
Let me start by declaring the obvious: SF Weekly’s All Shook Down Music Festival was a great idea. Being a San Diego native, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the time I spent in a haze, wandering down music packed streets and alleys at Street Scene back home. Those were good times, and so are these. The All Shook Down Music Festival played out like Street Scene’s little cousin from San Francisco, and it was an impressive display for being in the infancy of the festival’s first year. The show was too young to be a massive musical event but too intriguing and intimate for people to ignore. Attendees could wander down the streets of Grant and Green, stepping into any of the eight North Beach watering holes that were featuring live music all day and night. In addition to this already awesome showcase of local San Franciscan musical talent and various venues to get your drink on, there was an outdoor main stage at the corner of Green St. and Columbus Ave. This is where the festival highlights Janelle Monáe and Neon Indian took the stage and made their mark on San Francisco’s newest street festival.
With over 30 bands playing throughout the local bars, I think it’s best to focus on the headliners who, not surprisingly, stole the show anyway. Janelle Monáe took the stage around 4:30pm, and the crowd in front of the main stage was already swelling to fill Green St. in anticipation for this hot new artist’s blend of rock, soul, hip-hop, and R&B (I’m sure that her awesome hairdo had something to do with it too). The fluffy-shouldered tuxedo-shirt and bowtie-clad Monáe demonstrated that she just might have the best pipes in the business. While busting some impressive dance moves and mesmerizing the crowd with her gravity defying hairstyle, she showed her incredible vocal range and stylistic versatility with songs like “Faster.” She played many of the genre-bending songs from her latest album The Archandroid, and left the crowd awestruck by her soulful vocal talents.
As amazing as Monáe and the numerous other bands blasting tunes from the nearby bars were, Neon Indian ended up stealing the show in its entirety. I’m not going to lie, I’m a big fan of Alan Palomo’s work as Neon Indian, and his work as VEGA for that matter. What I was the most interested to see was how the lo-fi phsycadelic tunes that Palomo recorded by himself would translate to a live show with the employment of a full band. What ensued once Neon Indian took the stage was hazy electronic bliss, as the band performed numerous tracks from the debut album Psychic Chasms, as well as the latest track “Sleep Paralysist.” The set list included all the fan favorites from “Deadbeat Summer” to “6669 (I don’t know if you know),” and an epic-ly danceable rendition of “Ephemeral Artery.” Near the end of the set, Neon Indian left the stage only to be summoned back by screaming fans for an encore. To the crowd’s delight and surprise, they performed VEGA’s “No Reasons,” which had everyone on Green Street bouncing up and down to the beat of the nostalgic jam. After the show my girlfriend and I got a chance to chat with Alan, who was incredibly humble and gregarious. I can’t quite remember everything that was said, but at some point I felt a bit embarrassed about how obviously drunk we were. The good sport had been out all night the evening before celebrating his birthday and blacking out off of Four Lokos (barf), and was totally cool about our erratic behavior. Obviously the All Shook Down Music Festival was a great time for everyone. With musicians enjoying the city and fans enjoying the proximity of their favorite live acts to some of North Beach’s best bars, I’ll definitely be looking forward to SF Weekly’s All Shook Down 2011.
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