Shame
The Great American Music Hall welcomed post-punk Londoners Shame back to San Francisco on a dreary Tuesday night along with openers The Sophs. Since first arriving on US shores in 2017, Shame has toured here frequently and has continued to expand their fanbase with their full-bore performances and a steady stream of new tunes including their 2025 release, Cutthroat.
So it was no surprise that some fans bee-lined it to the front of the stage as soon as the doors opened, and the steady stream of people crammed the general admission floor as The Sophs warmed things up. A quick look around the room may have been a bit surprising to any Shame first-timers, because the audience was diverse … in particular some older folks in the room standing in stark contrast to the twenty-somethings on and directly in front of the stage.
By the time Shame took the stage at 9:05, the floor was packed as the band launched straight into “Axis of Evil” off of their latest release. Sporting a clerical collar and a leather vest with no shirt, vocalist Charlie Steen commanded center stage as he pumped his fists towards the floor, deftly avoiding any contact with bassist Josh Finerty who was constantly jumping into the air when he wasn’t tearing across the tiny stage.
Simply stated, the San Francisco crowd was stoked! Clearly ready to sing along with the new album but absolutely getting the floor spinning sideways during favorites from from their previous releases. Charlie’s vest quickly came off as the temperature in the room rose, but otherwise there was no letting up by Shame as they relentlessly plowed through an hour and ten minutes without even a break for an encore.
Even the Shame-curious stuck around through the final words from Steen, “Shame! … Shame! …. Shame! … That’s our f*****g name!” Let’s just say that no one in the room will quickly forget.
Shame
The Sophs
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