Photos: Diana Cordero SAN FRANCISCO — Cloud Nothings elaborately dark Noise Pop set at The Independent kicked off the festival’s full week Monday. Dylan Baldi, not one to speak his mind, instead let the music do it for him. The Cleveland band paused just twice to address the crowd the entire…

As a teen, Adia Victoria loved Nirvana and Fiona Apple. It wasn’t until she left South Carolina for New York that she discovered the blues through Caucasian, male-led bands like The Black Keys and The White Stripes. Adia Victoria, Madi Sipes and the Painted Blue 7.30 p.m., Saturday Bottom…

Bell X1 9 p.m., Wednesday, March 1 The Chapel Tickets: $20-$22. Dublin mood-rockers Bell X1 return to the United States this month, supporting their seventh LP, Arms, and we’ve got your tickets to the show at The Chapel on March 1. As singer Paul Noonan told RIFF in October, Arms…

Photos: Alessio Neri SAN FRANCISCO — Lucero and Esmé Patterson shared emotion and an unexpected level of vulnerability at the Fillmore Saturday. The headliner’s two-hour set was replete with its one-of-a-kind alt-country sound, ranging from old favorites to songs from 2015’s, All a Man Should Do. Lucero has been together for almost 20 years,…

Noise Pop has returned to San Francisco for its 25th year, and producers have made their silver anniversary special. Over the next week, some of the most unique, up-and-coming and well known names in rock, pop, R&B, hip-hop and everything in between will visit more than a dozen venues throughout San Francisco and…

Vivian Shih It’s “love and hate” week at RIFF. We’ve taken on the theme of Valentine’s Day to talk about both sides of love. Today. we asked our writers, photographers and editors about their favorite breakup songs. Additionally, we’ve partnered with talented artist Vivian Shih, who has illustrated some of…

Max Berga is Swedish-born, and he believes that because of that, he is ingrained with the Swedish Hit Factory-centric determination to build the perfect pop song. His biggest challenge, at least initially, was find a cast of characters to fill a band—and then to stick around long enough to…

If you’re like me—and odds are either you are or you aspire to be—you don’t really want to be associated with Valentine’s Day. Some people spend weeks festooning everything in cutesy red hearts and some spend those weeks raging against the mere concept with songs about getting dumped. But not people…

Like her songs, Katharine Kadenacy’s story starts with quiet energy and builds from there. Born in Greece, Kadency, who performs under the pseudonym XMeKate, began writing songs as a young girl. XMeKate  7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 21 SoFar Sounds (Secret show. RSVP for location) RSVP here “My dad was…

Esmé Patterson is excited to finally be striking out on her own—musically speaking, that is. The singer-songwriter was producing solo work for the past few years and making a name for herself as a critically adored, indie rock darling, all while fronting Paper Bird, the indie folk band she formed with…