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Wednesday/23
This Must Be the Place: The End of the Underground 1991- 2012
Man or Astro-Man?
Auburn, Ala.’s Man or Astro-Man? has spent decades perfecting its sprawling surf-rock. Incredibly imaginative and extremely prolific,
the group has recorded and toured tirelessly since early 1990s. Drawing diverse influences from the likes of Dick Dale and Link Wray, punk and new wave, and science fiction and a fascination with space and extraterrestrial life, Man or Astro-Man? take surf rock in directions and galaxies previously uncharted. Largely instrumental and entirely captivating, the band’s nine-album catalog is a musically-stunning journey through sound and space. Known for their high-energy live sets, often performed in space-suits complete with astronaut helmets with intricate scifi set pieces, musicians Star Crunch and Birdstuff will shred their way into your hearts. (Haley Zaremba) With The Ogres, WRAY
This Must Be the Place: The End of the Underground 1991- 2012 friday/25 on the lights.” Smartly placed on a stellar album (The Age of Fracture) of arty synth-pop that’s in line with Metronomy, Passion Pit, and David Byrne, it’s a reminder that, for better or worse, some things don’t last as long as you want. (Ryan Prendiville) With Astronauts, etc., The Wild Wild 8pm, $10-12
www.theindependentsf.com
Cymbals
The cooler-than-thou French monologue on UK band Cymbals’s single “The End” might have you in the dark, but the intro’s melancholy melody should be instantly familiar to anyone who’s spent too many hours in a club. The faint, ringing tone
stuck in ear the next day (or week), bringing back memories: “It’s the end of the night, you’ve been dancing too much. They’ve got to turn 20 SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
(415) 336-1020 www.phoenixtheatresf.org
Friday/25 With a decade of distinguished work behind it, RAWdance has every reason to celebrate. Ryan T. Smith and Wendy Rein collaborations draw you in with the integrity of a highly structural approach that yet yields works that resonate emotionally. Their newest piece seems tailor-made to the kind of intelli-
155 Fell, SF (415) 861-2011 www.rickshawstop.com
The Independent (415) 771-1421
414 Mason, SF
RAWdance
Rickshaw Stop
8pm, $20 628 Divisadero, SF
Phoenix Theatre
Thursday/24 CAM & Co. Productions’ Spring Awakening
gence that they bring to their work. Turing’s Apple explores the genius of the British scientist Alan Turing and his tragedy when he came out as a gay man. It will be joined by the final version of Burns that the choreographers describe as Rorschachtest driven, and film-noir inspired. RAWdance will be joined by a guest artists Gretchen Garnett + Dancers in a trio, and a grief-exploring sextet, Nawala (“Lost”) by Tany Bello’s Project B. (Rita Felciano) Z Space 450 Florida St. SF 866-811-4111 www.zspace.org
rawdance friday/25
The Roxie Theater 3117 16th St., SF www.roxie.com
Saturday/26 CoffeeCon 2014
Cursed with the personality of an ogre if you skip your morning coffee? Once you’ve gotten a head start on your caffeine fix Saturday morning, head over to this art gallery — for one day only, it houses an interactive latte art exhibit (arguably just as creatively esteemed as postmodern paintings). The coffee festival features a plethora of other hands-on lessons, including one titled “How to Review Coffee,” and unlimited coffee samples, so you can sound like a pretentious — but educated — coffee
snob while you pine over an obscure roast when you’re with your friends at Starbucks. Local bands perform live to simulate a hipster coffeehouse
Through Sat/26 7:30pm, $20
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Through Sun/27, prices and showtimes vary
July 25-26, 8 pm. July 27, 7 pm. $25-30
Once a high school theater kid, always a high school theater kid. After receiving their hard-earned diplomas from San Francisco’s School of the Arts, some of the city’s most talented teens realized they couldn’t abandon the pool of talent at the school. So instead of embracing the idea of a deadbeat summer before college, the members created their own production company. Their conception of Spring Awakening is financed through an online fundraiser they created, and is completely driven by efforts from School of the Arts family members. Support up-and-coming youth theater while wondering why you couldn’t be as cool as them when you were 18. (Amy Char)
opinion
Named for an excellent Talking Heads song, This Must Be the Place is an annual summer celebration of rock docs, exploring the birth, life, death, and (depending on whom you ask) near-constant rebirth of punk rock through iconic moments captured on film. This third installment, curator Mike Keegan has announced, will sadly be the Roxie’s last, so get to it. Friday’s ’90s-tastic triple bill sounds too fun to miss, with 1991: The Year Punk Broke (featuring live performances from Sonic Youth and their then-opener, Nirvana), Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies (featuring the never sober, always charming GG Allin, who was dead before the film finished shooting), and What’s Up, Matador? (featuring three-minute bursts of rarely seen excellence from labelmates Guided By Voices, Pavement, Yo La Tengo and more). Don’t forget your flannel. (Emma Silvers)
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