Castro

Rep Clock

Andrew Lam
-
0

Schedules are for Wed/5-Tue/11 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double and triple features marked with a •. All times pm unless otherwise specified.

ARBOR 4210 Telegraph, Oakl; www.shapeshifterscinema.com. Free. "Shapeshifters Cinema:" expanded cinema works by Kerry Laitala with John Davis and Neal Johnson, Thu, 8.

BRIDGE 3010 Geary, SF; www.landmarktheatres.com. $8-10.50. "Studio Ghibli Animation Retrospective:" Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001), Fri, 1:47, 7; Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Miyazaki, 1984), Fri, 4:30, 9:40; My Neighbor Totoro (Miyazaki, 1988), English language version Sat, 3. 7; Japanese with English subtitles, Sat, 5, 9; Princess Mononoke (Miyazaki, 1997), Sun, 1:40, 7; Kiki’s Delivery Service (Miyazaki, 1989), Sun, 4:30, 9:50; Porco Rosso (Miyazaki, 1992), Mon, 2, 7; Only Yesterday (Takahata, 1991), Mon, 4:20, 9:10; Castle in the Sky (Miyazaki, 1986), Tue, 1:40, 4:20, 7, 9:40. All films in Japanese with English subtitles, except where noted with My Neighbor Totoro.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $8.50-11. •Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Heckerling, 1982), Wed, 7, and Back to School (Metter, 1986), Wed, 8:45. •The Harder They Come (Henzell, 1972), Thurs, 7, and Marley (Macdonald, 2012), Thurs, 9. "QT & PT:" Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992), Fri, 7:30, and Sidney (Hard Eight) (Anderson, 1996), Fri, 9:30; •Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994), Sat, 1, 7, and Boogie Nights (Anderson, 1997), Sat, 3:55, 9:55; •Magnolia (Anderson, 1999), Sun, 2:30, 8:50, and Jackie Brown (Tarantino, 1997), Sun, 6. Magic Mike (Soderbergh, 2012), Tue, 2, 4:30, 7, 9:20.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.75-$10.25. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (Klayman, 2012), call for dates and times. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin, 2012), call for dates and times. Little White Lies (Canet, 2010), call for dates and times. The Queen of Versailles (Greenfield, 2012), call for dates and times. 2 Days in New York (Delpy, 2012), call for dates and times. California Forever (Vassar, 2012), Sun, 7. With filmmakers David Vassar and Sally Kaplan in person; this event, $12.

"FILM NIGHT IN THE PARK" This week: Old Mill Park, 300 block of Throckmorton, Mill Valley; www.filmnight.org. Donations accepted. Mamma Mia! (Lloyd, 2008), Fri, 8. China Camp, San Rafael. The Adventures of Tintin (Spielberg, 2011), Sat, 8.

GOETHE-INSTITUT SAN FRANCISCO 530 Bush, SF; (415) 263-8760. $5 suggested donation. "Homage to Romy Schneider:" Sissi (Marischka, 1955), Wed, 7:30.

GRAND LAKE 3200 Grand, Oakl; www.sf911truth.org. $7-10. 9/11 Truth Film Festival, a benefit for the Northern California 9/11 Truth Alliance, Tue, 2-11.

JACK LONDON SQUARE First Street at Broadway, Oakl; www.jacklondonsquare.com. Free. Fatal Attraction (Lyne, 1987), Thu, sundown.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. "Alternative Visions:" "The Nervous Films of Janie Geiser" (2002-12), Wed, 7. "LA Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema:" Daughters of the Dust (Dash, 1991), Thu, 7. "Life is Short: Nikkatsu Studios at 100:" Capricious Young Man (Itami, 1936), Fri, 7; The Warped Ones (Kurahara, 1960), Fri, 7; Season of the Sun (Furukawa, 1956), Sat, 6:30. "A Theater Near You:" The Graduate (Nichols, 1967), Sat, 8:20.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-10. San Francisco United Film Festival, local and global docs, features, and more, Wed-Thu. Tickets ($10) and more info at www.theunitedfest.com. The Ambassador (Brügger, 2012), Wed-Thu, 7, 9. Kumaré (Gandhi, 2011), Sept 7-13, 6:45, 8:45 (also Sat-Sun, 3, 4:45).

SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE 800 Chestnut, SF; www.iranianfilmfestival.org. $8-10 (festival pass, $80-100). Iranian Film Festival, short and feature films made by or about Iranians, with a tribute to composer Esfandiar Monfaredzade, Sat-Sun, 11am.

TANNERY 708 Gilman, Berk; berkeleyundergroundfilms.blogspot.com. Donations accepted. "Berkeley Underground Film Society:" The Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich, 1971), Sun, 7:30. *

Stage Listings

Andrew Lam
-
0

Stage listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, and Nicole Gluckstern. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

THEATER

OPENING

Asteroids: Live! Dark Room Theater, 2263 Mission, SF; (415) 401-7987. $20. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 29. Interstellar comedy “based very, very loosely on the arcade game.”

Kiss of the Spider Woman Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; secondwind.8m.com. $15-35. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 29. Second Wind presents Manuel Puig’s acclaimed drama about cellmates in a Buenos Aires jail.

Placas Lorraine Hansberry Theater, 450 Post, SF; www.sfiaf.org. $13-35. Opens Thu/6, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. Through Sept 16. San Francisco International Arts Festival, Central American Resource Center, and the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts present Paul S. Flores’ world premiere drama, starring Ric Salinas as a former gang member who tries to mend fences with his family when he gets out of prison.

Port Out, Starboard Home Z Space, 450 Florida, SF; www.foolsfury.org. $12-35. Previews Fri/7-Sat/8, 8pm. Opens Mon/10, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat and Sept 19, 8pm; Sept 23, 2pm. Through Sept 23. foolsFURY performs the world premiere of Sheila Callaghan’s black comedy.

The Real Americans Marsh Studio Theater, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $25-50. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Fri, 8pm; Sat, 8:30pm. Through Sept 29. Dan Hoyle’s hit show about his trip across America returns.

“San Francisco Fringe Festival” Exit Theatreplex, 156 Eddy, SF; www.sffringe.org. Most shows $10 or less (five-show pass, $40; ten-show pass, $75). Sept 5-16. The 21st annual fest of unconventional, raw theater presents over 200 performances of 42 shows in 12 days.

Strange Travel Suggestions MainStage, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $20-50. Opens Sat/8, 8:30pm. Runs Sat, 8:30pm. Through Sept 29. Author and Ethical Traveler founder Jeff Greenwald (Shopping for Buddhas, Snake Lake) has done his solo show Strange Travel Suggestions dozens if not hundreds of times and still has no idea where it’s going. No wonder he and his audience keep coming back for more. The unknown, an aphrodisiac to the traveler, also makes great catnip for the storyteller. Still, there are consistent elements. There is no need to reinvent the wheel — or the impressive Wheel of Fortune that sits just off center stage, painted with a map of the globe and ringed with symbols abstract and evocative enough to conjure up myriad adventures, peak experiences, and humbling encounters from the vivid grab-bag memory of an accomplished travel writer and inveterate globetrotter. There’s also a real grab bag, just in case, and an oversize tarot card, a sort of visual aid cum talisman sporting a classic image of the Fool, patron saint of the traveler’s heedless leaps of faith. Greenwald’s stories possess a fine sense of humor and a knack for the shrewd detail and telling observation. They also contain a Zen-inflected homespun wisdom no doubt born of leaving home on a regular basis. If slightly self-conscious at times, these tales are always genuine and appealing. In the end, Greenwald’s show, as reliable as it is unpredictable, mimics a genie-from-a-bottle experience: What you get is three spins, three stories, and a lot of unexpected truth. Note: capsule condensed from 2008 feature review of this production. (Avila)

Tripping on the Tipping Point Stagewerx, 446 Valencia, SF; (707) 322-5731. $15-20. Opens Thu/6, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 29. Human Nature performs a new comedy about global warming.

ONGOING

Henry V Presidio of San Francisco, Main Post Parade Ground Lawn, SF; www.sfshakes.org. Free. Sat-Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 23. The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival celebrates the 30th anniversary of Free Shakespeare in the Park with this history play.

My Fair Lady SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter, SF; www.sfplayhouse.org. $30-70. Tue-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm). Through Sept 29. SF Playhouse and artistic director Bill English (who helms) offer a swift, agreeable production of the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical, based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. The iconic class-conscious storyline revolves around a cocky linguist named Higgins (Johnny Moreno) who bets colleague Colonel Pickering (Richard Frederick) he can transform an irritable flower girl, Eliza Doolittle (Monique Hafen), into a “lady” and pass her off in high society. A battle of wills and wits ensues — interlarded with the “tragedy” of Alfred Doolittle (a shrewd and gleaming Charles Dean) and his reluctant upward fall into respectability — and love (at least in the musical version) triumphs. The songs (“Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and the rest) remain evergreen in the cast’s spirited performances, supported by two offstage pianos (brought to life by David Dobrusky and musical director Greg Mason) and nimble choreography from Kimberly Richards. Hafen’s Eliza is especially admirable, projecting in dialogue and song a winning combination of childlike innocence and feminine potency. Moreno’s Higgins is also good, unusually virile yet heady too, a convincingly flawed if charming egotist. And Frederick, who adds a passing hint of homoerotic energy to his portrayal of the devoted Pickering, is gently funny and wholly sympathetic. (Avila)

Rights of Passage New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 16. New Conservatory Theatre Center presents the world premiere of Ed Decker and Robert Leone’s multimedia play, inspired by global human rights laws in relation to sexual orientation.

Vital Signs Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sun, 7pm. Extended through Sept 16. The Marsh San Francisco presents Alison Whittaker’s behind-the-scenes look at nursing in America.

Twelfth Night San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, Hyde Street Pier, 2905 Hyde, SF; www.weplayers.org. $30-80. Opens Fri/7, 5:30pm. Runs Fri-Sun, 5:30pm (also Sat-Sun, noon; matinee only Sept 22; no performances Sept 29; evening performances only Oct 6-7). Through Oct 7. We Players board the Balclutha and the Eureka for this jazzy take on Shakespeare’s romance.

The Waiting Period MainStage, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Thu-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Extended through Sept 29. Brian Copeland (comedian, TV and radio personality, and creator-performer of the long-running solo play Not a Genuine Black Man) returns to the Marsh with a new solo, this one based on more recent and messier events` in Copeland’s life. The play concerns an episode of severe depression in which he considered suicide, going so far as to purchase a handgun — the title coming from the legally mandatory 10-day period between purchasing and picking up the weapon, which leaves time for reflections and circumstances that ultimately prevent Copeland from pulling the trigger. A grim subject, but Copeland (with co-developer and director David Ford) ensures there’s plenty of humor as well as frank sentiment along the way. The actor peoples the opening scene in the gun store with a comically if somewhat stereotypically rugged representative of the Second Amendment, for instance, as well as an equally familiar “doood” dude at the service counter. Afterward, we follow Copeland, a just barely coping dad, home to the house recently abandoned by his wife, and through the ordinary routines that become unbearable to the clinically depressed. Copeland also recreates interviews he’s made with other survivors of suicidal depression. Telling someone about such things is vital to preventing their worst outcomes, says Copeland, and telling his own story is meant to encourage others. It’s a worthy aim but only a fitfully engaging piece, since as drama it remains thin, standing at perhaps too respectful a distance from the convoluted torment and alienation at its center. (Avila)

War Horse Curran Theatre, 445 Geary, SF; www.shnsf.com. $31-300. Wed/5-Sat/8, 8pm (also Wed/5 and Sat/8, 2pm); Sun/9, 2pm. The juggernaut from the National Theatre of Great Britain, via Broadway and the Tony Awards, has pulled into the Curran for its Bay Area bow. The life-sized puppets are indeed all they’re cracked up to be; and the story of a 16-year-old English farm boy (Andrew Veenstra) who searches for his beloved horse through the trenches of the Somme Valley during World War I, while peppered with much elementary humor too, is a good cry for those so inclined. The claim to being an antiwar play is only true to the extent that any war-is-hell backdrop and a plea for tolerance count a melodrama as “antiwar,” but this is not Mother Courage and no serious attempt is made to investigate the subject. Closer to say it’s Lassie Come Home where Lassie is a horse — very ably brought to life by Handspring Puppet Company’s ingenious puppeteers and designers, and amid a transporting and generally riveting mise-en-scène (complete with pointedly stirring live and recorded music). But the simplistic storyline and its obvious, somewhat ham-fisted resolution (adapted by Nick Stafford from Michael Morpurgo’s novel) are too formulaic to be taken that seriously. And at two-and-a-half-hours, it’s a long time coming. A shorter war, the Falklands say, would have done just as well and gotten people out before the ride began to chafe. (Avila)

BAY AREA

Chinglish Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $14.50-99. Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm; no show Oct 5; no 2pm show Sat/8; additional 2pm shows Thu/6 and Oct 4); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through Oct 7. Berkeley Rep presents the West Coast premiere of David Henry Hwang’s Broadway comedy.

The Death of the Novel San Jose Rep, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose; www.sjrep.com. $23-69. Opens Wed/5, 7:30pm. Check web site for schedule. Through Sept 23. Vincent Kartheiser (a.k.a. Pete Campbell from Mad Men) stars in Jonathan Marc Feldman’s drama about creativity in post-9/11 America at San Jose Rep.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. $32-60. Tue and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm); Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 30. Playwright Kristoffer Diaz, a self-professed fan of the aggressively-theatrical spectacle that is professional wrestling, delivers much more than a “wrestling 101” primer for the uninitiated with The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. Beneath the razzle-dazzle of the arena lighting (Kurt Landisman), the gaudy costuming (Maggie Whitaker) and the giant televised image of a hot bikini babe (Elizabeth Cadd, video by Jim Gross) lies the trampled luster of an American Dream. The dreamer, Macedonio “The Mace” Guerra (Tony Sancho), a wiry fall guy for THE Wrestling, wrestles not for money or glory (he is rarely privy to either), but for his love of the strange ballet that occurs in the ring. Guerra’s job is to make his opponents look good, including the pec-flexing, bling-booted Chad Deity (Beethovan Oden), leaving him to wrestle alone with the identity politics of being a marginalized but fully capable warrior battling perennially stacked odds. Willing suspension of disbelief does get stretched pretty thin when the character Vigneshwar Paduar, a smooth-talking hustler chance-met on the basketball courts of Brooklyn, rises to championship levels in record-breaking time as the truly cringe-worthy persona known as “The Fundamentalist,” but Nasser Khan’s skillfully self-possessed performance as Paduar makes it impossible not to root for him all the way. Rod Gnapp as foul-mouthed bossman “EKO” and fight director Dave Maier as a whole squadron of hapless B-list wrestlers round out the excellent cast. (Gluckstern)

The Fisherman’s Wife La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; www.impacttheatre.com. $10-20. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 29. The latest from playwright Steve Yockey (Bellwether, Skin) is an exercise in pure pleasure, not least for the devious sea creatures preying lustily and unashamedly on the hapless human flesh of a small coastal town. There, in cracked fairytale fashion, an unsuccessful fisherman named Cooper Minnow (an endearingly nerdy but passionate Maro Guevara) is preparing to set out to sea, leaving at home frustrated wife Vanessa (a wonderfully, volcanically bitchy yet complex Eliza Leoni) and their sinking marriage, when he meets an oddly brazen pair of sexy, sassy bathers in old-fashioned beach attire (the swimmingly synchronized duo of Sarah Coykendall and Roy Landaverde). At more or less the same moment, a devilishly dashing yet prim traveling salesman (poised, nicely offbeat Adrian Anchondo) is offering a clearly aroused Vanessa an erotic woodcut featuring monstrous tentacles groping human victims at a very familiar-looking dock. Will she take the woodcut? Will she ever! And later she’ll defend her husband’s honor and swap places with him too, much to the commercial advantage of the ever-accommodating salesman who — like Yockey’s smart and sure sex farce — has a little something for everyone. Directed with smooth precision by Ben Randle for Berkeley’s Impact Theatre, The Fisherman’s Wife again finds Yockey playing productively with the fine fuzzy line separating human nature from nature at large (as in Large Animal Games, the winning 2009 co-production from Impact and Dad’s Garage). The animals come through for playwright and company once more, with a thoroughly enjoyable comedy whose borrowed maritime mythos has just enough metaphorical pull to lead those so inclined out beyond the shallow waters. (Avila)

Keith Moon/The Real Me TheaterStage at the March Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sept 13, 20, and 27, 8pm. Mike Berry workshops his new musical, featuring ten classic Who songs performed with a live band.

The Kipling Hotel: True Misadventures of the Electric Pink ’80s Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $20-50. Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Extended through Oct 14. This new autobiographical solo show by Don Reed, writer-performer of the fine and long-running East 14th, is another slice of the artist’s journey from 1970s Oakland ghetto to comedy-circuit respectability — here via a partial debate-scholarship to UCLA. The titular Los Angeles residency hotel was where Reed lived and worked for a time in the 1980s while attending university. It’s also a rich mine of memory and material for this physically protean and charismatic comic actor, who sails through two acts of often hilarious, sometimes touching vignettes loosely structured around his time on the hotel’s young wait staff, which catered to the needs of elderly patrons who might need conversation as much as breakfast. On opening night, the episodic narrative seemed to pass through several endings before settling on one whose tidy moral was delivered with too heavy a hand, but if the piece runs a little long, it’s only the last 20 minutes that noticeably meanders. And even with some awkward bumps along the way, it’s never a dull thing watching Reed work. (Avila)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Forest Meadows Amphitheater, 890 Belle, Dominican University of California, San Rafael; www.marinshakespeare.org. $20-35. Check website for schedule. Through Sept 30. Marin Shakespeare Company performs the Bard’s classic, transported to the shores of Hawaii.

