound like an old friend telling stories, and Spurgeon’s expert off-time drumming — a sharp new release produced by John Congleton (who also produced Rogue’s solo effort, Release the Sunbird). In addition to Rogue and Spurgeon, Nightingale Floors includes contributions by bassist Masanori Mark Christianson, guitarist Peter Pisano, vocalist Jules Baenziner (Sea of Bees) and Mwahaha’s Ross Peacock on synths.

The record seems to take listeners on a narrated life trip, through “College” and “Figured It Out” to the “Siren’s Song,” finally settling on the inevitable with twinkly “When Sunday Morning Comes” and unhurried “Everyone Want to Be You.” Rogue Waves plays the Independent July 13. roguewavemusic.com. Song to check: “No Magnatone”

And then there’s Oakland’s Mortar and Pestle. On its self-titled new full-length, the band projects a vibe akin to a trippier Little Dragon. There are bouncy keyboard lines and scattered found-sound touches boosted by the lush, dreamy vocals of lead singer Janaysa Lambert. On first single “U.V” there’s even the familiar ping-ping-ping of a classic pinball game, forcing you to picture the full Mortar and Pestle set-up placed neatly between games in a 1980s arcade. The synth-pop trio is also one of the first acts to see release on Metal Mother’s new label-collective, Post Primal, so you know it has her stamp of approval. www.mortarandpestlemusic.com Song to check: “Pristine Dream.”

Tech workers aren’t all evil

Andrew Lam

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May 14, 2013

59

Read the full original blog post this op-ed was drawn from here.

OPINION I hear a lot of talk, especially from my own queer community, about how “tech people” are ruining San Francisco. From skyrocketing rent prices and disappearing diversity to economic and cultural ruination, the tech community has become the scapegoat for a lot of the problems we are facing in the city as a whole. As a tech worker, I’m writing this to say: wake up and direct your anger at the real sources of these problems.

First of all, let’s get one thing straight. The vast majority of “tech people” in San Francisco don’t make nearly as much money as you think they do. We are not all making six-figure salaries, we are not personally driving up rent costs, and we are not killing the cultural community here. Simply put, we are trying to further our careers and make the city we call home a nicer place to live.

From day one of living in San Francisco, I’ve put blood sweat and tears into building the cultural community in SF (music, mostly), and I’ll never stop doing that. I first moved here with my husband in 2006 from Indiana. I immediately immersed myself in the music scene here, forming a touring band and quickly becoming a booker and promoter for live shows. It wasn’t until several years into my time here that I snuck my way into the tech industry. Here I am, five years into my tenure at Bay Area music tech startup Thrillcall, hustling every day to help build music communities not only in SF, but across the country.

The tipping point for me, to be honest, was the nonsense of people beating up a Google bus piñata in the Mission, shouting epithets about how they’re the bane of San Francisco. The people that ride those buses are not to blame. They are not heading up that company, they don’t make millions of dollars, and they certainly don’t deserve the hatred being directed at them by many people here in San Francisco.

You know what is ruining San Francisco? Complacency. Apathy. Misguided hate. Inaction. Put some energy into making change, not senseless whining.

If you’re upset about rising rent costs, be angry at the money-hungry landlords that do absolutely nothing to put money back into the city or help build culture. Want SF prices to stop skyrocketing? Let’s organize and drive proposals with our city government. Upset about the recent sanitization of many of the lovely traditions and values of San Francisco? Get mad at Sup. Scott Weiner, who is actually supported by a lot of longtime, non-tech residents. Want more culture, arts, music? Maybe try reaching out to people that can help in the tech world instead of complaining about everything going downhill.

We are not the companies we work for, however large or small. Corporations, for the most part, suck.

We’re not the douche bags you think we are. Let’s put our energy toward doing good, instead of just pointing fingers. We all know that. Demonizing the people that work for them (while contributing to this wonderful city) is baseless, classless, and makes you look like a total dick.

A great deal can be accomplished if people take an active role toward coexisting, rather than shouting “ENEMY!” to anyone who will listen.

Johnny Koch is promotional manager, artist management, and site administrator at Thrillcall.

