Another Planet Entertainment will fulfill a deal it made with the City of San Francisco this year to present three free concerts, bringing the Dirtybird Kids, a daytime electronic music show, to Embarcadero Plaza on June 21st.
Modeled after the popular Dirtybird Campouts, which haven’t been held since 2022, Dirtybird: Back to Baysics will be a free show next to San Francisco Bay from 2pm to 6pm on Sunday, June 21. Admission is free with advance reservations, and capacity may be limited, but the venue will be Embarcadero Plaza, and Another Planet says it has no plans to put up a fence.
The headliner is DJ Sasha Robotti, and the lineup also includes DJs Moody Jones and Deron Delgado. As KRON 4 reports, two more acts are expected to be added in the coming days, and anyone interested can text “FERRY” to 415-446-1025.
Some road closures around Embarcadero Square will be in place for the event, which the SFMTA plans to announce soon.
Like the Skrillex/Fred Again show at Civic Center Plaza in May, this one will be held with little to no advance notice, likely in order to draw a large audience.
Another Planet’s Brian Duquette told SF Standard he expects a crowd of 2,000 to 5,000 — a fraction of the attendance that big names like Skrillex and Fred Again have drawn in crowds of 25,000 in May.
But speaking from experience, people in San Francisco and the Bay Area in general love free stuff, and if the weather is good (which it apparently will be), the crowd size could be much larger.
The free concert is one of three that Another Planet has announced it will play in the city this year, as part of a deal to use Golden Gate Park’s Polo Field for the second weekend following Outside Lands. This year, the one-day alternative metal festival will take place on Saturday, August 17, with System of a Down and Deftones as headliners. The show sold out in 90 minutes when tickets went on sale in April.
Expect an afternoon of heavy, thumping bass reverberating from downtown and a throng of EDM fans dressed in camper and scout costumes.
Dirty Bird Records hosted the first Campout in 2015, and the rave-inspired, secluded camping festival gained a cult following. However, logistical considerations have put Campout on hold beyond 2022 as the group seeks a new venue, possibly closer to Southern California. Rumor has it that artists want a location close to a major airport so they don’t have to clear out their weekend schedules just to play one set.
The final Dirty Bird Campout in October 2022 was held at Modesto Reservoir Campground, although previous events have taken place further afield.
Billed as “summer camp for adults,” the camp will feature music, summer-camp activities like tug-of-war and wood carving, drag shows and other performers — some of which will apparently be included at the Embarcadero event, at least in anticipation of people in animal costumes handing out free ice cream, Duquette told the Standard.
Photo: Dirtybird Campout/Instagram