Music

Bizarro Omer Travers Serenades the Symphony

Obviously the portrait is not of Omer Travers, the man once king of Valencia Street's buskers and bawlers, but it might as well be.  Had he traded up his swag rags and guitar for a white tux and piano, well, this would be him.  The resemblence is uncanny.

(Also, we've heard a few rumors that Omer has returned to the neighborhood following his relocation to Arizona, but neither we nor anyone we've talked to has spotted him.)

[Thanks Lindsey!]

How Not to Leave San Francisco (Or Thee Oh Sees' Gentrification Temper Tantrum)

Certainly you've heard Thee Oh Sees' frontman and Castle Face Records' co-owner John Dwyer has moved to Los Angeles.  How could you not?  On December 18th, on stage at the Great American Music Hall, he announced the band was going on hiatus “for a long while,” and he hasn't let up since.

“He's been living in the Mission on 17th and Valencia, and watching that neighborhood as well as the city transform has been enough for him,” Oh Sees' booking agent Annie Southworth told SF Weekly after the Great American show. “He's over it.”

Over it. Yes, lots of people are “over it,” but they don't necessarily pack up all their toys and run away either, especially not by announcing it through their 'representation team'.

Dwyer himself must have realized he let his fuming furor get the better of himself, and quickly dialed back the “long while” hiatus as a “well deserved transitional period” for the band.  And the “over it” was a stray remark by a representative, so we let that slide, too.

But then yesterday, safely distanced from San Francisco's woes in LA, Dwyer puked up a blathering screed about the city's cultural decay. It took the form of a Castle Face press release for POW!'s forthcoming album (edited down for length):

San Francisco has long been filling up with noobs…but now we face the most dangerous, the most egregious and blandest of them all… people with lots of money.
NOBODY can square-up a joint like rich people.

POW! have written a punk eulogy to our fair city.

Evictions!
Pop up shops!
Parklets!
Specialty shops!
What the fuck is happening???

There goes the taqueria that used to kick ass, replaced by a deli with a line of assholes a mile long. “I wonder what the sandwiches are like and do they make their own salsa?”
It's enough to be the catalyst for a bad day or a great fucking song. […]

Heed the warning bell about the streets of our home being clogged with the cholesterol of normals…next they could be knocking on your door…

The whole media campaign is starting to look like a desperate attempt for his move to be seen as a watershed moment in gentrification.

However, John Dwyer made a choice.  He wasn't evicted.  He wasn't priced out.  He's in a famous band; no one was making him go anywhere.  One day he said “fuck this noise,” loaded up a U-Haul, and drove to Los Angeles—which is fine, because people do similar things all the time.  But then, from hundreds of miles away, he waved his middle finger at the city he just gave up on and lashed out at it.

Instead of admitting he had a great run in SF but he felt was time to move on, he voluntarily left kicking and screaming.  His resulting tirade was worse than pointless and petulant, it was snot-filled loogie spit in the face of community that nurtured his storied career.  And what for?  Did any of this help?

Say what you will about the Mission's current state of affairs (we certainly have), but it's not irreparably fucked.  The neighborhood has grown to have three flourishing independent radio stations, venues like The Chapel (where Thee Oh Sees recently had a residency) are opening, not closing, and worthy bands are still springing up.  Never mind all the people sticking around, fighting to reverse the vile trends Dwyer called out.

This isn't to say that I don't love Thee Oh Sees—I've trashed my ear drums to Help more times than I can count, and blared their other albums almost as much.  And their live show was always among my favorites around.

But if you decide you can't take it anymore, at least push off with some dignity. Because there's nothing punk rock about being smug.

[Photo via SF Weekly]

West of Pecos Guy Takes Over Cafe Du Nord [UPDATED]

We've been hearing rumors that famed Market Street rock venue Cafe Du Nord is slated to close in a couple of months, and now it's been confirmed.  Tablehopper reports on Du Nord's pump-and-dump to budding restaurateur Dylan MacNiven:

Based on some ABC license transfer activity, it looks like there will be some ownership changes at [Cafe Du Nord]. One person named on the license is Dylan MacNiven (of Woodhouse Fish Co. and West of Pecos). I reached out to him and he said he’s not at liberty to share details just yet, but did say this: “I can tell you that the story is not ‘Woodhouse Fish guy takes over Du Nord’; there are other people involved.” So it looks like we need to stand by on what the upcoming changes are, but something is brewing.

