Category Archives: TVD San Francisco

The hot ticket in town this past Friday was Metallica at the Golden 1 Center which should not come has a surprise since this is the first time in nine years that the band has played this city. Riding high on the 2016 release of Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, the band delivered a scorching set to the capacity crowd.

The evening kicked off with comedian Jim Breuer and his trusty sidekick Joe Sib warming up the crowd with games, tunes, and (of course) comedy, making the wait bearable as the clock ticked past 9 PM. When the lights finally dropped and the “The Ecstasy of Gold” started blaring through the PA, the entire arena stood at attention waiting for the band to emerge.

Having performed in the round for well-over two decades, Metallica has truly mastered this format for live shows and the Hardwired set was truly epic. Dozens of cube-shaped LED screens dropped from the ceiling keeping the attention of the crowd even as the band roamed every inch of the stage. Add the occasional pyro and flames from which you could feel the heat from almost anywhere in the venue, and you’ve got yourself a true spectacle. And if that’s not enough, during “Moth Into Flame,” drones emerged from trap doors in the stage and buzzed around the band members’ heads.

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It’s been exactly one year since I saw Jake Shears live in London. It was one of two shows where he would showcase new music a few weeks before the official release of his debut record. That was November 14, 2017, and it just so happens that I would be in San Francisco to see the show again on November 14, 2018. I know, what are the odds?

Then again, what are the odds that anyone would put so much time and effort into crafting a remarkable album in the era of the single? A time when albums as a whole are under attack by seemingly shorter attention spans and the current viral flavor of the week? Enter Jake Shears and his eponymous debut record which he’s quoted as saying “This is a fucking expensive record…but I made something that’s exactly the way that I want it to sound. It’s become a lot harder to make music the way I just did it.” Amen to that Mr. Shears.

But it’s not just the investment from a cost point of view that goes into this record, and you can tell there’s not only a tremendous amount of passion here but also a healthy dose of pain. The song titles read like the chapters from a life’s narrative—someone who’s figured out a way to take virtually every element of emotion and inject it seamlessly through a storyline.

It’s like a soundtrack without a motion picture that relies more on storytelling, knockout hooks, soaring harmonies, and enormous production values that take the listener on a journey where they conjure up their own visuals along the way. It’s one of those records you can throw on the turntable, sit back in a bean bag chair with a pair of over the ear headphones and get lost for an hour reading along with the liner notes. When is the last time any music lover did this?

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Very rarely will a band live up to the industry hype that’s swirling around it during that ever so important album release and subsequent tour, but this is one of those times where it does. Having signed to Mike Patton’s Ipecac records, the Rhode Island band Daughters return with their first album in 8 years, You Won’t Get What You Want. Critics and fans alike are hailing this record as the perfect evolution of the band. The songs, the lyrics, the musicianship; but most importantly the live show have all come together as the stars have finally aligned for these post-punk underdogs.

How good is the live show? So fucking good that I went two nights in a row and brought my camera to document the experience at the nightmarishly dark and small (but super cool) Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. Daughters would headline for two sold-out nights with rumors that Mr. Patton himself would be in attendance for night two. The calm before the storm took place just after 10PM—then the fury would hit fast and hard.

Frontman Lex Marshall and guitarist Nicholas Andrew Sadler lead the five-piece live band which quickly becomes an orchestrated assault on all senses. It falls somewhere between a Mack truck crashing through a brick wall at 100 miles per hour and a massive wall of noise that teeters in and out of Melvins-style drudge and punk fury. The remarkable thing here, and what makes it so unique, is the underlying melody that brings an element of light to the overwhelming darkness and anger that ignites the crowd. There was a full-blown mosh pit that would rival anything I’ve seen at a Slayer or Lamb of God show.

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With their second album, Young & Dangerous, fresh out of the hopper, The Struts have the perfect reason to return to the states for a proper headlining tour. “The Body Talks Tour” hit The Fillmore in San Francisco on a Friday night for a sold-out evening of music.

The high-octane evening kicked off with opening sets from Thunderpussy and The Wrecks. Both bands clearly brought a good number of their own fans and proceeded to deliver incredibly energetic sets for the packed house. Whoever curated the tour lineup knocked it out of the park.

