Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Saloon and The Glide = The best music in San Francisco

My husband and I stumbled upon The Saloon blues bar several years ago when visiting San Francisco.  It is the oldest bar in SF and will be celebrating 150 years in October! It is now along with the Glide our favourite venue for music in San Francisco, maybe any where.


It is a small venue an as far as I can figure the bands play for tips, half way through a set one of the members of band had to leave "to make some real money." Both the musicians and the audience are here for the music, there are no fancy drinks and certainly no food but there is some great music.





The clientele is a mixture of well heeled uptown to street people from very young to very old and the odd tourist who was drawn in by the music like we were.  From Thursday to Sunday there are two bands a night, the first starting at 4:00 pm the second at 9:30 pm. There is a small cover charge for second band but for a price of a drink and maybe a tip you can watch the first one for free.



The Saloon maybe a little rough around the edges but the music really has heart and we went there three nights during our past trip, one time just for half an hour before we went to a movie.  It is situated at 1232 Grant (between Columbus and Vallejo in the heart of North Beach.


 The Glide is a church in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco that My Sister In Law introduced to me to along with Greens Restaurant 20 years ago. Their mission is to help the homeless alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization.


This is a very good mission and I whole heartedly support them, but the reason we go there on Sunday morning is the music.  This is gospel music at its best. They have two services on Sunday 9:00 and 11:00 they are both full in fact they suggest getting there 30 minutes early in order to get a seat. Again there is a mix of people attending from all walks of life and all races.  The music and the stories are sure to bring a tear to your eye.

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