New art show looks at raves

Raves — they’re not just about body paint and glowsticks. In some parts of the world, raves can be an important expression of social belonging and resistance, a fact that’s celebrated in a multisensory special exhibit at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum.

“Rave into the Future: Art in Motion” examines the dance-and-music culture of the West Asian diaspora, featuring women and queer artists familiar with the scene who hail from the U.S. and Europe. From robot vacuum cleaners doing ballet on glitter to a literally body-shaking demonstration of subwoofers, the heart of the exhibit is the music, and how it serves to bind keep communities together.

A sculpture from Oakland’s Sahar Khoury includes a functional DJ deck, which is commandeered by local and traveling DJs throughout the exhibit’s run. Yasmine Nasser Diaz, an artist from Los Angeles, has built an intimate bedroom complete with furniture and a 1990s-era TV playing protest footage; dance performances will periodically take over the space. There’s also a copper-plated dance floor by London musician and artist Joe Namy, and a 20-foot-tall radio tower (of sorts) made by a pair of local artists paying tribute to the popular Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum.

For extra fun, on Sunday the exhibit will shut down for a few hours to stage a free “Baby Rave” with a DJ whose music explores Chinese-Cuban heritage. Bring your tots and see if they’re ready to take on the dance floor.

Details: Through Jan. 26; hours are 1- 8 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Monday; 200 Larkin St., San Francisco; $20 adult admission (plus $5 for the special exhibit), asianart.org.

— John Metcalfe, Staff

Revered Mexican rockers head to Bay Area

Mana is setting up shop at SAP Center for two nights.

The legendary Mexican pop-rock band, led by vocalist Fher Olvera and featuring bassist Juan Calleros, drummer Alex González and guitarist Sergio Vallín, is set to perform Friday and Saturday at the home of the San Jose Sharks in downtown San Jose.

Having formed in 1981 in Guadalajara — initially performing under the moniker Sombrero Verde before changing its name to Mana — the band found massive success in the early ’90s with the release of “¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños?” The record sold more than 10 million copies around the world and still ranks among the biggest selling Spanish-language albums of all time.

Mana has continued to have much success over the decades — amassing global record sales of over 45 million and collecting up several cabinets’ worth of trophies, including four Grammy Awards, eight Latin Grammy Awards, 19 Billboard Latin Music Awards and 15 Premios Lo Nuestro awards.

This year, Maná became the first Spanish-language rock group to ever be nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They didn’t end up making the final cut, but hopefully their enshrinement will happen sometime in the years to come.

Details: Showtime is 8:30 p.m. for both shows; tickets start at $49; ticketmaster.com.

— Jim Harrington, Staff

The film fest we need right now

If those hummable, inescapable Christmas tunes are earworming their way right through your brain and even driving you a little batty, perhaps it’s time to chill out at the 22nd annual Another Hole in the Head film fest. Dedicated to the freaky and fantastical, this Bay Area treat running Dec. 5-18 offers a respite from the swirl of sugar-caned madness.

In addition to 16mm screenings of genre gems such as 1931’s “Frankenstein” and 1979’s “Amityville Horror” (both Dec. 11), and the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger bloodbath “Conan the Barbarian” (Dec. 13) — spruced up with a live “re-score” — and even “Escape From New York” (Dec. 17), there are new offerings that aspire to attain future cult status.

We highly recommend screenwriter/director Tim Connery’s polished Midwest-set “The Driftless” (6:30 p.m. Monday), essentially a quartet of terror-laced tales that get told to customers at an out-of-the-way antique shop owned by one very odd fella. Each story works; my fave is about an alcoholic country singer bingeing on a bad bottle of spirits. Connery, who will be attending, is a natural-born and gifted storyteller and director.

In director Remington Smith’s aptly titled and enjoyable “LandLord” (8 p.m. Sunday), a vampire landlord sucks dry his renters at a scrappy apartment complex dry (insert metaphor here) while a bounty hunter has her eye on someone dwelling there.

Details: Screenings at San Francisco’s Balboa Theatre; a streaming version of the festival will be available through Dec. 31; most screenings cost $17; on-demand films are $10; holehead2025.eventive.org/

— Randy Myers, correspondent

Tommy D brings the laughs to P-town

Though Thanksgiving has come and gone, the arrival of top-flight comedian Tommy Davidson in the East Bay this week reminds us to be thankful for the impactful 1990s comedy “In Living Color.” Known primarily as a vehicle for the Wayans brothers and other emerging African American comedians and entertainers, “Living Color” helped bring a stunning array of performers into the mainstream, including Davidson, Jamie Foxx, David Alan Grier and T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh, not to mention Jim Carrey, “Fly Girls” Jennifer Lopez and Carrie Ann Inaba, and Rosie Perez (who was a choreographer for the show).

Although Davidson went on to a myriad TV and film roles and appearances, he has never strayed too far from the standup comedy world. That has been his best gig since he started his career as a buzz-generating comedian in Washington, D.C., and opening act for such entertainers as Patti LaBelle, Kenny G and Luther Vandross. Then he killed it at an comedy competition at the famed Apollo Theatre in 1987 and went on to impress such talents as Martin Lawrence and Robert Townsend.

Davidson is currently on a another standup comedy tour and comes to Tommy T’s in Pleasanton for a weekend set.

Details: 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday; $30-$55; tommyts.com.

— Randy McMullen, Staff

Stream these: ‘Reckoning,’ The Abandons,’ ‘Spartacus’

You can catch a blockbuster film and two series on streaming sites this week. Here’s a rundown.

“The Final Reckoning”: The latest “Mission: Impossible” film “begins streaming on Paramount+ today. The Tom Cruise adventure, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, concludes the chapter begun with 2023’s “Dead Reckoning Part One.” It received mixed to generally positive reviews and grossed $598.8 million worldwide. McQuarrie, meanwhile, says further “M:I” installments are definitely possible.

“The Abandons”: The new American Western series comes to Netflix with women at the center of its story. Taking place in the 1850s, Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey star as two widowed women who are the heads of their household and who are fighting over land. Kurt Sutter, who created “Sons of Anarchy,” is behind this one. Nick Robinson and Aisling Franciosi also star. It debuts on Netflix today.

“Spartacus: House of Ashur”: The new Starz series debuts Friday, with Nick E. Tarabay reprising his role as Ashur from “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” and “Spartacus: Vengeance.” The new series explores what may have happened if the character had survived the events of “Vengeance.” Tenika Davis stars as a female gladiator.

— Associated Press