October 16, 2002

8 Days a Week

Jan. 22-29, 2003

THEMATIC BOOKING CAN be such a clever, satisfying thing. Hence, this veritable menagerie of rock with Oakland's Black Cat Music, Washington, D.C.'s the Apes, and L.A.'s Bluebird. Black Cat Music, with veterans of the Criminals and the Receivers, paint it all black, rhyming "frantic" with "romantic," pairing ominous guitar and thunderous bass tunes with Brady Baltezore's Johnny Thunders-like caterwaul, and summoning assorted morbid images with songs such as "Hands in the Estuary, Torso in the Lake." The Apes go bananas with maddened psych full o' distorted vocals, fuzz-bedecked bass, and Tilt-A-Whirl Hammond B-3 – say Blue Cheer eschewed the guitars but none of the heaviness (and bizarrely, the band have an Italian Vogue fashion spread and a second album on Frenchkiss coming out in the near future). Bluebird round out the evening with a hair-band revival of their own and a recent Dim Mak album, Hot Blood, that grows on you like cork wedgies, Midwestern biker bars, and 25¢ Old Style in plastic cups. Sometimes that's all it takes to do the trick. Jan. 29, 10 p.m., Cafe du Nord, 2170 Market, S.F. $7. (415) 861-5016. (Kimberly Chun)

Jan. 22

Wednesday

Must-see TV If you missed Whitney Dow and Marco Williams's fascinating documentary Two Towns of Jasper when it played at the 2002 San Francisco Black Film Festival, you finally have another chance to see it. At the film's heart is a horrifying hate crime: the dragging death of an African American man by three whites whose racism was as plain as their coordinating Confederate Knights of America tattoos. When the murder trials were held in 1999, filmmakers Dow (who is white) and Williams (who is African American) traveled to southeast Texas and adopted a unique approach: an all-black crew documented black residents and an all-white crew filmed whites. This technique eliminated potential racial barriers between subject and camera, and the payoff is sometimes ugly but always honest. A seemingly average American town casually displays its deeply divided center – as late as 1998, the town cemetery was segregated – and despite the best efforts of members of both races, it's disturbingly clear that Jasper's future won't be one of harmony anytime soon. Tonight the film has its broadcast premiere as part of the P.O.V. series on PBS. 9 p.m., KQED, channel 9, www.kqed.org. (Cheryl Eddy)

Jan. 23

Thursday

Musical prose It came as no surprise when August Wilson (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone) was named "America's Best Playwright" by Time magazine in 2001. The prolific author, who racked up two Pulitzers in four years, for Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990), has made an indelible mark on the theater world with his eloquent, stirring explorations of the African American experience. The sixth installation in Wilson's series of plays taking place in different decades of the 20th century, Seven Guitars, which premiered in 1995, opens tonight at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Set in Wilson's hometown of Pittsburgh in the spring of 1948, Seven Guitars begins with the funeral of a local blues musician and, via flashbacks, traces events of the past week through the eyes of seven acquaintances. Through Feb. 23. Opens tonight, 8 p.m. Runs Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 620 Sutter, S.F. $25-$32. (415) 474-8800, www.lorrainehansberrytheatre.com. (Eddy)

Jan. 24

Friday

Life lessons On her self-released album New Non-Fiction, the most woefully overlooked pop-folk singer-songwriter album of the past year, Chicago-based Susan Werner creates vignettes that are both comical (Misery, who's been buying you drinks and looking down your shirt, "looks over at Happiness and asks, 'Who's that asshole in the corner?' ") and poignant (one song tells of stoic "barbed wire boys," Midwestern farmers who "worked the gold plate off their wedding bands" and never complained about the hard fact that "their wildest dreams were all fenced in"). And she recites a litany of life's treasures, reminding us "to see how very short these endless days will run." A former major-label artist opting for the indie route, Werner sings in a big pure voice that reflects her absorbing ability to balance vulnerability with clear-eyed focus, and she commands the stage with polish and panache. David Jacobs-Strain opens. 8 p.m., Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse, 1111 Addison, Berk. $18.50. (510) 548-1761. (Derk Richardson)