Our Country’s Good Redwood Amphiteatre, Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake, Ross; www.porchlight.net. $15-30. Thu/6-Sat/8, 7:30pm. Porchlight Theatre Company presents an outdoor performance of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play about Royal Marines and prisoners in an 18th century New South Wales prison colony.

Precious Little Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; www.shotgunplayers.org. $18-25. Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat/8, 3pm); Sun, 5pm. Through Sept 16. Shotgun Players presents Madeleine George’s new play about an expectant mother who studies near-dead languages and befriends a “talking” gorilla.

Time Stands Still TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, SF; www.theatreworks.org. $23-73. Tue-Wed, 7:30pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Sept 16. TheatreWorks performs Donald Marguelis’ drama about a couple — one a photojournalist, one a war correspondent — struggling with their recent experiences covering a war.

PERFORMANCE/DANCE

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, B350 Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF; www.improv.org. Thu-Sat, 8pm. $10-25. This week: “An Improv Team Named Desire and Flux Capacitor” (Thu/6); “25th Annual Gala and Fundraiser” (Fri/7); “BATS Improv SF vs. Impro Theatre LA” (Sat/8).

“Comedy Returns to El Rio!” El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; www.koshercomedy.com. Mon/10, 8pm. $7-20. Stand-up with Diane Amos, Malcolm Grissom, Jill Bourque, Kevin Young, and host Lisa Geduldig.

“Dancing Poetry Festival” Florence Gould Theater, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, SF; www.dancingpoetry.com. Sat/8, noon-4pm. $4-15. The 19th annual fest celebrates poetry and dance as a unified art form.

“Elect to Laugh” Studio Theater, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. Tue, 8pm. Through Nov 6. $15-50. Veteran political comedian Will Durst emphasizes he’s watching the news and keeping track of the presidential race “so you don’t have to.” No kidding, it sounds like brutal work for anyone other than a professional comedian — for whom alone it must be Willy Wonka’s edible Eden of delicious material. Durst deserves thanks for ingesting this material and converting it into funny, but between the ingesting and out-jesting there’s the risk of turning too palatable what amounts to a deeply offensive excuse for a democratic process, as we once again hurtle and are herded toward another election-year November, with its attendant massive anticlimax and hangover already so close you can touch them. Durst knows his politics and comedy backwards and forwards, and the evolving show, which pops up at the Marsh every Tuesday in the run-up to election night, offers consistent laughs born on his breezy, infectious delivery. One just wishes there were some alternative political universe that also made itself known alongside the deft two-party sportscasting. (Avila)

“A Funny Night for Comedy” Actors Theater of San Francisco, 855 Bush, SF; www.natashamuse.com. Sun/9, 7pm. $10. Natasha Muse and Ryan Cronin host this comedy show, presented in talk-show format, with guests Caitlin Gill, Kaseem Bentley, and Jesse Fernandez.

“Mary Mack Comedy Show” Gallery and Bar 4N5, 863 Mission, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Tue/11, 7:30pm. $15. Mandolin-infused folk comedy with Mary Mack.

“A Pinoy Midsummer” Bindlestiff Studio, 185 Sixth St, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm). Through Sept 15. $10-20. A re-imagining of Shakespeare with Philippine folklore, shadow puppets, and other Pinoy elements.

“10 Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. Fri/7-Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 2pm. Yuseff El Guindi’s comedy is about a conflicted Muslim family during the month of Ramadan in post-9/11 America.

Sugar high

Andrew Lam
-
0
Sugar high

cheryl@sfbg.com

DEATH BEFORE DIET San Francisco has a hell of a sweet tooth, judging by all the dessert-themed trucks, artesinal chocolate shops, and curious ice cream flavors dribbling all over everything. For fans of sour and gummy candy who’d prefer a slightly more old-timey experience than the aisles of Walgreens can provide, we also have quite a few candy-focused shops. We sidestepped the prodigious chocolate offerings (for the most part) and tested treats at four of ’em.

 

Fiona’s Sweetshoppe Tucked into a teeny FiDi storefront, Fiona’s maximizes its snug space with four rows of shelves lined with candy-filled jars. The slogan here is “bewitching candy,” and the selection (much of it imported from Europe and the UK) doesn’t disappoint. Customers can browse a selection of UK candy bars (Cadbury purists rejoice), buy scoops in bulk, or pick up pre-made, ribbon-tied bags of the shop’s most popular wares.

We sampled: Australian Mango Licorice (Fiona’s has a large selection of licorice in different flavors and shapes; this variety is super-soft, chewy, and fruity — and vegan); Lemon Fizzballs (the favorite of the three: lemon drops with a powdery, sour-then-sweet coating); and, bending the chocolate rule a bit, Chocolate Limes (individually-wrapped, citrus hard candy with a dab of chocolate inside). 214 Sutter, SF; www.fionassweetshoppe.com

 

The Candy Store Russian Hill’s beacon of sugary goodness went national, briefly, thanks to a pop-up stint in Target stores earlier this year. Locals can still hit up the airy space for stylishly packaged indulgences (dark chocolate sea salt caramels are a favorite), lollipops (in sizes ranging from “oversized” to “Godzilla-sized”), nostalgic chocolate bars (Nut Goodies, Mallo Cups), and … ohhhh yeah … jars of sour and gummy goodness.

We tried: Sour Skulls (imported from Sweden, home of extreme metal and, apparently, extremely sour candy); Cinnamon Bears (more sweet than hot); Gummi Filled Whales (marshmallow-y and adorable); and one Gummi Fried Egg (a fruit-flavored conversation piece). 1507 Vallejo, SF; www.thecandystoresf.com

 

Miette Miette peddles its picture-perfect baked goods at San Francisco’s Ferry Building, Oakland’s Jack London Square, and Larkspur’s Marin County Mart. But candy fans taking a cake break should make a beeline to the Hayes Valley location (449 Octavia, SF). While the retro-styled space (with super-cute seasonal window displays) does feature a pastry case with Miette’s famed cupcakes, cakes, and macarons — the main attraction is pretty obvious: fancy chocolate bars, decadent malt balls, and jars upon jars of bite-sized sweets.

We tasted: Butter Waffles (waffle-shaped hard candy with a refined butterscotch flavor); Sour Apple Belts (a childhood classic); and Lemon Verbena Drops (is it weird to call a candy “sophisticated”? Because these are.) Various Bay Area locations, SF; www.miette.com Shaw’s San Francisco Just two Muni stops from the Castro is West Portal, with its Main Street USA vibe. Situated under a red-and-white awning, Shaw’s — around since 1931 — needs not try to emulate an old-school candy shop, since it already is one. No swish sweets here; in addition to ice cream, fudge, and chocolate truffles, Shaw’s stocks novelty items like Pop Rocks and mounds of sold-by-weight gummies and sour candy, including recognizable items like Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids. We inhaled: sour apples, cherries, peaches, and watermelon slices (all fresh, flavorful, soft, and chewy), with a few chocolate-covered gummy bears (a best-seller) for good measure. 122 West Portal, SF; www.shawssf.com

Music Listings

Andrew Lam
-
0

Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead or check the venue’s website to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Visit www.sfbg.com/venue-guide for venue information. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

WEDNESDAY 29

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Black Cobra Vipers, French Cassettes, Brass Bed Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $10.

Bleached Palms, Big Drag, Standard Poodle, Apopka Darkroom Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $7.

Civil Twilight, Morning Parade, Vanaprasta Independent. 8pm, $14.

Desaparecidos, Velvet Teen Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $25.

Guella, Grand Nationals, One Way Station Elbo Room. 9pm, $7.

Johnny Legend, Top Ten, Chuckleberries Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $7.

Nathan and Rachel Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

"SF Underground Music Fest" 50 Mason Social House, SF; www.50masonsocialhouse.com. With Mr. Kind, Phoenix Twins, Felsen.

Virgil Shaw and the Killer Views, Human Condition, Devotionals Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $10.

Thee Oh Sees, Enorchestra, Dirty Power Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $14.

Versions, Monuments Collapse, Cascabel, Braeg Noafa Hemlock Tavern. 8:30pm, $6.

Greg Zema vs Joel Nelson Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Cat’s Corner with Nathan Dias Savanna Jazz. 9pm, $10.

Cosmo AlleyCats Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo Place, SF; www.lecolonialsf.com. 7-10pm.

Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho, Eric Garland’s Jazz Session Amnesia. 7pm, free.

Bela Fleck and the Marcis Roberts Trio Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $30; 10pm, $26.

Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 6:30pm, $5.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita MORE! and Joshua J host this dance party.

Coo-Yah! Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. DJs Daneekah and Green B spin reggae and dancehall.

Hardcore Humpday Happy Hour RKRL, 52 Sixth St, SF; (415) 658-5506. 6pm, $3.

THURSDAY 30

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Black Mountain, Quest for Fire Independent. 8pm, $17.

Hello Echo, Tzigane Society, Campbell Society Amnesia. 9pm, $7-$10.

John Lawton Trio Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Lusjoints, Extra Classic, Sun Life Cafe Du Nord. 8:30pm, $10.

Jason Marion vs JC Rockit Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart, A B & the Sea, popscene DJs Rickshaw Stop. 9:30pm, $15-$17.

Erica Sunshine Lee, Windy Hill Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $5-$7.

Two Gallants Amoeba Music. 6pm, free.

Ugly Winner, Hazel’s Wart, Big Mittens Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Why?, Doseone, Serengti Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $18.

Yonat & Her Muse, Juanita and the Rabbit, Bye Bye Blackbirds Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Bela Fleck and the Marcis Roberts Trio Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $30; 10pm, $26.

Stompy Jones Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 7:30pm, $10.

Ned Boyton Trio Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 7-10pm.

Savanna Jazz Jam with Eddy Ramirez Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $5.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Twang! Honky Tonk Fiddler’s Green, 1330 Columbus, SF; www.twanghonkytonk.com. 5pm. Live country music, dancing, and giveaways.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $5-$7. With DJ-host Pleasuremaker spinning spin Afrobeat, Tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

All 80s Thursday Cat Club. 9pm, $6 (free before 9:30pm). ’80s mainstream and underground with DJ’s Damon, Steve Washington, and Dangerous Dan.

Tropicana Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, free. Salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and more with DJs Don Bustamante, Apocolypto, Sr. Saen, Santero, and Mr. E.

FRIDAY 31

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Back Pages Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Rome Balestrieri, Jason Marion, Guido Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9pm.

A.A. Bondy, ESP, UFO Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $17.

B. Hamilton, Chrystian Rawk, Feral Cat Amnesia. 9pm, $7-$10.

Chixdiggit!, Meat Sluts, Boats! Thee Parkside. 9pm, $10.

CyClub, East Bay Brass Band Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Ryan Darton Hotel Utah. 9pm, $8.

Go Van Gogh Make-Out Room. 7:30pm, $8.

Jounce, Elephants in Mud Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 7:30pm, $5-$8.

Modern Heist Brainwash Cafe. 8pm, free.

Revision Evenodds, Under the Musical Direction of Kev Choice Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 10pm, $8-$10.

Solwave, Super Adventure Club, Major Powers and the Lo-Fi Symphony Bottom of the Hill. 9:30pm, $10.

Swamp Angel, Fascinating Creatures of the Deep, Badmen Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $10.

Turbonegro Slim’s. 9pm, $28.

Vaselines Independent. 9pm, $22.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.

Black Jazz Orchestra Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 9pm, $10.

Terry Disely Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 5:30-8:30pm.

Bela Fleck and the Marcis Roberts Trio Yoshi’s SF. 8 and 10pm, $40.

Bryan Girard, Graham Bruce Palindrome Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Baxtalo Drom Amnesia. 9pm, $7-$10. With live music, gypsy punk, belly dancing.

Taste Fridays 650 Indiana, SF; www.tastefridays.com. 8pm, $18. Salsa and bachata dance lessons, live music.

Chucho Valdes Pena Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; (415) 646-0018. 8pm, $20-$39.95.

DANCE CLUBS

Joe Lookout, 3600 16th St.,SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 9pm. Eight rotating DJs, shirt-off drink specials.

Old School JAMZ El Rio. 9pm. Fruit Stand DJs spinning old school funk, hip-hop, and R&B.

Original Plumbing Elbo Room. 10pm, $3-$7.Trans dance party with DJs Chelsea Starr and Rapid Fire.

Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

SATURDAY 1

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Band of Heathens, Trishas, Birdhouse Cafe Du Nord. 9:30pm, $12-$15.

Brown Bird, These United States Independent. 9pm, $14.

Burn River Burn, Fortress, Cormorant, Prizehog Slim’s. 8:30pm, $8.

Citizen’s Arrest, Yadokai, Rat Damage, Wartrash, Stressors Thee Parkside. 2pm, $10.

Foxtails Brigade, Yesway, Whiskerman Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $10.

Goldenboy, New Familiar Thee Parkside. 9pm, $8.

Honey Wilders Band Riptide. 9:30pm, free.

Lost Bayou Ramblers Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 8pm, $7-$10.

Promise Ring, One AM Radio Fillmore. 9pm, $25.

Sands, 3 Leafs, Body Swap Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Nathan Temby, Jason Marion, Guido Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9pm.

Ticket to Ride Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.

Bela Fleck and the Marcis Roberts Trio Yoshi’s SF. 8 and 10pm, $40.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod Atlas Cafe, 3049 20th St, SF; www.atlascafe.net. 4-6pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Bearracuda Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $6-$8.

Bootie SF DNA Lounge. 9pm, $10-$15.

Haceteria Acid Meltdown with Exillon Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF; www.decosf.com. 9pm, $5. With Nihar, Tristes Tropiques, and Jason P.

Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

Saturday Night Soul Party Elbo Room. 10pm, $5-$10. With DJs Lucky, Paul Paul, Phengren Oswald.

SUNDAY 2

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Dropdead, Bumbklaat, Permanent Ruin, Vacuum, Elegy Thee Parkside. 1pm, $10.

John Lawton Trio Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Laurie Morvan Band Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Melody and Tyler, Ali May 50 Mason Social House, SF; www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 8pm.

Men Independent. 9pm, $12.

Old 97s, Those Darlins, Rhett Miller Fillmore. 8pm, $26.50.

Sandro Perri, Steer the Stars, Max Porter Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $10.

Pharcyde Yoshi’s SF Lounge. 9pm, $26.

Tidelands, Yassou Benedict, Hannah Werdmuller Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $7.

Vektor, Hatchet, Apocryphon Thee Parkside. 8pm, $10.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Mike Greensill Trio Old First Church, 1751 Sacramento, SF; (415) 474-1608. 4pm. $14-$17.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Kally Price Old Blues and Jazz Band Amnesia. 8-11pm, $5.

DANCE CLUBS

Dancing Ghosts Raven, 1151 Folsom, SF; www.ravenbarsf.com. 9:30pm, $5. Darkwave dance party with DJs Xander and Sage.

Domingos Latinos Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $8-$10. With DJ Sep, Ludichris, Vinnie Esparza, and soundsystem set with Mista Chatman.

Hero White Party Ruby Skye, 420 Mason, SF; www.rubyskye.com. 6pm-midnight. With David Aude, and Jamie J. Sanchez.

Jock Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 3pm, $2.

MONDAY 3

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

"Cowgirlpalooza" El Rio. 3pm, $10. With 77 El Deora, Rumble Strippers, Patsychords, Kit and the Branded Men, Kitty Rose.

Damir Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Gold Panda, Doldrums, Nanosaur Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $16-$18.

Hot Snakes, Mrs. Magician Slim’s. 8pm, $19.50-$23.

John Maus Independent. 9pm, $13.

Superhumanoids, JJAMZ, Teenage Sweater Cafe Du Nord. 8pm, $12.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

James Cotton Superharp Yoshi’s SF. 8, $28; 10pm, $20.

Bossa Nova Tunnel Top, 601 Bush, SF; (415) 722-6620. 8-11:30pm, free. Live acoustic Bossa Nova.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Belle Monroe and Her Brewglass Boys Amnesia. 9pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.

Crazy Mondays Beauty Bar, 2299 Mission, SF; www.thebeautybar.com. 10pm, free. Hip-hop and other stuff.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. DJs Timoteo Gigante, Gordo Cabeza, and Chris Phlek playing all Motown every Monday.

Soul Cafe John Colins Lounge, 138 Minna, SF; www.johncolins.com. 9pm. R&B, hip-hop, reggae, dancehall, and salsa with DJ Jerry Ross.

Vibes’N’Stuff El Amigo Bar, 3355 Mission, SF; (415) 852-0092. 10pm, free. Conscious jazz and hip-hop with DJs Luce Lucy, Vinnie Esparza, and more.

TUESDAY 4

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Big Business, Federation X, Pins of Light Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.

