Welcome to Under The Stars, babe. A quasi-weekly column that presents new music releases, upcoming shows, still with the strong ass opinions this week, and other adjacent items. We keep moving with the changes and thinking outside the margins. We’ve been doing this for awhile… Thanks for spending some time with us.
GO SCREAM AT THEE PARKSIDE, SLATED TO CLOSE IN MARCH
Frank’s Place was the business located at 1600 17th St in San Francisco before Thee Parkside took over sometime in 2002. The previous occupant was a modest lunch counter that served sandwiches to local shipyard workers. Who would have guessed that the punk rock venue that followed would serve a similar blue-collar function, providing a third space for local bands and entertainers?
Unfortunately, it has now been pushed out by an encroaching tech-savvy metropolis that feels foreign to said local musicians. It comes on the heels of the 2026-opening announcement that Bottom of the Hill, a live local music venue right down the street (very 22 Fillmore adjacent) would be closing its doors at the end of the year: Thee Parkside, another local punk venue and community dive, will cease booking live music by the end of March and eventually, go dark.
“Well, looks like we’re gonna turn into a buncha condos. We don’t have an exact end date, but we’ll be stopping live music at the end of March and then just be a bar for a few months after that,” the San Francisco venue wrote in an Instagram post on January 28. This, on the heels of last year’s bombshell that the building would be sold.
Owner Malia Spanyol forewarned that Parkside’s fate was uncertain after the death of the property’s longtime owner, Maria Gloria Rando. Spanyol has run the bar since 2007, and had first rights to buy the building, but was outbid by a developer who offered nearly $1.33 million.
Throughout its existence, Parkside has hosted numerous black metal, goth, and punk shows, as well as skateboarding events. It will also be remembered for its Twang Sundays on the patio, its dynamic tater tots, and Monday Night Movies, which created a uniquely mellow vibe to kick off the week. This is truly unfortunate and gut-wrenching.
It absolutely sucks. Two independent live music venues in Potrero Hill will be gone by 2027.
So, spend the limited time we have left by attending the February 23 installment of the bar’s Monday film series, aptly titled “Isn’t Life Scary Enough?” The Black Horror History double feature will showcase B-movie classics People Under the Stairs and Candyman.
More info here.
SF BAY POPFEST AT BOTTOM OF THE HILL, AUGUST 20-23
In late summer, just about two weeks after Outside Lands, SF Bay Popfest will move into Bottom of the Hill for three days, product of the collective forces of Oakland Weekender, Speakeasy Studios, and Slumberland Records. According to Oakland Weekender organizers, pulling the festival together alone this year seemed a bit of a tall task, particularly since the event organizers are wrapping up their own recording sessions around the time of the event.
Happily, Lindsay Melnyk (DJ Poindexter) and Alicia Vanden Heuvel (of Poundsign, Remedy & Wren and The Aislers Set) reached out, expressing their excitement and ambition to help out this year to keep the gathering alive.
“Lindsay has been doing a fantastic job at organizing some Oakland Weekender Presents shows over the past year, and with Alicia’s passion and decades of experience in the San Francisco Bay indie pop scene, it’s really making this SF Bay Popfest something special, they are busting out” stated Riley, an Oakland Weekender organizer.
Festival officials agreed that this year, they wanted an all-ages venue. Fortunately, Alicia was able to work with Lynn Schwarz (one of Bottom Of The Hill’s co-owners) on securing the venue for the festival. “We didn’t know at the time that the club would be closing, but when we found out, it made it all the more special. Bottom of the Hill was home to several SF Pop fests in the late ’90s, ’00s, so it has historical significance in the indie pop scene,” stated Riley. “It has been a favorite venue for so many SF Bay artists, with its excellent sound, capacity, and rich history. It really is a perfect place to celebrate great indie pop and everything the club has done for the music scene.”
Lineup has not been released yet, but keep checking Oakland Weekender’s Instagram feed for updates.
