Creative Hubs
New Creative Hub:
Roar Shack Live! at 34 7th Street
The Market Street Arts Creative Hubs program activates new and underutilized spaces for artists, designers, and entrepreneurs along Market Street.
Market Street Arts and The Living Earth Show announce an innovative partnership that will turn a vacant bar into an experimental music hub. The 2024-25 series, Roar Shack Live!, will breathe new life into 34-7th Street, the former home of renowned cocktail lounge Mr. Smith's, turning it into a dynamic venue for experimental chamber music and multidisciplinary performances.
Through the partnership, The Living Earth Show will present ten site-specific, immersive productions showcasing San Francisco's role as a center for cultural innovation. The series debuted on Friday, September 20, 2024, with Music For Hard Times, an ambient masterpiece and audiovisual love letter to San Francisco created by The Living Earth Show, composer Danny Clay, and visual artist Jon Fischer.
To create accessible creative hubs in Mid-Market, all performances will be pay-what-you-can, ranging from $1–$100. Tickets are available now for the next upcoming show at thelivingearthshow.com/roarshacklive or on eventbrite here.
"Roar Shack Live! isn't just a performance series—it's a creative laboratory in the heart of Mid-Market,” said Andy Meyerson, co-founder and Artistic Director of The Living Earth Show. “We're harnessing the district's raw energy to craft boundary-pushing, multisensory experiences that could only emerge from San Francisco. Our aim is to show that San Francisco is a place where culture is created, not just consumed.”
"As an organization based in San Francisco—since we met as San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) graduate students—presenting these performances on Market Street allows us to bring the work that we tour around the world to audiences here at home. This location inspires us to push artistic boundaries while keeping our work accessible through our pay-what-you-can model,” adds Travis Andrews, co-founder and executive director of The Living Earth Show. “By refining our productions here before touring them globally, we're helping to transform Mid Market into an incubator for world-class art. It's about creating a ripple effect—from this historic thoroughfare to stages across the globe."
Market Street Arts’ Creative Hub program has also partnered with Julian Dash Prince to open Holy Stitch! located at 1059 Market, and Red Tail Beer & Wine Bar now open at 992 Market Street.
Left: Travis Andrews & Andy Meyerson, Co-Founders of The Living Earth Show (photo by Natalia Perez)
Right: Travis & Andy play their experimental chamber music as a crowd looks on (photo by Luke Cheng)
The Creative Hubs program is one of several projects aimed at transforming the experience in Mid-Market. Follow @marketstreetarts on Instagram for up to the minute updates on the amazing things happening in the Mid-Market neighborhood.
