This dispatch series was meant for Intraffik, but I'm posting it here. Note: The Queen Kwong blog post reference is over at Intraffik.
The Rickshaw Stop. On a Thursday night, the Rickshaw Stop is the place to be to catch the San Francisco music scene. I think even the ear-to-the-ground foreign tourists know this. As in my very first San Francisco dispatch, the early arrivers on this night were tourists (judging by their accents or foreign language). The night reminds me of Club Moscow: bands and dance club combined. The emphases are different; however. At Club Moscow, the emphasis is more on dancing as you’ll often see more folks dancing in the bar than watching the bands. At the Rickshaw Stop, the emphasis is on the bands. Oh, there is one additional small similarity between these SF and LA nights. Club Moscow has a large fountain in the middle of the floor – with water. The Rickshaw Stop has a small fountain – on the second floor of the venue and with not a drop of water. A nice addition at the Rickshaw Stop is that on the second floor’s backroom, there is a skee ball machine and fooseball table (though I’m not sure they work, like the water fountain). The Thursday night Rickshaw crowd is opposite of what I’ve noticed at a number of the San Francisco music venues: they don’t 10 feet stand away from the stage, they’re right up front from the first band onward. Like Club Moscow, those under 21 are allowed inside, which might be one reason why the front of the stage is a most desire real estate location. One interesting note about the Rickshaw Stop is that if you’re under 21, they mark both of your hands with an ‘X,’ using a black marker. Ink from a black marker isn’t the easiest to wash off. There has to be a better way of identify if someone is under 21. Who wants to ‘X’s on their hands for a couple days? Maybe that’s just my age talking.
What got me to the Rickshaw Stop for a second time (the first time was to see NO) was to catch Queen Kwong. There is a previous post regarding Queen Kwong so I won’t write anything more other than it was so cool to see a favorite Los Angeles band playing a night in San Francisco.
After Queen Kwong opened the night, Night Drive shifted the sound towards dance. A two piece band that hit the synths hard. Some of their songs reminded me of Depeche Mode. Their on stage style reminded a bit of Big Black Delta. “This is our last song, let’s all dance shall we.”
Over-heard by two under 21 year old women: Next time, we need to bring two guys with us. That guy just came over and grabbed me.
Tesla Boy ended the night. They’re from Moscow, Russia. They do know how to drive the anticipation level. Before the band took the stage, the crowd was already more than willing to start dancing the whole set away. The crowd was crammed at the front of the stage. The band’s music started pumping through the speakers. The crowd pressed closer. The band came to the stage. The lead singer started a single beat. The crowd had their arms raised, just waiting to start jumping. The anticipation was reaching a fevered sense of ecstasy. At the very moment where the climatic heights of the fans was reached, the band truly started their set. It was a perfect situation of a band reading their fan base. And boy did they read their crowd well. As they played their first two songs, the crowd was either dancing wildly or reaching as far as possible across the stage to connect so ever more closely to the band.
BART announcement: Don’t ride your bike on the BART. I mean you. That’s where the $250 fine hits. I’m sure you can use that for other things.
Don Pico’s Bistro in San Bruno. Their website states: Friendly Service. That comment is not a lie. While I was sitting at the table, I was approached by four different individuals making sure I was either enjoying my food or that I was pleased with the service I was getting. And yes, I am a vegetarian and this is not a vegetarian restaurant, but they do have a small vegetarian menu. Often times, non-vegetarian restaurants simply don’t know how to make a vegetarian plate, but this restaurant knocked it out of the park. I can only imagine how awesome their meat dishes are. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend checking out this Mexican restaurant.
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