It’s a basement blitz with the Lemon Twigs!

San Francisco’s glitter-faced, mini-skirted, tailor-made crowd is alive and well, and the place to find them is in the Castro, clad in cheeky Beatles buttons and stomping through neon-lit basements in velvet knee-high boots. If you think you’re foxy enough to hold your own amongst the sea of corsets, decadent fur coats, and pinstriped suits, then you ought to attend a Lemon Twigs show like the one I attended on December 11, 2023 at San Francisco’s grooviest basement venue, Cafe Du Nord. Do you like the Beatles’ close-knit harmonies and muted basslines, the power pop enthusiasm of Big Star, and a sound that walks the line between the saccharine sweet of the Monkees and the basement rock of the Flamin’ Groovies? Then you’re going to love the Twigs, who are all that while being remarkably, authentically their own thing– and that thing is high-kicking and hard-rocking!

The Lemon Twigs, photographed by Gianna Caudillo

Cafe Du Nord is an intimate venue, with a low stage that gets you right up close and personal with the performers. In fact, you’re so close-up you may have to live in constant fear of being hit by falling sweat– unless, of course, that’s the whole reason you’re up there in the first place. Who am I to spite a dream, or spit on it for that matter? This sort of venue, backlit with flickering Edison bulbs, old-fashioned neon signs, and velvet curtains, is the ideal venue for the Twigs. They stir up great excitement amongst their devoted fans, but never to the point of crowd-crushing or moshing, even though some of their harder rockers seem to call for it! A respectful crowd is the hallmark of a good show, and it seems that Lemon Twigs fans have learned their rock n’ roll manners.

Umbrellas’ Beatle boots and schoolgirl loafers

The San Francisco shows featured SF-based band The Umbrellas as their opener. From the minute they bounded on-stage, the band seemed to match the night’s vibe in clothes alone. Vocalist-guitarist Morgan Stanley appeared on-stage in a Brady Bunch-style plaid 70s dress with chunky schoolgirl heels to match. Vocalist-guitarist Matt Ferrara followed with a hairstyle that screamed John Lennon ‘65, Chelsea boots, and the type of mod sweater seen in archival photos of Lennon-McCartney writing sessions. Bassist Nick Oka seemed to be trying to piss off a couple of squares with his mop-top look, while drummer Keith Frerichs rounded out the ensemble in a pair of thick eyeglasses and plaid button-up.

The Umbrellas

The Umbrellas’ set was fun, bouncy, twee with the occasional hard rocker thrown in leaving your ears ringing and your blood pumping as they slowed down into another quaint tune. Their songs have a distinctly 90s indie pop flavor, and their strengths lie in powerful, melodic basslines, interesting concepts (like a psychedelic instrumental breakdown that left the audience wondering whether the fire alarm was going off or if it was purely feedback), and juxtaposition of their “cutesy” look with some real rockers.

The band’s primary weakness, however, lies in their vocals, which are turned down so low you can hardly hear them over the instrumental. This must be purposeful, as it becomes apparent that the vocals, especially those of Ferrara, cannot hold their own outside of a recording studio. For lack of better terms, they’re weak, and trying to obscure that fact only draws more attention to them. And not to return to John Lennon, but when Ferrara attempts the sort of quippy stage banter Lennon was famous for, it flops excruciatingly. Perhaps this seems harsh for a band dubbed “San Francisco’s most beloved band” by the DIY community they came up in, but observing the band’s behavior after the show, especially the stone-faced way they treated fans, makes me think this title has gotten to their heads. It’s no artist’s obligation to entertain fans, but to walk out onto the floor where you know fans are waiting to meet you, then acting like they’re the greatest boredom you’ve ever experienced, is downright uncool.

