NEW BANDS

MSP's Mighty Tighty Whities

There have been several attempts to derail the Mighty Slim Pickins, usually in the form of personnel changes, but lead singer Leigh Crow says this time it’s over for sure, as in really, really.

Three other bands have sprung from the MSP’s ashes. The Patsychords’ name gives them away; Roxanne Chick1, the MSP’s bassist before Lala, is a ‘Chord.  The Rumble Strippers are also new and Eden Heartattack, the MSP’s drummer, is now a Rumble Stripper. These bands will be twangin’ thar’ thang on the El Rio‘s patio on Sunday 3/12 along with Dolorata and Sassy, benefiting the SF AIDS Foundation.

The band to be named later is something Leigh Crow and MSP’s other lead singer, Nettie Hammar, have yet to brew up, but brew it they will. Daughter of MSP is only its working name.

Kitty Rose had been a regular at El Rio’s Cowgirlpalooza, at Dolores Park Cafe and assorted venues between SF and her home north in Ukiah. But Kitty and Katharine Cole, currently in The Battlin’ Bluebirds, are a persona and a person sharing the same hominid enclosure, so to speak. So if Kate killed Kit, it was nobody’s business but her own. Kitty Rose had put out three strong CD’s which was all she needed to do. Katharine Cole is on to newer things including a possible move back to SF, and a CD so dark it will make Marianne Faithfull‘s Broken English seem like a tanning salon.

PIRATE CAT RADIO SOAP OPERA

The loonies really have taken over the asylum at Pirate Cat Radio.

By way of background, Pirate Cat was founded 14 years ago by Monkey (his legal name) to broadcast at 87.9 FM and stream over the web. The Federal Communications Commission shut down the broadcast side in 2010, about the same time that Monkey acquired a licensed NPR station, KPDO, in Pescadero, north of Santa Cruz.

Apparently an 80% interest in Pirate Cat had been sold to SF resident Raymond Chen, but Monkey maintains that Chen only bought 80% of the Pirate Cat Cafe which shares space with the station.  However, Monkey also told the DJs, who pay monthly dues to fund Pirate Cat, to pay Chen, then a month later told them to pay into what appears to be a personal account of Monkey’s. Monkey maintains that Pirate Cat, a non-profit itself, had been rolled into KPDO, hence the reason for the change of accounts.  The DJ’s rebelled and set up their own account. The Golden Rule of Capitalism is that he who has the gold makes the rules.  Pirate Cat Radio (a.k.a., the asylum) had been pirated by it’s DJs (a.k.a., the loonies), but not for long.  The station and site have both been down for weeks.

Monkey appears to have fled to Europe. He’s not taking calls or answering emails though he has been sending out press releases, which nobody believes, to “clarify” things. Meanwhile, PCR defections, notably to FCCFreeRadio, have been brisk.  Talk about a radio drama.  Monkey, however true a visionary, seems to have been napping during his leadership development courses.

HAIGHT STREET HOP

The Haight Street Hop plans to become a fixture on first Fridays. Handsome Hank Valentine hosts the event at Milk Bar, across from Amnesia Records. It’s a vintage record hop featuring rotating DJs, burlesque, a pin-up contest, the Wak Shack doing hair, and a free dance lesson at 9:00.

The first of its kind was held on March 4th and was such a success that there was hardly room to dance. The crowd came dressed for success and DJs Okie Oran and Samoa Boy dipped into their wonderful 45 collections to keep ‘em jumpin’.  It’ll be free before 10pm too!

KUSF SOLD LIKE A FULTON STREET TART

"For whom the bell tolls KUSF, if not for thee?"

The skull and crossed microphones are no more.  The University of San Francisco sold its station, KUSF at 90.3 FM, in a $3.75 million secret deal to the University of Southern California which was nothing more than a front for the station’s transfer to giant Entercom Communications, owner of classical KDFC.

A haven for non-commercial music and non-English language programs, KUSF went silent with no notice to its staff, students or listeners.  The station, whose frequency was donated to USF in 1973, now broadcasts classical music as KDFC.

