If you’re going to be hanging out in San Francisco, and I mean…hanging out! If you want to leave it all behind and party with San Franciscans at their bluesiest, get to the Saloon at Grant and Fresno! Dance on the worn wooden floor of San Francisco’s oldest bar (1861). Blues every day. Regulars and visitors mingle like friends at a rent party with San Francisco’s best blues players in the living room.
The Saloon’s original Gold Rush bar stands behind the small stage. The working bar is strung with the CDs recorded in this acoustically live, well-aged room. Most nights when the band is on break the colorful show inside moves onto the street. The corner of Grant and Fresno buzzes with buzzed talk and scenes to capture Fellini’s heart.
For nearly thrirty-years, until his death in 2011, if you wanted to hear the great Jonny Nitro on his flaming guitar, he’d say, “I’m at the Saloon.” Johnny lived above the Saloon for the easy commute. When he died that Saturday night and was carried to the street friends and fans cried and applauded a great artist. Tonight, the blues people Johnny played with are still tearing it up “at the Saloon.”