Mission Archives — Page 15 of 201 — San Francisco Bay Guardian Archive 1966

Rep Clock: March 12 -18, 2014

Michael Redmond

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March 11, 2014

Schedules are for Wed/12-Tue/18 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double and triple features marked with a •. All times pm unless otherwise specified.

ARTISTS’ TELEVISION ACCESS 992 Valencia, SF; www.atasite.org. $7-10. “Matters of Water: Fluid Dynamics + Aqueous Abstractions,” Thu, 8. Film and video program curated by Molly Hankwitz. Druid Underground Film Festival, “avant-weird” short films from around the world, Fri, 8. Other Cinema: Pasolini’s Last Words (Crane, 2012), plus tributes to William S. Burroughs, Sat, 8:30.

BERKELEY FELLOWSHIP OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS 1924 Cedar, Berk; www.bfuu.org. $5-10. Terms and Conditions May Apply (Hoback, 2013), Thu, 7.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $8.50-11. “Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014):” •Flawless (Schumacher, 1999), Wed, 7, and Boogie Nights (Anderson, 1997), Wed, 9:05. CAAMfest 2014, Thu and Sun. Full schedule at caamfest.com/2014. •The World’s End (Wright, 2013), Fri, 7, and This Is the End (Goldberg and Rogen, 2013), Fri, 9:10. “Putting on the Ritz: A Celebration of Tony, Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar Winner Rita Moreno:” West Side Story (Wise, 1961), presented sing-along style and introduced by Moreno, Sat, 1; The Ritz (Lester, 1976), gala event with Moreno interviewed onstage, Sat, 8. For advance tickets $12.50-60) visit www.ticketfly.com. •Gravity (Cuarón, 2013), Mon, 7, and Silent Running (Trumbull, 1972), Mon, 8:35. Free to Play Tue, 8.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.50-$10.75. times. The Rocket (Mordaunt, 2013), call for dates and times. The Lunchbox (Batra, 2013), March 14-20, call for times.

CLAY 2261 Fillmore, SF; www.landmarktheatres.com. $10. “Midnight Movies:” Bottle Rocket (Anderson, 1996), Fri-Sat, midnight.

EXPLORATORIUM Pier 15, SF; www.exploratorium.edu. Free with museum admission ($19-25). “Off the Screen: Let Your Light Shine with Jodie Mack,” Thu, 7 (18+ program) and Sat, 1 (all-ages program). With Jodie Mack in person; co-presented by the SF Cinematheque.

FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF BERKELEY 1 Lawson, Kensington; www.orphanwisdom.com. $10-20. Griefwalker (Wilson, 2008), Fri, 7.

GOETHE-INSTITUT SAN FRANCISCO 530 Bush, SF; goethe.de/ins/us/saf/enindex.htm. $5. The Blind Flyers (Sahling, 2004), Wed, 6:30.

JCCSF Kanbar Hall, 3200 California, SF; jccsf.org/arts. $18. Grease (Kleiser, 1978), presented sing-along style, Sat, 2 and 7:30.

MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE 57 Post, SF; milibrary.org/events. $10. “CinemaLit Film Series: Mystique of the City: Films Shot in San Francisco:” Experiment in Terror (Edwards, 1962), Fri, 6.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. “Film 50: History of Cinema:” Umberto D. (De Sica, 1952), with lecture by Emily Carpenter, Wed, 3:10. “Jokers Wild: American Comedy, 1960-1989:” Watermelon Man (Van Peebles, 1970), Wed, 7. “Jean-Luc Godard: Expect Everything from Cinema:” Made in USA (1966), Thu, 7. CAAMfest 2014, March 14-21. Full schedule at caamfest.com/2014.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-11. “Wes Anderson in 35mm:” Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Wed, 7. 12 O’Clock Boys (Nathan, 2013), Wed-Thu, 9:30. Awful Nice (Sklar, 2013), Wed-Thu, 7, 9. 7 Boxes (Maneglia, 2014), Thu, 7.

SHATTUCK 2230 Shattuck, Berk; www.thewisdomtreefilm.com. $12. The Wisdom Tree (Shah, 2013), Thu, 7.

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; www.ybca.org. $8-10. “Design and Architecture Films Showcase:” •Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Masterwork (Love, 1994/2011), and The Oyler House: Richard Neutra’s Desert Retreat (Dorsey, 2012), Thu, 7 and Sun, 4; Kiss the Water (Steel, 2013), Sun, 2.. *

Theater Listings: March 12 – 18, 2014

Michael Redmond

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March 11, 2014

0

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

THEATER

OPENING

Bauer San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post, SF; www.sfplayhouse.org. Previews March 18-21, 8pm. Opens March 22, 8pm. Runs Tue-Thu, 7pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 3pm); March 23 and April 13, 2pm. Through April 19. San Francisco Playhouse presents the world premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s drama about artist Rudolf Bauer.

Twisted Fairy Tales Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter, SF; www.leftcoasttheatreco.org. $15-25. Opens Fri/14, 8pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through April 5. Left Coast Theatre Co. performs the world premiere of seven one-act LGBT-themed plays based on classic children’s stories.

Wrestling Jerusalem Intersection for the Arts, 925 Mission, SF; www.theintersection.org. $20-30. Previews Wed/12-Fri/14, 7:30pm. Opens Sat/15, 7:30pm. Runs Thu-Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. Intersection for the Arts presents Aaron Davidman in his multicharacter solo performance piece about Israel and Palestine.

BAY AREA

Arms and the Man Barn Theatre, 30 Sir Francis Drake, Ross; www.rossvalleyplayers.com. $13-26. Previews Thu/13, 7:30pm. Opens Fri/14, 8pm. Runs Thu, 7:30pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm (no show Sun/16). Through April 13. Ross Valley Players perform George Bernard Shaw’s romantic comedy.

ONGOING

Children Are Forever (All Sales are Final!) Stage Werx Theatre, 446 Valencia, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $15. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through March 22. Writer-performer and comedian Julia Jackson’s well acted and consistently funny autobiographical solo show details her and her female partner’s attempt to adopt a newborn girl from a young African American mother in Florida. Along the way, Jackson’s smart script details the trials, red tape, and unexpected market incentives in the field of adoption for a same-sex, interracial couple. If the generally involving story nevertheless attenuates a little across its two-act structure, Coke Nakamoto’s precise direction (which builds on original direction by W. Kamau Bell) offers a lively framework for Jackson’s excellent characterizations as well as her frank and interesting commentary on the social, political messiness of certain natural urges. (Avila)

Crystal Springs Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson, SF; www.crystalspringstheplay.com. $20-65. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 23. Eureka Theatre presents Kathy Rucker’s world-premiere drama about parenting in the digital age.

Feisty Old Jew Marsh San Francisco Main Stage, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $25-100. Sat/15, 8pm; Sun/16, 7pm. Charlie Varon performs his latest solo show, a fictional comedy about “a 20th century man living in a 21st century city.”

Foodies! The Musical Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter, SF; www.foodiesthemusical.com. $32-34. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. AWAT Productions presents Morris Bobrow’s musical comedy revue all about food.

Hundred Days Z Space, 450 Florida, SF; www.zspace.org. $10-100. Wed and Sun, 7pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through April 6. Married musical duo the Bengsons (Abigail and Shaun) provide the real-life inspiration and guiding rock ‘n’ roll heart for this uneven but at times genuinely rousing indie musical drama, a self-referential meta-theater piece relating the story of a young couple in 1940s America who fall madly in love only to discover one of them is terminally ill. As an exploration of love, mortality, and the nature of time, the story of Sarah and Will (doubled by the Bengsons and, in movement sequences and more dramatically detailed scenes, by chorus members Amy Lizardo and Reggie D. White) draws force from the potent musical performances and songwriting of composer-creators Abigail and Shaun Bengson (augmented here by the appealing acting-singing chorus and backup band that also feature El Beh, Melissa Kaitlyn Carter, Geneva Harrison, Kate Kilbane, Jo Lampert, Delane Mason, Joshua Pollock). Playwright Kate E. Ryan’s book, however, proves too straightforward, implausible, and sentimental to feel like an adequate vessel for the music’s exuberant, urgent emotion and lilting, longing introspection. Other trappings of director Anne Kauffman’s elaborate production (including an inspired set design by Kris Stone that echoes the raw industrial shell of the theater; and less-than-inspired choreography by the otherwise endlessly inventive Joe Goode) can add texture at times but also prove either neutral figures or distracting minuses in conveying what truth and heft there is in the material. Ultimately, this still evolving world premiere has a strong musical beat at its core, which has a palpable force of its own, even if it’s yet to settle into the right combination of story and staging. (Avila)

Lovebirds Marsh San Francisco Studio, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Thu/13-Fri/14, 8pm; Sat/15, 8:30pm. Theater artist and comedian Marga Gomez presents the world premiere of her 10th solo show, described as “a rollicking tale of incurable romantics.”

Mommy Queerest Exit Studio, 156 Eddy, SF; www.divafest.info. $15-25. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through March 29. Sex scenes in solo shows might sound a little onanistic, but in the right circumstances a door jam or a love seat can serve as a fine co-star. Stand-up comic and actor Kat Evasco demonstrates as much in this raunchy and high-spirited story of her sexual awakening as a lesbian-identifying bisexual, coming out in a household dominated by her closeted mother, a Filipina American drama queen with a long-term female companion she insists is the “gay” one. Presented by Guerrilla Rep and the Exit Theatre’s DIVAfest, and directed by Guerrilla Rep’s John Caldon (who co-wrote the play with Evasco), the story follows a familiar and predictable arc in some ways — familial hypocrisy giving way to inspirational cross-generational understanding — and the characterizations and set-ups (including a family feud on Jerry Springer) come with not always inspired choices. Moreover not all the jokes land where they should in a performance that starts as stand-up but immediately shifts into the style of a solo-play confessional. (A more thoroughgoing subversion of the stand-up format might have produced more complex, less foreseeable results.) At the same time, there’s no denying Evasco’s charm and energy, or her buoyant comedic talent, which makes it easier to forgive the play’s structural shortcomings. (Avila)

“Risk Is This … The Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival” Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, SF; www.cuttingball.com. Free ($20 donation for reserved seating). Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through March 29. Five new works in staged readings, including two from Cutting Ball resident playwright Andrew Saito.

The Scion Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-60. Thu-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Through April 18. In his latest solo show, Brian Copeland (Not a Genuine Black Man; The Waiting Period) explores an infamous crime in his hometown of San Leandro: the 2000 murder of three government meat inspectors by Stuart Alexander, owner of the Santos Linguisa Factory. The story is personal history for Copeland, at least indirectly, as the successful comedian and TV host recounts growing up nearby under the common stricture that “rules are rules,” despite evidence all around that equity, fairness, and justice are in fact deeply skewed by privilege. Developed with director David Ford, the multiple-character monologue (delivered with fitful humor on a bare-bones stage with supportive sound design by David Hines) contrasts Copeland’s own youthful experiences as a target of racial profiling with the way wealthy and white neighbor Stuart Alexander, a serial bully and thug, consistently evaded punishment and even police attention along his path to becoming the “Sausage King,” a mayoral candidate, and a multiple murderer (Alexander died in 2005 at San Quentin). The story takes some meandering turns in making its points, and not all of Copeland’s characterizations are equally compelling. The subject matter is timely enough, however, though ironically it is government that seems to set itself further than ever above the law as much as wealthy individuals or the bogus “legal persons” of the corporate world. The results of such concentrated power are indeed unhealthy, and literally so — Copeland’s grandmother (one of his more persuasive characterizations) harbors a deep distrust of processed food that is nothing if not prescient —but The Scion’s tale of two San Leandrans leaves one hungry for more complexity. (Avila)

Shit & Champagne Rebel, 1772 Market, SF; shitandchampagne.eventbrite.com. $25. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. D’Arcy Drollinger is Champagne White, bodacious blond innocent with a wicked left hook in this cross-dressing ’70s-style white-sploitation flick, played out live on Rebel’s intimate but action-packed barroom stage. Written by Drollinger and co-directed with Laurie Bushman (with high-flying choreography by John Paolillo, Drollinger, and Matthew Martin), this high-octane camp send-up of a favored formula comes dependably stocked with stock characters and delightfully protracted by a convoluted plot (involving, among other things, a certain street drug that’s triggered an epidemic of poopy pants) — all of it played to the hilt by an excellent cast that includes Martin as Dixie Stampede, an evil corporate dominatrix at the head of some sinister front for world domination called Mal*Wart; Alex Brown as Detective Jack Hammer, rough-hewn cop on the case and ambivalent love interest; Rotimi Agbabiaka as Sergio, gay Puerto Rican impresario and confidante; Steven Lemay as Brandy, high-end calf model and Champagne’s (much) beloved roommate; and Nancy French as Rod, Champagne’s doomed fiancé. Sprawling often literally across two buxom acts, the show maintains admirable consistency: The energy never flags and the brow stays decidedly low. (Avila)

The Speakeasy Undisclosed location (ticket buyers receive a text with directions), SF; www.thespeakeasysf.com. $70 (gambling chips, $5-10 extra; after-hours admission, $10). Thu-Sat, 7:40, 7:50, and 8pm admittance times. Extended through May 24. Boxcar Theater’s most ambitious project to date is also one of the more involved and impressively orchestrated theatrical experiences on any Bay Area stage just now. An immersive time-tripping environmental work, The Speakeasy takes place in an “undisclosed location” (in fact, a wonderfully redesigned version of the company’s Hyde Street theater complex) amid a period-specific cocktail lounge, cabaret, and gambling den inhabited by dozens of Prohibition-era characters and scenarios that unfold around an audience ultimately invited to wander around at will. At one level, this is an invitation to pure dress-up social entertainment. But there are artistic aims here too. Intentionally designed (by co-director and creator Nick A. Olivero with co-director Peter Ruocco) as a fractured super-narrative — in which audiences perceive snatches of overheard stories rather than complete arcs, and can follow those of their own choosing — there’s a way the piece becomes specifically and ever more subtly about time itself. This is most pointedly demonstrated in the opening vignettes in the cocktail lounge, where even the ticking of Joe’s Clock Shop (the “cover” storefront for the illicit 1920s den inside) can be heard underscoring conversations (deeply ironic in historical hindsight) about war, loss, and regained hope for the future. For a San Francisco currently gripped by a kind of historical double-recurrence of the roaring Twenties and dire Thirties at once, The Speakeasy is not a bad place to sit and ponder the simulacra of our elusive moment. (Avila)

Tipped & Tipsy Marsh Studio Theater, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sat, 5pm; Sun, 7pm. Through April 6. Solo performer Jill Vice performs her Fringe Festival hit.

The World of Paradox Garage, 715 Bryant, SF; www.paradoxmagic.com. $12-15. Mon, 8pm. Through April 7. Footloose presents David Facer in his solo show, a mix of magic and theater.

Yellow New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 23. Playwright Del Shores (Sordid Lives, Southern Baptist Sissies) returns to his native South — while detouring from previous camp-comedy treatments — with this affirming family drama set in Vicksburg, Miss., about a progressive white couple whose marriage and family are rocked in the wake of their son’s illness. Kate (Dana Zook) and Bobby (Andrew Nance) are celebrating 19 years together. Their oldest son, Dayne (Damion Matthews), is a handsome high school senior and football star; their daughter, Gracie (Ali Haas), is his high-strung younger sister, a drama devotee in more ways than one with plans to be the next Meryl Streep. Gracie’s best friend, Kendall (Maurice André San-Chez), is an effeminate young man with a golden singing voice but a strict fundamentalist mother (Linsay Rousseau) from whom he must hide his plan to join Gracie in the school’s production of Oklahoma. Kendall’s fractured family encourages his tight orbit around Gracie’s — including Dayne, on whom Kendall has an impossible-to-disguise crush — all of whom accept the closeted, innocent youth unequivocally. But when Dayne comes down with a rare liver disease (the title has nothing to do with race, which is not explored here, but references, at a literal level, the sickly color that overcomes Dayne at one point), the seemingly ideal family itself fractures along lines of a deeply buried secret regarding his paternity. Amid their worry for Dayne’s future, and the painful dynamic opened between Kate and Bobby, Kendall’s mother moves in with proselyting zeal, alienating her son to the point of total rejection, but also adding to an already volatile tension between his adoptive parents. Helmed by New Conservatory Theatre Center’s founding artistic director, Ed Decker, the production achieves (after some initial warming up) decent performances across the cast, which, along with Shores’ careful plotting and consistent humor, helps keep this sentimental, somewhat too neat story involving until the end. (Avila)

BAY AREA

Accidental Death of an Anarchist Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $29-99. Opens Wed/12, 8pm. Runs Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (no show April 18; additional 2pm shows March 20 and April 17; also Sat, 2pm, but no matinee March 22); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through April 20. Berkeley Rep presents comic actor Steven Epp in Dario Fo’s explosive political farce, directed by Christopher Bayes,

Bread and Circuses La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; www.impacttheatre.com. $20-25. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through April 6. Impact Theatre performs “a cavalcade of brutal and bloody new short plays” by various contemporary playwrights.

Geezer Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $25-50. Thu, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Through April 26. Geoff Hoyle moves his hit comedy about aging to the East Bay.

The House That Will Not Stand Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $29-59. Wed/12, 7pm; Thu/13-Sat/15, 8pm (also Thu/13 and Sat/15, 2pm); Sun/16, 2 and 7pm. July 4, 1836: As a white New Orleans patriarch (Ray Reinhardt) passes from the scene, under somewhat mysterious circumstances, his longtime mistress, Beartrice (an imposing, memorable Lizan Mitchell), and their daughters (the charmingly varied trio of Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Flor De Liz Perez, and Tiffany Rachelle Stewart) — all free women of color — vie for dominance while trying to secure their respective futures in Berkeley Rep’s sumptuous and beautifully acted world premiere. Nationally acclaimed playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley (And Jesus Moonwalked the Mississippi; This World in a Woman’s Hands) brews up a historically rich and revealing, as well as witty and fiery tale here, based on the practice of plaçage (common-law marriages between white men and black Creole women), grounding it in the large personalities of his predominately female characters — who include a nosy and angling intruder (played with subtlety by Petronia Paley) — and lacing it all with a delirious dose of magical realism via the voodoo charms of Beartrice’s slave, Makeda (Harriett D. Foy, who with Keith Townsend Obadike also contributes lush, atmospheric compositions to the proceedings). Gardley delves productively into the history overall, although he sometimes indulges it too much in awkward and ultimately unnecessary expository dialogue. When he allows his characters full scope for expression of their personalities and relationships, however, the dialogue sails by with brio and punch —something the powerhouse cast, shrewdly directed by Patricia McGregor, makes the most of throughout. (Avila)

Lasso of Truth Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. $37-58. Wed/12, 7:30pm;Thu/13-Sat/15, 8pm (also Sat/15, 2pm); Sun/16, 2 and 7pm. Marin Theatre Company performs Carson Kreitzer’s new play about the history of Wonder Woman.

The Lion and the Fox Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; www.centralworks.org. $15-28. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through March 30. Central Works performs a prequel to its 2009 hit, Machiavelli’s The Prince, which depicts a face-off between Niccolo Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia.

The Music Man Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College, Berk; www.berkeleyplayhouse.org. $17-60. Fri and March 20, 7pm; Sat, 1 and 6pm; Sun, noon and 5pm. Through March 23. There’s trouble in River City! See it unfold amid all those trombones at Berkeley Playhouse.

Once On This Island Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield, Palo Alto; www.theatreworks.org. $19-73. Tue-Wed, 7:30pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 30. TheatreWorks performs the Tony-nominated musical about a star-crossed love affair in the tropics, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

PERFORMANCE/DANCE

Caroline Lugo and Carolé Acuña’s Ballet Flamenco Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; www.carolinalugo.com. Sun/16, March 22, 30, April 6, 12, 19, and 30, 6:15pm. $15-19. Flamenco performance by the mother-daughter dance company, featuring live musicians.

Companhia Urbana de Dança Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission, SF; www.ybca.org. Thu/13-Sat/15, 8pm. $25-35. Brazilian dance troupe under the direction of Sonia Destri Lie.

“Dream Queens Revue” Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF; www.dreamqueensrevue.com. Wed/12, 9:30pm. Free. Drag with Collette LeGrande, Ruby Slippers, Sophilya Leggz, Bobby Ashton, and more.

Feinstein’s at the Nikko Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason, SF; www.feinsteinssf.com. This week: Cheyenne Jackson with musical director Ben Toth, Fri/14, 8pm; Sat/15-Sun/16, 7pm, $60-75.

Greg Fitzsimmons Punch Line Comedy Club, 444 Battery, SF; www.punchlinecomedyclub.com. Thu/13, 8pm; Fri/14, 8 and 10pm; Sat/15, 7:30 and 9:30pm. $23.50. The comedian performs.

“The Garden Party” Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason, SF; www.overcasttheatre.com. Fri/14-Sat/15 and March 19-22, 8pm; Sun/16, 5pm. $11-13. Overcast Theatre performs Václav Havel’s 1963 comedy.

“LEVYdance Presents: The Salon” LEVYstudio, 19 Heron, SF; www.levydance.org. Sat/15, 8:30pm. $10. Performing arts showcase featuring 10 local artists of various disciplines.

“LOL Mondays at OMG” OMG, 43 Sixth St, SF; www.clubomgsf.com. Mon/17, 7pm. Free. Comedy show hosted by Valerie Branch, with featured performers Imran G., Samantha Gilweit, and Barry Fischer, plus an open mic.

“Magic at the Rex” Hotel Rex, 562 Sutter, SF; www.magicattherex.com. Sat, 8pm. Ongoing. $25. Magic and mystery with Adam Sachs and mentalist Sebastian Boswell III.

“The Naked Stage” Bayfront Theater, B350 Fort Mason Center, SF; www.improv.org. Sat, 8pm. Through March 29. $20. BATS Improv performs a completely improvised play.

“New Winter: Winter Choreographers Showcase” Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Fri/14-Sat/15, 8pm. $14. Works by Tika Morgan’s Reggaeton Fusion Performance Workshop, Allan Frias’ Hip-Hop Performance Workshop, Maurice Stokes, Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble, and more.

“Paper Wing” NOHspace, 2840 Mariposa, SF; www.theatreofyugen.org. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through March 22. $15-35. Sculptural costume artist Sha Sha Higby presents a new solo performance.

“Point Break Live!” DNA Lounge, 373 11th St, SF; www.dnalounge.com. April 4, 7:30 and 11pm. $25-50. Dude, Point Break Live! is like dropping into a monster wave, or holding up a bank, like, just a pure adrenaline rush, man. Ahem. Sorry, but I really can’t help but channel Keanu Reeves and his Johnny Utah character when thinking about the awesomely bad 1991 movie Point Break or its equally yummily cheesy stage adaptation. And if you do an even better Keanu impression than me — the trick is in the vacant stare and stoner drawl — then you can play his starring role amid a cast of solid actors, reading from cue cards from a hilarious production assistant in order to more closely approximate Keanu’s acting ability. This play is just so much fun, even better now at DNA Lounge than it was a couple years ago at CELLspace. But definitely buy the poncho pack and wear it, because the blood, spit, and surf spray really do make this a fully immersive experience. (Steven T. Jones)

“Shotz: Featuring a Strong Female Lead” Tides Theatre, 533 Sutter, SF; www.amiosnyc.com. Tue/18, 8pm. $10. Seven plays, five minutes each, created in less than a month, and united under the theme “Featuring a Strong Female Lead.”

“Silenced” and “The CONTACT Project” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. Fri-Sat and March 20, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 23. Performance works by Charya Burt and Krista DeNio.

“Sorya! 2014: We Are Still At It” NOHspace, 2840 Mariposa, SF: www.brownpapertickets.com. Sat-Sun, 2pm; Mon, 7pm. Through March 24. Theatre of Yugen presents its 35th anniversary season with a performance by founder Yuriko Doi in the kyogen play Kawakami.

SOULSKIN Dance Joe Goode Annex, 401 Alabama, SF; soulskindance.brownpapertickets.com. Fri/14-Sat/15, 8pm. $20. A multimedia pop culture journey directed by Adrianna Thompson.

