San Francisco Music Events

Event & Venue	Date (choose)
Recommended Events

House of Diehl’s Style Wars: The Style Battle Championships Mezzanine	Sat., November 21, 10:00pm	South of Market	Contests Fashion & Style Music
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 season’s riding habit — sometimes it’s just grand to show up at a nightclub and... More >>

"Prince vs. Michael: Seven-Year Anniversary" Madrone Lounge	Sat., November 21, 7:00pm	Haight/ Fillmore	Music Nightlife
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 >>

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, The Portland Cello Project, David Schultz The Independent	Sat., November 21, 9:00pm	Haight/ Fillmore	Music
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 >>

"Dub Mission" Elbo Room	Sun., November 22, 9:00pm	Mission/ Bernal Heights	Music
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 >>

Friendly Fires, The xx, Holly Miranda The Independent	Sun., November 22, 9:00pm	Haight/ Fillmore	Music
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 >>

Karl Blau and LAKE Hemlock Tavern	Sun., November 22, 9:00pm	Nob Hill/ Russian Hill	Music
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 you’d expect but... More >>

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Jug Band and Devine's Jug Band Cafe Du Nord	Mon., November 23, 8:00pm	Castro/ Noe Valley	Music
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 >>

Wolfmother, Heartless Bastards, Thenewno2 Fox Theater - Oakland	Mon., November 23, 7:30pm	Downtown Oakland	Music Out of Town
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 >>

Friendly Fires, The xx, Holly Miranda The Independent	Mon., November 23, 9:00pm	Haight/ Fillmore	Music
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 >>

mr. Gnome, Songs for Snakes, Disastroid Elbo Room	Mon., November 23, 9:00pm	Mission/ Bernal Heights	Music
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 >>

Cinematheque Sing Along Make-Out Room	Tue., November 24, 7:00pm	Mission/ Bernal Heights	Art Music
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 >>

"Alcoholocaust: Stump the Wizard" Argus Lounge	Tue., November 24, 9:00pm	Mission/ Bernal Heights	Free Events Games Music
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 >>

"Simply Nina" African American Art and Cultural Complex Center	Daily from Thu., November 12 until Thu., December 10	Hayes Valley/ Tenderloin	Art Art - Galleries Free Events Music
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 >>

Del the Funky Homosapien, Bukue One, Serendipity Project, Hopie Spitshard Great American Music Hall	Wed., November 25, 9:00pm	Nob Hill/ Russian Hill	Music
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 >>

Deastro, Max Tundra, White Cloud Bottom of the Hill	Wed., November 25, 10:00pm	Potrero Hill	Music
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 >>

"Meat" DNA Lounge	Thu., November 26, 9:30pm	South of Market	Music Nightlife
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 >>

Hatebreed, Trivium, Cannibal Corpse, Chimaira, Unearth, Whitechapel, Born of Osiris, Hate Eternal, Dirge Within The Warfield	Fri., November 27, 3:00pm	Hayes Valley/ Tenderloin	Music
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 >>

The Books Noe Valley Ministry	Fri., November 27, 8:15pm	Castro/ Noe Valley	Music
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 >>

Simian Mobile Disco, J.D.H. & Dave P, Tenderlions Mezzanine	Fri., November 27, 9:00pm	South of Market	Music Nightlife
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 >>

The Books Noe Valley Ministry	Sat., November 28, 8:15pm	Castro/ Noe Valley	Music
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 >>

The Business, Control U.K., Harrington Saints Thee Parkside	Sat., November 28, 9:00pm	Potrero Hill	Music
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 >>

Japandroids Rickshaw Stop	Sun., November 29, 7:00pm	Hayes Valley/ Tenderloin	Music
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 >>

Kelly Clarkson, Eric Hutchinson, Parachute San Jose State Event Center Arena	Sun., November 29, 7:30pm	San Jose	Music Out of Town
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 >>

"Songs of the Season" The Rrazz Room	Daily from Mon., November 30 until Wed., December 2, 8:00pm	Union Square/ Financial District	Benefits Cabaret Drag Holiday LGBT Events Music
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 >>

Vic Chesnutt Band, Warpaint, Liz Durrett Great American Music Hall	Mon., November 30, 8:00pm	Nob Hill/ Russian Hill	Music
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 >>