Today’s look: Aris, Mission and Third Street
Tell us about your look: “Be yourself.”
Mission
D5 candidates and constituents scrutinize Olague
San Francisco’s political lines are in the process of being redrawn. That’s true literally, with the current reconstitution of legislative districts based on the latest census, but it’s also true figuratively: old alliances based on identity and ideology are being replaced with uncertain new political dynamics. And nowhere is that more true than in District 5.
In a recent Guardian, we explored the implications of Sup. Christina Olague’s dual (and potentially dueling) loyalties between Mayor Ed Lee, who appointed her to the job, and the progressive political community with which Olague has long identified. Those seemed to play out yesterday when Olague bucked progressives to be the sixth co-sponsor of Sup. Mark Farrell’s proposed charter amendment to repeal ranked-choice voting for citywide offices.
Already, many of her progressive constituents – even those who have strongly supported her – have been privately grumbling that Olague hasn’t been accessible and expressing doubts about her ability to lead one of the city’s most progressive districts. Olague, who initially returned our calls immediately but said she’d have to get back to us about supporting Farrell’s legislation (I’ll add an update if/when she calls back), adamantly denied that she’s had a slow start.
“We’ve been working with constituents constantly,” she said, rattling off a list of nightly meetings. “I’m in the community all the time, getting coffee with folks…We’re working on multiple issues here.”
Michael O’Connor – who owns The Independent and other businesses and who ran in D5 in 2004 and may run again this year – supports Olague but questions the conventional wisdom that her progressive roots and mayoral support make her a lock for reelection this year.
“Olague is an awesome person and she would be a great supervisor in District 9,” O’Connor said, citing her strong ties to the Mission District and work with the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition. “But she’s very beatable in D5 because she doesn’t have the deep connections to the community.”
That’s a belief that is shared by others, including London Breed – the executive director of the African American Art & Cultural Center for the last 10 years – who jumped into the race last week and threatened to cut into Olague’s support among Mayor Lee’s supporters.
With Attorney General Kamala Harris and other Lee supporters by her side, Breed cast herself as a more authentic and grassroots representative for the district where she was raised. Or as Harris said, “London understands the challenges and strengths of the district. She is, bar none, the best voice for District 5.”
Left unsaid was the split that her candidacy created among supporters of Lee, whose ascension to Room 200 was engineered largely by former mayor Willie Brown and Chinatown power broker Rose Pak. Brown (along with some of the city’s most influential African American ministers) strongly backed Breed for the D5 appointment, while Pak wanted her ally Malcolm Yeung, although she reportedly got behind Olague in the end.
Breed told us that she was supportive of Olague and that “I’ve been adamant about people giving her a chance and working with her.” But she said that it’s already become “clear that she just doesn’t have what it takes and was probably not going to get there,” based on “the feedback and phone calls I got with the experience people had in meeting her.”
“She’s familiar with planning, but not necessarily with the neighborhood and all its community groups,” Breed said. As for crossing Mayor Lee with her decision to run, Breed told us, “This was a hard decision for me to make because I work with many of these people and have good relationship with him.”
Progressive D5 candidates, such as City College Board President John Rizzo, are waiting to take advantage of votes on which Olague breaks with the progressives to carry water for the mayor. As he told us, “The mayor doesn’t get to make this decision, it’s the voters of this district that will decide.”
Like Breed, Rizzo also emphasized his long ties to the district. “I respect Christina and like Christina, but my connections are very deep,” he said, citing his 26 years of living and working as an environmental activist in the district. “I have a record of going out and taking the initiative and making things happen.”
Thea Selby, president of the Lower Haight Merchants and Neighbors Association, has also been running an active campaign for the D5 job, including highlighting Olague’s split loyalties. “She literally switched camps to help chair the Run Ed Run committee,” she told us. Julian Davis, who ran for D5 supervisor in 2004 and has been rumored to be mulling another run, said that it’s disconcerting just how many elected officials in San Francisco started off with the advantage of being appointed to the office: “It’s not participatory democracy the way we envision it.”
Selby and others will be closely watching how Olague votes this year, and trying to differentiate when those votes are significant (such as being the swing vote to place the challenge to RCV on the ballot) or not (including Olague’s early vote to override Lee’s veto, which fell two votes short of the eight needed). “We need to look and see how she votes on things – and when it matters and when it doesn’t,” Selby said.
Yet already, even before the really big and controversial votes like the upcoming 8 Washington and CPMC projects, Olague is feeling the polar tugs on issues such as bicycling. Many bike advocates are mad that Lee has delayed promised bike lanes on Oak Street and with a rash of tickets that cyclists on the Wiggle have received.
“I’ve long been an advocate of biking, but I know there are issues related to parking in the neighborhood,” Olague told us, straddling the issue. “Parking for some reason is a very controversial issue in the city.”
And where does she come down on the stepped up enforcement of bikes rolling stop signs on the Wiggle? “I want to sit down with the Bike Coalition and see what they think,” Olague said.
Meanwhile, Breed – who is widely considered a political moderate, which could cause her problems winning in D5 – is also trying to position herself as more independent than Olague. “I’m about being progressive,” she told us, citing her recent hiring of a case worker at the AAACC to help young African Americans work through barriers to success. “To me, that’s what being progressive is.”
Breed readily acknowledged her early political support from Brown, who appointed her to the Redevelopment Commission when he was mayor, but said that she would still take a tough stand against Lennar and other developers to ensure the needs of current San Franciscans are being met by new projects.
“I’ve told people, this does not mean you have my support,” Breed said of her political contributors and her support of Lennar’s massive redevelopment of the southeast part of the city. “As my grandmother used to say, all money ain’t good money.”
On Breed’s entrance into the race, Olague told us, “It was expected, so I’m not surprised.” Olague said that she’s begun to set up her election campaign, but that most of her focus has been on getting up to speed at City Hall and in D5: “I’m just trying to focus on the work of the district.”
Against the grain
marke@sfbg.com
MUSIC It began as a burbling “Eeep!” It was June 7, 2000; we were in Davies Symphony Hall, in the middle of the second movement of Charles Ives’ super-intense Symphony No. 4 from 1910-1916. Yet despite the whirling maelstrom of that work — imagine three Fourth of Julys at once, in which a vast orchestra overlaps itself with marching band themes, spirituals, dance hall ditties, and children’s songs — I could still make out curious sounds coming from the audience behind me. Soon onlookers were shouting out nonsense; one down our row jumped up from his seat. For my part, I felt my shoulders twitch involuntarily, and my partner let out a loud hee-haw guffaw. The memory-triggering dissonance, expertly transmitted through conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, was having a spazzifying physical effect, making us active participants in Ives’ chaotic Main Street Parade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYvWwI6YRsE
San Francisco has never lacked for excellent performances of works still often classified as “contemporary classical,” despite many being a century old. But the first American Mavericks festival, more than a decade ago, did much to elevate San Francisco’s status in the cultural world at large. We were at the very edge of the tech bubble, a maverick cultural achievement of its own, of course. Yet not much bold, native art had risen in response to all that “future now” attention and money. The much-hyped Mission School visual art movement was in its infancy, and concerned more with hermetic understatement than Bay reppin’ (a nice answer, in its way, to Web 1.0 bombast). Native dance music forms like turntablism and dirty breaks were being superseded by bland lounge house, hyphy was only hatching, Green Day was over, and literature hadn’t yet been Eggered and Chaboned.
The SF Symphony is justly famed for its impeccably polished sound and MTT’s cheeky programs pairing classical comfort food with spunky aperitifs. But American Mavericks was pretty damned ballsy for a major symphony — almost a month’s worth of edgy, attention-grabbing, well-funded gems from 20th century composers like Ruth Crawford Seeger, George Antheil, Meredith Monk, Duke Ellington, Steve Reich, Frank Zappa, Lukas Foss, and a dozen more. There was a plethora of symphonic reconfigurations and unique instrumentations: an extra brass section blared from the basement for the Ives symphony; audience members brought their own instruments to play along with Terry Riley’s ecstatic “In C.” At a very materialistic moment, American Mavericks illuminated the wild-eared, transcendentalist spirit of native music while showing the world that SF still had a huge, unfettered freak flag to fly.
American Mavericks is back Thu/8-Sun/18, this time spreading its wings to include Symphony stops in Chicago, Ann Arbor, and Carnegie Hall. And while some have bemoaned fewer and somewhat less ambitious performances on the whole (we’re in a recession, after all), there are plenty of pieces to jump up and shout about.
Ives returns, this time with astonishing masterpiece A Concord Symphony — I always hear crisp leaves crunch beneath my mental feet when this is played. Profoundly quirky enchantress Meredith Monk is back as well: in a coup of idiosyncrasy, she’ll be singing John Cage’s Song Books with magnificent diva Jessye Norman and experimental champion Joan La Barbara. Later, Hometown hero John Adams will premiere a new work, Absolute Jest, as will local techno-influenced composer Mason Bates, with “Mass Transmission.” There’s loads more packed into a mere 10 days, including pieces from Oakland instrument-inventor Harry Partch, San Francisco Tape Music Center founder Morton Subotnick, and Bay Area indigenous music devotee Lou Harrison.
Will it have the same cultural impact? Here we are back in an overconfident tech bubble — and once again our total cultural output seems a bit, well, blah. An irony of the social media onslaught is that all this personal expression seems to be quashing true individuality. So we’re having a materialist and conformist moment. A good dose of musical eccentricity from old school visionaries/crazies who turned their backs on the rat race might just do us a world of good. Here’s to more “Eeeps!” among the bleeps.
AMERCAN MAVERICKS FESTIVAL
Thu/8-Sun/18, various prices and times
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, SF.
(415) 864-6000
Rep Clock
Schedules are for Wed/7-Tues/13 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double features are marked with a •. All times p.m. unless otherwise specified.
BAY THEATER Aquarium of the Bay, Embarcadero at Beach, SF; www.oceanfilmfestival.org. $8-12. “San Francisco Ocean Film Festival,” films about and inspired by the oceans, Thurs-Sun.
BERKELEY FELLOWSHIP OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS 1924 Cedar, SF; www.wesurge.org. “Social Uprising, Resistance, and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.) Film Festival,” social justice films and script readings, Thurs, 7-11.
CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $7.50-10. •Manhattan (Allen, 1979), Wed, 3, 7, and Welcome to L.A. (Rudolph, 1976), Wed, 4:55, 8:55. San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, Thurs and Sun. For tickets and program info, visit www.caamedia.org. “Midnites for Maniacs: Grunge Love Triple Bill:” •Reality Bites (Stiller, 1994), Fri, 7:15; My Own Private Idaho (Van Sant, 1991), Fri, 9:30; and Freeway (Bright, 1996), Fri, 11:30. Triple-feature, $12. Children of Paradise (Carné, 1946), Sat, 2:30, 7:30. My Week with Marilyn (Curtis, 2011), Tues, 2:30, 4:45, 7, 9:10.
CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.75-10.25. Chico and Rita (Trueba, 2010), call for dates and times. Crazy Horse (Wiseman, 2011), call for dates and times. “2012 Oscar Nominated Short Films,” narrative and documentary (separate admission), call for dates and times.
ELMWOOD 10070 San Pablo, El Cerrito; www.rialtocinemas.com. Free. “Community Cinema:” Revenge of the Electric Car (Paine, 2011), Wed, 7.
PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. “Film 50: History of Cinema, Film, and the Other Arts:” Throne of Blood (Kurosawa, 1957), Wed, 3:10. With lecture by Marilyn Fabe. “Documentary Voices:” Le Quattro Volte (Frammartino, 2010), Wed, 7. “Dark Past: Film Noir by German Emigrés:” High Wall (Bernhardt, 1948), Thurs, 7. San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, Fri-Sun. For tickets and program info, visit www.caamedia.org. “Howard Hawks: The Measure of Man:” The Big Sleep (1945), Tues, 7.
PALACE OF FINE ARTS 3301 Lyon, SF; rei.com/sanfrancisco. $20. REI presents films from the Banff Mountain Film Festival, Wed-Thurs, 7-10. Proceeds benefit GirlVentures.
ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-10. Straight Outta Hunters Point 2 (Epps, 2012), Wed-Thurs, 7. Pariah (Rees, 2011), Wed-Thurs, 8:45. “Hollywood Before the Code: Nasty-Ass Films for a Nasty-Ass World!:” •The Story of Temple Drake (Roberts, 1933), Wed, 6:30, 9:45, and Call Her Savage (Dillon, 1932), Wed, 8; •The Black Cat (Ulmer, 1934), Thurs, 6:40, 9:45, and Kongo (Cowan, 1932), Thurs, 8. Lou Harrison: A World of Music (Sotes, 2012), March 9-15, 7, 8:50 (also Sat-Sun, 3:15, 5).
SF FILM SOCIETY CINEMA 1746 Post, SF. “San Francisco Green Film Festival,” features and shorts with environmental themes, Wed. This event, $10-50; more info at www.sfgreenfilmfest.org.
YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org. $6-8. “Human Rights Watch Film Festival:” Better This World (Galloway and Duane de la Vega, 2011), Thurs, 7:30. San Francisco Cinematheque presents: “Jaap Blonk: Soundtracks, Scores, Interactive Animations, ” Fri, 7:30. This event, $10.
Our Weekly Picks: March 7-13
WEDNESDAY 7
Swahili Search for the words “Swahili” and “band” on YouTube and you could easily get lost in a deluge of traditional Kenyan music. But refine your query a bit to the emerging Portland, Ore. band by that name and you’ll find something that is more of a psychedelic trip than a geographical one. Sure, the polyrhythms are there, along with generally obscured lyrics that could be a foreign language, but listen to the other elements, and you’ll here the sounds of other territories — including The Grid, as the ominous synths on slow, pounding track “Fallout” could have fit right in with Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy soundtrack. (Ryan Prendiville)
With Blonde Stranger, Feelings
9 p.m., $6
Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk, SF
(415) 923-0923
Spilt Milk One-Year Anniversary
What up, local bass and techno scene? The Bay’s gotten such an influx of touring DJs and international guests in the past couple years that we sometimes overlook the talent in our own community garden plot. Namely, Berkeley’s got a nice scene going, cute and scruffy around the edges with a nice, deep thrust. For its first anniversary, weekly Wednesday party Spilt Milk showcases Berkeley’s ace Mother Records head honcho Mountaincount, along with labelmates King’s Ransom and Taylor Fife. Add on deliciously dark SF synth duo Pixel Memory, nu disco-house Epicsauce DJs, and zany hyphy-house skullsmashers WACK RAPS — there’s no need to cry, baby, except with hometown pride.
8:30 p.m., free
Milk
1840 Haight, SF
(415) 387-6455
THURSDAY 8
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
What makes the Flecktones the Flecktones? Bassist Victor Wooten recently suggested that it has something to do with how “we’ve all been considered crazy when relating to our instruments.” Yes, these men are passionate, insanely talented musicians who’ve created their own brand of bluegrassy jazz, an enormous fan base, and a musical instrument or two (e.g. Victor’s brother, Future Man’s drum-guitar hybrid, the drumitar). The group’s been playing since 1988, but before Rocket Science (released last May), the original foursome of Bela Fleck, Howard Levy, Victor Wooten, and Roy “Future Man” Wooten hadn’t gotten together to create new material since the early ’90s. Although their current tour has been coined a “reunion tour,” Fleck has stressed that it’s more about performing new pieces than wallowing in nostalgia. (Mia Sullivan)
8 p.m., $32.50–$45
Regency Ballroom
1290 Sutter, SF
(888) 929-7849
“Living in Studio Kuchar”
Every once in awhile, the Oscar telecast sprinkles a little unexpected joy into its “In Memoriam” montage. Chances are more than a few San Francisco film fans, and experimental cinema junkies worldwide, were gasping with delight at the recent inclusion of the late, great George Kuchar alongside mainstream mourn-ees like Whitney and La Liz. Kuchar’s contributions to film art will never be forgotten; now, here’s an outstanding opportunity to further commemorate his life and work: an exhibit of his films, videos, drawings, writing, and more, plus a campus-wide celebration (tributes, lectures, screenings) honoring the legacy of one of the San Francisco Art Institute’s most beloved (and proudly perverse) instructors. (Cheryl Eddy)
Opening reception (5:30-7:30 p.m.) and celebration (7:30 p.m.-midnight) tonight; exhibit through April 21
Walter and McBean Galleries
San Francisco Art Institute
800 Chestnut, SF
FRIDAY 9
Tall Ships Visit SF
Avast, me hearties! It’s time to weigh anchor, raise the mainsail, and discover a sense of adventure and exploration through maritime history. Two special tall ships will be making port in the city this week for walk-on tours, educational programs, and a series of sailing trips navigating through San Francisco Bay. The Lady Washington, a wooden-hulled replica of a Revolutionary War-era privateer, and Hawaiian Chieftain, a steel-hulled version of an early 19th century trading vessel, are outstanding examples of the majestic ships that once filled the oceans. Don’t miss your chance to take the helm, sing a shanty, and travel back in time, landlubber! (Sean McCourt)
Tours and sail times vary; see website for schedule, $3–$35.
Pier 40, SF
(800) 200-5239
“Waters Rising”
When seen at last year’s West Wave Festival, Brittany Ceres Brown’s “Columbia Chasing” shone with its finely articulated, fluid yet resilient choreography. She is bringing the quintet back on a mixed bill with Becca Rozell’s “A Triplet Tale,” inspired by the French animation comedy The Triplets of Belleville and, on a more serious note, Andrea Weber’s “Synchronicity & the Sacred Space.” There Weber examines the collision of perception and reality, with the help of writings by storyteller-traveler Jon Turk. Ceres Brown knows about programming. Before turning to choreographing full-time a few years ago, she worked for West Wave. I trust her sense of what we might like to watch. (Rita Felciano)
Fri/9-Sat/10, 8 p.m.; Sun/11, 5 p.m., $18
Dance Mission Theater
3316 24th St., SF
(415) 273-4633
TOKiMONSTA
Once Jennifer Lee traded piano melodies for laptop synths, she became TOKiMONSTA, a pioneer in the Los Angeles beats movement popularized recently in the Bay by regular Low End Theory parties. After joining Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder crew, TOKi launched perhaps her most compelling work yet last year, the seven-track Creature Dreams EP (Brainfeeder). Creature keeps TOKi’s expected warm electronic soundscapes but strays from a completely digital feel. Gavin Turek’s soulful croon complements some harp strumming on the track “Darkest (Dim)” while guitar and piano samples throughout the EP hint at new avenues of musical exploration. (Kevin Lee)
With DiBia$e, Knxwledge, and the Flying Skulls
10 p.m., $20
Yoshi’s Lounge
1330 Fillmore, SF
(415) 655-5600
SATURDAY 10
World Naked Bike Ride
San Francisco, it is our cardinal duty to uphold our hard-won reputation as Gomorrah. This is not as easy as it would at first appear! New Orleans, Austin, and Novato froth at the mouth to unseat us as the country’s most debaucherous, debased metropolis. We must do our part to stay at number one. That being said: World Naked Bike Ride. Fox News waits with baited breath to gasp at clips of this worldwide event, organized in 70 cities, 20 countries, and right here in downtown Freakville as a potent protest against our overusage of fossil fuels. Bring body paint and baby wipes, and do not tag the photos on Facebook. (Caitlin Donohue)
11 a.m.-4 p.m., free
Justin Herman Plaza
Market and Embarcadero, SF
Facebook: World Naked Bike Ride San Francisco
“Kala Art Institute Celebrates Lawrence Ferlinghetti”
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, co-founder of City Lights Booksellers and Publishers, is a poet and artist whose work is imbued with the beauty of the commonplace and reflects on social and political issues. “Lawrence Ferlinghetti — Out of Chaos” is a portfolio that showcases Ferlinghetti’s original artwork and poetry in a five-page suite style. It includes three original, signed black-and-white lithographs, and a cover page with poem and a colophon both printed letterpress and hand-printed on Rive BFK paper. Come meet the Beat Generation’s favorite publisher this Saturday for a reception celebrating the timeless significance of literature and art (Soojin Chang)
4-6 p.m. reception, free.
