International Noise Conspiracy @ BoTH

People just aren't into it at shows on Sunday nights, and International Noise Conspiracy last Sunday was no exception. Showed up at Bottom of the Hill about 10min before they played. They only played a handful of songs that I knew, of which I only like about half of. Weird choice of songs. The new stuff is hit and miss. Had high expectations after hearing about how great they are live from a friend, so it was a bit of a let down. Glad I went though. Cool to see Dennis Lyxzén of the legendary Refused.

HWM @ The Grand Ballroom

Been super busy so missed the post for Hot Water Music reunion show a couple of weeks ago. They were back and obviously rejuvenated. The last time I saw them, soon before they broke up, they didn't seem to into it. The set was about all you could ask for. The sound in the Grand Ball Room was total crap. Major echo! Unfortunately, I had a big product launch late that evening, so I had to leave the show early and missed the last few songs. In other news, part of the reason for being so busy is the amount of good surf going on around here in the past few weeks. Fall in SF rules! Also, I've been getting prepared for my trip to Europe. Matt, Panman and I are going to hit Oktoberfest in Munich, Bamberg (also in Germany) and Amsterdam.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Black Fag, Ashtray and More @ Thee Parkside

Got there just before Ashtray went on. At first I thought they really sucked, but after watching 'em for a bit, they had some weird appeal. Their songs are simple but catchy degenerate, punk rock songs. The guy singer has a cool punk voice. Black Fag went on soon after and were a riot. Check out this video, it speaks for itself. Me First was awesome as usual. Cool to see 'em at such a small venue, but a bit annoying at the same time because the place was wwaaayyyy overcrowded and hot!

Cavalera Conspiracy & Dillinger Escape Plan @ The Fillmore

Matt and I caught Cavalera Conspiracy and Dillinger Escape Plan last night at the Fillmore. Dillinger Escape Plan was amazing. Those guys are unreal live. They go completely insane. We saw them at BoTH a few months ago and it was quite a bit better seeing them in a smaller venue. Had only heard a few songs from Cavalera Conspiracy, but we were pleasantly surprised when they played almost all of the best Sepultura songs.

The other morning woke up to 5 cars blocking off my street and about 20 ICE Feds wandering around (a few with Machine guns). They raided one of the houses a couple of down from ours where there were likely illegal immigrants living. Looks like the Feds are totally bypassing local police. So much for the "sanctuary city". Never heard anything about it in the local news at all. Scary.

Big Business and Melvins!!!

Last night @ Slim's was Big Business opening for the Melvins. We were all really looking forward to this show! Got there about 10 minutes before Big Business went on. The place was packed to absolute capacity and then some. Big Business has some seriously catchy hooks. I found myself mesmerized watching them effortlessly playing so many crazy time changes. Made my way up to the front to see the Melvins/Big Business combo. They opened with Nude with Boots, the title track off of their new album. I love that song! Super poppy and catchy. It's stuck in my head. I had a money spot right in front of the bass player with a perfect view of Buzzo and both drummers. They mostly played stuff off of the two latest albums, which I was stoked on because I think that is some of their best stuff. The Big Business guys have made an amazing band even better! Man I hope someone took good video of this show.

Today caught some waves in the morning with E, and afterward went over to the Tour de Fat fest in Golden Gate Park. It's a traveling benefit put on by New Belgium Brewing Co. We got there just as Mucca Pazza started playing. Grabbed a New Belgium 1554 and went up by the stage. Mucca Pazza is a circus, punk marching band from Chicago. Up close to the stage, people were pogoing like crazy. The band looked like there were having such a blast playing.

Big Business, Triclops! and Totimoshi @ 12 Galaxies

A record release party for Totimoshi last night at 12 Galaxies. The stuff they played live didn't do much for me. I did like the songs on their MySpace page. I was feeling a little grumpy last night due to lack of sleep and the venue was like 120 degrees, so that maybe had something to do with it. Triclops! played their usual insanely energetic show. The singer was riding the crowd and rolling around on the floor while the band was just going nuts. Big Business came on and a violent pit erupted. Most of the guys looked like they just came from a frat party. I usually don't mind when people ram into me, but last night I was getting kinda pissed off. Man, heat makes me so irritable! Anyway, they played a short but great set. Can't wait to see 'em again with the Melvins next week.

