Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Sizzle

Joseph Schell

Britney brought quite a spectacle to S.F.

A battle of the signs on Slim’s front door.

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More About

• Britney Spears
• Bill Graham
• Good Morning America
• Chris Chu
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

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• Britney Spears' free show for Good Morning America was moved from the Castro to Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, but it still drew all the S.F. crazies (drag queens; men in Catholic schoolgirl outfits) and swooning fans. Britney herself isn't so hot a dancer anymore, and some of her new songs were thin. But what a delicious spectacle Sunday's concert was.

• Berkeley-via-Brooklyn indie-pop outfit the Morning Benders, whose frontman Chris Chu was born in Japan, released an EP of unreleased songs and remixes last week, for sale online at variable prices. All of the proceeds will go to earthquake relief in the island nation.

• Numerous other local music venues, including the Independent and Yoshi's, held or are planning to hold their own benefit shows for Japan. We commend your compassion, S.F. music scene.

• Debaser, S.F.'s favorite '90s-obsessed DJ night, held its third anniversary party Friday. Its DJs also made SF Weekly a one-off mix of 27 alt-rock favorites from the decade that'll have you rocking flannel all week.

Fizzle

• The well-known S.F. music venue Slim's had its liquor license suspended for 10 days last week because of long-running noise complaints from neighbors. One neighbor in particular has become a persistent bane to Slim's and other clubs on 11th Street, complaining to authorities almost daily. Our view: If you're allergic to noise, maybe you shouldn't live in one of the city's nightlife districts.

• Gallery 28's "Vinyl Transformations" exhibit features decorated local LPs redecorated and hung on the wall under track lighting. But if we're not going to listen to our records, why don't we use them for something useful — like, say, roofing, or perhaps making dresses?

• Last week, an apparently disgruntled former employee of Yoshi's took a baseball bat to the inside of the jazz club's Oakland location, causing about $10,000 in damages, according to police.

For full versions of the above stories and much more about S.F. music, check out All Shook Down, our music blog.