Independent

Dark end of the street

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Dark end of the street

DOCUMENTARY CLASSIC This column space is usually devoted to pop culture detritus. But this week we’ll bend the Trash definition to encompass human detritus, as in such timeless phrases as “Those people are nothing but trash.” The occasion is the Roxie’s restored re-release showcase of On the Bowery, a 1956 piece of early U.S. independent cinema that won major prizes. But it also struck many observers at the time as akin to literal trash: they wanted it dragged into some dark alley under cover of darkness, then quietly removed, lest polite society sift through the unflattering mess.

The 65-minute feature echoed Italian neorealism’s influence, as it mixed documentary footage with dramatic elements using amateur actors basically playing themselves. It provided a filmmaking “school” for debuting director Lionel Rogosin, a son of well-off New York City Jewish textile manufacturers who, like many of his peers, felt the need to make work addressing social equity rather than just “enjoy life” after the Holocaust. He hit on film as his chosen medium, South Africa’s apartheid system as desired subject — but as he knew nothing about filmmaking, taking on some smaller project first seemed apt.

Interviewed just before his turn-of-millennium death for 2009’s The Perfect Team: The Making of On the Bowery, which the Roxie is also showing, Rogosin recalls approaching this endeavor (initially planned as a short) with characteristic immersive fervency.

Having decided to focus on New York’s Skid Row district — the onetime flourishing heart of Manhattan whose slow degeneration began when an overground rail built in the 1870s bypassed stopping there — he spent a full six months befriending and bar-crawling with “Bowery bums,” occasionally slinking back to his Village apartment. (To neighbors’ consternation, sometimes these new pals would come uptown to pound on his door at 4 a.m., shaking the rich guy down for gin money.)

In the saloons and flops he found his cast, even his crew: cinematographer Richard Bagley, who shot 1948’s Oscar-nominated The Quiet One (another neorealist semidocumentary, about a Harlem juvenile delinquent), was found carousing thereabouts. (He died of cirrhosis in 1961 at 41. That was six years later and four years younger than Pulitzer Prize-winning scribe James Agee, who’d written The Quiet One and drank himself to death before he could write Bowery.)

Bagley understood what Rogosin meant in wanting the film to look like Rembrandt’s portraits of 17th-century Amsterdam’s poor and diseased — black and white On the Bowery has stunning passages of nothing but faces ruined by hooch and hardship, soulful in their grotesquerie. (Probably many were beyond registering being filmed.) The slim story, dialogue improvised within a barely scripted structure, centers on itinerant railroad worker Ray. Drifting into town between jobs, this uncomplicated rural Southerner has the ill fortune to get buddied up by the older Gorman, a.k.a. Doc (he claims to have blown a legit surgeon’s career), who spies a soft touch. Umpteen glasses later, Ray is left unconscious at the curb, his battered suitcase stolen by Doc to buy a few hours’ privacy in one flophouse’s chicken wire “room.”

Ray awakens the next day sobered but not sore, determined to stay dry long enough to clean up, get some work, and get outta here. Knowing his weakness for the sauce, he recognizes Bowery life as a pit he might easily vanish in. But after an abortive night at a depressing church mission, he answers the siren call of Doc’s mooching hospitality and gets in worse straits than ever. There’s both surprising redemption and a stone-cold reality check at the end of this woozy-view slice of gutter life.

On the Bowery won great acclaim in Europe and an eventual Oscar nomination as Best Documentary. (It was also inducted into the National Film Registry in 2008.) Yet it was scarcely distributed here, and outright condemned in some quarters. Eisenhower America preferred the less seemly aspects of its domestic life be kept hidden from view. Bagley’s shocking vistas of bruised, broken, passed-out “forgotten men” littering already decrepit city sidewalks at dawn — like extras in a Cold War sci-fi scare film about the Bomb — seemed not just an ugly truth but an unallowable one.

The New York Times and other commentators assailed the filmmakers for wallowing in gratuitous filth. At an otherwise triumphant Venice Festival premiere, socialite ambassador Clare Boothe Luce and publishing tycoon husband Henry snubbed Rogosin, the first Yank to win its Documentary Grand Prize. She reportedly encouraged the U.S. State Department to suppress Bowery‘s further exposure abroad — and was no doubt appalled when it became a runaway hit in certain Eastern Bloc nations.

Rogosin did make that South Africa film (1958’s Come Back, Africa, another Venice sensation) as well as several other little-seen social-justice documentaries, before continual funding shortages forced his mid-1970s retirement from the medium.

On the Bowery‘s “stars” imitated the art that had replicated their lives. Having been told by a real physician that he wouldn’t survive even one more binge, Gorman “Doc” Hendricks honored the crew’s pleas and stayed sober as long as the film was being shot. Once it wrapped, he promptly relapsed and died, never seeing a frame of the end product.

Handsome, affable 42-year-old Ray Salyer helped Rogosin promote the movie, dignified and frank about his own alcoholism in a Today interview excerpted in The Perfect Team. That publicity attracted Hollywood acting offers, including a purported $40,000 contract Salyer refused. When the attention got to be too much, he simply “hopped on a freight train and nobody ever saw him again.” Legend has it he later returned to the Bowery, dying there. A surviving nephew recalled his father (Ray’s twin among a brutal Kentucky Methodist minister’s 12 children) saying this wayward brother “returned permanently screwed up” from World War II military service. He was “still the charming, witty, engaging guy he had been, but with a deep sadness in his eyes. And he couldn’t drink enough to make it go away.”

ON THE BOWERY

Jan 14–20, $5–$9.75

Roxie Theater

3117 16th St., SF

(415) 431-3611

www.roxie.com

 

EDITORIAL: The Agenda for Mayor Lee

Maria Poblet
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San Francisco has its first Chinese American mayor, and that’s a major, historic milestone. Let’s remember: Chinese immigrants were among the most abused and marginalized communities in the early days of San Francisco. In 1870, the city passed a series of laws limiting the rights of Chinese people to work and live in large parts of the city. Chinese workers built much of the Transcontinental Railroad — at slave wages and in desperately unsafe conditions that led to a large number of deaths. The United States didn’t even repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act (an anti-immigration law) until 1943, and for years, Chinatown was one of the poorest and most neglected city neighborhoods.

So there’s good reason for Asians to celebrate that the last door in San Francisco political power is now open. And Mayor Ed Lee comes from a civil rights background; he got his start in politics working as a poverty lawyer and tenant organizer.

Unfortunately, his path to Room 200 was badly marred by some ugly backroom dealing involving Willie Brown, the most corrupt mayor in modern San Francisco history. Even Lee’s supporters agree the process was a mess and that it undermines Lee’s credibility. So it’s important for Mayor Lee to immediately establish that he’s independent of Brown and his cronies, that his administration will not just be a Gavin Newsom rerun, and that progressives can and should support him.

He has a tough job ahead. We urge him to make a clean break with the past and set the city in a new direction. Here are a few ways to get started.

• Clear out the Newsom operatives and bring some new people with progressive credentials into the senior ranks. Newsom’s chief of staff, Steve Kawa, has been a shadow mayor for the past year while Newsom was on the campaign trail, and is the architect of much of what the outgoing administration has done to sow political division and cripple city government. Lee needs his own chief advisor.

• Show up for question time and work with the district-elected supervisors. Newsom was openly dismissive of the board and refused to take the supervisors seriously as partners in city government. Lee should appear once a month to answer questions from the board in public, should meet regularly with all the supervisors and appoint a liaison that the board can work with and trust. He needs to make his administration as transparent and open as possible and ensure that everyone at City Hall follows the letter and spirit of the Sunshine Ordinance.

• Make it clear that the next city budget includes substantial new revenue. Newsom offered nothing but Republican politics when it came to city finance; his only solutions to the massive structural deficit involved service cuts.

The deficit will be even worse than projected this year, since Gov. Jerry Brown wants to transfer much of the state’s responsibility for public safety and public health back to local government — and there won’t be enough state money attached to handle the new burden. Lee needs to publicly call on Brown and the Legislature to give cities more ability to raise taxes on the local levee. Then he should start planning for a June ballot package that will raise as much as $250 million in new revenue for the city.

A substantially higher vehicle license fee on expensive cars, a congestion management fee, a significant annual transit impact fee on downtown offices, a restructured business tax, and a progressive tax on income of more than $50,000 a year would more than eliminate the structural deficit.

There are plenty of other revenue ideas out there; not all can or would pass on a single ballot. But Lee needs to make it clear that revenue will be part of the solution — and that he will use all the political capital he can muster to convince the voters to go along.

• Get serious about community choice aggregation. Newsom loved to talk about his environmental agenda, but when it came to challenging the hegemony of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and its dirty power portfolio, he ran for cover. His hand-picked Public Utilities Commission director, Ed Harrington, has been an obstacle to implementing the city’s CCA plan. Lee needs to get rid of Harrington or direct him to cooperate with the supervisors and get San Francisco on the path to clean public power.

• Establish a real affordable housing program. The city plans to build housing for as many as 60,000 new residents in the southeast neighborhoods — but only a fraction of them will be affordable. This city is already well on its way to becoming a high-end bedroom community for Silicon Valley; only a clear policy that limits new market-rate condos until there’s a plan for adequate affordable housing will turn things around.

• Support Sanctuary City and quit helping federal immigration authorities break up families. Newsom was just awful on this issue; Lee needs to work with Sup. David Campos to implement more humane laws.

• End the demonization of homeless people and public employees. Newsom came to power attacking the homeless (with Care Not Cash) and went out attacking the homeless (with the sit-lie law). Lee ought to tell the Police Department not to aggressively enforce the ordinance.

• Take on the sacred cows of the Police and Fire departments. The biggest salary and pension problems in the city are in the two public safety departments. The Fire Department budget has been bloated for years. If everyone else is taking cuts, so should the highest-paid cops and the overstaffed fire stations.

Some of Lee’s supporters insist he’s a solid progressive and that we shouldn’t hold the details of his selection — or the fact that he was chosen by people who are openly hostile to the progressive agenda — against him. We’re open to that — but the progressive community will judge him on his record. And he has to start right away.

Expert opinion: how best to love your Oregon Ducks

Andrew Lam
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There are sports fans who watch every game, know all the stats, own all the gear, take it upon themselves to achieve championship-level drunk status upon every win and loss their team achieves — and then there are real sports fans. Those are the guys that cobble together high-quality parodic hip-hop videos with their buddies that become their football team’s anthem and Youtube blockbusters, getting them flown around the country to perform — and getting star-struck coeds to swoon at the tailgate.

That’d be Jamie Slade, Brian McAndrew, and Michael Bishop, whose Supwitchugirl team starred in and edited the Eugene, Oregon party anthems “I Love My Ducks” and “I Love My Ducks (Return of the Quack),” as well as a host of other tunes dedicated to frat juicin’ brobots and bathroom water conservation — even at the price of party foul.  Lucky us, SFBG had the inside line on these young bucks and got Jamie Slade, the group’s tallest member with its curliest hair, to email with us about ways you can be the ultimate Ducks fan at the team’s championship title run on Mon/10 against Auburn University — or front like you are, at least.

 

San Francisco Bay Guardian: What’s the most important thing that someone unacquainted with them should know about the Oregon Ducks’ season this year?

Jamie Slade: This is Oregon’s very first run at the national title and last year was the first year since 1995 we went to the Rose Bowl so both this year and last year are monumental years for Duck football history. That’s why Oregon has been getting so much hype lately on TV — that and head coach Chip Kelly has only lost three games in his whole career — which has only been two years, but it’s still very impressive.

 

SFBG: An all-purpose line to make yourself sound like a real fan?

JS: I LOVE MY DUCKS

 

SFBG: The season highlight? Lowlight?

JS: The season highlight was beating Tennessee. They’re in the SEC conference, which is known for being the best conference, historically, in college football. Also, beating Oregon State and solidifying our spot in the national championship game. Also the Stanford game, they’re now the best one-loss team in the nation and WE beat them. They just won their bowl game which makes us look GOOD. Lowlight? I guess the Cal game where we only won by two points when we were favored to win by 30-plus.

 

SFBG: How can you tell who the Ducks fans are?

JS: We have the loudest stadium in college football — literally, the decibels in Autzen Stadium have been recorded as louder than a fighter jet taking off and that isn’t because of how the stadium is engineered and built, it’s because we yell our asses off. Duck fans are loud and will be happy to yell in your face if you’re an opposing fan.

 

SFBG: Have you met the team? Which player made the biggest impression on you and why?

JS: Yeah we’ve met the team, well most of the players at least. Two players that have been really nice to us has been DJ Davis, our wide receiver and defensive end Kenny Rowe. DJ Davis is just an all-around nice guy with a really sincere personality and Kenny Rowe is a really funny dude. Every time I see him he always says “Man, I wanna be just like you” even though he leads the Pac-10 in sacks and is a menace on the field.

 

SFBG: How’d Supwitchu Girl get together? What was the first video you guys made?

JS: We met in the dorms. Michael and Brian have been longtime friends and I met them when I was on the Oregon track team my freshmen year. Because of Saturday practices I would stay in the dorms on Friday nights and Michael and Brian coincidentally stayed in as well and our personalities just clicked. Our first video is called “Just Don’t Flush It” and it’s a music video about water conservation. It was an inside joke at first about how Brian would never flush the toilet in our tiny apartment during our senior year. 

 

SFBG: Are you super stars in Eugene at this point? 

JS: We’re more sex symbols if anything, Caitlin. Just kidding haha. I wouldn’t say we are super stars at all — we get recognized just because the video is so popular but we don’t get star treatment or anything, we still had to go to school and do everything else every other student has to go through. Sometimes people say “Hey are you that “I Love My Ducks” guy?” and I say yes…but we are so much more than JUST the “I Love My Ducks” guys.

 

SFBG: Do you have plans to extend your reign of terror to other college towns?

JS: NO. We are die-hard Duck fans. That’s where we find inspiration for these songs…out of true emotion and love for this team.

 

SFBG: Future video plans? Or are you done with the UO scene now that you’re graduating?

JS: Yep we have a video coming out after the BCS game called “Pogs” and it is about that childhood fad of throwing Pogs and slammers etc. Should be funny. But we all plan on travelling for a few months and reconvening afterwards to figure out what our next step will be.

 

SFBG: What line from your songs do you hear people repeat the most?

JS: From the first song: “Holy Moly, is that my boy Masoli?” From the second song: “Eatin chips ‘n’ dip with the brain Chip Kelly!”

 

You can yell your ass off (or get yelled at in your face) with the rest of the Oregon fans at The Independent (628 Divisadero, SF. www.theindependentsf.com), which will be playing the national championship game on their pull-down movie screen.


BCS National College Football Championship Game: University of Oregon vs. Auburn University

Mon/10 5:30 PST, FOX Sports

 

Daly goes down swinging

Sasha Cuttler
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The League of Pissed of Voters made a Daly roast video honoring the “biggest asshole in San Francisco politics”

Between last night’s epic Chris Daly Roast and Daly’s crazy-man antics on Tuesday night, Daly is ending his 10-year tenure on the Board of Supervisors in fitting fashion: as a passionate leader of the progressive movement who has also been its – and his own – worst enemy.

A huge crowd packed The Independent to honor and make fun of Daly and other political figures, and it definitely had the feel of an alcohol-fueled progressive love-fest, right down to conservative Chronicle columnist CW Nevius taking a pie in the face after stepping off the stage for the evening’s most tedious session behind the microphone.

Well, at least it was until Daly took the mike, going on and on in often tasteless fashion and resisting efforts by his wife, Sarah Low, and others to get him to give up the spotlight. Daly just isn’t ready to leave the stage yet, despite buying and running the Buck Tavern, soon to be renamed Daly’s Dive. He’s even half seriously talking about running for mayor.

But for all of Daly’s many accomplishments – he is the most productive supervisor of his era and the most passionately progressive – his personal grudges also create problems for the movement. On Tuesday, Daly led the effort to name Sheriff Michael Hennessey as interim mayor, twisting Sup. Eric Mar’s arm to get him to come along, only to fall one vote short.

Even though Hennessey and Ed Lee are similar figures, Daly turned Board President David Chiu’s support for Lee into an act of epic ideological betrayal, aggressively menacing Chiu at the meeting and shouting at him, “I will haunt you! I will politically haunt you! It’s on like Donkey Kong.” He spoke over his colleagues as they had the floor and tried to talk, including repeatedly yelling at Sup. Michela Alioto-Pier, “You are a representative of the rich!” And when the board reconvened after a short recess, Daly remained in the audience, periodically flipping the bird to the board.

But for all Daly’s current ire toward Chiu, it should be noted that Chiu became board president two years ago because Daly led the opposition to Sup. Ross Mirkarimi becoming board president, giving Chiu far more political power than he would otherwise have. Daly has long prided himself on his good political instincts, and at times he has indeed been a masterful political tactician, but his ego sometimes gets the better of him. He’s hyper competitive and just wants to win, even when victory carries an unacceptable price.

When the new Board of Supervisors takes the oath of office at noon on Saturday, the progressive movement will lose a passionate leader in Chris Daly. But as it elects a new president and its political dynamics take shape, someone will need to take Daly’s role as the whip and conscience of the board, a role even his enemies acknowledged that he played.

