We’d like to congratulate our fellow San Franciscans for achieving the distinction of the city that sleeps the least! This is a true team effort, and we have to think your insatiable appetite for live music is partly responsible.
Sleep when you're dead or have moved to Arizona.
Wednesday: Memory Tapes at The Independent
Sometimes formulas are OK, particularly if that formula includes “obligatory transcendent, aesthetically brilliant crescendo.” Just listen to the Memory Tapes' signature track “Bicycle” to get an idea of how this band packages beauty:
Thursday: Tropics at Rickshaw Stop
UPDATE: Well color us embarrassed. We initially thought this was beloved local buzzband The Tropics, but this Tropics is actually not local, nor are they named the Tropics anymore! Eat your heart out, Shakespeare. The local Tropics are now known as HEARTWATCH, and Tropics are the work of English-based singer-songwriter Chris Ward. Got it?
Friday: Cold Cave at Mezzanine
Assemble your best tight leather, apply dark makeup, watch Back to the Future, buy a ticket to this Cold Cave show, and transport thyself back to the ‘80s. The band’s dark synth pop is the closest thing we have to New Order (besides New Order), yet Cold Cave’s sound always manages to sound current and absolutely vital. Their 2011 album Cherish the Light Years remains one of the decads most timeless albums.
Saturday: Portland Cello Project at Great American Music Hall
The Portland Cello Project’s clout is growing by the day. The collective just recently played a riveting show at the Chapel this past winter and now finds itself in the hallowed confines of Great American Hall. Which one of their 1,000 pieces will they play? May we pleeeeease suggest Kanye West’s “All of the Lights”? PLEASE. Please watch this genius adaptation to see what I'm talking about...
Sunday: Built to Spill at The Independent
For a band that considers themselves a novelty act, Built to Spill sure likes to make relevant statements in album form. Twenty years after the band began expressing their general ennui, BTS has released perhaps its most mature album to date, their eighth studio album, Untethered Moon. Songs spill into spastic jams, spinning in unexpected directions at every opportunity.
Follow @ChrisTrenchard for more words like these.
