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| Matt Nathanson @ the Alcazar Theatre (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
The Blue Bear School of Music is a San Francisco institution. Established in 1971 by the local rock band Wolfgang & Strauss, Blue Bear was -- and is -- the original 'School of Rock' and has been foundational in supporting and inspiring over 40,000 Bay Area kids over the its lifetime. As a non-profit, Blue Bear has worked with over 62 partners across the Bay Area community to bring music programs and support to underserved neighborhoods throughout the city; and as the school's Executive Director, Steve Schwartz, announced this past Saturday night, Blue Bear has plans to expand into the East Bay in the coming years. If you're not already familiar with the school, I highly encourage you to check them out and contribute to their programs should you have the means.
And speaking of this past Saturday night, the intimate Alcazar Theatre on Geary played host to 260 special guests to celebrate Blue Bear's 3x delayed 50th Anniversary with a fundraising concert featuring a handful of future stars from the school, and headlined by SF's own, Matt Nathanson.
Those kid-artists included songwriter and pianist Bianca Rosenthal, hip-hop producer & rapper Tamren, and the acoustic guitar duo of Katie Muir & Natalie Cavander. The kids were impressive and reinforced how the power of music can provide an outlet for those looking for connection, discovery, and well being -- especially during their tween-teenage years. For one, Bianca (at only 12 years old!), was already writing lyrics that hit deep at the pressures of being a kid during the pandemic. She performed a song she wrote called "Alone" with hard hitting lyrics such as "Sometimes I feel like I'm alone. Sometimes I feel like I don't belong. Stressed out, trying to get through the day. I can't seem to handle it anymore. I don't know how I did it before." As her confident and yet emotional voice sang the words, I couldn't help but to think back to several years ago when there was a string of teen suicides from Gunn High School in Palo Alto -- and as a parent of an 11 year old, I found myself sitting there wondering if I'm part of the problem with the pressures that kids are putting themselves under these days? I wouldn't have wanted to follow Bianca, but Tamren knocked it out of the park with two songs he wrote and produced -- except for the beat on his first song he called out to clarify what was said earlier about writing and recording all of the material he performed. Tamren also rolled with the punches as the first song he performed was meant to be the second song, but there must have been a mix-up at the soundboard. Had he not said anything about it, I personally wouldn't have noticed -- either way, remember the name Tamren because I can see him becoming big someday soon. And last but not least were the duo of Katie & Natalie. They too dealt admirably with some awkward microphone placement too close to the neck of one of their guitars that made contact during their first song -- the Cranberries' "Linger." Like true professionals, they brushed it off and stayed focused on their harmonies and closing with Phoebe Bridges' "Funeral." The three acts were impressive showcase artists for Blue Bear and easily warmed-up the crowd just before Nathanson's set.
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| Tamren @ the Alcazar Theatre (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
There was a quick 10-minute intermission for a stage changeover in gear, and while that happened in the background, two Blue Bear board members encouraged the crowd to donate using a QR code on the back of our programs. Ariel Sutro & Claire Cochran were each doing a bit of stand-up comedy to keep us all entertained, while at the same time talking about their passion for Blue Bear and the impact the school has had. In just the 10-minutes they were onstage, they were able to raise nearly another $4,000 from the generosity of the tiny crowd. And with that, they gave way for the main act of the night, Matt Nathanson.
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| Matt Nathanson @ the Alcazar Theatre (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
It was somewhat amazing to think that only the night before, Matt was performing down in San Jose for the annual Alice Radio 'Winterland' concert at the SAP Center along with John Mayer, and One Republic -- and here we were, back in SF at a tiny theater with a 260 person capacity. Talk about a private show! This reminded me of the days nearly 25 years ago when Matt would play solo acoustic sets at coffee shops (or anywhere he could!) as he was trying to get a record deal. Not only had we been treated to a special night of up & comers, we were all about to get a rare show from Matt in a super small venue!
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| Matt Nathanson @ the Alcazar Theatre (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Matt was joined by Aaron Tap on guitars and Adam Popick on bass, percussion and keyboards. The threesome kicked off with "Giants" from Matt's 2015 album, Show Me Your Fangs, and then continued to hop around throughout Matt's catalog -- always interspersed with hilarious stories and jokes with the audience. At one point, Matt joked that Aaron was going to switch careers to become an ASMR performer. That led to at least 5 minutes of trying to describe what ASMR is to the audience, and even going so far as trying to google it on his phone. And in doing so, cracked that we were sitting in the dead center of the technological revolution and he couldn't get a signal. Having waited for what have must have felt like a minute, he put his phone down and started the next song. Matt might have been about 2-3 bars into it when he realized that his phone had finally gotten a signal and the video he was trying to pull up, started playing -- so he stopped playing the song and quickly picked up his phone and put it to the microphone for all of us in the audience to experience ASMR.... Even as I type this, I still don't have any clue what it is to be honest, but it was an absolute riot.
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| Aaron Tap, Matt Nathanson & Adam Popick @ the Alcazar Theatre (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
In a more poignant moment, Matt spoke about the importance of music in schools and how he sees its' impact on his 12 year old daughter. You can see the clip here:
It was one of two pretty special and personal moments Matt took to connect with the audience. The other was when he was describing the time he was interviewed by Howard Stern who asked him about his upbringing. Matt said something to the effect that his parents did the best they could, but he felt they loved themselves more than their kids. He then commented how having heard the interview, his mom could have reached out to apologize, but instead she sent him a cease and desist letter for slander her on national radio. Of course being Matt, he said it in a way that was hilarious and stopped to wonder aloud how each of us would take what he'd just said, but then said, 'it's OK, I'm good with it' to show that he'd put it behind him.
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| Aaron Tap, Matt Nathanson & Adam Popick @ the Alcazar Theatre (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Overall, it was a classic Matt Nathanson performance with a solid set, he and the band sounded great, and top it all off with hilarious banter throughout. Having listened to Matt since those early coffee house days, I continue to be stunned how Matt's not bigger than Ed Sheeran, but maybe I have it wrong? Maybe Ed Sheeran is San Francisco's Matt Nathanson?!?
Thanks for reading and be sure to check out Blue Bear! While you're at it, you can follow us as well here: Instagram | Facebook.
