San Francisco Bay Guardian

“Welcome to [SF] Sketchfest,” Reggie Watts said, in what appeared to be his natural voice, “it’s going to be a big night for all of you guys.” The first night of his four-part “Reggidency” at the comedy festival was billed as being Just the Music but from before Watts took the stage at Yoshi’s SF – giving himself an introduction from behind the the curtain and then launching into a series of characters that wavered from pseudo-unintelligible to borderline familiar (Japanese? Jesse Jackson? Vallejo-ean?) – it was clear that label was Just a Guess. Read more »

Localized Appreesh is our weekly thank-you column to the musicians that make the Bay. To be considered, contact emilysavage@sfbg.com.

Call it youthful summer abandon or fresh-baked pop, but there's something about Ash Reiter's song and Perez Bros-directed video “Heatwave” that melts the ice of a chilled and cubed SF day. Whether it's the the lilting melody, surfy plucking, stoop sing-along, or the perfectly-cast ice cream man offering up too many dripping frozen treats, it's hard to wipe that sticky grin off your face. That is, until you see the ice cream man's crestfallen face, realizing it's just too much sugar. Read more »

Jounce with us, if you will, through the Guardian staff's frenzied weekend. Here's our live reviews, hot raging, random sightings.

***Classy is, somehow, the wrong word for a quality show at Yoshi's – but elegant is an appropriate descriptor, especially considered the dapper ladies and gentlemen assembled on Wednesday night for Red Bull Music Academy's presention of Gary Bartz, featuring young buck R&B devils Aloe Blacc and Bilal. It takes a certain level of grace for a venerable saxophonist like Bartz to give up the spotlight, but Bilal's tear-jerkingly masterful roar-to-whisper rendition of “Body and Soul,” and Blacc's swaggerful performance of his hit “I Need a Dollar” were well-choreographed breaks in the venerable saxophonist's riff and trills. (Caitlin Donohue) Read more »

A steady backbeat. The swirling organ. Lots of saxophone. Two singers who double as dancers. One skunk striped haircut. Without a doubt, Fitz and the Tantrums have their act together, and worked it Thursday, the first of two nights at the Regency Ballroom. Read more »