On October 30 the Surfrider San Francisco Chapter will have an outreach table at the Bayonics show at the Elbo Room in the Mission District of San Francisco, thanks to the invitation of Bayonics manager Jim Vargas. Also performing that night will be Los Angeles-based band Orgone.
The show starts at 10pm. Tix not on sale yet, but when they become available, they can be purchased online here.
The band is also performing at the Elbo Room on Oct 31.
Brooke, Nick and Neel will be representing the chapter at the show.
On Wednesday, September 30 the Surfrider San Francisco Chapter will have an outreach table at the Kapakahi show at Slim's, thanks to the awesome support of the band - particularly drummer Steve Salta. Also performing that night will be The Movement and SOJA.
Showtime: 9:00 PM (Doors: 8:00 PM) Ticket price: $18 in advance/$21 at the door Tickets available on-line at: slimstickets.com Ages 6 and Over
We partnered with Kapakahi back in July - it was awesome! Kapakahi is a Hawaiian term which means "mixed up." We are very much looking forward to partnering with the band again this week. Nick and Neel will be representing Surfrider at the show, as Kapakahi's guests.
Check out Kapakahi's new video for LIGHT UP:
The Washington, DC based band SOJA has created their own blend of conscious roots music entwined with the traditional rhythms of reggae, it "comes across with passion and depth." (Washington Post '06) Since 2000, the quintet has issued three full length albums and two EP 's– their latest, "Stars and Stripes" (2008), is their fourth for the group's own label, DMV. The band released their second DVD "SOJA Live In Hawai'i ~ A Marc Carlini Film", followed by the album "Born In Babylon" earlier this year.
On September 15th the Surfrider Foundation announced that platinum singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat has partnered with Surfrider as an official supporter!
As supporter, Colbie is working with Surfrider to promote the organization and increase awareness about the importance of marine protected areas. Colbie is currently on tour in support of her new release, Breakthrough, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts. She has invited Surfrider's chapters to set up outreach tables at selected cities on her tour, which began on September 15th and wraps up at the end of October.
“We are extremely excited to be working with Colbie,” says Matt McClain, Surfrider Foundation’s Director of Marketing and Communications. “We are looking forward to working with her so that she can share her passion and enthusiasm for marine life and environments with her fans.”
Growing up in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Colbie’s relationship began with the beach the moment she was born. Throughout her childhood, and to this day, Colbie and her family vacation on Kauai; walking the pristine beaches and enjoying the ocean. The beach is a place she retreats to when writing, and the salt water, cool breeze and grainy sand beneath her feet makes her feel at home. That sense of ease and nature underlies the mellow laid-back songs that have made her one of today’s most popular recording artists.
“The ocean has played such an important role in my life and musical career, it is disheartening to know that the health of some of our most gorgeous beaches and beautiful waves is at risk,” Colbie warns. “Only five minutes from where I was born, the Surfrider Beach in Malibu is one of the most polluted in the country. By joining up with the Surfrider Foundation, I’m able to make a difference and help protect our coastlines for future generations.”
The Malloy brothers directed a really funny video that was shot on a beach north of Malibu, for Colbie's new single "Fallin' For You." You can watch it here.
Alexis Henry, Surfrider's Communications Manager, worked with Colbie's management and Sarah Savage of On Board Entertainment in order to coordinate an outreach tent for the San Francisco Chapter at Radio Alice 97.3 FM's Now & Zen Festival. Thanks, all!
The festival took place on Sunday, September 27th at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California from 11am - 6pm. The artists performing included Dashboard Confessional, Howie Day, Colbie, and Train.
The Surfrider San Francisco Chapter was one of three nonprofits there - the other two were Conservation Value and Amnesty International. Sarah hooked us up with a great booth spot, next to the bands' merchandise tent and the VIP tent, and within close proximity to the stage. The festival provided us with a tent, folding table, chair, and allowed us to pull onto the lawn to load and unload our gear, and then provided us with a VIP parking spot. It was a really well-run event, and we were very thankful to get to participate in it.
Thanks to the very awesome Surfrider volunteers who helped out at the festival - Cristin, Mellie, Rachel, Jules and Victorianna!! Plus our mascots Fritz and Shorty who got a lot of attention from dog-loving fans. We had so much fun!