“Chris, I think San Francisco is better because you served,” Sup. Sophie Maxwell said on Tuesday, gritting her teeth in praising someone who has at times scorned and belittled her. It will be interesting to see how Daly’s role is filled on the new board, and whether we can still have the passion without its pitfalls.

Is Chiu really set to roll into D.A.’s office?

Mary Magee
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Last month, when I wrote about the game of musical chairs in the D.A.’s office that Kamala Harris’ victory in the Attorney General’s race triggered, Board President David Chiu said he wanted to stay put, “for now.”

But is it possible that Chiu was referring to December 2010, or the first week of January 2011, when he said “now”.

Today, his chief of staff Judson True acknowledged that Chiu’s name “is in the mix” when it comes to the conversation about appointing someone to replace Harris. But True also noted that Chiu’s “focus is still on the Board.”

And if I were Chiu, I’d be biting my nails over the prospect of trading my seat as an elected official for an appointment that only lasts until year’s end. Especially since this trade-off would be happening against the backdrop of the November election in which Harris’ chief of staff Paul Henderson and criminal justice reform advocate David Onek have already filed paperwork.

Either way, True says not to expect any announcement about the D.A. appointment until an interim mayor has been selected, so stay tuned.

And Chiu just told Guardian city editor Steve Jones that the D.A.’s office isn’t where his head right now.

“Chiu told me he doesn’t think he wants it and wouldn’t take it without assurances that someone who didn’t share his values would be appointed to D3,” Jones just told me, as he prepared to head for Daly’s roast at the Independent tonight.

 

Chris Daly’s Final Say

Mary Magee
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Chris Daly’s Final Say

As part of my effort to compile a list of most roastable moments of Sup. Chris Daly‘s decade-long career at City Hall, I asked the termed-out D6 supervisor if he would sit down for an exit interview. And shortly before Christmas, when there was still hope the Board would select a progressive interim mayor, and Daly had not yet vowed to politically haunt Board President David Chiu with shouts of, “It’s on like Donkey Kong” , we arranged to meet me at the Buck Tavern on Market Street, which Daly, who now holds the liquor license, is threatening to rename “Daly’s Dive.”

As it happens, the lion’s share of our conversation ended up taking place by cell, since Daly got stuck in late afternoon commuter traffic, as he drove to San Francisco from Fairfield, where his wife and children have lived since April 2009, making him a fitting symbol of the East-Bay-and-beyond migration pattern of couples who live in San Francisco, until they have more than one kid.

Except not all couples with two small kids get to move into one of two foreclosed properties that the in-laws bought with $545,000 cash in spring 2009. At the time, Daly’s critics accused him making such a mess of governing the city that he had decided against raising his own family here. Daly predictably disagreed. “There are few people who think about the future of San Francisco and the health of the city more than me,” Daly told reporters, explaining that his wife wanted family support raising their children, so she had moved to the same cul-de-sac as her parents, as Daly continued to live in a condo in San Francisco with roommates and to see his family on weekends.

Anyways, on the dark and stormy night that I interviewed Daly in mid-December, he acknowledged that he was going to be in for one helluva roast at the Independent on Jan. 5. in the worst possible sense of the tradition.
“Will there be controversial subjects, things that on the face of it, are not very nice? Yes,” Daly said.

And then he claimed he had agreed to this ordeal, because, under the roast’s traditional format , he would get to go last—and thus would get to have the last word.
“Why would I want to end my City Hall career like this? Because I get to go last, and can really say what’s on my mind,” Daly said. “Unless the D.J. wants to say something as he’s spinning.”

Daly’s comment suggests that folks who attend his roast at the Independent will witness a historically vicious verbal drubbing on all sides, since no one has ever accused Daly of holding back from saying what was on his mind. Even if it has led to seemingly counterproductive “We are shocked, SHOCKED!” responses. Like the time Sup. Michela Alioto Pier introduced an ultimately doomed etiquette ordinance, after Daly swore at a constituent during a City Hall meeting, in 2004.

Daly said at the time that he comes from a background as a housing-rights organizer on the streets of Philadelphia and San Francisco, where confrontation was an effective political tool. But he also claimed that he had learned an important lesson.
“In the future it’s going to be better for me personally and politically to focus my energy positively on the people I care about instead of negatively on the people I think are doing them harm,” Daly reportedly said.

Fast forward six years, and Daly is unrepentant about his record of fighting for low-income people, while openly defying City Hall’s unwritten rules of etiquette.
“Etiquette always seemed a little silly, something for the ‘other’ San Francisco, for the prim and the proper and that’s not what I am concerned about,” Daly said. “I’m aware of the turn-the-other-check philosophy, and, if I were religious, I’d be out of the Old Testament. I’d be, if someone pokes you in the eye, I’d poke back.”

Daly says he stopped caring about etiquette towards the end of his first year in office. “When those in power use that power to put down those who are less advantaged, when I see that, I respond quickly and with as much force as I can to prevent them from doing that kind of thing again,” he said. “ If you want to attack homeless people for political advantage, I’m going to attack you right back. That’s not ‘proper,’ but I think it’s just.”

Daly says he also soon realized tthat the truth wasn’t the driver.
“I already knew that money, power and significant forces would be pushing back against me but then I discovered that the actual truth wasn’t what played out there in the world of spin. It’s like when the Examiner’s Josh Sabatini asked me how I want to be remembered, and I said, “Not as the caricature the Examiner created of me.”

Daly, who moved to San Francisco in 1993 to work on homeless and affordable housing issues, was at the heart of the movement around Ammiano’s 1999 write-in campaign for mayor, and part of the progressive sweep onto the Board, in 2000.

“For me, it’s never been about being a ‘good’ vote. I breathe leftist progressive politics,” Daly said. “Where I can make more of a mark is in terms of setting the stage for those votes and holding the line in districts that are not progressive. I’m very proud of my attempts to hold the line on issues, but the work doesn’t make any friends.”

Daly noted that after he made comments about Newsom’s alleged cocaine use during the 2007 Mayor’s race, downtown interests threw everything they had left at him.
‘They got a lot of hits in, but no total blows,” he opines. “Last time I checked, I saved the city $150 million on the Americas Cup deal that they were going to ram rod through.”

And so, as he prepares to begin life as a bar owner, don’t expect Daly to pass up opportunities to launch verbal attacks, if he believes they are warranted, political consequences be damned.

“People want to have the power without any of the negativity they associate with all the shit we have to deal with to build this power,” Daly added. “So, it’s all, Daly and [former Board President Aaron] Peskin took control of the Democratic Party at midnight. Well, how did you want us to take over? “

Daly claims if you take away “negatives” attributed to him, you take away his wins. “People call me a lot of things, but I’m not a loser, I win a lot” Daly added, noting that Democrats being nice to Republicans has led to losses in D.C., not gains. “So, yes, I’ve got a lot of negatives, and they’ve clearly been made into a target, but if I can take the hits, and help people I care about, I’m happy to do it. That’s what I’ve done for ten years.”

Daly says he’s become “pretty desensitized to criticism,” even as he admits to being a sensitive person, deep inside. “I don’t think I’d have quite the visceral response to poverty and oppression, if I wasn’t sensitive,” he said. “I care deeply about people’s struggles. That’s why I’m here, but I also have a pretty solid critique of capitalism and I know how to follow the money, so when I get criticized by some downtown mouthpiece, I know what time it is.”

Daly says he started the Daly Blog several years ago, to push back against what he felt was unfair treatment in the media. And he says he endorsed outgoing mayor Newsom for Lt. Governor, despite their long and antagonistic history, so progressives could have a shot at installing a mayor in Room 200.

“My money now is on the selection of the mayor going to the new Board, and Avalos getting it in the 13th round of voting,” Daly said.

Daly made that prediction three weeks before the progressives on the Board seem poised to hand the keys to R.200 to City Administrator Ed Lee—thereby eliciting Daly’s ballistic “Donkey Kong” outburst.

With the outgoing Board set to meet Friday to make a selection, here’s another Daly roastable moment, this time from Peskin, related to the fall-out that ensued after Daly made two appointments to the SFPUC, while serving as acting mayor for one day, while then Mayor Willie Brown was out of the country, on a trip to Tibet.

“When Mayor Willie Brown left office, Charlotte Schultz had an unveiling ceremony of Brown’s picture. Newsom, who by then was mayor, was presiding. And Charlotte had a beautiful easel with a golden drape over it. When she pulled back the curtain there was a picture of Daly, who was listed as “41st and a half” mayor presiding from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on October 22,” Peskin recalled, noting that under Daly’s picture there was another curtain that contained Brown’s actual portrait.”

And while Daly’s controversial statements and outbursts always make headlines, there is no denying that he helped make the progressive agenda, including establishing mandatory paid sick days, universal healthcare, and forcing developers to contribute in affordable housing or services for poor, an integral part of city policy.
 “The Chronicle used him as the poster child to try and dissuade anyone from supporting a progressive agenda,” former Sup. Jake McGoldrick observed. “He was used to smear any of our good ideas. And Chris never seemed to understand that some of us needed to be a little more sensitive, since we needed to get re-elected and didn’t represent districts that were as progressive as his. Personal attacks make the whole situation smell bad.”

Sup. John Avalos, who served as Daly’s legislative aide until he was elected as D11 supervisor, acknowledged that a lot of folks have accused Daly of doing irreparable harm to the progressive movement and being a gift to Newsom and the moderates at City Hall.
“People try and make hay out of it,” he said. “But his antics have probably hurt him more than anyone,” Avalos added, noting that he ran in 2008 as Daly’s former legislative aide.
‘And it didn’t hurt me, and I made no bones about where I came from.”

And then there’s the fact Daly defeated the Chamber ’s Rob Black in the 2006 election. “We don’t do enough to have better relationships between ourselves,” Avalos added , reflecting on the divided progressive movement. “It’s more than just one person.”
 
Peskin for his part acknowledges that Daly will be missed on the Board.
 “He sucked the oxygen out of the room and made it all super lefty and caustic, and it certainly did not allow a better conversation to evolve,” Peskin said. “But it’s still going to be a pretty profound loss.”

Our Weekly Picks: January 5-11, 2011

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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THURSDAY 6

THEATER

Strange Travel Suggestions

Jeff Greenwald’s life is a trip, and he’s happy to take you along for the ride. The Oakland-based travel writer has made a name for himself slaking an unquenchable wanderlust in lively, enlightening books like Shopping for Buddhas and, most recently, Snake Lake, a memoir of one year (1990) that saw a poignant collision between Nepalese revolution and personal upheaval. But many who know the writer don’t know the performer. A natural storyteller, Greenwald returns this week to the Marsh with his improvised, low-key but engrossing Strange Travel Suggestions. Making use of an idiosyncratic “wheel of fortune,” the journey changes each night, relying like all good wanderings on the collective mood and dumb chance. (Robert Avila)

Through Jan. 22

Thurs.–Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 5 p.m., $20–$50

Marsh Berkeley Cabaret

2120 Allston, Berk.

1-800-838-3006

www.themarsh.org

 

MUSIC

Blaqk Audio

Alas, I lost the thread and completely missed the moment when emo reached its New Romantic period. Which is sad, because right around 2007, I really could have used a sharp-shirted, electro-emo stomper from Blaqk Audio called “Semiotic Love.” I think at that point in my mope-rock attention, I was too busy gawking at footage of the punks vs. emos riots breaking out across Mexico. (According to one punky hater, emos “are stupid, they cry about stupid things.”) Too bad those rowdy Mexican kids didn’t know about Blaqk Audio, a side project of Davey Havoc and Jade Puget of Ukiah stalwarts AFI, which fluffs a punk pedigree and emo self-longing into synthy, baroque, slightly dark power pop. Think Depeche Confessional or maybe My Chemical Numan — or just be pulled into Blaqk Audio’s chilly, wriggling embrace at weekly club Popscene. (Marke B.)

With DJs Aaron Axelson and Nako

9 p.m., $18

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

www.popscene-sf.com

 

MUSIC

George Winston

Grammy-award winning pianist George Winston is known in the music world for a wide variety of his projects, ranging from his own outstanding original material to his reworkings of Vince Guaraldi’s beloved Peanuts compositions, as well as reinterpreting music from the Doors. During his 30 years and counting music career, Winston has long worked with various food banks and service organizations throughout the country when he tours — he donates 100 percent of his merchandise sales to the organizations he works with at each show. Tonight benefits the Berkeley Food Bank, so prepare for an evening of good music for a good cause. (Sean McCourt)

8 p.m., $39.50

Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse

2020 Addison, Berk.

(510) 644-2020

www.thefreight.org

 

FRIDAY 7

MUSIC

Velvet Teen

This month sees the release of the Velvet Teen’s first new material since 2006, an EP titled No Star. That’s a big gap in the band’s discography, particularly for a group that released three albums and a handful of EPs between 2000 and 2006. But tragedy takes priority in life, and while fans of the Santa Rosa indie rockers certainly have been eager for new sounds, there’s also a sense that things take time, particularly after the loss of original drummer Logan Whitehurst in 2006. Tonight’s show, the CD release, is a chance to see what the Velvet Teen has made of the intervening years. (Ryan Prendiville)

With Silian Rail and Low-five

10 p.m., $12

Bottom of the Hill

1233 17th St., SF

(415) 621-4455

www.bottomofthehill.com

 

SATURDAY 8

MUSIC

“Bowie and Elvis Birthday Bash”

Used to be, you’d have to choose which rock superstar to celebrate come Jan. 8. Would you meticulously apply glittery makeup and sway to “Life on Mars?” or slick your hair into a pompadour and pound a peanut-butter-and-banana concoction to the beat of “Suspicious Minds”? This year, head to the Edinburgh Castle’s “Bowie and Elvis Birthday Bash,” offering equal time to each rock titan on their shared birthday (Ziggy’s 64th, and what would’ve been the King’s 76th). Shindog and Skip spin tunes “from Hound Dog to Diamond Dog,” poet Alan Black pays tribute, and there’ll be a costume contest in the image of each legend. If you already own a sparkly jumpsuit, a two-in-one homage is certainly possible. (Cheryl Eddy)

9 p.m.–2 a.m., $5

Edinburgh Castle Pub

950 Geary, SF

www.castlenews.com

 

MUSIC

Optimo

There was no single club whose aesthetic ruled world dance floor sensibilities in 2010 (this may be a good thing). No Berghain, no Misshapes, no Hollertronix, no Body & Soul, no Fabric, no Space — and unfortunately no Optimo (Espacio), the wee Glasgow joint that helped birth one of the most thrilling recent trends in DJ styling, the “never know what you’re gonna get, but it’ll be amaaazing” thing. Optimo shut down in April, and the San Francisco scene mourned the loss of a sister spirit. Honey Soundsystem even mounted an elaborate wake on the same night Optimo closed. Fortunately, Optimo’s wildly diverse musical policy lives on. DJ JD Twitch founded the club with JG Wilkes — Twitch will hopefully beat through the snow to bring his club’s still-thriving vibe to 222 Hyde, along with unexpected sonic goodies from Midnight Star and Chicks on Speed to Gui Boratto and beyond. (Marke B.)