The Struts took the stage at 10PM and launched into “Primadonna Like Me,” the new album’s first single. Even though the record has been out only a few days, the San Francisco crowd clearly came prepared, ready to sing and dance along with front man Luke Spiller whose antics served to rile the already boisterous crowd.

Guitarist Adam Slack, it would later be revealed, was operating on minimal sleep after the previous evening’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show … clearly moving a little slowly as he sipped Lite Beer from a can, but his fingers flew across those frets when the moment demanded it. Bassist Jed Elliott and drummer Gethin Davies seemed to have fared much better from the previous night’s festivities and appeared to relish in Slack’s discomfort.

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Apparently one night of Arctic Monkeys was not enough for San Francisco who brought their Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Tour to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for two sold out nights.

Saturday night (night #1) found the fans outside on Grove Street clamoring to get through security in time to catch Mini Mansions 40 minute opening set. By the time Arctic Monkeys finally took the stage around 9:20 PM, the venue was literally packed to the rafters.

The band strolled nonchalantly onto stage and frontman Alex Turner, sporting a pale yellow suit, took the spotlight in front of his mic stand as the band launched into “Four Out of Five.” The band’s hiatus leading up to the release in May of this year of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino seems to have had no impact on the fans’ enthusiasm. In fact, it only seems to have fueled the fervor.

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The legendary Wayne Kramer is on the road celebrating the 50th anniversary of the MC5 classic, Kick Out The Jams including a stop at San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom. The evening kicked off with Locus Pocus … think Cage the Elephant meets the Doors … an odd combo that for some reason works. Well.

Next up, Starcrawler from Los Angeles. For those that have never seen Starcrawler, they were no doubt in awe. Much like watching a music horror movie unfurl before your eyes, waif-thin front woman Arrow de Wilde wailed through their short but powerful set during which she spat on the crowd and accosted the front row while the band blasted through the tunes. Raw, powerful, and downright good but also sometimes painful to watch. Go see them.

MC5

MC5 hit the stage a smidge before 10 pm following an intro in the form of political rant by local punk rock luminary Jello Biafra. Kramer kicked off the set on vocals for “Ramblin’ Rose” and the crowd (still a bit shell-shocked by Starcrawler) came out of its daze. Backed by Billy Gould (Faith No More) on bass, Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) on guitar, Brendan Canty (Fugazi) on drums, along with vocalist Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla), this show could not be anything but memorable.

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Rise Against’s two month “Mourning in Amerika Tour” spent two months spreading the word across the United States before wrapping up this past week. The Vinyl District caught up with the tour at the Concord Pavilion on a cool and breezy Fall Friday night for what proved to be a high-energy evening of music.

Anti-Flag kicked off the evening with an electric 40 minute set that got the crowd moving (and hopefully thinking). This is a band that consistently delivers highly energetic and thought-provoking sets and, even though in the opening slot, showed no indication or interest in phoning it in.

Next up, AFI Hailing from Northern California, these guys are considered a local band and their diehard fans crammed the rail for their set. Let’s face it, A.F.I. doesn’t play here (or anywhere else for that matter) frequently so the anticipation was high and A.F.I. did not disappoint. It didn’t matter how long A.F.I. was going to play, it was never going to be enough but the hour-long set sounded top-notch and was full of energy from every member of the band and the fans lost their shit for every note of it, especially “Sacrifice Theory,” apparently a special song request by Joe Principe of Rise Against.

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Dropkick Murphys

It’s been a long time coming … the obvious touring matchup between Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly. The day finally came to San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, the streets outside the venue still littered with the evidence from Metallica’s crushing performance only the night before. Chances are, the folks attending this Thursday night show didn’t even notice between dodging the derelicts that were no longer shut out of their streets.

The evening kicked off early with a 30 minute acoustic set by Stiff Little Fingers’ frontman, Jake Burns. Seated in a chair with only his guitar, Jake riffed and ripped through SLF tunes storyteller style with tales from the writing and recording of SLF classics which included a recounting of how he hung up on The Who’s Pete Townshend. No doubt Jake was one of the highlights of what would turn out to be a great evening of music.

