What’s Happening This Weekend? A Guide To Shows Around The Bay, Nov 2 – 4
Friday, November 2 Goapele @ Yoshi's Part of a whopping four-night residency, the Oakland vocalist and songwriter performs her bold soul-R&B fusion until Sunday. YOUNGr, SUMif @ Rickshaw Stop We're in this for opener SUMif, the San Francisco musician taking pop to entrancing new places. Pat Thomas Band @ Bar Fluxus Pat Thomas of Cool Ghouls, brings his brand-new solo full-length, I Ain't Buyin' It, new-ish SF venue Bar Fluxus. Saturday, November 3 Love Jerks @ Make-Out Room The Bay's most obnoxiously adorable husband-wife duo release their debut record, Million Movies, at the Make-Out Room. No word on how much [...]
Mixtape: The Lush Sounds of Bay Area Dream Pop
Download: Mixtape: The Lush Sounds of Bay Area Dream Pop (Podcast #434) This episode first ran on KQED.org. Whether they call themselves post-punk, psych or indie pop, a wide array of Bay Area musicians cultivate lush atmospheres and textural depth in songs that are as sonically detailed as they are catchy. The Bay Area's "dream pop" standouts--eleven of whom are featured in this mixtape--include a number of promising new bands, like Topographies, a quartet whose stellar debut single is an exciting burst of fuzzed-out, propulsive rock. Other highlights include Tanukichan, the project of Oakland's Hannah Van Loon, whose layered music [...]
What’s Happening This Weekend? A Guide To Shows Around The Bay, Oct 26 – 28
Friday, October 26 Christine and the Queens @ The Fox Theater A critical favorite and a true performer, rising avant-pop icon Héloïse Letissier plays Oakland. Foxtails Brigade, Whiskerman, Papa Bear and the Easy Love @ Starline Social Club Come for the spooky AF poster design, stay and support your local music community as it gets into the Halloween spirit. Royal Jelly Jive, Midtown Social @ Mystic Theatre Get ready to dance, dance, dance to these two solid local acts. Saturday, October 27 SWMRS, Bleached, Mt Eddy @ The UC Theatre Two projects of Bay Area punk progeny — plus SoCal [...]
What’s Happening This Weekend? A Guide To Shows Around The Bay, Oct 19 -21
Friday, October 19 Aki Kumar @ The Sound Room The South Bay's (possibly the world's) sole purveyor of Bollywood blues plays Oakland. Voteside Lands feat. CupcakKe and Girlpool @ UC Berkeley Chicago rapper CupcakKe is nothing if not outspoken. Be like her — use your voice and vote. SYML @ The Chapel It means "simple" in Welsh. The Black Madonnna @ August Hall Part mixmaster, part activist, the Black Madonna will blend genres of all kinds at August Hall. Kamasi Washington @ The Warfield Modern jazz's golden boy takes the tenor sax to places you never could have imagined. Saturday, [...]
Review + Photos: Parachute Days 2018 featuring PSDSP & El Radio Fantastique
PSDSP (photo: Carolyn McCoy) Words by Carolyn McCoy What is it about music that, more often than not, brings together a group of people to create a community? Is it about the ancestral DNA links we have in our bodies that remind us that music and rhythm have been a part of the human condition since we lived in caves? Maybe. In any case, put on music and you now have a crowd of people congregating to listen. Parachute Days, an ongoing outdoor seasonal festival series at Love Field in Point Reyes Station, has been creating community through music for a [...]
Photos: Dream Wife at Cafe du Nord
Dream Wife (photo: William Wayland) Last week saw Brighton rock band Dream Wife swing by Cafe du Nord in support of their self-titled album released earlier this year. They were supported by Russo and BTCHKRFT. Check out the excellent gallery below of all bands from the night by our own William Wayland.
Photos: Treasure Island Music Festival 2018
A$AP Rocky (photo: Priscilla Rodriguez) Read our review here. After taking a year off, one of the best local festivals, Treasure Island Music Festival, returned to the Bay with a great two-day lineup of stellar music from a variety of genres. Headliners this year included A$AP Rocky and Tame Impala, but there were plenty of other great artists on the bill to make this a festival to remember. We were lucky to have our photographer Priscilla Rodriguez there to photograph each day. In addition to the headliners, she captured photos of Pusha T, Santigold, Courtney Barnett, Alex Cameron, Cigarettes After [...]
What’s Happening This Weekend? A Guide To Shows Around The Bay, Oct 12 – 14
Friday, October 12 The Dodos @ The Independent Don't miss the return of beloved locals the Dodos — you might end up falling in love, like our former editor Annie did. CA Deathfest IV @ Oakland Metro Operahouse Everyone's getting their festivals in before the year is out, and the Metro is no exception. Fans of heavier sounds can head to Oakland for the fourth annual California Deathfest, featuring Doom, Dark Angel, and more. RNBPaint @ Complex Oakland Instead of wine and paint night, try R&B and paint night — guaranteed to mellow you out as good as a glass [...]
Review + Photos: Rocket Dog Rescue Benefit with Emmylou Harris at Haight Street Art Center
Emmylou Harris (photo: Carolyn McCoy) Words by Carolyn McCoy It’s a time in our history where there is a ridiculous amount of horror and stupidity in the news, so it’s not surprising that negativity impacts our daily reality. Because of that, we need to look for sources that bring a bit of sunshine and hope into our minds. We need something to focus on that is transformative, powerful and positive. We need inspiration, a night of music and art perhaps, for a good cause. Bummer’s Ball 2, a benefit to fund Oakland-based nonprofit Rocket Dog Rescue, was just what was needed [...]
Springsteen plus Speedwagon equals Cigarettes After Sex
Words by Erin Lyndal Martin Let’s face it, YouTube is full of pet raccoons and makeup tutorials. It’s not the sort of landscape where you’d expect a band steeped in ambient music, earnest love stories, and androgynous vocals to take off. But that’s what happened for Cigarettes After Sex, and their frontman Greg Gonzalez can’t say why, either. He can’t tell himself why it worked, and he certainly can’t tell other artists who ask for advice. “When we first got known, people were asking like, ‘Oh, did you promote it on YouTube? And how much did you pay?’ I was [...]