Welcome to Big Week, our weekly guide to cool things to do, put together by our expert critics and writers. Hey, have you voted for Best of the Bay yet?
GENERAL ARTS
Marke B. keeps an eye and ear and everything else out.
FRI/4 + SAT/5: ENSAMBLES BALLET FOLKLÓRICO Celebrate 30 years of vibrant dance troupe Ensambles Ballet Folklórico de San Francisco with “Anniversary of the Pearl,” a journey through 500 years of Mexican culture and tradition. Dancers in exquisite handcrafted costumes bring to life the regional dances of Mexico, woven from Indigenous, European, and African influences. Featuring live music by Vinic-Kay led by José Roberto Hernandez, a moving homage to Juan Gabriel, and a special guest appearance by the youth of Mariachi Media Luna of Half Moon Bay. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SF. More info here.
SAT/5-SEPTEMBER 13: FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK With the wilted toads who have been occupying global government lately, the idea of an empire shaking romance like Antony & Cleopatra seems as far-fetched as, oh, invading Greenland. OK, bad example. But lucky for us, Shakespeare’s royal tragedy comes to us free courtesy the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Hunker down in McLaren Park for poetry, intrigue, and obsession. Just watch your asp! 2pm, McLaren Park, SF. More info here.
SUN/6: SF ZINE FEST Print has been making a huge comeback of late, as young people realize the value of hand-held objects of a non-digital nature. This lollapalooza of DIY print creativity is an explosion that’s grown so big, only the giant Hibernia Building in downtown SF can contain it (and even then there are satellite events at SF Public Library and Mission: Comics & Art). Go grab some real cool shit ands support some real cool makers! 11am-5pm, Hibernia Building, SF. More info here.
SUN/6: BART SPEEDRUN The email came in with a mysterious message: “On Sunday, September 6, we’re co-hosting a BART Speedrun, bringing riders together for an attempt to travel through all 50 BART stations in a single coordinated trip.” Turns out it’s legit, coordinated directly with BART, and attempting to break the all-time record set last year, when 70 riders participated in what BART described as the largest group known to have speedrun a transit agency. Let’s go train-hopping! 10:37am, Berryessa/North San José BART Station. More info here.
MON/7: HIERO DAY The Bay’s foundational hip-hop family keeps delivering its annual rap-sodic wallop, bringing in tons of talented emcees and DJs for an unforgettable jam. Headliners Killer Mike, Jazzy Jeff, and of course the Hieroglyphic crew will slay all-day. 2pm-late, The Midway, SF. More info here.
TUE/8: SAMARA JOY WITH SF SYMPHONY The death of great vocalist Cassandra Wilson this week has left a huge void in the jazz world. How wonderful it is, then, that astronomical young talent like Samara Joy is around to lead us in new directions while honoring the legends. She joins joins conductor Anthony Parnther and the SF Symphony Orchestra to perform original songs as well as jazz standards by Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Sun Ra, and more. 7:30pm, Davies Symphony Hall, SF. More info here.
TUE/8: BIKINI KILL On the other end of the dial from Samara lie these punk/ riot grrrl legends, whose lead singer, Kathleen Hanna, blazed away though the cock rock of the ’90s to call for girls to the front. The Olympiua, Washington, outfit recently triumphed at Olivia Rodrigo’s woman-forward Daisy Chain Fields music festival, and they are bringing that energy direct to you. 8pm, The Warfield, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.
THU/3: CHIME SCHOOL The local outfit just returned from a brief-yet-busy East Coast mini-tour. Multi-instrumentalist Andy Pastalaniec and Bay Area stalwarts Phil Lantz (Telephone Numbers, Neutrals), Josh Miller (RE Seraphin, Anna Hillburg), and Garett Goddard (The Dates, Shannon Shaw Band) played an old social hall in Bethlehem, PA, sporting a private club in the basement with a four-lane bowling alley, plus doing a radio session at Jersey City, New Jersey’s own WFMU—known as the longest-running freeform, listener-supported, independent community radio station in the United States. Fans can expect Chime School to be fired up to assemble those cherished sounds of guitars, lightly dipped in that golden, pristine jangle, in support of Pink Breath of Heaven and r.image. 7pm, The Chapel, SF. More info here.
FRI/4: ENGLISH BEAT Formed on March 28, 1979, the same date as the Three Mile Island nuclear incident, in Birmingham, England, the nascent band known as The Beat was introduced as “the hottest thing since the Pennsylvania meltdown” at its very first show. Now that’s a beginning. Ever since, The Beat has been melting walls that separate, uniting avid music fans of all shades with the emblematic tunes—”Tenderness,” “Mirror In The Bathroom,” “Save It for Later,” “Free Nelson Mandela”—all of which blend modern pop with traditional Jamaican rhythms, solidifying that hybrid English Beat sound. (RIP founder Ranking Roger). 8pm, Cornerstone, Berkeley. Doors open at 8; show begins at 9. More info here.
