The country’s largest cassette tape music festival is coming to the Mission this weekend. Opening tonight at the Gray Area Grand Theater at 2665 Mission St., the San Francisco Tape Music festival focuses on experimental audio art and showcases compositions based solely on tape recordings, spread over four concerts throughout the weekend.
Referred to as “cinema for the ears,” the performances use speakers to play recorded sounds that have been mixed together, immersing the audience in tape music nostalgia. Seated in complete darkness, audience members will have the opportunity to participate in a unique listening experience centered around playback recordings by 32 local and international composers.
The concerts will range from classic audio art to new fixed media compositions and blur the lines between genres such as field recordings, composition, sound design, radio drama, virtual reality and sound synthesis. The festival is a project of SfSound, a performing group of Bay Area musicians.
The shows will begin at 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with a second concert on Saturday night beginning at 11 p.m. General admission is $15 a night, but discounted “underemployed” tickets are available at the door for $10, as well as $40 festival passes that grant access to all three evenings.
For more information, visit the festival’s website or follow the event on Facebook.