Protest of the sale was swift and emphatic.  USF President Stephen Privett led a meeting that packed a 500-seat auditorium, but, like a contrite bishop explaining a pedophilia scandal, he adopted a demeanor of heartfelt concern to mask a familiar message, “The Church of Rome does what it wants when it wants.  Deal with it.”  SF’s Board of Supervisors will issue a non-binding resolution that “decries the loss of the cultural and community asset,” to provide the cover they need even as Privett feeds their resolution into his shredder.  Pray, pay and obey, y’all.

And a measly $3.75M for an urban FM station!  Whazzup wid dat?

Naturally, this is going to put pressure on the greater Bay Area’s six remaining college FM stations as provosts, presidents and deans weigh educational and community responsibility against cash on the barrelhead, son.  Enjoy them while they last.  www.saveKUSF.org

KZSC, 88.1, UC, Santa Cruz
KFJC, 89.7, Foothill College
KZSU, 90.1, Stanford University
KALX, 90.7, UC, Berkeley
KCSM, 91.1, College of San Mateo
KSCU, 103.3, Santa Clara University

SAN FRANCISCO BLUEGRASS AND OLD-TIME MUSIC FESTIVAL

San Francisco’s bluegrass and old-time music festival hits venues throughout the Bay Area from February 11^th to 20th.  The festival, an 11-year-old production of the Northern California Bluegrass Association, is known for a rich assortment of West Coast and Bay Area acoustic Americana bands, though the event branched into electric, minimally, years ago.  Emily Bonn & The Vivants, The Good Luck Thrift Shore Outfit, Hang Jones, Gayle Lynn and the Hired Hands, Misisipi Rider and the Pine Box Boys, none of which come close to trad bluegrass, are among the stars that SFBOT will showcase.  The Stairwell Sisters, Dry Branch Fire Squad and 60 others will be keeping it true to its acoustic roots.   Schedule.

NEW CD RELEASES FROM BAY AREA BANDS

Four new CDs dotted the January twangscape.  Jon-Emery and the Dry County Drinkers, an edgy honky-tonk outfit from Sonoma County, has released one.   This Jon-Emery is not to be confused with the Jon Emery Band from Austin.  Here’s Sonoma County Jon-Emery’s video.

Don Burnham, the fearless leader of the western swing big band Lost Weekend, has released a solo CD, I Dreamed Count Basie Was A Cowboy.  He did it with his Lost Weekend pals and it is western swing, but why it isn’t a Lost Weekend CD is a secret.

The East Bay’s 77 el Deora has cut its third, “The Crown and the Crow’s Confession”; and Marin’s Blue Diamond Fillups have given birth to their first.  Their “Drive Like Lightening, Crash Like Thunder” video remains a HWS favorite.

VINYL JUNKIES SHARE THEIR SECRETS

The Bay Area’s record collectors keep providing us with new surprises.  The latest is Joe Goldmark’s new site VinylBeat.com, which also links to his new blog on Amoeba.com.   It has four sections, one of which is an LP Label Guide with pictures of over a thousand labels and information on when the styles changed.  This is handy when trying to figure out if you have an original pressing.  Another section features “five high-end price guides that are more in tune with the market than any previous guide.”  Goldmark, who moonlights as the Fearless Leader of The Seducers, also manages Amoeba SF, so he’s got the vinyl value thing under control, unlike the many vinyl price guides that are rated “R” for ridiculous.

Other vinyl junkies have been spinning old school Friday R&B session, first at the Jay ‘n’ Bee Club, and recently at ReTox on 20^th near 3^rd in Dogpatch.  DJ’s Samoa Boy, Okie Oran, Sergio Iglesias and Rockin’ Raul are moving on.  Stay tuned.

NEW VENUES THAT TWANG

The 50 Mason Social House is one of the newest venues for roots Americana.  They’re still working out their sound system, yet it’s nice to know they’re alive and booking.  It’s also hecka easy to get to being one block away from Powell Street Station.

