BIG week in the Bay. With several Outside Lands After-parties and the festival itself, there is no shortage of things to do here. Also a visit from Ted Leo, a record release party, and a country music legend stops by an unlikely venue.
Tonight we have The Matches playing the final date off their tour with Judgement Day and Dizzy Balloon at the Fillmore, Six Organs of Admittance and Master Musicians of Bukkake rock The Independent, Fleet Foxes drummer and creator of one of the best albums of 2009, J. Tillman stops by Café du Nord, Jay Reatard does a set at Berkeley’s Amoeba Records at 6pm.
Monday, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists hit up the Bottom of the Hill instead of Treasure Island which they originally intended.
Tuesday features Fruit Bats riding on their new record with Death Vessel at The Independent. The Ruminant Band is a beautiful record full of sweet harmonies and lovely song-writing. Pick it up when you get a chance. Also the amazing Ramona Falls play Café du Nord.
Wednesday will find me at The Fillmore watching dredg, Rx Bandits and As Tall as Lions. All of which have released some pretty impressive albums this year. Also going on is The Dodos and Spencey Dude & the Doodles playing the Rickshaw Stop to kick off Outside Lands fever. Oh yeah and it’s sold out. Bummer.
More Outside Landish shows on Thursday; Akron/Family and Howlin’ Rain crash the Rickshaw Stop and Holy Fuck plays The Independent. In addition, we have The Famous‘ Record Release Party at Café du Nord with 20 Minute Loop and Billy & Dolly.
If you’re not going to Outside Lands this weekend, we have the Outside Lands Afterparty with San Francisco local acts Goodbye Nautilus, The Working Title and Wave Array at Café du Nord.
On Saturday we have hip-hoppers Blue Sky Black Death, Boy in Static and Boy Eats Drum Machine at the Bottom of the Hill, Calexico at The Independent, The Pretenders and Cat Power at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, and country legend David Allan Coe at Petaluma’s Phoenix Theater.
Being joked as this year’s ‘Bro-chella’,Outside LandsFestivalhas many unimpressive acts but a lot of overlooked impressive acts. This year’s line-up includes; Incubus, Modest Mouse, Pearl Jam, Black Eyed Peas, Thievery Corporation, Tenacious D, Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews Band, TV on the Radio, The Mars Volta, M.I.A., Band of Horses, The National, Built to Spill, Bat for Lashes, Calexico, Tom Jones, Mastodon, Silversun Pickups, Los Campesinos!, Ween, Atmosphere, Brett Dennen, Deerhunter, Lucinda Williams, Os Mutantes, Q-Tip, John Vanderslice, Conor Oberst, Akron/Family, Portugal. The Man, Cage the Elephant, Alpha Blondy, Raphael Saadiq, Groundation, Kinky, Lenka, The Duke Spirit, Matt & Kim, Lila Downs, Autolux, The Avett Brothers, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Dengue Fever, The Dirtbombs, The Dead Weather, Heartless Bastards, Midnite, Blind Pilot, Bettye LaVette, Tea Leaf Green, The Morning Benders, West Indian Girl, Darondo, Ryan Bingham, Zee Avi, Street Sweeper Social Club, Rosin Coven, Extra Golden, JJ Grey & Mofro, Nino Moschella, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Sambada, Reggie Watts, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Big Light, Eric McFadden Trio, Loop!Station, Yard Dogs Road Show, Infantree, Vau De Vire and madd vibe orchestra. A lot to digest. Well I’ll be doing my best to report on everything I see every night when I return from the festival. Photos, mp3s, and everything else I did last year (if you caught that, if not, whatever).
This week is Outside Lands Week here at Kata Rokkar. So we’ll have Kuestionnaires with OLF bands and reports on local acts making their festival debuts. Hope to see you out there!
The Working Title– The Crashfrom About-Face (2006)
Boy in Static– Young San Franciscofrom Young San Francisco (2009)
Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Bandfrom The Ruminant Band (2009)
As Tall As Lions – Sleepyhead (Acoustic Version)from You Can’t Take It With You (Bonus Track) (2009)
J. Tillman– Steel on Steelfrom Vacilando Territory Blues (2009)
There you have it folks; one of the (many) reasons I love living near San Francisco. This is a quite an amazing line-up if you ask me. I’m actually very glad I decided not to go to Coachella this year.
I have never seen any of the headliners live, so I am most definitely excited about Pearl Jam and The Beastie Boys. Dave Matthews Band seems to be the “Jack Johnson” of the line-up to cater to the backwards ballcap bro-crowd.
I was always a fan of Incubus (a shock, I know) until they abandoned their trademark sound with A Crow Left of the Murder. Since then it’s been downhill for the band. So am I excited to see them?…kind of. But I doubt I’ll hear anything from S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
As for Black Eyed Peas and Jason Mraz, that will most likely land on “Dave Matthews Day” which will be my cue to wander around Golden Gate Park and Twitter the weird shit I see.
This will be my 2nd time seeing M.I.A. and TV on the Radio, both of which put on amazing live shows.
