Photos + Review: Sol Blume 2019 at Cesar Chavez Plaza in Sacramento
Tierra Whack (photo: Robert Alleyne) Sol Blume just wrapped up its second annual boutique festival this past weekend in downtown Sacramento with over 6,300 festival-goers vibing out to R&B, soul, and hip-hop performances. The square block, which is home to the historical Cesar Chavez Plaza, was flipped to host the one-day festival which featured GRAMMY-award winning artist Miguel, Jessie Reyez, Tierra Whack, Masego, and much more on two separate stages. As an attendee of last year’s show, I had high hopes coming into this. Previously, being that it was its inaugural year, there were plenty of hiccups that made the overall [...]
Review + Photos: Roky Erickson 50-Year Retrospective at the Chapel
Roky Erickson (photo: Joshua Huver) Over the course of two nights last weekend, Friday April 19 and Saturday April 20, the Chapel and (((FolkYEAH!))) hosted Roky Erickson of psychedelic rock originators the 13th Floor Elevators. Two of the biggest holidays in the world of psychedelia and often referred to as Bicycle Day and 4/20 respectively, they represent the intentional intake of LSD and cannabis for many people. Erickson was a proponent of both, even though his use of substances may have exacerbated underlying mental health issues. Roky Erickson with the Mad Alchemy liquid light show at The Chapel In 1965, [...]
Review + Photos: Ghosts of the Forest + Khruangbin at the Greek Theatre
Ghosts of the Forest (photo: Joshua Huver) On Saturday, April 20, 2019, the hills of Berkeley came alive for an evening of powerful, transformative, and ultimately groovy rock and roll. Houston-based three-piece Khruangbin returned to the Bay Area five months after wrapping their own headlining tour last November. They opened the evening ahead of Ghosts of the Forest, the latest project from Trey Anastasio, lead guitarist and vocalist for the jam band giant Phish. Consisting of guitarist Mark Speer, drummer DJ Johnson, and bassist Laura Lee, Khruangbin has been making huge strides in the global music world. This opening performance at the Greek, for [...]
Geographer premieres music video for “Summer Of My Discontentment”
(photo: Brittany O'Brien) Just before hitting the road for his upcoming tour, Geographer has dropped the music video for “Summer of my Discontentment” off of his latest EP, New Jersey. Geographer was formed in San Francisco by Mike Deni as a American synth pop/indie rock band. New Jersey is the latest EP, released back in March, focusing on Deni’s transition in life of being without a home in the six-month gap between leaving San Francisco and moving to Los Angeles. He spent that time touring, couch surfing and at his childhood home in New Jersey where he began writing the [...]
Live This Week: Jessica Pratt to showcase her tranquil reverie at the Chapel
Imbued with the kind of warmth found in a cup of tea on a dreary day, Jessica Pratt's nimble voice is enchanting as it is peculiar. On Quiet Signs, her latest record, Pratt continues to deliver the hushed melodies that colored her debut, On Your Own Love Again. The faintly-strummed and spare acoustic guitar anchors her evocations, providing a comfort that manages to probe into the unknown. Songs like standout single "This Time Around" feel oddly familiar, like blowing off the dust of an old keepsake stowed in the attic, hidden away from the elements. Pratt seems unfazed by the [...]
Ticket Giveaway: MUTEK.SF’s Experience, featuring art, food and more
We've got something to make your Monday a little brighter: How about two tickets to MUTEK.SF's closing rager, Experience? Making its SF debut last year, MUTEK is an interactive art and music festival with a long and storied history in other major metropolitan hubs around the globe. Bridging tech and art in a way that no other festival can really match, MUTEK has returned for a second year, featuring artists like Kode9 & Koji Morimoto, GAIKA, Byetone, Dopplereffekt and more from May 2-5. For San Francisco's final show, MUTEK will host Experience at the Midway, featuring live music from CYRNAI, [...]
What’s Happening This Weekend? A Guide To Shows Around The Bay, April 26 – 28
Friday, April 26 Blisses B, Cougar on a Meth Binge @ Octopus Literary Salon Despite the ferocious name, COAMB make banjo-buttressed ballads that will fill the Octopus. Graham Patzner @ The Lost Church Longtime multi-instumentalist Graham Patzner has lent his stringed savvy to countless bands around the Bay. See him solo in the cozy Lost Church. Tino Drima, Zelma Stone @ Amnesia Grab a pint or two with these two solid local acts, one well-established and the other on their way to being so. The San Francisco New Music Showcase with Scruffy Pup, the Riot Professor, Uncle Riffkin @ Milk [...]
Photos: Wax Trax! Records celebrates with Ministry, Cold Cave at Great American Music Hall
Ministry (photo: Ian Young) Wax Trax! Records, the famous Chicago-based independent record store and label, was instrumental in bringing international new wave, punk rock, and experimental music to the US in the 1980s and '90s. Ministry, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Front 242, Underworld, Coil, Revolting Cocks, and more all released albums with Wax Trax!, paving the way for industrial music to hit the mainstream in subsequent years. The label and store’s legacy was celebrated on Monday night at Great American Music Hall, where the new documentary Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records was shown to [...]
Review + Photos: Midnight North at the Mystic Theater
Midnight North (photo: Carolyn McCoy) Words by Carolyn McCoy Bay Area band Midnight North, who blend Americana, rock, and a hint of soulful blues have a harmony base that is both beautiful and comforting, a wall of vocals that can envelop you in ways that just feels right. Their recent 4/20 show at Petaluma’s Mystic Theatre was an exceptional showcase of why they are fast becoming one of the hottest, up-and-coming bands in the Bay Area and the US. Midnight North has worked very hard to get to the level they are at now, and you can see and hear it [...]
‘Weightless’ returns for a victory lap in SF
Like a little opera with your rock? The Kilbanes' Weightless is back for an encore run, this time at the Strand. This isn't Weightless' first time on the stage: It's been around in some form or another since 2012, and enjoyed a lengthy run at Z Space last year. Nor is this the Oakland-based "theatrical rock band" the Kilbanes' first rodeo: As in-demand theater composers, they've written and co-written numerous theater projects in the past, taking inspiration from everything from world myths to maverick businesswomen. With plenty of appeal for mythology geeks as well as theater geeks, Weightless draws on [...]