“Speechless” Public Works SF, 161 Erie, SF; www.speechlesslive.com. Wed/12, 7:30pm. $20. One-year anniversary special of the PowerPoint-based comedy show.

Stephen Petronio Company Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard, SF; www.sfperformances.org. Fri/14-Sat/15, 7:30pm. $35-50. The company performs the West Coast premiere of Like Lazarus Did.

BAY AREA

“An Evening of Relentless Humor in Multiple Formats from SOB” 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton, Mill Valley; www.142throckmorton.com. Sat/15, 8pm. $25-35. Sketch and improv comedy.

Savion Glover Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael; www.marincenter.org. Fri/14, 8pm. $20-60. The tap dancer performs his new work, StePz.

“The Ironbound” Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. Mon/17, 7pm. Free. Staged reading of a new play by Martyna Majok.

“MarshJam Improv Comedy Show” Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. Fri, 8pm. Ongoing. $10. Improv comedy with local legends and drop-in guests.

“Mortified: March Madness” Uptown, 1928 Telegraph, Oakl; www.getmortified.com. Thu/13, 7:30pm. $20. Also Fri/14, 7:30pm, $21. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St, SF. Fearless storytellers share their most adorably embarrassing childhood writings.

Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir’s Annual Spring Musical First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison, Oakl; www.oigc.org. Sat/15, 7:30pm. Free. OIGC performs spiritual and gospel music under the direction of Terrance Kelly, with special guest Calvin B. Rhone.

“Poetry Express” Himalayan Flavors, 1585 University, Berk; poetryexpressberkeley.blogspot.com. Mon, 7pm. Free. Ongoing. This week: Richard Silberg, plus open mic. Next week: Ambrose Mohler, plus open mic.

“Some Girl(s)” Dragon Theatre, 2120 Broadway, Redwood City; www.dragonproductions.net. Fri/14-Sat/15, 8pm (also Sat/15, 2pm); Sun/16, 2pm. $15. Dragon Theater’s 2nd Stages Program kicks off with this production of Neil LaBute’s dark comedy. *

Stayin’ put

Steven T. Jones

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March 11, 2014

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esilvers@sfbg.com

LEFT OF THE DIAL Is there any problem more thoroughly modern, more reflective of the way we currently measure the value of our experiences, more completely indicative of a charmed First-World life than that of FOMO?

The fear of missing out on a good time is, of course, hardly generational. If all our grandmothers had, at age 16, discovered their friends were throwing a giant party without them, they’d likely be a little hurt — but then they’d be like, “Wait a minute, I’m a garment worker and I make three cents an hour in terrible conditions and women still don’t have the right to vote, maybe I have bigger things to worry about.” More importantly, they never would have known said party took place unless one of their coworkers at the garment factory said something directly to them about it — which, what gives, bitchy garment factory coworker?

Now, of course, we have The Internet. And in the prevailing social economy of the times — under whose rules it didn’t happen if you didn’t Instagram it — an event like South by Southwest has all the right conditions for a perfect FOMO-inducing storm.

Yes, we’re bringing you SXSW coverage this week on our website — and so will roughly one-third to half your friends on Facebook. Yes, those breakfast tacos look delicious. Hey, cool, that’s you and Lena Dunham taking a selfie together, with Edward Snowden in the background making bunny ears via satellite. Of course we’re incredibly jealous that you’re seeing [insert band that will be considered cool for the next two years and then become “too mainstream” and then you can tell everyone you saw them way back when at SXSW].

You know what else is cool? Staying in San Francisco. At the risk of sounding like the least-fun person in the world, it’s tough for me not to wonder during events like this — weeks when half the young white-collar people in town defect from the Bay Area en masse — what would happen if half these folks were to spend even half of what they’re spending elsewhere on the arts scene in San Francisco.

With that in mind, here’s a handy guide to musical happenings for those of who are staying in the Bay Area this week. And remember: Staying home is the new hitting the road.

Oakland’s moonbell makes heady, moody, psyched-out shoegaze that doesn’t skimp on the requisite wall-of-reverb. There are obvious nods to My Bloody Valentine, but there’s also a modern, melodic sensibility here, in no small part thanks to the guitar fireworks layered over floaty vocals that don’t sound disaffected so much as they seem to be transmitting emotions — or the soundtrack to a hazy afternoon bender of some kind — from outer space. The band’s new LP drops April 1, but it’ll have some cassette copies available at this show, as bands that record at Tiny Telephone are wont to have.

Barbecue pairing: A slab of ribs from Everett & Jones. Alternatively, one too many greyhounds at Cafe Van Kleef.

Wed/12
With That Ghost and White Cloud
8pm, $8
New Parish
579 18th St, Oakland
www.thenewparish.com

The Kenyan-born, longtime SF-based singer-songwriter-producer Sila Mutungi uses the term Afrofunk to define his music, but the list of influences that announce themselves on his new record, SuperAfrican, is an impressively long one: There’s Sly Stone-esque funk, to be sure, but there’s also jazz, more than a little R&B, Latin-infused guitar, bright, big band horns, almost maniacally shouted choruses, and a vibe that pays homage to the country of his birth. This record release show will also mark the release of a comic book by the same name, written by Eric K. Arnold, that “focuses on a young African superhero who takes on villains in African settings, from refugee camps to diamond mines” — African kids should have a superhero that looks like them, Mutungi explains. All proceeds from the comic book sales will go to onemama.org, a non-profit funding a self-sustaining medical clinic in Uganda.

Barbecue pairing: Rotisserie chicken, Pete’s BBQ.

Fri/14
With Sambaxé
9pm, $17
The Chapel
777 Valencia, SF
www.thechapelsf.com

The Record Swap at the Knockout has, one would like to imagine, a vibe that would have been in place at the first few SXSW festivals: that of a room full of people who really want to nerd out about music, and have a found a tiny little corner of the world to do it in. Unlike the current state of SXSW, you probably won’t find any tech talks or marketing gurus; it’s not known for inciting social media mayhem. (They have a Facebook page, but that’s about it; if anyone wants to start hashtagging things #rsatk with me next week, you’re more than welcome.) This pseudo-monthly party is completely free, and comes with the benefit of Taqueria Cancun next door. Say what you will about breakfast tacos; I’ll take San Francisco Mexican food any day of the week (and at any time of day).

Barbecue pairing: Nope. See previous sentence. Super veggie burrito, black beans, extra hot sauce, please.

Sat/15
5pm, free
Knockout
3223 Mission, SF
www.theknockoutsf.com

We Became Owls is the name for the musical output of Oakland’s Andrew Blair and Ross Warner, Orinda natives and guitarists who’ve been writing songs together since middle school, plus a cast of rotating supporting characters on the banjo, cello, upright bass, piano and drums, with lap-steel and sing-along, sit-around-the-campfire-with-a-bottle-of-whiskey choruses front and center. Call it alt-folk, Americana, what have you — these kids have listened to their Bob Dylan, and there’s a depth to their songwriting, a level of genuine soul in their sound that’s not just easy on the ears; they mean it, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Barbecue pairing: Why, the kitchen at BOTH of course. A cheeseburger, plus copious amounts of PBR.

Sat/15
With decker., TaughtMe8:30pm, $12
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St, SF
www.bottomofthehill.com

If you’re among the brave souls who will actually be venturing into North Beach during this weekend’s St. Patrick’s Day tomfoolery (socially-sanctioned, Jameson-fueled screaming in large groups), you could do a lot worse than to catch the lineup at O’Reilly’s annual block party. The Quiet Men is an eight-piece that takes the structure of traditional Irish folk music and adds elements of rough-hewn, forward-charging punk rock, with half the members taking turns on the writing and lead vocals. Think The Pogues, sure, but with less-shitfaced vocals (singer Erin Vogel’s clear voice, in particular, sounds like it can rise above a lot of chaos), plus members who have clearly taken more of their cues from the Against Me! side of the spectrum. Still darn good drinking music.

Barbecue pairing: I really have to tell you what thematically appropriate foods and beverages to put in your body at a St. Patrick’s day block party? Didn’t think so.

Sat/15
With Fergus & Michael, The Hooks, The Guverment, more
1pm, $10
O’Reilly’s Irish Pub & Restaurant
622 Green, SF
www.sforeillys.com

The Parmesans are a string trio that somehow, over the course of the last year, became the secret favorite local band of every musician I know. It’s not hard to see why: Their sense of showmanship is matched by a game-for-anything, lyrical sense of humor, but they’re all too damn good at their instruments for any of it to actually be a joke. Throw in tight vocal harmonies layered over mandolin, acoustic guitar, and trumpet, and you get a live band experience that somehow manages to seem like far more than just three dudes on a stage. Their debut LP last year was a bright moment on the SF musical landscape, but we also hear they’ve been in the studio recently, so this show should have some newly-birthed gems.

Barbecue pairing: Think about how much money you saved by not going to SXSW — not to mention this show being free. Now try to eat that amount of tater tots and consume that amount of whiskey and beer on the back patio, in the sunshine, surrounded by zero celebrities and, accordingly, zero gawkers, with nary a VIP pass nor a viral marketing scheme in sight. Later (if you are not dead from attempting this — YMMV), go sleep it off in the sunshine at Jackson Park.

Fear of missing what, now?

Sun/16
With Sunny Jim Brown, Hay Babes
4pm, free
Thee Parkside
1600 17th St, SF
www.theeparkside.com

St. Patrick’s Day Events

Michael Redmond

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March 11, 2014

0

Listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Selector.

FRIDAY 14

St. Patrick’s Day Alley Party Taverna Aventine, 582 Washington, SF; facebook.com/aventinesf. 4pm, free. Plunge headfirst into St. Paddy’s weekend with this indoor-outdoor bash, featuring drink specials, Sam’s Chowder Mobile food truck, and music from DJs Chris Harnett, Zhaldee, Don Lynch, and FGL DAN.

SATURDAY 15

Funcheap’s 2014 Shamrock St. Patrick’s Weekend Bash SoMa Streat Food Park, 428 11th St, SF; www.somastreatfoodpark.com. Sat/15-Sun/16, noon, $5-10; Mon/17, 5pm, free with RSVP (check website for info). Three days of Irish food truck specials, green beer and other “shamrock drinks,” and live music. Arrive before noon Saturday and Sunday to get in free.

Irish Bank St. Patrick’s Day Block Party 2014 Irish Bank, 10 Mark Lane, SF; www.theirishbank.com. 9am-midnight, $10 (free before noon). Also Mon/17. Live music starts at noon both days with the Shams, Bog Savages, and DJ Marcus.

“Little Green Men Weekend” Playland-Not-at-the-Beach, 10979 San Pablo, El Cerrito; www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org. 10am-5pm. Through Sun/16. $10-15. This weekend, little green men refers to Martians and leprechauns at this museum of carnival games, antique amusement devices, pinball, and more.

San Francisco’s 163rd St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival Parade begins at the corner of Market and Second Sts and marches to Civic Center Plaza, SF; facebook.com/SaintPatricksDaySF. 11:30am, free. The West Coast’s largest Irish history and culture event includes a parade down Market Street (you will not believe how many Irish dance troupes hail from the Bay Area!), followed by a Civic Center party. This year’s theme is “A Tribute to the Irish Workers of America.”

St. Patrick’s Day Block Party O’Reilly’s, 622 Green, SF; www.sforeillys.com. Noon-10pm. $10. Also Mon/17. Today, check out Fergus and Michael, the Quiet Men, Hooks, Guvernment, and the Bad Jones. Mon/17, check out Gas Men, McCrae’s Battalion, the Shams, Shanty Town, and Zoo Station.

“St. Patty’s Punk Bash XIV” Thee Parkside, 1600 17th St, SF; www.theeparkside.com. 3:30pm-1am, $12. Music starts at 4:30pm, and here’s the order: Dirty Denim, the Rinds, Arnocorps, Nihilist Cunt, Bankrupt District, the Criminals, Poliskitzo, Crimson Scarlet, and La Plebe.

MONDAY 17

“St. Patrick’s Day Blowout” Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF; www.elbo.com. 9pm, $5. With McCraes Battalion, the Butlers, the Guverment, and Another Tangent.

St. Patrick’s Party Cha Cha Cha/Original McCarthy’s, 2327 Mission, SF; www.cha3.com. 6pm-midnight. Corned beef and cabbage, rivers of Guinness, and live Irish melodies by the Frisky Frolics Quartet. *

Soda tax is social justice issue

Michael Redmond

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March 11, 2014

129

Eric.L.Mar@sfgov.org, John.Avalos@sfgov.org, tom@tomammiano.com

OPINION

We are fighting for a soda tax because public health leaders have sounded the alarm that sugary drinks are a serious threat to our public health. Now is the time to get the word out about the latest facts that tell the story.

Our work on the issue began when community leaders and medical experts started educating us on the impact of sugary drinks. The resulting legislation that we crafted along with four other members of the Board of Supervisors will not only slow soda consumption, but it will fund the anti-hunger and physical activity programs we dearly need.

Most folks know soda is bad for you, but not how bad. Many are also unaware that Big Soda is specifically targeting communities of color and children. Our task is to spread the word about the health disparities this creates.

The lack of healthy food choices is an injustice that is hitting communities of color the hardest. Fully three-fourths of adult Latinos and African Americans in San Francisco are obese or overweight and one in three Americans will soon be diabetic, including one in two Latinos and African Americans.

The disparities are geographic as well. The highest rates of diabetes hospitalizations and emergency room visits are among residents of the Bayview, Tenderloin, SoMa, and Treasure Island. Close behind are the Excelsior and Visitacion Valley. These are also the neighborhoods that lack access to healthy food and are among those consuming the most soda.

We are already paying the high price of soda consumption. San Franciscans spend at the very least $50-60 million a year in health care costs and sick days due to obesity and diabetes attributable to sugary drinks. The fact that sugary drinks are the biggest single source of added sugar in our diets sets it apart from other unhealthy foods.

The revenue generated has tight controls and must be used to mitigate the harm Big Soda causes. Steered by an independent committee and targeted to communities suffering the most from health inequities, the tax will bolster funding for everything from school meals, healthy food retailer incentives, physical education, and other deserving programs.

Big Soda has hired high-priced lobbying firms and public relations folks who are employing a small army of young people, deploying them into the Bayview, the Mission, and Chinatown — those communities most impacted by diabetes and soda consumption. They’ve set up a front group — San Franciscans for an Affordable City — to capitalize on the anger in SF about the cost of housing and living.

But think about it: Have Big Soda companies helped us in our fight for affordable housing? Are they fighting for a living wage for communities of color in San Francisco? They have never cared about an affordable city. They care about protecting their profits, period.

We need affordable housing, healthy foods, and physical activity — issues we are working on every single day. On the other hand, our communities need affordable soda as much as we need cheap cigarettes and booze. It only makes us sick.

There are things our communities are doing to promote good health, like transforming corner stores into healthy retailers, building community gardens, and expanding physical and nutrition education. The soda tax as it is written now can provide these programs and dramatically improve our communities’ health.

This isn’t a ban but a reasonable first step to decrease soda consumption. This is a research-proven way of getting people to use less of an unhealthy product — it worked with cigarettes and it worked with alcohol. Finally, the tax will fund a range of great programs that will actually provide healthy choices for everyone.

It’s time we make the healthy choice the easy choice for low-income communities and all San Franciscans.

John Avalos represents District 11 (Outer Mission, Excelsior) and Eric Mar represents District 1 (the Richmond District) on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Tom Ammiano represents Assembly Dist. 17 (eastern San Francisco) in the California legislature.

Housing round-up: LGBT tenants, a singing protest, and a very sad mural

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee

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March 11, 2014

108

Housing round-up: LGBT tenants, a singing protest, and a very sad mural

At today’s (Tue/11) Board of Supervisors meeting, Sup. David Campos is introducing legislation to encourage large-scale developers to protect the housing rights of the LGBT community.

Same-sex couples nationwide are more likely to experience discrimination in their search for senior housing, a study by the Washington, D.C. based Equal Rights Center found.

To investigate, testers posed as gay or straight couples with otherwise nearly identical credentials, then submitted inquiries on senior housing in 10 different states. They discovered that in 96 out of 200 tests, those posing as lesbian, gay or bisexual residents experienced at least one type of adverse, differential treatment.

Meanwhile, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality, one in five transgender U.S. residents has been refused a home or apartment, and more than one in ten has been evicted, because of their gender identity.

Federal law does not expressly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. California law does, as do laws in 19 other states. Given these gaps in legal protection, real-estate providers can adopt their own policies to prohibit LGBT discrimination.

Campos’ proposal would require large-scale developers who wish to build in San Francisco to prove their commitment to equal housing opportunities.

“We want to know whether a developer hoping to build in San Francisco is protecting LGBT housing rights when they own or manage housing in states where legal protections don’t exist,” Campos explained. “By collecting this information, we can highlight best practices and urge those who do not have these policies to do the right thing.”

Under the legislation, developers would indicate whether they have national policies prohibiting LGBT discrimination. The Human Rights Commission would compile those policies and present it annually to the Board of Supervisors.

Elsewhere on the housing front, POOR Magazine founder Lisa Gray-Garcia (aka “Tiny”) led a group of anti-eviction activists into City Hall this morning, where they broke into song to call attention to the eviction of a family from a public-housing unit in the Fillmore neighborhood. They linked the eviction with a broader trend of African American out-migration from San Francisco, and sang spirituals.

Gray-Garcia reported that the group, which she estimates at roughly 30 people, encountered resistance from the Sheriff’s deputies who provide security in City Hall. “They said we were an unlawful assembly because we were singing,” she said. So the protesters proceeded upstairs, whispering, to stand outside Mayor Ed Lee’s office. Then they broke into song again, she said.

“We’re talking about a family about to be evicted tomorrow, that’s how serious this is,” Gray-Garcia told us. She said she’d spoken to someone from the mayor’s office, Carl Nicita, who “to his credit, he listened to us and he said ‘I’m going to tell the mayor.’” (We’re working on finding out more about the eviction and how the city will respond.)

As a final housing-related tidbit, head over to the Mission to check out the new Clarion Alley “Wall of Shame” mural, featuring a list of what the artists perceive to be the root forces of gentrification (Both Google buses and corporate giveaways to tech companies made the list).

Inscribed on some tombstones near the bottom: “So long San Francisco, As We Knew It. (Historic Counter-Culture & All.)”

On the flip side, the artists also included a list of solutions.

Bryan Augustus contributed to this report.

Wired measures tech bus trips in a day

Erica Hanna

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March 11, 2014

34

The vaunted Google Bus pilot program is now in legal limbo as local activists appeal the deal to regulate the shiny behomoths, on environmental grounds. As we wait and see what the next step will be, one technology journalist decided to figure out for himself what the SFMTA says the pilot program aims to do: track the number of tech buses running around San Francisco.

Well, to be fair, Kevin Poulsen, investigations editor at Wired magazine, only tracked the buses flying by his home. But the process doesn’t seem too tough to replicate.

As he writes in his Wired post:

“Last week, it occurred to me that I might start monitoring the local Wi-Fi environment to determine how often the Apple Bus really comes by. My wife guessed 10 times a day. I’d have said 20.”

So essentially, he used the Apple bus’ Wi-Fi, provided for their employees, to track movements of the bus. He didn’t make any bets on it, but if he had, it seems his wife would’ve lost.

“After a week of reverse-wardriving, it appears the Apple Bus passes my house an average of 36 times a day, and is uncannily punctual, especially in the a.m., when the first bus reliably pops up on my Wi-Fi radar between 6:23:33 and 6:23:56 every morning.

The second bus passes four or five minutes later, the third 25-minutes after that, another at 6:58, give or take a minute. By 10 a.m. as many as 15 more Apple buses have passed. After that they become infrequent, and die out entirely a few minutes after 2:00 p.m., before they return in force at 5:00 p.m. — presumably taking Apple workers home. The last bus registers at about 10:15 at night.”

The wifi trail shows how many times particular tech buses drove by this Wired journalist’s house.

Why care about tracking them in the first place? It’s about the impact of livability in the surrounding area, an idea that so far hasn’t been factored in to the $1 per stop, per day argument made by Mayor Ed Lee and the city. Poulsen writes:

These buses are huge, intimidating, Greyhound-sized affairs, many of them double-deckers, that feel outsized on a relatively quiet street of single-family homes. I haven’t stockpiled much umbrage over them, but some of my neighbors who’ve lived here longer hate the buses. There’s something disconcerting about having your street turn into a major artery in the transportation infrastructure of a company 45 miles away, without so much as a mailer (“Hi! We’re Apple. We’ll be using your street for a while.”).

When the outrage over the $1 per stop, per day number spiked recently, a Google spokesperson said in a release, “San Francisco residents are rightly frustrated that we don’t pay more to use city bus stops. So we’ll continue to work with The City on these fees, and in the meantime will fund Muni passes for low-income students for the next two years.”

Until the SFMTA figures out ways to mitigate the impact of these buses, let’s hope more tech-inclined people track their impacts on the city. You can see the original Wired story here.

ABC7’s pedestrian safety coverage courts controversy

Erica Hanna

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March 6, 2014

99

ABC7’s pedestrian safety coverage courts controversy

ABC7 News Investigative Team’s new “investigative report” on pedestrian safety stirred controversy this week as street safety advocates called out the video for its insensitivity towards pedestrian deaths and lax attitude towards unsafe drivers.

Streetsblog SF and others in San Francisco said the report engaged in “victim blaming.”

ABC7’s pedestrian safety coverage comes on the heels of a number of high-profile traffic collision deaths, including that of 6-year-old Sofia Liu, killed on New Year’s Eve. Since then, the Walk First program to create safer streets has garnered more attention, culminating in Mayor Ed Lee’s announcement today to partially fund safety improvements to the city’s most dangerous intersections, to the tune of $17 million — improvements that languished due to funding gaps since the program was announced in April.

But making all the needed improvements though would cost $240 million, according to city estimates, and that funding has yet to be identified. Suffice to say, the traffic enforcement debate still rages in San Francisco, with emphasis on the word ‘rage.’

“We’ve seen ‘blame the pedestrians’ from police and in the media,” Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisco Bike Coalition, said at a pedestrian safety hearing in January. Police Chief Greg Suhr that night apologized for his officers’ lax enforcement of drivers, and focus on pedestrians, and pledged to change policies to focus on drivers going forward.

It’s too bad ABC 7’s I-Team didn’t get that memo.

“In San Francisco, simply stepping off the curb can be deadly,” ABC reporter Dan Noyes narrates in their video report. The word ‘deadly’ is capped off with a Hollywood-style musical flourish, like a horror movie moments before the big scare.

“Pedestrians are making mistakes over and over again,” Noyes narrates. The video cuts to pedestrian after pedestrian looking at cell phones, jaywalking, or otherwise engaging in unsafe behavior. It’s fair to say the piece, headlined “I-Team investigates what’s causing pedestrian deaths,” places responsibility of pedestrian safety squarely on the shoulders of pedestrians.

In the report, Noyes stops many pedestrians and calls them out for looking at cell phones — but doesn’t attempt to stop a single driver to do the same. Exacerbating the approach, the I-Team asked for San Franciscans to call out unsafe behavior via Twitter with the hashtag #DidntLook, which was emblazoned over the image of a pedestrian crossing the street.

That may have been what sparked the reaction that followed.

“Should peds look so that last memory is the car who killed them? What should peds do when facing pending death, push a car away?” Kate McCarthy, president of Walk SF, wrote via Twitter.

Twitter user Sonn St Paul told Noyes “your editorial staff #didntlook at this before giving the okay, huh?” Noyes replied, “We’ve investigated cars and bikes, now it’s pedestrians.

Beyond the pedestrian advocates and Twitter users, StreetsBlog SF’s Aaron Bialick was probably the harshest critic of the piece.

“Noyes didn’t let facts get in the way of producing a pedestrian-shaming piece,” he wrote. “ABC did put some of those pesky facts in the segment, like the SFPD statistics that two-thirds of pedestrian crashes are primarily the fault of the driver. But why should the I-Team’s ‘investigation’ allow rigorous data to spoil the slant of the segment?”

“Noyes is capable of better stuff,” he wrote.

