Peaches Christ

Peaches Christ Presents: Death Becomes Her

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This Halloween, Peaches Christ digs up a special 20th anniversary screening of the deliciously dark showbiz satire Death Becomes Her. Starring two Oscar-winning leading ladies and sitting uncomfortably between Back to the Future and Forrest Gump on Robert Zemeckis’ filmography, Death Becomes Her is truly one of the most ghoulishly entertaining A-list campfests ever to tumble down the staircase from a major studio.

The evening will blast off with a neck-twisting new pre-show featuring immortal frenemies Peaches Christ and Heklina in the roles they were born to play: undead Beverly Hills rivals Madeleine Ashton and Helen Sharp. And don’t miss the opportunity to pay tribute to your dearest departed star with their Dead Celebrity Costume Contest!

Get your tickets for this bitchy bonanza here.

Saturday, October 20 at 8pm @ Castro Theatre, 429 Castro, SF

Pre-lloween

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marke@sfbg.com

SUPER EGO “We wanted to put together something that truly reflects San Francisco on its most popular holiday,” DJ Syd Gris of Opulent temple tells me over the phone. “A titillating, intoxicating kaleidoscope of San Francisco flavor with soulful, sexy music. And zombie strippers.”

He’s talking about the massive Masquerotica (Sat/20, 8:30pm-3am $55–$125, creative costume expected. San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center, 635 8th St., SF. www.maquerotica.com ), a perfect kick-off to the insane Halloween season, which pretty much does include frisky input from most of the more risquee club scenes SF’s got going — Kink.com, Anon Salon, Mission Control, Vau de Vire, Hubba Hubba Revue, Bondage-A-Go-Go, Asian Diva Girls, Club Exotica … and then for kicks, Trannyshack. Hey, different strokes! Please have sex with Trannyshack if you want.

There also promises to be some intriguing tunes, from electro-house headliners Stanton Warriors and 15-piece funk band Action Jackson right on through to the early R&B Hard French DJs and hard-driving Mr. Gris himself. (We’ll also probably be hearing from a lot from gay rapper Cazwell’s alabaster abs as well. Squee squee!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyO9D3t0jVM

“The demise of the Exotic Erotic Ball here a few years ago provided an opportunity to put the focus back on local talent while still keeping the sexy vibe. We’d like to think that we’re sanding off some of the rougher edges of what the Erotic Exotic and the Castro became, so that people feel more comfortable being themselves. Or getting out of themselves. Whatever the case may be.”

Although there’s no hardcore sex allowed at Masquerotica (no fear, there’ll be plenty of makeout areas), why do San Franciscans weave so much hanky-panky into our pagan revels? Or did I just answer my own question?

“Halloween is partly about being able to express yourself in ways that don’t involve judgement, and so a lot of subcultural communities found acceptance during the holiday,” Gris said. “We want to honor that. We’re a big tent, and we want to fill it with all the people and things that turn us on in the Bay Area.”

 

MOVE D

I have a scary-powerful crush on this wizard of wide-ranging techno, whose epic sets with live bells and whistles are painterly in their soundscape effects and irresistible in their atmospheres. You can dance to them, too. With DJs Conor, Jonah Sharp, and Mike B.

Thu/18, 9pm-3am, $12–$15. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

 

REAGENZ

Oh hey, did I mention that the amazing Move D was in town from Berlin? Why not take advantage of that, and his fruitful collaboration with local hero Jonah Sharp, and present them both in their ambitious ambient live-entity form, Reagenz. Tech heads like me are already wetting their drawers for this installment of the Realtime live techno party, also featuring Moniker, Polk & Hyde, and Its Own Infinite Flower.

Fri/19, 9pm, $12–$15. 222 Hyde, SF. www.222hyde.com

 

ODYSSEY

One of the city’s most beloved underground parties emerges to celebrate its anniversary, with SF legend DJ Neon Leon at the helm. Expect tons of warm house tunes and love up the wazoo (plus some nifty projections, too!) With DJs Steve Fabus, Robin Simmons, Jason Kendig, Robert Jeffrey, and Viv Baron.

Fri/19, 10pm-4am, $10. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.public.com

 

HALLOWEEN! THE BALLAD OF MICHELE MYERS

What do you get when you mashup all your favorite teenage slasher flicks with The Facts of Life? Grindr! Kidding. You get this horrifically hilarious musical brought to us by one of SF’s most twisted drag queens, Raya Light. As glamour-ghoul Michele Myers, she’s gonna tear you apart to a disco beat. And you’ll be singing right along.

Fri/19-Wed/31, 8pm and 10pm, $20. CounterPulse, 1310 Mission, SF. michelemyers2012.eventbrite.com

 

DEATH BECOMES HER

You know you live for that campfest movie — wherein Goldie Hawn eats Meryl Streep while Bruce Willis drives away with Freeway the Dog? Something like that, but also the Fountain of Youth and Isabella Rossellini in something really strappy. Anyway, Peaches Christ is giving the 1992 flick, which introduced many of us toddlers to the wonders of CGI, the inimitable uproarious Castro Theatre treatment. Heklina of Trannyshack joins her for a wild live pre-show, with Lady Bear, L. Ron Hubby, and the city’s drag-erati.

Sat/20, 8pm, $20–$25. Castro Theatre, 429 Castro, SF. www.peacheschrist.com

You must have a Peaches Christ mask

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Er, if you have $200 to spare for this flawless Nikki Dyer latex piece. Clean with warm water. Do not scrub; just wipe away dirt. And maybe keep away from kids

Our Weekly Picks: August 8-14

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WEDNESDAY 8

Beats for Lunch

Tired of eating lunch at your cubicle, under harsh fluorescent lighting? Monarch feels your pain, and wants to do something about it. Launched last month as RECESS, Beats for Lunch is the second installment of the club’s rather experimental stab at an afternoon, workday dance party. Featuring several Motown DJs from MOM SF, the party crew that’s had our fair city shaking it on a weekly basis since 2009, this is exactly the kind of all-inclusive dance-a-thon we could use more of. With free cover (and free sandwiches!) to boot, checking out this month’s Beats for Lunch should be a no-brainer. It doesn’t matter what you wear, just as long as you are there. (Taylor Kaplan)

Noon-2pm, free

Monarch

101 Sixth St., SF

(415) 284-9774

www.monarchsf.com

 

Fox & Woman

A group of poets in the Mission District of San Francisco formed the band Fox & Woman over a year ago, with a goal to “stretch and tear at the shortcomings in pop music.” In turn, they offer a refreshing mix of the rambunctious and the beautiful. Along with riveting lyrical and vocal power, the band treats listeners to violin, mandolin, cello, and ukelele, creating lush orchestration. Check out “Break Into My Heart” off its six-song EP (streaming on the band’s website) and peep the rest of the album while you’re at it; nod your head to passionate anthems, stomp your feet to every tight rhythm. Let the slower ballads created by this five-piece woo you, and then be prepared to jump right back into the dance groove. (Shauna C. Keddy)

With the Thoughts, Split Screens

9pm, $10

Brick and Mortar Music Hall

1710 Mission, SF

(415) 800-8782

www.brickandmortarmusic.com

 

Redd Kross

When brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald first formed the band that would become Redd Kross in the late 1970s, they were just 11 and 15 years old — and famously played their first gig opening for Black Flag. Returning with their first new album in 15 years, the excellent Researching The Blues, which dropped this week, the group continues to twist infectious melodies and pop sensibilities into short, stunning bursts of rock’n’roll. Some acts would struggle to regain that explosive chemistry after such a long break, but Redd Kross picked up right where it left off. (Sean McCourt)

With the Mantles, Warm Soda

8pm, $20

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com


THURSDAY 9

The Big Eat

Why Leo Beckerman and Evan Bloom would reveal the secrets to their divine pastrami is beyond me. The Wise Sons Delicatessen founders and local meat men-of-the-moment are among the mavens congregating at The Big Eat to discuss the nexus between cuisine and creativity. Each expert has a story to tell — distiller Arne Hillesland, a.k.a The Ginerator, created a kosher-for-Passover gin in 40 days. Artist Deborah Lozier fixed Norwegian wood to vintage silverware in a series of pieces that blend nature and civilization. SFMOMA pastry chef Leah Rosenberg uses ongoing exhibitions as inspirations for her stylized cakes, while Bryon Waibel harvests honey in the Mission, laying legitimate claim to being the world’s first urban beekeeper.

(Kevin Lee)

6:30-8:30pm; $10 general, free for museum members Contemporary Jewish Museum 736 Mission, SF (415) 655-7800 www.thecjm.org

 

Young Moon

Sure, Phil Spector and My Bloody Valentine are great, but we’ve officially reached a saturation point with this whole wall-of-sound thing. Too many imitators using viscous layers of reverb to conceal lazy songwriting, ill-conceived lyrics, and half-baked hooks. However, Young Moon stands out as an exception. Recalling Deerhunter’s balance between the robust and the ethereal, this project of local multitracker Trent Montgomery pays tribute to the goopy production of Pet Sounds, while churning out the bona-fide hooks to back it up. A release party for his debut album, Navigated Like the Swans, Montgomery’s set this Thursday might well be the beginning of something. (Kaplan)

With Danny Paul Grody, Vestals 9pm, $6 Hemlock 1131 Polk, SF (415) 923-0923 www.hemlocktavern.com

 

YG

Though his name stands for Young Gangsta, this Compton-based rapper abandoned his gang-affiliated lifestyle when he got signed to Def Jams at just 19 years old. Now 22, YG has produced some of the best guilty-pleasure tracks in recent hip-hop history, including 2010’s “Toot it and Boot it” and this year’s charmingly titled “Bitches Ain’t Shit,” both of which cracked Billboard’s Hot 100. 2012 has also seen YG’s acting debut alongside Snoop Dogg in the hip-hop teen flick We the Party. Though the rapper is yet to release his debut album, he’s been keeping himself busy with side projects and collaborations. YG’s hyper-sexual and hook-laden mix tapes have kept a hold on the industry’s attention. (Haley Zaremba)

8:30pm, $18

New Parish

579 18th, Oakl.

(510) 444-7474

www.thenewparish.com


FRIDAY 10

 

Christeene

After six video singles — starting with attention-grabber “Fix My Dick” (all directed and produced by PJ Raval) — insatiable, downright nasty, slyly loveable CHRISTEENE is unleashing a full album. The release party for the Austin-based sensation and self-described “drag terrorist” (alter ego of actor Paul Soileau) headlines the first installment of Church, a new nightlife event by co-presenters Peaches Christ, Bearracuda, and DJ Carnita. Sure, the back-alley beauty looks like a thorough mess with stringy black hair framing a wild-eyed pan whose rubbed out lipstick makes a skanky halo around her gold-flecked smile, but her rhymes (delivered over salacious hip-hip, R&B, and techno beats) and balls-out floor show got more business than Mitt. (Robert Avila)

With Peaches Christ, Bearracuda, DJ Carnita

9pm, $20

Public Works

161 Erie, SF

(415) 932-0955

www.publicsf.com

www.peacheschrist.com


SATURDAY 11

James and the Giant Peach

Though 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas gets more cult love (and 2009’s Neil Gaiman-inspired Coraline snagged an Oscar nom; we won’t speak of 2001’s Monkeybone), James and the Giant Peach, director Henry Selick’s 1996 take on the beloved Roald Dahl tale, is well worth revisiting. Especially this week, when the Tim Burton-produced film — rendered in an exquisite mix of stop-motion animation and live action — screens at the SF Film Society Cinema alongside a presentation by artists who contributed to the San Francisco-made project. Puppets and props from the film will be in attendance (Miss Spider FTW!), and superfans take note: these artists are also working with Selick on his next film, another spooky Gaiman adaptation. (Cheryl Eddy)

11am, $8

SF Film Society Cinema

1746 Post, SF

sffs.org/cinema

 

Tornado Wallace

Melbourne-based producer Lewie Day lives a double life. By day, he produces house music for electronic labels like Murmur and 8bit. By night, he’s one of the biggest DJs in Australia’s electronic scene. As a teenager, he threw himself into the DJ scene as a favor to a friend who needed a spot filled. Today, Tornado Wallace is extremely prolific, churning out original disco-tinged tracks and remixes at lightning speed. His quantity plus quality approach has garnered the attention of many of the house scene’s major players, and Resident Advisor recently featured him on their highly esteemed podcast — and named him as an artist to watch out for. This summer marks Tornado Wallace’s first-ever US tour. (Zaremba)

With Bells & Whistles, Habitat SF

9:30pm, $12

Public Works

161 Erie, SF

(415) 932-0955

www.publicsf.com


SUNDAY 12

Al Jarreau, George Duke Trio

One of the most versatile, expressive vocalists of the last 50 years, Al Jarreau jumps restlessly between soul, jazz, pop, and samba traditions, refusing to let any genre tags define him. George Duke is an undisputed keyboard champion, whose ’70s jazz-fusion recordings have permeated modern hip-hop and neo-soul to an astonishing degree. These two legends will share the beautiful Stern Grove stage, collaborating on a range of jazz tunes, in an afternoon of (free!) music, not to be missed. Bring a beach towel and a six-pack, and cross your fingers for some Keytar action from Mr. Duke, himself. (Kaplan)

With Mara Hruby 2pm, free

Stern Grove

19th Ave. and Sloat, SF

(415) 252-6252

www.sterngrove.org


MONDAY 13

“Incredibly Strange Television!”

Sure, your nightly channel-surf turns up some intense weirdness: Extreme Couponing, Cajun Pawn Stars, Bikini Barbershop. But make no mistake — TVs were beaming uber-bizarreness into living rooms long before reality programming took over. The one and only Johnny Legend invades the Roxie for three nights of brain-blowing transmissions, presented under the banner “Incredibly Strange Television!” First up is tonight’s two-part ode to comedy (featuring premiere eps, forgotten pilots, and more, with glimpses of greats like Jackie Gleason, George Burns, Don Knotts, and a young Betty White). Tomorrow, it’s the world premiere of “Johnny Legend’s TV in Acidland,” a live-TV extravaganza spanning decades; Wednesday’s “Shock and Noir!” promises “strange and demented” prime-time snippets from the 1950s and 60s. (Eddy)

Aug. 13-15, 6:15, 8, and 9:45pm, $11

Roxie Cinema

3117 16th St., SF

www.roxie.com


TUESDAY 14

Red Hot Chili Peppers

“Let me tell you about the Chili Peppers,” intoned comedian Chris Rock in April. “If Brian Wilson and George Clinton had a kid, he’d be as ugly as fuck, but he would sound like the Chili Peppers.” Rock helped induct the Chilis into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, three decades after four high school friends began jamming together in Los Angeles. Through the drugs and death of founding member Hillel Slovak, through eight Grammy Awards and 85 million records sold, the Chili Peppers have endured with their funk-punk sound. Even now, with lead singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea pushing 50, the Chili Peppers remain one of the most dynamic live shows in rock. Darling Swedish electronic group Little Dragon open. (Lee)

With Little Dragon

8pm, $39.50–$59.50

Oracle Arena

7000 Coliseum Way, Oakl.

(510) 569-2121

 www.coliseum.com

 

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Rep Clock

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Schedules are for Wed/25-Tue/31 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double and triple features marked with a •. All times pm unless otherwise specified.

ARTISTS’ TELEVISION ACCESS 992 Valencia, SF; www.atasite.org. $6. Reconnect: A Film on Cell Phones and Health Effects (Kunze, 2012), Sat, 8.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $8.50-11. San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, Wed-Thu. For tickets and more information, visit www.sfjff.org. •Spaceballs (Brooks, 1987), Fri, 7:30, and Blazing Saddles (Brooks, 1974), Fri, 9:25. “The Silence of the Trans:” The Silence of the Lambs (Demme, 1991), with pre-show starring Sharon Needles, Peaches Christ, and the Midnight Mass Players, Sat, 3, 8. Tickets for this event, $25-45; visit www.peacheschrist.com for info. Bearcity 2: The Proposal (Langway, 2012), Sun, 11:30am, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:25. This event, $10-12; visit bearcity2theproposal.ticketbud.com for info. •Purple Rain (Magnoli, 1984), Tue, 7:30, and Pink Floyd the Wall (Parker, 1982), Tue, 9:40.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.75-$10.25. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin, 2012), call for dates and times. Bernie (Linklater, 2012), call for dates and times. Dark Horse (Solondz, 2011), call for dates and times. Take This Waltz (Polley, 2011), call for dates and times. The Queen of Versailles (Greenfield, 2012), July 27-Aug 2, call for times. Bill W. (Carracino and Hanlon, 2011), Sun, 7.

