48 Hills went hard at Noise Pop this year because the local scene needed it, and we were so grateful to see so many local venues and acts thriving. See our full coverage, including exclusive reviews and photos, here.
Noise Pop‘s 29th edition was a compelling success. We can run down the numbers provided by festival officials for the stats: The fete hosted over 20,000 attendees from the Bay Area and far beyond, showcasing upwards of 130 music artists performing at more than 40 events in 10 iconic SF venues. For the first time in festival history, all badges sold out in advance.
All of those factoids point directly to an overriding fact that applies not just to The Bay, but everywhere: People are stoked to be around live music again. Bands, solo artists, DJs, electronic music performances… Sharing that insular experience with friends, strangers, pickpockets, hooligans, drunks, straight-edge folks, snobs, assholes, and professionals. Essentially, anybody with a pulse. The experience remains invaluable. Forever golden.
We needed to get back out there and mix it up a bit. Over the week I ran into a new dad who went out for the first time in a couple of years—and who said he got drunk off one PBR and had to go home and pass out. It was that type of comeback.
Noise Pop has always been scheduled at the beginning of the Music Festival season. As I’m writing this my inbox is filling up with invitations to performances at SXSW, which is taking place next week. Let’s get back on the horse people, it’s time. We have the methods to do it safely.
Here are some takeaways from Noise Pop 2022
The Bay remains a music-first hub
You know how when the IOC goes about picking host cities for the Olympics, and I’m looking at London and Paris to be specific, they gauge accessibility maneuvering around a region. San Francisco and Oakland can still get it down in a timely manner if the programming is correct. I was able to attend a happy hour in the Mission, stick around for some crazy shit to pop off (I’ll speak on that later) and still be on a train to 19th Street in Oakland to catch Irreversible Entanglements perform their entire jaw-dropping show. To go further, that audience had the IQ, inquisitiveness, and cottdamn respect to really take in, process an aggressive free-jazz performance. With an appreciation level at its utmost, it makes artists such as IE and Moor Mother want to return to Oakland and San Francisco, knowing upfront The Bay gets it.
I was stoked to see that happen and even more chuffed to be in an audience who knew. These avant-garde, humanistic-based, types of performances are few. Folks in The Bay still know.
Noise Pop could boost community-oriented functions louder
So while I was basking the glow of Tommy Guerrero literally blowing the roof off of Bottom of The Hill at a jam-packed Bay Area feel-good elder skater-fest, getting their funk blues on—across town, I had some folks who attend the screening of the classic Tupac-starring film Juice at Alamo Draft House. It was presented in conjunction with the Fast Times promoters with the proceeds of the screening going to the Hip-Hop For Change organization. Who consequentially will be having their Fourth Annual Women’s Empowerment Summit this upcoming Saturday.
Anyway, after the screening, a brilliant panel discussion was conducted by the organization’s top brass and founding members, putting the film’s legacy in proper perspective. Looking at the noir aspects and discussing the impact it made on Black men, then and now. I’m personally a witness to that film’s reach for sure. So many cameos from up-and-comers in the culture from that time. Matter of fact, I forgot Queen Latifah was in that joint too.
Anyway, I heard there was a lackluster turnout, which is quite disheartening. With society at a place and time where cross-cultural discussions are desperately needed, that opportunity for the general public to take part, question, listen and have robust discourse was a missed opportunity for healing, just as much as the incredible music programming.
Granted, the event was at the end of the festival, but if Noise Pop Industries can coordinate intricate performances, all over the Bay, they DAMN sure can boost the advertisement of positive and enlightening community-based initiatives such as this. They rep the Bay too!
Let’s mix it up a bit more
Hey, I love a wilding-out happy hour as much as the next older Black dude. I say that as a joke, but I’m serious. Those Bender’s Noise Pop Happy Hours still have their, whaddya ya call it, joie de vivre.
Covering the band Thank You Come Again, who really brought it on a Tuesday by the way, I found myself within seconds in the middle of a mosh-pit. Flannel and fried chicken sammies flying everywhere. I can’t front, it was pretty awesome.
Mind you, those kids really don’t know how to mosh. Not to crack open the washed chronicles (I’m gonna), but I’ve moshed with the best. Angelo Moore from Fishbone, busting his ankle in the pit and still getting back on stage to finish his set? Epic.
Surviving two Beastie Boys-induced mosh pits where a herd of whiteness descended upon the Lollapalooza dirt like it was feeding time? Bananas. All without our 2022 ‘touchy feely’ parameters in place. Yes, it’s great that we have progressed as a society. But that back in the day shit was buck.
But hey, Noise Pop Industries, how about we mix those happy hours up? Where they ALL are not just punk and rock and roll bands. How about some funk bands, new wave bands, hip-hop groups….. Switch out and build. Work with a diversified pool of promoters.
Maybe reach out to local labels like Rocks In Your Head, Paisley Shirt Records, or Broken Clover Records in conjunction with putting together a bill.
And as much as NP does a terrific job booking local bands, how about booking the Sweater Funk DJ Crew, reach out to San Francisco-based Fat Souls, the As You Like It family, other assorted folks. All of those crews are internationally known and I’m sure they would be more than happy to represent their city among the best in the world. Hold some events at Vinyl Dreams, Amoeba Music in SF—places where the local economy could get a boost and be of service to the city-wide event.
Just a thought.
