Mission Mission

ZOUNDS!!!!  You’ve been caught in a TIME MACHINE!!!  Quick, Click Here to warp back to the 2010 18th Street Block Party!  Warning:  Not Safe For Vegans (NSFV)

Reader Robert forwards us the skinny on the fancy charity shindig:

It’s the season of block parties! Next Saturday September 6th is ~PARTY ON BLOCK 18~, a full-tilt hootenanny featuring the 18th Street businesses between Dolores and Guerrero, which is where the street will be closed off. A family-style meal will be available, and the purchase of a ticket entitles everyone to a meal with your choice of three savory meals from Bi-Rite, Delfina, Dolores Park Café, and Craig’s Place, and Tartine and Bi-Rite Creamery will be handling the sweets. Since 18th Street is ALL about food, here are the menu items: spit-roasted Niman Ranch pork shoulder with summer bean salad and salsa verde, Fulton Valley chicken grilled under a brick with a Tuscan bread salad, and vegetarian paella and corn on the cob with Calabrian chili butter. The kids can enjoy Let’s Be Frank organic hotdogs, fresh sandwiches, and Bi-Rite Creamery hot fudge sundaes, fresh fruit smoothies, lemonade, and a watermelon agua fresca by Dolores Park Café. For the adults, in the Wine & Beer Garden there will be premium barrel of wine by Unti (a fave of mine) and keg beer by Russian River Brewing Company, Magnolia Brewery, and Anchor Steam. Entertainment includes gypsy band Gaucho, and teen rockers She’s and The Psychotherapists for the kids. The party runs from noon to 4pm. All proceeds from the party will be donated to the Women’s Building. Meals are $15, sides and sandwiches $2.50–$5, beverages $2.50–$5. For information and to purchase advance meal tickets, call Christie Ward at 415-971-7291 or email PARTYBLOCK18@gmail.com.

Looks like a bargain, and for a good cause, and Russian River Brewing Company! Thanks, Robert!

Update: Robert attributes this find to Marcia Gagliardi and her Tablehopper.com newsletter.

Previously on Mission Mission:

Katie Loves Gaucho

Women’s Building Architecture, Murals Celebrated

Gravel & Gold hips us to tomorrow’s festivities:

The countdown to the Rock Make Street Festival has begun! If the idea of a San Francisco street fair conjures up tired images of funnel cakes, hemp necklaces, and guys playing didgeridoos, prepare to be blown away by the FIFTY amazing independent local designers, artists and craftspeople and TWELVE great indie rock bands at this year’s Rock Make event. It’s a great chance to get some great bargains on high-end pieces from nationally reknowned artisans while enjoying some great music. It’s a free, all ages, totally DIY event and an excellent way to spend a warm Sunday afternoon!

I hate hemp necklaces! Complete list of bands and vendors and stuff here. Everything takes place on Treat between 17th and 18th.

Rock Make on Myspace.

PS, why the fuck isn’t Treat called Treat Street? Google Maps says it’s “Treat Avenue.” Boo on that. “Treat Street” RHYMES for God’s sake.

The sound in this video is not ideal, but just watch her throttle the bejesus out of that little hollow-body guitar during the solos. Granted, it’s not the most amazing soloing in the world, but they make it work. They’re called Agent Ribbons and they’re from Sacramento, and they’re playing tonight at the Knockout. It will be good.

Tomorrow morning, I’m embarking on a long trip to the Midwest (so keep an eye on the neighborhood for me), but before I go, I get to see one of my favorite bands from the Midwest play right around the corner at the Knockout. Brimstone Howl is their name, they’re from Lincoln, and they kind of sound like the Misfits but look way less retarded. Listen to the song “Heart Attack” on their MySpace page if you want to have your mind blown. Some other bands are playing too, but these guys go on first I think, so I’ll be there early if you want to come wish me a fond farewell.

Photo courtesy of Alive Records.

12 Galaxies is closing later this month. This is horseshit. For the Mission to be devoid of a venue for serious touring bands is for me to die a little. Slim’s is fine and Bottom of the Hill is okay, but they’re SO far away — and god forbid we have to go to Bimbo’s. Might as well drive to Sacramento.

