Jeremiah Lockwood

Tonight is not only the final night of the Festival of Lights (Chanukkah), but also the the final night of the pop-up Tikva Records store. For those of you who have never heard of Tikva Records, they were a Jewish label that disbanded more than 30 years ago. (Here’s a cool little article about the label from NPR.)

And so, the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation is holding the last of a series of live music events to celebrate the season, hosted by Jeremiah Lockwood of Sway Machinery and (one of my personal faves) the Balkan Beat Box, and featuring a couple of unbelievable guests: Ethan Miller (Howlin’ Rain, Comets on Fire) and — hold onto your hats — Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars, The Black Crowes)!

The truly amazing thing about this event is that it’s absolutely free! But tickets are limited, so register/RSVP very, very soon! Here are the details:

Who:  Jeremiah Lockwood; Ethan Miller; Luther Dickinson

What:  Mystical Lights of the Guitar Night 2

Where:  Tikva Records Pop-Up Store, 3191 Mission St.

When:  7 p.m. — 8 p.m. only!

Anything else?:  Doors open 15 minutes before show (i.e. 6:45 p.m.). Also, this is very limited admission, so reserve your tickets soon! The ticketing site is closing down at 6 p.m.! And, finally, the event is being held at the Queens Nails Projects space, which is basically a performance artist space. This is in the Mission District, so parking may be tricky; plan accordingly.

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!

Hello, all! Here it is, your Friday Night Guide to some awesome free live music in our fair city. Tonight, for your live music pleasure, The Scene has found out about the following couple o’ goodies:

Friday, November 5, 2010

Who:  Manicato
Genre:  Latin/Reggae/Rock
Where:  de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
When:  6:30 p.m. — 8:30 p.m.
Anything else?:  The music performance is part of a larger event — the “Friday Nights at the de Young” series, running through November 26th. The theme for tonight’s event is “Mission Muralismo,” and focuses on the history of San Francisco’s Mission District and the contributions of the Mexican-Americans who live here. There will be gorgeous displays of mural artwork, engaging speakers, and all sorts of interesting speakers. Full event festivities begin at 5:00 p.m.

Not enough music for you for a Friday night? Then go check out:

Who:  The Fairmounts, The Lotus Moons
Genre:  Psychedelic/R&B/Pop/Rock/Soul
Where:  Burritt Room @ the Crescent Hotel, 417 Stockton Street
When:  9:00 p.m.
Anything else?:  This little city gem is So Very-Very, specializing in vintage cocktails and a cool, vintage hip vibe. Entry is free, but expect to spend a little dough on your libations.

Hey, gang! This Sunday is Radio Alice’s Summerthing! For those of you who either are not from or are new to the Bay Area, Radio Alice is a local radio station that plays largely Top 40 pop-style music, and every year, they take over Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park and put on a free concert for anyone who wants to come listen. And the awesome thing about this concert is that (a) the weather’s almost always amazing and fabulous, and (b) they get some surprisingly big-name artists to participate! This year’s line-up  includes Lifehouse, Kris Allen, One eskimO, and Thriving Ivory.

Seriously.

No…seeeerrriousssly!

Plus, there’s always a ton of vendors with grubbin’ food (garlic fries, anyone?) and fun activities to be had. This year includes an art station where you can get your Creative on, and photo booth station where you can get a free picture to commemorate the day.

A couple of things to know: dogs and kids are welcome! Yippee! That being said, please pick up after your pet(s) and youthful dependent(s) — for everyone’s sake! Plus, for those of you who are concerned that the welcoming of canines and children will lead to lame-o family fare, know that there generally are SEVERAL beer and wine and margarita stations, so adults get to play, too! Just make sure you add some water to the mix — trust me, even if it’s a little overcast, that sun will dry you out much faster than the local Irish pub. Which brings me to this: for God’s sake, wear some high SPF sunscreen, people! Trust me on this one! (I nag ’cause I love.)

And, finally, even though this concert is free — and I mean, it’s truly free; no passing the hat or not-so-subtle suggestions from your emcee to help out these poor, not-so-starving musician/artist types — Radio Alice will have a booth where you can find out more information about the San Francisco Parks Trust, the featured non-profit organization for this year’s concert. Not to get all politico on y’all, but seriously! Can we please all agree that having parks that are free and well-maintained and have not just a dedicated and much-appreciated volunteer staff but also a highly skilled and reasonably paid professional staff is a good thing?

*sigh*

O.K., that’s enough outta me. So, please, take advantage of this free concert! It’s a great time had by all in one of the city’s most beautiful outdoor areas with a surprisingly kickin’ sound system. I truly cannot recommend this enough (unless, y’know, you really hate these artists; then stay home — haters!). Peace, babies!

Guess what? You got it — it’s Festival Season. Yippee! Know what that means, dontcha? Loads and loads of grubbin’ food, thrivin’ throngs, and — most importantly — FREE LIVE MUSIC!

This weekend, it’s all about San Francisco’s own Little Italy and the 56th Annual North Beach Festival. Famous for the sidewalk chalk art, great food, and the annual Blessing of the Animals, this festival also boasts a wide variety of rich and soul-healing music, including performances by Buckaroo Bonet, Norman Bautista, the Amanda King Trio, the Loralee Christensen Band, and The Bingtones.

This is a great family-friendly event, and keep in mind, festivities go from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, so it’s not a late-night kind of gig. But if you want to experience a true local slice-of-life event unique to the area, and hear some great performances from established local favorites, well…what can I say? Getcher ass down there! ‘Nough said.

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!

Friday night’s all right for…deep house! Infusion Lounge has a weekly dance party with resident DJs who bring in a regular rotation of freestyle artists — so, in a way, it’s like getting a DJ-driven show along with a side of live performance! Plus, the venue’s pretty chi-chi and trippy, and they have drink specials from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., including $3 beer and $5 mixed drinks. Sounds good to me! Here’s some other things that I think are cool for a Friday night:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26th:

LIVE:
Artist/Event: John Richardson Band
Genre: Blues/Funk/Jazz/Rock
Venue: SoCha Cafe
Location: 3235 Mission St. (at Valencia St.)
Time: 8:30 p.m.
Anything Else?: In case you didn’t already know, this is a great little neighborhood cafe, with awesome ambience, and is something of a local favorite. For those of us who are fans of alcoholic libations, please take note that this is a strictly beer ‘n’ wine venue.

Artist/Event: Noise Pop Happy Hour featuring Hunx and His Punx, Spencey Dude & the Doodles, and Weekend
Genre: Dutch Pop/German Pop/Pop/Spanish Pop
Venue: Bender’s Bar & Grill
Location: 806 S. Van Ness Ave. (between 19th & 20th Sts.)
Time: 5:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.
Anything Else?: Nope!

DJ:
Artist/Event: Downtown Underground featuring DJ Duo Ace & Gunz
Genre: Dance/DJ/Electronic/House/Jam
Venue: Infusion Lounge
Location: 124 Ellis St. (between Powell & Cyril Magnin Sts.)
Time: 6:00 p.m. — 10:00 p.m.
Anything Else?: This is a weekly happy hour dance party that features freestyle musicians on guitar, vocals, violins, percussion, etc. Not your average DJ-driven gig! Drink specials only go from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., so get there early and drink up!

NOT QUITE FREE:
Artist/Event: All My Pretty Ones, Nathanael Trimboli Singers
Genre: Folk
Venue: Make-Out Room
Location: 3225 22nd St. (between Bartlett & Mission Sts.)
Time:  7:30 p.m.
Anything Else?: Cover is $7.