The Freight & Salvage has hit one out of the park with their new facility which provides a showcase for $13M well spent.
Upgrades over its old facility are abundant, one being location which is in downtown Berkeley instead of the San Pablo Avenue corridor. This makes it accessible to BART which helps the transportation problem, and places scores of restaurants within walking distance which helps the dinner-and-a-show problem. (more…)
The Riptide, the last bar in San Francisco before the Farallone Islands, has been recording video of its bands and publishing the performances on YouTube. The result has been an extensive video collection of local and not so local bands that have played the Rip. Find them all by searching riptidesf in YouTube.
Red Meat, East Bay Grease, Porkchop Express, Burning Embers, Joe Goldmark and the Seducers, and the now-disbanded Plain High Drifters are among the locals. Big Smith and Rancho Deluxe are among the visitors. Several clips are from Anna’s Monday night open mics. (more…)
Porkchop Express - Fault Lines and Good Times
When it comes to sound, Porkchop Express doesn’t seem to catch many breaks at its live shows, and their CD release party for Fault Lines and Good Times was case in point. It took place at the best dive bar in SF’s Financial District, Beale Street Bar & Grill, where the band, not necessarily well-rehearsed or entirely sober, played without luxuries like sound checks, monitors or a particularly music-friendly room. As it’s been at shows past, the HWS Music Appreciation Team left wondering how the band, which has ranged from a 5-piece to an 8-piece, would sound with a decent mix. (more…)
After ten years and five managements, each seemingly less focused than the previous, the historic 23 Club in Brisbane is moving on and quite possibly up. It’s been a goth venue, a Russian restaurant, a few other things that nobody (least of all those who were running it) quite figured out, and its last incarnation as a Latin club became the disaster that everyone predicted.