Friday, September 20, 2013
Weekender: This Weekend's Top Five Events
Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 9:43 AM
Hey East Bay, time to celebrate the first official weekend of the fall! Here's our round-up of five awesome things to do with yourself this Friday to Sunday:
25th Street Block Party
The Art Beat Foundation and Mission Creek Oakland (in collaboration with the Express) are teaming up to celebrate the East Bay’s growing music scene with an afternoon of free live music. Head over to the 25th Street Collective to hear a diverse lineup of bands, including VIR, a local post-punk noise-pop trio; Yip Deceiver, an all-analog synth-pop duo and self-described “antidote to the laptop jockeys” from Athens, Georgia that’s about to release its first full-length album; San Francisco-based Super Natural, an urban folk-rock band; Playboy School, an electronic rock duo from Los Angeles; and Oakland’s own Waiting Room, an indie-rock three piece. There will also be DJs, food trucks, and other galleries open on the block. Saturday, Sept. 21. 1 p.m., free. 25thStreetCollective.com — Madeleine Key
Mission Creek Oakland presents: El Elle
In the mid- to late-Aughts, Oakland electro-pop outfit The Lovemakers seemed to be on the verge of mainstream success. Instead, the band broke up in 2009. That might have been considered a tragedy, except that, since then, Lovemakers co-founder Lisa Light has taken a freer approach to her music. With El Elle, she crafts sexy dance music in a similar vein to that of the Lovemakers, but this time around, it’s with “joy,” she said in an interview two years ago with the Express. Live, El Elle’s performances pulse with feeling, as two choreographed dancers add to the music’s sensual, experimental appeal. See her as part of the Mission Creek Oakland festival, with Gold Chains, Everyone Is Dirty, and ssssnake, at The Night Light. Saturday, Sept. 21. 9 p.m., $7. TheNightLightOakland.com — Kathleen Richards
Yoga Potluck
Attention all downward dogs: The US Department of Health and Human Services has declared September National Yoga Month. Bring a dish to share with flexibly like-minded folks as Adeline Yoga Studio celebrates this annual observation with a community potluck and film screening. All are welcome to join the potluck; bring your own plate and utensils if possible. Stay after dinner to watch Sita Sings the Blues, Nina Paley’s poignantly funny full-length animated feature detailing the Hindu epic known as the Ramayana. Saturday, Sept. 21. 6 p.m., free. AdelineYogaStudio.com — Anneli Rufus
Eat, Pray, Lulav: Sukkot Harvest Festival
Celebrate the Jewish agricultural holiday at educational farm and community center Urban Adamah this Sunday. Attendees are invited to shake the lulav, which involves combining palm, myrtle, and willow branches and then shaking them in particular directions as a means of inviting positive cosmic energy. Aiming to connect the modern and the ancient during their harvest festival, the farm has also planned more contemporary activities including making cheese out of milk from the farm's goats, pickling cucumbers, and grinding wheat berries into flour for pizza. Festivalgoers can also take tours of the farm, meet the animals, and enjoy live music from Ryk Groetchen, the East Bay Community Music Project, and Octopretzel. Sunday, Sept. 22. 1 p.m., $8 for youth, $18 for adults, $45 for families with two or more children. UrbanAdamah.org — Zaineb Mohammed
Bark & Meow Around the Block
Fido and Mittens will reign supreme this weekend at Bark & Meow Around the Block. The Berkeley Humane Society, which previously hosted the popular dog walk and fundraiser Bay to Barkers, is holding the block party for pets and their owners on Ninth and Carleton streets in West Berkeley. Attendees can listen to funk and blues music supplied by the Tribal Blues band, sip wine and locally brewed beer, and engage in pet- and family-friendly activities. For those needing to fill the void at the end of their bed, animal rescue organizations the Milo Foundation and NorSled will also be onsite to facilitate adoptions. And if you need any further convincing that this event will be a good time, we have three words for you: doggie dance party. Sunday, Sept. 22. 12-4 p.m., free. — Z.M.
Plus... Get your cheapskate on: This is how much we love you guys: Here are our searchable listings of every single free event happening in the East Bay this weekend.
Feed Us: Got any East Bay news, events, video, or miscellany we should know about? Holler at us at Zaineb.Mohammed@EastBayExpress.com.
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