Fat Tuesday Band Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Ferocious Few, Tumbleweed Wanderers Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, free.

Heavy, Silent Comedy Slim’s. 8pm, $16.

King Khan and the Shrines, Apache Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $16.

Kishi Bashi, Last Bison Cafe Du Nord. 7:30pm, $10-$12.

Lightning Bolt, No Babies, Future Twin Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $12.

Something Fierce, Occult Detective Club Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $7.

SparkBox, Annie Girl & the Flight, Emily Jane White Amnesia. 9pm.

Stan Erhart Band Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

True Mutants, Apogee Sound Club, Yes Gos Knockout. 9:30pm, $6.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Debo Band Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $16.

Gaucho Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 7-10pm.

Marty Eggers Pier 23, Embarcadero at Filbert, SF; (415) 362-5125. 5-8pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro.

Stage Listings

Andrew Lam
-
0

Stage listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, and Nicole Gluckstern. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

THEATER

OPENING

Henry V Presidio of San Francisco, Main Post Parade Ground Lawn, SF; www.sfshakes.org. Free. Opens Sat/1, 2pm. Runs Sat-Sun and Mon/3, 2pm. Through Sept 23. The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival celebrates the 30th anniversary of Free Shakespeare in the Park with this history play.

Twelfth Night San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, Hyde Street Pier, 2905 Hyde, SF; www.weplayers.org. $30-80. Previews Sat/1-Sun/2, 5:30pm. Opens Sept 7, 5:30pm. Runs Fri-Sun, 5:30pm (also Sat-Sun, noon; matinee only Sept 22; no performances Sept 29; evening performances only Oct 6-7). Through Oct 7. We Players board the Balclutha and the Eureka for this jazzy take on Shakespeare’s romance.

BAY AREA

Chinglish Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $14.50-99. Opens Wed/29, 8pm. Runs Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm; no show Oct 5; no 2pm show Sept 8; additional 2pm shows Sept 6 and Oct 4); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through Oct 7. Berkeley Rep presents the West Coast premiere of David Henry Hwang’s Broadway comedy.

The Death of the Novel San Jose Rep, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose; www.sjrep.com. $23-69. Previews Thu/30, 7:30pm; Fri/31-Sun/2, 2pm (also Sun/2), 7pm. Opens Sept 5, 7:30pm. Check web site for schedule. Through Sept 23. Vincent Kartheiser (a.k.a. Pete Campbell from Mad Men) stars in Jonathan Marc Feldman’s drama about creativity in post-9/11 America at San Jose Rep.

ONGOING

Daughter of the Red Tzar Thick House Theatre, 1695 18th St, SF; www.thickhouse.org. $30. Fri/31-Sun/2, 8pm. ScolaVox and First Look Sonoma present the world premiere of Lisa Scola-Prosek’s chamber opera about a meeting between Churchill, Stalin, and Stalin’s teenage daughter.

My Fair Lady SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter, SF; www.sfplayhouse.org. $30-70. Tue-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm). Through Sept 29. SF Playhouse and artistic director Bill English (who helms) offer a swift, agreeable production of the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical, based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. The iconic class-conscious storyline revolves around a cocky linguist named Higgins (Johnny Moreno) who bets colleague Colonel Pickering (Richard Frederick) he can transform an irritable flower girl, Eliza Doolittle (Monique Hafen), into a “lady” and pass her off in high society. A battle of wills and wits ensues — interlarded with the “tragedy” of Alfred Doolittle (a shrewd and gleaming Charles Dean) and his reluctant upward fall into respectability — and love (at least in the musical version) triumphs. The songs (“Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and the rest) remain evergreen in the cast’s spirited performances, supported by two offstage pianos (brought to life by David Dobrusky and musical director Greg Mason) and nimble choreography from Kimberly Richards. Hafen’s Eliza is especially admirable, projecting in dialogue and song a winning combination of childlike innocence and feminine potency. Moreno’s Higgins is also good, unusually virile yet heady too, a convincingly flawed if charming egotist. And Frederick, who adds a passing hint of homoerotic energy to his portrayal of the devoted Pickering, is gently funny and wholly sympathetic. (Avila)

Rights of Passage New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 16. New Conservatory Theatre Center presents the world premiere of Ed Decker and Robert Leone’s multimedia play, inspired by global human rights laws in relation to sexual orientation.

Vital Signs Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. New show day and date: Sun, 7pm. Extended through Sept 16. The Marsh San Francisco presents Alison Whittaker’s behind-the-scenes look at nursing in America.

The Waiting Period MainStage, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Fri, 8pm (starting Sept 6: also Thu, 8pm); Sat, 5pm. Extended through Sept 29. Brian Copeland (comedian, TV and radio personality, and creator-performer of the long-running solo play Not a Genuine Black Man) returns to the Marsh with a new solo, this one based on more recent and messier events` in Copeland’s life. The play concerns an episode of severe depression in which he considered suicide, going so far as to purchase a handgun — the title coming from the legally mandatory 10-day period between purchasing and picking up the weapon, which leaves time for reflections and circumstances that ultimately prevent Copeland from pulling the trigger. A grim subject, but Copeland (with co-developer and director David Ford) ensures there’s plenty of humor as well as frank sentiment along the way. The actor peoples the opening scene in the gun store with a comically if somewhat stereotypically rugged representative of the Second Amendment, for instance, as well as an equally familiar “doood” dude at the service counter. Afterward, we follow Copeland, a just barely coping dad, home to the house recently abandoned by his wife, and through the ordinary routines that become unbearable to the clinically depressed. Copeland also recreates interviews he’s made with other survivors of suicidal depression. Telling someone about such things is vital to preventing their worst outcomes, says Copeland, and telling his own story is meant to encourage others. It’s a worthy aim but only a fitfully engaging piece, since as drama it remains thin, standing at perhaps too respectful a distance from the convoluted torment and alienation at its center. (Avila)

War Horse Curran Theatre, 445 Geary, SF; www.shnsf.com. $31-300. Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Wed and Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 9. The juggernaut from the National Theatre of Great Britain, via Broadway and the Tony Awards, has pulled into the Curran for its Bay Area bow. The life-sized puppets are indeed all they’re cracked up to be; and the story of a 16-year-old English farm boy (Andrew Veenstra) who searches for his beloved horse through the trenches of the Somme Valley during World War I, while peppered with much elementary humor too, is a good cry for those so inclined. The claim to being an antiwar play is only true to the extent that any war-is-hell backdrop and a plea for tolerance count a melodrama as “antiwar,” but this is not Mother Courage and no serious attempt is made to investigate the subject. Closer to say it’s Lassie Come Home where Lassie is a horse — very ably brought to life by Handspring Puppet Company’s ingenious puppeteers and designers, and amid a transporting and generally riveting mise-en-scène (complete with pointedly stirring live and recorded music). But the simplistic storyline and its obvious, somewhat ham-fisted resolution (adapted by Nick Stafford from Michael Morpurgo’s novel) are too formulaic to be taken that seriously. And at two-and-a-half-hours, it’s a long time coming. A shorter war, the Falklands say, would have done just as well and gotten people out before the ride began to chafe. (Avila)

BAY AREA

Blithe Spirit Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda; www.calshakes.org. $35-71. Wed/29-Thu/30, 7:30pm; Fri/31-Sat/1, 2pm; Sun/2, 4pm. Noël Coward’s 1941 comedy, not exactly a paean to marriage, is nevertheless a romantic romp with just enough meat on its ethereal subject to make a meal of its triangular love affair. Appearing as the relevant points on that geometric form are a witty Coward-esque writer, Charles Condomine (Anthony Fusco), his confident equal and second wife Ruth (René Augesen), and the uninvited ghost of his first wife, Elvira (Jessica Kitchens). The unwieldy ménage arises from Charles’s invitation to a local medium (Domenique Lozano), from whom he hopes to cull a juicy detail or two for his next book. He and Ruth, as well as their other dinner guests, Dr. and Mrs. Bradman (Kevin Rolston and Melissa Smith), do get a fine show out of the eccentric soiree, but soon Charles finds he’s also now being haunted by Elvira, who only he can actually see and hear and who adamantly refuses to leave. Um, yeah: awkward. Anyway, what happens next is solidly entertaining in director Mark Rucker’s polished production for Cal Shakes. Fusco and Augesen are a droll pair, while a beaming Kitchens brings a much appreciated brightness to the proceedings, even as Lozano’s exuberant innocent, Madame Arcati, comes over as perhaps the most persuasive of all. (Avila)

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. $32-60. Previews Wed/29, 8pm. Opens Thu/30, 8pm. Runs Tue and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm); Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 30. Aurora Theatre Company opens its 21st season with Kristoffer Diaz’s comedy about pro wrestlers.

The Fisherman’s Wife La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; www.impacttheatre.com. $10-20. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 29. The latest from playwright Steve Yockey (Bellwether, Skin) is an exercise in pure pleasure, not least for the devious sea creatures preying lustily and unashamedly on the hapless human flesh of a small coastal town. There, in cracked fairytale fashion, an unsuccessful fisherman named Cooper Minnow (an endearingly nerdy but passionate Maro Guevara) is preparing to set out to sea, leaving at home frustrated wife Vanessa (a wonderfully, volcanically bitchy yet complex Eliza Leoni) and their sinking marriage, when he meets an oddly brazen pair of sexy, sassy bathers in old-fashioned beach attire (the swimmingly synchronized duo of Sarah Coykendall and Roy Landaverde). At more or less the same moment, a devilishly dashing yet prim traveling salesman (poised, nicely offbeat Adrian Anchondo) is offering a clearly aroused Vanessa an erotic woodcut featuring monstrous tentacles groping human victims at a very familiar-looking dock. Will she take the woodcut? Will she ever! And later she’ll defend her husband’s honor and swap places with him too, much to the commercial advantage of the ever-accommodating salesman who — like Yockey’s smart and sure sex farce — has a little something for everyone. Directed with smooth precision by Ben Randle for Berkeley’s Impact Theatre, The Fisherman’s Wife again finds Yockey playing productively with the fine fuzzy line separating human nature from nature at large (as in Large Animal Games, the winning 2009 co-production from Impact and Dad’s Garage). The animals come through for playwright and company once more, with a thoroughly enjoyable comedy whose borrowed maritime mythos has just enough metaphorical pull to lead those so inclined out beyond the shallow waters. (Avila)

For the Greater Good, Or The Last Election This week: Nicholl Park, Richmond; www.sfmt.org. Free (donations accepted). Thu/30, 7pm. Also Dolores Park, 19th St at Dolores, SF; www.sfmt.org. Free (donations accepted). Sat/1-Mon/3, 2pm. Various venues through Sept. 8. “Don’t they understand that without us they don’t have anything?” asks Gideon Bloodgood (Ed Holmes), investment banker at the top of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s vivisection of the “real” American Dream, For the Greater Good, Or the Last Election. But surely the hero of a Mime Troupe show cannot possibly be a billionaire? Well, sort of. Though Bloodgood enriches himself dishonestly with precarious investments and outright theft in this Occupy-era melodrama, he actually does occasionally spare a sentiment for Mom and apple pie, or anyway his daughter Alida (Lisa Hori-Garcia) and cookies baked by the unsuspecting victim of his ill-gotten gains, the Widow Fairweather (Keiko Shimosato Carreiro) — now living at the last Occupy encampment standing in the city. Alida, however, displays no compunction in throwing aside his affection and her prospective seat in Congress, running off to join the occupiers for reasons that truthfully appear about as politically motivated as her father’s parasitic avarice, leaving him to join forces instead with the most unlikely of allies — the impeccable, ingenuous Lucy Fairweather (Velina Brown), heiress to a stolen legacy, and staunch patriot. Based loosely on 19th century play The Poor of New York, The Last Election attempts to turn a presumptive ode to the free market into its swan song with good-humored, if predictable, results. (Gluckstern)

Keith Moon/The Real Me TheaterStage at the March Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sept 13, 20, and 27, 8pm. Mike Berry workshops his new musical, featuring ten classic Who songs performed with a live band.

The Kipling Hotel: True Misadventures of the Electric Pink ’80s Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $20-50. Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Extended through Oct 14. This new autobiographical solo show by Don Reed, writer-performer of the fine and long-running East 14th, is another slice of the artist’s journey from 1970s Oakland ghetto to comedy-circuit respectability — here via a partial debate-scholarship to UCLA. The titular Los Angeles residency hotel was where Reed lived and worked for a time in the 1980s while attending university. It’s also a rich mine of memory and material for this physically protean and charismatic comic actor, who sails through two acts of often hilarious, sometimes touching vignettes loosely structured around his time on the hotel’s young wait staff, which catered to the needs of elderly patrons who might need conversation as much as breakfast. On opening night, the episodic narrative seemed to pass through several endings before settling on one whose tidy moral was delivered with too heavy a hand, but if the piece runs a little long, it’s only the last 20 minutes that noticeably meanders. And even with some awkward bumps along the way, it’s never a dull thing watching Reed work. (Avila)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Forest Meadows Amphitheater, 890 Belle, Dominican University of California, San Rafael; www.marinshakespeare.org. $20-35. Check website for schedule. Through Sept 30. Marin Shakespeare Company performs the Bard’s classic, transported to the shores of Hawaii.

Our Country’s Good Redwood Amphiteatre, Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake, Ross; www.porchlight.net. $15-30. Thu-Sun, 7:30pm. Through Sept 8. Porchlight Theatre Company presents an outdoor performance of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play about Royal Marines and prisoners in an 18th century New South Wales prison colony.

Precious Little Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; www.shotgunplayers.org. $18-25. Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat/1 and Sept 8, 3pm); Sun, 5pm. Through Sept 16. Shotgun Players presents Madeleine George’s new play about an expectant mother who studies near-dead languages and befriends a “talking” gorilla.

Time Stands Still TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, SF; www.theatreworks.org. $23-73. Tue-Wed, 7:30pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Sept 16. TheatreWorks performs Donald Marguelis’ drama about a couple — one a photojournalist, one a war correspondent — struggling with their recent experiences covering a war.

PERFORMANCE/DANCE

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, B350 Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF; www.improv.org. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 8. $10-25. This week: “The Fosse Posse and From Scratch” (Thu/30); “Romantic Comedy Musical” (Fri/1); “Bond…Improvised Bond” (Sat/2).

“Elect to Laugh” Studio Theater, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. Tue, 8pm. Through Nov 6. $15-50. Veteran political comedian Will Durst emphasizes he’s watching the news and keeping track of the presidential race “so you don’t have to.” No kidding, it sounds like brutal work for anyone other than a professional comedian — for whom alone it must be Willy Wonka’s edible Eden of delicious material. Durst deserves thanks for ingesting this material and converting it into funny, but between the ingesting and out-jesting there’s the risk of turning too palatable what amounts to a deeply offensive excuse for a democratic process, as we once again hurtle and are herded toward another election-year November, with its attendant massive anticlimax and hangover already so close you can touch them. Durst knows his politics and comedy backwards and forwards, and the evolving show, which pops up at the Marsh every Tuesday in the run-up to election night, offers consistent laughs born on his breezy, infectious delivery. One just wishes there were some alternative political universe that also made itself known alongside the deft two-party sportscasting. (Avila)

“RAWdance presents the Concept Series: 12” 66 Sanchez Studio, SF; www.rawdance.org. Sat/1-Sun/2, 8pm (also Sun/2, 3pm). Pay what you can. Informal and intimate salon of contemporary dance, with Smith/Wymore Disappearing Acts, Yayoi Kambara, Palanza Dance, detour dance, and Chris Black.

Brian Regan Cobb’s, 915 Columbus, SF; www.cobbscomedyclub.com. Fri/31, 8 and 10:15pm; Sat/1, 7:30 and 9:45pm. $45. The comedian performs a rare club date.

“The Romane Event Comedy Show” Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St, SF; www.pacoromane.com. Wed/29, 8pm. $10. Comedy with Joe Tobin, Mike Spiegelman, Sergio Barajas, Sandra Risser, and host Amy Miller.

“Tagabanua” Union Square Park, Geary and Stockton, SF; www.kularts.org. Sun/2, 2pm. Free. Kularts attempts a world record for largest Palawan dance event with an outdoor performance of Jay Loyola’s folkloric work. Learn the choreography at Kularts’ website and join the flash mob.

Enter the abyss: Gay men draw vaginas (and you can too!)

Andrew Lam
-
4

A black whorl navigated by a rowboat. A luscious pair of pink lips, gaping wide. Earmuffs, a box of muffins, a crawling rodent and a wide-eyed kittycat. All at once. Such is Anthony of New York City’s intrepretation of female genitalia. Gay men draw the darndest things! Writer Shannon O’Malley and photographer Keith Wilson — the same team behind the macabre-beloved Apocalypse Cakes — have cobbled together a whimsical Tumblr of such images, donated from around the country. Plus, they invite all comers to draw vag imaginings of their own at Dolores Park Gay Beach art parties (the next one is Sept. 2, fyi.) 

Why is this happening? We emailed the two to find out.

SFBG: Why are you having the gays draw vaginas?