Kala Gallery
2990 San Pablo, Berk.
(510) 841-7000
SATURDAY 10
Slow Club
As far as album openers go, “Two Cousins” from Slow Club’s album Paradise was an especially good one. A pair of voices quietly harmonize a few syllables and at :06, even before a single piano note plays or the slow drum beat comes in, you’re captivated. Worst case scenario is that a track like that will overshadow the rest of the album, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for the UK duo of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor who create sublime indie, soul, and folk sounds with little more than guitars, odd objects to drum on, and of course, those two voices. (Prendiville)
With Signals, Y La Bamba
9 p.m., $9–$12
Brick and Mortar Music Hall
1710 Mission, SF
(415) 800-8782
SUNDAY 11
Choir of Young Believers
Led by Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, Choir of Young Believers is an orchestral pop group that’s frequently cited as being the equivalent to Fleet Foxes in Denmark. Now a fully fleshed out band (with eight members at last count), the group is set to release its sophomore album, Rhine Gold, on March 20 from Ghostly International. Rhine carries on the forward trajectory of sincere, emotionally grand pop established with by 2009’s debut This Is for the White in Your Eyes, while still showcasing an ever-expansive number of influences, from the Tears for Fears callback on “Patricia’s Thirst” to the Neu! beat on “Paralyse.” (Prendiville)
With Lime Colony
9 p.m., $12
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St., SF
(415) 621-4455
MONDAY 12
The Joy Formidable
The Joy Formidable’s sound is difficult to encapsulate in a phrase, but it brings to mind ’90s alternative rock; and it’s engulfing. Lead vocalist-guitarist Ritzy Bryan throws down heavy guitar riffs while flying through foreboding lyrics that focus on time, loss, pain, and the past. This Welsh trio released its debut album, The Big Roar, last year and proceeded to take the stage at major American music festivals including SXSW, Coachella, Lollapalooza, and our own Outside Lands. Bryan, bassist Rhydian Dafydd, and drummer Matt Thomas possess major punch and playful chemistry on stage and make frequent attempts at bringing audiences into their merriment. (Sullivan)
With A Place to Bury Strangers
Through Tues/13, 8 p.m., $20
Independent
628 Divisadero, SF
(415) 771-1421
TUESDAY 13
Memoryhouse
At first glance, it’s tempting to write off Ontario-based dream pop duo Memoryhouse as another Tumblr-ready, sepia-toned Instagram shot — visually appealing perhaps, but vacuous and ephemeral. But if you look beyond the group’s washed out aesthetic, you’ll find that its work can’t be recreated with an iPhone app. The group’s two releases — the stunning independent debut EP The Years (2010) and its recently-released debut LP The Slideshow Effect — are full of sleepy, sonic depth, driven by vocalist Denise Nouvion and composer/multi-instrumentalist Evan Abeele’s palpable partnership. Abeele crafts delicate, layered arrangements that expertly frame Nouvion’s effortless cool, resulting in affecting work that will burrow into your being in a way that is a million miles away from the throwaway photos that clog our timeline. (Daniel Alvarez)
With James and Evander, Sister Crayon
8 p.m., $12
Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell, SF
(415) 861-2011
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Stage Listings
Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, and Nicole Gluckstern. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.
THEATER
OPENING
“Celebration of Women’s History Month” Thick House, 1695 18th St, SF; www.3girlstheatre.org. $30. Opens Thurs/8, 7:30pm. Dates and showtimes vary. Through April 1. 3Girls Theatre Company launches its inaugural season with a celebration of new works (in both full-production and staged-reading form) by female Bay Area playwrights.
It’s All the Rage Studio Theater, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Opens Thurs/8, 8pm. Runs Thurs, 8pm; Sat, 8:30pm, Sun, 7pm. Through April 15. Longtime comedian and radio host Marilyn Pittman’s solo play wrestles with the legacy of her parents’ violent deaths in a 1997 murder-suicide initiated by her father. It’s disturbing material that Pittman, a stout middle-aged woman with a gregarious and bounding personality, approaches indirectly via a good deal of humor — including recounting the first time she did her growing-up-lesbian bit before her mother in a DC comedy club. But the pain and confusion trailing her for 13 years is never far behind, whether in accounts of her own battle with anger (and the broken relationships it has left in its wake) or in ominous memories of her too complaisant mother or her charming but domineering father, whose controlling behavior extended to casually announcing murderous dreams while policing the boundaries of his marriage against family interference. A fine mimic, Pittman deploys a Southern lilt in playing each parent, on a stage decorated with a hint of their Southwestern furnishings and a framed set of parental photographs. In not exactly knowing where to lay blame for, or find meaning in, such a horrifying act, the play itself mimics in subtler form the emotional tumult left behind. There’s a too brief but eerie scene in which her veteran father makes reference to a murder among fellow soldiers en route to war, but while PTSD is mentioned (including as an unwanted patrimony), the 60-minute narrative crafted by Pittman and director David Ford wisely eschews any pat explanation. If transitions are occasionally awkward and the pace a bit loose, the play leaves one with an uncomfortable sense of the darker aspects of love, mingled with vague concentric histories of trauma and dislocation in a weird, sad tale of destruction and staying power. Note: review from the show’s 2009 run at the Marsh. (Avila)
Julius Caesar Buriel Clay Theater, African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton, SF; 1-800-838-3006, www.african-americanshakes.org. $10-30. Opens Sat/10, 8pm. Runs Sat, 8pm; Sun, 4pm. Through April 1. African-American Shakespeare Company performs a version of the Bard’s classic set during the ongoing civil wars of West Africa.
BAY AREA
Now Circa Then Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield, Palo Alto; (650) 463-1960, www.theatreworks.org. $19-69. Previews Wed/7-Fri/9, 8pm. Opens Sat/10, 8pm. Runs Tues-Wed, 7:30pm; Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through April 1. TheatreWorks performs Carly Mensch’s comedy about a romance that blooms between two historical re-enactors.
ONGOING
*Blue/Orange Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 450 Post, SF; (415) 474-8800, www.lhtsf.org. $43-53. Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm). Through March 18. Lorraine Hansberry Theater offers an uneven but worthwhile production of British playwright Joe Penhall’s sardonic comedy of ideas and institutional racism, an intriguingly frustrating three-hander about a young doctor (a bright Dan Clegg) at a psychiatric teaching hospital who begins a battle royal with his suave and pompous supervising physician (a comically nimble Julian Lopez-Morillas) over the release of a questionably-sane black patient. Originally brought in by police for creating a disturbance, Christopher (the excellent Carl Lumbly) still exhibits signs of psychosis and his ability to care for himself seems doubtful to the young doctor treating him. The older physician appeals to the patient’s general competence, hospital procedures, the shortage of beds, and the exigencies of career advancement in countering the younger doctor’s insistence on keeping the patient beyond the mandatory 28-day period required by law. For his part, Christopher, nervous and rather manic, is at first desperately eager to be released back to his poor London neighborhood. Competing interviews with the two doctors complicate his perspective and ours repeatedly, however, as a heated debate about medicine, institutionalization, cultural antecedents to mental “illness,” career arcs, and a “cure for black psychosis,” leave everyone’s sanity in doubt. Although our attention can be distracted by a too-pervading sound design and less than perfect British accents, Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe directs a strong and engaging cast in a politically resonant not to say increasingly maddening play. (Avila)
*Fool For Love Boxcar Studios, 125A Hyde, SF; www.boxcartheatre.org. $25. Showtimes vary. Through April 14. Another installment of Boxcar Theatre’s epic Sam Shepard repertory project, Fool for Love inaugurates their newest performance space within their Hyde Street Studios location. A depressingly realistic reproduction of a claustrophobic motel room, the tiny jewel-box theatre provides no refuge for the actors, and certainly not for the audience, each trapped beneath the pitiless gaze of the other. And if that too-close-for-comfort intimacy doesn’t get to you, the intentionally difficult subject matter — a “typical” Shepardian foray into alcohol-fueled ranting, violence, incest, and casual cruelty — probably will. Shepard’s strength in monologue shows itself off to meaty effect from May’s (Lauren Doucette) melancholy description of her mother’s love affair with the Old Man (Jeff Garrett) to Eddie’s (Brian Trybom) candid admittance to May’s timid suitor Martin (Geoffrey Nolan) that he and May are not cousins at all but half-siblings who have “fooled around” with each other. In addition to the reliably strong performances from each of the actors, Fool features a notably clever bit of staging involving the Old Man who appears not as a specter wandering the periphery of the stage, but as a recurring figure on the black-and-white television, interrupting the flow of cheesy Westerns with his garrulous trailer park wisdom and an omnipresent Styrofoam cup filled, one suspects, with something stronger than just coffee. (Gluckstern)
Geezer Marsh San Francisco, MainStage, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $25-100. Thurs and Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through March 18. Geoff Hoyle’s hit solo show returns.
Glengarry Glen Ross Actors Theatre of San Francisco, 855 Bush, SF; (415) 345-1287, www.brownpapertickets.com. $26-40. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through March 24. David Mamet’s cutthroat comedy, courtesy of the Actors Theatre of San Francisco.
Maurice New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; (415) 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 25. New Conservatory Theatre Center presents a play about two young men who fall in love in pre-World War I England, adapted from E.M. Forster’s novel.
Merchants Exit Stage Left, 156 Eddy, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $10-25. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through March 24. No Nude Men Productions performs Susan Sobeloff’s tale of two sisters trying to balance financial stability and career satisfaction.
The Real Americans Marsh Studio Theater, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $25-50. Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 18. Dan Hoyle revives his hit solo show about small-town America.
Scorched American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary, SF; (415) 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. $10-85. Wed/7-Sat/10, 8pm; Wed/7, Sat/10-Sun/11, 2pm. Lebanese-Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad bites off a little more than he can chew, and ACT thus offers a less than satisfying three-hour feast with its stilted production of Mouawad’s 2008 epic about a brother and sister (Babak Tafti and Annie Purcell) sent by their estranged, recently deceased mother’s executor (David Strathairn) on a hunt for her past in her unnamed civil war-torn Middle Eastern homeland. At that point, the story of their mother, Nawal (Marjan Neshat), comes center stage — or rather crisscrosses it with that of her children in a mash-up that only undercuts the potential tension or interest in either plot strand. Director Carey Perloff’s cast also proves unevenly compelling. Strathairn’s Alphonse is a compassionate, slyly wise man who nervously rambles to make up for the extremely laconic and resentful mood of Nawal’s children. But he is of peripheral importance, and his malapropisms are laid on a little thicker than his endearing Quebecois accent, as if betraying the limits of his function onstage. The other characters meanwhile feel too thinly sketched to occupy the middle. As the sad and horrifying details of this Sophocles-inspired tale unfold, there is surprisingly little sense of authentic experience, and much more the feeling of over-indulgence it certain dramatic devices. Between the sententious and ponderous dialogue, strained characterization, and unwieldy storyline is a play flailing away at something beyond its ken or capacity. (Avila)
*Three’s Company Finn’s Funhouse, 814 Grove, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $20. Fri/9-Sat/10, 9pm (also Sat/10, 7pm). Some flashbacks are better than the original high. And more real. This time, you can literally “knock on their door” — a beautiful old Victorian in the Western Addition, whose dining room is made up to look like the Santa Monica apartment shared by Jack, Crissy, and Janet, the happy-go-lucky trio at the center of the iconic late ’70s, early ’80s sitcom. Giggly, ribald, and pleasingly stupid, to be sure, the evening also delivers first-class showmanship: Mike Finn (as good-natured goof Jack), D’Arcy Drollinger (as a buxom not to say brawny Chrissy), and former Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin (in a spritely turn as Janet) couldn’t be more reminiscent or delightfully arch in their respective roles. Meanwhile, incarnating the Ropers with pitch-perfect inflections, timing, kaftans and sweater vests are the superb duo of Matthew Martin (channeling the frustrated deadpan wit of Mrs. Roper) and Sara Moore (excelling as subdued but occasionally very wacky Mr. Roper). A ticket gets you pilot episode “Man About the House” and “Roper’s Niece” (a suitably randy Laurie Bushman) — plus commercials. Cat Fight and Shoulder Pads’ homey hit, briskly directed by Cindy Goldfield and extended for one more weekend, is must-see reality TV. (Avila)
Tontlawald Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, SF; (415) 525-1205, www.cuttingball.com. $10-50. Thurs/8, 7:30pm; Fri/9-Sat/10, 8pm (also Sat/10, 2pm); Sun/11, 5pm. Entering the theater space thought the back door, squeezing alongside a giant fishing net motif, which wraps the entire stage in a fabric grid, almost imperceptibly skews one’s perspective in advance of the show, just a brief twist that sets the tone for this abbreviated epic of abuse, friendship, and revenge. The heroine, an earthy yet somehow fragile maid (Marilet Martinez), inadvertently manages to rile her evil stepmother (Madeline H. D. Brown) for what seems to be the umpteenth time before fleeing into the mysterious wooded Tontlawald, inhabited by joyously frolicking beasts (or boys) and a preternaturally beautiful princess (Rebecca Frank) who immediately adopts her as a friend. Told through snatches of repetitive text, solemnly-intoned and ecstatically sung, and moments of engagingly acrobatic, hyper-stylized movement, Cutting Ball’s Tontlawald meanders through an Estonian fairy tale-hero’s quest, as if told from the perspective of the child protagonist — light on detail, heavy on drama. Inspired by TeatrZAR, the resident company of Poland’s Grotowski Centre, co-directors Paige Rogers and Annie Paladino and choreographer Laura Arrington worked to emulate certain characteristics of its style, notably the emphasis on song. But while there are some gorgeously transcendent moments of musical direction courtesy of Rogers, and of choreography courtesy of Arrington, the work plays out mostly as a disjointed series of striking tableaux, which intrigue the intellect, but somehow fail to inflame the soul. (Gluckstern)
*True West Boxcar Studios, 125A Hyde, SF; (415) 967-2227, www.boxcartheatre.org. $25. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through April 7. The first installment of Boxcar Theatre’s four-play Sam Shepard repertory project, True West ushers in the ambitious run with a bang. This tale of two brothers who gradually assume the role of the other is one of Shepard’s most enduring plays, rich with humorous interludes, veering sharply into dangerous terrain at the drop of a toaster. In time-honored, True West tradition, the lead roles of Austin, the unassuming younger brother, and Lee, his violent older sibling, are being alternated between Nick A. Olivero and Brian Trybom, and in a new twist, the role of the mother is being played by two different actresses as well (Adrienne Krug and Katya Rivera). The evening I saw it, Olivero was playing Austin, a writer banging away at his first screenplay, and Trybom was Lee, a troubled, alcoholic drifter who usurps his brother’s Hollywood shot, and trashes their mother’s home while trying to honor his as yet unwritten “contract”. The chemistry between the two actors was a perfect blend of menace and fraternity, and the extreme wreckage they make of both the set (designed by both actors), and their ever-tenuous relationship, was truly inspired. (Gluckstern)
The Waiting Period MainStage, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Through March 24. Brian Copeland (comedian, TV and radio personality, and creator-performer of the long-running solo play Not a Genuine Black Man) returns to the Marsh with a new solo, this one based on more recent and messier events in Copeland’s life. The play concerns an episode of severe depression in which he considered suicide, going so far as to purchase a handgun — the title coming from the legally mandatory 10-day period between purchasing and picking up the weapon, which leaves time for reflections and circumstances that ultimately prevent Copeland from pulling the trigger. A grim subject, but Copeland (with co-developer and director David Ford) ensures there’s plenty of humor as well as frank sentiment along the way. The actor peoples the opening scene in the gun store with a comically if somewhat stereotypically rugged representative of the Second Amendment, for instance, as well as an equally familiar “doood” dude at the service counter. Afterward, we follow Copeland, a just barely coping dad, home to the house recently abandoned by his wife, and through the ordinary routines that become unbearable to the clinically depressed. Copeland also recreates interviews he’s made with other survivors of suicidal depression. Telling someone about such things is vital to preventing their worst outcomes, says Copeland, and telling his own story is meant to encourage others. It’s a worthy aim but only a fitfully engaging piece, since as drama it remains thin, standing at perhaps too respectful a distance from the convoluted torment and alienation at its center. (Avila)
BAY AREA
*Body Awareness Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. $30-48. Wed/7-Sat/10, 8pm; Sun/11, 2 and 7pm. In Annie Baker’s new comedy, receiving a top-notch Bay Area premiere at Aurora Theatre, peppy psychology prof Phyllis (Amy Resnick) hosts “Body Awareness Week” at her small Vermont college, while back home partner Joyce (Jeri Lynn Cohen) talks to her 21-year-old son Jared (Patrick Russell) about the porn pay-per-view bill he’s racked up. Phyllis contends that Joyce’s introverted, somewhat explosive virgin son (who in addition to bouts of violent anger soothes himself compulsively with an electric security toothbrush) has Asperger’s Syndrome — a diagnosis that Jared, a budding not too say obsessive lexicographer, hotly contests. That same week, the couple hosts a guest artist, Frank (Howard Swain), a breezy man’s man whose career stands squarely on a series of photographs of nude women and girls. The young man seeks sexual advice from the older one, much to Phyllis’s disgust and Joyce’s relief, while also tempting Joyce with the notion of posing for a nude portrait and “reclaiming her body image,” in a well-used phrase. An already delicate balance thus goes right off kilter as, between the poles of Phyllis and Frank, Joyce and Jared chase competing notions and definitions of themselves and the world. In the volatile tension between perspectives, power trips, and extreme personalities, playwright Baker initially pushes a comic form toward an unsettling edge, only to retreat in the end for safer ground and a family-friendly resolution. While that feels like a lost opportunity, Body Awareness is still a stimulating and solidly entertaining evening, brought to life by a warm and dexterous ensemble under fine, lively direction by Joy Carlin. (Avila)
Cabaret Larkspur Café Theater (American Legion Hall Post 313), 500 Magnolia, Larkspur; www.brownpapertickets.com. $25-45. Fri-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 7pm (no show April 8). Through April 15. Independent Cabaret Productions and Shakespeare at Stinson move their production of the Kander and Ebb classic from Fort Mason to the North Bay.
A Doctor in Spite of Himself Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org. $14.50-73. Tues and Thurs-Sat, 8pm (no show March 23); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through March 25. Berkeley Rep performs a contemporary update of the Molière comedy.
*The Kipling Hotel: True Misadventures of the Electric Pink ’80s New venue: Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $20-50. Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Extended through March 25. This new autobiographical solo show by Don Reed, writer-performer of the fine and long-running East 14th, is another slice of the artist’s journey from 1970s Oakland ghetto to comedy-circuit respectability — here via a partial debate-scholarship to UCLA. The titular Los Angeles residency hotel was where Reed lived and worked for a time in the 1980s while attending university. It’s also a rich mine of memory and material for this physically protean and charismatic comic actor, who sails through two acts of often hilarious, sometimes touching vignettes loosely structured around his time on the hotel’s young wait staff, which catered to the needs of elderly patrons who might need conversation as much as breakfast. On opening night, the episodic narrative seemed to pass through several endings before settling on one whose tidy moral was delivered with too heavy a hand, but if the piece runs a little long, it’s only the last 20 minutes that noticeably meanders. And even with some awkward bumps along the way, it’s never a dull thing watching Reed work. (Avila)
Mesmeric Revelation Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; (510) 558-1381, www.centralworks.org. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through March 18. Central Works opens its season of world premieres with Aaron Henne’s Edgar Allen Poe-inspired drama.
The Pirates of Penzance Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College, Berk; (510) 845-8542, www.juliamorgan.org. $17-35. Fri-Sat, 7pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, noon and 5pm. Through April 1. Berkeley Playhouse performs the Gilbert and Sullivan classic, with the setting shifted to a futuristic city.
