Eight Days a Week

April 17-24, 2002

MONIQUE JENKINSON AND Joan Bruemmer approach dance theater from slightly divergent directions: Jenkinson takes more of a dance approach, while Bruemmer is more of a theater person. But they share an off-balance, skewed perspective in their performance personas that makes them natural allies for 'Formulae,' in which both choreographers present new works that look at what it means to be female. Jenkinson's Hideous Progeny is inspired by a 19th-century writer whose own identity almost disappeared in the shadow of her most famous creation, Frankenstein. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was more than the wife of a poet (whose legacy she ensured) and the daughter of a free thinker (who promptly rejected her when she eloped). She was a feminist and, really, the first female sci-fi writer. Bruemmer's Good Girls Don't but I Do is based on the widely read – but hopefully ignored – self-help book The Rules, which instructed singles in how to get and keep a man. Bruemmer promises "a dance with bricks, a striptease with mops, and a narrator's war between bodice-ripper romance fiction and Penthouse Forum porn." It should be an instructive evening! Thurs/18-Sat/20, 8 p.m., ODC Theater, 3153 17th St., S.F. $13-$15. (415) 863-9834. (Rita Felciano)

April 17

Wednesday

Grimly fiendish Take a walk on the dark side tonight at the debut of Cafe du Nord's new occasional Wednesday-night club, the Dive Bar, a platform for bands with a graveyard slant on the world. Eclectic Brooklyn punks World/Inferno Friendship Society are the main attraction. With a look fresh out of Cabaret – all slicked-back hair and white pancake faces – the nine-piece group mix up every musical style under the sun to generate a carnival feel. Their subject matter is pretty wide-ranging too – how many other bands do you know that do a tribute to the Great Pumpkin of Peanuts fame? The supporting act is equally unorthodox: Natasha Navadasky encourages audience participation in her "American Medicine Show," a humorous look at the wild and wacky world of Victorian quack remedies. DJs Mizmargo and Sage also spin dark lounge music. Stay tuned for the next Dive Bar in June. 9 p.m.-2 a.m., Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. $7. (415) 861-5016. (China Martens)

April 18

Thursday

Midwestern brain wave Though they never made the subversive national impact of fellow Ohio misfits Devo or Pere Ubu, the Rubber City Rebels deserve to be more than an obscure footnote to Akron's burgeoning '70s music scene. Led by vocalist-guitarist Rod Firestone and lead guitarist Buzz Clic, the quartet bashed out ballsy, glam-tinged punk with great melodies, snotty attitude, and tongue firmly planted in collective cheek. Firestone, Clic, and company exemplified the DIY ethic of the day, managing the Crypt (Akron's first punk club) and helping make their midsize Ohio burgh an unlikely epicenter of creative music. While many late-'70s punk groups have reunited with embarrassing results in recent years, the Rebels' 2001 concert recording, Live from Akron (Mind Control Laboratories/White Noise), showcases an original lineup that's lost none of its sharp wit and onstage ferocity. The Briefs and the Bobbyteens also play. 9:30 p.m., Justice League, 628 Divisadero, S.F. $10. (415) 289-2038. (Dave Pehling)

Ambient in O-town For me, the upcoming holiday of 420 is like Hanukkah for an Orthodox Jew, encompassing many days of smoke-addled reverence. And tonight the amazing Dub Beautiful collective (which hosts a monthly event at the Hush Hush Lounge) is giving kozmik travelers an early chance to celebrate with a live performance by ambient legend Steve Roach at Oakland's Parkway Theatre. It's a great venue for a show like this, with a movie screen for visuals and couches for the, ummm, chemically inspired. Seofon from Marin's Ambient Temple of Imagination also spins some music fo' yo' head. Look for me; I'll be the big bald guy smoking bowls in the parking lot. 8 p.m., Parkway Theatre, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakl. $25. (510) 814-2400. (Roach also performs Sat/20 at False Profit, noon-10 p.m., 43 Norfolk, S.F. $30. www.dub-beautiful.org.) (Steve Robles)

We the people Choreographer M.Koob spends most of his days teaching dance to kids and his evenings rehearsing and scraping together the funds to keep his Transit company going. As One is Koob's latest creation for his semiprofessional, multigenerational dancers, to whom he is imparting his own training as an expressionistic dancer in the Wigman tradition. As One – with an original score by Randy Odell – attempts to translate into dance theater the message Koob spreads all day long: bring people together. The performance also brings two weekends of live, community-based dance into a neighborhood that rarely sees any. Through Sat/27. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m., Exit on Taylor, 277 Taylor, S.F. $10-$15. (415) 273-5890. (Rita Felciano)

April 19

Friday

Frost bite If you're a fan of laid-back, melancholic country-style folk music, Chicago-based singer-songwriter Edith Frost is the gal for you. Sounding somewhat like indie vocalist Liz Phair, Frost – a devoted collector of cowgirl memorabilia – writes songs, most in a minor key, that examine love, especially disappointment in love. The gentle vocal phrasings on her third album, last year's Wonder Wonder (Drag City), belie the frequent bitterness in her songs. In "Further" she sings, "Further down the ladder my brave fireman reaches out, he's gonna drop me down and leave me further behind." Local indie trio the Court and Spark, Chicago band Central Falls, and Olympia's Sarah Dougher also play. 9 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $10. (415) 621-4455. (Martens)

