| Event & Venue |
Date (choose)
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House of Diehls Style Wars: The Style Battle Championships Mezzanine |
Sat., November 21, 10:00pm |
South of Market |
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Although life itself sometimes feels like a never-ending and humiliating style war a high-stakes skirmish, with plaid jumpers eliciting audible gasps and trollops casting the evil eye upon last seasons riding habit sometimes its just grand to show up at a nightclub and... More >> |
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"Prince vs. Michael: Seven-Year Anniversary" Madrone Lounge |
Sat., November 21, 7:00pm |
Haight/ Fillmore |
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Usually it's a toss-up determining who'll win the monthly Prince vs. Michael showdown. They both have their unimpeachable party-starters, like "Let's Go Crazy" or "When Doves Cry" versus "Billie Jean" and "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough." All a DJ's gotta do is drop the needle on those mofos... More >> |
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Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, The Portland Cello Project, David Schultz The Independent |
Sat., November 21, 9:00pm |
Haight/ Fillmore |
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It's said that necessity is the mother of invention. Adversity may then be the father, that uncompromising taskmaster whose coaching you don't appreciate until later. One recent example of the latter: indie rocker Thao Nguyen, whose romantic breakup drives Know Better Learn Faster, her latest... More >> |
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"Dub Mission" Elbo Room |
Sun., November 22, 9:00pm |
Mission/ Bernal Heights |
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DJ Sep's weekly reggae club night, Dub Mission, continues to rack up impressive special line-ups. On Sunday, she showcases New York producers Nick "Nickodemus" DeSimone (pictured) and Moreno Visini, aka the Spy from Cairo, who previously recorded as Zeb. DeSimone and Visini fuse dub and... More >> |
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Friendly Fires, The xx, Holly Miranda The Independent |
Sun., November 22, 9:00pm |
Haight/ Fillmore |
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Erasing the gap between industrial postpunk and minimal R&B, England's hotly tipped quartet, the xx, recognizes the power of a riled-up whisper against a nearly blank slate. Factor in hazy keyboards, flickering percussion, and the scanning guitar and bass of singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver... More >> |
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Karl Blau and LAKE Hemlock Tavern |
Sun., November 22, 9:00pm |
Nob Hill/ Russian Hill |
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On his third album for K Records, quirky Pacific Northwest troubadour Karl Blau further feels out the African-inspired sounds he has flirted with in the past. Zebra is full of languid guitar sprawl, entrenched basslines, and stuttered drums, never heading in a direction youd expect but... More >> |
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Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Jug Band and Devine's Jug Band Cafe Du Nord |
Mon., November 23, 8:00pm |
Castro/ Noe Valley |
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Doctor, put down that ether vaporizer and give us another shot of "party music for hard times" make it a double, and don't be stingy. Taking the old-timey revival up another notch, Devine's Jug Band's new album, Terrible Operation Blues, features Mayumi Urgino and Meredith Axelrod on... More >> |
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Wolfmother, Heartless Bastards, Thenewno2 Fox Theater - Oakland |
Mon., November 23, 7:30pm |
Downtown Oakland |
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When Aussie retro-rock act Wolfmother lost its rhythm section last summer, fans wondered whether frontman Andrew Stockdale could convincingly carry on the name. The singer proves his Ozzy-meets-Jack-White wail and knack for hooky guitar riffs remain intact on the songs from Wolfmother's... More >> |
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Friendly Fires, The xx, Holly Miranda The Independent |
Mon., November 23, 9:00pm |
Haight/ Fillmore |
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Erasing the gap between industrial postpunk and minimal R&B, England's hotly tipped quartet, the xx, recognizes the power of a riled-up whisper against a nearly blank slate. Factor in hazy keyboards, flickering percussion, and the scanning guitar and bass of singers Romy Madley Croft and Oliver... More >> |
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mr. Gnome, Songs for Snakes, Disastroid Elbo Room |
Mon., November 23, 9:00pm |
Mission/ Bernal Heights |
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The new album by Cleveland duo mr. Gnome, Heave Yer Skeleton, is a surreal rock listen. Largely recorded at the Los Angeles studio of Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, the band's sophomore full-length contains layers of echoey, keening vocals and effects-slathered guitar courtesy of... More >> |
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Cinematheque Sing Along Make-Out Room |
Tue., November 24, 7:00pm |
Mission/ Bernal Heights |
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The self-effacing form of public performance known as karaoke combines the familiar words and melodies of popular songs with cheap, liberating booze. Experimental film is an august genre of cinema generally (albeit incorrectly) perceived as cerebral, cryptic, and inaccessible. Put 'em together,... More >> |
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"Alcoholocaust: Stump the Wizard" Argus Lounge |
Tue., November 24, 9:00pm |
Mission/ Bernal Heights |
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On any given Tuesday, Alcoholocaust provides a boozy chance to recharge old memory centers while simultaneously (and paradoxically) killing a few brain cells: cheap Tecate in fist, you can challenge yourself to recall which vintage metal or classic punk track you're hearing above the social... More >> |
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"Simply Nina" African American Art and Cultural Complex Center |
Daily from Thu., November 12 until Thu., December 10 |
Hayes Valley/ Tenderloin |
