The 5 Best Concerts in San Francisco This Week

By Ian S. Port Wed., Dec. 5 2012 at 9:11 AM

Categories: Show To Know

Continued from page 1

How to Dress Well at Rickshaw Stop, Wednesday, Dec. 5
Tom Krell has put up a smokescreen with the two albums he's released as How to Dress Well: 2010's Love Remains and this autumn's Total Loss. There are the silky hat-tips to '80s R&B, the quasi-crypto album covers, and the moniker Krell records under. Take our advice and forget these affectations. Total Loss is beautiful pop music, pure and simple. Of all the retiring bedroom producers who started painting with gauzy dayglows in the late '00s -- the Toro y Mois and the Washed Outs -- Krell is the first to successfully position himself within a more confessional and less pastiche-y tradition of songwriting, one that owes more to Maxwell than it does (Stephin) Merritt. -- Andrew Stout

Live 105's Not So Silent Night with Jack White, the Killers, M83, the Shins, and more at Oracle Arena, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7 and 8.
Need we say more than the lineup? Live 105's holiday show expands to two days for the first time ever, and brings in some of the best acts in modern, radio-friendly rock: Jack White, Passion Pit, Metric, and Tegan and Sara, among others. Also, electronic outfit M83, which is putting on some of the most transportive, gorgeous live shows out there. And while we'll understand if you're not a huge fan of the Killers, Saturday's headliner, this'll be a good place to give them another shot. The stadium-rock vibes at this massive Oracle Arena gathering might just be big enough to change your mind. -- Ian S. Port

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