9:30 p.m., $5–$10

222 Hyde, SF

www.222hyde.com

 

FILM

“Hitchcock”

Rear Window   (1954), Vertigo   (1958), Psycho   (1960) — not only have you seen ’em multiple times, you can recite all the dialogue and catch yourself miming along with the shower scene. It’s likely even Alfred Hitchcock diehards haven’t gotten around to watching all of the prolific director’s 60-something works. But thanks to the Castro Theatre, you can skip a random TV viewing and catch some of Hitch’s lesser-known but no less compelling films on the big, glorious screen (as he’d no doubt rather prefer). Highlights include The Lady Vanishes (1938), Rope (1948), The Trouble With Harry (1955), and The Wrong Man (1956), though there’s not a bad double-feature during the six-day event. (Eddy)

Jan. 8–13, $7.50–$10

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

(415) 621-6120

www.castrotheatre.com

 

EVENT

Oshogatsu Matsuri Festival

Traditions central to the Japanese New Year: the pounding of boiled sticky rice into mochi, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and well-meaning gaijin galuts asking everybody where the Chinese dragon is. Unversed in the dawn of the new year in the Land of the Rising Sun? This Japantown community center is holding a day to honor the Year of the Rabbit’s arrival, which Japan celebrates in tune with the Gregorian calendar along with the Western world. Bring the kiddos for art activities and make yourself comfortable for demonstrations of mochitsuki (the aforementioned rice preparation), kendo sword-fighting, and odori, the dance to welcome the dead. (Caitlin Donohue)

11 a.m.–3 p.m., free

Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California

1840 Sutter, SF

(415) 567-5505

www.jcccnc.org

 

MUSIC

Los Lobos

Had he not died in a helicopter crash after leaving a 1991 Huey Lewis concert, legendary San Francisco rock promoter Bill Graham would have turned 80 today — local music fans can celebrate his birthday at tonight’s concert, featuring Los Lobos and Jackie Greene, all benefiting the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation. Run by a group that includes members of Graham’s family and other community leaders, the foundation strives to raise money for a variety of social and charitable causes. Raise your glass to Wolfgang (a childhood nickname for Graham, born Wolodia Grajonca) at this fitting tribute — remember, the reason Graham was at the concert that fateful night was to plan a benefit show to help victims of the 1991 Oakland firestorm. (McCourt)

9 p.m., $50

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-6000

www.thefillmore.com

 

MUSIC

Talib Kweli

What does it mean to be a “conscious” rapper? That label has been applied to Talib Kweli ever since he emerged on the musical scene in the mid-1990s, particularly for Black Star, a 1998 collaboration with fellow Brooklyn artist Mos Def and DJ Hi-Tek. Beyond charity work, it means being able to get past the divisive beefing that plagues hip-hop. That ability has kept Kweli busy with guest appearances between albums, on tracks with the Roots, Little Brother, UGK, Gucci Mane, and beyond. His new album, Gutter Rainbows, is out Jan. 25. (Prendiville)

With Be Brown, Skins and Needles, My-G and Rose, and Lowriderz

10 p.m., $25

Public Works

161 Erie, SF

www.publicsf.com

 

SUNDAY 9

MUSIC

Willie Nelson

“Outlaw” is a term that tends to be thrown around a little bit too liberally these days, particularly when it comes to discussing musicians. But one man who undoubtedly deserves that title is Willie Nelson, whose five-decades-and-counting career as a singer, songwriter, poet, author, and social activist has been forged entirely on his own terms. Known for his own recording hits, his partnerships with artists such as Johnny Cash, his slew of songwriting successes (notably the classic tune “Crazy” as made famous by Patsy Cline), and more recently his newsmaking, weed-related tour bus arrests, the 77-year-old icon continues to prove that he is a musical and social force to be reckoned with. (McCourt)

Through Jan 12

9 p.m., $55

Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-6000

www.thefillmore.com

 

MONDAY 10

EVENT

BCS National Championship Game

The University of Oregon Duck is a champ. Omnivorous, excellent paddler, wearer of fetching sailor shirts — a gentleman and a scholar, truly. Except when he’s beating up the University of Houston’s Cougar (as seen in a popular YouTube clip), but that happened all the way back in 2007! This year, his football Ducks ended the regular season undefeated to face the Auburn Tigers in the national championships. Though we may not have the benefit of a fine Oregon drizzle to fully appreciate the Duck’s waddle, there is a lovely vantage point from which to watch the mayhem: the Independent, where the game will be played on its pull-down movie screen and microbrews will flow like the mighty Willamette. (Donohue)

5:30 p.m., free

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

(415) 771-4421

www.theindependentsf.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.

Music Listings

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
-
0

Music listings are compiled by Cheryl Eddy. Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.

WEDNESDAY 5

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Artwork Jamal Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Funky C Elbo Room. 9pm.

Slim Jenkins, Swamp Angel Café Du Nord. 9:30pm, $7.

Ohio Players Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $25-35.

Ash Reiter, Pentacles, Thralls Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Gaucho, Michael Abraham Amnesia. 7pm, free.

Michael Parsons Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita Moore hosts this dance party, featuring DJ Robot Hustle.

Cannonball Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. Rock, indie, and nu-disco with DJ White Mike.

Hands Down! Bar on Church. 9pm, free. With DJs Claksaarb, Mykill, and guests spinning indie, electro, house, and bangers.

Jam Fresh Wednesdays Vessel, 85 Campton, SF; (415) 433-8585. 9:30pm, free. With DJs Slick D, Chris Clouse, Rich Era, Don Lynch, and more spinning top40, mashups, hip hop, and remixes. Mary-Go-Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-0306. 10pm, $5. A weekly drag show with hosts Cookie Dough, Pollo Del Mar, and Suppositori Spelling.

Red Wine Social Triple Crown. 5:30-9:30pm, free. DJ TophOne and guests spin outernational funk and get drunk.

Respect Wednesdays End Up. 10pm, $5. Rotating DJs Daddy Rolo, Young Fyah, Irie Dole, I-Vier, Sake One, Serg, and more spinning reggae, dancehall, roots, lovers rock, and mash ups.

Synchronize Il Pirata, 2007 16th St, SF; (415) 626-2626. 10pm, free. Psychedelic dance music with DJs Helios, Gatto Matto, Psy Lotus, Intergalactoid, and guests.

THURSDAY 6

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Death Valley High, I’m Dirty Too Knockout. 9pm, $5.

Havarti Party, Buffalo Tooth, PM, Maston Stud. 8pm, free.

Doug MacLeod Union Room at Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $12.

Megafauna, Suite Unraveling, Quinn Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Ohio Players Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $25-35.

Oona, Con Brio, Karyn Page Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8.

Titan Ups, Wicked Mercies, Franco Nero, DJ Dr. Scott Café Du Nord. 8pm, $12.

Verna Beware, Danvilles, Nervous Wreckords Thee Parkside. 9pm, $7.

Jimmy Warren Biscuits and Blues. 8pm, $18.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Chris Clark Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free.

Loe and the Nastys Red Poppy Art House. 7pm, $10-15.

Valerie Troutt Jazz and Soul Quartet Coda. 9pm.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Dark Hollow Band Atlas Café. 8pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $10. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz spin Afrobeat, tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

Caribbean Connection Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $3. DJ Stevie B and guests spin reggae, soca, zouk, reggaetón, and more.

Club Jammies Edinburgh Castle. 10pm, free. DJs EBERrad and White Mice spinning reggae, punk, dub, and post punk.

Drop the Pressure Underground SF. 6-10pm, free. Electro, house, and datafunk highlight this weekly happy hour.

Electric Feel Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.fringesf.com. 9pm, $2. Indie music video dance party with subOctave and Blondie K.

Good Foot Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. With resident DJs Haylow, A-Ron, Prince Aries, Boogie Brown, Ammbush, plus food carts and community creativity.

Guilty Pleasures Gestalt, 3159 16th St, SF; (415) 560-0137. 9:30pm, free. DJ TophZilla, Rob Metal, DJ Stef, and Disco-D spin punk, metal, electro-funk, and 80s.

Holy Thursday Underground SF. 10pm, $5. Bay Area electronic hip hop producers showcase their cutting edge styles monthly.

Jivin’ Dirty Disco Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 8pm, free. With DJs spinning disco, funk, and classics.

Koko Puffs Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm, free. Dubby roots reggae and Jamaican funk from rotating DJs.

Lacquer Beauty Bar. 10pm-2am, free. DJs Mario Muse and Miss Margo bring the electro.

Mestiza Bollywood Café, 3376 19th St, SF; (415) 970-0362. 10pm, free. Showcasing progressive Latin and global beats with DJ Juan Data.

Peaches Skylark, 10pm, free. With an all female DJ line up featuring Deeandroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, and Umami spinning hip hop.

Popscene Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $18. With Blaqk Audio.

Studio SF Triple Crown. 9pm, $5. Keeping the Disco vibe alive with authentic 70’s, 80’s, and current disco with DJs White Girl Lust, Ken Vulsion, and Sergio.

FRIDAY 7

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

BlackMahal, Afrolicious, DJ Timoteo Café Du Nord. 9pm, $10.

James Intveld, Red Meat Independent. 9pm, $14.

Monkey, Rule 5 DNA Lounge. 9pm, $10.

Jackie Payne Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Phenomenauts, Tornado Rider, Manzanita Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $12.

Slowburn, Planting Seeds, Ben Benkert Band, Aspect Slim’s. 9pm, $11.

Soft White Sixties, Trophy Fire, Bird By Bird, Beta State Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $11.

Space Vacation, Gypsyhawk, Green and Wood Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Velvet Teen, Silian Rail, Low-five Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $12.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Musical Art Quintet Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $10.

“San Francisco Tape Music Festival” Southside Theater, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, Bay at Buchanan, SF; www.sfsound.org. 8pm, $8-15.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Michael Winegard Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 9pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Braza! Som.10pm, $10. With DJs Vanka, Elan, and Caasi.

Deeper 222 Hyde, 222 Hyde, SF; (415) 345-8222. 9pm, $10. With rotating DJs spinning dubstep and techno.

Dirty Rotten Dance Party Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, $5. With DJs Morale, Kap10 Harris, and Shane King spinning electro, bootybass, crunk, swampy breaks, hyphy, rap, and party classics. Exhale, Fridays Project One Gallery, 251 Rhode Island, SF; (415) 465-2129. 5pm, $5. Happy hour with art, fine food, and music with Vin Sol, King Most, DJ Centipede, and Shane King.

Fat Stack Fridays Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm, free. With rotating DJs B-Cause, Vinnie Esparza, Mr. Robinson, Toph One, and Slopoke.

Fubar Fridays Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5. With DJs spinning retro mashup remixes.

Good Life Fridays Apartment 24, 440 Broadway, SF; (415) 989-3434. 10pm, $10. With DJ Brian spinning hip hop, mashups, and top 40.

Hot Chocolate Milk. 9pm, $5. With DJs Big Fat Frog, Chardmo, DuseRock, and more spinning old and new school funk.

Original Plumbing: Fashion Elbo Room. 10pm, $5. Fashion show with DJs Rapid Fire and 100 Spokes.

Rockabilly Fridays Jay N Bee Club, 2736 20th St, SF; (415) 824-4190. 9pm, free. With DJs Rockin’ Raul, Oakie Oran, Sergio Iglesias, and Tanoa “Samoa Boy” spinning 50s and 60s Doo Wop, Rockabilly, Bop, Jive, and more.

Some Thing Stud. 10pm, $7. VivvyAnne Forevermore, Glamamore, and DJ Down-E give you fierce drag shows and afterhours dancing.

Strangelove Cat Club. 9:30pm, $6. “Back to School Night” with old school vs. new school goth and DJs Tomas Diablo, Bryan Hawk, Melting Girl, and Daniel Skellington.

Vintage Orson, 508 Fourth St, SF; (415) 777-1508. 5:30-11pm, free. DJ TophOne and guest spin jazzy beats for cocktalians.

SATURDAY 8

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

ArnoCorps, Judgement Day, A Band of Orcs Slim’s. 9pm, $14.

Blisses B, Moonlight Orchestra, Vandella Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $10.

Blvd, Pink Mammoth Independent. 9pm, $15.

Communist Kayte, Basements Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.

Flash Gilmore and the Funbeatles, Lance Burden, Chineke, Organ Trail Kimo’s. 9pm, $7.

Melvins Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $21.

Radishes, Hounds and Harlots, Weekender Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $6.

E.C. Scott Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Walken, Cutthroats 9, Moses El Rio. 10pm, $7.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Pete Cornell Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 9pm, free.

Patrick Wolff Quintet Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $10-15.

“San Francisco Tape Music Festival” Southside Theater, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, Bay at Buchanan, SF; www.sfsound.org. 8pm, $8-15.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez, SF; www.noevalleymusicseries.com. 8:15pm, $22.

Whisky Richards, 77 El Deora, Bootcuts, Songs Hotbox Harry Taught Us Café Du Nord. 9pm, $13.

Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod Atlas Café. 4pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Bootie DNA Lounge. 9pm, $6-12. Mash-ups with Adrien and Mysterious D.

Bowie and Elvis Birthday Bash Edinburgh Castle Pub. 9pm, $5. With DJs Shindog, Skip, and special guests.

Cockblock Rickshaw Stop. 10pm, $7. Queer dance party for homos and friends with DJ Nuxx and guests.

Fire Corner Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 9:30pm, free. Rare and outrageous ska, rocksteady, and reggae vinyl with Revival Sound System and guests.

Frolic Stud. 9pm, $3-7. DJs Dragn’Fly, NeonBunny, and Ikkuma spin at this celebration of anthropomorphic costume and dance. Animal outfits encouraged.

Hacienda Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF; www.decosf.com. 10pm, free. Underground dance music with Inqilab and Tristes Tropiques plus guest Tal Klein.

HYP Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; www.eightsf.com. 10pm, free. Gay and lesbian hip-hop party, featuring DJs spinning the newest in the top 40s hip hop and hyphy.

Rock City Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5 after 10pm. With DJs spinning party rock.

Same Sex Salsa and Swing Magnet, 4122 18th St, SF; (415) 305-8242. 7pm, free.

Spirit Fingers Sessions 330 Ritch. 9pm, free. With DJ Morse Code and live guest performances.

Spotlight Siberia, 314 11th St, SF; (415) 552-2100. 10pm. With DJs Slowpoke, Double Impact, and Moe1.

Tormenta Tropical vs. Donuts Rickshaw Stop. 10pm, $5-10. With Teengirl Fantasy, Pictureplane, Disco Shawn, Oro11, and Pickpocket.

SUNDAY 9

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Jake Bellows, Whispertown, Heather Porcaro and the Heartstring Symphony Hotel Utah. 8pm, $8.

Grass Widow, Babies, White Fence Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $7.

Swann Danger, Bellicose Minds Knockout. 8pm, $6.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

“San Francisco Tape Music Festival” Southside Theater, Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, Bay at Buchanan, SF; www.sfsound.org. 8pm, $8-15.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Afro Lungs Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free.

*Willie Nelson Fillmore. 8pm, $55.

West Coast Ramblers Thee Parkside. 4pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Call In Sick Skylark. 9pm, free. DJs Animal and I Will spin danceable hip-hop.

DiscoFunk Mashups Cat Club. 10pm, free. House and 70’s music.

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, roots, and classic dancehall with DJs Sep, Maneesh the Twister, and guest Sake1.

Gloss Sundays Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 7pm. With DJ Hawthorne spinning house, funk, soul, retro, and disco.

Honey Soundsystem Paradise Lounge. 8pm-2am. “Dance floor for dancers – sound system for lovers.” Got that?

Kick It Bar on Church. 9pm. Hip-hop with DJ Zax.

Religion Bar on Church. 3pm. With DJ Nikita.

Swing Out Sundays Rock-It Room. 7pm, free (dance lessons $15). DJ BeBop Burnie spins 20s through 50s swing, jive, and more.

MONDAY 10

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Champagne Champagne, Mad Rad, C U Next Weekend, Moe Green Elro Room. 9pm, $8-10.

Foreign Objects, Neocon, Sydney Ducks Hemlock Tavern. 8pm, $5.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Lavay Smith Swinget with Jules Broussard Enrico’s, 504 Broadway, SF; (415) 982-6223. 7pm, free.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Toshio Hirano Amnesia. 9pm, free.

*Willie Nelson Fillmore. 8pm, $55.

DANCE CLUBS

Black Gold Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm-2am, free. Senator Soul spins Detroit soul, Motown, New Orleans R&B, and more — all on 45!

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

Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. With DJs Ant-1, $ir-Tipp, Ruby Red I, Lo, and Gelo spinning hip hop.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. With DJ Gordo Cabeza and guests playing all Motown every Monday.

Manic Mondays Bar on Church. 9pm. Drink 80-cent cosmos with Djs Mark Andrus and Dangerous Dan.

Network Mondays Azul Lounge, One Tillman Pl, SF; www.inhousetalent.com. 9pm, $5. Hip-hop, R&B, and spoken word open mic, plus featured performers.

Skylarking Skylark. 10pm, free. With resident DJs I & I Vibration, Beatnok, and Mr. Lucky and weekly guest DJs.

TUESDAY 11

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP Ex Masheena, Baysic Wonder, Stork Biscuits and Blues. 9pm, $8. Fat Tuesday Band Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15. Rooftop Vigilantes, Primary Structures, Freddi and the Aztecs Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6. Roomful of Blues Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $30. Sweet Chariot, Sparrows Gate, Montra, Nico’s Georis, Matt Baldwin Slim’s. 8pm, $5. FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY *Willie Nelson Fillmore. 8pm, $55. JAZZ/NEW MUSIC Nick Culp Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:30pm, free. DANCE CLUBS Alcoholocaust Presents Argus Lounge. 9pm, free. With DJ Aesop Dekker and DJ Denim Yeti. Bombshell Betty and Her Burlesqueteers Elbo Room. 9pm, $10. With Fromagique. Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro. Extra Classic DJ Night Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; www.bissapbaobab.com. 10pm. Dub, roots, rockers, and reggae from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Fashion Feud Rickshaw Stop. 7pm, free. With designers Crystal Hermann and Mary M. Yanez. Rock Out Karaoke! Amnesia. 7:30pm. With Glenny Kravitz. Share the Love Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 5pm, free. With DJ Pam Hubbuck spinning house. Womanizer Bar on Church. 9pm. With DJ Nuxx.<\! *

On the Cheap Listings

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0

On the Cheap listings are 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 5

Concierto de Reyes Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2868 Mission, SF; (415) 643-5001, www.missioncultural.org. 2pm, free. The Coro Hispano of San Francisco, a chorus comprised of Spanish-speaking community members, has been celebrating Latin America through song since 1975. Join ’em for their annual kids holiday concert, which will cover turf as varied as renaissance motets and aguinaldos (Christmas folk music) from Peru, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and more.

Glen Canyon habitat restoration Glen Park Recreation Center, 70 Elk, SF; (415) 337-4705, www.sfrecpark.org. 9am-noon, free. Sure, you’ve made “that” resolution for the millionth time. But how about you snap out of that pudgy pity party and truck out to a little exercise that benefits more than just your waist line? SF parks are in need of TLC if they want to fend off invasive species and you can join in on the action at this morning of weeding, planting, and pruning. Dress to get muddy and active – and indulge in the free snacks provided free of your Christmas cookie guilt.

