Californian singer/songwriter Mikal Cronin kicked off his latest tour in his adoptive hometown of San Francisco, at the Independent on April 22. Continue reading
the independent
JEFF the Brotherhood @ The Independent 03.29.15
Nashville’s JEFF the Brotherhood were in SF a few days after the release of their newest record, Wasted on the Dream. Continue reading
EMA @ The Independent, 07.02.14
Erica M. Anderson, aka EMA, played the Independent in San Francisco on July 2nd, in support of her recent record The Future’s Void. After a powerful opening salvo by Oakland’s Safeword (who played on the floor, because Oakland) and a more somber set by DJ Mas Ysa, the South Dakota Native and former Bay Area resident came out amid smoke, low lights, and carrying a potted plant. The lights stayed low, the energy high, and the emotional levels were all over the place. At one point Anderson had to leave the stage to compose herself after a particularly draining moment. Later, she asked for the disco ball to be turned on so the crowd could dance.
Sharon Van Etten / Jana Hunter at The Independent, SF 06.30.14
Brooklynite Sharon Van Etten played the second of two sold-out nights at the Independent in San Francisco on June 30th, in support of her new record, Are We There. (Also for sale at the merch table, according to Van Etten: Tissues with her face on them, and umbrellas). Van Etten’s music remains consistently good-to-outstanding, and–having seen her a few times over the past few years–her stage presence has really caught up to her music. Throughout the night she was conversational, funny, and downright charming, and claimed to be attempting to reign in her dry east coast wit for what she deemed a non-dry SF crowd. Random revalations from SVE: She was sporting a sandal tan (“Thanks, San Francisco”), she forgets the words to her mom’s favorite one of her songs, and she responds with a maternal aggressiveness when someone calls guitarist Doug Keith a pretty boy (“You call him doe-eyed splendor!”). Also, her dry wit shone in the intro to the song “Leonard” (paraphrasing): “I changed the name so the guy it’s about wouldn’t know it was about him. I think he knows it’s about him. His name’s Bleonard.”
Also, “Serpents” is an incredibly fantastic song.
In addition to Van Etten’s sublime set, an added treat was opener Jana Hunter of Lower Dens trying out some spooky new tunes, along with a cover of Hall & Oates’ “Maneater.”
Veruca Salt @ The Independent, San Francisco 06.26.14
Reunited 90s alt-rockers Veruca Salt are out on tour together for the first time in about 17 years, and played San Francisco on June 26th. If that sentence excites you, hey, happy 38th birthday!
But seriously, I’ve seen a lot of reunion shows of bands in the last year or two, including Soundgarden, the Breeders, Dinosaur Jr., and That Dog, and I can honestly say that Veruca Salt might’ve been the best of them all. Though some incarnation of Veruca Salt had been active until 2012, VS co-leaders Nina Gordon and Louise Post acrimoniously split in about 1998, and the band has had a revolving door of members since, save for Post. But with hatchets apparently buried, Gordon and Post got the original lineup back together, with Gordon’s brother Jim Shapiro returning on drums and Steve Lack (Post: “His dad told us where he’d be holed up for the last 10 years) on bass.
The band sounded tight, energized, and excited to be out there, and the crowd was borderline fanatical. Which makes sense. Given the relatively short lifespan of the original lineup (1993-1997), there was a high probability that most people in the crowd hadn’t seen the group before. So they sang along with the hits (“Seether,” “All Hail Me,” “Volcano Girls”) the deep cuts, and even the b-sides. Prior to the first of two encorse, Post and Gordon emerged with a ton of roses (Post: “God bless the Independent. When you ask for roses, they actually get you roses… and they de-thorn them for you!”) and tossed them to the crowd.
Brooklyn band the Echo Friendly opened, and played music.
PAWS, We Are Scientists @ The Independent, San Francisco, 05.07.14
Scottish rock trio PAWS and NY/CA trio We Are Scientists played the Independent in San Francisco, as their months-long tour winds down. This was also the last show before the whole hullabaloo in Santa Ana the next night when Morrissey allegedly demanded that the bands cancel their show in an adjacent room in the same venue.
PAWS played an energetic, 90s-rockish set, showcasing songs from their new record, Youth Culture Forever. In between songs, the Scots kept talking about how Scottish people can’t stop talking. It was all very Scottish and charming. We Are Scientists were good too.
Three Match Breeze 