WEDNESDAY 23
Deleted Scenes
D.C.-based quartet Deleted Scenes’ third long-player, Lithium Burn, continues to complicate easy categorization of their accessible art rock, deploying everything from what sounds like a children’s choir on opener “Haircuts, Uniforms” to “Teenage Girls”‘ 70s Steve Miller-ish synth sounds in service of diverse, unpredictable yet hooky and emotionally direct new songs. There’s room for spacious ballad “Landfall,” very non-Debussy-like instrumental “Debussy” and raucous “Stutter” alike. The latter’s video has Dustin Diamond, Saved by the Bell‘s erstwhile Screech, as an actor highly harassed en route to an audition nobody wanted him at in the first place.) It’s a disc whose positive first impression you know will deepen with each listen. Mall Walk and Weatherbox open. (Dennis Harvey)
8:30 pm, $7
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
(415) 923-0923
THURSDAY 24
Tubesteak Connection 10th Anniversary
For the past decade, a glorious, gloryhole-ious little Thursday night party in the Tenderloin has been the soul of San Francisco. There, on Aunt Charlie’s Lounge’s carpeted dance floor, festooned with vintage homophilia memorabilia and twinkling holiday lights, you’ll be transported to the classic sounds of the gay disco underground. DJ Bus Station John’s priceless, rare record collection (most of it passed down through a generation of intense collectors) is your silver spandex spaceship — no “YMCA” or “Funkytown” here, just hot, steamy, impeccably produced tunes that will take you higher, higher, higher. Tubesteak Connection’s tribute to the ’70s gay bathhouse has become an international destination for DJs and party people, and it’s now the longest-running queer weekly in SF: This 10-year celebration is the perfect occasion to “make a new friend” and get down. (Marke B.)
10pm, “$5-10 sliding scale; partial proceeds to benefit
the San Francisco Night Ministry
Aunt Charlie’s Lounge
133 Turk, SF
Juana Molina
Wed 21, the latest from Argentinean artist Juana Molina, is the sort of beguiling record that might send you grasping for references, the more outré the better, until you end up with a list that includes Os Mutantes (rhythmically), Radiohead (technically) and Bjork (strangely?). That’s a list flattering in its members’ distinctiveness, but has really no center to hold, especially when Wed 21 is an album of persuasive dance beats, occasionally punctuated by eerie psych and weird folk elements. Perhaps the missing referent is Matias Aguayo, whose recent work has been equally focused on lyrical wordplay that loops and entrances (even if the meaning is utterly foreign).) (Ryan Prendiville)
With Emily Jane White
8pm, $15
The Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421
Contemporary Music Players: Sweet Thunder Festival
“The oldest new music ensemble in the West” has been on fire lately, producing some incredible, mindbending-yet-accessible events that include everything from hypnotic pieces for a dozen guitars to an entire score composed of nothing but musicians turning pages. Sweet Thunder is the name of its electrifying four-day “electroacoustical” festival, rumbling into Fort Mason this week. Legendary electronic composer Morton Subotnick, dashing quartet JACK, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and more will unleash works by Steve Reich, Kaija Saariaho, Edgard Varèse, Natacha Diels, Turgut Ercetin…Highlight: Fri/25, Subotnick will perform his seminal From Silver Apples of the Moon to a Sky of Cloudless Sulphur IV: Lucy, a work that’s inspired countless young electronic dreamers/composers. Ears will be opened, hip points will skyrocket. (Marke B.)
Through Apr. 27
$20 per performance ($10 student), $100 full pass ($40 student)
Various times
Fort Mason Center
2 Marina Blvd, SF
FRIDAY 25
Cashmere Cat
The first time I listened to a mix by meme-baiting/embracing Norwegian producer Cashmere Cat — the one with the Miguel “Do You…” trap-infused rework overlaid with “meow” sound effects — all I could think of was Audrey. Her owner had been in the habit of spending his downtime listening to R&B/soul records while smoking a Möbius bowl of pot. The long-haired tabby became so accustomed to the combination that one without the other put her at a loss. Just play a song, and she’d sit by your feet, plaintively mewing, with a needy, confused affection: Do you like hugs? Do you like love? Or do you like drugs? (Ryan Prendiville)
With Bleep Bloop, DJ Dials, DJ Balance, The Pirate, and more
10pm-2am, $20 presale
1015 Folsom
1015 Folsom, SF
Bay Area Dance Week
In spring, the Bay Area Dance Week returns as regularly as the tourists to Union Square. So it’s most appropriate that this free annual event — with hundreds of opportunities to taste dance in the city and beyond — kicks off in what some consider shopping heaven. Friday at noon, Union Square is the place to be for iconic dance moves from pop culture. From there you can spread out to classes in every imaginable style. There are classes for big people and classes for people with disability. How about pole dancing? Hip-hop? Contact juggling? Social dancing in the park? Korean Three Drum Dancing? Over 600 events are scheduled, all of them free. Get your calendar and download a schedule of what, when, where. Brochures can also be found in libraries, coffee shops and dance centers. (Rita Felciano)
Through May 4, free
