Results tagged “theindependent”

The trio comprising twin brothers and a Japanese girl one of them once dated known as Blonde Redhead is playing their second and last show tonight at The Independent (get tickets here), and for your afternoon palate cleanser we offer you this swell live footage of the band playing one of our favorite songs from the early aughts, "In Particular."

Anna McCarthy at the Weekly's All Shook Down blog has this fun review of Saturday's Air Guitar Championship at The Independent. The event was a two-day regional spectacular in which winners move on to become finalists in D.C. on August 7th. Friday night's champion was a guy named Awesome with huge hair and a red beard, and on Saturday Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys fame) showed up to be a celebrity guest judge and apparently fell into the much hated Simon Cowell critic role. Boone's was a sponsor, so much of the pink stuff was drunk, and the winner, who went by the name of Cold Steel Renegate, was said to have brought air tears to at least one eye.

UPDATE: We have our winners, and they are being informed. Please stop emailing us.

Before growing into the acclaimed DJ and electronic music producer that he is today, Tiga got his first exposure to music touring the Goa region of India with his DJ father in the 80s. Now based in Montreal, he's now released four albums, including 2001's acclaimed Mixed Emotions, and the popular 2006 disc Sexor. He has a new album, Ciao, which bridges the gap between IDM (intelligent dance music) and more heady, heavy electronica (hear some here).

Nicole Atkins starts this week off strong with some soulful tunes from the Jersey shore over at The Independent, starting at 8pm. She's crazy-cool and has a voice of gold. If you're more of a rocker, than get to Cafe du Nord early to see Cold Hot Crash and Filter play. It looks like the only way you can buy tickets is at the door and there's not too many of them. A Fine Frenzy, an alternative singer-songwriter and pianist headlines at Cafe du Nord on Tuesday night. She'll be supported by the talented Ferras and the English rock band, Ben's Brother. Again, get there early, the only way you'll get tickets is at the door.

When we first mentioned Nicole Atkins, back in October, we genuinely loved her unique sound calling it "...an incredibly beautiful masterpiece of songwriting and story-telling." Almost six months later, we still agree with our initial reaction - if anything, it's grown on us even more. Our friends over at Noise: SFBG are totally into her as well. "There's always room for more melodrama in my life - just as long as it's strictly of the musical variety - and lucky me, new discovery Nicole Atkins is making everything pretty blood-and-thunder in my house, thank you very much." Watch the video of "The Way It Is" here or listen to "Party's Over" here.

Join us tonight at the Fillmore, where Sia (one of our favorites) will be headlining. We saw her at the end of last year and the show was definitely fantastic; we highly recommend checking out tonight's show. Her latest album, Some People Have Real Problems, is stellar and has garnered critical success jumping to #26 on the Billboard charts, selling more than 20,000 copies and finishing ahead of fellow press darling Kate Nash (all in the first week of sales). The show starts with Har Mar Superstar at 8pm (doors at 7pm). See you there!

Shit. It's Valentine's Day this Thursday and by the looks of it most of you have already planned your perfect date. Three shows are already completely sold-out: The Kills at Rickshaw Stop, Slightly Stoopid at The Independent and Common at Mezzanine. While there are still several shows you can chance Thursday night, it might be wise to stay home and wait till the weekend to take your crush out. We are.

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar.

This week there's a recommendation every night at a different venue - talk about a great week of music. Starting with Monday, MGMT, the super-hyped duo from Brooklyn, will be playing Bottom of the Hill. MGMT is: Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, two psychic pilgrims whose paths first intersected in the green pastures of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, circa 2002. After a post-college "existential crisis" they decided to create their masterpiece, Oracular Spectacular, released last week. (Check out the video, here.)

If you haven't decided what you are doing to celebrate the New Year, it's okay - it seems that limited tickets are still available to tonight's biggest shows. We have a feeling they will go quick. If you don't like crowds, you can check out Radiohead's New Year's Eve bash on your couch with a bottle of booze. For the partiers, there are several options ranging from $8 at Hotel Utah to $100 at Cafe du Nord - something for everyone. We put the Radiohead broadcast on tivo and are headed out to the rockin' party at Bottom of the Hill where San Francisco's own, Scissors for Lefty will be headlining. If you want to dance, instead of rock, then check out popscene's dance party featuring Blaqk Audio. Where will you be tonight?

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San Francisco's musical offerings were bountiful Wednesday night ranging from Film School to Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings to The Thermals. It seems, though, that most of you made the correct choice: Vampire Weekend. Now we don't doubt that the other shows weren't amazing -- we were pretty miffed that there were so many choices on one night -- but clearly if you are anybody then you were wearing a blue pin-striped shirt, dark...

