Tokyo’s Melt Banana played their final set of the two month long Lost and Found/Neko Neko tour to a packed Bottom of the Hill. Peace Creep opened the show with a two-song set of progressive punk/hard rock and less interesting banter between the songs. San Diego’s Retox brought the crowd to life with a high energy set of thrash and grindcore. Melt Banana played a solid set of their bizarre and curious style of not exactly definable hardcore-influenced ruckus.

Retox

Peace Creep

Melt Banana
Click HERE for more photos at Bottom of the Hill!

Haven’t been out to see a show lately? Well, here’s one for ya: Grieves and Budo will be playing at in San Francisco at Bottom of the Hill on October 25. Grieves‘ insightful Minneapolis hip-hop is definitely a must-see. His sound is full of struggle and intellect. Grieves will be backed by his collaborator/producer, Budo, who puts soul-inspired beats behind Grieves’ lyrics. Budo uses loops with cello, piano, and saxophones to give the tracks a full sound.

Grieves just put out his first album with Atmosphere‘s Rhymesayers label, and it won’t be long before it’ll be tough to see him at small venues like Bottom of the Hill. Now is your chance, and  we guarantee you’ll walk out of this show inspired and energized.

Minneapolis emcee Prof opens the show, and tickets are a cheap $12, so there’s no excuses.

Eager fans of Rocky Votolato and Matt Pond PA packed the Bottom of the Hill Tuesday night in San Francisco. Most of the crowd came out to bob their heads to mellow Americana folk rock. Pond and Votolato each performed sweet and smooth songs that were easy on the ears.

Matt Pond PA

Matt Pond PA

Matt Pond PA

Matt Pond PA
For a group of 15-20 Sonoma County-based musicians and music fans, the night was extra special as drummer Dan Ford (John Courage and the Great Plains, The Easy Leaves, Odd Bird) of Petaluma and guitarist John Courage (John Courage and the Great Plains) of Santa Rosa joined Matt and Rocky onstage. Friends and band mates of the two Bay Area musicians came out to reunite after six long weeks apart and to show support as Ford and Courage have recently been touring with Matt and Rocky.

Rocky Votolato

Rocky Votolato

Rocky Votolato

Rocky Votolato
Check out even more badass photos HERE!

Hindi Zahra stopped into the Bottom of the Hill Saturday night on her latest tour. Two great local bands, Karina Denike and Valerie Orth filled out the night of great female-led bands.

Valerie Orth

Valerie Orth
First up was Valerie Orth with Veronika Safarova on bass and Jeff Marrs on drums. This three-piece band was more rooted in pop than jazz with songs like “Keeps Coming Back” and “Better Then Reality.” Great songwriting and backing vocals kept this band from sounding anything but typical.

Karina Denike

Karina Denike
Filling in the support slot was the mellow Karina Denike. Joining Denike, who sang lead vocals and played chord organ was Melody Ferris singing harmony, James Frazier on guitar, Eric Garland on drums, Michael McIntosh on keyboard and Aaron Novik on bass clarinet, rounding out her vocals with jazz lounge style. Hearing Denike harmonize with the bass clarinet was a real treat.

Hindi Zahra

Hindi Zahra
Soon Hindi Zahra and her five-piece band took the stage. Composed of Thibault Frisoni on guitar, Lucille Loison on percussion and vocals, Didier Guazzo on drums, Silvano Christian on bass, and Hakim Hamadoncre on guitar and mandola, the band was a little cramped on the Bottom of the Hill‘s smaller stage but more than made up for it with an excellent set. Hakim Hamadoncre brought the house down with some unbelievable mandola playing.

Hindi Zahra
Check out even more badass photos HERE.

The boys from Fresno, Strange Vine, kicked it off right with tunes from their album, Ghosts. Ian Blesse was on drums, rhodes, vocals — sometimes playing all three at once. Toby Cordova sang and played bass as well as several guitars. One such guitar was the size of a mandolin and constructed of a cigar box; he played it during their last song, “Lonesome Trouble.”

Another duo followed, Florida’s ANR, consisting of a drummer and a keyboardist. For their last song they were joined on stage by three friends playing various percussion instruments.

