AN APOLOGY + A BLAST TO THE PAST?
Reflections on the SF scene, past and present, and some humbling
NPZ #1 — NOVEMBER 2024 — PAGE 13-14
I’M SORRY SF, I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH YOUR GAME
This is a formal apology letter to the Bay Area. I was spoiled by the @sacramentopunkshows instagram run by Lee Osh (shoutout) as my convenient and reliable source for finding shows. Upon moving to SF, I was having a harder time finding shows. I had also heard the SF scene was not as lively as Sac, and most shows were punk/hardcore (no hate, just more of a metalhead music-wise). In my hubris, I walked around saying stuff like “Ah man, the scene here feels dead!” For this, I apologize.
I found The List, run by a dude named Steve Koepke since the 90’s listing shows in the Bay Area. As far as I understand, there isn’t an insta account posting updates from The List, though there are various websites where it can be viewed, as well as an email newsletter. I also keep an eye on @sanfranciscobayareametal and @sanfranciscobayareapunk as well as @bayareashows [and adding @baysh0ws]. If there are other ways that people find shows, especially metal shows, I would love to know.
Now that I have admitted being wrong in this sense, I’m more careful to make assumptions. However, it does feel like, with the size of the Bay, it’s harder for shows to be centralized and more regularly reachable. For example, in Sacramento I had a car, and would drive out to the Cafe with my friends pretty often, or other venues in the area. But in SF, I don’t drive, and train rides to the downtown area are like 40 min, an hour going out to the East Bay. I would have to hear more from others, but I wonder what the relationship is between transportability and scene building.
That being said, here’s a section about the shows I HAVE attended in the Bay as of this issue:
9/28: Thee Parkside (SF) — my first show post-op (more on pg. 15), so I was looking for something lowkey, which I found in this smaller, death/black metal lineup. MORTAL was my favorite set, and I chatted with the drummer briefly. SLEGE had the classic corpse paint aesthetic, and I was pretty tipsy through VIETUS MORTUUS to really remember, and left before PISS BAPTISM to catch my train; seemingly, it’s a shared SF experience to leave a show early to catch the last train, even back in the 80s.
10/20: KONTRAS, MORTAL @ High Voltage (SJ) — I started following Mortal after the 9/28 show, even if it wasn’t totally my genre. Brought a few new friends, and we had to carpool to San Jose. By the time we got there, we’d missed the first two bands. I talked with a couple Mortal fans before their set, which was an exercise in socializing more. I was gonna say hi to the band, the drummer at least, but I backed out b/c I worried they were too busy. The venue was tiny, and I brought my film camera and got a couple cool shots. If @mortaldeathmetal sees this, check your DMs and I’ll send the pics your way!
11/2: Show for Mike Wasco @ Cornerstone (Berkeley) — covered on pg. 7
11/17: Oakland Secret — Kind of on impulse went to a punk show with a new SF friend, and met up with a high school friend, Bow! There was a vampire theme which we didn’t know about, and a film being shot? Will see if I end up in the background of it since I got tix to the screening too. RATFUCK, TERRA, SNALLYGASTER, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, DISSOCIATION (fake blood EVERYWHERE) the whole lineup was great. I’m mostly a metal guy, and Aggravated Assault was so up my ally, I got in the circle and headbanged till it hurt at the stage with Bow :) Also socialized quite a bit, got introduced to some of the bands; love to see the sense of community and diversity in the punk scene. Shoutout the merch guy who gave me a complimentary pin with the patch I got, hell yeah
The biggest hurdle is definitely traveling, but as I’ve gotten more comfortable with Bart, I find that going to the East Bay for shows isn’t too bad. Shows here I think are on average a little pricier than the ones in Sac, but I suppose that’s expected from city costs. I’ll try to stop putting my foot in my mouth and just try and listen and learn more about the scene before making more sweeping generalizations.
BLAST TO THE PAST? EASIER SAID THAN DONE
One of my zine plans was to go on a walking tour of Metallica history in SF/the Bay, and write about the past locations vs. their present. Unfortunately, almost every venue that the band played in their early days seems to be gone now.
There may be some that I’m unaware of, but the most popular that I could find online are The Stone on Broadway, and The Old Waldorf on Battery St. There’s also a few places in the East Bay like Keystone and Ruthie’s Inn (Berkeley), and The Omni (Oakland). DNA Lounge (SF) seems to be one of the few remaining from the 80s (1985 to be exact), at least according to the guy I met at the Cornerstone show (pg. 8).
There are also the larger historical venues that are still around, like The Warfield, The Fillmore, and Civic Center, but I’m mostly looking for those smaller clubs/bars that saw the moshers of the 80s. Are there more that I’m unaware of? Any that are still centers of metal mania? Let me know which places I should check out, historical or current.
Photo: (LEFT) first new patch in a while, and free pin from AGGRAVATED ASSAULT; (RIGHT) (Top) San Jose death metal band, MORTAL @ High Voltage Punk Shop (SJ), 10/20/24; (Bottom) free stickers from MORTAL and PISS BAPTISM, added to my growing collection (9/28)