DAVIES SYMPHONY HALL 201 Van Ness, SF; www.sfsymphony.org. $25-75. The Wizard of Oz (Fleming, 1939), Thu-Fri, 7:30. Screening with live orchestral accompaniment. “Pixar in Concert,” Sat, 7:30; Sun, 2. Songs from Pixar films, with accompanying movie clips.

JACK LONDON SQUARE First Street at Broadway, Oakl; www.jacklondonsquare.com. Free. Ghostbusters (Reitman, 1984), Thu, sundown.

MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE 57 Post, SF; (415) 393-0100, rsvp@milibrary.org. $10. “CinemaLit Film Series: Fairytale Endings:” Excalibur (Boorman, 1981), Fri, 6.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. “Bellissima: Leading Ladies of the Italian Screen:” Open City (Rossellini, 1945), Wed, 7; Bellissima (Visconti, 1953), Sat, 5:30. “The Eternal Poet: Raj Kapoor and the Golden Age of Indian Cinema:” Boot Polish (Arora and Kapoor, 1954), Thu, 7; Awaara (Kapoor, 1951), Sat, 7:45. “Cool World:” Heathers (Lehmann, 1989), Fri, 7; Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (Cimino, 1974), Fri, 9:05. “Russian Inferno: The Films of Alexei Guerman:” The Seventh Companion (Guerman and Aronov, 1967), Sun, 5. “Always for Pleasure: The Films of Les Blank:” •ry cooder group ’88 santa cruz (1988) and Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella (1995), Sun, 7.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-10. Romantics Anonymous (Ameries, 2011), Wed-Thu, 7, 9. KQED presents: •A Brush With the Tenderloin (Bierma, 2011), and Stage Left: A Story of Theater in San Francisco (Forbord, 2010), Wed, free. Free screening, but RSVP recommended; visit trulyca.eventbrite.com. Kids of Today (De Missolz, 2011), Thu, 7. •Not a Memory (Burdenski, 2012), and Something Personal (Elsaesser, 2012), Thu, 9:15. This event, $5. “This Must Be the Place: Post-Punk Tribes 1978-1982:” La Brune et moi (Puicouyoul, 1979), Fri, 7:30; Rough Cut and Ready Dubbed (Shah and Shaw, 1982), Fri, 8:40; “special secret movie,” Fri, 9:40; The Slog Movie (Markey, 1982), Sat, 7:30; “I Can See It and I’m Part of It: San Francisco Punk Portraits 1978-82” (shorts program), Sat, 9; “Buzz or Howl Under the Influence” (live footage), Sat, 10:20; Debt Begins at 20 (Beroes, 1980), Sun, 7; Downtown 81 (Bertoglio, 1981), Sun, 8:15. Shit Year (Archer, 2010), July 27-Aug 2, 7. “Johnny Legend presents:” The Big TNT Show (Peerce, 1966), Mon, 8; Mondo Teeno: Teenage Rebellion (Herman and Visconti, 1967), Mon, 6:10, 9:45; Teenage Cruisers (Legend, 1977), Tue, 6, 9:45; One Million Years AC/DC (De Prieset, 1969), Tue, 8.

SF FILM SOCIETY CINEMA 1746 Post, SF. $10-11. A Burning Hot Summer (Garrel, 2011), Wed-Thu, 3, 5, 7, 9. Sacrifice (Chen, 2010), July 27-Aug 2, 1, 3:30, 6, 8:30.

TOP OF THE MARK InterContinental Mark Hopkins, One Nob Hill, SF; www.topofthemark.com. Free. “Summer Movie Nights:” It Happened One Night (Capra, 1934), Tue, 7:30. Wine tasting at 5:30.

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org. $6-8. “Documentaries By Ai Weiwei:” One Recluse (2010), Sun, 2.

SF bragging rights (and ass) galore in Double Duchess’ brand-new “Bucket Betch”

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Blatant disregard for traffic safety be damned (really, the bike-riding sparklers past the Castro Theatre shot is magick), the new Double Duchess video for “Bucket Betch” looks like something I’d show to my friends who don’t live in San Francisco to make them jealous. See, New Orleans and Brooklyn aren’t the only place with queer hip-hop anthems right now. See, it is possible to dance in those shoes. See 2:55 for an expert glitter vogue move. Try to count how many flagging club kids you can spot in this tour of ass-cheek-exposed SF summer. You can catch the duo performing with drag-wreck Christeene at Peaches Christ‘s new quarterly party Church on Aug. 10 at Public Works.

We had a big fashion party at the museum, and it rocked

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Last month, our “Beautiful Rebels” Jean Paul Gaultier fashion show-party with Peaches Christ at the de Young Museum rivaled the Gaultier opening gala itself. Check out these beautiful rebel shots by Robbie Sweeny.

Our Weekly Picks: April 4-10

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WEDNESDAY 4

 

Nile

Death metal fans are eagerly awaiting At the Gate of Sethu, the newest album from South Carolina speed-demons Nile. Influenced, as always, by singer-guitarist Carl Sanders’ exhaustive study of Egyptian history and myth, the band’s new offering is sure to feature Nile’s distinctive traits: impossibly fast blast-beats (courtesy of drummer George Kollias), keening, Middle Eastern chords, and creepy, atmospheric interludes played on traditional instruments. Still, the chief delight for any Nile fan should be witnessing the band’s superhuman stamina and chops in person — despite a truncated opening set, few bands can play more individual notes in a single night.(Ben Richardson)

With the Black Dahlia Murder, Skeletonwitch, Hour of Penance

7:30pm, $21

Slim’s

333 11th St., SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slimspresents.com

 

Blank Tape Beloved featuring Brother Ali

“Sometimes I don’t write a lot/ I know folks out there call that writer’s block/ I just call it my process/ It comes out when it’s ready to, I guess…” So explains Brother Ali in new single “Writer’s Block,” perhaps as a reply to fans asking about the lengthy stretches between releases. The Minneapolis-based emcee brings a big-picture perspective, striking a lyrical balance between brevity and bookishness. New (and free!) seven-song EP The Bite Marked Heart provides the appetizer for upcoming LP Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color. Ali brings in the band Blank Tape Beloved for what he describes as an impromptu and intimate performance. (Kevin Lee)

9pm, $10

Cafe Du Nord

2170 Market, SF

(415) 861-5016

www.cafedunord.com

 

Cults

Cults sound like a ’60s girl group (think the Shangri-Las/Ronettes) drenched in dreamy, lo-fi noise. New York-based couple and artistic collaborators Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion began making music in their home as a hobby not too long ago. Shortly after their hit single “Go Outside” went viral in the blogosphere, however, they landed a record deal and released their first album (Cults). Their vocals, which Follin belts out in a sweet, crooning manner, suggest foreboding themes like senseless depression, unalterable inadequacies, and uneven, entrapping love. You’ll most likely want to slowly sway to these songs — and reverently mimic Oblivion’s steady, controlled head banging. (Mia Sullivan)

With Spectrals, Mrs. Magician

8pm, $21

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

Thu/5, 8 p.m., $21

Slim’s

333 11th St., SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slimspresents.com

 

THURSDAY 5

“Behind The Scenes: The Art and Craft of Cinema”

As a costume designer in Hollywood, Deborah Nadoolman Landis has worked on a host of legendary films and created iconic looks such as the fedora and jacket of Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones) in Raiders of The Lost Ark (1981), the candy apple red leather jacket for Michael Jackson in Thriller, the “College” shirt worn by John Belushi in Animal House (1978), and many more. Landis will be appearing at PFA this week to discuss her work as part of “Behind The Scenes: The Art and Craft of Cinema,” a special two-night program — on Thursday she will be joined by her husband, director John Landis, for a screening of Three Amigos! (1986) — one of several projects they’ve worked on together over the years. On Friday she will join fellow costume designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers for a talk and screening of the classic American Graffiti (1973). (Sean McCourt)

Thu/4-Fri/5, 7pm, $5.50–<\d>$9.50

Pacific Film Archive

2575 Bancroft Way, Berk.

(510) 642-1412

bampfa.berkeley.edu

 

Argentine Tango USA Festival

There are few cities more similar to San Francisco than Buenos Aires — leaving aside the vagaries of bistec versus burrito and geographic shaping (121 compared to 203 square kilometers). The two are major cities with world-class art scenes, passionate histories of social protest, and dammit, we dance. Be you a hippie-shaker or a vogue hand-waver, the motion in your ocean will most surely respond to the sultry allure of tango, brought to us this week in spades in a big-time competition authorized by the Buenos Aires city government. Spring to attend a milonga, which is like a tango jam session, or take a seat to watch the pros pivot it out. (Caitlin Donohue)

Thu/5-Sun/8, $20 competition spectator admission Check website for competition times

San Francisco Airport Marriott

1800 Old Bayshore Highway, Burlingame

www.argentinetangousa.com

 

 

Dark Star Orchestra

Depending on how much second-hand pot you’ve smoked, if you close your eyes and listen up to Dark Star Orchestra, it’s possible to convince yourself you’ve transported back to 1969 for a Grateful Dead show. Yes, DSO is a nationally recognized and acclaimed Dead tribute act (seriously, the band really sound like the Dead) that is coming to show us young whippersnappers what we missed in the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. So melt into the sunny jams that have shaped our fair city’s culture, expose your inner ecstasy, and rub against the person next to you; lovingly. Also, consider this is a prime opportunity to people-watch and swap Jerry Garcia-related personal transformation stories. (Sullivan)

9pm, $35

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com

 

FRIDAY 6

 

Yours and Mine

If contemporary performance originated partly in response to the cultural primacy of visual art, Macklin Kowal’s Yours and Mine suggests a full-circle act of reclamation in which performance shares not only space but a full dynamic partnership with other objets d’art. In it Kowal, a San Francisco performer-choreographer and current artist-in-residence at Meridian Gallery, responds with capable, thoughtful intelligence to an exhibition by leading Irish contemporary painter Patrick Graham, in an hour-long performance installation involving ten dancers and all three floors of the gallery. The piece promises a further livening of the rooms beyond the already electric effect of Graham’s roiling canvases, as well as an exploration of the way we literally embody the aesthetic experience. (Robert Avila)

Fri/6-Sat/7, 7:30pm, $10–<\d>$20

Meridian Gallery

535 Powell, SF

(415) 624-6765.

www.meridiangallery.org

 

“Beautiful Rebels: A Celebration of the Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier”

You got epaulet envy trawling the paparazzi shots from the opening of the JPG-de Young exhibit a few weeks ago. Chin up girl, your chance to fete fashion’s enfant terrible hasn’t passed you by. Sashay to Golden Gate Park to hang with the Guardian (we’re the media sponsors) at this Friday night happy hour event. Drag-cinema supernova Peaches Christ will be doing us the honor of emceeing, and would you believe there will be a fashion show featuring the work of Mister David and others — not to mention a performance by SF’s queer-hop representatives Double Duchess and a craft table by Some Thing artisan Haute Gloo? (Donohue)

Fri/6 5:30pm, free de Young Museum 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden, SF (415) 750-7694

Facebook: Beautiful Rebels www.peacheschrist.com

 

dead prez

The dead prez anthem “It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop” may as well apply to both dead prez lyricists-producers M-1 and stic.man. Since teaming together in New York in the mid-1990s in New York, M-1 and stic.man have developed from hip-hop artists into social change activists, revolutionary lecturers, and health advocates. (Legend has it the duo used to fling apples into the crowd at concerts.) Both have kept busy with their own projects — stic.man came out with a “fit-hop” album The Workout (Boss Up Inc) espousing the benefits of good breathing tactics and calisthenics, while M-1 has paired with Italian electro producer Bonnot of Assalti Frontali to become AP2P (aka All Power to the People). But dead prez is still very much alive, continuing to tour and working on the long-delayed LP Information Age. (Lee)

With Los Rakas, DJ Mr. E

9pm, $20

Mezzanine

444 Jessie, SF

(415) 625-8880

www.mezzaninesf.com

 

 

Thrones

Game on: the band Thrones has been around far longer than that newbie medieval fantasy television show (though not quite as long as the book series it’s based on). Another key difference, this Thrones is actually just one dude: Seattle’s Joe Preston, the metal-grinding doom bassist/Moog-enthusiast who’s spent time on tastemaker labels Kill Rock Stars and Southern Lord, and played alongside Earth, the Melvins, and High on Fire. If Preston were to play his own Thrones game, it would likely involve some sort of underground “chew up this sheet metal and spit it out stylishly” auditory sensation contest. Coda: I was advised against relating Thrones in any way to Games of Thrones, but it has now just happened, so do with that what you will. (Emily Savage)

With Helms Alee, Grayceon

9:30pm, $10

Hemlock Tavern

1131 Polk, SF

(415) 923-0923

www.hemlocktavern.com

 

 

GWAR

You know a band is worth seeing when the singer has a seven-syllable name for his prosthetic penis. The “Cuttlefish of Cthulu” has flopped mightily at the forefront of GWAR shows for over 20 years, and the Richmond, Va. outfit shows no signs of slowing down. The tunes are still mostly straightforward, forgettable headbanger fuel, but the elaborate costumes and stage show change every tour — half the fun is discovering which foam-rubber politician effigy GWAR is going to disembowel next. My money’s on Rick Santorum this time around. (Ben Richardson)

With Municipal Waste, Ghoul, Legacy of Disorder

8pm, $25

Regency Ballroom

1300 Van Ness, SF

(415) 673-5716

www.theregencyballroom.com

 

MONDAY 9

Jeff Mangum

How much do we owe the Elephant Six Recording Company collective for our current slate of folk and indie rock? Two decades after a group of four friends launched their own record label in Denver, Elephant Six bands and spin-off projects (The Apples in Stereo and of Montreal among them) are still pushing critically acclaimed music. Core member Jeff Mangum remains among the collective’s most followed musicians, even though his Neutral Milk Hotel released the last of its two LPs fifteen years ago. The everlasting appeal of On Avery Island and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea may stem from a refreshing rawness devoid of glossy production. In these two shows before Coachella, Mangum’s acoustic performances highlight his signature sweet serenade. (Lee)

With Laura Carter and Andrew Rieger of Elf Power and Scott Spillane of the Gerbils

Mon/9-Tue/10, 8pm, $36

Fox Theater

1807 Telegraph, Oakl.

(510) 548-3010

www.thefoxoakland.com 

 

The Guardian listings deadline is two weeks prior to our Wednesday publication date. To submit an item for consideration, please include the title of the event, a brief description of the event, date and time, venue name, street address (listing cross streets only isn’t sufficient), city, telephone number readers can call for more information, telephone number for media, and admission costs. Send information to Listings, the Guardian Building, 135 Mississippi St., SF, CA 94107; fax to (415) 487-2506; or e-mail (paste press release into e-mail body — no text attachments, please) to listings@sfbg.com. Digital photos may be submitted in jpeg format; the image must be at least 240 dpi and four inches by six inches in size. We regret we cannot accept listings over the phone.

Party Radar: Double Duchess will release you

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Dazzling local Hi-NRG electro-hop sissy bounce-y duo Double Duchess graced our Club Action cover in February and has been slaying parties for the past year. Now we finally get an official EP release, Extravaganza, and of course what promises to be a totally insane event at Rickshaw Stop on Sat/31.     

This one will bring together most of the city’s most colorful nightlife characters — its presented by the infamous Peaches Christ, and includes music by Hard French and Stay Gold DJs (also Bunnystyle and davO) and appearances by Some Thing queens VivvyAnne ForeverMore and Glamamore. Double Duchess nuts!  

 

 

 

 

Rep Clock

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Schedules are for Wed/14-Tues/20 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double features are marked with a •. All times p.m. unless otherwise specified.

