Bay Area arts: 9 cool shows and concerts to catch this weekend
From Carnaval, a longtime Bay Area favorite, to roaring dinosaurs and an operatic take on “Doubt,” there are a lot of great shows and concerts to catch this weekend and beyond.
Here is a partial rundown.
Carnaval returns to S.F.
People love to grouse these days about how San Francisco has changed and lost some of its old flavor, that the waves of tech and AI developments have robbed the city of its reputation as being a little rough around the edges and always ready to make a little noise.
But this weekend, all that should be forgotten as the city welcomes the return of Carnaval San Francisco, a two-day festival full of dancing, music, art, food and drink, a jubilant parade, and more. Carnaval was founded in 1979 as a multicultural celebration of the city and its Latin, Caribbean and African Diasporic communities. And it remains that to this day. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 23 and 24, a 17-block section of the city's Mission District will host all manner of music and entertainment on five main stages, as well as a scattering of block parties, featuring more than 50 music and dance groups, 400 vendors and close to half a million visitors over the two days. An annual highlight is the lively and eye-popping Grand Parade, which this year kicks off at 10 a.m. on Sunday at 24th and Bryant. If it is not already abundantly clear, you should not drive to this event.
Details: For more information go to carnavalsanfrancisco.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Dinos invade Kaiser Center
Unless you’re Nedry from "Jurassic Park," you probably think dinosaurs are cool. This spring and summer, an interactive exhibit in Oakland will unleash a whole menagerie of cool dinosaurs upon the populace — turkey-sized velociraptors, spiky stegosaurs and of course big ol T-rex itself.
"Dinos Alive: An Immersive Experience" opened in May and will run through the summer at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, on the shore of Lake Merritt. "Dinos Alive is a time machine that takes you back millions of years," the organizers write. "Explore the dense jungles of the Jurassic era and see the dinos in their natural habitat with the help of the latest VR technology and a fully decorated venue. You’ll feel as if you’ve stepped into another world!"
The exhibit features several dozen dinosaur animatronics that fully loom and roar, and a virtual aquarium stocked with swimming ancients. There’s at least one dino that children can actually ride for a cute photo. Plus, kids have their own "Budding Experts" interactive space where they can learn about paleontology, and even try to "tame" some iconic dinosaurs. Rawr, indeed.
Details: Open 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 9:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 10 10th St., Oakland; $30 for adults, $26 for ages 4-12 (free for ages 3 or younger); dinosaliveexhibit.com/oakland
— John Metcalfe, Staff
Classical picks: SFS world premiere; ‘Doubt’
It's a great time for music this month - especially when you consider the impressive range of works on tap. From beloved classics to new works, May is winding down a couple of performances you won't want to miss.
Something new: Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru, whose strong leadership at the annual Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music puts new works center stage every year in Santa Cruz, arrives at the San Francisco Symphony this week to lead the world premiere of "Embers," an S.F. Symphony commissioned work by Tyler Taylor. Also on the program: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1, and Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World."
Details: 7:30 p.m. May 22-23, 2 p.m. May 24; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $55-$185; sfsymphony.org.
Parallèle's new "Doubt": Opera Parallèle, still covered in glory after its fantastic recent performances of "La Belle et La Bête" (Beauty and the Beast), is about to offer a different kind of intrigue in "Doubt." With a production conceived by the company’s Brian Staufenbiel and conducted by Nicole Paiement, the new opera by composer Douglas J. Cuomo and librettist John Patrick Stanley, adapted from Shanley's Oscar-nominated film and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, is all about power dynamics in a Catholic school - one that asks the audience to step into the narrative as part of the “congregation.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. May 29-30 and 3 p.m. May 31, the Presidio Theatre, San Francisco; tickets available at presidiotheatre.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Acclaimed director gets Alamo treatment
Brian De Palma has directed some of the most stylish and memorable films of the last half century. And wouldn’t you agree that is reason enough to celebrate the legendary film director?
The folks at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas certainly do and are honoring the movie maestro by screening several of his classic films during their De Palma Summer series at their locations in Mountain View, Santa Clara and San Francisco.
Here are the six De Palma films showing at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, ranked (by us) in order of greatness:
1. “Carrie” (1976) — The first Stephen King movie adaptation is still the best Stephen King movie adaption.
2. “Blow Out” (1981) — Wonderfully stylish noir/mystery thriller that features John Travolta at the top of his game.
3. “Dressed to Kill” (1980) — De Palma channels Hitchcock with great success.
4. “Body Double” (1984) — Another Hitchcock-inspired gem that comes across like an eroticized “Rear Window.”
5. “Sisters” (1972) — A haunting meditation on horror voyeurism featuring many of the film techniques/themes that would go on to define much of De Palma’s career.
