San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
SONG OF THE MOMENT
Billie Eilish and Count von Count, “Happier Than Ever” (Sesame Street Version):
Days after “Sesame Street” resident Big Bird came under conservative political fire for announcing publicly that he was getting vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, he perked up from his nest to hear pop sensation Billie Eilish singing a new version of her song with the Count. The pair tweaked the lyrics to Eilish’s hit in honor of “The Number Two,” and it’s just the sweetest thing. Eilish is radiant, and the Count flashes the top form that has made him one of the preeminent number-oriented vocalists in children’s programming. The video of the song was released in conjunction with the announcement of the 52nd season of “Sesame Street” and will appear in an episode slated to air in mid-2022, but you can also watch it now at datebook. sfchronicle.com.
LOCALLY MINDED
The Dodos, “Grizzly Peak” (Polyvinyl):
A fixture of San Francisco indie rock for 15 years, the Dodos continue to thrive in the city. On their eighth album, released Nov. 12, the duo of Meric Long and Logan Kroeber set out to make the best possible expression of their music, reflecting on the band’s output in a full-circle fashion. “Pale Horizon,” with its deep string arrangement, feels the most akin to their classic 2008 album “Visiter,” while on “With A Guitar,” Kroeber’s thunderous, kickheavy drums have seldom sounded more alive. But it’s the
controlled explosions of energy on “The Surface” that highlight how well the band has always understood fans’ emotional connections with the ebbs and flows of their songs.
“I feel a huge debt of gratitude to our fans or anyone that paid attention enough to notice,” Long said in a statement. “I really want to say thank you; going back to our original intention and trying to perfect this sound really seemed like the best way to express that gratitude. It was a huge motivation in working through this stuff.” The band is scheduled to give the final performance of their 2021 tour at the Chapel on
decided that the best thing for us, and for Terrapin, was to bid farewell — for now.”
The news follows other pandemic-era venue closures, including the Uptown Nightclub, Slim’s and the Stork Club as well as the recent shutdown of Iron Springs Pub & Brewery in Fairfax.
In late October, the Marin Independent Journal reported that Lesh’s lease on the venue was slated to expire at the end of November. Mars Hotel led by Stu Allen, a band that plays mostly Grateful Dead cover songs, played the venue’s last concerts over Halloween weekend.
The founding idea of Terrapin Crossroads was to give
Lesh and his music community from the Grateful Dead and beyond a stage they could play on at any time; Lesh made himself accessible to patrons, performing both scheduled and unannounced sets.
In a 2014 review of the New American eatery, then-Chronicle restaurant critic Michael Bauer wrote, “The crowd includes patrons who have never given up their tie-dyed duds and those who are thinking tie-dye is new and cool, a perfect pairing to the yoga-pantsand-lace-skirts set.”
will support the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano and encourages participants to bring canned goods to donate on race morning.