ARTISTS’ TELEVISION ACCESS 992 Valencia, SF; www.atasite.org. $6-10. SF Cinematheque presents: When It Was Blue (Reeves, 2012), Fri, 7:30. “Other Cinema:” Rick Prelinger’s Learning With the Lights Off: Educational Film in the United States book release, Sat, 8:30. “Small Press Traffic: Myles, Contrad, and Buuck,” Sun, 5. Colectivo Cinema Errante presents: “Brazilian Voices of Cinema:” Madame Satã (Aïnouz, 2002), Sun, 8.

BALBOA 3630 Balboa, SF; (415) 221-8184; www.cinemasf.com/balboa. $7.50-10. “Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood: A Festival of Bengali Movies from Tollywood,” Fri-Sun and Tues. Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance (Hercules, 2012), Mon, 7. With filmmaker Bob Hercules and Joffrey alumni in person.

BERKELEY FELLOWSHIP OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS 1924 Cedar, Berk; www.bfuu.org. $5-10. Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up? (Landau, 2010), Thurs, 7. A Darker Shade of Green, Fri, 7.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $7.50-10. San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, Wed. For tickets and program info, visit www.caamedia.org. •A Dangerous Method (Cronenberg, 2011), Thurs, 3:15, 7, and Carnage (Polanski, 2011), Thurs, 5:10, 8:55. •Possession (Zulawski, 1981), Fri, 7, and The Tenant (Polanski, 1976), Fri, 9:20. Peaches Christ presents: “Pam Grier Is Live and In-Person!”: Jackie Brown (Tarantino, 1997), Sat, 3:20; Coffy (Hill, 1973) Sat, 8. Gala show with Grier in person before Coffy screening; for tickets ($10-55) and more info, visit www.peacheschrist.com. The Descendants (Payne, 2011), 2:30, 5:15, 8. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Alfredson, 2011), Tues, 2:30, 5:15, 8.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.75-10.25. Chico and Rita (Trueba, 2010), call for dates and times. Crazy Horse (Wiseman, 2011), call for dates and times. “2012 Oscar Nominated Short Films,” narrative and documentary (separate admission), call for dates and times. Boy (Waititi, 2010), March 16-22, call for times. “Science On Screen:” “Our Robots Ourselves:” I’m Here (Jonze, 2010), Sun, 7. With a presentation by Ken Goldberg, UC Berkeley Professor of Robotics.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. “Film 50: History of Cinema, Film, and the Other Arts:” Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958), Wed, 3:10. With lecture by Marilyn Fabe. San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, Wed-Sat. For tickets and program info, visit www.caamedia.org. “The Library Lover: The Films of Raúl Ruiz:” Time Regained (1999), Sun, 6. “Howard Hawks: The Measure of Man:” Red River (1948), Tues, 7.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-10. Lou Harrison: A World of Music (Sotes, 2012), Wed-Thurs, 7, 8:50. Pariah (Rees, 2011), Wed-Thurs, 8:45. Straight Outta Hunters Point 2 (Epps, 2012), Wed-Thurs, 7. “Washed to Sea,” short film and dance performance, Thurs, 10. This event, $1-3. Fake It So Real (Greene, 2012), March 16-22, 6:15, 8 (also Sat-Sun, 2:45, 4:30). The FP (Trost and Trost, 2012), March 16-23, 10.

“SAN FRANCISCO DANCE FILM FESTIVAL” Various venues, SF; www.sfdancefilmfest.org. $10-100. Feature-length documentaries and shor dance films from around the globe, Thurs-Sun.

SF FILM SOCIETY CINEMA 1746 Post, SF. $10-11. Kill List (Wheatley, 211), March 16-22, 2:30, 5, 7, 9 (Sun/18 and Tues/20, shows at 2:30 only). The Island President (Shenk, 2011), Tues, 7.

SF PUBLIC LIBRARY Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin, SF; www.sfpl.org. Free. “Bay Area Community Cinema Series:” Revenge of the Electric Car (Paine, 2011), Tues, 5:45.

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org. $6-8. “Human Rights Watch Film Festival:” Impunity (Lozano and Morris, 2010), Thurs, 7:30.

Pamalot

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cheryl@sfbg.com

FILM Say the name “Pam Grier” and certain things come to mind: the iconic poster for her 1973 breakout, Coffy, about a nurse turned vigilante (“the baddest one-chick hit squad that ever hit town!”); or her cool-as-ice, career-reviving turn in 1997’s Jackie Brown.

What you don’t think of, probably, is blaxploitation’s most gorgeous badass puttering around on a Colorado farm. Make no mistake, Grier is a badass (onscreen and off), but this was the first thing she said, over the phone, after a breathless greeting: “I was just stacking some hay!” With that image lodged in my brain, I chatted with Grier about her upcoming event in San Francisco with Peaches Christ.

SFBG The Castro is screening films that span your career: Coffy and Jackie Brown. Did you realize, at the time, that Coffy would have such an impact?

Pam Grier I knew that Coffy was representing the women’s liberation movement. But it was also representing my mother — as we were all trying to survive the Jim Crow era, she was the nurse in our community — and my grandfather, who was the first feminist in my life. He required the girls to learn as much as the boys, and to be self-sufficient. He said, “Men will respect you when you can do something.” And I brought that to film. It was about literally giving women across the world a voice. I didn’t invent it — I just happened to be the one who could show it onscreen. I think women [realized] “Yes! We’ve always had that freedom. Why haven’t we utilized it?” It was a real revolutionary movement.

SFBG What was it like working with director Jack Hill?

PG He was great. He and Roger [Corman] were very much into authenticity, and they wanted their actors to be as raw as possible. It was great that they didn’t want to overly polish me and cover me in blue eyeshadow.

SFBG You first encountered Jackie Brown director Quentin Tarantino when he was casting 1994’s Pulp Fiction. What was that initial meeting like?

PG I walked into his office and all of my posters were on his wall. Very impressive. I said, “Did you put them up because I was coming?” He said, “No, I was gonna take them down, so I didn’t seem like a stalker!” He is so enamored with film — how could you not respect someone with such a great appreciation of cinema and art?

I remember I was watching Reservoir Dogs in New York City, and the characters talked about “Pam Grier, that badass chick.” My friends around me started screaming and pointing at me! I said, “He gave me an homage! Amazing!” You never know when you’ll impress other people by just being yourself.

SFBG Aside from being a film star — with roles in multiple upcoming films, including the RZA’s directorial debut, The Man With the Iron Fists — you are also a huge film fan as well.

PG I love the cinema, and I have respect for all films whether I like them or not. I love good storytelling. [My career is] always an adventure. It’s always interesting. I’m never bored! *

“PAM GRIER IS LIVE AND IN-PERSON!”

Sat/17, 8 p.m., $10-$55

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

www.peacheschrist.com

The Shining Holiday Spectacular

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HEEEEEEEEEERE’S CHRISTMAS!

The Shining Holiday Spectacular is an insane Christmas extravaganza full of holiday madness and mayhem hosted by Peaches Christ and stars the fabulous Midnight Mass Players.
 
The historic Castro Theatre is proud to host Peaches’ screening of The Shining – especially the Torrance Family Christmas Review hosted by Jack, Wendy, and Danny Torrance, starring Peaches Christ and the Midnight Mass Players with special performances by The Twins, Lady in a Bathtub, and more!
 
Watch as the Castro Theatre is transformed into the Overlook Hotel and visit the Haunted Ballroom Bar in the mezzanine or order cocktails from a dead man. Dress up for the Crazy Christmas Costume Contest where your mentally ill wardrobe can win big prizes….and be ready to barely make it out alive.

For more information and to purchase tickets, fooooollow this link!

Saturday, December 17at 8pm @ Castro Theater, 429 Castro, SF

Rep Clock

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Schedules are for Wed/14-Tues/20 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double and triple features are marked with a •. All times p.m. unless otherwise specified.

ARTISTS’ TELEVISION ACCESS 992 Valencia, SF; www.atasite.org. $6. “Other Cinema:” “New Experimental Works,” Sat, 8:30.

BALBOA 3630 Balboa, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $17.50-20. “Opera and Ballet at the Balboa Theatre:” Tosca, performed by the Royal Opera House, Wed, 7:30; The Nutcracker, performed by the Royal Ballet and the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Sat-Sun, 10am.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $7.50-10. “Noir City Xmas:” Lady on a Train (David, 1945), Wed, 7:30; Christmas Holiday (Siodmak, 1944), Wed, 9:20. •The Soft Skin (Truffaut, 1964), Thurs, 2, 7, and Shoot the Piano Player (Truffaut, 1960), Thurs, 5:15, 9:15. The Birds (Hitchcock, 1963), Fri, 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30. “Heeeere’s Christmas!”: The Shining (Kubrick, 1980), presented as part of “The Torrance Family Christmas Revue,” hosted by Peaches Christ, Sat, 8. This event, $25-45; more info at www.peacheschrist.com. “Santa’s Cool Holiday Film Festival:” Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Webster, 1964), plus vintage Christmas cartoons, and more, Sun, 1:30.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.75-10.25. The Artist (Hazanavicius, 2011), Wed-Thurs, call for times. Golf in the Kingdom (Streitfeld, 2010), Wed-Thurs, call for times. The Nutcracker, performed by the Royal Ballet and the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Sun, 1:30; Tues, 7.

ELECTRIC WORKS 230 Eighth St, SF; www.sfelectricoworks.com. “Imagine That,” animation screening curated by Sarah Klein for kids and adults, Sat, 6.

EXPLORATORIUM McBean Theater, 3601 Lyon, SF; www.exploratorium.edu. Free with admission ($10-15). A Child’s Christmas in Wales (Lightner, 1963), Sat, 2.

HOUSE OF AIR 926 Mason, SF; www.houseofair.com. $8. One for the Road, Fri, 8.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. Theater closed through Jan 11.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-10. “Southern (Dis)Comfort: The American South in Cinema:” Wild River (Kazan, 1960), Wed, 6:15; Spring Night, Summer Night (Anderson, 1968), Wed, 8:30; The Beguiled (Siegel, 1971), Fri, 7; Shy People (Konchalovsky, 1987), Fri, 9:15. Golf in the Kingdom (Streitfeld, 2011), Wed-Thurs, call for times. Footprints (Peros, 2011), Dec 16-22, 7, 8:45 (also Sat/17-Sun/18, 3, 4:45). Paul McCartney: The Love We Make (Maysles and Kaplan, 2011), Dec 16-22, 7, 9 (also Sat/17-Sun/18, 3:15, 5).

SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin, SF; www.sfpl.org. Free. “Bay Area Community Cinema Series:” Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai (Merton and Dater), Wed, 5:45.

SFFS | NEW PEOPLE CINEMA 1746 Post, SF; www.sffs.org. $10-11. The Bride Wore Black (Truffaut, 1968), Fri and Dec 18-22, 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30.

VORTEX ROOM 1082 Howard, SF; www.myspace.com/thevortexroom. “Left Out of Radical Light: (A So-Called/Supposed Survey of) Alternative Film and Video in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-2000,” Fri, 8.

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org. $6-10. “From Muppets to Metal: Music Movies:” Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Henson, 1977), Thurs, 7:30; Sun, 2; John Zorn: A Film in 15 Scenes (Klahr, Gobolux, Hills, and Izzo, 2011), Sat, 7:30.

Our Weekly Picks: November 16-22

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WEDNESDAY 16

Kiran Ahluwalia

Tuareg rock band Tinariwen continues to hit it out of the park this year, releasing a hypnotically raw new album, collaborating with TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe — and now working with Indo-Canadian singer Kiran Awluwali on her engrossing new disc Aam Zameen: Common Ground. Not that Awluwali needed the help, exactly: her enticing voice holds its own in both her own Punjabi-inflected compositions and the throaty tribal blues of the Sahara. She has also seamlessly incorporated Celtic fiddling, Persian gazals, Portuguese fado, Sufi qawwali, and Afghan rhubab into her previous releases — her eclecticism comes without preciousness. Emblematic is her version, with Tinariwen, of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s “Mustt Mustt”: “a song from the South Asian Islamic tradition performed with Muslims from Mali, Tinariwen.” And a gorgeous Canadian! (Marke B.)

8 p.m., $20

Yoshi’s Oakland

510 Embarcadero West, Oakl.

www.yoshis.com


ChameleonsVox

Unlike some other bands that emerged out of Manchester, England in the 1980s (Joy Division, The Fall), The Chameleons have remained relatively obscure. Formed in 1981, the band’s exotic strain of post-punk was perfected on its breathtaking debut, Script of the Bridge (1983). Script was an atmospheric album that featured some of the most interesting guitar work of the post-punk era thanks to Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding. “Second Skin” and “View from a Hill” were two swirling, heavily delayed tracks that remain astonishing feats. Since the band separated in 2003, lead singer and bass player Mark Burgess has started ChamelonsVox, a run off band (and a blessing) that stays true to the original. (James H. Miller)

With Black Swan Lane, James Oakes

9 p.m., $20

Cafe Du Nord

2170 Market, SF

(415)861 5016

www.cafedunord.com

 

“Block by Block”

Forget hushed indoor voices and audio tours. At the de Young Museum this weekend, Campo Santo and Sean San José will activate the space with the work of artists including hip-hop theater collective Felonious, and writer Junot Díaz. The roving performance adventure composed of dance, mixed-media, live music-mixing, beatboxing, spoken word movement, and projected visuals by Favianna Rodriguez and Evan Bissell brings a San Francisco block party inside the museum. Drawing from recent short stories and other original writings rooted in the New Jersey Dominican family life of Junot Díaz, Block by Block: The Pura Principle is the third Camp Santo work created with the writer. (Julie Potter)

Through Sat/19, 8 p.m., $15–$30

de Young Museum

50 Hagiwara Tea Garden, SF

(415) 750-3600

www.deyoung.famsf.org

 

“Love Streams”

Yerba Buena screened John Cassavetes’s smoldering swan song four years ago, but it’s not likely you’ve seen it since. Love Streams remains unavailable on DVD, though it inspires strong allegiances: French impresario agnès b. named her production company after it, while Yerba Buena curator Joel Shepard simply calls it his favorite film. Cassavetes and his wife Gena Rowlands play brother and sister experiencing crises in different emotional registers. Their moment-by-moment performances earn every bit of wisdom and tenderness the hard way. (Max Goldberg)

7:30 p.m., $8

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

701 Mission, SF

(415) 978-2787

www.ybca.org


FRIDAY 18

International Motorcycle Show

Have you a loved one who insists on riding their motorcycle in ill-advised conditions? Through light rain showers, perhaps, or after a solid Whiskey Wednesday at Bender’s? Make light of their foolhardy shenanigans with a trip to the International Motorcycle Show, where the two of you will drool over custom choppers — built-in gaping maws, anyone? — but also the tally-ho swaggadacio of “Around the World Doug” Wothke, who has ridden a 1948 Indian Chief around the world, and a Harley Sportster for completely unrecommended distances (the width of continents). Clutch post-ride Wothke quote: “I’m wore out like a two dollar whore on nickel night!”(Caitlin Donohue)

Fri/18, 4-9 p.m.; Sat/19, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun/20, 9:30 a.m.- 5 p.m., $10 one day/$24 three day pass San Mateo County Event Center 2495 South Delaware, San Mateo (650) 638-0745 www.motorcycleshows.com

 

Trey McIntyre Project

In the ballet world, Trey McIntyre is something of a phenomenon: a popularizer of an art that in some people’s eyes is weighted down by the cobwebs of history. But for this choreographer of over 80 works, ballet is just a language that can be augmented with anything from hip-hop to salsa, gymnastics to modern dance. Out of this twenty-first century lingo McIntyre very skillfully fashions dances that communicate with an easy physicality; quite simply, it’s lots of fun to watch, even when they tackle serious subjects. TMP is bringing three works: the ebulliently theatrical “Gravity Heroes,” “The Sweeter End,” which is dedicated to the people of New Orleans, and “Dreams” — set to the music of and as a tribute to Roy Orbison. (Rita Felciano)

8 p.m. $30-$68

Cal Performances

Zellerbach Hall, Berk.