Indie-rock heroes Modest Mouse and Ween should be entertaining I guess. I got into both of them kind of late so I’ll be happy with whatever they decide to play.
I’ll finally get to see The National and Mastodon perform live. Both bands always seem to come to town on days I already have plans or have to work. Hopefully we won’t have any scheduling conflicts.
The hip-hop side of the festival is kind of weak. I’m no fan of Atmosphere but I am really looking forward to Q-Tip’s set. He’s only made my favorite hip-hop record of last year.
There’s some odd choices…like…uhh…Tom Jones? Jack White’s Dead Weather seems to be a band that will be forgotten about this time next year. The random toss of Thievery Corporation in the line-up seems kind of bizarre. I don’t see any other trip-hop acts in the line-up so I don’t know why they agreed to perform this year (why not Treasure Island Festival?).
The bottom of the list looks very promising with Portugal The Man, Akron/Family, The Dodos, John Vanderslice, and Heartless Bastards. Plus I’m sure I’ll discover some new acts that I’ve never heard of along the way.
All in all, it seems promising for a festival that is a 20 minute drive from my place. It gets kind of “Bro-chella” around the top, but I like what I see so far.
Want to find a reason to get out of the rain and into some amazing live events? I give you Noise Pop 09! The Noise Pop Festival, which runs this Tuesday, February 24th through Sunday, March 1st, 2009, is an ambitious iteration of San Francisco’s favorite indie music, arts and film. For their 17th anniversary, Noise Pop 2009 will honor what’s made it the best-loved celebration of indie music and culture since its humble birth in 1993. This years music will feature such indie superstars like Antony and the Johnsons, Martha Wainwright, Stephen Malkmus, Deerhunter, St. Vincent, A.C. Newman, French Kicks, No Age, The Submarines, and Ra Ra Riot, among many many others. Noise Pop also features a long list of artist/photographers whose work is currently being displayed at the Mini Bar at 837 Divisadero St in San Fran. Also, there are some great films being showcased this week including Wilco’s Ashes of American Flags, Andrew van Baal’s Largo (a movie I’ve been waiting to see for months), and independent record store documentary I Need That Record. Of course I’m leaving out a whole bunch more but that’s what I’m looking forward to. I plan on catching one or two films and hopefully see Kool Keith (Dr. Octagon vs. Dr. Dooom) at the Mezzanine. All listed Noise Pop shows will be highlighted in blue; so go grab a badge and have fun this week.
As for non-Noise Pop events; today is quite busy for the Bay Area. You’re got Far (live video below) at Slim’s, Modest Mouse at the Fox Theater, and Michael Zapruder at the Bottom of the Hill tonight. See you out there!
Well it’s Turkey Day week; so whether you’re going home to family or spending it friends, here’s a few “things to do” in the Bay Area before you stuff your face with extreme yummy-ness.
Sunday (Today):
Drive-By Truckers / The Hold Steady
The Fillmore
1805 Geary Boulevard
San Francisco CA 94115
Note: The Hold Steady will be headlining on Monday at the same venue.
Monday:
Portugal. The Man / Wintersleep / Earl Greyhound (HIGHLY Recommended)
Slim’s
333 11th Street
San Francisco CA 94103
Deerhunter / Times New Viking / Common Eider, King Eider
The Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell Street
San Francisco CA 94109
Tuesday:
The Decemberists / Loch Lomond
The Warfield
982 Market Street
San Francisco CA 94103
Wednesday:
wallpaper. / The Lovemakers / Hottub
Mezzanine
444 Jessie Street @ Mint
San Francisco CA CA 94103
Thursday:
What are doing looking here? You should be with people you care about on this day! And what kind of venue would open their doors on Thanksgiving Day anyway? You obviously aren’t a very good businessman to think that this is possible. Phhhh.
Friday:
M83 / School of Seven Bells
The Fillmore
1805 Geary Boulevard
San Francisco CA 94115
Saturday:
Dizzy Balloon / The Frail / The Picture Atlantic
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell St
San Francisco CA 94102
Let me take this time to share some Kata Rokkar news (among other things). Before you go…
Oh yeah, Chinese Democracy is out. Pick up your free Dr. Pepper. (I think the website crashed though, heh)
Far is currently touring the UK right now. So if you’re in that neck of the woods, do yourself a favor and see them live. This may not happen again…
Members of Death Angel, Will Haven, Phallucy, Eightfourseven, Death Valley High and other “special guests” will take part in a benefit concert for Deftones bassist Chi Cheng on Saturday, November 29 at Fat City in San Francisco, California.
Fat City
314 11th Street @ Folsom
San Francisco, California 94103
Cost: $12
Kata Rokkar is a place where you can download free mp3 from artists and bands that I currently love and listen to. They are only for sampling purposes and to influence you to go out and support these artists by purchasing their records and going to their concerts. If you are a record company or an artist that is displeased with a song being displayed, feel free to contact me and I will remove it ASAP. Thank you and enjoy!
The Crash from About-Face (2006)
Want to find a reason to get out of the rain and into some amazing live events? I give you 
