Years back, I used to post my upcoming schedule of shows that were on my radar. It didn't seem to help, because I ended up going to almost all of those shows by myself anyway. It was kind of a hassle to compile the list and didn't seem to be doing me any good, so I stopped.
(A conversation I used to have a lot: Them: "My new favorite band is coming to town next month but it's already sold out." Me: "Yeah, I saw them two years ago, they were great." Them: "Why didn't you tell me!" Me: "I did tell you. You hadn't heard of them. BTW, they were on one of my mixtapes.")
Then Facebook showed up, and I tried sending FB event invites to my friends for the shows I was planning to go to. That didn't work either -- literally zero results -- and probably just caused them to block me, since I was interfering with their important cat-pictures and hair-washing time.
But lately I've had a few of my friends say "But but but I totally would have gone if I'd known about it". I've heard that story before, but it's been a couple of years, so I guess I'll try again!
Here, then, are some shows worthy of consideration in the next few weeks:
| Wed, Sep 19: | Ringo Deathstarr, Permanent Collection, Chasms @ Milk Bar |
| Wed, Sep 19: | Breton @ Brick and Mortar |
| Thu, Sep 20: | Azure Ray @ Swedish American Hall |
| Thu, Sep 20: | Mansfield Aviator, Astral, The Basements @ Bottom of the Hill |
| Fri, Sep 21: | Holograms, Maus Haus, Group Rhoda @ Rickshaw Stop |
| Sat, Sep 22: | Superhero Street Fair |
| Sun, Sep 23: | The Limousines, Little Boots, Ladyhawke @ Folsom Street Fair |
| Wed, Sep 26: | Dragonette @ Mezzanine |
| Mon, Oct 01: | Garbage @ Warfield |
| Mon, Oct 01: | Blood Red Shoes, Happy Fangs, Starskate @ Rickshaw Stop |
| Thu, Oct 04: | Niki and the Dove @ Rickshaw Stop |
| Thu, Oct 11: | Tricycle Records show @ Public Works |
| Thu, Oct 11: | Trapeze @ Monarch |
| Thu, Oct 11: | 2:54 @ Brick and Mortar |
| Fri, Oct 12: | Mortified @ DNA Lounge |
| Fri, Oct 12: | Tomorrow's World, Housse de Racket, Citizens! @ Rickshaw Stop |
| Fri, Oct 12: | Das Racist @ DNA Lounge |
| Sat, Oct 13: | Presets, Public Enemy, Grimes, K.Flay @ Treasure Island |
| Sun, Oct 14: | XX, M83, Best Coast, Los Campesinos! @ Treasure Island |
| Sat, Oct 20: | Stars @ Fillmore |
| Mon, Oct 22: | Ultraista @ Independent |
| Mon, Oct 22: | Crystal Castles @ Fox Theatre |
| Wed, Oct 24: | Rasputina @ Great American Music Hall |
| Fri, Oct 26: | Ume @ Independent |
| Sat, Oct 27: | Asteroids Galaxy Tour @ Fillmore |
| Wed, Oct 31: | All Hallow's Eve @ DNA Lounge |
If you know of other shows you think I might enjoy, please let me know!
I appreciate this because I'll be in SF this weekend -- on business, but I'll see if I can slip away. Thanks.
Am I the only one who thinks that Niki and the Dove sound like Kate Bush 2.0? Not that that's bad...
Is there still no online tool that would make this list easy to maintain and share? :(
If by that you mean a dozen incompatible tools and five hundred incompatible web sites... Then yes?
You're making this selling beer thing seem way more interesting than sitting at a desk wondering why shit won't compile.
My problem (and it really is my problem, not anyone else's) is that if I've never heard of a band, I'm not interested in paying to see them play -- so I skim a list like this, see three bands I recognize (and, coincidentally, like and would be interested in seeing), and there it stops. (Were I in the SF area, I'd make an effort to see one or more of them.) Can't be bothered to look into samples of the rest of them to see if they're a show I'd want to see -- and I'm aware that that's a failing on my part, because there are tens of thousands of bands out there that I'm sure are great, that I'll likely never see for that reason -- unless a friend happens to vouch for them.
