Quick, what band do you associate with San Francisco’s Mission District?
As bands come and go, the answer will of course say more about you — your tastes, your “era” — than the neighborhood.
For me, one of the bands that made a tectonic shift in the Mission’s sound when I first arrived here was My First Earthquake, the band fronted by Rebecca Garza-Bortman (also of the bands Happy Fangs and Love Jerks). Their music leans toward dance-friendly indie synth pop.
On Friday I went to see them halfway across town at the Bottom of the Hill, the legendary but soon-to-be-shuttered venue.
My First Earthquake didn’t waver far from the songs they’re known for, and who can fault them? They ended the night with an oops-we-forgot-the-lyrics rendition of Green Day’s “Basket Case,” followed by the band’s biggest hit: “Cool in the Cool Way.”
Sad as it is to see Bottom of the Hill close for good, they seem to be going out with a series of seismic events. I’d never actually had to wait in line to get in before, let alone when I had tickets in advance. At this show? The line went all the way down the street to the end of the block and I could already feel the ground shaking from the speakers before I got inside.
Rebecca stopped at one point to introduce her husband — who performed the aforementioned Green Day cover with the band — mentioning that they actually met at the venue when she went to see his band.
In the years since, they played Stern Grove Festival, someone made a sex robot and the band responded with a song, the members of the band split to focus on raising their kids, and now it’s come full circle as they’re back, right in the epicenter of where it all started.
Or maybe this is only an aftershock.
