San Francisco Dispatch #12: Brick and Mortar - Magic Fight, Kan Wakan, Vanaprasta

This dispatch series was meant for Intraffik, but I'm posting it here.

Southwest.  Here’s what you don’t want to hear when flying into San Francisco:  we’re in a 30 minute holding pattern, but we have only 15 minutes of fuel left.

Okay, they did mention that we might have to fly into San Jose as an alternative, but then 15 minutes of fuel doesn’t give you much wiggle room.

Twenty minutes later we were still circling SFO.  Maybe they meant we had 45 minutes of fuel left.  Thirty minutes plus 15 minutes of wiggle room.

This announcement got the attention of the Southwest passengers.  The young woman sitting in the window seat of my row turned to the center passenger and asked:  did he just say we have 15 minutes of fuel left?  She was very excited when it was announced that we would get to fly into SFO as she didn’t want to land in San Jose.  Two passengers behind me kept tabs on the time – just as I was.  I heard them talking around the 20 minute mark:  it’s been 20 minutes . . .

Brick and Mortar.  Tuesday at Brick and Mortar was a circled night for me.  One of my friends was coming into town with his band, Kan Wakan.  Over-all, this was going to be a special week of music.  Not only was Kan Wakan coming into town, but so was Queen Kwong on a Thursday night (an out of cycle dispatch that was posted earlier).  In order to celebrate this special week, I brought up my Canon 5D to San Francisco along with a handful of lenses.

First up on this night was Magic Fight.  Where are you from?  California.  Seriously, where are you from?  California.  What part of California?  Central.  Okay, research indicates they’re from Oakland.  Ukulele was the instrument of choice by the lead singer.  The ukulele plays perfectly into their somewhat mournful tunes.  The lead singer started the set wearing a raincoat.  In the middle of the set, he took it off:  it’s not raining, don’t be an idiot.

Kan Wakan was the middle band. It took a while for this 7 member band to set up, but once they started you didn’t want them to stop.  The beautiful sounds of Sade-inspired vocals with the backing of intricately written music inspired the audience for an extremely short 30 minutes.  There wasn’t a single unneeded note in the set.  They sound like a poem that grows deeper and richer upon each reading.

Ending the night was  Vanaprasta, a last minute addition to the night.  A band that also hails from Los Angeles.  As soul inspired as Kan Wakan is, Vanaprasta is infused with energetic sounds.  And with a raise of his arms, the lead singer was able to draw the crowd to the front of the stage.

Here’s my impression of the Brick and Mortar crowd on a Tuesday night:  they sure do like to keep their distance from the stage.

This is my third post on a Brick and Mortar night.  And if you have followed these dispatches, you know I’ve had a debate about what is placed on stage right:  is it a piano (first opinion) or a table (second opinion).  There is nothing like a third opinion.  The third opinion is that it is a small organ.  So it is a musical instrument on stage, which makes Brick and Mortar remind me all the more like the Bootleg Theater.

September in San Francisco.  At least this year, summer finally started in September for San Francisco.  And by summer, I mean temperatures in the 70s.  I have to say that as temperatures in Los Angeles hit the 90s during the late August/early September weekends, it was nice escaping up to the cooler temperatures of San Francisco.

San Francisco Dispatch #11: Sub-Mission - INFM, Moovalya

Southwest Quiz Time.  Answers below.

1.       What vegetable is only sold fresh, never sold frozen or canned?

2.       What US landmark is always moving backwards?

3.       What do you call a cow with no legs?

4.       Why do cannibals not eat clowns?

Let’s just say that one woman with a fashionably updated 80s hairstyle really got into the quiz, which was more than just the above four questions.

Pilgrimage.  My time in San Francisco was quickly coming to an end, which meant that it was time for a pilgrimage.  I spent the first few years of my life growing up in the San Francisco area, specifically Daly City.  When my parents decided to move to SoCal, I’d tell my SoCal friends that I was from San Francisco.  My mom would correct me and say we came from Daly City.  At the time, I didn’t understand this concept.  How could we not have lived in San Francisco versus some unknown city called Daly City?

I jumped onto the BART, getting off at the Colma station.  I headed up the hill towards the apartment that I spend the first 5-ish years of my life.  I didn’t know what to expect.  My memories of my life in that apartment are vague.  What do I remember?  I recall discovering a mushroom growing out from the carpet.  From street view, I remember the building being well-kept and very tall with other apartments lining a long street.  The apartments on the street were painted in light colors.  And when we were moving, my last act in the area was very stupid.  I was riding on my Big Wheel and after I was done I left it on the sidewalk.  When my dad and I went looking for it, it was long gone.

