San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
5 Noise Pop concerts worth catching
Who needs muddy fields and flooded Porta Pottis when we can depend every year on Noise Pop to turn our city into one big indie-rock stomping ground?
The 27th annual Noise Pop Music and Arts Festival brings more than 150 acts to the Bay Area for a mix of the usual big-name underground guitar acts, with plenty of other esoteric offerings. The best part of the festival, spread over multiple days at more than a dozen indoor venues in the city and the East Bay, is that you can leave the sunscreen at home.
Here are The Chronicle’s picks for the acts to catch at Noise Pop 2019:
Teenage Fanclub: The Scottish indie pop band’s majorlabel debut, “Bandwagonesque,” was named record of the year by Spin magazine in 1991, beating out Pearl Jam’s “Ten” and Nirvana’s “Nevermind.” It never quite lived down the hype, but Teenage Fanclub’s bittersweet melodies still endure as the group makes an increasingly rare stateside appearance.
The Love Language, the North Carolina band fronted by Stuart McLamb, kicks off the night.
8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25. The Fillmore, 1805 Geary Blvd., S.F. My Brightest Diamond: Led by vocalist Shara Worden, My Brightest Diamond lingers between the classical and avant-pop worlds. She’s on tour in support of a new album, “A Million and One,” co-produced with the Twilite Tone (Gorillaz, Kanye West, Common, Kendrick Lamar), that further expands her musical palette.
But don’t snooze on opening acts Zola and Lapel. The latter is the alter ego of San Francisco singer-songwriter Debbie Neigher, who made her debut as Lapel with the album “Periphery” released last year.
8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St., S.F.
Albert Hammond Jr.: The Strokes member’s signature rhythm-guitar sound propelled the band to fame and sparked the rebirth of the New York City rock ’n’ roll scene at the turn of the century. Now going it alone, Albert Hammond Jr. is scheduled to perform in support of his fourth and latest solo album, “Francis Trouble.”
Support comes from the Los Angeles duo In The Valley Below and the She’s, the all-girl indie pop band made up of four San Francisco natives.
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27. The Independent, 628 Divisadero St., S.F.
Yuna: The Malaysian pop singer, born Yunalis Mat Zara’ai, has drawn as much attention for her choice to wear a hijab as for her sweet, ’90s-influenced R&B songs. She performs material from her most recent album, “Chapters,” a collection of coming-of-age songs for a woman who grew up in a conservative home finding her way in the modern world.
Opening the show are Atsu, the Eritrean singer-songwriter out of Oakland, and Nicotine.
7 p.m. Friday, March 1. The UC Theatre, 2036 University Ave., Berkeley
Beirut: The musical project of Zach Condon performs in support of the outfit’s latest release, “Gallipoli,” which once again conjures funeral mariachi horns, French chansons and Eastern European rhythms.
The bill also features Helado Negro, just one of the guises of the restless Ecuadoran-born Brooklyn musician Roberto Carlos Lange. His music channels his many influences — fusing syncopated Latin rhythms, crisp indierock riffs and soaring melodies.
7 p.m. Saturday, March 2. Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop music critic. Email: avaziri@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF