The Standard weekend guide to SF events & entertainment—Aug. 4-7

There’s no question about this weekend’s main event: Outside Lands returns to Golden Gate Park. You can find all our coverage of the three-day music and art festival here—including tips and tricks from our resident OSL veteran, a rundown of some of the most interesting artist TikTok accounts and a list, with embedded streams, of all the local artists you can see.

But the beauty of living in a city as vibrant as San Francisco is that OSL isn’t the only thing going on. Heck, there’s even a different outdoor concert going down at Stern Grove this Sunday.

Below you’ll find a number of events you can check out in place of—or in addition to—the big party in the park with Ranger Dave.

De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.
Through Aug. 7, 9:30 a.m.–5:15 p.m. | Free 

A few months before her sudden death in October 2021, the Oakland-based artist Hung Liu created a site-specific installation in the de Young Museum’s Wilsey Court. Golden Gate (金門) uses the subjects of archival photos to celebrate those who immigrated to California by both land and sea. Liu was trained as a Socialist Realist painter in Maoist China and she draws from her own immigrant story to shed light on many different communities who came to the Golden State. The installation is free to the public and on view until Aug. 7. (BF)

1540 Mission St.
Tue-Sat, 6 p.m. – 11 p.m. | Reservation Only

After a two-year closure, this SoMa staple reopened Wednesday in a new location. The bar’s debut weekend is your chance to try out its single-origin spirits focused menu. Sip on a range of whiskeys, gins, vermouths, agave spirits and the bar’s house line, which Agricole plans to take national later this year. The new space features a tasting room and a hand-cut ice bar, where bartenders are slinging everything from Agricole’s signature rhum punch to a “fruit cup” infused with Vigneron Armagnac with fresh ginger. An assortment of small bar bites, flatbreads, entrees and salads by chef Will Napoli and Bar Tartine alum Nick Balla round out the menu. (CJC)

Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St.
Aug. 5, 9 p.m. | $10

You may just want to test your blood sugar before heading to Bottom of the Hill for Fresno’s Fatty Cakes & the Puff Pastries. Fresh off a blistering daytime performance at Oakland’s Mosswood Meltdown last month, the group return to the Bay Area to serve up a slice of “posi-punk” grrrl gang perfection. Fatty Cakes prove that dismantling systems of oppression can be fun, with politically charged numbers like “Antifa Cakes.” (!!!) They’ll be joined by SF’s self-proclaimed “fuzzy slop rock trio” Buzzed Lightbeer. Oakland band Headvoice—who liken their sound to “Mazzy Star meets the Replacements”—round out the bill. (ZR)

351 Lasuen St., Frost Amphitheater, Stanford University
Aug. 5 & 6, 8 p.m. | $15+

SF Ballet, the city’s world-renouned dance troupe, pirouettes down the Peninsula to the recently revamped Frost Amphitheater on the picturesque campus of Stanford University. This starlit performance will feature three short ballets set to a mix of contemporary and classical music. 7 for Eight finds musical inspiration in J.S. Bach, Jerome Robbins’ In the Night moves to Chopin, and William Forsythe’s Blake Works I is set to the ethereal sonic soundscape of James Blake’s The Colour in Anything. (CJC)

250 Main St.
Various Times on Weekends | $22.65 – $33.72

It may be Fogust, but that does not mean that San Francisco’s outdoor movie screening season is anywhere near finished. In fact, there’s a new plen air cinema in town. Debuting this Friday, The Cut Outdoor Cinema—located at the Crossing in SoMa—will host two screenings per night on weekends. 

Things kick off with a pair of flicks set in San Francisco: the Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal screwball comedy, What’s Up, Doc?, and the eponymous biopic, Milk, based on the rise of former SF Supervisor Harvey Milk. Basic lounge seating offers a cozy blanket to keep you warm when Karl decides to descend and temperatures inevitably dip. But you can also purchase hand warmers or upgrade to premium bean bag seating with complimentary popcorn. They’re also offering hot cocoa, pour-over coffee and a bar for 21+ crowd, featuring a selection of canned cocktails, local beer and wine. Minions and Everything Everywhere All At Once screen on Saturday; The Sandlot and Do the Right Thing screen on Sunday. (CJC)

Japantown Peace Plaza, 1581 Webster St.
Aug. 6 & 7, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m | Free

For neighborhoods like Japantown, the pandemic dimmed the lively energy of storefronts, street vendors and restaurants. But, for the 48th year in a row, the Nihonmachi Street Fair will light up the city as bright as ever, making a comeback with their Summer of Love theme. There’s an area for everyone to enjoy: Doggie World, Asian Artisans and even a special Sounds of Thunder Car Show, all accompanied by hours of live music with new DJs every hour. (CE)

The Knockout | 3223 Mission St.
August 6 | 10 p.m.- 2 a.m. | $5

The Chulita Vinyl Club returns to the Knockout to spin cumbia, oldies, soul, funk and so much more—all on vinyl. This group of music-lovers consists of women, gender-non-conforming, non-binary, LGBTQ+ and self-identifying people of color that are passionate about creating a space for celebrating culture and community and having a good time through the power of music, specifically vinyl records. (XE)

3349 23rd St.
2 p.m. – 6 p.m. | $150 

There is just something about a bubbling vat of crawdads that stimulates the senses and soothes the soul. This Sunday, come out to Shuggie’s Trash Pie in the Mission for a decadently catered boil with all the beignets, boudin and oyster poboys you can eat. Libations will be provided by Natural Wine and limited-edition T-shirts will make the perfect keep-sake to remember this summer feast. (BF)

Sigmund Stern Recreational Grove
2 p.m. | Free with RSVP

The 2022 Stern Grove Festival is entering the home stretch. While Phil Lesh and Friends will be closing out this year’s run of shows at “The Big Picnic” next Sunday, blues guitar legend Taj Mahal and SF’s Monophonics are holding down the penultimate performance this weekend. In April, Mahal released his latest album, Get On Board—a guitar and harmonica-studded homage to Piedmont Blues greats in collaboration with decorated multi-instrumentalist and producer Ry Cooder. Monophonics will warm up the hometown crowd with their psych-leaning blue-eyed soul. Daly City’s DJ Shortkut is also in the mix. The show is free, but reservations are required. (AS)

The Independent, 628 Divisadero St.
10 p.m. | $35+

LA-based Korean-American DJ and producer Tokimonsta is one of the headliners at Outside Lands’ supercharged SOMA Tent on Saturday. If the sweaty festival crowd isn’t quite your vibe—or if you need a double dose of Tokimonsta’s breezy and emotional indie-tronica with hip-hop sensibilities—you can catch her late-night set on Sunday at The Independent. The stage name of Grammy-nominated Jennifer Lee, Tokimonsta weaves unique pop music tropes into her electronic productions, establishing an aesthetic that has never adhered to EDM trends and instead favors raw rhythmic emotions. (AS)