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Aural Fixation SoFA Sounds: From the Cactus to the Usual on downtown's day of rock & roll By Sarah Quelland THIS YEAR'S SoFA Fest (held last Sunday, Sept. 19) proved to be a roaring success. With so much music, it was impossible to catch more than a sample of the day's offerings. Much of my time was spent at the Cactus Club, where Down2None, Sad Boy Sinister, True to Form, SECURITY, Salmon, OuttaLine and many others performed. Spitkiss came out dressed in black wearing, in an unusual twist, cowboy hats. The heavy industrial-metal band reintroduced keyboards into its live performances with Boris Popkoff on duty. Taking a risk, the group incorporated a slight Western twang into its short set, which featured "Respect," "Deeper Scratch" and "Digits." Insolence also brought a new member onto its team with Kier (from Tribal Disco Noise) on guitar and performed new songs including "Terrorist Dub." Another highlight of the day included Flogging Molly at the Usual. Both the streets and the clubs were filled; the day even saw some woman flash more than her underwear (she wasn't wearing any) from atop the inflatable sinking Titanic. Papa Roach gave another dynamic, supercharged show at the Catalyst last Thursday (Sept. 16). Powering through old favorites and newer material, the kids were pitting like crazy, and keeping true to tradition, frontman Coby Dick indulged by jumping in. After a huge buzz, it looks like it's finally happened for the Vacaville-based P-Roach. Gary Avila says the band signed a deal with DreamWorks Records. We'll have a full story on that next week. ALICE 97.3FM presents its second Now & Zen Fest Sept. 26 at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park. This year boasts an impressive lineup, with Jewel, Cake, Old 97s, Fleming & John and Scrotum Pole scheduled to perform. The charity CD This Is Alice Music, Vol. 3, with tracks by the Goo Goo Dolls, Natalie Merchant, Everclear, Matchbox 20 and Barenaked Ladies, will be available (the Bay Area-wide release date is Sept. 28), and sales benefit Bay Area breast cancer organizations. Tickets are $15 and doors are 11am. GiftHorse performs at the Cactus Club Sept. 26 with Three Minute Fast. After a standout self-titled debut album (on indie label Pinch Hit Records), GiftHorse is touring to support its latest release, Excess, Lies and Heather's Arrest. Known for clever, often biting lyrics, this guitar-driven band confidently walks the line between rough garage rock and smart indie rock. ... Vamp Magazine presents the New Generation of Metal show next Thursday (Sept. 30) at the Usual. Powerhouse adrenaline metal-rap quartet SECURITY headlines the night, supported by True to Form and Krenshaw. The show is free for college students with ID and $3 for everyone else. Doors are at 8:30pm... with eight West coast concert dates lined up, No Doubt is set to perform Oct. 10 at the Edge. Tickets are $20. After two years, Nine Inch Nails' latest, The Fragile, is finally on the shelves. (Word is Trent Reznor's bringing his crew through town sometime in early December.) Other highlights of the season include Creed's Human Clay (Sept. 28), Sting's Brand New Day (Sept. 28), David Bowie's hours... (Oct. 5), Bush's The Science of Things (Oct. 26), Metallica's Metallica With the San Francisco Symphony (Nov. 2), The Artist's Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic (Nov. 2) and Fiona Apple's When the Pawn... (Nov. 9). Other new releases include albums by Melissa Etheridge (Oct. 5), the Clash (Oct. 12), Cypress Hill (Oct. 19), Save Ferris (Oct. 19), Rage Against the Machine (Nov. 2), Mike Ness (Nov. 9), Korn (Nov. 16) and Beck (Nov. 16). A Woodstock '99 compilation should be ready by Oct. 19. The Alice in Chains box set Music Bank comes out Oct. 26. The Doors' The Complete Studio Recordings is in the works for Nov. 9. Perry Farrell's releasing Rev with material from Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros Nov. 9. A Beastie Boys compilation is due out Nov. 16. PLAN AHEAD: Down2None and Broken Vision, Sept. 25 at the Cactus; Empty, Sept. 25 at the Quarter Note in Sunnyvale; the Lonely Kings, Sept. 25 at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz; Boy Kicks Girl, the Ataris, HBA and others, Sept. 25 at the Odd Fellows Hall on Race Street; Simon Stinger, Sept. 28 at the Usual; Caradura, Sept. 29 at the Cactus; Papa Roach, Oct. 2 at Gaslighter's Music Hall in Gilroy; Christian Death and Mortiis, Oct. 3 at Maritime Hall. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]