Titus Andronicus La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; www.impacttheatre.com. $10-20. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through March 31. Impact Theatre takes on the Bard’s bloodiest tragedy.
The World’s Funniest Bubble Show Marsh Berkeley, TheaterStage, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 826-5750, www.themarsh.org. $8-50. Extended run: Sun/11 and March 18, 11am. Louis “The Amazing Bubble Man” Pearl returns with this kid-friendly, bubble-tastic comedy.
PERFORMANCE/DANCE
“The Abduction from the Seraglio (Yanked from the Harem)” Marines Memorial Theater, 609 Sutter, SF; www.pocketopera.org. Sun/11, 2pm. Also March 18, 2pm, Berkeley Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar, Berk. $15-39. Pocket Opera performs artistic director Donald Pippin’s witty translation of Mozart’s classic work.
“Arthur in Underland” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. Fri-Sun, 8pm. Through March 24. $15-24. Dandelion Dancetheater performs a new work about a young man whose life is changed when he becomes part of a rock group’s entourage.
“A Circus Celebration Honoring Peggy Ford” Z Space, 450 Florida, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Tues/13, 7pm. $20-100. Clowns and other circus performers honor the life and legacy of the late Peggy Ford, a 40-year veteran of the Bay Area and national circus communities.
“Elect to Laugh” Studio Theater, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. Tues, 8pm. Ongoing through Nov 6. $15-50. Will Durst and friends perform in this weekly political humor show that focuses on the upcoming presidential election.
“The Eric Show” Milk Bar, 1840 Haight, SF; www.milksf.com. Tues, 8pm (ongoing). $5. Local comedians perform with host Eric Barry.
“Finding the Michaels” Shotwell Studios, 3252-A 19th St, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Fri/9-Sat/10, 8pm. Footloose presents Cassie Angley’s solo play about her experiences in post-9/11 New York City.
“Funsch Solos: One on One” Z Space, 450 Florida, SF; www.zspace.org. Thurs/8-Sat/10, 8:30pm; Sun/11, 7:30pm. $15-20. Christy Funsch presents up-close glimpses of her solo dance works, featuring a variety of performers.
“Waters Rising” Dance Mission Theater, 3316 24th St, SF; (415) 273-4633, www.brownpapertickets.com. Fri/9-Sat/10, 8pm; Sun/11, 5pm. $15-18. Locals Zell Dance and dance ceres team up with Boston-based Weber Dance for a weekend showcasing new works.
“The Whole Megillah 2: Uncut” Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California, SF. Wed/7, 8pm. Also: Thurs/8-Fri/9, 8pm; Sat/10, 7 and 10pm. Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida, SF; www.jccsf.org. $15-20. The Hub and Killing My Lobster present this Purim-themed sketch comedy show.
BAY AREA
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Zellerbach Hall, Bancroft at Telegraph, UC Berkeley, Berk; (510) 642-9988, www.calperformances.org. Program A: Tues/13 and March 16, 8pm; Program B: March 14, 8pm, March 17, 2pm, and March 18, 3pm; Program C: March 15 and 17, 8pm. $30-80. The veteran company makes its annual visit with three programs incorporating eight separate works, including the Bay Area premiere of Rennie Harris’ Home (2011).
“The Fortune Project Ch. 2: Atomic Intuition” Envision Academy, 1515 Webster, SF; www.raggedwing.org. Fri/9-Sat/10, 8pm; Sun/11, 5pm. $15-30. Ragged Wing Ensemble performs the second installment in its multidisciplinary, interactive performance series.
Music Listings
Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead or check the venue’s website to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Visit www.sfbg.com/venue-guide for venue information. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.
WEDNESDAY 7
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Foreign Cinema, Tito Ramsey, Elle Nino Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $7-$10.
Horde and the Harem, Archaeology, Bitter Honeys Elbo Room. 9pm, $7.
Hyde Street Band, Black Dreams El Rio. 9pm, $3.
Korallreven, Giraffage, Finally Boys Independent. 8pm, $15.
La Sera, Cold Showers, Swiftumz Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $10-$12.
Mean Jeans, Guantanamo Baywatch, Primitive Hearts, Wrong Words Thee Parkside. 8pm, $7.
One Way Station Boom Boom Room. 8pm, $5.
JC Rockit vs. Rome Balestrieri Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.
Terry Savastano Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Seshen, Candace Roberts 50 Mason Social House, SF; www.50socialmasonhouse.com. 7pm, free.
Soja, Gentleman & the Evolution, Anuhea Fillmore. 8pm, $27.50.
Swahili, Blonde Stranger, Feelings Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Cat’s Corner with Nathan Dias Savanna Jazz. 9pm, $10.
Chris Amberger Trio and Jazz Jam Yoshi’s Lounge. 6:30pm, free.
Cosmo AlleyCats Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo Place, SF; www.lecolonialsf.com; 7-10pm.
Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho, Michael Abraham Amnesia. 7pm, free.
Greg Gotelli Quartet Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 6-9pm, free.
“Lucie Arnaz: Latin Roots” Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.
Orquesta La Moderna Tradicion Yoshi’s. 8pm, $8.
Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 6:30pm, $5.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
“Oom Pah POW” Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa, SF; www.savekusf.org. 7pm, $10. Save KUSF benefit polka party with Deutscher Musikverein, and Big Lou.
DANCE CLUBS
Anti/Life: New Industrial Dance Cafe Du Nord. 9:30pm, $8.
Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita MORE! and Joshua J host this dance party.
Coo-Yah! Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. DJs Daneekah and Green B spin reggae and dancehall with weekly guests.
KUSF-in-Exile DJ Night Monarch, 101 Sixth St, SF; www.savekusf.org. 5:30pm. With DJ Evyn Stevyn.
Mary Go Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 10pm, $5. Drag with Suppositori Spelling, Mercedez Munro, and Ginger Snap.
Megatallica Fiddler’s Green, 1333 Columbus, SF; www.megatallica.com. 7pm, free. Heavy metal hangout.
Vespa Beat Bliss Bar, 4026 24th St, SF; www.blissbarsf.com. 9pm, free. MSK.fm spins raregrooves, electroswing, and boogie.
THURSDAY 8
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Andrew Jackson Jihad, Laura Stevenson and the Cans, Roar Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $32.50-$45.50.
“Harvey Mandel Birthday Bash” Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22. With Nick Gravenites and Barry Goldberg.
“International Women’s Day Concert” Yoshi’s. 8pm, $45. With Big Brother & the Holding Company, Pamela Parker, Nonstop Bhangra, and more.
Jeff vs. Rome Balestrieri Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.
John Lawton Trio Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Last Ambassadors, Acacia, Miles Country Red Devil Lounge. 9pm, $8.
Erica Sunshine Lee, Chi McClean, Windy Hill Cafe Du Nord. 8:30pm, $12-$15.
Liz O Show, Craig Browning 50 Mason Social House, SF; www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 7pm, free.
Lonesome Jugtown Pirates, Howdy! Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $7-$10.
Punch Brothers, Aoife O’Donovan Fillmore. 8pm, $25.
Spider Heart Radius Cafe, 1123 Folsom, SF; www.radiussf.com. 9pm, free.
Tortured Genies, Curious Mystery, Grace Sings Sludge Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $7.
Twilight Sad, Velvet Teen, Micah P. Hinson Independent. 8Pm, $15.
Twin Atlantic, Soft White Sixties, popscene DJs Rickshaw Stop. 9:30pm, $8-$10.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Stompy Jones Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 7:30pm, $10.
Tom Lander & Friends Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 6-9pm, free.
Last Ambassadors, Acacia, Miles County Red Devil Lounge. 9pm, $8.
Grant Levin Yoshi’s Lounge. 6:30pm, free.
“Lucie Arnaz: Latin Roots” Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Twang! Honky Tonk Fiddler’s Green, 1330 Columbus, SF; www.twanghonkytonk.com. 5pm. Live country music, dancing, and giveaways.
DANCE CLUBS
Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9pm, $5. With DJ/host Pleasuremaker and guest DJ Said spin Afrobeat, Tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.
Get Low Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. Jerry Nice and Ant-1 spin Hip-Hop, 80’s and Soul with weekly guests.
Intel Presents: Sticky K, Daims & ChriSupreme, MPHD Public Works. 9pm, free before 10:30pm, $5 after.
Lions, Tigers, and Queers Underground SF. 10pm-2am, $3. Indie, Electro, and House dance party with resident DJ Becky Knox and special guests.
Thursdays at the Cat Club Cat Club. 9pm, $6 (free before 9:30pm). Two dance floors bumpin’ with the best of 80s mainstream and underground with DJ’s Damon, Steve Washington, Dangerous Dan, and guests.
Tropicana Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, free. Salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and more with DJs Don Bustamante, Apocolypto, Sr. Saen, Santero, and Mr. E.
FRIDAY 9
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Apparat (Full Live Band) 1015 Folsom. 10pm, $15-$20.
Barn Owl, Date Palms, Ensemble Economique Lab, 2948 16th St, SF; www.thelab.org. 8pm, $7-$15.
Big Light, Flowmotion is the True Spokes, Current Swell Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $7-$10.
Body & Soul Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Counting Crows, Tender Mercies Slim’s. 9pm, $45.
Crazies Will Destroy You, Shotgun Break, Hi-Tones Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $6.
Crocodiles, Bleeding Rainbow, Terry Malts Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $12.
Dumpstaphunk, Papa Grows Funk Independent. 9pm, $25.
Fast Times, Wonder Bread 5 Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $15.
Foreverland, Live Wire Bimbo’s. 9pm, $22.
Daryl Hance Connecticut Yankee, 100 Connecticut, SF; www.theyankee.com. 10pm, $5.
John Lee Hooker Jr. Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.
Invaded By Unicorns Public Works. 9pm, $10. Charlie the Unicorn art car fundraiser with Pumpkin, Whitenoize, and more.
Daniel Krass, Rome Balestrieri, Greg Zema Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9pm.
Jason Movrich & Friends Giordano Bros., 303 Columbus, SF; www.jasonmovrich.com. 9pm, free.
Points North, Full On Flyhead, Seth Chapla, Bad Boy Eddy Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $14-$18.
Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass Fillmore. 9pm, $25.
Sioux City Kid, Tiny Television, Erin Brazill and the Brazillionaires Cafe Du Nord. 9:30pm, $10-$12.
Tumbleweed Wanderers, Guy Fox, Fox & Woman Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $10.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
American Beauty Project Yoshi’s. 8pm, $32; 10pm, $28. With Ollabelle, David Mansfield, Jim Lauderdale, and Catherine Russell.
Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.
Black Market Jazz Orchestra Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 9pm, $10.
Broken Strings Yoshi’s Lounge. 6pm, free.
“Lucie Arnaz: Latin Roots” Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.
ToKiMONSTA, DiBiA$e, Knxwledge, Flying Skulls Yoshi’s Lounge. 10:30pm, $20.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Taste Fridays DanceSF, 650 Indiana, SF; www.tastefridays.com. 7:30pm, $15. Salsa lesson, dancing, live Latin band.
DANCE CLUBS
Blow Up: Felix Da Housecat DNA Lounge. 10pm, $18.50-$20. Electro and house with Felix Da Housecat, resident DJ Jeffrey Paradise, and guests.
Bombshell Betty and her Burlesqueteers Elbo Room. 9pm, $15. With live music by Los Shimmy Shakers and Fromagique.
Donuts Public Works. 9pm. With Beautiful Swimmers, Sapphire Slows, Haceteria, and Magic Touch.
Indie Slash Amnesia. 10pm. With DJ Danny White.
Joe Lookout, 3600 16th St,SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 9pm. Eight rotating DJs, shirt-off drink specials.
Old School JAMZ El Rio. 9pm. Fruit Stand DJs spinning old school funk, hip-hop, and R&B.
Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.
Pledge: Fraternal Lookout. 9pm, $3-$13. Benefiting LGBT and nonprofit organizations. Bottomless kegger cups and paddling booth with DJ Christopher B and DJ Brian Maier.
SATURDAY 10
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Baby and the Luvies Amnesia. 7pm, $5.
Rome Balestrieri, Greg Zema, Randy Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9pm.
Roem Baur Apple Store, One Stockton, SF; (415) 392-0202. 3pm, free.
Blue Note Rendezvous, Todd Morgan & the Emblems 50 Mason Social House, SF; www.50socialmasonhouse.com. 7pm, free.
Counting Crows, Tender Mercies Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $45.
William Fitzsimmons, Denison Witmer Independent. 9pm, $20.
Grave Babies, Permanent Collection, Chasms Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.
Hank IV, Electric Jellyfish, Mike Donovan, Carlton Melton El Rio. 9pm, $7.
Hot Lunch, Glitter Wizard, Lecherous Gaze, Knifey Spoony Thee Parkside. 9pm, $6.
Nneka Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $20.
Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $22.
Quill Bender’s Bar. 10pm, $5.
Railroad Earth, New Monsoon Fillmore. 9pm, $25.
Red Elvises Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $20
Seeking Empire, Trophy Fire, Water and Bodies Bottom of the Hill. 9:30pm, $10.
Slow Club, Signals, Y La Bamba Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $9-$12.
Tall Shadows Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Underscore Orkestra Amnesia. 9pm, $5.
Voodoo Saints, Black Caucus Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.
Saul Williams, CX Kidtronik Slim’s. 9pm, $22.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.
“Bay Area Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival” Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon, SF; www.harmony-sweepstakes.com. 8pm, $24. With Continuum, Gimme 5!, House Blend, and more.
Charles Unger Experience Yoshi’s Lounge. 6:30pm, free.
Four Bags Red Poppy Arthouse. 8pm, $15.
Dave Hollister Yoshi’s. 8pm, $36; 10pm, $32.
“Lucie Arnaz: Latin Roots” Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.
Lynne Arriale Trio Yoshi’s. 8pm, $20.
Marcus Shelby Trio Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 11am, $5-$10. Family matinee.
Toots Thielemans, Kenny Werner & Oscar Castro-Neves Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 8pm, $25-$65.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Saturday Night Salsa Ramp, 855 Francois, SF; www.facebook.com/therampsf. 5:30pm, $10.
“Ukrainian Concert Honoring 198th Anniversary of Taras Shevchenko” Ukrainian Orthodox Church Hall, 345 Seventh St, SF; (415) 330-0905. 5pm, $5-$10.
DANCE CLUBS
Bootie SF: Good Vibrations DNA Lounge. 9pm, $10-$20. With resident DJ Robin Skouteris, Smash-Up Derby, and Bootie DJs Adrian and Dada.
Club Gossip Cat Club. 9pm, free before 9:30pm, $5-$8 after. With VJs Shon, Low Life, Damon, and more.
Cockblock Rickshaw Stop. 10pm, $5-$10. With Natalie Nuxx, DJ Andre.
Inferno Harlot, 46 Minna, SF; www.infernodances.com. 6-10pm, $10. Mustache party for women with DJ Rockaway.
Murk Terra Gallery, 511 Harrison, SF; Facebook: Arts&Beats with MURK. 3pm-4am, $20-$25. Arts&Beats art show with DJs Ralph Falcon, Oscar G, David Harness, and more.
Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.
Tormenta Tropical Elbo Room. 10pm, $5-$10. With resident DJs Shawn Reynaldo and Oro11, special guest DJ Lengua.
SUNDAY 11
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Bottom, Backwoods Payback, Disastroid Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.
Choir of Young Believers, Lime Colony Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.
Malacates Trebol Shop Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $15-$18.
Scarlett Fever DNA Lounge. 1-9pm, $15. Psychobilly, rockabilly, punk, and rock with Three Bad Jacks, Tombstone Brawlers, Cash Prophets, and more.
Violent Vickie, San Cha @ Musique Gang Bang Stud. 10pm. With DJs Tori, Knoxin.’
Underscore Orkestra Amnesia. 9pm, $5.
Yellow Monsters, Crying Nut, 3rd Line Butter Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $12.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Ken Berman, Kai Eckhardt Duo Bliss Bar, 4026 24th St, SF; www.blissbarsf.com. 4:30-730pm, $10.
Myrna DelRio Bliss Bar, 4026 24th St, SF; www.blissbarsf.com. 4:30-7:30pm, $10.
“Lucie Arnaz: Latin Roots” Rrazz Room. 7pm, $45.
Ricardo Scales Yoshi’s. 7pm, $22.
Ben Stolorow Yoshi’s Lounge. 6pm, free.
James “Blood” Ulmer Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 7pm, $30-$50.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Bernal Hill Players Community Music Center, 544 Capp, SF; www.sfcmc.org. 8pm, $10-$15.
Alex Jimenez, Lily Holbrook 50 Mason Social House, SF; www.50socialmasonhouse.com. 7pm, free.
Twang Sundays Thee Parkside. 4pm, free. With Porkchop Express.
DANCE CLUBS
Batcave Club 93, 93 9th St, SF 10pm, $5. Death rock, goth, and post-punk with Steeplerot, XChrisT, Necromos and c_death.
Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, dubstep, roots, and dancehall with DJ Sep, Vinnie Esparza, and Taal Mala.
Jock Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 3pm, $2. Raise money for LGBT sports teams while enjoying DJs and drink specials.
La Pachanga Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.
MONDAY 12
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Brian Bergeron Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Toshio Hirano Amnesia. 9pm.
Jackal Fleece, Junkdrawer Bottom of the Hill. 8:30pm, free.
Joy Formidable, A Place to Bury Strangers Independent. 8pm, $20.
Kirsten Opstad, Oceanography, Liz O Elbo Room. 9pm, $6.
Daryl Shawn, Ziva Hadar Bazaar Cafe, 5927 California, SF; (415) 831-5620. 7pm, free.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Bossa Nova Tunnel Top, 601 Bush, SF; (415) 722-6620. 8-11:30pm, free. Live acoustic Bossa Nova.
Cava Menzies Quintet Yoshi’s Lounge. 6:30pm, free.
Linda Purl Rrazz Room. 8pm, $35.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
George Kahumoku Jr., Dennis Kamakahi, Uncle Richard Ho’opi’i Yoshi’s. 8pm, $24.
DANCE CLUBS
Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.
Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar, 2299 Mission, SF; www.thebeautybar.com. 10pm, free. Hip-hop and other stuff.
M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. DJs Timoteo Gigante, Gordo Cabeza, and Chris Phlek playing all Motown every Monday.
Sausage Party Rosamunde Sausage Grill, 2832 Mission, SF; (415) 970-9015. 6:30-9:30pm, free. DJ Dandy Dixon spins vintage rock, R&B, global beats, funk, and disco at this happy hour sausage-shack gig.
Vibes’N’Stuff El Amigo Bar, 3355 Mission, SF; (415) 852-0092. 10pm, free. Conscious jazz and hip-hop from 1960s-early ’90s with DJs Luce Lucy, Vinnie Esparza, and more.
TUESDAY 13
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Jeff Bergey, High Beams 50 Mason Social House, SF; www.50socialmasonhouse.com. 7pm, free.
Zachary Blizzard, Survival Guide, San Francesca, Little Red Lung Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $5-$8.
Bum City Saints, Dead Panic, Bite, Poor Luckies Bottom of the Hill. 8:30pm, $8.
Business End, Connies, M Section Elbo Room. 9pm, $6.
Grandma’s Boyfriend, Pink Films, Broonies Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.
In Letter Form, Lights Become Stars, Thank You Rosekind, Antarctica El Rio. 7pm, $7.
Islands Hotel Utah. 7 and 10pm, $15.
Joy Formidable, A Place to Bury Strangers Independent. 8pm, $20.
Memoryhouse, Sister Crayon, James and Evader Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $12.
Stan Erhart Band Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
David Correa and Cascada Yoshi’s Lounge. 6:30pm, free.
Charles Neville, Youssoupha Sidibe, Mystic Rhythms Yoshi’s. 8pm, $22.
DANCE CLUBS
Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro. Post-Dubstep Tuesdays Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521.10pm, free. DJs Dnae Beats, Epcot, Footwerks spin UK Funky, Bass Music.
Herbwise: Shambhala Healing Center next on the federal chopping block
When Al Shawa, founder of Shambhala Healing Center, was asked about what he was going to do now that the federal government is trying to shut down his business, he was (understandably) irresolute.
