Results tagged “Music”

          

by Moses Namkung The last time Chris Brown performed in the Bay Area, he sold out Oracle Arena. A TMZ-obtained photo of Rihanna's battered visage, an awkward Larry King appearance, and a guilty plea to felony assault later, Chris Brown was back in town on a short run of shows geared towards rejuvenating his loyal fan base and healing his public image. The Fan Appreciation Tour, as it is called, is perhaps a test by various stakeholders to see how many fans Brown may have lost through the Rihanna ordeal.

Five long years after she burst onto the indie music scene with Anniemal, a debut universally embraced by indie music critics, Annie is finally releasing her much-delayed sophomore effort, Don't Stop. A lot has changed in the industry and in Annie's music-making process since Pitchfork named "Heartbeat" the best song of 2004, so we sat down with Annie in the lobby of her hotel and chatted about those changes, the process of creating Don't Stop, where her music fits into the spectrum of pop and her substantial magnet collection. SFist: How do you feel about Don't Stop versus when Anniemal came out? Do you feel as good or do you feel more excited for this? It's been a long time coming.

This week's concert preview is being brought to you by Kevin Meenan of Epicsauce, providing detailed concert listings for the Bay Area every week. Follow them on Twitter.

FILM: Multimedia artist Carter riffs off of Robert Rauschenberg's iconic drawing Erased Willem de Kooning in Erased James Franco, in which contemporary actor, James Franco, is stripped of the sureties of his craft and transformed into an almost sculptural object. Franco covers banal scenes from his own films, as well as segments of Julianne Moore's character in Safe and Rock Hudson's in Seconds. Franco, Carter, and SFMOMA Associate Curator of Public Programs Frank Smigiel will take the stage for a post-screening conversation about film, celebrity, identity, and art. The Castro will also be screening Safe, Seconds, and Franco's favorite episodes of Freaks and Geeks during the day as a double feature matinee to get the audience ready for the main feature.

       

by Moses Namkung

GALA: AIGA San Francisco presents Hung up, its annual fall gala. This year, AIGA celebrates the art of skateboarding and has invited its members to contribute custom skate decks, which will be auctioned off at the end of the night. The event also features a live art component and a raffle with prizes including posters, restaurant vouchers, magazine subscriptions, and a copy of Adobe CS4.

FILM: Soul legend Bill Withers (of "Ain't No Sunshine," "Lean on Me," and "Just the Two of Us" fame) is profiled in the new documentary Still Bill, which will be screening in San Francisco for one night only at Sundance Kabuki. The screening will be followed by an after-party at the Boom Boom Room, which is free with the purchase of a movie ticket. Curtis Bumpy, a Curtis Mayfield and Bill Withers tribute band will perform.

Pardon us for being raised by California hippie atheists, ones who (thank God) believed in the word of television more than the word of the Lord, but... is this a problem? Are there too many guitar solos saturating the Catholic church? SF Chronicle's Mick LaSalle says so. The movie critic snaps:

COMEDY: Attention adventurous singles with some extra cash -- Improv Dating Scene might be for you. The event begins with a comedy show with Big City Improv performing sketches based on audience suggestions. Then, dating coaches will lead participants through a series of fun and easy improv games. The evening concludes with a mixer with snacks and drinks, giving singles an opportunity to better get to know the people they connect with the most.

FILM: Filmmaker Nara Denning will be celebrating the release of her new DVD Neurotique with a premiere screening. Neurotique is a collection of six silent and tragic love stories set to live musical performances by Mister Odom & the Odom Poles, Charith Premawardhana, and Momo and Friends -Cheeskos Junction.

MUSIC: Alternative Tentacles have been celebrating their 30th Anniversary with an Incest-A-Thon this weekend. Tonight's line-up is Alice Donut, Victims Family, and Burning Image.

DRAG: Trannyshack and Midnight Mass host Halloween: A Party, starring Heklina as "Dracula" and Peaches Christ as "Tran Hesling," with a special performance by guest star Jackie Beat and a whole line-up of other performers, including a midnight drag show by the darkest divas of Trannyshack. There will also be a costume contest judged by a celebrity panel.

LIT: It's another installment of Muni-inspired entertainment at Muni Diaries Live! Under the Influence, with BART tales added to the mix, too. Entertainment includes the Cock-Ts, Shane Papatolicas, the winning Muni Erotic fiction post, and more. Prizes from Muni Shirts and Routesy will be given away. Costumes encouraged!

FOOD: Local street cart chefs will discuss their food, their big plans, their permit status and how the new street-eats scene is changing ideas about dining out during the Commonwealth Club's The Street Food Movement: SF Hearts the Cart discussion. There will also be an after-party at 111 Minna, where limited samples will be offered by Bacon Potato Chips, Bike Basket Pies, Creme Brulee Cart, Gobba Gobba Hey, Magic Curry Kart, Mission Street Food, Soul Cocina, Sweet Constructions, and Smitten Ice Cream.

