scene profiles

By Elise Malmberg

Part One: Indie Venues in San Francisco

If there's one defining characteristic that draws together indie bands and listeners, it's a love of great live shows. You may experience an awesome show in a less-than-ideal setting, but sometimes the venue itself can elevate a band's performance from good to unforgettable.

But audiences don't always see the other side of venues: the backstage areas where bands wait to step onstage. What happens backstage is never as glamorous as fans might imagine, but it can have a significant impact on the success of a show.

So without further ado, here's the dirt on some of San Francisco's best-known venues for independent music, from humble Tenderloin bar to elegant Edwardian showpalace, from the audience's point of view to the artist's, from onstage to backstage.

Bimbo's looks and feels like an old mobster/rat-pack joint, lovingly preserved from the days when the word "swanky" could be used without irony. The spacious (though relatively low-ceilinged) main room has a hardwood dance floor, semicircular booths, tables with tablecloths, a large stage, and surprisingly great sound. There's also a smaller side lounge where bands sometimes play, plus a gorgeous main bar that occasionally has a live "mermaid" swimming in a tank behind the bartender. If you're a girl, you also get to experience the super-cool ladies' lounge, which has a row of built-in nooks for personalized primping and gossiping.

Backstage: Above the stage there's one huge dressing room lined with mirrors and vanity lights plus a second tiny, crowded-feeling room, with a sad little bathroom in the middle. Neither room is especially clean or inviting, but at least the big one has enough drawers to stash your _____ in without anyone finding it. And you can practically feel the ghosts of swing-era chanteuses powdering their phantom noses beside you.

photo by Elise Nordling

San Francisco's indie epicenter. Located in a semi-industrial area at the bottom of Potrero Hill (thus the name), Bottom of the Hill is the best place in town to hear up-and-coming bands. You can see tomorrow's hottest new band in a small, intimate venue with a friendly vibe, good beer selection, an outdoor smoking patio, and a pool table. Some musicians complain that the venue's sound engineers mix every band like a hard rock group, but audiences appreciate the club's clear, loud sound. BotH is somewhat out-of-the-way (it's far from the city's main mass-transit corridors), but well worth the trip, and frequently packed.

Backstage: Up a flight of stairs from the patio, there's a cozy room complete with bathroom, sofa, and table and chairs where bands can change, store personal items, and get far enough away from the opening band to warm up or tune their instruments. Bonus: The bathroom wall doesn't go all the way up to the ceiling, so you can hear everything that's going on inside in clinical detail.

photo by Elise Nordling

Once a basement speakeasy, the Café Du Nord on Market Street near the Castro still has that slightly illicit, early 20th-century vibe, with a 40-foot mahogany bar and dark red walls. A decade ago, Café Du Nord was crawling with swing kids; these days, it books a variety of indie bands (including Tapes n' Tapes), jazz and singer-songwriter acts, and events like the monthly Porch Light storytelling series organized by local writers Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte.

Café Du Nord is downstairs from the much-larger 1907 Swedish American Hall, which features a grand ballroom (the "Freja Hall") with hardwood floors and a high ceiling, plus a smaller hall and numerous other strange little rooms.

Backstage: At Café Du Nord, it's a single tiny room at stage right shared by all bands. Dirty, smoky, crowded. Don't expect to fit more than three people inside at once. Bonus: if there's a show upstairs at the Swedish American, you get to deal with the backstage door constantly colliding with the back staircase door, as they're mounted at the wrong angles.

At Swedish American Hall, some of the aforementioned strange little rooms are sometimes converted into dressing areas for performers. Not much privacy, but better than nothing.

photo by Elise Nordling

The smell of vinegar and old socks slaps you across the face when you first walk in, but soon becomes almost unnoticeable. Edinburgh Castle has an excellent beer selection, an encyclopedic collection of single-malt whiskeys, and some of the best fish and chips in town (prepared in a hole-in-the-wall across an alley and delivered directly to your table). Upstairs there's a small, dank room where bands just starting out can practice on their friends and assorted misdirected drunkards before playing for a real audience. There are also literary events of a surprisingly high caliber, including past readings by Glaswegian bad boy Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting. Dark, cavernous, a bit frayed around the edges, and regularly filled with pub quiz attendees, the Edinburgh Castle is located in everyone's favorite smelly Tenderloin district.

