This has been a week of culture guides at the Express. We gave you full season previews in visual arts, theater, dance, literary events, and classical music. But on a more short term note, here’s what we think you should be doing this weekend.
Hunnit Dollars
The rapper formerly known as Stunnaman, from Berkeley rap group The Pack, of “Vans” and Lil B fame — was there for the beginning of #based. In an interview last year, Keith Jenkins pointed to hippie icon Wavy Gravy’s Camp Winnarainbow as the philosophy’s spiritual center, where the radiant positivity and collapsed sense of self evident in Lil B’s tweets first took shape. Jenkins recent output, however, skews more trap and carnal, with sinister intentions detailed in a ragged flow atop brooding, downcast production on this year’s Black Bart 2 EP. The more pertinent question, though, is about Jenkins’ visual art, which Good Mother Gallery is slated to exhibit for the very first time, with a weekend-long showcase opening on Saturday. Perhaps Hunnit Dollars, as it’s called, will explore the liminal zone between Camp Winnarainbow and the trap house. Jenkins’ Instagram is conspicuously absent of works-in-progress shots, unless that picture of Frida Kahlo’s eyebrows augmented with weed counts as one. At any rate, Lil B is the special guest.— Sam Lefebvre Sat., Aug. 29, 7 p.m. $10. GoodMotherGallery.com
Tacos and Tea Popup
Why settle for a mere popup when you can opt for a popup within a popup? That’s what customers will find this Friday at the wine bar and bottle shop Ordinaire, where Oscar Michel, the proprietor of the popup Tacos Oscar will serve up his signature dish: tacos made with freshly griddled tortillas that Michel hand-presses to order. Meanwhile, the proprietors of the Oakland-based tea company Steep Tea Co. will be on hand to serve two kinds of iced tea agua fresca — hibiscus guava and roasted mate horchata. As for the tacos, as of this printing Michel is still finalizing his menu, but his tentative plan is to serve braised lamb tacos (priced in the ballpark of $4 each) and perhaps some kind of ceviche. And given that the popup will take place inside a wine shop, it should come as no surprise that plenty of wine will be on offer as well.— Luke Tsai
Fri., Aug. 28, 6 p.m. A la carte. OrdinaireWine.com
Nepantla Second Issue Release
Nepantla: A Journal Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color aims to create intentional space for QPOC narratives and art in America, celebrating multiplicity and continual reinvention. It will also celebrate the release of its second issue on Friday, August 28 at Berkeley City College with a reading co-presented by ZYZZYVA, featuring four of its associated poets. Among them are Jewelle Gomez, the author of seven books, including the Black lesbian vampire novel The Gilda Stories, and founding board member of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Yosimar Reyes, a gay, Mexican-born poet and activist whose work often addresses immigration issues; Arisa White, the author of the full-length poetry collections Hurrah’s Nest and A Penny Saved; and Marvin K. White, the author of four collections of poetry, board member of Fire & Ink, a national Black LGBT writer’s organization, and former member of the acclaimed Black gay theater group Pomo Afro Homos. Clearly, the lineup is glowing, and one too (unfortunately) rare to pass up.— Sarah Burke
Fri., Aug. 28, 7 p.m. Free. Facebook.com/Nepantla
Stan Ridgway
In the late Seventies, Stan Ridgway had a soundtrack production company across the street from The Masque, a fixture in the nascent Los Angeles punk scene. From the unlikely collision emerged Wall of Voodoo, a vessel of atmospheric terror, new wave instrumentation, and Ridgway’s noir themes that produced a substantial catalogue beyond its sole hit, “Mexican Radio.” Further, Ridgway’s post-Wall of Voodoo output is likewise rewarding: The Big Heat, his debut solo album from 1986, featured “Drive, She Said,” a cabbie’s first-person recollection of being happily forced to play getaway driver for a bank robber. Memorably, Ridgway collaborated with The Police’s Stewart Copeland on “Don’t Box Me In,” from the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola’s impeccably stylized Rumble Fish. The bleak portrait of fraternal camaraderie dovetails neatly with Ridgway’s haunted, cracked songs, which remain strong on his most recent album, Mr. Trouble. Ridgway performs at Freight & Salvage (2020 Addison St., Berkeley) on Friday.— Sam Lefebvre
Fri., Aug. 28, 8 p.m. $23, $25. TheFreight.org
Amélie, A New Musical
Through the eyes of its quirky protagonist, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s film Amélie cleverly captured the ways that even the most mundane details of day-to-day life can be made whimsical and wondrous with a little imagination. Though it was made fourteen years ago, Amélie has enjoyed enduring appeal and now makes its theatrical debut in the East Bay. Berkeley Repertory Theatre (2015 Addison St., Berkeley) kicks off its 2015–2016 season with the world premiere of Amélie, A New Musical. The play tells the story of Amélie, a sheltered young woman with an active imagination determined to do good deeds for others, however small. According to Berkeley Rep artistic director Tony Taccone, one of the challenges of bringing Jeunet’s film to the stage was conveying its highly stylized cinematography. Amélie, A New Musical is slated to be an audiovisual experience, with set design inspired by Renoir’s Parisian scenes, music by composer Daniel Messé of the band Hem, and a script adaptation by Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Craig Lucas.— Nastia Voynovskaya
Aug. 28-Oct. 4 $29-$97. BerkeleyRep.org
If your pockets are feelin’ light and you’re still yearning for more suggestions, we’ve got a ton, and these ones are all FREE!We’re Hungry: Got any East Bay news, events, video, or miscellany we should know about? Feed us at [email protected].