On the verge The multitalented Summi Kaipa – she's a published poet, the editor and founder of Asian American lit magazine Interlope, a fiction writer, and a former Bay Guardian intern, to name a just a few entries on her résumé – reveals yet another facet with the world premiere of her new play, Triptych: Three Stories of South Asian Women. In each segment Indian American women face life challenges: an upwardly mobile thirtysomething considers a career change, teens grapple with the death of their mother, and two friends stare down the high standards set by Barbie and her pinkly plastic life. Come early and check out the new art exhibit in the Noh Space lobby, which features graphic novel and comic images by Asian American artists Lark Pien, Thien Pham, and Jason Shiga. Through Sat/25. 8 p.m. (lobby opens 7:30 p.m.), Noh Space, 2840 Mariposa, S.F. $5-$10. (415) 864-6740. (Eddy)

Shatter day We are where we've been, and Craig Michael Gurwich held down a job for five years at a Mt. Hood, Ore., summer camp, cooking, driving a shuttle, and hanging by a wooded creek. So it makes sense that Gurwich would dub his Paul McCartney-esque outing (and new album on Absolutely Kosher) Summer at Shatter Creek after the experience. Driven by the Los Angeles songwriter's floaty, winsome vocals, acoustic guitar, and twinkling, off-kilter keyboards, Summer at Shatter Creek is delicate and awkward in an eerie, oddball way that very well could haunt you summers from now, whether you want it to or not. Gurwich isn't trying to be Nick Drake, but he's getting awfully close to that bucolic, lonesome sound without taking the exact same tack. Also venturing out in new folky directions, L.A. Badman Recordings artists Ill Lit filter their rootsy leanings through a digital curtain of loops, beats, and indecipherable squiggles. 10 p.m., Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk, S.F. $5. (415) 923-0923. (Kimberly Chun)

Jan. 25

Saturday

Lights, camera, action Before Jeff Ross established the San Francisco Independent Film Festival in 1998, generations of sexploitative robots and mummy henchmen were getting tossed in the celluloid closet. But thanks to a few credit cards and the headiness of a nascent indie film community, S.F. movie geeks now have a plethora of rare and never-before-seen documentaries, features, and shorts to feast on. Get ready for this year's fest (Feb. 6-16) at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival Benefit/Launch Party, an evening of dancing (DJs include Jenö, Joe Rice, Smoove, Syd Gris, Shane, and Pandora) and drink specials, plus two screening rooms showing trailers for this year's festival offerings. With a lineup that includes camp favorite Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead) playing Elvis in Don Coscarelli's apocalyptic Bubba Ho-Tep, the upcoming fest promises to be a good one. 9 p.m.-2 a.m., Jezebel's Joint, 510 Larkin, S.F. $10. (415) 820-3907, www.sfindie.com. (Rachel Swan)

Festival of sound Oakland's 21 Grand kicks off the first of two nights of the Evander Music Winter Festival with a solo set by Paolo Angeli from Italy on prepared Sardinian guitar (which has cello and sitar characteristics) and a performance by Squiggle, featuring Evander chief improvising officer Phillip Greenlief on reeds, Tom Djll on trumpet, and Tim Perkis on electronics. Sunday, the bill features Three Wheeler, another vehicle for Greenlief, who shares the ride here with koto player Shoko Hikage and pianist Dana Reason; and Greg Goodman's Trio with Rova saxophonist Bruce Ackley and bassist George Cremaschi. Legend has it that Goodman rarely plays piano in public because his doppelgänger Woody Woodman keeps him slavishly busy maintaining the Finger Palace, a premature avant-garde performance space from the '70s, built on the same foundation of oblivious derring-do that disintegrates under Goodman's inside-out pianism. 9 p.m., 21 Grand, 449B 23rd St., Oakl. $6-$10 (sliding scale). (510) 444-7263. (Also Sun/26, 8 p.m., Community Music Center, 544 Capp, S.F. $8-$10. 415-647-6015). (Richardson)

