Arts+Events: February 2009 Archives

MUSIC: Tonight's Noise Pop Happy Hour boasts Music for Animals, Aim Low Kid, and Audio Out Send. If you haven't checked out any Noise Pop shows, be sure to check out the festival's schedule today. It ends Sunday.

         

For the next year, patrons and passersby can enjoy Kerry James Marshall's monumental mural exhibit in SFMOMA's Evelyn and Walter Haas Atrium. Marshall depicts the rarely represented slaves who inhabited Monticello and Mount Vernon through a vibrant connect-the-dots theme, encouraging us all to re-write history together. At the press preview, Marshall pointed out that the two Founding Fathers are still relevant today -- books are still being written about them, and therefore, we can continue discovering the whole truth about our collective history. "There's always a way to talk about it," Marshall explained.

by Moses Namkung

The Sofia Gubaidulina residency with the SF Symphony continues tonight and tomorrow with the US premiere of her Violin Concerto No. 2, , with the magnificent Anne-Sophie Mutter as the soloist, for whom the piece was written.

by Moses Namkung

CLUB: A benefit is being held for the family of injured firefighter Chris Posey. If you recall, Posey was critically injured during a fire in Portola earlier this month. But his family, who lives in San Jose, cannot afford to be by his side in SF while he recovers. So, come on, help him out. Please. The people who do the dirty work to make this town tick cannot afford to live here. Give a hot firefighter a break.

Two nights down, four to go. What show(s) did you check out last night? We saw the Papercuts and Mountain Goats at The Swedish American Music Center-- it was amazing. Tonight, we're torn, we love Josh Ritter, Thao Nguyen, Thee Oh Sees, Martha Wainwright, Dr. Octagon vs. Dr. Dooom & Mike Relm (and that's just the headliners). Since the first two are sold out, are you going to brave craigslist, or do you have a strong reason why other shows should be seen instead? Tell us in the comments!

by Quinn Miller

MUSIC: In honor of Quebecoise chanteuse Celine Dion -- songbird of Titantic's "My Heart Will Go On" and power ballad "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" fame -- electronic outfit Celine Dion 2013 honor the Canadian icon. SFBG describes 2013 like this: "The sound of this music conjures visions of lonely and enigmatic cosmic landscapes that are interrupted by the occasional intrepid visitor, wandering bit of debris, or dying star." Awesome.

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Tis the season for existential angst to descend on all music loving folk in the area. The Noise pop festival starts tonight, and thehttp://www.noisepop.com/the-2009-festival-schedule about which shows to go to have driven many a hipster to the brink. As always, SFist is here to help. We'll be sharing our daily pix, and thanks to to the kind folks at Noise pop, we've got tickets for you too.

FILM: Are Crips to Sureños as Bloods are to Norteños? Probably. After all, each grouchy-guy clique seems to prefer the same color palate as the other. Anyway, you can learn more about the Crips and Bloods at a screening of Crips and Bloods: Made in America, an "MTV style" documentary that will make gang life seem cooler than ever before.

We came to chat music with Sofia Gubaidulina, and ended up with a physics lesson. Sofia is the Phyllis Wattis Composer in Residence with the SF Symphony, which means she's around to see her works performed by the orchestra, talk to audiences and well, chat with us.

ART: Enter/Exit opening reception -- featuring art by Jared Lindsey Clark, Jake Watling, and Joe Penrod -- kicks off over in Oakland tonight. Music provided by DJ Maryam and Host Family.

Quick! Be the first to declare how 2008 the Snuggie™ meme is in the comments, and be the envy of all other commenters!

Be sure to check out "Bluerain" before it leaves this Sunday for the London School of Economics Library.

San Francisco-based band McCabe & Mrs. Miller, which features Camper Van Beethoven co-founder and bassist Victor Krummenacher and the Sippy Cups' Alison Faith Levy, will perform at Hotel Utah this Saturday night as part of the Fencepost Sessions. They will be playing songs from their debut album Time for Leaving, which will be released this spring.

FOOD: Are you a Carla fan? We are. So much so she's pushing us dangerously close to a vegetarian lifestyle. (Well, with the occasional meat or fish thrown in for good measure.) Why not partake in some leafy green goodness yourself over at A Taste of Green: an organics tasting. Hosted by the Green Home Huddle, "an online community for energy conservers, organic foodies, eco parents, and others who want to live sustainably and live well," they will serve up organic snacks; sustainable sustainable wine, beer, cocktails, and tea; and give you a gift bag to boot. Read more about tonight's free tasting at greenhome,huddler.com.

