See Moir Music: September 2025
Quick recap
My healing update is BIG — I can CLIMB, I can go up and down stairs, I can walk around at speed. That whole 6 month recovery timeframe is real, but now that I'm healed up to this point I can confidently say that I am in far less pain than I was pre-surgery, and I can't wait to kick it on the dance floor this month.
If you find yourself in a similar situation and need some medical devices or supplies, or have some getting dusty in your house, the ReCares medical supplies redistribution network is incredible. I got almost everything I needed to make my recovery a breeze for free. I can't recommend it enough. I took everything I used back to them a week or so ago and half of it was gone within 5 minutes.
What's next for me?
September is big because I'll make it out to shows for the first time in 6+ months! I'll hopefully see some of you at BAMBII & Anz and I know I'll see many of you on at Ben UFO & Surusinghe at Monument — I've seen Ben UFO before and I'm mostly excited to see Surusinghe so hopefully the set times work out in my favor 💆🏻♀️squish 4 eva.
Other shows going on
What I'm not going to, but might if I had unlimited energy... bold shows are ones that I am planning on or otherwise heavily recommend...
September
Friday, September 5 — Luke Alessi, Physical Therapy, and Femmelectric at the Great Northern
Friday, September 5 — DJ Boring at Audio
Saturday, September 6 — Booka Shade (DJ set) at the Great Northern
Saturday, September 6 — Matthew Dear B2B Juan Maclean at Monarch
Saturday, September 6 — Honey Dijon at Gold Bar on Treasure Island
One of the few DJs whose sets I've closed out, well worth seeing.
Sunday, September 7 — The Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse at the Greek Theatre
Sunday, September 7 — Poolside's Daytime Disco at Union Square (Free!)
Friday, September 12 — MJ Lenderman at the Fox Theater
Friday, September 12 — Bomba Estereo and Rawayana at the Greek Theatre
Friday, September 12 — DJ Hyperdrive, X-Coast, OZA at Public Works
Friday, September 12 — Otik with Tripleset and more at Monarch
Saturday, September 13 — Sultan + Shepherd at the Phoenix Hotel
Saturday, September 13 — GUY J's We Are Lost Festival featuring Guy J, Guy Mantzur, and others at 888 Garage
Saturday, September 13 — Shaboozey and more at Civic Center Plaza for Empire 15
Saturday, September 13 — BAMBII & Anz at TBA by squish
Not familiar? Listen to BAMBII's track Spit or Anz's track Last Before Lights.
Sunday, September 14 — Daybreaker SF at the Ferry Building
Thursday, September 18 — Magdalena Bay at the Warfield
Thursday, September 18 — LP Giobbi at Great Northern
Thursday, September 18 — Bob Moses at GAMH
Friday, September 19 — Magdalena Bay (DJ set) at Great Northern
Friday, September 19 — Prospa at the Midway
I don't really understand why some artists are at tiny venues and others are at giant venues but ok.
Friday, September 19 — Duke Dumont at 1015 Folsom
Friday, September 19 — salute with HAAi at Public Works
Saturday, September 20 & Sunday, September 21 — Portola Music Festival at Pier 80, featuring: ¥ØU$UKE ¥UK1MAT$U, 1tbsp, 2manydjs b2b Erol Alkan, Blawan, Bob Moses, Caribou, Christina Aguilera, Confidence Man, Despacio (all day long), Dom Dolla, Duke Dumont, HAAi, Hamdi, KI/KI, LCD Soundsystem, Magdalena Bay, MALUGI, Maribou State, Marie Davidson, Moby (Live), Oppidan, Peggy Gou, Prospa b2b Kettama, salute, SHEE, The Blessed Madonna b2b Tiga, The Chemical Brothers DJ set, The Prodigy, The Rapture, Villager, X Club., and more.
If you live on that side of the city you can buy tickets for $350, or stop by the Warfield on a Sunday between 10am and 3pm to buy discount tickets.
