Pop music concerts in San Fran area over next few months

July 25, 2014 12:57 PM

My sister is moving from the UK to the San Francisco area in a few weeks. As a goodbye and good luck present I want to buy her tickets to a pop music concert in/near SF. Her tastes are quite broad, but mainly she likes good old sing-along pop music.

Anything from Dolly Parton to Stevie Wonder. It'd be great to get her something she is less likely to see in the UK. I am open to suggestions!

Concert could be late 2104 / early 2015.

Anything coming up?

posted by 0bvious to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

Tons of stuff.

http://www.foopee.com/punk/the-list/

http://www.calweb.com/~skoepke/

http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/events/

http://sf.funcheap.com
posted by blob at 1:03 PM on July 25, 2014

Here's who is coming to the Warfield, which is a nice venue and is easy to get to on public transportation.
posted by Duffington at 1:30 PM on July 25, 2014

You also want to be sure she attends Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, a free set of concerts in Golden Gate Park October 3rd, 4th and 5th. Lots of Americana music of various flavors, much not widely available over the pond. It's a free concert with 60,000 of her closest friends.
posted by blob at 1:35 PM on July 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Do you know where she'll live, and if she'll have access to a car? I ask because the bigger pop concerts can be at the Shoreline, which is very time consuming for non-car folks.

Bill Graham Civic Center is a great accessible venues that regularly hold large shows. The Great American Music Hall is a gorgeous venue, but caters to slightly smaller or older acts. Yoshi's is pretty good if you're looking for that band who had those few great songs in the nineties in a smaller venue. See: Gin Blossom.

Also, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is quite possibly one of the most claustrophobic experiences of my life. There is no "walking outside to have a smoke break and a bit of time to yourself". It can be great great fun, but oof I wish I had gotten a better warning. While it's now a bit over a year away, VIP passes to Stern Grove festival or regular passes to Outside Lands would be a great gift.
posted by politikitty at 1:57 PM on July 25, 2014

Here is a selection from Goldstar, which is a great resource for discounted tickets (and the tickets are good seats, not awful ones, so this is a great deal). If I were in your shoes, I would register my sister for Goldstar, and maybe pay for "red velvet" membership, and then buy her a Goldstar gift certificate, which can be used for anything Goldstar has tickets for -- all kinds of music, comedy, theatre, sports, you name it. I still feel indebted to the person who told me about Goldstar. I use them constantly.
posted by janey47 at 2:15 PM on July 25, 2014

politikitty has a good idea. Here are some other resources:

Live 105 radio station listing of upcoming events.
posted by blob at 2:35 PM on July 25, 2014

There is no "walking outside to have a smoke break and a bit of time to yourself".

Well, as I recently learned, it's against city law to smoke anywhere in Golden Gate Park anyway. Since 2005!
posted by rhizome at 5:22 PM on July 25, 2014

(To be fair, I don't actually smoke. But at shows, I love ducking out with the smokers. They never make small talk and it's five minutes out of the crowd.)
posted by politikitty at 9:25 PM on July 25, 2014

October 18-19, the Treasure Island Music Festival looks to have a good lineup.
posted by psoas at 9:53 PM on July 25, 2014 [1 favorite]