Hey, you! “Tech people” are not the douchebags you think we are

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks

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May 10, 2013

166

Hey, you! “Tech people” are not the douchebags you think we are

I hear a lot of talk, especially from my own queer community, about how “tech people” are ruining San Francisco. From skyrocketing rent prices and disappearing diversity to economic and cultural ruination, the tech community has become the scapegoat for a lot of the problems we are facing in the city as a whole. As a tech worker, I’m writing this to say: wake up and direct your anger at the real sources of these problems.

First of all, let’s get one thing straight. The vast majority of “tech people” in San Francisco don’t make nearly as much money as you think they do. We are not making six-figure salaries, we are not personally driving up rent costs, and we are not killing the cultural community here. Simply put, we are trying to further our careers and make the city we call home a nicer place to live.

From day one of living in San Francisco, I’ve put blood sweat and tears into building the cultural community in SF (music, mostly), and I’ll never stop doing that. I first moved here with my husband in 2006 from Indiana. We fell deeply in love with the city while visiting several times early on in our relationship, and knew this was where we wanted to call home. Of course queer acceptance came into play, but I loved the fact that the city had a life of its own, an entity with which I felt a kinship. I immediately immersed myself in the music scene here, forming a touring band and quickly becoming a booker and promoter for live shows. It wasn’t until several years into my time here that I snuck my way into the tech industry. Thankfully all those hours spent in my parent’s basement as a child on the computer helped! Here I am, five years into my tenure at Bay Area music tech startup Thrillcall, hustling every day to help build music communities not only in SF, but across the country.

I bust my ass doing this for modest pay just to get ahead and know I’m working in a field (music) that I love. I know many others like myself who have day jobs in the tech community that do the same.

However, accusations that I’ve been hearing lately would have you believe otherwise. Claims that “people like us” are ruining San Francisco by gentrifying everything and pushing out what San Francisco truly is. Protip: the Bay Area has, for quite some time now, been a hub for technology. This is not a new thing. Stop acting like it is. Directing anger towards us for what you consider woes to the community at large here is way off base. Bubbles have happened constantly since the early 1990s (or hey, 1840s), and anyone who has lived here for long can tell you this is true.

The tipping point for me, to be honest, was the nonsense of people beating up a “Google Bus” piñata in the Mission, shouting epithets about how they’re the bane of San Francisco. The people that ride those buses are not to blame. They are not heading up that company, they don’t make millions of dollars, and they certainly don’t deserve the hatred being directed at them by many people here in San Francisco.

They’re utilizing a method of mass transportation (cutting down on carbon footprint) provided by their employer. If you want to be angry about something, be angry at the company, not the people who work for it. If you want to actually do something about it (beating a piñata in a public place solves nothing), then take your grievances to the heads of the companies you think are responsible for the predicament that San Francisco currently finds herself in.

You know what is ruining San Francisco? Complacency. Apathy. Misguided hate. Inaction. Put some energy into making change, not senseless whining.

If you’re upset about rising rent costs, be angry at the money-hungry landlords that do absolutely nothing to put money back into the city or help build culture. Want SF prices to stop skyrocketing? Let’s organize and drive proposals with our city government. Upset about the recent sanitization of many of the lovely traditions and values of San Francisco? Get mad at a-holes like Scott Weiner, who is actually supported by a lot of longtime, non-tech residents. Want more culture, arts, music? Maybe try reaching out to people that can help in the tech world instead of complaining about everything going downhill.

A vast majority of the tech workers here in SF are upwardly mobile, culturally involved people. We are not ruining this city. We live here for much more than just the jobs we have. We love it, and it’s where we call home. We have as much control over the cost of living here as everybody else. And we are not the companies we work for, however large or small. Corporations, for the most part, suck. We all know that. Demonizing the people that work for them (while contributing to this wonderful city) is baseless, classless, and makes you look like a total dick.

We’re not the douchebags you think we are. Let’s put our energy toward doing good, instead of just pointing fingers. A great deal can be accomplished if people took an active role toward coexisting, rather than shouting “ENEMY!” to anyone who will listen.