San Francisco Rock n’ Roll
San Francisco has not lost its Rock n' Roll soul, even if it's found unexpectedly in Oakland.
This past week I was house sitting in the lovely East Bay neighborhood of Piedmont and decided to visit The Uptown at 1928 Telegraph Ave – just one block from the 19th street BART station, for their Garage Rock night with friends.
Aside from Garage Rock night, the Uptown has a wide array of musical offerings like Progressive Rock, Heavy Metal, Funk and Jazz nights. All with a different feel and crowd. The space is great, with a large barroom, dancehall, and back yard for the smokers. The only downfall is that for such great space, great drinks, and great music the sound system isn't quite up to par. But the place fills up, and people are having a good time dancing and rocking out every time they have a show.
The first band started at 9pm, and I missed the first two bands completely, but when I got there I was blown away by my new favorite band out of San Francisco: Harold Ray Live in Concert. A San Francisco band with a clever mix of funk, 60’s soul, gospel, with a heart of hard narley rock, this band is San Francisco. The lead singer is crazy, wild, and filled with a kind of pot-bellied frantic energy that no “Garage Rock” bands have enough will to flaunt anymore. Maybe I would equate their lead singer to the creepy loser uncle with a thick mustache and blasting Thunderbird I never had and maybe I would equate him to a more hairy, macho version of Janis Joplin. He moves like John Belluci and sings like the devil. This band is brilliant. They threw tambourines into the crown and rocked the place like no one’s business.
You can go to their myspace page and have a listen, but you won’t find much in the way of who they really are and how they sound as most of the songs are by other people. For pictures, the band has the 2007 season calendar of the Oakland A’s – which of course, is my favorite team and makes me love them even more. They’re not afraid to play with their look or sound on a myspace – which is essentially seen as suicide to most bands who spend years perfect and marketing their brand.
According to this random mix of who gags, laughs, and funky tunes, their myspace page does list the next time you can rock it down with Harold Ray Live in Concert at one of my favorite neighborhood drinking holes (which I am kicking myself for not mentioning in my previous blog) El Rio . Located at 3158 Mission Street in San Francisco, it’s a bit of a walk from the 24th and Mission BART station, which means that you should get off the BART, walk a few blocks, get a burrito, and then walk the rest of the way to El Rio with your tummy nice and full and ready for the greatest time of your life. Yep. No matter what day you go or who you go with, you will love your life to the fullest at El Rio.
Harold Ray Live in Concert plays at El Rio June 2, and 9pm. Get there on time and don’t miss one glorious minute. Otherwise keep your eyes open for listings of Harold RayLive in Concert, as you won't want to miss such a powerful performance.
It will blow your mind.