FRIDAY 7

Jaime Cortez: “Universal Remote” Southern Exposure, 3030 20th St., SF; (415) 863-2141, www.soex.org Through Feb. 19. Opening reception 7-9pm, free. It’s been months, but we still have a big in our hearts the size of a glittery glove. Thankfully, here comes visual artist Jaime Cortez’s solo exhibition, which calls out the tragic, tremendous pop culture whorl that was MJ – and highlights the King of Pop’s fluid moves through race, sexuality, and zombie-human relations.

Oakland Art Murmur Telegraph and 23rd St., Oakl.; www.oaklandartmurmur.com. 6-10 p.m., free. Rediscover what downtown Oakland’s got going on art-wise with this monthly show-and-tell by the neighborhood’s best and brightest art galleries. This week, catch Jennie Ottinger’s book art at Johansson Projects (excerpt from her truncated version of As I Lay Dying: “Holy shit, this family is cursed! Very National Lampoon’s Vacation.“)

SATURDAY 8

Parent-child snow globe class Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way, SF; (415) 554-9600, www.randallmuseum.org. 1-4pm, $6 for children; $10 for parent-child duos. The holidays are over, and yeah it’s still cold and rainy. But take heart! Winter can be time for good cheer even after Santa’s packed up the sleigh and gone north. Make a shakable wonder with your wee one and enjoy the rest of Randall Museum’s “Saturdays are Special” event (10am-4pm), which includes railroad exhibits, live animal feedings, and the rest of the science-y wonders present throughout the rest of this always-free museum.

Vintage Paper Expo Hall of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, Lincoln and Ninth Ave., SF; (328) 883-1702, www.vintagepaperfair.com. 10am-6pm, free. (Also Sun/9, 10am-4pm) Postcards, photos, brochures, stereoviews, and so much more! What’s a stereoview, you ask? Why, nothing less than an antique 3D image – something you can acquaint yourself with at this fair of all things printed and retro. The Vintage Paper Expo’s got over 100 vendors this year, all primed to sell you affordable scraps of history.

Writers With Drinks The Make Out Room, 3225 22nd St., SF; (415) 647-2888, www.writerswithdrinks.com. 7:30-9:30pm, $5-10 sliding scale. Writers? Drink? Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything! This long-standing lit night series pairs local scribes (this month’s are girl group Gogos founder Jane Wiedlin and socio-writer Ethan Watters) with a crowd that’s anything but stiff for readings, skits, and stand-up.

MONDAY 10

Cinema Drafthouse: Machete The Independent, 628 Divisadero, SF; (415) 771-1421, www.theindependentsf.com. 9pm, free. A deliberately silly revenge plot that’s both spot-on vintage homage and semi-serious commentary on America’s ongoing immigration debate gets the Indy’s free movie night treatment. Watch the film with a beer in hand (or two) – and feel free to shout advice to the characters on-screen. You’re in a music venue, for chrissakes.

TUESDAY 11

Pecha Kucha 330 Ritch, 330 Ritch, SF; www.pecha-kucha.org. 7pm, $5 donation suggested. Embarking as we are on month number one of year two-thousand-and-one-one, the theme of this month’s installation of this cross-discipline art night series is, yes, “one.” Not the most specific theme, sure – but that’s the way artists like it, and when you’ve assembled a passel of them from fields as varied as industrial design, animation, and fashion, sometimes it’s best just to step back and watch them unify.

Guardian, SF Weekly settle suit

Zelda Bronstein
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29


The Bay Guardian and the chain that owns SF Weekly have reached a settlement that ends an eight-year legal battle.


The parties have settled their differences on mutually acceptable terms.


You can read about the trial court verdict here, and some of the post-trial issues here, and our victory at the Court of Appeals here and here and the Supreme Court decision upholding our verdict here.


Specific terms of the settlement are confidential, as is often the case in business-related litigation.


Guardian Editor and Publisher Bruce B. Brugmann said the Guardian’s string of victories at the trial court, the Appeals Court and the Supreme Court “provide a model for protecting other small, independent businesses facing predatory pricing schemes from competitors.”


The Guardian’s legal team toiled for more than six years to bring this case to trial, to preserve the trial result on appeal, and to attempt to enforce the judgment and negotiate the settlement. Ralph Alldredge, Richard P. Hill and E. Craig Moody handled the trial. Joseph Hearst joined in for the appeals work. And Jay Adkisson took on the collections work.
Thanks, folks. You preserved a crucial state law, and you proved that persistence in the pursuit of justice is worthwhile. Small businesses in California will never forget it.

Out with the old

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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6
Out with the old

On the chilly morning of Dec. 21, a crowd of prominent local and state figures huddled in an industrial parking lot overlooking the brick smokestack of the Potrero power plant, which has been in operation for more than 40 years. It was the winter solstice, the morning after a lunar eclipse, and an historic environmental moment for San Francisco.

A longstanding battle to shut down the aging, polluting power plant was finally coming to an end, and it would be effectively shuttered as the calendar flipped to the new year. Although the past decade had been marked by political infighting and a relentless push to persuade the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to shut it down sooner, the tone that day was buoyant as people made the rounds, embracing one another and offering congratulations and thanks.

Among those who lined up before the media were Mayor Gavin Newsom, who will be sworn in as lieutenant governor in early 2011; Sup. Sophie Maxwell, whose 10 years on the Board of Supervisors is coming to a close; City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who’s thrown his hat into the mayoral race; and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Ed Harrington, whose name has been floated as a contender for interim mayor.

Each of these local politicians played a role in the contentious battle to close the plant, and each candidly admitted that shouting matches on the subject had erupted over the years. Yet they all expressed thanks to one another and to community members in the Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, and Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhoods, where residents were most directly affected by the noxious air pollution generated by the plant.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a state and a city to close this power plant,” said Maxwell, whose District 10 includes the neighborhoods affected by the power plant. “I started working on these plants when I took office, and now the plants are leaving with me.” Maxwell was credited with displaying dogged persistence and playing an instrumental role in pushing for the shutdown the plant.

“There were a lot of phone calls, there were a lot of arguments, there were a lot of disputes. But the fact of the matter is that everybody was focused on the same goal — and that was getting this plant shut down,” said Herrera, who has also been a key player in the decade-long fight to shut down the plant.

Newsom sounded a similar note. “I want to compliment everybody for their steadfastness and their devotion to this process,” the mayor said. “We didn’t always necessarily agree.”

Joshua Arce, who worked with community members to shut down the plant as part of his work with the Brightline Defense Project, was clearly pleased by the announcement. “It’s a fantastic day. We’re at last going to see the billowing smokestack come down, and for good,” Arce said.

The shutdown finally came to pass because the CalISO, which regulates the state power grid, was willing to accept new energy system upgrades as sufficiently reliable. For years, despite the community’s insistence that the plant was having an unacceptable impact on public health and disproportionately affected low-income communities of color, CalISO refused to terminate a contract requiring the plant to stay in operation for grid-reliability purposes.

However, new pieces to the city’s energy puzzle were recently fitted into place. The Trans Bay Cable, a 53-mile submarine power line that can transmit 400 megawatts of electricity from a Pittsburg generating station to San Francisco, became fully operational Nov. 23, months behind schedule. Meanwhile, a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. re-cabling project deemed important to San Francisco’s electricity reliability was completed Dec. 5.

“This plant has been part of the reliable supply for San Francisco … for a long time. And more recently, it actually provided the security for San Francisco should anything happen outside of San Francisco,” Yakout Mansour, president and CEO of the CalISO said during the shutdown ceremony. “But the time is here to replace the plant with an alternative to make the city more secure and reliable with much less polluting options.”

The CalISO issued a letter to the plant owner, which recently merged with another company and changed its name from Mirant to GenOn, stating that the must-run agreement would be terminated effective Jan. 1. The date of the final termination is Feb. 28, pending approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Now the major question is what will become of the power plant site, a vast strip of industrial real estate wedged between Illinois Street and the waterfront. “Many ideas have been thrown out there. People have come to us and said everything from office and industrial and research and development, to wind turbines,” noted Sam Lauter, a local spokesperson for GenOn. Lauter noted that community meetings would be held soon to discuss the future site use.

The site was previously owned by PG&E, and the utility is responsible for cleaning up lingering toxic residue including lampblack, a byproduct of coal processing, left behind when PG&E sold the site. Because of the pollution, residential units cannot legally be constructed on the site, even after cleanup.

There is one unfortunate consequence to shuttering the plant. According to plant manager Mike Montany, five or six of the 28 employees of the plant will lose their jobs. The rest will either retire or go to work at a new facility, he said.

While San Francisco will be poised to ring in the new year with improved air quality thanks to the elimination of its last polluting energy facility, residents of the area where the city’s power will now be sourced from won’t be so lucky. They are faced with the construction of two new power plants. The undersea Trans Bay Cable will run from the PG&E’s substation in San Francisco — a humming network of cables and transformers located beside the power plant that will stay put after the shutdown — to a generating station in Pittsburg, located in the delta near the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.

GenOn owns the Pittsburg power plant, and it recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new power plant in neighboring Antioch, called Marsh Landing. At the same time, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently gave the green light for another new power plant in that area. The $1.5 billion PG&E facility would be located in Oakley, which borders Antioch. It won commission approval Dec. 16, despite an earlier decision rejecting the proposal.

The plans for new power plants were approved just after the conclusion of an important United Nations convention on Climate Change in Cancún, Mexico, and amid news reports highlighting scientists’ conclusion that polar bears have a shot at survival only if serious efforts are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While the cheerful ceremony to shut down the Potrero power plant was a satisfying conclusion to a long battle, there’s a long road yet ahead in the overarching struggle against climate change.

March Fourth Marching Band reveals its gypsy secrets

Andrew Lam
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1

One of these days, I’ll hop a bus outta this town. Pullin’ out of here on the wind, if you want to quote the Boss (sometimes I do). One of the groups I’ve been keeping my eye on as a possible accomplice is March Fourth Marching Band. You can find the million-piece ensemble’s rig parked at nearly every festival, ever – always with a few stilters or trombone players spilling out the door, sprawled on a tarp nearby, or if you’re lucky, tapping out a cheerful marching band symphony by a campfire at around five in the morning (hello, High Sierra!) 

And onstage! They’re like a big, loud circus onstage – until all of a sudden they’re off the stage and you’re engulfed in 360 degrees of marching band madness, now having a dance party with its frenzied audience. In anticipation of the band’s upcoming pre-NYE show at The Independent (Thurs/30), March Fourth’s bandleader John Averill sat down at his email portal to tell us all his secrets about where he found the mail order balls needed to make touring with so many moving parts possible.

 

San Francisco Bay Guardian: When March Fourth got together, was touring part of the original concept? How’d you get the balls to take such a massive group on the road?

John Averill: Well, the band was put together for a Fat Tuesday party, so at that time the main concern was learning seven songs to play. Touring was never part of the original concept.  After our first road trip, though, it was pretty evident to me that one, traveling as a group was fun, and two, our project had potential to reach audiences outside of our hometown. We purchased the actual balls to take this massive group on the road by fund-raising and applying to www.theballsyouneed.com. I think we spent like $172 or something. Most balls are less expensive, but M4 is a large group and therefore required extra large balls. But, to anyone out there looking for balls: it’s definitely worth it to spend the money for big balls, if you really need them. I think this year we’re going to purchase an extra set of back-up balls just in case.

 

SFBG: How many musicians do you typically have touring? What’s the toughest part of rolling so deep on tour?

JA: About 13 musicians, five dancers, and two bus drivers is what we’ve been touring with lately. The toughest part is making payroll, which is why we’ve been traveling with a “smaller” group (we used to travel with upwards of 30 people). When we go on tours that are longer than three weeks, there are also issues with accruing very little sleep and not having much personal space. We’re lucky that we get along so well or this thing would be a disaster after a couple of weeks. 

The whole gang. Photo by Andy Batt

SFBG: I’m really into the bus — I’ve seen your rig all over the place, camped out at festivals, etc. What do you keep on there? Does everyone sleep on it? Where’d you get the bus and what’s it’s make and model?

JA: Our bus is a 40-foot MCI coach. It was built in 1984 in Roswell, New Mexico, presumably by aliens. We bought it on eBay 3 years ago and converted it to suit our needs. It can sleep 10 people comfortably, or 20 semi-comfortably. It has become our home on wheels and is probably the single wisest investment we have ever made. It’s where we cook, get dressed, etc. Most promoters can’t pay for lodging for 20 people when we’re on tour so we sleep in, on top of, and around the bus. We keep our camping gear on top and set up tents when we can, and when it’s not miserable outside. Our bus doesn’t doesn’t have an official name, although it is called “Razzle Dazzle” by many. I personally refer to it as “The Shire,” although the idea to have round doors installed was not practical.

 

SFBG: Where do the costumes come from?

JA: The costumes are designed by the people who wear them, for the most part. Most of us are pretty good at finding cool vintage stuff and thrift-store items and then augmenting them to fit us. All of our dancers have mad costume skills — some are bona-fide full-time designers and they help out the musicians who don’t know how to sew.  

 

SFBG: What genre does March Fourth classify as? Are there groups out there that you see as your peers?

JA: I don’t know what our genre is. Is there a genre for rockin’ crazy fun global groove tribal symphony with stilts?  Actually, one of my favorite things about this project is that we don’t have a genre, and we’re not easy to pigeonhole. Yet, at the same time we’ve developed a “sound.”  There are some groups, like Gogol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box, Ozomatli, Yard Dogs Road Show, and Mucca Pazza who I see as energetic peers and/or kindred spirits, even though we don’t sound like any of them.

 

SFBG: Who are the group’s role models?

JA: You’d probably have to poll everyone in the band to get an accurate answer. Part of the original inspiration for putting the group together was after seeing Extra Action Marching Band and The Infernal Noise Brigade at Burning Man in 2002. Myself and a few others, were thinking “hey let’s try doing something like this in Portland,” but we never sought to emulate those groups in terms of the style of music we performed or how we presented ourselves. Now there’s an alternative marching band in just about every major city in the US and there are a couple of festivals like HONK! in Boston and HONK! Fest West in Seattle that have become a sort of mecca for large brass and drum-heavy bands to converge and play together. On a personal level, I’ve been inspired by the model created by the Grateful Dead, big bands of the 1930s, large contemporary ensembles such as Polyphonic Spree, and some of the stuff coming out of Brooklyn, Dap Tone Records in particular. I’m inspired by anyone who can actually make ends meet doing this.

 

March Fourth Marching Band

Thurs/30 9 p.m. $15-17

The Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

(415) 771-1421

www.theindependentsf.com

 

Music Listings

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0

PHOTO BY KATHRIN MILLER

Music listings are compiled by Cheryl Eddy. Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. 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

Adam Hodani Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

Harvey Mandel Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $18.

Persephone’s Bees, Marc and the Casuals, Virgil Shaw with Peacock Gap and the Wagoneers Hemlock Tavern. 8:30pm, sliding scale or bring canned food for the SF Food Bank.

Professor Gall, Thrillouette, Slow Poisoner Grant and Green. 9pm, free.

Tubes Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $26.

Victims Family, Schlong, Crosstops Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $10.

*X, Ray Manzarek Slim’s. 8pm, $31.

Yellow Dress, Alright Class, Wolf Larsen Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Gaucho, Michael Abraham Amnesia. 7pm.

Kim Nalley Rrazz Room. 8pm, $35.

Michael Parsons Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:45pm, free.

Sam Reider Coda. 7pm, $7.

Tom Shaw Trio Martuni’s, Four Valencia, SF; www.dragatmartunis.com. 7pm. With guest Jennifer Ekman.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita Moore hosts this dance party, featuring DJ Robot Hustle.

Cannonball Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. Rock, indie, and nu-disco with DJ White Mike.

Future Night Knockout. 9pm, $6. Chillwave, dubstep, electro bangers, and more with DJs Danny Glover, Mike Stasis, J. Kick, and the Pope.

Hands Down! Bar on Church. 9pm, free. With DJs Claksaarb, Mykill, and guests spinning indie, electro, house, and bangers.

Jam Fresh Wednesdays Vessel, 85 Campton, SF; (415) 433-8585. 9:30pm, free. With DJs Slick D, Chris Clouse, Rich Era, Don Lynch, and more spinning top40, mashups, hip hop, and remixes.

Mary-Go-Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-0306. 10pm, $5. A weekly drag show with hosts Cookie Dough, Pollo Del Mar, and Suppositori Spelling.

Red Wine Social Triple Crown. 5:30-9:30pm, free. DJ TophOne and guests spin outernational funk and get drunk.

Respect Wednesdays End Up. 10pm, $5. Rotating DJs Daddy Rolo, Young Fyah, Irie Dole, I-Vier, Sake One, Serg, and more spinning reggae, dancehall, roots, lovers rock, and mash ups.

Synchronize Il Pirata, 2007 16th St, SF; (415) 626-2626. 10pm, free. Psychedelic dance music with DJs Helios, Gatto Matto, Psy Lotus, Intergalactoid, and guests.

THURSDAY 30

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

La Corde, Face the Rail, Cat Party Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Dizzy Balloon, AB and the Sea Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $14.

