Around Berkeley
➤ Kick off your summer by going to the Community Carnival and Picnic, which features a petting zoo, climbing wall, obstacle course, bounce house, sports zone, and plenty of free food — burgers, hot dogs, cotton candy, shaved ice and more. Thursday, June 29, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. San Pablo Park. FREE
➤ Celebrate Pride on the Plaza, which features music, local vendors, performances by many drag artists including Amoura Teese (Miss Gay Pride 2019) and Helixir Jynder Bentwell (Winner of the 2022 San Francisco Drag King Contest). The event, hosted by the Downtown Berkeley Association, is open to all ages.Thursday, June 29, 4-6 p.m. Downtown Berkeley Plaza. FREE
➤ An eclectic Back Room quadruple bill presents guitarist and singer/songwriter Danny Paul Grody (best known for his work in the Bay Area band Tarentel and The Drift) joined by Rich Douthit on drums and percussion, the concert debut of Skyminds, a heretofore studio duo project by Michael Henning and Sean Conrad, guitarist Eli Winter, and Beaunoise (aka Beau Sorenson), a producer, audio engineer, and electronic musician known for his work on the Buchla modular synthesizer. Thursday, June 29, 7:30 p.m. $10-$18
➤ English singer-songwriter Louis Tomlinson, who rose to fame as a member of One Direction, will be performing at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre as part of this Faith in the Future world tour. Thursday, June 29, 7 p.m. $50-$70
➤ South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini has released two startlingly powerful albums on Blue Note, extending a spiritual jazz tradition that runs from John Coltrane through Abdullah Ibrahim and Makhathini’s mentor Bheki Mseleku. He’s an international force introducing himself to East Bay audiences with a quartet featuring Johannesburg-born, New Haven-raised bassist Zwelakhe Duma Bell ale Pere, Cuban drummer Francisco Mela, and California-born tenor saxophonist Aaron Burnett. Thursday, June 29, 8 p.m. Freight & Salvage. $24-$28
➤ Featuring Julian on drums, Steve on bass and Colin on electric piano and accordion, the Hogan Brothers are practically a Bay Area institution with musical connections encompassing some of the deepest funk, R&B, and jazz on the scene. Their last-Friday-of-the-month residency anchors Jupiter’s calendar with a heavy dose of soul. Friday, June 30, 7-10 p.m. FREE
➤ BAMPFA is showing avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger’s Magick Lantern Cycles over the course of two days. Anger, who spent much of his life in the Bay Area and was known for his work merging surrealism and homoeroticism, died in May. Friday, June 30, 7 and 9 p.m. $5-$14
➤ Ira Marlowe, the presiding primate at the Monkey House and a poetic songwriter with a pleasing delivery, presents “Angels, Devils and Drunks: A Song Cycle of Darkness, Light and Lite Beer,” offering an evening of sudsy confessions at one of Berkeley’s best semi-kept secrets. Friday, June 30, 7:30 p.m. $10-$40
➤ Movies in the Park has made its return to Berkeley’s parks this summer, so bring a blanket or a beach chair and enjoy a night of family-friendly movies under the stars. This week’s offering is Minions: The Rise of Gru. Friday, June 30, 8:40 p.m. Strawberry Creek Park. FREE
➤ La Peña is hosting Tianguis, an outdoor community block party celebrating Bay Area artists and vendors. Saturday, July 1, 12-6 p.m. La Peña Cultural Center. FREE
➤ The East Bay indie rockers Felsen, a band spearheaded by prolific drummer Andrew Griffin, make a return appearance at Covenant Winery as part of the kosher vintner’s summer outdoor music series. Sunday, July 2, 2-5 p.m. $20
➤Work on murals at a Painting Party hosted by People’s Park activists. Wear clothes you don’t mind getting paint on. Saturday, July 1, 11 a.m. People’s Park.
➤ Actors Ensemble of Berkeley will perform “A Room with a View” at the John Hinkel Park Amphitheatre. The show opens on July 1 and will run on the weekends until July 16, plus a special performance on July 4. (Look for our review next week.)
➤At BAMPFA, ODC choreographer KT Nelson presents when the landscape falls away, a 60-minute program of dances inspired by the avian world by nine choreographers with music by Ben Juodvalkis. Sunday, July 2, 1 p.m. & 4 p.m. Included with $14 gallery admission
➤ Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth, a four-time Grammy nominee, will be performing at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre. Thursday, July 6, 7:30 p.m. $50-$130
➤ Photographer Orin Rutchick’s exhibit Botanicals; Weavings & Mosaics, which relies on a cyanotype process invented in 1842 and widely used to make architectural blueprints, is on view at the Berkeley City Club Loggia through July 6.
Beyond Berkeley
➤ Berkeley-born composer Gabriela Lena Frank’s first opera, “El último sueño de Frida y Diego” (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego), will run through Friday, June 30, at the San Francisco Opera. $26-$464
➤ For the next three Saturdays, the marina lawn near Heinold’s: First and Last Chance Saloon at Jack London Square in Oakland will transform into an outdoor movie theater. Bring a blanket, your favorite food, drinks, and a sweater and catch one (or all) of the movies that will be showing: Finding Dory (July 1), Back to the Future (July 8), and Minions: The Rise of Gru (July 15). Saturday, July 1, 8, and 15, at dusk, Jack London Square in Oakland, at the ferry lawn, 472 Water St. FREE
➤ The Oakland Black Pride Festival is meant for Black members of the LGBTQ+ community and will include a series of seven events, including workshops on grief and loss, a benefit dinner at Forage Kitchen, queer kickball tournament, and more. June 28 to July 2.
If there’s an event you’d like us to consider for this roundup, email us at the-scene@berkeleyside.org. If there’s an event that you’d like to promote on our calendar, you can use the self-submission form on our events page.
The Oaklandside’s Arts and Community reporter Azucena Rasilla contributed reporting to this story.
