Fun.’s Nate Ruess, Jack Antonoff, and Andrew Dost brought their latest record, Some Nights, to life in front of a sold out San Francisco audience.
Continue reading Concert Review >> fun. Live at The Independent in San Francisco, CA 03.28.2012
Tag: San Francisco
VIDEO: Pia Toscano & Andy Grammer Perform at the 555 California Street Holiday Tree Lighting
Earlier this evening, American Idol season 10 alum Pia Toscano and singer-songwriter Andy Grammer performed at the 555 California Street Holiday Tree Lighting in San Francisco. Check out performances from the event below!
“This Time”
RECAP: Alice 97.3’s Now & Zen Fest at Golden Gate Park
Alice 97.3 hosted it’s yearly Now & Zen Fest out in Golden Gate Park earlier today. And when you combine the words “free” and “concert,” I’m there! 
This year the concert was headlined by a band I’ve never actually seen perform live before, being the Goo Goo Dolls! Michelle Branch, who played at Summerthing this past June, Thriving Ivory, and Eoin Harrington were also on the afternoon’s line-up.
Let’s jump to some big news that was shared during Thriving Ivory’s set. Their performance today was actually the Bay Area band’s last show together as “Thriving Ivory.”
Since it was the band’s last time playing together, I decided to capture their final performance, “Angels on the Moon.” Enjoy!
Continue reading RECAP: Alice 97.3’s Now & Zen Fest at Golden Gate Park
Jack and White Perform at Hotel Utah in San Francisco
Earlier this week, I went and checked out Jack and White at Hotel Utah in San Francisco.
I have been a huge fan of Brooke White, since she appeared on that lil’ show on FOX. And after listening and reviewing Jack and White’s EP, Gemini, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see them perform while they were in town.
In short; Jack and White are fantastic live! Take a listen to “Telephone Games” and “Double Trouble” below!
“Telephone Games”
“Double Trouble”
Thanks to Brooke & Jack for a great show last night!
Concert Review >> Funeral Party Kick off Panic! At the Warfield in S.F.
Last week, Funeral Party played the Warfield in San Francisco as a part of Panic! at the Disco’s ongoing tour. The LA-based band played six songs off their debut album, The Golden Age of Knowhere, which was released earlier this year.
Funeral Party kicked off their set in front of a sea of people with the title track from their album. The audience seemed to respond excitedly to the energetic band, led by lead vocalist, Chad Elliott.
Elliott comes off as a passionate, yet seemingly full of angst type front man. He did a great job pumping up the restless (and for those in the pit, swaying) San Francisco audience by telling them that they “looked more badass” than their hometown crowd from the previous night’s show in L.A., which provoked a loud round of cheering from the room.
The band performed a nice cross section of songs from their album, including “Car Wars” and “New York Moves to the Sound of L.A.,” but it was their lead single, “Finale” that got the collective audience moving and clapping along the moment the song started.
Looking back on the night of music as a whole, I found that this tour seemed to be a really good fit and great exposure for a band that’s just released their first album, such as Funeral Party. This was my first experience at a Panic! At the Disco show, but from what I could tell, they seem to appeal to a wide range of music listeners. There were guys and girls from high school ages on up through college, including a handful of adults that could be seen rocking out on the floor the whole night.
Also, performing alongside a band like Panic! At the Disco allows Funeral Party to take cues on what works when performing for a large audience. For instance, I think engaging with the crowd is really important and has a hand in holding their attention for the remainder of a band’s set. I think if the band figures out what songs they can get the audience more involved in that they’ll be a pretty unstoppable live act.
Overall, the whole night was filled with great music courtesy of Funeral Party, fun., and Panic! At the Disco, and is hands down the best tour I’ve attended so far this year.
Funeral Party is on tour with Panic! At the Disco through Wednesday, June 29. For more information on the band, check out their official website.
Originally posted on Blogcritics.
Recap: Alice 97.3’s Summerthing 2011 at Golden Gate Park
Summer officially kicked off in San Francisco yesterday out at Golden Gate Park ith Alice 97.3’s biggest music party, Summerthing 2011. It was my third time attending, and my third time enjoying some fun in the sun and great music. 
Once again, the line-up for Summerthing was insanely awesome. It included newcomer, Andrew Allen, Parachute, Michelle Branch, Matt Nathanson, and OneRepublic. By the way, did I mention that this was a free show?
The very personable Andrew Allen kicked off the afternoon with a short set that included his single, “Loving You Tonight” and a cover of Sumblime’s “What I Got.”
