Two big-ticket parties at El Rio on one big-ticket date!

First there’s the triumphant return of American Tripps to the Mission, which we mentioned yesterday. And then stick around as the sun starts to set for a thrilling night of distortion-drenched punk rock courtesy of Alaric, Crimson Scarlet, and my band La Corde!  This is going to be our only show of the summer, so don’t say I didn’t warn you when you’re suffering from withdrawal sometime in September.  Also, it’s going to be Alaric’s last show for a looooooong time, as they are taking a break to write and record a new record.  Oh, and DJ Brown Amy from Hard French will be spinning records in between sets! Check out the details and tell your friends about it here.

Oh, and I almost forgot about the best part: We’re offering 2 FREE tickets to BOTH events for whoever can come up with the best story in the comments about the craziest punk rock show they ever attended, whether it happened at 924 Gilman, ABC No Rio, or even your mom’s basement. The contest ends at noon on Friday, and winners will be judged on merit.

See you there!

Tune in to Radio Valencia tonight at 8pm for an interview with my band, La Corde, on Baghdad by the Bay!  This is in anticipation of our show tomorrow at the Hemlock with G Green and Waldo Astoria, the latter of whom will also be on the radio directly after us.

We’ll be spinning records from our favorite bands and talking shit about everyone we know, so it’s worth a listen if you’re around!  Check out the all details for tonight’s interview here.

In case you were wondering about what all those crows have been doing in the Mission lately, it’s obvious from this flyer that they’re raging about the Alcoholocaust show at the Knockout tonight.  If you’re not doing anything on this fine Tuesday evening, check out my band La Corde at one of your favorite Mission bars/venues.  We’re playing last after two-piece punk brigade Culture Corpse and Oakland stalwarts High Castle, so come on down and check out some local tunes (but please leave the Marina party bus at home).

In case you missed soon-to-be Orange County punk legends Cat Party a few weeks ago at Bender’s, Andy Miller (who last brought us the supremely metaphysical “Women on the Women’s Building“) has you covered here with a quick and dirty interview interwoven with some of their best tunes.  Singer and guitarist Ryan Nichols has a lot to say about everything from San Francisco vs. Orange County to fast vs. slow songs.

If you like what you see, they’re playing again on New Year’s Eve Eve (December 30th) at the Hemlock along with the frenetic Face the Rail and (once again) my band, La Corde.  Stick that in your planner!

Well, not exactly that kind of cat party.  Less felines, more punk rock, but definitely still a party!  Cat Party is visiting from down South and stopping in San Francisco before they continue to the Pacific Northwest to play more music.  They’ve got a rad old school sound reminiscent of the Wipers and Husker Du with “the blackest of TSOL” thrown in for good measure.

Headlining the show and back from a summer hiatus is LA CORDE, which happens to be the band in which I play drums.  For our part, everyone says that our new 7″ sounds like Joy Division, so I guess that’s never a bad thing.  Plus, this is your chance to show up and heckle me for all the shitty posts that I’ve written!

Opening the show is Dadfag, with DJs Deadbeat and Yule Be Sorry handling the intermissions.  It’s only $5 and starts at 9:30pm at the Knockout.  See you there!

[Photo via Anne Lee]

Back when our band LA CORDE went down to play a show in Tijuana, we had the pleasure of hanging out with our friend Jason, a former San Franciscan who’s been living there for the past few years. 

We’re planning on going back there for more shows over Labor Day weekend, so to get in the mood, I’ve been checking out Tijuanalandia, Jason’s  blog.  It’s pretty awesome.  You should do yourself a favor and check it out yourself.

Tijuana Critical Mass

Just like the Mission

TIJUANALANDIA

Previously:

Mission Taquerias Need to Step it Up

Mission Bar Treats Need to Step it Up

While up in Vancouver, BC this past weekend to play a show with some rad Canadian punk bands, we came across TACO DEL MAR, alleged purveyors of the elusive Mission-style burrito.  Unfortunately, we were unable to sample said Mission-style burrito due to the fact that the “taqueria” closes at 11pm on a Saturday!

