GENERAL ARTS
Marke B. is on it.
THU/26: NIGHTLIFE: COLORS OF INDIA The fantastic Non Stop Bhangra dance company and party crew takes over the Cal Academy of Sciences’ weekly Thursday evening party. “From live music and dance performances to food, drinks, and an Indian Bazaar, every corner of the museum will be filled with electric energy.” (Pro-tip: great for singles). 6pm, Cal Academy, SF. More info here.
FRI/27 + SAT/28: SEÑOR BABYHEAD An hour of “drag, clown, and desperation” from ace performer Analisa Raya-Flores—in character as the hideous and hilarious Señor Babyhead, “Mexico’s most (washed up) famous sitcom star, desperate to stay relevant and avoid becoming an artifact himself.” Watch as he presents his Día de Muertos Especial: a journey across the Sonoran Desert in which Babyhead encounters artifacts, mirages, and spirits. Church of Clown, SF. More info here.
FRI/27 + SAT/28: OUTSIDER SOUNDS AND VISIONS FEST—20 YEARS OF RATSKIN RECORDS The excellent local record label celebrates two decades of supporting the Bay Area and beyond’s risk-taking, cutting-edge, avant-garde music-makers that have come to define the underground. More than 30 acts are lined up over two days, truly a do not miss moment. First Church of the Buzzard, Oakland. More info here.
SAT/28: SAN FRANCISCO CHOCOLATE SALON AND FESTIVAL This annual event fills the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park to the brim with delectable treats for chocoholics, with tastings, demonstrations, sales, and appearances by world-renowned chocolatiers. Say no more, we’re there. 11am-5pm, San Francisco County Fair Building. More info here.
SAT/28 + SUN/29: RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR It’s spring, time to get crafty! More than 250 makers descend on Fort Mason Festival Pavillion to help you spruce up your wardrobe, digs, pet toys, whatever you like. Fort Mason Festival Pavilion, SF. More info here.
SAT/28 + SUN/29: “MARK FOEHRINGER’S ALICE IN WONDERLAND” The Mark Foeringer Dance Project marks its 30th season with the return of this vibrant family classic. A 50-minute dance theater work based on Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s story, the show features a live 11-piece chamber orchestra conducted by Keisuke Nakagoshi, awesome costumes, and lots of fun. Cowell Theater at Fort Mason, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.
SAT/27: RADIO SOFIA is an instrumental musical collaboration between David Boyce, of Broun Fellinis fame, on looped saxophones through dizzying effects; Michael Cavaseno on guitar, shot through similar time-traveling mechanisms; and Zori Marinova holding it down on percussion, by way of congas, bongos, and whatever else she shows up with at the gig. According to their website, “The trio’s sound can be described as a groovy, soulful mix of jazz, pop, R&B, and world music,” but that’s a disservice. On a Noise Pop night several years ago, waiting in line to see Lætitia Sadier at The Chapel, from the corner of Valencia, Boyce’s meditative flow dragged several other Noise Pop badge holders over to the window of Etcetera Wine Bar, where Radio Sofia was twisting up a minimal version of Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man.” Setting and sending mature, grown-folk vibes throughout hipster funland’s cool nighttime fog. Inside, a Saturday night collection of pleasantly content wine enthusiasts thoroughly enjoyed the loose and transcendent jazz-accented world music. Nobody made a request; not one Shazamed tune. 6:30 pm, Etcetera Wine Bar, SF. More info here.
SAT/27: MILD UNIVERSE There is a certain historical sonic formula that some Bay Area bands adhere to; it’s the combo amalgam. That smattering of rock, funk, trippy-dippy shit, disco, jazz, and a chef’s kiss of foggy collectivism—a combined calling among adverse thinkers in song. San Francisco’s Mild Universe, the six-to-seven-piece combo outfit that formed in 2019, is comprised of musicians who opine with shine. This SF band pushes those bumping tempos with lyrics concerning interconnectedness, divine energy, and most definitely a sunny side of the street perspective. It’s a self-produced stage show that bravely combines several different elements of dance tempos and halftime ballads under one giant bouncy umbrella. But the biggest upside to this group is that they are designed for live performance. In that cave-basement of fun at Cafe du Nord? Prepare for a fun night to turn into an all-night pleasure fest. 7pm, Cafe Du Nord, 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.