PRETTY IN PINK AT THE VOGUE, FEBRUARY 14
The crux of the central conflict in the mid-’80s teen classic Pretty In Pink can be found in the film’s soundtrack. It’s the redundant algorithmic pop music wafting from the malls across America versus the left-of-the-dial terrestrial radio stations playing the underground post-punk that would stand the test of time and remain marketing gold 40 years later.
The Smiths, Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark, Echo & the Bunnymen, and The Psychedelic Furs are among the acts featured among its sounds, curated by director John Hughes and actor Molly Ringwald in their across-the-tracks cinema verite.
Lead characters Andie and Duckie ( Ringwald and Jon Cryer) don thrift store threads, predating hipster cool, and hang at a record store that had more Otis Redding wax than Hall and Oates 45’s. These kids from the non-middle or upper-class side of town put a captivating (white) face on the alternative undertow that was happening in music during the Reagan era. For some (aHem), Andie and Duckie are substitutes for—add whatever version of otherness you choose.
Here’s mine: Those black and brown folks you see dancing at the prom? They are in a DIFFERENT movie.
Not Back to The Future, Home Alone, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Let’s keep it a bean: As those tight Jheri kurls sway to “If You Leave,” the people playing extras to the Blane, Duckie, and Andie splendor are eagerly awaiting to attend Spike Lee’s School Daze, which was coming for ya in ‘88.
Just think, three years later, Andie and The Duck would be bumping the shit outta Nirvana.
Father Time remains undefeated.
Some Kind of Wonderful would follow in ’87, in which Hughes and company told the story with a gender switch in effect. It’s a modern take on the stodgy ’80s, and yes, this time the politics were correct. But does it hit as hard? Figure out that beat for yourself. Ringwald turned the film down and never worked with the director again.
But for my 1986 deregulated, reduced government spending, controlled money supply, “trickle-down” growth dollar? I’ll take James Spader in the original, playing the best version of a “Miami Vice” blazer-wearing (Republican) prick every time. That feels real. Que up the OMD!
Happy Valentine’s, babe! Grab tix here.
R.E. SERAPHIN, TINY SHAPES/A ROOM FOREVER (TAKE A TURN)
You see certain names pop up on Bay Area indie projects again and again. I know that, depending on which musical circles you travel in, it’s a pretty tightknit community. Everybody is hustling, doing or repaying a favor, recording for several projects at once—yet everyone has their own particular sound.
R.E. Seraphin is one of those names. I think I first saw/heard Rey on a Yea-Ming project (another name you see a lot on different releases). Then a couple of years ago, I just kinda sank in with the lowkey AM radio feels delivered by “Argument Stands”, from Seraphin’s 2024 Fool’s Mate, in its under-three-minute runtime. That purposeful, underperforming bassline that just snickerdoodles around compositional corners. Yeah, just luvin’ those schelprock mellow vibes, and with that tagline of horns too? RE Seraphin got that production thang workin’, for sure.
This double reissue of 2020’s Tiny Shapes and A Room Forever on his Take A Turn imprint serves like a mystery going backward, investigating this artist’s past, peeking around corners, seeing a throughline that connects to earlier earworms.
“Fortuna” is a bit more aggressive and upbeat, but still does this little inharmonic on the lead guitar lines, rendering it catchy, getting under the skin. Those nosediving guitar tones with Seaphin’s sing/hum delivery make “Hear Me Out” yearn for the result of a chance meeting. Pardon my gushing over the guitar parts, but Owen Adair Kelley is doing things, making the guitar talk in a mouth full of marbles type of way. That’s impressive.
I’m even more moved by Rey’s detached, cool delivery system and professional chord play on the great-sounding “Leave Me in the Tide.” Our mystery is solved, these lightly baroque pop songs that do indeed sound as though they were inspired by “the greatest overlooked pop bands of the ’70s and ’80s: Big Star, The Only Ones, The Dream Syndicate, Dramarama, Game Theory, etc” give a map to where this Bay-Area jangly pop resides today. The double reissue is a great reminder of what was cookin’, pre-pandemic times, in the foggy ole Bay.
Grab it here.