The Lemon Twigs, photographed by Gianna Caudillo

This is a TWIGS SHOW though, so enough beating around the bush, and more beating around the basement…can you dig it?! The D’Addario brothers walked out to pounding enthusiasm alongside their touring band members Danny Ayala and Reza Matin. Every scrap of clothing on that stage was vintage; tight, 70s-era flared jeans and orange tab Levi’s, snug-fitting ringer tees and heeled white boots, a short, colorful argyle vest on Michael D’Addario and a slim-fit coral tunic on his brother Brian. The band opened with a B each Boys cover, (“My Whole World”), showing off their impressively tight harmonies right off the bat. After the opening number, Michael wryly remarked it had dawned on him that the band was dressed like they were in the fourth grade, earning big laughs from a similarly-dressed audience. The Twigs are quick with a joke on the short occasions they talk between songs, and a friendly on-stage rivalry between Michael and Brian is quickly established so that the audience laughs at Michael’s frequent, sardonic stabs at his older brother.

Brian D’Addario, photographed by Gianna Caudillo

The band sounds record-perfect live, with impressively bell-clear vocal tones (and these tenors reach sky-high!), muted Beatlesque basslines all played on an iconic Hofner violin bass, and ripping guitar tracks that feel so full and rich you can hardly believe they’re being played right in front of you by only two guitarists. If there’s an instrument on stage, you can guarantee a Twig is going to touch it, demonstrating their versatility, while also giving their bandmates a chance to show off their multi-instrumentality– a comical shuffle endued in the middle of the show as the band switched from guitar to bass to drums to electric keyboard and back again. The Twigs’ fan-favorites like “In My Head” and “Any Time of Day” off their latest record, Everything Harmony (2023), “I Wanna Prove to You” off their first record, Do Hollywood (2016), and “Tailor Made,” a 2018 b-side, are fresh and fizzing with energy, punctuated by Michael’s high snap kicks and mid-air split jumps as he shreds away on the guitar. The band is unafraid to move onstage, and though the venue was small, you could feel that energy pulsing through every wall. Alongside their prior hits, the Twigs teased two new songs, “They Don’t Know How to Fall in Place” and “Sweet Vibration,” songs that tantalizingly juxtapose a sweet, 70s soft-rock sound with dissonant chords and minor scales— the final result is quintessential Twigs, like pairing leather pants with a pastel knit sweater.

At the end of the set, the band tore viciously through one of their glitziest, grittiest numbers, the glam rock-influenced “Leather Together.” The brothers fell into backbends, horsed around with each other on stage, and managed to hit every note of a blazingly fast guitar solo while leaping into the air. Every Lemon Twigs song is a vehicle for their remarkable musical talents, but “Leather Together” is undoubtedly their showpiece. You could hear the groans of disappointment as the band abruptly left the stage after the song, coupled with bated breath as we waited to see if the band would do an encore. I knew they would because I could see the set list— I was practically hip-bumping the stage— but even though I knew the songs that would be performed, I was still beautifully surprised when Brian walked out solo with a classical guitar, singing two songs I’m very partial to off Everything Harmony: “Corner Of My Eye” and “When Winter Comes Around.” The acoustic intimacy of this solo performance created a truly awing multi-layered illusion of harmonies, and it was the perfect, gentle closing before the rest of the band returned for the true final song, the rollicking “Rock On.” A high kick, a falsetto scream, and they’re out!

The Twigs came out after the show, mingling with the fans who had stayed and graciously fielding questions (and in one case, a phone call)— something the closeness of the Bay Area music community and the small, personal venues allows for where other areas may not. I can say I’ve never felt more in my 70s glam rock element than at a Twigs show, a solo trip leading me to meet some of the foxiest vintage girls in the San Francisco music scene, and what could be better than that?

So, what’re you waiting for?! Go see the Lemon Twigs next time they’re in town, or follow ‘em down through California on the remaining legs of their tour, dressed in your finest bell bottoms and silk skinny scarf. You’re bound to leave the venue with a smile on your face and a fire lit in your glitter-soaked heart– every show is guaranteed to be a blitz!