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. This week, we were very sad to hear that Altman-Siegel Gallery, a pillar of local conceptual representation, will close after 16 years at the end of November—hit it up to catch the gorgeous Shinpei Kusanagi show through November 15.
GENERAL ARTS
Caitlin Donohue has her eye on you.
THU/23: THE MATTER OF DECENCY: SF’S 2013 NUDITY BAN Back when Scott Weiner played an instrumental role in banning public nakedness in our city, the Bay Guardian printed out butt guards to protect outdoor sitting surfaces from our bare posteriors. (At least for a time, Weiner had the guard framed and hanging in his office). Now, writer Kevin Simmonds has created a multimedia rumination on the law, which you are welcome to perceive for free at our spectacular central library branch. Main Library, SF. More info here.
FRI/24-SUN/26: DIABLO IMPROV FESTIVAL If you’re feeling the urge to make it up as you go along, your time is now. This three-day fest convenes some of improv’s finest for performances and workshops, culiminating in Sun/26’s open-to-all-comers improv jam. Up on stage will be everyone from legendary troupe The Groundlings to the Bay Area High School Improv All Stars. Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek. More info here.
SAT/25: 43RD ANNUAL SANDCASTLE CLASSIC A fabulous day to watch sandy structures rise on the shores, all in the name of creativity for the kids. This annual occurrence orchestrated by arts education organization Leap, which was founded in 1976 as a way of guarding California kids’ art ed from budget cuts. Today, the more than 8,000 Bay Area children it serves benefit from the money raised by the sandcastle competition. To the dunes! Ocean Beach, SF. More info here.
SAT/25: $5 BOOK FAIR 34 A smorgasbord of cheap lit on which to gorge your bibliophile senses in a downtown alley. You are promised: “A universe of books—all $5—from Bay Area booksellers. Lots of art books! Bulk discounts for educators.” Plus, booze and bites from surrounding eateries and drinkeries! Trinity Arts & News, SF. More info here.
SAT/25: 33 YEARS OF MORE! Surely there is no mug more recognizable from SF drag than that of Juanita MORE!—in addition to her mural series, she’s helped lead her house, founded by the city’s grand-matriarch Glamamore, to philanthropy heights with an endless parade of parties whose proceeds go to urgent causes. 33 years of such excellence, no doubt to be borne forward by newer generations of the clan, is well worth celebrating—which you will at this party featuring DJ David Harness and supporting the SF LGBT Center, natch. Audio SF. More info here.
SAT/25: STEPHEN HILL: HEART OF SPACE 48hills’ own Daniel Bromfield will be in conversation with “space music” radio host Hill, whose program “Hearts of Space” has been blowing Marin County—and beyond, since it’s long been nationally syndicated—minds since the early ’70s. Their chat will be the first in a series meant to highlight Marin’s history in ambient and contemplative sounds. Belvedere Tiburon Library, Belvedere. More info here.
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SAT/25: LILA DOWNS’ DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS It is an excellent moment for reflection, perhaps a beat to honor the continued presence of those who came and went before. This performance by Mexican folk singer Downs will sure scratch one’s itch for deeply felt kinship. Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. More info here.
SAT/25: DISMEMBER THE ALAMO Horror heads, you just may need this grab-bag of scary flicks. “You could be watching cult slashers, haunted oddities, splattery psychotronic obscurities, or something so rare it hasn’t darkened a projector in decades,” says the Alamo site. Plus creepy cocktails, spooky ambiance galore. New Mission Alamo Drafthouse, SF. More info here.
SAT/25 & SUN/26: TRIGGERED This high-flying acrobatics, dance, and theater show delves into the all-too-relevant theme of anger. Ready to face the heat? ODC Theater, SF. More info here.
SAT/25 & SUN/26: HELLO, STAR Stephanie S.V. Lucianovic’s book is brought to the stage by Opera Parallèle, for all to follow the path of a little girl named Celeste as she is contacted by a star that is about to fade away—a tale of realizing one’s celestial self-potential! Children’s Creativity Museum, SF. More info here.
SUN/26: DAVID ARMAN A jazz great on the brink of turning 95? This concert, starring a gentleman who was New York Philharmonic’s first composer-in-residence in 1966, promises poignant performances, potentially of the orchestral works he’s composed in this century, like “Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie”, which he wrote for the Woody Guthrie Foundation in 2007. Counterculture Museum, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.
FRI/24: BODEGA RAVE TOUR NYC’s late-night Latin pop-up dance party with Bronx-based MUNDO Soundsystem, founded by Dos Flakos and DJ Guari is coming to the Mission for the purpose of distilling low-end bass and serving high-end cocktails. This unique cultural moment will be blending its Caribbean and Latin beats on the West Coast for the first time. Free with RSVP, open to anyone 21+, it’s ready to be incorporated into your Friday rotation. Mr. Liquor, SF. More info here.
TUE/28: GEESE This New York band, whose members look like high school kids who haven’t yet discovered the magical powers of a comb or brush, is gaining recent, major GQ-glossy coverage after crafting their intense, freaky-folk, post-punk Brooklyn sound since 2016. Hardcore fans holler that their newest release Getting Killed is their strongest and weirdest entry so far. In their confusing and bewildered performance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, just days after Disney brought the host back, the band looked right at home amid the chaos happening in the world. Not to be a corny old, but yes, they’ve captured something in the zeitgeist—and it’s not an act. The Fillmore, SF. More info here.