Chuck Ragan & Kevin Seconds @ BoTH

Caught a few waves in the morning with E and came back to the hood to check out opening day at the Del Sol Skate Park that just opened up a few blocks from my house. I'm stoked cuz there is an steep, advanced bowl for the real skaters and a beginner intermediate area for kooks like me. The SF kids were absolutely loving it. Didn't see any incredible shredders (or pros that I recognized), but a few of the kids really ripped. I noticed that the little underground theater across the street (Xenodrome) had a sign that read Point Break Live! I asked my friend Jon that I met over at the park about it. It turns out, it is the classic cheesy 80s surf movie Point Break as a live performance. I'm so going to see that! Looks like it move from Xenodrome to Fat City on 11st. Later that night met up with Panman and Matt and a few others for Chuck Ragan and Kevin Seconds @ Bottom of the Hill. This was a punk goes folk show with both playing solo accoustic sets. We got there early but hung out outside until Kevin Seconds went on. If it wasn't for Second's distinctive voice, I wouldn't have know it was him. He was not looking so good. I wonder if maybe he got involved with drugs? Being so influential in the straight edge punk movement in the 80s, it would really surprise me though. His folk stuff wasn't too bad. I'll probably check it out a little more. He also played a couple of old 7 Seconds songs (Trust, Walk Together, Rock Together and another one I didn't remember off of Soul Force Revolution). I guess he does a radio show in Sacramento now. Chuck Ragan kicked some serious ass though. That guy has such a presence and writes some incredible music. He played pretty much the same set that he played last time we saw him, except instead of opening up with Open Up and Wail he played a new song that was really powerful. Hope he comes out with a new album soon.

M.D.C. and Le Plebe @ BoTH

Met up with Matt and Panman in the hood to have dinner and a few drinks before the show. First stop was El Metate for dinner. This is a place a couple blocks from my house that has amazing fish tacos. I go there at least twice a week. Next on the list was Bender's bar and then on to Inner Mission Tavern (a nice little belgian beer bar). Made it to Bottom of the Hill as one of the opening bands was finishing up; just in time to see Le Plebe. Le Plebe is a latino ska punk band from the Mission in SF. This show was a kick off for a tour through Europe. The local followers were going crazy. Matt was on the edge of the pit, and had some injuries to prove it the next day. M.D.C. took the stage with a 5 or so song accoustic set and then brought out the electric. Apparently, they now have the former drummer of D.R.I. in the band. In the middle of the set, they took a break and No Red Flags, which one of our friends (Guil Halstead) was formally a member of, played a few tunes. Guil is now playing for a band called My New Vice.

Jello Five-O @ GAMH

What a show last night! Two nights of amazing bands converging at the Great American Music Hall to celebrate punk icon Jello Biafra's 50th birthday. The evening started out at 8pm sharp with the Melvins playing the '83 Mangled Demos with the original members. Next up was AT scream core band Akimbo. First time seeing them and I dug it. Triclops! ripped it up, but seeing them at Thee Parkside a few months ago was much better. Sorry Matt. But the highlight of the evening was Jello going crazy. His new band, The Axis of Evil Doers, played a 7 or 8 song set which included a couple of songs that I recognized from the No WTO Combo. He got a few of his political jabs in between songs. I have to say Jello was really entertaining, but the band didn't seem that into it. But when the Melvins came out with guest guitarist Adam Jones from Tool, the show got much more interesting. Jello was running all over the place, stage diving, throwing water all over the place. It was great! They played a bunch of stuff from the Biafra Melvin's collaboration albums which was awesome, but the real treat was Fork Boy (yes, Dale played the drums faster than the album) :O, and 2 Dead Kennedy's songs (Holiday in Cambodia and Moon Over Marin). It's expensive to live in SF, but it's stuff like this that make it soooo worth it!

Firewater @ BoTH

Caught the beginning of Firewater at Bottom of the Hill on Friday. After a full day of work and having my 1rst beer at 5:30, I couldn't muster the energy to stick around for the whole show. I'm really disappointed, since the new album (The Golden Hour) sounds really interesting.

http://www.myspace.com/realfirewater

Prop A Passes in S.F. and Congratulation Barack!