Backstage: May we direct you to the restrooms at the back of the club, off the landing leading to the balcony? Mind the bagpiper.

For both performers and audiences, a show at the Fillmore can be a peak experience. The Fillmore went though many incarnations, from 1912 dance hall to 1940s roller-skating rink, before the late, legendary concert promoter Bill Graham began presenting concerts here in the mid-1960s. Not only is the venue beautiful and historic, with its glowing, black-lighted crystal chandeliers and decades' worth of rock posters lining the walls — it also sounds great from almost any vantage point. With a capacity of 1,200, the hall is large enough to feel exciting, but small enough to feel intimate and special. Behind the ornate balconies that overhang the main floor, there's a deep upper gallery with tables and chairs. There's also a large upstairs lounge above the entrance, which offers better-than-expected food. Drinks are pricey and security can be cranky, but Fillmore staffers still greet patrons at the top of the stairs and offer them fresh apples, a tradition begun in Bill Graham's day.

Backstage: Even local bands opening at the Fillmore for the first time are treated with respect, fed and watered well, and even given an honorary fruit plate. There are three separate dressing rooms for the headliner and support acts at stage right, two upstairs and one down, with decent bathrooms. The upstairs rooms have their own private balcony area with tables and chairs above the stage. Actually there are two VIP balconies at the Fillmore: the other one is above the entrance to the main hall, by the upstairs lounge. (Friends of bands take note: you'll need the appropriate VIP pass to enter either area).

One of San Francisco's most beautiful and historic venues is the red-and-gold, jewel-like Great American Music Hall, incongruously situated in the city's seedy Tenderloin district next door to the Mitchell Brothers strip club. Built just after the 1906 earthquake, the hall was one of San Francisco's most popular entertainment joints for several decades, complete with gambling, dancing, and loose floozies. After later stints as a jazz club and a Moose Lodge, the venue was almost demolished before being reclaimed by music lovers in the early 1970s. Bands love to play the GAMH, engineers love to mix there, and audiences love the great roster of bands booked at the venue, not to mention the comfortable, elegant hall itself.

Backstage: Beneath the stage are several large dressing rooms for headliners and support bands, reached via a steep flight of stairs and a weirdly lighted hallway. But be warned: The dressing-room walls don't go all the way to the ceiling, so each band can hear every word the others say. For vocalists, warming up with a few standard exercises can turn into the backstage equivalent of a pack of dogs howling at a passing fire truck. Being downstairs at GAMH while the audience above dances can be an especially memorable experience — the 100-year-old wooden floors creak alarmingly, as though the world's fattest couple is having sex overhead. On the plus side, there's a large, clean, multi-stall co-ed restroom with plenty of mirrors, and the dressing rooms always seem to contain an extra hanger or two.

The Hemlock is a small, intimate venue with a stage area separate from the rest of the bar. You can watch your favorite unknown or little-known band play for fewer than 100 people and enjoy $1 hot nuts and reasonably priced drinks while surrounded by the city's hipsters. Plus there's a pool table and a smoking room...everything you need for a perfect night out.

Backstage: The Hemlock has the saddest little "backstage" area of them all — it doubles as a janitor's closet. Bonus: What bonus?

photo by Elise Nordling

Live indie music has been played at this location for decades — denture-wearers may recall seeing first-wave alternative bands like Camper Van Beethoven at this address back when it was called the VIS Club. Since its rescue from previous owners a couple years ago, the Independent is rapidly becoming one of San Francisco's favorite venues. The club boasts a perfect-sized stage just high enough to see from any point in the room, plus excellent lighting and great sound. The drinks are a bit pricey, ventilation is dubious, and parking in the area is near-impossible, but who cares when everything else is so great?

