Hi friends,
The calendar flips to October and Santa Cruz gets serious. This month there are separate festivals going on in the name of indie film, dreams, comedy, art and monsters. What other small town has that kind of ambition and vision? Now comes our part. Let’s make sure these events get audiences.
Now, on with the show.
THIS JUST IN
Lotsa news on the entertainment front: Singer-songwriter Ariel Pink is due at Felton Music Hall on Nov. 2. Blues guitarist Ana Popovic plays a big show at the Rio on Dec. 3. Veteran old-line rocker Jonathan Richman visits The Crepe Place on Dec. 10. Longtime Santa Cruz journalist-turned-novelist Peggy Townsend comes to Bookshop Santa Cruz to talk about her new book Nov. 18. The great Santa Cruz poet Ellen Bass headlines the Morton Marcus Poetry Reading at UCSC on Nov. 20. The magnificent Cajun band BeauSoleil with its leader, Michael Doucet, is at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on Feb. 27. Felton Music Hall hosts a John Prine-themed Christmas show Dec. 19. And pioneering podcaster Jesse Thorn celebrates 25 years of “Bullseye” with a special Kuumbwa show Nov. 1.
Be sure to check out Lookout’s carefully curated and constantly updated planning guide, Down the Line, for the staggering riches and amazing choices awaiting Santa Cruz audiences. It’s our look ahead at the best shows, concerts and events through the rest of the year at clubs, stages and venues all over the county.
SCFF lands with a ‘spl*sh’
The Santa Cruz Film Festival is poised to return after a three-year hiatus. And, well … this is the way to get attention. The festival’s opening night film, on Wednesday, Oct. 8, is an award-winning dark comedy with a title that in most outlets is being presented as “F*cktoys,” (though the film’s official poster isn’t so coy).
“F*cktoys” is an old-fashioned auteur film, in that it is mostly the product of one artist. It was written and directed by Annapurna Sriram, who also stars in the film, a kind of surrealist satire that touches on everything from spirituality to late-stage capitalism. Sriram plays a nameless dominatrix/sex worker who’s the victim of a tarot curse, and her efforts to lift the curse involve the sacrifice of a lamb and a dark journey through the film’s bizarre setting, Trashtown.
Sriram points to fabled aesthetic outlaws such as John Waters and Jim Jarmusch as inspirations for the script. The film also comes from a pronounced queer perspective, and its confrontational title is all part of its outsider mystique. The film’s press materials call it a “rude, crude, unhinged, girlypop middle finger to filmic convention.”
Sriram will be on hand after the opening night screening for Q&A, which should be anything but boring and conservative. The film screens next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the beautiful Del Mar in downtown Santa Cruz, after which is a big opening night party at the Museum of Art & History. (“F*cktoys” screens again the following night, Oct. 9, up the street at the Santa Cruz Cinema).
If this trippy gonzo comedy is setting the tone for the rest of the festival, fans of indie film are in for a romp. From experimental shorts to dramatic features to Santa Cruz-centric films featuring legendary graphic artist Jim Phillips and the dynamic duo of performance artists Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, SCFF is coming in robust.
First Friday fireworks
It’s First Friday time again, and this time, there’s a lot of intriguing things going on around town. Here are some particular highlights.
An event known as “The Big Work” throws a spotlight on the Wallace family of Carmel, writers and artists of 20th-century California art that promises some real insights about the development of the California aesthetic through the work of illustrator and journalist Grant Wallace and his two children, Kevin Wallace and Moira Wallace, both of whom were prominent figures in California art in the 1920s and ’30s. The Wallaces’ work is on display at Lumber & Pixel Co. design studio in the Old Wrigley Building in Santa Cruz.
Closer to downtown, the Felix Kulpa Gallery is showcasing the work of sculptor Judson King Smith, who pays artistic homage to the power of decay — something we know all too intimately about in America these days. Smith’s sculptures of everything from industrial remnants to bones (!) are on display at the Kulpa through Nov. 22.
And, at M.K. Contemporary Art on Front Street, there’s always something fun and seductive going on. This month, M.K. presents “Whim & Wonder,” unexpected little jewels from a wide variety of talented local artists including Will Marino, Pamela Mooney, Dag Weiser and several others.
Or, choose your own artistic journey at the county’s famous monthly artistic deep dive, taking place Friday afternoon from about 4 to 8 p.m. in various sites around the county.
It’s all about getting us all geeked up for Open Studios, debuting this weekend.
CHECK THIS OUT
Best 9: Top events for the week ahead in Santa Cruz County arts & entertainment, Oct. 2-9
THIS WEEK IN A&E
From East Cliff to Eagles: Coffee Conspiracy serves backstage for big-name acts like Billie Eilish, Metallica
Santa Cruz coffee entrepreneur Eddie Alaniz turned his pandemic-born business, Coffee Conspiracy Co., from a small East Cliff Drive cart into a backstage staple for some of the world’s biggest touring acts, thanks to persistence, lucky breaks and a Santa Cruz connection with Live Nation.
The Maestro: How conductor Daniel Stewart left New York’s Metropolitan Opera to reshape the Santa Cruz Symphony
The Santa Cruz Symphony opens its 68th season this weekend, one shaped by the vision of former Metropolitan Opera conductor Daniel Stewart, who has leveraged his international connections and artistic vision to turn the regional symphony into a world-class orchestra.
Harvest Festival returns Saturday to downtown Santa Cruz
Seasonal produce, live music, carnival games, food vendors and a petting zoo will all be part of the second annual Downtown Santa Cruz Harvest Festival, happening Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. on Church Street between Cedar Street and Center Street.
Santa Cruz Public Libraries to feature documentary, Orwell’s ‘1984’ in Banned Books Week events Oct. 5-11
Santa Cruz Public Libraries is recognizing Banned Books Week in October with a documentary screening and a focus on “1984,” George Orwell’s iconic dystopian novel of government censorship.
Tech prophet Jaron Lanier, now a Santa Cruz local, returns to a primary passion – music
Jaron Lanier is known for both his accomplishments in high tech and his criticisms of its effects. But he also maintained a rigorous career as a musician. Back in Santa Cruz, he’s returning to his musical roots with a show at Kuumbwa and a new […]
MCT’s ‘The Addams Family’ delivers delightful campy charm
With a cast brimming with energy and just the right dose of spooky camp and darkly funny charm, “The Addams Family” delivers a delightfully offbeat night at the theater. From Gomez’s irresistible appeal to Wednesday’s drop-dead performance, Mountain Community Theater brings the mix of gothic […]
That’s all I got, friends. Come at me with comments, ideas, complaints or thundering insights. Thanks to all Lookout members for your faith and support, and please, spread the word on what we’re doing.