Latest news with #SternGroveFestival
San Francisco Chronicle
09-07-2025
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
How to party like a pro: Experts reveal best ways to avoid injury, fatigue during outdoor concert season
The Bay Area's outdoor concert season is underway. Beloved free gatherings like Stern Grove Festival and Downtown First Thursdays are already drawing crowds in San Francisco, while big-ticket events like Oakland's Mosswood Meltdown, Portola Festival at Pier 80, Outside Lands and the highly anticipated Grateful Dead 60th anniversary celebration in Golden Gate Park are set to take over full weekends with nonstop music that'll keep fans on their feet. But while these parties can be a blast, they can take a physical toll on fans of all ages without the proper precautions. Whether you're big on mosh pits or prefer to simply lounge in the sun, there are ways to help avoid injury. Of course, there are the obvious ones: drink plenty of water, wear sunscreen and remember to eat. But there are a number of lesser-known life hacks, stretches and products that can help make a noticeable difference. The Chronicle spoke with Dr. Veronica Jow, owner of Avid Sports Medicine and a team physician for the San Francisco Giants, who has nicknamed herself 'the Rave Doctor' because of her passion for live music events, and Kyle Barbour, head performance coach for the Golden State Warriors, to gather tips and tricks to keep you partying for years to come. Before the event Don't let your body go from zero to 100 when you're attending a music event. Try to work consistent light movement into your daily routine about a week before the actual event. 'If you're not doing anything in the week, it's going to be pretty hard to recover from that kind of big spike in activity,' Barbour said, adding that activities like walking, jogging and jumping rope can help to condition the proper muscles. Movement particularly helps concertgoers who participate in mosh pits as it prepares their body for impact. Focus on your lower body and core Pay special attention to your calves, quads and glutes through stretching and training. Two exercises that Barbour recommends are isometric holds, during which you are going up and down on your toes to stretch your calves, and wall sits. Sports tape Whether you're already aware of your problem areas or simply want to prevent worsening aches, try using sports tape on your lower back, arches or knees. Not only will this help with circulation and pain management, Jow says it can also help prevent injury and support muscles. Pack an outdoor kit The Rave Doctor recommends packing a kit with items to help protect your skin from harmful UV rays, such as sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat and SPF lip balm. Just because you can't see the sun doesn't mean its rays aren't present, said Jow. During the event Protect your feet Ditch the fancy footwear and prioritize comfortable shoes with cushioned soles, a wide toe box and arch support. This will help to 'protect your knees, reduce foot fatigue and help you dance longer without wrecking your body,' Jow said. Trust us — your feet will thank you later. Use a cooling rag No matter how foggy and windy San Francisco summers can get, it's easy to break a sweat running from stage to stage on the hilly terrain of Golden Gate Park. Jow recommends using a cooling rag or frozen washcloth on your pulses (neck, wrists, etc.) during the festival to help drop your core temperature and ease your nervous system. Take a mental break Braving the elements in a crowd of thousands and booming music for multiple days straight can get overwhelming fast. That's why Jow advocates for resetting your mind with a quick breathing exercise: Breathe in for four seconds, hold it for another four and then exhale for eight seconds. This 4-4-8 mental pause is scientifically proven to help regulate the nervous system and promote relaxation. Don't use Tylenol! As tempting as it is to pop pain medications like ibuprofen or acetaminophen the moment your feet begin to ache, such medications actually cause more stress on your kidneys and liver. Instead, Jow says to opt for a CBD balm or patch to relieve pain without putting more strain on your system. Earplugs are crucial Wearing high-fidelity earplugs will help to reduce decibels but still keep sound clear. If you're finding it hard to get used to them, Jow advises starting with an earplug in one ear to calibrate your hearing before adding one in the other ear. Listen to your body You know yourself best, so trust your gut and pay attention to signs that your body may be fatigued. 'You want to make sure that you're feeling good and that you're prepared for what you're going to get yourself into,' Barbour said. 'You want to be able to have fun without too many limitations.' Eat smart Energy drinks, overpriced pizza and desserts are easy to find at music festivals, but both Jow and Barbor advise incorporating at least some protein into your diet while out at a festival to help support muscle recovery and keep nutrition levels high. Protein bars, bananas and almond butter or trail mix are all easy-to-pack snacks that balance carb, protein and salt levels. After the event Active recovery While sleeping in and lounging at home are great, try to avoid having total inactivity after an event has wrapped up. 'For the most part, people do recover better with some sort of active rest,' Barbour said. Whether it be a light walk to grab coffee or a brisk bike ride, moving your body in a low impact way that feels comfortable can help speed up the recovery process. Roll out your body Using a tennis ball to roll out your body will help stimulate blood flow to your tissues. Barbour particularly suggests focusing on your feet and calves the day after the event. Stretch it out Focus on your back, neck and feet after a big event. Exercises such as scapular stretches, where you link your hands in front of you and reach forward, and standing pelvic tilts, where you tuck and arch your pelvis, are simple but effective ways to treat post-festival aches, Jow says.
