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

Sizzle

Christopher Victorio

Springsteen in Oakland

Rockit Room is changing its name

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More About

• Bruce Springsteen
• Mikal Cronin
• Santana (Band)
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop

• Bruce Springsteen — "BRUUUUUCE!" to his fans — ruled a sold-out Oracle Arena. He played a lot of classics, including "Dancing in the Dark," "Thunder Road," and "Because the Night," but every song from Springsteen and his 16-piece band sounded amazing. Even, to our surprise, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."

• Moodyman played a DJ set unlike anything we've ever seen at Public Works. He routinely stopped to chat with the crowd, shared a giant bottle of Hennessy with those in front, and spun some pretty unusual stuff, including Portishead, Flying Lotus, and Clapton covering Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff."

• Congrats to local garage-rocker Mikal Cronin, who signed with indie powerhouse Merge Records for a new album due next year. A protege of S.F.'s now well-known Ty Segall, Cronin plays tuneful, brutal rock 'n' roll that definitely warrants a place next to Arcade Fire and Dinosaur Jr. on the Merge roster.

Fizzle

• We took a look at the best-selling Bay Area singles from the last 25 years, and found that the latest big movers all came from the abysmally bad Train. Yuck. At least Green Day, Metallica, Santana, MC Hammer, and En Vogue showed up on the list.

• The Rockit Room is changing its name after a tough year that saw city officials criticize it for noise and violence issues. The club is now known as Neck of the Woods — a moniker that seems like it can't help inspire people to trek out to the Inner Richmond for a show.

• Sorry to you Ke$ha defenders: Warrior, her new album out this week, doesn't sound like the pop masterpiece we wanted from her. A few likely hits aside, most of the songs here are dull dance filler or total duds.