Australian psych band Babe Rainbow headlines free Union Square concert
The Chapel and show promoter (((folkYEAH!))) have teamed up with SF Live and the Union Square Alliance to present another free weekend concert Saturday afternoon featuring an international array of modern psychedelic-rock acts including Australia's the Babe Rainbow, Brazil's Boogarins, Minami Deutsch from Japan and more.
San Francisco has hosted a flurry of free live concerts this summer as part of the SF Live program aimed at bringing more visitors to the city. The shows have included performances at McLaren Park, the Golden Gate Park Bandshell, and China Basin Park. Saturday's international psychedelic rock blowout is headlined by the Babe Rainbow.
Founded nearly a decade ago in the New South Wales beachside town of Byron Bay by high school friends and surfing buddies Angus Dowling and Jack Crowther, the Babe Rainbow crafts a propulsive, dancefloor friendly style of tuneful soft psychedelia. Initial recordings independently released by the band caught the ear of fellow psychedelic explorer and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard mainstay Stu Mackenzie, who offered to produce the band and sign them to King Gizzard's Flightless imprint.
The band's eponymous debut in 2017 showcased their upbeat, neo-psychedelic sunshine pop that the Babe Rainbow delivered to live audiences on early tours supporting King Gizzard and the Allah-Lahs. The prolific group has put out four more albums, a live "Levitations Session" recording along with a pair of EPs last year and a couple of new tunes since April, further refining their breezy psychedelia.
The Babe Rainbow will close out a full day of eclectic international sounds in Union Square Plaza on Saturday for this free concert. Also appearing is Japanese krautrock outfit Minami Deutsche. Formed in 2014 by singer, guitarist and synth player Kyotaro Miula, the band has developed a hypnotic sound built around the fixed "motorik" beat frequently employed by such influential German bands as Can, Kraftwerk and Neu! The group released its first album through the Cardinal Fuzz label before hooking up with now defunct Japanese psych band Kikagaku Moyo and signing to their Guruguru Brain imprint for their second album With Dim Light and supporting the group on a U.S. tour that stopped at the Fillmore in San Francisco. In 2018, Minami Deutsche performed live at the Roadburn Festival with legendary former Can vocalist Damo Suzuki, a collaboration that was released as a special EP a year later. More recently, the band issued its latest effort Fortune Goodies in 2022 and toured the States with noted psych power trio Earthless.
Rounding out the day will be Brazilian band Boogarins -- who echo the fractured, eclectic aesthetic of pioneering Sao Paulo band Os Mutantes and iconic artists Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso -- Los Angeles-based Chicano soul group Thee Heart Tones (who recently released their debut album Forever and Ever on Big Crown Records), and an opening set at 12:45 p.m. from acclaimed jazzy Latin/surf quartet the Los Angeles League of Musicians (aka LA LOM, who are headlining their own sold-out shows at Bimbo's Friday and Saturday). DJ Walkin' Love (Gregorio from Bolero SF) kicks things off, playing records starting at noon. Drinks will be provided by the Chapel's bar Curio, while food will be available from popular Mission spot Tacolicious.
Other upcoming free concerts in San Francisco include another Golden Gate Park performance presented by Noise Pop featuring jazz/soul bassist Thundercat and R&B singer Lee Fields on Oct. 20 and a Halloween punk rock show presented by the Bottom of the Hill at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater with Die Spitz, Nobody's Baby and more on Oct. 26. Additional information about all upcoming SF Live events may be found at www.sflivefest.com.
SF Live: The Babe Rainbow, Minami Deutsche and more
Saturday, Oct. 12, 12 p.m. Free
Union Square Plaza