OUTSIDE LANDS NIGHT SHOWS!!! HOORAY!!!

We are less than two months away from Outside Lands 2025! And fellow San Franciscans are currently enjoying classic Outside Lands weather (overcast and cool- sorry, THE REST OF THE USA. But, also, why not escape the heat and join us in the park in August?) One of the last big announcements for the big event dropped today- THE NIGHT SHOWS! Although enjoying music in the park is great, you also have an opportunity to see folks like Thundercat, Still Woozy, Midnight Generation, FCUKERS, Hope Tala, Luna Li, and more in intimate venues, starting late enough for you to get to after a great day in the park. 

Eager Beaver and Golden Gate Club ticket holders will once again have the first opportunity to purchase tickets, with presales running from Wednesday, June 25, at 10:00 a.m. PT to Thursday, June 26, at 11:59 p.m. PT. The festival ticket presale for ticket holders is Thursday, June 26, from 10 am PT to 11:59 p.m. PT. Any remaining tickets for Night Shows that are still available will go on sale to the public on Friday, June 27, at 10 am PT. Eager Beaver, Golden Gate Club, and festival ticket holders will receive an email with their respective presale codes. Details and ticket links here!

Full schedule below: 

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Show Review: Winona Fighter, Tess & The Details, StrateJacket at Brick & Mortar Music Hall, 6/19/25

If someone had told me in 1995 that Pop-Punk would remain a vital genre of music, continuing to strike a chord with young people 30 years later, I wouldn’t have believed them. But my Thursday Night out at Brick & Mortar Music Hall showed me that the younger generation not only really connects to this genre, but might be doing it far better than Gen X did. 

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Single of the Week: “Is It Now?” by Automatic

Holy lofi!!!! The new Automatic single rips! Just bass guitar, drums, and vocals with the occasional synth flourish, and they lock into a perfect groove. I was wondering how they would fit in on the usually funk-oriented Stones Throw Records, but they are clearly here to outfunk everyone. 

“Is It Now?” is the first single off their upcoming album of the same name. Tour Dates are up here, and hopefully, a Bay Area date is in the cards. 

Film Review: “Elio”

A colorful space adventure as energetic as it is fleeting

Elio and Glordon space out.

Why, oh why, does Pixar/Disney feel the need to kill off parents? Don’t worry, this fact is spoiled within the first few lines of the new Pixar film, Elio, a quick and colorful space adventure with an underlying message about self-worth. Killing off one or both of a protagonist’s parents is a common plot device in Disney films, dating back to Bambi, and including Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Frozen, Dumbo, Onward, Lilo & Stitch, and the list goes shockingly on and on. Some stories benefit from the emotional gravity of a deceased (or otherwise missing) parent(s), but in the case of Elio, plot points feel like forced emotional manipulation. Let’s ignore the parent debacle for now, because Elio remains a sci-fi adventure filled with fun alien characters and creative visual worlds, even when the story feels underbaked. Continue reading “Film Review: “Elio””

Single of the Week: “Jesus and John Wayne” by googly eyes, Joy Oladokun, and Allison Ponthier

Dear God, what an awful, awful newsweek. I’m not going to rehash all the many, many ways the current administration is, well, trying to destroy everything good about being an American. Instead, why don’t we celebrate Trump’s birthday by blasting our single of the week (timed just for him), “Jesus and John Wayne,” coming to you from googly eyes, featuring Joy Oladokun and Allison Ponthier. It’s a beautiful, poignant cut that’s not subtle in its dissection of the Christian Right, revealing it to be neither Christian nor right. 

“Jesus and John Wayne” can be streamed NOW in all the usual places. A portion of this single’s proceeds will be donated to The Ally Coalition. This Fall, the good people at All Things Go will be releasing a compilation that will include this track. 

Film Review: “Materialists”

Celine Song’s second feature explores the modern-day dating marketplace

Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Harry (Pedro Pascal) share an expensive moment.

