San Francisco, CA
Rare Performances, Rising Acts Made Noise Pop 2025 Special
There’s nothing quite like Noise Pop to remind you that, even with all the entertainment at our fingertips, nothing can replace live music. Throughout the week, as I accumulated hand stamps and wristbands at venues from the Tenderloin to the Panhandle, it was hard not to feel alive and grateful for the many high-caliber musicians and absolutely stoked fans of different ages, backgrounds and subcultures.
The 10-day festival kicked off with a Feb. 20 opening party with Dam-Funk at the California Academy of Sciences, and brought impressive headliners to unique settings (St. Vincent and Ben Gibbard in the gorgeous Grace Cathedral, for one) and storied nightclubs alike. True to the festival’s roots, this year’s edition was heavy on indie rock, both with nostalgic acts like American Football and new-gen stars like Soccer Mommy. It also brought out left-field pop and cult hip-hop acts with passionate, niche followings. (My only complaint was a lack of local hip-hop artists during this vibrant time in the Bay Area scene.)
Below you’ll find a scene report from Noise Pop’s most exciting sets, plus lots more photos.
Earl Sweatshirt brought out the introverts
Earl Sweatshirt doesn’t really write songs with hooks. He says things that most people in the music industry aren’t willing to say (like “free Gaza”). And the beats he chooses are jarring and jagged, made from asymmetrical loops that don’t really work for dancing. Not that his fans care. The dense crowd at his two back-to-back shows at Great American Music Hall rapped along to his deep cuts, spitting each bar with their chests. On Tuesday night, it felt like 400 introverts found their tribe after years of passionately, privately listening to Sweatshirt in their bedrooms.
Sweatshirt arrived on stage to the guitar loop from his 2018 instrumental song “Riot!” “I feel like a Pop Tart right now,” he told the crowd. He probably wasn’t the only one having a psychedelic experience. When he delivered the dense, poetic bars of “E. Coli,” with its old-school-sounding choral beat produced by The Alchemist, phones went up and dozens of joints sparked throughout the crowd. During the set he brought back opening acts Navy Blue and Zelooperz, who had delivered heartfelt and moshpit-worthy performances, respectively, earlier in the night.
A chance to catch Glixen before they blow up
Glixen’s Tuesday-night show at Bottom of the Hill might have been the last chance to see them in the lovably ramshackle dive before they blow up. The young four-piece shoegaze band from Phoenix is currently on a tour of small clubs before they land in front of 125,000 festival-goers at Coachella in April. At Bottom of the Hill Tuesday, they exuded quiet confidence, mostly letting screechy distortion speak for them instead of bantering with the crowd. An audience aged 18 to 60 — the latter camp probably drawn to the show because of Glixen’s similarities to My Bloody Valentine — bobbed along in a trance as Aislinn Ritchie’s thin vocals floated along in frothy spumes of sludgy instrumentation.
Cymande returned in top form
“We’re gonna play you a song that put us on the map before we took a short break for 50 years,” joked Patrick Patterson, Cymande’s guitarist, as a funky bassline kicked off their 1972 hit “Bra.” With each shake of the shaker, trilling guitar riff and sunny burst of trumpet, the audience ascended into ecstatic, full-body dance moves. Folks with grey hair, who probably first heard the Caribbean-British band five decades ago, moved their hips, clearly getting their groove back — if they ever even lost it in the first place.
It’s series finale time, and it’s rubber match time, as the San Francisco Giants host the Atlanta Braves.
It’s a battle of Cy Young southpaws. For the Giants, it’s Robbie Ray, who won the award in 2021 in the American League. Ray, a 34-year old two-time All-Star, is making his 17th appearance of the year, and is 6-6 with a 3.70 ERA, a 4.80 FIP, and 80 strikeouts to 42 walks in 87.2 innings. After a rough patch, he’s been exceptional in his last two games, including allowing just an unearned run in eight innings against the Athletics his last time out.
For the Braves, it’s Chris Sale, who won the prestigious pitching award in 2024. Sale, a 37-year old nine-time All-Star, has made 14 starts, and is 8-5 with a 2.14 ERA, a 2.71 FIP, and 99 strikeouts to 21 walks in 84 innings. He allowed two unearned runs in 5.2 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers in his last start.
Enjoy the game, everyone.
