Welcome to our new calendar feature BIG WEEK! Each week, our expert Arts & Culture writers recommend the best things for you to do in the best city on earth: Arts, Music, Food & Drink, Stage, Film, Nightlife, and more.
ARTS
Tons more to do and support right here.
WED/25: GOLDEN STATE VALKYRIES VS. NEW YORK LIBERTY Don’t tell me you haven’t caught a game of the Bay’s new WNBA team? Women’s basketball is by far the gayest professional sport (which is saying something), and tonight our girls are playing the reigning league champions. Let’s go! Chase Center, SF. More info here.
FRI/27: GAY AMERICAN INDIANS 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION The country’s first group dedicated to supporting LGBTQ Native Americans marks its first half-century with this event featuring drag performances by Char Diné, Ken Dra, and Landa Lakes of the Brush Arbor Gurlz, poetry, live music, awards for emerging two-spirit leaders, and much needed santuary for the IndigiQueer community. All that, plus free sandwiches. 2-6pm, War Memorial Building, SF. For more info, call Randy Burns at (650) 359-6473.
FRI/27: TRANS MARCH Without a doubt, the moment to show up with the trans community. Organizers of the Trans march this year are encouraging intersectionality—so wave that Palestinian flag and labor union swag high. Festivities kick off at 3pm on the Dolores Park lawn with an info fair and stage program, then to the streets we take at 6pm, with the official after-party to raise funds for the TGI Justice Project to follow at El Rio. Dolores Park, SF. More info here.
other staff picks… SAT/28: BONG-O BINGO To help you stock up on weed for the big weekend, we recommend our very own weed writer Dan Karkoska’s event BONG-O BINGO’s Pride Party at Mission Cannabis Club on Sat/28 from 6-9pm, where you can win cannabis prizes with every round of bingo while getting high. He will be hosting with Thee Pristine Condition for a super-fun night of drag cannabis bingo. There will be infused mocktails by Manzanita Naturals and cannabis hits off the Oooka available for free while you play. All that plus a fun drag show! Mission Cannabis Club, SF. More info here.
SUN/29: VESUVIO SUMMER MARKET An excellent opportunity to revel in North Beach community, this sweet lil block party outside the most Beatnik watering hole in town brings with it the chance to score artisanal tooth gems, bang trims, a healthy variety of snacks, and bouquets—all to the mellifluous sounds of live music echoing off the alley walls. Jack Keroauc Alley, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great musical picks every week.
WED/25: THE BEAR SEASON 4 Yes, we know that “The Bear” is a show, not a song or a band. Yes, it’s an ongoing comedic drama featuring Jeremy Allen White as Carmy Berzatto, a restless, award-winning chef. (He’ll also be portraying Bruce Springsteen on movie screens later this year.) But we don’t care about form—it’s the show’s dedication to DAD ROCK that earns it inclusion on your musical to-do list. Needle drops on Pearl Jam, REM, even Mike + The Mechanics… vanilla me so good. Color me hungry! Streams on Hulu. More info here.
THU/26: ANNAHSTASIA We need more vocalists who can navigate through folksy arrangements, rock charts, and whimsical chamber pop ideas. Annahstasia’s debut album Tether is produced by a team that thrives on the challenges of pushing rock boundaries while exploring new sounds. This is a no-brainer: be sure to catch her live! Cafe du Nord, SF. More info here.
other staff picks… THU/26: FRANKI JUPITER Are you seeking “crunchy wordplay, tasty hooks, and danceable neo-disco beats” to kick off your Pride weekend? Songwriter Franki Jupiter is here hawking “music for miscreants,” his tunes “described as a mix of Elton John and Billy Joel fighting over a kebab.” His set features Adar, with openers Oona and Harry & the Gold Diggers. Bottom of the Hill, SF. More info here.
FRI/27: DIRECTIONS IN STEREO AND 415 ZINE Directions in Stereo DJ Circuit 73 (he’s wrapping up his birthday week) will be overseeing a curated set of music from the year he was born—1973—at 540 Bar, whose inclusive nature and community vision make this taproom a neighborhood fave. In addition, special guests from 415 Zine celebrate the latest issue of their quarterly mini-magazine, which explores San Francisco’s expansive art culture. Owners Laine and Alfredo will be on hand from 6-9pm with hot-off-the-press copies of Issue #6, as well as past editions to complete your collection. 6-11pm, 540 Bar, SF. More info here.
FRI/27: ICE-T AND DJ EVIL E Yep, I had to do a double take too. ICE-T, without the “Law and Order”-iconic “dunt dunt.” With Mac Mall, too? Get ready for some West Coast hip-hop greatness on a Friday night. Ooo-wee! Great American Music Hall, SF. More info here.
other staff picks… SAT/28: BAY AREA PRIDE AMPLIFIED Big Leap Collective, a project by musical curator, drag inferno, and multi-instrumentalist Ellie Stokes is putting on this Pride party with Outsidelands that means to take you higher. Catch sets by indie gazers Pillowprince, hyper sound-hoppers Cardboard People, Medschool, and DJ n0be. The Independent, SF. More info here.
FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s Good Taste Good Taste column tells you where to stick your fork every week.