So what did I see in 2013?  A very rundown row of apartments with paint jobs from at least a couple decades ago.  The apartments weren’t that tall at all and the street wasn’t that long, which I expected as I understood I was recalling memories from when I was 5-ish.  What I didn’t realize was that a cemetery was at the end of the street.  I totally don’t recall that.  I took some photos and then gave a call to my parents to let them know I was standing on the street where I spent the first years of my life.

I then walked over to the cemetery and took a quick photo before heading back towards the BART station.  A woman who was gathering items from her car had noticed that I had taken a photo of the cemetery and so when I passed her she started a conversation.  She told me how she’d taken a photo of a crane killing a gopher for dinner inside the cemetery.  It was a powerful nature scene, she said and mentioned that she had cropped out the grave stones as she felt that it made for a depressing setting for her photo.  I replied, “Maybe you should have kept the grave stones in the photo as it was perhaps appropriate that the gopher was meeting its death in a cemetery.”  Maybe I’m a bit sick in the head.

Music and San Francisco.  I mentioned in a couple previous posts that I was getting lazy regarding the SF music scene.  I was off looking for Los Angeles based bands versus trying to get familiar with San Francisco based bands.  I also mentioned that I was going to stick to re-visiting the local venues that I’d already visited.  I decided to shake things up a bit.  I went looking for a new venue and attempted to head out on a night that featured San Francisco bands.  I was only partially successful in this.  I headed off to an art gallery called Sub-Mission.  I thought I was heading off to this “new” venue to catch some San Francisco bands.  The two bands I saw weren’t from San Francisco.  One was from San Jose – okay, close enough – and another was from Phoenix – not even close.

So what’s this Sub-Mission venue?  It is a DIY art gallery in the Mission District that didn’t exactly have much art inside.  Bolted to the ceiling was a van that held all the sound equipment.  I’m actually not sure if it was a real van or just a cool sound room made to look like a van.  The music?  A punk sound that reminded me of how much fun it used to be to hang out at The Blue Star on a Friday or Saturday night.

The first band that I saw went by the initials INFM.  Don’t ask me what that stands for.  I believe M is for Monkey.  The drummer said the name twice, but he went through the name so quickly I just couldn’t pick it up.  He did say an alternative name for the band was:  Inside Nude Female Models.  The bassist drove his body through every note and beat of every song.  And after their set, I couldn’t help but over hear the drummer talking about the economic and accounting classes he was taking.

Moovalya was the other band I saw and they came by way of Phoenix.  They quickly had the crowd in the circle pit.  Their sound definitely represented the best that one would have seen in the past on a good summer night at the Blue Star.  Comment made before their set:  I got old and I got smart.

As for the crowd?  It was extremely light.  The maximum had to be 25.  Considering there were 4 bands, half the crowd at Sub-Mission were folks in the bands.  Too bad, I say.  Yeah, I only saw 2 of the 4 punk bands, but those two bands gave it their all and definitely deserved to be heard by more than 10 paying customers.

Southwest.

Comment #1 (when we learned the plane was stuck on the LAX runway due to flight traffic at SFO):  I know this is really lame, but there are folks at the gate who were told they need to wait 1.5 hours.  At least, we got on the runway and need to wait only 30 minutes.

Comment #2:  If I ask you what you want to drink and you say, ‘Ah, um, um,’ that means you want water.

Moment #1:  A girl was telling her mom, “It’s too late.  It’s too late.”  I figured she wanted to use the bathroom before the plane took off.  She was encouraged to go talk to a flight attendant.  And what happened next was so cute.  She went up with a book and asked the flight attendant if she could see the pilots.  She then was allowed to enter the cockpit.  The pilots signed her book.  Not only that, but one allowed her to sit in the pilot seat.  And those strange warning sounds coming from the cockpit, those sounds were caused by her pressing buttons.  This is the cuteness you see while flying on Southwest.

Comment #1 from a passenger:  I asked a woman once if I could take the seat next to her.  She said, ‘No.’  She wanted to sit by herself.  She didn’t understand Southwest etiquette.

Answers to Southwest Quiz Time:

1.       Lettuce

2.       Niagara Falls.

3.       Ground beef.

4.       They taste funny.

San Francisco Dispatch #10: Cafe Du Nord - Tracing Figures, Torches, Filligar

This dispatch series was meant for Intraffik, but I'm posting it here.

San Francisco.  I took off in search of City Lights Books where Jack Kerouac used to hang out.  It’s a three floor bookstore, where half of those inside were tourists like myself.  I personally think the poetry section is lacking.  I went looking for my friend’s, David Shook, poetry book called Our Obsidian Tongues, which is on the longlist for the Dylan Thomas Prize.  It wasn’t there.

I swear I over-heard a conversation where a young man was trying to convince a young woman that there was nothing wrong with buying a physical book versus an eBook.  Another conversation revolved around the joys of going to a bookstore to browse around versus looking online for books.  And so City Lights Books is the refuge for those of us who refuse to accept the forward progress of technology.