Who: San Francisco Giants (34-48) vs. Atlanta Braves (49-32)
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area
Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM
San Francisco, CA
People’s Budget Coalition Claims Victory After San Francisco Budget Restores Most Proposed Service Cuts – Davis Vanguard
By Vanguard Staff
SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco People’s Budget Coalition declared a major victory this week after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Appropriations Committee advanced a budget proposal restoring nearly all of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed cuts to community organizations and workers providing essential services throughout the city.
The coalition credited months of organizing by labor unions, community organizations, residents and advocates for reversing many of the reductions initially proposed in the mayor’s budget. The committee-approved budget now moves to the full Board of Supervisors and then to Mayor Lurie for final approval. According to the coalition, few, if any, additional changes are expected during that process.
The coalition said thousands of San Francisco workers, residents and community members participated in neighborhood town halls, marches, rallies, phone banks, letter-writing campaigns and demonstrations to pressure city leaders to restore funding for programs serving vulnerable populations.
“This budget represents a remarkable victory for every single San Francisco resident,” said Anya Worley-Ziegman, coalition coordinator for the San Francisco People’s Budget Coalition.
“And it shows that public pressure works. Showing up works. Organizing, going out into communities where people will see their lives impacted by cuts, where people feel like their government and their representatives aren’t listening to them, and giving people an outlet to make their voices heard can make real change.”
Worley-Ziegman credited “the thousands of people, workers, unions, community and advocacy organizations, as well as the leadership of Budget Chair Connie Chan and Supervisors who fought for their districts’ priorities” with helping restore “tens of millions of dollars for essential programs serving our city’s most vulnerable populations.”
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us that budgets are moral documents, and today, City Hall seems to agree,” Worley-Ziegman added.
According to the coalition, many of the mayor’s proposed reductions affecting LGBTQ+, immigrant, student and homeless services were restored through the city’s annual budget “add-back” process during the Budget and Appropriations Committee’s final meeting, chaired by Supervisor Connie Chan.
The coalition said restorations include tens of millions of dollars for senior services, housing and rent assistance, Free City College, HIV services, immigrant services and other community programs.
The organization argued that many of the programs initially targeted for reductions serve communities that are already facing challenges resulting from actions by the federal government. The coalition said restoring those programs demonstrates continued city support for immigrants, LGBTQ+ residents, Black, Indigenous and other communities of color, as well as individuals struggling with mental health, substance use disorders or homelessness.
The coalition said investments in those communities strengthen the city and help maintain San Francisco’s reputation as a welcoming and inclusive city.
Despite celebrating the committee’s actions, the coalition said significant fiscal challenges remain. It noted that not all proposed reductions were fully restored and that city officials project next year’s budget deficit to exceed this year’s.
The coalition argued that San Francisco possesses substantial wealth, particularly amid the city’s growing artificial intelligence industry, and said city leaders should pursue additional revenue sources to sustain public services rather than relying on service reductions.
“San Francisco is one of the wealthiest cities in the wealthiest country in the world, and with the AI boom, it’s only getting richer,” Worley-Ziegman said.
“The fact that we need to exert this much time and energy fighting for such a small slice of the pie is, frankly, as ridiculous as it is shameful.”
“We should be laser focused on expanding the pie. We need to be talking about IPO taxes, wealth taxes, mansion taxes, and every policy tool available to close future deficits,” Worley-Ziegman continued.
“It feels like every year our leaders tell the most vulnerable communities to eat cuts and make ‘hard choices,’ while simultaneously opposing comically small taxes on the city’s wealthiest and well connected residents.”
“It should not be this hard to get an immigrant mother on the cusp of eviction $50 to make rent, or a senior living with HIV on our streets counseling or a hot meal.”
Worley-Ziegman concluded by urging advocates to continue organizing beyond this year’s budget process.
“Yes, let’s celebrate this win, but don’t forget that there’s so much more work to do if we want to move San Francisco forward without leaving its most vulnerable residents behind.”
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Categories:
Breaking News San Francisco
Tags:
budget advocacy community services Connie Chan Daniel Lurie People’s Budget Coalition San Francisco budget
A suspect was arrested Saturday after a shooting near San Francisco’s Pride celebrations left one person wounded and an officer hurt during a foot chase, police said.
The San Francisco Police Department said officers were monitoring Pride events near United Nations Plaza around 3:32 p.m. when the shooting occurred.
Officers found a victim suffering from a gunshot wound and immediately began rendering aid. The victim was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Police said officers in the area quickly located a person matching the suspect’s description, prompting a foot pursuit. During the chase, one officer suffered minor injuries.
The suspect was eventually taken into custody, and the person’s name has not been released.
Police said the investigation remains active despite the arrest.
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