For 86 years the Sigmund Stern Grove in San Francisco has hosted a free music festival on Sundays throughout the summer. For some reason, I never really paid attention to it. I did go once back in 1982 or so, but I never did again.

Then, in the spring of 2023, when they announced the line up for the coming summer, I realized three of my favorite artists were going to be playing: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, Snarky Puppy, and Lettuce. So I resolved to get tickets. (I know, I know, I said the concerts are free. But you do need to get tickets so that the size of the crowd can be controlled. They go on “sale” one month before the show and “sell” out quickly.)

So I did!

The shows are something of an ordeal for an old fart like me — to get a decent seat you need to get there early and wait on a long line in the usually-chilly-and-foggy San Francisco morning. Hours later, there you sit in a large crowd in a small canyon lined with eucalyptus trees. Fortunately, since it’s a festival, the atmosphere is festive. There are food and drink concessions, but we brought our own picnic lunch. The show starts at 2pm. The sound system is top-notch.

All three shows we attended were excellent. (Here’s a video I took of one of the numbers Lettuce performed with the San Francisco Symphony.)

So I resolved to pay attention and come back in 2024.

It turned out there was only one show this year that I was really interested in, and again I managed to secure tickets for it. So we enjoyed Herbie Hancock and his killer band.

You can bet my radar is going to be up when the 2025 shows get announced!