From two timely stage shows to an modern rock icon and fun with dinosaurs, there is a lot to see and do in the Bay Area this weekend and beyond. Here is a partial rundown.
Riffing on the headlines
The Marsh performance venue in Berkeley is presenting two solo shows that could not be more timely.
Jinho “Piper” Ferreira’s “Black Men Everywhere!” marks the writer and performer’s return to The Marsh after presenting “Cops and Robbers” there for multiple runs beginning in 2014. “Black Men,” described as a hard-hitting satire, is set during a presidential election that has triggered a bitter political battle between progressives and the far right (sound familiar?) and is made even more tense by a series of attacks being waged by an unknown assailant against police officers. Ferreira, who is also a hip-hop artist, previously worked for eight years as a police officer. Here, he plays a host of characters in this look at America’s polarized political system and the scapegoating of African Americans.
Meanwhile, comedian, actor and musician Alicia Dattner returns to The Marsh with her wild and wide-ranging “post-post-feminist” comedy show “Are You Dressed for the Apocalypse?” The performance, which was a hit at he Marsh in 2022, touches on everything from climate change, Instagram influencers and spiritual appropriation, to self-love, the big bang, and “ants carrying Cheetos.”
Details: “Apocalypse,” 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 21; “Black Men” runs 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 12 (no performers Oct. 4-5); $20-$100 each show; themarsh.org.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
Modern rock icon back in Bay Area
Peter Hook was in not just one, but two bands that deserve serious consideration for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The first was the mighty Joy Division, the seminal English post-punk band that formed in 1976 and went on to release two of the best albums of all time — the landmark debut “Unknown Pleasures” from 1979 and the brilliant follow-up “Closer” from 1980. Hook’s powerful bass playing was a key part of the band’s moody, atmospheric sound, which, for our money, really marked the beginning of modern rock as we know it.
Then, after Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis died in 1980, Hook and the two other bandmates — guitarist Bernard Sumner and drummer Stephen Morris — went on to form the vastly influential synth-pop act New Order and release an impressive string of hits, including the iconic “Blue Monday.”
The amazing bassist and his current band — dubbed Peter Hook and The Light — will celebrate the legacies of both of those legendary acts when he visits The Warfield on Saturday. It should be a greatly pleasing, and diversely appealing, evening of music.
Details: 8 p.m.; tickets start at $54; axs.com.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
A new look at dinosaurs
Got a kid who loves dinosaurs (and what warm-blooded child doesn’t)? Here’s a chance to see them up-close and personal, at the “Land of Fire and Ice” exhibit at the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.
Opening on Saturday, the show draws on new research to paint a fresh picture of what dino life was like in the Cretaceous Period. It turns out these oversized lizards didn’t just roam the tropical jungles and plains. Fossil records show that many species, including the dubiously named Troodon and Edmontosaurus, spent part of their time in what is today’s frigid Arctic.
Children ages 3-10 will enjoy unraveling the mysteries of dinosaur habitats with hands-on activities like fossil digging and rubbings and exploring a volcano with realistic lava. There’s a swampy-bog environment to slog through, a frozen river to cross, insect costumes to wear and a rocky prominence that culminates in a fun ice slide.
So get ready to see a new side of T-Rex — and plant the seeds for your future paleontologist (or climatologist?), and have fun outing all at the same time.
Details: Museum is open 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; 180 Woz Way, San Jose; $18; cdm.org.
— John Metcalfe, Staff
Classical picks: ‘Requiem,’ Beethoven’s Ninth; ‘Magic Flute’
Big works are on the calendar this week, with performances featuring the music of Verdi, Beethoven and Mozart, among others, highlighting the classical music scene. Here are three events you won’t want to miss.
“Requiem” at S.F. Symphony: Music director Esa-Pekka Salonen will take the podium when the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus open the 2024-25 Orchestra Series with Verdi’s monumental “Requiem.” The vocal soloists are soprano Karen Cargill, tenor Mario Chang, and bass Peixin Chen; choral works by composer Gordon Getty open what promises to be an evening to remember.
Details: 7:30 today through Saturday; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $49-$205; sfsymphony.org.
Big Beethoven: Speaking of powerhouse works, California Symphony will launch its season with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Music director Donato Cabrera conducts two performances featuring soprano Laquita Mitchell, mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, tenor Nicholas Phan, and baritone Sidney Outlaw, and Eric Choate directs the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Chorus. An overture by French composer Louise Farrenc starts the program.
Details: 7:30 Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday; Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek; $25-$50; californiasymphony.org.