The Guardian spoke with KGO-TV/ABC7 Vice President of News Tracey Watkowski, who defended the piece.

“Our goal for the story is to raise awareness for safety overall in San Francisco,” she said. “It’s all about everyone sharing the road. We’ve done a lot of stories on drivers, and we stand by this story.”

Chief Suhr addresses pedestrian safety after a hearing in January.

When we told Watkowsi that the story seemed to echo the anti-pedestrian slant that Chief Suhr had just apologized for, and that the police (and mayor) are now shifting away from with new outreach efforts focusing on drivers, she again defended her news team.

“Pulling in an event with Greg Suhr would not have made the story better,” she said. “For us it was about overall safety.”

@dannoyes If a ped is distracted they are blamed, if driver is distracted they “just had an accident” even if they kill. @ABC7

— Transit Diaries (@transitdiaries) March 4, 2014

@mabmierau @MeghanCArnold @mikesonn You don’t have the right of way if the crosswalk is red.

— Dan Noyes (@dannoyes) March 4, 2014

@dannoyes @kateatyrownrisk The call to tweet is disgusting.

— cynthia (@cynthia_says) March 4, 2014

@dannoyes @abc7newsBayArea I will watch. I’d also invite you to come to 9th & Mission, where every day I’m almost hit by turning vehicles.

— Meghan Arnold (@MeghanCArnold) March 4, 2014

If you help perpetuate the attitude that drivers have no responsibility for making streets safe you have blood on your hands. #didntlook

— Antoni Reezz (@printtemps) March 5, 2014

.@dannoyes This six year old #didntlook. Guess she #shouldalooked, huh? You should tell her mom that. http://t.co/4kWmpZNoA8

— Alex Halpern (@HalpernAlex) March 4, 2014

Really @dannoyes? Your focus on pedestrian safety is to encourage #didntlook tweets to blame peds? Seems like you didn’t look at the facts.

— Jeremy (@JspiderSF) March 4, 2014

.@dannoyes I dare you to say #didntlook to Sofia Liu’s mom. What part of the conversation seems unreasonable again?

— Kate McCarthy (@kateatyrownrisk) March 4, 2014

Three upcoming events on housing in San Francisco

Sasha Cuttler And Mary Magee

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March 6, 2014

25

Three upcoming events on housing in San Francisco

There are a few upcoming opportunities to have your say in the ongoing dialogue about the San Francisco tenants’ struggle as long-term renters grapple with rising rents and the threat of displacement.

Amid the housing pressure, a thriving tenants’ rights movement has unfolded in the city to spur multiple legislative pushes for reform. These conversations (and the art exhibit to piece these issues together on a deeper level) are timely.

Wed/12: San Francisco Neighborhoods on the Brink: A Panel Discussion on Displacement, Gentrification, Rising Rents & the Loss of Affordable Housing

Hosted by San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguia, this panel discussion will feature comments by District 11 Sup. John Avalos, Public Policy Director of the Chinatown Community Development Center Gen Fujioka, and SFUSD teacher and Ellis Act target Sarah Brant.

An announcement description says the discussion will focus on the “dilemma facing long-time residents and renters of modest means — and the gutting and gentrification of San Francisco — as real estate speculation and a quickly widening income gap drive rents to dizzying heights while the rental supply dwindles.”

Details here.

“There’s a difference between a neighborhood changing—which is natural and organic—versus the destruction of a neighborhood, its history and legacy, which is what is happening right now in the Mission District.” —Alejandro Murguía

Wed/12: “Sólo Mujeres: HOME / inside out” – An interdisciplinary exhibit at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

Curated by Susana Aragón and Indira Urrutia, this exhibition features 24 women artists in exploring the symbolic space of home through a variety of mediums, including installation, painting, photography, sculpture, poetry, video and mixed media. Artists include Yolanda Lopez, Xuchi Eggleton, Ximena Sosa, Windsong, Susana Aragón, Sofía Elías, Tina Escaja, Tanya Marie Vlach, Rebeca García Gonzales, Solange Bonilla Leahy, Natalia Anciso, Melanie Lacy Kusters, Marta R, Zabaleta, Mariella Zevallos, Indira Urrutia, Gabriela Luz Sierra, Flor Khan, Fan Warren, Cristina Ibarra, Clara Cheeves, Carmen Lang, Camila Perez-Goddard, Anna Simson, Alejandra Rassvetaieff, Adriana Camarena.

From the announcement: “A home is a place that is close to our heart, it triggers self-reflection, thoughts about who someone is or used to be or who they might become. Each room or space is connected to memories, feelings, ideas, dreams, etc. As part of the exhibit, the gallery will be transformed into a house which rooms will be delimited by see through fabric to show the fragility of housing in The San Francisco’s Mission District.

It opens at 7pm with a live performance by María José Montijo and Diana Gameros. Details here.

Wed/19: Affordable housing from multiple perspectives

The Noe Valley Democratic Club is hosting what it calls “a distinguished and authoritative panel of experts” who will speak about affordable housing in the Bay Area. What’s interesting about this event is that it will bring together folks who are leading a citywide push at the grassroots level to strengthen tenants’ rights, as well as people from more developer-friendly entities such as SPUR (San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Research Association) and the San Francisco Housing Action Committee.

The panelists will include:

Sarah Karlinsky, (panel moderator), Deputy Director of SPUR (San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Research Association)

Douglas Shoemaker, President of Mercy Housing California, a non-profit dedicated to affordable housing development, fundraising and services.

Teresa Yanga, Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing

Tim Colen , Executive Director of San Francisco Housing Action Committee

Fernando Martí, Co-Director of the Council of Community Housing Organizations (CCHO)

Sara Shortt, Executive Director of the San Francisco Housing Rights Committee

Details here.

One final tidbit, tangentially related at best. Salon has a great article, Gentrifying the dharma” How the 1 percent is hijacking mindfulness, which thoughtfully examines a trend that has led Buddhists to fear that “their religion is turning into a designer drug for the elite.”

(A few weeks ago activists with Eviction Free San Francisco disrupted a Google panel about mindfulness, triggering a decidedly unenlightened onstage tug-of-war over a banner.)

Best quote is from the Dalai Lama, who sees things this way: “Capitalism only takes the money. Then, exploitation.”

“Are Alt Weeklies Over?” Hell no! We’re needed now more than ever.

Sasha Cuttler

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March 5, 2014

31

“Are Alt Weeklies Over?” Hell no! We’re needed now more than ever.

The New York Times yesterday ran an insightful and widely circulated op-ed from a fellow alt-weekly editor, Baynard Woods of Baltimore City Paper, that emphasized the important role that a staff of full-time alt-weekly journalists play in urban life, a niche that neither big daily papers nor online-only outlets can replicate.

“An alt weekly has a staff of paid reporters and editors whose jobs are not only to know the city, but to love it, to hate it, and to be an integral part of it, cajoling, ridiculing, praising and skewering city officials, artists and entrepreneurs alike, while giving voices to the ‘city folk,’” Woods wrote after ruing the economic forces that have hobbled our profession and given rise to the article’s headline: “Are Alt Weeklies Over?”

As someone who has worked for four alt-weeklies in California after starting my career at daily newspapers, I can attest to the unique and valuable role that they played in each of those cities: San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Sacramento, and San Francisco. Eschewing the tired and unattainable goal of “objective journalism,” the alt-weeklies help provide a bottom-up framing of local issues and serve as a check on the dominant economic and political forces.

When I made the transition from dailies to alt-weeklies in 1995, I felt like a whole new world had been opened up for me, a feeling that I’ve heard expressed by many others in my business. Daily newspaper writers generally hew to the orthodoxy of their local Chamber of Commerce in economic coverage, while political news tends to split the difference between the two major political parties.

But in a dynamic world with major long-term problems that aren’t being addressed in a serious way — from global warming and environmental degradation to extreme wealth disparities and lack of investment in critical public infrastructure — sometimes the Chamber, the Democrats, and the Republicans are all wrong.

Saying so often falls to the alt-weekly writers and editors who can speak with a clear and true voice, and who can back up their perspective with years of diligent reporting to support it. When the Guardian says PG&E corrupts our political system, that’s not a statement of opinion, but a conclusion backed up by dozens of well-reported articles going back decades. In this instantaneous yet forgetful society we’re creating, that kind of institutional knowledge is invaluable.

That’s especially true when it comes to city life and the struggles we cover all day, every day, something that writers who strive for clicks from readers around the world can’t provide. Locally based reporters working local beats with adequate resources is essential to civic accountability.

For example, it’s easy for us to see how the current displacement crisis will change San Francisco in unacceptable ways, and to see the echoes of previous political moments — the freeway revolts of the ‘60s, the anti-Manhattanization struggles of the ‘70s, resistance to trickle down economics in the ‘80s, warnings about the last dot-com economic cleansing in the ‘90s — in this current political moment. So we amplify the many voices crying out for reform and we’re willing to call our untrustworthy politicians and business leaders on their bullshit. We’re not afraid to call the liars “liars.”

“Alt weeklies can be harsh in their criticism, whether it’s aimed at a blowhard politician or an overrated artist. Some people say we’re too eager to charge people with selling out, with trafficking in an insular cultural elitism. But alt weeklies don’t simply delight in being mean; they are harsh because they care about the city and what goes on in it,” Woods wrote.

We at the Guardian love San Francisco, and we’re going to keep fighting for its soul — and the panopoly of inspired and inspiring people who feed that soul — with everything we’ve got, and neither the people who fund our paychecks nor those who populate our blogs are going to deter us from that mission.

Listen: New M. Lockwood Porter single “Chris Bell” pays tribute to the less-celebrated heart of Big Star

Steven T. Jones

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March 5, 2014

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Listen: New M. Lockwood Porter single “Chris Bell” pays tribute to the less-celebrated heart of Big Star

This happens very rarely, but every now and then, I’m actually in step with some kind of larger musical zeitgeist. My lifelong affection for Big Star — thanks, Dad — only grew deeper with last year’s documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, which told the tale of a band that, more or less, struggled for its entire existence to be heard, only to achieve what could be considered widespread popularity roughly two decades after they stopped making music.

One story that film also teased out was the tragic narrative of Chris Bell, who maybe wasn’t as charismatic as his co-frontman Alex Chilton, but boy, could he write a song, and boy, did he have some demons. Bell died, like so many of the greats, at the age of 27.

So I was excited, needless to say, when Berkeley’s M. Lockwood Porter released his new single, “Chris Bell,” a tribute to the late songwriter in which Porter’s earnest ’70s power-pop influences are made very clear. Porter’s debut LP Judah’s Gone garnered some critical praise last summer, but we haven’t heard much from him since; now, he’ll be doing a mini-tour of sorts to support the release, starting with an opening spot on Mirah-headlined bill tomorrow night [Thu/6] at Brick and Mortar. Give the track a listen, and below, read some of what Porter wrote me when I asked about his inspirations for the song.

I’ve claimed Big Star as one of my favorite bands for almost 10 years. I got into them around the time that I was about to go to college. I was in this phase where, artistically, I believed that you had to totally reinvent or revolutionize the musical language in order to make valid art (I was 16, okay?). When I discovered Big Star, along with a few other bands, I realized that pop/rock based music could sound fresh without adding too many bells and whistles as long as there was honesty and a unique point of view behind it.

[After watching Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me], I learned that he was as important, or even more important, to the creation of #1 Record than Alex Chilton was. Second of all, Big Star’s lack of commercial recognition, along with the fact that critics seemed to focus on Alex Chilton as the genius behind the band, were among his reasons for leaving the band. Third, after he left the band, he went into a depression that he never fully escaped. He got into painkillers, heroin, and some of the interview subjects in the film suggest that the car accident that killed Chris Bell might have been a suicide. I’ve also since read rumors that Chris Bell was a closeted homosexual, and that his shame might have been an additional reason for his depression. I don’t know whether that last part is true or not, but all of these facts together gave me a huge amount of sympathy for him.

It made me very upset that even I — someone who considers #1 Record to be a desert island album — had given Alex Chilton most of the credit for Big Star’s effect on my life (not that he wasn’t important, as well). I started thinking about how much “Alex Chilton” by The Replacements (whom I love) had played into the mythos of the band, and that’s where the first line of the song came from.

In the film, someone points out that Chris Bell is a member of the 27 Club. That got me thinking about this whole romance and mythology that exists around people like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, etc. — rock stars who died young. I did not want to write a song that attempted to create a similar kind of mythology around Chris Bell. I felt like it would have been tacky and disrespectful to do so. In the documentary, Chris Bell’s brother and sister are interviewed. Their pain over Chris’s death still seems very raw. He died nearly 40 years ago, and they still miss him deeply. I wanted to try to write about Chris Bell with that perspective in mind, rather than writing something that could have come from some lazy rock journalist.

Also, I love Neil Young, and there’s that infamous line in “Hey Hey My My” (“Rock and roll is here to stay / It’s better to burn out than to fade away”) that ties into the whole tortured rock star mythology because of the Kurt Cobain connection. It’s also just a happy accident that the line “Rock and roll is here to stay” is also in Big Star’s “Thirteen.” When I realized that coincidence, I knew I had to put that into the song.

And now, because he makes me feel feelings, let’s listen to some Chris Bell, shall we?

M. Lockwood Porter (w/ Mirah, Ages and Ages)
3/6, 9pm, $12
Brick & Mortar Music Hall
1710 Mission, SF
www.brickandmortarmusic.com

Music Listings: March 5-11, 2014

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March 4, 2014

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WEDNESDAY 5
ROCK
Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. “The Larkade,” w/ Major Powers & The Lo-Fi Symphony, Rachel Lark, JK47, 9:30pm, free.
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Together Pangea, Mozes & The Firstborn, Burning Curtains, 9pm, $10.
El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Meat Market, Yi, Cop Out, 9pm, $7.
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. We Are the Men, Bearcubbin, Face Tat, Van Wave, 9pm, $7.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Personal & The Pizzas, plus free Escape from New York pizza (while supplies last), 9pm, free.
The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. The Mowgli’s, Tumbleweed Wanderers, Cocktails, 8pm, free with RSVP.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. Modern Man, Paint the Trees White, Joseph Childress, 9:30pm, $6.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Thufoxxtrots, Jam, The Cushion Theory, The Twitches, 8pm, $5.
Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement, San Francisco. The Pizza Underground, Windham Flat, Toby Goodshank, 6 & 9pm, $10-$15.
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, 8pm, $21-$25.
DANCE
111 Minna Gallery: 111 Minna, San Francisco. “Qoöl,” w/ DJs Ruchir, Alex Blackstock, Petko Nikolov, Spesh, Dan Sherman, and Will Spencer, 5-10pm, $5.
Beaux: 2344 Market, San Francisco. “BroMance: A Night Out for the Fellas,” 9pm, free.
The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “Sticky Wednesdays,” w/ DJ Mark Andrus, 8pm, free.
Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Bondage A Go Go,” w/ DJs Damon, Tomas Diablo, & guests, 9:30pm, $5-$10.
Club X: 715 Harrison, San Francisco. “Electro Pop Rocks: Blood, Sweat, and Bass,” 18+ dance night with Downlink, Dieselboy, Ajapai, more, 9pm
F8: 1192 Folsom, San Francisco. “Housepitality,” w/ Jay Tripwire, Andrew Phelan, Stay Deep, Dr. Rek, Skyler Mendoza, 9pm, $5-$10.
Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “Indulgence,” 10pm
Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “What?,” w/ resident DJ Tisdale and guests, 7pm, free.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Rock the Spot,” 9pm, free.
MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Reload,” w/ DJ Big Bad Bruce, 10pm, free.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Booty Call,” w/ Juanita More, Joshua J, guests, 9pm, $3.
HIP-HOP
Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement, San Francisco. “Over the Hump,” w/ Children of the Funk, 10pm, free.
Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Mixtape Wednesday,” w/ resident DJs Strategy, Junot, Herb Digs, & guests, 9pm, $5.
ACOUSTIC
Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod, 7pm, free.
The Chapel: 777 Valencia, San Francisco. A Salute to John Fahey in Honor of His 75th Birthday, w/ Sean Smith, Chuck Johnson, Henry Kaiser, Dibson Hoffweiler, Andrew Weathers, Adam Snider, Danny Paul Grody, Richard Osborn, 9pm, $12.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Chris Trapper, Korby Lenker, 8pm, $15.
Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Jeanie & Chuck’s Bluegrass Country Jam, First Wednesday of every month, 9pm, free.
JAZZ
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Gaucho, Eric Garland’s Jazz Session, The Amnesiacs, 7pm, free.
Balancoire: 2565 Mission St., San Francisco. “Cat’s Corner,” 9pm, $10.
Burritt Room: 417 Stockton St., San Francisco. Terry Disley’s Rocking Jazz Trio, 6pm, free.
Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Afro-Cuban Jazz Cartel, 8pm
Club Deluxe: 1511 Haight, San Francisco. Patrick Wolff Quartet, 9pm, free.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Charles Unger Experience, 7:30pm, free.
Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. The Cosmo Alleycats featuring Ms. Emily Wade Adams, 7pm, free.
Pier 23 Cafe: Pier 23, San Francisco. Ned Boynton & Friends, 6pm, free.
Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Ricardo Scales, Wednesdays, 6:30-11:30pm, $5.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Anne O’Brien, First Wednesday of every month, 7:30pm, free.
INTERNATIONAL
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Baobab!,” timba dance party with DJ WaltDigz, 10pm, $5.
Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. “Bachatalicious,” w/ DJs Good Sho & Rodney, 7pm, $5-$10.
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Frigo-Bar,” First Wednesday of every month, 8pm, free.
Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Cafe Latino Americano, 8pm, $12.
BLUES
Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Bob Margolin & Bob Corritore, 7:30 & 9:30pm, $20.
EXPERIMENTAL
Center for New Music: 55 Taylor, San Francisco. Sten Sandell with Gino Robair, 7:30pm, $10-$15.
Meridian Gallery: 535 Powell, San Francisco. Xo Xinh, Van-Anh Vanessa Vo, and Chris Brown, 7:30pm, $10.
SOUL
Monarch: 101 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Color Me Badd,” coloring books and R&B jams with Matt Haze, DJ Alarm, Broke-Ass Stuart, guests, Wednesdays, 5:30-9:30pm, free.

THURSDAY 6
ROCK
111 Minna Gallery: 111 Minna, San Francisco. RubberSideDown, Chris James & The Showdowns, Etro Canova, 7pm, free/donation.
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Eyes on the Shore, Sunrunners, Dogcatcher, 9pm, $10.
Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Mirah, AgesandAges, M. Lockwood Porter, 9pm, $12-$15.
The Chapel: 777 Valencia, San Francisco. Arthur Beatrice, 9pm, $12-$14.
DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. The Vile Augury, Limnus, Roadside Memorial, Loveless Love, Mr. Smith, 8pm, $10 advance.
El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Year of the Fist, Money for Rope, Muñecas, 8pm, $5.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Yogurt Brain, Divers, Nasty Christmas, 8:30pm, $6.
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. “Popscene,” w/ Glasvegas, 10pm, $15-$17.
S.F. Eagle: 398 12th St., San Francisco. Slough Feg, Wild Eyes, Older Sun, 9pm, $8.
SFSU Campus, Cesar Chavez Student Center: 1650 Holloway, San Francisco. Useless Eaters, The Sweethearts, Scraper, Mane, 6pm, free.
DANCE
1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom, San Francisco. Stwo, The Whooligan, Mikos Da Gawd, DJ Dials, Chad Salty, 9pm, $10 (free before 11pm with RSVP).
Abbey Tavern: 4100 Geary, San Francisco. DJ Schrobi-Girl, 10pm, free.
Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. “Common Ground,” w/ Shur-i-kan, Greg Yuen, Dino Velvet, Fil Latorre, Joey Alaniz, 9pm, $5-$10.
Aunt Charlie’s Lounge: 133 Turk, San Francisco. “Tubesteak Connection,” w/ DJ Bus Station John, 9pm, $5-$7.
Beaux: 2344 Market, San Francisco. “Men at Twerk,” 9pm, free.
The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “¡Pan Dulce!,” 9pm, $5.
Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursdays,” ‘80s night with DJs Damon, Steve Washington, Dangerous Dan, and guests, 9pm, $6 (free before 9:30pm).
The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “XO,” w/ DJs Astro & Rose, 10pm, $5.
Club X: 715 Harrison, San Francisco. “The Crib,” 9:30pm, $10, 18+.
DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. Sound Remedy, Clark Kent, 8pm, $12-$15.
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Afrolicious,” w/ DJs Pleasuremaker, Señor Oz, and guests, 9:30pm, $5-$8.
F8: 1192 Folsom, San Francisco. “Beat Church,” w/ resident DJs Neptune & Kitty-D, First Thursday of every month, 10pm, $10.
Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “I Love Thursdays,” 10pm, $10.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Night Fever,” 9pm, $5 after 10pm
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursday,” w/ DJ Jay-R, 9pm, free.
Raven: 1151 Folsom, San Francisco. “1999,” w/ VJ Mark Andrus, 8pm, free.
Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. “Awakening,” w/ Felix Cartal, 9pm, $15-$20 advance.
Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Bubble,” 10pm, free.
Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. “Base: Local,” w/ Bardia F, ThuyVu, Mac Vaughn, John Kaberna, Lexel, 10pm, free with RSVP.
HIP-HOP
Eastside West: 3154 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Throwback Thursdays,” w/ DJ Madison, 9pm, free.
John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Rewind,” w/ DJ J.W. Sounds, First Thursday of every month, 10pm, free.
Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Peaches,” w/ lady DJs DeeAndroid, Lady Fingaz, That Girl, Umami, Inkfat, and Andre, 10pm, free.
Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Aer, RDGLDGRN, New Beat Fund, 8pm, $17.
ACOUSTIC
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Misisipi Mike & The Midnight Gamblers, First Thursday of every month, 9pm
Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. The Bogues, 8pm, free.
Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Acoustic Open Mic, 7pm
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Songwriters in the Round with Heather Combs, Kelly McFarling, Eoin Harrington, Brad Brooks, 8pm, $8.
The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. Agnes Obel, 8pm, sold out.
The Lost Church: 65 Capp, San Francisco. Jeff Conley & Elena de da Garza, Brandon Eardley, 8pm, $10.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. S.F. Acoustic Sessions, w/ Leila Motaei, Scarth Locke, Jeff Desira, 7:30pm, free.
Musicians Union Local 6: 116 Ninth St., San Francisco. San Francisco Singer-Songwriters’ Workshop, hosted by Robin Yukiko, First Thursday of every month, 6:30pm, $25 (free for AFM members).
Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. The Shannon Céilí Band, First Thursday of every month, 9pm, free.
JAZZ
Blush! Wine Bar: 476 Castro, San Francisco. Doug Martin’s Avatar Ensemble, 7:30pm, free.
Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Jimmy Grant Quartet, First Thursday of every month, 8pm, free.
Feinstein’s at the Nikko: 222 Mason, San Francisco. Paula West, 8pm, $35-$50.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Eugene Pliner Quartet with Tod Dickow, First and Third Thursday of every month, 7:30pm, free.
Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums, 7:30pm
Pier 23 Cafe: Pier 23, San Francisco. Judy Hall Trio, 7pm, free.
The Royal Cuckoo: 3202 Mission, San Francisco. Charlie Siebert & Chris Siebert, 7:30pm, free.
Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Savanna Jazz Jam with David Byrd, 7pm, $5.
Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Stompy Jones, 7:30pm, $10.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Barbara Ochoa, 7:30pm, free.
INTERNATIONAL
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Pa’Lante!,” w/ Juan G, El Kool Kyle, Mr. Lucky, 10pm, $5.
Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. “Jueves Flamencos,” 8pm, free.
Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. Gary Flores & Descarga Caliente, 8pm
Verdi Club: 2424 Mariposa, San Francisco. The Verdi Club Milonga, w/ Christy Coté, DJ Emilio Flores, guests, 9pm, $10-$15.
REGGAE
Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement, San Francisco. Maoli, Mango Kingz, on the upstairs stage, 9pm, $12-$15.
Pissed Off Pete’s: 4528 Mission St., San Francisco. Reggae Thursdays, w/ resident DJ Jah Yzer, 9pm, free.
BLUES
50 Mason Social House: 50 Mason, San Francisco. Bill Phillippe, 5:30pm, free.
Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Tad Robinson, 7:30 & 9:30pm, $20.
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Chris Ford, First Thursday of every month, 4pm
SFJAZZ Center: 205 Franklin, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, playing the music of Bessie Smith (in the Joe Henderson Lab), 7 & 8:30pm, $30.
COUNTRY
The Parlor: 2801 Leavenworth, San Francisco. “Twang Honky Tonk & Country Jamboree,” w/ DJ Little Red Rodeo, 7pm, free.
EXPERIMENTAL
The Luggage Store: 1007 Market, San Francisco. Power Stations, Conan the Barbiturate, 8pm, $6-$10.
SOUL
Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. West Grand Boulevard, 9:30pm, $5.
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Teena Marie Birthday Tribute with Ashling “Biscuit” Cole, 8pm, $19-$23.