DANI OFFLINE AT THE INDEPENDENT, FEBRUARY 13
Dani Offline has her debut LP Lover’s Discourse on the horizon for 2026, which is poised to be a breakout year for the songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Sharing stages with the likes of Madison McFerrin, Braxton Cook, and Kiefer will lead to a glow-up, sharpen your performance steel. That’s factual data. But this budding young artist, a transplant from Birmingham, Alabama, possesses ethereal energies that navigate songs through real-world issues, a feat only a few can achieve so early in their career. She’s opening for Venna at Cafe du Nord, but performing, casting a spell on us all, as if she’s the headliner. Get in on the upside, people.
Grab tix here.
FIRST ANNUAL NICK MEDVEDEFF MEMORIAL FUNDRAISER CONCERT AT KILOWATT, SAT/7
When journalist Will Reisman started his own site Broken Dreams Club, he was panicky.
All the Negative Nancy voices writers endure in their heads started running through his ol’ noggin. Will people read it? Will he have access to the same caliber of artists he previously interviewed for SF Examiner and SF Weekly? Out of all the friends and professional contacts who gave him assurances, his buddy Nick Medvedeff was first in line. Reisman and Medvedoff even started plotting a music festival that would draw on the best ideas from Noise Pop and Treefort Fest, and could be held at all their favorite spots like as Thee Parkside, Bottom of the Hill, and The Independent. Medvedoff stayed locked in on the concept, even when he became housebound while fighting his stage 4 colon cancer.
On March 14, 2025, his fight ended, leaving behind his wife Silvia and their precious daughter Aurora
Reisman and friends will honor his memory by hosting the first annual Nick Medvedeff memorial fundraiser concert at Kilowatt on February 7, featuring performances by Luke Sweeney, Lucky, and Torpedo Wharf.
“One of Nick’s great joys was going out and seeing live music, so a fundraiser concert just felt like a natural way to recognize and honor him. He was full of life, always up for a good time and loved being surrounded by friends, so I truly think this is how he would want to be remembered” stated Reisman. “We are beyond grateful to have Luke Sweeney, Lucky, and Torpedo Wharf playing this show and I know Nick’s wife Silvia is really looking forward to enjoying this event with friends and family. This will be a great night to celebrate and support local musicians, raise some money for good causes, and, most importantly, keep Nick’s memory alive.”
Ticket sales will benefit Aurora’s college fund and UCSF’s Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Program. Posters designed by Galine Tumasyan will also be for sale, with proceeds further benefiting those two causes. Truly, one of those special SF events worth your time.
Grab tix here.
XIU XIU, XIU MUTHA FUCKIN’ XIU: VOL. 1 (POLYVINYL)
Here’s what my text chain always reminds me: my Mission hipster friends, record enthusiasts, and foodies will never give up the ghost. Ever. They stay engaged and come alive when great tunes and burritos arrive. They appear like—I’m envisioning Homer Simpson in reverse, lurching forward through that mysterious bush. My notifications always include the detail I need, like when I’m missing guacamole and such. After 11pm, it’s good to know.
One friend hit me with the Xiu Xiu Talking Heads cover “Psycho Killer”, and then she was gone like a late-night 14 Mission Ghost bus. I immediately understood her swift-and-squirrely tactics.
On it, Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo, and David Kendrick blend and reshape classics, much like Theo Parrish when he remixed disco tracks with his edgy “Ugly Edits “series. Both have the kind of disruptor energy that rearranges your perspective, bequeathing old art new ideas to ponder.
Xiu Xiu uses pots and pans drummingly, run through a midnight-market-type keyboard wonderwheel of frenzy. Vocals are delayed, paused, processed, and feel quite unwell. Cue up the Quentin Tarantino movie clip, because this track is perfectly suited for the director’s vibe. The word “genius” gets overused, and I’ll overuse it here.
This cover is incredibly unhinged, especially for a song that already carries a sense of unease.
However, Xiu Xiu is not limited to one style. They take “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways and transform it in a chaotic, noise-filled interpretation. Rather than a straightforward reworking, it feels more like loosening the song’s screws and turning it into an intermission alert for a John Waters movie. Ooh boy, Xiu Xiu breathes new life into it with their mischievous, playful trickery.
Pick the album up here.
