Shows 2026

Modified Oct 7, 2026

I’ve been to a lot of shows in the Bay Area this year, so I thought it would be fun to write a few notes about them. It’s only October so I will have to come back and update this page at the end of the year.

February

February 3 - Dan Mangan

Café du Nord, San Francisco. With Liz.

Israel Nebeker opened.

Really wonderful singer/songwriter in the ridiculously small Café du Nord space. The opener was good as well.

February 18 - Not.Greenday

Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco. With Samantha.

With Tess & the Details and Thomas Nicholas Band.

As the name says, this band was not Green Day. It was an excellent Green Day cover band and they played all of Dookie. The weird part is they are three 20-something dudes from Spokane. How did they ever get interested in such ancient history?

February 21 - Jeffrey Lewis

Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco. With Liz and Samantha.

Pacing and Mayya opened.

Jeffrey Lewis is a wonderful old folk/punk singer and he did not disappoint. I recall that Pacing was decent as well.

February 23 - The Joy Formidable

Swedish American Hall, San Francisco. By myself.

Jesus Christ, what a show. This was the two main members of the band, sitting on stage and talking and doing some of their solo songs as well as Joy Formidable songs. Joy Formidable is extremely heavy and loud, and hearing it played on acoustic guitar in the intimate setting of the Swedish American Hall was a true joy.

Random fact: Café du Nord is the basement of the Swedish American Hall.

February 28 - Jazz Mafia

Keys Jazz Bistro, San Francisco. With Samantha.

This was the first time I’ve seen this absolutely iconic Bay Area jazz collective. They did not disappoint.

Keys is also just a wonderful venue and very affordable, as jazz clubs go.

March

March 5 - Carsie Blanton

The Chapel, San Francisco. With Liz and Samantha.

With Nathan Evans Fox and Devon Sproule.

I’ve been wanting to see Carsie for a few years. She was supposed to perform last year, but she was on the Gaza aid flotilla and got detained by Israel.

March 17 - Band of Skulls

Great American Music Hall, San Francisco. With Liz, Samantha, and Jason.

Ghostwoman opened.

I found out about this band because their former bassist, Emma Richardson, replaced Paz Lenchantin in the Pixies. She wasn’t with them anymore, but it was still lots of fun rock energy.

April

April 22 - Langhorne Slim

The Independent, San Francisco. With Liz and Samantha.

Laney Jones and the Spirits opened.

I’ve loved this folk singer-songwriter since I first saw his videos in NYC in the early 2000s, so it was a real treat to see him in person. For part of the show he took a chair out into the middle of the venue and played surrounded by the audience. I got a cool t-shirt.

April 25 - El Ten Eleven

Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco. With Liz and Samantha.

Misandrist opened.

This duo is a post-rock classic and they did not disappoint. My Only Swerving always gives me chills.

April 30 - Mr. Tipple’s Jazz Club

Mr. Tipple’s, San Francisco. With Liz.

Sheesh, who played this night? Apparently I can’t figure it out.

May

May 7 - Mariachi El Bronx

Great American Music Hall, San Francisco. With Liz and Samantha.

There is a punk band called The Bronx and they have a mariachi side project called Mariachi El Bronx. It’s straight-up mariachi (they wear the costumes) with traditional mariachi themes, but all in English. Great show and great energy.

May 12 - Holy Fuck

Great American Music Hall, San Francisco. By myself.

This band is a really interesting noise-rock experimental thing. One detail I liked was that the two main guys had cameras pointed down at their various boards and knobs and switches. The images were projected above the stage, so you could watch their weird analog monkeying about.

May 24 - San Francisco Symphony: Măcelaru Conducts Dvořák’s New World

Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco. With Max.

Tyler Taylor’s Embers (premiere), Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1 with Simon Trpčeski, Dvořák Symphony No. 9.

I was surprised how much I liked this. I did kinda fall asleep for a bit in the middle though.

May 27 - The Last Dinner Party

Fox Theater, Oakland. With Liz and Haley.

Automatic opened.

An incredibly gothic and operatic pop band which apparently is big with the lesbian crowd. Also the Fox is a stunning art deco theater.

May 29 - Ultrabomb

WonderStump, Petaluma. With Liz, Samantha, Jason, and Haley.

With Boss’ Daughter and Redwood Chrome.

Ultrabomb was a really fun punk band.

May 31 - Living Dead Girl

DNA Lounge, San Francisco. With Samantha.

With Diamantide and Theya.

More chick metal and it was great. The openers were… ok.

June

June 14 - San Francisco Opera: Elektra

War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco. Matinee with Max.

