Here are five shows worth catching at the 2026 Noise Pop Festival, which runs Feb. 19-March 1 at a plethora of venues mostly located in San Francisco.
The picks are listed in chronologically order, which has the added benefit of lifting one of our favorite local artists — the South Bay’s own Giraffage — right to the top.
For more information — and to purchase tickets — visit noisepopfest.com.
1. Giraffage, Chrome Sparks
Giraffage (aka, Charlie Yin) is a tremendously talented electronic music producer, who grew up in San Jose and graduated from UC Berkeley. Also on the bill is Brooklyn-based Jeremy Malvin, who is at the helm for the electronic music project known as Chrome Sparks.
Details: 9:30 p.m. Feb. 21, Public Works
2. Stephen Malkmus
The Stockton product has a big show with his band Pavement on the books for later in the year (July 17 during the Mosswood Meltdown festival pre-party concert in Oakland). First up, however, he’ll perform a solo Noise Pop gig in a much more intimate setting.
Details: 8 p.m. Feb. 23, Great American Music Hall
3. The Fiery Furnaces
The indie-rock duo, consisting of siblings Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger, are revisiting the acclaimed 2004 album “Blueberry Boat” for this gig. The opening act is Spacemoth’s Maryam Qudus, an Oakland-based artist who will be performing solo for this date.
Details: 8 p.m. Feb. 26, The Chapel
4. Sun Ra Arkestra
Keyboardist-composer Sun Ra founded this pioneering avant-garde jazz ensemble in Chicago way back in the 1950s — and it’s still going strong some 70 years later. Indeed, the group — which was led by Sun Ra until his death in 1993 — was just nominated for a 2026 Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.
Details: 8:30 p.m. Feb. 28, 7 p.m. March 1, The Chapel
5. Rogue Wave
The Oakland pop-rock act, led by Zach Schwartz (a.k.a. Zach Rogue), is playing two shows in one night. Rogue Wave is set to perform the 2003 debut “Out of the Shadow” during the early show and the 2005 “Descended Like Vultures” in the nitecap.
Details: 5:15 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. March 1, Swedish American Music Hall
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