SAT/28: WALK THE SNACK-HEAVY BAYVIEW BLOCK PARTY PARADE Chef and straight-up community builder Dontaye Ball of Gumbo Social is hosting his third annual Bayview Block Party in the parking lot next to his restaurant, where you’ll be able to eat and drink offerings from locals such as Yvonne’s Southern Sweets, Papa Rudy’s barbecue, and Smoke Soul Kitchen. For the full experience, get there by 11am and walk the parade route, soundtracked by the Gumbo Band. It starts at Smoke Soul, stops at the Bayview Opera House, Bayview Library, Let’s Eat BBQ, and Butchertown Coffee, and then leads to Gumbo Social, where Ball will offer a tasting menu of hits. That’s a particularly good option if you’ve never tried his food! 11am-5pm, parking lot adjacent to Gumbo Social, 5176 Third Street, SF. Free with RSVP here.
SUN/29: PREGAME PRIDE WITH BUNS AND NUTS Bellaria Dessert Studio and Better Half Coffee are hosting their third annual pre-Pride parade cinnamon bun, donut, and coffee service. There’s an option to pre-order a pastry to make sure you get the one you want, but there will be plenty for sale. Flavors include blueberry cream cheese buns, apricot cardamom donuts, double chocolate buns, and potato-smoked salmon donuts. 8:30am-1pm (or sold out). 442 Hyde Street, SF. More info here.
STAGE
Charles Lewis III hits up theaters and performance spaces every week for his Drama Masks column.
THROUGH WED/25: IDOMENEO There’s banishment, sacrifice, and a big, ugly beast that gets slain off-stage in Idomeneo—practically the plot of 10 Things I Hate About You, when ya think about it. One wonders if this production was scheduled intentionally for Pride Month. There’s certainly a lot one can read into its casting of traditionally-male “romantic” leads with gender-bent variants, particularly in comparison to the aforementioned outdated gender roles. Given that SF Opera can only do so much about said roles without radically changing the text, the casting adds an intriguing means of ponderance for their well-performed production of a still-strong composition. War Memorial Opera House, SF. More info here.
THROUGH SAT/28: CORIOLANUS This show frequent takes the Baz Luhrmann route and has actors randomly shout out the lines at the top of their lungs—possibly to be heard over the even-louder “emo” soundtrack. (Does Linkin Park count as “emo”?) Still, the technical aspects (particularly, Mark Raub’s props) add a great world-building element to this modernized take on Ancient Rome. Bard Theatre do with pocket change what Francis Coppola failed to do with millions of dollars in Megalopolis. If nothing else, this black box take on an epic is great to look at. Eclectic Box, SF. More info here.
THROUGH JULY 26: CIRCUS BELLA It was quite surprising to watch a Circus Bella performer step into the audience to collect a baby, which she bench-pressed above her head in a farcical feat of “strength”. As if that weren’t enough, the press rep told me after the show that the baby was, in fact, her own infant daughter. It fit in with Circus Bella’s need to create a welcoming environment for the children and parents on stage and off, adding a nice personal touch to Bella’s usual entertaining antics. After the traditional Prescott Circus stilt-walk intro, it was easy to see why regulars are so apt to return for the troupe’s aerial dancing, jaw-dropping contortions, and countless balancing acts. Every time I attend, I make a mental note of how many of the kids attending are truly captivated by what’s onstage. Various Bay Area parks. More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
FRI/27 THROUGH AUGUST 1: ANTI-FASCIST FILM SERIES Just after POTUS bombs a distant country without Congressional approval… well, what can be said? Only that it’s certainly a prime moment for this free summertime programming (donations are encouraged), which kicks off with Pulp Fiction star Maria de Medeiros’ 2000 feature directorial bow April Captains, a large-scale fictionalized depiction of the 1974 “Carnation Revolution” in her native Portugal. Most movies about fascism focus on its ample horrors, but the ATA lineup emphasizes successful resistance against its forces, and includes No, Charlie Chaplin’s 1940 The Great Dictator, and David Bradbury’s 1986 Coup d’Etat. Artist’s Television Access, SF. More info here.
THU/26: THEN <.> NOW Back in the present-day world of imperiled democracies, San Francisco Cinematheque is presenting a program of experimental film and video art from Taiwan. The six works presented date from as far back as 1989 and are as recent as 2018, each using different strategies to probe the island nation’s complex cultural, ethnic, political and colonial identities. The Lab, SF. More info here.
SAT/28-JULY 2: THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS When her easygoing father Hassan passes away, grad student Azra must fly to Karachi and face her mother—largely the reason she’d fled to Toronto in the first place. Mom Mariam is an imperious wellspring of disapproval towards her only daughter, who refuses to meet potential husbands or otherwise behave like a proper young Muslim lady. (Little does she know Azra is already in a committed lesbian relationship with her “roommate.”) The energy level can be a little exhausting, sometimes at the cost of depth. But it’s still a winning movie that, for the most part, juggles its many ideas and gambits with aplomb. Roxie Theater, SF. More info here.
SUN/29: IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILDREN The latest in an ongoing “Gravitational Lensing: Feminist Film Dialogues” series. With pushback against hard-won LGBTQ+ rights getting ever more shrill, it’s a particularly good time to revisit newly-restored, groundbreaking 1977 documentary about the legal and institutional hurdles then faced by lesbians trying to retain custody of their kids. It’s being shown with the new Lesbian Custody, which examines the earlier film’s legacy. Frances Reid and Samuael Topiary will be present at the screening. Shapeshifters Cinema, Oakland. More info here.
