Regional Bias: A Celebration of Bay Area Music and Culture to Benefit The Bay Bridged

For the past three and half years, The Bay Bridged has been proud to promote the San Francisco Bay Area indie music scene through our popular web site, ongoing series of “The Bay Bridged Presents” live events, compilation releases and more. On Friday, July 31st, 2009, we’re supremely excited to present our biggest San Francisco event yet: Regional Bias: A Celebration of Bay Area Music and Culture to Benefit The Bay Bridged.

Taking place at the historic Verdi Club in Potrero Hill, Regional Bias is a celebration of the things that make living in the Bay Area a great, unique experience. As you might expect, we’ll have four of the best San Francisco Bay Area bands and some celebrity DJs providing great music throughout the night, but we’ll also be showcasing some of the other things we love: the Bay’s vibrant visual arts and food scenes. But if the rich experience isn’t enough, here’s a little added incentive: proceeds from the event will support The Bay Bridged’s efforts to bring you the best of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene.

The evening will begin at 7:30pm with a happy hour, with an art show, DJs and a food tasting. There’ll also be a raffle with some outrageously amazing prizes. After happy hour, we’ll have performances from four of the Bay Area’s best indie bands. Find out more about everything below:

MUSIC

We’re psyched to have French Miami headline the evening with their smart, catchy synth-rock. “Having the traditional two arms doesn’t restrict French Miami from showing off by pounding their heaving math-rock intricacy through two instruments at once. Each. Inevitably, the local musos cream themselves at such a sight, but this trio have the ability to get you throwing plenty of irregular shapes on the dancefloor too.” (NME) “French Miami manage to combine the anthemic, sweaty-basement-party spirit of Japanther with the speed and prowess of a math rock band (think finger tapping) and the harmonized guitars of the Fucking Champs.” (SF Bay Guardian)

Adam Stephens and The Finite Plain are the Two Gallants’ singer/guitarist and an amazing collecition of musicians delivering some heartfelt melodic folk-rock. We’re looking forward to the album the band’s currently working on, but, before then, prepare to be hooked by the band’s charismatic live show. “[S]ounding like an electrified Dylan – or his label head Conor Oberst – with a new full-blown band…Nice.” (SF Bay Guardian) “[E]xtremely soulful.” (Spin)

Or, the Whale will be performing a special acoustic set at the event, sure to be full of great songs from the band’s forthcoming second album. “[F]ills its energetic, boot-stomping live shows with bluesy anthems and gut-wrenching ballads….[A] contagious fusion of timeless and traditional Americana” (Magnet) “This music will make you want to gather your friends together and hitchhike across America — If only America was as warm and beautiful as Light Poles and Pines.” (Yahoo! Music)

In addition to making one of the year-so-far’s most compelling albums, Leopold and his Fiction kick off the concert portion of the evening with their frenetic garage-blues rock. “Groovy ‘60s bop…sung by James in a hard-edge haughty voice somewhere between Van Morrison, Jim Morrison, and Eric Burdon being channeled by Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Straight-up rot gut.” (Big Takeover) “While the sound is certainly expansive, Leopold and His Fiction also manages to exude a certain kind of folk-tinged, backwoods charm that makes them much more than just a straight up rock-and-roll band.” (NPR Second Stage)

DJs John Vanderslice and Joshua Rampage (maus haus) will be spinning music throughout the night.

ART

Our show featuring great local visual artists will be co-curated by CityArt Gallery. Any art purchased during Regional Bias will benefit the artists and The Bay Bridged.

FOOD

We’ll also have delicious food available for a small donation, courtesy of our food sponsors Slow Club/Serpentine, Sneaky’s BBQ and Bi-Rite Market. The tasting will be available while supplies last.

GIVEAWAYS

At Regional Bias, we’ll be holding a raffle featuring the following prizes:

- Tickets to all three days of Outside Lands
- Tickets to both days of Treasure Island Music Festival
- “A Flight of the Bay Area’s Best Venues” – A pair of tickets to one show of your choice at eight of the Bay Area’s best venues

MP3s

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French Miami – “Science Fiction”

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Or, the Whale – “Shasta (Live on Rainydawg)”

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Leopold and his Fiction – “Come Back (Now That I’m Here)”

How Your Support Helps The Bay Bridged

The Bay Bridged began as a labor of love, and has evolved into a fiscally sponsored nonprofit organization committed to championing the best in San Francisco Bay Area music through our blog, podcast, live events, compilations and other endeavors. The nonprofit framework is important to us–we don’t expect The Bay Bridged to replace our other jobs and we wouldn’t be interested in making the compromises that would likely allow that to happen. Instead, we’ve been able to create and grow our content offerings by relying on the amazing contributions of our dedicated staff, and with the help of supportive local advertisers and partners.

In order to sustain our ongoing projects and embark on new ones, however, we need to spend money that we don’t have, which is why we’re holding Regional Bias. As savvy concertgoers, we realize that simply calling something a fundraiser or a benefit isn’t enough to make it worth your dollar, so we’ve tried to make this night one of the best parties you’ll go to all year. We’re supremely excited about all of the bands, DJs, artists and food vendors and whether you’re interested in supporting The Bay Bridged or not, you’re unlikely to find a more diverse lineup of Bay Area’s innovators all housed under one roof.