Tablehopper didn't discuss the future of the music program itself, but Uptown Almanac's former music editor Sierra Frost tells us that multiple bands have told her they're shutting down the stage.  A few tweets also repeated that rumor and Cafe Du Nord's calendar is light in January before going dark in early February.

Update 6:00pm: SF Weekly interviewed MacNiven over email, being told:

We are currently soliciting feedback from the community and have noted the overwhelming support for the Cafe Du Nord name and musical program. We also heard the desire for more controls of noise and crowds and can only surmise it will grow with the three adjacent residential developments. I can give you a small hint that I am a huge live music fan and that's why you see my name on the license.

He then further clarified, telling the Weekly, “I am intending for live music to stay.”

[Photo by Betabrand]

BFF.fm is Launching Tonight With a Party at Bottom of the Hill!

BFF.fm, the internet radio station that's taking hold in Capp Street's very own The Secret Alley, is celebrating their birth with a launch party tonight at Bottom of the Hill.  Sadly, we won't be able to make it because of travels surrounding overeating.  But if you're still in town and looking to escape the clutches of your loved ones, we strongly encourage checking it out.

And if you're unfamiliar with the bands, take in this hit from Kitten Grenade, recorded live in BFF.fm's studio last Thursday during the Uptown Almanac Disaster Hour:

Omer Travers Has Left the Building

It seems Omer Travers, a.k.a. Bum Jovi, one of the last of the Valencia Street Eccentrics, has finally pushed off.  Your editor hasn't seen him slashing his weathered guitar outside a sex shop in months, and our friends have noted his absence as well.  Now his Facebook profile (which features an amazing Omer selfie) says he's living in Arizona.

Some will probably cheer his departure—to say he was a controversial figure would be underselling his 20+ howling years in the neighborhood.  His litany of Yelp reviews says it all:

“Racist. Dirty. Batshit crazy. Terrible guitar player. Snazzy glam rock fashion sense. Striking resemblance to David Johansen. There are few people left on this earth who posses even even a handful of these qualities, even fewer who REALLY don't care what you think about it.” - Jason X.

“I'd like to kick him in the face.” - Michael A.

“I just want to kick him in the nuts.” - Gabe S.

“My most recent interaction with Omer was two nights ago when at 3-FUCKING-AM I had to stick my head out of my bedroom window and tell him to shut the hell up & stop yelling because I - along with most of the other normal people in the neighborhood - was sleeping & had to get up for work the next morning. The “hipster” Omer's response? He gave me the finger the continued yelling and carrying on…” - Kate K.

“He looks just like William H. Macy, except he has a mullet and dresses like a gypsy commando.” - Steven C.

“I work at a cafe and he's constantly coming in to yell briefly and leave.  All you gotta do is yell back at him.  Usually i just yell, “DAD?!” and it smoothes things over with the ruffled customers and he gets embarrassed and scampers off.” - Gavbo O.

“Dear Omer (aka Bum Jovi), I'm waiting for the gentrification fairy to turn you into a parklet.” - EDW Lynch.

But I prefer his most recent review:

“Legend.”

[Photo by Dyche]

Let Us Now Mourn Famous Death Dwarves

As you have certainly heard, Lou Reed will be spending Thanksgiving with Lester Bangs and Nico in the great methadone clinic in the sky.  And while there has been no shortage of memorials, retrospectives, and BuzzFeed listicles honoring one of rock's certifiable legends, the Roxie Theater has taken things a step further by scrambling together a whole night dedicated to Lou Reed rarities, deep cuts, and premiering “Berlin”:

