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, Onstage, Nightlife, and more. Subscribe to our newsletter to get this straight to your inbox.
ARTS
Tons more to do and support right here. Don’t miss our 4/20 guide or this rad art show.
THU/17: BLACK THURSDAY Trans activist, singer, and performer Honey Mahogany takes over the innovative new Roar Shack space on Market for an event that promotes and celebrate trans/queer Black performers. If you ever made it to one of her exquisite Black Fridays evenings at the Stud, you know the insane quality of performers she presents that deserve way more recognition. 6:45-9pm, Roar Shack, SF. More info here.
FRI/18: FORT MASON NIGHT MARKET It’s a beautiful time to spend an evening by the Bay, and Fort Mason is teaming up with West Coast Crafts and Off the Grid for an outdoor evening featuring live music, more than 100 artists, a dozen food vendors, live music and more—including a chance to hang out with Executive Chef Katie Reicher of classic veggie restaurant Greens for some hot cider and cookies. 4pm-9pm, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, SF. More info here.
FRI/18-SEPTEMBER 25: GOLDEN GATE BAND RETURNS San Francisco’s oldest musical organization (founded in 1882!) is one of the true gems of the city, and their return to the Golden Gate Bandshell is an augur of summertime delight. Music Director German Gonzalez steers the mini-orchestra into its 143rd season with classics throughout the run from Poland, Armenia, Scotland, Hungary, Ukraine, Mexico, Ireland, and Spain, plus special Juneteenth and Pride programs, among many others. Grab a sandwich and soak in some tunes. Golden Gate Bandshell, SF. More info here.
SUN/20: EASTER WITH THE SISTERS IN THE PARK The one and only Hunky Jesus (and Foxy Mary) contest returns to Dolores Park for Easter—on 4/20, no less—but that’s just one of the suprises the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are rolling out, which include a children’s Easter egg hunt early on, performances by Pansy Division and the Ladies of AsiaSF (RIP), plus a rainbow’s worth of “only in San Francisco” spirit. The theme this year is “No Easter without the ‘T'” bringing attention to the ongoing persecution of trans people. Kids: 10:30-11:30, everyone else: Noon-4pm, Dolores Park, SF. More info here.
SUN/20: BRING YOUR OWN BIG WHEEL RACE Let’s just say 4/20 is going to be a clusterfun of things to do in the city. This long-standing, er, careening tradition—23 years—flies down Vermont Street in the most chaotic of ways. Kids 13 and under: 2pm-3pm, everyone else: 3pm-5pm, Vermont Street, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great musical picks every week.
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FRI/18: KRAFTWERK We need more things in the world that bring people together. Kraftwerk, the German electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, were having a musical conversation with 20th Century Black Radio and the early stirrings of hip-hop. This quartet built on synthesizers, drum machines, and vocoders, were all over the dial in the late ’70s and early ’80s, from the Electrifying Mojo inspiring all the early Detroit techno artists to Frankie Crocker in New York on WBLS playing their tunes and causing Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force to bedrock early rap and B-Boy culture with robot-pop qualities. That compass of influence will be on full display more than 50 years in—so when you think you hear Daft Punk, don’t freak. It’s the original robots. 8pm, Greek Theater, Berk. More info here.
FRI/18: AFROLICIOUS Created from the ground up as a weekly event at the Mission District’s Elbo Room, Afrolicious attempted to link different genres of the African diaspora. As is the case when pushing those Afrobeats to do what they do—align all tribes on the dancefloor as one—this weekly event quickly became a party. Love, funk, and energy just roll, song after song, from this band. Sure, they’ve shared the stage with Thievery Corporation and find inspiration from groups such as Antibalas, Chico Mann, Nickodemus, DJ Smash, Wonderwheel Recordings, and others. But when it’s just their party, this group of musicians, who are schooled in soul and the feel of classic funk, disco, and Afrobeat melodies coupled with those funky basslines… that’s when the show refuses to stop. 8pm, Boom Boom Room, SF. More info here.
