San Francisco Voice

O’Reilly’s is just one of San Francisco’s Irish pubs but it’s the one that really puts its name out there.  On St. Patrick’s Day, the North Beach location puts on a block party that isn’t to be forgotten.  And in May, they celebrate with all day drinking, music and shenanigans at this party on the Fort Mason lawn.
The details:

The festival starts at noon and goes until 7 pm on May 19, 2007.
It costs $15 in advance through www.SnagTickets.com or $19 at the gate on the day of.
There will be food, drinks and raffles galore so plan to have lots of …read more

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The two girls in this video don’t do anything particularly out of the ordinary but there’s something in the look in their eyes that makes this clip totally scandalous.  It’s a quick video of a Kelly Clarkson sing-a-long at the SoMA dance club, Arrow.

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Venue: GRANT AND GREEN
Address: 1371 Grant Ave. @ Green St.
Neighborhood: North Beach
Types of bands that play here:  Depends on the night; blues / jazz, pop / rock, instrumental, lots of cover bands
How often there’s live music: ~ 4x / week
Points given for:  No cover; casual crowd; good weeknight but great weekend music; great exposure to local bands
Points taken away because: If there’s any sort of crowd, it takes forever to get a drink; small stage can limit the intensity of some bands when playing here
Overall: The Most Kissed Music Journalist thinks making out in the corner of this bar is …read more

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Venue: HEMLOCK TAVERN
Address: 1131 Polk Street between Sutter and Post
Neighborhood: “Polk Gulch” according to the website, although everyone I know agrees that it’s “that neighborhood between Russian Hill and The Tenderloin”
Types of bands that play here:  Alternative … not in the sense of the music genre “alternative” but in the sense of “hm, familiar to something I know but a bit different”; example: an upcoming show by a faux French band and a weekly “Punk Rock Sideshow”.
How often there’s live music:  Almost every night of the year, baby!
Points given for:  Really interesting mixture of people in the crowd as well …read more

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Venue: GIORDANO BROS.
Address: 303 Columbus Ave. @ Broadway
Neighborhood: North Beach 
Types of bands that play here:  Jam Bands, check out JamBase for schedule
How often there’s live music:  5 nights / week
Points given for:  Great neighborhood bar feel in a terrific neighborhood, no cover, good for discovering local music
Points taken away because: can get jam packed; JamBase isn’t kept up-to-date about who is playing
Overall: The “most kissed music journalist” would be happy to get kissed here
Giordano Bros. is a San Francisco venue which doesn’t always make the list of those venues that you should visit if you’re looking for live music in …read more

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I don’t actually know how it is possible that I managed to get this far along in my profile posts of San Francisco’s neighborhoods without getting around to mentioning The Castro.  It is the first neighborhood in San Francisco where I got out to enjoy the nightlife and it is one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city, for both day and night activity.  Although, now that I think of it, maybe it makes sense that I missed mentioning The Castro.  Although it’s an area I love, it’s not one that I get up to all that often, and so …read more

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Venue: RED DEVIL LOUNGE
Address: 1695 Polk Street at Clay
Neighborhood: Russian Hill, more or less
Types of bands that play here:  looks like a range, including a decent amount of local stuff, some bigger names and non-band events like the burlesque show I saw (see below)
How often there’s live music:  3 – 5 nights per week
Points given for:  super sexy ambience with red and gold interior and that loungey lighting, diversity of bands that play here, intimacy of setting, strength of the drinks
Points taken away because: intimacy is good but small can be bad depending on the band
Overall: a yes, yes, yes …read more

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Today’s San Francisco YouTube video is for adults only.  It doesn’t show any risque behavior but it does offer a brief glimpse into the world of San Francisco’s Nob Hill Adult Theatre, the gay strip joint that’s open twenty four hours a day right in the heart of San Francisco.

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I once explored the situation of city and neighborhood nicknames in San Francisco, discovering that it’s okay by locals to hear you say San Francisco, SF or “The City” but not San Fran or “Frisco”.  I also learned through the ensuing online discussion that SoMA is an okay phrase for the South of Market neighborhood, although there was distinct disagreement as to whether it was more locals or more tourists who called it that.  I never really got any answers, but I’m content to call it SoMA myself – and I’m happy to spend my time there.
The SoMA neighborhood is …read more

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We hesitated at the door of the North Beach sandwich shop, not because we were unsure if it was the right venue (the throbbing music welcoming us in confirmed that for us), but because we weren’t sure how to make our way through the crowded door.  Giordano Bros. is a hole-in-the-wall spot on the west side of Columbus Street, a place I’ve passed hundreds of times without ever noticing it, and the entrance was partially blocked by one of the members of Resin, the seven-piece trip-hop funk band that was already rocking out upon our arrival.
We immediately realized that the …read more

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