My ideal Saturday would be: 1tbsp → Villager → X Club. → HAAi → Prospa b2b Kettama → Oppidan → ¥ØU$UKE ¥UK1MAT$U → Duke Dumont → Caribou → salute → Chemical Brothers (DJ set)
My ideal Sunday would be: Skiis → SHEE → Malugi → Blawan → Blessed Madonna b2b Tiga → Maribou State → 2manyDJs b2b Erol Alkan → coinflip between Hamdi and The Rapture → KI/KI → Underworld → Moby I guess? → Dom Dolla → The Prodigy.
Saturday, September 20 — Ben UFO & Surusinghe & more at Monument
Saturday, September 20 — 1tbsp and Villager at Audio
Saturday, September 20 — Kettama and X Club. with Skiis at Monarch
Saturday, September 20 — Neil Frances (DJ set) and Daphni at Public Works
Sunday, September 21 — Hamdi at Monarch
Sunday, September 21 — Confidence Man (DJ set) and Maribou State (DJ set) at Audio
Monday, September 22 — The Prodigy at the Warfield
Tuesday, September 23 — Alex G and Nilüfer Yanya at the Fox Theater
Tuesday, September 23 — Band of Horses and Iron & Wine at The Warfield
Thursday, September 25 — Jacques Greene and Nosaj Thing at GAMH
Saturday, September 27 — Patrick Wolf at The Lodge at the Regency Center (one of the venues at Regency Ballroom apparently)
Saturday, September 27 — Rebūke at the Midway
Saturday, September 27 — Disclosure (Live) and Bullet Tooth at the Greek Theatre
Sunday, September 28 — Disclosure (Live) and Villager at the Frost Ampitheater
October
Thursday, October 2 — Polo & Pan at Frost Ampitheater
Friday, October 3 — HI-LO at Hibernia Bank (Oliver Heldens)
Saturday, October 4 — PUP & Jeff Rosenstock at Fox Theater
Saturday, October 4 — Bushbaby with Dan Frandisco, Nightware, and DJ Staley at Monarch for Garage Access
Not familiar? Listen to Time of Our Lives, Breaka Breaka, or Roll To The Rhythm. Don't sleep on this set!!
Friday, October 3 – Sunday, October 5 — Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at Golden Gate Park with Courtney Barnett, Emmylou Harris, Reverend Horton Heat, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, The String Cheese Incident, Lucinda Williams, and more.
Monday, October 6 — Mates of State at August Hall
Tuesday, October 7 — HAIM at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Friday, October 10 — Yelle at the Regency Ballroom
Friday, October 10 — Wolf Alice at the Fox Theater
Saturday, October 11 — Bonobo DJ set in Napa somewhere
Saturday, October 11 — Khalid, Lauv, and more in Golden Gate Park
Sunday, October 12 — Bob Moses (Club set) in Napa somewhere
Tuesday, October 14 — Bad Suns at Bimbo's 365
Thursday, October 16 — Rilo Kiley and Waxahatchee at the Greek Theatre
I realized I'll be in town for this so I picked up tickets!
Friday, October 17 — SG Lewis and Sofia Kourtesis at Bill Graham
Saturday, October 18 — Eli Brown at the Palace of the Fine Arts
His Love Regenerator project with Calvin Harris was great and I love a novelty venue.
Saturday, October 18 — LP Giobbi in Napa somewhere
Sunday, October 19 — Lorde and Empress Of at the Greek Theatre
Friday, October 24 — The Magician at Audio
Sunday, October 26 — Alan Dixon at the Hotel VIA Rooftop
Tuesday, October 28 — Ela Minus at the Independent
Friday, October 31 — Midland at F8 for squish
Friday, October 31 — Amelie Lens, Klangkuenstler, Max Gardner, and more at Cow Palace
Friday, October 31 — MK at 1015 Folsom
The rest of the year…
Saturday, November 1 — The Faint and Hercules and Love Affair at the Regency Ballroom
Saturday, November 1 & Sunday, November 2 — Bakermat, WHOMADEWHO, Aluna, Parra for Cuva, Starfari, Spencer Brown, ELIF, Qrion and more at The Midway
Thursday, November 13 — Cut Copy at the Regency Ballroom
Saturday, November 15 — Booka Shade at the Great Northern
Saturday, November 15 — Chris Lake at Bill Graham
Tuesday, November 18 — Burna Boy at Oakland Arena
Wednesday, November 19 — Grizzly Bear at Fox Theater
Friday, November 21 — Jack's Mannequin at the Warfield (MFEO tour)
Saturday, November 22 — Silva Bumpa at Audio
Not familiar, Listen to When I'm With You.
