SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Aug. 6: Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day performs on the Lands End stage at Outside Lands in San Francisco on Saturday. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
Live 105 made its highly anticipated return to the Bay Area airwaves on Monday, taking back the 105.3 FM spot on the dial after a six-year absence.
The station went live at 10:53 a.m., of course, putting at end to the relatively short-lived adults hits station Dave FM that had been at at that spot on since 2021.
“The time is 10:53 and we have some news,” a voice announced to those who tuned in to hear the switch over. “The one and only Live 105 is back.”
And the station marked its return by choosing the Bay Area’s own Green Day to kickstart the new chapter in Live 105’s long and distinguished history. So mark down “Welcome to Paradise” as the answer to the future Bay Area rock ‘n’ roll trivia question: “What was the first song Live 105 played when it returned to the airwaves in 2023?”
The next five (full) songs played likely serve as a very good roadmap of what to expect from the station in the days/weeks/months ahead.
From “Welcome to Paradise,” they turned to Robert Smith and The Cure — who just packed Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View for two nights in late May — for the classic “Just Like Heaven.” Next up was the Foo Fighters’ “Learn to Fly,” because, well, everyone seems to love Dave Grohl, followed by Weezer’s terrific “Say It Ain’t So.”
The first half-dozen tunes of the new reign ended with “Miss Murder” from the Pride of Ukiah, California — aka, AFI — and “Lost” from Linkin Park.
And are we the only surprised that the Red Hot Chili Peppers didn’t some how make it into the mix during the first half hour of the broadcast? (Don’t worry, RHCP– the station lists the band as one of its core artists, so expect to hear plenty of Anthony Kiedis and company on the dial in due time.)
There were also no DJs to be heard on the station on Monday morning, although there are plans to reintroduce some on-air personalities at some point, including longtime favorite Aaron Axelsen.
“The first priority is to re-establish that the Live 105 music is back on the radio,” Allers says.
Fans can new to the reborn Live 105 listen via regular terrestrial radio at 105.3 FM as well as the Audacy app and website (audacy.com).
Originally published at Jim Harrington