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Portraiture and more in honor of Dr. Nina Simone, including work by Milton Bowens, Ron Carter, Carly Garcia, James Gayles, Nanette Harris, Peter Max Lawrence, and Dania Wright. More >> |
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Del the Funky Homosapien, Bukue One, Serendipity Project, Hopie Spitshard Great American Music Hall |
Wed., November 25, 9:00pm |
Nob Hill/ Russian Hill |
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Del the Funky Homosapien has contributed his share to the canon of hip-hop classics. His first two albums, the funk-infused I Wish My Brother George Was Here and the harder-edged, battle-rapping No Need for Alarm, left unique marks during the golden era of early-'90s hip-hop. But the Bay Area... More >> |
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Deastro, Max Tundra, White Cloud Bottom of the Hill |
Wed., November 25, 10:00pm |
Potrero Hill |
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British pop composer Ben Jacobs becomes Max Tundra from the moment his "knees and arms start quivering in time to the curious rhythms," he explained in a recent interview. Tundra explores the flickers between fiction and realism, crooning vaguely pessimistic, perversely absurd lyrics atop... More >> |
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"Meat" DNA Lounge |
Thu., November 26, 9:30pm |
South of Market |
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Don't tell the crowd at Meat that it's Thanksgiving: they think it's still Halloween. As this now-annual November edition of the monthy goth-industrial gathering, the date becomes irrelevant as DJs spin enough spooky, demonic dance tunes to keep October 31 repeating in an endless loop. Yes,... More >> |
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Hatebreed, Trivium, Cannibal Corpse, Chimaira, Unearth, Whitechapel, Born of Osiris, Hate Eternal, Dirge Within The Warfield |
Fri., November 27, 3:00pm |
Hayes Valley/ Tenderloin |
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Tough economic times affected all branches of the entertainment industry in 2009, and the live music scene is no exception. In a recent MSN Music online poll of metal fans, 33 percent of respondents said they were going to fewer shows, and nearly 16 percent said that if they did go out, they... More >> |
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The Books Noe Valley Ministry |
Fri., November 27, 8:15pm |
Castro/ Noe Valley |
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After a considerable hibernation, the Books are publicly resuming activity with a brief tour to preview new songs. The New York duo of Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong remains enamored of layering found sounds against plinking, soft-sung folk. In fact, it's telling that de Jong spent part of the... More >> |
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Simian Mobile Disco, J.D.H. & Dave P, Tenderlions Mezzanine |
Fri., November 27, 9:00pm |
South of Market |
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Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford and James Shaw tweak their throbbing electronic assemblage into a mass of pastiche moments. The British duo's latest full-length, Temporary Pleasure, nods to acid's undulating squelches, freestyle's syncopation, machine soul's compressed bleep-beats, and... More >> |
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The Books Noe Valley Ministry |
Sat., November 28, 8:15pm |
Castro/ Noe Valley |
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After a considerable hibernation, the Books are publicly resuming activity with a brief tour to preview new songs. The New York duo of Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong remains enamored of layering found sounds against plinking, soft-sung folk. In fact, it's telling that de Jong spent part of the... More >> |
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The Business, Control U.K., Harrington Saints Thee Parkside |
Sat., November 28, 9:00pm |
Potrero Hill |
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The young upstarts and aging skinheads who packed two recent Cock Sparrer concerts at the Great American Music Hall each sold out weeks in advance would seem to indicate a continued thirst for no-bullshit, blue-collar punk in the 21st Century, even if the critics, hipsters, and... More >> |
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Japandroids Rickshaw Stop |
Sun., November 29, 7:00pm |
Hayes Valley/ Tenderloin |
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Some bands kick up so much racket, you feel like your hair is being whipped by a gale-force wind. Vancouver's Japandroids, a guitar-drums duo going strong after a couple of tentative EP releases, manages that sensation both figuratively and literally. Guitarist Brian King, who splits his signal... More >> |
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Kelly Clarkson, Eric Hutchinson, Parachute San Jose State Event Center Arena |
Sun., November 29, 7:30pm |
San Jose |
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Kelly Clarkson invites so many cooks into her kitchen that it's no surprise when her albums tend to be uneven affairs. But when American Idol's first winner is handed a gem, she knows exactly what to do with it, as heard on her hits "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "Since U Been Gone."... More >> |
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"Songs of the Season" The Rrazz Room |
Daily from Mon., November 30 until Wed., December 2, 8:00pm |
Union Square/ Financial District |
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The holidays can be a rough time! The wolf is at the door, or perhaps already in the living room gnawing contentedly on your leg as you dab at your tear-filled eyes with overdue gas and electricity bills. The varieties of seasonal suffering run a festive gamut, but fortunately San Francisco... More >> |
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Vic Chesnutt Band, Warpaint, Liz Durrett Great American Music Hall |
Mon., November 30, 8:00pm |
Nob Hill/ Russian Hill |
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Vic Chesnutt's sense of self is as unsteady as a drunk on Sunday morning. In his songs, the Southern singer-songwriter veers rambunctiously from searing declarations ("I am not a victim
I'm an atheist!") to dismal self-reflection ("I'm a cheap, spent shell/And a biohazard"). Joined by... More >> |