San Francisco Music Blog

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Jay Reatard canceled his upcoming tour--including his stop at Great American on Monday, Oct. 19, with Nobunny, Hunx & His Punx, Box Elders, and Digital Leather) after his band up and left him last week.

In the words--or, as it were, Tweets-- of the band leader, "Band quit ! Fuck them! They are boring rich kids who= can't play for ahit anyways .. Say hello to your ugly and boring wifes opps I mean...".

Reatard, a San Francisco favorite whose last local show packed the kids into Amoeba for a free in-store, had to yank his mid-October dates after losing his 'mates, although his MySpace still shows dates for an end of the month European tour. Seems the guy isn't too worried about filling his ex-buddies' shoes. The same day Reatard announced the desertion (Oct. 6) he also Twittered: "So who wants to see just how terrible it is to play in my band. I mean its so so hard I promise its the worst :) Jayreatard@gmail.com."  

Now's your chance kids, so long as you're able to play a lightning-speed set, of course.

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Karibbean City, the East Bay club which bills itself as "the only reggae Night Spot and Stage venue in Oakland, CA," has been shut down by ABC, a state agency which regulates nightlife venues. Formerly home to such parties as Reggae Gold, 1 Blood Affair, Labelle, Ladies First and Third Fridayz, the club, located at the same spot as the historic Caribee, catered to a largely West Indian and African American clientele. It also generated crowds which often spilled over into the streets on weekends, and its loud mix of hip-hop, dancehall, and soca could be heard from at least a block away.

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Reggae star I-Wayne performs at Karibbean City in 2008

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As of August 6, Karribean City is closed indefinitely. A sign posted at the venue details a notice of suspension by the ABC "for violation of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act," which likely means that the club was caught serving underage patrons alcohol. Also posted is a sign announcing a public notice of transfer of ownership posted August 11. So it's looking like Karibbean City will be back, although exactly when is not immediately known. Let's hope the new owner runs a tighter ship.

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Protest Target: Buju Banton

​For the second time in three years, a scheduled San Francisco concert by reggae star Buju Banton has been canceled, under threat of protest by gay and lesbian activist groups. As reported by the Chronicle on Sept. 4 (Editor's note: and the SF Appeal in August), not only is the SF show originally scheduled for the Regency Ballroom a no-go, but concerts in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Las Vegas, Dallas and Houston (all at venues operated by AEG/GoldenVoice) have also been nixed.

However, according to a Sept. 3 press release by Tracii McGregor, president of Banton's Gargamel label, more than 30 previously-booked Banton U.S. dates will still happen. And Banton's MySpace page optimistically lists a Oct, 10 SF date, with venue "TBD."

Just as was the case in 2006, when a scheduled Mezzanine show was eventually moved to Berkeley's Shattuck DownLow after LGBT activists threatened to protest the venue, Banton's controversial song "Boom Bye Bye" remains at the center of the storm.

​Depeche Mode announced that they have to cancel tonight's concert at Shoreline after doctors told front man Dave Gahan that he's gotta, ahem, enjoy the silence for a couple days. The singer can't go on belting them out night after night like he used to, and has been put on strict 48 hour rest. For those hoping to see the band once Gahan heals, you're gonna have to travel to another city. "Because of their busy schedule, a new Bay Area date will not be rescheduled this year," notes the group's Web site.

For his part, Gahan sounded a little sad to have to skip the Bay Area. "San Francisco is one of the most important cities to the band and we are devastated that we have been forced to cancel this date," he said in a statement on the site.

As for opening act Peter Bjorn and John, well, we're sure they're a little bummed too. As of this morning  there was no change to their tour schedule, but if you're a fan I'd check back to see if they move the gig somewhere else last minute.

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Get Well Soon, Mike

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Our thoughts and prayers go out to musician Michael Franti, who was hospitalized last week for a ruptured appendix and had to undergo emergency surgery. The timing was especially poor, as it forced Franti's band Spearhead to bow out of four scheduled concert appearances, including the Wanderlust Festival in Lake Tahoe and the Greek Theatre in Berkeley.

In a press statement, Franti said "It's with deep emotion that I will not be able to perform over the next week or so, especially in places like Calgary, Vegas, Tahoe and Berkeley, where I've been fortunate enough to share my music with so many people over the years. I'm sorry to disappoint, but I will be back as soon as possible. Big love."

Franti is reportedly recovering from the procedure and in good spirits. He's hoping to get back on the road by July 31st for a scheduled concert appearance in Tulsa, OK. Speahead's next Bay Area date is September 12, when they headline the Power to the Peaceful Festival. By the way, according to a source at Franti's management company, Guerilla Management, this year's PTTP will feature Jamaican legends Sly +Robbie, with a certain female Canadian singer-songwriter known for a big hit which rhymes with "Glue Outta Snow" "90% confirmed."

Rebirth Brass Band

Citing economic difficulties due to increased costs, Sunset Promotions, the organizers of the North Beach Jazz Festival have announced this year's event--scheduled to be the fifteenth annual--has been postponed until 2010.

"This is gonna be a big deal for a lot of people," said Sunset's Robbie Kowal. Though he would have been happy to break even, last year's festival lost money, he said, and this year, the prognosis looked even grimmer. Sunset had hoped that corporate sponsors would come to the rescue, and city officials did everything they could to match up NBJF with a willing suitor but, alas, there was no knight in a shiny three-piece Brioni willing to take the plunge in this current economic downturn. "There is no Getty batphone," Kowal admits. The bottom line, he says, is, "we couldn't afford it."

