Arts & Culture :: Music

Emily Armstrong of Dead Sara: alive and kicking, and on tour

Emily Armstrong of Dead Sara: alive and kicking, and on tour

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Aug 2, 2022

Hard rocking L.A.-based band Dead Sara has been at it for 20 years, with queer lead singer Emily Armstrong bringing powerhouse vocals to a new album and concert tour after a six-year gap.

Queer & local faves at Outside Lands

Queer & local faves at Outside Lands

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Aug 2, 2022

Whether you're a total music fan or just curious, some of the musicians performing at this year's Outside Lands three-day music festival this weekend bring their grooves with style and pizzazz. Here are a few queer and/or local favorites.

Clips, quips and acid trips: Seth Rudetsky roasts TV variety shows at Feinstein's at the Nikko

Clips, quips and acid trips: Seth Rudetsky roasts TV variety shows at Feinstein's at the Nikko

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jul 26, 2022

Seth Rudetsky returns to Feinstein's at the Nikko on August 4 and 5 with "Seth's Big Fat '70s Variety Show" an evening that takes him back to some of his deepest roots.

Q-music: Queers in your ears; new and re-released music

Q-music: Queers in your ears; new and re-released music

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Jul 26, 2022

Enjoy diverse new sounds from LGBT artists Lucy Dacus, Michael Mayo, Marianne Faithfull (reading poems set to music), Dave Koz, Emily Wolfe, Annie Keating, and a concert album re-release by the late Laura Nyro.

Roll on, Beethoven: Yannick Nezet-Seguin tackles The Nine

Roll on, Beethoven: Yannick Nezet-Seguin tackles The Nine

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Jul 26, 2022

The release of the "Beethoven Symphonies," all nine of them, with Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, makes for new essential recordings of time-honored classics.

SF Gay Men's Chorus' 44 years: touching timeline traces nearly half a century

SF Gay Men's Chorus' 44 years: touching timeline traces nearly half a century

  • by Jim Provenzano
  • Jul 18, 2022

The history of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus gets a new update from historian Tom Burtch with a 48-minute collection of video and audio clips, news clipping and poster montages, and commentary.

Q-Music: Taking cover

Q-Music: Taking cover

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Jul 12, 2022

One of the great delights of listening to music is hearing the way a singer interprets a song written by someone else, as done in new albums by Colin Hay, Jennifer Nettles, Rebecca Angel and Los Lobos.

Q-Music: Wonder women

Q-Music: Wonder women

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Jul 5, 2022

Listen up for new music from Eleri Ward, Sharon Van Etten, Suki Waterhouse and Chelsea Jade, and a compilation of The Cranberries best songs.

A 'Stranger' here myself: two Nicks produce a boundary-moving CD

A 'Stranger' here myself: two Nicks produce a boundary-moving CD

  • by Tim Pfaff
  • Jul 5, 2022

Two American musicians nicknamed Nick —tenor Nicholas Phan and composer Nico Muhly— found a side-door through the pandemic that was deadly down-time for most of their fellow performing artists.

'La Belle et la Bête' — Opera Parallèle merges Philip Glass score with Cocteau's classic film

'La Belle et la Bête' — Opera Parallèle merges Philip Glass score with Cocteau's classic film

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jul 5, 2022

The curtain rises on one of San Francisco's most exciting arts events of the year next week as Opera Parallèle presents the world premiere of its innovative take on "La Belle et La Bête" (Beauty and the Beast), combining live music and film.

Randy Rainbow's 'Playing With Myself'

Randy Rainbow's 'Playing With Myself'

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Jul 5, 2022

Randy Rainbow, comedian and singer, best known for his YouTube video spoof interviews and parodies of right-wing political figures that have become viral social media sensations with millions of views, now tells all in his new memoir.

The persistence of Pansy Division: Jon Ginoli on the queer band's longevity

The persistence of Pansy Division: Jon Ginoli on the queer band's longevity

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Jun 28, 2022

With seven studio albums under its belt as well as a handful of singles and compilations, Pansy Division springs eternal. The band is playing some upcoming live shows, including the Mosswood Meltdown on July 2.

Q-Music: Box of ABBA

Q-Music: Box of ABBA

  • by Gregg Shapiro
  • Jun 28, 2022

Even though ABBA has been celebrated via numerous compilations, the 10-disc "ABBA: Album Box Set" is the first of its kind domestic product. Get spinning, dancing queens.

Hell, yes! surprising salvation in 'Hadestown' at the Orpheum

Hell, yes! surprising salvation in 'Hadestown' at the Orpheum

  • by Jim Gladstone
  • Jun 21, 2022

At a time when every day's headlines feature collapse, corruption, war and plague, "Hadestown" works like an angel in devil drag. Its sultry come-on promises to lick you with flame, then anoints you with balm of Gilead.