Backstage: Located behind the stage, these tiny, grimy, smoky rooms hold little charm other than as a way to escape the crowd in front of the stage. There usually isn't enough seating for all the band members in the rooms, so you might get to sit on the incredibly dirty floor, then spend the rest of the night hoping there's nothing gross stuck to your butt. Bonus: From the backstage area you can access another behind-the-backstage area that used to be a kitchen, which is kinda interesting.

photo by Elise Nordling

Locally known for having one of the most disgusting men's bathrooms in San Francisco, the Make-Out Room occasionally gets really great acts to play on their bizarrely-tiered stage, which is decked out with red lights and velvet curtains. The sound is truly awful, but the setting is cozy, and you really can make out with someone in a corner without offending. The club also hosts the monthly "Writers with Drinks" literary event.

Backstage: Huh? Backstage? There is sort of an "out-back" nook or cranny, if you don't mind sharing the space with empty kegs and so forth.

Slim's is the sister venue to Great American Music Hall. It's a mid-sized club in the South of Market district, housed in a brick building with inconveniently placed interior metal poles supporting the roof. Locals know and loathe these poles — they block the audience's sightlines and make it hard for bands to use the entire stage effectively. Slim's is well-known for booking lots of great bands, but the sound can be difficult, those view-killing poles are a drag, and no matter where you are in the room, it seems like you're in the way of someone trying to get to the bar. Despite all these obstacles, if your favorite band is involved, somehow you end up having a good time there anyway.

Backstage: Located under the stage, Slim's backstage area is a cluster of three small rooms with a single bathroom and a coffee pot off the center area. Each room has a crusty old sofa, and the opening band's room is the largest, which seems backwards — but the staff is nice, and they always make sure you have enough beer.

A pretty space with a wrap-around balcony, 12 Galaxies has great bartenders, reasonably priced drinks, easy parking (for SF), and other cool bars nearby, like Doc's Clock next door and the Make-Out Room and Latin American Club around the corner. The downside is that 12 Galaxies only occasionally books really great shows, and the sound is frequently less-than-ideal. Also, they currently seem to be working several nights a week with a weird Italian-based musical pyramid scheme called Emergenza.net, which basically requires bands to pay to play, which is lame.

Backstage: There wasn't really a backstage at 12 Galaxies until recently, when they walled off part of the upstairs area to create one. You can reach it via a staircase at the side of the stage. Bonus: There's a backstage at 12 Galaxies now!

photo by Elise Nordling

The Warfield is San Francisco's largest (capacity 2,100) theater-style venue — an ornate old burlesque theater with a large balcony, lots of ground-floor standing room, and reserved tables in the back for old farts and rock stars. This is where indie bands play once they've been discovered by the rest of the world: Recent shows include the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arctic Monkeys, and Death Cab for Cutie. The theater can feel grand and majestic or stuffy and claustrophobic, depending on the night, the crowd, and the band. The sound quality of shows also varies from fantastic to dismal depending on where you're standing (ironically, the reserved VIP tables get the worst sound). Speaking of standing, be sure to keep your toes inside the tape lines marking the aisles, or you'll be reprimanded pointedly by the Warfield's hyper-vigilant security staff.

Backstage: Located beneath the stage, the Warfield's backstage area is enormous. There's a large common room with crazy murals on the walls where guests can visit the artists after the show — it's excellent for parties. The private dressing rooms (small but comfy) and bathroom (with shower) are kept off-limits to general backstage guests by a dedicated security person — a real asset for performers who don't feel like mingling. Dressing rooms are stocked with great food, big mirrors, and almost unheard-of amenities like an iron and ironing board. There's also a spiral staircase leading to the stage, but don't even think about touching it unless you're in the band or crew.

Indie San Francisco, Part Two — Bands, Burritos, and Other Essentials

Share your favorite stories about San Francisco venues — onstage, backstage, or in the audience!

–Elise Nordling

Posted June 2006

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