“I have no idea. Who comes first, the chicken or the egg? Do I blame the federal government or the city? Somebody did me wrong.”
Shawa opened his medical cannabis dispensary one short year ago on Mission Street. He knew he was close to Jose Coronado Playground, but that’s why he underwent an 18-month permitting process with the city, which assured him that the playground’s clubhouse was not being used. In late February, his landlord received a letter from US attorney Melinda Haag that asserted illegal trafficking of drugs were taking place near a children’s playground. His landlord, Haag informed, risked criminal prosecution, imprisonment, fines, and civil forfeiture if Shawa’s business wasn’t out of the space in 40 days. Similar letters were sent out to roughly 12 dispensaries last autumn. Those dispensaries are now closed.
But on Saturday morning, Shawa seemed confused, and not entirely hopeless that his small business could be saved. He sat in his back office, a man trimming weed one room over. “I would hope the city would stand firm and protect these entities,” he said from behind his desk, next to a bank of security cameras. “I don’t understand where it stands on this – it should be taking a leading role.”
Posted: these signs now greet patients at the Shambhala Healing Center. Guardian photos by Caitlin Donohue
Though the SF Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in support of cannabis dispensaries’ right to operate without federal persecution last October, Mayor Ed Lee has yet to speak out on the federally-compelled closures, besides to comment that he’ll kow-tow to the authorities on the matter of marijuana’s medicinal efficacy. We asked Lee’s office for comment when the Department of Justice requested Department of Public Health records for 12 Bay Area dispensaries in February (a move that preceded the previous round of letters from Haag), to no avail.
Shawa had previously operated a clothing store named Privilege at the address, but opened up Shambala when a fire damaged his inventory. Since opening, he said he’s become attached to many of the regular patients. “You feel like your responsible for their wellbeing,” he said, before talking about how his dispensary passed out 200 turkeys to the community on Thanksgiving, and gave the nearby Folsom Street firehouse $5,000 worth of toys to distribute during the holiday season.
Throughout the recent travails of the medical cannabis industry, one of the more frustrating issues has been the seemingly random way businesses have been targeted by federal agencies. Shawa’s is a case in point. While he grapples with the notion of shutting his doors, the owner of a restaurant across the street, Gus Murad of Medjool Restaurant and Lounge, is applying for a permit to open a new dispensary on the same block (as reported by Mission Local).
Lupe Ruiz, who has been floor manager at Shambala since the dispensary opened, seemed likewise shaken and frustrated with the city’s lack of response in the matter.
“I’m kind of devastated,” she told me in between helping patients. “How do you allow someone to open and then when things get hot you don’t say anything about it?” She recalled a picnic in Dolores Park Shambala recently organized for its patients at which people played ball games and got to meet each other.
The dispensary does seem to be a gathering place of sorts – on the morning I interviewed Ruiz and Shawa, patients consulted budtenders about the right strain of cannabis for them, joking and friendly-like. Shawa says that more than one patient has teared up when he told them that the dispensary’s future was uncertain.
“Who listens to these stories?” Ruiz concludes sadly, with a sentiment that the rest of the medical marijuana community can surely sympathize with. “People are not being heard.”
Teachers, students demand funding for education
People across the Bay Area joined in the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education March 1, with rallies at Berkeley City Hall, UC Berkeley, Oakland City Hall, SF State, and at the State Building on Golden Gate Ave. Demonstrators at UC Santa Cruz shut down the campus for the day demanding well-funded and quality public education.
At the State building, about 100 engaged in civil disobedience, entering the building’s large lobby for a teach-in on the importance of public education. Speakers included teachers and students from several local schools, including City College of San Francisco, San Francisco State University, and Mission High School.
Around 4 p.m, most left the building to go two blocks down the street to Civic Center Plaza, where about 400 converged to share stories of hardship in affording education and voice demands.
Students from local elementary schools express their concerns at the Civic Center rally to defend public education. Video by Carol Harvey
The day of action was supported and shaped in part by Occupy groups throughout the country, including, here in the city, Occupy SF, Occupy SF State and Occupy CCSF. But unlike most occupy-affiliated demonstrations, speakers March. 1 urged the crowd to support specific policies; initiatives that may go to the ballot in November.
Specifically, the group expressed support for the Millionaire’s Tax measure. If the measure passes, California residents earning $1 million per year would pay an additional three percent in income taxes; those making $2 million or make per year would add five percent. 60 percent of funds raised would go towards education.
There are several competing ballot initiatives to fund education, including one proposed by Governor Jerry Brown. According to a recent Field Poll, the Millionaire’s Tax polls the highest, with 63 percent support.
Some protesters also expressed support for the Tax Oil to Fund Education Initiative.
Support for both measures was one of the demands on a demand letter distributed throughout the events. Activists began the protest with lobbying at the offices of state legislators, and convinced four aides to fax the demand letter to their representatives, including Leland Yee, Mark Leno, Fiona Ma, and Tom Ammiano.
However, some protesters at the State Building teach-in emphasized that legislation would not solve the whole problem.
“This issue is bigger than just taxes. The same power structure that is causing the destruction of our educational system is also destroying the face of the planet that we live on. It’s destroying our personal relationships with one another and all of our brothers and sisters around the world,” said Ivy Anderson, a 2011 SF State graduate and organizer with the environmental group Deep Green Resistance.
The event was peaceful and lasted only a few hours. When the state building closed at 6 p.m., 14 remained inside, continuing to “occupy.” Police issued a dispersal order shortly after six o’ clock, and by 6:40, 13 had been cited on-site and released, according to SF occupier Joshua.
At that point, several raced to board buses down the block, joining about 100 others who began a march to Sacramento. Known as the “99 Mile March for Education,” protesters plan to walk about 20 miles a day until arriving in Sacramento March 5 to take their demands for accessible education to the governor.
According to Joshua, the conflict-free day was a success.
“We had a great rally, and I thought it was an excellent lead-up to Sacramento,” said Joshua.
“But the capitol is obviously going to be a bigger fish.”
Maximum Consumption: Overlap at Public Works pairs the audio with the edible
So at Public Works this Thursday you can: watch veteran SF DJ Mophono and beat-driven gothsters Water Borders* live, learn about innovative advancements in music-making, peep some short films and new local art, and nibble tasty vegan treats. All in one event, from the safety of your own neighborhood club.
We all know there are overlapping circles between the arts – even the edible arts – and this is the belief that drives Overlap.org, a hyphen organization (music-arts-technology) that also has been hosting parties since 2006. In prep for the next installment of Overlap – which goes down Thursday – I spoke with Ghostly International’s Christopher Willits (Overlap.org’s founder, experimental SF-based musician) about music, food, and fostering local creativity:
SFBG: What will you be doing during the designing process workshop?
Christopher Willits: I’ll be covering a popular music-making and production tool called Ableton Live. I’ll be talking about the basics of this software system and how you can make expressive creative art with this digital tool.
SFBG: What are some other activities that will take place during this installment of Overlap?
CW: We have some great live music and a diverse lineup with Mophono, Water Borders, and Danny Paul Grody. Local films will be shown, we’ll have local vegan food from Freedom Kitchen, food by Rocky’s Fry Bread, and more local vendors announced the day of. We’ll have an info booth for our friends at Mission Creek Festival, and this time we also have very cool art vendors – Dave Marcoullier, The Heated, and more.
SFBG: Can you describe the vibe? What has been most surprising about previous Overlaps?
CW: I connected with Public Works after a SF Forage event I performed at, and we found that we shared a common vision of where the Overlap event could go. Our first event with [them] was last October, it proved the concept and set the tone – a relaxed evening of diverse art and some really awesome people hanging out and meeting. It’s cool to see people coming out of their usual scene and connecting with this idea of greater creative community overlapping, a community made from unique but interrelated groups.
SFBG: Why incorporate local food into a music event?
CW: We support the localization of food. Our last events have featured permaculture discussions about decentralizing our food sources. We can do this in SF. Plus we just want people to be comfortable with some delicious clean food and feature these hard-working culinary artists. They are so much a part of the creativity of this city.
SFBG: Do you see any connections in the art of cuisine and the art of music? If so, what?
CW: Absolutely, the process, texture, flavor, color, history. Music, just like food, is woven in the very fabric of our culture. I don’t know of two other things that bring people together better than food and music.
SFBG: What are your personal favorite local places to eat?
CW: I’m really into Gracias Madre right now. Ask for the hot sauce, it’s this paste-like mixure of a couple different chiles. Yum. I think you need to ask for it.
SFBG: Future goals for Overlap.org and Overlap parties?
CW: Our goal is simple – to grow creative community in San Francisco. The rest will fall into place. We want to provide that place and time for people to come together and strengthen new bonds.
I have this feeling that we’re within a new creative wave in SF. We’re living in an amazing place and time, we’re all redefining how art and community interact and grow together. We have so much imagination and creativity. Together we are redesigning how our local communities can connect, come together and ultimately incite creative change.
Overlap
With Christopher Willits, Danny Grody, Mophono, Water Borders
Thurs/1, 7 p.m., $5-$10
Public Works
161 Eerie, SF
(415) 932-0955
www.publicsf.com
*An absolute aside: Water Borders’ Amitai Heller once casually told me he’d want to do a TED talk on the intersection of goth and baseball, and I think about this often, joke or not.
Rep Clock
Schedules are for Wed/29-Tues/6 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double features are marked with a •. All times p.m. unless otherwise specified.
BALBOA 3630 Balboa, SF; www.balboamovies.com. $7.50-10. “Balboa Birthday Bash:” Safety Last! (Newmeyer and Taylor, 1923), Sun, 7. Balboa’s 86th birthday party, with cake, vaudeville performers, and more.
CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS 1111 Eighth St, SF; www.sfcinematheque.org. $5-10. “The Filming of Modern Life: Cinema, Modernity, and the Avant-Garde,” a lecture by Malcolm Turvey, Tues, 7.
CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $7.50-10. •Stairway to Heaven (Powell and Pressburger, 1946), Wed, 2:35, 7, and The Music Lovers (Russell, 1970), Wed, 4:35, 9. •Funny Face (Donen, 1957), Thurs, 2:25, 7, and Love Streams (Cassavetes, 1984), Thurs, 4:25, 9. •Planet of the Apes (Schaffner, 1968), Fri, 2:30, 7, and Beneath the Planet of the Apes (Post, 1970), Fri, 4:40, 9:10. “Scary Cow Short Film Festival,” Sat, 3. More info and tickets (this event, $15-40) at www.scarycow.com. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Fincher, 2011), Sun, 1, 4:30, 8. Lou Harrison: A World of Music (Soltes, 2012), Tues, 7. More info and tickets (this event, $25; benefits Harrison House Music and Arts) at www.harrisondocumentary.com.
CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.75-10.25. Chico and Rita (Trueba, 2010), call for dates and times. “2012 Oscar Nominated Short Films,” narrative and documentary (separate admission), call for dates and times. Crazy Horse (Wiseman, 2011), March 2-8, call for times. The Apartment (Wilder, 1960), Sun, 6:30. Introduced by film historian Joseph McBride.
PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. “Film 50: History of Cinema, Film, and the Other Arts:” Pather Panchali (Ray, 1955), Wed, 3:10. With lecture by Marilyn Fabe. “African Film Festival 2012:” You Are All Captains (Laxe, 2010), Wed, 7. “Dark Past: Film Noir by German Emigrés:” The Dark Past (Maté, 1948), Thurs, 7; Shockproof (Sirk, 1949), Thurs, 8:40. “The Library Lover: The Films of Raúl Ruiz:” Mysteries of Lisbon (Ruiz, 2010), Fri, 7; Three Lives and Only One Death (1996), Sat, 8:30. “Afterimage: James Ivory, Three Films from Novels:” Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (Ivory, 1990), Sat, 6. “Howard Hawks: The Measure of Man:” Ball of Fire (Hawks, 1941), Sun, 2; To Have and Have Not (Hawks, 1944), Tues, 7. “A Tribute to José Saramago (1922-2010)”: José and Pilar (Mendes, 2010), Sun, 4:30.
ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-10. Straight Outta Hunters Point 2 (Epps, 2012), Wed-Thurs, 7, 8:45. “Hollywood Before the Code: Nasty-Ass Films for a Nasty-Ass World!:” •Three on a Match (LeRoy, 1932), Fri, 6:45, 9:45, and Scarface (Hawks, 1932), Fri, 8, 10; •Freaks (Browning, 1932), Sat, 2:15, 5, 8, 11, and Island of Lost Souls (Kenton, 1932), Sat, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30; •The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Capra, 1933), Sun, 1:15, 4:30, 8, and The Cheat (Abbott, 1931), Sun, 3, 6:20, 9:45; •Sensation Hunters (Vidor, 1933), Mon, 6:20, 9:45, and Murder at the Vanities (Leisen, 1934), Mon, 8; •Blondie Johnson (Enright, 1933), Tues, 6:30, 9:35, and Ladies of the Big House (Gering, 1931), Tues, 8.
SF FILM SOCIETY CINEMA 1746 Post, SF. Roadie (Cuesta, 2011), Wed-Thurs, 2:30, 5, 7, 9:15. This event, $10-11; more info at www.sffs.org. “San Francisco Green Film Festival,” features and shorts with environmental themes, March 1-7. This event, $10-50; more info at www.sfgreenfilmfest.org.
SF PUBLIC LIBRARY 100 Larkin, SF; www.sfpl.org. Free. Vincent Who? (Lam, 2008), Sun, 12:30. With community activist Curtis Chin in person.
YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org. $6-8. “Human Rights Watch Film Festival:” Salaam Dunk (Fine, 2011), Thurs, 7:30.
Our Weekly Picks: February 29-March 6
WEDNESDAY 29
Jacques Lu Cont
Stuart Price is a mixmaster of mystery. The British producer-DJ goes by many aliases, including Paper Faces, Thin White Duke, Jacques Lu Cont, and Les Rythmes Digitales. How could a Brit use French pseudonyms? Well, after you’ve won three Grammy Awards and worked with an entire spectrum of musicians ranging from Madonna to Miike Snow, from the Killers to Kylie Minogue, from Seal to the Scissor Sisters, then you’re off the hook for that faux pas. Price, the son of two classically trained pianists, developed his version of French electro house after hearing the sounds of the Human League. Expect Price and his trusty synthesizers to give guilty-pleasure makeovers to familiar songs and vocals (Kevin Lee).
With Robb Green
10 p.m., $5
Vessel
85 Campton, SF
(415) 433-8585
Nellie McKay in “I Want To Live!”
From the get-go, Nellie McKay has bucked against the typical musical confines: releasing her first album in 2004 as a double CD when it might have fit in one, calling it Get Away From Me in a jab at Norah Jones and to avoid being lumped in as just another female jazz singer. One listen to her actual music then and since, a maddening blend of pop, calypso, hip-hop, rock, reggae and (yes) vocal jazz, with maddening humor and reassuring warmth, assured that one label would simply never work. “I Want To Live!” showcases all McKay’s uncaged skill as performer as she reinvents the story of San Quentin death row inmate Barbara Graham as noir cabaret. (Ryan Prendiville)
8 p.m., $30
Rrazz Room
222 Mason, SF
(415) 394-1189
THURSDAY 1
It Came From Hangar 18 book party
Two men, one brand-new sci-fi epic: It Came From Hangar 18 touches down from Planet Pulp this week at the Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge, which is actually one of the book’s settings, and serves a mighty tasty array of exotic cocktails to boot. Written by noted B-movie film programmer and author Will Viharo (A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge) and software-engineer-with-a-dark-side Scott Fulks, Hangar 18 is self-described as “the most action-packed, erotic science fiction epic since the Bible — but with even more sex and violence!” Also: vampires, mobsters, and (I’m guessing) umbrella drinks galore. The release party features live surf music by retro-futurists Tomorrowmen. Whatever you do, keep watching the skies! (Cheryl Eddy)
7 p.m., free
Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge
1304 Lincoln, Alameda
(510) 749-0332
www.forbiddenislandalameda.com
RED BULL Thre3STYLE DJ COMPETITION
Every year, Red Bull pops in to provide a swell showcase of our current nightlife scene, inviting a variety of local disc jocks to compete for the chance to advance to national and international levels — and possibly win an enormous golden calf that squirts endless supplies of energy drink from its nipples. KIDDING. I’m sure they win something, but the real reward is ours, watching fine hometown talent display some flexibility on the decks. (The “Thre3style” part means competitors must include three different genres of music in their 15-minute sets.) This year’s amped qualifiers are KingMost, Zita, Theory, Just, Miles Medina, and John Beaver, as well as Seattle winner Four Color Zack and Portland winner Playtime. If last year’s wonderfully diverse crowd and hyper energy are anything to go by, this will be the party.