When the festival gates opened at 11am, we watched mostly teenage girls run to the front of the stage, to secure a good spot on the grass, in preparation for Colbie's 1:45pm set. By the time she took the stage the lawn was full for as far as I could see!
When fans stopped by our booth I'd ask them who they had come to see. I really enjoyed watching them smile when they said Colbie's name:) I had fun comparing notes with them about favorite Colbie songs, and hearing them talk about the duet with Taylor Swift, and other concerts they'd gone to. They were super cute!!! It was fun to watch Colbie's fans smile really big when we talked about Colbie's connection to the ocean, and I told them about Colbie's partnership with Surfrider, and specifically the outreach that we were doing on the Breakthrough Tour. Everyone who stopped at our booth - not just her fans - thought that was very cool. Yeah, Colbie! :)
Before the gates opened Colbie's Lighting Director, Joel, stopped by our tent to introduce himself and to tell us how much he loves Surfrider. He came back several times during the day to hang out and learn more about our chapter. We really enjoyed meeting him!
We were busy talking with fans from the moment that the gates opened until after the music had ended. I couldn't believe how busy we were! It was FANTASTIC! We handed out our beach cleanup calendar postcards, talked with fans about plastics in the ocean, commercial fishing practices (fans specifically asked about shrimp harvesting), shark fining, distributed the Monterey Bay Aquarium-produced Seafood wallet-sized guides, showed photos of a bird who died as a result of marine debris, had 73 fans sign a petition stating that they support a tax on plastic bags, collected 2.5 pages of email addresses for the San Francisco Chapter's e-newsletter mailing list, sold 10 Surfrider t-shirts, 1 sweatshirt, and 6 branded Chico bags, resulting in $265 for the chapter.
We also played a fun game with 3 jars of plastic items collected at 3 different beaches - one jar was from a San Francisco cleanup, another from a cleanup in Indonesia, and the third from a cleanup in El Salvador.
If a fan could correctly identify which jar came from which location, then the fan won a Chico bag to encourage the fan to use reusable bags instead of plastic bags.
It was really fun to see families and friends swirl the contents of the jars around and puzzle out which jar came from which location, and to hear their reasoning for how they arrived at their "final answers."
It was also really great to see some kids play the game and talk with us, and then come back with their friends and family members later on in the day so that their friends and family members could play the game, too.
Fans really spent a lot of time at our booth, listened to our talks, and engaged in thoughtful conversations with us. I loved it when fans asked questions and shared their personal experiences with us. The fans were amazing. It was a super rewarding day!
photo: Rachel talking with a young mom.
I particularly enjoyed talking with two Sacramento State students who had learned about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch from a sociology professor. The guys had a long talk with us about their experiences with upstream water pollution sources in their community. I also really enjoyed talking with a younger girl who came to the booth on her own to talk with us. Her father, who is a park ranger, takes her on beach cleanups and has taught her a lot about the impacts of marine debris on wildlife. She was very cute.
This might be my favorite group of the day, though. I loved the groups of teenage girls who came to our tent together.
This fan inquired about purchasing this sweatshirt, but didn't have cash in her wallet. The festival grounds did not have an ATM so she left the festival grounds to visit a neighborhood ATM, and then came back to purchase this sweatshirt. She was awesome!
We also met a good number of fans who are from So Cal, or take family camping trips down to spend time at San Onofre State Park and surf Trestles. In addition to hearing from Trestles fans, we also connected with a good number of fans who were not only interested in the beach cleanups, but who were also excited about our chapter's annual Women's Paddle Out, which takes place at Ocean Beach on Sunday, October 4th at 10am. I'm psyched at the prospect of having new people get involved with Surfrider and the marine debris issue!
I particularly enjoyed Howie Day's performance. I first saw him open for OAR in 2005 and have been a fan ever since. And of course Colbie's set was amazing. She opened her 45 minute set with "I Won't" and closed with "Fallin' For You."
These videos were recorded at the festival. Enjoy!!!!!!!
And of course the sing-a-longs were a lot of fun!!
Thanks again to everyone who made this day possible!
Each year the Surfrider Foundation organizes a conference for the leaders of the California Surfrider Chapters, held at a hotel in California. This year's conference took place Friday, August 16 - Sunday, August 18 at the Hilton on Kearny Street in San Francisco. Chapters represented at the conference included the San Diego Chapter and the Humboldt Chapter, and many chapters in between, as well as National Staff Members Michelle, Chad, Ed, Angela, Bill, Nancy, Pete, and Sarah.
photo: Michelle Kremer presenting to the group at the hotel. Taken by Nancy Hastings.
On Saturday night the San Francisco Chapter organized a private outing on the environmentally-friendly cruise ship the Hornblower Hybrid, around the San Francisco Bay.
photo: The Surfrider crew in front of the ship. Taken by Nancy Hastings.
photo: Surfrider Foundation Staff and Surfrider Chapter Leaders.
Surfrider supporter, musician and San Francisco resident Chi McClean volunteered to donate his time and talents to us, and played a beautiful long set on the top level of the ship.
"Something Out There", Chi’s debut album released in 2009, is often described as melodic and soulful, drawing on complex guitar riffs, solid drum beats, upright bass playing, gritty B-3 organ, and vintage electric pianos. You can listen to full tracks from "Something Out There" here.
photo: beatboxer Marty Benson of the San Diego Chapter joined Chi on "the stage."
Chi graciously played his guitar and sang for us from the time that we left the dock, until we returned back to the dock. I particularly enjoyed hearing Chi cover Ben Harper in the open air, on the water, underneath the stars. It was a beautiful night! The Surfrider crew also had a great time chatting with Chi - he's a great guy. We really, really appreciated his thoughtfulness and contributions to Surfrider!
photo: Michael Stewart, who negotiated the cruise contract for us, and Wes Womack, our San Francisco Chapter Chair, with Chi McClean.
On August 21st, recent Surfrider member and Music Outreach Program (MOP) all-star Nick Arlas and I attended the Bayonics and Aphrodesia show at the Great American Music Hall.
Bayonics is a local band, mixing smooth Latin melodies with Jazz, Funk, Timba, Hip Hop, Reggae, and Rock. They’ve been rocking shows since 2001 and have been featured on bills with other local favorites such as Native Elements and 40Love.
San Francisco based Aphrodesia is an 11-piece ensemble that has been blending African music with polyrhythmic funk undertones since 2003.
Jim Vargas, the manager of Bayonics, contacted us and we were fortunate to be able conduct outreach at this event. We shared a table with Pete, the drummer from Bayonics, (selling merch) who’s a really cool, down-to-earth guy, and who’s also got chops on the kit!
The show started off with a chill atmosphere. GAMH was only about a third full when Bayonics took the stage, but they still brought their good vibes and energy, and rocked a full hour set.
Bayonics on Stage
By the time headliner, Aphrodesia took the stage the venue was full – a good mix of people of all ages bringing their positive energy together to celebrate the gift of music in one of the most beautiful venues in San Francisco. Also, let’s give some big ups to Gus, the MC, and DJ Jeremiah for keeping the vibes and groove going throughout the night.
11-piece Aphrodesia plus a few guests
Outreach for us was a success too! We signed up one new member, who had recently moved here from back east, added some new people to our email list, and raffled one of our stylish Surfrider T’s away (winner pictured below).
Raffle winner, Nick, and me
Overall it was a really great time of good music and good people. Nick and I met some of the members of Bayonics, all really cool, positive guys. Pete, from Bayonics, told me at the end of the show how much he appreciates the efforts of Surfrider and the MOP and welcomed us to table at any of their shows in the future, so let’s stay in touch!
This blog was created by the Washington DC, San Francisco CA, and Portland OR Chapters of the Surfrider Foundation to share our stories about the Music Outreach Program.
The Music Outreach Program is a partnership between these three Surfrider Chapters and the live music community. Chapter activists set up outreach tables at DC, San Francisco, and Portland concerts, and talk with live music fans about the Surfrider mission. Thanks to all who have offered us their support since the program's founding in 2007!
We hope to participate in concerts on a regular basis, and will always post concert reviews and photos to this blog. Please check back for updates!
If you are interested in volunteering, or if you'd like to partner with us, then please send our MOP Coordinators an email at nicole @ SFsurfrider.org.
Thanks! Tia Mignonne San Francisco, CA Chapter Music Outreach Program Coordinator Sunya Ince-Johannsen Portland, OR Chapter Music Outreach Program Coordinator
Nicole Parisi-Smith Music Outreach Program Coordinator
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