TUE/28: PACHYMAN & MNDSGN Yes, Lawd, to this two-fer. Puerto Rican-born, Los Angeles-based musician Pachy Garcia has been dazzling ears and eyes for the past five years, introducing a new generation to the origins of a sacred music called dub. His recent album Another Place sees this artist blending dub with rock, disco, cinematic elements, and post-punk. Mndsgn, aka Ringgo Ancheta, is a producer of deep hip-hop record-digging excavation, experimental soundscapes, auditory comfort food, whose Rare Pleasure album from 2021 was a career-shifting project influenced by soft jazz and wavy library music. That they’re both on the same bill? A bargain and a shining example of fine auditory grouping. The Chapel, 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!
OPENS FRI/24: SOMA PILIPINAS TASTY TRAILS SOMA Pilipinas, San Francisco’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District, is home to several distinct and delicious restaurants that have formed a mutually supportive community. This week marks the official launch of the Tasty Trails map, a course for snacking and taking in murals and historical sites featuring The Sarap Shop, Mestiza, Little Skillet, the brand new South Beach Food Collective (Love Burn, Ocean Malasada, Me So Hungry Too), and Victory Hall and Parlor. Use this map for a self-guided tour, or walk it with a big group at the official kickoff on Friday from 4-7 p.m., followed by an afterparty at Victory Hall (360 Ritch, SF).
RSVP for the meeting point and a chance to experience the trail on Friday from the back of MAHAL, a beautiful jeepney last owned by local music star Toro y Moi that was donated to the district. I went on a special preview of the trail in MAHAL a couple weeks ago, and it was a lot of fun riding in it and catching the expressions of surprised drivers on the road! SoMa neighborhood, SF. More info here.
STAGE
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week for his Drama Masks column.
THROUGH NOVEMBER 1: TERROR VAULT’S HEXED It’s safe to say that when Kat Robichaud welcomes you into a production that the show is more than likely to be enjoyable. I wasn’t expecting to see her as one of the goth-y ghouls inside Peaches Christ’s latest Hallowe’en horror, but an in-character Kat greeting we opening-night patrons was a good sign. This year has a much better balance of round-the-corner shocks and story details, making it much easier to follow the latter. The group I was with were invested in the story and paying attention to every noise, so they’d occasionally be pulled out of a scene by hearing another scene in the next room. Fortunately, there were plenty of rat-people and yetis to pull them back in. The San Francisco Mint. More info here.
THROUGH NOVEMBER 1: ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW D’Arcy Drollinger and his gender-bending geniuses at club Oasis join forces with Ray of Light Theater to bring back this SF Halloween stage tradition on the 50th anniversary of the movie’s release. In tune with our times, the players have ramped up the naughtiness so the whole enterprise feels deliciously subversive—but also heartfelt and bittersweet, especially with Oasis closing at the end off this year. Dammit, Janet. More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
THU/23: ASCO: WITHOUT PERMISSION Cine+Mas’ San Francisco Latino Film Festival (Thu/23-November 4)’s official opening night selection at the Roxie is Travis Gutierrez Senger’s look at the East LA art collective that was fired up by the activist movements of the era to spend approximately 15 years (starting in 1972) promoting Chicano power and visibility via street theater, guerrilla film shoots, mail art, protests against Hollywood ethnic stereotyping, et al. Roxie Theater, SF. More info here.
SAT/25: OUTDOOR SCHOOL A relative newcomer to the local scene is the Green Film Festival of San Francisco (Fri/24-October 30), which launched just a few years ago. This event’s attention to “the blue marble we all live on and the challenges we face in maintaining a livable planet” doesn’t limit itself exclusively or even primarily to documentaries about the environment. It also has room for narrative works that simply dramatize the human individual existing in nature, like Ime Nyong Etuk’s Outdoor School, about an African-American woman (Cycerli Ash) who flees an abusive marriage in Portland, Oregon. Having nowhere else to go, despite being gainfully employed, she winds up camping out in a public park—an “adventure” her two young children go along with, but one that needless to say has its discomforts as well as dangers. 4-Star Theater, SF. More info here.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up. Check out his club The Stud for more great parties.
FRI/24: BHANGRA & BEATS What do you get when you combine the Best Dance Party with the Best Night Market? Experience the wild magic of thousands of people dancing to Punjabi electronic and rap music—with live drumming and wonderful dancers—as the folks behind the Non Stop Bhangra party host their final Bhangra & Beats Night Market of the season, celebrating Diwali and lighting up downtown. 5pm-10pm, Front Street and Sacramento Street, SF. More info here.
SAT/25: FULL CIRCLE: JAYDA G + COCO & BREEZY We are huge fans of Canadian house wiz Jayda G and killer DJ twins Coco & Breezy (who now have their own eyewear collection!). They will be headlining one of those recent fashionable-again things, a 360-degree in-the-round party at Midway, so you can see every angle of their craft. 9pm-2am, The Midway, SF. More info here.
SUN/26: SUNSET HALLOWEEN BOAT PARTY If you find yourself in a bathroom stall on a boat with Big Bird, Count Chocula, Uffie in her Indie Sleaze phase, and the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson, you are aboard the Belle Hornblower with one of SF’s original rave crews for their annual Halloween blowout—this year featuring amazing DJs Aurora Halal, Dave P. & Zillas on Acid, and tons more. Yes, there is an afterparty. 5pm-3am, San Francisco Belle Hornblower. More info here.