9 p.m. (show at 9:30 p.m.), $12, 18+
Ruby Skye
420 Mason, SF.
(415) 693-0777
Zola Jesus
Russian-American Nika Roza Danilova grew up in Wisconsin, which is pretty much as close to Russia, climate-wise, as you’re going to get in the continental U.S. In the bitter cold of the Midwest, young Danilova sang opera before transitioning into rock, nabbing a keyboard here and a drum machine there. A few EPs, studio albums, and a critically acclaimed LP later, Danilova’s Zola Jesus is preaching to the masses, belting and wailing while electronic glitch samples and piano chords crash against each other. Most recent release Conatus (Sacred Bones Records) is something akin to industrial sprinkled with a pinch of classical, culled together by Danilova’s haunting, resonant voice. (Lee)
With Wymond Miles of the Fresh & Onlys, Talk Normal
9 p.m., $21
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
FRIDAY 2
O’ Brother
A brutally captivating four-piece out of Atlanta, O’ Brother combines industrial, screaming metal, and the hard edge of Southern rock. A barrage of guitars —grounded by drummer Michael Martens, with shifting vocals by Tanner Merritt —results in a sound that’s syrupy and sludgy one moment, airy the next. Released in late 2011, O’ Brother’s first full length album, Garden Window, recalls the drive of Queens of the Stone Age, the atmosphere of Sigur Ros, and the march of Tool, without being too heavily indebted to any one part. (Prendiville)
With Junius, Happy Body Slow Brain
9 p.m., $12
Bottom of the Hill
1233 17th St., SF
(415) 621-4455
Prizehog
Don’t let the lack of a bassist fool you — Prizehog gets heavy. The San Francisco trio deploys a keyboard alongside large-gauge drums and down-tuned guitar to create music that veers effortlessly between tectonic post-rock, thundering doom blues, and Hawkwind-style, spaceship-launch psychedelia. Patience and an open mind are two necessary virtues; they’ll prepare you for the band’s shuddering builds, non-traditional arrangements, and sudden stylistic shifts. Concertgoers looking for a potent dose of local, experimental volume should look to get high on the ‘Hog. (Ben Richardson)
With Bobb Saggeth, Hell Ship
9 p.m., $8
Thee Parkside
1600 17th St., SF
(415)-252-1330
Ty Segall
Ty Segall has managed to produce ecstatic, psychedelic lo-fi garage punk rock that retains the catchiest elements of rock’n’roll — seductive drumbeats, wailing guitars, and arresting lyrics — really quickly. Last year he released full-length album Goodbye Bread, along with three EPs. This spring he’s touring with Tim Presley of White Fence to promote their collaborative LP, Hair, out April 28. Hair features Segall’s brand of bright and fuzzy electric doo-wop and Lucy-in-the-Sky-with-Diamonds-inspired melodic distortion. Segall rocked the Great American Music Hall last year with his curly blonde head-banging antics and returns this week to shake it out some more. (Mia Sullivan)
With White Fence, Mikal Cronin, the Feeling of Love
8:30 p.m., $15
Great American Music Hall
859 O’Farrell, SF
(415) 885-0750
SATURDAY 3
Bad Weather California
Let’s start a new religion. Let’s start a cult. Let’s go to bed. Let’s get high. Let’s get fucked up. Let’s start a band. Let’s get a van. Let’s make some music. Whatever its problems may be, Denver-based freaked out rocker band Bad Weather California offers a lot of simple solutions, without falling into the typical pratfalls of musical contrivance. It’s a rebellious rock streak without being punk, hippy utopian idealism without being a jam band, spiritual fervor without preachy religiosity. The Akron/Family label-mates have a sunny optimism in the face of bad shit and a sound that might have you going along. Maybe even that cult part. (Ryan Prendiville)
With He’s My Brother She’s My Sister
9 p.m., $8–$11
Brick and Mortar Music Hall
1710 Mission, SF
(415) 800-8782
SUNDAY 4
“Balboa Birthday Bash”
Hey, jazz baby: between 2011 hits The Artist, Hugo, and Midnight in Paris, the 1920s are the cinematic decade du jour. What better way to re-live the flapper era than at a movie theater that’s been around since 1926? Cheer the Balboa’s 86th birthday — yep, it’s older than the Oscars — at a fiesta co-presented by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. On tap are a screening of Harold Lloyd classic Safety Last! (1923) on 35mm with piano accompaniment by Frederick Hodges; a screening of shorts by Georges Méliès (a.k.a. Ben Kingsley’s character in Hugo); a live vaudeville show; an illustrated lecture by author and Safety Last! expert John Bengtson; birthday cake; and more. As they said in the ’20s (or at least, they always say in movies set in the ’20s), it’ll be the cat’s pajamas. (Eddy)
7 p.m., $7.50–$10
Balboa Theatre
3630 Balboa, SF
(415) 221-8184
MONDAY 5
The Driftwood Singers
Listening to the Driftwood Singers makes you feel like you’re ambling down a dusty country road toward something that might not exist anymore. This lo-fi folk duo of Pearl Charles and Kris Hutson writes foreboding, bluesy love ballads laden with longing nostalgia. Charles’ warm, milky vocals blend seamlessly with Hutson’s slightly twangy voice as Charles picks her autoharp and Hutson strums his guitar (or mandolin/banjo, depending on the number). This pair hails from LA (no, really) and recorded their debut EP, Look!, with a Sony Walkman. Their upcoming seven-inch, out March 27, was recorded a bit more expertly, but channels the same raw honesty. (Sullivan)
With Birdhouse, Lauren Shera, and Infantree
8:30 p.m., $12
Café Du Nord
2170 Market, SF
(415) 861-5016
TUESDAY 6
Mia Doi Todd
Los Angeles singer-songwriter Mia Doi Todd’s latest offering, Cosmic Ocean Ship (City Zen Records), was inspired by journeys into Cuba, Brazil, France, Mexico, and India. Her lilting, reflective vocals relay tones of nostalgia, affection, and optimism. Opening track “Paraty” refers to a Brazilian coastal town and brings in some lighthearted samba, while “Under the Sun” sees Todd turn tropical island chanteuse; her romantic crooning bringing to mind a couple taking a post-luau stroll on the beach. The take-away message might best be encapsulated by Cosmic‘s last track, a touching cover of Chilean Folk artist Violeta Parra’s “Gracias a la vida.” (Lee)
With Bells
8 p.m., $16–$26
Yoshi’s
1330 Fillmore
(415) 655-5600
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is the only 20th century ballet that can give a run to the 19th century biggies Nutcracker and Swan Lake. No matter who choreographs, it will find an audience. Fortunately, you have to be really good to keep control of the subject matter’s complexity, not to speak of an audience’s expectation about a beloved story and, of course, the music. Helgi Tómasson has the chops. His 1994 version is gorgeous, sumptuously choreographed and designed. The depth of the company is such that it has any number of first-rate dancers to fill the roles, not just the major ones of the lovers, but minor characters — the villain and the best friend, the gypsy girls and the rejected suitor. (Rita Felciano)
Through March 11, 8 p.m., $36–$285
War Memorial Opera House
301 Van Ness, SF
(415) 865-2000
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Stage Listings
Stage listings are compiled by Guardian staff. Performance times may change; call venues to confirm. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Rita Felciano, and Nicole Gluckstern. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.
THEATER
OPENING
Maurice New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness, SF; (415) 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org. $25-45. Previews Wed/29-Fri/2, 8pm. Opens Sat/3, 8pm. Runs Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 25. New Conservatory Theatre Center presents a play about two young men who fall in love in pre-World War I England, adapted from E.M. Forster’s novel.
Merchants Exit Stage Left, 156 Eddy, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $10-25. Previews Thurs/1-Fri/2, 8pm. Opens Sat/3, 8pm. Runs Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through March 24. No Nude Men Productions performs Susan Sobeloff’s tale of two sisters trying to balance financial stability and career satisfaction.
ONGOING
*Blue/Orange Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 450 Post, SF; (415) 474-8800, www.lhtsf.org. $43-53. Thurs-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm). Through March 18. Lorraine Hansberry Theater offers an uneven but worthwhile production of British playwright Joe Penhall’s sardonic comedy of ideas and institutional racism, an intriguingly frustrating three-hander about a young doctor (a bright Dan Clegg) at a psychiatric teaching hospital who begins a battle royal with his suave and pompous supervising physician (a comically nimble Julian Lopez-Morillas) over the release of a questionably-sane black patient. Originally brought in by police for creating a disturbance, Christopher (the excellent Carl Lumbly) still exhibits signs of psychosis and his ability to care for himself seems doubtful to the young doctor treating him. The older physician appeals to the patient’s general competence, hospital procedures, the shortage of beds, and the exigencies of career advancement in countering the younger doctor’s insistence on keeping the patient beyond the mandatory 28-day period required by law. For his part, Christopher, nervous and rather manic, is at first desperately eager to be released back to his poor London neighborhood. Competing interviews with the two doctors complicate his perspective and ours repeatedly, however, as a heated debate about medicine, institutionalization, cultural antecedents to mental “illness,” career arcs, and a “cure for black psychosis,” leave everyone’s sanity in doubt. Although our attention can be distracted by a too-pervading sound design and less than perfect British accents, Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe directs a strong and engaging cast in a politically resonant not to say increasingly maddening play. (Avila)
52 Man Pick Up Brava Theater, 2781 24th St, SF; (415) 647-2822, www.brava.org. $10-25. Thurs/1-Sat/3, 8pm. Desiree Butch performs her solo show about a deck of cards’ worth of sexual encounters.
Geezer Marsh San Francisco, MainStage, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $25-100. Thurs and Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through March 18. Geoff Hoyle’s hit solo show returns.
Glengarry Glen Ross Actors Theatre of San Francisco, 855 Bush, SF; (415) 345-1287, www.brownpapertickets.com. $26-40. Fri-Sat, 8pm. Through March 24. David Mamet’s cutthroat comedy, courtesy of the Actors Theatre of San Francisco.
The Pirates of Penzance Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College, Berk; (510) 845-8542, www.juliamorgan.org. $17-35. Fri-Sat, 7pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, noon and 5pm. Through April 1. Berkeley Playhouse performs the Gilbert and Sullivan classic, with the setting shifted to a futuristic city.
The Real Americans Marsh Studio Theater, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $25-50. Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm; Sun, 2pm. Through March 18. Dan Hoyle revives his hit solo show about small-town America.
Scorched American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary, SF; (415) 749-2228, www.act-sf.org. $10-85. Tues-Sat, 8pm; Wed, Sat-Sun, 2pm. Through March 11. Lebanese-Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad bites off a little more than he can chew, and ACT thus offers a less than satisfying three-hour feast with its stilted production of Mouawad’s 2008 epic about a brother and sister (Babak Tafti and Annie Purcell) sent by their estranged, recently deceased mother’s executor (David Strathairn) on a hunt for her past in her unnamed civil war-torn Middle Eastern homeland. At that point, the story of their mother, Nawal (Marjan Neshat), comes center stage — or rather crisscrosses it with that of her children in a mash-up that only undercuts the potential tension or interest in either plot strand. Director Carey Perloff’s cast also proves unevenly compelling. Strathairn’s Alphonse is a compassionate, slyly wise man who nervously rambles to make up for the extremely laconic and resentful mood of Nawal’s children. But he is of peripheral importance, and his malapropisms are laid on a little thicker than his endearing Quebecois accent, as if betraying the limits of his function onstage. The other characters meanwhile feel too thinly sketched to occupy the middle. As the sad and horrifying details of this Sophocles-inspired tale unfold, there is surprisingly little sense of authentic experience, and much more the feeling of over-indulgence it certain dramatic devices. Between the sententious and ponderous dialogue, strained characterization, and unwieldy storyline is a play flailing away at something beyond its ken or capacity. (Avila)
Three’s Company Live! Finn’s Funhouse, 814 Grove, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. $20. Fri/2-Sat/3, 7 and 9pm. Cat Fights and Shoulder Pads Productions (best production company name ever?) brings the classic sitcom to the stage.
Tontlawald Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, SF; (415) 525-1205, www.cuttingball.com. $10-50. Thurs, 7:30pm; Fri-Sat, 8pm (also Sat, 2pm); Sun, 5pm. Through March 11. Entering the theater space thought the back door, squeezing alongside a giant fishing net motif, which wraps the entire stage in a fabric grid, almost imperceptibly skews one’s perspective in advance of the show, just a brief twist that sets the tone for this abbreviated epic of abuse, friendship, and revenge. The heroine, an earthy yet somehow fragile maid (Marilet Martinez), inadvertently manages to rile her evil stepmother (Madeline H. D. Brown) for what seems to be the umpteenth time before fleeing into the mysterious wooded Tontlawald, inhabited by joyously frolicking beasts (or boys) and a preternaturally beautiful princess (Rebecca Frank) who immediately adopts her as a friend. Told through snatches of repetitive text, solemnly-intoned and ecstatically sung, and moments of engagingly acrobatic, hyper-stylized movement, Cutting Ball’s Tontlawald meanders through an Estonian fairy tale-hero’s quest, as if told from the perspective of the child protagonist — light on detail, heavy on drama. Inspired by TeatrZAR, the resident company of Poland’s Grotowski Centre, co-directors Paige Rogers and Annie Paladino and choreographer Laura Arrington worked to emulate certain characteristics of its style, notably the emphasis on song. But while there are some gorgeously transcendent moments of musical direction courtesy of Rogers, and of choreography courtesy of Arrington, the work plays out mostly as a disjointed series of striking tableaux, which intrigue the intellect, but somehow fail to inflame the soul. (Gluckstern)
*Tree City Legends Intersection for the Arts, 925 Mission, SF; (415) 626-2787, www.theintersection.org. $20-25. Thurs/1-Sat/3, 8pm. The three surviving Kane brothers — Sum (Juan Amador), Min (Taiyo Na), and Denizen (Sean San José) — come together to remember in pain and ecstasy the life of their fallen fourth, Junie Kane (Dennis Kim), whose voice and shadow come back now and then through a materializing recording session with his band (Dirty Boots: James Dumalo and Rachel Lastimosa). Set in the violent, drug-addled, but tenacious streets of an imaginary Bay Area inner-city neighborhood called Tree City, Campo Santo’s production of Kim’s new play transforms the daytime office space at Intersection for the Arts into an all-embracing mise-en-scene that feels, intentionally, like a memorial service, a concert, a dreamy almost hallucinatory reverie, and an incipient rebellion. The shadow-filled, ritual-like atmosphere (lit by Darl Andrew Packard amid Joan Osato’s lush, all-pervading video installation) suits well the play’s roiling mix of grief, restive anger, defiant humor, and communion — given exquisite expression in both song and extended, persuasive monologues by the fine trio of actors. Directed by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, the production’s ability to envelop the audience in this raucous ceremony lends just the right support to Kim’s strong, flowing, eloquent, and earthy ruminations on the fractious but soulful lives of the oppressed among us. (Avila)
*True West Boxcar Studios, 125A Hyde, SF; (415) 967-2227, www.boxcartheatre.org. $25. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through April 7. The first installment of Boxcar Theatre’s four-play Sam Shepard repertory project, True West ushers in the ambitious run with a bang. This tale of two brothers who gradually assume the role of the other is one of Shepard’s most enduring plays, rich with humorous interludes, veering sharply into dangerous terrain at the drop of a toaster. In time-honored, True West tradition, the lead roles of Austin, the unassuming younger brother, and Lee, his violent older sibling, are being alternated between Nick A. Olivero and Brian Trybom, and in a new twist, the role of the mother is being played by two different actresses as well (Adrienne Krug and Katya Rivera). The evening I saw it, Olivero was playing Austin, a writer banging away at his first screenplay, and Trybom was Lee, a troubled, alcoholic drifter who usurps his brother’s Hollywood shot, and trashes their mother’s home while trying to honor his as yet unwritten “contract”. The chemistry between the two actors was a perfect blend of menace and fraternity, and the extreme wreckage they make of both the set (designed by both actors), and their ever-tenuous relationship, was truly inspired. (Gluckstern)
*Vice Palace: The Last Cockettes Musical Thrillpeddlers’ Hypnodrome, 575 10th St, SF; (415) 377-4202, www.thrillpeddlers.com. $30-35. Fri/2-Sat/3, 8pm. Hot on the high heels of a 22-month run of Pearls Over Shanghai, the Thrillpeddlers are continuing their Theatre of the Ridiculous revival with a tits-up, balls-out production of the Cockettes’ last musical, Vice Palace. Loosely based on the terrifyingly grim “Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, part of the thrill of Palace is the way that it weds the campy drag-glamour of Pearls Over Shanghai with the Thrillpeddlers’ signature Grand Guignol aesthetic. From an opening number set on a plague-stricken street (“There’s Blood on Your Face”) to a charming little cabaret about Caligula, staged with live assassinations, an undercurrent of darkness runs like blood beneath the shameless slapstick of the thinly-plotted revue. As plague-obsessed hostess Divina (Leigh Crow) and her right-hand “gal” Bella (Eric Tyson Wertz) try to distract a group of stir-crazy socialites from the dangers outside the villa walls, the entertainments range from silly to salacious: a suggestively-sung song about camel’s humps, the wistful ballad “Just a Lonely Little Turd,” a truly unexpected Rite of Spring-style dance number entitled “Flesh Ballet.” Sumptuously costumed by Kara Emry, cleverly lit by Nicholas Torre, accompanied by songwriter/lyricist (and original Cockette) Scrumbly Koldewyn, and anchored by a core of Thrillpeddler regulars, Palace is one nice vice. (Gluckstern)
The Waiting Period MainStage, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $15-50. Fri, 8pm; Sat, 5pm. Through March 24. Brian Copeland returns with a new solo show about his struggles with depression.
BAY AREA
*Body Awareness Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison, Berk; (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org. $30-48. Tues, 7pm; Wed-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 2 and 7pm. Through March 11. In Annie Baker’s new comedy, receiving a top-notch Bay Area premiere at Aurora Theatre, peppy psychology prof Phyllis (Amy Resnick) hosts “Body Awareness Week” at her small Vermont college, while back home partner Joyce (Jeri Lynn Cohen) talks to her 21-year-old son Jared (Patrick Russell) about the porn pay-per-view bill he’s racked up. Phyllis contends that Joyce’s introverted, somewhat explosive virgin son (who in addition to bouts of violent anger soothes himself compulsively with an electric security toothbrush) has Asperger’s Syndrome — a diagnosis that Jared, a budding not too say obsessive lexicographer, hotly contests. That same week, the couple hosts a guest artist, Frank (Howard Swain), a breezy man’s man whose career stands squarely on a series of photographs of nude women and girls. The young man seeks sexual advice from the older one, much to Phyllis’s disgust and Joyce’s relief, while also tempting Joyce with the notion of posing for a nude portrait and “reclaiming her body image,” in a well-used phrase. An already delicate balance thus goes right off kilter as, between the poles of Phyllis and Frank, Joyce and Jared chase competing notions and definitions of themselves and the world. In the volatile tension between perspectives, power trips, and extreme personalities, playwright Baker initially pushes a comic form toward an unsettling edge, only to retreat in the end for safer ground and a family-friendly resolution. While that feels like a lost opportunity, Body Awareness is still a stimulating and solidly entertaining evening, brought to life by a warm and dexterous ensemble under fine, lively direction by Joy Carlin. (Avila)
Counter Attack! Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby, Berk; (510) 444-4755, ext. 114, www.stagebridge.org. $18-25. Wed/29-Thurs/1, 7:30pm; Fri/2-Sat/3, 8pm; Sun/4, 2pm. Stagebridge presents the world premiere of Joan Holden’s waitress-centric play.
A Doctor in Spite of Himself Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison, Berk; (510) 647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org. $14.50-73. Tues and Thurs-Sat, 8pm (no show March 23); Wed and Sun, 7pm (also Sun, 2pm). Through March 25. Berkeley Rep performs a contemporary update of the Molière comedy.
*The Kipling Hotel: True Misadventures of the Electric Pink ’80s New venue: Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. $20-50. Sat, 8:30pm; Sun, 7pm. Extended through March 25. This new autobiographical solo show by Don Reed, writer-performer of the fine and long-running East 14th, is another slice of the artist’s journey from 1970s Oakland ghetto to comedy-circuit respectability — here via a partial debate-scholarship to UCLA. The titular Los Angeles residency hotel was where Reed lived and worked for a time in the 1980s while attending university. It’s also a rich mine of memory and material for this physically protean and charismatic comic actor, who sails through two acts of often hilarious, sometimes touching vignettes loosely structured around his time on the hotel’s young wait staff, which catered to the needs of elderly patrons who might need conversation as much as breakfast. On opening night, the episodic narrative seemed to pass through several endings before settling on one whose tidy moral was delivered with too heavy a hand, but if the piece runs a little long, it’s only the last 20 minutes that noticeably meanders. And even with some awkward bumps along the way, it’s never a dull thing watching Reed work. (Avila)
Mesmeric Revelation Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant, Berk; (510) 558-1381, www.centralworks.org. Thurs-Sat, 8pm; Sun, 5pm. Through March 18. Central Works opens its season of world premieres with Aaron Henne’s Edgar Allen Poe-inspired drama.
Titus Andronicus La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid, Berk; www.impacttheatre.com. $10-20. Thurs-Sat, 8pm. Through March 31. Impact Theatre takes on the Bard’s bloodiest tragedy.
The World’s Funniest Bubble Show Marsh Berkeley, TheaterStage, 2120 Allston, Berk; (415) 826-5750, www.themarsh.org. $8-50. Extended run: March 11 and 18, 11am. Louis “The Amazing Bubble Man” Pearl returns with this kid-friendly, bubble-tastic comedy.
PERFORMANCE/DANCE
“The Abduction from the Seraglio (Yanked from the Harem)” Marines Memorial Theater, 609 Sutter, SF; www.pocketopera.org. Sun/4 and March 11, 2pm. Also March 18, 2pm, Berkeley Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar, Berk. $15-39. Pocket Opera performs artistic director Donald Pippin’s witty translation of Mozart’s classic work.
“Alice Superbrain/The Twin Section” Garage, 975 Howard, SF; www.975howard.com. Fri/2-Sat/3, 8pm. $10-20. Andrea Lanza’s multidisciplinary perfomance is inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice adventures.
“Arthur in Underland” CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission, SF; www.counterpulse.org. Previews Fri/2-Sun/4, 8pm. Opens March 8, 8pm. Runs Fri-Sun, 8pm. Through March 24. $15-24. Dandelion Dancetheater performs a new work about a young man whose life is changed when he becomes part of a rock group’s entourage.
“Elect to Laugh” Studio Theater, Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia, SF; (415) 282-3055, www.themarsh.org. Tues, 8pm. Ongoing through Nov 6. $15-50. Will Durst and friends perform in this weekly political humor show that focuses on the upcoming presidential election.
“The Eric Show” Milk Bar, 1840 Haight, SF; www.milksf.com. Tues, 8pm (ongoing). $5. Local comedians perform with host Eric Barry.