When word came down that Lou Reed passed away October 27 at the age of 71, we sprang into action putting together a killer night of clips, shorts and ephemera relating to Lou Reed - as well as his fallen comrades - leading into the SAN FRANCISCO PREMIERE of Julian Schnabel's 2007 concert film LOU REED'S BERLIN: “Thirty-three years after his ambitious concept album Berlin was pronounced dead on arrival, Lou Reed reteams with producers Bob Ezrin and Hal Willner to stage live performances of the now-classic release at concert venues all across the globe. The album, which was savaged by critics upon release, was scored with orchestral arrangements and follows several characters as they experience jealousy, rage, and loss. While many turned their backs on the release back in 1973, the tide eventually turned and Berlin was even named by Rolling Stone as one of the top 500 albums ever released. Filmed during a five-night stint at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., this belated, live rendition of Berlin features an impressionistic backdrop filmed by director Julian Schnabel's daughter Lola and haunting backup vocals courtesy of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.”

Tickets for Wednesday's 7 and 9:15pm shows are on sale now.

Clarion Alley's Block Party For People Who Like Good Music Returns This Afternoon

Clarion Alley's yearly block party is, without fail, San Francisco's least bullshit street party and music 'festival'.  And for good reason—the bands are local, the music is good, the whole show is fun, it's donation-based, there are no wrist bands, and it doesn't stink like terrible Mongolian BBQ.  So, if you like hearing people bang on instruments while you're pressed up against painted walls, swing by Clarion Alley between 11am and 10pm today.

(And if I may make one more recommendation, be there at 5pm for The Secret Secretaries set.)

[Facebook]

Dudes Play Music in a Van

And the dudes in the said van are none other than Sweat Lodge, the pow wow punk band who'll be playing a mess of shows over the coming weeks.  The song itself is “Throwing Rocks,” and while the video features no such thing, it does have a steady black-and-white montage of banging on things and making quasi-cutty bangs in torn open Modela cans.

You can catch them at these fine local venues, starting tonight:

Sept. 26th Thee Parkside, $7 9pm
Oct. 1st Bottom of the Hill, $8 8:30pm
Oct. 5th Hemlock, $8 9pm
Oct. 10th Knockout, $8 9:30pm

Thursday's Tamale Lady Fundraiser Features Free Tamales and Loud Music

After getting kicked out of Zeitgeist earlier this summer, The Tamale Lady's Indiegogo campaign to open her own tamaleria got off to a slow start.  But after a new mural in Clarion Alley, a marketing partnership with Uber, and a fresh round of donor benefits added to the fundraising campaign, things are picking up and Virginia has bagged nearly $16,500 for her tamale store's kitchen build-out.

Keeping the momentum going, the muralists behind The Tamale Lady's Clarion Alley piece are hosting a punk/garage rock fundraiser this Thursday at The Knockout.  Grandma's Boyfriend (who had a killer set at last fall's Clarion Alley anniversary party), Scraper, Windham Flat, and Quite Polite are all slated to play, and The Tamale Lady herself with be on the scene to dish out free tamales.

The party starts at 9pm, with a $5-$15 sliding scale cover (but do feel free to donate more!).

[Facebook]

FILMAGE: Descendents/All Documentary Set to Make Its SF Premiere

DESCENDENTS fans have been awaiting FILMAGE for a few years now—the first documentary to ever look at the seminal pop-punk crew of nerds. Fortunately for us, it's making its San Francisco premiere at The Roxie for a special high noon showing on Saturday, September 7th.

We're sure if you're familiar with the Descendents, you're already on-board. But for those of you who like to read plot synopses, here's how The Roxie describes what you'll be seeing:

FILMAGE: The Story of DESCENDENTS/ALL follows band leader/drummer/square-peg Bill Stevenson and his “caffeinated retardedness” as he pushes his rotating door of bandmates to “achieve ALL,” his philosophy of going for greatness at all costs. Stevenson is a force to be reckoned with, proving that not even a grapefruit-sized brain tumor can keep him down. Interviews with the band, along with their contemporaries, reveal the story of a band—if not THE band—responsible for pop-punk as you know it.

We're told that The Roxie sold 44 tickets within an hour of going on sale this afternoon, so if you want catch this one-off screening, get your tickets quick (sorry Burners).

(And, of course, the trailer:)

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