The talented Mr. Tillman performing “New Imperial Grand Blues” live at San Francisco’s Cafe du Nord. Amazing show.
Tag Archives: san francisco
Foreign Born + The Veils @ Bottom of the Hill
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.
Setlist.fm: A Great Site for Live Gig Whores, Like Me
TechCrunch (by way of @epicurianzealot) turned me onto this great new Wiki-like site that serves as a repository for tracking live performance set lists of musical artists, called Setlist.fm. With festival season upon us, this is a site I will definitely be referencing to track the frequency of songs played by more well known artists. Setlist.fm also includes an audio and video playback feature as well as lyrics.
Plus they make it easy to integrate the set lists into your social media accounts, as seen below. Seen here are the set lists for the two Grizzly Bear shows at The Fillmore last month. I was always curious to know how similar or different those two performances were. And if they pulled out my favorite cover of Yes‘ “Owner of a Lonely Heart“ on the second night. Thankfully, they did not.
Grizzly Bear, “Owner of A Lonely Heart” (Yes cover)
Stop The War On Fun!
The opposition to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control‘s attempt to shut down some of San Francisco’s finest all ages music venues takes a public face with the launch of the official website and rebranded PR campaign dubbed, Stop the War on Fun!
For those new to the issue, San Francisco has come under attack by the ABC on legally questionable new regulations they are trying to impose on some of the City’s legendary all ages music venues. If enforced some of our best music clubs – Bottom of the Hill, Great American Music Hall, Slim’s and Cafe du Nord – may be forced to close.
The fight has become the central issue in a recent crackdown on all things fun in the City caused by the State’s increased harassment of live music and entertainment venues for, what many call, inane technicalities. For example, Bottom of the Hill has been cited by the ABC for not serving enough Mexican food.
Stop the War on Fun is the official battleground for this fight and includes important resources and information on how to get involved. They’ve made it easy to get started with an automated email form you can send to Mayor Newsom, Senator Leno, Assemblyman Ammiano, the SF Board of Supervisors, and SF Police Chief Gascon.
Girls Play The Stud; New Album Due 9/22
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”.
Grizzly Bear + Here We Go Magic at The Fillmore
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.
SF Music Venues Continue to Battle ABC for Licensing
The battle between California’s Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) and some of San Francisco’s most beloved all ages music venues wages on. Here’s a YouTube clip of a recent report from NBC 11 explaining the situation. Imagine a San Francisco without a Bottom of the Hill, Great American Music Hall, Cafe du Nord and Slims. I cannot! Here’s what you can do to get involved.
ABC Email and website:
SFO.Direct@abc.ca.gov Attn: Brett Musselman
http://www.abc.ca.gov/districts.asp?City=SFO#Sanfrancisco
Email Senator Mark Leno!
http://icanhaz.com/MLeno
Buy this shirt to show your support for GAMH and Slim’s:
http://www.slims-sf.com/tshirts/
Band of Skulls Rock Harlot
I’ve never seen so many photogs at a Rumbe event prior to Wednesday night’s performance by Band of Skulls at The Harlot in San Francisco. And if there’s any correlation between the number of photographers/camera crew in attendance and a band’s success, then these guys will not be under the radar for very much longer. With their session tomorrow on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, that’s bound to become a certainty.
The hot London trio definitely delivered too. Standing in front of bassist, Emma Richardson, I couldn’t help muse how much she looked like a young Chrissie Hynde, haircut and all. Their gritty, rock and roll swagger is very soul satisfying and have had their debut album, “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey,” on repeat since I got it. You should too. Go download it from iTunes. It’s only $5.99!
Concert Pick ‘O The Week: King Khan and The Shrines
The King at Amnesia Last Night in SF
King Khan and The Shrines threw a little party last night at Amnesia in San Francisco, curating an evening of 60s cover songs with the help of lots of Bay Area music talent like Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees. At the end of the evening he give us a little taste of what’s in store for tonight’s performance at Great American Music Hall. Here’s a glimpse of what’s to come. Be there!
Why I Love San Francisco – Reason #129
I can hang out with my kid at Delores Park AND get an impromptu African jam/break dance session!
the OCMD 