Flogging Molly

Flogging Molly took the stage in true Flogging Molly fashion, toasting the crowd with cans of Guinness beer before ripping into “Paddy’s Lament.” Notably absent from this evening’s line-up was banjo player Bob Schmidt but that didn’t seem to stop the San Francisco crowd from impressing frontman Dave King with plenty of dancing. No doubt, Flogging Molly quickly ramped the party at the Bill Graham into full tilt mode as the pounded through the classics as well as a few “new” (ish) tunes and occasionally “ribbing” on NOFX’s Fat Mike who was enjoying the show from side stage.

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Metallica

Every year about this time, tech giant Salesforce takes over San Francisco for its annual Dreamforce conference. And with Dreamforce comes the annual Concert For Kids benefit which features a seemingly endless supply of food, drink, and of course music.

This year’s Concert For Kids took over San Francisco’s Civic Center including City Hall and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for the festivities which featured local heavy metal titans, Metallica, performing on a stage constructed in the middle of Larkin Street.

Metallica

For those less metal-inclined, Janet Jackson offered a safer alternative with a performance inside the Bill Graham Civic but it’s hard to imagine that it was very crowded by the looks of the sea of techies packing Civic Center Plaza as “The Ecstasy of Gold” rolled over the PA signaling the start of a 90 minute set that peppered a few new tunes in with the classics that were likely to resonate with a crowd that generally did not appear to be full of Metallica diehards. That said, it was a party and the attendees were more-than-content to rock out with a free beer in one band and a cell phone in the other.

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Greta Van Fleet

To describe the rise of Greta Van Fleet as dramatic would be a vast understatement; from the release of a pair of lauded EPs in 2017 to a major headlining tour including three San Francisco Bay Area shows (all in venues well over 2,000 capacity) BEFORE their first full length album has even dropped is nothing short of baffling. The three Kiszka brothers (Josh/vocals, Jake/guitar, Sam/bass/organ) and drummer Danny Wagner have pulled off something simply unheard of in music today.

One listen to GVF and you’ll get a sense for why. Retro, blues-based rock and roll (the Plant/Zeppelin comparisons can’t be avoided) performed by a bunch of youngsters (the average age of the band members hasn’t quite hit the legal drinking age in the US) strikes a nerve and bridges generations. This is quite apparent after one look at the San Jose crowd.

Dorothy

San Jose is notoriously unpredictable when it comes to turning out for live music but, even being flanked by shows in Oakland and San Francisco, San Jose turned out in force. 90% of those who were outside when the doors opened bee-lined it to either the front of the stage or the barricade. The remaining 10% grabbed primo seats to watch the show.

Close to the end of opener Dorothy’s set, an older gentleman spied my media credentials and leaned over to ask, “Do you think rock and roll is back?” The short answer was, “I guess we will see,” but one look around would suggest a simpler answer … “yes.”

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Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson, the self-ascribed “Twins of Evil” have reunited again for the aptly named “The Second Coming Tour,” hitting California’s Concord Pavilion for an evening of shock and roll.

Canadian industrial metal act, Deadly Apples kicked off as the crowd trickled in through the metal detectors out front and proceeded to blast through a fiery set that had the vocalist Alex Martel (better known as the kid that started the Montebello Rockfest at the age of 17) tossing mic stands around the stage only to have one of his crew fetch them, pick them up, un-bend and reset. Only to be tossed again.

Marilyn Manson

For Marilyn Manson’s set, an enthusiastic crowd had packed the front, but the back of the general admission section seemed surprisingly sparse. Set opener “Irresponsible Hate Anthem” got the floor moving but not so crazy as to disrupt the dude juggling balls in the middle of the pit. For his part, Manson can be unpredictable. What the Concord crowd got was tight, lucid, and engaged with the audience. Simply put, Manson at his best, really only showing his naughty side as he shared what appeared to be a joint with his guitarist before launching into “The Dope Show.”

The hour-long set featured multiple costume changes and several trips off the stage to the front of the crowd … the conclusion of each song punctuated by the loud thud of his mic drop. “Sweet Dreams” perfectly ended the set and teed things up for Rob Zombie to bring it on home.

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The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins hit Oakland’s Oracle Arena on an otherwise quiet Monday night on their “Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour,” highlighting the return of original Pumpkins James Iha (guitar) and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums) to the stage.

Openers Metric kicked things off with a 45 minute set as the crowd slowly made their way into the arena. Never a line outside the venue and a slow but steady trickle belied what would eventually become a packed house as the Pumpkins 8:15 pm set time approached.

