The Bay Bridged Presents: Ending the Year With a Bang!

The Bay Bridged is proud to present a night of great local indie rock music to close out our 2007 right! It’s the last Bay Area performance of the year for each of the three excellent bands, and all three have plenty to celebrate from 2007. Plus, the Rickshaw Stop is one of the best spots in the City to catch a show, so get your tickets now and prepare for a great night of music!

About the bands:

Oakland indie rock luminaries The Heavenly States (MySpace) spent much of 2007 touring and finishing their highly anticipated album Delayer to be released early next year. “This is rock ‘n’ roll in its most timeless form, free of gimmickry or genre-melding. Black Comet has as much ‘fuck you’ attitude as Beat on the Brat and as much pop infection as anything from ’80s radio. It’s easy to forget how great rock music is until you hear it done properly.” (Splendid Magazine)

Oakland/Berkeley-based The Morning Benders (MySpace/web site/blog) have been winning a whole lot of fans with their two EPs of indie pop-rock and we’re looking forward to the band’s debut full length next year. “Great songwriting and melodies make for some incredibly catchy songs. I urge you to go check out this EP…I promise that you’ll see and hear of this band again. They have a very bright future.” (The Tripwire)

San Francisco’s The Dilettantes‘ (MySpace) debut full length 101 Tambourines heralds the band as a worthy successor to the Bay Area’s classic garage and psych groups. “The Dilettantes show us that San Francisco psychedelic music is still around and that the City is still the best at it with this jewel of an album.” (Zero) “Hands down my favorite record so far this year.” (Joe Rockhead)

Weekend Picks: November 29th — December 2nd

Jake Mann

Here’s what’s going on this weekend! We hope to see you Saturday!

Thursday

- Birds & Batteries and The Special Goodbye at the Hemlock Tavern, with Parasol. 9:30pm, $6.

Click to listen to our feature episode on Birds & Batteries!

Friday

- Continental’s final show, at Alliance Francaise de SF with Carta and Christopher Willits (DJ set). 7pm, Free.

- Etienne de Rocher’s farewell party at the Rickshaw Stop, Kelley Stoltz, Bart Davenport, The Moore Brothers, and a special surprise guest. 8:30pm, $10.

- The Music Lovers at Amnesia, with Young Moderns and Raymondo. 9pm, $tba.

Click to listen to our feature episode on The Music Lovers!

- Elephone at Bottom of the Hill, with Cold Hot Crash, Built For The Sea, and The Hundred Days. 9pm, $10.

Click to listen to our feature episode on Elephone!

Saturday

- The Bay Bridged Presents The Heavenly States, The Morning Benders, and The Dilettantes at the Rickshaw Stop. 8:30pm, $10. We’ll be posting more info tomorrow.

- From Monument to Masses and Silian Rail at Bottom of the Hill with Desa. 9:30pm, $12.

Click to listen to our feature episode on Silian Rail!

Sunday

- Jake Mann and Dreamdate at The Knockout, with El Olio Wolof. 9:30pm, $5.

Click to listen to our feature episode on Jake Mann!

Click to listen to our feature episode on Dreamdate!

Continental’s final show

After almost a decade together, San Francisco instrumental rock band Continental has decided to call it quits, as longtime guitarist Craig Escalante is leaving the Bay Area for New York. The band has a special sentimental value for The Bay Bridged, as they were the first group we ever featured on our podcast almost two years ago, when we nervously (and, to be honest, poorly) interviewed Craig about the band.

We remain eternally grateful for their early support, and have long discussed redoing the episode in a manner more appropriate for this terrific group, whose songs always felt too melodic to really be called post-rock, but too complex and mostly instrumental to be pop songs. The group’s final album, 2005’s What Was Gained From What Was Lost, showed that they had mastered this balancing act to great effect and it earned the group very positive critical responses.

Continental’s final show is this Friday at Alliance Française de San Francisco from 7-11pm and features a performance by fellow instrumental rockers Carta and a DJ set by Christopher Willits.

You can check out the feature podcast episode here, but we must warn you that, listening 90 episodes later, it is pretty rough stuff. We’d much rather you took a listen to some of Continetal’s great music instead:

Continental - “Light Out” (from What Was Gained From What Was Lost)

Continental - “August Ends” (from What Was Gained From What Was Lost)

Continental - “Stella” (from 2003’s Four-Letter Words)

You can find out more information about Continental over at their web site. You can also check out an untitled new song, one of apparently a number of unreleased tracks the band has recorded over the last two years, at their MySpace page.

Two great Wednesday shows

Two great shows tonight definitely worth your hard-earned dollar:

Click to listen to our feature episode on The Lovely Public!