The Presidio Yacht Club has got to be the diviest, blue collar yacht club north of SF’s Bayview Boat Club.  The Lonestar Retrobates play there every first Thursday.  It’s located just northeast of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, at the east end of Horseshoe Cove in Fort Baker.  You reach the back of it’s building it’s by driving through a dirt parking lot with potholes deep enough to swallow a Smart Car.  The road then continues to the left, darkly, until the club and its parking lot appear.

Beer and food are affordable, Maria behind the counter is friendly, no one is wearing a Commodore’s hat or smoking a meerschaum pipe, and it’s view is spectacular.

49 SPECIAL: 49 Special (self)
THE B STARS: Behind the Barn (N/A)
BROTHERS COMATOSE: Songs From the Stoop (self)
BIG B AND HIS SNAKEOIL SAVIORS: Big B And His Snakeoil Saviors (A’Okay)
DALTON MOUNTAIN GANG: Dalton Mountain Gang (self)
DAN HICKS: Crazy f0r Christmas (Surf Dog)
DARK HOLLOW: We’ll Meet Again Sweetheart (demo – self)
DAVE CRIMMEN: Full Circle (self)
DOUG ADAMZ: Bernardo’s Seranade (Magi Productions)
DOUG BLUMER: Sounds Like This (Ethic)
DR. ELMO: Bluegrass Christmas (Time-Life)
EARL BROTHERS: Earl Brothers (Big Hen)
ERIC THOMPSON: Kleptograss (Herringbone)
EVIE LADIN: Float Downstream (self)
THE FANCY DAN BAND: Sing to Survive (self)
FRANCESCA NAGEL: Everything Must Change (self)
FRANK SOLIVAN & DIRTY KITCHEN: Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen (Fiddlemon)
GOLDDIGGERS: GoldDiggers (Self)
HI-RHYTHM HUSTLERS: Across the Dial (self)
JERRY GARCIA ACOUSTIC BAND: Ragged But Right, Almost Acoustic (jerrygarcia.com)
JINX JONES: Rip and Run (Home Brand Records)
JODY STECHER & KATE BRISLIN: Return (self)
KATHY KALLICK BAND: Between the Hollow & the High-Rise (Live Oak)
KITCHEN HELP: Kitchen Help (self)
KNUCKLE KNOCKERS: The Knuckle Knockers (Yodel-ay-hee)
LARIATS OF FIRE: Jack Jenkins’ Last Ride (self)
LUKE ABBOTT: Take Me Home (Tone Way)
MARIA MULDAR: Christmas At The Oasis (Stony Plain?)
THE MEN OF LA MANCHA: Misisipi Rider Presents… (self)
THE MISSION THREE: Big Time (self)
NELL ROBINSON: Nell Robinson in… Loango (Red Level Records)
OAK GROVE:  Family Bluegrass Band (self)OMGG: Obviously Minor Guys and a Girl (self)
PETER ROWAN BLUEGRASS BAND: Legacy (Compass)
PLAIN HIGH DRIFTERS: Plain High Drifters (self)
PURVIS & THE STRAY DOGS: Rock the Dog Park (Special Projects)
RAGTIME SKEDADDLERS: Ragtime Skedaddlers (Mandophone)
RED MEAT: Live at the World’s Smallest Honky Tonk (Ranchero Records)
SUZY THOMPSON & DEL RAY: Hen Party (Hobemian)
TAMARA LITTLE: Coming Up For Air (Magic Wheel)
TUTTLES with A.J. LEE: Introducing … (Back Studio)
WEST COAST RAMBLERS: West Coast Ramblers EP (self)
WHISKY RICHARDS: No. 1 (self)
WRONGLERS: Jamming For Faint Praise (self)

Plus two more honorable mentions from the not-so-Bay-Area town of Oakdale due east:

GOOD LUCK THRIFT STORE OUTFIT: The Ghost of Good Manners (Heckabad)
TOM VANDENAVOND WITH LARRY AND HIS FLASK: You Outta Know by Now (Hillgrass Bluebilly)

2010 was a good year for swing and jump blues, but not so good for rockabilly bands as their shows tended to fade from the clubs.  Arguably, the local car clubs hosted more rockabilly in 2010 than the nightclubs.  Some rockabilly bands like Texas Steve and the Git Gone Trio just faded away while others like the Blue Diamond Fillups talked their way onto swing venues and others like the Mighty Slim Pickins and the RevTones took time to retool their line-ups.

