Sami Stevens is playing Haight Street twice this October, in two rooms about a block apart. On Thursday, October 1, the Sami Stevens Band opened the month at The Mellow at 1401 Haight, with a $5 cover. On Wednesday, October 21, Stevens plays The DeLuxe at 1511 Haight, with a $10 cover.
When the same performer books both stages in one month, it says something about the strip. Upper Haight now has two live rooms, and their calendars barely overlap. The Mellow covers the early part of the evening, from doors at 7 until the music stops around 11. The DeLuxe takes over late, with weeknight sets that start at 10 and weekend sets that run past midnight. Taken together, they give the neighborhood something it has not had in years: an evening of live music that can start at 8 and still be going at 12:30.
A Week on the Strip, Hour by Hour
The clearest way to see the split is to set next week's listings side by side. The Mellow's online prices come first in its column. Door prices are a dollar higher.
| Night | The Mellow, 1401 Haight | The DeLuxe, 1511 Haight |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Oct 5 | No music listed | 10 p.m. DeLuxe Jazz Collective, $5 |
| Tue, Oct 6 | No music listed | 10 p.m. Patrick Wolff Bebop Truth Quartet |
| Wed, Oct 7 | No music listed | 10 p.m. Kazemde George Trio, $5 |
| Thu, Oct 8 | 8 p.m. Nico Martinez, $4 | 10 p.m. Banda Sin Nombre, $10 |
| Fri, Oct 9 | 8 p.m. F.MPH, $9 | 9 p.m. Charlie + the Tropicales, $10; 12:30 a.m. Lars and In Charge, $15 |
| Sat, Oct 10 | 8 p.m. Eric Nakanishi Quartet, $9 | 9 p.m. Nashville Honeymoon, $10; 12:30 a.m. Barrio Manouche, $15 |
| Sun, Oct 11 | No music listed | 6 p.m. Andrew Oliver with Nick Rossi's Far West Jazz Band, $10; 9:30 p.m. The Silver Belles, $5 |
The Mellow wraps up as The DeLuxe gets going. On a Thursday, The Mellow plays two sets starting at 8, with last call at 11:30. The DeLuxe's Thursday act goes on at 10. Monday through Wednesday, The DeLuxe is the only room on this list with live music. On Sundays it opens early, with a 6 p.m. set.
The Early Shift at Haight and Masonic
The Mellow has been at the corner of Haight and Masonic since 2021. It started as a daytime cafe, plant store and barbershop. Owners Lorena Cortez and David Velasco applied for a Type 90 license in 2024, which allows live entertainment and alcohol sales. The permit came through in June 2026, and the SF Standard reported in July that music would start in early August. Its fall calendar now runs through December, so the switch is done.
Cortez told the Standard what she was trying to change. In her view, visitors fill the street during the day, but at night the neighborhood has long been a quieter, locals-only scene.
"The Haight needs a big infusion," she says. "We need to amp it up."
The format suits an early evening. Doors open at 7 and the first set starts at 8. Friday and Saturday get three sets, at 8, around 9:15 and around 10:15, with music until 11. All ages are welcome, and guests under 21 get a hand stamp. Giulio X Cetto curates the music, which rotates nightly among soul, jazz, electronic and hip hop.
Covers are low. Online tickets are $4 on Thursdays and $9 on Fridays and Saturdays, or $5 and $10 at the door. Each night also has ten two-for-one deals: two tickets for $7 on Thursday or $15 on the weekend. Online sales close at 6 p.m., except the Thursday two-for-one, which stays open until 10. Gillian Fitzgerald of the Mission bar Casements runs the drinks. She planned to work with local producers such as Standard Deviant Brewery and St. George Spirits, and to pour Spanish and Mexican wines. Her goal, in her words, is "a cocktail in your hand really fast."
The rest of October at The Mellow includes Fault Line Trio on the 16th, Kevin Person Jr. on the 17th, Torré 4 on the 23rd, ZHENIIA on the 24th and the David Lechuga Trio on the 29th. Several Thursday and end-of-month dates are still listed as to be announced.