San Francisco Chronicle
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘Breakout moment': S.F. Symphony marks a first in 88th visit to Stern Grove Festival
Of all the antiquated and exotic stringed instruments that have been performed in the San Francisco Symphony, it had never had a ukulele on its stage backed by a full orchestra until Sunday afternoon at Stern Grove. The performance was by Taimane, a Hawaiian virtuoso who was discovered busking on the streets of Waikiki by none other than Don Ho, who brought her onto his show at age 13. Back then she called him 'Uncle Don.' Now she is 36 and tours the world with her own stringed quartet, but never before this weekend had she played with a major orchestra on the mainland, and she put it through the test by using elements of Led Zeppelin and Jefferson Airplane along with Bach. Her mission was to 'provide perspective for people who only know the ukulele as a toy or a souvenir,' Taimane said before the show as she huddled in her dressing room with her band, drinking hot tea and trying to stay warm in the summer fog. 'The ukulele is kind of an underdog, but it can be as serious as a violin.' Audiences love underdogs, and 50,000 people signed up in advance for Sunday's annual performance by the San Francisco Symphony, which has performed at the grove for 88 years. Performers wear their summer white coats to blend in with the fog and the program can be counted on to push the boundaries, though never as far as an electric ukulele. 'It's all about introducing people to classical music,' said Carissa Casaldo, who programs the summer show and recruited Taimane after hearing her perform on an NPR program called 'Tiny Desk.' She then flew to Hawaii in April to see her perform with the Hawaiian Orchestra. 'I wanted someone upbeat and relevant and trend-forward,' said Casaldo, who came to San Francisco a year ago from the Seattle Symphony. 'It's all about introducing people to classical music. The Stern Grove audience is not the same as the audience at Davies Hall.' For one thing tickets are free with a reservation, and with a lottery system inaugurated this year, there were 10,000 winners from 50,000 applicants. The free show is supported by donors who get a table in front of the hillside. On Sunday, for the first time since the COVID-19 shutdown, table donors were also invited into the historic Trocadero Clubhouse for a pre-show interview with a KALW radio host and Symphony conductor, Edwin Outwater, who is also director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. A standing-room-only crowd piled in to see the old wooden barn with a bullet hole in the front door for the first time since a tree fell on the roof and put it out of commission in 2022. It has now been rebuilt. 'It's a grand reopening of a unique part of Stern Grove that we haven't been able to use for years, since a tree smashed it to smithereens,' said Bob Fiedler, executive director of the Stern Grove Festival. It was Taimane's second show with the San Francisco Symphony, having opened the weekend with a July Fourth fireworks show at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. 'They were great to watch, to listen to, and to escape to a tranquil state of mind,' associate principal bass player Daniel Smith said before Sunday's show. 'In other words, they were sick.' Taimane had never before played San Francisco and personalized it by having the band wear traditional lei po'o wreaths that the band's dancer had scrounged from Stern Grove vegetation. It was a big moment for the ukulele, and the band played in the dressing room for half an hour before taking the stage so the players' fingers would be warm in the fog. They also stretched and had a glass of wine. 'It's a breakout moment for the ukulele and for the Symphony, too,' she said beforehand, 'to trust us to make something new.'