MON/21: DEAFHEAVEN Hitting the road in support of new release Lonely People With Power, the black metal-meets-shoegaze outfit’s sixth album to date, Deafheaven still operates under the credo “if it’s not heavy, then it’s not giving someone a feeling.” Flipping to the Roadrunner imprint, home of Slipknot, Type O Negative, Code Orange, and Turnstile, the former San Francisco-based band has returned to what core fans have been waiting for: a pure onrush of metal aggression. 8pm, The Fillmore, SF. More info here.
FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s Good Taste Good Taste column tells you where to stick your fork every week.
200 FAVORITE BAY AREA RESTAURANTS I respect the long and hard work involved in putting together the Chronicle’s well-funded Top 100 Restaurant list and gala, so it was very cheeky of me to dash off a map of my personal 200 favorite Bay Area restaurants. My hope is that you’ll find some wonderful mom and pop places to support by giving it a glance. Seeing all of my pins concentrated in certain Bay Area cities and not others reminds me how large our region is, how little of it I get to visit regularly, and how much more delicious research there is to be done!
FRI/18-SUN/20: DIY K-POP COUCHELLA PARTY WITH RIZE UP BAKERY San Francisco-based and Black-owned Rize Up Bakery has a perfect thematic snack to acquire for this weekend’s second edition of Couchella—aka streaming Coachella’s live sets on YouTube—which will once again feature K-pop idols Lisa and Jennie from Blackpink (Lisa’s show and costumes are better), boy band ENHYPEN, and girl group XG, among many other acts and styles. I don’t think there’s a wrong way to eat the K-Pop/Gochujang sourdough loaf, which has gochujang (Korean red pepper paste), roasted garlic, toasted sesame, and a black sesame crust. But I took a cue from BTS, the K-pop kings, and slathered slices of mine with butter (and honey). Here’s where to find Rize Up Bakery bread.
SUN/20: FOOD BOOK CLUB COOKBOOK SWAP My new Food Book Club will operate similarly to the sister Music Book Club in that it will have an online newsletter for author events and Q+As (see our music archive on 48 Hills) as well as a place to release my own original ebooks and zines. We’re kicking off with an in-person cookbook swap featuring focaccia and other Italian comfort foods from Studio Aurora, plus additional bites by The Nosh Box, eggontheweb69, and Rose Delights as well as DJs Onemohit, Jmo Corleone, and am:pm spinning live on Fault Radio. Bring a gently used cookbook or cookbooks to trade for a new-to-you title. I thought this would be a fun way to launch this club and to spice up your kitchen routine! Free, noon to 6pm at Studio Aurora/Fault Radio, 302 Valencia Street, SF.
STAGE
Charles Lewis III hits up theaters and performance spaces every week for his Drama Masks column.
THROUGH SUN/20: IZZARD: HAMLET The seasoned UK comedian/performer takes on a task that seems like a dare: Perform all 26 characters in the Bard’s most famous play by themself—unfortunately not backwards and in heels, but, always fabulous, in a snappy looks with a little sparkle. The results are dynamic, and reintroduce the play’s themes in a different light, even if there’s perhaps less subversion than might be expected, considering Izzard’s powerhouse persona. ACT Strand Theater, SF. More info here.
THROUGH SAT/19: VAN MANEN: DUTCH GRANDMASTER If one goes into this accessible, pleasant SF Ballet presentation knowing nothing about the eponymous choreographer, they’ll pick up this much: He likes to have fun dancing. Over the course of four of his popular pieces—Grosse Fuge, Variations for Two Couples, Solo, and 5 Tangos—the hoofers of SF Ballet fluctuate from classical style to modern, with a bunch of silly movements thrown in for good measures. (Been a while since I’ve seen someone “bobblehead” on stage.) War Memorial Opera House, SF. More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs movie column has tons more flicks to recommend.
THU/17-APRIL 27: SFFILM FEST The 68th edition of the sprawling fest is bigger than the last few, with shows at venues in the Marina, the Presidio, the Mission and at Berkeley’s BAMPFA. The 150+ plus films being shown represent over 50 countries—highlights include local filmmaker Elena Oxman’s debut feature Outerlands about a struggling nonbinary gig-worker, FEMA camp drama Rebuilding which tracks evacuees from a devastating forest fire, and documentary Sudan, remember us about the tragic situation in the wartorn country.
