Ring the alarm! Noise Pop, San Francisco’s vanguard celebration of independent music and art festival, one of America’s oldest in operation, is returning for its 33rd year. Shifting styles in the live performance space while lowkey influencing what names you will see on upcoming months of national festival posters in tiny font, it runs from Thu/19 through Sun/1.
This year, festival organizers have stressed that half of the 150-plus acts performing at 20 venues throughout San Francisco and the East Bay are local. That new emphasis on regional performers—Noise Pop had been criticized about falling short in the area over the past couple of years—nods at a “doom loop” to “boom loop” era here in SF. We’ve always been known as a music-first city, and our bands, DJs and performers have been doing the work, long before former Mayor Breed and current Mayor Lurie started manufacturing downtown raves. It seems only right that those same local artists who led us out of the dark, before City Hall joined the charge, get spotlighted by Noise Pop.
What started as a one-time event in 1993, known as a “5 Bands for 5 Dollars” show at the Kennel Club (now The Independent), has transformed into a key indicator of what to expect in the upcoming year for music festivals across the country.
That’s right, Hermano. Noise Pop started doing its thing before 500,000 attendees forgot their water bottle in the desert at Coachella, before 32,000 reverent listeners entered the magic realism of Big Ears Festival in Knoxville.
Where else you can experience 10 days of this kind of foggy mornings and eye-popping nights? Shows will take place in the Bay Area’s most popular music venues, including The Independent, Great American Music Hall, The Chapel, Rickshaw Stop, SFJAZZ, August Hall, Gray Area, Bender’s, 1015 Folsom, Swedish American Hall, and Kilowatt—not to mention, fond farewell shows at Bottom of the Hill.
This year’s lineup features an exciting mix of veteran artists and locals who’ve made good. Highlights include Tortoise, Chicago’s instrumental post-rock ensemble (performing without Jeff Parker, with Jim Elkington filling in), and Jay Som, the indie-pop project of singer-songwriter and producer Melina Duterte, who gained recognition in the Oakland DIY scene before moving to Los Angeles. The legendary avant-garde jazz ensemble Sun Ra Arkestra will present its cosmic sound and Afrofuturist legacy at Noise Pop with two immersive performances. Additionally, local engineering wizard Maryam Qudus, a staff engineer at the San Francisco non-profit Women’s Audio Mission and producer of recent records for La Luz and local band Sour Widows, will perform under her Spacemoth moniker.
To expand its reach, Noise Pop established a partnership with the Seattle-born KEXP in 2024, extending its presence up to the Pacific Northwest. Together, they have launched a battle of the bands contest whose winner will get the opportunity to record a “Live on KEXP” set, and perform a live show for fans at a TBA venue.
The festival is reviving SF Music Week, which began last year. From February 23 through March 1. The collaborative effort involves SF LIVE, Noise Pop, and city leaders, and includes free industry conferences throughout the week.
We would like to offer some Noise Pop suggestions; sit back and let us guide you through it.
CINDY AT RICKSHAW STOP, FEBRUARY 19
How cool is Rickshaw Stop? In the second half of January this year, management turned the keys over to staff for booking acts. I mean, some venues truly understand how the local music scene operates. They just get it. Management understood that bartenders, door and wait staff, and DJs are some of the best arbiters of talent. If a bartender speaks enthusiastically about a band, go see them.
Local SF band Cindy has a bit of that hauntingly slight Mazzy Star, slowed-down, jangle-fied thing down pat.
MOZHGAN AT PUBLIC WORKS, FEBRUARY 20
Bay-Areans, if you have not found yourself at an after-hours rave, surfing and climbing the heavily impactful mind-bending sheets of sounds coming from the decks by the one they call Mozhgan, well… then. Get better, friends. This vibe-merchant of a decksmith, a co-creator of We Are Monsters—her fantastic party with Jason Greer—and global touring DJ, who always makes time for Sunset Campout, is a worldwide hero and local San Francisco treat. Capitalize on this opportunity to hear Mozhgan play and play in our backyard.
LITERALLY ANYTHING AT SFJAZZ JOE HENDERSON LAB
James Brandon Lewis, Nate Mercereau, Carlos Niño, Jesse Peterson, and special guest Idris Ackamoor from San Francisco are just a few of the diverse and incredibly talented artists who have performed at the Joe Henderson Lab as part of the collaborative partnership between Noise Pop and SFJAZZ.
This intimate venue, which holds just over a hundred people and features collapsible chairs, offers a warm and funky alternative to traditional music hall presentations. It has consistently provided a platform for young, up-and-coming Black artists and performers from Oakland and beyond, helping them gain exposure and develop their careers. I always make time to check out the performances at The Lab during Noise Pop, and I’m never disappointed. This year, catch Veotis Latchison, Hugo de la Lune, and Cleo Reed in the space. SML, the quirky jazz quintet known for their “Fela on acid” sound that has been making waves for the past couple of years, is playing two sold-out shows at the venue as well.
FAREWELL, BOTTOM OF THE HILL
Anchoring this year’s community-centered programming is a historic adieu to Bottom of the Hill, the legendary San Francisco venue where Noise Pop was founded in 1993. The festival’s Bottom of the Hill farewell concert series brings together a handpicked lineup of artists, including P.E.E. + Nuzzle, Hudson Freeman, Illuminati Hotties, Hot Flash Heat Wave, and more, for a multi-night run honoring the venue’s immeasurable impact on Bay Area music culture, kicking off Fri/20.
Running simultaneously at Hi Hat, the Bottom of the Hill tribute photo exhibition offers fans an archival look at decades of iconic performances, artists, and community moments, capturing the spirit of a venue that helped shape generations of independent music. Grab a slice and take a peek.
RETURN OF BENDER’S HAPPY HOUR CONCERT SERIES
If you really want to know what’s new and popping off in The Bay on the cheap, integrating Benders’ 5-8pm happy hour concert series into your festival activities is paramount, my friend.
Rock scribe and cultural critic Greil Marcus (I used to read him in Village Voice and Rolling Stone during high school) floated undetected into one of those famed showcases last year and took note of Fake Your Own Death, the San Francisco post-punk and noise rock ensemble, assessing its lead singer, Terry Ashkinos as “a middle-aged, gray-haired man of medium height and thick build, which is to say no obvious reason to notice him at all. It was the way he carried himself—determined, hurried, as if he had some task to accomplish, some responsibility for the night ahead, like making sure the lighting was right or the restroom clean.”
If this American scribe can take the time to survey what’s peaking in the cultural spectrum here in San Francisco’s Mission district, music, so can you. Here’s a tip: Camellia Boutros is up next. DotheBay and San Franpsycho present the February 24 edition, Big Leap Collective is on deck February 25, White Crate takes over February 26, Balanced Breakfast on February 27, and Text Me Records on February 28. Remember to RSVP.
ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER OPENING FOR TORTOISE, FEBRUARY 27 AND 28
Orcutt Shelley Miller is a San Francisco-based avant-rock trio composed of three highly celebrated figures of experimental music: Bill Orcutt (Harry Pussy), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), and Ethan Miller (Howlin Rain, Comets On Fire). That’s how they describe themselves. But one listen to their self-titled, five-track instrumental manifesto, which breathes and bleeds punk-meets-big-rock pomp and grandeur, you hear jam-band gold and moonlit punk coexisting in your earhole. It’s the stuff ole Neil Young was crazy horsin’ about all these decades ago. Magnificent. They just go…