On the surface, a summer romance starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal sounds like a big budget studio comedy. However, adding in an independent distributor, A24, and an award-winning writer/director, Celine Song (Past Lives), makes one ponder if there’s something weightier behind the cast and genre. Materialists is Song’s second feature film, following her 2023 Best Picture nominated drama, Past Lives. Song’s indisputable knack for crafting intimate, complex connections between characters (she’s an accomplished playwright…and was a matchmaker, briefly…more on that later) is on full display in Materialists. Her skill as a writer, and how she directs her actors, distinguish her films from other romantic dramas with comparable emotional narratives. Materialists has much to say about modern-day dating, and through Song’s observant lens, her viewpoint makes for a rewarding viewing experience. Continue reading “Film Review: “Materialists””

Film Review: “How to Train Your Dragon”

Dragon’s nearly identical retelling lacks freshness

Hiccup and Toothless, bonding again.

It would be hard to fault writer/director Dean DeBlois (2002’s Lilo & Stitch), who directed the original How to Train Your Dragon animated trilogy, for choosing to return to direct the live-action remake. After all, the original HTTYD is a near-perfect film, with a gigantic brand and fan-base. DeBlois and his team decided that the best way to capture the magic of the original was to “transfer” it to live-action– nearly shot-for-shot, and line for line. Well, Mr. DeBlois, not all the dialogue and shot-for-shot sequences are as effective with a new cast and without the colorful emotive freedom of animation. Dragon-riding is still exhilarating in the live-action version, but the rest of the film lacks the script re-tuning necessary for a new narrative tone and visual palette. The new How to Train Your Dragon will be a grand scale adventure for those unfamiliar with the original film, and certainly a blast for young kids, but for the previously Dragon-trained audiences, the new live-action version will fail to match the original’s transportive wonder and wit. Continue reading “Film Review: “How to Train Your Dragon””

Film Review: “The Life of Chuck”

The Life of Chuck beautifully illuminates the magic, devastation, and solemn finality of our lives

Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) begins his dance. 

The Life of Chuck is based on a Stephen King short story from his collection, If It Bleeds, published in 2020. “The Life of Chuck” is similar to King’s other less scary, more dramatic works, such as “Stand by Me,” “The Green Mile,” and “The Shawshank Redemption.” But unlike those, “The Life of Chuck” is filled with colorful wonder and likeable characters, even as it explores the sad and mathematical truth of our finite existence. Writer/director Mike Flanagan (Midnight Mass; The Fall of the House of Usher) is no stranger to adapting King’s work, having already directed two: Gerald’s Game and Doctor Sleep. Fans of Flanagan’s horror series and films know that in addition to the intricately-crafted scares and permeating sense of dread his team is so effective at creating, Flanagan knows how to deliver moments of authentic sentimentality. Focusing on that latter ability, Flanagan is the perfect director for The Life of Chuck. Combining visual flair with a whimsical yet brutally honest script, The Life of Chuck is, ultimately, a precious piece of existential storytelling.  Continue reading “Film Review: “The Life of Chuck””

Show Review: Ministry + My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult at The Warfield, 6/3/25

The industrial ‘90s buzz was still humming through my nervous system as I stepped into The Warfield on June 3rd. I was still lit from the Lords of Acid show at DNA Lounge just days prior, neon sweat, latex steam, and raunchy beats still echoing somewhere deep in my spine. Continue reading “Show Review: Ministry + My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult at The Warfield, 6/3/25”

Show Review: Lords of Acid + Little Miss Nasty at DNA Lounge, 5/27/25

On May 27, the DNA Lounge in San Francisco hosted a delightfully depraved evening where industrial sleaze met burlesque grit in all the best ways. Lords of Acid, those long-reigning Belgian electro-provocateurs, headlined with a full-throttle set of old-school rave filth, and Little Miss Nasty opened the night with a stage show that doubled as a flesh-forward fever dream.

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