Hailing from Indianapolis, old-school punk band Zero Boys will be making their only appearance on the West Coast this weekend with the re-release of their classic album Vicious Circle. When the album was first released in 1982, at the personal invitation of Jello Biafra, the band came to the West Coast to open for Minor Threat and the Dead Kennedys. In retrospect, historians marked this occasion as the moment when hard core became a national movement, and no longer isolated on the coasts and major cities. From 1979 to 1983, Zero Boys were "the finest hardcore blitz of the Midwest." Since their break-up in 1984, Zero Boys have reunited sporadically in recent years to give loyal fans their Vicious Circle fix.

ART/OPEN MIC: At Pecha Kucha, eight to 12 designers will each present 20 images of their work. This month's theme is change. Like a grownup version of show-and-tell, each person gets 20 slides, each onscreen for 20 seconds. It's like a Power Point presentation, only more interesting. Hopefully. Find out more about it here.

CLUB: Hunx of Hunx and His Punx and Liza Thorne hosts "Suicide Tuesday's Thingnite" over in the Historic Tenderloin District. Joining them are DJs Alexis and Sarah Adorable, Moira Scar, a "goth/garage freak show featuring members of the Floating Corpses," plus Sophisticated Boom-Boom, who are a "Dead Or Alive cover band fronted by a Pete Burns impersonator named El D."

Wow. All of you who entered our AMC 2009 Best Picture Showcase did an excellent job with the haiku writing. We mean that. Choosing a winner proved difficult. But after much deliberation, the winner of an ticket to a Best Picture nominee marathon at AMC 1000 is: Joel.

Noise Pop 2009 is just around the corner. A few highlights: Anthony & the Johnsons, Goblin Cock, Monument to Masses, A.C. Newman, No Age, Clues, Ryan Auffenberg, Ex-Boyfriends, and Martha Wainwright (Not-Judy's sister). Films will include Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, which documents "the most important day in the career of an American icon, and Agile Mobile Hostile: A Year with Andre Williams.

MUSIC/CLASSICAL: Vocalist, composer and SF-native Lisa Bielawa, who has been part of the Philip Glass Ensemble for seventeen years, will be part of tonight's "Music in Twelve Parts," featuring the entire Glass Ensemble: David Crowell, Dan Dryden, Stephen Erb, Jon Gibson, Michael Riesman, Mick Rossi, and Andres Sterman. “Like any great work, [Music in Twelve Parts] continues to reveal new facets, although Mr. Glass seems to have rigged the deck there, since facet-revealing is part of what this work is about," raves the New York Times! Because if there's one thing you want in music, it's the revelation of facets.

"Museum of Broken Relationships" Popular Croatian art exhibit featuring love-stained artifacts from anonymous folks who failed at love. The exhibit showcases objects of heartbreak such as teddy bears and photos, but also bizarre examples like leg prosthesis and a gall stone. Read more about it here.

It's on.

Philip Glass's Music in Twelve Parts has never been performed live in SF, despite its iconic status as one of the milestones of contemporary music. We find it strange, considering the embracing welcome of Glass's latest performances here. Then again, it's four hours of music which is built on repeating some very primitive motives over long periods of time: it's rewarding if you go through, but pretty challenging nonetheless. We chatted with vocalist, composer and SF-native Lisa Bielawa, who has been part of the Philip Glass Ensemble for seventeen years, who recorded this piece shortly thereafter, and who will be part of the first performance ever on the West Coast this Monday. SF Performances is hosting the piece at Davies Symphony Hall, at 5pm, with two intermissions and a dinner break, thank goodness. Pace your psychotropics accordingly.

Need to catch all of the Best Picture nominees before Oscar night? We can help. SFist is offering one (yes, just one) ticket to a screening of Milk, The Reader, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, and Frost/Nixon, all of which will play in one dedicated auditorium back-to-back throughout the day. It's all part of the AMC Best Picture Showcase. The film marathon screens on Saturday, February 21, the day before the Academy Awards telecast.

CLUB: Black Valentine's Masquerade brings together the peanut butter-and-chocolate tastes of Valentine's Day and Friday the 13th. SFBG reports that tonight's bash boasts "UK electro weirdo James Lavelle of UNKLE and DJ duo Evil 9" in a party that includes "shambling zombies, friendly demonic folk, blasts of electro-metal, and horror-movie synths."

"Inside the ice cave" by Darwin Bell, who was just up in Tahoe, where he captured the above shot. Local mountains, by the way,are covered in snow. So this is the weekend to, like, go sledding and stuff.

FILM: Werner Herzog's version of Bram Stoker's Dracula remains the best one yet. But more top the point, it stars crazy French lady Isabelle Adjani as Lucy. (Adjani, for you sad souls who don't know, was in what is inarguable the single greatest scene in cinema history.) Anyway, watch her and a slew of others bleed in Nosferatu the Vampyre, which screens over in the Haight tonight.