THEATER: It's the first night of Ghosts of the River at Brava Theater, which runs through November 8. Incorporating actors, shadow puppets, and music with the epic writing of Octavio Solís, the play presents vignettes of those who have encountered the Rio Grande throughout time, from both sides of the divide. The performance will be bilingual with Spanish/English translation provided through subtitles.

FASHION: Witness a live, Project Runway-type fashion show at the ongoing Fashion Feud SF. Designers will create their "garments" on stage within an hour, the models will have a "walk-off," and the audience will vote for the winner. This month's participants are Chanel Rosales and Julia Meeks.

This week's concert preview is being brought to you by Kevin Meenan of Epicsauce, providing detailed concert listings for the Bay Area every week. Follow them on Twitter.

MUSIC: The eccentric, musical genius of Daniel Johnston takes some getting used to, but his sincerely sweet and simple vocals and arrangements win his fans over for life. The melodic Hymns open.

Hmm. We're not sure where most of you stand on Lady Gaga. Many of you claim to loathe her, some of you secretly love her. Why, it was just a few months ago in March that she was performing at Mezzanine and 715 Harrison. Now she's canceling her tour with Kanye West, wearing bubbles, and hanging out with Madonna.

The band who sings that "Just Like Buddy Holly" song (we don't know the title, and we refuse to Google it) will perform a "secret show" on Wednesday night at The Regency. The 1990s staple Weezer will go on after Eve's Plum titular knockoff band, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. According to SF Weekly, "They go on at 8:45, and Weezer will be up at 10 p.m." Check out Weezer's MySpace page for more details.

MUSIC: The 27th Annual Jazz Festival presents living jazz legend Omara Portuondo. Portuondo, who is dubbed the “la novia del filin” (fiancée of feeling), will perform the romantic Afro-Cuban boleros and Brazilian-inspired jazz that first made her a star six decades ago, which are featured on her latest release, Gracias.

Hurry, tonight's event is sold out, but tickets to tomorrow night's edition of w00tstock at Cafe Du Nord are still available (as of this posting). W00tstock is a special event for geeks of every stripe, celebrating the dawning of the Age of Geekdom.

                                          

Saturday was sunny and electronic; Sunday was chilly and leaned more toward back-to-basics rock. Also thrown in was some gypsy music, hip-hop, and whatever you want to call this new rock operetta thing The Decemberists can't keep themselves from playing, as well as several cupcake hovercrafts, and a steampunk sideshow with old-timey games hosted by Mister Gnogiurzauchshoff's Traveling Midway of Curiosities and Delights. And both days sold out! Weather shifts aside, the Treasure Island Music Fest was once again the swellest and most human-scaled festival we've ever been to -- and as Thao, she of the Get Down Stay Down, put it, it's simply "the bestival."

MUSIC: Enjoy a night of hypnotic post-punk at the Hemlock. Lumerians' "other-worldly synthesizers layer amidst ambient post-rock stretches" and Grass Widow "braids apparitional vocals over distorted post-punk riffs." Clipd Beaks opens.

ART: Southern Exposure is celebrating their new location Grand Opening and Inaugural Exhibition, Bellwether, "multi-layered speculative projections on our ever shifting and uncertain future." Projects include a time capsule triptych, a large-scale installation of a flood in stasis, an electric camper pod, and more.

ART: Artist Jacqueline Gordon's solo work, Our Best Machines are Made of Sunshine, merges contemporary folk aesthetics with the emergent technology of sound imaging, exploring patterns recurrent in nature and collected sounds "synthesized to create inhabitable sculptures that alter one’s physical experience to evoke feelings of intimacy and connectedness or confinement and isolation."

ART: The LightHouse and the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery's Art at City Hall program present Insights 2009: 20 Years of Creative Vision, an exhibition of 118 works in a variety of media by 38 blind and visually impaired artists. A free audio tour with voiceovers provided by local celebrities accompanies the show, as well as Braille and large print versions of all Insights materials.

This show was, like, just announced, so we thought it best to bring it to your attention. Stating at noon today, tickets ($25) will go on sale to see MGMT and BLK JKS at The Independent, tomorrow, October 16. For those of you who can't make it to Treasure Island, here your chance to see MGMT in a more comfortable setting. Buy your tickets here. They're sure to sell out soon. Good luck. Update: Show sold out in minutes. Alas.

In what could be the most bizarre yet amusing pairing this city has seen since bacon met ice cream, Senator Leland Yee and violently-vegan musician Moby will join forces today on the steps of City Hall. Why? To combat domestic violence.

It's the music fest that all the hip kids and true indie and indie-ish music fans have been waiting all year for, and it's finally here. The two-day long Treasure Island Music Festival kicks off on Saturday, and the line-up is pretty swell -- with the likes of Passion Pit, The Streets, Girl Talk, Brazilian Girls and MGMT on Saturday; and Grizzly Bear, Beirut, The Decemberists, The Walkmen, Yo La Tengo, and The Flaming Lips on Sunday. ALSO, the 12-2pm slots both days are filled with fun local acts like Murs, The Limousines, Crown City Rockers, Sleepy Sun, and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, so show up early and represent.