30th anniversary edition of Noise Pop takes over San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO -- Marking its 30th year in 2023, the annual Noise Pop Festival kicks off Monday with a packed schedule of local and national indie-rock acts that runs through Feb. 26.
A San Francisco institution ever since it began as one night of loud, tuneful local bands back in 1993, the festival has grown to stretch over the better part of a week with six days of music, film and art featuring some of the most respected names in independent music. To celebrate the indie-rock festival's successful three-decade run, this year's Noise Pop 30 will bring a wide array of artists from across the globe to the Bay Area.
The festival starts with a bang on Monday, with the schedule including a very special opening night celebration at Great American Music Hall including several '90s throwback acts and cult favorites like Chisel, Everyone Asked About You and a special septet performance by local heroes 20 Minute Loop. Meanwhile FIDLAR will headline their most intimate San Francisco show in ages at Bottom of the Hill as onetime locals No Vacation return to SF for an unofficial homecoming performance at the Chapel.
While the festival doesn't officially commence until February 20, a number of related pre-festival events have already taken place, including the annual nightlife party at the Academy of Sciences and a rare show by '90s slowcore greats Rex on Thursday and a Noise Pop takeover at Zeitgeist over the weekend that presented four bands per day. In addition to the busy schedule of concerts at venues across the Bay Area, the festival will also be hosting free happy hour events at the recently reopened Kilowatt and Bender's that will include band line-ups put together by noted local promoters Talent Moat and Trixie Rasputin Presents.
The festival is also sponsoring films screened at the Alamo Drafthouse in the Mission. and the Cut Outdoor Cinema including the West Coast premiere of the new Elephant 6 collective documentary and a 25th anniversary screening of Free Tibet, the 1998 documentary on the Beastie Boys' Tibetan Freedom Concert in Golden Gate Park, and a series of shows featuring rising young jazz artists in partnership with SFJAZZ that includes guitarist/producer Nate Mercereau, saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, and Oakland songwriter Satya at the SFJAZZ Center's Joe Henderson Lab.
Additional highlights during the coming week include a performance by SF queer punk icon Lynnee Breedlove (Tribe 8, the Homobiles) and his experimental collective Commando, a sold-out Fillmore show by East Coast favorites Yo La Tengo -- who recently released their 17th album, the acclaimed This Stupid World, reunited San Jose lo-fi crew Duster, a Rickshaw Stop show with rising Oakland post-punk quartet Fake Fruit, a Bottom of the Hill appearance by the Messthetics -- the instrumental trio powered by drummer Brendan Canty and bassist Joe Lally, the rhythm section of legendary post-punk band Fugazi, two shows at the Kilowatt with popular all-female garage-rock trio LA Witch, a solo show by pioneering punk icon Bob Mould that also includes beloved SF songwriter Mark Eitzel, North Bay pop-punk heroes Tsunami Bomb and a Sunday afternoon showcase paying tribute to late Noise Pop photographer Pete Ellenby. More details about Noise Pop's schedule of events, tickets and festival badges can be found at noisepopfest.com.