Shannon O’Malley: I want to know what they think of vaginas. No one really knows. Sometimes gay guys say they are afraid of them. But some of them revere the vag. It’s all so complex. It’s neat to tease out all this convoluted psycho-sexual-cultural stuff through drawing. We’re collecting lots of vaginas and putting them all in a book called Gay Men Draw Vaginas, which we are self-publishing by the end of the year. We are already enthralled with the drawings we’ve collected thus far, so I can’t wait to see what the entire collection is going to look like.

Keith Wilson: As a gay myself, I wanted to see what other homos thought about the lady part that baffles us. Aside from some amazing visual insights into the vagina, it’s also led to some entertaining (and important!) conversations about the vagina versus the asshole and how one is gross but the other is to be worshipped. Sometimes they turn into heated arguments about gay men’s disrespect for women’s bodies and gay male social power blah blah blah. Awesome.

SFBG: Where have you held the drawings?

KW: I hold them between my legs.

SO: Recently, we held a mass public collection at Castro and Market one Sunday. And we’ve had one at my house. That was a party that happened to be full of a lot of guys, so I put pens and markers in front of them and asked them to whip up some vaginas. But spontaneous vag art can happen at any time, at any place.

SFBG: How would you characterize the vagina drawings you’ve seen?

SO: A lot of them attempt to visually replicate a vagina. But a minority are more conceptual. We have several dentatas. Lots of flowers. Some are on the rag.

KW: The drawings so far have been way more diverse than I thought. As we build our inventory, I see some categories of inspiration emerging: animals, Georgia O’Keefe, the all-pink palette, floral, and gestural.

 

Gay Men Draw Vaginas Drawfest #2

Sept. 2, 1pm, free

Gay Beach, Dolores Park

facebook.com/gaymendrawvag

 

Our Weekly Picks: August 22-28

Andrew Lam
-
0

WEDNESDAY 22

Time Stands Still

The Tony-nominated (Best Play 2010) play Time Stands Still comes to Theatreworks Mountain View, after the hugely successful Broadway run starring Laura Linney. The play, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies, is the intriguing story of a couple traumatized by their work in Afghanistan — one as a photojournalist, one as a print journalist. Margulies explores how they attempt, through their professions, to bring insight into the US occupation. The central theme explored is the division between the professional and personal, and how nonexistent the line between the two can become, when a journalists’ foreign correspondent work is so emotionally taxing. While the play works on a larger political scope about the implications of US foreign policy, soldiers, and civilian deaths, the perspective is told through the couple, exploring what drives them to this dangerous profession. (Shauna C. Keddy)

8pm, $31–$51

Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts

500 Castro, Mountain View

(650)- 903- 6000

www.theatreworks.org

 

AM and Shawn Lee

London-based musician-producer Shawn Lee has established himself as one of the foremost retro-futurists currently in on the scene. Recalling the prolificacy of John Zorn, the aesthetic consistency of Stereolab, and the endearingly hokey escapism of a Martin Denny record, Lee has stumbled upon a winning balance between exotica and funk. Based in LA, indie-popster AM takes a similarly exotic approach, and having toured with Air and Caetano Veloso, he seems due for a Lee collaboration. So, things should get interesting when the two join forces on the Cafe Du Nord stage, cranking out space-age-bachelor-pad music with a singer-songwriter’s touch. (Taylor Kaplan)

With Nina Moschella

8pm, $12

Cafe Du Nord

2170 Market, SF

(415) 861-5016

 www.cafedunord.com


THURSDAY 23

Kool A.D.

Victor Vazquez, a.k.a. Kool A.D., represents one third of Das Racist, the politico-rap genius group that brought us the viral hit “Combination KFC and Taco Bell” in 2008. Though Das Racist hails from Queens, Kool A.D. grew up in San Francisco, and lately he’s been getting back to hit roots on the best coast. 51, Kool A.D.’s brand new mixtape, was recorded in Oakland and features an impressive array of local talent, including budding rap duo Main Attraktionz and longtime artist and activist Boots Riley. The lyrics, which continue Das Racist’s tradition of quick wit and scathing sociopolitical criticism, are peppered with Bay-centric references. Victor, it’s good to have you back. (Haley Zaremba)

With Fat Tony, Main Attraktionz, Trackademics, Kech Phrase

9pm, $20

New Parish

579 18th St., Oakl.

(510) 444-7474

www.thenewparish.com

 

The Iguanas

Formed in New Orleans back in 1989, the Iguanas quickly started blending a host of musical and cultural influences, drawing inspiration from each of the members’ backgrounds, ranging from Latin and Mexican sounds to the deep rooted styles of Southern blues and country, all boiled together in a rockin’ gumbo befitting their adopted hometown. Their latest record, Sin To Sin, came out this past April, full of the same fiery spirit and attitude that kept them going even after having to leave the Big Easy for a time after Hurricane Katrina. (Sean McCourt)

With Beso Negro

8pm, $16

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com


FRIDAY 24

Mica Sigourney’s Work MORE! #5

This latest iteration of the searching, always surprising drag performance event curated by VivvyAnne ForeverMORE! (drag alter ego of artist Mica Sigourney) promises to be one of the coziest, most unusual, maybe least comfortable, maybe more exciting yet. Again blurring the line between nightlife and theater realms, this weekend’s show divides the stage into quadrants, in each of which unfolds a distinct time-based performance as audiences press in and rotate through sort of haunted-house style. In addition to ForeverMORE!, the drag queens, dancers, visual artists, and designers participating include Diamanda Callas, John Foster Cartwright, Liz Tenuto, Mona G. Hawd, Tessa Wills, and Martha T. Lipton (the failed actress). (Robert Avila)

Fri/24-Sun/26, 8pm, $15–$20

CounterPULSE

1310 Mission Street, San Francisco

(415) 626-2060

www.counterpulse.org

 

Cannibal Corpse

Buffalo, New York’s death metal deity Cannibal Corpse is about to celebrate 25 years of brutality, and the band is gearing up for the anniversary with the Summer Slaughter tour, a national run that includes a laundry list of some of death metal’s biggest and blackest names. The tour coincides with the release of its 12th album Torture, a seamless continuation of the group’s signature pounding cacophony and ultra-violent lyrical content. Cannibal Corpse’s flair for all things horrific has lead to its music being banned in several countries throughout its career. So metal. (Zaremba)

With Between the Buried and Me, The Faceless, Periphery, Veil of Maya, Job for a Cowboy, Goatwhore, Exhumed, Cerebral Bore

2:30pm, $32.50

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-6000

www.thefillmore.com

 

The Very Best

The Very Best’s latest album MTMTMK represents the first time the band recorded as a duo, following the departure of original member, Parisian producer Etienne Tron. If anything, Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and London-based producer Johan Hugo have turned up the intensity, setting an uplifting tone throughout the album. Mwamwaya alternates between English and his native Chewan, and his ascending vocals provide a sharp contrast to Hugo’s quick and bass-heavy club beats. Hugo adds in enough Afrobeat and reggae to keep listeners engaged. Renowned African musicians K’Naan, Baaba Maal and Amadou a Mariam all make supportive cameos. (Kevin Lee)

With Seye, Palner, Miles the DJ

9pm, $15

Mezzanine

444 Jessie, SF

(415) 625-8880

www.mezzaninesf.com


SATURDAY 25

Foreverland

Michael Jackson might be moonwalking around the giant amusement park in the sky, but Foreverland won’t stop ’til we get enough. This time, SF’s premiere tribute act to the King of Pop is going all out, adding a string section to its 14-piece lineup, and for good reason; this August marks not only MJ’s 54th birthday, but the 25th anniversary of Bad (1987), as well. Ever wanted to hear “Smooth Criminal,” embellished by a team of six percussionists? Or, “The Way You Make Me Feel,” with the dynamics of a live band replacing the, arguably, dated ’80s production sound? (Sorry, Quincy Jones.) Then, jump on it! (Kaplan)

9pm, $22

Bimbo’s 365 Club

1025 Columbus, SF

(415) 474-0365

www.bimbos365club.com

 

Rock the Bells

With an impressive list of both up-and-coming acts and long prevailing hip-hop royalty, this weekend’s Rock the Bells fest is bound to be a titillating conglomerate of endless styles and sounds. Look to A$AP Rocky chanting effortless swag while transforming the typical rhythm and rhyme in to a codeine-infused fusion of his favorite regional influences. Or J Cole to worry earnestly aloud about 21st-century problems, set to 1990s jazz beats. But at the end of the night, leave it to masters like DMX and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, who have stood the test of the Internet boom and Tumblr rap-craze, to show how certain thematic and lyrical concerns have continued to stay in focus throughout the last decade in hip-hop. (Soojin Chang)

11am, $265 for two-day tickets

Shoreline Amphitheatre

1 Amphitheatre, Mountain View

www.rockthebells.net

 

Slaughter By The Water

Looking for a real “heavy metal” festival? How about one that takes place on 33,000 tons of floating steel? Hosted by Testament’s Chuck Billy, Slaughter By The Water 3 features Bay Area thrash legends Exodus, along with Autopsy, Impaled, Philm, Fog of War, Severed Fifth and more, all performing on the USS Hornet, a World War II era aircraft carrier that is now a museum in Alameda. In addition to the Hornet’s legendary combat service, it is also purportedly one of the most haunted ships in the world — will a day and night of blasting metal be enough to wake and raise the dead? Find out at one of the most unique shows to come along in some time. (Sean McCourt)

Pier Stage: noon-9pm, free

Main Stage: 5:30-12:30am, $35–$45

USS Hornet

707 W. Hornet Ave., Pier 3, Alameda

www.slaughterbythewater.com


SUNDAY 26

Theophilus London

The charismatic and eclectic Theophilus London gained notoriety by splicing together a few clever bootleg compilations. The Trinidad-born, New York-based emcee rhymes over Bill Withers and Kraftwerk while slipping in some original works on 2009’s “This Charming Mixtape.” In last year’s debut LP “Timez Are Weird These Days,” (Warner Bros.) London crooned over indie pop, new wave, and electro-tinged productions. Latest mixtape “Rose Island Vol. 1” sees London switch back to rhymes, while borrowing from Wang Chung, Marvin Gaye and Big Boi. Confused yet? Outside of music, London is setting trends and foraying into fashion design. London’s recently released $360 rose-embroidered velvet slippers could describe the tastemaker himself — smooth, stylish, and perhaps just a touch showy. (Lee)

With Iamsu and Antwon

8pm, $20 Mezzanine

444 Jessie, SF

(415) 625-8880

www.mezzaninesf.com


MONDAY 27

Maurya Kerr/tiny pistol

This coming Monday at Z Space will be both depressing and exhilarating. Maurya Kerr, a 12-year Alonzo King Lines Ballet dancer whose career in 2006 prematurely ended due to injury, will present the first full evening of her own choreography. At the same time, her concert will be the curtain call for San Francisco’s long running WestWave Dance Festival, which, during its 21 years, presented 523 choreographers, 393 world premieres and 2,092 performances. Kerr, who has been choreographing around the country, made her WestWave debut last year with “Billy Tate,” a finely crafted solo whose thrust strongly communicated Kerr’s artistic intent. For this concert she and her nine tiny pistol dancers are preparing three works: “Buck” (2011), “Sick with Joy” (2011), and the world premiere of “FreakShow”, an exploration of otherness. (Rita Felciano)

8pm, $18–$23

Z Space

450 Florida, SF

www.zspace.org

www.brownpapertickets.com

 

Bomb the Music Industry!

New York’s Bomb the Music Industry! likes to do things its own way. Since 2004, the band has been recording its spastic ska-punk in basements and bedrooms, releasing it for free, encouraging fans to make their own T-shirts and bring their own instruments to shows, and generally just doing its best to stir things up. Beyond the DIY charm, Bomb the Music Industry! produces some of the funniest, most poignant music you’ll never hear. The songs are a little too heavy on inside jokes and the recordings a little too raw for the band to ever reach mass appeal, making it one of independent music’s best-kept secrets. Sadly, being this underground is not exactly lucrative. The band has announced that this summer likely marks its final tour. You won’t want to miss it. (Zaremba)

With Classics of Love, Street Eaters, Point of View

8:30pm, $9

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 626-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

 

Clipd Beaks

Post-punk? Indie rock? Industrial? Like TV on the Radio, or Liars, Oakland’s Clipd Beaks like to keep us guessing, and for that reason, they’re one of the most fascinating outfits the Bay Area has to offer. Taking thorny, decidedly un-hooky hooks, and drowning them in dense layers of reverb and noise, Clipd Beaks is much more production-focused than your average five-piece rock band. (Kaplan)

With Creepers, Feral Kizzy, Disappearing People, DJ Longhairs

9pm, $5

Elbo Room

647 Valencia, SF

(415) 552-7788

www.elbo.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.

Stage Listings

Andrew Lam
-
0

Stage listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, and Nicole Gluckstern. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

THEATER

OPENING

Daughter of the Red Tzar Thick House Theatre, 1695 18th St, SF; www.thickhouse.org. $30. Opens Fri/24, 8pm. Runs Sat-Sun and Aug 31, 8pm. Through Sept 2. ScolaVox and First Look Sonoma present the world premiere of Lisa Scola-Prosek’s chamber opera about a meeting between Churchill, Stalin, and Stalin’s teenage daughter.

BAY AREA

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. $32-60. Previews Fri/24-Sat/23 and Aug 29, 8pm; Sun/26, 2pm; Tue/28, 7pm. Opens Aug 30, 8pm. Runs Tue and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm); Wed-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 30. Aurora Theatre Company opens its 21st season with Kristoffer Diaz’s comedy about pro wrestlers.

The Fisherman’s Wife La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; www.impacttheatre.com. $10-20. Previews Thu/23-Fri/24, 8pm. Opens Sat/25, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 29. Impact Theatre performs Steve Yockey’s tentacle-porn-inspired sex farce.

Time Stands Still TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro, SF; www.theatreworks.org. $23-73. Previews Wed/22-Fri/24, 8pm. Opens Sat/25, 8pm. Runs Tue-Wed, 7:30pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through Sept 16. TheatreWorks performs Donald Marguelis’ drama about a couple — one a photojournalist, one a war correspondent — struggling with their recent experiences covering a war.

ONGOING

Believers Stage Werx, 446 Valencia, SF; www.wilywestproductions.com. $20-25. Thu/23-Sat/25, 8pm. As a couple of research scientists and a former couple to boot, Rocky Wise (Casey Fern) and Grace Wright (Maria Giere Marquis) are simply mad about love in Wily West’s world premiere of local playwright Patricia Milton’s exuberant but patchy comedy. Employed by a small, less than scrupulous pharmaceutical firm reeling from a product recall and attendant lawsuits, reclusive Rocky toils away after a formula for a drug that will inoculate the user against love — a secret agenda of his own inspired by the broken heart Grace left him with several years earlier. His boss (a comically brassy Jon Fast) thinks he’s working on a commissioned "love activator," and to that end woos back former employee Grace to keep the fires burning in the lab. The strained reunion does the trick, if not exactly in the way intended. Meanwhile, a wacky born-again receptionist (Kate Jones) —"only recently come to the Lord" (and her Texan drawl by the sound of it) — fields calls from desperate people in a world despoiled by corporate greed and seemingly already in the throes of the end times. There are some moments worthy of a titter or two, but director Sara Staley’s cast is less than precise or compelling with dialogue that is already hit-and-miss. Despite a promising scenario, Believers remains too uneven and muddled to generate much love beyond the stage. (Avila)

Dog Sees God Boxcar Playhouse, 505 Natoma, SF; www.boxcartheatre.org. $16. Wed/22-Sat/25, 8pm. There was always a lightly subversive if not latently radical bent to Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts strip, with its implicit championing of nonconformity, its restless and half-confused longing, and its convincing blend of gentleness and cruelty. Playwright Bert V. Royal mines it all with inspired confidence and fighting spirit in his portrait of the Peanuts gang as a fractured set of contemporary fucked-up if formidable teens. First among them is a sullen but resilient CB (Andrew Humann), blockhead of the title, reeling from the death of his dog and his awakened love for broodingly gifted, deeply estranged pal Beethoven (Bobby Conte-Thornton). In Boxcar’s winning production, the boisterous, often hilarious and poignant story — which includes real-life issues of grief, abuse, abortion, homophobia, and suicide — comes animated by a talented and thoroughly persuasive young cast under beautifully calibrated direction by artistic director Nick A. Olivero. (Avila)

Les Misérables Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market, SF; www.bestofbroadway-sf.com. $83-155. Wed/22-Sat/25, 8pm (also Wed/22 and Sat/25, 2pm); Sun/26, 2pm. SHN’s Best of Broadway series brings to town the new 25th anniversary production of Cameron Mackintosh’s musical giant, based on the novel by Victor Hugo. The revival at the Orpheum does without the famous rotating stage but nevertheless spares no expense or artistry in rendering the show’s barrage of colorful Romantic scenes (with Matt Kinley’s scenic design drawing painterly inspiration from Hugo’s own oils) or its larger-than-life characters — first and foremost Jean Valjean (a slim but passionate Peter Lockyer), nemesis Javert (Andrew Varela), and rescued orphan beauty Cosette (Lauren Wiley). Chris Jahnke contributes new orchestrations to the rollicking original score by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music) and Herbert Kretzmer (lyrics) in this flagrantly sentimental, somewhat problematic but still-stirring meld of music and melodrama in dutiful overlapping service of box office treasure and powerful humanist aspirations. (Avila)

My Fair Lady SF Playhouse, 533 Sutter, SF; www.sfplayhouse.org. $30-70. Tue-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm). Through Sept 29. SF Playhouse and artistic director Bill English (who helms) offer a swift, agreeable production of the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical, based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. The iconic class-conscious storyline revolves around a cocky linguist named Higgins (Johnny Moreno) who bets colleague Colonel Pickering (Richard Frederick) he can transform an irritable flower girl, Eliza Doolittle (Monique Hafen), into a "lady" and pass her off in high society. A battle of wills and wits ensues — interlarded with the "tragedy" of Alfred Doolittle (a shrewd and gleaming Charles Dean) and his reluctant upward fall into respectability — and love (at least in the musical version) triumphs. The songs ("Wouldn’t It Be Loverly," "I Could Have Danced All Night," "Get Me to the Church on Time," and the rest) remain evergreen in the cast’s spirited performances, supported by two offstage pianos (brought to life by David Dobrusky and musical director Greg Mason) and nimble choreography from Kimberly Richards. Hafen’s Eliza is especially admirable, projecting in dialogue and song a winning combination of childlike innocence and feminine potency. Moreno’s Higgins is also good, unusually virile yet heady too, a convincingly flawed if charming egotist. And Frederick, who adds a passing hint of homoerotic energy to his portrayal of the devoted Pickering, is gently funny and wholly sympathetic. (Avila)

The Princess Bride: Live! Dark Room Theater, 2263 Mission, SF; foulplaysf.com/princessbride. $20. Thu/23-Sat/25, 8pm. Dark Room Productions presents a live tribute to the cult fairy-tale movie.