The coming of age of the Hi-Rhythm Hustlers, Slim Jenkins and Lost Dog Found has breathed new life into the swing and bop scene.  Kat’s Corner, the regular Wednesday night lesson and dance event at Savannah Lounge continued to prosper under Nathan Diaz who didn’t miss a beat after Kat herself moved to the Caribbean.  The Rockit Room (formerly the Last Day Saloon) in SF’s Inner Sunset neighborhood started offering swing dancing and lessons every Sunday, and the Burrit Room at SF’s Crescent Hotel is now booking dance-oriented swing and country bands including the newest western swing kids on the block, the West Coast Ramblers.  Le Colonial on Cosmo Alley in SF’s Tender Nob has been swinging with The Martini Brothers every Thursday and now they’ve added the new and very boppin’ Cosmo Alley Cats on Wednesday nights.

New George’s in San Rafael is another new/old club that’s back on the radar.  Fourth Street Tavern used to book a band or two from the HWS Bands page each month, but that disappeared in 2010.  Nearby New George’s stopped booking bands in ’03 when it became a restaurant, but now it has a new owner who has remade it as a 1940′s era establishment with live music four nights/week.

The SF anti-fun police shut down the regular Friday night all-vinyl old-school R&B record hop at the Jay ‘n’ Bee Club because that venue didn’t have an entertainment license.  After a few months of silence, this event found new life at ReTox on 20th near 3rd in Dogpatch.  El Rio in SF became the new home for Swing Goth, an edgy lesson and DJed dance event that had been going, somewhat irregularly, at other locations in recent years.  It’s unusual in that the mix is mainly alt-rock and, yes, goth with little if any actual swing music, yet people continue to fill this niche that few imagined existed.

Hicks with Sticks expanded its radio presence with Meaty Paws on KALX‘s Why Baby, Why where we’ll be on every month that has a fifth Tuesday; the next will be announced this March.  And finally, Hicks with Sticks celebrated its 11th anniversary in November 2010.  Who would have imagined that back in 1999?

Big Vic of Mandatory Merle

Mandatory Merle features Big Vic Estrella (Big Mistake, SF Cattle Co.) who, like some exotic species of accordion-playing cicada, emerges every three years with a new band.  There’s no site, as Haggard would have wanted it, but look for their first show, which has been threatened for months, on the HWS calendar.

Plain High Smelley

Smelley Kelley’s Plain High Drifters is another band that recycles itself, usually every six years or so.  They date back to the ’90s, when they were the East Bay Drifters with different personnel yet with Smelley, who most know from Red Meat, at the helm.  These guys have been wood-shedding and playing “secret” shows for six-months.  They played their breakout gig at Ireland’s 32 on 11/14 with Les James, also from Red Meat, on drums; and two former Burning Embers, Eric Embry on rhythm guitar and banjo, and Tom Armstrong on electric bass.  Dave Janusco, who was in the previous PHDs, plays lead and rhythm guitars.  They’ve also come out of the box with a 15-song CD.  PHD Site.

The Switchbacks

The Switchbacks played the Make-Out Room a few months ago.  They’ve got a honky-tonkin’ sound but little has been heard from them lately.  Find their songs and videos, but no calendar, on their MySpace page.

The Deadicated Maniacs have that California easy-listening sound inspired by the Grateful Dead and New Riders of the Purple Sage, and they are not afraid to play stages with tie-die backwalls. Find inner peace at their site.

Jenny Lynn and her Real Gone Daddies is a new rockabilly band that’s thin in the website department.  They’ve been playing in “Where the hell is ‘Elmira’,” up by Vacaville. Jenny’s granpaw apparently recorded with Rose Maddox.  The video on “Bang, Bang” is jumpy, but its audio is in good shape and well worth a listen.

Purvis and the Stray Dogs is another Internet-averse rockabilly outfit, but they do have a write-up with song samples here.  Steeped in the R&R of the ’50s, their song samples suggest an approach similar to BlueNoteCats or The Dave Crimmen Band.

