shows

Neck of the Woods San Francisco, CA October 16, 2026 After several months of anticipation, plenty of social media teasers, and lots of vinyl pre-orders, Blind Illusion’s “Stage Flight: Live at the UC Theatre” was set to be released. The band was excited and ready, especially the rhythm section of Avery Thurman (bass) and Phil Cosentini (drums). They each mentioned that this was the first album they had played on. A cool milestone for two impressive young musicians. The record

The HUB RWC Redwood City, CA October 11, 2026 Two shows in two nights. Why stop there? Let’s make a whole weekend of it and go to a third. For this evening I travelled down to Redwood City. A town I rarely go to for live entertainment but oddly enough is the place where I played my very first “professional” gig on April 15 1988 at The Pony Express Pizza Parlor. It was with my very first “real” band Armament. The bill was us opening, SF skate/grindsters Morbid Life Society and

The New Farm San Francisco, CA October 10, 2026 Going to this gig was a last minute decision. I had a pretty lazy Saturday and wanted to get out of the house. Plus the prospect of seeing live music at the building that was once the legendary Pound was too good to pass up. It was a tad surreal being in there seeing a show. The place seemed so much smaller than I remember. I guess that’s the way with a lot of things from the past. Memory tends to exaggerate a bit. It looked rel

Fox Theater Oakland, CA October 9, 2026 Mastodon on a Friday night at The Fox Theater in Oaktown. I take any opportunity to see a show at this gorgeous venue. Death Angel played here once with Testacle (ment) and Exodus and it was one of my favorite Bay Area gigs ever! I would love the opportunity to play this joint again. This would be the first time seeing Mastodon since the untimely passing of Brent Hinds. This show also falls on the same night as High On Fire at the UC T

UC Theatre Berkeley, CA October 3, 2026 I was pretty stoked about seeing this show and have been looking forward to it since I’ve been home. I unfortunately missed the opener Wraith Knight. The two bands I did see both delivered in very different ways. Unto Others had the middle slot of the night. This was my second time seeing this quartet from Portland. I actually saw an earlier incarnation of them called Idle Hands so I guess it was the third time seeing them. I’ve enjoyed

DNA Lounge San Francisco, CA September 29, 2026 I hadn’t seen a show at the DNA Lounge in 4 months, a long time for a club that took the top place for number of metal shows in 2025. But this summer the metal shows just kinda dried up, unless you count a deathcore show and nu metal dance club nights (which I don’t, sorry). So I was kind of excited to see a night of doom metal / stoner rock upstairs at the DNA. The headliner was the Norwegian space rock / stoner metal band Kal-

Alright, I’ve been home for almost two weeks and I guess it’s about time to get to my Nefarious tour wrap up blog. I’ve been really enjoying my down time…like REALLY!! Let’s see, we left off at Nefarious playing our first gig at The Jack in Eindhoven. From there we headed back to Belgium for a last minute gig addition to the tour and from what I can remember it was a pretty rad headlining show. After that we headed to Spain for what seemed like an eternity. Nefarious with the

Winters Tavern Pacifica, CA September 18, 2026 Going to a show two nights in a row. What, am I in my 30’s? This evening’s fun took place at the Pacifica institution Winters. I have a real love/hate relationship with this place. I’ve had some truly fun times there and seen some rad shows. I’ve played a few fun gigs there as well. Yet at the same time I’ve seen and heard some of the worst bands/music ever at this establishment. And I’ve played a few clunkers ta boot. I guess it

Bottom of the Hill San Francisco, CA September 17, 2026 You’d think after 8 weeks in Europe with two different bands I’d avoid live music for a while but here we are… Unsane were back in town this time at the Bottom Of The Hill. I hadn’t heard a peep about this show (nor did any of my friends) and if it weren’t for bumping into a friend outside my favorite dispensary (Urbana) after flying in I wouldn’t have known about it either. Needless to say I was quite surprised and stok

Memorial Park Amphitheater Hayward, CA September 12, 2026 Bleeding Priest covered this annual event last year, and with 2 Hectic Records / Bleeding Priest Records bands, Blind Illusion and Frolic, both on the bill this year, I figured I should check it out. Hayward isn’t a place I’ve spent much time, but it turned out to be pretty easy to get to in a car, just across the San Mateo - Hayward bridge on Highway 92. Who knew? The park has a nice large band shell built into a hill

