Noise Pop Festival Welcomes 20K+ Attendees & 100+ Bands to SF for 32nd Anniversary
NOISEPOP 2025 REVIEW
byAlexander Laurence
Ihave been going to Noise Pop in San Francisco since 2001. I was intown in 2001, and I did an interview with the band Call and Response,who did a show at Bottom of The Hill. White Stripes and BlondeRedhead also played that year. I wasn’t really familiar with thefestival up till then. From then, I have been attending almost everyyear, except a few, when I was on tour myself, or there was a familyemergency. So having attended over twenty Noise Pop festivals, I haveseen it evolve. In the 1990s, it was mostly a one day indie musicfest. By the time of the 2000s, it became a mini-CMJ or a mini-SXSW.Many bands who would be touring or releasing a record would playNoise Pop. Plus there was a lot of local bay area bands who wouldbecome famous later.
Overthe course of 11 days, 20,000+ attendees enjoyed 60+ concertsfeaturing 100+ artists thatincluded the likes of St. Vincent, Benjamin Gibbard, DIIV, DannyBrown, Lankum, Cymande and Geographer, alongwith multi-night concerts from Earl Sweatshirt, AmericanFootball, Soccer Mommy, The American Analog Set, and more!
Sincethis event precedes SXSW and Coachella, and most festivals, it is agood snapshot of that time in music. This year having artists likeSt. Vincent, Danny Brown, and Lankum, Noise Pop is definitely on themap. St. Vincent played a small show at Noise Pop at Great AmericanMusic Hall in 2009. It was sparsely attended.
Thisyear, I saw Lankum at Great American Music Hall. This was a sold outshow packed with fans who had traveled from all over the world.Lankum has four albums out but they blew up in the last few years.They still haven’t tour America at all. So this was a specialnight. Even on the first song, the crowd was involved. Many of thepeople in the front rows lined up for hours. Lankum plays a mix oftraditional songs and originals. They give the songs their own darkpsychedelic spin. There are five musicians on stage and they all playseveral instruments. They play songs from all their albums. The nightpeaked when they played “Go Dig My Grave.” This band is goingplaces. Look forward to seeing them again!
Nextnight, I was at Rickshaw Stop. Liz Lamere opened. She was like anelectroclash act from 2002. It was fairly entertaining.
MercuryRev came out on stage that was covered by fog. The fog machine filledthe whole room. Mercury Rev started out with two songs fromDeserter’s Songs. This was one of my favorite albums of 1997, andgot me re-interested in music. I saw them once at CMJ in 1998, atBowery Ballroom, playing with Brian Jonestown Massacre. Two yearsago, both bands would do a full American tour in 2022. Mercury Revwho seemed to be a major European act for many years, have built uptheir credibility in the States only in the last few years. Theyrelied heavily on Deserter’s Song, but they played song from manyalbums, even the new one, Born Horses. Mercury Rev seems to be astrong live band for the near future.
Ionce again enjoyed this year of Noise Pop. Too bad they stoppedprinting the little festival guide. It was a good way to read aboutbands that you missed. But maybe it’s too costly, and less printersexist in San Francisco? Noise Pop is like a beacon of light for newmusic, and bands from the past that need to be rediscovered.
Photos thanks to NOISE POP
