Music In March Part I

When I was living in Minneapolis I always hated the fact that there were no good shows November through March. I just assumed that no music, sane or coke-addled, wanted to be in Minnesota in the winter. Which is a pretty sensible theory. But now after living in California for two "winters," it seems like bands just don't want to tour at all in those months. I only went to ONE show last month, which is just sad for me. It was local-grown band Two Gallants playing at the Fillmore, so at least it was good enough to tide things over for a while.

Come 3/1 I was ready to rock and luckily Starfucker was in town. For those of you who've never heard of Starfucker, you may have seen the acronym STRFKR around (not to be confused with SBTRKT the London born DJ). STRFKR is an electronica band from Portland. The song they are most for is Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second. And no, I have no idea why it's called that. They were playing at The Regency Ballroom, which is one of the best larger venues in SF. I went in expecting a good show but nothing mind blowing and it by far exceeded my expectations. It's probably one of the best shows I've been to in a long time. They were really able to get the crowd energy up and get people dancing. They were dropping brightly covered balloons and confetti from the ceiling. In a very Girl Talk move, they pulled a bunch of dressed up, crazy hipsters on stage to do have a dance party/rave behind the band. In the encore they included the best cover ever of Girl Just Wanna Have Fun. If you're looking for a carefree dance party, definitely check them out.

Last Thursday I went to Passion Pit at the Bill Graham Civic Center Auditorium. I hate the Bill Graham. It's giant, in the ghetto, lacks so much personality it feels like you're in an airport hanger and for some reason attracts the kind of show that 14 year old girls show up to in furry boots, fishnets, and underwear. Yeah, nothing makes you feel older than being in that type of the situation.The first opener was Icona Pop, who just hit it big with I Love It. In preparation for the show, I checked out their whole EP and it's filled with awesome electro-pop songs.And I found out their first big thing was being sampled on Chiddy Bang's Mind Your Manners and I've been obsessed with Chiddy Bang for a couple years. Sadly, we did not make it early enough to catch them. However, I'm sure they'll be touring on their own soon enough and I will definitely catch that. The second opener was Matt + Kim, who I've seen several times and I'm kind of over them. I'm actually surprised they're still playing to such big venues since I haven't liked a song of theirs since 2008. Finally it was time for Passion Pit and they were well worth the wait. I found out yesterday that Passion Pit got discovered when lead singer Michael Angelakos produced "Chunk of Change" for his girlfriend on Valentine's Day. Talk about the best gift ever! For those of you unfamiliar, "Chuck of Change" has one of their big hits, Sleepyhead. The show was very energetic, although I prefer them at a smaller venue. All and all, a good evening of music. 

Thankfully "winter" is almost over and it's almost time for Fauxchella in San Francisco!