Although this event is free and open to the public, you can become a SF Parks Alliance member to secure reserved seating here, and RSVP for a chance to win prizes and reserved seating here!

If you’re a current SF Parks Alliance member and don’t have a member code, please email membership@sanfranciscoparksalliance.org for discounted reserved seating.

About Due South

Due South is a free concert series made possible by the City of San Francisco, District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safai, and SF Parks Alliance. The concerts will be held at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in San Francisco’s McLaren Park on July 29th, August 26th, September 16th and October 7th from 2-6pm each day. The series will feature a diverse lineup of contemporary talent that reflects the local neighborhoods and populations of the City’s Southern districts neighboring the park.

Accessibility Information

Accommodation Requests:

Please email events@sanfranciscoparksalliance.org (415-906-6234) to reserve accessible seating at the show. Please note that submitting your request at least 72 hours before the event will help ensure availability.

Shuttle Information:

There will be a shuttle service from 1:30pm – 6:30pm that will pick up riders on John F Shelley Dr. in between Cambridge St. and Mansell St. (see map linked here) to shuttle attendees to the amphitheater.

Parking Information:

Limited parking spots for people with disabilities will be available on John F Shelley Dr as well as in the main amphitheater parking lot.

Seating Information:

Accessible seating will be available upon reservations made through events@sanfranciscoparksalliance.org. Accessible seating will be on the ground level of the amphitheater with appropriate signage indicating they are reserved for accessible seating. On-site staff will be monitoring the passenger loading zone, accessible seating area, as well as check-in.

Public Transportation Information:

MUNI Bus 29 stops on Mansell St & John F Shelley Drive inside McLaren Park.

MUNI Bus 52 stops on Dublin St. and La Grande Ave just outside McLaren Park.

Sheila E. and the E-Train

SHEILA E.-“Queen of Percussion”

One of life’s constants for Sheila E. comes down to a simple phrase: follow the beat. And her impeccable inner rhythm is the pulse behind a trailblazing career that still knows no bounds.

Family, faith and music were guiding forces for Sheila E. growing up in the Bay Area. In addition to percussionist dad Pete, the Oakland,CA native counts former Santana member/Azteca founder Coke Escovedo and The Dragons frontman Mario Escovedo as uncles. Fellow Latin star Tito Puente was her godfather. In addition to being weaned on Latin jazz and Motown, Sheila E. was exposed to a diverse array of Bay Area acts. Those influences ranged from the rock of Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead to the R&B/pop of the Pointer Sisters and the funk of Sly & the Family Stone. “I used to sit on the corner outside of the local community center with Twinkies and 7-Up listening to Sly and Larry Graham rehearse,” remembers Sheila E. “The sounds of the Bay Area molded me.”

So it’s no surprise that after such a music-immersive childhood, the gifted, world-class drummer and percussionist began amassing an impressive string of credits playing not only with her dad but also with pioneering talents like George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Prince, Ringo Starr, Gloria Estefan, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez. Grammy Award-nominated singer/songwriter behind the seminal hits “The Glamorous Life” and “A Love Bizarre.” A fearless multi-instrumentalist,equally proficient on guitar and bass, actress, mentor and philanthropist.

Following a Bay Area gig in the late ‘70s, Sheila E. met Prince backstage. Their Purple Rainrecording sessions—including her vocals on the 1984 classic “Erotic City”—morphed into launching her solo career that same year. Debut album The Glamorous Lifespun off the Grammy Award-nominated top 10 hit of the same name plus a second top 40 single “The Belle of St. Mark.” Between her ‘80s tenure as drummer, songwriter and musical director for Prince’s backup band, Sheila E. released two more solo albums (Romance 1600and Shelia E.)and scored another classic hit with “A Love Bizarre.”Sheila E.’s fierce, dynamic verve onstage has made her a major concert draw since the ‘90s. Along the way, she has acted in the films “Krush Groove”,“The Adventures of Ford Fairlane”, “Chasing Papi”and launched various music projects (E-Train, C.O.E.D., E Family Band). She added to her arsenal of credits performing on the 2012 Academy Awards with pop hitmaker Pharrell Williams and composer Hans Zimmer. Sheila E. was also among the roster of stars chosen to perform at the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors whosehonorees included artists Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel and Carlos Santana.

