The Bottom of the Hill — once dubbed as “the best place to hear live music in San Francisco” by Rolling Stone magazine — is set to close its doors at the end of 2026.
The popular music venue, which booked early career gigs from Green Day, Oasis, Alanis Morissette, The Strokes and other acts that would go on to headline major arenas/festivals, will host its last gig on New Year’s Eve, according to a post made on the Bottom of the Hill’s Facebook page.
“We make this announcement with great difficulty,” the post reads. “This legendary business will have lived to the ripe old age of 35, a long stretch in San Francisco for an independent rock ‘n’ roll venue of our size. It has been a wonderful trip, and we are full of stories and memories. We have hosted tens of thousands of musical artists and have been a community partner as well, holding numerous benefits, school recitals, weddings, birthdays, and memorials. Let’s have one more solid year of memories together and bid a fond farewell to a legendary venue.”
The closing will mark the end to one of the Bay Area’s marquee independent music venues — one of the very few that aren’t booked by a major concert promoter. Yet, thankfully, the club owners are giving people plenty of advance notice so that music fans from all around the Bay Area will have next 12 months to visit and bid farewell to the club, which has also hosted such great bands as the Throwing Muses, the Donnas, Queens of the Stone Age, Neutral Mil Hotel, the White Stripes and the Dandy Warhols since originally opening its doors at the corner of 17th and Missouri streets in the Potrero Hill district in 1991.
“We will curate one more year of great shows, enticing bands that make up our history to come back for one final play on our stage,” the Facebook post reads. “Let’s celebrate, for one more spin, how far we came, how many bands we hosted, how many amazing people we worked with.
“We want to thank the bands, their agents, managers, and roadies, for always bringing the most exciting shows to our intimate room, with the analog board at the helm. And most especially, we wish to thank our loyal customers who kept us in business for this long and told us, in so many ways, that we were doing things right.”
Increasing operating costs, shifts in the city’s demographics and the lingering impact of the pandemic — leading to more people staying at home — are reportedly among the reasons for the closing of the club, according to an interview with the Bottom of the Hill owners on coyotemedia.org. Overall, however, it just seems like the time was right for the owners to move on from the club.
“As the owners of Bottom of the Hill, we (Ramona Downey, Kathleen Owen, and Lynn Schwarz), are three women in different phases of our lives (and a sad RIP to Tim Benetti, our beloved fourth, whom we recently lost),” the Facebook post reads. “Part of what has made our partnership so functional and wonderful are the perspectives of three strong women from different generations and backgrounds. We come together on so many issues but also bring our own unique life experiences to this business.
“Together we have nurtured Bottom of the Hill over the decades — it’s our child. We include in our family the incredible staff who are the ones who keep our business on the map. Several of our team have been with us for well over a decade and some the whole time, making this decision to shutter extra difficult.
“We will miss you all so much after this one last star-studded year. 2026 is our big victory lap! Please come celebrate with us. Not with a whimper, but a bang!”
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