The Noise Pop festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary next month, February 21st -26th, in San Francisco, CA. Noise Pop is an annual event held at the beginning of the year that focuses on art, film, and largely indie music and provides fantastic exposure for some of the most exciting and talented emerging artists of the year. While the festival largely features lesser known bands, it has also served as a launch pad for some of the most popular indie artists of the past two decades. For instance, Noise Pop 2001 featured Bright Eyes, Spoon, The Shins, Jimmy Eat World, and The White Stripes.
The first Noise Pop festival was held in 1993 with 5 bands in one day at the Kennel Club. Since then, it's expanded into a weeklong event with over 100 bands playing at 16 venues around the city, including historic music spots like The Fillmore, The Regency Ballroom, and The Fox Theatre. Attendees can purchase individual tickets to the shows or a Noise Pop badge for $150 that grants entry into all general admission shows during the week. I'd recommend getting the badge and bouncing around San Francisco listening to great bands for a week, but if you can only check out a few, here are my recommendations.