*Economen, Hormones, Myles Cooper Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8.

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

Further Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove, SF; www.ticketmaster.com. 7:30pm, $45.

Home Alones Knockout. 9:30pm. Live music plus a screening of Home Alone (1990).

Kacey Johansing, Rad Cloud, Sparrowsgate Amnesia. 9pm, $7.

Little Hurricane, Midnight Sun, Scott Gagner Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $6.

Opt Out, Death First, Homeowners, Neighborhood Brats, Cutter Sub-Mission, 2183 Mission, SF; www.sf-submission.com. 9pm, $6.

Slip, Nathan Moore Café Du Nord. 9pm, $30.

Troublemakers Union Velma’s Jazz and Blues Club, 2246 Jerrold, SF; (415) 824-4606. 7pm.

Zongo Junction, Turkuaz Slim’s. 9pm, $13.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Stephen Lugerner Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:45pm, free.

Kim Nalley Rrazz Room. 8pm, $35.

Dianne Reeves Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $45.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $10. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz with guests See-I spin Afrobeat, tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

Caribbean Connection Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $3. DJ Stevie B and guests spin reggae, soca, zouk, reggaetón, and more.

Drop the Pressure Underground SF. 6-10pm, free. Electro, house, and datafunk highlight this weekly happy hour.

Good Foot Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. With DJs spinning R&B, Hip hop, classics, and soul.

Guilty Pleasures Gestalt, 3159 16th St, SF; (415) 560-0137. 9:30pm, free. DJ TophZilla, Rob Metal, DJ Stef, and Disco-D spin punk, metal, electro-funk, and 80s.

Erica Jayne Crib, 715 Harrison, SF; wwwthecribsf.com. 9pm.

Jivin’ Dirty Disco Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 8pm, free. With DJs spinning disco, funk, and classics.

Koko Puffs Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm, free. Dubby roots reggae and Jamaican funk from rotating DJs.

Mestiza Bollywood Café, 3376 19th St, SF; (415) 970-0362. 10pm, free. Showcasing progressive Latin and global beats with DJ Juan Data.

Nightvision Harlot, 46 Minna, SF; (415) 777-1077. 9:30pm, $10. DJs Danny Daze, Franky Boissy, and more spinning house, electro, hip hop, funk, and more.

Peaches Skylark, 10pm, free. With an all female DJ line up featuring Deeandroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, and Umami spinning hip hop.

FRIDAY 31

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Dresden Dolls, Pomplamoose Warfield. 9pm, $38-50.

Further Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove, SF; www.ticketmaster.com. 7:30pm, $65.

John Lee Hooker, Jr. Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $60.

George Lacson Project, DJ Malcolm Marshall Union Room (upstairs from Biscuits and Blues). 9pm, $15.

Growlers, Gantez Warrior Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $15.

Chris Isaak Fillmore. 9pm, $85.50.

Mo’Fessionals, Limbomaniacs, Adam Lesher Band Slim’s. 9pm, $45.

Nerf Herder, Hooks, Sassy!!! Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $25.

Rebirth Brass Band, New Orleans Klezmer Allstars Independent. 9pm, $85.

Slackers, Boss 501 Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $35.

Sonny and the Sunsets, Fresh and Onlys Amnesia. 9pm, $20.

Surprise Me Mr. Davis, Big Light Café Du Nord. 9:30pm, $50.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Kim Nalley Rrazz Room. 7 and 10:30pm, $60-135.

Rayband, 8 Legged Monster Coda. 6 and 9pm, $25.

Dianne Reeves Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $50-100.

*Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Casino Royale, Mr. Lucky and the Cocktail Party featuring Ralph Carney Bimbo’s 365 Club. 8pm, $60.

White Cloud, Andrew Benson, LAG Ensemble Lab, 2948 16th St, SF; www.thelab.org. 9pm, $15.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

“Hillbilly New Year’s Eve” Plough and Stars, 116 Clement, SF; (415) 751-1122. 9:30pm, $10. With the Earl Brothers.

Mucho Axe, Big Tings 50 Mason Social House, 50 Mason, SF; www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 9pm, $15.

“New Year’s Eve Carnaval” Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; www.pachamamacenter.org. 7 and 8:30pm, $99-125. With Fogo Na Roupa, Fito Reinoso, and more.

DANCE CLUBS

Blow Up New Year’s Eve Kelly’s Mission Rock, 817 Terry Francois, SF; www.blowupsf.com. 10pm, $18. Electro party with DJs Jeffrey Paradise, Eli Glad, and more.

Cockblock NYE 2011 Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $20. With Natalie Nuxx, DJ China G, and host the Gaysha.

Countdown San Francisco 2011 Impala, 501 Broadway, SF; www.impalasf.com. 8pm, $59. Two levels of music, including hip-hop, top 40, old school, and club hits.

11: SF’s Longest New Year’s Eve Celebration Factory, 525 Harrison, SF; (415) 339-8686. 8pm. Massive electronic music party with Mark Farina, Marques Wyatt, Dale Martin, Julius Papp, and more.

Icee Hot Elbo Room. 9pm, $15-25. Electro with Bok Bok, Ramadanman, Disco Shawn, Ghosts on Tape, and Rollie Fingers.

Lights, Champagne, Action! Bubble Lounge, 714 Montgomery, SF; www.bubblelounge.com. 10pm, $115. With the Corporate Scandals and lots of bubbly.

Mango New Year’s Eve Party El Rio. 7pm, $30-50. Hip-hop and salsa with DJs Marcella and Edaj.

Mega New Year’s Eve in the City Suite 181, 181 Eddy, SF; www.suite181.com. 8pm, $25. Multi-themed giant party with three different dance floors and DJs Escobar, Ski, Mauricio, and more.

New Year’s Eve 2011 Club Six. 8pm, $10. Hip-hop, reggae, dancehall, and more with Jah Warrior Shelter, Cooyah Ladeez, Mr. E., and others.

NYE @ Eve 2011 Eve Lounge, 575 Howard, SF; www.eveloungesf.com. 9pm, $40-50. Soulful house, Latin-Afro, soul, and more with Whooligan, DJ Mel, and DJ Inkfat.

1984 Mighty. 9pm, free. New Year’s Eve party with Dangerous Dan, Skip, and others spinning nonstop 80s music.

Palace on Wheels: Electric Vardo New Year’s Eve New Delhi Restaurant, 160 Ellis, SF; www.newdelhirestaurant.com. 9pm, $29-80. Dance, music, and cuisine following the Romani trail from Rajasthan to the world.

Sea of Dreams “GalaxSea” NYE Concourse Center, 635 Eighth SF; www.seaofdreamsnye.com. 9pm, $89-100. With Thievery Corporation, Balkan Beat Box, Modeselektor, Beats Antique, and more.

Streets of SF NYE 2011 Fort Mason Center, Marina at Laguna, SF; www.streetsofsfnye.com. 9pm, $200. Steve Aoki headlines, with Aaron Axelsen, Designer Deejays, and DJ Zaq.

Sunset + Honey New Year’s Eve Public Works, 161 Erie, SF; www.publicsf.com. 9:30pm, $20. With DJs Tim Sweeney and Kim Ann Foxman.

Teenage Dancecraze New Year’s Eve Party Knockout. 9pm. Twist, surf, and garage with DJs Russel Quann and dX the Funky Gran Paw.

Trannyshack New Year’s Eve DNA Lounge. 9pm, $20. With host Heklina.

21+ Indie and Hip-Hop Milk. 8pm, $20. With White Menace and Miles the DJ, plus a live performance by K. Flay.

Vivid NYE Wish, 1539 Folsom, SF; www.wishsf.com. 8pm. With DJs Seven and Sol, plus DJ Mancub.

SATURDAY 1

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Avon Ladies, Dry Rot, Elders, Ecoli Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

John Nemeth Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Pinback, JP Inc. Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $20.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Dianne Reeves Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $45.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Africa Rising Coda. 10pm, $10.

DANCE CLUBS

Breakfast in Bed NYE 2011 After Party Supperclub. 5-11am, $15. With DJs David Harness, Galen, Alain Octavio, and more.

Debaser Knockout. 9pm. Nineties alternative with DJ Jamie Jams and Emdee.

Dirty Talk Deco Lounge, 510 Turk, SF; (415) 346-2425. 10pm, $3-5.

HYP Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; www.eightsf.com. 10pm, free. Gay and lesbian hip hop party, featuring DJs spinning the newest in the top 40s hip hop and hyphy.

New Wave City DNA Lounge. 9pm, $7-12. Eighties dance party.

Reggae Gold Club Six. 9pm, $15. With DJs Daddy Rolo, Polo Mo’qz, Tesfa, Serg, and Fuze spinning dancehall and reggae.

Rock City Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5 after 10pm. With DJs spinning party rock.

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

Spirit Fingers Sessions 330 Ritch. 9pm, free. With DJ Morse Code and live guest performances.

SUNDAY 2

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Edgar Winter Band Yoshi’s San Francisco. 7pm, $38.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Kally Price Old Blues and Jazz Band, Emperor Norton’s Jazz Band Amnesia. 9pm, $5.

DANCE CLUBS

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, roots, and classic dancehall with DJs Sep, Maneesh the Twister, and guest Lady Ra.

Gloss Sundays Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 7pm. With DJ Hawthorne spinning house, funk, soul, retro, and disco.

Honey Soundsystem Paradise Lounge. 8pm-2am. “Dance floor for dancers – sound system for lovers.” Got that?

Kick It Bar on Church. 9pm. Hip-hop with DJ Zax.

Religion Bar on Church. 3pm. With DJ Nikita.

MONDAY 3

DANCE CLUBS

Black Gold Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm-2am, free. Senator Soul spins Detroit soul, Motown, New Orleans R&B, and more — all on 45!

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

Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. With DJs Ant-1, $ir-Tipp, Ruby Red I, Lo, and Gelo spinning hip hop.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. With DJ Gordo Cabeza and guests playing all Motown every Monday.

Manic Mondays Bar on Church. 9pm. Drink 80-cent cosmos with Djs Mark Andrus and Dangerous Dan.

Musik for Your Teeth Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St., SF; (415) 642-0474. 5pm, free. Soul cookin’ happy hour tunes with DJ Antonino Musco.

Network Mondays Azul Lounge, One Tillman Pl, SF; www.inhousetalent.com. 9pm, $5. Hip-hop, R&B, and spoken word open mic, plus featured performers.

Punk Rock Sideshow Hemlock Tavern. 10pm, free.

Skylarking Skylark. 10pm, free. With resident DJs I & I Vibration, Beatnok, and Mr. Lucky and weekly guest DJs.

TUESDAY 4

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Bitter End, Psychology of Genocide, Wolves and Thieves, Maker Thee Parkside. 8pm, $8.

Boneless Children Foundation, Il Gato, My Second Surprise Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

Aaron Glass and friends, Sufis, Humboldt Squid Elbo Room. 9pm, $8.

Plan 9, Blasfemme Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Coda Jazz Jam Session Coda. 8pm, $5.

DANCE CLUBS

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

Share the Love Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 5pm, free. With DJ Pam Hubbuck spinning house.

Womanizer Bar on Church. 9pm. With DJ Nuxx.

Rate irate

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0
Rate irate

arts@sfbg.com

YEAR IN FILM “Bloody bugger to you, you … beastly bastard. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. F-fornication. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck and fuck. Fuck, fuck, and bugger. Bugger, bugger, buggety buggety buggety fuck. Fuck ass. Balls! Balls! Fuckety shit. Shit, fuck and willy. Willy, shit and fuck, and … tits.”

The above is, in toto, the reason why The King’s Speech — a movie that might very well turn out Oscar’s idea of this year’s Best Picture next February — is rated R. This childish explosion of potty-mouth is coaxed from England’s future king (Colin Firth) by his speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) to demonstrate that the former’s crippling stammer flies away whenever he’s unself-consciousness enough to cuss a bit. It’s a comic moment (one of few, and perhaps the film’s highlight in general) that, by reducing the words to sniggering playground naughtiness — this king is, after all, in a state of arrested development — robs them of any genuine scatology or shock value. They’re just words.

But those words (give or take a few fucks and shits — only the MPAA can or would bother to count every rapid-fire cuss) were still enough to get this otherwise very chaste, polite Masterpiece Theatre exercise classified with Saw 3D and The Human Centipede as viewable by minors only with parental accompaniment. Not that many teens are likely to be lining up for The King’s Speech — certainly far fewer than saw Saw 3D with or without adult chaperoning. But really, this is what they need protecting from?

This was a year in which the usual grousing undercurrent about arbitrary ratings-board standards started to seep overground. There were small hubbubs about two excellent documentaries, The Tillman Story and A Film Unfinished, getting R’s due to cursing on one hand and nudity (among Nazi concentration camp inmates) on the other. In both cases prudishness means these searing indictments of historical wrongs probably can’t be used for classroom educational purposes.

A larger controversy surrounded Blue Valentine, the acclaimed indie feature slapped with an NC-17 for a sex scene so subversive that no one who saw the film at Sundance could recall it; the MPAA rating mystified many. Turns out the scene in question is a happy flashback in this slow-agonizing-death-of-a marriage portrait, with Michelle Williams’ thrusty body language expressing clear enjoyment of Ryan Gosling’s mouthy activities downtown. Nonetheless, there’s nothing more explicit displayed than the outside of her thighs — as one colleague put it, “I’ve seen more of Britney Spears on the Internet.” The drama’s sobriety and its awards momentum finally won a rare MPAA reversal on appeal, reducing its rating to R.

But the case still underlines the injustice of our current system. As Kirby Dick’s This Film Is Not Yet Rated pointed out in 2006, as a tool of the Hollywood mainstream the MPAA routinely judges independent films more harshly than major studio releases. It also exercises double standards when it comes to gender nudity and gender-preference sexuality, and most crucially continues to heighten the American morality gap between depictions of sex and violence.

These complaints have prompted some vague hints of change afoot, albeit more toward hitting torture-porn horror harder than lightening up on the birds ‘n’ bees. In any case, it’s difficult to be very hopeful: for every progressive cultural step forward these days, there seem to be two Tea Party dance-steps back. It was announced earlier this month that Christian pastor and cable honcho Robert H. Schuller had contracted to broadcast G-rated versions of movies like the original Alien (1979) and Predator (1987). OK, so they’ll have bad language and explicit violence removed; but even these eviscerated edits will still offer entertainment predicated on the horrific (if now nongraphically suggested) murders of humans by icky monsters. Giving kids nightmares is more godly (and provides a more “positive message,” per the Rev. Schuller) than showing them (God forbid) a nipple.

Such hypocrisies run rampant in U.S. entertainment and society in general. Media outlets generally refuse to advertise NC-17 films, giving them and their modicum of sexual explicitness the commercial kiss of death while most kids freely access porn online. Screen violence grows ever more desensitizing; explosions of cars, buildings, entire cities, or planets are viewed as harmless while anything truly unpleasant enough to act as a deterrent sparks outrage. (By now the escapist Saw and Hostel movies get shrugged at, whereas the recent Killer Inside Me remake offended many because its protracted scenes of domestic violence were realistically painful to watch.)

Penises are now OK in small doses, albeit only in the clownish contexts of Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), Observe and Report (2009), etc. Ironically, any time sex is taken seriously, sans juvenile humor or lurid “erotic-thriller” type judgment, it becomes unfit for allegedly innocent eyes. Blue Valentine‘s good sex, and subsequent bad breakup sex, disturbs the MPAA because it is all too real-world relatable in both its pleasure and fallibility, something you won’t often find in porn, either.

The logic gap grows ever more ridiculous even as our culture wars’ battle lines harden. Imagine a Palin White House two years hence, presiding over a land in which sex education is nonexistent, abstinence clubs are the new Honor Society, and teenage pregnancy rates skyrocket. When in doubt as to the nation’s course, say grace, then settle down to dinner with the kids as you watch a “clean” tube edit of something like 1995’s Braveheart, its medieval spears through the chest trimmed but that humorous throwing of a prince’s homosexual BFF from the castle tower left intact. Then drift off to slumberland, family values affirmed.

Music Listings

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0

Music listings are compiled by Cheryl Eddy. Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. 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

Agalloch, Allerseelen, Dispirit Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $19.

Michael Chase and Lorenzo Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

Murkins, Attack Plan, Station and the Monster Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8.

Jason King Band Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

“Polk Street Lounge Comedy and Burlesque Show” Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6. With Mary Van Note, Nato Green, Sean Keane, and Miss Mae Western.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

“Christmas in San Francisco with Russ Lorenson and Friends” Rrazz Room. 8pm, $40.

Gaucho, Michael Abraham Amnesia. 7pm, free.

Horace-scope Coda. 10pm, $7.

Spaceheater Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:45pm, free.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $18-26.

DANCE CLUBS

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita Moore hosts this dance party, featuring DJ Robot Hustle.

Cannonball Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. Rock, indie, and nu-disco with DJ White Mike.

Ceremony Presents Factory Records Night Knockout. 9pm, $5. Dark pop and new wave with DJs Deadbeat and Yule Be Sorry.

Club Shutter Elbo Room. 10pm, $5. Goth with Nako, Omar, and Justin.

Hands Down! Bar on Church. 9pm, free. With DJs Claksaarb, Mykill, and guests spinning indie, electro, house, and bangers.

