August is a beautiful time to be in San Francisco, and the month has been a beautiful blend of everything that makes the city great. Right on the first day of the month, Noise Pop announced their roster of food vendors and the list of nonprofits, businesses, and art and craft sellers participating in the fifth annual 20th Street Block Party. And San Franciscans had a great time at the festival on the 19th of August, with great vendors, community members and organizations like Notes for Notes, Alite, Bay Area Record Fair, and 826 Valencia drawing the visitors in, and food stalls like Farmhouse Kitchen Thai, Flour + Water, Seoul of Taipei, and The Pop Nation handling their hunger pangs.
Outside Lands 2017 was one of the huge highlights of the month, with massive names including Metallica, Lorde, and The Who reminding us all of why San Francisco’s music scene is both deep in history and electric in vitality.
Day One saw the festival enjoy the sensational start it deserves, with Tove Lo and Little Dragon pulling off spectacular performances. The opening day even saw a memorable performance Dr. Octagon, who hasn’t graced the stage for a long time. The fire only continued to rise the next day, when Cage the Elephant kept the audience hooked to the show with their retro rock n’ roll numbers before Metallica set the stage on fire as only legends can.
Day Three gave this year’s music festival a finale that fans will remember for a long time. New Zealand’s gothic pop goddess Lorde owned the stage as she put up a high-octane show and gave the audience a treat to remember, with a spirited acoustic duet alongside her friend and songwriter on Melodrama. The night’s last performer, The Who, was back on a San Franciscan stage after four decades; their last performance in the city was at the Winterland Ballroom years ago, in 1976. Decades were torn down as they reminded all of us why they were heroes back then, and why they’re heroes still.
And just as this years’ Outside Lands came to an end, music enthusiasts learned that the British indie rock band Everything Everything was all set to stop by at San Francisco’s Bimbo’s 365 Club on the 9th of October. The show is scheduled to be a part of the band’s tour in support of their latest album ‘A Fever Dream.’
In other news, Cathedrals, one of San Francisco’s most exciting electro-indie acts, shared the video for their single ‘Try to Fight’, directed by Jesse Fleece and choreographed by Denna Thomsen. A neon-drenched Flashdance tribute, the video manages to make us remember the raw edge of the 1980’s, and it’s a perfect compliment to the beautiful, Day-Glo, jagged edges of the song.
All in all, August has been one hell of a ride so far. And with a free Jazz show by local musicians from Bay Area scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday this week, and a great September ahead, there’s no reason to feel like the summer is ending. Make sure you enjoy your share of it!
