We are only about a week out from Outside Lands, so you better get warmed up.
Thursday, August 1st
The Protomen, The Deadlies at Slim’s
The site is known as a “A Community Of Bay Area Music Nerds.” This is show takes that to the next level: the show features nothing but the music of Queen to tell the story of the classic video game Mega Man. A little part of me wants to wedgy everyone going to this show.
Lady, Antique Naked Soul at The New Parish
Friday, August 2nd & Saturday, August 3rd
Rancid, The Transplants at The Warfield
Tim Armstrong has an obscene amount of energy. He is the leader of both Rancid and The Transplants, and neither of these bands are especially “mellow.” He’s been doing these double headers for months, and they haven’t exactly been short sets. In fact, the Rancid portion has been consistently doing 2 hour / 30 song sets this entire tour on top of The Transplants’ 90 minutes. Maybe Armstrong is working up to being the new Bruce Springsteen?
Friday, August 2nd
The Smithereens, Kevin Camia at Great American Music Hall
Monkey, Piranha Party at Cafe Stritch
Saturday, August 3rd
Nobunny, The Shrills, Sweat Lodge at El Rio
Cameo at Yoshi’s – San Francisco
Sunday, August 4th
Sublime with Rome, Descendents, Pennywise at America’s Cup Pavilion
There are several musical moments in my life that have helped define me as a music nerd. One of the most vital ones was in the 1990 film “Pump Up The Volume.” A beautiful song was played. A song that left me chasing the performer for nearly a decade. This was pre internet, and, of course they left it off the soundtrack. It was 30 seconds of pure, sonic joy. And once I learned who played the song, I became obsessed with this band. And they are playing the Bay Area for the first time since a show at The Edge in Palo Alto in 1997. It’s kind of a bummer that they are merely in a support slot, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Bob Dylan, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Ryan Bingham at Shoreline Amphitheater
Tuesday, August 6th
Lightning Dust, Louise Burns, Spells at Brick & Mortar Music Hall
Our good friends at Wood Shoppe always do a fine job putting together a bill the first Tuesday of every month. It’s always a great party, and always free. Headlining this month is Vancouver synth pop duo Lightning Dust. Who are great. And, did I mention that it’s free?
Chicago at Mountain Winery
Wednesday, August 7th
White Fence, Jessica Pratt, Chris Cohen at Rickshaw Stop
The 60’s just won’t die in San Francisco. Nearly 50 years after the infamous Summer of love, we are still feeling the effects. White Fence are about as close as you can get to a 60’s psych band in the 2010’s, right down to the most perfect Beatles-esque vocals you ever heard. I don’t condone drug use, however, if you were in the mood to try acid, White Fence are your band for that mission.
Harry Connick Jr at Davies Symphony Hall