Sheila E.’s producing, arranging, and performance talents have been showcased throughout the music and film industry with appearances on, The Academy Awards, The Latin Grammy Awards, BET Awards, The American Music Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors, The Summer Olympics, WOW Awards, ALMA’s, and The Image Awards just to name a few. In 2010 Sheila was nominated for an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Music Direction” in recognition for her leadership as musical director for President Obama’s Performance at The White House: Fiesta Latinaand again more recently in 2020 for “Let’s Go Crazy” Grammy Salute to Prince. Otherprojects, include The E Family Now and Forever, Pete Escovedo Live at Stern Grove Festival withher father Pete Escovedo, and brothers Juan and Peter Michael Escovedo, Sheila E. Live from Lugano SwitzerlandDVD, Silk Roadfrom the group Heavenese hailing from Japan, a literary biography released by Simon & Schuster Publishing Titled The Beat of My Own Drum,ICON Sheila’s 2014 solo album and the single release Girl Meets Boy in memory of the late, great, Prince.

Away from the spotlight, music doubles as a source of healing and giving back for Sheila E. And that was part of the inspiration for penningthe autobiography “The Beat of My Own Drum”. Playing a perceived male instrument and working in a male dominated industry exacted a personal price—several years ago Sheila E. publicly acknowledged she was an abuse survivor.“The book was the beginning of the healing”,says Sheila E. “I’d talked about working in a male-dominated industry in my ministry and addressed it in some of the song lyrics I’d written. But it was challenging to sit down and write about it in detail for the book. No one in my household told me I couldn’t play drums because I was a girl. It wasn’t until I was outside of the house and playing sessions. But through pain comes realization, understanding and the opportunity to help others overcome those challenges”. Sheila E. continues to produce and perform music throughout the world. Her laststudio project and tour, ICONIC, was Sheila’s effortto bringawareness to social issues and humanitarianism. Her 2020 single releases, “No Line” with the legendary Snoop Dogg, “Lemon Cake” & “Bailar”are Sheila’s continued contribution to the music industry. The Queen of Percussion plans to release new music in 2022Sheila E. is CEO of the entertainment company StilettoFlats Inc. located in Los Angeles California.

With no Google or YouTube artist script to follow back then, she says her career drive was propelled by one thing: “I just did it because I loved it. And that’s what Iconrepresents. I started all this as Sheila Escovedo then became this persona named Sheila E. Now Sheila E. and Sheila Escovedo are the same person, still making music that comes from the heart.”

Satya

The name Satya means “truth” — and that’s exactly what 22 yr old Oakland artist Satya delivers on her new EP Deep Blue, which tackles themes of love, heartbreak, and healing with striking vulnerability. The genre-bending new EP fuses Soul, Folk and R&B, and has been featured on Discovered on Apple Music with Ebro Darden, KCRW, KEXP and radio stations across the country.

“Deep Blue tells a story of falling in love, losing myself in that love and becoming blind to the harm of that romance,” said Satya. “The last track, ‘Checker Print Kitchen’, is a reminder of the feelings we can always return to even if we’re going through a hard time. That free, pure, child-like expression helps me work through some of the harder shit life throws my way.”

Satya first got on people’s radar with her debut EP, Flourish Against Fracture (2019), which showcased Satya’s soft vocals, and elicited comparisons to artists from Corinne Bailey Rae to Norah Jones.

Behind the success of her first two EPs, Satya began performing live in 2021. She wrapped up 2022 opening for Smokey Robinson at the Mountain Winery, and kicked off 2023 playing two sold out shows at SFJAZZ, and making her first appearance at SXSW in Austin. In October she will be supporting Oakland legend Sheila E in San Francisco, and opening for Jason Isbell at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.