If they can’t even get authentic operational hours right, I shudder to imagine what sort of blasphemy they might be trying to pass off as a burrito.  The fact that their mascot appears to be a chili pepper with a dirty sanchez wearing a sombrero does little to comfort me either.

Previously:

Australian Mission Burritos Revealed!

Guten Tag! Mission Burritos in Berlin!

 The Best Way to Transport a Mission Burrito to Somewhere as Far Away as Berlin

Bobby Flay Can Eat A Big Fat Burrito

Free post-punk at the Knockout with some great local bands.  Airfix Kits sounds like GANG OF FOUR having a party with THE MINUTEMEN, and they even have an English-accent-sounding singer for authenticity’s sake.  Also, they’re one of Allan’s favorite SF bands (probably because they also have an Allan in the band).

Rank/Xerox is one of those bands that you can legitimately describe as “early JOY DIVISION” without getting laughed out of the room.  And of course La Corde is opening everything up with their WIPER-influenced raw sound.

The FREE SHOW starts at 9pm.  Tell the rain to fuck off and come out!

Previously: Airfix Kits at Pissed-Off Pete’s in Excelsior

I know.  You want to do your part for Haiti, but you’ve already stuffed your face to the limit with Bi-Rite bake sale goodies and texted 90999 from your mom’s cellphone at least twenty times.  Well, there’s more!

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief in Haiti is hosting a benefit tonight at El Rio (Mission @ Caesar Chavez) featuring quite a diverse collection of musical performances.  Headlining is Brass Menažeri, a frenetic, cascading rhythm of Serbian, Macedonian, Greek & Rajasthani Roma.

Other acts include the percussive jazzy stylings of Ezra Lipp and Ofir Uzier; Sean Lee with some one-man-banjo old timey twanging; Arthur Adams strumming some Haitian pop guitar (H-Pop>J-Pop?); and of course the Mission’s own La Corde opening everything up with some loud punk rock.  Makes sense, right?

$1 PBR and $2 well drinks!  Determine your own legacy of generosity at the door with a sliding scale that starts at only $5.  The music begins promptly at 8pm.

She starts at 9pm at goes till 12:30 at Revolution Cafe (or as I call it “little Amsterdam”) on 22nd and Bartlett. No cover charge so be sure to get your drink on and toss a fiver in the tip jar. We spotted Broke-Ass Stuart there last night so you know it’s affordable.

Check out this video I shot of her singing one of her originals at Amnesia a while ago:

Or if you’re looking for something more heavy:

The loosely-mission based post-punky new band La Corde are playing a show tonight in the mission opening for Crime Desire and OK?

Sub-Mission is on Mission and 18th. It shares space with Taqueria El Balazo. It’s one of those rare all-ages punk venues in a warehouse-y space. Don’t you miss having your mom drop you off at the Gilman and changing into your studded jean jacket while your best friend spiked your hair with Elmer’s glue in the parking lot? I do.

Great show at the Hemlock Tavern tonight! In case you didn’t know they have shows in that weird walk-in ‘fridge area in the back.

Top Critters is a bizarre and wonderful 5-piece acoustic instrumental group that puts slide whistle and accordion to great use.  La Corde is a new group out of the mission that likes it’s punk of the post variety. Drummer Andrew can beat Metroid in under 2 hours and get the bikini ending; ask him how.

Oh yeah in case you missed it, last night at the ‘lock was awesome too. Dreamdate was cute as hell and played my fav song (that one that goes “uh-uh-oh uh-uh-oh”). Brian Glaze and the Nightshift rocked so hard I had to grab people and demand that they air guitar with me. The second thing might have had to do with drinking too many PBRs. Allan’s back, I had to! Successful evening all around.