The two streets that intersect the bookstore are interesting:  Broadway and Columbus.  Half the city’s strip clubs must be on Broadway while half of the Italian restaurants must be on Columbus.

Café Du Nord.  I am getting lazy here in San Francisco.  My eyes go through the music calendar of the San Francisco Weekly and as soon as I see a Los Angeles-based band, I circle the night.  And so it was on this night when I noticed that Torches was coming to San Francisco.  I had never seen Torches, but I did recognize the band name.  What better way to acquaint myself with a Los Angeles band then to see them in San Francisco, right?

First up that night was San Francisco based band, Tracing Figures.  The lead singer, Brianne, reminded me of Los Angeles based singer, Laura Vall.  Brianne sings her songs with intense deep vocals while at the same time coming across as the girl next door that you purposely make an effort to say hello to on a Sunday morning (or maybe a Tuesday morning).    

Torches took the middle slot of the night.  I suspect that most of us that were at the front of the stage were from Los Angeles.  They reminded me of two Los Angeles bands:  Local Natives and Eastern Conference Champions.  And yes, they made me really miss the Los Angeles music scene.  Even their cloths reminded me of hipster Silver Lake/Echo Park.

The headliner for the night was Filligar, which honestly was why most everyone at Café Du Nord were there to see.  As soon as they started to set up for their set, the crowd that was previously way in the back of Café Du Nord came to the front of the stage.  And I could tell immediately that they were going to put on a good show.  There was just this confidence to them as they stood on stage, waiting to kick off their set.  This band plays like they’re in a jam session.  Their set lasted an hour and 5 minutes with 10 songs on the set list and quick transitions between songs.  So yeah, about six minutes a song, which allowed for them to take their time exploring their music.

Comment of the set after the lead singer busted a guitar string:  Yeah, you know what just happened.  It’s game time.

Comment of the night from the BART station:  Everyone we’ve seen in San Francisco is young.  Are there any old people in this city?

Flying.  What I think is cool flying into an airport: watching another passenger jet landing parallel to your own jet.  Calming.

Random encounter.  I was walking to a venue and ended up in a brief amusing conversation with a homeless guy.

Homeless guy:  Do you have a quarter to spare?

Me:  No.

Homeless guy:  How about a dollar?

Me:  (laughter)

Homeless guy:  (laughter) I had to give it a try.

San Francisco Dispatch #9: Brick and Mortar - Spells, Louise Burns, Lightning Dust

A free night equaled my first repeat visit to a SF venue.  It was off to Brick and Mortar to catch a trio of bands.

Confession:  I’m not very observant at times.  In an earlier dispatch, I mentioned that Brick and Mortar had a piano on stage that was being used as a makeshift table for a drum set.  I took a closer look this time and it is in fact a table.  Oops.  I guess in my homesickness for Los Angeles I saw too much of The Bootleg in the Brick and Mortar.

The SF Weekly mentioned that the first band started at 8 p.m. so off I headed to Brick and Mortar without eating any dinner.  It was off from work, change cloths and jump onto the BART.  And, of course, the night started off at 9 p.m.

One woman entertained herself during that hour by dancing wildly while her husband/significant other watch from his seat.  Two young women walked into the venue like they’d just finished a beauty pageant.  One even had a tiara.

The first band of the night was Spells, a local band.  Spells didn’t disappoint with their Hotel Café style sound.  Whenever (I’m guessing a friend) a guy with a smart phone was taking video of the lead singer, she’d blush all so briefly.

Comment of the set:  This song is about a cat that met an unfortunate fate.          

Comment of the set 2:  Bass.  How does it look on me?

The next two bands were from Vancouver, Canada.  Oh yeah, it reminded me of my first travel post on Intraffik.  Louise Burns took the stage first with her country influenced sound.  The crowd loved her.  After the set, a crowd formed to buy her stuff.  And she sounded legit Canadian to me once she shouted out, “Eh.”  She had one cool bassist who refused to smile except during their last song when she must have found something amusing; and when she took over the keys, she played with her right hand while she sipped her drink using her left, the definition of cool.

Comment of the set:  This song is about sensitive young men who write poetry on typewriters.

Lightning Dust  was the final band of the night.  A female lead singer, who at times sung in a staccato quick fire method, surrounded by three synth musicians.  It was, of course, electronic heaven for 30 plus minutes. For one song one of the synth musicians turned up the Peruvian flute music.  Someone in the audience called the musician out for that one.  Maybe even in San Francisco, Peruvian flute music equals Universal CityWalk.

Interesting notice of the set:  their set list was written down on cardboard.

In an earlier dispatch, I wrote how I was attempting to see if I could recognize any fellow San Francisco music fans at various venues.  On this night, I’d say I definitely recognized four folks.  Yeah, I know that is meaningless, but it make me feel part of the San Francisco music scene even if it is for an all so brief moment of my life.