Jam Fresh Wednesdays Vessel, 85 Campton, SF; (415) 433-8585. 9:30pm, free. With DJs Slick D, Chris Clouse, Rich Era, Don Lynch, and more spinning top40, mashups, hip hop, and remixes. Mary-Go-Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-0306. 10pm, $5. A weekly drag show with hosts Cookie Dough, Pollo Del Mar, and Suppositori Spelling.

Red Wine Social Triple Crown. 5:30-9:30pm, free. DJ TophOne and guests spin outernational funk and get drunk.

Respect Wednesdays End Up. 10pm, $5. Rotating DJs Daddy Rolo, Young Fyah, Irie Dole, I-Vier, Sake One, Serg, and more spinning reggae, dancehall, roots, lovers rock, and mash ups.

Synchronize Il Pirata, 2007 16th St, SF; (415) 626-2626. 10pm, free. Psychedelic dance music with DJs Helios, Gatto Matto, Psy Lotus, Intergalactoid, and guests.

THURSDAY 23

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Bell Biv DeVoe Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $25-35.

“Big Cat Blue Holiday Concert” Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

Blind Willies, Flash Gilmore, Funbeatles Stud. 8pm.

“Gospel Christmas with Kim Nalley and Tammy Hall” Rrazz Room. 8pm, $35.

Vienna Teng, Alex Wong and friends, Paul Joey Ryan, Amber Rubarth Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $26.

Michael Zapruder, We Is Shore Dedicated Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $5.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Def Poets Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:45pm, free.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Bluegrass and old-time jam Atlas Café. 8pm, free.

Horse Thief Jack Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $10. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz spin Afrobeat, tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

Caribbean Connection Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $3. DJ Stevie B and guests spin reggae, soca, zouk, reggaetón, and more.

Drop the Pressure Underground SF. 6-10pm, free. Electro, house, and datafunk highlight this weekly happy hour.

Gigantic Beauty Bar. 9pm, free. With DJs Eli Glad, Greg J, and White Mike spinning indie, rock, disco, and soul.

Good Foot Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. With DJs spinning R&B, Hip hop, classics, and soul.

Guilty Pleasures Gestalt, 3159 16th St, SF; (415) 560-0137. 9:30pm, free. DJ TophZilla, Rob Metal, DJ Stef, and Disco-D spin punk, metal, electro-funk, and 80s.

Jivin’ Dirty Disco Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 8pm, free. With DJs spinning disco, funk, and classics.

Koko Puffs Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm, free. Dubby roots reggae and Jamaican funk from rotating DJs.

Peaches Skylark, 10pm, free. With an all female DJ line up featuring Deeandroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, and Umami spinning hip hop.

FRIDAY 24

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Alvon Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Oakland Interfaith Gospel Ensemble Slim’s. 7 and 9:30pm, $15.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

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

SATURDAY 25

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

“Bud E. Luv Christmas Show” Rrazz Room. 8pm, $30.

“13th Annual Black X-Mass” Elbo Room. 9pm. With Graves Bros Deluxe, Los Murderachis Dimesland, and more.

Earl Thomas and the Blues Ambassadors Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod Atlas Café. 4pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

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

DJ Floydaclaus Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, free.

45Club Knockout. 10pm, free. Funky soul with dX the Funky Gran Paw, Dirty Dishes, and English Steve.

Go Bang! Presents: Ho Ho Bang! Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF; www.gobangsf.com. 9pm, $5. Disco with Steve Fabus, Tres Lingerie, and Sergio.

SUNDAY 26

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

“Gorilla Holiday Takeover” DNA Lounge. 5:30pm, $12. With To Memory and Me, Twisted Blues, One for the Masses, and more.

Lucky Peterson Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Kim Nalley Rrazz Room. 7pm, $32.50.

DANCE CLUBS

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, roots, and classic dancehall with DJs Sep, Maneesh the Twister, and guests Roy Two Thousand and DJ Quest.

Gloss Sundays Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 7pm. With DJ Hawthorne spinning house, funk, soul, retro, and disco.

Honey Soundsystem Paradise Lounge. 8pm-2am. “Dance floor for dancers – sound system for lovers.” Got that?

Kick It Bar on Church. 9pm. Hip-hop with DJ Zax.

Religion Bar on Church. 3pm. With DJ Nikita.

Swing Out Sundays Rock-It Room. 7pm, free (dance lessons $15). DJ BeBop Burnie spins 20s through 50s swing, jive, and more.

MONDAY 27

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Allstar Weekend, Dylan Fox and the Waves, Greenlight District, Vegas is North Slim’s. 5:45pm, $16.

Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven Independent. 8pm, $25.

Morris Day and the Time Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $30-45.

Lucky Peterson Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Richard Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

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. 10pm, free. With DJs Ant-1, $ir-Tipp, Ruby Red I, Lo, and Gelo spinning hip hop.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. With DJ Gordo Cabeza and guests playing all Motown every Monday.

Manic Mondays Bar on Church. 9pm. Drink 80-cent cosmos with Djs Mark Andrus and Dangerous Dan.

Musik for Your Teeth Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St., SF; (415) 642-0474. 5pm, free. Soul cookin’ happy hour tunes with DJ Antonino Musco.

Network Mondays Azul Lounge, One Tillman Pl, SF; www.inhousetalent.com. 9pm, $5. Hip-hop, R&B, and spoken word open mic, plus featured performers.

Skylarking Skylark. 10pm, free. With resident DJs I & I Vibration, Beatnok, and Mr. Lucky and weekly guest DJs.

TUESDAY 28

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Morris Day and the Time Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $30-45.

Hollow Earth, Iron Witch, Vanishing Breed Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $5.

Kitten on the Keys Rite Spot, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

Spirits in the Basement, Filthy Mudbloods, Laughing Prophets of Doom Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $8.

*X, Ray Manzarek Slim’s. 8pm, $31.

DANCE CLUBS

Alcoholocaust Presents Argus Lounge. 9pm, free. With DJ Lightnin’ Jeff G. and DJ Filthy Phil.

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

Share the Love Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 5pm, free. With DJ Pam Hubbuck spinning house.

Womanizer Bar on Church. 9pm. With DJ Nuxx.

Campannina

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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3
Campannina

paulr@sfbg.com

DINE It does fall to me occasionally to check up on our town’s tonier heterosexuals, who can be found cavorting in their infamous and restaurant-dotted playland beyond the magic mountains of Pacific Heights. (As for the homos: I have a pretty clear picture of that splendid circus.) Now that the rich, aided by their loyal apparatchiks in Congress, have secured another round of tax relief for themselves the question naturally arises regarding how they will spend their fresh loot, which we the taxpayers are so wisely borrowing from our BFFs, the Chinese.

Judging by the evidence on display at Capannina, a wonderful Italian restaurant on Union Street, they’re spending it prudently — even wisely! — although the sample size is small. It’s small because the restaurant itself is on the small side: a mid-block storefront beautifully done up with pistachio-colored walls, banquettes upholstered in a timelessly elegant fabric of gold and claret stripes, a tall bar of burnished wood at the rear of the dining room, and, hanging over that bar, a contrivance of wrought iron that resembles a bit of belle epoque signage from a Paris Métro station, or the undercarriage of a bistro table that somehow found itself hanging upside down from the ceiling, like a bat.

Capannina’s look reminds us that restaurant design, like clothing fashion, is a little like calculating a reëntry angle for a space capsule: too steep an angle and the craft burns up, too shallow and it bounces off into space for eternity. The window, the sweet spot, is actually rather tight and involves some clever blend of old and new, unexpected and familiar, soothing and stimulating. Capannina has worked these tensions into a nice balance; the design does enough to attract your attention briefly without making intrusive demands. It is handsome without becoming narcissistic — no small feat in a culture like ours — and in this important respect it looks and feels just as a restaurant should. When it fills up, though, it does get loud to the point of making conversation difficult.

Several of Capannina’s blood relations, including Café Tiramisu and Brindisi are to be found on Belden Lane, whose European atmospherics and restaurant population density keep the standards pretty sharp. Capannina is an outlier or outpost, but it seems to enjoy an indirect benefit from its siblings’ competitions; the kitchen’s Italian cooking is, like the design of the restaurant itself, a tight weave of tradition and controlled innovation.

One little flourish I particularly like in Italian cooking is a nuzzle of chili heat. The gamberi picante con polenta ($14), or spicy prawns, did indeed leave a naughty tingle on our lips, soothed by the balm of basil aioli. Even better was the polenta, which appeared as a small, crisp, well-formed cake, hardly larger than the shrimp themselves, instead of the more usual engulfing blob.

Nothing says early winter around here quite like crab, and Capannina’s kitchen turns out estimable crab cakes, or polpettina di granchio ($14). These were served in threes, with tomato-basil aioli, and were quite small (“mini,” in menu-speak). The downsizing might have contributed to their sublime, almost fritter-like crispness. I love big, fat crab cakes, at least when I start eating them, but crab is rich, and what is wonderful for the first few bites isn’t necessarily as wonderful by the last one.

We found the carpaccio di manzo ($13) to be a corrective, with its purifying, slightly astringent presences of fresh arugula leaves and mustard dill sauce, along with a generous sprinkling of cracked black peppercorns on the tissue of beef. Parmesan cheese, well-represented here in leaf-like shavings, can go either way, like the fabled independent voter, or many a man in this zero-gravity city. In this dish it flexed both of its biceps, one rich, the other pungent.

To my mind there is no better chicken preparation in the world than al mattone, or under a brick, and Capannina’s version ($19 for a half-bird) couldn’t be improved on: crisp, golden skin all over, juicy flesh cooked through to the bone, and not much bone. The leaking juice helped animate the chard and crisp potato dice arranged along the side of the plate.

And about the cannoli ($8): exceptional, in a word. These were finger-sized pastry flutes, boldly fried, oozing mascarpone laced with candied fruit — a kind of creamed panettone — and served with an espresso sauce for dipping. Caution, though; they were rich beyond any tax-cutter’s wildest fantasies.

CAPANNINA

Dinner: Sun.–Thurs., 5–10 p.m.;

Fri.–Sat., 5–10:30 p.m.

1809 Union, SF

(415) 409-8001

www.capanninasf.com

Beer and wine

AE/DC/DS/MC/V

Noisy

Wheelchair accessible

 

alt.sex.column: Mismatch

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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0
alt.sex.column: Mismatch

Dear Andrea:

My boyfriend has a fetish which, initially, is pretty off-putting. All the advice says to just go with it and make it part of our sex life, which I have done. But it doesn’t really seem to help. He can tell it’s not really my thing, so we hardly ever have sex now. He just doesn’t seem to be into it if it isn’t fetishy, and it’s started to seem like work (to both of us) to try to include his special stuff.

I think he wants to be with someone who is really into it, but he says he loves me. What am I supposed to do now?

Love,

Trying

Dear Try:

My, aren’t you mysterious! Not only do the readers and I want to know exactly what kind of “special stuff” your boyfriend is so fond of, it might also prove relevant to whatever solution I might be able to come up with for you. I say “might” a lot because I might as well get right to it and admit that I think this is probably hopeless. But I still want to know what he’s into. It’s important!

Oh well. I’m guessing this may be something like adult baby/diapers. Or those amazing inflatable suits some people wear and bump each other around in, except probably not those because you simply could not have witnessed (let alone worn) one of those inflatable suits and neglected to mention it.

One generally believes that with good will and good communication, one can make anything work. But one is often wrong. I don’t think this is going to work because you have done the only thing that does work, the thing I would have assigned to you as homework had you not already completed it as independent study: you read up on his “thing” and got yourself up for trying it and did try it, repeatedly.

So you incorporate his fetish into mutual sex and he isn’t all that thrilled. And he isn’t much interested in pursuing his thingie on the side, online with his special thingie friends while being otherwise available to and into you … yeah. That is a sex life waiting politely to be put out of its misery. I’m sorry.

If you don’t mind your personal plight being turned into a PSA, let me pause here for a second to ask kinks and the like to take as much time as they need to come to terms with their true natures but do not drag innocent, unsuitable would-be partners along for the ride. It is understandable, but ultimately, it isn’t kind. Your boyfriend probably meant well. But his kink is not the sort that can be easily absorbed into a mixed marriage.

I believe he loves you. I hope that means he’ll be really good at the “still being friends” stuff when it comes time to still be friends. And I’ll be very nice and wish him a simpatico kinky playmate, later, so you don’t have to. For you, I wish a partner who doesn’t wish you to be one bit different from who you are.

Love,

Andrea

Got a question? Email Andrea at andrea@mail.altsexcolumn.com

Year in Music: K. Flay’s Top 10 of 2010

John Elberling
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Year in Music: K. Flay’s Top 10 of 2010

– These New Puritans, “We Want War” video. Slow motion videos can either be awesome or insanely awesome. “We Want War” is the latter.
– Girl Talk, All Day. We played this a bunch on tour and it made me feel like I didn’t have a job but also would never need one. Which is probably one of the top ten life scenarios of 2010.
– Liz Phair at The Independent, October 10, 2010. Liz Phair > egg sandwiches. No, really.
– Kid CuDi, “Don’t Play This Song.” I first heard this track while driving through crazy fog on Interstate 8 in the Arizona foothills at 2 a.m., which was probably the best possible context I could have imagined. CuDi perfectly captures a sense of calculated self-destruction.

– Big Boi, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. As soon as I heard the title of the new Big Boi album I knew I would like it. “Tangerine” and “Ain’t No DJ” are my favorite cuts.
– Sleigh Bells, “Riot Rhythm.” This track is filthy. And I mean that in the best way. Make sure you are at least ten feet away from my face when the drums drop.
– Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. A phenomenal album from one of the most innovative musicians of our generation. Production-wise, this is my favorite Kanye record to date.
– Usher feat. Nicki Minaj, “Little Freak.” This song is my guilty pleasure. The fact that a classic Stevie Wonder synth line can peacefully coexist with Usher’s persistent ménage à trois requests never ceases to blow my mind.
– Arcade Fire, “We Used To Wait.” A friend of mine told me I would cry when I watched this video and I didn’t believe her until I was sitting in front of my laptop choking back nostalgia sobs.
– Big KRIT feat. Yelawolf, “Hometown Hero.” “Hometown Hero” features two of the most talented lyricists to blow up this year. I’m just waiting for someone to make a movie based on this song.

The video for “Coastin'” by Zion I feat.K. Flay:

K. Flay, “Crazytown”:

The politics of the last great depression

Zelda Bronstein
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4
The politics of the last great depression

The American economy’s worse now than at any time since the Great Depression — and whatever the Republicans say in Congress (and the president signs on to) the private sector alone can’t possible pull us out. The only reason we’re not at 1930s levels of unemployment is that we’ve had some modest federal stimulus money over the past two years.


But we’ve got this dilemma: Although every smart economist agrees that it will take more massive federal spending to turn things around, all we’re getting out of Washington is the worst kind of spending — tax cuts for the rich, which will cost $900 billion and do very little to help the economy.


Part of what’s going on — and Jerry Brown talked about it at his education summit — is that the public doesn’t trust government to spend their money wisely. Brown cited a poll saying that nearly half of Californians still think we can solve most of the budget problems in the state by getting rid of government waste.


The Pew Research Center has put together a couple of fascinating papers on attitudes toward the public sector, and they’re worth a rad. (Thanks, Gabriel Metcalf at SPUR for tipping me off about this.) The first one is called “How a different America responded to the Great Depression.” Researcher Jodie Allen’s conclusion:


Quite unlike today’s public, what Depression-era Americans wanted from their government was, on many counts, more not less. And despite their far more dire economic straits, they remained more optimistic than today’s public. Nor did average Americans then turn their ire upon their Groton-Harvard-educated president — this despite his failure, over his first term in office, to bring a swift end to their hardship. FDR had his detractors but these tended to be fellow members of the social and economic elite.


More:


The most striking difference between the 1930s and the present day is that, by the standards of today’s political parlance, average Americans of the mid-1930s revealed downright “socialistic” tendencies in many of their views about the proper role of government.


True, when asked to describe their political position, fewer than 2% of those surveyed were ready to describe themselves as “socialist” rather than as Republican, Democratic or independent. But by a lopsided margin of 54% to 34%, they expressed the opinion that if there were another depression (and fears of one were mounting), the government should follow the same spending pattern as FDR’s administration had followed before.


And, those surveyed said they supported Roosevelt, the architect of the New Deal’s expansive programs, over his 1936 Republican opponent, Alfred Landon by more than two-to-one (62%-30%).


The charts are fascinating. A full 73 percent of Americans polled in 1936 thought government should provide free medical care to the poor. Sixty-four percent thought government should regulate and control war-time profits. In fact, 59 percent thought the government should take over the electric power industry and 69 percent favored nationalizing the wartime munitions industry.


And the people who were polled in these early surveys were overwhelmingly white, male and relatively well off. They were also socially conservative — 60 percent favored the death penalty and 67 percent wanted to deport all immigrants who were on public relief. Allen:


Is there a message in this for today’s America? Two possible lessons: First, it’s worth remembering that the social programs and banking controls that the New Deal era produced stood the nation in good stead over many decades of unprecedented prosperity. Second, Depression-era Americans’ faith in the country and its guiding institutions steeled them against the challenges of a double-dip recession and, years later, World War II. They had it worse, but they also expected it to get better, faster.


