Tag: San Francisco

Noise Pop Show Review: Ben Gibbard at Great American Music Hall, 2/27/11

Ben Gibbard is called out by Bob Mould at Noise Pop

Closing the Noise Pop festival with solo acoustic shows from Ben Gibbard and Zach Rogue was the right choice. People flew in from Europe, skipped the Oscars, even skipped church for an a relaxing evening at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. The young crowd was a mix of experienced Noise Pop festival attendees and those that made last night’s show their select choice. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Ben Gibbard at Great American Music Hall, 2/27/11”

Noise Pop Show Review: No Age, Grass Widow, Rank/Xerox and Crazy Band at Rickshaw Stop, 2/26/11

I want it to be understood that I’m fucking sick of irony…and I’m not being ironic here either. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: No Age, Grass Widow, Rank/Xerox and Crazy Band at Rickshaw Stop, 2/26/11”

Noise Pop Show Review: Peanut Butter Wolf, Dam Funk, Guillermo and Hakobo at Public Works, 2/26/11

The balconies at Public Works allow for this kind of educational view of the DJs at work

Do you remember when Hip-Hop was good and everything that came out was, well fresh?  I’m talking about the days of Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde, Freestyle Fellowship, Nas,  DJ Shadow, The Roots, Paris, KRS- One, The Fugees, DJ Greyboy… I do, that’s when I fell in love with it.  Before shorties having birthdays, and milkshakes in the yard.  When grillz donned by Method Man were being sold on the back page of The Source and before the term ‘bling’ was added to the dictionary.   I am ready for this goodness of Hip-Hop to return. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Peanut Butter Wolf, Dam Funk, Guillermo and Hakobo at Public Works, 2/26/11”

Noise Pop 2011 — My Notes and Ramblings

Kid Koala capped off my Friday evening, and I wasn't drunk. He really was wearing a koala suit. (Kid Koala action photos by David Price.)

What you might be thinking is, “why does he get to write all of his Noise Pop comments in one post when everyone else did full reviews of each night they went?” From an excuse standpoint, I’ll just say that I’ve been so busy editing posts, resizing & captioning photos, and redesigning the website, I decided to give myself a little slack. (Editor’s privilege?) But really, this all started because of Wednesday night.

Continue reading “Noise Pop 2011 — My Notes and Ramblings”

Noise Pop Show Review: The Stone Foxes, The Soft White Sixties, The Ferocious Few and Voxhaul Broadcast at The Indepdendent, 2/24/11

The headliners playing with passion. (Stone Foxes photos on this post by David Price. All others by Jen Robie.)

The well matched line up at The Independent on Thursday night was a reinvestment in soulful swagger of rock n’ roll.  Even from the street, I could hear the wailing from the stage.  As I stood impatiently in the rain, chomping at the bit to get inside, I realized that I was not the only one.  My lovely neighbor in queue Erica, with her beautiful rainproof parasol, had just walked 13 blocks after looking for parking for an hour to see them. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: The Stone Foxes, The Soft White Sixties, The Ferocious Few and Voxhaul Broadcast at The Indepdendent, 2/24/11”

Noise Pop Show Review: Film School with Apex Manor and Gregory & the Hawk at Cafe Du Nord, 2/24/11

Greg Bertens of Film School. (Photos by Abby Wilcox)

It’s certainly nice when one is soaking wet from the heavy downpour outdoors to go underground in a warm and friendly place such as Cafe du Nord and find a cute-as-a-button folk singer crooning softly, trading an acoustic guitar with a harp (!) for good effect. It helps warm cold limbs anyhow.

This was my entrance to Thursday night’s Noise Pop offering with headliner Film School, a band that acknowledged having its own breakthrough at the 2004 instance of the indie-rock festival, opening for Cat Power then. They ended the evening with its members hugging onstage and telling us, “we wanted to come down and play a really good show because we wouldn’t be us without San Francisco.” Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Film School with Apex Manor and Gregory & the Hawk at Cafe Du Nord, 2/24/11”

Noise Pop Show Review: Best Coast, Wavves, Hunx and His Punx, Royal Baths at the Regency Ballroom, 2/26/2011

Bethany Cosentino lets it rip. Photos by David Price.

Best Coast and Wavves played the final night of their Summer is Forever tour as part of Noise Pop on Saturday night. It was a sold-out affair that proved to be one of the biggest draws of the festival. Some might say it was oversold. Others might agree, but are presumably still too high to form complete thoughts.

Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Best Coast, Wavves, Hunx and His Punx, Royal Baths at the Regency Ballroom, 2/26/2011”

Noise Pop Show Review: Versus with Telekinesis, The Love Language and The Burnt Ones at Cafe Du Nord, 2/23/2011

Using his mind to play the drums? Or sticks?

Last night was freezing, and the hot toddies at Café du Nord hit the sweet spot.  The waft of warm whiskey, lemon and clove set a tone for the evening filled with intoxicating songs, indie style. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Versus with Telekinesis, The Love Language and The Burnt Ones at Cafe Du Nord, 2/23/2011”

Noise Pop Show Review: Dan Deacon with Altars, Oona and Ed Schrader’s Music Beat at The Independent, 2/22/2011

They're outside, but they're at the show. Confused? Read on.

At least for a couple hours, it’s Dan Deacon’s show and we just live in it. You know it right from the beginning; from before the show even, considering his reputation. The acts before him were pretty straightforward players (save for Ed Schrader’s Music Beat but more on that soon) but Deacon breaks it from the get-go: starts a piece that gets the crowd all riled up, plays just a few seconds and then abruptly stops “Okay that works,” he says. What a tease. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Dan Deacon with Altars, Oona and Ed Schrader’s Music Beat at The Independent, 2/22/2011”

Show Review: Meat Beat Manifesto with Not Breathing at The Mezzanine, 2/11/2011

Jack Danger and Mark Pistel of Meat Beat Manifesto
Jack Danger and Ben Stokes of Meat Beat Manifesto

Today’s electronic music scene seems to be filled with performers that emphasize minimalism to the point of frustration. These days, an electronic performance can consist of a single person with little more than a laptop, a mixer (maybe), and some sort of interface to allow quick manipulation of the instruments on the fly — despite the fact that said person could simply just hit “go” and then bob their head to their beat-laden wall of sound. Therefore, excitement comes in the form of performances involving tables worth of analog gear thrown pell-mell across a stage, with wild projections and snarling, harsh noises created from both. This was the case on Friday evening, when the Mezzanine welcomed Swindon’s electronic veterans Meat Beat Manifesto for a night of furious bass, hyperactive beats, and brilliantly-crafted visual effects.

Continue reading “Show Review: Meat Beat Manifesto with Not Breathing at The Mezzanine, 2/11/2011”