SF Live announces fall lineup and remaining shows of the series. Since May 2024, SF Live has gathered thousands of people to San Francisco’s outdoor plazas and parks. With eight more shows to go in the series, live music fans can expect punk rock, metal, jazz, electronic, and more. Shows are free to attend, and family friendly. Each concert offers a diverse lineup of artists, ranging from rising indie bands to well-established jazz ensembles and high-energy pop acts.

Alex Patrinos, general manager of the EndUp, said SF Live granted his South of Market nightclub $32,000 in artist fees and $10,000 to $15,000 for sound and lighting for a 50th anniversary celebration in Union Square that drew an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 on June 15.

Director of Nightlife Initiatives from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development Ben Van Houten and musician Big Daddy Cade joined host Jessica Wills to chat about SF Live‘s free music concert series and how they are honoring San Francisco’s musical history.

The latest city-sponsored series, SF Live, spent a chunk of its $2.5 million musical treasure chest on Thursday at Civic Center’s Fulton Plaza. I walked my bike past the criminally underused chess tables and skateboarders nose-sliding on newly installed ledges to find 100 San Franciscans braving the city’s perpetual light drizzle to hear Tony Lindsay, longtime lead singer of Santana’s band, playing alongside a quartet of smoking-hot jazz musicians. The standout was trumpet player Bill Ortiz, another Santana alum who’s also played on albums by Tony! Toni! Toné! and Souls of Mischief’s iconic “93 ‘til Infinity.”

Oakland saxophone great Howard Wiley presented his soul-powered love letter to California at the SFJAZZ Center last March, and he’s bringing the party to the Golden Gate Bandshell as part of the recently launched SF Live concert series. Wiley’s band shares the afternoon program with DJ Knowpa Slaps, MC Radioactive and Bayonics vocalist Jairo Vargas’s side project, Rojai and the Pocket. Drawing on hip-hop, funk, gospel, blues and bebop, Wiley has been devising outrageously creative mash-ups (think “Hotel California” meets “Californication”). Produced in partnership with Illuminate and Madrone Art Bar, where Wiley’s band Extra Nappy held down a weekly residency for years before the pandemic, the concert is part of SF Live’s six-month series of free concerts.

Starting in May, San Francisco will be hosting local and international talent at various plazas and parks. Raj Mathai speaks with Ben Van Houten with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

Claiming to “amplify the power, love, and legacy of music in San Francisco,” SF LIVE, a new outdoor concert series, aims to bring arts and culture into SF’s parks and plazas through free performances. The debut event is May 4’s “Electric Fields” at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell. It will be presented by The Great Northern and Monarch and will feature performances by Doc Martin, Galen, and DJ M3. Other events will also be held throughout the summer at Fulton Plaza, Union Square, and the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater.

The SF Live website lists 21 concert dates. San Francisco hopes that the concert series, produced with $2.5 million of state funding, according to the city’s news release, will aid in the city’s economic recovery, boost local nightlife and raise SF’s profile as a historic hotspot for musical subcultures. (The SF Live website includes an “SF Music History” tab, which traces the city’s musical heritage from the beatniks of the ’50s to the punk scene of the ’80s and beyond.)

“Either way, SF Live is coming this summer, and it’s certainly no slouch. The idea, of course, is to get people out and spending money. But the concerts themselves are free, and there’s good reason to follow SF Live on Instagram for the announcements of more shows.”

"The SF Live project has been a bright spot for Bottom of the Hill this year. It allowed me to book a headlining band I've always wanted to book but was too big for my venue. Partnering with Illuminate, who knows the ins and outs of putting on larger productions in outdoor spaces, has allowed us to focus on the fun stuff! And knowing we're providing this programming to the general public for free is a really great feeling!" said Bottom of the Hill owner Lynn Schwarz.

San Francisco’s public parks and plazas will hold a monthslong series of free outdoor concerts beginning in May, culminating a yearslong effort to provide a post-pandemic boost to The City’s entertainment and nightlife industries.

Who needs Coachella’s bloated prices, gnarly winds and equipment meltdowns? Starting with an electronic-heavy lineup on May 4 at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell, San Francisco has announced a brand-new summer festival of its own: a series of free outdoor musical performances called “SF Live” that will take place all summer at parks and plazas citywide.