San Francisco Chronicle
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F.'s Stern Grove Festival passes first test of new ticket lottery in season opener
Five years after a flood brought down the hillside above San Francisco's Stern Grove, the concert meadow has finally been refurbished, with expanded lawn space and added sightlines to meet the demand of a new ticketing system. And it all made a grand premiere at the Stern Grove Festival season opener on Sunday, June 15. 'The grounds are finished, and we are fully ready to go,' said Stern Grove Festival executive director Bob Fiedler, noting that the $25 million repair and upgrade was completed just in time for the biggest name in the 88-year history of the free summer concert series. Diana Ross is coming Aug. 17, and that's an act so big that a computerized ticket lottery will be required to meet the demand. It is already in place, the major technological innovation for this year having passed its first test without crashing. Starting with Sunday's show by the California Honeydrops, three-quarters of the tickets for each of the 11 shows are issued via an online lottery that may be entered six weeks in advance of a concert. Sunday's opener with the retro soul band drew 55,000 requests for 15,000 tickets, an intentional overbooking that guarantees a full house for every show in the 10,000-seat venue, which has overflow areas outside the meadow. A few thousand more tickets were available through an in-person community box office that is first come, first served the day before every show, also a new system. 'It's all about making access to our shows more available and fair,' said Matthew Goldman, board chair for the festival and member of the family of descendants of Levi Strauss, who started the tradition and named it for Sigmund Stern, the longtime president of Levi Strauss & Co. Goldman and his twin brother, Jason, took the festival over after the retirement of their father, Doug, who ran it for 30 years. The Goldman twins have overseen a dramatic modernization of both the grounds and the programming. Budgets have more than doubled under their five-year reign. The lottery system is part of that, having replaced the maligned first come first, first served online ticketing system in which the regulars sat at their laptops waiting for the moment tickets became available six weeks in advance. Then they had to jump on it within five minutes max. 'It was server roulette,' Fiedler said. 'People would hit the button at the same time, and whoever had the fastest internet connection got the tickets.' Under the new system, people have one week to enter the lottery and, if alerted they have won, 72 hours to respond to claim up to four tickets. The odds are still no better than 1 in 3 for the lottery, though for Sunday's show, everyone who came to the community box office the day before got up to two tickets each. Ryland Greene of San Francisco has been coming for 15 years and didn't mind signing up for the lottery. 'I appreciate that they are trying to make it more equitable,' he said. What he did mind is not paying attention to the fine print and missing the 72-hour window to claim his tickets. He was skunked and had to turn to his concert buddy, Toby Jackson, who earned the nickname 'Mr. Lucky' when he won a KNBR radio raffle for a free week in Maui. Naturally, Mr. Lucky won the concert lottery and shared two of his tickets with Greene and his wife, Patti Lindhorst. Greene's own nickname is 'Mr. 6 a.m.' because that is what time he gets to Stern Grove to make sure he is first in line. 'I like to get a good seat,' he explained. The gates opened at noon, or six hours after 'Mr. 6 a.m.' got there, for the 2 p.m. show. Right away another innovation became apparent. Security no longer has to hand-check every bag and clog up the entry gates. It is now all done by a scanner that can detect weapons and other metal. Seating remains first come, first served, except for donors and sponsors, who get picnic tables with chairs, white tablecloths and floral centerpieces. That's one aspect of the Stern Grove Festival that is inequitable, though Greene was not complaining. 'We are so grateful to Stern Grove for making these concerts happen,' he said. 'It's a great part of our San Francisco summer.' So is the fog. It was in attendance Sunday. Also unchanged is the steep hillside that provides the majority of the seating, though the new split-rail fence at least gives people something to grab onto on their way down. 'That's a safety issue,' Fiedler said. 'We've leveled and trail-scaped the paths so people can't slip-slide down.' The festival continues weekly with Channel Tres next Sunday, followed by Sleater-Kinney, San Francisco Symphony, Phantogram, Girl Talk, Orville Peck, Michael Franti & Spearhead, the Pointer Sisters; Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley & Stephen Marley on day one of the Big Picnic Weekend, and the finale, Diana Ross, on day two of the Big Picnic Weekend. The lottery ticket window for the finale opens July 6. This is the first season that demand for tickets can accurately be counted, and it will set a high bar. Only 11 seasons are left for the Goldman twins to match or beat it before the Stern Grove Festival centennial comes 2037. 'We're really excited to see what the demand will be for an artist of the caliber of Diana Ross,' Fiedler said. 'She's our biggest name ever.'