What with the Fowler family giving San Francisco a bad name, let us not forget about the real, truly liberal, adorably subversive families of the Bay Area. Take, for example, the Rosenthals. According to Current TV -- which, as of late, has been getting better and better -- they're like this:

Have you seen Coraline yet? We hear it's phenomenal. (As anything combing in the talents of Dakota Fanning and Terri Hatcher should be, really.) And if you liked the art featured in the movie, you should check out the original works of art that were used in Henry Selick's film, which are currently on display in SF.

As if we didn't already love our local heartfelt-mixtape-in-the-form-of-a-nonprofit-record-shop Aquarius Records enough, they just went a step further. Snipped from their mailing list:

Wednesday, February 11th, at 9:00 pm, a special after hours aQuarius Arcade Party! Tron, Ghosts 'N Goblins, Joust, Rastan and one more surprise game, all set on free play, come challenge the masters!! WOOOHAHAHAA. No really, just come and play games and hang out and have a blast. But, if you do kick ass on the game of your choice... the night's high score holder on each game, will be handsomely rewarded, with a gift certificate or a cd or a record or something cool.

Plus someone will be manning the register, and we'll be jamming tunes, so definitely browse and shop and purchase, and help support aQuarius. Feel free to bring your own snacks and libations, but we'll supply beverages and munchables as well of course. Should be fun, and hopefully this will just be the first of many such get togethers. See you then.

CLUB: Aw. You know what's been around forever? Qoöl. And with good reason. With a stellar tagline -- "Going strong for 13 years and still no bottle service!" -- you can't go wrong at this weekly Wednesday. Tonight, Loöq artist Jan van Lier (electro/house/techno) headlines along with Lick the DJ and P-Dub, and resident DJs Hyper D, Scott Carrelli, and Spesh.

DARWIN: "If you have "an interest in evolution and drinking," then head over to Valencia Street to celebrate the life, times, education, and effect of Charles Darwin. Tonight's Darwin Day Dive Bar gets a jump start his birthday (Feb. 12) festivities. with drinking, music, and nerd version of the "Telephone" game. . Be sure to "bring along your favorite science books and paraphernalia." Oh, and have fun burning in hell for all eternity, sinners. (Also, Chasing Beetles, Finding Darwin airs on KQED, channel 9, at 7:30 p.m. tonight.)

Since the economy is down the bidet, now more than every before folks are getting by and a few slices of American Cheese and buttered bread set to a sizzling, non-stick pan. So this year's Grilled Cheese Invitational promises to be its most creative yet.

Starting this Thursday, the California Academy of Sciences will feature NightLife, a weekly event for visitors 18 and older, in which the space will be transformed into a lively venue filled with "provocative science, music, mingling, and cocktails."

The GayVN nominations we announced today. What are the GayVN Awards, you ask? They are the Oscars of male homosexual pornography. Up for Best Picture kudos are Ass Cruisin', Best Men Parts 1 & 2, Betrayed, Breakers, Endgame, Grind - Volume 1, Italians and Other Strangers, Paradise Found, The Porne Ultimatum, Return to Fire Island, Rio, Sex Hiker, Skin Deep, To the Last Man, and (our favorite title) Verboten 1 & 2.\

MUSIC: Danceable pop darlings The Bird and the Bee come to town to celebrate the release of their latest effort, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future. Obi Beast opens.

Previously on "Top Chef," local chef Jamie Lauren made crab, NOT scallops.

No need to raise your hand if you've read a book by potboiler novelist Danielle Steel. Even if you haven't, millions of others have, and you've probably strolled by her Pacific Heights mansion to gawk. She has sold more than half a BILLION copies of her books, which adds up to a whole lot of words. She's also a serious art collector, and the folks at the Andrea Schwartz Gallery got her to combine the two by curating a group exhibition of art incorporating the written word.

CLUB: Be prepared to mix vodka and dairy (bleech!) while celebrating one of the Coen brothers biggest hits at the Big Lebowski Party, which boasts White Russians, ferrets, beach bonfire trampoline action, mini bowling, flying carpets, nihilism, fans dressed as their favorite character, and more. (However, out of all the Coen Bros. oeuvre, we would have preferred Fargo to gain this kind of cult status. The Arby's burgers and buffet food alone would have made Fargo parties a can't-miss event! Alas.) Part of SF IndieFest.