The Smashing Pumpkins

The set kicked off with a retrospective Smashing Pumpkins video on the enormous screens at the back of the stage as “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” played. The screens finally went black and parted in the middle as Billy Corgan stepped onto the stage with only an acoustic guitar and launched into a truly epic rendition of “Disarm.”

The rest of the band joined Billy on stage and they collectively proceeded to blow the roof off of the Oracle Arena with a 3 hour set that, not surprisingly, drew heavily from the band’s first five albums with special attention given to Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. In retrospect, it’s pretty amazing how much great music was produced in a less than 10 year period. For even the casual fan, the night’s setlist delivered favorite after favorite.

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Slayer

Slayer may be officially calling it quits with their “Final World Tour” but they clearly have no plans to go quietly. The last date of the second leg of their North American tour wrapped up at San Jose’s SAP Arena and folks came from near and far to make sure they were part of what could (but hopefully won’t) be their last performance on US soil.

While not officially sold out, the arena was packed to the rafters and the diehards lined up early to get a close-up spot on the floor as Napalm Death kicked things off. In spite of the obscenely early start time of 5 pm, Napalm Death whipped the room into a spinning fury that only grew over the course of Testament’s, Anthrax’s, and Lamb of God’s sets, all three of which were at the top of their respective games after months on the road with Slayer.

Slayer

When Slayer’s set time finally arrived, the entire arena was on its feet as “Delusions of Savior” blasted over the PA as the band strode onto the stage and fire erupted behind a black curtain. And then the curtain dropped and chaos ensued.

Security scrambled as the floor spun out of control to “Repentless,” barely able to keep up with the crowd surfers … a few slipping through the cracks only to hit the floor hard enough to be heard over the din of Slayer’s “Disciple.” No harm, no foul. A few lumps are not unexpected at a Slayer show and they quickly dusted off and sprinted out to rejoin the pit.

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Halestorm

Halestorm, In This Moment, and New Years Day hit San Francisco’s historic Warfield Theatre for the second to the last day of their aptly named “The Witching Hour Tour” which had the fans lined up down block in spite of the relatively early start time.

New Years Day kicked things off at 7PM with a short but raucous 30 minute set that included a cover of Pantera’s “Fucking Hostile” which the band dedicated to fallen musicians including the recently departed Jill Janus of Huntress. The gathered crowd reflected the diversity of the bands … goth, metal, rock, old, young, male, female … they arrived early to soak it all in and experience a great night of rock and roll.

Halestorm

In a further sign of respect to fallen musical icons, In This Moment took the stage to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and proceeded to knock the socks off of the San Francisco audience. In This Moment is known for its theatrics and never disappoint. Fronted by the stunning Maria Brink, ITM wowed the San Francisco crowd with a 70 minute set that ticked both the eye balls as well as the ear holes in a way that few are likely to forget. Highlights of the set included Ash Costello joining Maria for a duet on “Black Wedding” after a Metallica riff-off by the band, a brilliant cover of Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight,” and a set-closing rendition of “Whore” that had giant balloons bouncing around the venue as the crowd roared.

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Weezer

One of the hottest summer tours is the odd mash-up of two alternative rock bands that have somehow managed to sell oodles of tickets after decades in the business. Weezer and Pixies are those two bands and they hit up Mountain View, California’s Shoreline Amphitheatre on a balmy Tuesday night with Sleigh Bells in tow.

Pixies frontman Black Francis stepped onto the stage while sipping from a blue mug, gloriously unimpressed with the massive crowd in front of him. The band was set up by the backline and glowered at the crowd as “Gouge Away” thumped on. Spartan and raw yet incredibly polished, the Pixies focused on the rock and laid it all out there during their 60+ minute set. Sure they played before Weezer but they no doubt were worthy of that co-headlining slot.

Pixies

Where the Pixies kept things bare-boned, Weezer swung the pendulum to the other end of the spectrum with maximum camp value. The black curtain which had been hoisted across the stage as the crew went about swapping the set dropped during the Happy Days intro to find the band queued and ready to rock in a mockup of Arnold’s Drive-in. Not surprisingly, the set kicked off with “Buddy Holly.”

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