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This week is one for all you dance-lovers, from world premieres to live performances to films and DJ dance parties, from hip hop to cumbia and ballet to Bharatanatyam. On top of that, we’ve got some of the best musical events to keep the spooky spirit going as you celebrate your Día de los Muertos, and plenty more artsy-fartsy entertainment! Here’s what we’re most excited about for the week of 11/2/21…

This Week’s Giveaways

FLASH GIVEAWAY!
We Want to Send You and a Friend to See Ween @ The Fox!

This Week’s Events

Tuesday, 11/2

SF Leonard Cohen Festival

Through 11/7 | Amado’s, 998 Valencia Street, and Virtually | $0-30; some shows donation-based

Hosted by San Francisco’s Conspiracy of Beards, a choir of men that sing the songs of Leonard Cohen, the SF Leonard Cohen Festival is a multi-artist, multi-event celebration of the poetry, literature, and music of the late singer, songwriter, author, and poet. Check out this year’s lineup of shows to get your tickets for live (or livestreamed!) concerts happening throughout the coming week.

La Santa Cecilia

8:00 pm | The UC Theatre, 2036 University Avenue, Berkeley | $32.50

La Santa Cecilia exemplifies the modern-day creative hybrid of Latin culture, rock and world music. Named after the patron saint of music, La Santa Cecilia has become the voice of a new bicultural generation in the United States, fully immersed in modern music, but always close to their Latin American influences and Mexican heritage. Rock out with them tonight at the UC Theatre with special guest La Doña!

The Pump and Dump Show

8:00 pm | Cobb’s Comedy Club, 915 Columbus Avenue | $30

Moms! Gather your #BREEDER besties and treat yourselves to a well-deserved night out, for once! Join The Pump and Dump Show’s hilarious new cast  for a laugh-out-loud and cathartic evening filled with all-original music, comedy, games, prizes, commiseration, and validation. Prepare for new songs and loads of surprises guaranteed to make you laugh your c-section scar open. You work hard, mama. It’s time you had a kid-free break and some belly laughs. And nobody touching your boobs. You’ve earned it! (BONUS: you’ll be home to those babies by 10pm – we got you.)

Wednesday, 11/3

The Moth StorySLAM: Fortune

7:00 pm | Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley | $15

StorySLAM is a virtual open-mic storytelling experience that invites up to eight tellers to share a true, personal story on a given theme. The SLAM ends with the audience voting for their favorite story! Don’t miss out on this “Fortune”-themed edition of the show, or your chance to help crown a new StorySLAM Champion!

Thursday, 11/4

Garrett + Moulton Dance presents: World Premiere of Roll Out

Thursday, 11/4 at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm; Friday, 11/5 at 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm | Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street | Free

Commissioned by the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, this new work for 18 dancers is a joyous, celebratory work meant to welcome the community back to the JCCSF. It features music by Marc Mellits and will incorporate Garrett + Moulton’s signature ball passing and movement choir elements.

Tenderloin Nights: A Solo Exhibition by Eric Dyer

6:00 pm | Fleet Wood, 839 Larkin Street | Free

What does it mean to be a part of a neighborhood? How often do we get a chance to really stop and look around? Eric Dyer, a painter and maker of zines about walking around The City, aims to answer these questions in his new solo exhibition at Fleet Wood in the Tenderloin. We stan a zine here at BAS (how could we not, given our Head Honcho’s history of zine-ing?), especially the introspective hometown-wanderlust sort. The exhibition will be up through 11/24, so make sure to stop by before it’s gone!

Friday, 11/5

Welcome to Afghanistan Concert

4:00 pm – 7:00 pm | Golden Gate Bandshell, Golden Gate Park | Free

Get your world-music fix this weekend with an afternoon of music from Afghanistan! Featuring rock band Kabul Dreams, celebrated singer, talk-show host, and activist Mozhdah Jamalzadah, and contemporary rabab player and composer Quais Essar, this free concert at the Bandshell promises to be exciting, enlightening, and extremely cool!

SOULSKIN Dance presents: West Coast Premiere of CLOSER 

Friday 11/5 and Saturday 11/6, 8:00 pm | Dance Mission Theatre, 3316 24th Street | $25

SOULSKIN presents the West Coast premiere of the new dance film, CLOSER. CLOSER was created over seven months during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when intimacy and physical connection was seen as particularly dangerous and even forbidden, and our isolation has been exacerbated by a growing political divide in our nation. Also on the program is the work in progress, THE AWAKENING, which is both a celebration and a prayer to sow the seeds of reconciliation and compassion in a time of division.

