They say that San Francisco is doomed. I say if it is, we’re all in for one hell of a ride.
Wednesday was the inaugural night of the “San Francisco’s Doomed” festival, thrown by Thrillhouse Records and Maximum Rock n’ Roll. The night featured a wealth of local talent: Nodzzz, Younger Lovers, Rank Xerox, Year One, Fugitive Kind, Robocop 3, Awesomes, Celine Dion. While the styles of all the bands ranged from out n’ out eardrum massacre to indie pop, every act came from our very own backyard and all gave it up for the demise of the city we know and love.
Upon entering the Sub-Mission art space, I was greeted with something akin to a jet engine taking off as Celine Dion finished up their set. The air was thick as the band apparently brought their own fog machines to accent what appeared to be a choir of gut-wrenching screaming, with the lead singer’s vocals contorted through a series of pedals. As he sang, he slammed and pounded on the pedals in a rhythm that must only be familiar to those more closely acquainted with the devil himself. The fog lent a definite ambiance, which I enjoyed despite the blood I later found dried in my ear canal. Guantanamo ain’t got nothing on Celine Dion.
Next up was Awesomes, a female duo who were unknown to me before this night but will definitely be on my radar in the future. The front woman took to the crowd in fits of screaming and the crowd joined in. Most of the set seemed to take place on the floor–she tripped over spilled beer and took fans down with her, wrestling them into submission without missing a note. The music was fast and hard, drums providing the sole accompanying instrumentation. After the set was over, the duo took a bow and left the stage panting and bleeding like wild animals after a fight. There’s not much more than can be said about Awesomes except that they provided the most entertainment of the night, with the smallest number of tools to do the job.
Younger Lovers took the floor next. These guys were on my must see list for the night and they didn’t disappoint. They’re everything I love about punk music: timeless. You could imagine yourself in the late 70’s listening to this kind of music. No grand intentions, no rock operettas, just 3 chords and the truth. The threesome had everyone in the place moving, playing nothing slower than the tempo of a hummingbird’s heartbeat.
The last band I was able to catch for the night (damn you BART schedules) was Thrillhouse’s own Robocop 3. Once on stage, it was if they immediately flipped the switch from everyday people to punk rock acrobats. The lead singer scaled every possible surface and had the crowd pick him up in a chair while he belted out song after song. The band was electric and the music blistering, fast and rough in all the right places. The crowd ate it up.
For such a meager cover charge, you really could not get more than the SF’s Doomed fest offered. The bands played hard, the crowd played hard, and only our hearing had to bear the burden of it all. The festival should make a return next year, and with 50 bands playing this year, it will probably only get bigger. Well, if SF doesn’t sink into the Pacific by then, that is.