“Finding the Michaels” Shotwell Studios, 3252-A 19th St, SF; www.brownpapertickets.com. Sat/3 and March 9-10, 8pm; Sun/4, 3pm. Footloose presents Cassie Angley’s solo play about her experiences in post-9/11 New York City.
Nina Haft & Company and Facing East Dance and Music ODC Theater, 3153 17th St, SF; www.odcdance.org. Fri/2-Sat/3, 8pm; Sat/3-Sun/4, 3pm. $18-24. The companies perform this.placed, a dance and multimedia performance about what the body remembers.
“The Whole Megillah 2: Uncut” Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida, SF; www.jccsf.org. Thurs-Fri, 8pm; Sat, 7 and 10pm. Through March 10. Also March 7, 8pm, Kanbar Hall, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California, SF. $15-20. The Hub and Killing My Lobster present this Purim-themedsketch comedy show.
Music Listings
Since club life is unpredictable, it’s a good idea to call ahead or check the venue’s website to confirm bookings and hours. Prices are listed when provided to us. Visit www.sfbg.com/venue-guide for venue information. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.
WEDNESDAY 29
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Adios Amigo, Genius and the Thieves, Gold Medalists Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $10.
Bayonics, Hot Pocket, Shamilah Ivory, Roja & Elive, Fog City Mavericks Elbo Room. 9pm.
Business, Downtown Struts, Sydney Ducks Thee Parkside. 8pm, $13.
Damir Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Hank IV, Bill Orcutt, Musk Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, sliding scale donation. Benefit for Letha Melchior.
Jason Marion vs. Nathan Temby Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.
Bobby Radcliff Biscuits and Blues. 8 and 10pm, $15.
Reckless Kelly, Rose’s Pawn Shop Slim’s. 8pm, $16.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Cat’s Corner with Nathan Dias Savanna Jazz. 9pm, $10.
Chris Amberger Trio & Jazz Jam Yoshi’s Lounge. 6:30-11pm, free.
Cosmo AlleyCats Le Colonial, 20 Cosmo Place, SF; www.lecolonialsf.com; 7-10pm.
Dazz Band Yoshi’s. 8pm, $38; 10pm, $35.
Dink Dink Dink, Gaucho, Michael Abraham Amnesia. 7pm, free.
Greg Gotelli Quartet Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 6-9pm, free.
Nellie McKay: “I Want to Live” Rrazz Room. 8pm, $30.
“Other Minds Fellowship Concert” Lab, 2948 16th St., SF; (800) 838-3006. 7:30pm, $12-$20. With composers D. Edward Davis, John P. Hastings, Peter V. Swendsen, and Jen Wang.
Ricardo Scales Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 6:30pm, $5.
DANCE CLUBS
Booty Call Q-Bar, 456 Castro, SF; www.bootycallwednesdays.com. 9pm. Juanita MORE! and Joshua J host this dance party.
Coo-Yah! Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. DJs Daneekah and Green B spin reggae and dancehall with weekly guests.
Darin Epsilon The Endup, 401 Sixth, SF; www.theendup.com. 9pm, free.
Mary Go Round Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 10pm, $5. Drag with Suppositori Spelling, Mercedez Munro, and Ginger Snap.
Megatallica Fiddler’s Green, 1333 Columbus, SF; www.megatallica.com. 7pm, free. Heavy metal hangout.
Vespa Beat Bliss Bar, 4026 24th St., SF; www.blissbarsf.com. 9pm, free. MSK.fm spins raregrooves, electroswing, and boogie.
THURSDAY 1
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Alkaline Trio Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $23.
Rome Balestrieri, Rags Tuttle, Nathan Temby Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9:30pm.
Chadwick Stokes, Shants Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $17.
EMA, REPTAR, popscene DJs Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $13.
Every Avenue, We Are The In Crowd, Plug in Stereo, Audition Bottom of the Hill. 7pm, $15.
John Lawton Trio Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Kill Moi, Fake Your Own Death, Excuses for Skipping, Sporting Life Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $7-$10.
Misisipi Mike and the Midnight Gamblers, Heeldraggers Amnesia. 9pm, $7-$10.
Spittin’ Cobras, Flexx Bronco, Butlers, Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits Independent. 8pm, $12. Filmed for Reality Check TV.
They Are All Dead, Monogamy Party, Dead Man Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $6.
Zola Jesus, Wymond Miles of Fresh & Onlys, Talk Normal Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $21.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Blues organ party Royal Cuckoo, 3202 Mission, SF; www.royalcuckoo.com. 7:30pm, free.
Stompy Jones Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 7:30pm, $10.
Tom Lander & Friends Medjool, 2522 Mission, SF; www.medjoolsf.com. 6-9pm, free.
Ricardo Lemvo Yoshi’s. 8pm, $20; 10pm, $15.
“Other Minds Festival” JCCSF, 3200 California, SF; www.jccsf.org. 8pm, $25-$45. With Asamisimasa.
Karyn White Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.50.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Twang! Honky Tonk Fiddler’s Green, 1330 Columbus, SF; www.twanghonkytonk.com. 5pm. Live country music, dancing, and giveaways.
DANCE CLUBS
Afrolicious Elbo Room. 9:30pm, $5. DJ/host Pleasuremaker spins Afrobeat, Tropicália, electro, samba, and funk.
Get Low Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, free. Jerry Nice and Ant-1 spin Hip-Hop, 80’s and Soul with weekly guests.
KUSF-In-Exile DJ Night Lucky 13, 2140 Market, SF; www.savekusf.org. 8pm.
Overlap: Christopher Willits (Ghostly International) Public Works. 8pm. Live audio-visual performances, DJs, guest musicians, local food, and film.
Red Bull Thre3Style SF TORQ at Ruby Skye. 9pm, $12. Eight DJs including KingMost, Zita, Theory, and more.
Supersonic Lookout, 3600 16th St., SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 9pm. Global beats paired with food from around the world by Tasty. Resident DJs Jaybee, B-Haul, and Diagnosis.
Thursdays at the Cat Club Cat Club. 9pm, $6 (free before 9:30pm). Two dance floors bumpin’ with the best of 80s mainstream and underground with DJ’s Damon, Steve Washington, Dangerous Dan, and guests.
Tropicana Madrone Art Bar. 9pm, free. Salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, and more with DJs Don Bustamante, Apocolypto, Sr. Saen, Santero, and Mr. E.
12 Planet, Flinch, Kastle, Matt Haze Mighty. 9pm.
FRIDAY 2
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Back Pages Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Bobb Saggeth, Prizehog, Hell Ship Thee Parkside. 9pm, $8.
Eligh & Amp Live, Shotgun Wedding Quintet Slim’s. 9pm, $16.
Elliott Brood, Pack A.D., Mwahaha Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $10.
Funky Meters Fillmore. 9pm, $26.50.
Guitar Wizards of the Future Amnesia. 7pm, $5.
“House of Floyd: The Music of Pink Floyd” Yoshi’s. 8pm, $22; 10pm, $20.
O’Brother, Junius, Happy Body Slow Brain Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.
Eddie Roberts, Robert Walter, Jermal Watson Trio, Grease Traps Boom Boom Room. 8pm, $20.
Emeli Sande Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $17.
Ty Segall, White Fence, Mikal Cronin, Feeling of Love Great American Music Hall. 8:30pm, $13-$15.
Stages of Sleep, Starlight Girls, Gorgeous Byrdmen Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $7.
Super Diamond, Mustache Harbor Bimbo’s. 9pm, $22.
Rachael Yamagata, Dan Wilson, Madi Diaz Independent. 8pm, $15.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.
Black Market Jazz Orchestra Top of the Mark, 999 California, SF; www.topofthemark.com. 9pm, $10.
“Other Minds Festival” JCCSF, 3200 California, SF; www.jccsf.org. 8pm, $25-$45. With Del Sol String Quartet, Harold Budd, and Keith Lowe.
Karyn White Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.50.
DANCE CLUBS
Braza! Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, $5-$10. DJ Forty Fivan and special guest DJ Caasi spin Brazilian, Batucada, Samba.
Duniya Dancehall Bissap, 3372 19th St, SF; (415) 826 9287. 10pm, $10. With live performances by Duniya Drum and Dance Co. and music by Wontanara Revolution. DJ Juan Data spins bhangra, bollywood, dancehall, African, and more.
Old School JAMZ El Rio. 9pm. Fruit Stand DJs spinning old school funk, hip-hop, and R&B.
120 Minutes Elbo Room. 10pm, $15. With White Ring, James Ferraro, and residents DJs S4NtA MU3rTE, Nako, and Planet Death.
Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.
Pledge: Fraternal Lookout. 9pm, $3-$13. Benefiting LGBT and nonprofit organizations. Bottomless kegger cups and paddling booth with DJ Christopher B and DJ Brian Maier.
Strangelove: Tribute to the Cure Cat Club. 9:30pm, $3-$7. Goth and industrial with DJs Tomas Diablo, Lowlife, Fact50, and Death Boy.
Ursula 1000 (ESL Music) Public Works. 9:30pm, $5-$10. With Afrolicious with live percussion.
SATURDAY 3
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Harper Blynn Red Devil Lounge. 11pm, $10.
Cloud Nothings, Mr. Dream, Your Cannons Bottom of the Hill. 10pm, $12.
Cut Loose Band Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Adam Del Rio & the Fizzy Lifters, Subject to Change Riptide, 3639 Taraval, SF; www.riptidesf.com. 10 and 11:15pm, free.
Dig-Its, Riot Earp, AMs El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; www.elriosf.com. 9pm, $7.
Roky Erickson, Night Beats Great American Music Hall. 9pm, $25.
Fruition w/ Lebo, Jonny Kat and the CooCoo Birds, Honey Bunny & the Hot Toddies Amnesia. 8:30pm, $7.
Funky Meters Fillmore. 9pm, $26.50.
GoldDiggers, Muddy Roses Make-Out Room. 7:30pm, $8.
He’s My Brother She’s My Sister, Bad Weather California Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $8-$11.
Huntinanny, Number Prophets Thee Parkside. 3pm, free.
Meat Sluts, Girls With Guns, Inferno Joy Thee Parkside. 9pm, $5.
MJ’s Brass Bloopers, East Bay Brass Band Hemlock Tavern. 9:30pm, $10.
Eddie Roberts, Robert Walter, Jermal Watson Trio, Grease Traps Boom Boom Room. 8pm, $20.
Salvador Santana & Band, Blanca, Ruckatan Slim’s. 8pm, $14-$16.
Vagabond Lovers Club featuring Slim Jenkins, Beso Negro, Black Kat Kabaret Cafe Du Nord. 9pm, $12.
Greg Zema. Rome Balestrieri, Nathan Temby Johnny Foley’s Dueling Pianos. 9pm.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Audium 1616 Bush, SF; www.audium.org. 8:30pm, $20. Theater of sound-sculptured space.
Dave Hollister Yoshi’s. 8pm, $36; 10pm, $32.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon, SF; www.sfjazz.org. 8pm, $25-$65.
“Other Minds Festival” JCCSF, 3200 California, SF; www.jccsf.org. 8pm, $25-$45. With Del Sol String Quartet, Magik*Magik Orchestra, and John Kennedy.
Karyn White Rrazz Room. 7 and 9:30pm, $45.50.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Americana Jukebox Plough and Stars. 9:30pm, $6-$10. With Blue Diamond Fillups vs. Whiskey Pills Fiasco.
Saturday Night Salsa Ramp, 855 Francois, SF; www.facebook.com/therampsf. 5:30pm, $10.
DANCE CLUBS
Bearaccuda Rickshaw Stop. 9pm, $6-$8. With DJs Matt Consola and Craig Gaibler.
Cockfight Underground SF, 424 Haight, SF; (415) 864-7386. 9pm, $7. Rowdy dance night for gay boys .
Foundation Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521. 10pm, $5-$10. DJs Shortkut, Apollo, Mr. E, Fran Boogie spin Hip-Hop, Dancehall, Funk, Salsa.
Haceteria Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF; www.decosf.com. 9pm, free before 11pm, $3 after. With Jason P, Tristes Tropiques, Smac, and Nihar.
Paris to Dakar Little Baobab, 3388 19th St, SF; (415) 643-3558. 10pm, $5. Afro and world music with rotating DJs including Stepwise, Steve, Claude, Santero, and Elembe.
Saturday Night Soul Party Elbo Room. 10pm, $5-$10. With DJs Lucky, Paul Paul, and Phengren Oswald spinning 60s soul 45s.
SUNDAY 4
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Deephearted with Los Amplifiers, Puppet Radio Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 9pm, $5-$8.
Ganglians, A Classic Education, French Cassettes Rickshaw Stop. 8pm, $10-$12.
Hungry Hungry Ghost, Pets With Pets Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $5.
Kally Price Old Blues and Jazz Band Amnesia. 9pm, $5.
KoRn, Sluggo, J Devil Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $45.
Skabilly Rebels Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $18.
Typhoon, Motopony, Ravenna Woods Bottom of the Hill. 9pm, $12.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Ken Berman, Kai Eckhardt Duo Bliss Bar, 4026 24th St., SF; www.blissbarsf.com. 4:30-730pm, $10.
“Hot Air Music Festival” San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak, SF; www.hotairmusicfestival.com. With John Adams, David Conte, Christopher Theofanidis, and more.
Noertker’s Moxie Musician’s Union Hall, 116 Ninth St., S; www.noertker.com. 7:30pm, $10.
Janis Paige Rrazz Room. 5pm, $35.
Ricardo Scales Yoshi’s. 7pm, $22..
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Justin Ancheta Glen Park Station, 816 Diamond, SF; www.justinancheta.com. 8pm, free.
Twang Sundays Thee Parkside. 4pm, free. With Barbwyre, Maurice Tani & Friends.
DANCE CLUBS
Batcave Club 93, 93 9th St, SF 10pm, $5. Death rock, goth, and post-punk with Steeplerot, XChrisT, Necromos and c_death.
Dub Mission Elbo Room. 9pm, $6. Dub, dubstep, roots, and dancehall with DJ Sep, J. Boogie, and guest Adam Twelve.
Jock Lookout, 3600 16th St, SF; www.lookoutsf.com. 3pm, $2. Raise money for LGBT sports teams while enjoying DJs and drink specials.
La Pachanga Blue Macaw, 2565 Mission, SF; www.thebluemacawsf.com. 6pm, $10. Salsa dance party with live Afro-Cuban salsa bands.
MONDAY 5
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Peter Case and Paul Collins, Summer Twins Red Devil Lounge. 8pm, $20.
Javier Colon, Reed Waddle Slim’s. 8pm, $35.
Damir Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Driftwood Singers, Birdhouse, Lauren Shera, Infantree Cafe Du Nord. 8:30pm, $12.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Bossa Nova Tunnel Top, 601 Bush, SF; (415) 722-6620. 8-11:30pm, free. Live acoustic Bossa Nova.
Janis Paige Rrazz Room. 8pm, $35.
“Teena Marie Birthday Tribute” Yoshi’s. 8pm, $25. With 3 Piece & a Biscuit.
FOLK/WORLD/COUNTRY
Belle Monroe and Her Brewglass Boys Amnesia. 9pm, free.
DANCE CLUBS
Death Guild DNA Lounge. 9:30pm, $3-5. Gothic, industrial, and synthpop with Joe Radio, Decay, and Melting Girl.
Krazy Mondays Beauty Bar, 2299 Mission, SF; www.thebeautybar.com. 10pm, free. Hip-hop and other stuff.
M.O.M. Madrone Art Bar. 6pm, free. DJs Timoteo Gigante, Gordo Cabeza, and Chris Phlek playing all Motown every Monday.
Sausage Party Rosamunde Sausage Grill, 2832 Mission, SF; (415) 970-9015. 6:30-9:30pm, free. DJ Dandy Dixon spins vintage rock, R&B, global beats, funk, and disco at this happy hour sausage-shack gig.
TUESDAY 6
ROCK/BLUES/HIP-HOP
Andrew W.K., Math the Band Regency Ballroom. 8pm, $27.
“An Evening with Hapa” Great American Music Hall. 8pm, $27.
Burnt Ones, Blasted Canyons, Soft Swells Brick and Mortar Music Hall. 8pm, free.
Ceremony Amoeba, 1855 Haight, SF; www.amoebamusic.com. 6pm, free.
Cruz, Tribe, Institution Elbo Room. 9pm, $7.
Delta Rae Cafe Du Nord. 8pm, $10.
Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, Yim Yames, Sarah Jaffe Fillmore. 8pm, $25.
Lecherous Gaze, Shrine, Buffalo Tooth Hemlock Tavern. 9pm, $7.
Stan Erhart Band Johnny Foley’s. 9pm, free.
Teutonics, Gravys Drop, Whoosie What’s It’s Knockout. 9:30pm, $6.
Thee Oh Sees, Magnetix, Pets With Pets, Mallard Independent. 8pm, $13.
Mia Doi Todd Yoshi’s. 8pm, $16.
TV Girl, Seatraffic Amnesia. 9:30pm, $7.
Chris Webby Slim’s. 9pm, $16-$18.
JAZZ/NEW MUSIC
Lucie Arnaz “Latin Roots” Rrazz Room. 8pm, $45.
DANCE CLUBS
Eclectic Company Skylark, 9pm, free. DJs Tones and Jaybee spin old school hip hop, bass, dub, glitch, and electro. Post-Dubstep Tuesdays Som., 2925 16th St, SF; (415) 558-8521.10pm, free. DJs Dnae Beats, Epcot, Footwerks spin UK Funky, Bass Music.
Club action!
marke@sfbg.com
This past year was pretty dang rad in the clubs (and here I must stop to thank my fantastic hairstylist, Paul at Zip Zap, for helping make it especially happen for me). Despite the recession — and the continued flight of us decadent types — the parties never stopped. In fact, they seem to have gotten even more varied and creative, with a sophisticated energy that’s welcoming and ecstatic, flinging their doors open wide for hot-footed like minds. I was inspired during a particularly riotous drag show featuring flaming dildos, pancake batter, and Shabba Ranks to put together this list of regular happenings I’m into, a kind of snapshot of our fine nightlife, and a guide to more good times, if you feel me.
That 62 recommendations for weekly and monthly parties sprang to mind immediately — bluegrass, rocksteady, gay goth, electro-cumbia, zouk, hypercrunk, Brit pop, etc — shows out the sheer vibrance of the local scene. The parties listed below are ones I wholeheartedly recommend: friendly, affordable, no dress codes or booth reservations, full of adventurous music and folks who aren’t afraid to move a little sideways when they dance, rather than just nod their heads or pump their fists (and who actually have fun, rather than act like they’re having fun in a video). Also: a good chance of getting laid.
There’s oodles more shindigs I itched to list — some are too new for me to get a proper handle on yet, others I’ve only popped in on, and I’m sure a few I forgot (I’m perma-stoned.). Also, I didn’t throw down in the East Bay as much as I’d have liked; send me your hot tips for next time.
So this list will grow and be updated — bookmark it for later use. And follow our music listings and my weekly Super Ego column for special nightlife events.
All events below are 21+ and end at 2 a.m. (except where noted). Enough blather, Barbra! Tonight, we dance.