Kids, it's time to get rocking. (Especially before the "Private Party" dry spell that is coming on. Yikes.) This week, the San Francisco music gods are offering a vast array of newbies and veterans - something that we will graciously partake of any day of the week. Now that the bets are in (okay, so no one really cast any bets - how boring is that?), you can go to Cafe du Nord, tonight,...

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on SFist.

Judging from the range of performers this week, there is something for everyone. Starting first, in our weekly recommendations, is New Zealand singer-songwriter, Brooke Fraser. Prior to this post, we knew nothing about this accomplished 19 year-old but a quick visit to her MySpace page and we were hooked. Tuesday, you can catch this gorgeous, pop-writing sensation at Cafe du Nord. If not, download her latest release, Albertine on iTunes. Wednesday, we are welcoming...

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on SFist.

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on SFist.

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on SFist.

If you were down in the Castro last night or maybe just at home, then you missed Federico Aubele at The Independent. Lucky for all of us, he's playing there tonight as well. Live, Aubele will feature ESL Music newcomer, Natalia Clavier on vocals, keys and samples, with El Jon on percussion and beats, and Aubele on guitar, vocals, and loops. His latest effort, Panamericana, is named after the Pan-American Highway that stretches from...

Prints + good tunes = the Pipettes

Recently we featured The Kin in the weekly music column, New Tunes Tuesday #4. We did this for a reason - they've recently become one of my favorite bands. Just as we were impressed when we saw them for the first time at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia in June, we were equally impressed with their West Coast debut performance this week at The Independent. Instantly the audience responded positively to the well-blended vocals,...

-- Lust, Caution (2007): Ang Lee's new espionage flick is rated NC-17 (i.e., the pretentious thinking person's X). Hot. Oh, and it's actually really good -- at least we think so, anyway. Screens tonight at 8 p.m. and 9 at the Embarcadero Cinemas; $7.50-10.

Being paralyzed by choice is pretty much the peril of music lovers in this town. If you didn’t see Beirut’s amazing show last night at the Herbst, you’re probably considering how to check them out tonight. On the other hand approximately half the population of Swedish rockers are performing at The Independent tonight. And well, Swedish bands are just so very hot. Headliners are the Shout Out Louds, whose new album we can’t say enough good things about. In supporting roles are Johnossi and Nico Vega. Oh, and to tip the scales a little more, the kind folks at Tank Farm Future Sounds are not only sponsoring the tour, but are also hosting an after party with the bands, which YOU, yes YOU dear SFist reader are invited too. Yes, it’s a school night, but come on.. Swedish Rock stars and after party. You do the math. Make sure you stop by and say hi to SFist. Just in case you’re still wavering Ossi Bonde of Johnossi took some time out of touring to answer our many questions about Stockholm and San Francisco. Which is especially timely since Johnossi's self titled debut was released in the US today. Let Ossi's responses be the decider in your life.

-- Magic Bullets: Along with Bonde do Role and JuiceBoxxx, this local outfit (heavy on the bass lines, rhythmic keyboards, and melancholic vocals) performs tonight at 9 p.m. at The Independent, 628 Divisadero; $13.

Prolific, ornery, talented, unpredictable, easy on the eyes, genius, bastard - there are many ways to try and describe Ryan Adams, but at this point if you've heard of him, you've probably formed some sort of opinion. In his new single "Two" he sings: "I got a really good heart, I just can't catch a break." Whether or not you buy that, we're still loving his new CD. Easy Tiger is built on the careworn love songs with memorable melodies that he does best, with no gimmicks or interludes. Bring your broken heart to hear him perform live on Monday night at the Herbst Theatre or on Tuesday at the Berkeley Community Theatre. We're giving away a copy of Easy Tiger to get one lucky winner fired up for the shows. (Contest ends 7/24; winner will be notified via email.)

Update!: We got the contest entry form working (we think) -- sorry about the mixup. Go on, enter now!

Avoiding the masses storming the theaters for Transformers? Here are a few things to keep you busy until the 4th...

It's that time of the year again for San Francisco magazine's Best of the Bay party. The annual bash features lots of eats, drinks and chances to win prizes. Be prepared to fork over nearly a bill for your ticket here -- but as an added bonus it will also get you into the afterparty at Slide. San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center, 635 8th St.

SFist interviews Craig Billmeier aka Hot Lixx Hulahan, US air guitar champion.