Unveiled When Tony Kushner started writing Homebody/Kabul four years ago, most Americans were probably quite uninformed, and even unconcerned, about its subject matter. However, now that the al-Qaeda network and the Northern Alliance have become familiar household names, Kushner's play about Afghanistan seems eerily prescient. It somehow makes sense that the author of the epic seven-hour, two-part Angels in America, which addressed AIDS in the early 1990s, should once again be tackling a topic of such grand proportion and political relevance. The play begins as a monologue by a character known only as the Homebody, an English woman whose reverie about Afghanistan is based on an encounter with an Afghan shopkeeper and a 1965 guidebook to Kabul. In the following acts the Homebody disappears, and her husband and daughter must venture into the Taliban-controlled streets of Kabul to find her. Tony Taccone, who has worked with Kushner on a number of projects, including codirecting the world premiere of Angels, directs this West Coast premiere at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Through June 23. Previews tonight, Sat/20, and Tues/23, 8 p.m.; Sun/21, 7 p.m. Opens Wed/24, 8 p.m. Runs Tues. and Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m. (also Sat/27, May 2, 4, 11, 16, 25, 30, June 8, 15, 22, 2 p.m.; no show May 3); Wed. and Sun., 7 p.m. (also Sun., 2 p.m.), Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison, Berk. $38-$54. (510) 647-2949. (Lara Shalson)

Eight legs up Whet your appetite for one of 2002's most anticipated cinematic events with 'Web-Slinging and Wall-Crawling: The Art of Spider-Man,' opening today at the Cartoon Art Museum. Long before that spandex suit was even a glimmer in Tobey Maguire's eye – 1962, to be exact – the high school-age superhero (with super problems) came to life thanks to a radioactive spider bite (and, of course, Marvel Comics' Stan Lee and Steve Ditko). This major exhibition, the first of its kind, features works by Ditko, John Romita, Ross Andru, Todd McFarlane, and others, and a slate of events (including lectures, discussions, and book signings) is planned in conjunction with the art display. Tonight's kickoff party coincides with the museum's second annual "Rent Party," a fundraising affair that this year offers webheads a chance to shake hands with legendary Marvel artist Romita and his equally esteemed Spidey-drawing son, John Romita Jr. Through July 21. Party 8 p.m.; gallery hours Tues.-Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission, S.F. Reception $15-$35, museum admission $2-$5. (415) CAR-TOON. (Cheryl Eddy)

April 20

Saturday

Mother love In celebration of Earth Day 2002, the Friends of Recreation and Parks presents the annual Song of the Earth Festival in Golden Gate Park. The event is designed for all ages and features activities like making musical instruments from recycled materials and hands-on science and art projects presented by the Randall Museum. Music and dance performers include teen artists from Kalanjali Dances of India, jazz students from the Alma School of Music, and Latin hip-hop performers from the Mission Cultural Center. Also on tap are a demonstration from San Francisco's Omulu Capoeira, as well as the Flying Angels Chinese Dance Company. Among the organizations with booths are the Sierra Club, alternative transportation group RIDES, the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners, and the folks working on the San Francisco Green Map resource guide. Noon-3 p.m., Golden Gate Park, La Playa and Fulton, S.F. Free. (415) 750-5220. (Summers Henderson)

April 21

Sunday

The politics are dancing Support a great cause while listening to some interesting speakers and being entertained by five lively punk bands at tonight's Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan and S.F./Bay Area Indymedia Center benefit. There's Portland, Ore.-based politicopunks Harum Scarum, local '80s hardcore throwbacks What Happens Next?, and U.K. punk psychedelic pagans Iowaska. Also playing are the loud, aggressive Oakland four-piece Fleshies, who like to get naked, and former Mexico City punks Desobediencia Civil, who recently relocated to Oakland and may be playing their last show ever. Speakers include members of Acting in Solidarity with Afghan People, S.F./Bay Indymedia Center, and antiwar collective Heads Up, along with Jello Biafra, former lead Dead Kennedy and head of the Alternative Tentacles record label, home to both Iowaska and Fleshies. 5 p.m., 924 Gilman, 924 Gilman, Berk. $5-$7. (510) 525-9926. (Martens)

April 22

Monday

Get your motor running You can't get more American than Sonny Barger, the near-mythical Oakland Hell's Angels leader whose place in pop lore – kind of a folk hero from the dark side – was secured by years of hard living, hard riding, and an absolute loyalty to the codes of biker culture. A few years back Barger's autobiography, the best-selling (and appropriately titled) Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club, detailed his colorful and controversial outlaw adventures. Now he's back with the brand-new Ridin' High, Livin' Free: Hell-Raising Motorcycle Stories, a collection of tales culled from the real-life experiences of free spirits (including celebs like Steve McQueen) Barger encountered on the road. Head to the Booksmith tonight, where "the Chief" himself will be on hand for a book signing. 6 p.m., Booksmith, 1644 Haight, S.F. Free. (415) 863-8688, www.sonnybarger.com. (Eddy)

April 23

Tuesday

Mood music Most people associate keyboardist-composer Terry Riley with his seminal minimalist composition In C, associated experiments in electronic music such as A Rainbow in Curved Air, and his forays into microtonal and modal forms inspired by his Indian vocal music guru, the late Pandit Pran Nath. But the native northern Californian initially made his musical living playing jazz piano in San Francisco, typically in the ragtime style of his teacher, Wally Rose. Every so often, as in the much-missed band Khayal and his appearances with saxophonist George Brooks, Riley taps his jazz roots more explicitly. Coming down from his rural digs outside Nevada City, the twinkly master lands a rare nightclub run playing genuinely new jazz music or "new music jazz" as Terry Riley and the All-Stars, with Brooks, former Turtle Island String Quartet violinist Tracy Silverman, and Gyan Riley on guitar. Through Thurs/25. 8 and 10 p.m., Yoshi's, 510 Embarcadero West, Jack London Square, Oakl. $20. (510) 238-9200. (Derk Richardson)

April 24

Wednesday