MONDAYS
TUESDAYS
WEDNESDAYS
THURSDAYS
FRIDAYS
SATURDAYS
SUNDAYS
ROVING PARTIES
MONDAYS
Bluegrass Mondays Live bands, well-picked tunes, and a hootenanny crowd help get the new week twang on right — strumming legend Toshio Hirano appears monthly to show how it’s really done. 9 p.m., free. Amnesia, 853 Valencia, SF. www.amnesiathebar.com
Death Guild Our fair burg’s weekly 18+ goth classic, bursting with kohl-rimmed, cyber-punk joy, now going on 19 years of dark celebration. DJs Decay, Melting Girl, and more deliver chills from Cocteau Twins wormholes to bleeding edge nu-IDM. 9:30 p.m.-afterhours. $3 before 10 p.m., $5 after, 18+. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF www.deathguild.com
Motown on Mondays The SF scene’s Monday go-to for some soulful comfort food, with a swinging crowd and some mighty fine Motown and more selections from DJ Gordo and guests. 6 p.m., free. Madrone, 500 Divisadero, SF. www.madronesf.com
Skylarking High-flying hazy fantasia of roots reggae and dub goodness from a host of local reggae royalty with a more-than-welcoming vibe. 10 p.m., free. 3089 16th St., SF. www.skylarkbar.com
Wanted A very sexy mixed party in the Castro for indie dance and electro rock-oriented folks who aren’t quite ready to end the weekend. Gives a downtown NYC vibe with SF (lack of) attitude. With DJs Key&Kite and Richie Panic. 9 p.m., free. QBar, 456 Castro, SF. www.sfwanted.com
Viennetta Discotheque What other intimate, kooky-lovely queer party would celebrate its recent anniversary with 40 McDonald’s cheeseburgers and a platter of fries for hungover voguers to “serve?” From over-the-top disco to tomorrow’s dub-techno to just WTF, DJs Stanley Frank and Robert Jeffrey whip it up. 10 p.m., free. UndergroundSF, 424 Haight, SF. 133 Turk, SF.
TUESDAYS
Bass Cellar An uncomplicated blast of dubstep (tending toward the brostep variety) with a crowd that mixes the mainstream with the more devoted, and never fails to deliver on the wob-wobs. 10 p.m., free. The Cellar, 685 Sutter, SF. www.thecellarsf.com
Bless Up Premier reggae, riddim, and dancehall crew Jah Warrior Shelter Hi Fi keep the Upper Haight rocksteady with live guests, smokin’ tunes, and a forest of cute dreds. This is the good stuff. 10 p.m., $5. 1840 Haight, SF. www.milksf.com
High Fantasy Apocalyptically glamorous queer rabble-rousers Alexis Bair Penney and Myles Cooper make gutter dreams come true in the Tenderloin, with artistically challenging drag performances, international surprise guests, and polymorphous perversity on tap-tap-tap. 10 p.m., $2. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.auntcharlieslounge.com
WEDNESDAYS
Booty Call Ever-gorgeous queen Juanita More and ever-energetic promoter Joshua J host this weekly queer night bursting with forward looks and youthful cuteness. The stated draw is the fun photobooth in back, tricked out by noted artists, but the free-spirited, non-pop house tunes are tasty, too. 9 p.m., $3. QBar, 456 Castro, SF. www.botycallwednesdays.com
Housepitality Good ol’ back-to-basics, world class house dancing with a warm, family vibe and some refreshing sophistication without pretension — also, some mighty hot hoofers on the dancefloor and guests in the booth. Pretty much a perfect hump night out. 9 p.m., $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after. Icon, 1192Folsom, SF. www.housepitalitysf.com
Coo Yah DJs Green B and Daneekah up the steamy reggaeton and dancehall ante with some strong female power behind the decks, live Caribbean and UK guests, and a diverse crowd who know how to put one leg up with the jams. 9 p.m., free. SOM, 2925 16th St., SF. www.som-bar.com
Bondage a Go Go The teasing tension between what can legally go on at this polyamorous showcase (now approaching its 20th year) and what actually might go on is just one of the exquisite tortures/pleasures for its many fans. DJs Damon and Tomas Diablo keep the rock and retro atmosphere dark and hot. 9:30 p.m., $10. Cat Club, 1190 Folsom, SF. www.bondage-a-go-go.com
WEDNESDAY MONTHLIES
Shutter Goth glamour exquisitely laid over indie sensibilities: modern darkwave and ’80s synth strains form the backdrop for a monthly ball of debaucherous shivers and Romantic excess. Fourth Wednesdays, 10 p.m., $5. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.facebook.com/Shutter.SF
Stay Gold Adorably spazzy neon-sweatered, asymmetrically haircutted, often pantsless sexy young queer people unite! And get down to some pretty fierce reggaeton, hip-hop, and non-ironic pop jams from DJs Pink Lightning and Rapid Fire. Last Wednesday of the month, 10 p.m., $3 before 11 p.m., $5 after. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.facebook.com/staygoldsf
Qoöl Mammoth One of our oldest funky techno crews, Qoöl, joins forces with beloved insane Burning Man camp Pink Mammoth for a monthly SF scene reunion — as a happy hour, which means we’re growing up? Oh dear. Last Wednesday of the month, 6 p.m.-11 p.m, free. The EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.qoolsf.com
THURSDAYS
Afrolicious All things awesomely funky, especially Latin and African, for a packed house, from adorable DJ brothers Pleasuremaker and Señor Oz. Live percussion and performances, international guests, and a free-spirited atmosphere keep it lively. 9:30 p.m., $5. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com
Base Upscale club Vessel dips into the scrappy underground (a little) by hosting some of the most consequential names in international techno every week for an adoring, knowledgeable, dance-ready audience. 10 p.m., $10. Vessel, 85 Campton Pl., SF. www.vesselsf.com
Future Perfect This packed party pretty much realizes its admirable aim to demolish all genre boundaries and just play “cool, contemporary music no matter what.” That makes it hard to write about, but easy to dig, especially with yummy weekly live guests that have included Light Asylum, Cold Cave, and Dubbel Dutch. 10 p.m., $10–$15. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com
The Monster Show If San Francisco has a drag sweetheart, it must be the loveable Cookie Dough, who isn’t afraid to dump buckets of blood around the stage or skewer Toddlers and Tiaras or Whitney Houston for her gently twisted, often outrageous Monster Show performance night. DJ MC2 rocks the tunes. 10 p.m., $5. Midnight Sun, 4067 18th St., SF. www.cookievision.com
NightLife Hey smart peeps (and friends), the incredible Cal Academy of Sciences puts on one of the best parties in the city, with different intelligent but fun themes, exciting DJs, and informative talks each week. Yes, there are multiple bars and dancefloors. Yes, there are penguins. 6 p.m.-10 p.m., $12. California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Dr., Golden Gate Park, SF. www.calacademy.org/nightlife
Popscene All the bright young indie pop fans converge on this long-running 18+ party to peep up-and-coming international live bands often so fresh the Internet has yet to discover them — plus some touching nods to the alternative pop styles of yore. 10 p.m., $10–$15, 18+. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. www.popscene-sf.com
Ritual Our best dubstep party, mixing anarchic raving with some damn smart programming and top notch selections. DJs Nebakaneza, Johnny5, and the Irie Cartel keep the sound an art form, exploring its outer, moodier reaches while still punching your solar plexus good. 10 p.m.-3 a.m., free before 10 p.m., $5 after. Temple, 540 Howard, SF. www.templesf.com
The Tubesteak Connection After almost eight years of reviving rare 1970s and ’80s gay bathhouse disco in an atmosphere that encourages sleazy cruising (and bans all things digital), DJ Bus Station John’s club is still a sensation — DJs make the pilgrimage, often on their knees, from around the globe to catch up on the sex music of the past. 10 p.m., $5. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.auntcharlieslounge.com
THURSDAY MONTHLIES
Relax Relate Release Three of the craziest mofo DJs on the scene, Vin Sol, Richie Panic, and 5kinAndBone5 indulge their deeper eclectic (yet still plenty bumpin’) sides, with schweet selections spanning classic disco to hyphy gems, bass oddities to vogue jams. 10 p.m., $5. 222 Hyde, SF.
I Heart Cochina Tonga’s Take one plainish gay bar (LookOut), dress it up like the tackiest Mexican-wannabe cabana bar ever, add in a loco drag queen (Ambrosia Salad) and two DJs picantes (Stanley Frank and Taco Tuesday) who aren’t afraid to salsa-fy some party tunes — and shazam! A primo fiesta. Fourth Thursdays, 9 p.m., free. The LookOut, 3600 16th St., SF. www.lookoutsf.com
FRIDAYS
Blow Up Fantastically glamorous and classy-yet-raging 18+ underground electro, nu-disco, and post-French Touch night, hosted by Ava Berlin and Jeffrey Paradise, now seven years old and as fashionable as ever with a slew of talented DJs, weekly guests, relatable moments, and incredible looks. 10 p.m., $10–$20, 18+. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.blowupsf.com
Hot Boxxx Girls Legendary gender illusionists of the Tenderloin shower you with bewitching beauty and ravishing razzle-dazzle in this must-see drag show (also on Saturday nights). Once you witness these spirited gals take on your favorite showtune, pop hit, or power ballad, you’ll never hear it the same. Bring lots of singles for tipping. 9 p.m., $5. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.auntcharlieslounge.com
Loose Joints Awesome rare grooves, from boogie raveups and old school hip-hop to Latin jazz and post-punk gems (plus some super-current cuts) that please vinyl mavens, sure, but also serve to keep the floor packed with hotties. DJs Tom Thump, Damon Bell, and Centipede combine their diverse crate-digging styles into a quality supersound. 10 p.m., $5. Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., SF. www.makeoutroom.com
Paris-Dakar Coupe Decale There’s pretty much something fab going down every night at Senegalese hotspot Little Baobab, but this party (also on Saturday) really turns the sweat on, with Central and West African rhythms — plus zouk, soca, Brazilian, reggae, and a bottom-dropping global stew of others. 10 p.m., $5. Little Baobab, 3388 19th St., SF. www.bissapbaobab.com
Some Thing Taking drag (and performance) into some incredible new and WTF zones — with lots of fun dancing afterward, and a fantastic craft table courtesy of Haute Gloo — the Some Thing trio of Glamamore, VivvyAnne ForeverMore, and DJ Down-E add some theatrical, dramatic, and loopy oomph to the SF weekend. 10 p.m.-afterhours, $7. The Stud, 399 9th St., SF. www.studsf.com
FRIDAY MONTHLIES
120 Minutes Based goth, rapegaze, hypercrunk — if you’re unfamiliar with these hysterically nihilistic, through-the-looking-glass genres, don’t worry: host Marco de la Vega and crew will slay you through it. First Fridays, 9 p.m., $10–$15. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com
Braza! Seductive Brazilian-themed goodness — from live Forro bands to forward-thinking DJs from Rio — and a smokin’ crowd of regulars, full of warmth and positive energy. First Fridays, 10 p.m.-3 a.m., $10. SOM, 2925 16th St., SF. www.brazasf.com
Low End Theory The seminal LA future bass and heady glitch party has done spectacularly with its monthly outpost here, bursting with eclectic live acts and well-known woofer Picassos. First Fridays, 10 p.m.-4 a.m., $15–$20. 103 Harriet, www.1015.com
Oldies Night It’s all about the doo wop, baby. Underground ’50s and ’60s rock and soul get the no-pressure crowd fired up like Tracy Turnblad on a bender. First and Third Fridays, 9:30 p.m., $3. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.theknockoutsf.com
Taboo Truly moving soulful house sounds in Oakland from the great David Harness and friends, in a family atmosphere with old school good Bay vibes. First and Third Fridays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., free before 10 p.m., $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after. Bench and Bar, 510 17th St., Oakl. www.bench-and-bar.com
Baxtalo Drom Brassy Balkan folk and wild Romany (gypsy) whirls were recently ubiquitous in local nightlife — this “gypsy punk cabaret” was one of the original parties and still one of the best. Fourth Fridays, 9 p.m., $7–$10. Amnesia, 853 Valencia. www.amnesiathebar.com
Teenage Dance Craze Another ’50s and ’60s rock and soul night at the Knockout (which is chockful of old-timey neat things), but with a lot more twists — of the Chubby Checker variety. The crowd is crazed for it all, indeed. Fourth Fridays, 10 p.m., $10. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.theknockoutsf.com
SATURDAYS
Bootie The grandpappy of mashup clubs, going on eight years of bastard pop and cheeky pirate-themed fun. The crowd may have broadened, but Bootie head DJs Adrian and Mysterious D still program mindfuck drag performances and leftfield happenings to keep merry dancers (and loud singers-a-long) on their toes. They can even turn a Katy Perry-themed night into something subversive. 9 p.m.-afterhours. $10 before 10 p.m., $15 after. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.bootiesf.com
El SuperRitmo! Your best weekly bet for “the finest African music of Latin America,” with a whole tropical world of other styles thrown into the mix by spunky resident DJs Roger Mas and Kool Kyle. The crowd can get a wee bit dressy (so polish your patent leather Keds), but the floor never quits. 10 p.m., $5. Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., SF. www.makeoutroom.com.
SATURDAY MONTHLIES
Haçeteria Acid house, early industrial, classic rave, warm Italo: A heartfelt tribute to Manchester and Chicago warehouse sounds of the ’80s and early ’90s with a few nifty musical spanners thrown into the works. First Saturdays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., free before 10:30 p.m., $3 after. Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.facebook.com/rancheria
Hard French Amazing queer soul party that digs up vintage 45s from the ’50s on up and spins a patio full of jiggling personalities into a smiley lather. DJs Carnita and Brown Amy crank the ol’ Victrola. First Saturdays, 2 p.m.-8 p.m., $7. El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. www.hardfrench.com
Kontrol For six years the top-notch Kontrol crew has brought some of the finest innovators in techno to play live sets all night at the EndUp. Don’t worry, the sometimes wonky intelligence and occasional tech crowd overload never overshadow the ecstatic dancing to be had. First Saturdays, 10 p.m.-6 a.m., $20, The EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.kontrolsf.com
Leisure 1990s Britpop and trip hop, plus mod ’60s scooter gems and bubble gum pop from DJs Omar and Aron Axelson make everything laidback, baby. First Saturdays, 10 p.m.-3 a.m., $5. Cat Club, 1150 Folsom, SF. www.sfcatclub.com
Debaser After four years of excellently reviving grunge and alternative rock for flannel-shirted, babydoll-dressed 1990s fanatics, DJs Jamie Jams and Emdee are incorporating hip-hop and taking on a huge project: dedicating a night to every year of that nutso decade, starting with 1989 on March 10. Second Saturdays, 10 p.m., free with flannel before 11 p.m., otherwise $5. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.debaser90s.com
Love Will Fix It Those questing to slake their thirst for vinyl ’70s and ’80s funk and R&B classics (a surprisingly rare flavor on the scene these days) played in a Market Street hole-in-the-wall bursting with positivity and hot-hot gays and friends need look no further than DJ Bus Station John’s latest venture. Second Saturdays, 10 p.m., $5. The Hot Spot, 1414 Market, SF.
Non Stop Bhangra Welcoming and wild, this tribute to the contemporary Punjabi (via London) dance sound mixes in plenty of tasty bass variants and one of the most diverse crowds in the Bay. DJ Jimmy Love and the dholrhythms dancers host awesome, global-eared guests. Second Saturdays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., $10–$15. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
Beatpig Intensely fun and charitable gay times at the Powerhouse bar in SoMa, as DJs Juanita More and Sidekick and host W. pack the leather-lovin’ hole with nightlife personalities, pleasant dancing, and often much sex cruising. Third Saturdays, 9 p.m., $5. Powerhouse, 1347 Folsom, SF. www.beatpigsf.com
Dial Up Electronic music bears, kooky gay club kids, and serious techno lovers unite with posses of like minds and sometimes wild outfits for neat guest DJs and surprise drag performances. With DJs Doc Sleep, Dabecy, and Robert Jeffrey, hosted by lovebirds Tim and Jorge. Third Saturdays, 10 p.m., $5. 222 Hyde, SF. www.facebook.com/dialupsf
New Wave City The original ’80s retro party, going on 20 years — it was retro almost before retro began! DJs Skip, Shindog, and Low-Life pump out the angular New Wave and darker singalong jams, with all the fun theme nights you could ask for. Third Saturdays, 9 p.m.-3 a.m., $7 before 10 p.m. $12 after. Cat Club, 1190 Folsom, SF. www.newwavecity.com
Tormenta Tropical Elecro-cumbia heaven, as a hip crowd gets down to the latest dance music of the Latin American diaspora. Absolutely filthy-lovely global grooves right here, from DJs Oro11 and Shawn Reynaldo. Second Saturdays, 10 p.m., $5 before 11 p.m., $10 after. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com
Booty Bassment “Squat! Squat! Gobble! Gobble! Squat-squat! Gobble-gobble!” If shouting these words in your head makes you want to slip down your hot pants and show your silky thong for $$$, this hipstery-but-fine booty music paradise has your bottom number. Third Saturdays, 10 p.m., $5. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.facebook.com/bootybassment
OK Hole Real risk-taking live electronic, synth, and leftfield analog music performances for enthusiastic spectators, with jaggedy dance tunes from resident DJs Nay Nay, C.L.A.W.S., and (Keep It) Keith Slogan. Third Saturdays, 9 p.m., $5. Amnesia, 853 Valencia, SF. www.amnesiathebar.com.
Icee Hot The city’s best showcase for razor’s edge developments in underground bass music and the UK sounds of now — with some classic house and techno stunner guests thrown in for mega-measure. A lifeline for those tired of hearing this good stuff via Internet. Fourth Saturdays, 10 p.m.-3 a.m., SF. $5 before 10:30, $10 after. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
Go Bang! DJ Steve Fabus has been spinning since the earliest days of San Fran-disco, and when teamed up with young fanatic DJ Sergio — it’s been fire. Each month brings an onslaught of disco heat, with repolished red-light classics and rare vinyl revivals stoking an eager, off-the-shoulder crowd. Fourth Saturdays, 9 p.m., $5. Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.gobangsf.com
Reggae Gold Don’t let the classy, sparkling crowd of gorgeously toned people throw you off — there’s plenty of friendliness here for all. Top dance hall and reggae, flavored with spicy soca and and hip-hop, yes please. Fourth Saturdays, 10 p.m.-4 a.m., $5–$10. Six, 66 Sixth St., SF. www.reggaegoldsf.com (Also second Saturdays at New Parish in Oakland).
Dark Room Campy gay goth glory, replete with shivery drag performances, industrial tunes, and plenty of upside-down crucifix earrings in only one ear. Spooky and successful. Last Saturday of the month, 10 p.m., $5, The Hot Spot, 1414 Market, SF.
SUNDAYS
Dub Mission For 15 years, DJ Sep and friends have kept the Bay flame alive for deliciously heavy dub and classic rocksteady rhythms (now with a bit of dubstep). I often feel like I’m in some underground club in Jamaica or London in the early ’80s when I’m here, which is pretty much the coolest feeling there is. 9 p.m., $6. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.dubmissionsf.com
Forward AM Um, why the heck wouldn’t you “get up” at 6 a.m. to hit up this rise ‘n shine tech-house gem, putting North Beach back on the map for serious party fanatics. 6 a.m.-1 p.m., $10. Monroe, 473 Broadway, SF. www.forwards.com
Honey Soundsystem Timeless, pumping house music so well-curated, and scruffy hot queer freak dancers looking so high out of their minds on the dance floor, that I feel gross and a little violated just being there. 9 p.m., $5. Holy Cow, 1535 Folsom, SF. www.honeysoundsystem.com
Sunday Sessions One of the last bastions of soulful, family-style deep house music in San Francisco, especially during the monthly Harlum Muziq label showcase with David Harness and Chris Lum, every third Sunday of the month. 8 p.m., $10–$20. the EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.theendup.com
Sweater Funk Not sweat or funk — sweat and funk, in spades, as the tiny basement of Chinatown’s Li Po Lounge gets off on a huge dose of classic and contemporary boogie and soul from a crew of true connoisseurs. 9:30 p.m., free. Li Po Lounge, 916 Grant, SF. www.facebook.com/sweaterfunk
ROVING
These roving parties — ones that happen at irregular intervals or in different venues — are worth following for their quality productions, underground vibes, and hot attendees.
