Noise Pop 2020: Helado Negro, Angelica Garcia, Meerna and Tré Burt mesmerize the crowd
On the third night of Noise Pop 2020 at Great American Music Hall, Meerna opened the night with a room-silencing cover of Joan Baez’s “Silver Dagger” and set the stage for what would be a lovely and soulful performance. Never have I seen an audience so silent, so willfully watching the first opening act. Meerna frontwoman Carly Bond, who typically plays with a full band, braved the stage solo and confessed, “Guys, I’m scared,” then tuning her guitar added in a drawn out voice, “Soooo scared,” to audience chuckles. After busting out an old favorite, “Good Luck,” Bond tuned her [...]
Abbot Kinney play Great American Music Hall this Saturday
Playing the renowned Great American Music Hall for the first time is a milestone that would make any local musician giddy. For singer-songwriter Jared Swanson, frontman of Abbot Kinney, it's a symbolic next step in his musical career. He explains to The Bay Bridged, "Long before moving to San Francisco, the spirit of the Great American Music Hall loomed. Its rich history dripped down to Los Angeles. In addition to being where Journey and Jerry Garcia's solo career debuted, it was designed by a French architect and was originally named after a notorious Barbary Coast house of prostitution. I've since seen a dozen shows [...]
Music and…: Five Ways to Think About the Crackdown on SF Venues
In the midst of enjoying a series of sold-out, locally-headlined shows during last week's Noise Pop festivities, there was just enough of a gap between bands, drinks and good times for me to have a real downer of a realization: if the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) has its way, many of the great venues hosting Noise Pop shows would be put out of business. Places like Bottom of the Hill, Cafe Du Nord, Slim's, and the Great American Music Hall. Chances are pretty good that if you've been to see a show recently, you've been to a [...]
Contest: Alternative Tentacles’ Thirtieth Anniversary
Local institution Alternative Tentacles Records celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year. Beginning with The Dead Kennedys' "California Uber Alles" single in June 1979, the label has since released over 400 records from a diverse roster of talented bands. AT is still going strong in 2009, with recent releases from Turn Me On Dead Man, Alice Donut, Star Fucking Hipsters, and Jello Biafra's latest project, Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, which also features members of Victims Family and Faith No More. Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine - "The Terror of Tinytown" Alternative Tentacles [...]
All Ages Venues Update: Charges Against Great American Dropped
All Shook Down and NBC Bay Area brought some welcome news yesterday in the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's (ABC) outrageous crackdown on all ages SF venues, a conflict that has enveloped some of the City's best places to see shows. On Monday, an administrative law judge recommended that case against the Great American Music Hall be dropped due to because "the regulation relied upon by the ABC was ambiguous." Following that decision, the ABC announced that it was dropping the charges against Great American. As All Shook Down notes: The ruling falls in line with public opinion that the [...]
The latest on the ABC and local venues: why promises of change aren’t enough
A Bay Bridged reader tipped us off to this post over at the Chronicle's City Insider blog, the latest in the paper's coverage of the ongoing conflict between the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and some of the City’s best venues, including Bottom of the Hill, Cafe Du Nord, the Great American Music Hall and the DNA Lounge. You can find our previous posts about this issue here and here for more background, but here's a quick recap: the ABC, charged with issuing and enforcing alcohol licenses throughout the state, has been challenging the liquor licenses of a number [...]
Must-read Chronicle story on the ABC and SF live music
Via The OCMD, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an absolutely astonishing story this weekend about action by the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control targeted at some of the City's best venues, like Bottom of the Hill, Cafe Du Nord and the Great American Music Hall. This early sentence should get your attention: Those venues could be forced to close, owners say, if the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, better known as ABC, continues to impose rules that club attorneys argue are legally questionable and often unrelated to booze or safety issues. It's not uncommon to hear about a [...]