The Roar Shack announces third season, its first as a permanent venue
Mid-Market's first new live music venue in over a decade opens September 9 with The Living Earth Show featuring Peaches Christ, Pamela Z, Lynn Breedlove, Honey Mahogany, and Tanner Porter
SAN FRANCISCO (September 9, 2026) — The Roar Shack, an experimental performance venue created by The Living Earth Show (TLES), has announced its third season, marking its first year as a permanent venue at 34 7th Street in San Francisco’s Mid-Market. The season begins Wednesday, September 9 at 7 pm with a 75-minute variety show featuring Peaches Christ, Pamela Z, Lynn Breedlove,Tanner Porter, and the resident ensemble, The Living Earth Show. Tickets and the full season calendar are available atroarshacklive.com. All performances are pay-what-you-can.
“After two years of pop-up performances, we're beyond excited to build a permanent place for artistic incubation in the heart of Mid-Market,” said Andy Meyerson, Artistic Director, The Living Earth Show. “While keeping our shows 100% pay-what-you-can, we're honored to create an immersive, flexible venue in the neighborhood. We want to prove that new, accessible, ambitious, and innovative experimental work epitomizes and emboldens San Francisco's creative spirit.”
“The arts and live music are driving San Francisco's recovery, and Mid-Market is feeling the effects,” said Mayor Daniel Lurie. “The neighborhood's momentum keeps building, and The Roar Shack—the first new live music venue in Mid-Market in over a decade—is the latest infusion of energy. We just announced the Market Street Arts and Theater Festival after opening the long-awaited Jollibee and new vendors at Saluhall. This corridor is coming back as a place to shop, dine, see a show, and enjoy everything our creative community has to offer.”
The Roar Shack began as a pop-up in Mid-Market Business Association & Foundation (MMBAF)'s Creative Hubs program, which placed artists in vacant storefronts along Market Street. Over two years of programming, The Living Earth Show proved that an audience for experimental work existed in the neighborhood. This summer, with support from a Storefront Opportunity Grant from San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the room at 34 7th Street was converted into a fully modular performance space featuring a Meyer Sound Constellation spatialized audio system. The 2026–27 season targets 75 performances across six series, with the shows announced today as an initial wave.
“The Roar Shack’s journey from a temporary activation to a permanent venue is exactly the kind of momentum we want to see in Mid-Market,” said Anne Taupier, Executive Director of OEWD. “They tested an idea, built an audience, and are now putting down roots in the neighborhood. We’re proud that our Storefront Opportunity Grant could help make that next step possible and add a new destination to one of San Francisco’s most important arts and entertainment corridors.”
“Mid-Market has seen plenty of plans over the years, and The Roar Shack is a great example of what happens when those plans deliver," said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. "A group of artists took a chance on this neighborhood, the Mid-Market Business Association helped them turn a vacant storefront into a place for creativity, and now the City is helping them put down permanent roots. The Roar Shack shows that Mid-Market is coming back, one block at a time.”
The Experimental Classical Series includes a world premiere by minimalist legend Terry Riley, written for and with The Living Earth Show; recitals by pianist-composer Timo Andres and TLES guitarist Travis Andrews; a new duo from TLES percussionist Andy Meyerson and pianist-composer Conrad Tao; and a new production created by Paul Dresher commissioned by and performed with The Living Earth Show.
The Alternative Series inaugurates a collaboration with drag icon Peaches Christ on Gagged By Goth and Holiday Dark Ride, a new holiday production built with longtime Terror Vault collaborator David Flower. Also on the series: a rare reunion by queer nü metal collective COMMANDO and the return of Honey Mahogany's Black Thursday cabaret.
The Dance Series presents new immersive productions from Moscelyne ParkeHarrison's BODYSONNET, Tether Dance Project, and Ja'Moon Jones.
Two partnerships with Bay Area labels round out the season: Outsider Sounds & Sonic Visions, four shows marking the twentieth anniversary of Ratskin Records, and Dungeon Legends, four nights of dungeon synth curated by Edge of the Wild Records.
“The Roar Shack opening a permanent home is a milestone for Mid-Market,” said Fernando Pujals, Executive Director, MMBAF. “An independent venue like this brings the neighborhood closer to its full potential as the City's arts and theater hub. Seventy-five performances a year is seventy-five nights of foot traffic for the restaurants, bars, and small businesses of Mid-Market, and we hope every one of those visitors stays awhile.”
The Roar Shack’s 2026–27 season is supported by San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the Svane Family Foundation, Mid-Market Business Association & Foundation, The Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, Ken Hempel Fund for the Arts, Meyer Sound, and Monkeybrains.