As soon as Lightning Dust’s set ended, I rushed out to get to BART.  I really have no clue why I did that.  By now I should know that there is construction going on at night and that I’ll be stuck waiting for a train for close to 30 minutes.  I guess there is always that faint hope that I’ll just catch a train that was supposed to arrive 30 minute earlier or that construction has finished on the BART.

Random note:  all three lead singers wore black.

Southwest.  Call me a rule follower, but what irritates me most about fellow Southwest fliers is the refusal by a few to not turn off their electronic devices.  Some people need to be asked three time to turn off their devices.  Others simply hide the fact that their iPhones are on.  They’ll hold the screen against their body so that the reflection isn’t seen.  Come on, you can’t be disconnected from your music or texting?

San Francisco Dispatch #8: The Luggage Store - Lindsey Walker, Doug Lynner

This dispatch series was meant for Intraffik, but I'm posting it here.

The Luggage Store is an art gallery off the Civic Center/UN Plaza BART stop.  It is a location that is very easy to miss unless you are looking for it.  Even if you’re looking for it, you’re unlikely to find it on first glance as there is no visible signage (there is the possibility I am blind on the signage part).  I was walking down the street, looking for the address and a sign that said, “Luggage Store.”  I walked to a graffiti art covered door without thinking much about it.  I noticed that the next door over had an address that indicated I’d gone too far.  So I stopped and looked to my left and then to my right.  The Luggage Store had to be in between these two addresses.  Was this some sort of Harry Potter train station type address?  I looked straight ahead and re-noticed the graffiti art covered door.  Dead center was an 8.5 x 11 paper sheet that said “Luggage Store Gallery” along with the night’s schedule.  Another paper sign was taped next to the door handle.  The sign said, “Door is open.  Turn & pull.”  Does this now sound like Alice in Wonderland?  I opened the door and a staircase with graffiti art on either side led me up to the second floor of the building.  There, behind a long table, sat three individuals.  I handed one of them $6.

The Luggage Store may be my last “new venue” that I explore in San Francisco.  At this point, with my time in San Francisco drawing to a close (though I do have a few more weeks here), I figure my time might best be served revisiting some of the venues I’ve already visited.  But that’s in the future.  On this night at “new venue” The Luggage Store, there was an ongoing summer music series of what they defined as new music.  To me, the music sounded like what I heard at The Lab, but far more accessible to a person like me who lacks an appreciation for art music.

First up was a young woman, Lindsey Walker, with hair dyed pink and a bubbly personality.  Her music consisted of the sound of her voice layered over and over again.  “La la la LA LA LA la la la.”  The sound would start soft and would grow in volume as she added additional layers.  She’d collapse it all with a single tap and we’d be left with her initial layer, which she’d build upon again.  Her music sounded like a chorus of nuns singing inside an ancient European cathedral.  And one couldn’t help but notice her smile and occasional giggles.

The final performer of the night was an older gentleman, Doug Lynner, who played a Magical Serge from the 1970s.  It had what seemed like a hundred wires that he spent time plugging and unplugging from one slot to the next.  At times, his music sounded like what must be considered the music of deep space.  At other times, I imagined listening to a choir of Battlestar Galactica cylons.  And then at another moment I thought that the music signified the cells of my body singing to me.  Or the aurora borealis.

The two did a song together, vocals on top of synthesized sounds.  Then Doug Lynner ended the night with a final song.  And to end his song, a fire engine roared pass outside and so he felt it represented a perfect way to end his song.

Noticed:  A guy sitting next to me was way too into the music, in my opinion.  At times, he swayed to the music like he was listening to a gospel choir.  

After the music ended, it was off to the BART station.  And there I was for 30 minutes.  The BART is doing some construction, but 30 minutes is an extreme length of the delay especially when I just wanted to get home and go to bed.  It didn’t take long to realize that the BART electronic signs that were stating that the next train was going to arrive in 12 minutes wasn’t right as after five minutes and then ten minutes the time hadn’t change.  I was approached by one individual who asked in frustration, “Has there been an announcement about why the train isn’t coming?”  When the train finally came, we were packed in like the proverbial sardines.  Yeah, life without a car.

Southwest

Comment 1:  The chicken is in the pot.  The chicken is in the pot.  Please authenticate.

Comment 2:  We’ve been given permission to take off.  Please don’t exit the aircraft.  And no flash photography.

San Francisco Dispatch #7: Cafe Du Nord - White Teeth, Bang Bang, The Lower 48

This Dispatch series was meant for Intraffik, but I'm posting the series here.

I went three straight weeks without venturing into the local San Francisco music scene.  There was a BART strike and then work took over for a couple weeks.  What’s the purpose of working in the San Francisco area for a few months if I can’t catch any local music?  I swore that no matter what I was heading out on this particular week.