Rights of Passage New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Previews Wed/22-Fri/24, 8pm. Opens Sat/25, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 16. New Conservatory Theatre Center presents the world premiere of Ed Decker and Robert Leone’s multimedia play, inspired by global human rights laws in relation to sexual orientation.

Vital Signs Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sat/25, 8:30pm. The Marsh San Francisco presents Alison Whittaker’s behind-the-scenes look at nursing in America.

The Waiting Period MainStage, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Fri, 8pm (starting Sept 6: also Thu, 8pm); Sat, 5pm. Extended through Sept 29. Brian Copeland (comedian, TV and radio personality, and creator-performer of the long-running solo play Not a Genuine Black Man) returns to the Marsh with a new solo, this one based on more recent and messier events` in Copeland’s life. The play concerns an episode of severe depression in which he considered suicide, going so far as to purchase a handgun — the title coming from the legally mandatory 10-day period between purchasing and picking up the weapon, which leaves time for reflections and circumstances that ultimately prevent Copeland from pulling the trigger. A grim subject, but Copeland (with co-developer and director David Ford) ensures there’s plenty of humor as well as frank sentiment along the way. The actor peoples the opening scene in the gun store with a comically if somewhat stereotypically rugged representative of the Second Amendment, for instance, as well as an equally familiar "doood" dude at the service counter. Afterward, we follow Copeland, a just barely coping dad, home to the house recently abandoned by his wife, and through the ordinary routines that become unbearable to the clinically depressed. Copeland also recreates interviews he’s made with other survivors of suicidal depression. Telling someone about such things is vital to preventing their worst outcomes, says Copeland, and telling his own story is meant to encourage others. It’s a worthy aim but only a fitfully engaging piece, since as drama it remains thin, standing at perhaps too respectful a distance from the convoluted torment and alienation at its center. (Avila)

War Horse Curran Theatre, 445 Geary, SF; www.shnsf.com. $31-300. Wed-Sat, 8pm (also Wed and Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through Sept 9. The juggernaut from the National Theatre of Great Britain, via Broadway and the Tony Awards, has pulled into the Curran for its Bay Area bow. The life-sized puppets are indeed all they’re cracked up to be; and the story of a 16-year-old English farm boy (Andrew Veenstra) who searches for his beloved horse through the trenches of the Somme Valley during World War I, while peppered with much elementary humor too, is a good cry for those so inclined. The claim to being an antiwar play is only true to the extent that any war-is-hell backdrop and a plea for tolerance count a melodrama as "antiwar," but this is not Mother Courage and no serious attempt is made to investigate the subject. Closer to say it’s Lassie Come Home where Lassie is a horse — very ably brought to life by Handspring Puppet Company’s ingenious puppeteers and designers, and amid a transporting and generally riveting mise-en-scène (complete with pointedly stirring live and recorded music). But the simplistic storyline and its obvious, somewhat ham-fisted resolution (adapted by Nick Stafford from Michael Morpurgo’s novel) are too formulaic to be taken that seriously. And at two-and-a-half-hours, it’s a long time coming. A shorter war, the Falklands say, would have done just as well and gotten people out before the ride began to chafe. (Avila)

BAY AREA

Circle Mirror Transformation Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. $20-57. Wed/22, 7:30pm; Thu/23-Sat/25, 8pm (also Sat/25, 2pm); Sun/26, 2 and 7pm. Annie Baker has enjoyed a wave of Bay Area premieres this year, beginning with Aurora’s sharp staging of Body Awareness, followed by SF Playhouse’s triumph with The Aliens. Now Marin Theatre Company and co-producers Encore Theatre Company offer Baker’s other "Vermont play," set in a community center drama therapy class run by baby-boomer groovy lady Marty (Julia Brothers). She’s joined in a series of drama exercises (and ill-masked personal convolutions) by her husband James (L. Peter Callender), fretting over his estrangement from his daughter by his first marriage; Schultz (Robert Parsons), a middle-aged recent divorcé smitten with the cute girl in the class; Theresa (Arwen Anderson), said cute girl, a nubile 30-something and recent New York transplant; and Lauren (Marissa Keltie), a reluctant, cloudy teen perpetually absent her mother’s check for the class. If Boxcar Theatre’s current production, Dog Sees God, builds flesh and bone from a comic strip, Baker’s amusing, bite-sized scenes (separated by blackouts) tend to lean in the other direction. Despite elaboration of a certain dramatic metaphor flagged in the title, the play’s thematic possibilities are restrained by an easy if highly palatable humor that flirts knowingly with caricature but to only middling affect. There’s a move in the final scene that nicely expands the reach of the action, but that limited if affecting turn is two hours in the making. That said, this fine production insures it’s no great burden getting there. The cast under director Kip Fagan is uniformly enjoyable. Brothers is terrific in giving Marty a bounding personality and just enough ambiguity to make her positive vibes suspect, and Callender finds wonderful opportunities for fleshing out the character of a charming but frustrated man who has not realized his potential. Parsons’ at first foolishly giddy then bitterly imploded Schultz is wholly convincing opposite Anderson’s zany but compelling Theresa. And Keltie’s sly and sullen teen is rightly the smartest tool in the shed. (Avila)

For the Greater Good, Or The Last Election This week: Montclair Ball Field, Montclair; www.sfmt.org. Free (donations accepted). Thu/23, 7pm. Willard Park, Berk; www.sfmt.org. Free (donations accepted). Sat/25-Sun/26, 2pm. Various venues through Sept. 8. "Don’t they understand that without us they don’t have anything?" asks Gideon Bloodgood (Ed Holmes), investment banker at the top of the San Francisco Mime Troupe’s vivisection of the "real" American Dream, For the Greater Good, Or the Last Election. But surely the hero of a Mime Troupe show cannot possibly be a billionaire? Well, sort of. Though Bloodgood enriches himself dishonestly with precarious investments and outright theft in this Occupy-era melodrama, he actually does occasionally spare a sentiment for Mom and apple pie, or anyway his daughter Alida (Lisa Hori-Garcia) and cookies baked by the unsuspecting victim of his ill-gotten gains, the Widow Fairweather (Keiko Shimosato Carreiro) — now living at the last Occupy encampment standing in the city. Alida, however, displays no compunction in throwing aside his affection and her prospective seat in Congress, running off to join the occupiers for reasons that truthfully appear about as politically motivated as her father’s parasitic avarice, leaving him to join forces instead with the most unlikely of allies — the impeccable, ingenuous Lucy Fairweather (Velina Brown), heiress to a stolen legacy, and staunch patriot. Based loosely on 19th century play The Poor of New York, The Last Election attempts to turn a presumptive ode to the free market into its swan song with good-humored, if predictable, results. (Gluckstern)

Happy Hour with Kim Jong Il Cabaret at the Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 826-5750,l www.themarsh.org. Free. Fri/24, 6pm. Comedy work-in-progress by Kenny Yun, with live music by cabaret singer Candace Roberts.

Henry V Sequoia High School, 1201 Brewster, Redwood City; www.redwoodcity.org. Free. Sat/25, 7:30pm; Sun/26, 2pm. San Francisco Shakespeare Festival presents the Bard’s history play as part of its "Free Shakespeare in the Park" series.

Keith Moon/The Real Me TheaterStage at the March Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sept 13, 20, and 27, 8pm. Mike Berry workshops his new musical, featuring ten classic Who songs performed with a live band.

The Kipling Hotel: True Misadventures of the Electric Pink ’80s Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $20-50. Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Extended through Oct 14. This new autobiographical solo show by Don Reed, writer-performer of the fine and long-running East 14th, is another slice of the artist’s journey from 1970s Oakland ghetto to comedy-circuit respectability — here via a partial debate-scholarship to UCLA. The titular Los Angeles residency hotel was where Reed lived and worked for a time in the 1980s while attending university. It’s also a rich mine of memory and material for this physically protean and charismatic comic actor, who sails through two acts of often hilarious, sometimes touching vignettes loosely structured around his time on the hotel’s young wait staff, which catered to the needs of elderly patrons who might need conversation as much as breakfast. On opening night, the episodic narrative seemed to pass through several endings before settling on one whose tidy moral was delivered with too heavy a hand, but if the piece runs a little long, it’s only the last 20 minutes that noticeably meanders. And even with some awkward bumps along the way, it’s never a dull thing watching Reed work. (Avila)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Forest Meadows Amphitheater, 890 Belle, Dominican University of California, San Rafael; www.marinshakespeare.org. $20-35. Check website for schedule. Through Sept 30. Marin Shakespeare Company performs the Bard’s classic, transported to the shores of Hawaii.

Our Country’s Good Redwood Amphiteatre, Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake, Ross; www.porchlight.net. $15-30. Thu-Sun, 7:30pm. Through Sept 8. Porchlight Theatre Company presents an outdoor performance of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play about Royal Marines and prisoners in an 18th century New South Wales prison colony.

Precious Little Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; www.shotgunplayers.org. $18-25. Wed-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sept 1 and 8, 3pm); Sun, 5pm. Through Sept 16. Shotgun Players presents Madeleine George’s new play about an expectant mother who studies near-dead languages and befriends a "talking" gorilla.

PERFORMANCE/DANCE

"Along the Way" Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St, SF; www.caitlinelliotdance.com, www.detourdance.com. Fri/24-Sun/26, 8pm. $15-30. Caitlin Elliott Dance Collective and Detour Dance present this evening of world premieres, including performances Fancy and Imitations of Intimacy, and the dance film Pedestrian Crossing.

BATS Improv Bayfront Theater, B350 Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF; www.improv.org. Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through Sept 8. $10-25. This week: "Original Broadway Cast and Moments of Transition" (Thu/23); "Double Feature" (Fri/24); "The Naked Stage" (Sat/25).

Circus Finelli 50 Mason Social House, 50 Mason, SF; www.circusfinelli.com. Thu/23, 7-10pm. $6. Clowns, cocktails, comedy, and klezmer rule in this performance of "Big Time and Little Something’s Big Adventure."

"Elect to Laugh" Studio Theater, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. Tue, 8pm. Through Nov 6. $15-50. Veteran political comedian Will Durst emphasizes he’s watching the news and keeping track of the presidential race "so you don’t have to." No kidding, it sounds like brutal work for anyone other than a professional comedian — for whom alone it must be Willy Wonka’s edible Eden of delicious material. Durst deserves thanks for ingesting this material and converting it into funny, but between the ingesting and out-jesting there’s the risk of turning too palatable what amounts to a deeply offensive excuse for a democratic process, as we once again hurtle and are herded toward another election-year November, with its attendant massive anticlimax and hangover already so close you can touch them. Durst knows his politics and comedy backwards and forwards, and the evolving show, which pops up at the Marsh every Tuesday in the run-up to election night, offers consistent laughs born on his breezy, infectious delivery. One just wishes there were some alternative political universe that also made itself known alongside the deft two-party sportscasting. (Avila)

"Jump Into Dance! ODC School Family Day Open House" ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell, SF; www.odcdance.org. Sun/26, 8:45am-3:30pm. Free. Children, teens, and their families are invited to check out the ODC School Youth and Teen Program, with sample dance classes and faculty on hand to answer questions.

Rome Kanda Main Pagoda Stage, Japantown’s Peace Plaza, Geary and Buchanan, SF; www.j-pop.com. Sat/25, 2:30pm; Sun/26, 1pm. Free. The Japanese comedian stops by the J-Pop Summit Festival for a stage appearance and signing of his new digital manga series, Samurai Spirit: The Story of Rome Kanda.

Maurya Kerr/tinypistol Z Space, 450 Florida, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Mon/27, 8pm. $18-23. WestWave Dance presents this evening of works, including world premiere FreakShow.

"Measure for Measure" Café Royale, 800 Post, SF; sftheaterpub.wordpress.com. Mon/27, 8pm. Free ($5 suggested donation). SF Theater Pub performs the Shakespeare play.

"San Francisco Drag King Contest" DNA Lounge, 375 11th St, SF; www.sfdragkingcontest.com. Thu/23, 9pm. $20-35. The popular, raucous contest returns for its 17th annual incarnation.

"San Francisco Improv Festival" Eureka Theater, 215 Jackson, SF; www.sfimprovfestival.com. Wed/22-Sat/25. $5-35. With local improv talent including BATS Improv, Un-Scripted Theater Company, San Jose ComedySportz, and more.

"Sea Music Festival" San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, Hyde Street Pier, SF; nps.gov/safr. Sat/25, 9:30am-5pm. $5 (15 and under, free). Singers, intrumentalists, and dance troupes perform in celebration of maritime heritage to coincide with the America’s Cup races.

"Soundwave 5: Revelation Zen" San Francisco Zen Center, 300 Page, SF; www.projectsoundwave.com. Sat/25, 6-9pm. $12-25. Performances by En, Sean McCann, and Marielle V. Jakobsons.

"Work More!" CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. Thu/24-Sat/26, 8pm. $15-20. Theater performance meets nightlife experience in this drag installation with Mica Sigourney/VivvyAnne ForeverMORE and Ox.

Music Listings

Andrew Lam
-
0

Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead or check the venue’s website to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Visit www.sfbg.com/venue-guide for venue information. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

WEDNESDAY 22

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Am & Shawn Lee, Nino Moschella Cafe Du Nord. 8pm, $12-$14.

Emperor Norton Lost Church, 65 Capp, SF; thelostchurch.com. 8pm, $10-$20.

Keith Crossan Blues Showcase with Tom Pollitzer Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Nobunny, Apache Dropout, Burnt Ones Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $10.

Ocha La Rocha, Sweet Chariot Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $8-$10.

Pine, Band Practice, Lady Stardust Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8.

Terry Savastano Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Greg Zema vs JC Rockit Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Cat’s Corner with Nathan Dias Savanna Jazz. 9pm, $10.

Barbara Cook Rrazz Room. 8pm, $55-$75.

Cosmo AlleyCats Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo Place, SF; www.lecolonialsf.com. 7-10pm.

Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho, Eric Garland’s Jazz Session Amnesia. 7pm, free.

Kenny Neal Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $15; 10pm, $22.

Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 6:30pm, $5.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita MORE! and Joshua J host this dance party.

Coo-Yah! Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. DJs Daneekah and Green B spin reggae and dancehall with weekly guests.

Full-Step! Tunnel Top. 10pm, free. Hip-hop, reggae, soul, and funk with DJs Kung Fu Chris and Bizzi Wonda.

Mary Go Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 10pm, $5. Drag with Suppositori Spelling, Mercedez Munro, and Ginger Snap.

Megatallica Fiddler’s Green, 1333 Columbus, SF; www.megatallica.com. 7pm, free. Heavy metal hangout.

Shutter Elbo Room. 10pm, $5. With DJs Nako, Omar, and Justin.

THURSDAY 23

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Alex Clare Mezzanine. 8pm, $10.53.

Animal Kingdom, Atlas Genius, popscene DJs Rickshaw Stop. 9:30pm, $13.

Bayonics, Comet Empire, Edison, Beautiful Machines, Pollux, BangBang Slim’s. 7pm, free.

El Cajon, Steakhouse, Warbler Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Gunshy Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

John Lee Hooker Jr. Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.

Iguanas, Beso Negro Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $16.

Eleni Mandell, David Dondero, SHEL Cafe Du Nord. 8pm, $12-$14.

Two Star Symphony, Not An Airplane, Fleeting Trance Amnesia. 9pm, $10.

Matthew Stewart, Paige and the Thousand, Roem Baur Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 7pm, $10.

St. Valentinez, Handshake, Fever Charm Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Rags Tuttle vs Greg Zema Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Barbara Cook Rrazz Room. 8pm, $55-$75.