FRIDAY 7
ROCK
Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. Chum, 9:30pm, $12-$15.
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Scale the Summit, The Ocean, The Atlas Moth, Silver Snakes, DJ Rob Metal, 8pm, $12-$14.
Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Gripin, Twenty7, 9pm, $30-$40.
The Chapel: 777 Valencia, San Francisco. Black Cobra Vipers, Jefferititi’s Nile, Sister Chief, 9pm, $12.
DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. Fake Your Own Death, I Am Animal, In Letter Form, Cash for Gold, 8:30pm, $8-$10.
El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Friday Live: Mary Ocher, DJ Emotions, 10pm, free.
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. Glitter Wizard, Christian Mistress, Ovvl, 9:30pm, $8.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Donkee, Tiger Honey Pot, Majestic Beast, Manstration, 9pm, $6.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Overland, Crash Landings, First Contact, Sean O’Brien & His Dirty Hands, 9pm, $10.
The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. Gardens & Villa, Waterstrider, Reuben & The Dark, 9pm, $13-$15.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Solids, Pup, Balms, 9pm, $8-$10.
Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. The Greening, Everyone Is Dirty, Sweet Chariot, 9pm, $14.
Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St., San Francisco. Heartsounds, The Mighty Fine, Point of View, The Business End, 9pm, $8.
DANCE
1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom, San Francisco. MartyParty, Joker, Robot Koch, Nick Hook, Pumpkin, Nesta, Releece, Dov, Jocelyn, 10pm, $15 advance.
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. “Brass Tax,” w/ resident DJs JoeJoe, Ding Dong, Ernie Trevino, Mace, First Friday of every month, 10pm, $5.
Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. Umek, Ben Seagren, Dean Samaras, 9pm, $15 advance.
BeatBox: 314 11th St., San Francisco. “Pulse SF: 3-Year Anniversary,” w/ Ticon, Emok, Critical Choice, 10pm, $25-$30 advance.
Beaux: 2344 Market, San Francisco. “Manimal,” 9pm
The Cafe: 2369 Market, San Francisco. “Boy Bar,” w/ DJ Matt Consola, 9pm, $5.
Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Strangelove: A Tribute to Skinny Puppy,” w/ DJs Tomas Diablo, Daniel Skellington, Lexor, and Panic, 9:30pm, $7 ($3 before 10pm).
The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “F.T.S.: For the Story,” 10pm
The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Trade,” 10pm, free before midnight.
The Grand Nightclub: 520 Fourth St., San Francisco. “We Rock Fridays,” 9:30pm
Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. DJ Spider, 9pm
Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “Flight Fridays,” 10pm, $20.
Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “HYSL: Handle Your Shit Lady,” 9pm, $3.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Dirty Rotten Dance Party,” w/ Kap10 Harris, Shane King, guests, First Friday of every month, 9pm, $5.
MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “F-Style Fridays,” w/ DJ Jared-F, 9pm
Mezzanine: 444 Jessie, San Francisco. “Future Fridays,” w/ Posso, Non Sequitur, Erika K, Monika Santucci, 9pm, $10.
Monarch: 101 Sixth St., San Francisco. Bob Moses, DJ M3, Lisbona, 9:30pm, $15-$20.
Powerhouse: 1347 Folsom, San Francisco. “Nasty,” First Friday of every month, 10pm, $5.
Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. “Direct to Earth,” w/ Barem, Troy Pierce, Brian Knarfield, Max Gardner (in the main room), 9pm, $13-$20; “Play It Cool,” w/ Hound Scales, Avalon Emerson, Derek Opperman, Matthew Favorites, Guillaume Galuz (in the OddJob Loft), 10pm, $10.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Pump: Worq It Out Fridays,” w/ resident DJ Christopher B, 9pm, $3.
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Rüfüs, Lemaitre, DJ Aaron Axelsen, 9:30pm, $15-$17.
Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. Quintino, 9pm, $20-$30 advance.
Slate Bar: 2925 16th St., San Francisco. “Haçeteria,” w/ New Jack, Greg M, Jason P, Smac, Tristes Tropiques, Nihar, 10pm, $5.
Temple: 540 Howard, San Francisco. “Boogaloo Bounce,” w/ Brother Board, D-Clan, Freefall, 10pm, $15.
Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Bionic,” 10pm, $5.
Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. “Blitz,” w/ Revolvr, DJ MyKill, Shawn Steele, Keelan, 10pm, $10-$30.
Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “Bridge the Gap,” w/ resident DJ Don Kainoa, Fridays, 6-10pm, free; “Depth,” w/ resident DJs Sharon Buck & Greg Yuen, First Friday of every month, 10pm, free.
HIP-HOP
EZ5: 682 Commercial, San Francisco. “Decompression,” Fridays, 5-9pm
Mighty: 119 Utah, San Francisco. “Where’d You Get Those?,” w/ Bobbito, Stretch Armstrong, DJ Shortkut, DJ Proof, 9pm, $15 advance.
Nickies: 466 Haight, San Francisco. “First Fridays,” w/ The Whooligan & Dion Decibels, First Friday of every month, 11pm, free.
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. De La Soul, 8 & 10pm, $46.
ACOUSTIC
Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Vessna Scheff, 7pm
Dolores Park Cafe: 501 Dolores, San Francisco. Beryl Baker & Co., 7:30pm
The Lost Church: 65 Capp, San Francisco. Cotton Polly, David Sobel & The Toms, 8pm, $10.
Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. A Talent for Mischief, 9pm
Red Poppy Art House: 2698 Folsom, San Francisco. Squid Inc. with Carrie Katz, 7:30pm, $10-$15.
The Sports Basement: 610 Old Mason, San Francisco. “Breakfast with Enzo,” w/ Enzo Garcia, 10am, $5.
St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church: 2097 Turk, San Francisco. First Fridays Song Circle, First Friday of every month, 7pm, $5-$10.
JAZZ
Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. Jazz at the Atlas, 7:30pm, free.
Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant: 1000 Great Highway, San Francisco. Johnny Smith, 8pm, free.
Bird & Beckett: 653 Chenery, San Francisco. Don Prell’s SeaBop Ensemble, First Friday of every month, 5:30pm, free.
Cafe Royale: 800 Post, San Francisco. Wrapped in Plastic, First Friday of every month, 9pm
Feinstein’s at the Nikko: 222 Mason, San Francisco. Paula West, 8pm, $35-$50.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Charles Unger Experience, 7:30pm, free.
The Palace Hotel: 2 New Montgomery, San Francisco. The Klipptones, 8pm, free.
Pier 23 Cafe: Pier 23, San Francisco. Hard Bop Collective, 8pm, free.
Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Savanna Jazz Trio, 7pm, $8.
SFJAZZ Center: 205 Franklin, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, playing the music of Billie Holiday (in the Joe Henderson Lab), 7 & 8:30pm, $30.
Top of the Mark: One Nob Hill, 999 California, San Francisco. Black Market Jazz Orchestra, 9pm, $10.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Joyce Grant, 8pm, free.
INTERNATIONAL
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Paris-Dakar African Mix Coupe Decale,” 10pm, $5.
Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Taste Fridays, featuring local cuisine tastings, salsa bands, dance lessons, and more, 7:30pm, $15 (free entry to patio).
Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Rumbaché, 10pm
City Hall: 1 Drive Carlton B. Goodlett, San Francisco. Gamelan Sekar Jaya, The Rotunda Dance Series opens its 2014 season with this free Balinese music and dance performance., noon, free.
Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Cuban Night with Fito Reinoso, 7:30 & 9:15pm, $15-$18.
REGGAE
Gestalt Haus: 3159 16th St., San Francisco. “Music Like Dirt,” 7:30pm, free.
Showdown: 10 Sixth St., San Francisco. “How the West Was Won,” w/ Nowtime Sound, First Friday of every month, 10pm, free.
BLUES
Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Tad Robinson, 7:30 & 10pm, $22.
Lou’s Fish Shack: 300 Jefferson, San Francisco. Little Wolf & The HellCats, 6pm
Tupelo: 1337 Green, San Francisco. Jinx Jones & The KingTones, First Friday of every month, 9pm
EXPERIMENTAL
Artists’ Television Access: 992 Valencia, San Francisco. Mission Eye & Ear #4, New experimental film and sound collaborations by Suki O’Kane & John Davis, Jason Hoopes & Azin Seraj, Marielle Jakobsons & Kirthi Nath, and more., 8pm, $7-$10.
FUNK
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Swoop Unit, First Friday of every month, 6pm, $3-$5.
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Loose Joints,” w/ DJs Centipede, Damon Bell, and Tom Thump, 10pm, $5-$10.
SOUL
Edinburgh Castle: 950 Geary, San Francisco. “Soul Crush,” w/ DJ Serious Leisure, 10pm, free.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Oldies Night,” w/ DJs Primo, Daniel, Lost Cat, friends, First Friday of every month, 10pm, $5.

SATURDAY 8
ROCK
Bender’s: 806 S. Van Ness, San Francisco. Electric Funeral, Hell Fire, 10pm, $5.
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. The Ataris, Authority Zero, Drag the River, Versus the World, 8pm, sold out.
Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Dead Ghosts, Los Craters, Mujeres, Banshee Boardwalk, DJ Al Lover, 9pm, $8-$10.
The Chapel: 777 Valencia, San Francisco. JD Samson & MEN, Skip the Needle, People at Parties, 9pm, $16-$18.
El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Kepi Ghoulie with Dog Party, Unko Atama, Pogo Ono, 10pm, $8.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. The Librarians, Victory & Associates, Charmless, 9pm, $6.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. Abrupt, Serpent Crown, Sciatica, Syzygz, 4pm, $6.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Hungry Skinny, Ape Machine, The Missing Pieces, Strange Hotel, DJ Chad Stab, 9pm, $7.
Thee Parkside: 1600 17th St., San Francisco. Stomper 98, The Old Firm Casuals, Control, Custom Fit, 9pm, $15.
DANCE
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Jonas Reinhardt, Pharaohs, Roche, ProFan DJs, 9pm, $10.
Audio Discotech: 316 11th St., San Francisco. Fur Coat, Pacific Disco, Papa Lu, 9:30pm, $5-$10 advance.
BeatBox: 314 11th St., San Francisco. Official S.F. White Party Palm Springs Kick Off Party, w/ DJs Chris Cox & Del Stamp, 10pm, $10-$20.
Beaux: 2344 Market, San Francisco. Official Clueless After Party, With Peaches Christ, Mahlae Balenciaga, and DJ Guy Ruben., 9pm, $3.
Cat Club: 1190 Folsom, San Francisco. “Club Gossip: Depeche Mode Night,” w/ DJs Damon, Shon, Low-Life, Melting Girl, and Daniel Skellington, 9pm, $5-$8 (free before 9:30pm).
DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “Bootie S.F.,” w/ DJ BC, A+D, DJ Jimig, Smash-Up Derby, DJ Dcnstrct, more, 9pm, $10-$15.
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Tormenta Tropical,” w/ Jah Wave, Mr. E, Oro11, Deejay Theory, 10pm, $10.
The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Eclectricity,” Second Saturday of every month, 10pm
F8: 1192 Folsom, San Francisco. HGMNY: A Celebration of International Women’s Day, Benefit for the Center for Young Women’s Development with Astronautica, SoSuperSam, Kittens, Smasheltooth, Jaqi Sparrow, Umami, and Pony P., 9pm, $10-$15 advance.
Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. WhiteNoize, 9pm
The Hot Spot: 1414 Market, San Francisco. “Love Will Fix It,” w/ DJ Bus Station John, Second Saturday of every month, 10pm, $5.
Infusion Lounge: 124 Ellis, San Francisco. “One Way Ticket Saturdays,” w/ Eric D-Lux, Second Saturday of every month, 10pm, $20.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Galaxy Radio,” w/ resident DJs Smac, Emils, Holly B, and guests, Second Saturday of every month, 9pm, free.
Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “Bounce!,” 9pm, $3.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Music Video Night,” w/ DJs Satva & 4AM, Second Saturday of every month, 10pm, $5.
Mezzanine: 444 Jessie, San Francisco. “Lights Down Low,” w/ Four Tet, Natasha Kmeto, DJ Dials, Sleazemore, Richie Panic, 9pm, sold out.
Mighty: 119 Utah, San Francisco. “Salted,” w/ Colette, Fred Everything, Julius Papp, 10pm, $10-$15 advance.
Monarch: 101 Sixth St., San Francisco. “As You Like It + The Bunker,” w/ Voices from the Lake, Jason Kendig, Christina Chatfield, Carlos Souffront, Mossmoss, 9pm, $20-$25.
OMG: 43 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Fixup: Grime City Reunion,” 10pm, $5.
Public Works: 161 Erie, San Francisco. Burnal Equinox 2014: The Multiverse Outpost, 7pm, $15-$20.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Shoop!: The Janet Remix,” w/ DJs Tommy T & Bryan B, 9pm
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. “Cockblock,” w/ DJs Kidd Sysko & Chelsea Starr, 10pm, $10.
Ruby Skye: 420 Mason, San Francisco. Audien, 9pm, $20 advance.
The Stud: 399 Ninth St., San Francisco. “Frolic,” w/ Raid Zero, Lycan Catt, Cohn Jonner, NeonBunny, 8pm, $8 ($4 in costume).
Temple: 540 Howard, San Francisco. Andy Caldwell, Lucas Med, Magnetic, Rich Era, 10pm, $20.
Vessel: 85 Campton, San Francisco. The Chainsmokers, John Beaver, 10pm
Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “All Styles & Smiles,” w/ DJ Tom Thump, Second Saturday of every month, 10pm, free.
HIP-HOP
111 Minna Gallery: 111 Minna, San Francisco. “Back to the ‘90s,” Second Saturday of every month, 9:30pm, $10.
Double Dutch: 3192 16th St., San Francisco. “Cash IV Gold,” w/ DJs Kool Karlo, Roost Uno, and Sean G, Second Saturday of every month, 10pm, free.
John Colins: 138 Minna, San Francisco. “Frothin,” w/ resident DJ Matt Cali, Second Saturday of every month, 10pm
Showdown: 10 Sixth St., San Francisco. “The Shit Show,” w/ resident DJ Taurus Scott, Second Saturday of every month, 10pm, two for $5.
ACOUSTIC
Atlas Cafe: 3049 20th St., San Francisco. Craig Ventresco and/or Meredith Axelrod, Saturdays, 4-6pm, free.
Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Songwriters in the Round with Alex Jimenez, 7pm
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. The Royal Oui, Tall Heights, Keyan Keihani, 9pm, $10.
Neck of the Woods: 406 Clement, San Francisco. Grow & Twine, Trebuchet, Travis Hayes, on the downstairs stage, 9pm, $8.
Pa’ina: 1865 Post, San Francisco. Jim “Kimo” West, 7pm, $10.
Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. “Americana Jukebox,” w/ One Grass Two Grass Red Grass Bluegrass, 9pm, $6-$10.
St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church: 2097 Turk, San Francisco. Misner & Smith, Maurice Tani, Sound of Sirens, 7:30pm, $15-$18.
JAZZ
Center for New Music: 55 Taylor, San Francisco. Vardan Ovsepian, 8pm, $10-$15.
Cigar Bar & Grill: 850 Montgomery, San Francisco. Josh Jones Latin Jazz Ensemble, 10pm
Feinstein’s at the Nikko: 222 Mason, San Francisco. Paula West, 7 & 9:30pm, $35-$50.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bill “Doc” Webster & Jazz Nostalgia, 7:30pm, free.
Savanna Jazz Club: 2937 Mission, San Francisco. Savanna Jazz Trio, 7pm, $8.
SFJAZZ Center: 205 Franklin, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, playing the music of Etta James (in the Joe Henderson Lab), 7 & 8:30pm, $30.
Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. The Robert Stewart Experience, 9pm
INTERNATIONAL
1015 Folsom: 1015 Folsom, San Francisco. “Pura,” 9pm, $20.
Amoeba Music: 1855 Haight, San Francisco. Sila, 2pm, free.
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. Misión Flamenca, Monthly live music and dance performances., Second Saturday of every month, 7:30pm “Paris-Dakar African Mix Coupe Decale,” 10pm, $5.
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “El SuperRitmo,” w/ DJs Roger Mas & El Kool Kyle, 10pm, $5 before 11pm
Pachamama Restaurant: 1630 Powell, San Francisco. Eddy Navia & Pachamama Band, 8pm, free.
Red Poppy Art House: 2698 Folsom, San Francisco. Bang Data, 7:30pm, $10-$20.
Space 550: 550 Barneveld, San Francisco. “Club Fuego,” 9:30pm
BLUES
Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Sista Monica, 7:30 & 10pm, $24.
Lou’s Fish Shack: 300 Jefferson, San Francisco. Robert “Hollywood” Jenkins, 6pm
The Riptide: 3639 Taraval, San Francisco. G.G. Amos, 9:30pm, free.
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Dave Workman, Second Saturday of every month, 4pm
FUNK
Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. The Humidors, Jordan & The Ritual, DJ K-Os, 9:30pm, $10 advance.
The Independent: 628 Divisadero, San Francisco. Dumpstaphunk, Katdelic, 9pm, $22-$25.
ROCKABILLY
Pier 23 Cafe: Pier 23, San Francisco. The Royal Deuces, 8pm, free.
Slim’s: 333 11th St., San Francisco. Kim Lenz & The Jaguars, The B-Stars, Secret Town, DJ Tanoa, 9pm, $15.
SOUL
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Chanté Moore, 8 & 10pm, $35.

SUNDAY 9
ROCK
Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Richie Ramone, He Who Cannot Be Named, Bite, The Unfortunate Bastard, 8pm, $12-$15.
DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. Scarlett Fever ‘14, Rett Syndrome benefit show with The Chop Tops, MoFo Party Band, The Memphis Murder Men, Lords of S.F., Stigma 13, more, 1pm, $15.
El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Down & Outlaws, Mark Nelsen Band, The Parmesans, 8pm, $5.
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. Sea Dramas, New Sun Company, 7:30pm, $8.
DANCE
Beaux: 2344 Market, San Francisco. “Full of Grace: A Weekly House Music Playground,” 9pm, free.
The Cellar: 685 Sutter, San Francisco. “Replay Sundays,” 9pm, free.
The Edge: 4149 18th St., San Francisco. “’80s at 8,” w/ DJ MC2, 8pm
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. “Dub Mission,” w/ Mungo’s Hi Fi featuring Solo Banton, DJ Sep, 9pm, $12-$17.
The EndUp: 401 Sixth St., San Francisco. “T.Dance,” 6am-6pm; “The Rhythm Room,” Second Sunday of every month, 8pm
F8: 1192 Folsom, San Francisco. “Stamina,” w/ Drumsound & Bassline Smith, 10pm, free.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. “Sweater Funk,” 10pm, free.
Lookout: 3600 16th St., San Francisco. “Jock,” Sundays, 3-8pm, $2.
MatrixFillmore: 3138 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Bounce,” w/ DJ Just, 10pm
Otis: 25 Maiden, San Francisco. “What’s the Werd?,” w/ resident DJs Nick Williams, Kevin Knapp, Maxwell Dub, and guests, 9pm, $5 (free before 11pm).
The Parlor: 2801 Leavenworth, San Francisco. “Sunday Sessions,” w/ DJ Marc deVasconcelos, 9pm, free.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Gigante,” 8pm, free.
Temple: 540 Howard, San Francisco. “Sunset Arcade: Mardi Gras Madness,” 18+ dance party & game night with Mt. Eden, Sound It Out, Harris Pilton, Russ Mack, Self Dustrukt, Saphyre, more, 8pm, $10-$20; “Sunset Arcade,” 18+ dance party & game night, 9pm, $10.
HIP-HOP
Boom Boom Room: 1601 Fillmore, San Francisco. “Return of the Cypher,” 9:30pm, free.
ACOUSTIC
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Levi Strom, Matthew Hable, The Gospel Flats, 8pm, $8-$10.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. David Novick, Matt Kivel, 8:30pm, $6.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Maggie McClure, Jessica Campbell, Essence, Sara Beth Go, 8pm, $10.
The Lucky Horseshoe: 453 Cortland, San Francisco. Bernal Mountain Bluegrass Jam, 4pm, free; The Bernal Hillbillies, Second Sunday of every month, 8pm
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Spike’s Mic Night,” Sundays, 4-8pm, free.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Lonesome Locomotive, Rocket Frog Rodeo, Dusty Green Bones Band, 4pm, free.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church: 1755 Clay, San Francisco. “Sunday Night Mic,” w/ Roem Baur, 5pm, free.
Tupelo: 1337 Green, San Francisco. “Twang Sundays,” w/ The Coburns, 7pm, free.
JAZZ
Chez Hanny: 1300 Silver, San Francisco. Calvin Keys Trio, 4pm, $20 suggested donation.
Feinstein’s at the Nikko: 222 Mason, San Francisco. Paula West, 7pm, $35-$50.
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Bill “Doc” Webster & Jazz Nostalgia, 7:30pm, free.
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “Sunday Sessions,” 10pm, free.
Martuni’s: 4 Valencia, San Francisco. Madame Jo Trio, second Sunday of every month, 4-6pm, free.
Pier 23 Cafe: Pier 23, San Francisco. Gary Flores Ensemble, 5pm, free.
Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. Jazz Revolution, 4pm, free/donation.
SFJAZZ Center: 205 Franklin, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, playing the music of Sarah Vaughan (in the Joe Henderson Lab), 5:30 & 7pm, $30.
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Kris Bowers Quintet featuring Julia Easterlin, Myele Manzanza Trio with Mark de Clive-Lowe & Ben Shepherd, 7pm, $17-$19.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Carol Luckenbach, 7:30pm, free.
INTERNATIONAL
Atmosphere: 447 Broadway, San Francisco. “Hot Bachata Nights,” w/ DJ El Guapo, 5:30pm, $10-$20.
Bissap Baobab: 3372 19th St., San Francisco. “Brazil & Beyond,” 6:30pm, free.
El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Salsa Sundays, Second and Fourth Sunday of every month, 3pm, $8-$10.
Thirsty Bear Brewing Company: 661 Howard, San Francisco. “The Flamenco Room,” 7:30 & 8:30pm
BLUES
Lou’s Fish Shack: 300 Jefferson, San Francisco. Sam Johnson, 4pm
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Blues Power, 4pm; The Door Slammers, Second Sunday of every month, 9:30pm
Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. Bohemian Knuckleboogie, 8pm, free.
Swig: 571 Geary, San Francisco. Sunday Blues Jam with Ed Ivey, 9pm
COUNTRY
The Riptide: 3639 Taraval, San Francisco. Joe Goldmark & The Seducers, Second Sunday of every month, 7:30pm, free.
SOUL
Delirium Cocktails: 3139 16th St., San Francisco. “Heart & Soul,” w/ DJ Lovely Lesage, 10pm, free.

