The Oakland Weekend

A Contemplative Angel on the Crocker Tomb (Photo Mountain View Cemetery)

Friday

King Kong
It’s been remade twice in the last 75 years, and both versions failed to match the original RKO masterpiece of 1933. See King Kong the way the great ape was meant to be seen, on a huge screen in one of the nation’s great Art Deco film palaces. Watch Kong swat biplanes from atop the Empire State Building at the Paramount Theatre Friday night. The doors open at 7 pm.

What: King Kong
When: Friday, July 9, Movie Starts at 8 pm, Mighty Wurlitzer at 7:30 pm
Where: Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway
How Much: $5

Hairspray
The Woodminster Summer Musical series opens with Hairspray. Woodminster favorite Greg Carlson takes his first turn in drag as Edna Turnblad in the musical based on John Waters’ 1988 film. As always, champagne will be served on opening night.

What: Hairspray at Woodminster Amphitheater
When: Friday, July 9, 8 pm
Where: Woodminster Amphitheater, Joaquin Miller Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Road
How Much: $25-$45

The Princess Bride
Angry apes not your thing? What about The Princess Bride, The sweetly goofy fairytale beloved by gentle nerds everywhere? See it for free at the Redwoods Heights Recreation Center.

What: Princess Bride
When: Friday, July 9, 8:15 pm – 10:15 pm
Where: Redwood Heights Rec Center, 3883 Aliso Avenue
How Much: Free

Sun Ceremony
Here’s the pitch: Come to drum and stare at the sun. Oakland-based artist David Wilson in collaboration with artist Chris Duncan, opens the Berkeley Art Museum to a “fully participation-based drum and light orchestration” Friday evening. There will be “light projections and visual guidance from Jeffrey Manson (Misto Reef Lights), a Chladni singing performance by Meara O’Reilly (Avocet), and SUN choir.”

What: L@TE: Friday Nights
When: Friday, July 9, Doors open at 6, Ceremony starts at 7:30 pm
Where: Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way
How Much: $5, free for members and UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff

Some Kinda
Dwele blends neo-soul, hip-hop, and jazz the way few musicians can. The sly musician and songwriter will be at Yoshi’s in Jack London Square all weekend. His new album is called “Some Kinda,” which gets it just about right.

What: Dwele at Yoshi’s Oakland
When: Friday, Saturday & Sunday, July 9, 10 & 11, 8 pm – 10 pm, 7 pm – 9 pm Sunday
Where: Yoshi’s. 510 Embarcadero West
How Much: $28

Saturday

Walking Tour of Mountain View Cemetery
One of the loveliest spots in our city is Mountain View Cemetery. It’s also fairly described as “California’s most historic” boneyard. Meet some of the legendary figures from our state’s past who made this corner of the Oakland Hills their last home on a walking tour sponsored by the Oakland Heritage Alliance. Barbara Smith and Michael Crowe are the tour leaders.

What: Walking Tour of Mountain View Cemetery
When: Saturday, July 10, 10 am – 12:30 pm
Where: Meet at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Avenue
How Much: $15, $10 OHA members

Comics and Islam
G. Willow Wilson is an American author who lived in Cairo for four years. When she was there,  she met her husband and converted to Islam. She also wrote the graphic novel “Cairo.” Wilson will be at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California Saturday night to talk about her new book, “The Butterfly Mosque.”

What: G. Willow Wilson
When: Saturday, July 10, 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Where: Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, 1433 Madison Street
How Much: $7, $5 for students

Sunday

Rowing Races on Lake Merritt
For the second year in a row the Lake Merritt Rowing Club is hosting the United States Rowing Association’s SW Masters Regionals on Lake Merritt. More than 800 rowers are expected to be racing 1,000 meter sprints. There is excellent viewing along Lakeshore Avenue, at the City Sailboat House, as well as the grounds near the remodeled Lake Merritt Boathouse on Lakeside Drive (the start line). Or have a drink at Lake Chalet while watching the races.