The voters of SF and the Bay Area in general have shown that they value education. A parcel tax for property owners in the City ($198 a year) will be used to give teachers and staff badly needed raises. It's almost insulting that in one of the most expensive cities in the world that teachers are paid so poorly. Starting pay for teachers in SF is lower than most educational districts in the Nation. As a result, it is difficult to recruit talented teachers and retain them when they can't even pay the bills with their measly salaries. The boost is not enough, IMHO, but at least it will help. Thank you San Francisco!

Also, congratulations Barak Obama for clinching the nomination! I believe and hope that he can turn this country around.

Preview of Speaking in Tongues @ K.Q.E.D.

Headed over to K.Q.E.D. (PBS affiliate in SF) today to preview a documentary on immersion and multi-lingual education. My wife Angelica has been working for two years in a pioneering Mandarin Chinese immersion program here in the City. During her first year of teaching in the program, they came in to film her in action. The film, titled Speaking in Tongues, is a thought provoking piece that focuses on 4 students from different cultural backgrounds that are learning two languages. Overall, I thought the movie was really good. My main criticism is that it was a little to focused on a liberal, left-wing audience. I think the intent is to attempt to convert those that disagree with or misunderstand bi-lingual education, but the film tended to offer shallow if any arguments against bi-lingual education. It even had several scenes that mocked people with that position portraying them as uneducated nationalists. While many of their arguments don't hold up well, I do think that there are cons to consider. Anyway, Angelica was her usual radiant self. She looked great and was well spoken. I can't wait until the show goes national for everyone to see.

Thrice and Pelican Show @ The Fillmore

Great show last night. Was really looking forward to seeing Pelican. They played a short set leaving me wanting more. Circa Survive had some interesting moments but didn't do much for me. Hadn't listened to much of the latest stuff from Thrice, but I have to say they put on a pretty amazing show. As they were playing, I was thinking back to some lyrics on a few of their albums and how I thought they were a Christian band. It struck me during the show that Thrice might stand for the Holy Trinity (i.e. father, son and holy spirit). I Googled around a little bit today but didn't find anything to validate that or that they are even Christian at all, but others have also speculated.

Crudo (Patton's New Project)

Checked out Crudo (Mike Patton's new project) the other night at the GAMH. Very similar to Peeping Tom, but not quite as good IMHO. It was their first show ever. Butterscotch was playing keys and did a sick beatbox improv. She is unreal. Overall, glad I checked out the show. It seems Patton is moving in a different direction musically. Most of his new stuff is very Hip Hop oriented.

Paul B's Visit

My buddy Paul B was in the hood last night, so we met up for a few beers and some chow. We had a beer at Bender's which is a place that I had been wanting to check out for a while. One of the bar tenders from Toronado (an excellent beer bar), owns or co-owns it. Cool place. Good beer selection and prices and cool atmosphere. Awesome jukebox. Paul B is vegetarian, so we ended up at this vegetarian Japanese place called Cha-Ya. I had the stuffed eggplant which I thought was excellent. It was kinda pricey for vegetarian food, but the quality was top notch. After that we were wandering around looking for another place to grab a beer and came across this cool little theater on Mission Street. It's called the Dark Room theater and they host stand up comedians, plays and movies. Their latest presentation is "Attack of the Killer B-Movies" (http://darkroomsf.com/killerbs/index.htm). I love B-Movies, so I was immediately intrigued. Will probably go check out The Blob in the next few weeks.

Jerm's Life in the City

A blog about my life in the San Francisco Bay Area. I plan to mainly write about show/concerts that I've gone to but will probably throw in some other night life reviews (restaurants, bars, etc) and random thoughts.

My wife and I live in the Mission District in San Francisco. We recently moved from the Sunset District where we both lived for many years. The Mission is better in most respects (weather, night life, culturally vibrant), but I do miss being close to the beach. I'm a Software Architect for a small start-up company called Vizu (www.vizu.com) in North Beach. Surfing and music are big parts of my life. I learned to surf when I moved to SF about 8 years ago. I'm a guitar player and have played in several bands over the years. The music scene in SF is amazing. I go to, on average, 1 to 2 shows per week with my best bud Matt. There are so many good shows that it's hard to make it to all of them. Anyway, that's my life in a nut shell. Now on to the blogging....