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

Sizzle

Photo by Gil Riego Jr.

Phish at Bill Graham Civic

Green Day’s tepid new video

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More About

• Phish
• Scott McKenzie
• Bill Graham
• Tiffany Roth
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

• Phish played two mammoth sets at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, delighting its loyal fans. As always, the band was better live than on its records; onstage, the basic structures of songs like "Tweezer" blossom into heartfelt, gorgeous jams. But the cohesion and fluidity of Phish is far better than that of most jam bands.

• NYC's Midnight Magic made for a great, albeit packed Saturday night at the Rickshaw Stop. In one of the tightest sets we've seen, the indie-disco outfit employed live horns, the brazen antics of frontwoman Tiffany Roth, and intense tempo shifts to get the crowd moving in ecstasy.

• R&B heartthrob Trey Songz previewed new album Chapter Five in S.F., pulling up the new tracks on his iPod and gesturing energetically along to each one. It seems the new album contains some of his best music yet.

Fizzle

• Scott McKenzie, singer of the iconic Summer of Love anthem "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)," passed away in L.A. He was 73. In addition to performing the most famous song about S.F. — which was written by the Mamas and the Papas' John Phillips — McKenzie also co-wrote the Beach Boys' 1988 hit "Kokomo."

• Green Day released a snore of a video for "Oh Love," the first, tepid single from its upcoming trio of albums. The clip has the three band members performing for a bunch of lazed-out models. The ladies mostly look bored, and it's not hard to see why.

• Why our columnist doesn't like live music: consumerism, crowds, and overly self-conscious fandom. "The bigger the facility, the more people it accommodates, the more spectacular its aims — the smaller the experience. It's supposed to mean so much, but winds up meaning very little."