Bastille performs at then Warfield in San Francisco on April 10, 2014. Photos courtesy: Jon Ching. Four times since July 2013, England electronic pop quartet Bastille has passed through the Bay Area. And in that time, the band’s local fan base has grown exponentially.  From a room of about 200 at…

Treasure Island Music Festival jellyfish. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. Every act had its own way of dealing with the biting wind and the dropping temperatures Sunday at the Treasure Island Music Festival’s indie rock day. Some bundled up, while Japandroids vocalist-guitarist Brian King stripped down to his shirt to connect with…

For their first show of its previous tour in the U.S., England’s much-hyped Bastille arrived in San Francisco with vocalist and band leader Dan Smith suffering with the flu. An in-store performance at Amoeba Records was canceled so Smith could save his voice for that night’s show at Popscene. It didn’t…

Beyonce performs at the HP Pavilion in San Jose on July 2, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. She may be a married woman now, with a child and a world tour named for her family name – Mrs. Carter – but Beyonce Knowles’ biggest hit is still about being jilted. The…

Free Energy, courtesy. Many bands would use the opportunity of a light crowd to work on new songs and timing, play it safe and get back on the road quickly. Slim’s was noticeably under-attended Saturday night for Philadelphia-based power pop quintet Free Energy. That’s a bit surprising, since their 2010…

Mumford and Sons perform at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on May 30, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. BERKELEY — “How many of you are students?” Marcus Mumford surveyed the packed crowd at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre Thursday night, the second of three consecutive sell-outs for London folk-rockers Mumford & Sons. “How…

Midi Matilda performs at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco on May 17, 2013. If the only time someone has seen San Francisco’s Midi Matilda was at last year’s Live 105 BFD, when the guitar and drums synth-pop duo struggled with gear malfunctions through the first half of a short…

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark perform at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on April 12, 2013. Courtesy: Paige K. Parsons. Following Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s show at the Regency Ballroom Friday evening, no one could claim that that frontman-bassist Andy McCluskey was phoning it in. The 53-year-old, drenched…

Imagine Dragons perform at the Great American Music Hall on March 16, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. Saturday’s show at the Warfield in San Francisco featured an interesting juxtaposition of bands: A Las Vegas band that used to open for a Los Angeles band found itself the headliner, with their roles…

Leonard Cohen performs at Paramount Theatre in Oakland on March 3, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. At the beginning of his show at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on March 3, the second of two sold-out nights, legendary septuagenarian crooner Leonard Cohen offered no promises of the distant future. Leonard Cohen performs at…