The Blog

On Saturday, Young Alterations —  a band I'm in with my friends Cristelle, Rob, and Phil  —  played our first show at Everybody Bikes in the Inner Sunset. Before I get to the show, a little backstory...

Young Alterations has been a band for a few months, and it was never really our intention to play shows. In fact, we didn't have a name until about a month ago (If you're ever walking on Mission and 19th, you may see the inspiration for our name). The project was just something fun and creative to do together on Tuesday nights. But our singer-bassist Cristelle is about to leave us for grad school, and we decided we had to play at least a show or two before she left San Francisco. We agreed that we wanted a small, low key, friendly venue for our devirginizing show, like a house party or a dive bar. We were stoked when our friend Grayson, who works with Everybody Bikes, said the bike shop would be into having us play there. It was exactly the type of vibe we were going for. We decided to invite a couple of our musical friends (and practice space compadres), Domestic Electrics and The Allergies, to join the bill.

That tall guy on the right in the photo above is Everybody Bike's owner, Mike. He helped us set up the store's back storage space for the show and pretty much let us do our thing. To top it off, one of his friends provided everyone with free home brew (three kegsfull!). The show started relatively early since we were in a residential area, but because our closest neighbor was a bar next door, Terry's Lodge, we weren't too worried about getting noise complaints. During our sound check, some people from the bar came by to see what we were up to, and instead of yelling at us to keep it down, they were encouraging us to party it up. 

Domestic Electrics played an acoustic set. Ramona the dog was one of my favorite show-goers that night. Below are a few more (human) friends who came to support us.

Young Alterations played next.

And last but certainly not least, The Allergies played a very loud and energetic set. I'm happy to report that Ramona the dog was tucked away during this time, to protect her ears!

Last month, I blogged about my visit to Anzfer Farms' Outer Richmond workshop, where I had the chance to chat with founders Joseph Ferriso and Jonathan Anzalone about their work. I was able to sneak a peek at how they create their beautiful wood furniture and functional sculptures and I snapped a bunch of photos. The space was a work of art itself — a melange of woodworking tools, saws, paints, sandpaper, and a couple adorable dogs. 

We discussed the idea of showcasing their beautiful reclaimed wood pieces in The Bold Italic Shop. Jonathan and Joseph created a Fragment Magnet Set to be offered exclusively through us. The set includes five magnets handcrafted from Ocean Beach driftwood and packaged in a stamped fabric pouch.

We couldn't resist selecting a handful of Anzfer Farms' Fragment Lamps to offer in our Shop as well. These delicate lamps are also crafted from found wood, and are designed to accentuate the natural character of the individual driftwood fragments. No two Fragment Lamps are the same. 

Anzfer Farms' Fragment Magnet Sets are exclusively available at The Bold Italic Shop for $16. Fragment Lamps are also on sale with us, for $75 each.

During a Saturday romp through Golden Gate Park, I came upon the end of a performance by a duo called, Tribal Baroque and was blown away by the intensity and beauty of their music. 

I could hear the faint sounds of classical music coming from within the pedestrian tunnel that connects JFK Drive to The Conservatory of Flowers. 

As I got closer, I could tell that I was not hearing traditional classical music but rather, a fusion of classical violin mixed with tribal chanting.

I walked down the stairs into the tunnel where the sounds of the violins and voices became amplified, filled the space and leaked out of the tunnel into the garden of the Conservatory.

Lila' Angelique

S.K Thoth, who you might know about from Sarah Kernochan's 2001 Academy Award-winning short documentary about his life.

The duo will be performing in the pedestrian tunnel through June, usually from around 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

Here is a short video of the perfomance that I saw:

All photos by Sasha Gainor

Image Courtesy of AMG

The Phoenix Hotel was such a fun spot for parties back in its heyday. I remember in the late '90s, the hotel was a hub for press junkets (The Strokes did their first SF one there); private performances (does anyone remember Robbie Williams ?); and it was the place all the cool bands seemed to stay when they toured through town. Sure, it was a little LA — but it was LA done San Francisco style. 

In recent years the Phoenix kinda lost its cachet. Other than the occasional DJ pool party, it stopped being such a landing spot for pop culture fixtures. I’ve always had a soft spot for the retro-looking hotel, though, so I was excited to hear that there’s a big event being launched there this week — ArtPadSF — and I’m even happier to see that some awesome local institutions are taking part in this soiree.  

Image by Jeff Charbonneau and Eliza French courtesy of Robert Berman/E6 Gallery

ArtPadSF is an independent art fair that opens tonight with a big party from 7-11 p.m. Then you can sleep off your hangover and return Friday through Sunday to browse contemporary and emerging art curated by some of my favorite galleries, including Guerrero Gallery, 111 Minna, Galeria de la Raza, Ever Gold Gallery, Triple Base, White Walls, Unspeakable Projects, and more. There’s some creative programming during ArtPadSF too. They’re hosting panels on street art and contemporary photography, but the big deal sounds like it’s happening Saturday, with “splashy, synchronized, and sculptural performance actions” in the pool starting at 3 p.m. and a secret installation party from Ever Gold in the evening. ArtPadSF sounds like a really fun way to introduce (or   re-familiarize) yourself with some of the best local galleries in town. Along the way, perhaps the Phoenix will fall back on the cultural radar.