21 May The San Francisco gig scene

One of the greatest joys of going to a new city is being able to attend new concert venues. This is my hill to die on. There’s honestly nothing better than seeing an amazing artist in a brand new space and I made sure I experienced it while here.

In February I saw Kacey Musgraves, who had just won the Grammy for Album of the Year at the point. I’ve been a fan of Musgraves for a while now (#OG) and I was crushed when she announced her world tour dates and her Scotland date was while I was here. Thankfully, the stars aligned and I got to see her in The Masonic, which was a fairly solid, incredibly spacious downtown venue. She was magic live, and really delivered vocally (something I’m always terrified artists I love won’t deliver on).

The second figure I saw was comedian Hannah Gadsby, who went viral with her Netflix comedy special, Nanette, last year. She blends sharp, uncomfortable observations about her world into her very dry sense of humour. I saw her latest show, Douglas, at the Palace of Fine Arts, which was bizarrely straightforward given the exterior facade. That being said, I’m glad I got to take a peek into such a beautiful building (and Gadsby’s show was incredible, to boot).