San Francisco Dispatch #4: The Knockout - All Your Sisters and In Letter Form

Another different venue was in store for Dispatch #4:  The Knockout.  It was a night of “postpunk noir” as described by the Disorder invite I saw on Facebook.  My opinion on the night: one band sounded like The Cure while another reminded me of a Los Angeles band called The Monthlies.

The Knockout is south of the 24th Street Mission BART stop.  A little bit of a walk from the BART stop, but not so far as to prevent one from taking that walk.  The Knockout (to a degree) is a dead ringer for The Silverlake Lounge.  The stage area is painted in black, including a black ceiling.  A disco ball is almost in the exact same position in relationship to the stage.  There is also an uncanny similarity in the narrowness and depth of the stage and floor.  

As for the crowd, the color black was definitely the appropriate attire for the night.  I stood out like a guy in a suit at The Smell.  I took a look around the audience a few times to see if I might recognize anyone in the crowd.  Since this was my fourth night out in the San Francisco music scene I figured there might be a 1% chance I would recognize someone.  I didn’t initially, but when I was about to leave I suspected I recognized a couple that was just coming in for the night.  They had that fashion sense that stood out.  Sometimes you see what you want to see.

All Your Sisters was the first band up for the night.  They had a nice crowd for being the first band of the night.  There were a couple of photographers in the crowd that were there specifically for them (I didn’t notice the photographers photographing the second band).  Their sound reminded me of The Cure.  The set started with just their vocalist on stage.  Then the keyboardist joined mid-song.  And then for their second song the drummer came on stage.

Noticed:  after their set, the lead singer had so much music equipment to pack up that the second band was pretty much set up by the time he got all his stuff off the stage.

In Letter Form was the second band of the night.  As they started off, I couldn’t help but hear undertones of one of my favorite Los Angeles bands, The Monthlies.  (I haven’t heard much from The Monthlies in the last year though in January they did leave a one word Facebook and Twitter message.)

Unfortunately, I still follow an LA rule (though slightly adjusted), which is the get in bed by midnight rule.  In San Francisco, I do have a 30 minute adjustment to the LA midnight rule, driven by the fact that I do not have a car and must depend on the BART system.  The LA rule resulted in me missing the last two songs (as well as the last band of the night) of In Letter Form.  Upon arrival at the BART, I realized I could have stuck around for the last two songs as the BART was delayed by 20 minutes.  That stunk -- stinks that I missed the last two songs and stinks that my rule wasn’t met that night.

My one big complaint about the San Francisco music scene is the fact that on two occasions, the first band of the night didn’t start until past 10:15 p.m.  I like the LA music scene where in many locations the first band starts at 9:15 p.m.  I guess we in Los Angeles like to sleep a little bit more or perhaps we just wake up earlier than folks in San Francisco.  Or maybe they just drink more coffee in San Francisco.  Or maybe it is because a lot of LA venues have 4 bands playing versus 3 in San Francisco though I have to say that in the Echo Park/Silver Lake part of Los Angeles the venues clear out after the 11 p.m. band.

Random Thoughts

Thoughts on San Francisco weather.  It is June and at night it can be freezing.  I was walking to the BART on this particular night and the chill factor made it feel like December in Los Angeles.  I am told that July is even colder.

Thoughts on San Francisco food.  I’m a vegetarian so I’ve been checking out the vegetarian restaurants around town.  Herbivore and The Golden Era Vegan Restaurant stand out.  Those restaurants would immediately rank as the best vegetarian restaurants in Los Angeles.

Thoughts on recognizing people.  A few weeks back I was at the LAX airport and happened to notice a young woman.  She was in line with me as we were going through security.  We also were on the same flight out to San Francisco – sitting within a couple rows of each other.  So on a recent weekend, I was back in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to catch The Princess Bride.  I was heading to take care of a pre-movie human need when I couldn’t help but notice a young woman walking past me.  Where have I seen her?  My mind started to scan the memory banks . . . wait a second, the San Francisco flight.  What are the chances?