So, I have now come across 3 different fliers for the Mon Cousin Belge record release party at Cafe Du Nord on the 17th. So lets play a game. Leave a comment telling which band designed which flier, an explanation on why, and which one is your favorite. So far there is nothing to win or gain in doing this, but maybe i’ll just be nice and give some lucky person my spot on the guest list for the show. Seeing as i don’t even know if there is a guest list, maybe i’ll just send you a new, rad, Passionistas T-shirt, or hell maybe both! - OK!
1. - The one you have seen before.

2 -

3 -

OH, yeah, leave a comment on the video flier too if you want… its just underneath this post. And I know it’s easy to tell who did what - so this is all based on why, the best why might win! BEGIN FLIERFIGHT!!

Posted in Best San Francisco songs of all time, Girls, The Passionistas, bridez, cafe du nord, mon cousin belge presents emile, world famous | 7 Comments »

There’s a lot going on this week. On Wednesday Snacks and Bran(…)Posplay 21 grand. Snacks are a Baltimore duo who tape electronics to themselves and make squiggles and unholy snacks. Not electronic snacks either, food ones. Maybe its entertaining, maybe its stupid. The I’m going to find out!

On Thursday, at the The Terminal will be LA noise devastation dudes (with John Wiese) Sissy Spacek, Death Sentence: Panda! will do their tribal woodwind punk thing, Gerritt, Jason Crumer, and Chen Santa Maria (whom I always miss, but it sounds like they’re still mining that post rock thing for new sounds. Be careful guys, a lot of miners are getting trapped these days!) . Also, there’s the San Francisco debut of Mayyors (featuring Chris Woodhouse of FM Knives) at The Eagle, along with The Oh Sees and Master/Slave. Word on the street is that the first Mayyors seven inch is already sold out despite the fact that they don’t have a website and neither does their label. Is the band that awesome or are they the kings of the ‘buy now ebay later’ scene (read: did they do a small run of seven inches and sell them to a large group of friends)? I guess you’ll have to go and find out (I am).

Friday is a total unwieldy cluster fuck of a night. There’s The Mantles and The Botticellis(record release) and The Papercuts at Cafe du Nord; Jucifer at the Uptown in Oakland; Buzzer and The Aerosols at the Hemlock; Club Sandwich at the ATA; Awesomefest featuring Girls, The Oh Sees and Port O’brien.

Its kind of overwhelming. The Mantles are solid, Buzzer features Andy from The Cuts and its fun enough, Club Sandwich has some interestingly sensual moshing that you simply have to witness, and if you read this blog at all you know how we feel about Girls. You should definitely check all of these bands out SOME OTHER TIME because Friday is the Hard Place record release party for Get Your Hopes Up

Hard Place
Easy Street
The Sarrees

4/18/2008
9PM
Smile @ The Knockout
3223 Mission St. (where misson and valencia meet)
$5

And if you just can’t wait, or want to be able to sing along with every song, or you’re obligated to be at one of these other shows but feel like you could be missing out on a piece of rock ‘n roll history, you’re in luck. The record is totally for sale on iTunes right now. Come on out on Friday and say hi!

Posted in Girls, buy now or ebay later, buzzer, cafe du nord, club sandwich, fm knives, hard place, mayyors, the botticellis, the cuts chris woodhouse, the eagle, the mantles, the oh sees, the papercuts | No Comments »

First Person Magazine has finally gone and done what I’ve been asking for. Girls, the new and uncommonly great San Francisco band, are finally playing a show! They’re for real, its not a hoax, and word on the street is the band sounds awesome. I don’t know who these FP Magazine people are but somebody should thank them!

Also playing are Yes Please, Raccoons, and Soft Hug. I checked the word on the street and nobody knows who these bands are but Yes Please are on at 9 PM sharp, so get there on time if you’re curious. We’re curious! Actually, we probably need to run an errand over at Chrome so maybe we won’t see Yes Please. But we’re firm believers in doing everything so we’re going to try!

This is going to be super fun. You really should come.
Saturday Feb 16th
Cafe du Nord
2174 Market St
9 PM 10$

Posted in Chet JR White, Christopher Owens, Girls, cafe du nord | No Comments »

I’ve been sick and busy with work and all sorts of fun stuff, but I’m back on the scene. More about that later.

Anyway, a few weeks ago Bridez, Forever, and The Passionistas played at Cafe du Nord. Bridez were totally killer. Fronted by Liza of So So Many White White Tigers and cobain in a coma, I think this band represents a different side of this girl. Unlike the intentional disaster area that a SSMWWT show is/becomes, where Liza does her best Courtney Love impression — antagonizing the audience and throwing things — while the band thrashes itself into the ground rather than actually beating out a song, Bridez is the flip side of that coin where disaster follows Liza around while she and her band mates honestly try to thrash out an actual song. And you can just about make out the song they’re trying to play — even as keyboards crash to the ground, stands collapse, and monitors are knocked over while Liza paces the stage like she can’t articulate herself — and that song is pretty awesome. Seriosuly, I think this girl has talent.

More here!

Forever were totally some kind of whiskey soaked or road ravaged rock band, the singer and guitarist looking into each others eyes like they’re in love with… well based on their sound and what their myspace page says, X. I liked these girls because they were excited to be on stage, but sometimes their songs were a little too much like later X, which is a little to straight up rock ‘n roll for me. Hopefully they can figure out how take that X influence and turn it into something more their own. Oh, and do you think they like X so much because its two Vs touching each other? Hmm.

More here!

I’m not even going to get into the Passionistas. They already think they’re the greatest band of all time. Even if I were to write something to the contrary would their eyes even be able to see it? Would their brains be able to comprehend it? I think through sheer force of belief my words would turn into praise.

More here!

Posted in LIza Thorn, Lesbians, bridez, cafe du nord, forever, passionistas. | 3 Comments »

Did you know? Did you care? I only ask because I was surprised to hear they were still around. What do I know? Anyway, I thought it was time to write about a band that Elton isn’t in and this is all that seems to be going on. From their website:

Greetings.

Maybe you’ve already heard down the vibrating tracks, but for those who haven’t: The Court & Spark has one more show for the foreseeable future. It’s hard to say that The C&S is breaking up, as we still spend all our time together, but seeing as how we’re all involved in different musical projects, it seems best to retire the C&S name for a while. We’ve had a good run and have had the good fortune to meet all kinds of wonderful souls as we’ve stumbled down the road. Thank you one and all for everything you’ve given us.

Now, put on your dancing shoes:

Friday, July 6th @ Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market Street

The Court & Spark
Kelley Stoltz
Hiss Golden Messenger
+ Special Guests
$12
8:30 PM

Check it out, if you like them or something. Its your last chance!

Posted in breaking up is hard to do, cafe du nord, court and spark, joni mitchell copyright lawsuit | No Comments »

photo by Jim Newberry

Wow, thanks again to the Mission Creek Music Festival, in conjuction with Neil Martinson and SMILE! There’s something to do in this town. One night only, from the Windy City! Chamber Strings. We can ‘t wait. Tonight Cafe du Nord! We hope it’s not sold out. Also appearing, Persephonee’s Bees and the Dilettantes. Ohhh! There’s some history there. (Keep Mike Farrell and Kevin Junior apart from one another!)

http://www.myspace.com/thechamberstrings

Posted in cafe du nord, chamber strings, mcmf | 4 Comments »