Saturday, November 22 — Sam Alfred at Monarch
Not familiar? Listen to Feel the Friction. I'm not sure the people writing the copy on Eventbrite are familiar either: "Join us for a night of smooth jazz and soulful vibes" 🤨
Friday, November 28 & Saturday, November 29 — Sara Landry at Palace of the Fine Arts
Friday, November 28 — MPH at 1015 Folsom
Not familiar? Listen to Spend the Night.
Saturday, November 29 — Nils Hoffman at the Regency Ballroom
Sunday, November 30 — Jens Lekman at the Independent
Thursday, December 4 — Lola Young at Bill Graham
Friday, December 5 — Motion City Soundtrack and Say Anything at the Warfield
Friday, December 19 — FISHER at Moscone Center
I mean, is this the most novelty venue of all novelty venues?!
Friday, December 26 — San Holo at the Midway
Other SF events
Most of the summer "revitalize the downtown" events end this month…
July 4 – September 14 — Minted SF takes over the Mint plaza at 5th and Mission every Friday with live music.
Downtown First Thursdays takes over 2nd street and nearby areas and makes my late work hours interesting. Last month Rochelle Jordan played, so don't sleep on the lineup.
Summer of Music is no longer standalone artists playing on the street in front of various businesses, and is instead part of local neighborhood night markets.
Every 2nd and 4th Saturday from June through September is the Pier Party at the Wharf
Most weekdays there are People in Plazas playing live music (like jazz)
There are other recurring events in the city to check out:
Inner Sunset Flea Market on second Sundays
Fridays on Front Street (next on October 10)
If book talks, history walks, music-making classes, or public lectures are more your speed, here's what's going on this month and beyond…
Monday, September 1 (all month) — Muni's Bussin' Bingo for Transit Month
Wednesday, September 3 — It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley at the Little Roxie Theater
Thursday, September 4 — Transit Trivia Night at SPUR for Transit Month
Friday, September 5 — Screening of The Secret Life of Plants and Plant Music Performance at Gray Area
Friday, September 5 — Pop-Up Transit Gallery at San Francisco Railway Museum for Transit Month
Opening Friday, September 5 — The Day the Sky Turned Orange at Z Space, an r&b and hip hop musical
Saturday, September 6 (and Sunday, September 21 and Sunday, September 28) — Community Rowing Days at India Basin Park
Saturday, September 6 & Sunday September 7 — The Two Gentlemen of Verona at McLaren Park by SF Shakes
Sunday, September 7 — Luigi: The Musical at the Independent, a homecoming show after an Edinburgh Fringe run.
Sunday, September 7 — Discover East Bay Transit History: Streetcar Movers and Shakers at Piedmont Funeral Services and Mountain View Cemetery for Transit Month
Thursday, September 11 — And the Roots of Rhythm Remain with Joe Boyd at the Roxie Theater
"Based on his new book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain, he has assembled rarely-if-ever-seen clips showing Kate Bush with Bulgaria’s Trio Bulgarka, Taj Mahal with kora great Toumani Diabaté, Ravi Shankar with George Harrison, Paul Simon with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Ivo Papasov, Django Reinhardt, Carmen Miranda, Dizzy Gillespie and many more."
Thursday, September 11 – Sunday, September 14 — Gray Area festival, featuring workshops and more like:
Sunday, September 14 — Prosthetic Pixels: Worldbuilding with AI, Style & Self
Sunday, September 14 — MicroMovement: Interacting with Hardware
Friday, September 12 — Samin Nosrat in conversation with Hrishikesh Hirway at Sydney Goldstein Theater for City Arts and Lectures
Friday, September 12 – September 21 — Flower Piano at SF Botanical Garden
Saturday, September 13 — SF Lost Neon Landscapes at the Roxie Theater
Saturday, September 13 — Super Flex Contemporary Art Festival in Chinatown
Saturday, September 13 & Sunday September 14 — The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Sue Bierman Park by SF Shakes
Sunday, September 14 — Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex
Featuring Director Ethan Silverman IN PERSON after the 9/14 show: "The complex and revolutionary music and lyrics of Marc Bolan and T. Rex, the glam rock powerhouse behind “Bang a Gong (Get it On)” and other iconic songs."