Compare that to a 1983 poll taken in the depth of the Reagan Recession, when 65 percent said that government had gone too far in regulating business, 62 percent rarely trusted the government in Washington and 78 percent opposed raising income taxes.


Fifty years, two generations, and the entire attitude of the American public toward government was turned on its head. It’s one of the fundamental dilemmas of American life, and one of the central reasons we’re in this mess.

PG&E granted cash reward, green light on power plant

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee
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While news surrounding Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has been dominated by a faulty weld and early warnings on the the San Bruno gas pipeline, which ruptured in a fatal explosion Sept. 9, the giant utility company received some good news at the Dec. 16 California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) meeting.

Not only was PG&E awarded an additional $29 million cash reward for its performance in an energy efficiency program, bringing the total amount it’s received to $104 million, but it was granted commission approval to construct a new, $1.5 billion power plant in Oakley.

Ironically, the energy-efficiency program is designed to reduce the need to construct new power plants, which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for climate change.

The additional bonus was approved with a 3-2 vote on the “final true-up” of the energy-saving program. An independent CPUC evaluation of the utility’s performance in that program found that it fell short of the targets required to receive a cash bonus.

Commission President Michael Peevey justified the additional cash reward by saying utilities could not have known that the numbers they used to estimate energy savings were inflated, and that they would not have been able to adjust their energy-saving tactics in the middle of the program cycle to improve performance.

According to the Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA), a consumer-advocacy branch of the regulatory agency, “The CPUC today approved the additional $29.1 million award to PG&E in a 3-2 split vote, despite an Administrative Law Judge’s finding that no further bonuses should be awarded, nor penalties levied. Rather than receiving an additional $29 million bonus, PG&E should repay $74.9 million in bonuses already awarded for energy efficiency programs that failed to meet CPUC-established energy savings goals, and it should pay an additional $1.3 million in penalties, based on the original incentive mechanism.”

Barbara George, executive director of Women’s Energy Matters, blasted the decision. “In this shaky economy, it’s incredible that the Commission would force ratepayers to pay profits for utilities that missed their targets by a mile. This hurts everyone in California. Cities, businesses, and residential ratepayers will all have to pay twice for utilities’ failures — once for these undeserved ‘rewards,’ and again in high monthly utility bills that should have been reduced by these programs, but were not.”

The 4-1 vote to approve PG&E’s Oakley power plant was a reversal of an earlier commission decision rejecting the proposal. DRA weighed in on this item, too, saying data on PG&E power reserves suggests that the new facility is unnecessary.

“PG&E ratepayers are now on the hook for $1.5 billion in costs for energy they don’t need while being shut out of the decision-making process that will leave all PG&E customers with higher utility bills,” said DRA acting director Joe Como.

PG&E may receive millions for unverified energy savings

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee
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Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is poised to receive millions in shareholder bonuses for successfully administering a statewide energy-efficiency program designed to curb customers’ energy consumption. But consumer advocates have sounded the alarm that the utility doesn’t deserve it.
 Although PG&E claims it earned the cash because it achieved the targets of the energy-saving program, the utility’s findings are unverified. In fact, an independent California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) evaluation found that instead of the A+ grade PG&E claims it achieved by meeting the goals of the program, the utility’s performance actually amounts to a D.

The cycle for the incentive program spans 2006 to 2008, and PG&E was already awarded $76.2 million for savings the utility said it achieved, even though its progress had yet to be measured against the findings of the independent report. The matter will be revisited at a Dec. 16 CPUC meeting, when commissioners decide how to handle the “final true-up” of the program for all four investor-owned utilities. PG&E and the three other utilities could be awarded millions more in bonuses.

The program was crafted as a way to bring energy companies on board with a prospect that normally wouldn’t make sense for their bottom line – encouraging customers to use less of the electricity they sell. In exchange for participating in a program that attempted to slash energy use by getting energy-efficient appliances, light bulbs, and information into the hands of consumers, the CPUC offered utilities a carrot for stepping up to the plate.
 
If the companies managed to hit 85 percent of the energy-savings targets or better, the state’s investor-owned utilities could be awarded cash bonuses that would get progressively larger with their degree of success. If the companies reached just 65 to 85 percent of the goals, they wouldn’t realize any gains or suffer any losses. And, if they fell below the 65 percent threshold, they would have to pay a penalty.

Although PG&E found in its own results that it met the targets handily, the CPUC report offered a different picture. Released in April 2010, after the first incentive award had been granted, the report found that PG&E achieved 71 percent, 60 percent, and 63 percent of their targets in three energy-saving categories. Basically, it flunked two out of three.

Now that the CPUC faces a decision on whether to award an additional bonus, and how much should be granted, no one seems to agree on just how the energy savings ought to be calculated. Several proposed options are on the table, based on different sets of numbers and the correspoding calculations. The question of how much energy PG&E actually saved is extraordinarily complex, and there seem to be multiple answers. The reward money, by the way, comes from ratepayers.

Commission President Michael Peevey is proposing that PG&E and the three other utilities receive additional incentive rewards totaling $62 million, based on numbers that push the utilities into the higher-scoring categories. Meanwhile, a proposed decision by an Administrative Law Judge recommends that commissioners neither penalize the utilities nor grant them any extra money.

However, the Division of Ratepayer Advovcates (DRA), an consumer-protection arm of the state agency, noted in a recent press statement that PG&E should have to give back the $76.2 million it already received, and face penalties for not meeting its goals. “Why would you give them bonuses for unverified savings?” asks Cheryl Cox, policy advisor for the DRA.

According to a DRA statement, “A comprehensive CPUC staff report released in April 2010 found that from 2006 to 2008, PG&E and the state’s other three major utilities (Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas and Electric Company, and Southern California Gas Company) did not make enough progress to trigger bonus payments; in fact, the report found that all four of the state’s largest investor owned utilities failed to meet the performance threshold set by the CPUC, and based on the CPUC’s bonus mechanism three utilities, including PG&E, should owe penalties.”

The whole debacle highlights a good question: Why are California energy companies in charge of running programs that encourage people to use less energy, anyhow? Cox noted that she sees an inherent conflict-of-interest in the mechanism, and believes that ratepayer dollars for energy-savings programs might be better spent in a state-administered program that could use market leverage to get manufacturers to offer more efficient products.

The whole point of the energy efficiency program is to reduce the need to build new power plants, she pointed out, but utilities’ performance so far calls into question whether it’s really been effectively reducing energy consumption. After all, PG&E is seeking to construct a new power plant in Oakley. As things stand, “We’re creating the illusion of getting energy efficiency savings,” Cox said.

Barbara George, director of Women’s Energy Matters, noted that PG&E had mis-used energy efficiency funds by directing some of the money into campaigns to thwart a fledgling Community Choice Aggregation program in Marin County.

“Each proposed decision jumbles the inputs differently, with mind-numbing complexity, but the purpose is the same — to avoid the penalties they owe for failing to meet their targets, and to justify the profits CPUC already gave them,” George said. “The proposed decisions can’t agree on exactly how to justify screwing the public, because the record supports none of them.”

Music Listings

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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Music listings are compiled by Cheryl Eddy. Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. 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

Will Billy Rite Spot Café, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

Black Crowes Fillmore. 8pm, $60.

Blammos, Young n’ Tender, Brown Dwarf El Rio. 8pm, $5.

*Buzzov-en, Brainoil, Neurotoxicity, No Statik, K. Lloyd DNA Lounge. 8pm, $16.

Del the Funky Homosapien Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $30.

Dregs One and Equipto, Z-Man, L*Roneous, Spank Pops, DJ Beats Me, DJ Chill Elbo Room. 9pm, $10.

John Grant, Jessica Pratt Swedish American Hall (upstairs from Café Du Nord). 8pm, $13-15.

Grouch, Brother Ali, Eligh, Los Rakas Independent. 8pm, $22.

Bob Margolin Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Montra, Lens, Greg Ashley Knockout. 8:30pm, $7.

Kenseth Thibideau, Moholy-Nagy, Radius Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

DANCE CLUBS

“Babes in Toyland: A Christmas Cabaret” Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12. With DJ KidHack.

Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita Moore hosts this dance party, featuring DJ Robot Hustle.

Breezin Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 9:30pm, free. With DJs Amy A and Brynnie Mac spinning yacht rock od smooth 70s.

Cannonball Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. Rock, indie, and nu-disco with DJ White Mike.

Hands Down! Bar on Church. 9pm, free. With DJs Claksaarb, Mykill, and guests spinning indie, electro, house, and bangers.

Jam Fresh Wednesdays Vessel, 85 Campton, SF; (415) 433-8585. 9:30pm, free. With DJs Slick D, Chris Clouse, Rich Era, Don Lynch, and more spinning top40, mashups, hip hop, and remixes. Mary-Go-Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-0306. 10pm, $5. A weekly drag show with hosts Cookie Dough, Pollo Del Mar, and Suppositori Spelling.

Red Wine Social Triple Crown. 5:30-9:30pm, free. DJ TophOne and guests spin outernational funk and get drunk.

Respect Wednesdays End Up. 10pm, $5. Rotating DJs Daddy Rolo, Young Fyah, Irie Dole, I-Vier, Sake One, Serg, and more spinning reggae, dancehall, roots, lovers rock, and mash ups.

Synchronize Il Pirata, 2007 16th St, SF; (415) 626-2626. 10pm, free. Psychedelic dance music with DJs Helios, Gatto Matto, Psy Lotus, Intergalactoid, and guests.

THURSDAY 16

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Bang Data, Manicato, Dogman Joe, La Gente, Surreal Mezzanine. 9pm, $15.

Sara Bareilles, Raining Jane Warfield. 8pm, $27.50-37.

Del the Funky Homosapien Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8pm, $30.

Frail, Music for Animals, Fans of Jimmy Century, Return to Mono, DJ Eli Slim’s. 8pm, $13.

Hank IV, Dead Meat, Civil War Rust Thee Parkside. 9pm, $8.

Lydia and the Projects, Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic Knockout. 9:30pm, $7.

Rolando Morales Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

*Om, Lichens, Barn Owl, DJ Britt Govea Independent. 8pm, $16.

Picture Atlantic, Ghost and the City, Stomacher Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Puce Moment, Bronze, Sam Flax Keener and Higher Color, Lair Eagle Tavern. 9pm, $5.

Adam Schlesinger and Mike Viola, Corner Laughers Café Du Nord. 9pm, $20.

Screamin’ Yeehaws, Flexx Bronco Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, free.

Sweet Honey in the Rock Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon, SF; www.palaceoffinearts.org. 8pm, $25-100.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Dime Store Dandy Rite Spot Café, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

Gentleman Band Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:45pm, free.

Natalie Lyons Socha Café, 3235 Mission, SF; (415) 643-6848. 8pm, free.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

JimBo Trout and the Fishpeople Atlas Café. 8-10pm, free.

Shut Ins, Misisipi Rider Night Time Honkey Tonk Band Amnesia. 9pm, $5.

Tanaóra Coda. 9pm, $10.

DANCE CLUBS

Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $10. DJs Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz spin Afrobeat, tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.

Caribbean Connection Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $3. DJ Stevie B and guests spin reggae, soca, zouk, reggaetón, and more.

Club Jammies Edinburgh Castle. 10pm, free. DJs EBERrad and White Mice spinning reggae, punk, dub, and post punk.

Dirty Dishes Lookout, 3600 16th St., SF; (415) 431-0306. 9pm, $10. With food carts and DJs B-Haul, Gordon Gartrell, and Special K spinning indie electro, dirty house, and future bass.

Drop the Pressure Underground SF. 6-10pm, free. Electro, house, and datafunk highlight this weekly happy hour.

Good Foot Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. With DJs spinning R&B, Hip hop, classics, and soul.

Guilty Pleasures Gestalt, 3159 16th St, SF; (415) 560-0137. 9:30pm, free. DJ TophZilla, Rob Metal, DJ Stef, and Disco-D spin punk, metal, electro-funk, and 80s.

Jivin’ Dirty Disco Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 8pm, free. With DJs spinning disco, funk, and classics.

Koko Puffs Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm, free. Dubby roots reggae and Jamaican funk from rotating DJs.

Mestiza Bollywood Café, 3376 19th St, SF; (415) 970-0362. 10pm, free. Showcasing progressive Latin and global beats with DJ Juan Data.

Nightvision Harlot, 46 Minna, SF; (415) 777-1077. 9:30pm, $10. DJs Danny Daze, Franky Boissy, and more spinning house, electro, hip hop, funk, and more.

Peaches Skylark, 10pm, free. With an all female DJ line up featuring Deeandroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, and Umami spinning hip hop.

Popscene 330 Ritch. 10pm. With MNDR.

FRIDAY 17

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Agent Ribbons, Social Studies, Amores Vigilantes Buritt Room at Crescent Hotel, 417 Stockton, SF; (415) 400-0500. 9pm, free.

Black Crowes Fillmore. 9pm, $60.

Curtis Bumpy Coda. 7pm, $10.

Devin the Dude, Ise Lyfe Mezzanine. 9pm, $25.

*Giant Squid, Bottom, Hazzard’s Cure Thee Parkside. 9pm, $8.

Killing Joke, Lumerians Regency Ballroom. 9pm, $28.

“Hut at the Hut X” Independent. 9pm, $25. Benefit for the Blue Bear School of Music and D.A. Taylor Charitable Foundation.

Mighty Mo Rodgers Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $20.

Mother Hips, Blank Tapes, Neal Casal Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $20.

Peaches with Chilly Gonzales Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF; www.ticketmaster.com. 8pm, $20. Performing Peaches Christ Superstar.

San Cha with DJ Moxy, Violent Vickie, Valient Steed Brainwash, 1122 Folsom, SF; www.brainwash.com. 8pm, free.

Silian Rail, Summer Darling, Honeycomb Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Sweet Honey in the Rock Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, 3301 Lyon, SF; www.palaceoffinearts.org. 8pm, $25-100.

Those Darn Accordions Red Devil Lounge. 7:30pm, $10.

“Vandals Christmas Formal” Slim’s. 9pm, $16. With Assorted Jellybeans and Goodbye Gadget.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Emily Anne’s Delights Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:45pm, free.

Equinox Trio Rite Spot Café, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

Amber Gougis Socha Café, 3235 Mission, SF; (415) 643-6848. 8pm, free.

Hiroshima Holiday Show Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $22-28.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Brass Menazeri, DJ Zeljko, Kef Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $12.

Savannah Blue, Bay Island Ramblers Plough and Stars. 9pm, $6-10.

DANCE CLUBS

Alcoholocaust Presents Riptide Tavern. 9pm, free. DJ What’s His Fuck spins old school punk rock and other gems.

Anon Salon Alchemistletoe Holiday Party 103 Harriet, SF; www.1015.com. 9pm, $15-20. World fusion.

Dirty Rotten Dance Party Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, $5. With DJs Morale, Kap10 Harris, and Shane King spinning electro, bootybass, crunk, swampy breaks, hyphy, rap, and party classics.

Eclectic Method, Justin Paul Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $12.

Exhale, Fridays Project One Gallery, 251 Rhode Island, SF; (415) 465-2129. 5pm, $5. Happy hour with art, fine food, and music with Vin Sol, King Most, DJ Centipede, and Shane King.

Fat Stack Fridays Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm, free. With rotating DJs B-Cause, Vinnie Esparza, Mr. Robinson, Toph One, and Slopoke.

Fubar Fridays Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5. With DJs spinning retro mashup remixes.

Good Life Fridays Apartment 24, 440 Broadway, SF; (415) 989-3434. 10pm, $10. With DJ Brian spinning hip hop, mashups, and top 40.

Gurp Fest 2010 Club 6. 9pm, $10. Hip-hop with TOPR and DJ Quest, Trunk Trunk featuring Z-Man, Rec League, and more.

Hot Chocolate Milk. 9pm, $5. With DJs Big Fat Frog, Chardmo, DuseRock, and more spinning old and new school funk.

“Hubba Hubba Revue: Christmas-Hanukkah Spectacular” DNA Lounge. 9pm, $10-15. Burlesque performers with Meshugga Beach Party.

Nickel Bag of Funk Elbo Room. 10pm, $5. Hip-hop with DJs Ant-One, Sean G, and Jah Yzer.

Oldies Night Knockout. 9pm, $2-4. Doo-wop, one-hit wonders, and soul with DJs Primo, Daniel, and Lost Cat.

Rockabilly Fridays Jay N Bee Club, 2736 20th St, SF; (415) 824-4190. 9pm, free. With DJs Rockin’ Raul, Oakie Oran, Sergio Iglesias, and Tanoa “Samoa Boy” spinning 50s and 60s Doo Wop, Rockabilly, Bop, Jive, and more.

Singapore 60s Happy Hour Knockout. 5:30pm, free. DJ Sid Presley spins rare pop, garage, and freakbeat from SE Asia, circa 1964-72.

Some Thing The Stud. 10pm, $7. VivvyAnne Forevermore, Glamamore, and DJ Down-E give you fierce drag shows and afterhours dancing.

Vintage Orson, 508 Fourth St, SF; (415) 777-1508. 5:30-11pm, free. DJ TophOne and guest spin jazzy beats for cocktalians.