On a program featuring a McArthur genius/blogger and the promise of ecstasy, it's the unassuming Finnish symphonic tone poem which proved to be the wonderful surprise of the evening. David Robertson, aka. Mr Orli Shaham, returned to conduct the SF Symphony in Tchaikovsky second piano concerto (this program repeats tonight). The first piano concerto is a mainstay of the repertoire, while the second is the ugly little duckling. The reason why? It is long, and impossibly difficult. We tip our hat for Stephen Hough for tackling it for us. Unfortunately, they did not quite pull it off: Call us hard to please, but you could hear the sweat going into playing those harrowing technical passages, and Hough seemed stiff, never embracing the musicality of the more melodic moments. We hoped for a more cohesive interpretation, more grace, but we were let down in between the reckless cadenzas which punctuate the piece. Hough emphasizes the beat by accentuating the note which kicks off the bar, which should make him a pleasure to keep in sync with, but sounds a bit rigid in Tchaikovsky.

Considering the weather lately, maybe you want to do your Chinese New Year celebration, like, indoors. Always attentive to your needs, the SF Symphony is hosting a concert this Sunday at 4pm inside the warm confines of Davies Symphony Hall. How thoughtful. It's a festive family concert with the SFS orchestra, doing a violin concerto and some Tchaikovsky, but there will also be pieces for traditional Chinese instruments, a kids choir performing Jasmine Flower, by Bay Area composer Gang Situ, and some lion's dance. Happy New Year.

MUSIC: After being nominated for two Grammy and giving a legendary performance in Hair, Oakland-born, neo-soul icon Ledisi returns to the Bay Area. Cross your fingers that she sings "White Boys / Black Boys." Ledisi performs at Yoshi's in Oakland until Sunday.)

SF Sketchfest's closing show at Cobb's on Saturday night was an interesting night of comedy and Bingo, topped off with comedian-donated prizes and hosted by Bobby Tisdale. The grand prize was a good back-cracking from Andy Richter, which was hilarious. The recipient was the large guy pictured at left, and apparently, his back actually did crack.

FOOD/DRINK/DYKE: Be sure to check out Orson's first-ever Ladies Night. Hosted by the formidable Betty Sullivan (of Betty's List), tonight's kick off party, according to Tablehopper, boasts no cover charge, $5 cocktail specials, menu specials from 5pm - 7pm in the bar and in the lounge, Elizabeth Falkner milling about, additional specials at 7pm, with dinner served until 10pm. Oh, and lots of ladies who love ladies. And we're not talking your garden variety Lexington Club dykes. We're talking L Word-ish power lesbians. Only more dramatic. So, ladies, pull off that Snugglie, give the cat an extra cup of dry food, warm up the Toyota, and head down to SoMa for tonight's official grand party. DJ Stefanie Phillips mans the decks, so to speak. (Happens every Thursday. Check out their Facebook page, why don't ya.)

National treasure Fauxnique and Silencefiction (the swellest chap you'll ever run into at a club) collaborated on this smashing project. "Lipstique," which boasts former Miss trannyshack Fauxnique listing her favorite lipstick colors backed by an addictive disco beat. But it's so much more than that. Silencefiction's "Lipstique" (Looq Records) is meshed with cameos by Fauxnique, Peaches Christ, Kiddie, Vinsantos, Katya Smirnoff-skyy, and Hoku Mama who give makeup tips while delivering out a fresh perspective on drag.

MUSIC/THEATER: Is drag dead? Not when Anna Conda and Lucy Borden are involved. Tonight the two tranny superstars, who can be found every Friday night fucking shit up at the Cinch, start a new club night. It's called "Herr-A-Chick" and will kick, things off with will performances by Ex-Boyfriends, The Ethel Merman Experience, Hoku Mama, Trauma Flinstone, Holy McGrail, and Downey. If you can't make it tonight, don't fret. "Herr-A-Chick" happens

MUSIC/FILM: Dean & Britta highlight "13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests" this evening. Andy's screen tests featuring such Factory notables as Lou Reed, Dennis Hopper Nico, and Edie Sedgwick, just to name a few, are meshed with Dean & Britta "post-pop stylings."

by Tiffany Maleshefski

There's a lot to love about SF's fantastic Chinese New Year parade -- and a lot of love the parade as well. Marching for the fifth time in a row this year is API Equality, and LGBT advocacy group serving the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. And you can join them!

FILM: Be sure to check out "Vimeo Offline" Members at Vimeo head to the Mission to curate an evening of the most enjoyable videos from the their vault. Vimeo is 758349105 times better quality than YouTube. (Yes, we've seen the "view in high quality" link too. But still.)

Why have Coit Tower, the Ferry Building, and City Hall literally turned green? According to SF Citizen, it's in honor of the third return of the popular Stephen Schwartz musical Wicked. The "untold story of the witches of Oz" is based off of the popular book by Gregory Maguire novel. The musical version got its start here in San Francisco when it made its out-of-town premiere at the Currran many moons ago, and went off to New York to win several Tony Awards and gain a rabid cult following from enraptured fangirls.

By Alex Barkett