Ned Boyton Trio Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 7-10pm.

Lydia Pense & Cold Blood Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $16; 10pm, $20.

Savanna Jazz Jam with Eddy Ramirez Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $5.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Kentucky Twisters Atlas Cafe, 3049 20th St, SF; www.atlascafe.net. 8-10pm, free.

Twang! Honky Tonk Fiddler’s Green, 1330 Columbus, SF; www.twanghonkytonk.com. 5pm. Live country music, dancing, and giveaways.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $8. With Funk Ark, and DJ-host Pleasuremaker spins Afrobeat, Tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

Get Low Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. Jerry Nice and Ant-1 spin Hip-Hop, ’80s and Soul with weekly guests.

Thursdays at the Cat Club Cat Club. 9pm, $6 (free before 9:30pm). The best of the 80s with DJs Damon, Steve Washington, Dangerous Dan, and guests.

Tropicana Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, free. Salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and more with DJs Don Bustamante, Apocolypto, Sr. Saen, Santero, and Mr. E.

FRIDAY 24

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Alan Evans Trio Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 10pm, $5-$13.

Albino!, Fog Dub Elbo Room. 10pm, $10.

American Steel, Reckless Kind, Ilona Staller Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.

Be My Baby: Hot Toddies, She’s, DJs Wham Bam Ashleyanne and the Whiz Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $10.

Easy Leaves, Alison Harris and the Barn Owl, TV Mike and the Scarecrows, Emily Bonn and the Vivants Independent. 8pm, $12.

Rick Estrin & the Nightcats Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Fast Times Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $10.

Hank 3, Hellbilly, Attention Deficit Domination, 3 Bar Ranch Regency Ballroom. 8:30pm, $28.

Mermen, Red Meat Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $15.

“Rockabilly Boogie Pt. 1” Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $12-$14. With Texas Steve & the Tornados, Rumble Strippers, Golden West Trio.

Slow Club Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 7:30pm, $10-$13.

Tall Shadows Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Turks, Winter Ox Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Very Best Mezzanine. 9pm, $15.

Womp, John Beaver, Frank Nitty, Switchblade Slim’s. 9pm, $18.

Greg Zema, Rome Balestrieri, Randy Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9pm.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.

Barbara Cook Rrazz Room. 8pm, $55-$75.

Terry Disely Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 5:30-8:30pm.

Carol Luckenbach Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $8.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Baxtalo Drom Amnesia. 9pm, $7-$10. With live music, gypsy punk, belly dancing.

Rafael Mendoza Mission Cultural Center Theater, 2868 Mission, SF; www.missionculturalcenter.org. 7:30pm, $12-$15.

Taste Fridays 650 Indiana, SF; www.tastefridays.com. 8pm, $18. Salsa and bachata dance lessons, live music.

DANCE CLUBS

Anomie Belle, Blockhead, Yppah Public Works. 9:30pm, $12. Ninja Tune showcase.

Chase, Pharaohs, Jason Kendig, Ash Williams Public Works. 9pm, $5-$10.

Joe Lookout, 3600 16th St.,SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 9pm. Eight rotating DJs, shirt-off drink specials.

Old School JAMZ El Rio. 9pm. Fruit Stand DJs spinning old school funk, hip-hop, and R&B.

Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

True Skool 13-Year Anniversary Mighty SF. With Sake 1, Jah Yzer, Platurn, Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist, Davey D, and more.

SATURDAY 25

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Rome Balestrieri, Greg Zema, Jason Marion Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9pm.

Brownout, Will Magid Trio, Senor Oz Elbo Room. 10pm, $12.

Cutthroats 9, Rock Bottom Bender’s. 9pm, $5.

Dirty Hand Family Band Riptide. 9pm, free.

Foreverland with strings Bimbo’s. 9pm, $22.

Fred Frith and friends play Gravity Slim’s. 9pm, $20.

Fusion Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Gliss, City of Women Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $8.

Hammerlock Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.

Paula Harris Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Hooks, Chris Von Sneidern, Eastern Span, InterChords Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

In Rare Form, New Up, Sean Leahy Trio, Blisses B Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $10-$13.

Mantles, English Singles, New Faultlines Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $8.

Petty Theft, Minks Cafe Du Nord. 9:30pm, $15.

Roadside Bombs, Sydney Ducks, Synthetic ID Thee Parkside. 8:30pm, $10-$15.

Ronkat Spearman’s Katdelic Boom Boom Room. 9:30pm, $15.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.

Barbara Cook Rrazz Room. 8pm, $55-$75.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

“Chinatown Music Festival” Portsmouth Square, Kearny Street between Clay and Washington, SF; www.c-c-c.org. 11am-5pm, free.

Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, Tresspassers, Harmed Brothers Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $15.

“J-Pop Summit” SF Japantown, 1746 Post, SF; www.j-pop.com. 11am-6pm, free.

Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod Atlas Cafe, 3049 20th St, SF; www.atlascafe.net. 4-6pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Bootie SF: Michael Jackson’s Birthday DNA Lounge. 9pm, $15. With DJs Tripp, Tyme and Nathan Scot, Dada, Smash-Up Derby.

Burner Bon Voyage Public Works. 9pm, $5-$10. With M.A.N.D.Y., Dejan.

Go BANG! Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF; www.decosf.com. 9pm, $5. Atomic dancefloor disco action with Marke B. birthday set, Derek Opperman, Carlos Corcho, and more.

Icee Hot: Hieroglyphic Being, Roche Public Works Loft. 10pm.

Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

SUNDAY 26

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Col. Bruce Hampton Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 7:30pm, $3.50-$10.

Crashfaster, Minusbaby, Awkward Terrible DNA Lounge. 8pm, $16.

Kristin Hersh, Moore Brothers, Terese Taylor Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $17-$20.

Theophilus London Mezzanine. 8pm, $18.

OK Go, Family Crest Sigmund Stern Grove, 19 Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, SF; www.sterngrove.org. 2pm, free.

Park starring Happy Mayfield & Nate Mercereau, Buttercream Gang Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, free.

Terry Savastano Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Barbara Cook Rrazz Room. 3 and 7pm, $55-$75.

Adrian Areas Latin Jazz Band Savanna Jazz. 7pm, $7.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Alex Cuba Yoshi’s SF. 7pm, $18.

Heeldraggers Amnesia. 8pm, $7-$10.

“J-Pop Summit” SF Japantown, 1746 Post, SF; www.j-pop.com. 11am-6pm, free.

Twang Sunday Thee Parkside. 4pm, free. With Alabaster, Tell River.

DANCE CLUBS

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, 6. With DJ Sep, Maneesh the Twister, Taal Mala.

Jock Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 3pm, $2. Raise money for LGBT sports teams while enjoying DJs and drink specials.

La Pachanga Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.

MONDAY 27

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Bomb the Music Industry, Classics of Love, Street Eaters, Point of View Bottom of the Hill. 8:30pm, $9.

Brian Bergeron Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Clip’d Beaks, Creepers, Feral Kizzy, Disappearing People Elbo Room. 9pm, $5.

Turquoise Jeep Hemlock Tavern. 8pm, $15.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Bossa Nova Tunnel Top, 601 Bush, SF; (415) 722-6620. 8-11:30pm, free. Live acoustic Bossa Nova.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Earl Brothers, Water Tower Bucket Boys Amnesia. 9pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.

Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar, 2299 Mission, SF; www.thebeautybar.com. 10pm, free. Hip-hop and other stuff.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. DJs Timoteo Gigante, Gordo Cabeza, and Chris Phlek playing all Motown every Monday.

Vibes’N’Stuff El Amigo Bar, 3355 Mission, SF; (415) 852-0092. 10pm, free. Conscious jazz and hip-hop from 1960s-early ’90s with DJs Luce Lucy, Vinnie Esparza, and more.

TUESDAY 28

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Ash Reiter, Kapowski, Sugar Candy Mountain Amnesia. 9:15pm, $7.

Desaparecidos, Velvet Teen Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $25.

Beres Hammond, 9Tomorrows, DJ Inferno Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $30.

Kayo Dot, Author & Punisher, miRthkon, Atomic Bomb Audition Elbo Room. 9pm, $8.

Mallard, Cool Ghouls, Dead Ghosts Knockout. 10pm, $7.

Mean Jeans, Big Eyes, Meat Market El Rio. 7pm, $7.

Stan Erhart Band Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Windham Flat, Side Hackers, Los Broskis Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Gaucho Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 7-10pm.

Virginia Tichenor Pier 23, Embarcadero at Filbert, SF; (415) 362-5125. 5-8pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro.

Post-Dubstep Tuesdays Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521.10pm, free. DJs Dnae Beats, Epcot, Footwerks spin UK Funky, Bass Music.

Study Hall John Colins Lounge, 138 Minna, SF; www.johncolins.com. 9pm. Hip-hop, dancehall, and Bay slaps with DJ Left Lane.

Benefit screening of ‘The Master’ (in 70mm!) tomorrow at the Castro!

Sue Vaughan
-
0
Benefit screening of ‘The Master’ (in 70mm!) tomorrow at the Castro!

This is not a drill, film fans: Paul Thomas Anderson’s highly anticipated new film, The Master, will be screening at the Castro tomorrow night. In 70mm. Not gonna lie: as soon as word of similar “surprise” screenings in other cities (Chicago, Los Angeles), I was crossing my fingers and toes that we’d get one here. Especially since not everyone can make it to the various film festivals where it’s been programmed (Venice, Toronto) … and The Master‘s theatrical release isn’t until Sept. 21 in the Bay Area.

Get thee to TicketWeb now and spend $10 (plus the expected fees and whatnot) to benefit the Film Foundation. The Castro is a huge theater, but film nerds are gonna be all over this one. Like me, for instance. There will be popcorn!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ1O1vb9AUU

Music Listings

Andrew Lam
-
0

Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead or check the venue’s website to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Visit www.sfbg.com/venue-guide for venue information. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

WEDNESDAY 15

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Estocar, Intangible Animal Grant and Green. 9:30pm, free.

Family of the Year, Colourist Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $10.

Guido vs Jason Marion Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.

Hard Skin, Brilliant Colors, Sydney Ducks, Neon Piss Elbo Room. 9pm, $10.

Hot Panda, Apopka Darkroom Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Little Huricane, Vandella, Hudson Bell Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Love Ax, Follow, Hodges, Real Numbers Cafe Du Nord. 8pm, $10.

Nathan & Rachel Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Matthew Santos Hotel Utah. 10pm, $8.

“SF Underground Music Fest” 50 Mason Social House, SF; (415) 433-5050. 8pm, $5. With Jesse Brewster, Tom Huebner and the Real Deal, Brad Brooks, Felsen.

Shannon and the Clams, Audacity, Primitive Hearts Knockout. 9:30pm, $8.

Soul Train Revival feat. Ziek McCarter Boom Boom Room. 8pm, $5.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Cat’s Corner with Nathan Dias Savanna Jazz. 9pm, $10.

Cosmo AlleyCats Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo Place, SF; www.lecolonialsf.com. 7-10pm.

Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho, Eric Garland’s Jazz Session Amnesia. 7pm, free.

Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 6:30pm, $5.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Marlow Rosado y La Riquena Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $22.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita MORE! and Joshua J host this dance party.

Coo-Yah! Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. DJs Daneekah and Green B spin reggae and dancehall.

Hardcore Humpday Happy Hour RKRL, 52 Sixth St, SF; (415) 658-5506. 6pm, $3.

Mary Go Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 10pm, $5. Drag with Suppositori Spelling, Mercedez Munro, and Ginger Snap.

Megatallica Fiddler’s Green, 1333 Columbus, SF; www.megatallica.com. 7pm, free. Heavy metal hangout.

That Good Public Works. 9pm, $5. With Hopie, Zyme, Johnny 5, Taso, Triple Cup, AKM, and more.

THURSDAY 16

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Steve Barton, Marvin Etzioni Cafe Du Nord. 8:30pm, $15.

Matty Charles Hemlock Tavern. 6pm, $5.

Charli XCX, Neighbourhood, popscene DJs Rickshaw Stop. 9:30pm, $13-$15.

Cherry Poppin’ Daddies Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $22.

Dr. John and the Lower 911 Independent. 9pm, $39.50.

Alejandro Escovedo, Jesse Malin Bimbo’s. 8pm, $25.

H.U.M.A.N.E.W.I.N.E, Sansa and Shiri Show, Jessica Pony Hunt, Eliza Rickman Amnesia. 7pm, $8-$10.

John Lawton Trio Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Alexz Johnson, Xiomara Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 8pm, $15-$30.

Mallard, Wimps, Big Drag Thee Parkside. 9pm, $7.

Northerlies, Country Mourns, Shawerma Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Phenomenauts, Prima Donna, Dirty Hand Family Band Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Rags Tuttle vs Guido Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.

Twin Shadow, Poolside Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $21.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Ned Boyton Trio Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 7-10pm.

Savanna Jazz Vocal Jam with Master Trumpeter Eddy Ramirez Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $5.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Jeannie and Chuck’s Country Roundup Atlas Cafe, 3049 Alabama, SF; www.atlascafe.net. 8-10pm, free.

“San Francisco Son Jarocho Festival” Brava Theater, 2781 24th St, SF; www.brava.org. 7pm.

Twang! Honky Tonk Fiddler’s Green, 1330 Columbus, SF; www.twanghonkytonk.com. 5pm. Live country music, dancing, and giveaways.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $5-$7. Senor Oz birthday throwdown with DJ Pleasuremaker, plus resident percussionists.

Arcade Lookout. 9pm, free. Indie dance party.

Get Low Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. Jerry Nice and Ant-1 spin Hip-Hop, ’80s and soul.

Nicky Da B, StayGold DJs, Future Perfect DJs Public Works. 9pm, $10.

Thursdays at the Cat Club Cat Club. 9pm, $6 (free before 9:30pm). The best of the 80s with DJs Damon, Steve Washington, Dangerous Dan, and guests.

Tropicana Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, free. Salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and more with DJs Don Bustamante, Apocolypto, Sr. Saen, Santero, and Mr. E.

FRIDAY 17

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Acid Blast, Bar Fight Benders, 806 . S. Van Ness, SF; www.savekusf.org. 9pm, $5. Save KUSF benefit.

Bay Area Heat Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

B-Side Players, La Misa Negra Elbo Room. 10pm, $15.

Buxter Hoot’n, Jugtown Pirates Cafe Du Nord. 9:30pm, $10.

Cobra Skulls, Fucking Buckaroos, Dead Set, Hides Thee Parkside. 9pm, $10.

Dr. John and the Lower 911 Independent. 9pm, $39.50.

Colin Gilmore, Russ Bartlett Amnesia. 6-10pm, $7-$10.

Guido, Rome Balestrieri, Jason Marion Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9pm.

Howlin Rain, Strange Vine Rickshaw Stop. 8:30pm, $13-$15.

Meat Market, Spyrals, Lotus Moons Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $6-$9.

“Phish After Party” with Polyrhythmics Boom Boom Room. 8pm, $15.

Residential Echoes, Pink Films, Swiftumz Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Super Diamond, Duran Duran Duran Bimbo’s. 9pm, $22.

Tremor Low, Genevapop, Mothra Washington Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $10.

Twin Shadow, Poolside Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $21.

Vokab Kompany 330 Ritch. 9pm, $10.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.

Ben Bacot Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $8.

Terry Disely Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 5:30-8:30pm.

Jazz Crusaders Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $40; 10pm, $25.

“Sound of Love” Sound Healing Concert Grace Cathedral, 1100 California, SF; www.soundhealingcenter.com. 7-10pm, $30.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Baxtolo Drom Amnesia. 9pm, $7-$10.

“San Francisco Son Jarocho Festival” Brava Theater, 2781 24th St, SF; www.brava.org. 7pm.

Taste Fridays 650 Indiana, SF; www.tastefridays.com. 8pm, $18. Salsa and bachata dance lessons, live music.

DANCE CLUBS

DJ What’s His Fuck Riptide. 9pm, free. Spinning old school punk rock.

Joe Lookout, 3600 16th St.,SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 9pm. Eight rotating DJs, shirt-off drink specials.

Nosaj Thing, Mux Mool Public Works. 9:30pm.

No Way Back and L.I.E.S. Public Works Loft. 10pm, $10-$20. With Legowelt, Xosar, Svengalisghost, Ron Morelli, Solar, Conor.

Old School JAMZ El Rio. 9pm. Fruit Stand DJs spinning old school funk, hip-hop, and R&B.

Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

Pledge: Fraternal Lookout. 9pm, $3-$13. Benefiting LGBT and nonprofit organizations. Bottomless kegger cups and paddling booth with DJ Christopher B and DJ Brian Maier.

Scene Unseen 1015 Folsom. 10pm, free with RSVP. With Flosstradamus, Riff Raff, Floating Points, and more.

Trannyshack: Stevie Nicks vs. Kate Bush Tribute DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $15.

SATURDAY 18

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Rome Balestrieri, Guido, Jason Marion Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9pm.

Catacomb Creeps, Hornss, Guitar Magazine Hemlock Tavern. 5pm, $5.

Cut Loose Band Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Lee Fields & the Expressions, Hard French, Top Cat & Miles Ahead Independent. 9pm, $25.

“Guitar Slingers and Blues Singers” Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $13. With Volker Strifler, Terry Hiatt, Tia Carroll, Dave Workman, and more.