The Dave Crimmen Band

Veteran Crimmen himself has a new CD and a new book about his wayward youth in the Broadmoor Village neighborhood of  Daly City.  The book release is Wed. Nov. 17th @ Daly City Doelger Center, 101 Lake Merced Blvd. Daly City @ 7:00, free.  The release party for Full Circle is two days later on the Friday, 19th @ Abby Tavern, 4100 Geary Blvd., SF, 9:30 , also free.   Site link.

The Fancy Dan Band released its second CD, Sing to Survive.  Their first was produced in Nashville and their latest seems more home-grown, both in location and production.  This band needs a strong producer and Sing to Survive sounds like independent ears weren’t in the budget. And where are the threads?  Has the recession cut into their clothing budget too?

Valerie Jay

Valerie Jay has been low on the radar for four years while making time for her two new daughters.  She’s scaled the band down from a seven-piece to a trio with a sound reminiscent of Margo Timmins and early Cowboy Junkies.

Sonoma County’s Twang Ditty is alive and well with a new guitarist brightening up their honky-tonk standards.  It was an adventure to find them playing the Druids Hall in Santa Rosa. The Druids are a community outfit, like Rotary, Elks or Moose.  The median age of the dancers and this regular Friday night event, which features various bands, was about 75.

Also in Sonoma County news, the Black Cat, a dive in Penngrove just northeast of Petaluma, has changed hands again.  This comes on the heels of some discouraging reports of bands making less than gas money to play there.  The bar muddled along for the past few years as a wimmen’s club house, but Penngrove just isn’t big enough for identity politics.  Hopefully the new owners will get the message.  Meanwhile, live music is thriving at Penngrove’s other club, the Twin Oaks.  This joint keeps its doors open to Americana and closed to the Internet.  It takes a genuine old-fashioned telephone call to book your band or find out who is playing there.

Bluegrassers Homespun Rowdy played Amnesia one Monday every month for eight years. Now they’ve moved on as life has placed other responsibilities on the band members.  Shorter lived L’il Anne and the Tune Wranglers faded away when it became more work than fun for front woman Anne Arnheim.

The first of two DJed events is the revival of the Rockabilly Fridays in SF with a rotation of DJs Samoa Boy, Rockin’ Raul, Okie Oran and Sergio Inglesias spinning ancient R&B on vinyl at ReTox on 20^th Street just off 3^rd in SF.  This is a revival of the popular Jay ‘n’ Bee Fridays that the Grinch at City Hall ended for lack of a cabaret license.  The other features Dr. Scott and Miss Cherry Bomb playing old school R&R, surf, R&B and country on third Thursdays at Forbidden Island in Alameda.

Hicks with Sticks is gearing up for two radio shows at the end of this month featuring the latest from twangin’ local bands.  Peter Thompson’s Bluegrass Signal will host HWS on Saturday the 27^th from 6:30-8:00 PM on KALW.

KALX

Three evenings later, Meaty Paws and Jose Segue will be at it again on KALX‘s Why Baby, Why during Tuesday November 30^th at midnight, which is technically very early on Wednesday December 1^st for those who are counting.  Both are on the Internet for listening beyond each station’s broadcast range.

And there may even be a night of honky-tonkin’ vinyl, good beer and classy weenies at Rosamoude in the Mission.  Stay tuned.

The new Venues page can work together with the new Bands page for fans who find a band they don’t know playing at a place they don’t know.  Simply read their respective descriptions to get a general idea about “who” and “where,” then follow the links to learn more.  There are choices of links to follow from the Bands page (Facebook, MySpace, videos, etc.), but the one link for each entry on the Venue’s page goes directly to the venue’s calendar.  This will be handy when looking for bands whose musical styles are outside of what HWS traditionally covers.

The bands themselves have always used the Venues page to troll for gigs which will be easier now that each description contains information about the types of bands that have played a particular venue.  Plus a new gig-trolling feature has been added at the end of the Venues page.  It is a list of places that don’t book roots Americana, but probably would if somebody would get in touch.   This feature is about getting venues like Beale Street in SF and St. James Gate in Belmont on a band’s radar.

