Welcome to our calendar feature BIG WEEK, wherein our expert Arts & Culture writers recommend the best things do. This week we are staying positive about the year ahead, and going out!
GENERAL ARTS
Marke B. is in the arts hot seat.
THU/22-SUN/25: ATRIUM ART FAIR Oooh, we love a good alternative art fair. While the local scene blows up for SF Art Week and the FOG Art + Design Fair, the folks at Minnesota Street Projects have got their own thing going on: “a new free alternative art fair showcasing the best established and emerging contemporary art galleries in the Bay Area, alongside long-standing Bay Area galleries.” That includes Marrow Gallery, presenting new work from Stephanie Robison (so cool!), Hiroshi Sato, Mercy Hawkins, Mae Aur and Ronald Hall. More info here.
FRI/23-SUN/25: MARK MORRIS: “MOON” The renowned dance innovator known for his live movement-musical spectacles brings his latest, a cosmic multimedia extravaganza, to Cal Performances. “Danced before a backdrop featuring video, animation, and photo stills of the Moon, this new piece for nine dancers is set to live and recorded music that includes popular American songbook tunes, as well as excerpts from NASA’s Golden Record—a gold-plated copper phonograph record that was launched into space on the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts in 1977, carrying sounds and images of Earth as a message to any potential extraterrestrial life.” Zellerbach Hall, SF. More info here.
FRI/23: AROOJ AFTAB Mixing Sufi devotional poetry, minimal classicism, and electronic elements—all topped off by her incredible, earthy voice—the Grammy-nominated Pakistani-American singer has rightly earned the title “coolest rock star in the world” right now. Live, she is transcendent. 7:30pm, Palace of Fine Arts, SF. More info here.
SAT/24: “TIME TO KILL” “If ‘I Think You Should Leave”s Tim Robinson had septuplets, it would be the cast of ‘Time to Kill.'” You don’t have to tell me any more than that to get my attention. Sketchfest is welcoming TV writers/producers at The Daily Show, The Tonight Show, and more for a wild night of goofy, spirited, and dead-on hilarious sketch comedy gems. 7pm, BATS Improv Theatre, SF. More info here.
SUN/25: SYDNEY KANE: “WIFE MATERIAL” “Pansexual comedian, influencer, playwright, and phenomenal singer” Sydney Kane touches down at Eclectic Box for Sketchfest, with “a one hour original musical comedy about the trials and tribulations of what it means to be (or not be) ‘wife material.'” We are intrigued! 3pm-4:30pm, Eclectic Box, SF. More info here.
WED/28: JOSH KORNBLUTH: “WHAT IS TO BE DONE? FIGHTING FASCISM AND DEPRESSION” Club Fugazi continues its “January Jamboree” while its long-running signature show “Dear San Francisco” takes a break. How cool is it that monologue legend Josh Kornbluth has stepped into the breach to guide us poignantly yet entertainingly through fascism and depression? “Alone on a stage, with two incongruous themes and a gold mine of personal experience stemming from his astonishing upbringing as the son of eccentric Communist parents in New York City, Josh attempts to weave a single story that inspires and delights the listener.” Let’s go! 7:30pm, Club Fugazi, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.
SAT/24: FUZZ’s Fourth Dream is a collection of all the B-sides, loosies, covers, demos, and other audio treats from this California-based trio of Ty Segall (vocals, drums), Charles Moothart (vocals, guitar), and Chad Ubovich (vocals, bass), who get together whenever their busy musical lives allow. From random 2am jams in the garage, finally under Ty’s guidance, they worked out these Sabbath-style riffs, and before you could say noise complaint, they had a sloppy-beautiful version of a band—and Fuzz was born. The trio will make a stop here at GAMH during their four-date mini-tour in January. Grab tix from personal connections cause the show is sold out. Get crafty, SF, it’s how this band came about! 8pm, Great American Music Hall, SF. More info here.
