This Friday, to celebrate the 100th birthday of its city hall, San Francisco will be treated to a concert that honors its expansive musical heritage. Curated by the city’s rock ‘n’ roll ambassador Chuck Prophet, the two-part set list features a wide variety of monster hits baked in the City by the Bay, all sung by local heroes like the Kingston Trio, Jello Biafra and Kelley Stoltz.
It doesn’t need to be said, but I’ll say it: Prophet did an amazing job lining up this show. From what I’ve seen, the set list looks fantastic. Seeing Roy Loney, founding member of the Flamin’ Groovies, kick off the second set with “Slow Death” will be a not-to-miss moment; likewise, the Dead Kennedys’ “California Uber Alles” accompanied by strings is an inspired, unexpected pairing.
But being a music nerd, I can’t help but make my own fantasy additions to the lineup, with emphasis on “fantasy” — it’s impossible for the majority of the acts on this list to reform. Still, to give these passed-over groups some props, and to expose myself to some serious taunting, here are my dream additions to the festivities.
1. Jawbreaker – “Kiss the Bottle”
For me, including Jawbreaker in a list of influential San Francisco bands is an absolute no-brainer. Sure, you could blame them for later musical atrocities like Fall Out Boy, but that doesn’t mean you should push aside this band’s greatness. Numerous young fans around the world learned to deal with their emotions thanks to Blake Schwarzenbach’s words and their emo-meets-pop punk riffs. Out of the extensive catalog, “Kiss the Bottle” is a given for a SF-centric event — it’s about the drunks and derelicts of the 1990s Mission District, and was first released on 17 Reasons, a box set of songs about the rapidly changing neighborhood.