What a momentous way to kick off the week: Barack Obama’s second inauguration falling on MLK Jr. Day, and with tear-inducing performances by Beyonce and James Taylor, to boot. It doesn’t get much more U-S-A than that. Oh, and there was that whole SF football win on Sunday.
Celebrate your fleeting pride swell with a week-long journey through challenging live music; stop by former local Jhameel’s return concert, the annual SF Tape Music Festival, Luke Sweeney’s Wet Dreams Dry Magic at Mission Creek Oakland, Blond:ish at Monarch, and Gaucho at Cyprian’s, as the group recognizes Django Reinhardt’s birthday.
Also, it’s technically sold out, but “UnderCover presents Joni Mitchell’s Blue” at Freight and Salvage tonight (Mon/21) may have some standing room tickets at the door ($24.50). Plus, there are still some presale available for tomorrow night’s show (Tue/22).
Here are your must-see Bay Area concerts this week/end:
Jhameel
Jhameel, our beloved multi-instrumentalist On the Rise star, returns from LA – for the night at least. The formerly Bay Area-based pop songwriter has been hard at work down south in the sun, polishing his futuristic Michael Jackson vibes, writing a new album, and recording more drunk videos for his devoted followers. For this show, he promised those fans he’d sing his damn heart out.
With Giraffage, Coast Jumper
Wed/23, 8:30pm, $10
Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
www.cafedunord.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiN8CWzNNPI
The Tambo Rays
“If you’re looking for a San Francisco-based band to adore in the new year, keep your eye on the Tambo Rays. The punkish young chillwave foursome released Kaleidoscope, its debut EP, last summer and has speedily garnered an enthusiastic audience. The group — a collaboration between brother and sister Brian and Sara DaMert along with friends Greg Sellin and Bob Jakubs — makes catchy, introspective pop music characterized by B. DaMerts’ crooning vocals and a hazy wall of dissonance.” — Mia Sullivan
With Evil Eyes, Moonbell, Jesus Sons
Wed/23, 9pm, $6
Brick and Mortar
1710 Mission, SF
(415) 371-1631
www.brickandmortarmusic.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p4WNQaBpAg
Luke Sweeney and Wet Dreams Dry Magic
Luke Sweeney recently released his solo debut, Ether Ore, the album name a reference to the singer-guitarist’s spirit animal, Elliot Smith. It’s a sweet, fresh start for Sweeney as an indie solo artist (“recorded on 1/2″ tape in a living room…over the span of a few days in April 2012”), but you likely know his previous work in VOWS and his excellent current band, lo-fi pop dreamers Wet Dreams Dry Magic, headlining tonight as part of the Mission Creek Oakland Music and Arts Festival.
With Soft Bombs, French Cassettes
Thu/24, 9pm, $10
Uptown
1928 Telegraph, Oak.
www.uptownoakland.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVVhS1xOVc4&feature=plcp
The Walkmen and Father John Misty
The sonic gods have blessed us with this lineup. Separately, both acts would be worthy of a Heads Up shout-out, together they’re an emotional goldmine – bringing together the tender post-punk of the Walkmen, and hip-swinging indie-folk of singer-songwriter Father John Misty (a.k.a. J. Tillman of Fleet Foxes).
Thu/24, 8pm, $25.
Fillmore
1805 Geary, SF
www.livenation.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QaFK_GvO_s
San Francisco Tape Music Festival
The Tape Music Festival reminds us of the more idiosyncratic San Francisco of yore, the one we’re all desperately trying to hold on to, despite blooming micro-apartments, bans on nudity, and the like. Go, support this, “America’s only festival devoted to the performance of audio works projected in three-dimensional space.” This year, there will be a retrospective of the works of Bernard Parmegiani – an influential Parisian composer of acousmatic tape music – along with a piece by Japanese sound artist Ryoji Ikeda, classics by Luciano Berio and Hugh Le Caine, local composers Pamela Z and Andrea Williams, and more.
Fri/25-Sun/27, 8pm, $15 ($35 festival pass)
ODC Theater
3153 17th St., SF
sfsound.org/tape
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXAevrYhicI
Blond:ish
“In a section of the music industry where club promoters and marketers all too frequently rely on glamor headshots layered over photoshopped neon clouds, London based but Montreal bred Anstascia D’elene and Vivie Ann Bakos have smartly chosen a name that immediately undercuts appearances. (Plus the tag-line: “not all dumbs are blonde.”) With that out of the way, this posh, Kompakt-approved duo has spent the last couple of years making a real name for itself, releasing credible 4×4 house sets and EPs with callbacks to ’60s psychedelia and ’80s new wave, while providing remixes for Todd Terje, Pete Tong, and Tomas Barfod.” — Ryan Prendiville
With DJ M3, Anthony Mansfield
Sat/26, 9pm, $10-20
Monarch
101 Sixth St., SF
(415) 284-9774
www.monarchsf.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtjQTHZ4Wrg
Gaucho: Django Reinhardt’s birthday
If you play any form of gypsy jazz, you have Django Reinhardt to thank for that. Popular local band, Gaucho – which recently passed the decade mark as a group together, no small feat in band-land – recognizes this relationship with an evening dedicated to Reinhardt, during the week of what would have been his 102nd birthday (he was born Jan. 23). If you’d like to wish bonne anniversaire to the master, there’s no better spot this weekend for hot gypsy jazz, ragtime, and pre-war blues.
With Kally Price and the Old Blues and Jazz Band
Sat/26, 8pm, $12
SF Live at Cyprian’s
297 Turk, SF
www.noevalleymusicseries.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn5WWGnggkw