In a statement scheduled to be released to the press later today, Sunset's John Miles said, "We looked at this from every angle and met with all stakeholders, including the Mayor's office, Supervisor Chiu's office, the SFPD and the Rec. and Park Department... Despite everyone's good-faith efforts, the numbers simply didn't add up. We need to go back to the drawing board."

Hard Truth: T-K.A.S.H. in Australia

Though the postponement of the Hard Truth Soldiers Tour--featuring acts signed to Paris' Guerilla Funk label, along with national artists like Pete Rock, dead prez, Planet Asia, Immortal Technique and Kam--was disappointing, that hasn't deterred the indie label from releasing new music.

Yesterday, May 12, the new album from Paris/Boots Riley protégé (and KPFA radio host) T-K.A.S.H. was released. I've yet to hear the album--maybe my review copy was also postponed--but it has one of the cleverest double-entendre titles in quite a while: Brains All Over the Streets. Ostensibly a reference to the bloody splatter of gray matter resulting from inner-city violence, it actually refers to the turf-oriented intellectualism T-K.A.S.H. specializes in. Listen to a preview here.

Guerilla Funk also announced another new release, the Hard Truth Soldiers Vol. 2 compilation, which features tracks from Paris, T-K.A.S.H., Jasiri X, NyOil, Truth Universal, and the Conscious Daughters. A preview can be heard here. As for the tour, Guerilla Funk's official statement is "we're optimistic that this will be the tour to beat this summer. The revised schedule will be made public shortly."  For updates, check the Guerilla Funk website or click here.

Maybe Next Time: Cornelius

If you were planning on attending Japanese avant-funksters Cornelius' May 12 show at the Fillmore, we've got bad news for you: Cornelius' 2009 North American tour with Deerhoof, which included dates in Mexico City and Guadalajara as well as San Francisco and Santa Cruz, has been canceled, due to "swine flu concerns and increased government travel restrictions."

As noted on Cornelius' MySpace page, "big bummer."

Postpone the Revolution: Paris

Guerrilla Funk recordings announced today its ambitious 45-city Hard Truth Soldiers Tour -- scheduled to hit SF's Mezzanine May 2nd -- has been postponed.

Tour booker Gina Gallo confirmed that the SF date has been canceled, and, while disappointed at the news, she says the tour will continue as planned with new dates "a little later this summer." For updates and more info, click here.

Too Short performing at Geoffrey's Inner Circle

Last week, Geoffrey Pete--long a well-respected figure in Oakland's African-American community, and the owner of Geoffrey's Inner Circle nightclub--held a press conference outside Oakland City Hall to announce he's considering filing a complaint against the OPD for unlawful harassment.

Pete has previously raised allegations that OPD and former mayor Jerry Brown instituted a crackdown on Oakland's African-American clubs in the downtown area--which happened to coincide with Brown's plan to bring 10,000 new residents to the city and a surge of development. On Tuesday, he charged the police with "extortion practices as it relates to the closing of my establishment" and threatened a lawsuit unless mediation occurs.

As reported on the front page of the Oakland Post  (both the Chron and the Trib neglected to cover the press conference), Pete claims that OPD gave "false information" to the manager of a parking garage the nightclub used, which led to the cancellation of Pete's contract, and refused to allow him to hold an event at Sweet's Ballroom unless 18 police officers were hired to provide security, at a cost of $7,600 (OPD later dropped the number of officers needed to six, which Pete also refused to pay for, and the party was shut down when officers blocked the entrance).

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Town Bizness

Too $hort's highly-anticipated supergroup Town Bizness  has canceled their scheduled March 27 show at the Grand Ballroom. No official reason was given for the cancellation, and the show has yet to be rescheduled. A representative for $hort's label Up All Nite, reached over the phone from Atlanta, said he didn't know anything about any Bay Area shows, adding that he was waiting to talk to the legendary rapper about the Town Biz project. Another source with close ties to the SF live music scene speculated the main reason for the cancellation was a competing concert by Lil' Wayne, T-Pain, and Gym Class Heroes, also scheduled for March 27, at San Jose's HP Pavilion.

Scott Allen

He's No B.B. King: Tommy Cast

As the Merc's Jim Harrington reported yesterday, not has only the 2009 SF Blues Festival has been canceled, but "that cancellation could turn out to be permanent." Harrington quotes event organizer Tom Mazzolini as saying, ""we may well have seen the last San Francisco Blues Festival," which certainly sounds like a death knell for the venerable American genre, at least as far as San Francisco's once-popular festival is concerned. SFist also has a brief report on the cancellation of the annual event, which was first held in 1973.

One of the obvious problems is that, unlike jazz festivals, which have been able to tap into younger artists, world music, electronic fusion groups, turntablists, and other non-traditional acts, blues festivals have had no such influx of new blood or creative innovation. To make matters worse, as Harrington points out, "most of the big legends have died."

Major suckage alert: There we were, all excited to capture on camera the epic battle that was bound to ensue between intergalactic pests and rogue cans of chicken noodle soup. But no, the characters from the Kaiju Universe will not be fighting it out at the Regency Center on Wednesday, Nov. 19th, as planned. Goldenvoice's Director of Marketing Joan Rosenberg tells us the bout's been canceled and refunds are available from wherever you bought the tix. Yes, we're bummed too. --Janine Kahn