Bastille performs at then Warfield in San Francisco on April 10, 2014. Photos courtesy: Jon Ching. This is the third in a five-part series. Read how I’m scoring my list and find out about my “special consideration” acts in Part 1, HERE, and the runners-up in Part 2, HERE. 15. Bastille at…

Arcade Fire performs during Live 105 Not So Silent Night at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Dec. 7, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. Photos and videos of Arcade Fire, Phoenix, Alt-J, Lorde, Bastille, NONONO, The Neighbourhood and The Colourist. Arcade Fire performs during Live 105 Not So Silent Night at Oracle…

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…

Bastille performs at Popscene on July 22, 2013. Photos: Roman Gokhman We’re reserving judgement about the performance because Dan Smith was obviously under the weather and unable to sing in his higher range. We will catch them again Sept. 19 at Great American Music Hall. Bastille performs at the Rickshaw…

Bastille, with Dan Smith second from right. Courtesy photo. It’s appropriate that the popularity of a band with a song about the fiery destruction of an ancient city began to blossom during a storm. Londoners Bastille were playing at a 500-capacity tent at the U.K.’s Isle of Wright about…

Bastille, with Dan Smith second from right. Courtesy. Bastille has seemingly come out of nowhere in 2013, but band leader Dan Smith has been working on his project since 2010. Now the band has two Bay Area shows coming up. Monday, July 22 at Popscene and Sept. 19 at…