Welcome to our calendar feature BIG WEEK, wherein our expert Arts & Culture writers recommend the best things in Arts, Music, Food & Drink, Stage, Film, Nightlife, and more. Big news of the week: We’re incredibly sad to hear that one of our old hangs, Edinburgh Castle, has closed. As bard Broke-Ass Stuart puts it, “If you were in your 20s or 30s in San Francisco at any point from the late 90s to the early 2010s, and somebody could’ve called you a “hipster,” then you most likely spent some wonderful nights at Edinburgh Castle.” Pour one out for the Castle, as the saying goes.
GENERAL ARTS
Marke B. guides you to some cool things. There’s tons more to do and support right here.
THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2: RUTH ASAWA RETROSPECTIVE You have two weeks left to see one of the most spectacular and moving arts shows that the city has ever seen, as the decades-long career of the beloved artist is explored in this sprawling, enthralling retrospective. Yes, there are dozens of the sinewy, deliciously geometric wire sculptures (and their eery shadows) that have remained her hallmark. There’s even a semi-recreation of her glorious art-filled living room in Noe Valley. But real revelations come from early work she did in the laundry of Black Mountain College, manipulating and repeating laundry stamps (the only Asian artist assigned to the laundry already packs a historical and metaphorical punch), and the brilliant nature prints she did throughout her life, often gifting them to friends. Community and family love thrums throughout the show, a whole vibe. SFMOMA, more info here.
THU/21: MAGIK IN THE GREEN ROOM: CELEBRATING 17 YEARS OF MAGIK*MAGIK ORCHESTRA One of our most adventurous musical ensembles, switching on a dime from symphonically supporting Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Johnny Greenwood to soundtracking Pop-Up Magazine and going all avant-garde, Magik*Magik is pulling out all stops for this celebration. Immerse yourself in sound inside the gorgeous Green Room with local loves SPELLLING, Thao, Meric Long (of the Dodos), and tons of sweet surprises. 6pm and 9pm, Green Room, SF. More info here.
FRI/22: EL TECOLOTE 55-YEAR CELEBRATION Celebrating 55 years of bilingual, grassroots, community-powered journalism with music, drinks, and much more—hell yeah, time to party with the good folks of El Tecolote. We are being promised cumbia, palomas, sheet cake, and plenty of good company, and I bet it all checks out. 5pm-10pm, Acción Latina, SF. More info here.
FRI/22: THE WOMEN’S BUILDING FUNDRAISER Man, who does not love the Women’s Building, with its fierce array of resources and fabulous facade? Terrifically theatrical local act Pleeay plays this benefit at The Chapel; Amoura Teese hosts; and a Bay Area all-women + gender-expansive DJ lineup brings the vibes all night long in 2 rooms: DJ Umami, DJ Kream in The Chapel, and mare.e.fresh, Sizzle and Lizzy Al Toque in Curio/Main Bar. Let’s dance. 8pm, The Chapel, SF. More info here.
SAT/23: HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL: DEMONS OF OUR TIMES “On the fifteenth night of the seventh lunar month, the gates of hell are thought to open and the most anguished ghosts breach the boundary between realms, seeking solace amongst the living. Rituals of food, fire, and performance are offered to heal these souls and then send them on their way. The Chinese Cultural Center reimagines this age-old tradition for the here and now and for all who carry rage and sorrow in a time of escalated attacks on marginalized communities and human dignity, offering a high spirited, family-friendly evening of boisterous, cross-cultural music; ritual installations; a colorful Ghost King Parade; and more. A fantastic line up of musical acts bring the fire throughout the evening including DJ Livv, Maya Songbird, Ash Bricky, LoCura Musica, The Rice Rockettes, Kristi Oshiro: Queer Taiko, and traditional Cantonese Opera by Baht Wor Charity Foundation. 4pm-9pm, various locations across Grant Avenue. More info here.
SAT/23: RUSTY CHAINS: A TRIBUTE TO CHRIS CORNELL This fundraiser for San Francisco Suicide Prevention promises great ’90s sounds for a much-needed cause. “Rusty Chains began as a tribute band driven by the love for the music that inspired us. In the wake of Chris Cornell’s tragic passing in 2017, we decided to turn our passion into a force for good. Our annual Chris Cornell tribute and prevention benefit has since raised thousands of dollars for SF Suicide Prevention. Through music, we aim to bring people together to make a positive impact.” With Bryan Kehoe’s Dümsürf. 7:30pm, Great American Music Hall, SF. More info here.
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8/21: MAE POWELL There is a description from Patrick Sean Gibson, director of Mae Powell’s recent visual for her new album, that for sure is a love letter in so many ways to San Francisco. Putting the essence of this artist so succinctly, I can’t get it out of my earhole. “The one and only, Mae Powell, the Bay’s candy-coated goddess of flowery cool,” BOOMSAUCE. Can’t say it more clearly. Making Room for the Light, Powell’s debut for the Colemine/Karma Chief Records imprint, is a doozy of country twang, blissful blue-eyed soul, and folky-woozy structures that keep the Bay elite. Somehow, through song, Mae has packaged up those tints and scents you can’t get anywhere else. 8pm, The Independent, SF. More info here.
8/23: BUDOS BAND A while back, this landmark band had to rip it apart to rebuild it for distance. Burnt Offering, a thick cut of Afrobeat meets psychedelic brain fuzz—with Gandalf on the cover—signaled a reboot of sorts for the venerable Budos Band. This 2014 release introduced droning, tuned-down sludge that tangled with experimental ’70s Can-style funk. Who saw that coming? Breaking with tradition, along with scratching the numerical album title signature for a sec, it extended their acumen into psych rock portals, forecasting a new era of possibilities for this Staten Island-born Daptone institution. That fearlessness to guide this durable band into whatever amalgamation they could wrap their minds around is what makes this same, sometimes insane band sell out all over the daggumit country. Budos is amazing. 7:30pm, Regency Ballroom, SF. More info here.
FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s weekly Good Taste column tells you where to stick your fork. Sign up for the new Good Taste newsletter here!
THURS/21 PRESCOTT NIGHT MARKET RETURNS TO WEST OAKLAND The second edition of this season’s Prescott Night Market is back this week with Almanac Brewery’s Airstream beer garden, local street food vendors, and live music from My Soul to Keep and Daniel Harris III. The event, which launched in 2024, will then take place on Sept. 4 and conclude for the year on Oct. 9. 5pm-9pm, free, 1620 18th Street, Oakland.
FRI/22: COOKING GUMBO WITH DONTAYE BALL + SUN/24: GUMBO SOCIAL’S ALL YOU CAN EAT SEAFOOD BOIL As you’ll learn in our above video interview with Chef Dontaye Ball, he’s got his 5th Annual All You Can Eat Seafood Boil coming to the Bayview on Aug. 24 in conjunction with Sunday Streets Bayview and the 6th Annual Butchertown Jazz Festival. There’s also a more intimate event two days earlier at his Gumbo Social restaurant, when he’ll share his gumbo secrets at a cooking demonstration for the Nourish & Nurture Monthly Cooking Club on Aug. 22. Tickets to the cooking event include wine, gumbo tasting, and all the ingredients needed to make gumbo at home. Reserve tickets here for Aug. 22 cooking class. 6pm, $20 at Gumbo Social, 5176 Third Street, SF.Reserve tickets here for Aug. 24 seafood boil. 12-2pm at Gumbo Social (and there will be a party from 11am-4pm in the parking lot next door).
STAGE
Charles Lewis III hits up theaters and performance spaces every week for his Drama Masks column.
THROUGH AUGUST 24: SAN FRANCISCO FRINGE FEST In true underground DIY spirit (and very reflective of our moment), Exit Theatre‘s annual independent 15-play thespianic onslaught Fringe Festival offers everything from “I’m Mad as Hell and I’m Going to Take It Just a Little Bit Longer” to “Due To an Unforeseen Apocalypse This Will Be Our Final Performance”—with everything from parlor seances and generational trauma to frenzied improv and voices of the formerly incarcerated in between. Exit Theatre, SF. More info here.
THROUGH AUGUST 24: “THE RETURN” What happens when the oppressed parrots the words of the oppressor? How does a former oppressor support the oppressed without causing more harm? When Israeli Jew Talia (the always watchable Elissa Beth Stebbins) steps into an auto shop, she’s surprised to find a Palestinian Arab called Yakub (Nick Musleh) as the only one working this late. More than that, she’s pretty sure they know one another, which means she owes him an apology. But if she’s right, she may find she’s talking to someone who doesn’t even recognize himself anymore. Golden Thread Productions, SF. More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
NOW STREAMING: DEVO Veteran documentarian Chris Smith’s Devo, which began streaming on Netflix Tue/19, provides a succinct overview of a musical act whose assertive surface style was so familiar, it may come as a surprise how little you know about the whole story. Full of vintage clips in first-rate condition, DEVO is one of those rock docs that feel a bit truncated—as opposed to the many that seem overlong. One revelation here is that the members, while they stuck to their worker-drone personae onstage, were always intelligent and articulate when interviewed. Though Devo looked like a mere goofy novelty to some, to the band’s minds it was an “anti-stupidity” project—a surreal poke at all-American complacency. More info here.
MON/25: SUDAN, REMEMBER US Missives read aloud between French-Tunisian-Moroccan journalist and filmmaker Hind Meddeb, in European self-exile, and friends left behind in Khartoum provide narrative structure to several years’ video evidence of the northeast African nation’s descent into “an open-air prison.” Ebullient, undaunted protests against the 30-year military dictatorship alternate with horror and destruction in the civil war that followed, and which remains ongoing. So far that conflict has displaced nearly 13 million, killing some 150,000—and it’s only the latest in a long series of massacres generated by oppressive regimes, political struggle and innumerable attempted coups. 6:30pm, Roxie, SF. More info here.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up. Check out his club The Stud for more great parties.
FRI/22: ROBERT HOOD The Detroit genius basically invented minimal techno in the 1990s, then swung around with his daughter in the past decade as Floorplan to bring gospel house to massive festival audiences yearning for a blast of soul. Time to catch up on his latest doings. 9:30pm-3am, Public Works, SF. More info here.
FRI/22: VINYLISSIMO! The recently refreshed Kilowatt Bar has brought great live rock and/or roll back to the legendary spot, love to see it venture into more dancier realms. Italian DJ Nino Msk, who I adore, kicks off this “brand-new all-vinyl night bringing the warm, analog soul of Italo Disco, funky and soulful house, and worldwide grooves straight to the heart of the Mission.” 9pm-2am, Kilowatt Bar, SF. More info here.
FRI/22: FLUX AETERNA x NATURAL SELECTION Two powerhouse crews with great names team up for a rager of an evening of UK left-field bass, breaks, garage, and jungle. 9pm-2am, Underground SF. More info here.
SAT/23: LEISURE: ’90s NIGHT A ’90s night might not seem out of the ordinary for Club Leisure’s regular celebration of all things Britpop and alternative, but DJ Omar and friends are pulling out the Manchester, indie, and Courtney Love stops for this one. 9pm-2am, Cat Club, SF. More info here.