510-642-9988

www.calperformances.org

 

DJ Harvey and Mike Simonetti

Have you heard DJ Harvey before? He’s been around for more than two decades now, and released the LP Locussolus earlier this year, but his sound does have special requirements: “You can’t understand the blues until you’ve had your heart broken by a woman or whatever, and you can’t understand my music until you’ve had group sex on Ecstasy.” At least that’s what he told his 19-year-old son (and later a CMJ interviewer.) Well, a quasi-Luddite (spinning vinyl and sometimes analog tape edits) with tastes at the crossroads of disco, house, and punk, Harvey’s music is almost as provocative (and unsubtly sexual) as his bold statements. He’ll be joined by Mike Simonetti, the tastemaker behind Italians Do It Better, home of Glass Candy and Chromatics. (Ryan Prendiville)

With Eug (Face)

9:30 p.m., $10-15

Public Works

161 Erie, SF

(415) 932-0955

www.publicsf.com


SATURDAY 19

Lucinda Williams

Proving that some things only get better with time, Lucinda Williams’ intoxicating blend of introspective songwriting and impassioned performing skills makes her one of the best musical acts out there. The 50-something singer continues to weave her twangy, soulful voice with a background of country, rock, folk and blues on her latest album, this year’s Blessed (Lost Highway), featuring standout tracks “Copenhagen,” “Convince Me,” and “Seeing Black.” While her records are excellent, live on stage is really the place to hear Williams—her shows are pure musical marathons; somehow raucous, soothing, cathartic, and celebratory all at the same time. (Sean McCourt)

With Blake Mills (Sat.) and Buick 6 (Sun.)

Through Sun/20, 8 p.m., $40

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-6000

www.thefillmore.com

 

“Fall 2011 San Francisco Underground Short Film Festival”

Sometimes, a killer title is your best weapon. Peaches Christ’s alter ego, Joshua Grannell, knows this (see: 2010’s All About Evil). Together with partner-in-crime and fellow local weird-movie champion Sam Sharkey (he’s pals with Tommy Wiseau!), Peaches returns to the scene of Evil (the Victoria) to roll out the Fall 2011 San Francisco Underground Film Festival. The fest features 33 films from every genre imaginable crammed into two programs, including the later “After Dark” segment featuring my personal favorite killer title of the group: Wizard Heist, from filmmaker Max Sylvester. And Peaches wouldn’t steer you wrong: the nine-minute film, about a quartet of sorcerers reuniting for one last score, is all that and a 12-sided die. “I need to know: are you going to get back on that unicorn with us, or are you going to let your beard fall off?” (Cheryl Eddy)

7:30 and 10:30 p.m., $15 ($20 for both programs)

Victoria Theatre

2961 16th St., SF

store.peacheschrist.com

 

Kyuss

Back in its early 1990s heyday, Kyuss found success without the help of traditional venues. Instead, the band would rock the arid wilderness near its Palm Desert, Calif. home, turning on a gas-powered generator and playing its distinctive brand of swirling, down-tuned stoner rock until the juice ran out. Founding guitarist Josh Homme eventually departed to form Queens of the Stone Age, rubbishing talk of a reunion, but Kyuss has recently been resurrected without him. Rounded out by new guitarist Bruno Fevery, the four-piece embarked on a worldwide headlining tour, playing (mostly) indoor venues and delighting fans who thought their opportunity to see the influential band had gone for good. After languishing in stasis for more than a decade, Kyuss Lives! (Ben Richardson)

With the Sword, Black Cobra, Papa Wheelie

8 p.m., $30

Regency Ballroom

1300 Van Ness, SF

(415) 673-5716

www.theregencyballroom.com

 

Dirty Ghosts

Dirty Ghosts is a grimy quartet rising up from the gutters of San Francisco. Allyson Baker provides vocals, gnarly guitar riffs, and a bad attitude. Erin McDermott handles the bass, Jason Slota’s on drums and Nick Andre tackles the keyboard and sampler. Originally an in-apartment recording project, the band formerly included Carson Binks (who’s now in the Saviours) and Baker’s husband Aesop Rock, but when the Dirty Ghosts decided to get serious in 2010 and start playing live shows, Baker enlisted McDermott and Andre — Slota joined this year. A link to the band’s website recently popped up in my inbox with a direct warning — “They’re gonna be huge.” After listening to Dirty Ghosts’ single, “Shout It In,” I believe it. Heed the warning. Don’t sleep on this act. (Frances Capell)

With Dante Vs. Zombies and Phil Manley’s Life Coach

9 p.m., $8

El Rio

3158 Mission, SF

(415) 282-3325

www.elriosf.com


SUNDAY 20

Kimya Dawson

Kimya Dawson is much too candid of a songwriter to even think of separating her life as a new mother from her music. In 2008, the ex-Moldy Peach released an album of children’s songs, called Alphabutt. On her latest album, Thunder Thighs (released on her label, Great Crap Factory), Dawson returns in anti-folk mode to sing about the humbling experience of having a baby daughter, and looks back on her muddled past. “I walked with the sweats/I walked with the chills,” she sings on the 10 minute epic about recovering from addiction, “Walk Like Thunder.” Thunder Thighs even has some children’s songs, too. (Miller)

With Your Heart Breaks, Dave End

8 p.m., $15

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(415) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com


TUESDAY 22

Laura Johnston Kohl

In her self-published book Jonestown Survivor: An Insider’s Look, Laura Johnston Kohl documents how, in 1970, she became a follower of Jim Jones, leader of the religious cult the Peoples Temple split between San Francisco and the South American country of Guyana. Jones became infamous in ’78 when he ordered more than 900 of his Peoples Temple followers to commit suicide by ingesting cyanide-laced Kool Aid. Kohl was away from Jonestown when the suicide order came. She spent the next 20 years recovering from the deaths of her family and friends and her so-called survivors’ guilt. Now, Kohl is an avid public speaker willing to share her tragic, life-altering experience with the world. (Kevin Lee)

7 p.m., free

Books Inc.

601 Van Ness

(415)776-1111

www.jonestownsurvivor.com

Peel your eyes for the SF Underground Short Film Fest

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The ininimitable Peaches Christ has just released the teaser for her annual filmic funfest for those who take their movies wee, happening Nov. 19. Talking head in a toilet! Need we say more.

The Hangover: Oct.23-28

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Fever dreams and wardrobe malfunctions: all about Halloween Weekend 2011 (and it’s still not over!)

**It’s a little nerve-wracking going out in costume for a show when it’s not  quite yet Halloween. What if no one else dresses up and it’s a scene out of  Legally Blonde? Luckily the bands at Brick and Mortar (Zulus, Uzi Rash, Apache, Nobunny, Ty Segall)  were slated to perform costumed covers, so I figured it would be safe. (Plus, I  spent enough money making the damn thing to ensure I’d be living with my dad for an additional month — so I was gonna milk it.) Still, when I got inside the venue, I scouted to find some other outfits among black  clothes and leather. A guy was wearing a 1994 USA Olympic Dream Team  windbreaker (“Carl Mullen” he told me, pointing to one of the figures  with a basketball) and a still priced-tagged Batman cap, so I assume that he was the first of many Tyler the Creators, despite his refusal. Another guy was dressed as Middle Aged Business Man Who Has Too Much To Drink, Tries To Mosh Too Early, And Is Never Seen Again, but this was easily topped by the best costume of the night: Totally Trashed Crazy Girl (Ryan Prendiville)

**If you were in the back of the Prospector in Long Beach, Calif. on Saturday night, you likely saw my glowing light saber sharking through moshing bodies up front for the Shitfits, a Misfits cover band (actually, the members of now-defunct math rock act the Valley Arena) that comes together just once a year at this special time. The musicians, who are now spread out across the U.S. in San Francisco, New York City, and Long Beach, have been dressing up as the Shitfits for the past six or so Halloweens, though they claimed this perhaps could be their last. My saber disappeared sooner than I’d hoped, when an angry, long-haired, ratfink tried to start some shit in the pit. This is Halloween, man, we’re here to celebrate ghoulish punk, not incite brocious pummeling. No matter, the sweaty set tore it up, kicking off with “Where Eagles Dare” and ending bittersweetly with “Last Caress. (Emily Savage) 

** South by Southwest favorites White Denim helped draw a sizable crowd in support of Manchester Orchestra to the Regency Ballroom on the Friday before Halloween. The Austin, Texas locals did not, however, save for a few ripping solos and a lap around the stage that coincided with some lyrics about running (I think), perform memorably for the sparsely costumed audience. White Denim played jammy, hip indie rock with, albeit, some interesting twists and breakdowns, and certainly with no lack of musicianship, but the set failed to deliver any standout moments. Instead, it seemed to fade into a background noise of other, similar bands with able musicians at the helm playing decent rock’n’roll to the Coachella generation. (Cooper Berkmoyer)

**There were art shags aplenty (and some lovely folks haven’t shown their faces on the nightlife scene in a while) at the tongue-through-cheek orgiastic spectacle that was Thursday’s “Ann Magnuson plays David Bowie and Jobriath, or, the Rock Star as Witch Doctor, Myth Maker, and Ritual Sacrifice” at the SF MoMA’s Halloween installment of its nighttime Now Playing series. While the live show featuring the beloved New York performance artist and Bongwater singer — backed by a fantastic four-piece live band — wasn’t quite as long as its title, it did covera whole lot of ground. Practically David Bowie’s entire career catalog got a glance, refracted through a bloody Mayan-type ritual enactment, with piñata even. But that was just the first bit. Jobriath, revered gay glam rock cult star who burnt out early and later died of AIDS, was resurrected and his tunes reverently trotted out by the always mesmerizing Ann. But in the end it was Beelzebub, the half-naked gogo “acolyte” dancing onstage throughout the entire show, who won. Imagine a wide-eyed Eyeore on ecstacy and you’re halfway there. (Marke B.)

**Santa Cruz did what it does best this weekend: dress up like crazies. Also: Peewee Herman! And motorcycle riders. And a Goldigger (why is that still a costume?). They had to, so that the surfers could be distracted from the fact that the Santa Cruz Coldwater Classic hit a weekend of sub-par waves in front of the town’s lighthouse. Not disappointing at all: the grin on eventual winner, Brazilian Miguel Pupo. Or the fish taco truck. No lines! (Caitlin Donohue)

**The season was in full effect Friday night at Kimo’s, with three costumed bands and quite a few creatively-attired audience members, including a dead-on Jack White. (It seemed all of Polk Street was in the Halloween spirit, for that matter, though the girls dressed as “slutty Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” really should’ve known better.) Anyway, rockers Heavy Action — with ghostly back-up dancer — took the stage first with a raft of 70s covers (including “Boris the Spider,” complete with a prop spider), followed by punk-band-with-songs-about-Van-Damme-movies Dalton (all members were dressed as Wayne’s World characters). Headliners Street Justice moonlighted as “Sesame Street Justice” for the night. Turns out that in addition to teaching children about friendship, Bert and Ernie are also capable of throwing down big time. Who knew?(Cheryl Eddy)

**Trannyshack Halloween: A Party was OK on Saturday. Most of the drag numbers were recycled and a little tired, although a neatly choreographed dance number by several of our finest Asian zombie queens, the Rice Rockettes, to “Heads Will Roll” was cuuute. Hostesses Peaches Christ and Heklina seemed to be in a bad mood — and when secret guest costume contest judge Tommy Lee failed to show up, their wrath exploded. Playing his apology voicemail over the PA (he claimed he had “a show tomorrow so really need my rest … rock on, ladies!”) they could barely conceal their disappointment. And usually ace retro DJ Omar seemed a bit on autopilot — although Oingo Boingo’s “Dead Man’s Party” sounds great right now, and Mary J. Blige’s first album is really making a comeback through a wide variety of DJs. Some of the costumes were dope and we still danced to the wee hours. (Marke B.)

 

Boo ya!

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culture@sfbg.com

Hell’s bells, our very own high unholy day approaches — and the fact that Halloween’s on a Monday this year means an entire weekend of insane. Oh, why not just make it a whole week. Surely you have a week’s worth of slutty Rick Perry toupee costumes in your closet? Tape ’em on crooked and check out some of the eee-vil events below, from fiendishly family friendly to naughtily “adult.”

WEDNESDAY 26

“Death in Parallel” fundraiser and preview Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission, SF. (415)821-1155, www.missionculturalcenter.org. 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m., $50. Get your dead on a little early at this sneak preview of the epicenter of SF’s Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Dream Queens Revue: Halloween Spooktacular Show Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.dreamqueensrevue.com. 9:45 p.m., free. The dreamy weekly drag show goes ghoulish with SF’s sole goth queen, Sophilya Leggz.

THURSDAY 27

“Ann Magnuson plays David Bowie and Jobriath, or, the Rock Star as Witch Doctor, Myth Maker, and Ritual Sacrifice San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., SF. (415) 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org. 6 p.m.-9:45 p.m., free with museum admission. Fierce hero of the 1980s New York performance underground (and familiar face as sitcom television sidekick-boss-neighbor), Magnuson returns to her fabulous roots in this piece that include incorporate “dreams, Jung, human sacrifice, Aztec shamanism, and all things dark, bloody, and beautiful.” And it’s a costume party! In the SF MoMA! Creativity abounds.

“Halloween! The Ballad of Michele Myers” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF. www.counterpulse.org. 8 p.m., also Fri/28-Sun/30, $20. Gear up for a drag-studded slasher musical taking cues from “Heathers” and “The Facts of Life,” starring the perfectly horrific Raya Light. She’s a-scary!

Naked Girls Reading: Neil Gaiman Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission, SF. www.sexandculture.org. 8 p.m., $15. Costumes and masks are encouraged at this semi-participatory, all-but-traditional reading of Sandman creator Gaiman’s darker work.

TheaterPop SF: SuperNatural, Red Poppy Arthouse, 2698 Folsom, SF. www.redpoppyarthouse.org. 7 p.m., $10. Local performers skip the tacky underchin flashlights and dry ice for carefully composed, intricate explorations of the macabre.

“Unmasked! The 2011 GLBT Historical Society Gala” Green Room, San Francisco War Memorial, 401 Van Ness, SF. www.unmaskedgala.org. 6 p.m.-9 p..m., $60/$100. A star-studded affair featuring fabulous (of course) entertainment, yummy food, and some of the most revered names in the queer community, including Phyllis Lyon, Jose Sarria, and Armistead Maupin.

Zombie Nightlife with Peaches Christ California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park, SF. www.calacademy.org. 6 p.m.-10 p.m., $12. The undead are by no means unfashionable — get a zombie makeover, dance with similarly festering folks, sample the latest zombie video games, and listen to a presentation by the Zombie Research Society at the ever-popular, always good-looking weekly Nightlife event at the Cal Academy of Sciences. With Peaches Christ as hostess, it’s a zombie no-brainer.

FRIDAY 28

The Big Nasty: 10th Anniversary Party with Too $hort Mezzanine, 444 Jesse, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com. 8 p.m., $30. A $1000 best costume prize is sure to put the kibosh on those perennially popular nurse get-ups. As if legendary Bay legend Boo $hort, er, Too $hort weren’t enough of an incentive to ditch tired costumes and go as your favorite classic rapper.

Haunted Hoedown, Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. www.bottomofthehill.com, 9 p.m., $10. Rin Tin Tiger and Please Do Not Fight headline the second annual hoedown at this live rock showcase; expect a barn-burner.

Jason Webley’s Halloween Spectacular Slim’s, 333 11th St., SF. www.slims-sf.com. 9 p.m., $14. After once faking his own death at a Halloween show and then disappearing for six months, accordionist Webley’s full-band show this year promises excitement, to say the least.

Night of the Living Shred Club Six, 66 Sixth St., SF. www.clubsix1.com. 9 p.m.-4a.m., $10. This hip-hop and electro throwdown is one where we’ll let the WTF press release speak for itself: “four rooms, five bands, five of the Bay’s best DJs including The Whooligan and Richie Panic, a Paradise Wheels half-pipe and best skate trick contest” — all catered by Mission Chinese Food and Bar Crudo and hosted by two of our favorite people ever, Kelly Kate Warren and Parker Day.

“Rhythm of the 90s” Ultimate Halloween Party Café Cocomo, 650 Indiana, SF. www.fivestarunited.com. 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $45. Break out the Clueless costume and the ketchup bottle; Café Cocomo’s massive dance floor has plenty of room to turn back the clock. Macarena, anyone?