I really tried to like this one but man was it a lot. It was some story from Greek mythology so there was just a lot of murdering and wailing. A woman got her head cut off in a kitchen sink, so that was memorable.

June 16 - Ásgeir

The Chapel, San Francisco. With Cindy.

This guy is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Why are Icelanders always so adorable?

The Masonic, San Francisco. With Liz.

This was truly a bucket list show - three of the best indie pop artists of the 2000s. Epic. Plus it was at the Masonic, which is an incredible venue.

June 25 - Switch Angel Algorave

TIAT, San Francisco. With Samantha.

Switch Angel live-coding with visuals by LO.FI.SCI.FI, after a set from Glossing.

This is a small art space, and both Glossing and Switch Angel live-code their music, by using a coding language called Strudel.

June 26 - Pocket Full Of Crumbs

Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco. With Finn.

With Reed, Quinine, and figure eight.

So much shoegaze.

July

July 3 - Jinjer

The Fillmore, San Francisco. With Samantha.

Entheos opened.

Jinjer is a chick metal band, which apparently I’m into now. Great show. The opener Entheos was another chick metal band and they were great as well. I’ve discovered this year that I really like metal shows. The crowds are always wonderful.

July 19 - Chinese American Bear

The Independent, San Francisco. With Liz and Finn.

Indigo Elephant opened.

She’s Chinese and he’s American and their nickname for each other is ‘bear’. Extremely cute and also just a lot of fun.

August

August 11 - The Beths and Beach Bunny

San Jose Civic, San Jose. With Liz.

Beach Bunny was the last show Liz and I saw, just a week before the pandemic. It was kind of a full circle experience to see them again. The Beths are also lovely.

August 12 - O.A.R., Gavin DeGraw, Lisa Loeb

The Masonic, San Francisco. With Samantha. O.A.R.’s Three Decades Tour.

My cousin gave me these tickets. I wasn’t super familiar with O.A.R. but I recognized their hit song from the radio. Same with Gavin DeGraw.

Sadly we came too late for Lisa Loeb, I was kind of hoping to get a real 90s throwback.

August 19 - Silkworm

Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco. With Samantha.

Nina Nastasia opened.

The opener was an older folk singer who everyone was very excited about. I was there for Silkworm, a band that I listened to in the early 90s when they and I lived in Missoula, MT. So that was a real old man throwback.

September

September 11 - Necrot

Great American Music Hall, San Francisco. With Samantha.

With Iron Lung, Death Grave, and Street Tombs.

This has apparently been my year of metal. Necrot and Death Grave were good. I really enjoyed Street Tombs the most. Apparently I like fast, melodic death/thrash metal.

Death Grave has a guy in the rafters swinging a skeleton that he would sometimes put different little outfits on.

September 16 - Patrick Wolff Quartet

Keys Jazz Bistro, San Francisco. With Finn.

Taking Finn to his first jazz club was a real treat. Solid performance.

September 20 - The Living Daylights

Hotel Utah Saloon, San Francisco. By myself.

Pinfall and Miffed opened.

Finn was supposed to go with me but he got sick. I still enjoyed the show. Living Daylights is a solid Bay Area pop-punk band. One of the other bands was kind of midwest emo.

Also there were a lot of teenage girls at this show?

September 22 - The Front Bottoms

The Warfield, San Francisco. By myself.

With Foxy Shazam and GDP.

Didn’t see GDP. Foxy Shazam is if The Darkness sang Meatloaf songs, but gayer. Great stage show.

The Front Bottoms were a real treat, I felt a lot of angst along with all the young girls in the audience.

September 30 - Author & Punisher

Neck of the Woods, San Francisco. With Samantha.

With Guiltless and Ex Everything.

Jesus Christ, what a sonic assault. The singer in Author & Punisher has various instruments that he has constructed himself, like a handle with buttons that he slides back and forth and somehow that’s his drum machine. The other guy in the band plays guitar. I guess I would describe them as industrial metal.

October

October 2 - Snarky Puppy

Paramount Theatre, Oakland. With Haley and Jason.

Had no idea what I was getting into with this one. I guess Snarky Puppy is a jazz fusion collective? There was a guy playing the clavinet. There were some crazy bongo solos. Also it was at the Paramount, the other amazing giant art deco theater in downtown Oakland. Capacity is about 3000 and it was pretty full.

October 6 - Telescreens

Brick & Mortar Music Hall, San Francisco. With Samantha. Why The Lights Flicker tour.

dethcaps opened.

dethcaps are some adorable children. Telescreens do kind of a funky rock thing with a lot of keyboard. Kind of hard to explain but lots of fun to watch.