Super Bowl® means Super Concerts® and Super Traffic®!

There are some pretty big concerts coming to the San Francisco Bay Area, tailgating on the coattails of Super Bowl 50. More about these below, but first a word about traffic:

Super Traffic®

The traffic into and around San Francisco will be a nightmare – especially near the Ferry Building and Financial District:



Not only will there be a MILLION extra people in downtown San Francisco that week, but… Some important streets are being shut down from January 23rd until February 11th or later. Oh, and… Just for added excitement, Chinese/Lunar New Year starts in adjacent Chinatown during the same time period



There’s a map of the shutdown streets, and even though it doesn’t look like that much in the way of closures, City officials say traffic will be snarled and are pleading with people who work in San Fran Financial District NOT TO DRIVE, and to LEAVE EXTRA TIME to get to and from work on public transit, because BART, Muni and Caltrain will be packed, and there’s only a limited amount of extra capacity being added.

The street closures are mostly around a huge “Super Bowl City,” which will provide a free fan experience and host local artists and some headliners like Alicia Keys (see below). But it closes down some main pathways to the Bay Bridge, so many commuters’ only path to the Bay Bridge is the two-lane Battery Street, which even on a good day is pandemonium.



Everything you need to know about getting around is at the SF MTA Super Bowl site. But basically, don’t drive in SF.



Super Concerts®

If you can get around the Bay during Super Bowl week, the music will be worth it. Many of the acts that have been announced:

SFSBC = Super Bowl City at Sue Bierman Park near the Ferry Building in SF. NOTE: The capacity here is only 4,500, so get there early. There will be an entrance on Embarcadero and Washington streets, which may be better than the ones in other locations.



SF70 = San Francisco Pier 70



Sat, Jan 30th, 2016 Eric Church Benefit Concert (Walnut Creek)

Sat, Jan 30th, 2016 Sean Hayes / Destiny Arts (SFSBC) 12-1:30 PM

Sat, Jan 30th, 2016 Chris Isaak 8 PM at the Bay Bridge Lighting Ceremony and fireworks!! (SFSBC) (free)

Sun, Jan 31st, 2016 Marcus Shelby Trio / CMC Teen Jazz (free) (SFSBC) 12-1:30 PM



Sun, Jan 31st, 2016 Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir (awesome!) (free) (SFSBC) 3-4 PM

Sun, Jan 31st Heart (and fireworks!) at Mission College Santa Clara (free but register) 3 PM



Tue, Feb 2nd, 2016 Amor Do Samba / Vocal Rush (SFSBC) (free) 12-1:30



Wed, Feb 3rd, 2016 Talko Drummers / Loco Blococ (SFSBC) (free) 12-1:30



Wed, Feb 3rd, 2016 Matt Nathanson (free) (SFSBC) 7:30 PM



Wed, Feb 3rd, 2016 San Francisco Symphony/NFL Films (SF) evening



Thurs, Feb 4th, 2016 Le Vice / Culture Shock (SFSBC) (free) 12-1:30 PM

Thurs Feb 4th, 2016 Dave Matthews at Pier 70 (SF70) (currently sold out) evening ($75)

Thurs, Feb 4th, 2016 The Band Perry (SFSBC) (free) 7:30 PM



Fri Feb 5th, 2016 Pharrell Williams at Pier 70 (SF70) ($75) evening



Fri, Feb 5th, 2016 Jarrod Spector / Conservatory of SF (SFSBC) (free) 12-1:30 PM

Fri, Feb 5th, 2016 OneRepublic with Fireworks!! (SFSBC) (free) 8:30 PM



Fri Feb 5th, 2016 NFL Gospel Celebration (Oakland) evening



Sat, Feb 6th, 2016 B-Boys and DJs (SFSBC) (free) 12-1:30 PM

Sat Feb 6th, 2016 Alicia Keys / Goapele (SFSBC) (free) 7:30 PM



Sat Feb 6th, 2016 Third Eye Blind at Taste of the NFL (Cow Palace)($700)



Sat Feb 6th, 2016 SuperCity50 (Oakland Coliseum) (good EDM lineup but NOT a Super Bowl event) (evening)



Sat Feb 6th, 2016 Red Hot Chili Peppers (SF70) (private AXS party) evening

Sat Feb 6th, 2016 Metallica with Cage The Elephant (SF)

Sun, Feb 7th, 2016 John Brothers / Latin Jazz Youth (SFSBC) (free) 11 AM - 1:30 PM

Sun, Feb 7th, 2016 Glide Ensemble (SFSBC) (free) 2 PM

Sun Feb 7th, 2016 SB Halftime show Coldplay with Beyonce and Bruno Mars (Santa Clara)



P.S. I didn’t list the free reserved concerts for Fall Out Boy (Friday) or Skrillex (Saturday) in San Francisco, because they sold out in a heartbeat.





P.P.S. Reportedly there is a football game on Sunday. Go Broncos! :)



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