- Pendulum @ The Fillmore, 23rd February (Wednesday)
Their music isn't very clever, and I'm not the biggest fan of their every-other-song-is-emo style, but they're still guilty pleasure fun. The late 90s dance music from the warm-up DJ was a welcome touch.
- Kid Koala @ Mighty (Noise Pop 2011), 25th February (Friday)
Wore a full-body bear costume. Incredible scratching. Rarely bothered with headphones.
- TEED @ Rickshaw Stop, 26th March (Saturday)
By the time TEED started (around 12:30pm) I was ready to go home.
- Fleet Foxes @ Fox, 5th May (Thursday)
Nice but too sleepy.
- Adam Freeland @ 103 Harriet, 13th May (Friday)
An okay performance, but 103 Harriet was about one third capacity on a Friday night.
- Willie K @ Yoshi's, 12th June (Sunday)
A big man, with a bigger personality, and a huge ego. Played and sang a wide range of music from blues to rock to "traditional" Hawaiian.
- Glitch Mob @ Regency Ballroom, 24th June (Friday)
Very warm venue and the first time I stayed there for a whole show.
- Digitalism @ Mezzanine, August 5th (Friday)
(Presumably) weak ticket sales led to a venue change, from the large Fox Theater to much the smaller Mezzanine; the opener (Caspa) was cancelled. Even then, Mezzanine was not full. Sound problems and a lethargic crowd compounded the band's increasingly obvious frustration. Their set was less than 50 minutes long without an encore.
- Kraddy, 8th October (Saturday)
I went to try to recapture one of the highlights of Coachella 2012. It wasn't quite that fantastic but the combination of DJ and live drums still worked well.
- Foster The People @ The Fillmore, 14th October (Friday)
A very polished performance, numerous instrument swaps, a falsetto singer with a surprisingly deep speaking voice and some fancy dancing, and a dubstep/house mix of "Pumped Up Kicks" to finish off a great night.
- Soulwax @ The Independent, 27th October (Thursday)
Live band set filled with new tunes. I kicked myself when I learned that their 2 Many DJs performance was a separate gig...
- Phantogram @ The Fillmore, 2nd November (Wednesday)
Way overblown base/beat, mostly during the male vocals, which were poor. If I was cynical I'd say one was made to mask the other...(A straw poll of attendees for ear problems the following day would be interesting too). Live drums, live guitar, live singing. All the other melody is recorded. Barely more "live" than Sleigh Bells.
Verdict: Skip the show. Listen to their great records.
- M83 @ Mezzanine, 10th November (Thursday)
Even by San Francisco standards, Mezzanine was packed with tall people, hipsters, and gay dudes. Some fun dancey tunes. After about 75 minutes, including encore, "San Franceesco" loved M83.
- Feist @ The Warfield, 14th November (Monday)
Her opening four or five songs were forgettable but the new arrangements of her singles, the acapella performance from her three female backing singers, and her duet with Little Wings were fantastic.
- Wonder-Full @ Mezzanine, 10th December (Saturday)
Another fun Stevie Wonder tribute night.
- Digitalism @ Mezzanine, 14th December (Wednesday)
Digitalism returned to a busier Mezzanine with new song arrangements, less live vocals and no live guitar. "2 Hearts Techno Remix" followed by live "2 Hearts" was especially good. A much better performance.
- Data Romance @ Mezzanine, 14th December (Wednesday)
Opened for Digitalism. A two-piece with very impressive vocals; reminiscent of The XX but much stronger.
- The Naked And Famous @ The Independent, 18th December (Sunday)
Alisa Xayalith's vocals were so good that at first, I suspected she was miming. I guess I'm unused to indie rockers who can sing live! In person, her voice sometimes reminded me of PJ Harvey. A strong finish to another good year for live music in the San Francisco Bay Area (but not as incredible as 2010).
Missed due to work travel:
- Ladytron @ Regency Ballroom, 25th September (Sunday)
- Alex Metric @ Rickshaw Stop, 29th September (Thursday)
- Mike Doughty @ The Independent, 5th November (Saturday)