It’s “Magic”: Here’s an opera for all ages: Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” opening this weekend at Opera San Jose under the direction of composer-conductor Alma Deutscher, who led the company’s recent much-loved production of “Cinderella”; this family-friendly “Flute” features a cast led by Ricardo José Rivera as Papageno, Woo Young Yoon as Tamino, and Melissa Sondhi as Pamina.
Details: Saturday through Sept. 29, California Theatre, San Jose; $62.50-$222.50; operasj.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Freebie of the week
You know that any band that puts a period in the middle of its name is going to be something special, and Portugal. The Man is all that. And the band will be playing a special concert on Saturday that won’t cost you a penny. The band is primarily known for the 2017 single “Feel It Still,” a catchy, quirky pop/rock number that borrows enough from the 1961 Marvelettes hit “Please Mr. Postman” that famed Motown songwriter/producer Brian Holland, one of the principal writers of “Postman,” gets partial songwriting credit on “Feel It Still.”
But Portugal. The Man is anything but a one-hit wonder hanging on beyond its expiration date. The outfit got its start 20 years ago in Wasalia, Alaska, and headed to Portland, Oregon. There have been numerous personnel changes but singer/guitarist/frontman John Gourley and bassist Zachary Carothers have been constants. So has the band’s activism, with members supporting causes ranging from conservation to anti-censorship to Native American rights to the endangered Sumatran tiger. The band’s wide-ranging sound is built on a foundation of neo-psychedelic indie rock that has plenty of room for flourishes of hip-hop, R&B, dance pop and more. With nine albums to its credit and long history of touring and playing festivals, Portugal. The Man (the name was lifted from the title of a book that Gourley had planned to write about his father) is the antithesis of a one-hit wonder. These musicians have earned their cred.
Portugal. The Man is playing a free show at 6 p.m. Sept. 20 at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco. The Philadelphia soul/funk/alt-rock band Snacktime opens. The free concert reportedly came about as an agreement between concert promoters Another Planet Entertainment and the city of San Francisco: APE wanted to stage another Golden Gate Park show one week after its Outside Lands fest, with the city agreeing to the proposal if APE agreed to stage a free show in the city.
Details: For tickets and more information, go to apeconcerts.com.
— Bay City News Foundation
More free tunes headed our way
There are a number of parties working to perk up San Francisco’s downtown activity and energy, and free music is definitely one way to go about it. Hence SF Live, a six-month free concert series put on by arts and music producers Illuminate, the S.F. Parks Alliance, the Noise Pop concert promoters and the Union Square Alliance. One of the free concerts takes place this weekend in the city’s Union Square. The all-ages show is headlined by the electronic dance pop duo known as GoldFish, consisting of Dominic Peters and David Poole. The two musicians met in Cape Town, South Africa and discovered their love for house music with jazz, pop and Afro-pop leanings. Now located in San Diego, GoldFish has nine albums in its catalog and a reputation for high-energy, irresistible live shows that have made the duo a major attraction on the festival circuit, with appearances at such events as Coachellla, Glastonbury and many more. Also on the bill are Australian electronic dance-pop duo the Bag Raider; and musician and performance artist Mykki Blanco. In case you haven’t noted the trajectory here – this meant to be a fun, family-friendly dance-pop party. Scowl at your own risk.
Details: 2 to 6 p.m. Sept. 21; more information is at sflivefest.com.
— Bay City News Foundation
Cornets and tubas and tenor horns, oh my! Based in San Jose, but calling itself the San Francisco Brass Band, this award-winning ensemble more than two dozen players strong, was founded in 2019 to represent the Bay Area, California and the West Coast in North American British Band competition. (British bass bands, traditionally formed by workers in coal-mining towns dating back two centuries, have a specific lineup of brass instruments with percussion). San Jose’s version, which advanced from second division to the more difficult first this year and still managed to emerge triumphant in the North American trials in April, will be tooting their own horns, you should pardon the expression, at a “Brass in Concert” performance at Trinity Lutheran Church in Pleasanton at 4 p.m. Sunday. On the program are Eric Ball’s “Resurgam,” the Celtic standard “Gaelforce,” the compellingly rhythmic “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” a new work by Naomi Styles called “Pandora’s Dance” and “Clear Skies,” featuring cornet soloist Michael Marmarou.
Details: Advance tickets purchased online at sfband.org are $22 for general admission, $17 for seniors and $8 for students. They are also available at the door at 1225 Hopyard Road for two or three dollars more. Children are admitted free.
— Bay City News Foundation