Various locations around the Bay Area, check website for details
(415) 920-9181
Pixel Perfect
For one night only, 111 Minna Gallery is hosting an exclusive exhibition where art and tech truly combine. Before we start spewing out tech boom jargon, let’s take this one step at a time, or rather, one iPod at a time. Jeff Grady, the inventor of iPod accessories and founder of Digital Lifestyle Outfitters, has been collecting thousands of recycled iPods for over a year. Grady carefully places the gadgets, which have evolved from giant white blocks to tiny colorful squares, together to form giant pixelated images of digital and 8-bit characters. Think Pac-Man ghosts made up entirely of iPod shuffles. Rumor has it, a couple Mario Bros. characters will be making an appearance, too. Not only does Grady combine art and tech but by using these quintessential Apple products to create tech icons of the past, he bridges the gap between generations. A must see! (Laura B. Childs)
7pm, free
111 Minna Gallery
111 Minna, SF
(415) 974 1719
SATURDAY 26
Ninth Annual Walk Against Rape
The statistics are shocking: One in four women will be raped in her lifetims. One in 11 men will be victims of the same crime. It’s unacceptable that this abuse continually goes unpunished, and even worse, undiscussed. For nine years, thousands of men and women have marched in the Walk Against Rape to raise the discussion and awareness of sexual violence. Inspired by the tradition of “Take Back the Night,” this yearly walk contributes to Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In an attempt to mobilize the community and raise funds for organizations that aid rape and sexual assault survivors. The 3.5-mile walk begins at the historic Women’s Building in the heart of the Mission and ends at Portrero del Sol Park, where the afternoon festivities include dance, spoken word, music, and speeches. (Childs)
10am, free
The Women’s Building
3543 18th St, SF
(415) 431-1180
Hatch: A Festival of Devised Performance
Spring this year is hatching new avenues of performance courtesy of a brand new festival of ensemble-driven work. Inspired by last summer’s wildly successful summer intensive in performance-making offered by the UK’s University of Chichester and Z Space, the pilot season of Hatch: A Festival of Devised Performance is a collaboration between nine accomplished Bay Area producer-artists taking matters into their own hands, cross-curating each other’s work, and riffing on the too timely theme of “meltdowns” (that’s emotional, nuclear, environmental, economic, or what have you). The resulting seven new pieces, no doubt a strange and wild flock, will be performed together over three nights at the Joe Goode Annex. (Robert Avila)
April 24, 26 & 27, 8pm, $10-$20
Joe Goode Annex
401 Alabama, SF
www.facebook.com/HatchDevisingFestival
SUNDAY 27
Barbary Coast Burlesque
Any fan of burlesque in San Francisco likely knows the name Bunny Pistol by now — she’s been dancing and culling together diverse lineups of other dancers for the Barbary Coast Burlesque series — “the city’s most sophisticated burlesque show!” — for nearly a decade now. This Yoshi’s performance will feature Honey Mahogany of RuPaul’s Drag Race as hostess of ceremonies, alongside dancers Lady Satan, Sugar Cane Jane, Dottie Lux, Babraham Lincoln, and, of course, Bunny herself; chorus girls The Tartlettes will also perform. In short: A class act. You could do a lot worse on a Sunday night. (Emma Silvers)
8pm, $15-20
Yoshi’s SF
1330 Fillmore, SF
MONDAY 28
Yoshiki Classical
Yeah, it’s cliché to say someone’s “big in Japan” — but really, Yoshiki’s huge in his home country of Japan. As the bandleader of X Japan, a metal band that enjoys mainstream success on that side of the pond and is credited with being a pioneer of “visual kei” (an androgynous, glam-rock aesthetic and subgenre), the songwriter-composer-drummer-pianist goes a different route when performing solo — original classical music. This show at Davies Symphony Hall will have him playing the piano in front of a seven-piece string ensemble; it comes on the heels of a performance at the Grammy Museum, at the launch for an exhibit there all about the musician. He’s currently promoting Yoshiki Classical, which is currently topping the classical charts in 10 different countries. If you prefer your genres bent, look no further. (Emma Silvers)
7:30pm, $30-$100
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, SF
TUESDAY 29
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down
For someone who deals in such emotional songwriting, San Francisco indie darling and powerful personality-in-a-small package Thao Nguyen never fails to put on a grin-inducing dance party of a live show. This one will be particularly special, though: As part of the San Francisco International Film Festival, Nguyen and her band will perform a live, original score for an assortment of historic films, including Charlie Chaplin’s The Pawnshop, Slavko Vorkapich’s The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra, animation by Harry Smith, and classic newsreels. Nguyen has experience with this sort of thing from scoring the Radiolab Live tour in 2012, so there’s no doubt she knows how to accompany film — but with a stage presence as infectious as hers, the trick will be keeping your eyes on the screen. (Emma Silvers)
8pm, $18-$22
Castro Theatre
429 Castro, SF
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