Noise Pop at 25: We look back at the greatest moments and the 2017 lineup.
IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR: From White Stripes to Death Cab, the festival has delivered some great shows in the past
The first Noise Pop was a one-night affair featuring six bands (five local) held in 1993 at the old Kennel Club in San Francisco. Tickets were $5.
This year’s festival runs 11 days (Feb. 17-27) at multiple venues throughout San Francisco and Oakland and features more than 150 acts, including such notables as SoCal hip-hop star Vince Staples, Canadian electronic music duo MSTRKRFT and powerful Welsh alt-rockers The Joy Formidable.
And did we mention there’s also a Noise Pop film series?
Yes, Noise Pop — a celebration of indiepop, alt rock and other hip sounds — has certainly grown over the years. In honor of the event’s 25th anniversary, we asked Noise Pop founders Kevin Arnold and Jordan Kurland to take us on a tour through 25 of the festival’s top moments.
1 NOISE POP 1, 1993: “The show that started it all was really just a one-off event booked about a month out on a slow night in January, but it turned into a huge gathering and de facto proclamation of a scene in San Francisco that wasn’t really formally declared at the time. Maybe the most exciting (moment) for me being a surprise appearance by the Fastbacks.” — Kevin Arnold
2 JAWBREAKER AT GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, 1995: “This was the first ‘big’ show we did, in a real San Francisco landmark theater. Jawbreaker was at the height of their powers, and I was so stoked to book them. Fluf, Colorfast and PEE filled out the bill.” — Arnold
3 ARCHERS OF LOAF AT BIMBO’S, 1997: “This was another night of big firsts, with our step into one of the true gems of San Francisco nightlife history, Bimbo’s 365 Club, and what I believe was our first ‘national’ or non-West Coast headliner, the amazing Archers of Loaf.” — Arnold
4 JOHN DOE THING AND FRANK BLACK AND THE CATHOLICS AT BIMBO’S, 1998: “The show was amazing, but an even bigger highlight for me was having breakfast with these two punk and altrock legends at a now defunct restaurant in the Mission District the morning of the show.” — Jordan Kurland
5 FLAMING LIPS BOOMBOX EXPERIMENT NO. 4 AT BIMBO’S, 1998: “We really went for it (at the 1998 festival) with headline appearances by Modest Mouse, The Apples in Stereo and Frank Black. It was amazing to have influential legends like Frank and John Doe as part of the fest, but the capper that year had to be our hosting of the Flaming Lips’ fourth Boombox Experiment. What an awesome and inspiring blend of chaos and people and music and noise, straight from the parking lots of Oklahoma to the stage of Bimbo’s.” — Arnold
6 JIMMY EAT WORLD AT BOTTOM OF THE HILL, 1999: “This was a couple years before Jimmy Eat World broke into the mainstream, but the crowd at this show knew every word.” — Kurland
7 CREEPER LAGOON, GRANDADDY, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE AND RODRIGUEZ AT GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, 1999: “This is one of the best bills in the history of the festival. Creeper Lagoon at the height of their popularity, Grandaddy quickly gaining steam after the release of their debut, Death Cab’s second ever San Francisco show and M. Ward’s band, Rodriguez, before he was known as M. Ward.” — Kurland
8 BOB MOULD AT BIMBO’S, 2000: “Both Kevin and I were, and remain, enormous fans of Bob Mould. We consider him to be the godfather of Noise Pop. He played a sold-out career-spanning solo electric show that we watched from the side of the stage.” — Kurland
9 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE AT BOTTOM OF THE HILL, 2000: “Their first ever headline show in San Francisco was a packed-to-the-rafters Saturday afternoon set.” — Kurland
10 GUIDED BY VOICES AT BIMBO’S, 2000: “The first of many amazing experiences with Robert Pollard and crew. The man and his music are both timeless, always a good time and well worth the extra Budweiser budget.” — Arnold
