There’s always a bit of fear and trepidation when I anticipate a show as much as I did this one. Usually you’re setting yourself up for a disappointment, but that was not the case Monday night at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill. The stellar double header of Foreign Born and The Veils definitely goes down as one of my top concerts so far this year.
Both bands were excellent, but I have to say Foreign Born really delivered an outstanding performance with a rich, polished and professional sound rarely seen at the likes of this venue. And they had a stage show too. When’s the last time you saw a show at Bottom of the Hill with two drummers, stage lighting and smoke effects? It was a first for me. They were tight.
The Veils, Finn Andrews, bared his soul during the show giving such a passionate performance he could barely compose himself after “Larkspur.” Wow, was all I could say. His vocals reigned true throughout the night and his graciousness on stage was and unexpected surprise for me. Impressive all around.
Happy day! The Treasure Island Music Festival has announced the line up for this fall’s event scheduled October 17-18, 2009 on Treasure Island in San Francisco. As usual, the line up is divided into the more electro pop/hip hop day on Saturday and the indie rock day on Sunday. Single day tickets are $65 and early bird two-day passes go on sale tomorrow at noon for $99 (limited availability). Get your tickets and get ready!
Saturday, October 17 features: MGMT, MSTRKRFT, Girl Talk, Passion Pit, Brazilian Girls, The Streets, Dan Deacon, LTJ Bukem, DJ Krush and more.
Sunday, October 18 features: The Flaming Lips, The Decemberists, Beruit, Grizzly Bear, Yo La Tengo, Bob Mould, The Walkmen, Sleepy Sun, Vetiver and more.
Wow. There is an absolute stellar line of music happening tonight at Bottom of the Hill featuring London-based The Veils, So Cal up and comers Foreign Bornand Cleveland buzz makers Other Girls. Two of whom also happen to be the creators of my more beloved albums this year. Why the hell this show isn’t sold out is beyond me. It’s quite possibly one of the finest line ups I’ve seen all year. So if you’re SF-based, I highly recommend you get out to see it. Regardless of where you live, you should definitely add these albums to your collection.
The Veils frontman and songwriter, Finn Andrews, makes me swoon. His voice is stunning, his lyrics are soul baring. Couple that with a heady rush of guitars and you’ve got yourself ballad rock epitomised (nod to the Brits here with that spelling). For a band that constantly earns comparisons to Nick Drake, Morrissey and Jeff Buckley, it’s almost incomprehensible why they are not a bigger deal.
Sun Gangs is their third release and I would go so far to say it might be one of the sleeper albums of 2009. And now for a little music trivia. Did you know that Finn’s father Barry Andrews is a renowned musician himself? Playing with the likes of XTC, Brian Eno, David Bowie and Iggy Pop.
Foreign Born started in San Francisco in 2003 after singer Matt Popieluch and guitarist Lewis Pesacov graduated San Francisco State University. After playing a few shows, the pair went down to LA to clean up their rough demos. The results were promising enough for Lewis and Matt to quit their menial jobs and move down to LA where the current line-up of Foreign Born was, yes, born.
Their first LP, On The Wing Now, was released in 2007 and their latest effort, Person to Person, just released last month. I adore their first single from the album, “Vacationing People” andhad the chance to see them perform at SXSW earlier this year. Judging by the number of recognizable faces in the audience at that show, it was evident that I’m not the only one who loves them either. After all, if Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste deems you as his “favorite new band”, you must be doing something right.
Ladies and gentleman, Ty Segall has band! He’s evolved from a one-man act into a full fledged surf punk trio with a girl drummer to boot. Friday night The Hemlock played host to his CD Release party for Lemons, his new album due out July 14.
It was a raucous and rawkin’evening of surf punk all around. Just when I started to question my stamina for a late evening at The Hemlock after a long week, opening band Charlie and The Moonhearts laid out a fierce set of late 80’s-inspired Orange County punk that kicked me right in the teeth. Their 30 minute assault of fast and dirty garage rock combined with the ponytail face whipping from my friend Jen next to me was just the adrenaline shot I needed. No more yawning for me, I tell ya.
Ty and company (which by the way, featured the same bass player – Mikal- from Charlie and The Moonhearts) banged out a great set of mostly new material to an eager and (sometimes overly) rambunctious crowd. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, get in to this band!
