Noise Pop 2014: Top Picks From The Nest

February 03. 2014 | By Mayumi Okamoto

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It’s shaping up to be another action-packed Noise Pop Festival this year filled with lots of frantic shuttling between venues on the same night to catch multiple shows. Our advice? Make a schedule, buy your tickets or badge ahead of time, and strategize on the best form of transportation to take you from place to place in a hurry in order to see and hear as much as possible (yet another instance we wish teleportation was an option!). To help you narrow down your choices, here are some of our Nest’s top picks for this year’s 2014 Noise Pop Festival.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Noise Pop officially kicks off on Tuesday this year with Lord Huron at the Fillmore. Though this show is technically sold out, if you’re able to snag yourself a last minute ticket or gain entrance with a festival badge (word to the wise, for last minute tickets, we recommend downloading YPlan as they launch in SF with the festival), check out Ben Schneider and the boys of Lord Huron. Their lovely sounds are slightly pastoral harkening back to the land of lakes, yet bring with them a sense of modernism and polish that embody their current home base in Los Angeles. In addition to tracks from their 2012 release, Lonesome Dreams, look for Lord Huron to debut new material off of a forthcoming follow-up release. Doors open at 7pm for this show. Check back for tickets HERE as the show gets closer or purchase a festival badge .

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

If you’re looking for a more mellow start to your Wednesday evening, head over to The Chapel in the Mission for Papercuts, the indie pop project of San Francisco’s own Jason Quever. Quever has created his own version of dream pop without overly saturating his sound in reverb, so his vocals and acumen for songwriting are front and center. Paired up with long-time friend Andy Cabic of Vetiver, this show is a must-see for music lovers who are suckers for honesty and a well-written song. are $15 for this all ages show that starts at 8pm.

The Fresh & Onlys have been a mainstay in the San Francisco scene for some time now. Self-described as “melodic, dark, and well-informed,” look for the band’s new album coming out this spring. The guys put on an amazing show and for , you can catch them at this 21+over show at Brick and Mortar Music Hall beginning at 8pm.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Here’s where things start getting tricky. You’ll wish you could be in multiple places at once come Thursday night with this action packed evening of music. Shabazz Palaces is a great place to start off your evening if you want to try your hand at a high energy experimental hip-hop show. Cities Aviv and Extra Classic provide support at this 21+over show at Slim’s. The show starts at 8pm and can still be purchased for $20.

Experimental hip-hop not your thing? No worries. How about an orchestra of classically trained musicians from Austin? Mother Falcon is an impressive collective of 17, and while their on-stage presence alone is awe-inspiring, it’s the band’s uplifting spirit that will really get you. This is an all ages show at The Chapel . That’s less than $1 per musician in this band!

If you’re looking to work it out on the dance floor, put on your most comfortable shoes and head to Mezzanine and seek out a wonderfully curated electro-based show featuring Com Truise, Phantoms, and Kauf. This show starts a little bit later than some of the others slated for Thursday, beginning at 9pm, so if you play your cards right, you can catch at least one other show and wind-up your evening dancing the night away at Mezzanine. are $19 for this 21+over show.

Friday, February 28, 2014

The good thing about the Friday and Saturday lineups is that there are two opportunities to see crowd favorites Real Estate and No Age as both bands are scheduled to play on both nights. These double performances should aid in your planning as you may be able to forego one of the shows to discover other soon-to-be favorites.

For Friday, lovers of darkwave will want to start the night off with Cold Cave at Slim’s. Though it’s been quite some time since Wesley Eisold has released a full-length album, it hasn’t stopped him from touring and playing one-off shows every now and then. This spring look for Cold Cave in the United Kingdom opening for Nine Inch Nails during the month of May. The familial duo of Reese Donohue and Christopher Prudhomme, better known as San Francisco’s Painted Palms, will provide support during this all ages show at Slim’s. There’s no better time to catch Painted Palms than on their home turf just after the release of the band’s debut effort Forever. Tickets can be purchased for $16.

Feeling a little more punk-inspired? Bleached and Terry Malts have you covered at Rickshaw Stop. The Southern California girls in Bleached aren’t afraid to get a little down and dirty, but they most certainly know how to get you in the best of dancing moods. This is sure to be a pretty loud and raucous show and while we always like to remind you to bring your handy dandy ear plugs with you to any show, you’re most certainly going to want them this evening. to this all ages show at Rickshaw Stop can be purchased for just $13.

Los Angeles’ NO has an exciting February planned. Not only will they play an evening with San Francisco heavy hitters The Soft White Sixties during Noise Pop, but the band’s debut LP will be released on February 18th as well. If you haven’t had the chance to see NO, the unison supporting vocals of this six-person band, catchy guitar driven melodies, and Bradley Hanan Carter’s heartfelt songwriting may be of interest to you. NO supports headliners The Soft White Sixties at The Chapel beginning at 8pm. Tickets for this all ages show can be for $13.


Saturday, March 1, 2014

If you weren’t able to catch No Age on Friday because you were too busy running around the city, try to catch them Saturday night at Brick & Mortar Music Hall. The duo comprised of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/singer Dean Allen Spunt have been garnering an enthusiastic following of highly devoted fans over the last few years. No Age is known for pushing the artistic envelope, but also evoke a sense of nostalgia back to the ’90s-era of frenetic energy and organized chaos. Cheetahs and GRMLN support. Tickets to this 21+over show at Brick & Mortar Music Hall can still be purchased for $12.

Mikal Cronin‘s show at The Chapel may arguably be one of the most anticipated shows during Noise Pop this year. The release of MCII topped a number of “best of” lists, including our year-end list as his “perfectly punchy power pop” was one of our collective favorites of 2013. to this all ages show at The Chapel are just $13, probably the best $13 you will spend this year.


Sunday, March 2, 2014

If you have any energy left over, we can’t think of a better way to close out Noise Pop 2014 than Sunday night’s show featuring two superb local bands – Rogue Wave and Trails And Ways. This show is the perfect punctuation to an eventful festival and really embodies why we hold Noise Pop so near and dear to our hearts. Rogue Wave and Trails And Ways will play this all ages show at The Chapel beginning at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased for $20 .

Be sure to give our Noise Pop 2014 Playlist a listen on Rdio:

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