The Late Shift, a Block West
The DeLuxe reopened on June 18, 2026, under Jay Bordeleau, who owns the Hayes Valley jazz supper club Mr. Tipple's, and Christian Beaulieu, a musician and longtime Deluxe bartender. KQED reported that they refurbished the Art Deco interior and kept its intimate speakeasy feel.
7x7 described the schedule in July as one performance a night Monday through Thursday and two Friday through Sunday. It also noted that the bookings now go well beyond jazz, into blues, indie pop, Spanish guitar and rockabilly. The October calendar follows that pattern. Covers run from $5 to $20 depending on the show.
Three regular slots are good to know:
- Monday's DeLuxe Jazz Collective, usually $5 at 10 p.m. It plays October 5 and 19. The club is closed Monday, October 12.
- The Sunday 6 p.m. set, the earliest regular start on the strip. Coming up are the Rumi Abe Trio tonight for $5, Andrew Oliver with Nick Rossi's Far West Jazz Band on the 11th, and the Scott Larson Quartet on the 18th.
- The 12:30 a.m. slot on Friday and Saturday nights, with covers of $15 to $20. October 16 and 17 have The Cosmo Alleycats and a second set from The Get Tight.
On Sunday, October 18, the Dana Salzman Quintet holds an album release party at 9:30 p.m., and Nick Rossi + His Swing Four play on Thursday the 22nd.
How a Friday Can Run
Because the start times are staggered, one Friday can hold sets in both rooms without missing much of either. Using October 9 as the example:
- 7 p.m. Doors open at The Mellow. F.MPH starts at 8.
- 9 p.m. Charlie + the Tropicales go on at The DeLuxe, a block west.
- Around 10:15 p.m. The Mellow's third set starts, and the music there ends at 11.
- 12:30 a.m. Lars and In Charge play the late slot at The DeLuxe.
On the first Friday of each month there's a third room further west. O'Reilly's Pub at 1840 Haight hosts Grateful First Fridays on Haight Street, a live band series presented by Playing the Dead. The organizer's listing for a first-Friday show gives hours of 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. O'Reilly's lists other fall band bills too, including a show on Friday, October 16, at 7 p.m.
Further into the park, Velasco runs a weekly jazz series called Lakehouse Jazz at Golden Gate Park's Blue Heron Boathouse. It's a separate project from The Mellow, but the same person is behind both.
The Corner Between the Two Rooms
Walk from The Mellow to The DeLuxe and you pass Haight and Ashbury. That corner is where the next piece may land. On September 17, 2026, SF Heritage announced that it is exploring a partnership with KEXP, the nonprofit radio station, and Blue Bear School of Music. The plan would reuse the Doolan-Larson House and Storefronts on that corner. It calls for a public gathering space open every day, a rooftop venue for live music and community events, radio broadcast facilities, and a full floor for individual and group music lessons.
The house was built in 1903 for Richard P. Doolan and raised in 1907 to add storefronts at street level. One of those storefronts, 1510 Haight, was home to Mnasidika, one of the city's first hippie shops, which is associated with the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin. Longtime owner Norm Larson donated the property to SF Heritage in 2017. Three teams submitted full proposals in June, and the SF Heritage board chose one in August.
The project is still early. SF Heritage says it will finalize the adaptive reuse plan over the coming months, gathering community input and working out whether construction and financing are feasible. The release gives no timeline for construction or opening. KEXP brought in the San Francisco preservation architects Page & Turnbull and the design firm Gensler to help with planning. The station already broadcasts in the Bay Area at 92.7 FM.
For now, the music on Haight Street starts at 8 p.m. at 1401 Haight and runs, on the best weekends, until after 12:30 a.m. at 1511.
Some homes on the blocks around Haight and Masonic, Ashbury and Clayton are now within walking distance of two live rooms, and possibly a third. If you're thinking about what that means for a home here, Frank Nolan and The Nolan Group are glad to talk it through. Start a confidential conversation.
