Are you still gutted over the fact that Metric were forced to pull out of their Fantasies 15th anniversary tour last year? Are you angry that Trump wants to make Canada the 51st state, but would be overjoyed if the US became Canadian Provinces 11-61? Do you like music made by people who know maple comes from sticking a spigot in a tree? THEN DO I HAVE THE DREAM TOUR FOR YOU! Canadian Indie Legends Metric, Broken Social Scene, and Stars are uniting for the nearly ultimate dream tour! (Did they lose Feist’s number or something? Also, can we get Bran Van 3000 involved somehow?)
An odd thing about getting older- I used to be heavily averse to electronic music. However, in the last few months, I have kept hearing electronic music with a solid amount of humanity, and I LOVE IT. This Gelli Haha track snuck out last year, and I totally missed it. This song is really making my week, and energizing me in all the right ways. I also get the feeling that this one is gonna be a really fun live show.
“Funny Music” is off Gelli Haha’s latest record, Switcheroo, which is available to bring joy to your eardrums AND your booty NOW. The band is also hitting the road for their first ever headlining tour, and tickets JUST WENT ON SALE TODAY!
There are a few musical tricks that I love more than a song that is just a continuous build-up of anxiety. “Cost Of Living” by Jewelry Exchange is *almost* that. It’s weird, because it’s both anxious AND hopeful, which is a line I keep finding myself balancing these days. It’s so bloody good, and the end? It just leaves you feeling dropped. Much like, well, life in 2025. I’m still not sure what I’m supposed to feel with this song, but I’m going to put it on again in hopes that I find it.
“Cost of Living” is the first single off Jewelry Exchange’s upcoming album Bedazzled. You can prepare yourself for its arrival at this link.
They’ve even blessed us with a short West Coast tour next month!
I have a handful of show regrets. But one of the biggest was missing Raye when she played Rickshaw Stop in 2023. And everything that has come out from her since then has been exceptionally more and more brilliant. And today she dropped “Where Is My Husband?”, a proper funk banger if I’ve ever heard one.
She’s also hitting the road this Spring, playing Bill Graham Civic Auditorium here in SF, which is just down the street from Rickshaw Stop and literally 25 TIMES BIGGER! Stream “Where Is My Husband” here. Tour dates and presale sign up here! The presale begins on 9/23 at 10 am local time. Miss the sign-up? Try your hand at tickets on 9/25 at 10 am!
I’ve secretly loved The Beaches for a while now. “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid” is already on my shortlist for best song of the 2020s. It’s DEFINITELY the most 2020s song of the 2020s. Two nights ago, in a fit of anxiety, I preordered the Canadian power-pop group’s upcoming record, no hard feelings, (out August 29th), and I don’t regret that investment. This morning, I lamented the fact that they haven’t announced tour dates. WELL!!!!!!!!!!!
They’ve got a full tour underway this fall! Plus a few select Summer dates and DJ Night Free Parties?!!?! Full dates below the jump, and the amazing Annie DiRuisso is joining for many of these shows!
Last Girls at the Party DJ Set Dates:
June 7 – NYC
June 11 – Toronto
August 2 – Montréal
THE BEACHES LIVE DATES
June 6 – The Governors Ball Music Festival – New York, NY
June 14 – Buffalo AKG Art Museum – Buffalo, NY
July 20 – Minnesota Yacht Club – Saint Paul, MN
July 29 – Churchill Park Music Festival – St. John’s, NL
July 31 – Kee to Bala – Muskoka, ON
August 3 – Osheaga Festival, Montreal, QC
August 7 – Sziget Festival – Budapest, Hungary
August 8 – About You Pangea Festival – Ribnitz-Damgarten, Germany
August 9 – Schanze Open Air – Hamburg, Germany
August 15 – 17th – Lowlands Festival – Biddinghuizen, Netherlands
August 17 – Pukkelpop Festival – Hasselt, Belgium
August 29 – Rolling Stone Presents Gather No Moss @ The Salt Shed – Chicago, IL
Sept 17 – KEMBA Live! – Columbus, OH
Sept 18 – Brooklyn Bowl – Nashville, TN
Sept 20 – Shaky Knees Festival – Atlanta, GA
Sept 21 – The Ritz – Raleigh, NC
Sept 24 – Roadrunner – Boston, MA
Sept 25 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
Sept 26 – All Things Go Festival – Columbia, MD
Sept 27 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
Sept 29 – Webster Hall – New York, NY
Sept 30 – Webster Hall – New York, NY
Oct 2 – Royal Oak Music Theatre – Detroit, MI
