Patti Smith’s tribute to generations of musical icons at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2024 Annie Wynner October 12, 2024 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, prog-rock, Punk, Reviews, Rock, San Francisco, women in music San Francisco boasted a striking 97 degrees on Sunday, the last day of the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival and the warmest October 6th the city had ever seen. Despite the excessive heat, the streets s...
The 27 Club: glorified graves Elena Levin September 17, 2024 Cultural Commentary, Music History *Content Warning: This piece contains subject matters such as depression, suicide, and substance abuse. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll seem like the recipe for the “perfect” life, but for some, it’s a...
The Mystique of Elliott Smith’s Demise Katie Hulse October 23, 2023 Columns and Opinions, Cultural Commentary, folk, indie, indie scene, Music History, Opinion Elliott Smith is one of the most intrinsically devastating and crucial indie-folk musicians to date, known for his lyrics of absolute despair. The only thing more twisted and heartbreaking than his music is the...
Words about words: songs inspired by books and novels Katie Hulse October 17, 2023 Columns and Opinions, Cultural Commentary, Music Consumption, Music History Words hold immense power, and they often inspire and influence each other over time with the multitudes of organizations and contexts they combine to form. All writings, from lyrics, to poetry, novels...
Give me my ticket stub or give me death! Jackie Greene November 21, 2022 Creative Writing, Oakland, Opinion, Satire Photo by Gary Friedman I had the wonderful pleasure to see Grace Jones at the Fox Theater for the immensely convenient price of zero dollars. As instructed by the contest-holders, I went to the box office ...
The allure of punk rock women Makaila Heifner December 4, 2019 Columns and Opinions Music has always been a man’s world. Rock music especially has been and remains a boy’s club. Prior to the 1970s, in fact, any woman who tried to enter the rock scene was easily dismissed. Women like Sister...
The Cobain case: reopening music’s most controversial conspiracy on Kurt Cobain’s 25th deathiversary Shayan Shirkhodai April 14, 2019 Columns and Opinions 4 Comments Twenty-five years ago, on April 5, 1994, the artistic world lost one of its most unique figures, Kurt Cobain. At only 27 years old, the Nirvana frontman’s death has left as much of a void today as it did in t...
Ty Segall ends Noise Pop and Fox Theater’s speakers Ally Mason and Fiona Duerr March 3, 2017 Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews Who better to close out Noise Pop’s 25th year than Ty Segall? The former staple of the Bay Area music community delivered an explosive and dynamic end to the ten day festival that makes a point to highlight l...