My goal to check out new venues continued and so the week’s pick was Cafe Du Nord.  I didn’t know anything about the venue other than the fact that it was within an appropriate walking radius of a BART station.  So I didn’t have any special reason for heading to this venue other than it would be a new venue; however, after doing some research on one of the bands I found myself getting very excited about the night.  The band that got me excited is called The Lower 48.  Their Facebook page had by far the most “Likes” of any of the other bands scheduled for the night.  I did some casual research on the page.  I went to their “About” section, which didn’t state their hometown.  I took a look at their gigs.  I noticed that they played around Portland.  I am one who believes that a touring band from Portland equals a must see band.      

One Facebook event invite noted that the night would start at 8:30 p.m.  I was thinking:  yeah, right, the night isn’t going to start at 8:30 p.m.  Well, I was wrong.  I got to Café Du Nord at 9 p.m., walked down a long staircase to the building’s basement and White Teeth, a two piece band, was finishing up their last three songs.  The first song I heard made me wish I had caught more of their set.

Comment of their set after there was a cry for an encore:  The drummer doesn’t know any more songs.

This was a night for some two piece bands.  Bang Bang was up next, two gals rocking.  Their friends were out in force with their iPhones, taking videos and photos.  The lead singer sings with deep vocals and with a force that drives their music forward in an urgent manner.

As good as the other two bands were, the night belonged to The Lower 48.  They did not prove my theory wrong that touring Portland bands are awesome.  Their very first song had folks dancing.  This is a three piece band.  Two guys in suits and one gal rocking an updated Joan Jett look.  The drummer plays barefooted and divides a portion of his time to the harmonica and trumpet.  The lead bassist cracks the jokes. The gal plays the guitar and does the lead vocals.  And I swear that other than their wonderful music, I was fascinated by how the lead singer used her mouth to form the lyrics.  Now some folks in bands rock a certain look or have a distinct onstage stance, but here is someone who I swear must practice how she forms the lyrics.  There is no way that she’s doing this naturally.  It has to be practiced and if you catch this band she will have you mesmerized.

Fun moment of the night:  a woman in the audience was having a problem with her bracelet during The Lower 48’s set.  It kept falling off her wrist.  Finally, frustrated with it, she tossed it on stage.  The two guys in the band pointed it out.  The drummer yelled out, “I’ll take that.”  He got out from behind his drum set to pick it up and put it on his wrist.  At the end of the set, he tossed it back into the audience where a guy picked it up and tried it on his wrist.  The male friend of the gal who tossed it onto the stage pointed this out to her, asking if she wanted to claim it back.  She replied it was fine.  Considering it wouldn’t stay on her wrist, I’m sure she was happy to get rid of it.

Did I leave the venue on a high?  You bet.  Best music night in San Francisco (other than perhaps catching Los Angeles band NO on my very first music night out in San Francisco).  If The Lower 48 ever comes down to Los Angeles, I want to be up front.  Oh, and as for Café Du Nord:  as the name might indicate, there is an elegance to this basement level venue.

Southwest Airlines side notes:

Comment of a flight 1:  Federal regulations require you to turn off your electronic devices and that you don’t fall asleep.  Wake up!

Comment of a flight 2:  I am going to tell you what my dad told me when I turned 18.  We love you, but take your bags and get out.

Comment of a flight 3:  That sound you hear does not mean the wicked witch is dead.  I can assure you my mother-in-law in New Mexico is alive and well.

Comment of a flight 4:  If your mask does not inflate with air after one minute, please deposit $0.50 cents.

San Francisco Dispatch #6: F8 -- Saul Stokes and Impuritan

Another week came, which meant another music venue to explore in San Francisco.  This time it was off to a bar called F8.  Via Bart, I got off at the Civic Center/UN Plaza stop and went down 7th street and turned on Folsom.  The whole process took 45 minutes.  I had this distinct feeling that I was speed race walking with someone else as I tried to get to F8 as quickly as possible.  Despite my efforts, I arrived in the middle of the first musician’s set, Saul Stokes.

Saul Stokes is a one man show who creates music via gadgets with wires that go everywhere.  Now his choice of music instruments initially made me moan when I walked into F8.  It reminded me of my adventure at The Lab.  Now I don’t want to bad mouth the musicians who played that night at The Lab. In fact, one of these days before I leave San Francisco for good I wish to head back there.  I just wasn’t looking for a night of “art” music.  My initial reaction to Saul Stokes was wrong.  His use of his electronics was totally different from how those at The Lab used their electronics.  I was met with the beautiful sounds of rock.

After his set ended, the MC called out that everyone should come up and check out his equipment before he tore it down.  A number of us took the opportunity to take a look at all the knobs and wires.

