This Weekend
Adam Friedland at Cobb's
May 30-31 · Cobb's Comedy Club · 7:00 PM · $25-$45
The podcast-famous comedian who built a devoted following doing the exact opposite of polished mainstream stand-up. Friedland's style is loose, absurdist, and genuinely unpredictable -- the kind of set where you leave quoting bits nobody else has heard yet. Two nights, multiple shows.
June 6
SF Old Time & Bluegrass Festival
Sat Jun 6 · Salesforce Park · 11:15 AM - 6:00 PM · Free
A free daylong bluegrass festival 70 feet above street level on the rooftop oasis of Salesforce Transit Center. Nearly a dozen acts across two stages, with 600 trees and 16,000 plants as the backdrop. Bring a picnic blanket. This has quietly become one of the best free music events in the city, and it doubles as the unofficial Pride Month kickoff.
June 7
Best Croissant in San Francisco Competition
Sun Jun 7 · The Clift Royal Sonesta · 11:30 AM · $30-$50
SF's top bakeries go head-to-head in a blind croissant tasting at a grand hotel. This is the kind of absurdly specific food event this city does better than anywhere else. Tickets include tastings from all competitors plus coffee. Perfect lazy Sunday morning plan.
June 13
FIFA World Cup: Qatar vs. Switzerland at Levi's Stadium
Sat Jun 13 · Levi's Stadium · 12:00 PM · $75-$500+
The World Cup comes to the Bay Area. The first of six matches at Levi's Stadium, and the energy around the entire South Bay will be electric. Even if this matchup isn't your team, the atmosphere of a World Cup game on home soil is a once-in-a-generation experience. San Pedro Square in San Jose is setting up as a massive fan hub with watch parties for every game.
June 13-14
Giants vs. Chicago Cubs
Jun 12-14 · Oracle Park · Fri 7:15 PM / Sat 7:05 PM / Sun 12:10 PM · $45-$95
A classic NL matchup with a traveling Cubs fanbase that always fills Oracle Park nicely. The Saturday night game has the best vibe -- sunset over McCovey Cove with a packed house. Sunday matinee is a great family option.
June 27-28
56th Annual SF Pride Parade & Celebration
Jun 27-28 · Civic Center Plaza · Free (grandstand $25+)
The largest LGBTQ+ celebration in the nation. Over a million people across two days at Civic Center Plaza, with the iconic parade down Market Street on Sunday. Live music, community stages, and the kind of energy that reminds you why SF is SF.
Kes: Roots, Rock, Soca Tour
Wed Jun 3 · The Fillmore · 8:00 PM · $35-$55
Trinidad's biggest soca export brings the wine-and-jump energy to the Fillmore. His live shows are high-energy, brass-heavy, and impossible to stand still through. Perfect midweek reset.
The Human League + Soft Cell + Alison Moyet
Thu Jun 5 · The Warfield · 7:30 PM · $55-$125
Three titans of 80s synth-pop on one bill. "Don't You Want Me," "Tainted Love," "Only You" all in one night. If you grew up on these songs or just appreciate the era that invented modern pop production, this is unmissable.
Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers
Thu Jun 11 · Palace of Fine Arts · 8:00 PM · $78-$200
One of the most underrated live performers in American music. Hornsby's piano chops are absurd -- classically trained but loose enough to jam with the Grateful Dead for years. The Palace is an intimate, gorgeous room for this kind of show.
Toadies: The Charmer Tour
Fri Jun 12 · The Fillmore · 8:00 PM · $35-$55
90s alt-rock lifers who wrote "Possum Kingdom" bring Local H and Sparta as openers. A stacked bill of bands that never got mainstream credit proportional to their talent.
The Lemon Twigs
Wed Jun 17 · The Fillmore · 8:00 PM · $30-$50
The D'Addario brothers are the best young rock band nobody's heard of -- imagine if The Beatles and Big Star had kids who were raised on Broadway. Their live show is all harmonies, guitar heroics, and coordinated outfits. With The Rubinoos opening.
Alex Isley: When The City Sleeps
Thu Jun 18 · The Fillmore · 8:00 PM · $40-$65
If you've been sleeping on Alex Isley, this is your wake-up call. The daughter of Ernie Isley has carved out her own lane as one of the smoothest, most soulful R&B voices working right now. Her voice is velvet, her songwriting is patient and precise.
Rhiannon Giddens
Thu Jun 25 · The Fillmore · 8:00 PM · $74-$150
A MacArthur Genius, Pulitzer Prize winner, and the most important voice in American roots music right now. Giddens makes banjo, fiddle, and the deep history of Black American folk music sound urgent and modern. At the Fillmore, where that tradition and rock history collide.
Pomplamoose
Fri Jun 26 · The Fillmore · 8:00 PM · $40-$65
The Bay Area's own YouTube-to-headliner success story. Jack Conte (yes, the Patreon founder) and Nataly Dawn have built one of the most joyful, inventive live shows around -- part pop, part jazz, part indie, all heart. Hometown celebration.
The Phantom of the Opera
Through Jun 21 · Orpheum Theatre · Various times · $55-$530
The touring production of the most commercially successful show in Broadway history has landed at the Orpheum for a limited run. The chandelier crash alone is worth the ticket price. The 2,200-seat Orpheum is one of the best houses on the national tour circuit.
Built This City: SF Pride Kickoff
Wed Jun 10 · Castro Theatre · 7:00 PM · $25-$50
The official Pride Month kickoff at the newly renovated Castro Theatre, hosted by Peaches Christ and Honey Mahogany. A celebration of queer activism, art, and entertainment in the most iconic queer venue in America.
Monet and Venice
Through Jul 26 · de Young Museum · $15-$35
The blockbuster exhibit brings together Monet's Venice paintings -- the shimmering, almost abstract late works that dissolve architecture into pure light and color. Some of his most beautiful and least-seen canvases. Pair it with the Rose B. Simpson sculpture show in the same building.
Exploratorium After Dark
Every Thursday · Exploratorium · 6:00 - 10:00 PM · $20-$30
Every Thursday night the Exploratorium kicks out the kids and opens 700+ hands-on exhibits to adults only, with cocktails and Bay views. Each week has a different theme mixing science, art, and culture. One of the most underrated date spots in the city.