Nightlife at the California Academy of Sciences

If God wanted to create an event that caters to your inner child as well as your cocktail-swizzling adult self, I think he’d be hard pressed to come up with something better than Nightlife at the California Academy of Sciences – a museum turned nightclub for the 21+. Unfortunately, I will have to wait 2 more years till I can enjoy this venue, but in the meantime, let me walk you through it.

Fishes at the California Academy of Sciences. Photo provided by Wcities.

Advertisement

Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival

In 2008 when Outside Lands was born, Northern California residents could finally be at peace. At long last, the Bay Area had a major music festival to combat Coachella and HARD Music Festival down in Southern California. This festival provides stunning scenic views of Golden Gate Park and the San Francisco Bay Area. The most outstanding thing about Outside Lands, besides the amazing music, is simply the fact that great effort is placed into all the other aspects of the event, namely the food and wine. Because of this diversity, Outside Lands attracts not only music enthusiasts, but also wine enthusiasts and foodies from all over the Bay and beyond! Outside Lands embodies what I love about this city: creative music, a burst of different flavors, and wine fever.

The crowd gathered for Empire of the Sun at SF Outside Lands 2010. Photo by Jeff Kravitz.

The Arctic Monkeys- OSL Night Shows

I remember first hearing the band as a teenager at a small house party in my suburban town. After announcing my affection for We Are Scientists,  a wise friend  insisted I listen to the Arctic Monkeys. While imagining pink-faced snow monkeys relaxing in a hot spring and watching my long-haired friends kick and bob to the beat, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” was becoming an indie dance hit around the world. The Arctic Monkeys is one of those bands marvelously blessed with perfect timing. Even before releasing their first album in 2006, the English rock band was becoming one of the first bands to gain massive interest online via MySpace and other fan based music sites, and helped change the way music is now marketed. If that’s not enough for perfect timing, examine the band’s sound evolution. Their first album is what I like to call “neo-punk meets poetics”; impressive musical mechanics and grungy romantic lyrics reflecting a relatable suburban lifestyle is best heard with the volume LOUD in songs like “Riot Van” and “From The Ritz To The Rubble.” Alex Turner’s voice is unmistakably British, youthful and blunt in tone, complementing intelligent lyrics in a way that conjured in my mind the image of an older Holden Caulfield following his Catcher in the Rye breakdown: darker, no longer a virgin and no less of a smart ass.

Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner. Photo Credit: B.Riordan, CC BY 2.0

Top 5 Summer Music Festivals Worldwide [Cross Post]

Editors Note: Earlier this month, I had written an article for Where I’ve Been’s Travel Blog. I was asked to jot down 5 music festivals from around the world that are still on this summer’s horizon that should be of particular interest to my fellow music lovers and world travelers. Moreover, one of the festivals listed below, Roskilde, has passed since the initial publication on Where I’ve Been. Anywho. enjoy!

-Joey P.

Although we are wrapping up the month of June, and a good portion of the summer music festival season has passed (Coachella, Glastonbury, etc.), there is still a beautiful bevy of festivals around the world to look forward to this summer. Here’s a look at five of the greatest crowd-pleasers.

Photo Credit: saketvora