Can you pass the Acid Test? This was the question posed by Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters during their time atop San Francisco’s psychedelic counterculture era of the 1960s. SUB/Mission, a San Francisco music and arts venue, will be hosting an event that poses the same question. On Saturday, April 5th, The Acid Test — a psychedelic music celebration will explode onto the scene.

Through sound, lighting, dancing and overall merriment, the event will look to capture the same euphoric experiences that those hosted by Kesey did. Mad Alchemy will be providing a liquid light performance and there will be several guest DJs, including sets by Joel Gion of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Abel Oleson and Galine MoDemoiselle.

Be sure to make it out to the show and be a part of an underground psychedelic experience that would make the Merry Pranksters proud. –Skyler Warren

Congratulations to Oakland bedroom psych band, Clumsy Concentration, for winning The Deli Magazine San Francisco’s Artist of the Month Poll! Clumsy Concentration won over readers with their hazy-sounding style of acoustic psych. Be sure to check out their music!!! We’re happy about their success and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors!

Oakland based experimental Americana band, Halcyonaire will be releasing an artfully executed three track album entitled, Urban Arson / Lost & Found & Lost / The Sonneteer. The band has molded a brief collection of music into a flowing piece that they describe to be a vignette. There is a touch of theatrical imagery and storytelling throughout the album, as the songs creatively mosey along as if they effortlessly play themselves without the help of human limbs. Urban Arson brings a similar tone of The Black Angels and Spindrift. All three tracks are dark and emotive desert western ballads that ring and move with a rebellious tone that is invigorating and intriguing.

Urban Arson / Lost & Found & Lost / The Sonneteer is an impressive set of music that stands out without being oppressively flamboyant, loud and overbearing. It’s got a comfortable vibe and the songwriting and composition is relatable and nervously soothing.

Until this album’s release on April 15th you can check Halcyonaire out live at their album release show at the Night Light on April 12th.  You can also give their previous musical effort, Young Penitents / The Healer a listen to get a taste of what you’re in for when the album drops. –je

April 12th – Oakland, CA – The Night Light
April 16th – San Jose, CA – Blank Club

San Francisco based alt country band, Sioux City Kid will be the featured act for Amnesia’s monthly live music residency. This energetic folk rock outfit will host a plethora of other talented local bands like Elliott Randall and the Deadmen, Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah and M. Lockwood Porter. The entire event is being called Sioux Days and singer- songwriter, Jared Griffin will lead his band into live music triumph as they hold court every Tuesday in April at Amnesia in San Francisco.

Sioux City Kid has also released a track entitled, Heartbreak Shakedown. Griffin’s gravelly voice thunders over this uptempo folk track. Heartbreak Shakedown has morphed into a studio recording after he travelled to record a version of the song in the Third Man Records recording booth. Take a listen and go to Amnesia to check out SC Kid Live! -je

Wrapping up a US tour tomorrow, March 28th at Rickshaw Stop, Mark Matos will be bidding adieu to San Francisco and his long-time collective, Os Beaches. A super group of sorts, Mark Matos & Os Beaches features some of the Bay Area’s premiere musicians, including Jeff Davies of Brian Jonestown Massacre and Josh Pollock of Acid Mothers Gong. Together, with a revolving door policy on band members, they create Mark’s imaginitive psychedelic folk sound, infusing it with San Francisco’s rock and roll history and the sandy textures of the desert rock.

For this special performance, both a homecoming and farewell show, Mark Matos will be accompanied by an all-star Os Beaches lineup featuring Roger Reidlebauerm, Dave Mihaly, Annie Girl, Peter Case guitarist Dave Glasebrook and Anna Jo. Also on the bill is The Love Dimension and Mexico City’s The Risin’ Sun with special guest Michael Musika, and the projection master behind Mad Alchemy, who will be completing the sensory experience of the night with one of his signature liquid light shows.

The Love Dimension is a positive free love-centric powerhouse of a band. Drawing directly from the influential Woodstock ’69 era, they create full and dance worthy soundscapes. Don’t miss out on this energetic and groovy ensemble. Mexico based psycobilly band, The Risin’ Sun will travel north to Cali just to play this legendary show. Their dank, lofi ’60s sound will blend perfectly with this powerful line up.

Make sure you make it to Rickshaw Stop to witness the end of a Bay Area era. –Lauren Espina

For those who love free events and live local music, this event just may be the thing for you. For this installment of The City: SF Sounds, presented by Jack Daniels and NBC Bay Area, bands Exhausted Pipes and Everyone is Dirty will be performing for FREE at Hotel Utah in San Francisco on March 28th.

Exhausted Pipes is an East Bay band that seeks to combine elements of folk, indie, blues and post-punk in their music. Their downhome uptempo cowboy-western style will make you twist and shout on the dance floor! Everyone is Dirty is an Oakland-based band that has a unique art-rock sound. Combining an impossible pairing of grunge music and contemporary classical music, the band makes them both work together flawlessly. Be on the lookout for their debut album on Breakup Records in May.

Make sure you make it out on Saturday to Hotel Utah to support local bands! –Erin Dage

Did you ever find yourself pondering why there weren’t enough psych bands in San Francisco? Of course you didn’t, because the Bay Area is home to many psych bands, such as The Electric Magpie, who will be playing a show tonight. Playing at SUB/Mission, they will be bringing along fellow Bay Area bands, Talk of Shamans, JAM and Clumsy Concentration.