SATURDAY 18

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Elvin Bishop Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $35.

Black Crowes Fillmore. 9pm, $60.

Civil Wars Café Du Nord. 7:30pm, $12-15.

Crux, Addie Liechty El Rio. 6pm, free.

Cyndi Lauper, Ferocious Few Independent. 9pm, $65.

“Monsters of Accordion 2010” Slim’s. 9pm, $16. With Jason Webley, Corn Mo, Renee de la Prade, Petrojvic Blasting Co., and Duckmandu.

Mother Hips, Or the Whale, Conspiracy of Venus Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $20.

Schande, Bam!Bam!, Kera and the Lesbians Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.

Soul Revue Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:45pm, free.

TurbonegrA, Compton SF, Get Dead, Mission Saints Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Unauthorized Rolling Stones, Rudy Colombini Band Café Du Nord. 9:30pm, $20.

White Buffalo, Foolproof Four Hotel Utah. 9pm, $12.

“Wizards and Stars: A Book Release Party and Todd Rundgren Tribute” Make-Out Room. 7:30pm, $8. With Scott Miller and friends.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

George Cole Quintet Red Poppy Art House. 8pm, $12-15.

Giovenco Project Coda. 7 and 10pm, $5-12.

Hiroshima Holiday Show Yoshi’s San Francisco. 8 and 10pm, $28.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Jeff Landau Socha Café, 3235 Mission, SF; (415) 643-6848. 8pm, free.

Octomutt and friends Rite Spot Café, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Bootie DNA Lounge. 9pm, $6-12. Mash-ups with BishopeMagnetic, Adrian, and Mysterious D.

Booty Bassment Knockout. 10pm, $5. Hip-hop with DJs Ryan Poulsen and Dimitri Dickenson.

Cock Fight Underground SF. 9pm, $7. Gay locker room antics galore with electro-spinning DJ Earworm, MyKill, and Dcnstrct.

Fire Corner Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 9:30pm, free. Rare and outrageous ska, rocksteady, and reggae vinyl with Revival Sound System and guests.

Fringe Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, $5. With DJs Blondie K and subOctave spinning indie music videos.

Full House Gravity, 3505 Scott, SF; (415) 776-1928. 9pm, $10. With DJs Roost Uno and Pony P spinning dirty hip hop.

HYP Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; www.eightsf.com. 10pm, free. Gay and lesbian hip hop party, featuring DJs spinning the newest in the top 40s hip hop and hyphy.

Non Stop Bhangra Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $15. Bhangra DJs and live dhol players.

Prince vs. Michael Madrone Art Bar. 8pm, $5. With DJs Dave Paul and Jeff Harris battling it out on the turntables with album cuts, remixes, rare tracks, and classics.

Rock City Butter, 354 11th St., SF; (415) 863-5964. 6pm, $5 after 10pm. With DJs spinning party rock.

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

Spirit Fingers Sessions 330 Ritch. 9pm, free. With DJ Morse Code and live guest performances.

SUNDAY 19

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Black Crowes Fillmore. 8pm, $60.

Colossal Yes, Coconut Rite Spot Café, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 8pm, free.

Lloyd Gregory Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.

It’s Radiant Light Knockout. 9pm.

Pleasure Kills, Shangorillas, Paper Bags Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.

JAZZ/NEW MUSIC

Hiroshima Holiday Show Yoshi’s San Francisco. 5 and 7pm, $5-28.

Kenny Washington, Larry Vuckovich, Jeff Chambers Bliss Bar, 4026 24th St, SF; (415) 826-6200. 4:30pm, $10.

FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY

Flashes of Light Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St, SF; (415) 642-0474. 8:45pm, free.

Kitchen Fire, Silver Threads, Patsy-Chords Thee Parkside. 4pm, free.

DANCE CLUBS

Call In Sick Skylark. 9pm, free. DJs Animal and I Will spin danceable hip-hop.

DiscoFunk Mashups Cat Club. 10pm, free. House and 70’s music.

Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $7. Dub, dubstep, roots, and dancehall with Maga Bo, DJ Sep, and Maneesh the Twister.

Gloss Sundays Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 7pm. With DJ Hawthorne spinning house, funk, soul, retro, and disco.

Honey Soundsystem Paradise Lounge. 8pm-2am. “Dance floor for dancers – sound system for lovers.” Got that?

Kick It Bar on Church. 9pm. Hip-hop with DJ Zax.

Pachanga! Coda. 7pm, $10. Salsa with Conjunto Karabali.

Religion Bar on Church. 3pm. With DJ Nikita.

Swing Out Sundays Rock-It Room. 7pm, free (dance lessons $15). DJ BeBop Burnie spins 20s through 50s swing, jive, and more.

MONDAY 20

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

Michael Burns Rite Spot Café, 2099 Folsom, SF; www.ritespotcafe.net. 9pm, free.

Halsted, High Pilots, Poor Bailey Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $10.

Billy Idol Fillmore. 8pm, $59.50.

“Smile! Christmas Extravaganza” Knockout. 9pm, $7. With Bart Davenport, Young Elders, Sean Smith, and more.

Thee Swank Bastards Elbo Room. 9pm, $7.

DANCE CLUBS

Black Gold Koko Cocktails, 1060 Geary, SF; (415) 885-4788. 10pm-2am, free. Senator Soul spins Detroit soul, Motown, New Orleans R&B, and more — all on 45.

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

Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar. 10pm, free. With DJs Ant-1, $ir-Tipp, Ruby Red I, Lo, and Gelo spinning hip hop.

M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. With DJ Gordo Cabeza and guests playing all Motown every Monday.

Manic Mondays Bar on Church. 9pm. Drink 80-cent cosmos with Djs Mark Andrus and Dangerous Dan.

Musik for Your Teeth Revolution Café, 3248 22nd St., SF; (415) 642-0474. 5pm, free. Soul cookin’ happy hour tunes with DJ Antonino Musco.

Network Mondays Azul Lounge, One Tillman Pl, SF; www.inhousetalent.com. 9pm, $5. Hip-hop, R&B, and spoken word open mic, plus featured performers.

Skylarking Skylark. 10pm, free. With resident DJs I & I Vibration, Beatnok, and Mr. Lucky and weekly guest DJs.

TUESDAY 21

ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP

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

Billy Idol Fillmore. 8pm, $59.50.

Struts, Karina Denike, Bang Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.

Tricky Independent. 9pm, $30.

Waterlaso, North Fork, Bleached Palms, Night Genes Hemlock Tavern. 8pm, $6.

DANCE CLUBS

Alcoholocaust Presents Argus Lounge. 9pm, free. With DJ D-Runk and DJ What’s His Fuck.

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

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

Extra Classic DJ Night Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; www.bissipbaobab.com. 10pm. Dub, roots, rockers, and reggae from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Rock Out Karaoke! Amnesia. 7:30pm. With Glenny Kravitz.

Share the Love Trigger, 2344 Market, SF; (415) 551-CLUB. 5pm, free. With DJ Pam Hubbuck spinning house.

Our weekly Picks: December 15-21, 2010

Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
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WEDNESDAY 15

MUSIC

Buzzov*en

Legendary sludge metal band Buzzov?en has been wandering the wilderness since the early ’90s, its members ping-ponging between different down-tuned, drugged-out projects. Sludge, an ugly-sounding offshoot of stoner metal, can be traced back to the Melvins, and it was relatively big business in 1994 when Buzzov?en’s second album, Sore, was picked up by Roadrunner Records. That honeymoon was over quickly, and the band’s career has been peripatetic since. Famous for the violence of its live shows and squalling, pummeling riffs, the band is likely to incite a frenzy wherever its brand-new tour may take them. (Ben Richardson)

With Brainoil, Neurotoxicity, No Statik, K. Lloyd

8:30 p.m., $16

DNA Lounge

375 11th St., SF

(415) 626-1409

www.dnalounge.com

 

MUSIC

John Grant

After the decade he spent fronting dreamy indie-pop group the Czars, John Grant has since gone on record saying he never really felt all that satisfied with the band’s albums. As crazy as that might sound to Czars fans, Queen of Denmark, his new solo album backed by Texas folk-rockers Midlake, is indeed a markedly personal album — and perhaps the type he wanted to make all along. Grant’s 1970s soft rock-inspired arrangements and rich baritone vocals are excellent; but it’s the emotional vulnerability and snarky humor of his lyrics that really define him as a songwriter who is very much deserving of some more attention. (Landon Moblad)

With Jessica Pratt

8 p.m., $15

Swedish American Hall

2170 Market, SF

(415) 861-5016

www.cafedunord.com

 

MUSIC

Del the Funky Homosapien

The Bay Area’s ambassador of hip-hop, not to the planet but the galaxy and beyond, Del the Funky Homosapien came out of Oakland’s Hieroglyphics crew before lending his unmistakable voice to projects of a stranger variety. A fetish for ginormous words and out-of-this-world concepts culminated in the future blap of 2000’s space jamming album Deltron 3030. A follow-up is supposedly in the can, reportedly ready for release in 2010. At this intimate event, fans will have the opportunity to remind Del that it is mid-December. (Ryan Prendiville)

 With Simple Citizens

Wed/15–Thurs/16, 8 p.m., $30

Yoshi’s San Francisco

1330 Fillmore, SF

(415) 655-5600

www.yoshis.com

 

THURSDAY 16

DANCE

“DANCEfirst! Modernity/Humanity: The Nzoto Installation“

Often the very act of preserving an artifact distances it from its daily meanings. The “Art/Object: Recontextualizing African Art” exhibit now gracing the halls of the Museum of the African Diaspora seeks to right this wrong, inserting ancient costumes, tools, and accessories back into the flourishes of life they once accentuated. The integration of ritual and modernity is also the theme of an upcoming MoAD dance performance, The Nzoto Installation, presented by dance-community bridge-building organization see.think.dance, and featuring international performance artist Byb Chanel Bibene using the nzoto (“the body” in Bantu) of dancer groups to meld abstract thought and tradition with motion and emotion you can feel, now. (Caitlin Donohue)

6–9 p.m., free with admission ($5–>$15)

Museum of the African Diaspora

685 Mission, SF

(415) 358-7200

www.moadsf.org MUSIC

 

MUSIC

Om

The demise of Sleep marked a sad day for metal fans, but from the resin-soaked ashes of that vaunted South Bay trio emerged two bands that have done much to cheer them up. The success of Matt Pike and High on Fire is a topic to be considered elsewhere; Om is the order of the day. Founded by Sleep’s bassist and drummer, Al Cisneros and Chris Haikus, the meditative metal outfit has taken advantage of the former’s mellifluous playing to craft songs that are at once crushingly heavy and fuzzily embracing. Cisneros is now paired with new drummer Emil Amos, and they’re prepared to rock you into reverie. (Richardson)

With Lichens, Barn Owl, DJ Britt Govea

8 p.m., $16

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

(415) 771-1422

www.independentsf.com.

 

FRIDAY 17

THEATER

Mr. Yoowho’s Holiday

In conjunction with Noh Space, Moshe Cohen presents Mr. Yoowho’s Holiday, a story fusing the spirit of adventure with the warmth of the season. Mr. Yoowho embarks on an international journey across geographical borders as well as the borders of the imagination. He meets Taro-kaja, the prototypical spirited trickster hero of Japanese Kyogen Theater, as well as encountering elements of the European circus and Yiddish absurdism. Drawing on aspects of traditional Japanese Noh Theater and Kyogen Theater, Cohen returns to SF after touring extensively through Europe to meld humor, poetry, and absurdity in this heartwarming tale. (Emmaly Wiederholt)

Through Jan. 2, 2011

Preview tonight, 8 p.m., $10

Fri.–Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 3 p.m., $10–$18

Theatre of Yugen

2840 Mariposa, SF

1-800-838-3006

www.theatreofyugen.org

 

EVENT

“Hubba Hubba Revue’s Christmas Hanukkah Spectacular”

Who will be the next mayor? What will the new year bring? Which corporate Death Star will the WikiLeaks cabal take down next? The Guardian doesn’t have all the answers to these quandaries of the abyss yet — but we sure as sugar have the inside skinny on who will be taking off their clothes at Hubba Hubba Revue’s holiday burlesque spectacular (you’re welcome). To wit: the winner of “best variety act” at Las Vegas’ Burlesque Hall of Fame, Chicago’s Amazing Bendable Poseable Dolls of Doom, and boylesque troupe the Stage-Door Johnnies. Also, don’t miss (yes!) Hubba’s annual visit from the hang-10 Hasids themselves, Jewish surf band Meshugga Beach Party. (Donohue)

9 p.m., $10–$15

DNA Lounge

375 11th St., SF

(415) 626-1409

www.dnalounge.com

 

THEATER

Sweet Can Productions

Combining aerial silks, acrobatics, juggling, contortion, hula hoops, traditional circus, physical theater, dance, and live music, Sweet Can Production’s newest show Candid takes its audience into a charming topsy-turvy world where anything can happen. The limits of human imagination are stretched as mundane objects and everyday life transform into a breathtaking circus. Directed by Joanna Haigood and Wendy Parkman with new music by Eric Oberthaler, lighting designed by Tad Shannon, and performances by Beth Clarke, Natasha Kaluza, Kerri Kresinski, and Matt White, Candid aims to reveal the magic inherent in the ordinary. (Wiederholt)

Through Jan. 9, 2011

Schedule varies (opens tonight, 7 and 9 p.m.)

$15–$60

Dance Mission Theater

3316 24th St., SF

www.sweetcanproductions.com

 

MUSIC

Sub Swara

Bay Area dubstep freaks sometimes forget that the gateway to their bass addiction was a curious mutation of global funk — one that came to prominence in the mid-late ’00’s and mixed Jamaican dread, glitchy electronics, and bhangra flourishes into a heady, invigorating stew. Ground zero for this sound was the excellent Surya Dub party, much missed since its players went off to conquer the world. With a happy rumble, the Surya Dub crew is reuniting at Public Works, teaming up with Bay woofer-killers Slayers Club to bring in New York City duo Sub Swara, keepers of the international bass flame (with a cosmic-funky twist on their latest CD, Triggers). It’ll be a global-eared rumble that reunites seminal Bay influences while leaving you quaking in your Timberlands. (Marke B.)

10 p.m., $10

Public Works

161 Erie, SF

(415) 932-0955

www.publicsf.com

 

MUSIC

“Monsters of Accordion 2010”

The accordion: for many, it’s the runner-up for most annoying musical instrument (after bagpipes). When used outside of polka, zydeco, cumbia, and other “traditional genres” (read: mainstream pop), it has an attention-drawing, anachronistic quality. To rock it, a player must possess a superhuman degree of cool, like They Might Be Giants and, of course, Weird Al Yankovic. To that list add Jason Webley, the howling one-man band and mind behind Monsters of Accordion, known above all for his ability to convert nonbelievers to the squeezebox. (Prendiville)

With Corn Mo, Renee de la Prade, Petrojvic Blasting Co., and Duckmandu

9 p.m., $14

Slim’s

333 11th St., SF

(415) 255-0333

www.slims-sf.com

 

SATURDAY 18

MUSIC

Cyndi Lauper

With her string of recent successes, one could say that new wave chanteuse Cyndi Lauper is back. But that really wouldn’t be accurate — the independent firebrand never really went away. Starting with her smash breakthrough 1983 album She’s So Unusual and the string of hit singles that followed, including “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” “She Bop,” and “Time After Time,” Lauper has continued to release a variety of music, along with appearing in films and being involved with human rights causes. She comes to the city tonight for an intimate club gig — here’s to hoping she can be persuaded to play “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough”! (Sean McCourt)

9 p.m., $65

Independent

628 Divisadero, SF

(415) 771-1422

www.independentsf.com

 

DANCE

Labayen Dance

It’s fun to watch artists who consistently surprise. Enrico Labayen is one of them. For a while, he dropped off the radar — turns out he went home to the Philippines to study native mythologies. When he returned, his first major endeavor became an ambitious Carmina Burana. Now he is taking on the Greeks. Icarus at the Edge of Recession promises to offer a fresh perspective on Daedalus as a CEO and Icarus as a young trader. He is showing this parable of a father sacrificing his son for his own ambition as a work in progress during what he calls a “holiday fun(d)raising event.” (Rita Felciano)

8 p.m., $20 (with pre-show party, 7 p.m., $25)

Garage

975 Howard, SF

(415) 509-3129

www.brownpapertickets.com

 

TUESDAY 21

MUSIC

Danny B. Harvey

Guitar slinger extraordinaire Danny B. Harvey has played with everyone from the Rockats, Nancy Sinatra, and Wanda Jackson to Bow Wow Wow and the Head Cat. This current tour stop finds him teaming up with his friend and “Rockabilly Filly” Rosie Flores. Harvey’s frantic finger-picking and tasty solos are truly a sight to behold live — especially when you look up from watching his fingers dancing on the fret board and see his expression — he often looks as if he’s enjoying a Jack and Coke at the bar, a big grin on his face and giving almost no indication of the difficulty of making the incredible sounds coming out of his guitar. (McCourt)

With Rosie Flores

9 p.m., $12–$15

Hotel Utah

500 Fourth St., SF

(415) 546-6300

www.thehotelutahsaloon.com

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