Author Archives: Daniel J. Willis
-
REWIND: Five acts to see at Outside Lands if you’re old
Green Day performs at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Aug. 27, 2021. Steve Carlson/STAFF. I am, the day this publishes, at Day 2 of Outside Lands. This is my fifth consecutive Outside Lands as a reporter, and in that time the music has gotten, let’s charitably say, younger.…
-
REWIND: Five songs about having the plague
Steven Tyler of Aerosmith performs during Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Feb. 1, 2019. Courtesy Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest. In my column last week I said I had to pre-write it because I would be spending the weekend in…
-
Tuesday Tracks: Your Weekly New Music Discovery – July 26
Sumerlands, courtesy Jaclyn Woollard. This week features an ’80s throwback from Sumerlands, a blues rock hook for Ukraine from Jace Allen, Swedish punk from No Fun At All, the latest in a string of greatness from Titus Andronicus, some serious banjo playing by Appalachian Road Show, and a collaboration…
-
REWIND: Due to an early deadline, here are five bad things that may have happened this week
Choose your dystopia. I’ve mentioned it before, but for the past couple years I’ve waited until the last minute to write these columns because the news moves too fast. Every time I write ahead, something catastrophic happens before they run and I look like a complete jerk for ignoring…
-
REWIND: A Bruce Springsteen classic, 4 more protest songs some people don’t get
Bruce Springsteen, courtesy. Last weekend was the 4th of July, but I didn’t do a column for the occasion because I needed the space to do something truly patriotic: Criticizing the government and demanding the people within it do better. Our country exists because people didn’t sit back and…
-
REWIND: Five songs for the Democrats who won’t do their jobs
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on June 20, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images. You’ve read the news so I’m not really blowing your mind when I say that the Supreme Court is a disaster. I obviously hate pretty much every ruling on…
-
Tuesday Tracks: Your Weekly New Music Discovery – June 28
The Accidentals and Kaboom Collective Studio Orchestra, courtesy. This week’s picks include hard-edged indie rock from Reignwolf, blues rock from David Rosales, throwback country from Kelsey Waldon, the Kaboom Collective Studio Orchestra banding together with The Accidentals, math-rock from Standards, and Baby Got Back Talk bringing punk back to its…
-
REWIND: Welcome summer with The Beach Boys and Bananarama
Beach Boys in London in 1966. Clockwise from top left: Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Brian Wilson and Mike Love. Photo: DEZO HOFFFMANN/REX/Shutterstock. My last column was about the heat, but apparently it was technically still spring. I guess it depends on who you ask. Astronomically, each season…
-
‘The Matrix’ composer Don Davis on his influences, hiring and live shows with SF Symphony
“The Matrix Live” will be performed by San Francisco Symphony and composer Don Davis. When “The Matrix” came out in 1999, there had been nothing quite like it in American cinema. The Matrix Live 7:30 p.m., Friday, July 1 and Saturday, July 2 Davies Symphony Hall Tickets: $75-180. The…
-
Too Short, Tower of Power kick off Stern Grove Festival after 2021 flooding
Attendees at the opening day of the 2022 Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco on June 12, 2022. Marisela Delgado/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — “Yay areaaaaaa!” shouted San Francisco mayor London Breed during her introduction, setting the stage for the first show of the 85th Stern Grove Festival. In addition to…