Playing first is Clumsy Concentration, a self-proclaimed "bedroom psych" project from Oakland. As what seems to be an acoustic act, they play hazy-sounding psych rock. JAM picks up the pace a bit. This San francisco-based psych band, composes instrumentals reminiscent of James Brown, and vocals that are pure, unadulterated psych rock. Performing after is Talk of Shamans, a San Francisco band hellbent on combining popgaze, psych and indie. Be sure to check out their track "Starecase", an up-tempo diddy with intricate guitar riffs that border on math rock.

And closing the night is Bay Area based band, The Electric Magpie. This band offers a blend of ’60s psych rock and mod. Be sure to keep an eye out for their debut LP, Begins which will be released on Lollipop Records on April 15th. In the meantime, you can listen to a single they debuted last month called "Mourning Gloria." –Erin Dage

Come out to Slim’s this Wednesday for a night of excellent local garage rock with the Coo Coo Birds, Down Dirty Shake, Electric Shepherd and Major Powers and The Lo Fi Symphony!

Headliners, Coo Coo Birds are a group of psychedelic garage rockers and self-proclaimed “natural enemies of human mothers and boyfriends.” The band’s sunburnt vocal melodies and seasick guitar tones make them one of the most sonically exciting garage acts in the Bay Area. Down Dirty Shake will bring their own ’60s influenced rock and roll to the party, sounding like Glen Danzing fronting The Kinks. Electric Shepherd’s garage-prog sound combines revivalist tones with expansive arrangements and instrumentation. Rounding out the line-up is Major Powers and The Lo Fi Symphony, who might best be described as a talented and demented version of Queen.

Make sure you make it to Slim’s on March 26th to experience an amazing live local line up. – Ethan Varian

Kymberli’s Music Box Presents a stellar line up tonight at San Francisco’s Brick and Mortar Music Hall. Influential local bands, Future Twin and Luke Sweeney will share the stage with Portland based dreamgaze rock band, Daydream Machine and Johnny Holleran of the band Without George, who will be opening the show with a solo acoustic set.

Future Twin is a sweet sounding punkabilly, soulful garage rock band that will bring a strong live performance. Janis Joplin-esqe vocals are evenly woven throughout twangy power chord riffs, making for a unique and untraditional punk soul sound. Luke Sweeney‘s gazey and romance-centric ballads are a post modern reflection of ’50s pop love songs. If you like The Black Lips’ tamer ballads, you’ll enjoy Luke Sweeney. Daydream Machine creates lush walls of sound with their music. Doused with seamless harmonies and a slightly complex shoegaze compositional style that never overwhelms, this band puts on a pristine live show, and George Holleran will open the show with an acoustic set that will set the mood for a night of eclectic music.

Make sure you make it out to Brick and Mortar Music Hall tonight. –je

A month after playing their first show in San Jose, Joel Gion & the Primary Colours will be playing their first San Francisco gig on March 21st at Elbo Room along with newly minted SF-residents, the garage psych purveyors, Asteroid #4 and Portland’s space rock outfit, Daydream Machine.

If one stacked lineup isn’t enough, The Primary Colours will be playing a second show on March 29th at The Uptown in Oakland. This time around, San Francisco’s garage rock heroes, Cool Ghouls will sub in for the Daydream Machine, joining the Colours and Asteroid #4 for another anticipated evening of revival rock and roll.

As an ambassador of the city’s psychedelic underground of the 1990s, Joel Gion rose to recognition as the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s erratic and endearing tambourine player. After shifting gears and challenging himself to be a songwriter for the first time, he formed The Primary Colours. So far, Joel has dropped small bits of material like his single, Yes, that features members of BJM and Asteroid #4, and drops hints that he has woven his own textured sonic tapestry. Joel Gion & the Primary Colours has yet to release any news about the emergence of their debut album, but check them out at one of their upcoming Bay Area shows to see what kind of trouble they’ve got in store for you and the scene. –Lauren Espina

It takes quite a documentarian to truly delve into the heart of their topic while still maintaining a pleasing aesthetic. Jeff Broadway’s newest film, Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton, shoots a telescope into the fruitful career of artist and producer Chris Anak, better known as Bay Area bred, Peanut Butter Wolf.

Aided by cameos and testimonials from the likes of musical giants from hip hop and underground soul and alternative rock, the film cracks open the shell of Wolf’s wildly influential and coveted label, Stones Throw Records. Divided into chapters ranging from tales of Wolf spending his lunch money on records as an adolescent, to hip-hop royalty Madlib’s long time collaboration with Stones Throw, the movie follows the numerous stages of the label, including J Dilla’s career and tragic passing, Madlib’s transition to Madvillain, the inclusion of the eccentric Gary Wilson and PB Wolf’s manifestation of his alter-ego Falerio. The foundation of the film alludes Stones Throw’s  success to the openness of its founder’s creative mind. In the words of Homeboy Sandman, "They don’t try to create artists, they try to find artists."

Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton is a captivating, historically potent and complete film. We recommend you check out this documentary to explore a true staple in Bay Area music history and culture. –Kat Collins

Congratulations to San Francisco’s one and only "collage rock" band, The Greening, for winning The Deli Magazine San Francsico Artist of the Month Poll! The Greening persuaded readers to vote in their favor with their knack for combining elements of psych, progressive rock, and power pop in their music. Recently the band came out with a full-length album dubbed Eon V. Aeon. We’re happy about their success and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors!