In San Francisco, we’ve always had the dinnertime mariachi, the street busker and the Hippie Hill drum circle — music to chance across, sit with and spontaneously enjoy. This is one of the great pleasures (or nuisances, if you’re a grump) of city living: casual live performances without the formality of ticketing or stage.
This summer, there are even more opportunities for stumbled-upon sounds thanks to a series of pop-up performances throughout the city every Saturday, 2–5 p.m. Sponsored by the newly formed Civic Joy Fund and produced in partnership with Noise Pop, Summer of Music puts local musicians into businesses across nine neighborhoods: Bayview, the Castro, Chinatown, Richmond’s Clement Street, Bernal’s Cortland Avenue, Divisadero, Haight Street, Polk Street and Valencia.
The mini concerts aren’t just reserved for coffee shops — an art supply store, a bike shop, a grocery store and a weed dispensary pepper the list. Last weekend, at the series’ June 17 kickoff, I caught Brian Belknap setting up his “One Man Swamp Band” at Bayview’s Gratta Wines. The sun was shining, my prosciutto panino was perfectly crispy and I kicked myself for not being able to stick around for his classic street music act.
But forewarned is forearmed, so take a look at the lineups — each Saturday’s performers will be announced the week of. A bingo card doesn’t yet exist to mark a visit to every neighborhood (or, for the ambitious, each local business), but we have until Sept. 2 to collect them all.
The program is also looking for additional musicians to fill out the schedule, offering $50 an hour for the gig. (This means: tip generously.)
