Looking for things to do in the Bay Area this weekend? The Do List has you covered with concerts, festivals, exhibitions, plays, performances and more.
You can listen to this week’s episode with KQED’s Gabe Meline, Grace Cheung, Pendarvis Harshaw and Nastia Voynovskaya above, or read about our picks below.
Richard Thompson: We start our picks this week with a guy who only has 10 fingers—but plays guitar like he’s got 20. If you’ve never been to one of Richard Thompson’s shows, we can’t recommend it enough—he’s smart, funny, and a master storyteller with his between-song patter. “1952 Black Vincent Lightning” belongs in the Library of Congress as one of the all-time great love songs, and he even usually does a segment in his shows called “1,000 Years of Popular Music,” where he plays songs, yes, stretching back a thousand years. Richard Thompson plays Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Fillmore in San Francisco, and the next night, Nov. 8, at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz. Details here.
Immi/Tartine Pop-Up Dinner: This Sunday, local institution Tartine Manufactory teams up with a pop-up called Immi (short for immigrant) for a special dinner collaboration. The founders of Immi bring foods they remember from their childhood to the table, with influences from their experience in professional kitchens like State Bird Provisions—they’ve done a rice pilaf dish, for example, that was inspired by a family recipe, but with a modern twist. At this next pop-up, based on hints from social media, it looks like scallion pancakes, long life noodles and Tartine country bread panzanella with an Immi stir fry are all hints of what’s to come. That’s Sunday, Nov. 10, at Tartine Manufactory. Details here.
Oakland Game Fest ’19: Have you ever wanted to test your gaming prowess against E-40? At Oakland Game Fest ’19, select attendees will get the change to play video games against a who’s-who of local stars, including E-40, Mistah FAB, Ryan Nicole, Just Blaze and more. In addition to squaring off against a bunch of young folks in a video game battle royale, they’ll speak on panels and discuss shared wisdom between the rap hustle and the game developer hustle. Happening during AfroTech, it’s a way to “give the conference-goers and travelers an authentic Oakland experience while they’re in town,” says its founder Charlese Banks. That’s on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Esports Arena in Oakland. Details here.