Alcoholocaust Heavy metal, indie rock, and punk concerts that feel like parties, Facebook page
As You Like It: Big-name techno with a intimate vibe, www.ayli-sf.com
Donuts: Yes, there are Donuts! And great live electronic acts + DJs, www.facebook.com/donutsparty
The ITL: Ass-wasting moombahton and global bass, Facebook page
Lights Down Low: Super-eclectic dance mania — you’ll probably hear the future here first, www.lightsdownlow.net
No Way Back: Classic and cutting-edge house, techno, and disco, Facebook page
Sunset: The Pacific Sound Crew (often in collaboration with Stompy) puts on fine, family vibe house and techno bashes, www.pacificsound.net
This Must be the Place: East Bay soulful house promoters who’ve got an excellent thing going almost every weekend, www.thismustbetheplace.net
Trannyshack: The one, the only classic trash drag explosion (and bus trip to Reno!), www.trannyshack.com
We All We Got Great occasional showcase of Bay rap talent, Facebook page
Cole Hardware pleads guilty in SFPUC scam
We at the Guardian have long celebrated small businesses as more beneficial to San Francisco than large corporations, which often extract wealth from the community and use it for competitive advantage or political corruption. But a recent criminal case shows that even a beloved local business – in this case, Cole Hardware – can get caught up in shady dealings.
The District Attorney’s Office yesterday announced the settlement of a procurement scam case involving the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and employees of Cole Hardware. The company pled guilty to felony charges and has agreed to pay $51,545 in restitution to the SFPUC and $650 in court fines and fees.
“Our city will not tolerate city vendors who steal taxpayers’ money. We are pleased Cole Hardware has accepted responsibility for their role in this multi-level scheme to defraud the SFPUC,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a public statement.
Court records detail a scam that ran from April 2003 to October 2007 in which Cole Hardware and another city vendor worked with former SFPUC manager Donnie Alan Thomas – who pled guilty to his role in the scheme last year – to submit false invoices to the SFPUC for personal purchases.
Cole Hardware has issued a public statement explaining its role in the case and reasons for accepting the guilty plea: “For more than 50 years, Cole Hardware has stood for integrity, excellence and good citizenship in San Francisco. Unfortunately, a few years ago two trusted 20+ year employees submitted misleading invoices to the City, thereby facilitating a fraud by some of the City’s P.U.C. workers. At the time, Cole Hardware’s ownership was not aware of this misconduct. When we learned the details we terminated both employees, fully cooperated with the District Attorney’s investigation, adopted new internal policies to prevent future misconduct and offered to reimburse the City for any losses attributable to our employees. Sadly, after more than two years of huge expenses fighting the charges in court, Cole Hardware has reluctantly accepted a plea bargain. This is purely an economic decision. Cole remains committed to our mission of serving those living and working in San Francisco.”
SFPUC General Manager Ed Harrington noted in his public statement how important it is to take a hard line against this kind of fraud: “Today we have sent a strong message that the City will not tolerate public servants or vendors who attempt to fleece our hardworking taxpayers.”
There are six other co-defendants who have already pled guilty in this case: Donnie Thomas, Jean Quiroz, Centennial Distributors, Inc., John Rauch, Robert Mazariegos, and Vincent Padilla. There are three other co-defendants who have not yet pled guilty and who await their preliminary hearing: Miles Bonner, Tri-Delta Electric, and Elizabeth Bradford.
Muralation: Swoon’s wheatepaste is reborn, in color this time
Swoon’s work has been haunting me. On a recent trip to DJ Rusty Lazer’s house in New Orleans it was there, bedecking a rundown Bywater neighborhood fence that concealed a village of homes that can be played as a symphony (she also designed a structure for the mini-city, a dream tree house atop stilts). As one strolls though the world one sees it here, there – fairy webs of delicate wheatpaste strands on city walls.
So it’s no surprise that the Mission’s been eager to replace the wheatpaste Swoon (also known as Caledonia Curry) installed on Tony’s Market at 24th Street and Hampshire. Rejoice: after the original was defaced in August 2011, the female street artist’s new piece will finally adhere to Tony’s on Tue/28.
Goddess knows there are superlative female street artists based in San Francisco. Mona Caron, Juana Alicia — but here as in other places in the world women still (still!) haven’t gained the firmest of footholds in the street art world. Swoon is probably the best-known XX-chromosoned public artist out there, along with NYC’s Lady Pink.
So it was nice to have her around the city. Mission Local’s Molly Oleson penned a rather lovely little account of how Swoon’s piece — originally an image of a woman who had been kidnapped in Mexico’s spates of femicide — came to be on 24th Street and Hampshire. It has to do with Chicken John’s house, says Chicken John.
The neighborhood liked it very much. But in one of the more bizarre cases of vandalism I’ve heard of, someone wrote the word ‘VOTE’ over it in big, artless red letters last August. Subsequent efforts to scrub off the letters half-obliterated Swoon’s work, so a team of concerned creative types including street art book editor Annice Jacoby, Lesley Freeman, and Chicken John contacted Swoon for a replacement, which she was reportedly happy to make. Oleson’s story includes a slightly humorous retelling of the moment when the team realized the replacement piece Swoon had sent wasn’t going to work out — happily for San Francisco, she was happy to create a second version of the replacement.
This version, Swoon says in an artist’s statement, is a commentary on water issues surrounding the Gulf disaster in New Orleans. And the rendering that’s been done of the piece shows that its in color, not always the case in Swoon’s body of work. You’re welcome to go check out the piece getting put up tomorrow, and hear more about the inspiration behind the design in the video Swoon shot for Time Out New York below:
Swoon mural re-installation
Tue/28 noon, free
Tony’s Market
24th Street and Hampshire, SF
I came, I saw, I glittered: Monthly live sex show debuts in the Mission
The only other time I had been to a live sex show was in the Red Light District of Amsterdam. The thing was crude – even amid the slew of debauchery that makes up tourist Amsterdam. Mostly, that was because of the concrete venue, Eurotrash techno, and slimy men masturbating and jeering behind me. But the Saturday night debut of Cum and Glitter at an underground venue in the Mission was an entirely different experience. Hosted by the elegant and welcoming Ginger Murry of Whore Magazine, the show is the brainchild of Ava Solanas and Maxine Holloway, who started the new monthly event as an expressive outlet for the sex worker community.
The show started at a little past ten p.m. Attendees descended wooden steps to an intimate underground event space that resembled a 1920’s speakeasy. The room was dimly lit, dotted with small round tables, and overflowing with anticipation. Garter belts and playsuit-flaunting babes appeared, accompanied by the deep, warm bellows of a cello being played by the artist Unwoman that vibrated through the air.
The series’ first performance, an enchanting strip tease by Dorian Faust, set a sexy mood that carried through the rest of the evening, despite ensuing acts that registered higher on the comedy scale. Faust looked like a mermaid in her sequined outfit of varying blue hues, and her nimble body moved in waves, creating an optical illusion that carried on until she was stripped down to just her gold and blue glitter and thong.
Next on stage were Courtney Trouble and Maxine Holloway, the latter of whose nipples were swiftly cinched with clothes pins, mouth gagged with her brunette mane. The evening proceeded in this manner, switching off between sensual and expressive solo dances and the longer duo role-plays that involved plenty of spankings, toys, and at times, ordinary household items used in surprisingly creative ways.
Eden Alexander’s lesson on how to be a dominatrix was awe-inspiring to say the least. She spoke with comedic conviction as she took charge of her male submissive, who was ordered to worship his mistress — when he wasn’t being used as a standing surface for her stillettoes. Alexander’s delightful sass was perfectly complemented by her — even sassier — hot pink latex floor-length dress.
Dialogue and interactions were clearly exaggerated, and the performance was more stylized than realistic. However, the sheer and genuine excitement of the performers made the show feel unforced. The audience reaped all the usual benefits of watching a performance in a small venue, and we were able to intimately enjoy every soft moan and fleeting expression –- moments that are normally missed entirely in onscreen porn. Being eye-level with the action literally involved the audience that much more in the ecstasy of the performers — when Solanas squirted in all her glittering glory to the swells of the cello mere feet to her right, barely missing my shoe in the process, it was as if she was coming for all of us.
It is billed as a live sex show, but don’t be misled — the first installation of “Cum and Glitter” was not simply an explicit display of intercourse as it was a series of rather light-hearted scenarios acted out by nine gorgeous women who understand how pleasurable the mix of consent and wild imagination can be. Whether your fantasy is a naughty baby sitter, sexy shoeshine, or being gagged with a rubber chicken, there was an elated smile on everyone’s face by the end of the night — it was clear that everyone left the show feeling quite satisfied.
Check out Cum and Glitter’s website for information on the collective’s next show
Buy local: yoga edition
YOGA Walking into Bay Area yoga studios can sometimes feel like being subsumed into a cult of Lululemon, Yogitoes, and Gaiam. Yoga means big bucks these days, and most everyone seems to be sporting the same few brands while getting their warrior on. Yogic ideology espouses non-materialism and self-acceptance, yet it’s hard not want to fit in. Fortunately, there are lots of options that can get you out of big brand conformity and into stylie yoga gear that supports local vendors and designers. Follow these tips and in no time flat your yoga-related footprint won’t extend much farther than the four corners of your mat!
BLUE CANOE
Inspired by a homemade canoe that once sat on the shores of Humboldt County’s Benbow Lake, Blue Canoe’s name highlights its dedication to homegrown, yet stylish organic clothing. All its clothes are made in San Francisco and most use organic cotton in comfy blends. The company has been in business for more that 16 years and is known for its decidedly “un-granola” pieces that make as much sense in a yoga class as they do on Valencia Street.
Hot item: boot cut pant
LEOM DESIGNS
Born of designer Margaret Leom’s own need for good yoga and dance wear, Leom Designs has been operating out of Santa Cruz for six years. The clothes have a uniquely organic feel to them, taking inspiration from the environment and employing a deliberative creative process. Though initially Leom just made clothes for herself, she was always asked where she got her outfits. So she jumped at the chance to create designs in her vision and hasn’t looked back.
Hot item: elfarrow men’s yoga top
SWIRL SPACE
Since 2000 Swirl Space has been producing movement friendly, hemp-based clothes in San Francisco. As a business that’s committed to fair local labor, sustainable business practices, and educating the public about the benefits of Hemp, Swirl Space’s lofty ideals are an integral part of its goods.
Hot item: hemp hottie short
ZOBHA
Headquartered in Mill Valley, Zobha produces dreamy, high-end yoga wear that rivals Lululemon in fit and durability — yet the two companies’ trajectories couldn’t be more different. While Vancouver-based Lululemon seems to court controversy at every turn, Zobha directly supports Bay Area community initiatives like Headstand, which teaches yoga to at-risk youth. Bottom line, Zobha makes your butt look good while hitting the sweet spot between transcendent and trendy.
Hot item: Paige tank
KLEAN KANTEEN
Hydration is key while practicing yoga, but not every water bottle is created equal. It goes without saying that conscious yogis should eschew disposable plastic bottles in favor of refillables, and since 2004 Chico-based Klean Kanteen has been preaching the benefits of BPA-free, stainless steel bottles.
Hot item: Klean Kanteen Reflect
YOGA PROPS
Operating out of a warehouse in the Mission District, Yoga Props has been in business for 32 years. It sells a very wide range of items including blocks fashioned in the Props woodshop and locally made bolsters. In addition to online orders, Yoga Props welcomes walk-in customers who call ahead to its Mission HQ.
Hot item: cylindrical bolster
YOGA MATS
Yoga Mats is another SF-based prop purveyor that’s been in town for decades, nearly three to be exact. While it participates in occasional Dogpatch neighborhood trunk sales, the bulk of Yoga Mats’ business is done online.
Hot item: kapok-filled zafu crescent
TADASANA FESTIVAL
No need to fly to remote spots like Tulum or Bali to get your OM on en masse. Taking place on the beach in Santa Monica, the Tadasana Festival will pair classes by master teachers like Seane Corne and Elena Brower with performances by global music luminaries like Karsh Kale, Cheb i Sabbah, and Vieux Farka Touré. No passport necessary, just gather your yogi posse and carpool to LaLa Land come late-April.
Can’t miss: Mandala vinyasa with Shiva Rea and the Touré-Raichel Collective
Kicky kitty
le.chicken.farmer@gmail.com
CHEAP EATS There was a soccer game on TV. There was a cat on the pitch. It was running around, stopping, staring, licking, looking not-at-all confused and very much in every way like a cat. Except that millions of people were watching it, tens of thousands of them right there: laughing, clapping, and carrying on.
And who were all these sweaty men in striped shirts and high socks?
None of the players tried to help with the corralling of the cat. They appreciated the chance to catch their breath, I guess, while stadium officials and trained cat-corralling professionals did their bit. Or tried to. Let the record show: in its own sweet time, the cat trotted off the field the same way it had trotted on: of its own volition. And play resumed.
The stadium was not in our country. The television was. It was in my new favorite restaurant, Haltun, which is on 21st and Treat, just around the corner from the Mission Rec Center, where Hedgehog and me play our racquetball.
I love cats. I love soccer. I am a drooling idiot in the glow of any television set no matter what’s on, no matter how far away. Thus, I found it hard to undividedly pay attention to my dining companions, but did manage to catch a conversation between Coach and Hedgehog in which it was posited (by Coach) that I was the least queer person in the world (because I move in mostly-straight circles) and counter-posited (by Hedgehog) that I was the most queer person in the world (because I move in straight circles, and queer ones, and have slept with every kind of person there is including both flavors of trans ones, including gay men and now straight ones, and straight women and now gay ones).
“Bisexual isn’t less queer than homosexual,” argued my homosexual girlfriend. “It’s arguably queerer.”
“Yeah, but declaring yourself bisexual plays into the binary. What about genderqueers?”
“Oh, I’ve slept with them too,” I interjected, without looking away from the TV because someone (a human being, not a cat) was making a beautiful run. And: “Goaaaaalllll!!!!”
Here’s my rant: You can’t even watch TV with just an antenna anymore! TV antennas are exactly as obsolete as black-and-white. But did you know that every program used to broadcast separate signals for black-and-white and color TVs?
As I understand it.
They had to do a color “Get Smart” and a black-and-white “Get Smart,” and sling them both out over the treetops, I guess, or twist them both through one cable at the same exact time — and that all ended just two, three years ago, so I could as easily have said “Cheers,” or “Friends,” or, I don’t know, “Arrested Development.” By the way.
Probably I have this wrong.
But there are seven colors in a rainbow flag. My skirt has more colors than that! And, though there are a gazillion shades of gray, there is also black, and there is white. No doubt, gender — even genitalia — is a spectrum. Yet: There would appear to be penises. And vaginas! And, as hormonally altered trans people (not-always-willing poster children for in-betweenitude) can attest without even opening our mouths, testosterone and estrogen are two different things.
If you can, without saying a word, both refute and support the exact same argument … I’m not saying it’s queerer or less queer. The word I would use is bacon. It’s bacon.
Now, cochinita pibil is pork — just pork! — in a greasy red broth, with a flap of banana leaf hanging over it. What the hell am I supposed to do with that? Well, it came with tortillas, which the server took great care to point out were “hand made” — and I’m sure they were, but they didn’t taste very special.
Hedgehog had something with turkey meat and a disk of pork meatloaf afloat, with an egg, in a nice broth. Simple, and exotic. At the same time!
Coach had a sampler plate of all things vegetarian. Come to think of it, her meal did have the most variety and color to it, so …
There’s that.
HALTUN
Daily 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
2948 21st St., SF.
(415) 643-6411
MC/V
Beer & Wine
Rep Clock
Schedules are for Wed/22-Tues/28 except where noted. Director and year are given when available. Double features are marked with a •. All times p.m. unless otherwise specified.
ARTISTS’ TELEVISION ACCESS 992 Valencia, SF; www.atasite.org. $6-10. “Mad Dance,” films by Nina Fonoroff, Ken Paul Rosenthal, and Lewis Klahr, Sat, 8. “Short Sharp Shock: 3rd I International Shorts,” Sun, 1:30.
BAY THEATER Aquarium of the Bay, Embarcadero at Beach, SF; www.aquariumofthebay.org. $10-20. “An Evening of Sailing Films,” Fri, 6.
CASTRO 429 Castro, SF; (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com. $7.50-10. “Two Sides of a Coin: Kirk Douglas:” •Paths of Glory (Kubrick, 1957), Wed, 3, 7; Ace in the Hole (Wilder, 1951), Wed, 4:45, 8:45. Melancholia (von Trier, 2011), Thurs, 2:30, 5:15, 8. Fantasia (Walt Disney Productions, 1940), Fri-Sun, 2, 5, 8.
CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER 1118 Fourth St, San Rafael; (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org. $6.75-10.25. “Rafael Film Club” with guest Ruthe Stein, Thurs, 1. Chico and Rita (Trueba, 2010), call for dates and times. “2012 Oscar Nominated Short Films,” narrative and documentary (separate admission), call for dates and times.
HERBST THEATRE 301 Van Ness, SF; www.sfopera.com. Free (advance registration requested at www.sfopera.com/girlmovie). The Girl of the Golden West — The Movie!, performed by the San Francisco Opera (2010), Sat-Sun, 1:30, 3:30.
JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE EAST BAY 1414 Walnut, Berk; (510) 848-0237. $6-8. Joanna (Falk, 2010), Thurs, 7:30.
MECHANICS’ INSTITUTE 57 Post, SF; (415) 393-0100, rsvp@milibrary.org. $10. “CinemaLit Film Series: Hollywood Dames: Beauty and Brains:” The Barefoot Contessa (Mankiewicz, 1954), Fri, 6.
“NOISE POP FILM SERIES” Artists’ Television Access, 992 Valencia, SF; 2012.noisepop.com/film. $8-10. Bob and the Monster (Bahruth, 2011), Wed, 7; Hit So Hard (Ebersole, 2011), Wed, 9; Blank City (Danhier, 2010), Thurs, 7; N.A.S.A.: The Spirit of Apollo (Garon and Spiegel, 2009), Thurs, 9. Also AMC Loews Metreon 16, Fourth St at Mission, SF. $11.50. Re: Generation Music Project (Bar-Lev, 2011), Thurs, 8. Also Roxie, 3117 16th St, SF. $10. Cure for Pain: The Mark Sandman Story (Bralver and Ferino, 2011), Fri, 7; Andrew Bird: Fever Year (Aranda, 2011), Fri, 9; Upside Down: The Creation Records Story (O’Connor, 2010), Sat, 7; Dragonslayer (Petterson, 2011), Sat, 9:15.
PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE 2575 Bancroft, Berk; (510) 642-5249, bampfa.berkeley.edu. $5.50-9.50. “Documentary Voices:” “”Making It (Un)Real: Animated Documentary Shorts,” Wed, 7. “Dizzy Heights: Silent Cinema and Life in the Air:” A Trip to Mars (Holger-Madsen, 1918), Thurs, 7; High Treason (Elvey, 1929), Fri, 7; The Mystery of the Eiffel Tower (Duvivier, 1927), Sat, 6; “Fantasies of Flight: Animation and Comedy Shorts,” Sun, 2. “Howard Hawks: The Measure of Man:” Barbary Coast (1935), Fri, 8:45; His Girl Friday (1940), Tues, 7. “Austere Perfectionism: The Films of Robert Bresson:” L’argent (1983), Sat, 8:35.
ROXIE 3117 and 3125 16th St, SF; (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. $6.50-10. SF IndieFest, Wed-Thurs. Visit www.sfindie.com for complete schedule. Straight Outta Hunters Point 2 (Epps, 2012), Feb 24-March 1, 7, 8:45 (also Sat-Sun, 3:15, 5). “Up the Oscars!”, Academy Awards viewing party, Sun, 3:45. This event, $15.
SF FILM SOCIETY CINEMA 1746 Post, SF; www.sffs.org. $10-11. Margaret (Lonergan, 2011), Wed-Thurs, 2, 5:30, 8:30. Roadie (Cuesta, 2011), Feb 24-March 1, 2:30, 5, 7, 9:15.
VORTEX ROOM 1082 Howard, SF; www.myspace.com/thevortexroom. $7 donation. “The Second Coming of the Vortex Room:” Privilege (Watkins, 1967), and The Devils (Russell, 1971), Thurs, 8.
YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS 701 Mission, SF; (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org. $6-8. “Bros Before Hos: Sex in the Shadows,” presented by Albert Steg, Thurs, 7:30.