What: Rowing Club Hosts USRA Masters Regionals
When: Sunday, July 11, 7:30 am – 5 pm
Where: Lake Merritt
How Much: Free 

Justa Space Queen
We’re excited about our next show at Art@TheOakBook. Two women artists who have been inspired by the cannabis movement have joined forces to install “Justa Space Queen” at our Jack London Square location. Come to the opening to see the work ofMonika Lea Jones and Smokie of Guns and Brushes.

What: Justa Space Queen
When: Sunday, July 11, 12 pm – 3 pm
Where: Art@TheOakBook, 423 Water Street
How Much: Free

The Nutcracker

Are Nutcracker tickets on your shopping list? Even if you don’t have kids, do consider going for it this year. The Oakland Ballet Company has gone all out to make sure Oaklanders get to enjoy the annual performance of the Nutcracker this year -just as they’ve done for the past 36 years. And it’s our turn to show them some love and support now.

In case you missed it, here’s the story of this year’s Nutcracker — the story of how the ballet company weathered the economy and kept going.

WHEN:

Thursday, December 24 at 11 a.m.

Saturday, December 26 at 2 p.m. *

Saturday, December 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 27 at 2 p.m.*

*The Saturday and Sunday matinees will be followed by a Sweet Dreams party, which will feature light refreshments and Nutcracker characters posing for pictures and signing autographs. Separate tickets are required and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.

TICKETS: $15-$50 with student and senior discounts through www.ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000

WHERE:
Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway 510-465-6400, paramounttheatre.com

Are Nutcracker tickets on your shopping list? Even if you don’t have kids, do consider going for it this year! The Oakland Ballet Company has gone all out to make sure Oaklanders get to enjoy the annual performance of the Nutcracker.. as they’ve done for the past 36 years. And it’s our turn to show them some love and support now. In case you missed it, here’s the story of this year’s Nutcracker — the story of how the ballet company weathered the economy and kept going.

WHEN:

Thursday, December 24 at 11 a.m.

Saturday, December 26 at 2 p.m. *

Saturday, December 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 27 at 2 p.m.*

*The Saturday and Sunday matinees will be followed by a Sweet Dreams party, which will feature light refreshments and Nutcracker characters posing for pictures and signing autographs. Separate tickets are required and can be purchased through Ticketmaster.

TICKETS: $15-$50 with student and senior discounts through www.ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000

San Francisco Bay New Year’s Events

O-Scene’s Bay Area New Year’s Eve Calendar

Sugar and Gold headline the New Year’s Bash at The Uptown

Bay Area Halloween For all the Ghouls and Goblins

The spooky season is upon us and ghouls and goblins of all stripes will be roaming the streets all weekend. Here’s a list of some of our favorite events, from freaky all night bashes to haunted houses to scraper bikes to vampire lesbians, there’s something here for everyone. Grab a costume and go get scary!

10/30

Haunted House at Redwood Heights

$1
7-9pm
Redwood Heights Recreation Center
3883 Aliso Ave., Oakland
510.482.7827

Vampire Lesbians of Sodom

One of the longest running plays in Off-Broadway history, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom tells the saga of two fatally seductive vampiresses whose paths first collide in ancient Sodom. Their bitter rivalry as bloodsuckers but more importantly, as actresses, endures for two thousand years with stops along the way in 1920s silent movie Hollywood and contemporary Las Vegas.
10/30 -11/1
$25/$35 Halloween midnight show
8pm
Stage Werx Theatre
533 Sutter St. San Francisco