SAT/5: SLEEPBOMB PRESENTS FRANKENSTEIN (W/ LIVE SCORE) I don’t know about you, but Frankenstein’s monster always seemed, uh, a bit metal, right? All the sparks, electricity, and lightning storms. Swirling about during his creation. Bro was not chilling, digging on some easy listening, that’s for sure. Welp, SF-based band Sleepbomb, which conjures up heavy doom riffs to dreamy shoegaze, forever creating dark soundscapes punctuated with shimmering guitar and ethereal organ, has written a score for the flick. Their brand-new chart will radiate all the psychedelic doom and gloom needed to give the iconic Boris Karloff performance as The Monster himself some added boomsauce. Prepare yourself; this ain’t no Mel Brooksing—Sleepbomb is about that metalcore maxxing. 8pm, Balboa Theater, SF. More info here.
FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s weekly Good Taste column tells you where to stick your fork.
SUN/6 BIZERKELEY FOOD FEST RETURNS The sixth annual vegan festival features a solid lineup of international food vendors offering plant-based meals and snacks. Expected highlights are Cocobreeze Caribbean Restaurant, That Hausa Vegan, and the Jollof Kitchen truck (one of my Outside Lands favorites). Proceeds benefit California Pit Bull Rescue. 12pm-6pm, Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, Berkeley. More info here.
STAGE
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week in the Drama Masks column.
FRI/4 THROUGH SAT/12: KILLING MY LOBSTER PRESENTS HYSTERICAL HISTORIUM How long has it been since KML put on a proper show? Too damn long! The tenacious SF sketch company teams up with Red Barn Productions for a knee-slapping sketch show about our city’s gold-prospecting past. Expect plenty of jokes about gold teeth, missing teeth, and the pirate ships that make up North Beach! Z Below, SF. More info here.
THROUGH MON/7: SF MIME TROUPE’S WRECKAGE: A MUSICAL TRAGICOMEDY If you haven’t already seen one of the year’s most timely shows, this is your final weekend to do so live. Can you imagine a backwards world where theocratic oligarchs push AI slop on the public rather than paying living wages to their employees? Crazy, right? Well, now you can see this far-fetched premise brought hilarious musical life by the world-renowned leftists local artists. Go for the show, stay for the songs, leave with a renewed fighting spirit. Panhandle Park, SF). More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
NOW PLAYING: BUDDY Caspar Kelly’s Buddy is presented as a cloying, brightly colored 1990s-style live action TV kids’ show in the realm of Barney & Friends. The titular character is a orange unicorn who’s everybody’s best friend, dispensing helpful life lessons by song and example to children at “The Clubhouse,” as well as puppetry-animated objects (the Worry Well, talking backpack Strappy), other “furrys” like Betty Bunny, and random adults Nurse Nancy and Mailman Miles. It’s a seemingly perfect fantasy world… until one uncooperative little boy awakens Buddy’s “dark side,” and does not live to tell the tale. When the others grow suspicious, mayhem erupts, with survivors fleeing through unknown terrain as their erstwhile, now frankly murderous BFF is in hot pursuit.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up.
FRI/4: BLOGHAUS After the Indie Sleaze, naturally must come the bloghaus one. (Yes they’re interconnected and overlapping in the Internet sludge era of the 2000s, but let’s just have some fun here.) Throw one or multiple scarves on over your American Apparel tee, don your post-ironic fedora, and get down to “bloghouse (DUH), 80s pop, french touch, and disco house” with DJs Spencer Sike, shapes, swagbaby, and alexcoolcool1234567 at everyone’s favorite Ethiopian Divisadero bar. 9pm-2am, Club Waziema, SF. More info here.
FRI/4: DECOLONIZED BEATS: “An evening rooted in Deep House, Afro House and Amapiano—sound that knows where it comes from, and stays true to it.” DJ Kamu Kamu (Kampala/London/Johannesburg) and Oakland OPM take you deep and to the side without all the commercialized nonsense. 9pm-2am, Moonglow, Oakland. More info here.
SAT/5: GEMINI This regular party is always a winner, and this month has a super-special guest: “Lisbon’s underground meets Bay Area energy when up-to-no-good rave sweetheart Ketia and friends spin cutting-edge club music all night at The Stud. Take advantage of the Labor Day holiday by putting in work on the dance floor.”