Salem 103 Harriet, SF. www.1015.com, 10 p.m., free. The biggest and scariest name in the witch house dance music movement swoops in from Michigan for a free show, with Tearist, Pfang, Gummybear, Dials and Whitch providing gallows support.

Scaregrove, Stern Grove, 2750 19th Ave., SF. www.sfrecpark.org. 4 p.m.-9 p.m., $8. ‘Tis the season for bouncy castles — bring the kids out for hayrides, carnival activities, a haunted house, and (fingers crossed) funnel cake at the park.

Speakeasy’s Monsters of Rock Halloween Festival Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, 1195 Evans, SF. www.goodbeer.com. 4 p.m.-9 p.m., free. Parties centered upon the theme of good beer never really get old — especially when there are food trucks, live music, and heady costumes.

Sugar Skull Decorating Workshop Autumn Express, 2071 Mission, SF. www.autumnexpress.com. 5 p.m.–6 p.m., $20. Sugar skulls are provided (so you can keep licking away at last year’s) at artist Michele Simon’s decorative exploration of the Dia de los Muertos tradition.

Third Annual Zombie Prom Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa, SF. www.zombiepromsf.com. 9 p.m., $20. Costume contest, coffin photo booth, live music, and a scary thought: the dancers on the floor tonight may have been doing that move for hundreds of years. Hey, our prom was kind of like night of the living dead, too.

SATURDAY 29

BiBi SF: Queer Middle East Masquerade 4 Shine, 1337 Mission, SF. www.bibisf.org, 9 p.m., $10. The charitable and extremely sultry BiBi SF throws a great party that combines Arabic, Persian, Pan-African, and Latin sounds with hip-shaking belly dancers, lovely drag performances, and an unbelievably hot crowd. All are welcome to this fourth installment of marvelous masquerading.

Club 1994 Halloween Special Vessel, 85 Campton Pl., SF. www.vesselsf.com. 9 p.m.-3 a.m., $18.50 advance.  Sexy electro glamour throwdown for Halloween, anyone? The gorgeous crew behind Blow Up is resurrecting its super-popular, Nintendo-rrific tribute to the pop sounds of the early ’90s (oh yes boy bands and TERL classics!) for a Halloween dress ’em up. With Stretch Armstrong, Jeffrey Paradise, and Vin Sol. The awesome Ava Berlin hosts.  

Circus Center’s Haunted House Circus Center, 755 Frederick, SF. www.circuscenter.org. Tours from 6-7 p.m., show at 7:30. Putting your body in the hands of a practicing student is sometimes not the best idea (see: haircuts, dental exams), but the Circus Center’s students have thrown together an extensive haunted house sure to turn your stomach in only the best way.

Dark Room does Halloween Hot Spot, 1414 Market, SF. 10 p.m., $5. “It’s like Debbie Does Dallas for freaks!” Quoth the undead hosts of this cute monthly queer goth and industrial party at a the little-known but awesome Hot Spot club on Market. Throw on your sheet and twirl. 

Ghost Ship IV: The Afterlife Treasure Island. www.spacecowboys.org. 9 p.m.-4 a.m., $50 tickets (extremely limited) on site. A massive, Halloween-themed arm of Burning Man, Ghost Ship mashes together DJs, art cars, food trucks, a stroboscopic zoetrope, and thousands of people.

GO BOO! Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.decosf.com, 9 p.m.-late, $5. If you want to experience some really sexy underground disco energy with a fantastically diverse crowd, the monthly Go Bang! Party is one of your best bets — this Halloween edition brings in DJ Glenn Rivera and Mattski to join residents Sergio and Steve Fabus of the storied Trocadero Disco. Pop on a costume and hustle on down.

Halloween Freakout with Planet Booty Café du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. www.planetbooty.org. 9 p.m., $12. It’s hard to imagine a more extreme Planet Booty, but this would be the night for it: swap your standard neon unitard for a black velvet version.

Halloween Masquerade with Zach Deputy The Independent, 628 Divisidero, SF. www.theindependentsf.com. 8:30 p.m., $20. Deputy’s “gospel-ninja-soul” provides the soundtrack to an unorthodox masquerade, followed by a free (with ticketstub) Boom Boom Room afterparty.

Halloween 2011: A Red Carpet Runway Massacre Jones, 620 Jones, SF., www.juanitamore.com. 9 p.m., $35. “I prefer the glamour to the gore on Halloween,” quoth ever-poised (even while double-fisting shots) drag ruler Juanita More. Join her at recently opened rooftop bar Jones for dancing and fashionable fun with Djs Delachaux and Sparber, club Some Things hilarious Project Runtover amateur design contest, treats from farm:table and Gimme Shoes, and More, More, More.

“Hallowscreen” cartoon screening Walt Disney Family Museum, 104 Montgomery, Presidio, SF. www.waltdisney.org 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m. Also Sun/30, Mon/31. $7 adults, $5 children. Catch “Hell’s Bells” and other early, strange Disney shorts that show Walt’s more uncanny side. If you haven’t been to the excellent museum yet, here’s a great occasion.

Horror Costume Party, SUB-Mission, 2183 Mission, SF. www.sf-submission.com. 9 p.m., $4 in costume. Get your gore on with Meat Hook and the Vital Organs; after an earsplitting set, zombiewalk down the street for a taco at Cancun.

Foreverland Halloween Ball Bimbos 365 Club, 1025 Columbus, SF. www.bimbos365club.com. 9 p.m., $22. The Thriller dance is only the beginning at this costume-intensive, 14-piece tribute to M.J. himself.

Jack O’Lantern Jamboree Children’s Fairyland, Oakl. www.fairyland.org. 10 a.m. — 5 p.m., also Sun/30. $10. From juggling and puppets to rides and parades, Oakland’s Fairyland puts on a gentle All Hallow’s weekend.

Lights Down Low Halloween SOM Bar, 2925 16th St., SF. www.som-bar.com. 9:30 p.m., $10 advance. One of the city’s finest, wildest parties brings in bass music star Pearson Sound a.k.a. Ramadanman with DJ Christian Martin, Manaré, Sleazemore, and Eli Glad.

Mansion Madness: Official Playboy Halloween 2011 Mist Ultra Club, 316 11th St., SF. 9 p.m., $40-$80 Find your haunted honey bunny among the bodacious playmate hostesses at this hoppin’ Slayboy event.

Monster Bash on the U.S.S. Hornet 707 W. Hornet, Pier 3, Alameda. www.uss-hornet.org. 7:30 p.m., $25. What better place to celebrate spooks than among the 300 ghosts haunting the crannies of Alameda’s ancient aircraft carrier?

Spooktacular Japantown Halloween Party and Trick-or-Treat Japantown Peace Plaza, Post at Buchanan, SF. www.sfjapantown.org. 12 p.m.–4 p.m., free. Uni-nigiri and candy corn: the perfect combination. Trick-or-treat in the light of day through the Japan Center Malls.

32nd Annual Spiral Dance, Kezar Pavilion, 755 Stanyan, SF. www.reclaimingspiraldance.org. 7:30 p.m., $10–$20 (sliding scale). The witches of San Francisco gather for a huge participatory dance honoring those who have passed.’

Trannyshack Presents: Halloween: A Party DNA Lounge, 375 11th, SF. www.dnalounge.com. 11 p.m., $25. Anything but the traditional drag, the 5th incarnation of Peaches Christ and Heklina’s annual costumed throwdown features a fantastically horrific secret (and “big!”) guest judge. Oh, and the usual genius-creative bevy of outré drag performers, including Fauxnique, Becky Motorlodge, Toxic Waist, and Exhibit Q.

Wild Side West Costume Contest and Party Wild Side West, 424 Cortland, SF. 8 p.m., free. Try not to get your t.p. body cast caught on a shrub in the Bernal hotspot’s beer garden.

Wicked Gay! Halloween Bash Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF. www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. The happily hectic Mission dyke bar holds a costume party and contest with live beats.

SUNDAY 30

All Hallow’s Eve DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.dnalounge.com. 9 p.m.-afterhours, $13, 18+. Great goth and industrial music parties Meat and Death Guild form an unholy alliance with the gorily titillating Hubba Hubba revue burlesque dancers for what’s sure to be a night to dismember. DJs Decay, devon, Joe Radio, Netik, and more tear you apart on the dance floor

Ceremony Halloween Tea, City Nights, 715 Harrison, SF. www.industrysf.com. 5 p.m.-midnight, $40. The name sounds genteel; the shirtless gay dancing to Freemasons and others will likely be raucous.

Fruitvale Dia de los Muertos Festival Fruitvale Village, Oakl. www.unitycouncil.org. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free. Oakland’s Day of the Dead festival, falling a bit before SF’s, features dancers, gloriously fragrant food, huge crowds, and, of course, compelling tributes to loved ones who have passed.

Halloween Family Dance Class, ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell, SF. www.odcdance.org. 1 p.m-2 p.m., $5/person, $20/family. Britt Van Hees allows kids and folks who’ve already mastered the Sprinkler to add the Thriller dance to their repertoire.

The Holy Crow Holy Cow, 1535 Folsom, SF., www.honeysoundsystem.com. 8 p.m.-2 a.m., $5. Quaffingly queer electronic music collective Honey Soundsystem throw one of the best weekly parties in the city — the Halloween edition of Honey Sunday should be a total scream, queen. 

Midnight Monster Mayhem, Rockit Room, 406 Clement, SF. www.rock-it-room.com. 9 p.m., $10 before 11 p.m. The live hip-hop dance party (costumed, of course) may well be the perfect nightcap to pumpkin pork stew at nearby Burma Superstar.

PETNATION 5 Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com. 9 p.m., $5 before 10 p.m., $10 after. Dance to Fido’s memory — Public Works honors deceased pets with soul-shaking beats, a DDLM art exhibit and a commemorative altar (plus, proceeds go to OccupySF).

MONDAY 31

Classical at the Freight Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison, Berk. www.freightandsalvage.org. 6:30 p.m., $10.50 for adults, under 12 free. The Bellavente Wind Quintet breathes chilling strains to a kid’s costume parade and candy-filled celebration.

Halloween at El Rio El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. www.elriosf.com. 8 p.m., $7. Two Ohioans under the stage name “Mr. Gnome” take over the inclusive, ever-popular dive for Halloween.

Teatro ZinZombie, Teatro ZinZanni, Pier 29, SF. www.love.zinzanni.org. 6 p.m.-11 p.m., tickets start at $117. Tonight might be the one to finally catch SF’s cabaret mainstay, which for a few precious hours transforms into a zombie-laden spectacle.

Viennetta Discotheque: Halloween! UndergroundSF, 424 Haight, SF. 10 p.m., free. One of SF’s cutest underground queer Monday weekly parties will claws you to reel in horror at the frightful fantasticity of its drag denizens. Your body hits the floor with DJ Stanley Frank, Alexis Blair Penny, and Jason Kendig on the decks.

 

Events Listings: Halloween edition

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culture@sfbg.com

Hell’s bells, our very own high unholy day approaches — and the fact that Halloween’s on a Monday this year means an entire weekend of insane. Oh, why not just make it a whole week. Surely you have a week’s worth of slutty Rick Perry toupee costumes in your closet? Tape ’em on crooked and check out some of the eee-vil events below, from fiendishly family friendly to naughtily “adult.”

WEDNESDAY 26

“Death in Parallel” fundraiser and preview Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission, SF. (415)821-1155, www.missionculturalcenter.org. 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m., $50. Get your dead on a little early at this sneak preview of the epicenter of SF’s Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Dream Queens Revue: Halloween Spooktacular Show Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.dreamqueensrevue.com. 9:45 p.m., free. The dreamy weekly drag show goes ghoulish with SF’s sole goth queen, Sophilya Leggz.

THURSDAY 27

“Ann Magnuson plays David Bowie and Jobriath, or, the Rock Star as Witch Doctor, Myth Maker, and Ritual Sacrifice” San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., SF. (415) 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org. 6 p.m.-9:45 p.m., free with museum admission. Fierce hero of the 1980s New York performance underground (and familiar face as sitcom television sidekick-boss-neighbor), Magnuson returns to her fabulous roots in this piece that include incorporate “dreams, Jung, human sacrifice, Aztec shamanism, and all things dark, bloody, and beautiful.” And it’s a costume party! In the SF MoMA! Creativity abounds.

“Halloween! The Ballad of Michele Myers” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF. www.counterpulse.org. 8 p.m., also Fri/28-Sun/30, $20. Gear up for a drag-studded slasher musical taking cues from “Heathers” and “The Facts of Life,” starring the perfectly horrific Raya Light. She’s a-scary!

Naked Girls Reading: Neil Gaiman Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission, SF. www.sexandculture.org. 8 p.m., $15. Costumes and masks are encouraged at this semi-participatory, all-but-traditional reading of Sandman creator Gaiman’s darker work.

TheaterPop SF: SuperNatural, Red Poppy Arthouse, 2698 Folsom, SF. www.redpoppyarthouse.org. 7 p.m., $10. Local performers skip the tacky underchin flashlights and dry ice for carefully composed, intricate explorations of the macabre.

Zombie Nightlife with Peaches Christ California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park, SF. www.calacademy.org. 6 p.m.-10 p.m., $12. The undead are by no means unfashionable — get a zombie makeover, dance with similarly festering folks, sample the latest zombie video games, and listen to a presentation by the Zombie Research Society at the ever-popular, always good-looking weekly Nightlife event at the Cal Academy of Sciences. With Peaches Christ as hostess, it’s a zombie no-brainer.

FRIDAY 28

The Big Nasty: 10th Anniversary Party with Too $hort Mezzanine, 444 Jesse, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com. 8 p.m., $30. A $1000 best costume prize is sure to put the kibosh on those perennially popular nurse get-ups. As if legendary Bay legend Boo $hort, er, Too $hort weren’t enough of an incentive to ditch tired costumes and go as your favorite classic rapper.

Haunted Hoedown, Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. www.bottomofthehill.com, 9 p.m., $10. Rin Tin Tiger and Please Do Not Fight headline the second annual hoedown at this live rock showcase; expect a barn-burner.

Jason Webley’s Halloween Spectacular Slim’s, 333 11th St., SF. www.slims-sf.com. 9 p.m., $14. After once faking his own death at a Halloween show and then disappearing for six months, accordionist Webley’s full-band show this year promises excitement, to say the least.

Night of the Living Shred Club Six, 66 Sixth St., SF. www.clubsix1.com. 9 p.m.-4a.m., $10. This hip-hop and electro throwdown is one where we’ll let the WTF press release speak for itself: “four rooms, five bands, five of the Bay’s best DJs including The Whooligan and Richie Panic, a Paradise Wheels half-pipe and best skate trick contest” — all catered by Mission Chinese Food and Bar Crudo and hosted by two of our favorite people ever, Kelly Kate Warren and Parker Day.

“Rhythm of the 90s” Ultimate Halloween Party Café Cocomo, 650 Indiana, SF. www.fivestarunited.com. 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $45. Break out the Clueless costume and the ketchup bottle; Café Cocomo’s massive dance floor has plenty of room to turn back the clock. Macarena, anyone?

Salem 103 Harriet, SF. www.1015.com, 10 p.m., free. The biggest and scariest name in the witch house dance music movement swoops in from Michigan for a free show, with Tearist, Pfang, Gummybear, Dials and Whitch providing gallows support.

Scaregrove, Stern Grove, 2750 19th Ave., SF. www.sfrecpark.org. 4 p.m.-9 p.m., $8. ‘Tis the season for bouncy castles — bring the kids out for hayrides, carnival activities, a haunted house, and (fingers crossed) funnel cake at the park.

Speakeasy’s Monsters of Rock Halloween Festival Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, 1195 Evans, SF. www.goodbeer.com. 4 p.m.-9 p.m., free. Parties centered upon the theme of good beer never really get old — especially when there are food trucks, live music, and heady costumes.

Sugar Skull Decorating Workshop Autumn Express, 2071 Mission, SF. www.autumnexpress.com. 5 p.m.–6 p.m., $20. Sugar skulls are provided (so you can keep licking away at last year’s) at artist Michele Simon’s decorative exploration of the Dia de los Muertos tradition.

Third Annual Zombie Prom Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa, SF. www.zombiepromsf.com. 9 p.m., $20. Costume contest, coffin photo booth, live music, and a scary thought: the dancers on the floor tonight may have been doing that move for hundreds of years. Hey, our prom was kind of like night of the living dead, too.