6. “Mission: Impossible” (1996) — A fun Tom Cruise action flick, yet one we’d gladly swap out in favor of having De Palma’s “Phantom of the Paradise” in this series.
Details: De Palma Summer runs May 24 to July 17 at the Bay Area Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. For screening times and locations, visit drafthouse.com/sf.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Mind over Maddy
New York City-based comedian Maddy Smith has dubbed her current trek the "Bad Genes Tour," and it's not hard to speculate that the title is meant to play off the controversy that surrounded actor Sydney Sweeney and her advertisement for American Eagle Outfitters. The key phrase on that ad – "Sydney Sweeney has good jeans" – had many convinced that the pitch was a not-so-subtle reference to the racist notion that a blonde, blue-eyed white woman represents genetic and racial superiority. (Sweeney and American Eagle have, naturally, denied that there was any connection). It certainly wouldn't be a surprise for Smith, who performs at San Jose Improv this weekend, to quickly jump on a hot-button topic like that. The 33-year-old comedian and Buffalo, N.Y., native has made her mark with a rapid-fire delivery and a willingness to take a joke practically anywhere. She is likely best known for her five seasons on "Wild ‘n Out," the sketch comedy/battle rap game show on MTV hosted by Nick Cannon. But now Smith is on a club tour, which presumably means her comedy will be even less restrained than it would be on TV. You can find out for yourself when Smith performs 7 and 9:30 p.m. May 23 and 6 p.m. May 24 at the Improv.
Details: Tickets are $31.14-$83.16; improv.com/sanjose/
— Bay City News Foundation
Air Guitar Championships return
We've all done it – maybe in our bedroom, our shower or even atop the living room couch (we don't judge here). As we clutch our imaginary fender telecaster up on the imaginary stage, we strike the most gorgeous and significant imaginary chord in the history of rock and roll, as the imaginary crowd roars in feverish adulation. For most of us, the art of air guitar is a moment of private release. But for the contestants who will turn out at the famed Bottom of the Hill music club in San Francisco on Saturday, it is as much of a public performance as anything that goes down at the BottleRock Napa music festival this weekend. We're talking about the Air Guitar championships, or, as they are officially known, the 2026 US Air Guitar Championships. These are the regional championships, with contestants riffing it out for a chance to compete in the national finals event in San Francisco on Aug. 1. Besides boasting some killer rockstar moves, the Air Guitar contests are intriguing because they inspire such a range of approaches, from Spinal Tap to The Edge. As the contest details describe it, "Part rock show. Part comedy act. Part spectacle. US Air Guitar allows ordinary people to become ridiculous rock stars."
Details: 8 p.m. May 23; Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., San Francisco; admission is $15 in advance, $20 at the door; www.bottomofthehill.com/calendar.html
— Bay City News Foundation
It’s party hearty time
The California Commonwealth Club is an organization renowned for bringing experts in multiple disciplines - science, technology, politics, literature, world affairs and more - to its San Francisco headquarters to give lectures or readings, but a May 21 engagement is a horse of a different color. It's Music at the Club with the All Star Jukebox, a nine-member dance band with a lineup of drums, guitar, bass, keyboard, trumpet, sax and vocalists showing up to get the audience on their feet and moving to the beat. These performers, who have worked with Herbie Hancock, Sly & the Family Stone and Tower of Power, will hit the stage at 7 p.m., but starting things off an hour earlier are Brian & Epic, singer-songwriter partners who perform both covers and their own original songs.
Details: The party takes place in the Taube Family Auditorium at 110 The Embarcadero in San Francisco; find tickets, $15-$25, at commonwealthclub.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
A musical paean to America
Famed Czech composer Antonin Dvorak was celebrated in his own land for successfully incorporating elements of Bohemian folk music into his many orchestral works. But during his sojourn in this country from 1893-1895 as the visiting director of an East Coast conservatory, he was given the mission of helping composers here come up with an uniquely American sound. The result was "From the New World," the last and most popular of his nine symphonies, which was inspired in part by the Native American melodies and the Black spirituals he encountered here and considered essential to our national identity. It was a rousing success at its Carnegie Hall debut, with the audience breaking into thunderous applause at the conclusion of each of its four movements. Guest conductor Cristian Măcelaru, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, takes the podium at Davies Hall to lead the San Francisco Symphony in three performances of it this weekend in a program that also includes the world premiere of "Embers," by Emerging Black Composers Project winner Tyler Taylor. Guest soloist Simon Trpčeski is on the bench to perform Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1.
Details: Concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. May 22 and 23 and 2 p.m. May 24; find tickets, $30-$185, at sfsymphony.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
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