by Roy Scopazzi
The way that Al Menee starts off their set is by acknowledging that the last time Great Grandpa visited San Francisco was 5 years ago at that same venue. He didn’t mention the exact date but looking it up, it was surprisingly close: March 12th 2020. At that moment, I only had a passing knowledge that they existed from whispers of their first album, plus my last concert before lock down was only a few days before and I was hunkering down for what I assumed to be a few weeks at most.
Oops.
In the five years between shows the band itself had not released a new album but Al himself came out with a solo project named Freak Accident back in 2023. They stayed mostly radio silent since then, only announcing “Patience, Moonbeam”, their 3rd studio album, this January.
Surprisingly the album that the tour is focused on isn’t technically out for another week, but was on sale on vinyl at the merch table, along side a nightlight with the album cover inside a glass sphere. Apologies for not taking a photo of that, and/or not purchasing it myself despite it being one of the more unique things I’ve seen for sale at a show.
The setlist consisted of five songs from their new album, five songs off of Four of Arrows and one song off of their first album, Plastic Cough. They split it up by playing three songs off of Four of Arrows, the five songs off of Patience, Moonbeam and the Plastic Cough song, then finishing it off with the two better known songs off of Four of Arrows: Mono no Aware and Mostly Here as an encore. A breezy hour at the Rickshaw Stop that felt both quick and relaxingly slow. I can always respect a band that can make a space feel cozy and they did that in spades.
Opening up the show was Stephen Steinbrink, a local singer-songwriter who was accompanied by a pedal steel guitarist. If you’ve been going to enough shows in the Bay Area, you’ll be bound to see him at a show or two around here, and he’s always a blessing. One of my favorite current Bay Area musicians.
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