This weekend is the latest installment of SF Popfest, the somewhat intermittent, but pretty much yearly, festival inspired by the sounds of the jangly, dreamy, and shoegazy pop ethos spawned from mid-eighties UK labels like Postcard, Sarah, and Creation.
A ragtag lil’ festival that could, SF Popfest is the grassroots, punk house party alternative to the Noise Pops and the Coachellas, organized and curated by musicians and music nerds, essentially. People who have nothing else to gain other than putting on shows that they themselves would want to go to, and hope you will too — and usually at the last minute when they realize it may not happen.
“Everyone’s sort of like, where’s Popfest, what’s up with Popest? And suddenly it’s like, ‘Oh crap, no one’s done anything! I better help!’ It’s like on Lost, ‘You don’t choose Popfest, Popfest chooses you,'” says co-curator Jamie Guzzi, who you may know as DJ Jamie Jams from Shine On and Debaser. He and a few others, mostly organizers from Shine On, Time Keeps Time, and SF Popfests of yore worked hard to make it happen.
As for the result? “It’s all very twee as fuck,” he jokes.
This year’s lineup is heavy on new projects from from veteran musicians: solo work from Dreamdate’s Yea-Ming, Dum Dum Girls’ Sandy Beaches’ new band Sisu, and Wil Ivy’s (Wet Illustrated, Lilac) Dream Boys, while #1 Smash Hits features members from the early aughts power pop band Lunchbox. The veritable supergroup Still Flyin’ boasts members from Track Star, Aislers Set, Ladybug Transistor, Love Is All, Maserati, and Red Pony Clock, among others.
Also on the bill are Popfest vets such as Oxnard’s Sea Lions, Seattle’s BOAT, locals Cruel Summer, and Stockton’s Surf Club. Newbies to get pumped for: Colleen Green, Heathers, and Burnt Palms.
Another offering, also new to this year’s event, will be the vintage photobooth from the talented photographer Claude Cardenas, a.k.a. Stagnant Cult, who has created videos for Kids on a Crime Spree, The Vandelles, Bam!Bam!, and Cruel Summer (currently in production).
Day 1
Shine On presents: Sea Lions, Still Flyin’, Colleen Green, Permanent Collection, Burnt Palms w/ DJs Jessica, Lil’ Melanie and Record Steeler Wheeler (All Fall Down, Girls at Our Best)
Cafe Du Nord
Friday, May 24, 2013
9pm, 21+, $12
Day 2
SF Popfest presents: Surf Club, Boat, and Legs w/ DJ Tender Object
The Hemlock
Saturday, May 25, 2013
9pm, 21+, $8
Shine On presents: Sisu, Cruel Summer, Dream Boys, and #1 Smash Hits w/ DJs Jamie Jams and Josh Yule
Knockout
Saturday, May 25, 2013
9pm, 21+, $10
Day 3
Time Keeps Time presents: Dark Beach, Island Boy, Nacho Business, and Yea-Ming
followed by Indiepop Dance Party w/ DJs Claude Cardenas (Stagnant Cult), Zola Goodrich (Bam!Bam!), Lindsay Romig (Dressy Bessy), and Wam Bam Ashleyanne (KALX)
The Knockout
Sunday, May 26, 2013
4-10pm, 21+, $5