Saturday, 11/6

SF Symphony’s Día de los Muertos

2:00 pm | Davies Symphony Hall, corner of Grove Street and Van Ness Avenue | $35-150

The SF Symphony’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration performance is back, and this year promises to be just as fantastic as every year preceding it! Both traditional and contemporary pieces are on the program, and the musical celebration will be, as always, a sublime experience for the whole family to enjoy together.

Benny the Butcher

9:00 pm | The Regency Ballroom, 1290 Sutter Street | $30-40

Benny the Butcher is part of Buffalo’s Griselda crew and the dynamo behind Black Soprano Family, the two primary outlets for his tense narratives about street life. Like frequent collaborators Westside Gunn and Conway, he’s inspired most by hardcore mid-’90s hip-hop from his home state, including Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep. Go hard with him tonight at the Regency!

Sade vs Badu: A Night of Bulletproof Soul

9:00 pm | The New Parish, 1743 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland | $10-20

SADE vs BADU is DJ party celebrating the music of these two soul icons. DJs Mr E, Cutso, and Umami will take you on a powerful dance-party journey through the music of Sade and Erykah Badu – not to mention all the music that influenced them, and the music that their works have influenced.

Oakland Ballet Company presents: Luna Mexicana

Friday, 11/5 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, 11/6 at 2:00 pm  | Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway Street, Oakland | $24-59

Luna Mexicana is one of the Bay Area’s most elaborate and inclusive Dia de los Muertos events. Like the celebration that inspires it, Luna Mexicana is a beautiful blend of exuberant dance, joyful music, colorful costumes, flowers, candles, food, and – most of all – celebration of family. Catch the matinee performance today at 2:00 pm and enjoy the show with the whole family!

Sunday, 11/7

We Belong @ the Roxie

2:00 pm | Roxie Theatre, 3117 16th Street | $9-10

Curated by Kat Gorospe Cole and Eric Garcia, founders of the Tiny Dance Film Festival, this eclectic film program features nine international short dance films that revel in the joy, eccentricity, and variety of human connection. The films’ subjects range from Black trans femme love to the Chinese diaspora to the irreverence of office furniture – each offering a refreshing alternative to dominant narratives. Co-produced by McEvoy Foundation for the Arts and Tiny Dance Film Festival, this afternoon at the Roxie Theater includes a live performance and Q&A with choreographers and filmmakers.

Renegade Craft 2021

Saturday, 11/6 and Sunday, 11/7, 7:00 pm | Fort Mason Center, corner of Buchanan and Mason Streets | Free

Celebrate the holiday shopping season and the DIY spirit with many makers and artisans during the Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. The curated Renegade Craft Fair is the premiere showcase for indie crafters from all over the U.S. The fair offers ceramics, paper items, bath and body products, home furnishings, apparel, accessories, glass art, textiles, fiber arts, leather goods, and much more. Enjoy hands-on workshops, local gourmet cuisine, and DJ music, while finding great gifts for everyone on your list!

Monday, 11/8

Snarky Puppy

Monday, 11/8 and Tuesday, 11/9, 8:00 pm | SF Jazz Center, 201 Franklin Street | $35-95

Snarky Puppy, the global collective which features a revolving cast of up to a dozen musicians, makes what it likes to call “music for your brain and booty.” Led by bassist and composer Michael League, the band’s rotating lineup features musicians whose résumés boast work with stars like Erykah Badu, Marcus Miller, Justin Timberlake, Roy Hargrove, Snoop Dogg and John Mayer. Jam with them tonight and let their groovy tunes bring out your best dance moves!

Mark Your Calendar

Thursday, 11/11 – Role Model @ Great American Music Hall

Saturday, 11/13 and Sunday, 11/14 – SF Coffee Festival

Rad Ongoing Events

Every Wednesday – Free Admission Hour @ The Japanese Tea Garden

Today and every 1st Tuesday – Free First Tuesdays @ The Conservatory of Flowers

And don’t forget to check out our Big Bad List of Rad ongoing events right here!