Sunday, September 14 — “Northern Shoreline” Bay History Cruise with Chris Carlsson
Tuesday, September 16 — Public Transit Visions in Speculative Fiction at SPUR for Transit Month
Thursday, September 18 — Rooftop Radio with (((folkYEAH!))) at SFMoMA
Thursday, September 18 — Muni Presents: Live Routle & Trivia Night at Standard Deviant Brewing for Transit Month
See you there?
Thursday, September 18 & Friday, September 19 — Linda Linda Linda at the Roxie Theater
When their lead singer drops out days before their debut at the annual school concert, a high school band enlists a Korean exchange student with shaky Japanese skills to save the show
Saturday, September 20 — Peaks & Alleys: A BART to BART Walk for Transit Month
Saturday, September 20 & Sunday, September 21 — MUNI Heritage Weekend at the San Francisco Railway Museum for Transit Month
Saturday, September 20 & Sunday, September 21 — The Two Gentlemen of Verona at Sue Bierman Park by SF Shakes
Saturday, September 20 & Sunday, September 21 + Saturday, September 27 & Sunday, September 28 — Python for Visual Designers with Maurice Meilleur online through Letterform Archive
Wednesday, September 24 — Pop-up Transit Art Fair at Salesforce Transit Center
Friday, September 26 — Collections Tour: Intro to the Archive with Rob Saunders at the Letterform Archive
Music lately
You can always follow me on bandcamp to see what I've bought lately…
It's been kind of a random month for me with music…
Sabrina Carpenter has a new album that is pretty fun. More country than her last and continues her lyrical juxtaposition of being brash combined with bubblegum pop melodies.
Lots of new sets this month but none have been particularly sticky yet:
FOREVER by DJ HEARTSTRING & SWIM is finally out and the tracks are maybe too slickly produced compared to what I've been hearing in their sets, but it's nice to have the tracks out!
KI/KI & Marlon Hoffstadt - Losing Control (Extended Mix) is good, I listened to a KI/KI essential mix at work and accidentally worked too late and idek what my heart rate was bc it was kind of intense, and then the next week this track came out.
lost in the fire (Pegassi Remix) is fun, I always enjoy a good bootleg.
I Got It For You by Funk Tribu has the kind of dynamics and bare bones production that are really rewarding for a track like this. I hope y'all saw them when they were in town a few months ago…
Breaka Breaka by Bushbaby & ELOQ is another edit I have been waiting for. Please please please go to this show next month!
Bassweight Nostalgia Vol. 2 | Debba… remind me to keep a close eye on where Debba will be touring next…
Harvest Sky Dub [AD003] by Y U QT… if you remember the Y U QT set I was listening to a lot from last month, this is off that.
Other notes
Still trying to finish Chokepoint Capitalism, still trying to start Mood Machine. I have a mini syllabus curated for myself that I might manage to get through over the next few months about algorithmic playlists and platforms (and beyond):
Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly
Spotify Teardown: Inside the Black Box of Streaming Music by Maria Eriksson, Rasmus Fleischer, Anna Johansson, Pelle Snickars and Patrick Vonderau
Computing Taste: Algorithms and the Makers of Music Recommendation by Nick Seaver
The Uncanny Muse: Music, Art, and Machines from Automata to AI by David Hajdu
Plus two more ancillary books that are part of the same orbit imo:
Empire of AI by Karen Hao
Feeding the Machine: The Hidden Human Labor Powering A.I. by Callum Cant , James Muldoon, and Mark Graham
Nonfiction is so informative but so much more time consuming and mentally taxing to read, especially outside of a classroom where you're engaging directly with the topic with a cohort of peers (instead, alone in your living room). So I sprinkle it into my diet of YouTube videos and fiction novels instead 😂 Despite that, I welcome any and all book recommendations!