We Barbarians, headlined with catchy tunes that got the crowd hopping. Lots of love was coming from the crowd for the trio.

For more bitchin ass photos click the appropriate bands: Strange Vine, ANR, We Barbarians.

Nico Vega and company brought life into a late Sunday night crowd with their own brand of heavy, driving, rock ‘n roll. They’re currently on tour in support of their newest EP, Nico Vega Covers Nico Vega and Rod Stewart.

Click HERE for more photos from Nico Vega

All the way from Australia, Art vs Science bumped their business at Bottom of The Hill Wednesday night in San Francisco. A couple of beer fountains from drummer, Dan Williams, and some powdery stuff on his kit that made clouds as he pounded the skins added to the fun. Dan McNamee took a break from the keys to play guitar and proceeded to quaf a glass of beer while playing, which got the fans excited. Keyboardist, Jim Finn, was rather animated, bouncing around the stage and doing a few karate kicks in his pointy shoes. They played betwixt San Francisco’s own The Hundred Days and Music For Animals. The Aussie trio’s kick-ass set of electro-pop had the place popping.

Click HERE for more poppin’ photos from Art vs Science!

Kill Moi, B And Not B, and Sioux City Kid pumped out some amazing sets and filled the Bottom of the Hill on Saturday with good noise and good people.

Kill Moi

Sioux City Kid

B And Not BClick HERE for more amazeballs photos!

Sell The Heart Records, the Santa Rosa based not-for-profit record label led by Andy Pohl (Snipers), showcased Build Us Airplanes, Goodriddler, and Early and Often at Bottom Of The Hill on August 3rd. The label’s mission is to help local musicians record and spread their music. Sell The Heart Records organizes and promotes local live shows throughout the Bay Area.

Build Us Airplanes

Goodriddler

Early and Often

Who: Sell The Heart Records showcase: Early and Often, Goodriddler, and Build Us Airplanes
Where: Bottom of the Hill
When: 9PM Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Early and Often, Goodriddler, and Build Us Airplanes form an eclectic lineup. Sell The Heart Records will be showcasing the three bands, Wednesday night, August 3rd, at Bottom of the Hill.

Build Us Airplanes is a rock band infused with punk and prog sensibilities. The song I connect with the most is the folk ballad “Pale Ale,” which is influenced by Modest Mouse. This four-piece hails from Vacaville, CA. They are promoting their latest record, The Pale Ale EP.

Goodriddler is the solo digital soundscape project of a very pleasant gentleman named Nicholas Wolch. Nick’s musical process has several layers. Prior to performing, he writes and records complicated electronic compositions on his computer. Then on the stage with his MacBook Pro at his side, Nick puts on a highly energized live drum performance. Occasionally he’ll sheath his drumsticks and jam out on a ukulele or piano. His strongest asset is his voice. You’ve got to hear this cat sing!

Early and Often is promoting their EP Present No Fiction, Fear No Tense that was released in June 2011 by Sell The Heart Records. The Sacramento-based four-piece plays an experimental post-rock (rock music for the sake of auditory art, and not so much for the sake of a conventional song). The music is characterized by long, drawn out tones produced vocally, alongside bass, drums, piano and guitar arranged in complementary rhythmic patterns. The songs generally have loud sections separated by softer melodic sections. These are sometimes followed by distorted electric guitars cranked to a level that could blow your father’s toupee clear across the room. The hook for me is when singer Jeff Wright sings. This kid has got some serious soul. When he opens his mouth, an incredible energy billows forth. This concert will be the second of a six-city tour through the northwest. The quartet will be headlining the night and celebrating Wright’s 21st birthday.

The show starts at 9PM and is 21+, tickets are $8.

Metal Mother
Metal Mother mastermind Tara Tati commanded the stage in a sequined top, black hot pants, warpaint, and super shredded tights. She mesmerized the audience, dancing and marching to the steady thump-thump of tribal drum beats like a sexy warrior princess. “She’s got, like, the best stage presence,” I overheard one dude say to another between songs. Though the band contributed chilling keyboard melodies haunting vocal harmonies, it was hard to take our eyes off Tati. She draped herself in a plaid scarf for a spooky rendition of “In The Bones,” had us howling along like coyotes during “Willow,” and was hopping around in a NSFW lace leotard by the end of their set. It’s hard to believe this was one of the first live performances for this burgeoning Oakland band, who just released their first full-length, Bonfire Diaries.