As for the set-up of F8, various seat couches line the floor.  It reminds me of a venue in Vancouver called The Media Club.  A side door near the stage kept opening up and folks would walk in and out.  I wondered what was going on there.  I looked through the door and the area was brightly lit with folks sitting around round coffee tables.  When I walked out later in the night, I realized that it was a bakery.  I guess the bar and bakery share bathrooms.  Also, since there was a cover charge for the bands, there must be an honor code in place.

Next up was Impuritan.  As I was sitting on one of the couches a young woman came and asked if she could take a seat.  “So do you know anyone in the band?” she asked.  “No,” I responded.  “So why are you here?” “I’m just randomly checking out the different music venues in San Francisco.” “Well,” she responded, “the advantage of the San Francisco music scene is that the city is so compact that the music venues are very close together and we have a real music scene here unlike a spread out city like Los Angeles.”  I could have gotten into a huge argument with her on that point.  And then she nodded to her friend who was on the keyboards.  “He’s a real musician.  In fact, he’s an artist,” she fawned.

The night was dubbed as a shoe gaze night.  Maybe shoe gaze means something different in San Francisco versus Los Angeles.  I find it hard to pigeon hole Impuritan into any specific music genre.  I can say their set was like a jam session that swept across multiple genres.  One moment they sounded like a jazz band.  The next like a rock band.  The next moment they sounded like an aimless group of musicians, each pulling their music in different directions.

Moments of the set.  One of the band members after every song went around high fiving all his bandmates even when they were attempting to down their beers.  This resulted in the lead singer asking early in the set, “Are you going to high five me after every song?”

Unrelated moment of the set.  One of the band members yelled out, “Radioactive.”  A young woman at the bar who probably hadn’t even heard the comment started to get highly animated with her friends.  The band’s response, “She’s been waiting for that song all night long.”  Imagine Dragons, you’ve invaded the F8 bar.

Southwest flight attendant comments of a Friday night:

“For those of you clapping, you’re suffering from captive audience syndrome.”

“We have reached the magical altitude of 10,223 feet and 3 inches.”

San Francisco Dispatch #5: Amnesia -- with Indianna Hale/TV Mike and the Scarecrows

This dispatch series was meant for Intraffik, but I'm posting them here.

Amnesia.  If that is the name of a music venue, wouldn’t you think that the music would be death metal or some dark trance sounding music?  Or maybe there would be women dancing in cages and the walls would be lined with very scary or disturbing art.  None of those thoughts or the thoughts I might have put into your heads applies to this location.  Amnesia is like entering a bar from the Old West.  Once you enter the bar, if you immediately turn around and look up you’ll see a line of beer barrels above the front door.  The music stage looks like it might have gotten transported from a real Old Western bar and by that I also mean the stage looks very old.  The guitarist from one of the bands (Indianna Hale) would tap his foot and after each tap I worried that he might crash three feet down as a floorboard would bounce an inch or two upon each tap.  As for the audience, there was no pretense.  No one was dressed in a “hey, look at how cool I am” fashion. It was a show up in what makes you most comfortable look – minus the possibility of the pajamas look.

First band up at Amnesia was led by singer Indianna Hale.  She definitely doesn’t have that death metal look.  The music was Americana.  Indianna Hale and her band appeared to be having more fun than the audience, which for some reason felt that standing 10 yards back from the stage was an appropriate distance.  Indianna Hale couldn’t help but laugh throughout her set.  There was some kind of inside joke going on between the three band members throughout their set.  When their set ended, a demand was made for an encore.  There was some hesitancy on their part.  Finally, one of the band members called out, “Would you like to see Indianna on the drums and singing like Karen Carpenter?”

Next up was  TV Mike and the Scarecrows.  Now for those of us from a certain Los Angeles music scene, this might cause us to think about Mike TV and Get Set Go.   TV Mike and the Scarecrows on this night continued the Americana sound with a six member band though it was mentioned from the stage that they are at times a seven member band.   Their set went on for about 45 minutes.  Though I enjoyed their set, I was a little upset about the length of their set as I was hoping to catch a little of the last band of the night. Unfortunately for me, I needed to head off towards the BART.

Amnesia unique touch:  steps to the stage are pulled out from under the stage during switchovers.

Conversation of the night outside Amnesia:  You’ve got to come and check out my band one of these days, also.

San Francisco:  is San Francisco that rare city where one feels safer walking around at midnight versus walking around at 7 p.m.?  I’ve been finding myself going to a number of venues around Mission Street.  I find myself more concerned about my safety exiting the BART system in broad daylight versus when I’m heading back to the BART system at midnight.  I’ll need to talk to my San Francisco friends about this someday.

Southwest.  So I hit A List membership.  After my Thursday night out at Amnesia, I checked in online and got assigned number A17.  Now for those of you who don’t know anything about Southwest that is a very good number to have.  Off to the airport I went on Friday evening in a very good state of mind.  Not only was I heading back to Los Angeles, but I was basically going to get to sit wherever I wanted on the plane.