SIP ON AN ALWAYS & FOREVER I’ve been bouncing around the Avenues for the last hour on the strength of half of an Always & Forever (chilled espresso, maple, citrus, sweet cloud, and cinnamon) from Kissaten Hi-Fi, a new, vinyl soundtracked Japanese and Filipino coffee and matcha spot in the Inner Richmond. Heatwave’s 1976 song of the same name is a classic ballad, but the namesake drink is a buzzy banger for sure. A mini pastry case was empty by the time I arrived at noon, but this is really just a place for liquid fuel. Soft open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Kissaten Hi-Fi, 189 Sixth Avenue, SF. More info here.
SUN/29: WHAT’S THE 411? Even though I’m an avowed food pornographer, I’m still recommending Sunday’s phone-and-photo-free supper club at hot spot Meski with Chefs Nelson German and Shawn Phillips of Tartufino, curated by Ask JG. There’s a choice of an à la carte menu upstairs or a tasting menu downstairs, and the attire requested is something you’d wear to your grandmother’s house. Get more info in my Good Taste column or book a reservation. Meski, 1000 Larkin Street, SF. More info here.
STAGE
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week in the Drama Masks column.
THROUGH APRIL 19: ||: GIRLS :||: CHANCE :||: MUSIC :|| I’ll say this for playwright Eisa Davis: she has a helluvan ear for the naturalistic. Her prose hits the ear as realistically as that of kids conversing on the bus. So, when Davis chose write a story about a quartet of teens in a youth musical program, it’s comforting to think they she actually listened to how such a quartet would talk. The characters, all of whom do their own playing and singing, are believable, and their heightened emotions and misunderstandings are true of any teen since the dawn of humanity. What’s more, it’s a relief that not everything is wrapped up neatly at the end. Much of the play feels like throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, but the talent definitely does. ACT Strand, SF. Tickets and further info here.
THROUGH APRIL 5: ASSASSINS Oakland Theatre Project brilliantly trots this Sondheim gem out at the right time (perish any wishful thinking). “In a country built on the promise of liberty, what drives someone to try to kill the person who represents that promise? Sondheim’s razor-sharp, multi–award–winning musical brings together a lineup of figures from American history who assassinated, or attempted to assassinate, US presidents. Oakland Theatre Project, more info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
OPENING FRI/27: PALESTINE 36 This is an impressive large-scale period drama that attempts to examine from multiple perspectives sides the escalating conflict between native Arab communities and a Jewish emigre population in Palestine under British colonial rule. The Brits are in an awkward position, resented as an outside occupying force while trying to maintain peace between Arabs who consider the country their incontestable homeland, and Jews fleeing persecution (mostly from a Europe increasingly threatened by Hitler) in ever-increasing numbers. The colonial authorities keep trying to placate both sides, but their promises are now looking empty, particularly to the longtime residents. Annemarie Jacir‘s screenplay can be criticized for simplifying some aspects of what remain dauntingly complex issues for dramatic purposes. But it all works quite well as a jigsaw of many pieces that add up to an involving, tragic, relatively even-handed big picture. Opens March 27 at the Roxie, SF. More info here. Also showing at: Rialto Cinemas 9 in Sebastopol, Rialto Cinemas Elmwood 6 in Berkeley, Marina Theatre in San Francisco, and Sequoia Twin in Mill Valley.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up.
THU/26-SAT/28: ALGORITHMIC ART ASSEMBLY V3.0 “Artisanal algorithmicists and computational craftspeople ASSEMBLE!” This extravaganza covers three nights of audio, extreme computer music, algorave, and bit-shifted R’n’B hits of tomorrow. Plus: Two days of talks that explore process-based artistic approaches from the mathematical to the topological: procedurally generated clouds, internet and ambient art, FM synthesis, esolangs, and much more. Gray Area, SF. More info here.
FRI/27: HEATHER & COLETTE The dynamic Chicago house duo have been holding things down for decades on the DJ circuit, and always deliver some of that magic Chi-town tech-tinged boogie. 9pm-2am, Monarch, SF. More info here.
SAT/28: BEAT FREAKS It’s the one-year anniversary of this party that brings awesome East Coast club sounds to Cali, with DJs Kimosabe, Queen, Girls on Deck, and more. 9pm, El Rio side room, SF. More info here.