MONDAY 10
ROCK
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Books on Fate, Night Train, City of Women, 6pm, $5.
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. Lemme Adams, Red Ribbon, Charm, 9pm, free.
DANCE
DNA Lounge: 375 11th St., San Francisco. “Death Guild,” 18+ dance party with DJs Decay, Joe Radio, Melting Girl, & guests, 9:30pm, $3-$5.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Wanted,” w/ DJs Key&Kite and Richie Panic, 9pm, free.
Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Vienetta Discotheque,” w/ DJs Stanley Frank and Robert Jeffrey, 10pm, free.
ACOUSTIC
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. The Pick Bluegrass Jam, Second Monday of every month, 6pm, free; Toshio Hirano, Second Monday of every month, 9pm, free.
Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Scott Barkan, Muncie, The Old Way, 9pm, $5.
The Chapel: 777 Valencia, San Francisco. Diane Cluck, Sondra Sun-Odeon, 8pm, $13-$15.
The Chieftain: 198 Fifth St., San Francisco. The Wrenboys, 7pm, free.
Elbo Room: 647 Valencia, San Francisco. The Riverbreaks, Evan & The Eccentrics, 9pm, $8.
Fiddler’s Green: 1333 Columbus, San Francisco. Terry Savastano, 9:30pm, free/donation.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Open Mic with Brendan Getzell, 8pm, free.
Osteria: 3277 Sacramento, San Francisco. “Acoustic Bistro,” 7pm, free.
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. Peter Lindman, 4pm
JAZZ
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Eugene Pliner Quartet with Tod Dickow, 7:30pm, free.
Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Le Jazz Hot, 7pm, free.
Sheba Piano Lounge: 1419 Fillmore, San Francisco. City Jazz Instrumental Jam Session, 8pm
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Nora Maki, 7:30pm, free.
REGGAE
Skylark Bar: 3089 16th St., San Francisco. “Skylarking,” w/ I&I Vibration, 10pm, free.
BLUES
The Saloon: 1232 Grant, San Francisco. The Bachelors, 9:30pm
EXPERIMENTAL
Center for New Music: 55 Taylor, San Francisco. Thom Blum: Soundscraper, 8pm, $10-$15.
SOUL
Madrone Art Bar: 500 Divisadero, San Francisco. “M.O.M. (Motown on Mondays),” w/ DJ Gordo Cabeza & Timoteo Gigante, 8pm, free.

TUESDAY 11
ROCK
Amnesia: 853 Valencia, San Francisco. Cellar Doors, Cool Ghouls, 9:15pm continues through March 25, $7-$10.
Bottom of the Hill: 1233 17th St., San Francisco. Little Sister, Apogee Sound Club, The Secret Secretaries, 8:30pm, $8.
El Rio: 3158 Mission, San Francisco. Alone in the Universe, Miss Massive Snowflake, Lucid Optics, 7pm, $5.
Hemlock Tavern: 1131 Polk, San Francisco. Lo Cash Ninjas, Jokes for Feelings, Spawn Atomic, Black Dream, 9pm, $5.
The Knockout: 3223 Mission, San Francisco. Shannon & The Clams, Marriage & Cancer, Mane, DJ Hang The, 9:30pm, $8.
DANCE
Aunt Charlie’s Lounge: 133 Turk, San Francisco. “High Fantasy,” w/ DJ Viv, Myles Cooper, & guests, 10pm, $2.
Harlot: 46 Minna, San Francisco. “Tutu Tuesday,” w/ resident DJ Atish, Second Tuesday of every month, 9pm, $7 ($2 in a tutu before 11pm).
Monarch: 101 Sixth St., San Francisco. “Soundpieces,” 10pm, free-$10.
Q Bar: 456 Castro, San Francisco. “Switch,” w/ DJs Jenna Riot & Andre, 9pm, $3.
Underground SF: 424 Haight, San Francisco. “Shelter,” 10pm, free.
Wish: 1539 Folsom, San Francisco. “Tight,” w/ resident DJs Michael May & Lito, 8pm, free.
HIP-HOP
Double Dutch: 3192 16th St., San Francisco. “Takin’ It Back Tuesdays,” w/ DJs Mr. Murdock & Roman Nunez, Second Tuesday of every month, 10pm, free.
ACOUSTIC
Bazaar Cafe: 5927 California, San Francisco. Songwriter in Residence: Lonnie Lazar, 7pm continues through March 25.
Hotel Utah: 500 Fourth St., San Francisco. Amy Obenski, ArtemesiaBlack, David Colón, 8pm, $7.
Plough & Stars: 116 Clement, San Francisco. Seisiún with Barry O’Connell & Vinnie Cronin, 9pm
Rickshaw Stop: 155 Fell, San Francisco. Scott H. Biram, Larry & His Flask, Whiskey Shivers, Tom VandenAvond, 7:30pm, $13.
JAZZ
Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant: 1000 Great Highway, San Francisco. Gerry Grosz Jazz Jam, 7pm
Blush! Wine Bar: 476 Castro, San Francisco. Kally Price & Rob Reich, 7pm, free.
Burritt Room: 417 Stockton St., San Francisco. Terry Disley’s Rocking Jazz Trio, 6pm, free.
Cafe Divine: 1600 Stockton, San Francisco. Chris Amberger, 7pm
Jazz Bistro at Les Joulins: 44 Ellis, San Francisco. Clifford Lamb, Mel Butts, and Friends, 7:30pm, free.
Le Colonial: 20 Cosmo, San Francisco. Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, 7pm
Revolution Cafe: 3248 22nd St., San Francisco. West Side Jazz Club, 5pm, free.
Tupelo: 1337 Green, San Francisco. Mal Sharpe’s Big Money in Jazz Band, 6pm
Verdi Club: 2424 Mariposa, San Francisco. “Tuesday Night Jump,” w/ Stompy Jones, 9pm, $10-$12.
Wine Kitchen: 507 Divisadero St., San Francisco. Hot Club Pacific, 7:30pm
Yoshi’s San Francisco: 1330 Fillmore, San Francisco. Tommy Igoe Big Band, 8pm, $22.
Zingari: 501 Post, San Francisco. Riley Bandy, 7:30pm, free.
INTERNATIONAL
Brick & Mortar Music Hall: 1710 Mission, San Francisco. Gautam Tejas Ganeshan, Classical Revolution, Cash Pony, 7:30pm, $7-$10.
Cafe Cocomo: 650 Indiana, San Francisco. Salsa Tuesday, w/ DJs Good Sho & El de la Clave, 8:30pm, $10.
The Cosmo Bar & Lounge: 440 Broadway, San Francisco. Conga Tuesdays, 8pm, $7-$10.
F8: 1192 Folsom, San Francisco. “Underground Nomads,” w/ rotating resident DJs Amar, Sep, and Dulce Vita, plus guests, 9pm, $5 (free before 9:30pm).
REGGAE
Milk Bar: 1840 Haight, San Francisco. “Bless Up,” w/ Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi, 10pm
BLUES
Biscuits and Blues: 401 Mason, San Francisco. Ron Thompson & The Resistors, 7:30 & 9:30pm, $15.
EXPERIMENTAL
Center for New Music: 55 Taylor, San Francisco. sfSoundSalonSeries, w/ Joan La Barbara, 7:49pm, $10-$15.
SOUL
Make-Out Room: 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. “Lost & Found,” w/ DJs Primo, Lucky, and guests, 9:30pm, free. 2

Yesterday, today, and Tomorrow

Michael Redmond

-

March 4, 2014

5

cheryl@sfbg.com

VISUAL ART Tom Tomorrow’s real name is Dan Perkins. This is important information if you ever happen to call him up, because you will have to squelch the urge to blurt out “Hi, Tom!” when he answers the phone.

“It happens! That’s what I get for coming up with a pen name,” the editorial cartoonist laughs from his home in Connecticut. “When I was starting out, I was in San Francisco running in a little anti-corporate ‘zine called Processed World. A lot of the contributors used pen names, because there was always a sense that you might get blacklisted or boycotted or something if you were associated with it. So I started using this pen name, which was a misremembered version of an old cartoon character. I didn’t quite realize that I was going to have this 25-year career, and would be stuck with this thing!”

He chuckles before adding, “I would also say, even more than the anonymity in the early days, I thought it would be a mnemonic [device]. The cartoon was called This Modern World. It wasn’t about politics so much in those days, it was riffing on technology and consumerism, and ‘Tom Tomorrow’ seemed appropriate to this kind of retro-futurist thing I was doing.”

Longtime Guardian readers need no introduction to Perkins’ work. This Modern World — which satirizes current events with wry humor and laser-sharp intelligence — has appeared weekly in these pages for nearly 20 years; it’s also syndicated in other papers across America. In addition, he’s authored a children’s book and several cartoon anthologies, including 2012’s The World of Tomorrow, which features an introduction by rocker Eddie Vedder (Perkins drew the album art for Pearl Jam’s 2009 Backspacer, which elevated him to a level of fame he never expected: “There are people who have tattooed [my art] on their flesh!”) Last year, he added the prestigious Herblock Prize to his list of cartooning and journalistic accolades. Though he’s East Coast-based these days, he’ll be heading to California next week for events at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco and the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa.

Long before he made his name with This Modern World, Perkins says he was “always drawing little comics and cartoons, as far back as I can remember. I’ve been putting together a new PowerPoint show for this Cartoon Art Museum event, and I’ve actually dug up some of these old cartoons. I have this political cartoon that I drew at the age of 14! It’s terrible [laughs], but it’s kind of funny to show it. It’s about Jimmy Carter! Because when I was 14, Jimmy Carter had just given an interview to Playboy magazine, and was being widely mocked for saying that he had lusted after women in his heart. So here I am at 14, drawing a cartoon about that, which is very funny to me in retrospect.”

As he got older (“like every young cartoonist in the 1980s, I went through a phase of trying to do a Gary Larson rip-off, because The Far Side was at the height of its popularity”), he began combining collage with cartooning “in order to riff on advertising culture and technology and so on,” before circling back to politics.

“I’m just doing this one cartoon — it’s not a comprehensive news source — so each week has to be some mixture of something I’m really interested in; something that maybe, hopefully has a news hook; and something that I have something interesting to say about,” he says. “Something that I can be funny about. It may not always show, but I really don’t want to waste the reader’s time.”

Though he admits George W. Bush was an easier politician to make fun of, the Obama administration has also supplied him with plenty of material. “I have a recurring character named ‘Droney’ — the friendly surveillance drone. I do a lot of stuff on the NSA, and the fact that Guantanamo has not been closed, and so on.”

A veteran of the alt-weekly publishing world, Perkins has a unique perspective on how the industry has changed over the years. “I think the short answer is, alt-weekly cartoonists — and there’s maybe a dozen of us working right now — are truly an endangered species. We came into a certain ecosystem and set our own rhythms around that ecosystem,” he says. “Obviously, between the financial crash in 2008, and the ongoing influence of the Internet, that’s been a more tenuous ground. I’m profoundly grateful to the papers that still run cartoons like mine, but it’s an era of entropy. We’re all kind of just hanging on. I’m not the only content creator ever to point out the fact that it’s tricky to figure out how to make a living online. It’s ironic, because [thanks to the Internet], my reach as a cartoonist has never been greater.” (His semi-joking advice to young cartoonists: “Marry someone with tenure.”)

For his Cartoon Art Museum gig, he’ll be sharing the spotlight with a special guest: one of San Francisco’s famed Doggie Diner heads. “To me, the Doggie Diner heads represent my San Francisco. They represent the San Francisco of artists and pranksters. I have a real affection for them. Sometimes, when I have a dream sequence and I need to convey something strange and surreal, I’ll have a Doggie Diner head say a few words, floating in the background.” *

THE WORLD OF TOMORROW: AN EVENING WITH TOM TOMORROW

Tue/11, 7-9pm, $5

Cartoon Art Museum

655 Mission, SF

www.cartoonart.org

March 15, 2pm, free with admission ($5-$10)

Charles M. Schulz Museum

2301 Hardies, Santa Rosa

www.schulzmuseum.org

www.thismodernworld.com

Modern English

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

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culture@sfbg.com

CHOW NOW

People who consider themselves fans of prime rib (raises hand) will probably want to check out the version that’s being made at Charles Phan’s brand-new restaurant, The Coachman (1148 Mission, SF. www.coachmansf.com), now open in the former Heaven’s Dog space in SoMa. Nope, no more Chinese food in that location, and Phan’s not doing Vietnamese either.

The menu is actually inspired by English classics done right (long story), but being in California means there’s going to be a seasonal bent too. The family-style menu includes lamb sweetbreads with mint ($12), potted crab ($14), a tasty beef tartare topped fried smelt ($14), carrots, lentils, and parsley dill sauce with smoked date jam ($14). About that prime rib ($26): It’s cooked in a salt crust for eight hours, and comes with a bone marrow jus and horseradish cream (oh yeah).

Chef de cuisine Ross Wunderlich was brought over from one of Phan’s other restaurants, Hard Water. The space was given a bit of an update, but the look isn’t particularly of note. (Plus side: no tacky pub décor.) Besides, you’ll be more focused on the cocktail menu from Erik Adkins, which highlights punches, cups, cobblers, and some farmhouse and rural drinks. You can even have your drink served in a hunting flask — order the Robert Burns’ Hunting Flask for a maximum ye olde adult beverage experience, or order one of two cask-conditioned ales to go with your dinner.

The former Washington Square Bar & Grill, and recently Bottle Cap, is now The Square (1707 Powell, SF. www.thesquaresf.com), from the Sons & Daughters duo, Teague Moriarty and Matt McNamara. This is not their usual composed cuisine style — think American dishes like a kale with ricotta salata, grilled bavette steak, whole roasted crab, a rack of baby back ribs (for two!), and a burger.

The menu ranges from bar snacks to bigger plates ($7–$24). The late hours (Wed–Sun until 1am) are a bonus, and there’s a full bar, with twists on classics like the 7 ‘n’ 7. Plenty of Cali and European wines as well. The 90-seat space is handsome, with a bar, communal table, and plenty of spots saved for walk-ins, so feel free to swing on by.

GET PERKY

A couple new coffee spots have opened, starting with the latest location of Sightglass Coffee (3014 20th St., SF. www.sightglasscoffee.com), right next to Central Kitchen and Trick Dog. What’s interesting is it’s operating more like a roastery focused on micro batches: All the coffee served there is roasted in-house, and it’s the only place where you can get those beans (like the Jerboa’s Jump espresso). It has a great vintage look, with warm globe lights, tobacco leather banquettes, marble-topped counters, and touches of a Deco aesthetic throughout. There are some killer baked goods from Piccino, b. Patisserie, and Neighbor Bakehouse, with a bunch of savory options. Hours are Mon-Sat 7am–8pm, Sun 8am–8pm.

There’s a lot of buzz (har) about the latest location of Réveille Coffee (4076 18th St., www.reveillecoffee.com) in the Castro, another coffee-related biz by two brothers, Tommy and Christopher Newbury. There’s a sweet front patio (great people watching or cruising, whatever you’re up to), and the interior has an appealing design that’s clean and upbeat. People are reportedly digging the savory options, from breakfast goods like bull’s-eye breakfast sandwiches (served until a very generous 1pm) to flatbreads, salads, and sandwiches for lunch and into the evening. Open 7am–9pm daily.

BALLIN’ ON A BUDGET

Hot dogs. A bunch of us enjoy our fair share of bacon-covered Mission treats (depends on how much and how late you go out), but there’s a new dog in town: Los Shucos Latin Hot Dogs (3224 1/2 22nd St., www.losshucos.com), from Guatemalan owner Sofia Keck. These street-style puppies are more like a torta, with a griddled bun, your choice of bacon-wrapped sausage or handmade chorizo (they are currently trying to source a vegetarian option), avocado, and imported salsa chapina, a green sauce from Guatemala. Toppings include refried black beans, queso fresco, and scrambled eggs. The dogs range from $5.95 to $7.95, and are as hefty as they are tasty. Woof. Open Sun–Wed 11am–10pm and Thu–Sat 11am–2am.

Marcia Gagliardi is the founder of the weekly tablehopper e-column; subscribe for more at www.tablehopper.com. Get her app: Tablehopper’s Top Late-Night Eats. On Twitter: @tablehopper.

This Week’s Picks: March 5 -11, 2014

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

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WEDNESDAY 5

San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival

Between Jaws (1975), Shark Week, and last year’s campy hit Sharknado, pop culture’s fascination with sharks is nearly as mighty as the predators themselves. Expand your knowledge beyond fact, fiction, and science fiction at the 11th San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival, which devotes an entire program (Sat/8) to our toothy friends, with a shorts program capped by hourlong doc Extinction Soup, about efforts to ban shark fin soup, followed by a panel of filmmakers and marine experts discussing “Shark Sanctuaries and Ecotourism.” Elsewhere in the fest, you’ll also find films about whales, surfing, and diving, as well as a spotlight on youth filmmakers. (Cheryl Eddy)

Through Sun/9, most programs $8-$15

Bay Theater

Pier 39, SF

www.oceanfilmfest.org

“Castro Theatre Remembers Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)”

In a time when nobody can agree on anything, a single event in recent weeks united us all: grief over the sudden, shocking loss of Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the most universally beloved

actors of our time. He commanded respect (while also seeming like a cool, regular dude) by making interesting choices and fully committing himself to every role, even in sillier movies like Twister — which is, alas, not part of the Castro Theatre’s tribute. What is, however: his Oscar winning turn in Capote (2005), as well as The Master (2012), Boogie Nights (1997), Doubt (2008), Happiness (1998), and several others, all offering indelible performances. (Cheryl Eddy)

Wednesdays through March 26, plus March 28

Tonight, Capote, 7pm; The Master, 9:30pm, $8.50-$11

Castro Theatre

429 Castro, SF

www.castrotheatre.com

Personal & the Pizzas or The Pizza Underground (feat. Macaulay Culkin)

The “Pizza War” shows have grabbed San Francisco headlines like an appetite with the munchies does a Little Caesar’s “Hot-N-Ready.” It’s funny how local punk band Personal and the Pizzas had been laying low for a bit, but the recent news of former-child actor, one-time MJ playmate Macaulay Culkin forming a Velvet Underground-Lou Reed cover band seems to have awakened a sleeping giant. Everybody loves a good turf battle and high-profile beef. On March 5, SF has an opportunity to either swear allegiance to local favorites — or they can take a walk on the wild side and see how Hollywood does. (Andre Torrez)

The Pizza Underground

With Windham Flat and Toby Goodshank

Early show 6pm, $12

Neck of The Woods

406 Clement, SF

www.neckofthewoodssf.com

Personal & The Pizzas

9pm, free

Hemlock Tavern

1131 Polk, SF

www.hemlocktavern.com

THURSDAY 6

Glasvegas

Glasgow’s Glasvegas is Europe’s best-kept secret. The doo-wop tinged indie rockers have had albums chart at number two in the UK, number two in Sweden, have a platinum and a gold record under their belt, and are in total obscurity here in the colonies (despite spending half a year living on the best coast in 2010). Thank God they remain beautifully under-the-radar stateside, because who doesn’t want to see a band this good in a venue as small as the Rickshaw Stop? Old-school melody and new wave melancholy dominate the foursome’s body of work, perfect for slow dancing or single tears. If you’re not already sold, take into consideration the delicious thickness of James Allan’s brogue and the importance of supporting totally rad female drummers (Jonna Löfgren is a total badass). (Haley Zaremba)

With Popscene DJs

10pm, $17

Rickshaw Stop

155 Fell, SF

(415) 861-2011

www.rickshawstop.com

Midday Veil, White Cloud, 3 Leafs

A show can benefit greatly from atmospheric conditions. Lights, visuals, and sound are all conducive elements to what could enable the perfect night out. Seattle’s Midday Veil have played SF before and despite a name that might suggests a laid-back tone, it’s actually a slow burn that warms up to an incendiary frenzy that will get your attention. Expect visuals, experimental mind-melting noise and a solid bill of opening bands to bring the energy. (Torrez)

With White Cloud and 3 Leafs

9:30pm, $6

Knockout

3223 Mission, SF

www.theknockoutsf.com

“Meditations on Silk” Opening Reception

The ancient discipline of silk painting goes back thousands of years in Tibet. Silk painting, also known as “thangka” served as important teaching tools in Buddhism and the path to enlightenment. Ellen Brook has been creating silk designs in California for over 15 years. Focusing on the art form’s long tradition of enlightenment, the SF-based artist has created a collection of colorful abstract paintings on silk canvas, on display at the Hilliard Architects Gallery. Through her explorations with meditation, Brook discovered the parallels between painting and consciousness, and the vibrant hues and refined abstract composition pay homage to her meditative approach to art. The contemporary designs are a direct result of “getting out of the way” and “letting it flow,” as the artist puts it. “It’s a truly enlightening experience.” (Laura B. Childs)

5pm – 7pm, free

Hilliard Architects & Gallery

251 Post, Suite 620, SF

www.ellen-brook.com

FRIDAY 7

Ani DiFranco

When Ani DiFranco hit the scene in 1990 with a shaved head and a battered acoustic guitar, singing raw and emotive folk songs in noisy bars, she was easily and quickly pigeonholed as radical-lesbian-angry-women-with-guitars-man-hater music. Twenty years and nearly as many albums later, DiFranco is still oft-dismissed for the same small-minded reasons, but to this I say: Good. Because a) I love me some angry womanist music and b) any concert that repels people who have a problem with angry womanist music sounds like a great concert to me. DiFranco’s DIY ethic and career-long resistance to major labels is an inspiration. Her fierce autonomy, social activism, and brutally honest storytelling have inspired an uncountable number of artists and fans over several decades. Now in her forties, DiFranco is more of a Righteous Babe than ever. This show is not to be missed. (Zaremba)

With Jenny Scheinman

9pm, $33.50

The Fillmore

1805 Geary, SF

(415) 346-3000

www.thefillmore.com

Pump & Dump: A Parentally Incorrect Comedy Show

Postpartum depression be damned! Shayna Ferm and MC Doula are two new mothers who don’t take motherhood too seriously. Together, the comedian duo has created “Pump & Dump,” a two-hour “parentally incorrect” show filled with comedy, inappropriate music, drinking, swearing and commiseration. Through standup and song, they maintain that you don’t have to give up your life BC — before children. It’s not therapy per se, but the comedy show will prove to be quite cathartic. With segments including “Never Have I Ever – Parents Edition” and “Fucked up Things Your Kids Did This Week,” the live comedy event is designed to celebrate motherhood in all its throw up-filled glory. Don’t take parenthood too seriously: these MILFs embrace the insanity of motherhood with a musical set including songs like “Eat Your Fucking Food” and “I Wanna Come Back as a Dad.” “I’ve got a baby on my nip almost 24 hours a day. Sometimes I just wanna take a sip of my husband’s Tanqueray,” sings Ferm in the show’s theme song. “So I pump and dump, I’m not trying to get my baby drunk.” Go ahead mama, order another drink. (Laura B. Childs)

8pm, $20

Verdi Club

424 Mariposa, SF

www.verdiclub.net

SATURDAY 8

Nick Waterhouse

In this digital age, when many of us are scouring Spotify or Soundcloud to learn about artists and music, Nick Waterhouse credits Lower Haight’s cherished Rooky Ricardo’s Records as his primary source for inspiration and education. “I got my Master’s and my Ph.D in American music there,” Waterhouse told Seattle’s KEXP-FM in 2012. “All I wanted to do was hang out there and listen to records.” The troubadour’s dissertation, 2012’s “Time’s All Gone” (Innovative Leisure), embraces listeners with a soulful blend of R&B, blues and rock along with its warm, analog production. Waterhouse manages to evoke the electric rock style of Jim Morrison and the vocal power of James Brown, all while summoning a sound that is fresh and all his own. (Kevin Lee)

With Boogaloo Assassins, DJ Donnell

9 pm, $21

Great American Music Hall

859 O’Farrell, SF

(415) 885-0750

www.slimspresents.com

Midnite Snaxxx, The Shanghais, Quaaludes, No Bone, Bestfriend Grrlfriend

The Deli Magazine and The Process Records have come together to pack SUB/Mission with the Bay Area’s best grrl power punk rock. Headed by Oakland-based punk trio Midnite Snaxxx, this show is an opportunity not only to support the current local scene but to ensure the presence of female-fronted rock in the future. Proceeds from the show will go to the Bay Area Girls Rock Camp, an Oakland nonprofit organization striving to create a safe space where students can build confidence and learn to creatively collaborate with one another while challenging gender stereotypes. Spend 7 bucks on a show that passes the Bechdel test so that more young girls can get the opportunity to take stages and break boundaries. What could be a better cause than that? (Kirstie Haruta)

8pm, $7

SUB/Mission

2183 Mission, SF

(415) 255-7227

www.sf-submission.com

SUNDAY 9

Scarlett Fever

Calling all greasers, punks, hot rodders or anyone who just wants to have a blast while supporting a good cause — check out Scarlett Fever 2014 this afternoon and evening, a benefit for Miss Scarlett James, who suffers from Rett Syndrome, a childhood neurodevelopmental disorder. The annual benefits help pay for her care and for research into the disease, and this year’s outstanding lineup includes live music from The Chop Tops, Memphis Murder Men, Stigma 13 and more, along with burlesque, art shows, car clubs in attendance and raffle prizes from several TV shows and even Scarlett’s godfather Mike Ness’ band Social Distortion. (Sean McCourt)

1-9pm, $15

DNA Lounge

375 11th St, SF

(415) 626-1409

www.dnalounge.com

Richie Ramone

Though he was in the Ramones for only five years, Richie Ramone’s contributions to the iconic punk band have had a lasting impression on their legacy—in fact, the late Joey Ramone once said that he felt that the drummer had saved the group in the early 1980s. First hitting the skins on Too Tough To Die, Richie also wrote several songs that are now considered classics during his brief but important tenure, including “Somebody Put Something In My Drink.” He released his first solo record—Entitled—late last year—here’s your chance to hear the new material, and joyously sing along with some old favorites as well. (Sean McCourt)

8pm, $12-$15

Brick and Mortar Music Hall

1710 Mission, SF

(415) 800-8782

www.brickandmortarmusic.com

TUESDAY 11

Litquake Presents: Scott O’Connor and Eddie Muller at the Epicenter

Set in Cold War-era San Francisco, Half World, the new novel from LA-based writer Scott O’Connor was inspired by a program that sounds like the work of a conspiracy theorist but did, in fact, exist: Project MKULTRA, a CIA-run series of mind-control experiments on Americans that lasted for two decades. O’Connor’s literary thriller takes readers into one agent’s tug-of-war between duty and conscience, then transports us to 20 years later, when, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, another troubled government worker risks everything to uncover the crimes and secrets of the past. Eddie Muller, filmmaker and director of the Noir City Film Festival will interview the author. (Emma Silvers)

7pm, $5-$15 suggested donation

Glass Door Gallery

245 Columbus #B, SF

www.litquake.org

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, 225 Bush, 17th Flr., SF, CA 94105; or email (paste press release into email body — no 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.