SATURDAY 29

BiBi SF: Queer Middle East Masquerade 4 Shine, 1337 Mission, SF. www.bibisf.org, 9 p.m., $10. The charitable and extremely sultry BiBi SF throws a great party that combines Arabic, Persian, Pan-African, and Latin sounds with hip-shaking belly dancers, lovely drag performances, and an unbelievably hot crowd. All are welcome to this fourth installment of marvelous masquerading.

Circus Center’s Haunted House Circus Center, 755 Frederick, SF. www.circuscenter.org. Tours from 6-7 p.m., show at 7:30. Putting your body in the hands of a practicing student is sometimes not the best idea (see: haircuts, dental exams), but the Circus Center’s students have thrown together an extensive haunted house sure to turn your stomach in only the best way.

Ghost Ship IV: The Afterlife Treasure Island. www.spacecowboys.org. 9 p.m.-4 a.m., $50 tickets (extremely limited) on site. A massive, Halloween-themed arm of Burning Man, Ghost Ship mashes together DJs, art cars, food trucks, a stroboscopic zoetrope, and thousands of people.

GO BOO! Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.decosf.com, 9 p.m.-late, $5. If you want to experience some really sexy underground disco energy with a fantastically diverse crowd, the monthly Go Bang! Party is one of your best bets — this Halloween edition brings in DJ Glenn Rivera and Mattski to join residents Sergio and Steve Fabus of the storied Trocadero Disco. Pop on a costume and hustle on down.

Halloween Freakout with Planet Booty Café du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. www.planetbooty.org. 9 p.m., $12. It’s hard to imagine a more extreme Planet Booty, but this would be the night for it: swap your standard neon unitard for a black velvet version.

Halloween Masquerade with Zach Deputy The Independent, 628 Divisidero, SF. www.theindependentsf.com. 8:30 p.m., $20. Deputy’s “gospel-ninja-soul” provides the soundtrack to an unorthodox masquerade, followed by a free (with ticketstub) Boom Boom Room afterparty.

Halloween 2011: A Red Carpet Runway Massacre Jones, 620 Jones, SF., www.juanitamore.com. 9 p.m., $35. “I prefer the glamour to the gore on Halloween,” quoth ever-poised (even while double-fisting shots) drag ruler Juanita More. Join her at recently opened rooftop bar Jones for dancing and fashionable fun with Djs Delachaux and Sparber, club Some Things hilarious Project Runtover amateur design contest, treats from farm:table and Gimme Shoes, and More, More, More.

“Hallowscreen” cartoon screening Walt Disney Family Museum, 104 Montgomery, Presidio, SF. www.waltdisney.org 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m. Also Sun/30, Mon/31. $7 adults, $5 children. Catch “Hell’s Bells” and other early, strange Disney shorts that show Walt’s more uncanny side. If you haven’t been to the excellent museum yet, here’s a great occasion.

Horror Costume Party, SUB-Mission, 2183 Mission, SF. www.sf-submission.com. 9 p.m., $4 in costume. Get your gore on with Meat Hook and the Vital Organs; after an earsplitting set, zombiewalk down the street for a taco at Cancun.

Foreverland Halloween Ball Bimbos 365 Club, 1025 Columbus, SF. www.bimbos365club.com. 9 p.m., $22. The Thriller dance is only the beginning at this costume-intensive, 14-piece tribute to M.J. himself.

Jack O’Lantern Jamboree Children’s Fairyland, Oakl. www.fairyland.org. 10 a.m. — 5 p.m., also Sun/30. $10. From juggling and puppets to rides and parades, Oakland’s Fairyland puts on a gentle All Hallow’s weekend.

Lights Down Low Halloween SOM Bar, 2925 16th St., SF. www.som-bar.com. 9:30 p.m., $10 advance. One of the city’s finest, wildest parties brings in bass music star Pearson Sound a.k.a. Ramadanman with DJ Christian Martin, Manaré, Sleazemore, and Eli Glad.

Monster Bash on the U.S.S. Hornet 707 W. Hornet, Pier 3, Alameda. www.uss-hornet.org. 7:30 p.m., $25. What better place to celebrate spooks than among the 300 ghosts haunting the crannies of Alameda’s ancient aircraft carrier?

Spooktacular Japantown Halloween Party and Trick-or-Treat Japantown Peace Plaza, Post at Buchanan, SF. www.sfjapantown.org. 12 p.m.–4 p.m., free. Uni-nigiri and candy corn: the perfect combination. Trick-or-treat in the light of day through the Japan Center Malls.

32nd Annual Spiral Dance, Kezar Pavilion, 755 Stanyan, SF. www.reclaimingspiraldance.org. 7:30 p.m., $10–$20 (sliding scale). The witches of San Francisco gather for a huge participatory dance honoring those who have passed.’

Trannyshack Presents: Halloween: A Party DNA Lounge, 375 11th, SF. www.dnalounge.com. 11 p.m., $25. Anything but the traditional drag, the 5th incarnation of Peaches Christ and Heklina’s annual costumed throwdown features a fantastically horrific secret (and “big!”) guest judge. Oh, and the usual genius-creative bevy of outré drag performers, including Fauxnique, Becky Motorlodge, Toxic Waist, and Exhibit Q.

Wild Side West Costume Contest and Party Wild Side West, 424 Cortland, SF. 8 p.m., free. Try not to get your t.p. body cast caught on a shrub in the Bernal hotspot’s beer garden.

Wicked Gay! Halloween Bash Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF. www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. The happily hectic Mission dyke bar holds a costume party and contest with live beats.

SUNDAY 30

Ceremony Halloween Tea, City Nights, 715 Harrison, SF. www.industrysf.com. 5 p.m.-midnight, $40. The name sounds genteel; the dancing to Freemasons and others will likely be raucous.

Fruitvale Dia de los Muertos Festival Fruitvale Village, Oakl. www.unitycouncil.org. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free. Oakland’s Day of the Dead festival, falling a bit before SF’s, features dancers, gloriously fragrant food, huge crowds, and, of course, compelling tributes to loved ones who have passed.

Halloween Family Dance Class, ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell, SF. www.odcdance.org. 1 p.m-2 p.m., $5/person, $20/family. Britt Van Hees allows kids and folks who’ve already mastered the Sprinkler to add the Thriller dance to their repertoire.

Midnight Monster Mayhem, Rockit Room, 406 Clement, SF. www.rock-it-room.com. 9 p.m., $10 before 11 p.m. The live hip-hop dance party (costumed, of course) may well be the perfect nightcap to pumpkin pork stew at nearby Burma Superstar.

PETNATION 5 Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com. 9 p.m., $5 before 10 p.m., $10 after. Dance to Fido’s memory — Public Works honors deceased pets with soul-shaking beats, a DDLM art exhibit and a commemorative altar (plus, proceeds go to OccupySF).

MONDAY 31

Classical at the Freight Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison, Berk. www.freightandsalvage.org. 6:30 p.m., $10.50 for adults, under 12 free. The Bellavente Wind Quintet breathes chilling strains to a kid’s costume parade and candy-filled celebration.

Halloween at El Rio El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. www.elriosf.com. 8 p.m., $7. Two Ohioans under the stage name “Mr. Gnome” take over the inclusive, ever-popular dive for Halloween.

Teatro ZinZombie, Teatro ZinZanni, Pier 29, SF. www.love.zinzanni.org. 6 p.m.-11 p.m., tickets start at $117. Tonight might be the one to finally catch SF’s cabaret mainstay, which for a few precious hours transforms into a zombie-laden spectacle.

 

Events Listings: Halloween edition

0

culture@sfbg.com

Hell’s bells, our very own high unholy day approaches — and the fact that Halloween’s on a Monday this year means an entire weekend of insane. Oh, why not just make it a whole week. Surely you have a week’s worth of slutty Rick Perry toupee costumes in your closet? Tape ’em on crooked and check out some of the eee-vil events below, from fiendishly family friendly to naughtily “adult.” 

WEDNESDAY 26

“Death in Parallel” fundraiser and preview Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission, SF. (415)821-1155, www.missionculturalcenter.org. 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m., $50. Get your dead on a little early at this sneak preview of the epicenter of SF’s Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Dream Queens Revue: Halloween Spooktacular Show Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.dreamqueensrevue.com. 9:45 p.m., free. The dreamy weekly drag show goes ghoulish with SF’s sole goth queen, Sophilya Leggz.

THURSDAY 27

“Ann Magnuson plays David Bowie and Jobriath, or, the Rock Star as Witch Doctor, Myth Maker, and Ritual Sacrifice San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., SF. (415) 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org. 6 p.m.-9:45 p.m., free with museum admission. Fierce hero of the 1980s New York performance underground (and familiar face as sitcom television sidekick-boss-neighbor), Magnuson returns to her fabulous roots in this piece that include incorporate “dreams, Jung, human sacrifice, Aztec shamanism, and all things dark, bloody, and beautiful.” And it’s a costume party! In the SF MoMA! Creativity abounds.

“Halloween! The Ballad of Michele Myers” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF. www.counterpulse.org. 8 p.m., also Fri/28-Sun/30, $20. Gear up for a drag-studded slasher musical taking cues from “Heathers” and “The Facts of Life,” starring the perfectly horrific Raya Light. She’s a-scary!

Naked Girls Reading: Neil Gaiman Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission, SF. www.sexandculture.org. 8 p.m., $15. Costumes and masks are encouraged at this semi-participatory, all-but-traditional reading of Sandman creator Gaiman’s darker work.

TheaterPop SF: SuperNatural, Red Poppy Arthouse, 2698 Folsom, SF. www.redpoppyarthouse.org. 7 p.m., $10. Local performers skip the tacky underchin flashlights and dry ice for carefully composed, intricate explorations of the macabre.

Zombie Nightlife with Peaches Christ California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park, SF. www.calacademy.org. 6 p.m.-10 p.m., $12. The undead are by no means unfashionable — get a zombie makeover, dance with similarly festering folks, sample the latest zombie video games, and listen to a presentation by the Zombie Research Society at the ever-popular, always good-looking weekly Nightlife event at the Cal Academy of Sciences. With Peaches Christ as hostess, it’s a zombie no-brainer.

FRIDAY 28

The Big Nasty: 10th Anniversary Party with Too $hort Mezzanine, 444 Jesse, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com. 8 p.m., $30. A $1000 best costume prize is sure to put the kibosh on those perennially popular nurse get-ups. As if legendary Bay legend Boo $hort, er, Too $hort weren’t enough of an incentive to ditch tired costumes and go as your favorite classic rapper.

Haunted Hoedown, Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. www.bottomofthehill.com, 9 p.m., $10. Rin Tin Tiger and Please Do Not Fight headline the second annual hoedown at this live rock showcase; expect a barn-burner.

Jason Webley’s Halloween Spectacular Slim’s, 333 11th St., SF. www.slims-sf.com. 9 p.m., $14. After once faking his own death at a Halloween show and then disappearing for six months, accordionist Webley’s full-band show this year promises excitement, to say the least.

Night of the Living Shred Club Six, 66 Sixth St., SF. www.clubsix1.com. 9 p.m.-4a.m., $10. This hip-hop and electro throwdown is one where we’ll let the WTF press release speak for itself: “four rooms, five bands, five of the Bay’s best DJs including The Whooligan and Richie Panic, a Paradise Wheels half-pipe and best skate trick contest” — all catered by Mission Chinese Food and Bar Crudo and hosted by two of our favorite people ever, Kelly Kate Warren and Parker Day.

“Rhythm of the 90s” Ultimate Halloween Party Café Cocomo, 650 Indiana, SF. www.fivestarunited.com. 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $45. Break out the Clueless costume and the ketchup bottle; Café Cocomo’s massive dance floor has plenty of room to turn back the clock. Macarena, anyone?

Salem 103 Harriet, SF. www.1015.com, 10 p.m., free. The biggest and scariest name in the witch house dance music movement swoops in from Michigan for a free show, with Tearist, Pfang, Gummybear, Dials and Whitch providing gallows support.

Scaregrove, Stern Grove, 2750 19th Ave., SF. www.sfrecpark.org. 4 p.m.-9 p.m., $8. ‘Tis the season for bouncy castles — bring the kids out for hayrides, carnival activities, a haunted house, and (fingers crossed) funnel cake at the park.

Speakeasy’s Monsters of Rock Halloween Festival Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, 1195 Evans, SF. www.goodbeer.com. 4 p.m.-9 p.m., free. Parties centered upon the theme of good beer never really get old — especially when there are food trucks, live music, and heady costumes.

Sugar Skull Decorating Workshop Autumn Express, 2071 Mission, SF. www.autumnexpress.com. 5 p.m.–6 p.m., $20. Sugar skulls are provided (so you can keep licking away at last year’s) at artist Michele Simon’s decorative exploration of the Dia de los Muertos tradition.

Third Annual Zombie Prom Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa, SF. www.zombiepromsf.com. 9 p.m., $20. Costume contest, coffin photo booth, live music, and a scary thought: the dancers on the floor tonight may have been doing that move for hundreds of years. Hey, our prom was kind of like night of the living dead, too.

SATURDAY 29

BiBi SF: Queer Middle East Masquerade 4 Shine, 1337 Mission, SF. www.bibisf.org, 9 p.m., $10. The charitable and extremely sultry BiBi SF throws a great party that combines Arabic, Persian, Pan-African, and Latin sounds with hip-shaking belly dancers, lovely drag performances, and an unbelievably hot crowd. All are welcome to this fourth installment of marvelous masquerading.

Circus Center’s Haunted House Circus Center, 755 Frederick, SF. www.circuscenter.org. Tours from 6-7 p.m., show at 7:30. Putting your body in the hands of a practicing student is sometimes not the best idea (see: haircuts, dental exams), but the Circus Center’s students have thrown together an extensive haunted house sure to turn your stomach in only the best way.

Ghost Ship IV: The Afterlife Treasure Island. www.spacecowboys.org. 9 p.m.-4 a.m., $50 tickets (extremely limited) on site. A massive, Halloween-themed arm of Burning Man, Ghost Ship mashes together DJs, art cars, food trucks, a stroboscopic zoetrope, and thousands of people.

GO BOO! Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.decosf.com, 9 p.m.-late, $5. If you want to experience some really sexy underground disco energy with a fantastically diverse crowd, the monthly Go Bang! Party is one of your best bets — this Halloween edition brings in DJ Glenn Rivera and Mattski to join residents Sergio and Steve Fabus of the storied Trocadero Disco. Pop on a costume and hustle on down.

Halloween Freakout with Planet Booty Café du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. www.planetbooty.org. 9 p.m., $12. It’s hard to imagine a more extreme Planet Booty, but this would be the night for it: swap your standard neon unitard for a black velvet version.

Halloween Masquerade with Zach Deputy The Independent, 628 Divisidero, SF. www.theindependentsf.com. 8:30 p.m., $20. Deputy’s “gospel-ninja-soul” provides the soundtrack to an unorthodox masquerade, followed by a free (with ticketstub) Boom Boom Room afterparty.

Halloween 2011: A Red Carpet Runway Massacre Jones, 620 Jones, SF., www.juanitamore.com. 9 p.m., $35. “I prefer the glamour to the gore on Halloween,” quoth ever-poised (even while double-fisting shots) drag ruler Juanita More. Join her at recently opened rooftop bar Jones for dancing and fashionable fun with Djs Delachaux and Sparber, club Some Things hilarious Project Runtover amateur design contest, treats from farm:table and Gimme Shoes, and More, More, More.

“Hallowscreen” cartoon screening Walt Disney Family Museum, 104 Montgomery, Presidio, SF. www.waltdisney.org 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m. Also Sun/30, Mon/31. $7 adults, $5 children. Catch “Hell’s Bells” and other early, strange Disney shorts that show Walt’s more uncanny side. If you haven’t been to the excellent museum yet, here’s a great occasion.

Horror Costume Party, SUB-Mission, 2183 Mission, SF. www.sf-submission.com. 9 p.m., $4 in costume. Get your gore on with Meat Hook and the Vital Organs; after an earsplitting set, zombiewalk down the street for a taco at Cancun.