Future plans are to build a list of venues beyond of the greater Bay Area; like The Palms in Winters, the Cow Track in Oakdale or the Caspar Inn just north of Mendocino.  There really is no need to think nationally for touring.  The Venues page lists about 50 places within a 2-hour drive of SF and there are plenty more, as we hope to show, within a 2-4 hour drive.  Playing to new faces is what this upcoming feature will be about.

Li’l Anne and the Tune Wranglers emerged out of the Sweet ‘n’ Lo’s in 2009, but soon went into hibernation while waiting for a new bass player to appear.  Multi-instrumental Belle from the bluegrass band Belle Monroe and her Brewglass Boys might provide the Tune Wranglers with their bass line.

Eric Embry has confirmed that the fire has gone out of the Burning Embers.  Never the most focused of bands when it came to bookings,  Embry is likely to resurface in a band where he gets to just show up and play.  Tom Armstrong was one of the Burning Embers’ success stories when they pulled him out of retirement to play bass, but with two vocalists already in place, they never really got him into the mix as much as they could have.  Meanwhile, the Ember’s fiddler and singer, Katy Rexford, has joined the Whiskey Richards who spent a good portion of ’09 stabilizing their line-up and now appear poised to hit it and git it in 2010.

The Lariats of Fire, who were quiet during most of ’09, have found a replacement for their lost drummer and are back in action again.  And the new and improved five-piece B-Stars have hooked up with the new and improved 23 Club in Brisbane where every Wednesday night is now B-Stars night.  This provides an excellent mid-week opportunity to get your dancin’ shoes on or just sip a few and chill at this venerable club.

In club news, bars everywhere are changing hands as a result of the recession and among them are three Irish bars: the Abbey Tavern and Blarney Stone in SF’s Richmond district and the Blackthorn Tavern in the Sunset.  All of these venues have entertainment licenses, but none have managed to gain much traction with music.  Few, and least of all SF’s Irish community, seem interested in the trad side of Irish music and, with the possible exception of Cullan’s Hound’s, the Bay Area’s many fine alt-Irish bands haven’t been finding enough stages to play.  The real question is where the Abbey, Blarney Stone and Blackthorn are going with “Irish,” since all now have either non-Irish or second or third generation Irish-American owners with little or no connection to the Emerald Isle.  Of the three, the Blackthorn has been the farthest along in booking non-Irish music, but as the economy forces bar owners to seek new markets, we can count these as new opportunities for a wide spectrum of bands.

Annie’s was never strong in booking twang, though it has hosted Hank III and most recently John Doe and the Sadies, but the club has always been a force in rock and punk with a booking policy that welcomed new and touring bands.  Annie’s has also been a consistent supporter of counter-culture performance art including poets, story tellers, guerrilla theater, burlesque and almost anything remotely artsy that people could dream up for its back room.

The club was determined to keep its cover charges and drink prices affordable as it struggled to pay its bills, but according to club management, quoted in the SF Bay Guardian, the recession took its toll.  The future is uncertain, but this club has had different owners and names (Cherry, Covered Wagon).  It’s also been closed for extended periods yet it has re-emerged each time.

Sam’s joins a growing trend in full-service restaurants that support roots, often early on week-nights.  Others include Speisekammer in Alameda, Little Switzerland in Santa Rosa, and Iron Springs Brewery in Fairfax.

SF Dept. of Over-Regulation

The agenda was about some rule changes relating to permits for one-time events and minor strengthening of the notoriously weak, though club-friendly, Entertainment Commission.  This was not what the audience came for.   They came for a football toss between the pro-club and anti-club teams.  The meeting started benignly enough with Chairman Dufty providing some background, a statement that enhancing public safety was the goal of the committee, and then a few functionaries who weighed in with fairly benign comments.  Then came time for audience comments, the whistle blew and the gamesmanship began.

Neighborhood activists weighed in on the evils of clubs: noisy drunks, urine-soaked doorways and violence, violence, and more violence.  They showed a five-minute video purporting to be about the violence associated with clubs.  It started off with a fairly decent fight — a few roundhouse punches, but no weapons, no blood, nothing broken and the combatants were soon pulled apart.  The next cut showed a rather sorry fight, a shoving match really, then came four and a half minutes of people milling around outside a few venues.  Oh yes, and a pack of loud motorcycles roared by.

