Concerts and Tours

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 >>

A Clever Kind of Non-Theater

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 >>

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

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

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 >>

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 >>

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

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 >>

Train Announces One-of-a-Kind Free Performance in S.F. This Weekend

Wildly successful S.F. pop-rock band Train just announced a very unusual addition to its upcoming week of intimate club shows here in the city. As a special promotion for its new album, California 37, the band will be performing in exactly 37 different places around San Francisco this Sunday. But a ... More >>

Live Review, 3/15/12: The Pretty Reckless Vies For Rock Credibility at Bottom of the Hill

See also: *The 7 Types of People Who Will Go See The Pretty Reckless The Pretty Reckless The Parlor Mob The Hollywood Kills Thursday, March 15, 2012 Bottom of the Hill Better than: To Catch a Predator You never know what mixed bag of crazy awaits at an all-ages concert, and last night's Pretty ... More >>

Nu Sensae: Show Preview

See also: *The 7 Types of People Who Will Go See The Pretty Reckless The Pretty Reckless The Parlor Mob The Hollywood Kills Thursday, March 15, 2012 Bottom of the Hill Better than: To Catch a Predator You never know what mixed bag of crazy awaits at an all-ages concert, and last night's Pretty ... More >>

Vocal Visualizations

See also: *The 7 Types of People Who Will Go See The Pretty Reckless The Pretty Reckless The Parlor Mob The Hollywood Kills Thursday, March 15, 2012 Bottom of the Hill Better than: To Catch a Predator You never know what mixed bag of crazy awaits at an all-ages concert, and last night's Pretty ... More >>

Van Halen, Including David Lee Roth, Will Play Oracle Arena and HP Pavilion in June

The incomparable frontman David Lee Roth is on board both for Van Halen's 2012 North American tour -- which stops in the Bay Area in June -- as well as the band's forthcoming album A Different Kind of Truth, the first Van Halen album he's appeared on since the iconic 1984. The tour is set to arrive ... More >>

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

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 >>

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

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 >>

The Fiery Furnaces: Show Preview

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 >>

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

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 >>

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 >>

Lil B Signs Tour Deal With Live Nation, Holds Major-Label Hopes

So Based.​Hope you're not sick of hearing about Lil B yet, but if you are, you might want to just fast-forward through 2k11. It's shaping up to be a pretty Based year, what with the Berkeley's rapper's MTV appearance, XXL Freshman class cover, SXSW appearances (juiced up by Diddy and Odd Future), ... 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

​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 >>

Your Call

​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 >>

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 >>

Greg Dulli: Show Preview

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.

Bridge School 2010: Last Grizzly Bear Show for 'Quite Some Time'

Grizzly Bear has a sense of humor. Witness it soon or wait a while.​Yesterday, we posted the facial-expression-inducing lineup for this year's Bridge School Benefit concert, where Neil Young and Stephen Stills will likely draw thousands of former Bay Area hippies with a Buffalo Springfield reunion ... More >>

Sound and Vision: The year Outside Lands stumbled

Grizzly Bear has a sense of humor. Witness it soon or wait a while.​Yesterday, we posted the facial-expression-inducing lineup for this year's Bridge School Benefit concert, where Neil Young and Stephen Stills will likely draw thousands of former Bay Area hippies with a Buffalo Springfield reunion ... More >>

Faith No More's second coming

Grizzly Bear has a sense of humor. Witness it soon or wait a while.​Yesterday, we posted the facial-expression-inducing lineup for this year's Bridge School Benefit concert, where Neil Young and Stephen Stills will likely draw thousands of former Bay Area hippies with a Buffalo Springfield reunion ... More >>

Shackleton, Eskmo, and EPROM

Grizzly Bear has a sense of humor. Witness it soon or wait a while.​Yesterday, we posted the facial-expression-inducing lineup for this year's Bridge School Benefit concert, where Neil Young and Stephen Stills will likely draw thousands of former Bay Area hippies with a Buffalo Springfield reunion ... More >>

Off the Farm

Grizzly Bear has a sense of humor. Witness it soon or wait a while.​Yesterday, we posted the facial-expression-inducing lineup for this year's Bridge School Benefit concert, where Neil Young and Stephen Stills will likely draw thousands of former Bay Area hippies with a Buffalo Springfield reunion ... More >>

Slow Ride

Grizzly Bear has a sense of humor. Witness it soon or wait a while.​Yesterday, we posted the facial-expression-inducing lineup for this year's Bridge School Benefit concert, where Neil Young and Stephen Stills will likely draw thousands of former Bay Area hippies with a Buffalo Springfield reunion ... More >>

Haggard Far from Tired

Grizzly Bear has a sense of humor. Witness it soon or wait a while.​Yesterday, we posted the facial-expression-inducing lineup for this year's Bridge School Benefit concert, where Neil Young and Stephen Stills will likely draw thousands of former Bay Area hippies with a Buffalo Springfield reunion ... More >>

The Blue Man's Group

Grizzly Bear has a sense of humor. Witness it soon or wait a while.​Yesterday, we posted the facial-expression-inducing lineup for this year's Bridge School Benefit concert, where Neil Young and Stephen Stills will likely draw thousands of former Bay Area hippies with a Buffalo Springfield reunion ... More >>

Free Will-owz

Grizzly Bear has a sense of humor. Witness it soon or wait a while.​Yesterday, we posted the facial-expression-inducing lineup for this year's Bridge School Benefit concert, where Neil Young and Stephen Stills will likely draw thousands of former Bay Area hippies with a Buffalo Springfield reunion ... More >>