Yes, you are right -- "I have chosen to be an old person who is not interested in new things" is a problem that many, many people have.
It's not even that I'm not interested in new things -- but that I don't have the time or money to risk an evening/gas/drive/parking/ticket fees on a risky gamble. Now, if so much as one person whose opinion I respect tells me, "Hey, you should check out this band when they're in town, I think you'll like them!", then I'm absolutely game.
Your claim that you are interested in new things is unconvincing. Lots of people get old and boring, don't sweat it.
This is why the old mix tapes were great (not that the new mixtapes are terrible, thanks for leading me to 99injections among other things). I do not want to be that old codger shaking his stick at all the insufferable young people. I want to buy new music, that I haven't heard before, and not spend the whole rest of my life listening to the things I liked when I was a teenager.
Personally I'm not much for live music, (though thanks to you I saw Amon Tobin's ISAM and had a fucking great time) so these sorts of lists aren't for me, but I appreciate the effort you put into making this stuff happen. Somebody's got to tell people about great music, or it'll go unheard.
If I lived anywhere near you I'd be all over this shit. At least I've got the mixtapes.
Light Asylum 10/25 Rickshaw Stop, The Faint play Danse Macabre in it's entirety/Casket Girls 11/17 Regency Ballroom (We're going to the Reno Knitting Factory show on 11/10 however to see TRUST open for them).
IO Echo 10/9 Rickshaw Stop
Erica Unwoman Mulkey 9/19 at The Uptown
thought i'd see you at Firewater at the Independent Sept 29
I'll see you at Breton tonite! Also, you should check out Citizens! and Housse de Racket at Rickshaw on October 12th. Housse de Racket were amazing last time I saw them and Citizens! is getting seriously good reviews in the UK. Also, Van She Oct 18th at Popscene.
Ume is awesome. I'm wondering if the show will be busier after their recent spot on Anthony Bourdain's Austin episode.
Thanks! You should also try to check out Ringo Deathstarr. Those guys are good friends of ours and bring some seriously swirling guitars.
@jwz, hit me up on twitter if you were interested in a guest list spot. I wanted to hang out last time we were in SF, but our van was having none of it. Hopefully this time around our van will be having a better trip and I will actually get a little sleep. We play early!
Also, we're doing a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for our new record. We've almost met our goal, but we tried to be conservative in what we were asking for. The actual cost is going to be about 3x that much!
Thanks for spreading the word!
Yup, I saw Ringo Deathstarr last night, and they were great! I've seen them a few times.I'm definitely gonna try to make it to your show, but that's Halloween weekend, which is kind of a big deal around these parts, so I may have other obligations... Not sure yet. If you haven't played at the Independent before, you're gonna like it. The sound there is always very good.
Jeff Ross: I was an enormous fan of Cop Shoot Cop, but Firewater didn't really grab me.
Lauryn Stanton: I think I'm gonna go to Ringo Deathstarr tonight instead. I already have Citizens on my list!
Jeffrey Galeano: I'm sorry to report that I've seen Light Asylum live twice and they were terrible both times. Total laptop-amateur hour. I like The Faint, but I really dislike seeing live shows at Regency, so I think I'll skip that one.
I usually buy two tickets for any gigs I'm interested in, and I can usually find someone who's willing to go see a random band with me (I have a good bunch of mates like that).
Mind you, a few times I've ended up going to things on my own, and you know what, that's fine. But it is nice to have a gig buddy to be snarky with while you're waiting for the band to come on, "have you seen that guy's mullet?", "I wonder what she's on, so I can make sure I never take it myself", "I do love this guy's mohawk, except for the bit where he keeps hitting me in the face with it"
Plus, as I usually buy ticket ages in advance, and I then sell the other to my friend at face value, which usually covers all my beers for the evening.
Good to know about Light Asylum. Now I don't feel bad for having to miss them for PIL that same night.
Are you inviting us to a show? With you?
Because I'd love to see Niki and the Dove. I don't have a damn clue who they are!
Definitely going to go see Dragonette on Wednesday, and Light Asylum, no matter how amateurish. Saw you at Milk Bar, but didn’t say hi.