At The Knockout, Fresno’s Rademacher finishes the month-long residency we discussed last week with an exciting show also featuring Bay Bridged alumni The Lovely Public and San Francisco’s Here Here. It’s a bittersweet show for The Lovely Public, as this will be guitar and synth player Chris Campbell’s final show with the band. For Here Here, the group recently released their debut EP The Boy With An Orange, and, while we haven’t heard the whole thing, the songs on their MySpace page are really terrific. Tonight’s show starts at 10pm and is $6.

Despite the flyer, Pidgeon unfortunately had to cancel due to an illness. Thankfully, Battlehooch has recruited their friends in Tempo No Tempo to fill in, making it still a bill to beat. Both of these bands have a reputation for high energy live shows and we really enjoyed Tempo No Tempo’s set at their recent CD release party. Santa Cruz’s Harry and the Hitmen also perform. The show starts at 9pm and is $6.

Episode 92: Audio Out Send

 

 Episode 92: Audio Out Send [32:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week, we bring you the music of Audio Out Send, an Oakland quartet who have developed a textured sound mixing strong rock influences with synthy, sometimes psychedelic flourishes. The band’s unique blend of elements, evidenced on their 2003 full length …Or Does It Explode? and 2005’s A Broad Connection EP, has won them widespread critical acclaim and fans around Northern California. They now return with a brand new album titled Sharpen the Hours, a limited edition release which both builds upon and represents a significant departure from their past works.

To hear singer-guitarist Ben Jennings and drummer Max Diez discuss the group’s beginnings as college friends in Sacramento, it is clear that they have, like most bands, evolved considerably during their decade-plus together. But more than that, the new CD finds the band consciously upping their melodic indie rock side over their dronier one. To that end, Sharpen the Hours features a few older Audio Out Send songs that have been reworked and reinterpreted to an extent that might surprise long-time listeners.

Still, the new approach seems more like a realignment than a full-on reinvention, as there are still layers that give even the rockingest songs an additional density and scope. We sat down with Ben and Max at The Bay Bridged Studio to discuss the new album and the band’s beginnings. We’ve also included four songs from Sharpen the Hours in the episode.

The guys are celebrating the new CD’s release with a show at Bottom of the Hill, presented by BAGeL Radio:

Thursday, December 13th
Bottom of the Hill
with Ex-Boyfriends (CD release), 20 Minute Loop and DJ Ted
8pm, $8 (Purchase advance tickets here)

For more information about Audio Out Send and to hear more music from Sharpen the Hours, visit the band’s MySpace page. For older information, you can check out their web site as well. You should also check out the band’s music video for “The Break In,” from Sharpen the Hours.

The new album is currently being released in a numbered limited edition featuring individualized artwork in every copy. You can currently only pick it up from the band at their shows, so you now have yet another reason to see them live.

Are you subscribed to the The Bay Bridged weekly podcast? Click here to get each new episode downloaded free to your iTunes the moment it is published!

Etienne de Rocher’s Farewell Show

For a number of years, Etienne de Rocher has been a prominent member of the Bay Area indie music scene, both as a solo artist and as a member of a number of local bands. It was in that latter capcity, as bassist for the band Honeycut, that we spoke with him around the beginning of the year.

We’re sad to report that Etienne is soon departing the Bay Area for Athens, Georgia, but he’s leaving the Bay with a hell of a farewell party this Friday night at the Rickshaw Stop. It’s a great bill of local musicians with Etienne headlining and Kelley Stoltz, Bart Davenport, The Moore Brothers, and a “special surprise guest” also performing.

de Rocher’s solo work, which found release on a self-titled album last year, sees him in an acoustic rock-pop space that should work well with the other fellows on Friday’s bill. You can hear samples at his MySpace page and his web site.

The show starts at 8:30pm and is $10. You can purchase advance tickets here.

Kija Lucas: The Bay Bridged’s latest Artist-in-Residence

You probably notice our wonderful new banner at the top of the site. It’s the work of Kija Lucas, a San Francisco-based photographer who has a keen eye for a variety of subjects, ranging from social commentary to capturing faces and landscapes.

Kija explains her style as:

My work is an examination of self and environment. I am interested in people and the way we interact with our surroundings. Whether I am constructing an image to illustrate a social issue, photographing my neighborhood or a foreign land, I use the camera to quilt together seemingly disparate concepts, allowing the viewer to marinate with the ideas and come to their own conclusions. My attempt as the sewer is perhaps to prick the finger, but not necessarily draw blood.

We’d like to thank Kija for her amazing contribution, and you can head to her web site to see more of her great work. She’s also available for weddings, CD covers and more.

If you are or know a Bay Area-based artist who would like to become a future Bay Bridged Artist-in-Residence, reach out to us by e-mail here.

KALX 45th Anniversary Party Review: Greg Ashley, Social Studies, Sugar and Gold, and Chow Nasty

Chow Nasty

We’re pleased to welcome our newest contributor Lizz Fay to The Bay Bridged. You may also know Lizz as a member of the very excellent The Ian Fays, who we featured earlier this year.