Mad Mama and the Bona Fide Few Riptide. 9:30pm, free.

Midnight Magic, Tron Jeremy, Brother Sister Rickshaw Stop. 10pm, $10-$15.

Permanent Collection, Bilinda Butchers, Love Cuts Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Range of Light Wilderness Slim’s. 8pm, $10-$12.

“San Frandelic Summerfest” Thee Parkside. 2pm, $15. With Spindrift, Electric Flower Group, Outlaw, Mr. Elevator & the Brain Hotel, Glitter Wizard, and more.

Super Diamond, Duran Duran Duran Bimbo’s. 9pm, $22.

Thee Mile Pilot, Dramady Bottom of the Hill.10pm, $20.

Tracorum Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 11pm, $5-$10.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.

Jazz Crusaders Yoshi’s SF. 8 and10pm, $40.

Suzanna Smith Savanna Jazz. 7:30pm, $8.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

“San Francisco Son Jarocho Festival” Brava Theater, 2781 24th St, SF; www.brava.org. 7pm.

Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod Atlas Cafe, 3049 Alabama, SF; www.atlascafe.net. 4-6pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Bootie SF Ninth Anniversary DNA Lounge. 9pm, $20. Bootleg mashup party.

DJ Garth Public Works Oddjob Loft. 10pm, $5-$10.

Fringe Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, $5. Indie music video dance party with DJ Blondie K and subOctave.

Rob Garza, Afrolicious Mighty. 9pm, $15.

OK Hole Amnesia. 9pm.

Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

Radio Franco Bissap, 3372 19th St, SF; (415) 826 9287. 6 pm. Rock, Chanson Francaise, Blues.

Saturday Night Soul Party Elbo Room. 10pm, $5-$10. With DJs Lucky, Paul Paul, and Phengren Oswald.

Smiths Night SF Rock-It Room. 9pm, free. Revel in 80s music from the Smiths, Joy Division, New Order, and more.

Wild Nights Kok BarSF, 1225 Folsom, SF; www.kokbarsf.com. 9pm, $3. With DJ Frank Wild.

SUNDAY 19

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Braid, Owen, TS & the Past Haunts Slim’s. 8pm, $20.

Chiddy Bang Independent. 9pm, $20.

EmptyRoom, mnttaB, Diesel Dudes Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

John Lawton Trio Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Calvin Johnson, Katie & the Lichen, Shivas, Memories Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $8.

Parlor Tricks, Ps & Qs, Liz O Show Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 8pm, $5-$8.

“Tricycle Music Festival” SF Main Library,100 Larkin, SF; www.sfpl.org. 3pm. With Recess Monkey, Frances England, Hipwaders, and more.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Jazz Crusaders Yoshi’s SF. 6pm, $30; 8pm, $35.

Savanna Jazz Vocal Jam with Kelly Park Savanna Jazz. 7pm, $5.

Vagabond Lovers Club with Slim Jenkins, burlesque with Sweet Sasha Va Boom Amnesia. 9pm, $7-$10.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Dead Frets O’Reilly’s Irish Club, 622 Green, SF; www.sforeillys.com. 9pm, free.

“San Francisco Son Jarocho Festival” Brava Theater, 2781 24th St, SF; www.brava.org. 7pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6-$9. With Dreadsquad, Kush Arora, DJ Sep.

Jock Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 3pm, $2. Raise money for LGBT sports teams while enjoying DJs.

La Pachanga Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.

MONDAY 20

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Damir Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Dunwells Independent. 8pm, $14.

Myonics, HLYR, Bleached Palms Elbo Room. 9pm, $6.

Satisfaction: The International Rolling Stones Show Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $20.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Bossa Nova Tunnel Top, 601 Bush, SF; (415) 722-6620. 8-11:30pm, free. Live acoustic Bossa Nova.

DANCE CLUBS

Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.

Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar, 2299 Mission, SF; www.thebeautybar.com. 10pm, free. Hip-hop and other stuff.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. DJs Timoteo Gigante, Gordo Cabeza, and Chris Phlek playing all Motown every Monday.

Vibes’N’Stuff El Amigo Bar, 3355 Mission, SF; (415) 852-0092. 10pm, free. Conscious jazz and hip-hop with DJs Luce Lucy, Vinnie Esparza.

TUESDAY 21

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Ash Reiter, JJAAXXNN, Blonde Summer Sleepy Todd Amnesia. 9:15pm, $7.

Dana Falconberry, Emily Jane White Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $8.

Mike Huguenor, Josh Staples, Miss Cloud, Brendan Getzell Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $9.

Lightin’ Malcom Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Measure, Kirk Hamilton, Whitney Nichole Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $5-$8.

Michael Pedicin Quartet Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $16.

Stan Erhart Band Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Wooster Boom Boom Room. 8pm, $5.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Gaucho Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 7-10pm.

DANCE CLUBS

Brazilian Wax Elbo Room. 9pm, $7. With DJs Carioca and P-Shot.

Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro.

Post-Dubstep Tuesdays Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521.10pm, free. DJs Dnae Beats, Epcot, Footwerks spin UK Funky, Bass Music.

On the Cheap Listings

Andrew Lam
-
0

Listings compiled by Caitlin Donohue. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

WEDNESDAY 15

Smack Dab open mic Magnet, 4122 18th St., SF. www.magnetsf.org. 8pm, open mic sign-up starts at 7:30pm, free. Magnet, the Castro’s neighborhood health clinic hosts this open mic for all ages and genders. Lewis DeSimone, author of Chemistry and The Heart’s History, will be the night’s featured reader but everyone is welcome to bring in up to five minutes of shareable words.

Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, SF. www.hemlocktavern.com. 6-8pm, $10. The San Francisco debut of LA’s sexy comic showdown, this installation of CEFF brings 10 comics to the stage to share their fan fic-themed smut. Some even take audience suggestions in their creative process, so bring your dirty minds.

THURSDAY 16

Ruben Martinez The Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF. (415) 863-8688, www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. The Western plains of the United States that once were home to Native American tribes and later, roaming cowboys, are now the scene of an entirely different wild frontier. Post-colonial author Martinez reads from his time spent researching Marfa, Texas; the banks of the Rio Grande; and the Tohono O’odham reservation in his research for Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New “New West.”

“Discover the Birds of Honduras” Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berk. (510) 843-2222, www.northbrae.org. 7-9pm, free. The Golden Gate Audubon Society sponsors this talk by Robert Gallardo, who has opened butterfly farms and spent 12 years as a bird guide. Today, Gallardo presents some of the 750 bird species of Honduras, home to nearly 10 percent of the planet’s winged species.

Squeeze This! A Cultural History of the Accordion in America Accordion Apocalypse, 255 10th St., SF. www.accordionapocalypse.com. 7pm, free. Author Marion Jackson penned this look at our country’s relationship with the squeezebox. Should you be inspired to tickle the ivories yourself, you can buy an accordion of your own from the lecture’s gracious hosts.

San Jorocho Festival Brava Theater, 2781 24th St., SF. (415) 641-7657, www.brava.org. 8pm, $6-$35. Brava’s celebration of the Veracruz region of Mexico kicks off tonight with filmmaker Marcos Villalobos presenting his documentary on three Son Jorocho musicians. Son Siglos looks at the cross-border translation of culture – particularly pertinent to this Northern Cali look at Mexican tradition.

SATURDAY18

Street Food Festival Folsom between 20th and 26th Sts. and some other streets, SF. www.sfstreetfoodfest.com. 11am-7pm, free. Some of SF’s hautest eateries and best food entrepreneurs take to the Mission streets for this foodie heaven: hundreds of dishes for $8 and under from across the world, not to mention bars selling artisan cocktails and more.

Balboa Park grand re-opening San Jose and Sgt. Young Drive, SF. www.tpl.org. 11am-2pm, free. The Balboa Park playground has a fresh new look, and the whole neighborhood’s invited to come out and give it a swing. The Trust for Public Land and SF Rec and Parks will be hosting and providing snacks, music, and activities.

Haute Pool Show Chambers at Hotel Phoenix, 601 Eddy, SF. www.hautepoolshow.eventbrite.com. 1-8pm, $5-$15. Shop local fashion by the pool at the city’s rock ‘n’ roll pool while DJs like Omar from Popscene and Brandon Arnovick from Rondo Brothers spin. 30 independent clothesmakers will be participating – the perfect stop-off if you’re looking for weekend threads.

Tell Your Tattoo Story video shoot Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2868 Mission, SF. (415) 671-0507, www.sfiaf.org. 6:30pm, free. RSVP necessary. The new play Placas (part of the SF International Arts Festival this fall) centers around street gangs and the implications of tattoo removal – but that doesn’t mean that those involved in the production are anti-ink. Sign up to show off your tats and explain their provenance. Footage will be shown as a companion piece when the play debuts.

Alamo Square Flea Market South side of Alamo Square Park, SF. www.alamosquare.org. 9am-3pm, free. Sidestep the Full House-house-seeking tour buses and search for your own vision of superlative San Francisco – the 29th year of this neighborhood-sponsored flea market will feature clothes, housewares, dogs for adoption from Rocket Dog Rescue, and much more.

Pedalfest Jack London Square, Broadway and 1st St., Oakl. www.pedalfestjacklondon.com. 11am-8pm, free. Bikes for days! Art bikes, acrobatic bikes, stunt bikes, foldable bikes, kids bikes, food for bikes – okay, maybe just food for riders, who will also enjoy live music and cavorting with their two-wheeled community. The East Bay Bike Coalition also sponsored last year’s Pedalfest, which attracted over 18,000 attendees.

SUNDAY 19

SF Mime Troupe Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission and Fourth St., SF. www.sfmt.org. 2pm, free. Check out the Bay’s historic radical theater troupe in the rolling hills of downtown’s greenest field. This year’s production is called The Last Election. Shall we reflect on a world without political monkeying about? At least electoral shenanigans birthed a spectacular community theater troupe.

Indie Mart Wisconsin between 16th and 17th Sts., SF. www.indie-mart.com. Noon-7pm, free. Because you know somebody that deserves an August handmade gifty, this regularly-occurring craft fair is coming to Potrero Hill with 100 of the city’s finest makers. Thee Parkside is included in the festivities, so grab some tots and a Bloody before you shop – pricetags will go down way easier.

 

Our Weekly Picks: August 1-7

Andrew Lam
-
0

WEDNESDAY 1

Erol Alkan

A couple years ago it was easier to define Erol Alkan. He was electro. People would say it like it was the best thing in the world or the worst, but it was clear cut, straightforward, easily understood. Recently, though, the London producer’s already impeccable remix work — for bands including Tame Impala, Metronomy, and St. Etienne — has shown increased range, patience, and emotion. While his continued team-up with Boys Noize shows he’s not afraid to still go HARD, with Connan Mockasin’s “Forever Dolphin Love” (a song so nice, he reworked it twice) Alkan went in an entirely other direction, arguably surpassed the original, and created what might be the ultimate comedown track. (Ryan Prendiville)

With Omar (Popscene) 10pm, $10–$20

Vessel

85 Campton Place, SF

(415) 433-8585

www.vesselsf.com

 

Mynabirds

After a stint as a member of Bright Eyes’ touring band in 2011, Mynabirds frontwoman Laura Burhenn went back into the studio to work on her Saddle Creek indie collective’s sophomore release, Generals, a concept album about war, tragedy, and disarmament (inspired by Richard Avedon’s photo, “Generals of the Daughters of the American Revolution”). The result is a protest record that embodies the spirit of the Occupy Everything movement. Burhenn’s soulful voice soars over percussive, full-bodied pop melodies to sing about a wide array of conflicts, both political and personal. In a concurrent side project called the New Revolutionists, Burhenn uses a portrait series to highlight women who have taken the initiative to be disarmers and activists in their own communities around the country. (Haley Zaremba)

With Deep Time

9:30pm, $12

Cafe Du Nord

2170 Market, SF

(415) 861-5016

www.cafedunord.com

 

THURSDAY 2

“City Scenes: Installment Four”

Never spent time with David Bowie’s album Diamond Dogs? Beloved San Francisco musician John Vanderslice wants to change that. In the Vogue Theatre’s fourth installment of its ongoing “City Scenes” series, Vanderslice will perform Diamond Dogs, followed by a screening of Michel Gondry’s The Science of Sleep (2006). Vanderslice says he loves the film because of its “vulnerable and personal vibe,” and he considers the Bowie album to be one of the most underrated records, calling it “casual, rugged, and handmade.” Vanderslice adds that the record, which was inspired by Orwell’s 1984,”[was] his most drugged out, freaked out work.” Gondry’s film, which follows Charlotte Gainsbourg and Gael Garcia Bernal on a journey through the human psyche, certainly connects to a Bowie’d musical introduction exploring the confines of state control on the mind. (Shauna C. Keddy)

8pm, $15

Vogue Theatre

3290 Sacramento, SF

(415) 346-2228

www.voguesf.com

 

Squarepusher

Sure, Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada are seasoned veterans of electronic powerhouse Warp Records, and rightly so; but where have they been lately? Squarepusher, on the other hand, has been churning out quality records for the UK label, with Woody Allenesque prolificacy, since 1996. From ’70s Miles Davis homages, to laptop geekfests, to Daft Punk nods, to virtuosic bass-guitar workouts worthy of a Steely Dan session player, Squarepusher mastermind Tom Jenkinson has built a career on defying expectations and constantly switching focus — which makes the prospect of a live appearance so damn interesting. (Taylor Kaplan)

With Eric Sharp 8pm, $30

Regency Ballroom

1290 Sutter, SF

888) 929-7849

www.theregencyballroom.com

 

Buraka Som Sistema

There’s just something fascinating about watching a crowd attempt to dance along to a beat that is as unfamiliar as it is irresistible. That was the scene at last year’s Treasure Island Music Festival, during the performance of Portugal’s Buraka Som Sistema. Buraka’s a reportedly rough and tumble neighborhood in Lisbon; Som Sistema quickly translates to “sound system”; put it together and you have a partying collective of DJs, producers, MCs, and dancers spreading the Angolan-originated, techno and hip-hop influenced genre of kuduro. Understanding Portuguese is not a prerequisite, as the group’s seemingly competitive desire to hype up a crowd (with easily recognizable calls to “shake that ass”) proves immediate and universal. (Prendiville)

9pm, $20  

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

(415) 771-1421

www.theindependentsf.com


FRIDAY 3

Peaking Lights and Woods

One night, two up-and-coming bands with the blogosphere on their side. Woods might be from Brooklyn, but they forgo the New York state of mind in favor of a pastoral, sun-drenched, Byrds-worshipping brand of lo-fi pop, well suited to your next cabin retreat. Originally from the Bay Area, Madison, Wisconsin-based duo Peaking Lights weaves an infectiously stoney web of dub, Krautrock, and loopy, gloopy pop a la Panda Bear, seemingly tailor-made for record collectors and serial name-droppers. First acoustic, then electronic, on an enticing double-bill unlikely to result in any sense of redundancy. (Kaplan)

With Wet Illustrated 9pm, $16

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com

 

Birds & Batteries

With the impending release of their new album Stray Light, Birds & Batteries will once grace our ears with chirping indie-pop bliss smashed with heavy electronic beats. Like the name, the band embraces a meeting of the natural and the digital. While their sound embraces vast expanses, it’s also crisp and wound tight; if you want to wave your arms around in the air like you’re at a bonfire dance circle, but also jump up and down like you would at any good rock show, this will be a lovely fit for you The band kicks off its US tour this weekend at the Rickshaw Stop. (Keddy)

With Radiation City, Trails & Ways

9pm, $10–$12

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(415) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com

 

The Pharcyde

Gangsta rap was important and fun in the beginning — and, in retrospect, so kittenish that 50,000 white kids would end up singing along with an anachronistic hologram 20 years later in the California desert. But all the grim misogyny and hysterical homophobia sure got tired. Luckily, Cali also kept the flame alive in the ’90s for inventive, unabashedly intelligent hip-hop. Surreal lyrical genius-machine the Pharcyde blew up the charts with first album Bizarre Ride II in 1992, now original quartet members Fatlip and SlimKid3, with producers J-Swift and LA Jay, are giving the live full-band treatment to Bizarre. (Bootie Brown and Imani, who tried to jumpstart the band back in 2004 are doing their own thing, notably Bootie’s guest spots with Gorillaz.) SLICK, the graffitist responsible for Bizarre‘s cover, art directs the show. (Marke B.)

10pm-4am, $20–$25

1015 Folsom, SF.

www.1015.com


SATURDAY 4

Castro Theatre’s 90th anniversary

Single-screen movie palace the Castro Theater opened in 1922 — and 90 years later, it’s still going strong, with a robust calendar of festivals, first-run movies, rep screenings, and special events. Celebrate this happiest of birthdays by stopping by this weekend’s festivities (special programming, including a John Huston series, continues throughout August). Today, there’ll be a screening of 1964 classic Mary Poppins (presented sing-a-long style — chim-chim-chir-ee!) plus a Howard Hawks double feature of The Big Sleep (1946) and Where Danger Lives (1950), hosted by Noir City’s Eddie Muller, all with pre-show musical entertainment. Head over tomorrow for a couple of films you might have heard of (1941’s Citizen Kane, 1939’s Gone With the Wind), or mark your calendar for upcoming must-see-on-the-big-screen entries, including Roman Polanski’s 1974 Chinatown (Aug. 28). (Cheryl Eddy)

Mary Poppins, 2 p.m., $8.50–$15

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

www.castrotheatre.com

 

The English Beat

In 1979, the Beat (known in the US as the English Beat) emerged from struggling, blue-collar Birmingham, England. In an era of widespread unemployment and sociopolitical conflict, the band responded by writing simple, fun ska tunes about something we can all agree on: love. The Beat was an overnight success with its chart-topping cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown.” These legendary musicians, now considered pioneers of two-tone ska along with the likes of the Specials and Madness, have been touring consistently since they reunited in 2003. In today’s similarly tumultuous political climate, perhaps a little love and skanking is what we all need. (Zaremba)

With the Champions Inc.

