Concerts and Tours

Converse to Host Free Shows By Hot Chip, Mastodon, Suicidal Tendencies, More

Behold, another new vista in the world of band-brand intertwining: A shoe company hosting free shows by famous bands and holding a lottery to decide who gets in. Maybe that's not completely unheard-of, exactly, but this level of it is new to S.F. Your favorite maker of Chuck Taylors is holding a con ... More >>

LL Cool J, Ice Cube, Public Enemy, and De La Soul Reign Over Shoreline, 5/25/13

Kings of the Mic with LL Cool J, Ice Cube, Public Enemy, De La Soul Shoreline Amphitheatre Saturday, May 25, 2013 Better than: Most rap shows. The rappers on stage at Shoreline on Saturday night's King of the Mic tour ranged from 43 to 54 years old, and they all exuded much more energy onstage tha ... More >>

A Letter to the Rolling Stones Regarding Their Absurdly Expensive New Tour

Dear Rolling Stones, As we're sure you're aware, a little ripple of joy went through crowds of music fans the world over recently when you announced you were about to tour again. We were a little perturbed to find out that Mick Jagger has started dancing in front of a mirror in preparation, but tha ... More >>

Furthur Cancels Bottle Rock Napa Valley Set After Bob Weir Collapses Onstage

Bay Area jam outfitFurthur just announced that it will cancel its set at next week's Bottle Rock Napa Valley music festival in the wake of frontman Bob Weir's onstage collapse. The band, which features Grateful Dead co-founders Weir and Phil Lesh, had been scheduled to headline the first night of Bo ... More >>

Steve Earle Will Perform for Free at the Warren Hellman Museum Today

Country-folk legend and preeminent beard spokesman Steve Earle has a new album, The Low Highway, out now. Local fans may know that there's a song on the new album called "Warren Hellman's Banjo" -- a backwoodsy tribute to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival founder Warren Hellman. Earle is in San Fr ... More >>

Outside Lands 2013: Five Bands To Expect on the Lineup

It's official: The Outside Lands lineup will be announced a week from today, on April 16, 2013. And while some hints about this year's bill have spilled out on the Internet so far, it seems high time to round up what we know so far. Here, then are six artists we're pretty sure are on the 2013 Outsid ... More >>

Black Lips: Show Preview

Intermission: Noise Pop Turns Down the Volume

Shannon & the Clams: Show Preview

Painted Palms: Show Preview

Great Insight

WinterSalt, New December Music Fest, to Feature Dillon Francis, Zedd, Theophilus London, and More

December isn't typically a time heavy on music festivals, but the new WinterSalt is hoping to change that. A complement to Eye Heart S.F.'s SummerSalt event, the Dec. 28 and 29 party at Fort Mason's Festival Pavilion will feature performances by Dillon Francis, Zedd, Theophilus London, and more. Two ... More >>

Record Breaker

Live Review, 8/1/12: Bleached, DIIV, and Lenz Hit Highs and Lows at Rickshaw Stop

Bleached DIIV Lenz Wednesday, August 1, 2012 Rickshaw Stop Better than: Watching hyped headliners deflate without an exciting opener. The billing of Bleached as headliners over DIIV at the Rickshaw Stop last night was initially confusing. The group boasts three singles released in 2011, while DII ... More >>

Live Review, 7/1/12: Preservation Hall Jazz Band Soundtracks a Chill Afternoon at Stern Grove

Preservation Hall Jazz Band The Stone Foxes July 1, 2012 Stern Grove Festival Better than: An afternoon listening to the drum circle in Dolores Park The Stern Grove Music Festival is celebrating its 75th year, and it's hard to imagine much has changed in 2012. If you're a diehard music fan -- some ... More >>

I Love This City Festival: Tiësto, Duck Sauce, Steve Aoki, James Murphy, Holy Ghost! and More to Play Over Two Days in S.F.

This May, San Francisco is getting a two-day electronic dance music party of titanic proportions: I Love This City will bring huge names like Tiësto, Steve Aoki, Duck Sauce, James Murphy, the Crystal Method, and many more to the AT&T Park parking lot over Memorial Day weekend, May 25 and 26. No do ... More >>

Nu Sensae: Show Preview

Vocal Visualizations

Author Brian Lew on the Early Days of Metallica and the Bay Area Thrash Metal Scene

Brian Lew Cliff Burton playing live with Metallica for the first time at the Stone in San Francisco, 1983​ See more of our Metallica Week coverage: Six Signs of Metallica's Pervasive Influence on Pop Culture Metallica Kicks off Its 30th Anniversary Week with Notable Guests, Rare Songs, and L ... More >>

DJ Qbert, the Jimi Hendrix of DJs, to Play Free Show at SFO

DJ Qbert in concert​ SFO's newishly remodeled Terminal 2 is supposed to be an outpost of Bay Area arty/foodie/boho heaven specially for the jet-setter class, right? In addition to its airy design and Hayes Valley-worthy food options, consider this: The city's own DJ Qbert, aka Richard Quitevis ... More >>

SF Entertainment Commission to Bar and Café Owners: Hire Musicians!