I got to the airport and come around 9:30 p.m. I got this strange feeling that the previous Southwest flight to Los Angeles hadn’t left yet along with a number of other flights.  The terminal was just way too crowded.  The Southwest plane at the gate my flight was supposed to depart from had the lights off inside and generally just had the appearance of being unoccupied.  I kept looking up at the departure board and it kept saying that my flight was on schedule; however, it also kept saying that the flight before mine was delayed until 9:20 p.m.  Now why would it keep saying that?  Soon a Southwest employee made an announcement, “As you all know our computers are down . . . “  What are you taking about, we all know?!?  A long story short, there went my awesome number as Southwest had suffered a massive computer failure and everyone who hadn’t given up after waiting around for 4 hours plus were packed onto the first available flight to Los Angeles once the computer system came back online.

I didn’t get to my home until 3 a.m.  I could have gotten home by 2:30 a.m., but I was delayed by another 30 minutes when our flight landed at LAX and we couldn’t get to our gate.  Why?  A China Air jet was getting towed out of an area we needed to get towed into and during this process the tow caught on fire (not the plane, the tow).

Comment of the Southwest flight:  If you’re in the technology field and you’re interested in a job with Southwest, check Southwest.com tomorrow morning because there will be job openings posted.

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?

San Francisco Dispatch #3: Brick & Mortar - Mahgeetah, My Goodness, Fool's Gold

This Dispatch Series was meant for Intraffik, but I'm posting the series here.

I am slowly edging my way into the San Francisco music scene.  I’m doing so kicking and screaming in a way as I find myself scanning for band names that sound familiar.  My main source of information at the moment is the San Francisco Weekly calendar and on one particular scan I noticed that there was a FREE show at Brick & Mortar.  Free!  That felt like a Monday night in Los Angeles even though it was on a Tuesday night.  Also, Los Angeles based band Fool’s Gold was headlining.  I’d never seen Fool’s Gold so it was all the more reason to head on out.

I jumped onto the BART.  I was aiming to get to Brick & Mortar at 9 p.m.  I arrived at around 9:10 p.m.  There was a short line out the door.   I was hoping that this didn’t mean that the venue was already at capacity.  Luckily, it wasn’t though when I was next up at the door I was told to wait as they planned on letting folks into the venue in waves.  Two young and beautiful women decided that they didn’t want to wait in line so they cut the line and walked inside.  They were promptly told to get back out.  And they promptly decided to leave all together.

I got inside as the first band was into their first song (Mahgeetah ).  Now was this an actual San Francisco-based band? I wasn’t sure and would have to look it up after the show (they are).  They are a four piece band.  I maneuvered my way towards the stage via the side. When I got to the stage area, I noticed that everyone was standing five yards back from the stage.  I wanted to go to the front of the stage to take some photos (unfortunately, the photos were taken with my point and shoot and not with my DSLR; my hotel room that I’m staying at does not have a safe and I feel uncomfortable leaving my DSLR and lenses out in the open when the maids come in to clean).  I was a little hesitant.  Why were all these SFers standing so far from the stage? Eventually, a couple rowdy guys broke the shyness of the crowd and brought the crowd closer to the stage.

The second band was a two-piece band from Seattle, My Goodness.  The drummer started the set with a row of 4 cups of water lining the front of the stage.  He needed them as this band had some serious energy flowing throughout their set.  After the set, folks headed up towards the stage, congratulating them on their set.

The final band of the night was Fool's Gold .  The sounds of lingering tunes set to the evening waves along a Hawaiian beach spun through their set.  I noticed that they were treated well by the staff.  Towels were brought for each member of the band – needed by the end of the first song – along with a glass of vodka (or similar type drink).

As for Brick & Mortar:  it reminds me of The Bootleg.  Brick & Mortar is a venue that seems to be located in a forgotten part of San Francisco’s night life.  The venue also has a high ceiling and a piano on stage (which on this night was used as a storage spot for a drum set).

Let’s take a moment to discuss Southwest

The most hilarious comments from a Southwest flight attendant:      

Comment 1:  Federal law prohibits tampering with the lavatories’ fire alarm and web cam.  She didn’t just say that?  No, there is not a web cam in the lavatories.

Comment 2:  There are 135 of you and 3 of us.  We’re out of ‘What do you have’ and ‘I don’t know’ drinks.

San Francisco Dispatch #2: The Lab

This series was meant for Intraffik.com, but I'm posting this series here.

I decided to check out an event in San Francisco where various musicians got 15 minutes to perform.  The venue was called The Lab.  I didn’t know what to expect other than it would be “art” music.  I was thinking it might be similar to a movie scene depicting modern music in Paris.  I had briefly checked out the venue’s website, but I didn’t have any time to click through the links for the artists.  I jumped onto the BART, got off at 16th St. Mission and walked a block to The Lab.

