First, a few exclamation points for San Fran and our beloved World Series champion S.F. Giants: !!!!, !!!!!, !!!!
Second, major props to all the street musicians who helped us celebrate last night. You also deserve a reasonable amount of punctuation marks: !!!!!
Third, let’s keep the party going…
Other Lives, Great American Music Hall, Tuesday
Add Other Lives to the short but impressive list of wildly talented bands hailing from Oklahoma. The no-brainer, guilty-by-association comparison is to the Flaming Lips, which share a home home and also a stylistic home with Other Lives. But the band claims its own identity. They’ve been building a steady following the past few years opening for bands such as Thom Yorke’s Atoms for Peace and Bon Iver. Now they’ve got a chance to show folks how they handle the limelight.
Disclosure, The Independent, Tuesday
Trusted sources tell me London-based, garage-house duo Disclosure is the next coming of SBTRKT. And there’s really no reason to compare someone to SBTRKT unless you’re absolutely sure of such a statement. So, SBTRKT fans — meet Disclosure. Disclosure, meet SBTRKT fans. Now … embrace. And dance.
R. Kelly, Paramount Theatre, Wednesday
R. Kelly may be in the coasting portion of his career. But it’s a career worth re-living, as anyone who has ever karaoked “I Believe I Can Fly” can attest. As long as folks are looking for a certain, um, mood, we’ll be celebrating his hooks. Simple as that. And now that he’s back on the market, his shows have taken on that ever-elusive wild card factor.
The Soft White Sixties, Slim's, Friday
San Francisco is a tough place to stand out, but The Soft White Sixties are starting to pop up in the local music junkie’s field of vision. The band places itself somewhere on the rock-history spectrum of The Who and The Strokes, leaning closer toward the type of rock ‘n’ roll from The Who’s era. They take the “Seventies Americana” emulation to a very visual level, too. In the flesh, you’ll find them in tight denim and shoulder-length hair, which is every bit as telling as their barroom rock ‘twang.
Wow. They’re back already? Weren’t they just here at Outside Lands, making our ears and eyes melt? Wasn’t that, like, three hours ago? Trust me when I say I’m not complaining. But this could be too much of a good thing. The French electro all-stars will not be taking pity on anyone’s Monday. They’ll be requiring maximum fist-pumping and dance-floor demolishing. This will not end well.