A couple weeks ago, Lizz attended the KALX 45th Anniversary fundraiser concert and contributed this report on the night’s events. We have edited substantial portions of the review for space on our main page, but you can and should read the full write-up at this page.

Public transportation is an amazing thing. Unfortunately, every once in while you find yourself arriving a little too late to a show and missing a band. When I did arrive at the Rickshaw Stop for KALX’s 45th anniversary celebration on Thursday, November 8th, the venue was absolutely packed. I soon discovered that, like I feared, I had missed Oakland’s own psychedelic songwriter, Greg Ashley. I had been looking forward to seeing him play and expecting to hear the breath-taking songs I heard on his web site, with lyrics that caught my attention right away, such as: “If I could read the palm of the one you love, she wouldn’t want to wear your crown today” and line after line in the same vein. I promise to arrive sooner next time Greg; this time I blame the bus.

When Social Studies‘ set began, the whole crowd moved forward and filled in the entire floor. After playing consistently in San Francisco for the the past year and a half, not to mention opening for The Pipettes a month earlier, it’s no wonder Social Studies has such a devoted following in The City. As the first song started and the jumpy, bright, keyboard driven music began, it was clear that the group really has carved out a sound all their own. It’s bouncy and fun but also precise, crafted as a planned chaos. The lyrics are in complete sync with the boisterous instrumentation; there is a left-brain, right-brain union with the lyrics, using images such as “Epitaphs” and “Purgatory” cleverly intertwined with lines of heartache and disappointment.

The band’s sound is all brought together by the dynamics of the four members on stage. Natalia, the lead singer, has a voice that demands attention and carries across the room. Along with Natalia’s beautiful voice (not to mention outfit), bass player Ilana and singer/guitar player Aaron keep the beats of the songs in full force. Every member in the band takes turns singing back and forth throughout the set, filling in “oohs” and “ahhs” until the voices blend together into a small avalanche of sound.

Another person you can’t keep your eyes off is the drummer, Mike. After seeing many a live show and many a drummer, there is undoubtedly something special about him. Throughout every song, his body bounces with each hit he plays, literally jumping off his seat sometimes. How a drummer could play those beats with no shoes is a mystery and it’s hard to believe it humanly possible. Just another little touch that made Social Studies’ live show so entertaining.

After Social Studies finished their last song, Sugar and Gold starting setting up. I had seen them play two years before in Humboldt County and always remembered their sound because it was so seventies-yet-modern; I also remembered they sold some gold boy-shorts that said “Sugar and Gold” across them that I would have died for, but they were homemade so they had to charge fifteen or twenty dollars a pair at the time.

When the band started, I was quick to realize this set was going to be a lot crazier then the last time I had seen them in a sparse Humboldt State University hall. The audience filled in even more and immediately started going crazy–bouncing, dancing, some guys taking their shirts off, girls falling over with their dresses over their heads. Sugar and Gold’s sound seemed to be perfect for this type of audience. There is also a tongue-in-cheek, casino-esqe quality in their sound, as if their whole goal is to mix the substances of sugar and gold together and make that substance into songs. The songs themselves are held together by an amazingly thick-sounding drum machine, each member grooving to the beat while never forgetting to chime in with the lyrics, often about partying, meeting girls, and staying up all night.

All off this Vegas attitude comes to fruition with their costumes. Lead singer Philipp and keyboardist Nicolas wore gold, sparkly suspenders and low cut, open chest vests. The female singer, who made all the costumes and the aforementioned boy-shorts, was wearing a gold and purple metallic frayed dress that hung across her arms and legs and danced with her. There was just no looking away; she put so much attitude into her dance moves while rocking a microphone and the frays on her dress across the stage. If there were ever a claim that bands don’t give enough attention to image, costumes, and the importance of entertaining an audience, Sugar and Gold proves them one hundred percent wrong.

As the Bay Area’s own Chow Nasty began to set up, my love-hate relationship with Public Transportation began to worry me, as I knew I’d only have time to listen to a few songs (so I’d better pay attention, right?). The moment the band started, the lights grew dark and all one could see was the shapes of people dancing erratically in the audience. Chow Nasty’s energy was so high their instruments could have exploded. The lead singers danced with their guitars like they where dancing with pretty ladies to the beat of random percussion instruments and harmonicas banging left and right. The singer’s voice sprang from somewhere between funk and disco and keep plunging at lyrics about dancing and partying that made your whole body move. The band members had so much charisma, convulsing with each line they sang as well as climbing all over the stage, even on top of a piano and out into the audience.

As this energy continued, and I began to realize every one of their songs was as catchy as the track “Ungawa” I had listened to earlier on their site–”Oh, Ungawa–Baby’s got the power. I’m wrapped around your finger most of the time, would you like to tell me what’s wrong or right?–the time struck for buses to stop running. It was an absolute shame to leave a Chow Nasty set early and felt wrong in every way. From the music I did hear, it sure did make me want to party.

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