It’s time for the weekend!
Looking for things to do in the Bay Area? Listen to KQED Arts’ Gabe Meline and Nastia Voynovskaya discuss their critic’s picks for this weekend at the audio link above, and read about each event below.
Lionel Richie: You might remember seven or so years ago when Lionel Richie went country, and even performed on the CMA Awards—don’t worry, this ain’t that. Lately, he’s been playing hit after hit: “Hello,” “Running With the Night,” “Stuck on You,” “Dancing on the Ceiling”… hours of ’80s classics. He performs Saturday, Aug. 24, at the recently refurbished Frost Amphitheater at Stanford. Details here.
Tankcrimes Takeover: Tankcrimes has held it down in the Bay Area punk and metal scene for almost 20 years as an underground label that champions bands of the dark, heavy and face-melting variety. They’re taking over Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland on Friday, Aug. 23, with a showcase of some of the doom metal, death metal, punk and hardcore bands on their roster, including Necrot, as well as Kicker, Cliterati and Deathgrave. Details here.
‘The Flick’: We’ve seen movies about record store employees—High Fidelity, Empire Records—but there’s never been a great script about movie theater employees… until now. The Flick is a Pulitzer Prize-winning play about three employees working at a suburban movie theater, and how their lives intersect. But it’s about more than the movie trivia they try to stump each other with—it’s about those interactions we all have during formative years in our lives, that shape us in even the most basic environments. It opens Thursday, Aug,. 22, at the Ashby Stage in Berkeley, and runs through Sept. 22. Details here.
‘Shame // Reflections’: At Oros Gallery in the back of Pentacle Coffee in SF, this photo show features photography by Hannah Said and Sammy Jonny, two Muslim artists. They juxtapose photos of Muslim women in hijabs from their community with photos of Trump supporters at his inauguration to ask questions about power, privilege and intimidation. There’s an opening reception on Friday, Aug. 23, with an artist talk on Sept. 20. Details here.
Meredith Monk: There is nobody quite like Meredith Monk, a singer and composer who’s always intriguing. And at Grace Cathedral, with its high ceilings and famous seven-second echo, her music should sound even more amazing. On her current tour, she’s stopping by the L.A. Philharmonic and Lincoln Center in New York—and while those shows are not free, this one is. That’s on Friday night, Aug, 23, at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Details here.