LL Cool J performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sept. 1, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — LL Cool J brought out some of the best of old school hip-hop for his F.O.R.C.E. tour stop at Chase Center on Friday. The headliner topped a bill that included…

Lizzo performs performs at Golden Gate Park during Outside Lands on Aug. 11, 2018. Joaquin Cabello/STAFF. I was supposed to be at Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park right now. And by “right now” I mean both as I’m writing this and as you’re reading it, since I’m assuming…

Tunnel to Outside Lands in San Francisco on August 12, 2018. Photos: Joaquin Cabello and Shawn Robbins. Welcome to the third and final installment of my Outside Lands 2018 best and worst. (But not my last column in general; I shamelessly plug that at the end.) If you missed…

Photos: Joaquin Cabello, Shawn Robbins and Mike DeWald SAN FRANCISCO — And then there was Janet. The final day of the 2018 edition of Outside Lands closed out with legendary pop icon Janet Jackson. Jackson proved to provide immediate heat to a crowd starting to feel one of the chillier…

Radiohead. STAFF file photo. Usually this column is the top five songs of each year. Sometimes, in an especially good year, I bend that and make it the top 10. This week has nine. The reasons for this are threefold: First, the longlist has 23 songs on it and…

Welcome to 1986! The music scene is shifting yet again. Hip-hop is becoming popular. Metal is getting harder. And hair rock is about to reach its zenith. I was tempted to make this another double-length entry since the longlist has 21 songs on it, but really I just wanted…