This dude has a bit of swagger to his stage presence. His overall vibe kind of reminds me of fresher Jason Mraz. I would love to hear how he sounds with a full band backing him. I am definitely planning on checking out his album.
Check out his performance of “Loving You Tonight” below!
More Summerthing 2011 goodness after the cut! Continue reading Recap: Alice 97.3’s Summerthing 2011 at Golden Gate Park
Music Review >> Matt Nathanson – ‘Modern Love’
Dear summer, your soundtrack has arrived. This week marks the welcomed return of Matt Nathanson with his latest effort, Modern Love.
The San Francisco-based Nathanson took a year-long break from touring to work on his seventh album with his longtime collaborator, Mark Weinberg. Drawing influence from such bands as Depeche Mode, AC/DC and Talking Heads, Modern Love is a striking move forward from the singer-songwriter.
“We started with the idea of keeping a groove steady the whole way through a song,” Nathanson stated in a press release about the album. “I wanted things to breathe and hang off these songs in a way that defied the fact that they were written on an acoustic guitar.”
The lead single, “Faster,” really took me by surprise at first, because it is such a departure from “C’mon Get Higher” and the other material from Nathanson’s previous album, Some Mad Hope. The song really grabbed my attention, and it left me feeling excited about the direction in which he is taking his music.
Songs like “Mercy” and the album’s title track are guaranteed live show sing-a-longs. Both burst with such an energy which makes them perfect additions to any listener’s summer playlists.
Other standouts include “Run,” which features Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles, and “Room At the End of the World.” In particular, “Run” shows the singer-songwriter’s sexier, romantic side. Its opening lyrics, “I wanna watch you undress, I wanna watch you glow, let hair down, all around, and cover us both,” are just the tip of the intimate iceberg. While I feel like it could have been recorded by just Nathanson alone, the combination of his vocals with Nettles’ elevates the song’s overall chemistry and emotional connection.
I really like “Room At the End of the World” because it has a bit of an anthemic feel to it, and I can’t wait to see how it translates onstage during a live show. If you have ever had the opportunity to see Nathanson perform live, then you know that he has a very charismatic stage presence which leads to quite the enamored audience.
With a bigger sound combined with provocative lyrics, Modern Love will be the album this summer that moves people to sing-a-long, to dance, and to be good to one another.
Modern Love is available now. For more information on Matt Nathanson, check out his official website.
Originally posted on Blogcritics.
Gavin DeGraw Live in San Francisco – Alice 97.3 Acoustic Lounge
I had the opportunity to see Gavin DeGraw perform a private acoustic show early yesterday evening at Harlot in San Francisco. He performed a short set including, “Follow Through,” a medley of The Commodores’ “Easy” and Sam Cooke’s “Cupid,” “Chariot,” his new single, “Not Over You,” and “I Don’t Want To Be.”
Before he performed, he did a quick Q&A with one of the Alice DJs. Check it out below!
Follow the cut for two performances from the show! Continue reading Gavin DeGraw Live in San Francisco – Alice 97.3 Acoustic Lounge
David Cook Live in San Francisco – Alice 97.3 Acoustic Lounge
Day two of “David Cook Takes the Bay Area” happened yesterday in San Francisco!
The show took place at Harlot, which is a small, more intimate venue than the room at the Hotel De Anza. I liked the venue a lot. It had this really interesting
ambiance to it.
The show started promptly at 6 p.m. David and Neal came out and jumped right into playing “Heroes.”
In between songs, Marcus D (Alice DJ) would chat it up with David. In the video below they talk about who David thinks will win American Idol this season and what David didn’t expect to happen after becoming a “rock star.”
The set list played out just like the San Jose show. The rest of the songs played were “Come Back To Me,” “Light On,” and “The Last Goodbye.”
Like yesterday, I recorded “The Last Goodbye.” Check out the video after the cut!
Continue reading David Cook Live in San Francisco – Alice 97.3 Acoustic Lounge
Video: Bonnie Dune Live at Bottom of the Hill
I headed out to San Francisco last night with one of my friends to check out the band Bonnie Dune at Bottom of the Hill. Cory Monteith, who plays Finn Hudson on Glee, plays the drums in the band!
I had heard a handful of their songs prior to the show and really dug their sound. After seeing Bonnie Dune perform live, I can attest that they are pretty awesome! I strongly urge you to check them out if they ever roll through your town!
As always, I brought something back from the show to share with the class! Enjoy Bonnie Dune performing, “Haunting”!
Awesome, right?
For more info on Bonnie Dune, check out their Facebook & Twitter pages.
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