Dear readers
Noise Pop Festival 18 is upon us in less than week and it is chock-full of the best and brightest from San Francisco and beyond!! This year's festival will run from Tuesday February 22 through Sunday the 27th and signals the beginning of "festival season". As an attendee of the very first Noise Pop show in 1993, one glorious night at SF's Kennel Club (now the Independent) with Bitchcraft, Carlos, Corduroy, The Mieces, Overwhelming Colorfast, and surprise guests The Fastbacks, I have watched the evolution of a "DIY" one-off show grow into a weeklong, citywide (and Oakland's Fox Theatre) musical playground. The early
incarnations of this festival were focused primarily on celebrating the local music scene but soon grew to be the forebearer for the ubiquitous proliferation of musical festivals all over the country. The festival in years past has had "industry panel discussions",
film,
art, and
cultural components. In fact, this year will mark the premiere of a documentary on Noise Pop itself entitled, "
This is Noise Pop". This year's festival seems to have gotten back to its core mission of highlighting local talent with some heavy-hitting national headliners.
Yo La Tengo,
Ben Gibbard,
Dan Deacon,
Best Coast,
How To Dress Well, and indie legends
Versus top bills at some of SF's best musical venues. Consider this post to be a supplement to the
"What Duvet Said...About Music" podcast spotlighting Noise Pop. Local acts that are sure to raise their profile after the festival and some of my personal picks are:
The Stone Foxes,
The Soft Moon,
K Flay,
Dominant Legs,
Royal Baths,
Grass Widow, and
Young Prisms - to name too few of the amazing talent on display. For a full look at the schedule and the various venues these performers can be seen at go
here. The original premise for Noise Pop focused primarily on bands that fit the festival namesake but over the years has come to represent the incredible diversity of the indie music scene. Rather than breakdown each band with tired descriptors and well-worn labels like: post-apocalyptic, high-energy, sultry, experimental, seminal, lo-fi, intelligent, and my favorite, BUZZY! Truth be told, all those words apply to this year's bill but I'll let you apply them to the bands of your choice. I will simply, "show and not tell". Below is some eye candy to get you in the mood from Noise Pop participants past and present...
Yes, that is Ron Jeremy and Overwhelming Colorfast RULED!!!!....
No video for this but worth listening to this band who played Noise Pop 1994 by the name of Tina Age 13. If they came out today Pitchfork and the rest of the blogs would be fawning all over them. Believe that!
Creeper Lagoon should have been HUGE! Their album
I Become Small and Go is a must for anyone who appreciates the spirit of "Noise Pop"...
Action Slacks made their Noise Pop debut in 1996...
Imperial Teen, great band, great festival and the last one to be almost exclusively local...
GBV make their first appearance in 1999 and the festival continues to grow, featuring more national acts.
In 2000 Earlimart plays the festival which expands to Chicago and includes panels and films...Members have since teamed-up with multi-time performer Jason Lytle of Grandaddy to form Admiral Radley. Admiral Radley will headline the Bottom of the Hill on Wednesday the 23rd...
The White Stripes headline the Great American Music Hall in 2001...
Modest Mouse help celebrate the 10 year anniversary which also featured a set by John Doe (X) and Neko Case...
Cat Power plays in 2003...
Film School plays in '04 and also headlines and Cafe Du Nord on Thursday, February 24th this year...
Local favorite Kelley Stoltz has had a huge influence on many of the bands that want to sound like Brian Wilson...
Matt and Kim play in '07 in a festival that has now begun to feature comedy?
2008 brings in more "dance" indie rock like MSTRKRFT and Wale...
St. Vincent plays the festival in '09...
Best Coast was an opener last year and is co-headlining with Wavves at the Regency Theatre on Saturday night February 26th...
How To Dress Well is one of the more "buzzy" bands to headline this year's Noise Pop. Their show with Dominant Legs at Cafe Du Nord is already sold-out...
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