​This summer, San Francisco created a new process that makes it easier for bars, restaurants, and cafés to host live music. Now it just needs the bands to show up. Jocelyn Kane, executive director of the city's Entertainment Commission, is urging cafe and bar owners to apply for one of the c ... More >>

Yoshi's Is Holding a Benefit for Beaten Giants Fan Bryan Stow Featuring Tim Flannery

Brian Stow​Yoshi's S.F. is holding a benefit concert next month for 42-year-old Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was savagely attacked outside a baseball game in Los Angeles this March and suffered a severe skull fracture. Performing, among others, is Tim Flannery -- the Giants' third base coac ... More >>

Here Is Video of Arcade Fire's Entire Set from the Bridge School Benefit

Arcade Fire's Win Butler at Bridge School yesterday.​ Missed Bridge School? We did, too. But now, instead of sighing deeply and conjuring overly rosy daydreams of what we missed by skipping the trek down to Mountain View this past weekend, we have YouTube to actually show it to us. After the j ... More >>

Z-Trip: Show Preview

Exclusive Premiere: Forrest Day's Fittingly Energetic Video for "Hyperactive"

From Forrest Day's new "Hyperactive" video​ After watching Forrest Day play so hard at last year's All Shook Down fest that the exhausted frontman actually passed out onstage midsong, we became instant fans. Day's group plays an unusual blend of jazz, rock, hip-hop, and funk -- there are sax s ... More >>

S.F. Symphony Summer Conductor Michael Francis on the Joys of Performing Outdoors

Chris Cristodoulou​In the conducting world, Michael Francis is a rising star. Young, talented, and armed with a devastatingly cute British accent, this is a conductor to keep an eye on. Fortunately for us, Francis will be in town this summer, conducting the San Francisco Symphony's annual summer c ... More >>

Announcing SF Weekly's All Shook Down Music Fest 2011, Featuring Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles performing a sold-out show at the Warfield earlier this year.​ Hey, San Francisco, the All Shook Down Music Fest is returning for 2011. Different place, different vibe, same goal: To put some of the best local musicians together in one showcase, capped off with a big headliner. ... More >>

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

The Fiery Furnaces: Show Preview

Drop the Lime on Mixing '50s Rock with Dance Music, and Making a Deal with the Devil

Robin BharajRockabillybass. ​With a penchant for odd combinations like heavy basslines and harmonica drops, Luca Venezia, aka Drop the Lime, has created a style of music that's best described as rockabilly dance. Founder of the Trouble and Bass label, home to artists such as Star Eyes and AC Slate ... More >>

Tonight: Moon Duo Plays Free Aquarius In-Store Show, Then Bottom of the Hill

Free show tonight!​They don't call it Monday Funday for nothing. There'll be plenty of fun at 6 p.m. tonight at Aquarius Records on Valencia Street, when S.F.-via-Colorado outfit Moon Duo brings out its droney, fuzzy gaze for a free show. After that, Moon Duo headlines Bottom of the Hill for a non ... More >>

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

How to Be an Opening DJ, By Oakland's DJ Enki: 'You're the Foreplay'

Do you need a lesson from DJ Enki?​We've all been there: You get to a show or a party around 9 or 10, eager to chill out for a bit, grab a drink, talk to some friends, and listen to an opening DJ. But the opening DJ is zapping out freaky techno, dropping obvious hits, or trying to stitch in a flas ... More >>

Defying Age with Smith Westerns

No ID required for their epic power-pop.

What It's Really Like To Be in a Band, Starring Seattle's Moondoggies

​Headlining the Independent tonight is a Seattle folk-rock band by the name of Moondoggies. Maybe you have heard of this band, or its rich, rocking, Neil Young-indebted sophomore album Tidelands, which was released on the Hardly Art label last year. Or maybe not.Maybe you imagine that because the ... More >>

San Francisco Tape Music Festival: Show Preview

Your Call

Bazaar Bizarre, Holiday Pups & Kitties, Mission Block Party, Silver Swans, and More

Photo by Holden PumphreySilver Swans play Milk this Friday​ This weekend you can scour cool handmade gift ideas, check out cute puppies and kitties in holiday-decorated windows, or dance in sweaty packs at a barrage of city clubs -- all for less than $10. Mission Holiday Block Party @ Mission Dis ... More >>

New Year's Eve 2011: 10 Ways To Celebrate in S.F.

Calibree PhotographyThey think you should make those NYE plans early​No one will fault you on New Years Eve for being too glitzy, too loud, or too boozy. It's the one time of the year we're pretty much required to celebrate to excess -- there's even a mandatory beverage (champagne) and sexual acti ... More >>

Neil Young, Joanna Newsom, and Colin Powell: All in S.F. for One Cause

Neil Young plays a hospital benefit next month.​My, my, hey hey: The hottest S.F. concert ticket this December might just be a benefit concert for the new UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.The headliner: A Canada-born, now-local folk-rock singer (who's had some car trouble lately) by the name of Ne ... More >>

Best Coast Announced as Surprise Headliner for Aquarius Records' 40th Birthday Party

Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino​The landmark Mission District music retailer Aquarius Records -- home to fine local, weird, obscure, amazing music on vinyl and CD -- will celebrate its 40th birthday party with a big bash at Cafe Du Nord on Monday. At first, the lineup was local and none-too-shabby, ... More >>

San Francisco Love Story

Before founding Belle and Sebastian, Stuart Murdoch came here to get healthy. He left with songs, skills, and a promise to return with a band.

Faith No More's second coming

Shackleton, Eskmo, and EPROM

Off the Farm

Slow Ride

Haggard Far from Tired

The Blue Man's Group

Free Will-owz