Growing up in San Francisco’s Mission District, Eli Anaya came of age during what many consider The City’s musical heyday. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, acts like Girls, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall and The Fresh and Onlys consistently made national music headlines, as critics from across the country hailed the exciting new sounds emanating from San Francisco, much of it happening right in Anaya’s Mission District neighborhood.
Anaya now has made up for missing those halcyon San Francisco music days. As founder of Throwin’ Bo’s, a boutique music promotion company, he is staging some of the most inventive and unique shows in San Francisco, consistently pairing up-and-coming touring bands with The City’s best local acts. Along with being an astute lover of music, Anaya developed many of his connections to the local scene when he worked at Amoeba Records. Some of his co-workers included members of the San Francisco janglepop group The Umbrellas, who played the first Throwin’ Bo’s show in 2021 following a lengthy live music hiatus because of the pandemic.
“Being able to book the Rickshaw Stop was pretty much a dream come true,” said Anaya. “That was like the one club I went to growing up because they had so many all-ages shows. So, finally being able to do a show there, and having that first one back with the Umbrellas, who I’m friends with, was a really special moment.”