6/13/08 O-Scene Weekend

Featured Event: Emily King and Anthony David

A guitar, a mic and a head full of songs combined with a few beers and a reasonably attentive audience-it’s such a simple formula really, and that’s what makes it so damned hard to pull off.
Before the digitization of all things melodic turned everyone and their momma’s into laptop producers, the easiest way to jump into the industry was as a singer/songwriter: get a halfway decent guitar, a few heartfelt lyrics and a couple of people to listen to you and boom-you’re a musician.
But while a hand full of newbies have successfully pulled off the Joni Mitchell/Traci Chapman steez, the road to Bob Dylanhood is littered with discarded guitar cases, cried in beers and song lyrics scribbled on barroom napkins. But for singer/songwriters Emily King and Anthony David, playing tonight at Q’s lounge in Jack London Square, the road has put them on the highway to success and a possible place among the coffeeshop greats.
22 year old Emily King is a bit of a musical prodigy. After leaving school at 16 because classes were moving too slowly, the ambitious New Yorker got her GED and set out to start her own musical movement that so far has led to international acclaim and a 2007 Grammy nomination for her debut album “East Side Story”. From the beginning, King’s music-nimble guitar playing under soul, jazz and pop melodies that lives somewhere between Corinne Bailey Rae, Norah Jones and Mary J Blige, has been drawn from her life story, independent ideology and desire to make a difference in the world. “I think music is such a revolutionary thing” she says “and that’s what it should be.”
Atlanta’s Anthony David isn’t necessarily out to start a revolution, he just wants to make some good music. “Sometimes (my music) is escapism, sometimes it’s sympathy or emotion,” he explains. “Sometimes it’s grounded in the present and some times it’s taking you away from it.” The modern day troubadour calls his style “Millennium Blues” because of the way it “all goes back to the blues. The lyrics, the music, my using everything from acoustic to hip-hop, the story telling…all of it connects through the blues like a bridge.”
A product of Atlanta’s singer songwriter and spoken word scenes, David is signed to close friend India.Arie’s Soulbird Music label and has worked with some of the ATL’s most prolific performers. When he straps on his guitar southern influences drip from his music like molasses. His guitar playing on his new album “Acey Ducey” has a relaxed, “on the front porch” ease to it, and his lyrical honesty paints a picture of a man who’s comfortable in his skin and with what he has to offer.
David’s songs are impressive without trying to impress. From the duet “Words,” that reveals his musical relationship with Arie, to the “Red Clay Chronicles,” a candid depiction of hustling and city life to “Smoke One,” an ode to kicking back with friends-David says this relaxed, no frills approach to music is the only way he’d ever think of creating.When the young revolutionary from back east meets the laid back southern crooner tonight over dueling guitars, it should be a great meeting of the musical minds as well as an instructional session on how to make this deceptively simple style sound as sweet as we all know it can.-kwan

Emily King and Anthony David
$35
Doors at 6, Show at 8pm
Q’s Lounge
126 Broadway, Oakland, CA
www.eandjbbq.com

2/22 Jesse Boykins III CD Release Party

While I admit I’m not the most R&B friendly music listener, the last couple of years have been good ones for the both the Rhythm and the Blues. The genre’s recovered from a nasty case of Neo Soul that while sometimes inspirational, was the kind of sweet more in line with saccharine than molasses and tended to leave a bad aftertaste.
But in the 41510, hometown darlings Ledisi, Goapele, Keyshia Cole and Jennifer Johns have been making big moves, while the national scene has seen inspiring work from the likes of Erykah Badu, Dwele, Sa-Ra and Martin Luther among others. All have the smoothness required for those late night cuddle sessions, but enough substance that you don’t feel guilty the morning after.
The latest young lion to toss his hat into the ring for nu soul ruler is Brooklyn’s Jesse Boykins III, whose debut EP “Dopamine: My life on My Back” is a purging collection of 8 tracks spawned from a lost love.

Tuesday 1/8 ANDREW CARRIERE & THE ZYDECO ALLSTARS

“A native of Southern Louisiana, accordionist and singer Andrew Carriere brings a long family tradition into his playing. His father was the legendary Creole fiddler “Bebe” Carriere, his uncle was accordionist Eraste Carriere, and cousins Chubby, Calvin, and Roy Carrier are popular in the zydeco arena. Carriere moved to the Bay Area in the ’60s, learned accordion from the late Danny Poullard, and is featured vocalist on the California Cajun Orchestra’s “Not Lonesome Anymore” CD. He performs regularly with the Creole Belles and CZ & the Bon Vivants, and more occasionally in the Cajun Classics.

Carriere’s Cajun/Zydeco Allstars are steel guitarist Billy Wilson, drummer David “Killer” Hymowitz, guitarist Mitch Polzak, and fiddler Marty Jara. The lineup may not seem particularly “traditional” to current followers of Cajun and zydeco, but, Wilson explains, “This is the real tradition that came out of the ’50s and ’60s honky-tonk Cajun bands, where they just had fun and played for dancers. The steel guitar was right there, and fiddles and an occasional lead guitar.” And, of course, the accordion. The repertoire is the standards and classics of Cajun and zydeco, old and new.”