Rep Clock: March 5 -11, 2014

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

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

ARTISTS’ TELEVISION ACCESS 992 Valencia, SF; www.atasite.org. $5-10. “OpenScreening,” Thu, 8. “Mission Eye and Ear,” new music/sound and film collaborations curated by Lisa Mezzacappa and ATA, Fri, 8. Other Cinema: Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (Pozdorovkin and Lerner, 2013), Sat, 8:30.

BALBOA THEATRE 3630 Balboa, SF; cinemasf.com/balboa. $7.50-10. “Popcorn Palace:” Labyrinth (Henson, 1986), Sat, 10am. Matinee for kids.

BAY THEATER Pier 39, SF; www.oceanfilmfest.org. Most programs $8-15. San Francisco Ocean Film Festival, ocean-themed films from over 17 countries, plus discussions and special events, Wed-Sun.

BERKELEY CITY COLLEGE 2050 Center, Berk; www.mecaforpeace.org. $5-10. Middle East Children’s Alliance presents: A World Not Ours (Fleifel, 2012), Wed, 7.

CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $8.50-11. “Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014):” •Capote (Miller, 2005), Wed, 7, and The Master (Anderson, 2012), Wed, 9:10. American Hustle (Russell, 2013), Thu-Fri, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30. Call for Sat-Tue shows and times.

CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.50-$10.75. times. Omar (Abu-Assad, 2013), call for dates and times. America the Beautiful 3: The Sexualization of Our Youth (Roberts, 2014), Wed, 6:15. Benefit for Beyond Hunger; advance tickets ($25-50) at www.beyondhunger.org. Femme: Women Healing the World (Itier, 2013), Thu. 7. The Rocket (Mordaunt, 2013), March 7-13, call for times.

“EAST BAY INTERNATIONAL JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL” Various venues in Pleasant Hill, Livermore, and Orinda; www.eastbayjewishfilm.org. Most programs $8-11. Featuring more than 40 international movies.

EXPLORATORIUM Pier 15, SF; www.exploratorium.edu. Free with museum admission ($19-25). “After Dark: Extended Cinema,” Thu, 6-10.

GOETHE-INSTITUT SAN FRANCISCO 530 Bush, SF; goethe.de/ins/us/saf/enindex.htm. $5. 11 Freundinnen (Cho, 2013), Wed, 6:30.

KANBAR HALL JCCSF, 3200 California, SF; www.jccsf.org. $12-25. SF Jewish Film Festival presents: “Hummus, Falafel, and Brisket — Oh, My!”: Make Hummus Not War (Graham, 2012), Sun, 1; Meat Hooked! (Wasserman, 2012), Sun, 2:30; Falafel! Give Peas a Chanse (Cohen, 2012), Sun, 3:45.

MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE 57 Post, SF; milibrary.org/events. $10. “CinemaLit Film Series: Mystique of the City: Films Shot in San Francisco:” After the Thin Man (Van Dyke II, 1936), Fri, 6.

OSHER MARIN JCC 200 N. San Pedro, San Rafael; www.marinjcc.org. $10. “Best of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival:” American Jerusalem: Jews and the Making of San Francisco (Shaffer, 2013), Tue, 7.

PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. “Film 50: History of Cinema:” Early Summer (Ozu, 1951), with lecture by Emily Carpenter, Wed, 3:10. “Jokers Wild: American Comedy, 1960-1989:” What’s New Pussycat? (Donner, 1965), Wed, 7; The Producers (Brooks, 1967), Fri, 7; Take the Money and Run (Allen, 1969), Fri, 8:50. “The Brilliance of Satyajit Ray:” Kanchenjungha (1962), Thu, 7; Charulata (1964), Sat, 6; The Hero (1965), Sun, 3. “Jean-Luc Godard: Expect Everything from Cinema:” Masculine Feminine (1966), Sat, 8:30; Pierrot le fou (1965), Sun, 5:30. “Inside the BAM/PFA Film Collection,” recently acquired short films, Mon, 7:30. “Documentary Voices:” Body of War (Spiro and Donahue, 2007), Tue, 7.

ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-11. The Men’s Story Project: Out Loud! (Lehrer, 2013), Wed, 7. 7 Boxes (Maneglia, 2014), Wed-Thu, 7, 9. Stranger by the Lake (Guiraudie, 2013), Wed, 9:30; Thu, 9:15. Groove Move (Coleman, 2014), Thu, 7. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles All-You-Can-Eat Pizza Party:” •Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Barron, 1990), Sat, 8, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (Pressman, 1991), Sat, 9:45. Tickets ($25) include hella pizza (including vegan options).

“SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL” New Parkway, 474 24th St, Oakl; www.sfiwff.com. Free. “First Friday Shorts,” short films by local female filmmakers, Fri, 6. Also March 29, awards reception (1pm) and global shorts program

UNITY IN MARIN 600 Palm, Hamilton Center, Novato; www.unityinmarin.org. $10. Rebels With a Cause (Kelly, 2013), Fri, 7.

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; www.ybca.org. $8-10. “Design and Architecture Films Showcase:” 16 Acres (Hankin, 2012), Thu and Sat, 7:30; Lost Rivers (Bacle, 2013), Sun, 2. *

Theater Listings: March 5 – 11, 2014

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

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

THEATER

OPENING

Crystal Springs Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson, SF; www.crystalspringstheplay.com. $20-65. Previews Thu/6, 8pm. Opens Fri/7, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 23. Eureka Theatre presents Kathy Rucker’s world-premiere drama about parenting in the digital age.

BAY AREA

Accidental Death of an Anarchist Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $29-99. Previews Fri/7-Sat/8 and Tue/11, 8pm; Sun/9, 7pm. Opens March 12, 8pm. Runs Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (no show April 18; additional 2pm shows March 20 and April 17; also Sat, 2pm, but no matinee March 22); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through April 20. Berkeley Rep presents comic actor Steven Epp in Dario Fo’s explosive political farce, directed by Christopher Bayes,

Once On This Island Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield, Palo Alto; www.theatreworks.org. $19-73. Previews Wed/5-Fri/7, 8pm. Opens Sat/8, 8pm. Runs Tue-Wed, 7:30pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 30. TheatreWorks performs the Tony-nominated musical about a star-crossed love affair in the tropics, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

ONGOING

The Altruists Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter, SF; www.shewolftheater.com. $19-34. Thu/6-Sat/8, 8pm. She Wolf Theater performs Nicky Silver’s “politically incorrect” play that exposes the real motivations behind altruistic behavior.

Children Are Forever (All Sales are Final!) Stage Werx Theatre, 446 Valencia, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $15. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through March 22. Writer-performer and comedian Julia Jackson’s well acted and consistently funny autobiographical solo show details her and her female partner’s attempt to adopt a newborn girl from a young African American mother in Florida. Along the way, Jackson’s smart script details the trials, red tape, and unexpected market incentives in the field of adoption for a same-sex, interracial couple. If the generally involving story nevertheless attenuates a little across its two-act structure, Coke Nakamoto’s precise direction (which builds on original direction by W. Kamau Bell) offers a lively framework for Jackson’s excellent characterizations as well as her frank and interesting commentary on the social, political messiness of certain natural urges. (Avila)

Feisty Old Jew Marsh San Francisco Main Stage, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $25-100. Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm (Sun/9, performance will be a reading of Charlie Varon’s Fish Sisters). Through March 16. Charlie Varon performs his latest solo show, a fictional comedy about “a 20th century man living in a 21st century city.”

Foodies! The Musical Shelton Theater, 533 Sutter, SF; www.foodiesthemusical.com. $32-34. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. AWAT Productions presents Morris Bobrow’s musical comedy revue all about food.

Hundred Days Z Space, 450 Florida, SF; www.zspace.org. $10-100. Wed and Sun, 7pm; Thu-Sat, 8pm. Through April 6. Married musical duo the Bengsons (Abigail and Shaun) provide the real-life inspiration and guiding rock ‘n’ roll heart for this uneven but at times genuinely rousing indie musical drama, a self-referential meta-theater piece relating the story of a young couple in 1940s America who fall madly in love only to discover one of them is terminally ill. As an exploration of love, mortality, and the nature of time, the story of Sarah and Will (doubled by the Bengsons and, in movement sequences and more dramatically detailed scenes, by chorus members Amy Lizardo and Reggie D. White) draws force from the potent musical performances and songwriting of composer-creators Abigail and Shaun Bengson (augmented here by the appealing acting-singing chorus and backup band that also feature El Beh, Melissa Kaitlyn Carter, Geneva Harrison, Kate Kilbane, Jo Lampert, Delane Mason, Joshua Pollock). Playwright Kate E. Ryan’s book, however, proves too straightforward, implausible, and sentimental to feel like an adequate vessel for the music’s exuberant, urgent emotion and lilting, longing introspection. Other trappings of director Anne Kauffman’s elaborate production (including an inspired set design by Kris Stone that echoes the raw industrial shell of the theater; and less-than-inspired choreography by the otherwise endlessly inventive Joe Goode) can add texture at times but also prove either neutral figures or distracting minuses in conveying what truth and heft there is in the material. Ultimately, this still evolving world premiere has a strong musical beat at its core, which has a palpable force of its own, even if it’s yet to settle into the right combination of story and staging. (Avila)

Jerusalem San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post, SF; www.sfplayhouse.org. $20-100. Wed/5-Thu/6, 7pm; Fri/7-Sat/8, 8pm (also Sat/8, 3pm). SF Playhouse presents the West Coast premiere of English playwright Jez Butterworth’s West End and Broadway hit, a three-act revel led by a larger-than-life rebel, a stout boozed-up drug-dealer, habitual fabulist, and latter-day Digger of sorts named Johnny “Rooster” Byron (Brian Dykstra). The dominion of this Falstaffian giant is the English countryside outside his squalid trailer door, not far from Stonehenge, where he seems to incarnate a rather dissipated version of an ancient English independence, like one of the great mythical beings of rural lore. Aptly enough, it’s Saint George’s Day, the feast day of England’s national saint, but it’s not all a party this time around. Authorities have issued a final 24-hour eviction notice on Rooster’s tin door; there are luxury apartments in the works; and there’s concern in town about the underage teens who flock to Rooster like so many fledglings — one, in particular, has gone missing: Phaedra (Julia Belanoff), who we see at the very outset of the play donning a fairy costume and singing the title song, based on the Blake poem and England’s unofficial national anthem. The next 24 hours will be either the breaking point or the apotheosis for all Rooster has made himself out to be. In Butterworth’s big-eyed comedy, we are meant to feel a stake in this outcome whether we actually like Rooster or not — his independence, the scope of his life and vision, suggests the outer limit of possibility in an ever more disciplined and circumscribed world. Director Bill English (who also designed the impressive bucolic-trailer-park set) and his large cast (which includes a strong Ian Scott McGregor as longtime Rooster sidekick, Ginger) dive into the comedy with gusto. But somehow the drama, the larger stakes in the storyline, falls short. A certain requisite intensity and momentum are only fitfully achieved. Dykstra, as the expansive antihero, has the biggest burden here. And while he has an appealing swagger throughout, his wayward brogue and unconvincing bellicosity undercut the culmination of the play’s (admittedly somewhat overwrought) mythopoeic proportions. (Avila)

Lovebirds Marsh San Francisco Studio, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Thu-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 8:30pm. Through March 15. Theater artist and comedian Marga Gomez presents the world premiere of her 10th solo show, described as “a rollicking tale of incurable romantics.”

Mommy Queerest Exit Studio, 156 Eddy, SF; www.divafest.info. $15-25. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through March 29. DIVAfest and Guerrilla Rep present Kat Evasco (who co-wrote with John Caldon) in an autobiographical solo comedy about the relationship between a lesbian daughter and her closeted lesbian mother.

Napoli! ACT’s Geary Theater, 415 Geary, SF; www.act-sf.org. $10-120. Wed/5-Sat/8, 8pm (also Sat/8, 2pm); Sun/9, 2pm. American Conservatory Theater offers Bay Area audiences a rare look at one of the Neapolitan plays by Italy’s famed writer Eduardo De Filippo (1900-1984). Set in a humble home in working-class Naples during and just after World War II, amid the transition from Fascism to the postwar order, the play’s broad comedy comes with a strong undercurrent of social drama, as well as unexpectedly poignant moments. Its hero is the head of the household, Gennaro (former ACT core company member Marco Barricelli in a boisterous and gently moving performance), whose upright nature proves increasingly out-of-step with the times and indeed his own family, as his wife, Amalia (a commanding Seana McKenna), begins a black-market trade in coffee beans that becomes an all-out family crime ring by war’s end. While this dynamic offers fodder for some rather hokey if not unenjoyable comedy, the play gathers itself into a serious and timely indictment of privilege and its corrosion of community, as well as the need for solidarity as the only viable, indeed the only satisfying way forward. If the message and the playwright-messenger (De Fillipo, also an actor, originated the part of Gennaro himself) come across today as somewhat heavy-handed, it remains hard to dismiss Napoli! as just a museum piece. That’s due in part to director Mark Rucker’s large and graceful cast, as well as a buoyant new translation by Linda Alper and ACT’s Beatrice Basso. But it’s also the prescience and appositeness for us, all these many years later and miles away, of the play’s fundamentally social and political concerns. (Avila)

“Risk Is This … The Cutting Ball New Experimental Plays Festival” Tides Theater, 533 Sutter, Second Flr; www.cuttingball.com. Free ($20 donation for reserved seating). Fri-Sat, 8pm. (Starting March 14, venue changes to Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, SF). Through March 29. Five new works in staged readings, including two from Cutting Ball resident playwright Andrew Saito.

The Scion Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-60. Thu-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Through April 18. In his latest solo show, Brian Copeland (Not a Genuine Black Man; The Waiting Period) explores an infamous crime in his hometown of San Leandro: the 2000 murder of three government meat inspectors by Stuart Alexander, owner of the Santos Linguisa Factory. The story is personal history for Copeland, at least indirectly, as the successful comedian and TV host recounts growing up nearby under the common stricture that “rules are rules,” despite evidence all around that equity, fairness, and justice are in fact deeply skewed by privilege. Developed with director David Ford, the multiple-character monologue (delivered with fitful humor on a bare-bones stage with supportive sound design by David Hines) contrasts Copeland’s own youthful experiences as a target of racial profiling with the way wealthy and white neighbor Stuart Alexander, a serial bully and thug, consistently evaded punishment and even police attention along his path to becoming the “Sausage King,” a mayoral candidate, and a multiple murderer (Alexander died in 2005 at San Quentin). The story takes some meandering turns in making its points, and not all of Copeland’s characterizations are equally compelling. The subject matter is timely enough, however, though ironically it is government that seems to set itself further than ever above the law as much as wealthy individuals or the bogus “legal persons” of the corporate world. The results of such concentrated power are indeed unhealthy, and literally so — Copeland’s grandmother (one of his more persuasive characterizations) harbors a deep distrust of processed food that is nothing if not prescient —but The Scion’s tale of two San Leandrans leaves one hungry for more complexity. (Avila)

Shit & Champagne Rebel, 1772 Market, SF; shitandchampagne.eventbrite.com. $25. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Open-ended. D’Arcy Drollinger is Champagne White, bodacious blonde innocent with a wicked left hook in this cross-dressing ’70s-style white-sploitation flick, played out live on Rebel’s intimate but action-packed barroom stage. Written by Drollinger and co-directed with Laurie Bushman (with high-flying choreography by John Paolillo, Drollinger, and Matthew Martin), this high-octane camp send-up of a favored formula comes dependably stocked with stock characters and delightfully protracted by a convoluted plot (involving, among other things, a certain street drug that’s triggered an epidemic of poopy pants) — all of it played to the hilt by an excellent cast that includes Martin as Dixie Stampede, an evil corporate dominatrix at the head of some sinister front for world domination called Mal*Wart; Alex Brown as Detective Jack Hammer, rough-hewn cop on the case and ambivalent love interest; Rotimi Agbabiaka as Sergio, gay Puerto Rican impresario and confidante; Steven Lemay as Brandy, high-end calf model and Champagne’s (much) beloved roommate; and Nancy French as Rod, Champagne’s doomed fiancé. Sprawling often literally across two buxom acts, the show maintains admirable consistency: the energy never flags and the brow stays decidedly low. (Avila)

The Speakeasy Undisclosed location (ticket buyers receive a text with directions), SF; www.thespeakeasysf.com. $60-90 (add-ons: casino chips, $5; dance lessons, $10). Thu-Sat, 7:40, 7:50, and 8pm admittance times. Through March 15. Boxcar Theater’s most ambitious project to date is also one of the more involved and impressively orchestrated theatrical experiences on any Bay Area stage just now. An immersive time-tripping environmental work, The Speakeasy takes place in an “undisclosed location” (in fact, a wonderfully redesigned version of the company’s Hyde Street theater complex) amid a period-specific cocktail lounge, cabaret, and gambling den inhabited by dozens of Prohibition-era characters and scenarios that unfold around an audience ultimately invited to wander around at will. At one level, this is an invitation to pure dress-up social entertainment. But there are artistic aims here too. Intentionally designed (by co-director and creator Nick A. Olivero with co-director Peter Ruocco) as a fractured super-narrative — in which audiences perceive snatches of overheard stories rather than complete arcs, and can follow those of their own choosing — there’s a way the piece becomes specifically and ever more subtly about time itself. This is most pointedly demonstrated in the opening vignettes in the cocktail lounge, where even the ticking of Joe’s Clock Shop (the “cover” storefront for the illicit 1920s den inside) can be heard underscoring conversations (deeply ironic in historical hindsight) about war, loss, and regained hope for the future. For a San Francisco currently gripped by a kind of historical double-recurrence of the roaring Twenties and dire Thirties at once, The Speakeasy is not a bad place to sit and ponder the simulacra of our elusive moment. (Avila)

Tipped & Tipsy Marsh Studio Theater, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Sat, 5pm; Sun, 7pm. Through April 6. Solo performer Jill Vice performs her Fringe Festival hit.

Ubu Roi Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, SF; www.cuttingball.com. $10-50. Thu/6, 7:30pm; Fri/7-Sat/8, 8pm (also Sat/8, 2pm); Sun/9, 5pm. Cutting Ball Theater performs Alfred Jarry’s avant-garde parody of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, presented in a new translation by Cutting Ball artistic director Rob Melrose.

The World of Paradox Garage, 715 Bryant, SF; www.paradoxmagic.com. $12-15. Mon, 8pm (no show Mon/10). Through April 7. Footloose presents David Facer in his solo show, a mix of magic and theater.

The World’s Funniest Bubble Show Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; www.themarsh.org. $8-11. Sun, 11am. Through March 9. The popular, kid-friendly show by Louis Pearl (aka “The Amazing Bubble Man”) returns to the Marsh.

Yellow New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 23. New Conservatory Theatre Center performs the Bay Area premiere of Del Shores’ Mississippi-set family drama.

BAY AREA

Bread and Circuses La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; www.impacttheatre.com. $20-25. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm. Through April 6. Impact Theatre performs “a cavalcade of brutal and bloody new short plays” by various contemporary playwrights.

Escanabe in da Moonlight Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck, Berk; www.theatrefirst.com. $10-30. Thu/6-Sat/8, 8pm. TheatreFIRST performs Jeff Daniels’ raucous comedy.

Geezer Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. $25-50. Thu, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Through April 26. Geoff Hoyle moves his hit comedy about aging to the East Bay.

Gideon’s Knot Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; www.auroratheatre.org. $32-60. Wed/5-Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 2 and 7pm. Aurora and director Jon Tracy’s Bay Area premiere of Johnna Adams’ two-hander features strong acting, strong enough almost to make us believe in its premise. A harried mother named Corryn (a terrific Jamie J. Jones) arrives at the empty middle-school classroom overseen by a distracted teacher, Heather (a subdued yet agitated Stacy Ross). Corryn, proud but somehow desperate, admits to having not slept. Heather initially doesn’t know why she’s there — until it becomes clear she’s the mother of a recent suicide, who has come to keep her appointment for a parent-teacher conference. The two women await the arrival of the absent principal, but Corryn presses for answers now to the circumstances surrounding her child’s final days, which included his suspension from school and a beating received at the hands of fellow students. Heather, who seems to be hiding some separate anxiety or grief of her own (and is, though what we don’t learn until nearly the end of the play), does her best to deflect any such conversation until the principal arrives but is soon embroiled in an argument with the headstrong and canny mother in front of her, a literature professor at a major university. Their dance centers on Corryn’s son’s last assignment, a short story, one his teacher sees as nothing but “hate-filled poisonous attacks,” but his mother calls “poetry.” In addition to the clash between a teacher’s authority and a mother’s regard, there’s a class component to these differing perspectives, we presume. Yet there is a real issue here, somewhere, about art and education and authority — or would be if it did not end up buried along with the young writer we never meet. Playwright Adams advances the dramatic tension by tacking this way and that around her subject, but loses sight of the shore meanwhile, as her characters debate whether or not the short story contains a virtuous accusation against an instance of child abuse, only to drop this crux a moment later in a hard-to-credit squeamishness on Corryn’s part over the potentially homoerotic longings of her deceased son. The final note lands in an even hokier key of mutual sorrow and understanding. (Avila)

The House That Will Not Stand Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, Berk; www.berkeleyrep.org. $29-59. Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Sat and March 13, 2pm); Wed, 7pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 16. July 4, 1836: As a white New Orleans patriarch (Ray Reinhardt) passes from the scene, under somewhat mysterious circumstances, his longtime mistress, Beartrice (an imposing, memorable Lizan Mitchell), and their daughters (the charmingly varied trio of Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Flor De Liz Perez, and Tiffany Rachelle Stewart) — all free women of color — vie for dominance while trying to secure their respective futures in Berkeley Rep’s sumptuous and beautifully acted world premiere. Nationally acclaimed playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley (And Jesus Moonwalked the Mississippi; This World in a Woman’s Hands) brews up a historically rich and revealing, as well as witty and fiery tale here, based on the practice of plaçage (common-law marriages between white men and black Creole women), grounding it in the large personalities of his predominately female characters — who include a nosy and angling intruder (played with subtlety by Petronia Paley) — and lacing it all with a delirious dose of magical realism via the voodoo charms of Beartrice’s slave, Makeda (Harriett D. Foy, who with Keith Townsend Obadike also contributes lush, atmospheric compositions to the proceedings). Gardley delves productively into the history overall, although he sometimes indulges it too much in awkward and ultimately unnecessary expository dialogue. When he allows his characters full scope for expression of their personalities and relationships, however, the dialogue sails by with brio and punch —something the powerhouse cast, shrewdly directed by Patricia McGregor, makes the most of throughout. (Avila)

Lasso of Truth Marin Theatre Company, 397 Miller, Mill Valley; www.marintheatre.org. $37-58. Tue and Thu-Sat, 8pm (also Thu/6, 1pm; March 15, 2pm); Wed, 7:30pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 16. Marin Theatre Company performs Carson Kreitzer’s new play about the history of Wonder Woman.

