Thee Parkside is gone, Bottom of the Hill is going, the Make-Out Room and Hotel Utah are up for sale, Kilowatt is rising, Knockout has upped its game, Hi-Lo is trying, and The Deluxe is back. In the East Bay Little Hill Lounge is for sale and the Ivy Room and others are battling lack of interest in live music, while The Paper Mill Creek Saloon, Mac’s on Broadway and Peri’s in the North Bay are back with lighter music schedules than in their pre-pandemic heydays.
It’s old news that Thee Parkside has closed, that Bottom of the Hill will close by the end of the year, and that the Make-Out Room and Hotel Utah are looking for buyers. The loss to SF’s music scene isn’t dramatic though since Kilowatt on 16th and the Knockout on Valencia, both of which went through a post-Covid slump, are booking events full time. Kilowatt has even added cozy upstairs lounge for hanging out for special events like art shows including this one happening on August 27th.
It’s also noteworthy that neither the Make-Out Room or Hotel Utah are closing and will continue to offer live music while searching for buyers. The DeLuxe has come back better, particularly in the music room where they took out the booths, leveled the floor and made it a much better space (as seen in the header photo on this post.) The Hi-Lo is a Polk Street bar taking tentative steps toward live music, mostly acoustic. Hicks with Sticks caught a performance by the folk duo, Significant Otter. Hi-Lo doesn’t have a stage, PA system, or any sound buffering, so the listening experience is not optimal, but at least they’re trying.
Moving on to the East Bay, the Little Hill Lounge has gone up for sale and may close according to this Nosh article. The problem is money: people just aren’t showing up and aren’t spending when they do. The Ivy Room is feeling it too. Hawk Valentine had been booking some great shows there and Hicks with Sticks went to many of them only to be pleased with the bands, but disappointed by the turnout. We now have it from Glen Earl Brown Jr., who does Ivy sound, that Valentine has stopped booking his shows there though other shows continue apace.
Mac’s on Broadway and Peri’s in Fairfax had gone quiet after the pandemic but are now back. Mac’s (formerly “50 Broadway”) has redesigned it’s music room with a better stage and comfortable seating, so thumbs up for that. Further down Sir Francis Drake Blvd., in Forest Knolls, the Paper Mill Creek Saloon has reopened and is booking music mainly on weekends.
Find links to all the Bay Area places that feature bands on the HWS Calendar page on the HWS Venues page.