Jan. 26

Sunday

Dream works The '70s came back for a minute or two, and now the '80s are selling like hotcakes. Surely it's just a matter of time before the marketplace fondly remembers the glory days of the shoegazer. Good news for all those lost kids raised by bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Lush, and Slowdive on druggy, wall-of-sound guitar swoons, vocals from heaven or somewhere else far away, and clubs filled with obsessed, noninteractive fans. Portland's High Violets and Bay Area locals Sciflyer believe there's still a place in the world for these things. Which is good – the title track off the High Violets' 44 Down (Reverb) is one of the prettiest songs I've heard all week. Wearing their Swervedriver influences on their sleeve and in their name, Sciflyer are a good reason to get to a show on time for once in your life. And stay for headliners the Rum Diary, who are from Sonoma County and somewhere on the pop side of Pinback. 6 p.m., Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph, Oakl. $5. (510) 444-6174. (Lynn Rapoport)

To the point The multidisciplinary hub known as Intersection for the Arts has been around for 38 years, cultivating a fine community of innovative Bay Area writers, artists, and musicians. Its resident theater company, Campo Santo, consistently brings new works to local audiences by showcasing up-and-coming (and often experimental) playwrights, actors, and directors. Tonight at Brava Theater Center, Denis Johnson and Dave Eggers, among others, join forces to raise funds for and awareness of San Francisco's oldest alternative arts organization. The evening includes a reading of new work for Intersection + Campo Santo by Eggers, a pre-world premiere glimpse of Johnson's new play, Soul of a Whore (opening Feb. 20), an audience Q&A with both writers, and live music. 8 p.m., Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th St., S.F. $20-$50 (sliding scale). (415) 626-3311. (Cynthia Dea)

Jan. 27

Monday

Divine right Starting a band at the age of 18 probably isn't saying much by today's standards, but what sets Neil Hannon apart is that he has regularly been releasing thoughtful and articulate albums for the past 10 years. Under the moniker the Divine Comedy, the singer-songwriter released Regeneration (Nettwerk) in 2001 and is working on a new album. Hannon's music reflects his fondness for life in London, even the most mundane aspects of the everyday, such as pubs, gardeners, public transportation, and the general European paranoia of the United States: "If the good Lord had intended me to live in L.A., he'd given me a machine gun." The Bay Area's Bart Davenport begins this evening's show. 8 p.m., Slim's, 333 11th St., S.F. $16. (415) 255-0333. (Dea)

Jan. 28

Tuesday

Screen queen Hilary Swank and Gwyneth Paltrow recently collected Oscars for their cross-dressing, gender-bending roles, and the current awards season looks to be dominated by Virginia Woolf-centric The Hours. But hey, Tilda Swinton covered all of those bases in one movie, 1992's Orlando, a Woolf adaptation that cast her as an aristocrat whose four-century life includes a full-scale gender switcheroo. The versatile Swinton (in real life, married with two kids) is also noted for working with gay director Derek Jarman on seven of his films, as well as memorably starring in works with queer themes, including 2001's The Deep End. Currently appearing in the weirdest movie of the year – Adaptation – Swinton takes the Castro Theatre stage as part of Frameline's "Close-Up: Visionaries of Modern Cinema" series for an interview with David Thompson (The New Biographical Dictionary of Film), a clip show, and an audience discussion. 8 p.m., Castro Theatre, 429 Castro, S.F. $10-$12. (925) 866-9599, www.frameline.org/closeup. (Eddy)

Jan. 29

Wednesday

Where's the Beav? San Francisco, get ready to shake it when Los Angeles house honcho Wally Callerio (Dufflebag) takes control at the Top's Audible Colors. Known for his impeccable skills and tight production, Callerio always throws down what's sure to please. Audible Colors weekly resident DJs Tasho, Sammy D, and Justin Martin also perform. If you're not too tired from a hard day's work, start your night off early with the free Lowdown Grooves happy hour from 8 to 10 p.m. Audible Colors, 10 p.m.-2 a.m., Top, 424 Haight, S.F. $5. (415) 864- 7368. (Chad Mitchell)