OPENING FRI/18: THE TEACHER In Farah Nabulsi’s forceful drama, Saleh Bakri from The Band’s Visit and The Blue Caftan plays Basem, an English instructor at a Palestinian boys’ school. Like nearly all his colleagues, neighbors and students, he has suffered dire loss as a result of Israeli occupation. When local boy Adam (Muahammad Abed Elrahman) sees his home destroyed, then a relative killed by a malicious settler, the teacher’s paternal influence barely holds him back from committing some reckless act of revenge. But Basem is also secretly involved in dangerous intrigue that involves a captured IDF soldier being used to negotiate release for a thousand Palestinian political prisoners. Roxie Theater, SF. More info here.
MON/21: WATER FOR LIFE Though once again our government is acting as though the Earth’s resources were infinite, their grabby actions suggest otherwise—they know the future belongs to who controls those resources. Narrated by Diego Luna, No. Cal. documentarian Will Parrinello’s new film examines the struggle of indigenous people in Honduras, El Salvador, and Chile to prevent their water rights being stolen by multinational corporations. It’s a visually handsome albeit often rage-stirring portrait of institutionalized corruption that was twelve years in the making. It makes its national broadcast and streaming debut at 10 pm, local PBS stations and pbs.org.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. often knows what’s up.
FRI/18: DJ BONE Now entering the fourth decade of his career, Bone is the embodiment of underground techno with the soul of house. A Detroiter who got swept up into the European craze (French maestro Laurent Garnier heard one set in 1996 and booked him for a legendary Rex Club Paris residency) he’s truly one of the first “global” techno figures who still brings the house down. 9pm-2am, Monarch, SF. More info here.
SAT/19: MUETE Playing electronic dance music on traditional instruments is a cliche at this point—even when it is very well done. (There’s a running joke about first wave Detroit techno DJs bringing an orchestra with them when they’re booked.) But German techno marching band MUETE puts their back into it with a full horn and drum section that feels like the real thing, if techno were invented in New Orleans perhaps. They’re headlining a free block/dance party during the day in downtown Oakland. 3pm-9:30pm, Frank Ozawa Plaza, Oakland. More info here.
SAT/19: FRINGE A roomful of people dancing and singing along to retro-indie faves like the Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Robyn, Phoenix, and more 2000s darlings at the top of their voices is incredibly fun… and oddly comforting? The Fringe party has been giving is this feeling for years, and its Spring Fling edition promises lots of bunny-eared fun. 9pm, Madrone, SF. More info here.
SAT/19: HARD FRENCH QUINCIÑEARA My favorite queer patio party is finally an adult! (Well, culturally.) This 15th anniversary celebration welcomes wild drag number from Glamamore, Dulce de Leche, and Per Sia—the Queens of Hard French—and non-stop ecstatic dancing all day to all-stars Carrie Morrison, Charles Hawthorne, Brown Angel, Vin Sol, Five, and my baby from New Orleans Bouffant Bouffant. 3pm-8pm, El Rio, SF. More info here.
SUN/20: DAYTIME REALNESS Could your Easter possibly get any queerer? Head back to El Rio on Sunday for their Daytime Realness party featuring more 4/20-stoned bunny-themed drag and dancing than you can stuff in your basket, with eternal queen Dulce de Leche hosting, and DJs Olga T, Kelly Naughton, Carnita, and Stanley Frank Sensation springing onto the decks. 2pm-8pm, El Rio, SF. www.elriosf.com
SUN/20: 4/20 MASSIVE You know you want to dance on a giant, sunlit patio around a pool to some house and techno greats on the big day, right? DJ Sneak, Hector Moralez , Gavin Hardkiss b2b Shawna, and Dreamer b2b Pat Allen will be blowing some legendary smoke. 2pm-2am, Phoenix Hotel, SF. More info here.