San Francisco Chronicle
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
SFMOMA Art Bash 2025 featured Zack Fox, a ballroom battle and more
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art welcomed thousands of guests into its galleries on Wednesday, April 23, for its after hours Art Bash. The institution's biggest fundraiser kicked-off with a patron's dinner on the museum's seventh floor with an immersive event designed by New York artist Firelei Báez. It was followed by an auction, led by Sotheby's auctioneer Phyllis Kao, featuring works by Charles Gaines, Christina Quarles, Nicolas Party, Amy Sherald and Ruth Asawa. That latter's 'Ruth Asawa: Retrospective' is the latest exhibition to debut and will be on view at the museum through Sept. 2. Among the pop-up events, Berkeley artist Masako Miki created a one-night only art experience in the museum's White Box theater, while San Francisco artist Jeffrey Sincich took over the Steps coffee shop space for his project. Performances in the museum's main lobby included a headlining DJ set by comedian and rapper Zack Fox. San Francisco's own DJ Shortkut, who recently began performing again after recovering from a massive stroke, and DJ Lady Ryan also took to the turntables as part of Art Bash's musical lineup presented in part by the Stern Grove Festival. On the fifth floor at Cafe 5, Bay Area LGBTQ ballroom host Legendary Ryan "Christopher" Milan and commentator Icon Enyce Gorgeous Gucci paid tribute to the local queer ballroom scene with a recreation of a ballroom runway battle. Art Bash raises over $2 million annually for SFMOMA, with proceeds going toward its education and family programs and community engagement events that museum officials report benefit more than 150,000 people every year.
Axios
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Diana Ross, Bob Marley's sons to headline Stern Grove this summer
Stern Grove Festival — one of San Francisco's most celebrated outdoor music extravaganzas — returns this summer with more than two months of free shows. State of play: This year's music series begins on Sunday, June 15 and will close with the "Big Picnic" weekend on Aug. 16 and 17, which will feature R&B superstar Diana Ross and Bob Marley's sons — Stephen and Damian — as headliners. Other top performers include the 90s indie-rock group Sleater-Kinney, music duo Phantogram and country singer Orville Peck. Many Bay Area artists are also featured as opening acts. Driving the news: Though Stern Grove Festival has been hosting its free concert series for more than eight decades, this year marks the first where organizers are introducing a new ticketed system. Here's how to score a spot: Lottery system: Lottery entries for each concert will begin six weeks before the event date at 10am and will be open for an entire week. Participants will receive an email a month beforehand and winners will have one week to claim tickets. No limit on number of entries per person. Box office: 1,000 tickets will be available at select sites throughout the city the day before every concert. First-come, first-served basis. Volunteering: All volunteers will receive a ticket to a show. Email [email protected] to apply. Giveaways: The festival has partnered with various groups, including DoTheBay, SF Standard and KALW Radio, to give out tickets leading up to each concert date. Follow on Instagram for how to enter. Table reservation: Reserve a VIP picnic table or individual seat at a community table with a qualifying donation. What's next: The first lottery opens on May 4 for the California Honeydrops on June 11. Table reservations are open now.
