48 Hills

A Detroit techno visionary soundtracks a German sci-fi classic (again) - 48 hills Jeff Mills performs his new, third score for Fritz Lang's dystopian 'Metropolis': 'I wish it weren't so relevant now'

Detroit techno wizard Jeff Mills took up 'Metropolis' in 2000s, releasing three completely separate scorings of the film.

He'll perform his latest iteration on Sat/7 at the Palace of Fine Arts ✏️ @supermarke.bsky.social

SF protests against war on Iran draw cries to "Send Barron' - 48 hills On Saturday and Monday, crowds gathered to demand an end to US intervention in the Middle East.

SEND BARRON

BIG WEEK: Women's Day, Barbara Ramos street photography, Lunar New Year parade, John Malkovich - 48 hills Plus: African Film Festival, BFF.FM Super Schmackdown, Indian Restaurant Week, 'Paranormal Activity'.

Spend your BIG WEEK leading up to Women's Day with legendary SF street photographer Barbara Ramos, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, John Malkovich at SF Symphony — and with the rest of our well-curated must-dos.

DA Brooke Jenkins attacks unions, says the city needs to be nicer to billionaires - 48 hills At conference for democrats who want to crush the left, Jenkins says the city is at a "reckoning" with local labor

DA Brooke Jenkins interrupted talk of labor agreements, saying that San Francisco is at a “reckoning point” with local unions and needs to be nicer to billionaires.

Noise Pop Diary: SML cooked at SFJAZZ—all sauce, no Butterss - 48 hills One key player was missing, but the LA-based future jazz outfit heated up Joe Henderson Lab just fine.

LA-based experimental jazz supergroup SML touched down at Joe Henderson Lab & performed 4 sold-out shows as part of this year's Noise Pop Music Festival in SF.
The Afrobeat-Krautrock, collective did not disappoint.
@intlanthem.bsky.social

✒️ @48hills.bsky.social
48hills.org/2026/03/nois...

Noise Pop Diary: Illuminati Hotties caped for BOTH, Orcut Shelley Miller thrilled the dudes - 48 hills Free show from tenderpunk faves erased the condos closing in; avant-rock trio took the beards on wild rides at GAMH.

"And there was Shelly, just smashing, and bashing with full gobsmacking joy, clocking and approximating his bandmates on just when to pull this seemingly runaway train into the station" — a review Orcut Shelley Miller at Noise Pop.

Noise Pop Diary: Sideswiped by TikTok fame, Julie Doiron had many more tales to tell - 48 hills 30-year-old 'August 10' soundtracks today's teen Reels, but the Canadian stalwart transcends viral splash with guitar chops.

When eighth graders say "this is what music should sound like": the surprising set of Julie Doiron at NoisePop.

When you eat broccolini, remember the farmworkers who harvest it for you - 48 hills Fresh produce is a great benefit of living in the Bay Area—but the workers in the fields are the ones who make it happen

Farmworkers are the ones who make your produce happen, reminds David Bacon.

Screen Grabs: Iranian films bring fable, black comedy, and social indictment - 48 hills Plus: New German cinema, African Film Festival, and Satyajit Ray’s 'Days and Nights in the Forest'.

It's an important moment for BAMPFA's Iranian film series to be hitting screens. Watch Dariush Mehrjui's 'The Postman', Bahram Beyzaie's 'Bashu, The Little Stranger', and more #ScreenGrabs

Noise Pop Diary: Shannon Shaw came sans Clams; SpongeBob's Tom Kenny rode Hi-Seas - 48 hills KQED Live set brought out a local garage rock legend's country side, while a beloved voice actor dove into classic soul.

"The most distinctive vocalist to emerge from the garage-rock world in the last 15 years" takes KQED Live, while Tom Kenny & the Hi-Seas’ Kilowatt show stood at the junction of cartooning and the music geekdom in this edition of our Noise Pop diary.

Inspired by Youtube thumbnails, L. Song Wu captures the internet's insatiability - 48 hills Her anime girls were being fetishized—so the painter turned to depicting mukbangs.

"Like much of contemporary life, mukbang and content creation at large often reflect a cycle of uninterrogated, Faustian growth,” said South Bay artist L. Song Wu.

Noise Pop Diary: SML cooked at SFJAZZ—all sauce, no Butterss - 48 hills One key player was missing, but the LA-based future jazz outfit heated up Joe Henderson Lab just fine.

"That high-wire balancing act unfolded for almost an hour before the 100 or so collapsible chair-seated attendees, who wouldn’t have changed their location for a thing," writes @padlife.bsky.social of SML's SFJAZZ turn at Noise Pop.

Why is Trump going to war with Iran? - 48 hills Plus: Finally, a supervisor calls out City Planning for ignoring affordable housing, and the next move toward a public bank. That's The Agenda for March 1-8

USF professor Stephen Zunes points out that US bombing of Iran may set back any efforts by the majority of the country's people who are against the current government:

“It’s hard to kick out their evil regime when bombs are falling on them.”

See a show for free at Lost Church in March - 48 hills Flamenco, comedy, variety, music: Catch something unique at the independent North Beach venue. But act fast.

One of our favorite intimate venues in North Beach, the Lost Church, is offering two tickets to the below February shows for lucky 48 Hills readers! [GIVEAWAY]

The real story behind Muni's budget deficit - 48 hills Instead of investing in public transit, City Hall has been looking for ways to privatize it

"To guarantee the service that citizens and workers expect from a city like San Francisco requires a committed vision of the future, one that centers Muni as the public good that it is," writes Ian Firstenberg.