Andrew Carriere and the Zydeco Allstars
$10
Doors at 7:30 p.m.
Cajun/Zydeco dance lesson at 8:00 p.m.
Show at 8:30 p.m.
Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center
1317 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702
http://www.ashkenaz.com

12/31 New Year’s Eve Events

 

 

-Brass Menazeri

Take heed all ye faithful revelers, your night has arrived! The streets will be filled with merriment, the music will play, the drink will flow and the world will move just a little closer to universal peace, love and understanding-or at the very least we’ll see some fireworks, blow some noisemakers and bond with tons of people you won’t remember in the morning.

From the traditional to the eccentric, the formal to the WTF! there’s a little something in the Novoscene New Year’s Eve guide for however you like get your respective groove on. See you in the New Year!

-kwan

2008 New Year’s Bash w/ DJ Jay-R

$10

8 p.m

White Horse Inn

6551 Telegraph Ave., Oakland

510-652-3820

WhiteHorseBar.com

 

 

Brian Jack & Zydeco Gamblers

$45

9 p.m.

Eagles Hall, 2305 Alameda Ave., Alameda

415-285-6285

SFZydeco.com

 

 

Black Comedy Explosion W/ Earthquake, Lavelle Crawford, Sheryl Underwood, & Rueben Paul.

$39.75-$67.75

10 p.m.

Paramount Theatre,

2025 Broadway, Oakland,

510-465-6400

ParamountTheatre.com

 

Bootie Pirate New Year’s Eve Party w/ Adrian & the Mysterious D, Party Ben, Dada, Smash-Up Derby, DJs Earworm Freddy & King of Pants, & the Indra

$20-$30

9 p.m

DNA Lounge

375 11th St., San Francisco

415-626-1409

DNALounge.com

 

 

Cake W/ the Lovemakers

$69.50-$79.50

9 p.m.

The Warfield

982 Market St., San Francisco

415-775-7722

Oakland AIDS Awareness Week Events

 

December 1 is World AIDS Day and while a recent announcement from UNAIDS and the World Health Organization reported that the percentage of people living with the disease is leveling off, make no mistake, HIV/AIDS is still a very serious worldwide epidemic.

According to the Global Steering Committee of the World AIDS Campaign, over 5700 people died each day from AIDS-related illnesses in 2007. Over 6800 people are still being infected with HIV daily, about 1200 of whom are children under 15 and about 2900 are women 15 years and older.

The city of Oakland has declared this to be AIDS Awareness Week and is sponsoring a series of free events, testings, film screenings and fundraisers through the weekend.

Being safe and getting regular tests play a big part in staying safe.

Below is a list of events and testing centers throughout the town.

-kwan

 

 

Oakland World Aids Week Events

 

Wednesday Nov. 28

HIV and Gospel Music Workshop

During this four-day workshop not only will we learn new music but we will also train members of the community of faith during about the impact of HIV on the church. The leader for the Gospel Music segment of the workshop will be Pastor Jeffrey Williams. We look forward to working with you. We are hopeful that your schedule will allow you to be involved in changing the way HIV education and information gets presented to our community of faith.

$25

5-9pm

Olivet Institutional Missionary Baptist Church

807 27th Street, Oakland CA 94601

 

Get Screened Oakland and East Bay AIDS Walk Community Awards Reception

6-9pm

City Hall

1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza

http://www.getscreenedoakland.org/wedrecp.html

 

Prayer Circle

8pm

City Hall Square

1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza

11/23 Novoscene Weekend

I know it’s Black Friday and you’re all pooped from shopping and stuffing yourselves with stuffing. Well get those keisters back in gear dammit! There’s goin’ out to do! Tonight stop by the AK Press warehouse and hear one our foremost US policy critics get critical, then hop to Berkeley to find out why everything you’ve brought today is wrong. Saturday is a bit more cheerful with spoken word and community celebrations before Sunday comes round with a great reason for all you writers to get out from behind your desks for a few hours. A great way to work off those holiday pounds…

-kwan