March 04, 2009

Wallpaper & N.A.S.A. at Noise Pop. Mezzanine, San Francisco

By Jake Anderson with photo by Cameron Platt

Touting itself as San Francisco’s preeminent celebration of independent music, film, and art since 1993, Noise Pop has been raging for the last six days across an enormous swath of the city’s amazing venues--from the downtown Apple Store to The Bottom of the Hill and the Great American Music Hall.  The lineup featured an electic array of bands, performers and deejays, including Mike Relm, No Age, Ra Ra Riot, Stephen Malkmus, and dozens of others.

On Tuesday Deerhunter kicked things off at the Mezz for a truly electrifying Antics event.  Four days later, the lighting guy there said his ears were still ringing and having been on the front row with earplugs, I believe him.  On Saturday we returned to the Mezz to reunite with Wallpaper, who always packs a mean and colorful pop punch.  N.A.S.A put on a luscious, carnivalesque stage performance that looked sort of like an Of Montreal show.  Extra-terrestials haunted the stage and helped scare up an incredible dance riot.  Though our team was near brain-dead from 8 days on the road, it was hard not to indulge in a little chicken dancing as we shuffled by each other.

I didn’t get to see any of the feature films this year but they included Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, Ashes of American Flags (a film about the band Wilco), and something about Gypsy-Punk.  Among the participating artists and photographers were Shepard Fairey, Thomas Campbell, The Small Stakes, Amy Thompson, and Lauren Dukoff.

Work it, San Franciscooooooo!!!!!

Posted at 9:00am
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