Gaucho

‘Tis the season…to get your gypsy on! Local favorites Gaucho are holding down the fort at Amnesia during their weekly fete, featuring killer tunes and strong drinks — all for no cover! Joining them for the evening’s festivities will be Dink Dink Dink and Michael Abraham. So, put on your dancing shoes and hottest steampunk outfit, and head over for an evening that is spectacularly San Franciscan! Here are the details:

Who:  Dink Dink Dink; Gaucho; Michael Abraham

Genre:  Gypsy/Jazz/Americana

Where:  Amnesia, 853 Valencia St. (between 19th & 20th)

When:  7 p.m. — 11 p.m.

Anything else?:  Keep in mind that the venue is long, rather than wide, so if you want to get up close and personal to the acts, it’s really best to arrive on the earlier side. Also, it’ll mean that you might actually be able to get to the bar faster! And, finally, this is in the Mission District, so parking can be tricky. If you can take public transportation, I recommend it!

First up: San Francisco popfest 2011, a celebration of international indie-pop music, featuring such bands as The Aberdeens, 14 Iced Bears, and Eternal Summers. Festival runs May 25th to May 29th at various venues throughout the City. Check out the Web site for more info!

Not so much into the indie scene? Like your music with what one may call a little more spice? Then check out San Francisco Carnaval! The festivities run May 28th and May 29th. And not only is there a full-blown, feather-boa’d parade both days, not to mention a ton of grubbin’ food and libations, but there is a bevy of luscious music, from the salsa of Avance, to the Afro-Latin beats of Sandy Perez — not to be missed!

So get out this weekend and get your free live music on! See you around town.

Well, folks, it’s the closing weekend for this annual fete, and despite the prohibitive weather, The Scene is officially encouraging you to get your dancin’, foot-stompin’ rain boots on and partake in the jubilation!

Alas, in the closing weekend, there are no truly free shows. (Alex Caton and Pete Winne are doing a gig at Bird & Beckett that has a “suggested donation” of $10 — all ages — on Sunday.) But Saturday night, there’s as awesome line-up at Cafe du Nord, featuring the Alt-Bluegrass likes of the Pine Box Boys, Kemo Sabe and Old Man Markley. Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 at the door — more than The Scene generally recommends us poor workin’ folk pay — but the venue’s awesome, and the show’s gonna be an auditory feast!

O.K., that’s it — that’s the official recommendation for this year’s SFBOT Festival! Also, check out their Web site for all kinds of cool info on various workshops this weekend and family-friendly fare.

Peace — and lots of free live music — to you!

Tuesday, June 8th, unwind from a stressful mid-term Election Day with some rockin’ local bands at Cafe Royale. Here’s the skinny:

Artist/Event:  Songwriters’ Circle
Venue:  Cafe Royale, 800 Post Street (@ Leavenworth)
Genre:  Acoustic/Americana/Folk/Pop/Rock/Singer-Songwriter
Time:  8:00 p.m.
Anything Else?:  The featured artists are David Luning, KC Turner, Wish Inflicted, and Jeff Campbell. If you’re a fan of singer/songwriter music, complete with catchy guitar riffs and pop-flavored lyrics, this is your show!  Plus, check out these artists’ pages; there’s some serious eye candy action goin’ on here! And, if you’re lucky, Jeff Campbell will sing “Thank You” — his awesome acoustic cover of Led Zeppelin’s gorgeous, soulful tune that I just can’t get enough of these days! True, the venue doesn’t exactly have great parking anywhere nearby, so public transportation is highly recommended, and no fewer than five Muni bus lines stop within two blocks of the place (altho’ BART is — yikes! — eight blocks away). This’ll be a great, foot-stompin’, American beer-swillin’ kind of night. Who knows? You might run into The Scene while you’re there! (You never know; it could happen.) One more nice thing to note: the venue is a bar AND a cafe, so all ages are welcome!

Hey, gang! We’re baa-aack! I’ve missed you guys so much — you have no idea! But enough with the mushy stuff; down to business. Here are a couple things happening this Tuesday which caught The Scene’s eye. Check’m out!

LIVE:

Artist/Event: Seed of Crowell
Genre: Acoustic/Alternative/Pop
Venue: Cafe Royale, 800 Post St. (@ Leavenworth)
Time:  8:00 p.m.
Anything Else?: This band’s flavor is definitely acoustic, with bare-bones instrumentation and clean-yet-mournful vocals. And occasionally there’s a bit if gypsy style thrown in. Note that they hail from Berkeley, so for you East Bay’ers, if you like what you hear, seek’m out!

Artist/Event: “Flower”
Genre: DJ/Pop
Venue: Knockout S.F., 3223 Mission St. (@ Valencia)
Time:  9:00 p.m.
Anything Else?: Featuring DJs Will Ivy and Moses of Honey. The sound is reminiscent of early 80s Euro-Pop and pretty catchy. They self-describe as Psych-Rock. You decide.

DJ:

Artist/Event: “Alcoholocaust”
Genre: DJ/Hard Core/Punk/Rock
Venue: Argus Lounge, 3187 Mission St. (@ Valencia)
Time: 9:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Anything Else? Featuring DJs What’s His Fuck and The Wizard. Part of the draw of this party is that these guys aren’t just DJs; they’re also trivia game hosts! That’s right, there’s a chance to win free cans of Tecate! Just be the first to correctly guess the name of the song that’s being spun before it’s over, and you win a free drink ticket.

NOT QUITE FREE:

Artist/Event: 16 Volt, Chemlab, Left Spine Down, Slave Unit
Genre: Cyberpunk/Drum ‘n’ Bass/Electro/Experimental/Industrial/Metal/Punk/Rock
Venue: DNA Lounge, 371 11th St. (@ Folsom)
Time: Doors @ 8:00 p.m., Show @ 9:00 p.m.
Anything Else?: This is one of the stops on the MIDI Ghetto Tour being headlined by 16 Volt and Chemlab, and featuring local favorite Slave Unit (based out of Oakland). Tickets are $10 if you buy them in advance or $15 at the door. And no doubt this goes without saying: this show’s gonna be kick-ass, especially if you like experimental alternative rock music that pulses through your bones. Alas, The Scene will be working. But if you go, post your pictures over at our Facebook fan page!

Here is listing of some of the FREE shows hosted by the Festival this week:

Monday, Feb. 15th
Taco Jam at Baja Taqueria in Oakland.

Tuesday, Feb. 16th
Fiddle Tunes Jam at SoCha Cafe in the Mission, S.F.

Wednesday, Feb. 17th
The Whiskey Brothers at the Albatross Pub in Berkeley.

Thursday, Feb. 18th
High Country Bluegrass and Dark Hollow at the Atlas Cafe in the Mission, S.F.

Friday, Feb. 19th
Paul Knight and Friends at the Station House Cafe in Point Reyes.

Saturday, Feb. 20th
Oops, no free shows listed for Saturday! But there’s a couple of Not Quite Free events, including a children’s show at the Randall Museum in the city center of S.F., featuring Gayle Schmitt & the Toodala Ramblers (adults $9, kids $6); and the “Bluegrass & Old-Time Revue” at the Swedish American Hall in the Castro, S.F. ($5, all ages).

Sunday, Feb. 21st
“Fabulous Duos” at the Velo Rouge Cafe in the Inner Richmond, S.F.

Mat Kearney will be doing an acoustic performance and CD signing Thursday, November 5th, at the Peet’s Coffee & Tea in the San Francisco Ferry Building starting at 12:30 p.m. Just tho’t you may wanna know. And, hey, what I know, you know! That’s how we roll.