At 12 Galaxies, I’ve seen the Fucking Champs play “Auld Lang Syne” on New Year’s Eve, I’ve seen Robbie Fulks play Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” just because, I’ve seen Sugar & Gold joyously celebrate the release of a rad record years and years in the making, I’ve seen Jay Reatard positively slay the audience even though his set was literally like 12 minutes long, I’ve seen some great graffiti about your mom, I’ve seen a bummed-looking Judah Bauer play to a crowd of five, I’ve taken elbows to the face in the pit, and I’ve loved every second of all of it. Even though it’s only been around for a few years, it feels like a legitimate institution. So, if somebody with money to burn wants to buy it and keep it going, we would support that.

If not, by way of tribute, here’s a cheesy blurb I wrote about the place a couple years ago when I was doing some contract work for an internet travel guide:

Part Mission District dive, part world-class concert venue, 12 Galaxies hosts local and nationally touring rock bands almost every night of the week. Its run-down facade recalls Mission Street’s theater-lined heyday of years past. Inside, you’ll find a well-stocked bar, a grill serving wings and jambalaya, and a charmingly cave-like performance space. Seating is limited, but the dancefloor is ample and a second-floor mezzanine provides ideal sightlines for those less inclined to brave the bumping-and-grinding crowd below. 2006 saw the inauguration of a bigger, taller stage, putting the club on par with any number of the city’s foremost live-music haunts. As such, on any given night, you’ll be happy to see hometown favorites like the Passionistas and Comets On Fire share the bill with rock superstars such as the Black Lips and the Heartless Bastards. See website for event calendar, online ticketing and more.

Go with God, old friend. (via SFist)

Image from previous Mission Mission post 12 Galaxies Wraparound Mezzanine Perfect Vantage Point from which to Observe Toby Dammit’s Percussatory Chops.

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Wow. We went to the first Debaser and it was OK. But the most recent edition featured a Cranberries cover band called Ocean Spray. Maybe it’s just because Girl Talk just mashed them up with M.I.A., but I feel like a Cranberries cover band playing in a punk club in the Deep Mission would’ve been a pretty good time. Plus, TK says it was a pretty good time.

Show starts at 7pm sharp. From the official press release:

@ Thrillhouse Records, 3422 Mission St near Cortland, SF 7pm, all ages, donation$ for the touring band please

Shows are usually over by 10pm at Thrillhouse, and we are playing first. Our set is only about 16 minutes long. Fashionably late? too bad for you.

Link to Airfix Kits on MySpace. Previous gushing about the band here.

If you’ve not yet seen Toshio Hirano perform, you’ve not yet lived. He plays cowboy songs by the likes of Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams with a gusto like none other — yodels and all. And his stage manner is maybe the most charming thing ever.

Seeing him at the Rite-Spot Cafe is extra special because you can eat spaghetti and meatballs and puzzle over that weird painting above the bar between sets. Show starts tonight at 9pm. My Beemish Boy are also on the bill.

Photo of Toshio and Mayumi doing the Texas Two Step at Amnesia’s Bluegrass Monday by prawnpie.

I love the gypsy jazz band, Gaucho. I also love Django Reinhardt. This week I have been commuting to Rohnert Park for a three week summer intensive. Hasn’t been fun. But this morning, I decided to listen to a compilation of Django’s while I daydreamed about the business that I’m planning on opening in the Mission District. And then I remembered how much I love Gaucho, but how I haven’t had time to see their free weekly show at Amnesia. I used to go every week and drink Death & Taxes, and talk about Albert Camus, like I was in a Woody Allen movie. I think I’ll go right now, now that I’m unemployed and broke.

Mission Mission pal Michelle D. recently (kind of) went to a concert at Million Fishes Arts Collective:

[I]t has the most intimate, living room feel that i’ve experience in a venue, granted i didn’t stay for the music. i was almost intimidated to go inside, because it felt like i was intruding on a private party, with a smallish crowd murmuring conversations that got absorbed into the couches and the living room aura. perhaps that’s also part of the reason i didn’t stay — i felt like once the music started, it might feel too intimate a setting to be able to relax in anonymity and leave when i so pleased without turning heads.

For the record, Michelle was trying to see Ash Reiter, but Ash had already left the stage by the time she arrived. Anyway, is she right? Is Million Fishes the homiest place to see live music here in our humble purlieu?

Photo courtesy of Million Fishes.