SF Bay Ferry revives live music after 25 years

Live Music Returns to San Francisco Bay Ferry

The theme was “Tides and Tunes” on the San Francisco Bay Ferry on Friday night. Commuters on the Richmond line enjoyed a free concert. Other riders may soon experience similar events.

Special Surprises for Commuters

On Friday, East Bay ferry commuters received special surprises during their evening rides on one San Francisco Bay Ferry line. Other lines may offer similar experiences in the future.

Live Music on the Ferry

Passengers traveling between San Francisco and Richmond on Friday evening enjoyed live music for the first time in over two decades. Lolah, a solo artist from San Jose, performed for surprised commuters.

Commuter John Schmidt said, “I think it’s very entertaining after a long day at work, and it makes the ferry really enjoyable compared to BART.”

Jess Jenkins, who learned about the event online, stated, “It’s a little bit out of my way. Yeah, but I was excited to try and check out the live music on the ferry.” Passenger Josh Bamberger added, “Fantastic. I mean this is the most beautiful city in the world, sunset, a little music. What more could you want?”

Commuter Marco Sorenson sketched Lolah and remarked, “It’s great. This was a real surprise tonight, fascinating; on the boat anyway, so this adds a little extra.”

Musicians and Their Art

Lolah expressed her love for performing. “It’s an opportunity for musicians like me because we want to go out there and share your work, your art,” she said. “So you feed on the energy from the audience and the audience feeds from the energy from you.”

History of Music on Bay Ferries

Twenty-five years ago, live music was a spontaneous event on the ferries. It happened twice a month before the dot-com crash. Captain Tim Patrick said, “It was just a group of enthusiastic ferry riders from Oakland that put it all together.”

He noted that the events became too popular and interfered with evening commutes. “And then we kind of put a stop to it because it became too successful,” said Captain Patrick.

Future Events

This time, SF Bay Ferry is sponsoring events to boost ridership during commutes and weekends. Spokesperson Teo Saragi said, “We’re definitely kind of testing the waters, experimenting with what we’re able to do in a venue such as the ferries; beautiful and scenic.”

On Friday, January 16, a DJ will perform between the city and Vallejo. Lolah will return the following Friday. Saragi mentioned, “We’re also in the process of brainstorming potential trivia nights or comedy nights.”

What was successful 25 years ago could become popular again with a larger ferry system. People love live music and ferries; add a cocktail, and it becomes a party.

Summary of Events