When news spread last year that the beloved Cafe du Nord music venue had been sold to restaurateurs, music lovers cried out for the shrinking San Francisco venue scene. So it's great news to know that not all shows have been lost in that building. The upstairs Swedish American Hall, a gorgeous historic Market St. space with lofty ceilings and an intimate show room, is being taken over by Noise Pop, the folks behind Treasure Island Music Festival, the Noise Pop Festival, and other great local music events.
The announcement just arrived this morning that Noise Pop will re-christen the venue, which has been undergoing a yearlong renovation, on Feb. 20, the launch of next year's Noise Pop Festival. I've seen a ton of excellent, intimate shows in this space, from John Waters to Andrew W.K. and Vincent Gallo, but the Swedish American Hall has also played host to Britt Daniel from Spoon, Joanna Newsom, Bob Mould, and other indie favorites. The full lineup of who's going to play the hall in 2015 will be announced later, but I'm so happy that this cozy landmark from 1907 will keep its music heritage. Noise Pop is planning on putting an emphasis on both national and local talent, which is also great as homegrown acts worry about the number of venues that allow smaller acts to get their foot in the door.
The hall, which has a 300-person capacity, will also still make room for the local Swedish community, of course, and I imagine will also continue to be a beautiful space for very San Francisco weddings.
I don't remember the old Swedish American Hall having much in the way of booze, but the revised version of this venue comes with the Bon Vivants cocktail crew, or the folks behind the crazy menus and craft cocktails at Trick Dog.
Food will come from the Ne Timeas Restaurant Group (Flour + Water, Central Kitchen, Salumeria), which will open a Basque-inspired restaurant called Aatxe within the Swedish American Hall and are part of the revised Cafe du Nord as well.
I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of talent comes to play under those gorgeous rafters in 2015.
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Photos by Charles Stricklin (top), and pre-rennovation images of the Swedish American Hall courtesy of Noise Pop