The pro-club forces weighed in with the economic benefits of nightlife, cultural and artistic diversity, and their fear of having San Francisco turn into its suburbs.  One speaker concluded her praise of SF’s nightlife saying, “That’s why I live here!”  This drew another round of applause from the pro-club side which seemed to out-number the anti-club side by about 4-1.

The three Supervisors listened politely and held their judgments in reserve as is their wont during factious meetings.  They’d seen the pro-club versus anti-club football tossed around enough to know that what the people needed to say would have little to do with the meeting’s specific agenda.

“What if club life really isn’t so violent after all?”

The bigger question is whether the public safety issue that is motivating the committee’s agenda is misguided.  What if club life really isn’t so violent after all?  Of course violence sometimes breaks out at a club, but it is actually quite rare, usually confined to two individuals and bloodless.  The over-all risk to violence upon one’s own person is quite modest when compared to the risk of violence at, say, schools, sporting events, public housing or MUNI.

The neighbors’ video reinforces this point. It was prepared to highlight club violence, but the best they could come up with was one quick-ending fist fight, one push-and-shove, and four and a half minutes of people milling around outside clubs behaving perfectly peacefully.  And what about those thuggish looking brutes pounding by on their motorcycles in the wee hours?  As creepy and annoying as they are, they had absolutely nothing to do with the clubs they were driving past.

The Supervisors and the club debate itself seem to have been hijacked by a handful of neighbors who do not want noisy drunks waking them up or urinating in their doorways.  These are fair and honest concerns.  But the neighbors also know that the forces of law and order aren’t going to react to that, so they’ve taken relatively infrequent and minor incidents of club violence and stoked them into an epic myth.

The pro-club forces need to change their tactics and deflate the hot-air balloon around club violence.  The Supervisors need to change their focus from legislation driven by public safety to real concerns, such as how to keep clubs and the arts they support thriving.  As for the few bad apples, the City Attorney already has the power to shut them down just as he’s done this week to the Pink Diamonds.

“The last thing San Francisco’s clubs need is more pointless bureaucratic initiatives emanating from City Hall.”

Clubs are regulated beyond what most types of business must endure.  The Entertainment Commission and the Supervisors need to make cutting the red tape around club management their priority, and there’s no better place to start than to send a strong message to the State Alcoholic Beverage Control.  ABC regulates things like the menus at clubs serving food, it mandates what tables need candles, and it regulates the type of dancing that can be done.  The last thing  San Francisco’s clubs need is more pointless bureaucratic initiatives such as these emanating from City Hall.

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.

Doors open into a spacious, welcoming lobby which in turn leads to the auditorium; and an auditorium is something the old facility was never meant to be.  It had been cobbled together inside of a soulless rectangular structure that might have been a freight forwarding warehouse in it’s original life.  The new facility is built for shows as it features side walls that slope inward toward the stage and seating that rises away from it.

The photo above shows the audience sitting right up to the stage but the front rows, which are on the flat portion of the floor, can be removed for lower drawing performances or dance-friendly shows.  As for the seats themselves, the narrow back-breakers of old have been replaced by wide, well-cushioned, tush-friendly furnishings.

Lighting has improved from “maybe” to top-notch and the sound could well be the best of any room in the Bay Area.  Hicks with Sticks walked the auditorium from corner to corner and front to back, and found the volume and mix consistent in every part of the room with not an echo to be heard.  And what a relief to find that show prices have remained the same at about $15-20 per, which is a bargain in the alcohol-free Freight considering what a similar event at a club would cost once the door and bar tabs have been settled.

Access, comfort, quality and value are four solid reasons to get to the new Freight & Salvage.  Not having to walk by the side of the stage in view of the entire audience to get to the bathrooms, as it was in the old facility, runs a solid fifth.

The big ol’ western swing band Lost Weekend seemed like a perfect fit for the new Freight.  Find their “Six Pack to Go” from that night here.