When I got to the door, I hesitated.  What sounded like a fire alarm was ringing inside and a small group was hanging outside.  Hmm.  No one seemed overly concerned about it, but for a second I thought that perhaps someone had accidentally set off the alarm and folks were just hanging outside until it got fixed as the noise was very irritating.

I noticed a guy inside who looked like a ticket guy.  Let’s do it, I thought.  I walked in hesitantly.  The guy looked up and nodded, “Come inside.”  Okay, so this high pitched alarm sound was related to this event.  The tickets were based on a sliding scale between $5 and $10.  I noticed that ear plugs were being made available.  Folks were gathered around part of the space so I walked on over.  An artist (Moe! Staiano) was running back and forth, turning on alarms and bells that created piercing sounds.  To end the show, he attempted to run around the crowd with saran wrap, but that didn’t work out as he hoped as he was having a difficult time getting the saran wrap separated from the roll.  He defaulted to running around the crowd with yellow warning tape. And when that ran out, he returned to the saran wrap, having better luck that time around.   And then he turned off the alarms.

Next up was a trio of young women (Weather White) playing foot pedals.  In the middle of their performance the ceiling lights flickered on and off.  This signaled that their set had run over the 15 minutes – my assumption.  One of the women cried out, “That was only 8 minutes.”  There was some brief confusion and awkward moments as the band attempted to find out if they were really supposed to end their 15 minute set.  A photographer called out, “This is very awkward.”  The woman who had cried out snapped back, “What do you mean awkward?”  She was taking her art very seriously.  The photographer tried to explain his perspective, “It is awkward for us and you, because your set is being cut short.”  Another band member randomly drifted off into the crowd in very slow motion, I was unsure of her intent as she seemed indecisive on rather to stay with her band mates or to disappear into the crowd.  One of the show organizers ran up and said, “My mistake.  I got the times mixed up.”  They closed out the set with one last song.

The next three sets highlighted a guy playing digital music (Wobbly), a gal playing with a mask on (Zeek Sheck) and two musicians with a synth and various strange contraptions (Pigs in the Ground).  I started to look around me at the crowd during these three sets.  A handful of folks were attempting to move to the beat.  I wasn’t exactly sure what the beat was.

Note:  I found a video of Pigs in the Ground’s set at The Lab.  There was the brief use of a trumpet that I don’t even remember hearing.  I have to admit there is this soothing brainwave sound to their music.

The last set of the night for me was a band with two saxophones and a drum set (Ettrick).  I was half thinking I would listen to some non-digital inspired music. I was wrong.  I’m not sure how they did it, but as they blew through the saxophones the most high pitch digital sounds blasted from the speakers. The drum set was used more for beating out cymbal anger then an attempt to create any rhythm.

I have to admit I was confused by the night, but I also have to say I kind of enjoyed the mess.

A non-music observation on BART before getting to The Lab:

I walked over to a BART station and put my Clipper card over the reader.  In front of me, the gates were open.  I couldn’t recall if the gates were already open before I swiped my Clipper card or if I had just missed seeing the doors open up.  I decided to just walk through.  When I got to the 16th Street Mission stop I swiped my Clipper card and a message showed up saying to see the attendant.  Great, the gates where I got on had been open before I swiped my card and I just hadn’t noticed.  Either I was going to get a steep fine or a harsh warning.  I was thinking worse case that I would get a $100 fine and so as I walked to the booth I planned out how to complain big time about that worthless BART gate. Well, I was just asked where I had come from and then he checked my history from the Clipper card.  The guy then just said in a bored voice that I owed $3.50.

Brief mention of the LA Music Scene:

As mentioned in my last post on San Francisco, I do get to come home to Los Angeles on the weekends.  So the next day after my night at The Lab, I headed off to SFO airport.  My original flight was delayed by an hour.  When I reached the gate area, I noticed that the flight before mine was also delayed and that it was going to leave in 30 minutes.  I walked up to the gate desk and asked if I could jump flights.  I got to LAX 30 minutes earlier than anticipated!

Okay, now to the LA music scene.  Scanning Facebook on my return to Los Angeles, I noticed a post from Eastern Conference Champions saying that they were playing a set at El Cid.  Oh yes, I was there!!!  I am so hooked on the LA music scene.

Sirah at The Satellite

Sirah. She hit the stage and you knew something special was about to happen.  Sirah is a ball of energy, interacting with the crowd until they fall under her spell.

Skin Town at The Satellite

Skin Town. Now who gives the middle finger, with just a touch of a smile, to the crowd listening to her set:  the lead singer of Skin Town.  A mix of R&B, New Age and Asian influences:  that seems to be Skin Town.  Maybe I should catch them again to come up with a better genre.