Foreverland Halloween Ball Bimbos 365 Club, 1025 Columbus, SF. www.bimbos365club.com. 9 p.m., $22. The Thriller dance is only the beginning at this costume-intensive, 14-piece tribute to M.J. himself.

Jack O’Lantern Jamboree Children’s Fairyland, Oakl. www.fairyland.org. 10 a.m. — 5 p.m., also Sun/30. $10. From juggling and puppets to rides and parades, Oakland’s Fairyland puts on a gentle All Hallow’s weekend.

Lights Down Low Halloween SOM Bar, 2925 16th St., SF. www.som-bar.com. 9:30 p.m., $10 advance. One of the city’s finest, wildest parties brings in bass music star Pearson Sound a.k.a. Ramadanman with DJ Christian Martin, Manaré, Sleazemore, and Eli Glad.

Monster Bash on the U.S.S. Hornet 707 W. Hornet, Pier 3, Alameda. www.uss-hornet.org. 7:30 p.m., $25. What better place to celebrate spooks than among the 300 ghosts haunting the crannies of Alameda’s ancient aircraft carrier?

Spooktacular Japantown Halloween Party and Trick-or-Treat Japantown Peace Plaza, Post at Buchanan, SF. www.sfjapantown.org. 12 p.m.–4 p.m., free. Uni-nigiri and candy corn: the perfect combination. Trick-or-treat in the light of day through the Japan Center Malls.

32nd Annual Spiral Dance, Kezar Pavilion, 755 Stanyan, SF. www.reclaimingspiraldance.org. 7:30 p.m., $10–$20 (sliding scale). The witches of San Francisco gather for a huge participatory dance honoring those who have passed.’

Trannyshack Presents: Halloween: A Party DNA Lounge, 375 11th, SF. www.dnalounge.com. 11 p.m., $25. Anything but the traditional drag, the 5th incarnation of Peaches Christ and Heklina’s annual costumed throwdown features a fantastically horrific secret (and “big!”) guest judge. Oh, and the usual genius-creative bevy of outré drag performers, including Fauxnique, Becky Motorlodge, Toxic Waist, and Exhibit Q.

Wild Side West Costume Contest and Party Wild Side West, 424 Cortland, SF. 8 p.m., free. Try not to get your t.p. body cast caught on a shrub in the Bernal hotspot’s beer garden.

Wicked Gay! Halloween Bash Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF. www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. The happily hectic Mission dyke bar holds a costume party and contest with live beats.

SUNDAY 30

Ceremony Halloween Tea, City Nights, 715 Harrison, SF. www.industrysf.com. 5 p.m.-midnight, $40. The name sounds genteel; the dancing to Freemasons and others will likely be raucous.

Fruitvale Dia de los Muertos Festival Fruitvale Village, Oakl. www.unitycouncil.org. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free. Oakland’s Day of the Dead festival, falling a bit before SF’s, features dancers, gloriously fragrant food, huge crowds, and, of course, compelling tributes to loved ones who have passed.

Halloween Family Dance Class, ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell, SF. www.odcdance.org. 1 p.m-2 p.m., $5/person, $20/family. Britt Van Hees allows kids and folks who’ve already mastered the Sprinkler to add the Thriller dance to their repertoire.

Midnight Monster Mayhem, Rockit Room, 406 Clement, SF. www.rock-it-room.com. 9 p.m., $10 before 11 p.m. The live hip-hop dance party (costumed, of course) may well be the perfect nightcap to pumpkin pork stew at nearby Burma Superstar.

PETNATION 5 Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com. 9 p.m., $5 before 10 p.m., $10 after. Dance to Fido’s memory — Public Works honors deceased pets with soul-shaking beats, a DDLM art exhibit and a commemorative altar (plus, proceeds go to OccupySF).

MONDAY 31

Classical at the Freight Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison, Berk. www.freightandsalvage.org. 6:30 p.m., $10.50 for adults, under 12 free. The Bellavente Wind Quintet breathes chilling strains to a kid’s costume parade and candy-filled celebration.

Halloween at El Rio El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. www.elriosf.com. 8 p.m., $7. Two Ohioans under the stage name “Mr. Gnome” take over the inclusive, ever-popular dive for Halloween.

Teatro ZinZombie, Teatro ZinZanni, Pier 29, SF. www.love.zinzanni.org. 6 p.m.-11 p.m., tickets start at $117. Tonight might be the one to finally catch SF’s cabaret mainstay, which for a few precious hours transforms into a zombie-laden spectacle.

 

Events Listings: Halloween edition

0

culture@sfbg.com

Hell’s bells, our very own high unholy day approaches — and the fact that Halloween’s on a Monday this year means an entire weekend of insane. Oh, why not just make it a whole week. Surely you have a week’s worth of slutty Rick Perry toupee costumes in your closet? Tape ’em on crooked and check out some of the eee-vil events below, from fiendishly family friendly to naughtily “adult.” *

WEDNESDAY 26

“Death in Parallel” fundraiser and preview Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission, SF. (415)821-1155, www.missionculturalcenter.org. 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m., $50. Get your dead on a little early at this sneak preview of the epicenter of SF’s Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Dream Queens Revue: Halloween Spooktacular Show Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.dreamqueensrevue.com. 9:45 p.m., free. The dreamy weekly drag show goes ghoulish with SF’s sole goth queen, Sophilya Leggz.

THURSDAY 27

“Ann Magnuson plays David Bowie and Jobriath, or, the Rock Star as Witch Doctor, Myth Maker, and Ritual Sacrifice San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., SF. (415) 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org. 6 p.m.-9:45 p.m., free with museum admission. Fierce hero of the 1980s New York performance underground (and familiar face as sitcom television sidekick-boss-neighbor), Magnuson returns to her fabulous roots in this piece that include incorporate “dreams, Jung, human sacrifice, Aztec shamanism, and all things dark, bloody, and beautiful.” And it’s a costume party! In the SF MoMA! Creativity abounds.

“Halloween! The Ballad of Michele Myers” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF. www.counterpulse.org. 8 p.m., also Fri/28-Sun/30, $20. Gear up for a drag-studded slasher musical taking cues from “Heathers” and “The Facts of Life,” starring the perfectly horrific Raya Light. She’s a-scary!

Naked Girls Reading: Neil Gaiman Center for Sex and Culture, 1349 Mission, SF. www.sexandculture.org. 8 p.m., $15. Costumes and masks are encouraged at this semi-participatory, all-but-traditional reading of Sandman creator Gaiman’s darker work.

TheaterPop SF: SuperNatural, Red Poppy Arthouse, 2698 Folsom, SF. www.redpoppyarthouse.org. 7 p.m., $10. Local performers skip the tacky underchin flashlights and dry ice for carefully composed, intricate explorations of the macabre.

Zombie Nightlife with Peaches Christ California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park, SF. www.calacademy.org. 6 p.m.-10 p.m., $12. The undead are by no means unfashionable — get a zombie makeover, dance with similarly festering folks, sample the latest zombie video games, and listen to a presentation by the Zombie Research Society at the ever-popular, always good-looking weekly Nightlife event at the Cal Academy of Sciences. With Peaches Christ as hostess, it’s a zombie no-brainer.

FRIDAY 28

The Big Nasty: 10th Anniversary Party with Too $hort Mezzanine, 444 Jesse, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com. 8 p.m., $30. A $1000 best costume prize is sure to put the kibosh on those perennially popular nurse get-ups. As if legendary Bay legend Boo $hort, er, Too $hort weren’t enough of an incentive to ditch tired costumes and go as your favorite classic rapper.

Haunted Hoedown, Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., SF. www.bottomofthehill.com, 9 p.m., $10. Rin Tin Tiger and Please Do Not Fight headline the second annual hoedown at this live rock showcase; expect a barn-burner.

Jason Webley’s Halloween Spectacular Slim’s, 333 11th St., SF. www.slims-sf.com. 9 p.m., $14. After once faking his own death at a Halloween show and then disappearing for six months, accordionist Webley’s full-band show this year promises excitement, to say the least.

Night of the Living Shred Club Six, 66 Sixth St., SF. www.clubsix1.com. 9 p.m.-4a.m., $10. This hip-hop and electro throwdown is one where we’ll let the WTF press release speak for itself: “four rooms, five bands, five of the Bay’s best DJs including The Whooligan and Richie Panic, a Paradise Wheels half-pipe and best skate trick contest” — all catered by Mission Chinese Food and Bar Crudo and hosted by two of our favorite people ever, Kelly Kate Warren and Parker Day.

“Rhythm of the 90s” Ultimate Halloween Party Café Cocomo, 650 Indiana, SF. www.fivestarunited.com. 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $45. Break out the Clueless costume and the ketchup bottle; Café Cocomo’s massive dance floor has plenty of room to turn back the clock. Macarena, anyone?

Salem 103 Harriet, SF. www.1015.com, 10 p.m., free. The biggest and scariest name in the witch house dance music movement swoops in from Michigan for a free show, with Tearist, Pfang, Gummybear, Dials and Whitch providing gallows support.

Scaregrove, Stern Grove, 2750 19th Ave., SF. www.sfrecpark.org. 4 p.m.-9 p.m., $8. ‘Tis the season for bouncy castles — bring the kids out for hayrides, carnival activities, a haunted house, and (fingers crossed) funnel cake at the park.

Speakeasy’s Monsters of Rock Halloween Festival Speakeasy Ales and Lagers, 1195 Evans, SF. www.goodbeer.com. 4 p.m.-9 p.m., free. Parties centered upon the theme of good beer never really get old — especially when there are food trucks, live music, and heady costumes.

Sugar Skull Decorating Workshop Autumn Express, 2071 Mission, SF. www.autumnexpress.com. 5 p.m.–6 p.m., $20. Sugar skulls are provided (so you can keep licking away at last year’s) at artist Michele Simon’s decorative exploration of the Dia de los Muertos tradition.

Third Annual Zombie Prom Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa, SF. www.zombiepromsf.com. 9 p.m., $20. Costume contest, coffin photo booth, live music, and a scary thought: the dancers on the floor tonight may have been doing that move for hundreds of years. Hey, our prom was kind of like night of the living dead, too.

SATURDAY 29

BiBi SF: Queer Middle East Masquerade 4 Shine, 1337 Mission, SF. www.bibisf.org, 9 p.m., $10. The charitable and extremely sultry BiBi SF throws a great party that combines Arabic, Persian, Pan-African, and Latin sounds with hip-shaking belly dancers, lovely drag performances, and an unbelievably hot crowd. All are welcome to this fourth installment of marvelous masquerading.

Circus Center’s Haunted House Circus Center, 755 Frederick, SF. www.circuscenter.org. Tours from 6-7 p.m., show at 7:30. Putting your body in the hands of a practicing student is sometimes not the best idea (see: haircuts, dental exams), but the Circus Center’s students have thrown together an extensive haunted house sure to turn your stomach in only the best way.

Ghost Ship IV: The Afterlife Treasure Island. www.spacecowboys.org. 9 p.m.-4 a.m., $50 tickets (extremely limited) on site. A massive, Halloween-themed arm of Burning Man, Ghost Ship mashes together DJs, art cars, food trucks, a stroboscopic zoetrope, and thousands of people.

GO BOO! Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.decosf.com, 9 p.m.-late, $5. If you want to experience some really sexy underground disco energy with a fantastically diverse crowd, the monthly Go Bang! Party is one of your best bets — this Halloween edition brings in DJ Glenn Rivera and Mattski to join residents Sergio and Steve Fabus of the storied Trocadero Disco. Pop on a costume and hustle on down.

Halloween Freakout with Planet Booty Café du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. www.planetbooty.org. 9 p.m., $12. It’s hard to imagine a more extreme Planet Booty, but this would be the night for it: swap your standard neon unitard for a black velvet version.

Halloween Masquerade with Zach Deputy The Independent, 628 Divisidero, SF. www.theindependentsf.com. 8:30 p.m., $20. Deputy’s “gospel-ninja-soul” provides the soundtrack to an unorthodox masquerade, followed by a free (with ticketstub) Boom Boom Room afterparty.

Halloween 2011: A Red Carpet Runway Massacre Jones, 620 Jones, SF., www.juanitamore.com. 9 p.m., $35. “I prefer the glamour to the gore on Halloween,” quoth ever-poised (even while double-fisting shots) drag ruler Juanita More. Join her at recently opened rooftop bar Jones for dancing and fashionable fun with Djs Delachaux and Sparber, club Some Things hilarious Project Runtover amateur design contest, treats from farm:table and Gimme Shoes, and More, More, More.

“Hallowscreen” cartoon screening Walt Disney Family Museum, 104 Montgomery, Presidio, SF. www.waltdisney.org 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m. Also Sun/30, Mon/31. $7 adults, $5 children. Catch “Hell’s Bells” and other early, strange Disney shorts that show Walt’s more uncanny side. If you haven’t been to the excellent museum yet, here’s a great occasion.

Horror Costume Party, SUB-Mission, 2183 Mission, SF. www.sf-submission.com. 9 p.m., $4 in costume. Get your gore on with Meat Hook and the Vital Organs; after an earsplitting set, zombiewalk down the street for a taco at Cancun.

Foreverland Halloween Ball Bimbos 365 Club, 1025 Columbus, SF. www.bimbos365club.com. 9 p.m., $22. The Thriller dance is only the beginning at this costume-intensive, 14-piece tribute to M.J. himself.

Jack O’Lantern Jamboree Children’s Fairyland, Oakl. www.fairyland.org. 10 a.m. — 5 p.m., also Sun/30. $10. From juggling and puppets to rides and parades, Oakland’s Fairyland puts on a gentle All Hallow’s weekend.

Lights Down Low Halloween SOM Bar, 2925 16th St., SF. www.som-bar.com. 9:30 p.m., $10 advance. One of the city’s finest, wildest parties brings in bass music star Pearson Sound a.k.a. Ramadanman with DJ Christian Martin, Manaré, Sleazemore, and Eli Glad.

Monster Bash on the U.S.S. Hornet 707 W. Hornet, Pier 3, Alameda. www.uss-hornet.org. 7:30 p.m., $25. What better place to celebrate spooks than among the 300 ghosts haunting the crannies of Alameda’s ancient aircraft carrier?

Spooktacular Japantown Halloween Party and Trick-or-Treat Japantown Peace Plaza, Post at Buchanan, SF. www.sfjapantown.org. 12 p.m.–4 p.m., free. Uni-nigiri and candy corn: the perfect combination. Trick-or-treat in the light of day through the Japan Center Malls.

32nd Annual Spiral Dance, Kezar Pavilion, 755 Stanyan, SF. www.reclaimingspiraldance.org. 7:30 p.m., $10–$20 (sliding scale). The witches of San Francisco gather for a huge participatory dance honoring those who have passed.’

Trannyshack Presents: Halloween: A Party DNA Lounge, 375 11th, SF. www.dnalounge.com. 11 p.m., $25. Anything but the traditional drag, the 5th incarnation of Peaches Christ and Heklina’s annual costumed throwdown features a fantastically horrific secret (and “big!”) guest judge. Oh, and the usual genius-creative bevy of outré drag performers, including Fauxnique, Becky Motorlodge, Toxic Waist, and Exhibit Q.

Wild Side West Costume Contest and Party Wild Side West, 424 Cortland, SF. 8 p.m., free. Try not to get your t.p. body cast caught on a shrub in the Bernal hotspot’s beer garden.

Wicked Gay! Halloween Bash Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF. www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. The happily hectic Mission dyke bar holds a costume party and contest with live beats.

SUNDAY 30

Ceremony Halloween Tea, City Nights, 715 Harrison, SF. www.industrysf.com. 5 p.m.-midnight, $40. The name sounds genteel; the dancing to Freemasons and others will likely be raucous.

Fruitvale Dia de los Muertos Festival Fruitvale Village, Oakl. www.unitycouncil.org. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free. Oakland’s Day of the Dead festival, falling a bit before SF’s, features dancers, gloriously fragrant food, huge crowds, and, of course, compelling tributes to loved ones who have passed.

Halloween Family Dance Class, ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell, SF. www.odcdance.org. 1 p.m-2 p.m., $5/person, $20/family. Britt Van Hees allows kids and folks who’ve already mastered the Sprinkler to add the Thriller dance to their repertoire.