San Francisco’s one-man band, garage punk rock extraordinaire, Ty Segall, is having a CD release party tonight at The Hemlock. I fell in love with him the first time I heard him play, which was opening for Girls at the very same venue a year ago. Watching him sing, play guitar, drums and tambourine by himself was truly a sight to behold.
His new album, Lemons, is out July 14. Get into it!
Adrian over at IPickMyNose is hosting a nice line up of music tomorrow night at the Bottom of the Hill featuring the lovely Rural Alberta Advantage (a veritable tongue twister of a name, I tell ya.), and the Bay Area’s Okay and Half-Handed Cloud.
I had the opportunity to see Rural Alberta Advantage for the first time at SXSW this year opening for Grizzly Bear. It was an unexpected and surprising performance that definitely got people talking. Go see for yourself!
The good folks at Stranger Dance are hosting another stellar line up of music tonight at The Rickshaw Stop, featuring Bay Area locals Harbours and Sarah Bethe Nelson (also known as Prairie Dog), along with Seattle’s Moondoggies. Be sure to check it out if you’re in town!
I just couldn’t resist heading over to The Stud last night – one of San Francisco’s oldest and most legendary queer establishments – to see our hometown heros Girls play. It was a rare opportunity for me to a) have an excuse to patronage the joint and b) see one of my favorite bands play a most unconventional venue and c) enjoy a little tranny action between sets. Only in San Francisco! With the added bonus of 2 for 1 drinks at the bar, we all wondered why we weren’t frequenting the place more often.
The band’s full length debut album, entitled Album, will be released on Matador Records September 22. Album’s seven-minute opus, “Hellhole Ratrace,” rated by Pitchfork as “one of the 100 best songs of the year,” will be available prior to the album’s release date on a limited-edition 10″ vinyl single.
San Francisco, if you didn’t catch them at The Stud, they will be playing July 21 at The Rickshaw Stop with Pains of Being Pure At Heart. In the meantime, enjoy their latest video for “Hellhole Ratrace”.
I can’t emote enough about Grizzly Bear. I truly believe they are one of the seminal bands of our time and will inspire a generation of musicians to come. And they’re so young! But oh so talented. Each of them playing a multitude of instruments and contributing vocally to their beautiful, ethereal harmonies. The sound they create is simply symphonic. Their instrumental and vocal arrangements are so beautiful, well-crafted and of such far grander proportions I have a hard time lumping them into the category of ‘indie rock.’
As much as I love Grizzly Bear, as was just as excited to see Here We Go Magic. On the album, Luke Temple’s voice is on par with that of Ed Droste. In person, there’s absolutely no comparison. Mr. Droste wins hands down. I was actually quite disappointed with Here We Go Magic. Their album is great, it just didn’t translate live for me.
So with that, I’ll leave you with a video I captured from the show. It wasn’t until later did I learn that you’re not supposed to do that. I didn’t know! I don’t get to The Fillmore much. I usually stick to the smaller venues and shoot video no problem. It just seems a shame to let it go to waste. So I put it here with the pinky promise that – cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye -I will never ever shoot video at The Fillmore again.
The Handsome Furs finally made their way to San Francisco this week and, well…this was pretty much what the show was like – HOT! Their energy, connection, passion and performance on stage was raw and magnetic. The husband and wife duo bared it all for the audience (figuratively speaking), pouring their souls into their music and each other, feeding one another into a frenzy and into heaps on the floor several times throughout the night.
There were moments when I thought Alexi Perry was going to dive through her drum machine back into the Matrix, only to be brought back from the edge by the dashing Dan Boeckner’s embrace and kiss. For real, people! It was truly amazing and inspiring to watch two people so connected and effusive. If it wasn’t rock and roll it might have even been a little sappy.
Oh, and I haven’t even talk about the music yet. I love these guys and have been remiss for not featuring their new album, Face Control, on this site yet. It’s sure to be on my top album list of 2009. Just like their sleeper debut Plague Park was in 2007. Face Control is definitely more upbeat and dancey, likely inspired by their romp through the clubs of Eastern Europe. Boeckner’s straightforward rock and songwriting shine in this album. as it does in his work with Wolf Parade. I’ll take him over Spencer Krug any day.
the OCMD 