YBCA's 'Conjuring Power' grounds hope for LGBTQ+ future in shared history - 48 hills Ester Hernández, Serge Gay Jr., Crystal Mason, Tanya Wischerath, and others carry on distinctly SF practice of world-building.

It's time to call upon the queer and trans ancestors — and the rising class of LGBTQ+ artists. The minds behind the new group exhibition at YBCA think so, at least.

Lurie plan would nearly eliminate the Department of the Environment - 48 hills Protesters say 80 percent cut would imperil Climate Action Plan

Despite a campaign pledge to “prioritize climate action not just in words, but in dollars and policy,” advocates say the mayor’s proposed budget would cripple implementation of San Francisco’s commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

Drama Masks: The Manhattanization of San Francisco stages - 48 hills Bilal Mahmood's proposal for a new arts district promises to be of little benefit to local creatives.

Bilal Mahmood's proposal for a "theatre arts district" makes it clear that he doesn't know much about SF's actual downtown stage scene #DramaMasks

What we saw at Sundance 2026: 9 narrative features that found the plot - 48 hills 'Buddy' taps horror in children's TV, Channing Tatum shines as SF father in Beth de Araújo's 'Josephine', a surprising wartime divorce comedy soars.

Sundance has made its name showcasing risk-taking indies. This year's crop is no exception, from a tale of a teen staging an elaborate musical about her own trauma to rip-roaring crime dramas and beyond.

And now, another big tax cut for the developers and speculators in SF - 48 hills Lurie, Mahmood want to eliminate affordable housing money to help the profits of luxury developers

The United States has more than 50 years of data showing that tax cuts don’t trickle down, don’t improve the economy, and simply give the very rich even more money.

Why are we even talking about this?

Party Radar: With 'Unabridged,' the story of Detroit techno unfolds in the Bay - 48 hills As You Like It crew brings in legends like Jeff Mills, Moodymann, and Stacy 'Hotwaxx' Hale for BBQ, film, panels, and lots of dancing.

SF and Detroit techno share deep funkiness, key players—a connection to be celebrated by the As You Like It crew this weekend with panels, a classic film, afternoon BBQ, a chill mixer, and of course plenty of late-night dancing #PartyRadar @supermarke.bsky.social

Screen Grabs: Back to back with Almodovar muse Carmen Maura - 48 hills Plus: Jewish Film Institute’s Winterfest, Emeryville International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, BAMPFA gets psychedelic, more.

Tfw your comeback is two feature films debuting the same week. Catching up with Carmen Maura in #ScreenGrabs

Bottoms up with the advanced cicerone crafting this year's SF Beer Week - 48 hills Venture capital exodus be damned—Sayre Piotrkowski will advocate for the pours of 71 Bay Area Brewers Guild members until last call.

“What grew this industry was a ton of ingenuity, hard work, creativity, and getting people to understand what was special about what we were doing," says the mind behind this year's SF Beer Week ✏️ @agspinelli.bsky.social

Zines, memories, sonic assault: Mabuhay Gardens' 50-year SF punk detonation - 48 hills Iconic North Beach venue hosts day-to-night convergence of unruly local history and modern-day community.

The Mabuhay was home to SF's a confrontational, artistic, defiantly independent punk scene in the '70s and '80s.

On Sat/28, that legacy—and its modern-day lineage—roars back into North Beach.

Karl Marx at the Antiquarian Book Fair; or, anybody got $134,900 to spare? - 48 hills 57th edition of rare volume exhibition brings treasures to Pier 27—and some ironic commodity fetishism.

This year at the Antiquarian Book Fair, you can arrange to buy a four-volume set of Marx's 'Capital' from the same bookseller for $134,900.

Noise Pop Diary: Indie legend Christopher Owens returns, with a flamenco twist - 48 hills The Girls frontman has been through hell, but has kept making music; his presence brought roars from the local crowd.

A local legend that has survived through it all and an audience grateful for that perseverance. Our Noise Pop diary from Girls frontman Christopher Owens' gig at Swedish American Hall.

No, taxes on billionaires won't destroy innovation in California - 48 hills Tax opponents are putting out a line that makes no sense; just look at Bay Area tech history

Let’s ask ourselves a question.

Would Hewlitt and Packard have sat in that garage and said, “Gee, I think we might be able to turn this oscilloscope into a bigger thing, maybe even a successful company … but then we would have to pay taxes"?

Under the Stars: Carlos Niño & Friends deliver a glad-to-be-alive moment - 48 hills Plus: Celebrate 50 years of San Francisco punk at Mabuhay Gardens, DJ Sep hits The Riptide, more.

Bevy of textures
✒️ Under The Stars from @48hills.bsky.social
Carlos Niño & Friends
DIRECTIONS IN STEREO DJ Night
Punk at Mabuhay Gardens this Saturday
DJ at Riptide in SF
New ELECTROSOUL from DJ Harrison @stonesthrow.bsky.social

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What we saw at Sundance 2026: 8 documentaries bringing back facts - 48 hills An ode to Barbara Hammer, a women's chess champ, Marianne Faithfull's reckoning—and polar bears.

Exploring the fraught coexistence between polar bears and humans to a gathering of every living luminary of the Harlem Renaissance, this year's Sundance Film Festival documentaries recalled how facts can fly.

A zap of Latine abstraction in 'Rebel Forms' - 48 hills Romer Young's small but powerful show taps into possibilities of futurity, freedom, and unfettered beauty.

At Romer Young Gallery, abstract works recalled the freedom of night cruising, the exquisite trauma of birth, and the often deadly borders placed around women’s bodily autonomy.