Noise Pop 2015 kicks off February 20th, and between Friday and the festival’s closing show with Caribou on March 2nd, over 100 bands will play at 20 venues across the Bay Area. Bigger national acts like New Pornographers and Best Coast headline the festival, as well as solo sets from established acts (Nick Diamonds of Islands/The Unicorns, Eleanor Friedberger of Fiery Furnaces) but there are a ton of other bands worth checking out, including a number of Bay Area artists like Thao Nguyen. Check out the full lineup.
The official Noise Pop Opening Night Party also officially reopens the Swedish American Hall as a live music venue, curated by Noise Pop. The special guest performer is TBA, so keep an eye out for that at the Noise Pop site.
In preparation for the festival, we conducted a brief Q&A with Julie Zielinski, Director of Operations at Noise Pop, and KelleyAnn Schilke, Production Manager, for some advice and recommendations for Noise Pop attendees:
What is the one piece of advice you’d give someone attending Noise Pop?
The Noise Pop Festival is a true celebration of independent culture. I would recommend checking out a little bit of everything: Happy Hours at Bender’s, the photo show at Hotel Biron, take in a film or a scoring, grab a cocktail at Noise Pop HQ and see one of the poster shows. You’ll surely meet some of the Noise Pop family and have a great time!
What is the second piece of advice?
Go early for the openers! We are known for spring boarding some amazing bands while also hugely supporting local musicians.
Who/what are you personally excited to see?
There are so many great shows, it’s hard to chose: Best Coast, Sales, New Pornographers, K.Flay, Tony Molina, Slow Magic- there’s a little bit of something for everyone. And the film festival this year is off the charts!
Badge holders are guaranteed admission to general admission concerts. Does this include venues like the Fox and Regency that have seated balconies and a General Admission floor?
Badge holders get the best of all of it! A festival badge will get you into all the Noise Pop shows as long as you arrive within 60 minutes of posted door time or 30 minutes on films.
I would suggest checking the festival app for updates through the week. But essentially, yes, after 60 minutes of posted door time, there may be a chance that tickets will be released.
Any other info you want to add about the festival?
One thing I have always loved about the festival is what a large community, family even, comes together to support Noise Pop. We couldn’t do it without them.
Three Match Breeze 