11 THE AISLERS SET WITH THE SHINS AT BOTTOM OF THE HILL, 2001: “This was the year the straw broke the camel’s back, and Noise Pop finally started doing more than one show per night. It was extra hard this year to have to pick, but fortunately this show with the amazing Aislers Set and their friends out from New Mexico, The Shins, was a matinee, and I got my first glimpse of the brilliance of James Mercer (of The Shins).” — Arnold
12 THE WHITE STRIPES AT GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, 2001: “(This concert) was the largest show the White Stripes had played in the Bay Area to that date. It fell at the front end of their trajectory to being a radio mainstay and ‘Seven Nation Army’ being played at seemingly every major sporting event.” — Kurland
13 MARK EITZEL AND BRIGHT EYES AT GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, 2001: “We’ve been lucky to host Mark Eitzel many times throughout the years, but this show pairing the young newcomer Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) with the indie-godfather of the American Music Club was notable for how nervous each artist seemed about appearing with the other. Thankfully, it worked out swimmingly.” — Arnold
14 SUPERCHUNK AND SPOON AT BIMBO’S, 2001: “Another bucketlist influence band checked off the list, Superchunk was a huge inspiration and speaker constant from the moment I heard them. Promising newcomers and Merge label-mates Spoon were a sweet appetizer.” — Arnold
15 GUIDED BY VOICES AT BIMBO’S (2002): “I’ve seen many Guided by Voices shows over the years, and this one, the final night of the 10th anniversary of the festival, remains my favorite. After playing well over two hours, they came back out onstage and played an encore consisting of the first eight songs from their most celebrated album, ‘Bee Thousand.’” — Kurland
16 BIG STAR AT THE FILLMORE, 2002: “This was yet another amazing moment to work with a band that meant so much to the sound and music that influenced Noise Pop, and our first show at the legendary Fillmore.” — Arnold
17 CAT POWER AND JOANNA NEWSOM AT BIMBO’S, 2003: “Chan Marshall (aka, Cat Power) played an incredibly intimate and vulnerable solo set. You could hear a pin drop throughout the club. To boot, Newsom played one of her first ever shows as the evening’s opener.” — Kurland
18 JOANNA NEWSOM AT THE SWEDISH AMERICAN HALL, 2005: “Two very sold out shows in front of an audience that hung on to the harpist’s every move and word.” — Kurland
19 FEIST AT BIMBO’S, 2006: “Over a year prior to Feist’s folk-pop hit, ‘1234,’ being featured in an Apple ad, she played a sold-out show at Bimbo’s to the devoted followers of her first album. At one point during the show, the power went out, and rather than walking off stage, she embraced the moment and performed a song a capella.” — Kurland
20 BEST COAST AND HARLEM AT CAFE DU NORD, 2010: “This was a great bill top to bottom and the S.F. debut of Best Coast, who have since returned many times. They’re one of those bands whose classic combo of pure pop bliss and shimmery noise seems tailor-made for Noise Pop.” — Arnold
21 FLAMING LIPS AT BIMBO’S, 2012: This is the third time the Lips played at Bimbo’s during Noise Pop, and it kicked off the 20th anniversary celebration of the festival. Front man Wayne Coyne presented us with a ‘Noise Pop Week’ proclamation from Mayor Ed Lee before the band launched into ‘Do You Realize,’ and confetti rained down from the ceiling.” — Kurland
22 ARCHERS OF LOAF AT GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, 2012: Archers are one of the most-underrated indie-rock bands of all-time. They are also one of my favorite bands. Fourteen years after disbanding, they reunited to play some shows, and we were lucky enough to host two. The first one was so fantastic, I returned for the second.” — Kurland
23 COURTNEY BARNETT AT RICKSHAW STOP, 2014: “It was like seeing Nirvana in a small room — I was blown away by the live power.” — Arnold
24 DRIVE LIKE JEHU AT THE INDEPENDENT, 2016: “Drive Like Jehu is a band whose influence far exceeds their popularity. The post-hardcore quartet disbanded in 1995, and this was their first San Francisco club show in over 20 years.” — Kurland
25 KAMASI WASHINGTON AT THE INDEPENDENT, 2016: “I’m a bit of a jazz nerd, so the fact that we had a venerable new jazz artist that was capable of selling over 1000 tickets is a highlight in itself.” — Kurland