8pm, $25

Bimbo’s 365

1025 Columbus, SF

(415) 474-0365

www.bimbos365club.com

 

Drift of a Curse

Supergroups of our time: Bad Company, Damn Yankees, Traveling Wilburys, uh … Asia? Does Asia count? Dunno. What’s important is that local supergroup of sorts Drift of a Curse (it started as an Old Grandad side project, and also features members of Hammers of Misfortune, Aerial Ruin, and Hazzard’s Cure) is reuniting for its first shows in two years. Tonight’s gig prefaces a mini tour to points Northwest; expect to hear songs off 2008 album The Wrong Witness, recorded before the band had played any live shows, and more in the vein of the group’s self-described sound: “melodic vocals, clean tones, and psychedelic soundscapes” with “elements of metal and rock.” Super! (Eddy)

With Hazzard’s Cure

10pm, $6

Bender’s Bar

806 S. Van Ness, SF

(415) 824-1800

www.bendersbar.com


SUNDAY 5

Radio Moscow

This power trio is a blast from the psychedelic past. Drawing from Cream, Hendrix, and ZZ Top, the Story City, Iowa garage rockers play new-old stoner rock with fuzzed out guitar solos and bluesy, experimental jams as long as their Zeppelin-inspired hair. After the band handed a demo to Dan Auerbach at a Black Keys concert, the retro-rock guru got them signed to Alive Naturalsound Records and produced their first album, released in 2007. The band has since relocated to Northern California and after months on the road to support their third full-length, Radio Moscow is ending its national tour in San Francisco. (Zaremba)

With the Dirty Streets, Coo Coo Birds

8:30pm, $12

Cafe Du Nord

2170 Market, SF

(415) 861-5016

www.cafedunord.com


MONDAY 6

Sutekh Hexen

Juggling noise and ambience with a shrewd sense of balance rarely seen among metal outfits, SF’s own Sutekh Hexen specializes in that rare brand of distortion-based guitar chaos in which the darkness is completely convincing. Like Sunn O)))’s dronier passages, approached with the relentless tunnel-vision of Metal Machine Music, this trio’s output is as mentally/physically draining as it is hypnotic and bliss-inducing. Their newly released full-length, Behind the Throne, might as well be titled Ambient 5: Music for Melting Your Face Off. Might wanna bring some earplugs; this one’ll be a doozy. (Kaplan)

With Hallow, Rain and Endless Fall, Rigis

Elbo Room

647 Valencia, SF

(415) 552-7788

www.elbo.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, 71 Stevenson St., Second Floor, SF, CA 94105; 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.

Music Listings

Andrew Lam
-
0

Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead or check the venue’s website to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Visit www.sfbg.com/venue-guide for venue information. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

WEDNESDAY 1

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Bleached, DIIV, Lenz Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $12.

Keith Crossan Blues Showcase with Mark Hummel Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Hood Internet, Tanya Morgan, Psalm One Independent. 9pm, $14.

Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles, Audiofauna, Morgan Manifacier Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Matt Murphy Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Mynabirds, Deep Time Cafe Du Nord. 9:30pm, $12.

Pierced Arrows, Husbands, Trainwreck Riders Elbo Room. 9pm, $12.

Sights, Southeast Engine, Slow Moving Lions of the Vegetable World Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $8.

Skins & Needles, Ren the Vinyl Archeologist Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $5-$7.

Smoker’s Club feat. Juicy J, Smoke Dza, Joey Bada$$, Fat Trel, Richie Cunning Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $25.

Starskate, Great Apes, All Eyes West, Broadcaster, Bad Liar Thee Parkside. 8pm, $8.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Cat’s Corner with Nathan Dias Savanna Jazz. 9pm, $10.

Cosmo AlleyCats Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo Place, SF; www.lecolonialsf.com. 7-10pm.

Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho, Eric Garland’s Jazz Session Amnesia. 7pm, free.

Eldar Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $20.

Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 6:30pm, $5.

"SF Underground Music Fest" 50 Mason Social House, SF; (415) 433-5050. 8pm, $5. With Tom Luce, Annie Bacon and Her Oshen, Jay Trainer, Felson.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

"Cha-Ching" Boom Boom Room. 8pm, $5. Salsa, cumbia, Cuban funk.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita MORE! and Joshua J host this dance party.

Coo-Yah! Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. DJs Daneekah and Green B spin reggae and dancehall with weekly guests.

Hardcore Humpday Happy Hour RKRL, 52 Sixth St, SF; (415) 658-5506. 6pm, $3.

Mary Go Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 10pm, $5. Drag with Suppositori Spelling, Mercedez Munro, and Ginger Snap.

Megatallica Fiddler’s Green, 1333 Columbus, SF; www.megatallica.com. 7pm, free. Heavy metal hangout.

MOM vs Stax: Battle Roya Public Works. 10pm, $3. With E da Boss, Hubcap Jones, Gordo Cabeza, Timoteo Gigante, and more.

THURSDAY 2

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Alo, Midi Matilda, Jeff Campbell Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 4pm, free.

Alt-J, Wildcat! Wildcat!, Erika Springs Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $12-$14.

Buraka Som Sistema Independent. 9pm, $20.

CandleSpot Collective, Dregs One, Projekt SEER, Understudies Crew Slim’s. 8:30pm, $8.

Commissure, Adventure Playground Casa Sanchez, 2778 24th St., SF; commissure.bandcamp.com. 7pm, $5.

Albert Cummings Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $16.

John Lawton Trio Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Kegels, Worth Taking, Y Axes, Talky Tina Thee Parkside. 9pm, $6.

Lenz, Uzi Rash, City Deluxe Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Misisipi Mike and the Midnight Gamblers, Patsychords, Vandellas Amnesia. 9pm, $10.

Sleeping People, Minot, Devfits Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Squarepusher, DJ Eric Sharp Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $30.

Tears for Fears, Carina Round Masonic Center, 111 California, SF; www.masonicauditorium.com. 7:30pm, $39.50-$65.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $28; 10pm, $22.

Ned Boyton Trio Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 7-10pm.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Twang! Honky Tonk Fiddler’s Green, 1330 Columbus, SF; www.twanghonkytonk.com. 5pm. Live country music, dancing, and giveaways.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $5-$7. DJ-host Pleasuremaker spin sAfrobeat, Tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

Get Low Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. Jerry Nice and Ant-1 spin Hip-Hop, ’80s and Soul with weekly guests.

Icee Hot with John Talabot, Bobby Browser Public Works. 9pm, $5-$10.

Supersonic Lookout, 3600 16th St., SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 9pm. Global beats paired with food from around the world by Tasty. Resident DJs Jaybee, B-Haul, amd Diagnosis.

Thursdays at the Cat Club Cat Club. 9pm, $6 (free before 9:30pm). Two dance floors bumpin’ with the best of 80s mainstream and underground with DJ’s Damon, Steve Washington, Dangerous Dan, and guests.

Tropicana Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, free. Salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and more with DJs Don Bustamante, Apocolypto, Sr. Saen, Santero, and Mr. E.

FRIDAY 3

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Birds & Batteries, Radiation City, Trails and Ways Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $10-$12.

"Bizarre Ride II: Pharcyde (live)" 1015 Folsom, SF; www.1015.com. 10pm, $20. Low End Theory.

Bottle Kids, Dead Blue, Poeina Suddarth Brainwash Cafe, 1122 Folsom, SF; www.brainwash.com. 9pm, free.

Congress Grant and Green Saloon. 9pm.

Delta Wires Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Dirtybird, Kill Frenzy, Claude Van Stroke Mezzanine. 9pm, $5-$20.

"Flashbangboom" Slim’s. 8pm, $20. With Chris James & the Showdowns, BC3, Pubic Heroinne, Parmisans.

Judgement Day, Giant Squad, Sun That Never Sets Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $10.

Glen Meadmore and the Kuntry Band, Whoa Nellies, Andrew Roberts Thee Parkside. 9pm, $10.

Night Birds, Sharp Objects, Ruleta Rusa, Bad Coyotes Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $7.

Persephone’s Bees, Bart Davenport, Dreamdate Cafe Du Nord. 9:30pm, $12.

Soul Asylum Independent. 9pm, $20.

X-Static Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Woods, Peaking Lights, Wet Illustrated Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $16.

Zej & Calen Amnesia. 6:30pm, $7-$10.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.

Terry Disely Bottle Cap, 1707 Powell, SF; www.bottlecapsf.com. 7-10pm.

Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $30; 10pm, $25.

Namaskar Red Poppy Art House. 9pm, $15-$20.

Unconscious World Intersection for the Arts, 925 Mission, SF; www.projectsoundwave.com. Soundwave (5). 8pm, $12-$25.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Baxtolo Drom Amnesia. 9pm, $7-$10.

Brazilian Music Festival Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $15-$20. With Brener Monducci, Tambores do Brazil, Sotaque, Baiano, Tony Santos.

Giacomo Fiore, Agnew/McAllister Duo Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco Chapel, 1187 Franklin, SF; www.giacomofiore.com. 7:30pm, $15.

Taste Fridays 650 Indiana, SF; www.tastefridays.com. 8pm, $18. Salsa and bachata dance lessons, live music.

Taylor-Ramirez, Los Terciados Plough and Stars. 9pm, $6.

DANCE CLUBS

As You Like It with Scuba, Oliver Deustchmann, Epcot, Mossmoss Public Works. 9pm, $10-$20.

Braza! Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, $5-$10. DJs Sabo, Kento, Elan spin Brazilian, Batucada, Samba.

Duniya Dancehall Bissap, 3372 19th St, SF; (415) 826 9287. 10pm, $10. With live performances by Duniya Drum and Dance Co. and music by Wontanara Revolution. DJ Juan Data spins bhangra, bollywood, dancehall, African, and more.

Joe Lookout, 3600 16th St.,SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 9pm. Eight rotating DJs, shirt-off drink specials.

Neon Vinyl Summer Edition Public Works Loft. 10pm, $5-$10.

Old School JAMZ El Rio. 9pm. Fruit Stand DJs spinning old school funk, hip-hop, and R&B.

120 Minutes Elbo Room. 10pm, $7-$10. With Mykki Blanco, Physical Therapy, and residents DJs S4NtA MU3rTE, Planet Death, and Nako.

Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

SATURDAY 4

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Back Pages Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Jay Brannan, Chris Pureka Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $16.

"Drive Tour" with College, Anaroaak, Electric Youth Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $15-$17.

Drizzoletto, Lily Taylor, Karina Denike, Wild Reeds Amnesia. 8pm, $7-$10.

English Beat, Champions INC. Bimbo’s. 8pm, $25.

Extra Action Marching Band, Itchy-O Marching Band Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $15-$20.

Fake Blood, Light Year, Nisus Mezzanine. 9pm, $12.50-$20.

Fracas, Blown to Bits, Guantanamo Dogpile El Rio. 10pm, $7-$100 donation. Benefit for Nikki Davis.

Hukaholix, Hate Crime Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.

Jinx Jones Riptide. 9:30pm, free.

MOFO Party Band Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Murder By Death, Lia Rose, Ha Ha Tonka Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $17.

New Diplomat, Hundred Days, Koll Moi, Ownership Slim’s. 8:30pm, $13.

Pleasure Kills, Sweet Pups, Ballantynes Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Polish Ambassador Yoshi’s SF Lounge. 10:30pm, $20.

Yassou Benedict, Halfbreed Lovers, Cigarettes After Sex, Ghost Town Jenny Thee Parkside. 9pm, $7.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.

Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $30; 10pm, $25.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Go Van Gough Red Poppy Art House. 6:45. Part of Mission Arts & Performance Project.

"Rockabilly Jukebox" Plough and Stars. 9:30pm, $8-$10. With Blue Diamond Fillups, Whiskey Pills Fiasco.

DANCE CLUBS

Bootie SF: Faroff DNA Lounge. 9pm, $10-$15.

Cockfight Underground SF, 424 Haight, SF; (415) 864-7386. 9pm, $7. Rowdy dance night for gay boys .

Foundation Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, $5-$10. DJs Shortkut, Apollo, Mr. E, Fran Boogie spin Hip-Hop, Dancehall, Funk, Salsa.

Haceteria Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF; www.decosf.com. 9pm; free before 11pm, $5 after. With Magic Touch, Nihar, Tristes Tropiques, Smac, and Jason P.

Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.

Saturday Night Soul Party Elbo Room. 10pm, $5-$10.

Two Crews, One Cup: Number Two Public Works. 9pm, $10-$20. Benefit for Haiti with DingDong, Ernie Trevino, JoeJoe, Jess Stockton, and more.

Vinyl Boom Boom Room. 8pm, $15. DJ K-Os spins old school soul, Latin, and funk.

SUNDAY 5

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Lynn Drury, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $5-$8.

Nathan James and the Rhythm Scratchers Biscuits and Blues. 7 and 9pm, $15.

John Lawton Trio Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Kally Price Old Blues and Jazz Band Amnesia. 8pm, $5.

Murder By Death, Lia Rose, Ha Ha Tonka Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $17.

Ozomatli, SMOD Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, SF; www.sterngrove.org. 2pm, free.

Radio Moscow, Dirty Streets, Coo Coo Birds Cafe Du Nord. 8:30pm, $12.

7Horse Red Devil Lounge.

Sierra Leon’s Refugee All Stars, Black Nature Band, Naia Kate Independent. 8pm, $20.

Slow Motion Cowboys, Tater Famine Knockout. 5pm, $6.

That Ghost, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Bloom Thee Parkside. 8pm, $7.

Wild Kindness, Former Friends of Young Americans, Casual Dolphins Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Niyaz Yoshi’s SF. 7pm, $28.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Miwi Gemini, Jean-Marie, Dusty DiMercurio, Poor Sweet Creatures Hotel Utah. 8pm.

Dana Lyn, Kyle Sanna Red Poppy Art House. 8:30pm, $10.

Peter Rowan Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, 45 John F. Shelly, SF; (415) 272-1397. 11am, free.

Twang Sunday Thee Parkside. 4pm, free. With Country Casanovas.

DANCE CLUBS

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, dubstep, and dancehall with DJ Sep, Vinnie Esparza, and J. Boogie.

Jock Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 3pm, $2. Raise money for LGBT sports teams while enjoying DJs and drink specials.

La Pachanga Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.

MONDAY 6

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Cool Ghouls, Brother Pacific, Black Cobra Vipers Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 8pm, $4-$7.

Damir Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

Belle Monroe and Her Brewglass Boys Amnesia. 9pm, free.

Sutekh Hexen, Hallow, Rain and Endless Fall, Rigis Elbo Room. 9pm, $7.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Bossa Nova Tunnel Top, 601 Bush, SF; (415) 722-6620. 8-11:30pm, free. Live acoustic Bossa Nova.

DANCE CLUBS

Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.

Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar, 2299 Mission, SF; www.thebeautybar.com. 10pm, free. Hip-hop and other stuff.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. DJs Timoteo Gigante, Gordo Cabeza, and Chris Phlek playing all Motown every Monday.

Vibes’N’Stuff El Amigo Bar, 3355 Mission, SF; (415) 852-0092. 10pm, free. Conscious jazz and hip-hop from 1960s-early ’90s with DJs Luce Lucy, Vinnie Esparza, and more.

TUESDAY 7

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Ash Reiter, Great Elk Amnesia. 9:15pm, $7.

Cosmonauts, Gap Dream Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $7.

Fang Island, Zechs Marquise Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $15.

Foxygen, NO, Dylan Shearer Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, free.

Gaza, Eagle Twin, Monuments, Collapse Thee Parkside. 8pm, $10.

Jesus and the Rabbis Boom Boom Room. 8pm, $5.

Guitar Shorty Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Slick Idiot, Mona Mur & En Esch, Promonium Jesters, Loveless Love Elbo Room. 8pm, $10.

Stan Erhart Band Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.

War Trash, Meth Sores, Midnite Brain, Gaskill Knockout. 9:30pm, $6.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Etienne Charles Yoshi’s SF. 8pm, $14.

Frederick Hodges Pier 23, Embarcadero at Filbert, SF; (415) 362-5125. 5-8pm.

"Unplugged" 50 Mason Social House, SF; (415) 433-5050. 7pm, free. With Kyle Castellani, FastLayne, Growing Room, Midnight Radio, and more.

DANCE CLUBS

Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro.

Post-Dubstep Tuesdays Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521.10pm, free. DJs Dnae Beats, Epcot, Footwerks spin UK Funky, Bass Music.

1...252627...80Page 26 of 80

48hills.org is the official publication of the non-profit San Francisco Progressive Media Center.
Contact us: info@48hills.org