TUE/27: SAY SHE SHE shows up for the difficult mid-week show. But dagggummut, if you miss this one, you have no reason to complain about quality performers not coming to San Francisco. This women-led discodelic soul band, named as a silent nod to Nile Rodgers, Say She She (C’est chi-chi!: It’s Chic!) gives those epic girl-group vibes with sass, attitude, and most importantly, talent. Think Labelle, crossed up with psychedelic swampy backbeats, earworm melodies, lush harmonies, and playful adlibs. Made up of Piya Malik, Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown, the band is a multi-dimensional, multicultural, and multi-instrumental entity that pulls sounds from every corner of their record collections. 7pm, August Hall, 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/22: FLOUR + WATER PIZZA SHOP GRAND OPENS IN OAKLAND The first East Bay location of Flour + Water Pizza Shop debuts this week on the ground floor of The Lark Uptown residences. It’s open from 11:30am to 10pm Sundays through Thursdays, and until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Incidentally, Flour + Water Pizza Shop recently released a line of frozen pizzas—I tried two of them over the weekend (Margherita and Cacio e Pepe), and they’re fantastic. 271 24th Street, Oakland. More info here
FRI/23: TINY CROISSANTERIE POP-UP I’ve instituted coffee and pastry Fridays in my life, and you should, too. Tiny Croissanterie will offer a chance to start this week and pair their wares with Shoji’s high-end coffee and matcha menu. January menu items include a black sesame croissant, scallion pain-Suisse, caramel apple cinnamon roll, assorted egg tarts, and Kouign-Amann, to name a few. If you miss it, they’ll be back Thurs., Jan. 29 at the same location. 9:30 a.m. to sell out (early arrival suggested) at Shoji, 140 New Montgomery Street, SF. More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
SUN/25: SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE: A FIFTY YEAR SURVEY SFAI and SFMOMA each played huge roles in making the Bay Area a hub for adventuresome filmmaking and film-watching–even if now one institution is defunct and the other has dismantled its film program. Still, you can sample that glorious past in two afternoon programs at the museum highlighting decades of experimental work from Institute faculty and alumni, including Curt McDowell, Dominic Angerame, Lynn Sachs, and many others. SFMOMA, 1pm show (“Personal Voices”) info here and 3pm show (“Orbiting Bodies”) info here.
TUE/27: FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher have been bringing their hilarious clip shows to the Bay Area for so long, their original local venue was the long-gone Red Vic Movie House. Returning under SF Sketchfest auspices, their latest dig into the golden age of VCR trash is titled “Porcelain VHS Treasures,” and promises choice vintage doses of Bigfoot, Telly Savalas, creepy dolls, terrifying instructional videos, and more. 7:30pm, BATS Bayfront Theatre, SF. More info here.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up
FRI/23-SUN/25: ENDZEIT TAKES OVER PIER 29 FOR ART WEEK So stoked for this: “Pier 29 opens to the public for the first time January 23–25 for a three-day art and electronic music program closing the San Francisco Art Week. Endzeit, a Bay Area nonprofit transforming industrial spaces into experimental art and music experiences, is activating 70,000 square feet of the historic waterfront pier with installations by local and international artists, such as SF-based photographer Thomas Heinser, Bay Area artist Rrose, and Italian multimedia artist Edoardo Cozzani, plus live performances from internationally recognized electronic musicians.” Friday: 2pm–5am, Saturday: 2pm–5am, Sunday: 2pm–10pm, Pier 29, SF. More info here.
FRI/23: DETROIT LOVE WITH CARL CRAIG + MIKE BANKS Second-wave Detroit techno legend Carl Craig dated my roommate back in the early ’90s when his label Planet E was getting off the ground; for a brief moment it was like having a gently mad genius rolling around our loft off Jefferson Avenue. Those were exciting times, when Underground Resistance co-founder Mike Banks might show up at your rave downtown and teach you true lessons in solidarity with the local community and music history. Craig has been keeping the spirit alive with his Detroit Love parties, this time performing on the decks with Banks live on keys. Chuck Gunn and Father Dukes open up. 9pm-2:30am, Public Works, SF. More info here.
FRI/23 + SAT/24: CARLOS SOUFFRONT I adore that SF’s favorite DJ’s DJ, Carlos Souffront, is getting so much shine in 2026. One of the deepest crate-diggers in the business, unafraid to hop from deep techno to rare post-punk as the evening calls for, he’s got two appearances this weekend: Fri/23 (9:30pm-2am) at The Lookout in the Castro (which is undergoing a bit of an underground makeover under the auspices of Hard French’s Jorge Portillo) with fellow birthday boy DJ Bus Station John, and Sat/24 (9pm-1:30am) at Bar Part Time, the flawless natural wine bar and dance spot whose only fault is they do not serve vodka.
