Mission Mission

Local band Hot Lunch have a sweet new music video out for a sweet song, “She Wants More”. In it they use Sutro Tower to broadcast their song all over the city, shred all kinds (musical instruments and skateboards) and rock it at El Rio.

[via Gran Towrismo]

Chasms record release party tonight at subMission!

Set to be released on Dream Recordings, Chasms is “the dark, swirling project of San Francisco-based songwriter Jess Labrador. Alongside collaborator Shannon Madden, Labrador crafts mesmerizing percussive dirges carved out by damaged percussion and hypnotizing guitars. Drawing upon influences like 4AD’s 1980s roster and Creation Records shoegaze classics, Chasms douses each melancholic track with blistering heaviness, making nods to doom, drone, black metal and industrial music.”

Event link here.

Listen to Chasms new release Riser here.

The folks who run Brick & Mortar Music Hall will be appearing before the San Francisco Entertainment Commission tonight at 5:30 p.m. to make a case for lifting the volume restrictions and curfews that employees say have been hurting business since the city imposed them in May.

Said restrictions were in response to noise complaints from neighbors; Brick & Mortar has since installed over $50,000 worth of soundproofing, met repeatedly with those who filed complaints and passed sound tests from the Department of Public Health, says the owner. Now they just want to get back to serving late-night rock ‘n’ roll (at appropriate volumes) in addition to daytime bacon.

If you wanna go: SF City Hall, hearing room 416.

[Photo via Yelp]

I’ve never seen a crowd go so nuts for a cover band before:

And get this: they’re playing again this Friday right here in the Mission, at Brick & Mortar!

(Thanks, Jess!)

[via @weedemoji]

Hard French is at it again, roping in A-list talent for our partying pleasure right here in the Mission! (Thanks, Hard French!) Here’s whassup:

Saturday August 3, 2013
9pm, 15$ pre sale/20$ Door
Public Works (Main Room), 161 Erie

Live Performances by:
RYE RYE (baltimore)
MICAHTRON (san francisco)

DJ Sets by:
HARD FRENCH (sf)
DJ OLGA T (oakland)
SWAGGER LIKE US (sf)

Photobooth by:
BROWNTOURAGE

RSVP and invite your friends! And get advance tickets!

Now, if you’d like to win a pair, tell us your best Rye Rye- or Hard French-related anecdote in the comments section below. Winner will be picked based on merit. Contest ends at noon on Thursday.

Remember that piano that someone whimsically dragged to the top of Bernal Heights?  Well, last night saw the culmination of those efforts in a piano recital enjoyed by over 200 people against the most stunning backdrop you could ever imagine.  But it wasn’t quite as easy as that, as one of the ringleaders explains:

Three hours before the recital is supposed to begin, it’s gotten out of control. Over 100 people have RSVP’d, and we’ve all invited other friends, too. Then the worst happens– we’re sitting in my RV working when Todd starts getting texts from every corner of the earth.

“The Piano is Gone.”

Some people might call off the event. Others might substitute a keyboard or some other lesser instrument. Not Todd. He’s on the phone with everyone on Craigslist selling a piano as well as several music shops. He finds a deal on a passable one and flies over to Oakland on his motorcycle to go rent a truck and bring it back over.

The joy of living in San Francisco is experiencing those magical moments that couldn’t happen in any other city. Tonight’s piano recital was one of those moments. When the first song was played, there were twenty people or so watching. By the end there must have been two hundred.

Of course, the revelers were unfortunately soon reminded why we can’t have nice things:

All of a sudden, during a rousing jazz piece, a firework exploded low over our heads. Then another and another. Someone lower down on the hill was providing a rogue fireworks display. People cheered. It was stunning, but it was also a beacon to the police.

Fifteen minutes later, the park ranger has made his way to the piano and is trying to stop the playing. It’s not working, because he’s not quite mean enough to slam the cover on the pianist’s hands. So classical music floats through the air as the finer points of symphonic law are discussed.

The piano continues. It’s hard to stop it, really. You can’t take the piano or unplug it.

Read on to see how it all ended up.  And San Francisco, you stay rad and just keep on being you.

Local faves Social Studies opened up:

A wall of televisions displayed a big ad for the new Converse Store opening soon on Market Street, featuring this image of Andrew Schoultz finishing up his mural on the side of Pop’s:

And then Hot Chip took the stage (which had to be extended by a few feet to accomodate all their awesome gear) and killed:

It was unreal being so close to them, and in such an intimate setting. Thanks, Converse Represent!

[via Adam Lynn]

It’s becoming more and more difficult to simply enjoy a fun DJ dance night at a dive bar these days, as the city has been been expanding their crackdown on spots that don’t happen to possess an official cabaret license.  The latest victim is everyone’s favorite crusty watering hole, Pop’s.  So R.I.P. Drop Out, although you can still catch Jackie Sugarlumps at the Makeout Room for her monthly school of soul, Web of Sound.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like this all started when some jerk NIMBY moved across the street from the Attic and started hating on all the fun that people were having dancing to the likes of 2MWMY and Indie Slash, forcing those acts to move on to Amnesia.  Said NIMBY did some research and found out he could stop the music by employing the cabaret license technicality, and it seems that the fun police picked up on that and used it against Cassanova, which now is unable to host DJ’s as well.

Hopefully this is the last dance night to go down, but I have the uneasy feeling that the city is just getting started.  As for Pop’s perhaps they’ll finally just have to finally go all-in on that sports bar concept!

[Photo by Erik Jutras]