Friday, June 15, 2012
Weekender: This Weekend's Top Five Events
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 6:37 AM
Happy belated National Bourbon Day! God bless America!!
Father's Day at Lake Chalet
Dad, meet crawdad: To celebrate Father's Day on Sunday, June 17, Lake Chalet (1520 Lakeside Dr., Oakland) is hosting its first-ever all-you-can-eat Louisiana-style Crawfish Boil. Think pink and get cracking as crawfish, potatoes, corn, vegetables, bread, and more will be served outdoors on the restaurant's private dock to the tune of live Cajun and zydeco music. Lake Merritt pinch-hits for the bayou. 3 p.m., $35 (reservations required). 510-208-5253 or DadsLakeChaletCrawfishBoil.Eventbrite.com — Anneli Rufus
Quickly, for the uninitiated: Bloomsday falls every year on June 16, the day in which the entirety of the action in James Joyce's epic novel Ulysses takes place. It's also probably the largest worldwide gathering of nerds other than Comic-Con, with former English majors everywhere gathering to celebrate the Irish author and his most famous creation, the character of Leopold Bloom. Locally, all the action's at Mrs. Dalloway's (2904 College Ave., Berkeley), where literary types including Thomas Lynch, George Davis, and Marion Abbott will read from the book's fifth chapter. There will be Guinness and Irish soda bread on hand; feel free to BYO potato (and if you got that reference, you should definitely be there). 1 p.m., free. 510-704-8222 or MrsDalloways.com — Ellen Cushing
Bay Area Derby Girls "Coastal Clash" Doubleheader
Whichever of the four Bay Area Derby Girls teams you favor — the Richmond Wrecking Belles, the Berkeley Resistance, the San Francisco ShEvil Dead, or the Oakland Outlaws — you can catch them all at the league's final double header of the season on Saturday, June 16. The contest pits Berkeley against Richmond and Oakland against San Francisco — and determines which roller derby team will face off against the undefeated ShEvil Dead in a fierce championship bout on Saturday, Aug. 4. At the Craneway Pavilion (1414 Harbour Way South, Richmond). 6 p.m.; $17-$35, kids under 5 free. 510-215-6000 or BayAreaDerbyGirls.com — Cassie McFadden
If Top Dawg Entertainment is becoming a minor hip-hop empire, the members of Black Hippy are its royalty. Kendrick Lamar is the wise young emperor, Jay Rock is a sinister general-at-arms, and Schoolboy Q is the deceptively powerful jester. Rapper Ab Soul's role may be a little less clear, but he nonetheless has a crucial role to play. Sometimes stunting like rowdy nobility, sometimes like a mysterious auger, Ab Soul embodies the TDE spirit, both headstrong and wise beyond his years. From his weed-smoke reveries to rapping the number of milliseconds in a year, Ab Soul is both adventurous and traditional. Last year's mixtape Long Term: Mentality was a proper debut, and with Control System, the long-haired Los Angeles emcee is finally enjoying his time to shine. Who knows if the whole crew will be in attendance on Sunday, but the bill promises very special guests. At the New Parish (579 18th St., Oakland) on Sunday, June 17 at 8 p.m., $18-$28, TheNewParish.com — Will Butler
Richmond Junetenth Festival
George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic will disembark from their mothership this Saturday afternoon in Richmond to serve up a set of fantasy-filled funk, including such classics "Flash Light," "One Nation Under a Groove," "Aqua Boogie," "(Not Just) Knee Deep," and "Atomic Dog." The legendary band is headlining the city of Richmond's most ambitious celebration ever of Juneteenth, an African American tradition that commemorates the date in 1865 when slaves in Texas belatedly learned of their emancipation. The free outdoor event also features performances by the Original Kingdom Travelers, Roy McCoy and the Luther Vandross Tribute Band, Michael Nelson, Robin Williams and the Praise Choir, the Unity Mime Dancers, the Originalz, and 2006 "Showtime at the Apollo" contestant Nicole "But-tah" Pearson. It happens Saturday, June 16, 11:30 a.m.- 6 p.m., at Nicholl Park (33rd and MacDonald Ave., Richmond). RichmondCAJuneteenth.org — Lee Hildebrand
Plus...
This looks really fun.
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Feed Us: Got any East Bay news, events, video, or miscellany we should know about? Holler at us at Ellen.Cushing@EastBayExpress.com.
