Looking for things to do in the Bay Area this weekend? The Do List has you covered with concerts, festivals, exhibitions, plays, performances and more.
You can listen to this week’s episode with KQED’s Gabe Meline, Grace Cheung, Pendarvis Harshaw and Nastia Voynovskaya above, or read about our picks below.
Richard Thompson: We start our picks this week with a guy who only has 10 fingers—but plays guitar like he’s got 20. If you’ve never been to one of Richard Thompson’s shows, we can’t recommend it enough—he’s smart, funny, and a master storyteller with his between-song patter. “1952 Black Vincent Lightning” belongs in the Library of Congress as one of the all-time great love songs, and he even usually does a segment in his shows called “1,000 Years of Popular Music,” where he plays songs, yes, stretching back a thousand years. Richard Thompson plays Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Fillmore in San Francisco, and the next night, Nov. 8, at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz. Details here.
Immi/Tartine Pop-Up Dinner: This Sunday, local institution Tartine Manufactory teams up with a pop-up called Immi (short for immigrant) for a special dinner collaboration. The founders of Immi bring foods they remember from their childhood to the table, with influences from their experience in professional kitchens like State Bird Provisions—they’ve done a rice pilaf dish, for example, that was inspired by a family recipe, but with a modern twist. At this next pop-up, based on hints from social media, it looks like scallion pancakes, long life noodles and Tartine country bread panzanella with an Immi stir fry are all hints of what’s to come. That’s Sunday, Nov. 10, at Tartine Manufactory. Details here.
Oakland Game Fest ’19: Have you ever wanted to test your gaming prowess against E-40? At Oakland Game Fest ’19, select attendees will get the change to play video games against a who’s-who of local stars, including E-40, Mistah FAB, Ryan Nicole, Just Blaze and more. In addition to squaring off against a bunch of young folks in a video game battle royale, they’ll speak on panels and discuss shared wisdom between the rap hustle and the game developer hustle. Happening during AfroTech, it’s a way to “give the conference-goers and travelers an authentic Oakland experience while they’re in town,” says its founder Charlese Banks. That’s on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Esports Arena in Oakland. Details here.
Copyslut and Wizard Apprentice: This rock’n’roll quartet puts on a theatrical, campy live show, and musically they sound a little bit like Heart mixed with Sleater-Kinney; they also use their platform to advocate for sex workers. Joining them at this show is Wizard Apprentice, a singer who makes ultra-introspective bedroom pop that’s all about interrogating feelings of jealousy or inadequacy. Their live show is really unusual too—after performing a song, they disappear while a robotic-sounding avatar of them shares something vulnerable about the lyrics. Wizard Apprentice, Copyslut, Louda and Blacker Face perform on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. Details here.
Sylvia Fein: When Sylvia Fein isn’t tending to her olive orchard in Martinez, she does what’s made her a nationally known artist: painting egg tempera paintings inspired by surrealism and magical realism. Born in Milwaukee, Fein lived in Mexico City for a while before ultimately settling in the Bay Area. In the 1940s, her work was shown alongside that of Max Ernst and Jackson Pollack at the Whitney Annual—and now, later this month, she’ll turn 100 years old. She’s still vibrant, and working, and will be in person for the opening of her solo show, Sylvia Fein/Matrix275, on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at BAMPFA in Berkeley. The show runs through March of next year. Details here.
Oaktown Jazz Workshops 25th Anniversary: Oaktown Jazz Workshops has been training Oakland’s finest young musicians since 1994, and the program has some impressive alumni, including trumpet player Ambrose Akinmusire and bassist Aneesa Strings. Some of its most stellar faculty, alumni, current students and friends perform together at Yoshi’s in Oakland on Nov. 12 to celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary and raise money for its programming. Pianist and MC Kev Choice saxophonist Richard Howell and Latin jazz star percussionist John Santos are only a few musicians you can expect to see. Details here.