San Francisco Has [No] Culture
San Francisco Has [No] Culture
A hill I'm willing to die on
Two Truths and A Lie:
San Francisco has no culture
Your New York friends talk about access to culture more than they actually participate in
You like arts and culture; you just don’t always know where to start
We’ve all heard it. Honestly, we’ve all thought it.
San Francisco has no culture
But it’s a bold face lie.
If you’ve ever stumbled across my IG stories, you’ve seen museums, art fairs, performances, and pop ups galore that prove this city is vibrant and creative and more than the sum of its coders. And I know from the inbounds that a lot of you want to join in but aren’t sure how.
So I’ve kicked off this arts & culture newsletter to bring everyone along for the ride. While this first post is just SF, I’ll be including events from around the Bay (ok Oakland). Expect an email from me every ~10 days, alternating between Mondays and Thursdays, and kicking this off with a few upcoming events I think are worth exploring:
SF Ballet’s British Icons
Category: Performance (Ballet)
Date: Saturday, February 10th (this Sat)
Time Commitment: 2 hrs 5 min
Location: War Memorial Opera House
Price Range: Tickets starting at $39
Why I Care: This is one of Yuan Yuan Tan’s final performances with SF Ballet. Named the youngest principal dancer (aka top level soloist) in SF Ballet’s history back in 1997, Tan has been the face of the company for almost 30 years. Color me impressed if this were the average job, but for a ballerina, I need help picking my jaw up off the floor.
Her final performance is on Feb 14th, but as someone who had to crack a few skulls to find seats, I sadly have to confirm this final final performance is sold out. That is unless you want to find tickets with a 10x markup on StubHub.
Tan’s retirement is no joke.
Late Night @ de Young
Category: Party & Performance (Music)
Date: Thursday, April 4th @ 9pm
Time Commitment: Up to you (3 hour event)
Location: de Young Museum
Price Range: $150 (early bird tickets available now) - $195 (once early bird sells out)
Why I Care: Lots of reasons but let’s start with the headliner: Sudan Archives. I may have forced certain parties to make a day trip from LDN to Brighton, UK to see her back in June 2023 (photo below). She’s this wonderful combination of violinist, hip hop, electronic, and punk artist; and she’s performing right here in SF at the de Young!
Not sold on Sudan? The ticket includes an open bar, food, other pop-up shenanigans, and late night access to the entire museum, including the newly opened Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style exhibition. Should be a blast.
Feist: Multitudes Finale Tour
Category: Performance (Music)
Date: Tuesday, February 20th @ 8pm
Time Commitment: Up to you (~2-3 hours)
Location: The Fillmore
Price Range: $64 (original ticket price) - $90+ (resale)
Why I Care: I could give you 1,2,3,4 reasons why but let’s start with #1: My brother was blown away by this tour. It wasn’t the typical concert but instead something between a musical performance, an interactive play, and live art. I honestly hadn’t kept up with Feist’s new releases but considering the Guardian named it one of the best live shows of the year, jazzed to have snagged a ticket back in October.
TBD on if I’ll listen to the new album pre-show or just it experience for the first time live, so don’t stress about making sure you know the whole album inside and out before the show. And if the 20th doesn’t work for you, they added in a 2nd show for the 21st in case a Wed concert is more your jam.
That’s it for now, team. Got any hot events I should include? LMK. Feedback, comments, and questions all welcome and unsubscribe if this isn’t your jam.
Cheers to kickin it with culture in the bay.