The Lion and the Fox Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; www.centralworks.org. $15-28. Thu-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through March 30. Central Works performs a prequel to its 2009 hit, Machiavelli’s The Prince, which depicts a face-off between Niccolo Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia.

A Maze Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; www.justtheater.org. $20-25. Wed/5-Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 5pm. Following a well-received run last summer at Live Oak Theater, Just Theater’s West Coast premiere of Pittsburgh-based playwright Rob Handel’s 2011 jigsaw drama gets a second life, courtesy of presenter Shotgun Players, in this remounting at Ashby Stage. Half the pleasure of a play like this is the unfolding of its serpentine plot, which becomes much more linear in the second half but initially seems to hover around three very disparate situations: 17-year-old Jessica (Frannie Morrison), recently escaped from eight years of captivity in the home and cellar of her kidnapper, prepares for an interview with a Barbara Walters-like TV journalist (Lauren Spencer); Oksana (Sarah Moser) and Paul (Harold Pierce), who head up their own highly successful rock band (suggestively titled the Pathetic Fallacy), are in the midst of a tough transition as Oksana checks Paul into rehab; and a fairytale King (Lasse Christiensen) responds to the Queen’s (Janis DeLucia) news that they are about to have an “heir” by beginning construction on a gigantic, seemingly endless maze emanating outward from their cozy den to the furthest reaches of the kingdom. Meanwhile, the director of the rehab clinic (Carl Holvick-Thomas) introduces Paul to another artist-resident, a fussy, eccentric author named Beeson (Clive Worsley) at work on a multi-volume graphic novel of maddening intricacy. As the three storylines begin to coalesce, the play asks us to consider questions about artistic liberty, authorship, responsibility, human connection — big themes like that. It does so in a mostly playful, only slightly eerie way, despite the grim central situation revolving around the bright and surprisingly outgoing Jessica. Employing almost the identical cast as last time, again under director Molly Aaronson-Gelb, the proceedings unfold with generally solid acting, if not always persuasive dialogue, at least where things are meant to be more or less realistic (to an extent, the fairytale segment comes across more compellingly for being strictly bound by the artificial nature of its narrative). There’s a quirky quality to the play, and the production, that amuses, even as the coy plotline bemuses. And much like an amusement park adventure, the play makes sure no one really gets lost. This is a play that is happy to tell you the various ways the central “maze” might be read metaphorically, for instance, so that everything is tidy and clear — like a fairytale, or a graphic novel — not so mysterious in the end, just tinged with a kind of comfortable melancholy. (Avila)

The Music Man Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College, Berk; www.berkeleyplayhouse.org. $17-60. Fri and March 20, 7pm; Sat, 1 and 6pm; Sun, noon and 5pm. Through March 23. There’s trouble in River City! See it unfold amid all those trombones at Berkeley Playhouse.

PERFORMANCE/DANCE

“Acentos Revival” Red Poppy Art House, 2698 Folsom, SF; www.redpoppyarthouse.org. Thu/6, 7:30pm. $10-15. Three featured poets and two open mic segments.

“Bad Ass B!tches” Bindlestiff Studio, 185 Sixth St, SF; www.bindlestiffstudio.org. Sat/8, 9pm. $12. Performance extravaganza in honor of International Women’s Day, with comedy, burlesque, live music, dance, and more.

“The Balcony” Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, SF; www.cuttingball.com. Sun/9, 1pm. Free. Cutting Ball Theater’s Hidden Classics Reading Series presents this reading of Jean Genet’s experimental play.

“Belles and Whistles Variety Show” Boom Boom Room, 1601 Fillmore, SF; www.boomboomblues.com. Tue/11, 8:30pm. $10. Comedian Danny Dechi hosts this variety show of music, comedy, magic, dance, and more.

“Black Choreographers Festival: Here & Now” ODC Theater, 3153 17th St, SF; www.bcfhereandnow.com. Thu/6-Sat/8, 8pm. $18-30. “Draft/By Series” presented by Robert Moses’ Kin in association with the Black Choreographers Festival and ODC Theater.

“The Buddy Club Children’s Shows” Randall Museum Theater, 199 Museum Wy, SF; www.thebuddyclub.com. Sun/9, 11am-noon. $8. With illusionist Timothy James.

Caroline Lugo and Carolé Acuña’s Ballet Flamenco Peña Pachamama, 1630 Powell, SF; www.carolinalugo.com. Sat/8, March 16, 22, and 30, 6:15pm. $15-19. Flamenco performance by the mother-daughter dance company, featuring live musicians.

“Comedy Bottle with Sean Keane” Purple Onion at Kells, 530 Jackson, SF; www.purpleonionatkells.com. Fri/7-Sat/8, 7pm. $10. The stand-up comedian performs.

Feinstein’s at the Nikko Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason, SF; www.feinsteinssf.com. This week: Paula West, Thu/6-Fri/7, 8pm; Sat/8-Sun/9, 7pm (also Sat/8, 9:30pm), $35-50.

“Letter from Birmingham Jail” Grace Cathedral, 1100 California, SF; www.gracecathedral.org. Mon/10, 7:30pm. $30-50. Acclaimed actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith perfoms in this performance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s landmark document of the civil rights movement.

“Magic at the Rex” Hotel Rex, 562 Sutter, SF; www.magicattherex.com. Sat, 8pm. Ongoing. $25. Magic and mystery with Adam Sachs and mentalist Sebastian Boswell III.

“The Magic Flute” Center for New Music, 55 Taylor, SF; themagicflute.brownpapertickets.com. Fri/7, 7pm. $15-20. Waffle Opera performs a stripped-down version of Mozart’s classic, with new English dialogue.

“Peiling Kao and Christy Funsch” Meridian Gallery, 535 Powell, SF; www.meridiangallery.org. Fri/7-Sat/8, 6pm. $8-10. Choreographer-performers Kao and Funsch perform a work inspired by Abby Leigh’s current exhibit in the gallery, with live music and additional performances by Aura Fischbeck and Celine Alwyn Parker.

“Point Break Live!” DNA Lounge, 373 11th St, SF; www.dnalounge.com. Fri/7 and April 4, 7:30 and 11pm. $25-50. Dude, Point Break Live! is like dropping into a monster wave, or holding up a bank, like, just a pure adrenaline rush, man. Ahem. Sorry, but I really can’t help but channel Keanu Reeves and his Johnny Utah character when thinking about the awesomely bad 1991 movie Point Break or its equally yummily cheesy stage adaptation. And if you do an even better Keanu impression than me — the trick is in the vacant stare and stoner drawl — then you can play his starring role amid a cast of solid actors, reading from cue cards from a hilarious production assistant in order to more closely approximate Keanu’s acting ability. This play is just so much fun, even better now at DNA Lounge than it was a couple years ago at CELLspace. But definitely buy the poncho pack and wear it, because the blood, spit, and surf spray really do make this a fully immersive experience. (Steven T. Jones)

“Rotunda Dance Series: Gamelan Sekar Jaya” San Francisco City Hall, 1 Carlton B. Goodlett Pl, SF; www.dancersgroup.org. Fri/7, noon. Free. The Balinese music and dance ensemble performs.

San Francisco A Cappella Festival Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon, SF; harmony-sweepstakes.com/bayarea.html. Sat/8, 8pm. $29.50. With hosts Ro Sham Bo and 38th Ave., Business Casual, Halfway to Midnight, Hearsay, Loose Interpretations, and others.

Sarah Berges Dance Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St, SF; www.sarahbergesdance.com. Fri/7-Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 4pm. $10-15. Spring Season 2014 performance with premieres including The Black Dahlia, Kyrie, and The Kiss.

“Writers with Drinks” Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St, SF; www.writerswithdrinks.com. Sat/8, 7:30pm. $5-10. With Clifford Chase, Rachel Cantor, AV Flox, and Melissa Broder.

BAY AREA

Bay Area Playback Theatre Open Secret, 923 C St, San Rafael; www.brownpapertickets.com. Sat/9, 8pm. $12-18. Improv based on true tales from the audience.

“Collage des Cultures Africaines Dance and Drum Conference” Oakland Technical High School Theater, 4351 Broadway, Oakl; www.diamanocoura.org. Sat/8, 8pm. $15-30. A gala performance highlights this weekend-long conference and class series hosted by the Diamano Coura West African Dance Company. Check website for complete schedule of events.

Diablo Ballet Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic, Walnut Creek; www.diabloballet.org. Thu/6, 6:30pm. $26-52. The company celebrates its 20th anniversary with this special performance, featuring premieres, a film retrospective, and more.

“MarshJam Improv Comedy Show” Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; www.themarsh.org. Fri, 8pm. Ongoing. $10. Improv comedy with local legends and drop-in guests.

“Di Megileh” JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut, Berk; www.jewishmusicfestival.org. Thu/6 and Sat/8, 8pm; Sun/9, 2pm; Mon/10, $15-22. Yiddish Theater Collective presents a Purim musical by Itzik Manger, performed in Yiddish with English supertitles.

“Pinball Prom with Feminist Tendencies” Pacific Pinball Museum, 1510 Webster, Alameda; www.pacificpinball.org. Sat/8, 8pm. $15. All-women’s pinball league Belles and Chimes and the Pacific Pinball Museum present this night of political comedy with Feminist Tendencies, followed by a “pinball prom” with dancing and photos.

“Poetry Express” Himalayan Flavors, 1585 University, Berk; poetryexpressberkeley.blogspot.com. Mon, 7pm. Free. Ongoing. This week: Hao Tran, plus open mic.

“The Pump and Dump: A Parentally Incorrect Comedy Show” Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera, Mill Valley; www.pumpanddumpshow.com. Wed/5, 8pm. $20. Also Fri/7, 8pm, $20, Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa, SF. Comedian Shayna Ferm and sidekick MC Doula host this raucous evening of mom-focused comedy, music, and more.

“Some Girl(s)” Dragon Theatre, 2120 Broadway, Redwood City; www.dragonproductions.net. Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2pm. Through March 16. $15. Dragon Theater’s 2nd Stages Program kicks off with this production of Neil LaBute’s dark comedy. *

Year of the Workhorse

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

57

Photos by Erin Conger

arts@sfbg.com

Patrick Brown, sound engineer and owner of the Mission’s Different Fur Studios, is a busy guy — both literally a man about town, as well as on the internets. I’ve started calling him the Santa Claus of social medias — always watchin’ his friends’ web behaviors, good, bad, whatever. He’s consistently first to like posts and favorite tweets, while simultaneously pulling off epic shifts in the studio.

But despite the screen-mediated chatter we had recently traded, I hadn’t actually seen the guy in months. I wanted to interview him: I hoped for secrets, opinions about the SF music biz, and other pertinent wizardry. With this in mind, I got an insider tip from his girlfriend: the promise of dim sum could usually lure him out of the studio.

Our “date” landed on Superbowl Sunday, and we happily avoided sports fans by venturing to Chinatown. Beneath red lanterns and pouring rain, we pulled up barstools at the Buddha Lounge and ordered Lucky beers, listening to “PYT” on the jukebox and watching a regular sway his hips in the doorway.

“Is that some kind of fat joke?” he asked, when I ‘fessed up to the social-media Santa nickname, as he nibbled on the bartender’s gift of microwave popcorn. It was Chinese New Year; a celebratory firecracker screeched in the street.

“I regularly spend 12 hours a day in a room. I can’t be out in the world, but I still want to exchange information out there,” he explained. Social media is his way of showing support while buried beneath work, he said. He links people to projects, and projects to people, patting the community on the back with likes and re-tweets.

In the seven years that he’s owned The Fur — he bought it from the previous owners in 2008, just four years after starting as an intern — it’s become increasingly important for him to extend his love of the music scene beyond the studio. This means showing face at venues, promoting bands, and partnering with brands that share like-minded intent.

“It’s important for people here to be building things versus bashing,” he says, noting the city’s current debate about tech and how it’s affecting the SF music scene. (Brown recently spoke to the issue while seated on a panel of music industry folks at The Chapel, seeming relatively unfazed by the complaints and quandaries.)

“This is all awfully familiar,” he says, recalling his experiences throughout the first dot-com boom — when, much like the current, monetarily-fueled tension, swarms of musicians and sound engineers left for the promised lands of LA and New York. The music biz ached with abandonment.

While things today may appear similar, he insists they’re not the same.

“The culture of San Francisco has changed, but it doesn’t mean the music business is suffering. It may mean musicians are suffering,” he says, adding that this city isn’t particularly fair to a lot of people and industries. “Sure, musicians should be able to make a living, but not everyone is gonna make it. It’s no different with sound engineers. Do you know how many interns I’ve fired? It’s really competitive out there.”

When Brown himself began as an intern at Different Fur in 2004, the SF scene was still recouping from tech deflation. Business was dry, and Brown saw opportunity in the quiet: space to learn, fuck up, and grow. It worked. He took over as studio manager three years later, and then in 2008 he bought the whole damn rig.

“I decided to stay and make my own shit,” he says. “And now I can do whatever I want. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s true.” At the time of our interview, the studio’s calendar was booked through May, sometimes double-booked. Does The Fur hog too much of his time? He scoffs.

“I didn’t pick a career where I would make a million dollars and I didn’t pick a 9-to-5,” he says. “I work long hours for crazy people — musicians — and in the process, I’ve become one of those crazy people.”

Brown’s career path followed a nomadic, diverse education: he studied architecture in Paris, English and psychology in New York, and advertising and film in SF. He repeatedly found himself failing, bored, and planning his escape to the next shiny curriculum.

By the time art school had begun to lose its appeal, he’d begun recording a few low-key recording projects with musician friends. The needle dropped: He did a year at SF State for Music Business, following it up with two years at Ex’pression College. He was hooked.

“People always ask me if listening to the same three-minute track for 12 hours on repeat drives me nuts,” he says, shaking his head, and takes a sip of round two: a pink Mai Tai. “I love it. It was my cue — that’s how I knew I actually wanted to be a sound engineer.”

The more diverse his repertoire can be, the better: A long list of recent projects includes an Armenian classical quartet, a dance hall remix, darkwave, and a Brazilian pop group. (“They all inform each other,” he says.) Brown is also a member of the Grammy board, plays host for the Converse Rubbertracks sessions, and occasionally makes music with his buddy Robert Pera as Woof Beats. He loves throwing events, like a recent listening party for the Grouch and Eligh. His latest addition is sound consulting for GitHub, a partnership aimed at creating fruitful connections between music and tech.

To put it lightly, he’s a workhorse. The horse is, of course, the latest Chinese zodiac sign to come into its 12-year rotation and, as a 1978 baby, Brown claims stallion status. The timing is right, too, since 2013 proved rough: Steve Brodsky, one of his closest friends and cohorts, passed away, and two much-loved Fur employees gave their notice. Brown’s mood shift was palpable, the year of grieving slowly eroding his usual sarcastic banter.

But the new year is freshly upon us and there’s already a notable difference in his mood. His hooves are shiny, so to speak — geared up for the gallop ahead.

“This year I want hang time with my girlfriend…I can’t sit in front of a console for 16 hours a day,” he says with conviction, then contradicts it all by admitting he also doesn’t want to work less. He laughs. “I’m not sure how it’s going to work exactly. All I know is that I’m in a better mood about it all.”

Bar none

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

2

SUPER EGO So a toothy blonde pretend social media exec, a blindingly sequined Latina drag queen, a huge rack of elk antlers with hot-pink panties on them, and a pair of Google Glasses walk into a “punk bar” …

What the holy highballs is happening on our bar scene lately? Rowdy Mission hangout Pop’s Bar closed over the weekend. (Who got all those panties, I wonder?) Last week, 40-year-old Mission gay hangout Esta Noche announced it was shutting down (new owners and a hetero-craft cocktail concept). And then there was that oddball Google Glass kerfuffle at Molotov’s, wherein a social media starlet claims she was the victim of a tech hate crime when the patrons allegedly got in her privacy-violating face.

The Esta Noche situation hits close to my floppy liver’s home most, though. With the recent closures of Marlena’s, Deco, and Ginger’s Trois (and the Transfer, Mister Leeona’s, and practically every gay watering hole on Polk Street shuttering in the past decade), there are hardly any queer bars outside the Castro and SoMa left. Lady, can you pour a fierce cosmo out those Google Glasses of yours? Until then, I won’t have what she’s having. I need my queer space to get sozzled!

JAY TRIPWIRE

There are DJs to love, and then there are DJs to love. Fiercely intelligent yet laidback, shaggy in that classic rave-dude way, Vancouverite Jay Tripwire has been honing his deep, deep techno sound for more than two decades and 200 releases. Like every great DJ wizard, he transforms the records on his tables into other beasts entirely. You just hear differently after his masterly sets. At the Housepitality weekly, he’ll get a warm reception.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n7ahLdh8yM

Wed/5, 9pm, free before 11 with RSVP at www.housepitalitysf.com/rsvp, $10 after. F8, 1192 Folsom, SF.

BAREM

The splendid Direct to Earth and Public Works crews bring in Buenos Aires- and Berlin-based Mauricio Barembuem, aka Barem of Minus Records, for some good old fashioned Germano-Latin post-minimal techno swing. Bring a couple pairs of (cute) shoes, because he’ll wear your kitten heels right out.

Fri/7, 9pm-4am, $13–$20. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

HOUND SCALES

It’s a great weekend for hard-driving and esoteric techno in the Bay. It’s even getting into our more melodic parties, like the monthly Play It Cool, which is showcasing wiggy Brooklyn-based, SF-native “junta rave” purveyor Hound Scales of the Fifth Wall label. The speaker bins, they will explode I think. Jolly good show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEr-zgTrh7Y

Fri/7, 10pm-3am, $10. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com

DRINK

Hey, $35 all you can drink from dozens of local spirits concocters, brew houses, and wineries? Plus: cosmic tunes from Cosmic Amanda (she’s cosmic), tarot readings by the zebra-leotarded Dr. Zebrowski, and one last time to party in the glorious Old Mint building before it gets renovated into the SF History Museum? Why am I still asking questions? Our sister-paper SF Weekly’s Drink event is sloshy, superb.

Sat/8, 2pm-5pm, $35 advance. Old Mint, 88 Fifth St, SF. drink2014.strangertickets.com

FOUR TET

Please immediately check out the fantastic new Neneh Cherry album, produced by this wide-eared, super-innovative UK genius, who can jet from bright, ecstatic jazziness to haunting bass apocalypse in the blink of a strobe. A trippy treat in store, indeed.

Sat/8, 9pm, $30. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com

POUND PUPPY

Go-go boys are probably my least favorite things at clubs. (We were mercifully mostly free of them until a few years ago: They were “an LA thing” then. Sock’s on the other cock now!). But apparently, once a month, if they are dressed up like leather-fetish puppies, dancing to cutting-edge tunes in cages at the gay biker bar, and being petted by the sexiest characters of the SF queer underground, I’m totally down. I still refuse to say “woof,” though. With DJs Taco Tuesday and Chip Mint, hosted by Blake and Jorge.

Sat/8, 9pm, $7. SF Eagle, 398 12th St, SF. www.sf-eagle.com

VOICES FROM THE LAKE

Hyper-atmospheric ambient techno delight from this duo, composed of acclaimed Italian players Donato Dozzy and Neel. Don’t worry, you’ll still end up dancing. With Jason Kendig, Christina Chartfield, Carlos Souffront, and MossMoss at the As You Like It party.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooxO0VaZt9M

Sat/8, 9pm-4am, $20–$25. Monarch, 101 Sixth St, SF. www.monarchsf.com

Branching out

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

1

DANCE

ODC Theater has a good track record of presenting homegrown and visiting companies, some making their local debuts, others having been around for a while. In between these ODC-presented programs — or, increasingly these days, co-presented with other organizations — are slots for artists who want to self-produce, which means that they rent the space for a fixed fee.

The remodeled theater, with its upgraded technical facilities, can accommodate not only dance, but musical and language-based performances. It has become a flexible, desirable venue in a city that has too few of them. Yet if I read history correctly, a kind of open-door policy has always been part of ODC’s mission, even during its more modest times — as in 1976, when it bought what used to be a hardware store and before that a stable.

Bianca Cabrera’s two-year-old East Bay-based troupe Blind Tiger Society (the name comes from a Prohibition-era speakeasy) is the latest of these self-producing independents to take advantage of what ODC Theater has to offer.

Though Cabrera has shown work locally in small studio settings, the world premiere of the hourlong The Aftermath Affair is the company’s most ambitious effort yet. Sixteen women, some clearly more technically trained than others, threw themselves with considerable energy and commitment into fast-paced unisons, scurrying on the tips of their toes one moment, and then entangling themselves head over heels, only to then freeze into identical sculptural poses.

By far the most intriguing aspect of what was a decidedly odd affair was Cabrera’s attempt to create her own language from disparate sources. With a background in cabaret and musical theater, in addition to modern dance and ballet, she has a lot to draw on. While her vocabulary doesn’t yet cohere into a flexible enough tool, the yanking together or simple juxtaposing of elements from modern dance, cabaret, contact improvisation, and even ballet was intriguing in the way it tried to break down easy categorizations and perceptual barriers.

Cabrera’s dancers make good use of strong upper-body movements with articulated necks and shoulders, perhaps borrowed from belly dancing. Much of the movement for the many duets and small ensembles, however, was crystallized out of contact improvisation, with its give and taking of weight, supporting each other, and allowing a movement thread to run its course. Despite their robust physicality, these encounters were so formalized that sometimes they felt regimented. The plain beige-brown costumes, which looked like uniforms, probably didn’t help. Fortunately, several of the solos communicated a controlled but enthusiastic sense of being in the moment.

Contrasting with earthbound sequences were formal unisons of lines: diagonals, wedges, parallels, intersections, and overlappings that could have come from Broadway or movie musicals. To see a kick line of 16 pairs of (more or less) unison legs advance downstage was really most unusual.

A finely developed tactile sense proved an essential ingredient to Aftermath. Hands were everywhere. The dancers contacted each other with their fingers, exploring each other’s bodies and their own as if wanting to access some hidden knowledge. They wrapped arms tightly around themselves and held their hands over their pelvis as if trying to hold something in. Yet all of this was curiously clinical, devoid of any erotic implications.

Some the imagery also recalled wildlife observations on the National Geographic channel, in which animals sniff each other out and make tentative physical contact only to retreat again. When some of the dancers scurried back and forth across the stage on tiptoes, I thought of sandpipers trying to escape approaching waves.

Toward the end, pallor drops on Aftermath like fog with a sense of impending doom. The dancers plopped to the ground, rolled like logs, and then mechanically turned like the hands of a clock. I couldn’t quite see a connection to the rest of this worthwhile though not entirely successful endeavor.

Ben Juodvalkis’ dramatic and colorful score gave Aftermath its backbone. Cabrera, however, should have hired a lighting designer. Making such primitive use of the theater’s excellent facilities was a waste.