TD Garden Boston, MA September 9, 2026 After two days of recovering from RPM Fest, it was time for the big show, Iron Maiden and Megadeth at the TD Garden in Boston. I didn’t want to miss what is likely Megadeth’s last tour, and unfortunately the tour was doing 2 nights in LA but no Northern California dates! (To be fair it is a pretty limited tour, LA is the only West Coast stop before San Antonio and then off to Latin America). So it seemed like the perfect excuse for a Bo

Millers Falls Rod & Gun Club Montague, MA September 4-6, 2026 I went back to my home state of Massachusetts, that I’d left for San Francisco back at the end of the 1980s, for a serious week of heavy metal. The start of Megadeth’s farewell tour, supporting Iron Maiden, was somehow playing 2 nights in LA but zero in the Bay Area. So I decided to catch the tour in Boston, to see old friends and avoid So Cal. We started the week with the magical RPM Fest, three days of metal, st

An important metal milestone to write about! The List for Bay Area Metal Concerts The San Francisco Bay Area heavy metal concert website SanFran666co.com this week reached 666 subscribers to our weekly Friday morning show list email and newsletter. We have a comprehensive list of San Francisco Death Metal shows, Bay Area thrash metal concerts, Oakland black metal shows, and a pretty good list of heavy metal shows in the Bay Area in general. Better yet, SanFran666co also has a

Heshers Pizza & Taproom Oakland, CA August 29, 2026 What decade is it? One of the best death metal shows I’ve been to in years (and I’ve been to a lot) was at a pizza place last night. Not the legendary Pony Express Pizza in Redwood City (before my time living in the Bay Area), where I’ve heard tales of many thrash and punk bands that played gigs there in the 1980s, but Hesher’s Pizza in 2026 no less. If you haven’t been to Hesher’s, you really must go. Their formula for su

Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma, CA August 29, 2026 I hadn’t been to the Lagunitas Brewery and Taproom in over a decade, as it is a bit over an hour drive from San Francisco in southern Sonoma county. It is a magical compound on the outskirts of Petaluma, that still retains its attitude (and its fantastic IPAs) despite a decade of ownership by beer conglomerate Heineken. They’d upgraded the place since I last got there, with a large open barn structure so you don’t have to dri

The Regency Ballroom San Francisco, CA August 19, 2026 “This must be a metal show, how many women do you see?” “This ain't a metal show, this is a Stoner rock show.” I’m not sure the gender balance was much different than many metal shows, but there were certainly fewer long hairs than your typical Death Metal gig. My buddy and I had gone from a pre-gaming session at Benders to catch Spoon Benders, the opening band of a three band bill featuring Stoner / Metal / Doom / whate

Phase 2 of my extended Euro vacation has commenced. I’m now traveling with Nefarious but let’s wrap up the second half of the Death Angel tour shall we? Let’s pick up where we left off. After the trio of headliners we had a couple of days off in Germany. On one of those days I went to a pretty killer and true Metal record store in Essen called Yeah Records. Don’t let the name fool you, this place is the shit. The last time I was there the owner brought me into the back and go

Merchants Saloon Oakland, CA August 15, 2026 Saturday night with 3 great local bands, an eclectic mix of heavy music styles with some unique twists, in true Bay Area fashion. Better yet the show was at one of Oakland’s oldest of old school dive bars, Merchants Saloon. I started the day slinging records in the East Bay for the second time in a few weeks, first at Amoeba Records Berkeley to see what had sold and put the new Frolic and Deth Provider on consignment. I hate consig

The New Farm San Francisco, CA August 8, 2026 Lost Goat isn’t a metal band, more of a hard rock band. But given how important they were in San Francisco's Mission District 90s punk and metal scene, their first show in 25 years is worthy of a writeup here for sure. Singer / bass player Erica Stoltz also fronts another heavy trio, the NY-based metal band Sanhedrin, but that is now, this was then. Both Sanhedrin and Lost Goat are regularly part of my playlist. This was actually

Greetings from Europe! Death Angel’s out here celebrating the 10th anniversary of our 2016 record The Evil Divide. We’re about at the halfway point and I thought it was high time I checked in. The tour kicked off in Poland with a show sharing the stage with Biohazard and NY Hardcore legends Cro-mags. There were two other hardcore bands on the bill (Sworn Enemy and Striking 13) which made Death Angel the odd band out on the bill but surprisingly (or not) we went over well and