Oct 4 – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre – Indianapolis, IN
Oct 5 – The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
Oct 8 – Cain’s Ballroom – Tulsa, OK
Oct 10 – Fillmore Auditorium – Denver, CO
Oct 11 – Rockwell at The Complex – Salt Lake City, UT
Oct 14 – The Van Buren – Phoenix, AZ
Oct 15 – The Sound – San Diego, CA
Oct 17 – Fox Theater – Pomona, CA
Oct 18 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA
Oct 19 – The Warfield – San Francisco, CA
Oct 22 – Showbox SoDo – Seattle, WA
Oct 24 – Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre – Victoria, BC
Oct 25 – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre – Vancouver, BC
Oct 27 – Edmonton Expo Centre Arena – Edmonton, AB
The funny thing about Sleigh Bells is that they do, indeed, have a formula. But it’s such a damn good formula that always feels so unbelievably good. “Wanna Start A Band?” is a brilliant little autobiographical anthem, and this song is a cacophony of sonic joy that is somehow equal parts Nine Inch Nails and Lisa Lisa. I’m so glad that they are opening with joy in this hellish year of 2025. (I will note that Sleigh Bells’ show at Mezzanine was my first show after Trump’s win in 2016, and it was the exact right thing to do. Also my first indoor show after COVID hit)
Sleigh Bells are embarking on their first tour since 2022, and tickets are on sale TODAY at 10 am local time. Dates and tickets are here!
As a Bay Area music blog, we are always excited when one of our own overcomes something big. San Jose Native Ashe had to cancel the tour for her brilliant album Raye last year to deal with mental health issues. I honestly thought she was moving away from music in general. Instead, she gifted us with an amazing new record, Willson, and is doing a tour supporting her three most recent albums, making up for lost time while still touring the brilliant new record.
Tour Dates are below, and everything goes on sale 11/1/24 at 10 am local time:
May 28—Variety Playhouse—Atlanta, GA
May 30—9:30 Club—Washington, DC
May 31—Royale—Boston, MA
June 3—Brooklyn Steel—Brooklyn, NY
June 5—Danforth Music Hall—Toronto, ON
June 6—Saint Andrew’s Hall—Detroit, MI
June 8—Metro—Chicago, IL
June 11—First Avenue—Minneapolis, MN
June 13—Ogden Theatre—Denver, CO
June 14—The Depot—Salt Lake City, UT
June 16—The Showbox—Seattle, WA
June 17—Revolution Hall—Portland, OR
June 19—The UC Theatre—Berkeley, CA
June 20—The Bellwether—Los Angeles, CA
Maggie Rogers will kick off her first-ever arena tour tomorrow night in Austin. To prepare for bringing a party to the biggest crowds of her career, she’s giving us… a haunting, tearjerker of a ballad that will force the entire arena into mutual tears! BRILLIANT! “In The Living Room” is an excellent addition to her canon, and I can’t wait to experience shared catharsis in a room with 30,000 other people.
Tickets still available for *some* of her fall tour. You can find those here! It’s fitting that she’s giving us a song about lamenting those we lost while playing SF on Dia De Los Muertos.
I was GUTTED when I found out that Heart had to cancel their Fall 2024 tour for vocalist/flutist Ann Wilson to receive and recover from cancer treatment. I was worried that this was the end. Happily, Wilson looks like she’s recovered and is ready to go! I will note that I’m gutted that their SF show at Chase Center isn’t happening on this round, although it’s making me speculate wildly about Bottlerock 2025.
Dates begin February 28th in Las Vegas, and tickets can be purchased here on all dates! Tour dates after the jump, along with a ferocious recent rendition of the best rock song of the 70s below the jump: Continue reading “Heart’s Royal Flush Tour has been rescheduled!”
Kathleen Hanna is so busy these days that it’s hard to keep track of which project is doing what and when. Last year was a Le Tigre-heavy year, and so far, Hanna has been focusing on her excellent book, Rebel Girl. But Bikini Kill *just* made their network TV debut (after 34 years!) on The Late Show Wait Stephen Colbert, and they are crossing North America starting in LA at The Wiltern on August 15th-16th, coming to The Warfield (a venue that figures prominently in the aforementioned book) August 18th-19th, and wrapping up Baltimore on September 12th. And, as she hinted at her City Arts & Lectures appearance back in May, there are no future Bikini Kill plans currently, so it would be wise to hit up one of these.