Midnight Monster Mayhem, Rockit Room, 406 Clement, SF. www.rock-it-room.com. 9 p.m., $10 before 11 p.m. The live hip-hop dance party (costumed, of course) may well be the perfect nightcap to pumpkin pork stew at nearby Burma Superstar.

PETNATION 5 Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com. 9 p.m., $5 before 10 p.m., $10 after. Dance to Fido’s memory — Public Works honors deceased pets with soul-shaking beats, a DDLM art exhibit and a commemorative altar (plus, proceeds go to OccupySF).

MONDAY 31

Classical at the Freight Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison, Berk. www.freightandsalvage.org. 6:30 p.m., $10.50 for adults, under 12 free. The Bellavente Wind Quintet breathes chilling strains to a kid’s costume parade and candy-filled celebration.

Halloween at El Rio El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. www.elriosf.com. 8 p.m., $7. Two Ohioans under the stage name “Mr. Gnome” take over the inclusive, ever-popular dive for Halloween.

Teatro ZinZombie, Teatro ZinZanni, Pier 29, SF. www.love.zinzanni.org. 6 p.m.-11 p.m., tickets start at $117. Tonight might be the one to finally catch SF’s cabaret mainstay, which for a few precious hours transforms into a zombie-laden spectacle.

 

Foreplay: Two pre-Folsom scenes

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As Folsom Street Fair (Sat/24) looms over us like a leather daddy with an itchy whip paw, the city readies itself for the roughest, naughiest, sweatiest weekend of the year. Yesterday, I ran all over the city checking in with the sex scene. I kept my clothes mostly on, but then it is only Thursday… 

Monarchy-Andrew Wedge fitting at Mr. S Leather

“This is Spartaaa!” I’m standing outside one of SoMa’s crucial leather one-stops with an old hand local kink photographer Rich Trove (check his site after the Fair for shots of your flings in the sunshine) and a fashion journalist from the Chronicle. Guess which one is trying to explain to the other what a traditional S&M harness looks like?

Our motley crew has been assembled by Folsom Street Fair’s executive director Demetri Moshoyannis to lurk around Mr. S‘s fitting room while British synthpoppers Monarchy was being fitted for their custommade Andrew Wedge harnesses. The band will be wearing them at their FSF performance on Sunday at 5:10 p.m. on the 12th Street stage. 

“We have no idea what we’re in for,” smiled a member of the band’s entourage. Of course, that wasn’t exactly true — keyboardist Andrew Armstrong attended the fair with a friend six years ago. 

“It kind of freaked me out in a good way,” said Armstrong, modeling the tight neoprene half-tank that Wedge (who vends high end fur and leather designs from places like the Castro’s Sui Generis) had fit over he and his bandmate’s white dress shirts and under the sharp black blazers they were sporting. 

“There’s something a bit religious about it,” he said of Wedge’s designs, which had been agreed upon after a series of emails between the two of them. “It’s futuristic, but masculine as well. Even though we’re basically wearing bra tops.”

“England is very prudish. Well, we take these things seriously, but we do it behind closed doors,” he continued. Again, I found it hard to take him at his word, seeing as the band supplied its own imposing, matching black latex masks for the occasion. They don’t go out in public without them, it turns out, a comment on the nature of celebrity. 

The crew and designer lined up for one last photo opportunity in front of Mr. S’s black leather and harness covered four post king-sized bed. “Not in front of the dildos!” cautioned Moshoyannis. “We want these to be pictures they can use.” Clearly he meant in the Chronicle. 

Side note: if you’re still checking for some sexy threads for this weekend, you could do worse than check out Mr. S’s new sports section. Complete with urinals on the walls and an impressive selection of wrestling singlets, I found myself especially turned on by the display of $12 Style Pig knee socks. I picked some up in red, or as the helpful sales assistant clarified, fisting.

 

Good Vibrations’ Indie Erotic Film Festival at the Castro Theatre

Best reason to finally buy an iPhone: the Ohmibod Freestyle G. I snagged the mp3 compatible vibrator (really, really feel the rhythmn on your favorite beats) at the IXFF’s pre-party upstairs at the Castro, where Jiz Lee, Carol Queen, Kitty Stryker, and other SF local lustfuls drank cocktails of St. George absinthe and rootbeer, slapped on costume mustaches and generally enjoyed the burlesque stylings of Twilight Vixen Revue. 

When the short erotic film competition began, it got surprisingly jocky. Lucia Aniello’s Dildo Sport, Kelly Robinson and Oscar Salisbury’s Fight, Flight, Or Fuck, and Rollo Wenlock’s computer-aged 30 Love all featured tennis, so I guess the New York Times article was onto something with that balls metaphor

“30 love” – short film. from Rollo Wenlock on Vimeo.

 

 

Not everything was heavy breathing-appropriate, either. SF’s own Levni Yilmaz entered one of his backlit Magic Marker-ed creations from his series “Tales of Mere Existence,” What Would Penis Do?, a look at his awkward childhood forays into sexual activity. There was the quirky bunnies and peanuts and women’s rooms in Always, Only, Ever — an entry from Barbara Benas of Brooklyn — not to mention an I-guess-hot tryst between a female American soldier and burkha-clad woman in a designer cave, Julien Rotterman’s Salam and Love

But some of it was. Erika Lust — who earlier this week had an IXFF evening dedicated to her erotic, high glamour European flicks — shared Love Hotel, a threesome flick that made a trip to Barcelona seem highly advisable. Sadly, as the evening’s hosts (Peaches Christ, Hugs Bunny, Lady Bear, and Dr. Carol Queen — when Carol Queen plays the evening’s straightman you know you’re in for it) pointed out, Lust edited out all signs of genitals. Sigh.

The evening’s winner, as determined by an overwhelming audience response at the end of the night, was La Putiza. Created by Mexican director Gerardo Delgado, the short flick combined erotic comic art, overblown superhero crusading, and joyful, copious amounts of gay sex. Sure, the aesthetic was refined and the lead actor was fuckable, but one suspects that the secret to Delgado’s success, entering into this most phallic of all SF weekends, went back to Peaches Christ’s gleeful promise at the start of the night’s program: 30-foot penises. For Good Vibes’ interview with the filmmaker, voyage here

Thanks Castro Theatre, hope we didn’t make too much of a mess. 

Our weekly picks: Aug. 31-Sept. 6

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WEDNESDAY 31

FILM

“Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema”

Don’t let all those school supplies in Walgreens fool you — summer in San Francisco is still going strong. Hope for one (or more!) of those rare fog-free nights during Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema, a showcase of over 70 shorts made by residents of the ‘hood and points beyond. Tonight’s way-out-east opening party previews the whole shebang with live music by Stoo Odom and the Odom Poles; other events include a block party on Tiffany Avenue (runs parallel to Mission; access it from 29th St.), a “film crawl” down Cortland Avenue (get drunk on HD videos!), a screening in Precita Park, and a finale party at El Rio. The kick-off has a suggested donation to benefit Bernal History Project, but the rest of the fest is free. (Cheryl Eddy)

6:30 p.m., suggested donation $15

Old Clam House

299 Bayshore, SF

(415) 641-0324

www.bhoutdoorcine.org

 

FILM

“Cary Grant: Definitive Star”

Cary Grant was the prototypical total-package leading man: suave and dapper, gruff yet dreamy, totally manly (could kick ass atop Mount Rushmore) yet sensitive (could sweep a starlet off her feet without rumpling his hairdo). George Clooney wishes he could measure up. Show your appreciation for one of cinema’s all-time greats — and hey, the films themselves are pretty special, too — during this weeklong appreciation of the Divine Mr. Grant. Selections hew toward his 1930s-40s output of rapid-fire Howard Hawks comedies (1938’s Bringing Up Baby, which screens in a brand-new 35mm print; 1940’s His Girl Friday), but his Hitchcock turns (including 1959’s North By Northwest and, drool, 1946’s Notorious) and 1940’s classic The Philadelphia Story are also represented. (Eddy)

Through Tues/6, $7.50–$10

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

(415) 621-6120

www.castrotheatre.com

 

THURSDAY 1

MUSIC

Uzi Rash

If your friendly neighborhood punk house grew arms and legs, developed vocal chords, and started a band, said band would probably sound a lot like Uzi Rash. A mad jangle, barely held together by grit and charm, Uzi Rash flourishes on the edge of collapse. No two songs sound the same, and band membership constantly mutates, but the appeal remains. Uzi Rash is Oakland’s answer to the Urinals, bolstered by the avant-garde weirdness of bands like Chrome or Pere Ubu, a combination that has earned a dedicated following in the bay and beyond. Lest you be surprised, an Uzi Rash show is hardly predictable; the energy is organic and the ride is free. Or six bucks. Or something like that. (Cooper Berkmoyer)

With King Lollipop, Buffalo Tooth, and Cool Ghouls

9 p.m., $6

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St., SF

(415) 252-1330

www.theeparkside.com

 

MUSIC

Peaches

What can you learn from the teaches of Peaches? That sex is good, all types of body hair should be adored not shorn, and if you don’t like her style, you can get the fuck out of the club. Berlin-based artist Peaches (not be confused with our own priestess, Peaches Christ) rose from the ranks during electroclash’s heyday in the early 2000s with a far more distinctive style than others that claimed the genre. She was fierce with taboo lyrics, confusing sexuality, and throbbing beats — and is still nails-tough with followup albums such as 2009’s I Feel Cream. And of that now-rubble of electrocrash, she proudly still remains, standing atop it with arms akimbo, gleaming in shiny gold spandex hotpants, the gender-bending mistress of futuristic trash pop. (Emily Savage)

With Maluca

9 p.m., $20

Mezzanine

444 Jessie, SF

(415) 625-8880

www.mezzaninesf.com

 

FRIDAY 2

FILM

“Love Exposure”

Sion Sono, the groundbreaking, prolific, and perhaps mad writer/director/poet who notably brought the world Suicide Circle (2001) — a movie that after having watched twice I still can’t really tell you what it’s about — has once again dropped jaws across the globe with his most ambitious feature to date. Love Exposure is a nearly four-hour-long epic about a love smitten devoutly Catholic teenager named Yu Honda as he masters the art of upskirt photography, chases the object of his obsessive desire, and eludes a violent cultist. Released in Japan over three years ago to widespread acclaim, it has only recently made its way to our shores; Sept. 2 will be your first chance to catch this beast of a film in San Francisco but hopefully not your last. (Berkmoyer)

Fri/2 — 9/8

$10

Roxie Theater

3117 16th St., SF

(415) 863-1087

www.roxie.com

 

MUSIC

Chelsea Wolfe

It’s been one full year since the beginning of based goth club night 120 minutes. As the club puts it: “a year of darkness and based goth… lasers and fog… thizzed out thugz in black throwin’ up occult signs and goth kids sippin’ sizzurp and screamin’ along to waka flocka flame.” To celebrate the anniversary of such mayhem, Los Angeles-based musician Chelsea Wolfe is coming in for a live set, arriving on the heels of her exquisitely haunting new release, Ἀποκάλυψις (pronounced “apokalypsis”). It touches both darkness and light, pain and ecstasy. From the opening beastly howl to the more subdued ethereal end, the album plays out like a black veil-laced journey on-foot through punishing natural elements. Which should fit nicely with the 120 Minutes crowd. (Savage)

120 Minutes anniversary

With DJ Todd Pendu, DJs Nako, and Whitch

10 p.m., $10

Elbo Room

647 Valencia, SF

(415) 552-7788.

www.elbo.com

 

SATURDAY 3

MUSIC

Dreamdate

What’s your dream date? Perhaps the night would start off with beers, then move on to pizza . . . then more beers? You and your date could take a stroll and talk about life. “You know what I hate?” . . . “Me too!” Maybe you would broach the subject of early-to-mid 90s indie pop. What d’ya know, you both like Cub and Go Sailor! The Popguns too! A match made in heaven. “Hey, have you heard of Dreamdate?” “Who?” “It’s new. It’s a three piece from the bay. It’s sweet and catchy without making you feel like you’re choking on a cube of sugar that’s boring its way into your brain.” “I hate that.” “Me too. But I love Dreamdate.” (Berkmoyer)

With Lilac, the Ian Fays and Wild Assumptions

6 p.m., $6

423 40th St., Oak.

(510) 985-0325

www.1234gorecords.com

 

DANCE

RawDance Concept Series 9 Why overpay for a 3D movie when you can get live action art with free popcorn to boot? Dance artists Wendy Rein and Ryan Smith of RawDance host Concept Series 9, an intimate salon featuring works-in-progress and dance repertory by Bay Area dance artists. In addition to pieces by RawDance, this installment includes a new solo by former Martha Graham Dance Company performer David Martinez who has crowdsourced content to fold into his choreography, the darkly humorous 13th Floor Dance Theater directed by Jenny McAllister, Tanya Bello’s project.b, Gretchen Garnett and Dancers and punkkiCo, led by Finnish import Raisa Punkki. (Julie Potter)

Sat/3, 8 p.m. and Sun/4, 3 and 8 p.m.9 p.m., $8

66 Sanchez, SF

(415) 686-0728

www.rawdance.org

 

MUSIC

RTX

With the demise of ’90s indie rock heavyweights Royal Trux in 2001, longtime creative partners Neil Hagerty and Jennifer Herrema parted ways with Hagerty founding Howling Hex and Herrema adopting the name RTX for her own project. Since then, RTX has released scores of records, solidifying Herrema’s reputation as a songwriter and badass of renown while reaching out to a legion of fans, young and old(er) alike, with a lurching amalgam of everything that rocks, from skate punk to old school psychedelia and everything in between; it’s a mystical trip in the desert with nothing but torn jeans, cowboy boots, and a stick-n-poke Camero on your bicep. It makes you want to drink whiskey and say “fuck.” I miss my long hair. (Berkmoyer)

With White Fence, Heavy Cream and Burnt Ones

9 p.m., $8

Thee Parkside

1600 17th St., SF

(415) 252-1330

www.theeparkside.com

 

SUNDAY 4

EVENT

Star Wars Day

Having won their first World Series title since moving to San Francisco last season, the Giants seemed, as Master Yoda would say, “at one with the Force.” In a fitting tribute to their victory, the team is hosting “Star Wars Day” at the ballpark, complete with a pre-game costume contest and party, a post-game screening of The Empire Strikes Back, and a special “Brian Wilson in Carbonite” giveaway. With his awesome, Jedi-like command of the ball when pitching, Wilson is a most appropriate pick — not to mention the fact that with his epic beard, he’s starting to look a little bit like Obi-Wan Kenobi! (Sean McCourt)

11 a.m.; Pricing varies; see website for current availability

AT&T Park

24 Willie Mays Plaza, SF

(415) 972-2000

www.sfgiants.com/specialevents

 

MUSIC

Twin Sister Twin Sister makes funky pink frosted cake-making, pinata-swinging, casual party music. Just check out the Brooklyn-via-Long Island band’s video for “Bad Street” off its forthcoming album In Heaven. Shot on location at breathy, sweet-voiced singer Andrea Estella’s family home, the video captures a pretty epic celebratory affair, replete with balloons and metallic streamers. Estrella’s family is made up of Salvadorians and Puerto Ricans, and she says the the video and the lyrics of the song are about Latin American life in New York. While other Twin Sister tunes expose a dreamy ’80s pop bent, this particular track sounds like a funked out ’70s block party. Just pray you get the invite.(Savage)

With Devon Williams, Library Voices

8 p.m., $12 Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(510) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com

 

TUESDAY 6

MUSIC

The Mummies

There will only be 40 tickets sold at the door to this notably awesome, already pre-sold out show at the Knockout — I mean, these are the godparents of San Francisco surf punk we’re talking about here. Beginning in 1988, the gauzy white-cloth-wrapped band mixed 1960s-style surf rock riffs with the more modern sounds of clattering garage punk. All the Mummies have since joined other acts, but the band still occasionally regroups for live SF shows. Of course, Russell Quan is most often seen these days behind the DJ booth at twist-crazy club night Teenage Dance Craze at the Knockout, so what better place to host the show? And it should be a good one. The flier teases “Wear white shoes for a special surprise treat. Things will get out of hand.” (Savage)

With the Hondettes, DJ Russell Quan

10 p.m., $15 Knockout

3223 Mission, SF

(415) 550-6994

www.theknockoutsf.com 

 

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