Bottom of the Hill Hosts Weekend Memorial Celebrations Honoring Passed Friends
By Dave Pehling
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill hosts a pair of heartfelt memorial shows this weekend for two local music heroes, paying tribute to musician Matt Harris on Saturday night and "One Night Stand" organizer Shari Krumel-Slattery Sunday afternoon.
Harris, whose death was confirmed in early February of last year, was a mainstay in the Bay Area music scene starting in the mid-1990s. He would join Bob and Dan Reed's established melodic alt/punk outfit Overwhelming Colorfast. Crafting a tuneful, pummeling style of hook-laden punk that recalled classic Husker Du and Buzzcocks, the band welcomed Harris in time for him to contribute bass to the band's 1995 Sourdough EP as well as songwriting to the band's subsequent full-length record Moonlight And Castanets the following year.
While Overwhelming Colorfast split up after that release, Harris also played in similarly minded offshoot group Oranger, a band that like its predecessor would become a beloved local act and staple of San Francisco's Noise Pop Festivals. Pavement's Scott Kannberg aka Spiral Stairs would put out several of Oranger's albums on his Amazing Grease record label.
After Oranger ran its course, Harris would be tapped to join Northwestern power-pop band the Posies in 2001, touring extensively with the group during a partnership that lasted 13 years. He also recorded two albums with them -- Every Kind of Light in 2005 and Blood Candy in 2010. Harris also worked with Kannberg and Texas guitar hero Ian Moore. This tribute show at the Bottom of the Hill will feature members of Overwhelming Colorfast and Oranger, Kannberg and Moore, noted SF songbird Paula Frazer, musician Tim Regan as well as indie-rock favorites Slouching Stars.
Sunday's afternoon memorial concert for promoter and "One Night Stand" organizer Shari Krumel-Slattery will feature a variety of Bay Area musicians playing some of her favorite songs. The One Night Stand concert series was always about cover songs, with local bands and musicians putting their original tunes on the backburner for a night of fun. The long-running series curated by Krumel-Slattery lasted for 15 years and frequently filled local venues to capacity as friends came together to play their favorite music.
Sunday's marathon show is set to run for at least six hours, with short-term ad hoc groups playing the music of the Cramps, Hoodoo Gurus, Guided By Voices and much more. Highlights include members of Kingdom First, Decal and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes as the Damned Saints (playing songs by those two iconic punk bands), members of the above mentioned Overwhelming Colorfast singing Motörhead and a new band formed by local luminaries including former Acid King/Altamont and current Frisco drummer Joey Osborne, ex-Saviours/Drunk Horse member Cyrus Comisky, Zen Guerilla bassist Carl Horne, Hot Lunch guitarist Aaron Nudelman and Frehley's Vomit singer and documentary filmmaker Bob Hannam playing XTC songs under the moniker Respectable Street.
Closing out the night will be Bay Area all-star covers outfit the Butlers. Founded by guitarists Billy Rowe (a veteran of '80s SF metal band Jetboy) and Craig Behrhorst (who played with Ruffians, another Bay Area metal act from the same era), the Butlers specialize in playing the blues-based rock songs from the '70s that inspired their respective bands. The band is filled out by musicians who have put in time with such local institutions as thrash-metal icons Exodus and Death Angel, sleazy punk merchants American Heartbreak and hard rockers Immigrant. Proceeds will benefit Breakthrough Club House in Shari's honor.
Sail On, Sailor: A Tribute to Matt Harris
Saturday, March 5, 7 p.m. $15 (21 and over but family welcome)
One Last One Night Stand: Celebrating Shari Krumel-Slattery
Sunday, March 6, 3:30 p.m. $20 (all ages)