Independent productions at ODC resume with Gamelan Sekar Jaya (April 4-5) and Company C (April 25-May 5). Immediately on the horizon are three co-presentations. March 6-8, as the last lineup of this year’s Black Choreographers Festival, Robert Moses’ Kin has a double bill: as part of the company’s 2014 “BY Series,” Bliss Kohlmeyer, Dexandro Montalvo, and Gregory Dawson set works for the Kin dancers; for Draft, Moses choreographed for 10 guest performers.

March 21-22 brings Israeli dancers Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor, in Two Room Apartment, their adaptation of what was considered a highly erotic duet by the husband and wife team Liat Dror and Nir Ben-Gal.

And joined by guest artist and former Sweet Honey of the Rock member Ysaye M. Barnwell, Eric Kupers’ Dandelion Dancetheater will reprise his double bill Tongues/Gather March 26. *

www.odcdance.org

Barroom backchannel

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

25

joe@sfbg.com

Amid the political turmoil in the city around evictions of longtime San Franciscans, tech workers and progressive political activists are beginning to come together to brainstorm ways to address displacement.

Tech workers have started to attend meetings meant to spark conversation between the two opposing groups, hosted by local restaurant Casa Sanchez. Those interviewed by hyperlocal website Mission Local described the dinners as “heavy and charged,” with blame for the housing crisis pointing to all sides.

Last week, Tech Workers Against Displacement Happy Hour was the latest opportunity for the two communities to come together and talk. But can tech workers become effective partners in the search for solutions to the affordable housing crisis? The happy hour was promising, but it exposed some of the obstacles.

The happy hour was partially organized by a politician running for office (Sup. David Campos, who is now running for the California Assembly), but was mostly the brainchild of two unlikely allies: SEIU labor representative Gus Feldman and Rolla Selbak, an employee at a multinational tech giant that she asked us not to name.

And therein lies one of the challenges: Will the well-paid tech workers be willing to rise up and challenge the corporate and capitalist interests that have overheated the local economy and fed the displacement crisis, the very forces that have allowed them to afford skyrocketing local rents?

AWKWARD CONVERSATION

Virgil’s Sea Room was an apt choice for the happy hour. Five months ago and just a few blocks away on 24th Street, hundreds marched in the “Our Mission No Eviction” protest, where 71-year-old Mission muralist Rene Yanez told a tale of an artistic, vibrant Mission District in danger of losing its Latino population and its character.

The night was a mostly positive exercise in bridge-building, though it started under a blanket of tension. Activists spoke of the housing crisis at a microphone to an audience of nearly 200 tech workers and activists. Sparks flew and some left early, unhappy with what they called “activist lecturing.”

At Tech Workers Against Displacement Happy Hour, just starting up. Can tech and activists come together to help SF? pic.twitter.com/nindzM1L3B

— Joe Fitz Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) February 26, 2014

But as the empty beer cans grew in number, many tech workers came up to the microphone, and even more still mingled with the housing activists in the crowd. Riders of corporate buses figuratively (and maybe literally) clinked glasses with Erin McElroy, one of the leaders in the Heart of the City protests that have blockaded Google buses.

Yet most tech workers didn’t want to come out of the closet and identify with this nascent movement. Seeing a reporter with a notepad in hand, they shrank away. Those that did speak identified themselves in hushed tones accompanied by furtive glances. One man who identified himself as a tech worker laid down some rockin’ slam poetry at the microphone. When we told him we tweeted his performance, the tall, broad-shouldered techie flew into a panic.

“Please, please, please, you have to delete it. They can’t know I was here,” he told the Guardian, with panic in his eyes and sweat dripping down his forehead. He wasn’t alone in his worry.

One verified Google employee the Guardian initially spoke with on Twitter mingled with activists as well. “We’re not so different, we all want the same thing,” he told us. But even he was adamant that he not be identified.

One software engineer from a rideshare company, Eric Butler, did not want his company named. When asked why he came out to talk to housing activists despite his concern, he said, “The issue of displacement hits everyone.”

In recognition of that, the communities of the Mission and San Francisco that night called for tech workers to advocate for change from the inside, where they carry the most leverage and the most power. But that hasn’t happened yet, at least not publicly.

“They want to talk, but their bosses have ordered them not to,” McElroy told us. “It’s pretty intense.”

The tech workers could be the city’s strongest allies, if only they would challenge their employers and those invested in their companies. Already, a few tech workers are joining in solidarity.

IN BOTH CAMPS

Kelsey Gilmore-Innis lives in the Excelsior District and works at a tech startup. “I’m part of the system,” she told us. But she’s also a San Francisco native.

“My friends are SF native dirtbags who freestyle rap at any party, anywhere,” Gilmore-Innis, 27, said of her San Francisco roots. And like many of us, she had an eviction story to tell.

“We weren’t formally evicted, but were bought out, a precursor to the formal eviction processes. Eventually our whole block in Bernal Heights was replaced,” she said.

Her experience with eviction galvanized her. Though she has one foot in the tech camp, her other foot is firmly in the world of activism.

The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project targets serial real-estate speculators responsible for the evictions of long-term San Franciscans in the effort to make a buck, and in her off hours Gilmore-Innis works side by side with McElroy, the project’s rabble-rousing leader.

To tech workers, that may sound like an Uber employee working side by side with a cabbie. But for Gilmore-Innis, it’s a part of her San Franciscan heritage. She’s proud of one of San Francisco’s rich activist history, speaking fondly of inheriting the legacy of Harry Bridges, leader the historic 1934 General Strike in San Francisco.

She channels activism in a uniquely technological way, gathering campaign finance data for the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, aiming to build a searchable database to track money from shady real estate speculators flowing into San Francisco elections.

It’s public knowledge for public gain, a sentiment tech workers inspired with their fight for net neutrality and internet freedom. But that’s a fight tech workers are familiar with. Eviction may not be in their realm of experience.

“I’ve been evicted and know people who were evicted. I think the grand majority [of tech workers] thinks it’s an abstract plight. It’s not real to them,” she told us.

Maybe she’s right, but not every tech worker is at a billion-dollar corporation. For some in the startup world, displacement is all too personal.

ART AND TECH

Matt Conn was one of the many new tech workers in the city who’s built a startup from the ground up. His former company, Root Music, cashed in big, raising over $20 million and morphing into BandPage. Conn is now CEO and founder of the video game company MidBoss. He and a few others created the first LGBT video game convention, “GaymerX,” which drew national attention from the gaming and mainstream press. Put simply: he’s made it.

But just a few years ago, Conn often slept on BART trains. And no, we’re not talking the occasional nap. This was life.

“I would get on really early in the morning and ride it four or five hours. You get on at Powell and you get a really good nap for $1.50. When I first came out to the West Coast, I knew I wanted to be here. I ran out of money, and it was a cost-effective way to stay in San Francisco,” he told the Guardian.

Now he’s calling out the tech industry’s practices through MidBoss’ new game “Read Only Memories,” a science fiction game featuring a journalist as protagonist who is trying to save a kidnapped friend from a shadowy tech company.

In Conn’s game, cyberpunk future San Francisco will be a frightening free-for-all grab for people’s data, even more so than now. It also features many queer characters throughout, an effort to show a future where the LGBTQ community is accepted in everyday life.

Like many San Franciscan artists before him, his game allegorically challenges the city’s future, showcasing a highly gentrified city from Chinatown to “New Candlestick” — a not too subtle jab at the city’s culture war today.

Conn has been there. He’s lived displacement. Is that why he’ll speak out against tech where others won’t? His answer was different than the one Gillmore-Innis gave us.

GaymerX Presents Read Only Memories, Adventure Game Throwback With Queer Sensibilities pic.twitter.com/tDF6xNZITu

— Eddie Garou (@EddieGarou) November 13, 2013

“It’s a culture that’s very cult-like in a way, where people don’t want to focus on the negative,” he explained. His company is now crowdfunded, but that wasn’t always the case. “At BandPage, we had multiple investors who also represented Netflix and other big names. I had to be careful in public not to knock something one of our investors had a holding in. You don’t want to be ‘that guy.'”

It all goes back to the money, he said.

“For most, like Google, their money came from billionaire and multi-millionaire venture capitalists. No one wants to be the one speaking out against them,” he said.

He may have a point. The powerful venture capitalist Ron Conway, “The Godfather of Silicon Valley,” is ever-present at Mayor Ed Lee’s side. That’s power in the tech world and the municipal one. Maybe it takes a bigger player in the tech industry to “come out,” to inspire tech workers to push for egalitarian values.

CHANGING THE CONVERSATION

In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff , head of one of the largest tech companies in the city, echoed sentiments made by every activist who’s ever blocked a Google bus.

“(Speculators) are using the Ellis Act during this unbelievable boom time to toss everyday residents out of their homes,” he said. “I think it’s unfair and I think it has to change. I think these buses — which if you hang out in the Mission, [they come] every five minutes — they’ve got to be massively regulated… (and) we need to get the tech community giving back more aggressively.”

As a native San Franciscan, he has reason to be invested in this place, and reason to call for change. Maybe some will listen. In fact, some of the biggest players may be starting to get the message.

Google’s $6.8 million donation to Free Muni For Youth may stall talks about permanent funding, City Hall insiders told us, but at least its heart seemed to be in the right place. Conway pledged to form working groups that may bring computer coding education into SFUSD schools, though no formal plans have been announced. Last week tech companies joined in the fight for Ellis Act eviction reform on the state level.

One of the organizers of the Tech Workers Against Displacement Happy Hour, Rolla Selbak, said she may host another one just like it, or help someone else do it. The demand is high.

Tech workers and activists expressed ardent interest in another night just like it on the group’s Facebook page. Others wrote into the San Francisco Chronicle to lambast its negative slant to the event, saying the event led to frank and honest discussions.

Though we spoke with her at some length, Selbak encapsulated the night best in a piece she wrote for the Huffington Post the day we went to press.

“By the end of the night, it was very apparent that the imaginary divide between fictional groups had melted, and we all saw each other as simply people, working together to bring change,” she wrote. “A tech worker and an activist walked into a bar… and it was awesome. You should try it, too.”

Crooked cops

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

2

steve@sfbg.com

It’s a bombshell police scandal befitting San Francisco’s restive mood, dropping at a time when simmering class tensions have been making national news, and one more example of how the poor are getting trammeled by those with power.

As politicians and tech titans were trying to make the gritty central city more welcoming to corporations and their workers three years ago, a half-dozen plain-clothed police officers were allegedly abusing poor people, illegally busting into their rooms, stealing anything that had value, forcing criminals to sell stolen drugs for them, and repeatedly telling lies in police reports.

When the targets of these abuses complained to the authorities, they were dismissed or ignored. Only when Public Defender Jeff Adachi and his investigators found and publicly revealed damning video surveillance from the targeted single-room occupancy hotels did federal authorities launch an investigation.

Adachi held press conferences in March and May of 2011 showing officers brutalizing SRO residents and leaving their rooms with laptops and other valuables that were never booked as evidence. When Greg Suhr was sworn in as police chief in April 2011, he put the officers on administrative duties, forced some to give up their weapons, changed department policies to deter cops from barging into people’s rooms without warrants or probable cause, and cooperated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the case.

That investigation resulted in federal grand jury indictments that were unsealed on Feb. 27, charging six SFPD cops with a variety of serious charges, including civil rights violations and conspiracies, theft, extortion, drug conspiracies, and falsification of records.

They are Officers Arshad Razzak, Richard Yick, and Raul Eric Elias, who worked in Southern Station, dealing with residents of SoMa SROs; and Sgt. Ian Furminger, Officer Edmond Robles, and Reynaldo Vargas (who Suhr says was dismissed from SFPD for unrelated reasons as the investigation got underway), who worked in Mission Station, where the drug conspiracy allegedly took place, on top of shakedowns in Mission District SROs.

All defendants are facing more than 20 years in prison (except Elias, who faces 10 years for civil rights conspiracy and one year for deprivation of rights under color of law). The Southern Station defendants are also facing $250,000 in fines. The Mission Station defendants face $1 million in fines on the drug conspiracy charges, which allegedly involved having informants sell a few pounds worth of marijuana seized by police.

Attorney Michael Rains, who represents Razzak and has been designated by the San Francisco Police Officers Association as a spokesperson for the others, told the Guardian that all the defendants had difficult undercover jobs in the murky world of informants and drug dealers.

“There was sloppiness in the reporting [in officials police reports], but sloppiness doesn’t rise to the level of criminal activity,” Rains told us, questioning the credibility of witnesses who have criminal records and the reliability and context of the video evidence.

But Suhr strongly condemned the behavior outlined in the criminal complaints, telling reporters that other SFPD officers connected to the case may still face disciplinary action and that, “My officers know I will not have dishonest cops among us.”

He called the indictments a serious blow to the SFPD, appearing to choke up with emotion.

“Our department is shaken,” Suhr, who has been with the SFPD more than 30 years, told reporters. “This is as serious a matter as I’ve ever encountered in the Police Department.”

Yet Suhr also distanced himself from scandal, telling reporters, “This conduct occurred before my time as chief.”

Most of the alleged crimes happened under former Police Chief and current District Attorney George Gascón shortly before he made that transition, one in which critics at the time raised concerns about whether he could be an effective watchdog of SFPD misconduct. That conflict of interest was what sent this case to the feds.

“It is extremely disappointing that the officers violated the trust of the community and tarnished the reputation of all the hard working men and women in uniform,” Gascón said in a press release.

During a brief press conference that afternoon, Gascón denied responsibility for the misconduct: “Anytime you have a large organization, you are going to have people who operate outside the boundaries of what is acceptable.”

Asked by the Guardian when he became aware of allegations that his officers were abusing SRO residents, he said, “We became aware at the same time everyone else did, when the videos came out.”

Gascón’s Press Secretary Alex Bastian cut the press availability off after 10 minutes so Gascón could prepare for his State of Public Safety speech that afternoon, but Bastian told the Guardian he would get answers to our questions about the office’s police accountability record.

“When appropriate, we ensure the integrity of the system is not compromised by referring cases to other prosecuting agencies. In the abundance of caution, when this case was brought to my attention, I referred the case to the federal authorities to safeguard a thorough investigation and guarantee maximum consequences,” Gascón said in a prepared response, while Bastian ignored our requests for more responsive answers to our questions.

But Adachi says these indictments are just the tip of the police misconduct iceberg, charging that police officers routinely lie in police reports and in court to justify illegal searches and other abuses of defendants who are poor or have drug problems, knowing that judges and juries tend to believe cops over criminals.

“The indictments today are a victory for ordinary San Franciscans,” Adachi told reporters, emphasizing that in addition to personally profiting from the shakedowns, these officers were also submitting false testimony in perhaps hundreds of cases, including about 100 that his office has gotten dismissed. “These allegations not only involve violations of the constitutional rights of our clients, but also lying on police records that were used to send individuals to prison based on the testimony of these officers.”

Residents and employees of the Henry Hotel, one of four SROs involved in this case, told the Guardian that the indictments are a rare repudiation of police mistreatment of SRO residents, which they say continues to the day.

“A lot of these people need help. They need guidance. They need a program. They need somebody to motivate them to go to their programs, not a fucking cop who keeps harassing them,” Jessie Demmings, a manager at the 132-room Henry Hotel on Sixth Street, told the Guardian. “They try to take that one step to go forward and then when you come outside you get greeted by a fucking cop having a bad day.”

Even though new SFPD policies prohibit officers from using passkeys to enter people’s rooms without a warrant, Demmings said it still happens. “The reason why we give the passkey is because they always threaten we’re gonna kick in the door, we gonna have a batting ram come and bust the door in,” he said.

Adachi cited his office’s long history of cases in which “officers were barging into rooms without warrants and they were lying about it in police reports.”

Cases of police abuse are handled by the city’s Office of Citizen Complaints, but its work is shrouded in secrecy, thanks to the California Peace Officers Bill of Rights, and officers rarely face serious consequences for their actions.

“We do have complaints with regard to the conduct within the SROs and we have made policy recommendations to the chief,” OCC Director Joyce Hicks told reporters at the SFPD press conference. She called the indictments “extra serious because it implicates the Fourth Amendment and people’s rights.”

Adachi said that after revealing the videos in 2011, he persuaded Mayor Ed Lee to fund two positions in his office investigating police misconduct, but the Mayor’s Office defunded those positions after a year and ignored Adachi’s calls to restore them (as well as Bay Guardian calls for comment on the issue).

“We felt like the public needs to know about this,” Adachi said of the behavior revealed by the federal investigation. “What happened today is significant, and I think it will have deterrent effect.”

Sabrina Rubakovic and Brian McMahon contributed to this report.

Neighborhood news hole

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

2

joe@sfbg.com

The San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner are the city’s largest mainstream newspapers, but their reporting staffs have been gutted by layoffs over the last couple decades, leaving hyperlocal blogs and community newspapers to fill the reporting gaps. But now it appears the hyperlocal blogs, a good source of neighborhood news, are also facing hard times.

A memo released last week revealed a striking split that could affect media coverage in the Mission District: hyperlocal news site Mission Local is being dropped by its main fiscal sponsor, the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

“It’s now time for Mission Local to take the next step and re-launch itself as an independent, stand-alone media operation,” J-School Dean Edward Wasserman wrote in a department-wide memo. “That means ending its role in the J-School’s curriculum.”

Mission Local is a journalism lab for the UC Berkeley graduate students, covering everything in the Mission District from the Tamale Lady to Google bus riders. It’s popular in the neighborhood, reaching as many as 100,000 unique visitors a month. In keeping with its locale, the website is available in English and Spanish.

The UC Berkeley graduate students serve as the site’s reporters and a little bit of everything else, from advertising sales to audience-building. That was a problem, Wasserman wrote.

“That’s not really what we do,” he wrote. “Those are specialized areas, and the J-School doesn’t have the instructional capacity to teach them to a Berkeley standard of excellence.”

But the main issue seems to be cost. “It’s an expensive undertaking,” he wrote. This and other hyperlocal sites were initially funded with grants from the Ford Foundation, but UC Berkeley started picking up the tab when they ran out, among other fundraising avenues.

Lydia Chavez, a professor at the J-School and the head of Mission Local, told the Guardian she disagreed with Wasserman’s decision, and with his reasoning.

“To be clear, I would have preferred to have Mission Local and the other hyper locals at the core of the school’s curriculum,” she said. And as for cost, she contests that Mission Local raised many funds on its own — Mission Local’s cost to UC Berkeley was minimal, she said.

But tales of Mission Local’s demise would be exaggerated. Alex Mullaney is the editor in chief of the Ingleside Light, a neighborhood paper in the Ingleside District. He speculated that Mission Local’s financial independence may thin out the staff, but it could help it find its footing editorially.

“I think it’s probably best for the publication,” Mullaney told us. “It could gain permanent staffers rather than students, who are fleeting.”

Mullaney’s paper is a testament to the power having a permanent presence in the neighborhood. Walking in the Ingleside district, he waves at shop owners he knows, and walking into The Ave Bar for him is like a homecoming, as bartenders and patrons alike give him warm, drunken hellos.

Most local papers are similarly embedded in their communities, sometimes leading to stories that are picked up by larger papers. The Ingleside Light was the first to report on the rise of Internet gambling cafes, and subsequent rise in crime, in the Excelsior. The Examiner later picked up the story, publishing the neighborhood’s plight to the city at large.

Eventually the SFPD moved in and broke up one of the largest gambling Internet cafes, Net Stop, a victory for the neighborhood.

It’s safe to say Mullaney has his thumb on the pulse of the Ingleside, but although he partners with City College and San Francisco State students, he has two stable freelancers.

Similarly entrenched in their neighborhood, the West Side Observer ran a column from Laguna Honda Hospital whistleblower Derek Kerr for years, who famously outed money scandals there. The Central City Extra in the Tenderloin continues to report on the conflicts and successes of Twitter’s new presence in the area.

Though neighborhood papers have always been part of the city, the past few years have seen a rise in financially independent hyperlocal neighborhood blogs, whose ranks Mission Local will now join. From Haighteration to Mission Mission, Richmond Blog SF to Castro Biscuit, they cover almost every nook and cranny of San Francisco. Even a Muni line has exclusive coverage in the form of the N-Judah Chronicles.

Roy McKenzie, 31, is a web developer who runs Castro Biscuit. Though the blog had humble beginnings, lately it’s taken on heavy stories such as Sup. Scott Wiener’s campaign funding, alleging he took big bucks from developers with interest in evicting tenants.

“When I wrote that I thought I’d get some blowback. The money is dirty not in that it’s being laundered, but it’s tied to people who are tainted through evictions,” McKenzie said. Castro Biscuit first took off with his early and extensive coverage of the Castro nudist controversy. McKenzie says he covers stories he feels will be on everyone’s lips, which he susses out through his love of the Castro.

“This is my neighborhood, I live here, and it’s more interesting than you think,” he said.

Mission Local does the same. It spent over a year fact checking the Chronicle’s coverage of Mission vacancies, exploring the arguments for and against opening a new outlet of the chain American Apparel in the neighborhood.

Castro Biscuit though isn’t McKenzie’s main job, but a hobby, he said, which doesn’t spell financial wonders for Mission Local.

Perhaps a better comparison would be the Mission’s El Tecolote, which fundraises through its parent nonprofit, Accion Latina. It holds art gallery openings, fundraisers, and parties throughout the Mission, and even in the backyard patio of its newsroom on 24th street.

Chavez reported nationally for The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, but feels equally protective of the Mission neighborhood as McKenzie does of the Castro. She told us she isn’t willing to walk away from Mission Local despite any funding challenges.

“The Mission is now ground zero for so much that is happening in the city and the country that if I walked away from it now,” she told the Guardian, “it would be like walking away from a terrific story.”

Create more police accountability

Michael Redmond

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March 4, 2014

26

EDITORIAL

“Our department is shaken,” Police Chief Greg Suhr said last week when federal indictments of six cops who had been menacing and taking advantage of poor people were unsealed (see “Crooked cops,” page 13). But it was stirring for those of us who believe in social justice and government transparency to finally see action taken, three years after seeing damning video footage of cops stealing the few belongings that some people have.

Too often, widely witnessed cases of police misconduct simply slip into a black hole, shielded from public accountability by the overly broad Peace Officers Bill of Rights, which protects even the most egregious serial offenders from responsibility for their actions.

Suhr said other cops will face disciplinary action for connections to or awareness of the indicted crimes, and the ongoing investigation will go wherever it leads — but not into the command staff, as Suhr definitively said in response to a direct question from the Guardian. That’s not good enough.

District Attorney George Gascón — who was police chief during many of the crimes — and his commanders need to be asked the classic cover-up question: What did you know and when did you know it? Because Gascón’s answer to us that he learned of problems in the SROs only when Public Defender Jeff Adachi released the videos just doesn’t ring true.

Police mistreatment of single-occupancy hotels and other poor people has been well-known. It’s been going on for years, and it continues to this day — as our reporters found from simply asking around at the Henry Hotel. We’re happy with Suhr’s reforms of SRO procedures and his decision to place cameras on more cops, but that doesn’t solve the police accountability problem.

City leaders have chosen to funnel tech firms into the poorest parts of town, with the unseemly encouragement of attorney and political climber Randy Shaw, whose Tenderloin Housing Clinic runs many SROs under city contracts. And it’s been done with increased police pressure on the poor, including a new police substation built to appease and entice Twitter.

Those of us who criticized the decision to make the top cop into the top prosecutor were right that it would compromise police accountability efforts, which are almost non-existent in today’s District Attorney’s Office, even as the city aggressively works to “clean up” the Tenderloin and parts of town with high concentrations of poor people, such as 16th and Mission.

Adachi has been the hero behind these indictments, and he needs to be rewarded by the Mayor’s Office with more funding for the police accountability unit he seeks. We can’t wait three years for the feds to bring our crooked cops to justice in every case. If the DA’s Office can’t or won’t hold officers accountable, then the city should help the Public Defenders Office play that role. The overworked Office of Citizen Complaints should also get more funding from the city’s current budget surplus.

This city has broken trust with the people who need its help the most, and it’s time to repair that damage.