Religious Girls
As soon as Religious Girls took to the stage, my jaw literally dropped. Nick seemed to channel the devil as he pounded feverishly on drums. Likewise, Chris played the shit out of the keyboards, bouncing around with his tongue hanging out; at one point even busting a key. Guy brought it all together, tackling both instruments like a boss. I immediately recognized why I’d heard nothing short of amazing, glowing reviews of this band. Their sound was at once exotic and thrashy. Their dynamic set was an intoxicating blend of playful, melodic bursts and explosive fits of noise. So what if their songs don’t have words? That didn’t stop fans from singing along as the band communicated with them in primal shouts and chants that transcended language entirely. Occasionally, Chris stood on his toes and emitted a fearsome growl like a wild jungle cat as we looked on in awe. These guys delivered one hell of a performance that ended all too soon. Seriously, they killed it. If you get a chance to catch one of their upcoming shows, don’t pass it up. Religious Girls will make you a believer.

Upcoming Show Dates:
6/24 Shattuck Downlow, Berkeley, CA w/ HOTTUB!
7/3 Gamma Space, Oakland, CA w/ Zorch + Clip’d Beaks
7/4 Townhouse, Sacramento, CA w/ Buk Buk Bigups + Zorch + Pregnant + Mom
7/5 Hemlock Tavern, San Francisco, CA w/ Zorch+ Primary Colors
7/16 Phono Del Sol @ Potrero del Sol, San Francisco, CA
7/18 Pehrspace, Los Angeles, CA w/ Naked Kids + Essay + The Creepy Marbles

Dwarves

The Radishes

Pleasure Kills

For more photos, go HERE.

They were wicked fucking awesome. The set was a perfect mix of new, old and older tracks including: “God is a Middle-Aged Woman,” “I Wanna Be Ignored” and “How Long Diana” from their debut album Banging Down the Doors; “The World is Alive,” “Take Off Your Sunglasses,” “The Moon,” “Big Deal” from their sophomore album Inside the Human Body (get this album now, seriously. No excuses.); and finally “Blood Sucking Whore,” “I Killed Myself But I Didn’t Die” and “Mysterious Power” from their newly released album Mysterious Power (Who am I kidding? All of the albums are superb because Furman and his Harpoons stay true to their sound without becoming repetitive. It’s almost unreal how they consistently turn out deeply poetic, sharply observational and totally genius lyrics with perfectly matched music. Whatever, just get them).

Harpoon shout outs: Job Mukkada is how I picture Elvis being had he been a bassist. The liveliest Harpoon kept me energetic with nonstop bouncing and stage-prowling, and his backup vocals were smooth as silk. Andrew Langer appears to be the calm center of the storm, his Buddah-esq mask slipping only during a few brief moments when he grinned hugely, the radiant guitar God in him shining through. And the heartbeat of the group, Adam Abrutyn, kept excellent time and company, with Mukkada and Langer orbiting his drum set periodically like planets around a sun.

And Furman: a captivating mixture of shuffling nerdy, shy guy from the back of the class whose guitar strap just wouldn’t stay on his shoulders and authentic folk-punk rock star. A hero to the crowd of hipster squares in attendance, Furman admitted he had a cold but would ride the adrenaline rush for the greater good, and ride it he did. Even with a sore throat, the master yelper hit every note and even a few extra for the entire set. Feeling that the vibe wasn’t quite right to end on, Furman stayed onstage after the Harpoons took their leave and graced us with two semi-acoustic renditions, my favorite of which was the haunting “Pink Petals in the Gutter,” the unofficial theme of the evening. The awed silence that followed is entirely thanks to Furman’s one of a kind voice and stage presence, a modern King Arthur of rock who (I imagine) humbly did not know his own potential until he found the stage which, like his fans, was waiting for him all along. Come back soon, Ezra!

Photos by: Darren Russell

For more fun filled photos, go HERE.

Photos by Wilson Lee

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