Fresh Sound sounds off
Few live music series provide as outside-the-box a listening experience as the Fresh Sound concert series. Curated by Bonnie Wright, and now in its 19th year, Fresh Sound kicks off its 2015 season with a percussion concert by Red Fish Blue Fish. Directed by Steve Schick-founding percussionist of Bang on a Can and a professor at UCSD-the ensemble will be performing Michael Gordon's "Timber," an hour-long complex and polyrhythmic piece that's played entirely on pieces of wood of different lengths and pitches. On paper it seems simple enough, but in person it promises to be a one-of-a-kind aural experience. The concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, at Bread & Salt in Logan Heights (1955 Julian Ave.). Admission is $15.
Hoppy and happy
If you've ever made mental notes on what does and doesn't make a good IPA, you're probably going to want to check out the 2015 San Diego Beer Fest. Yup: get those pretzel necklaces ready and head over to Liberty Station (2640 Historic Decatur Road, Point Loma) on Saturday, Jan. 17. With more than 50 breweries offering tastes, live music and a fleet of food trucks, the fifth-annual fest kicks off 2015 beer-tasting events in style. Breweries include locals like Hess, Green Flash and Monkey Paw, as well as out-of-town suds Lagunitas, Speakeasy and NInkasi. The event goes from 2 to 5 p.m. and costs $40. Or, grab a VIP ticket for $50 and get in at 1 p.m.
Dance, reimagined
Last fall, Malashock Dance kicked off a series of performances, called "The Engagement Ring," with the aim of transforming the audience's understanding of what a dance performance should be. The first installment, Sadie Weinberg's happiness: an experiment, was less a dance performance and more of an experience, involving an audience survey, dialogue, a group dance- and sing-along and the strangely beautiful act of pouring sand into metal bowls. The second installment, directed by Emily Miller and Elyssa Dru Rosenberg and called Tour de Dance: Time and Again, takes place Saturday, Jan. 17, when attendees will take a guided tour through Liberty Station's Dance Place San Diego (2650 Truxton Road, Suite 202, Point Loma) with each space featuring a different performance centered on how we experience time. The show starts at 7 p.m. and admission is free, but RSVP is required.
Art on the beach
In December 2013, Morgan Mandalay had an idea: Why not use the front room of his Chicago apartment as an art gallery? The artist and curator got his roommate to agree and Sunday Project was born, inviting emerging artists to use the room to experiment and play. Now the former San Diegan is now back in town-working on his MFA at UCSD-and he's brought Sunday Project with him, though the project's got a new name and exhibitions aren't being held in Mandalay's apartment. Sunday Project For 15, or SPF15, is a series of art shows happening in a 10-by-10-foot pop-up canopy on the beach. The first one opens from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18, on Dog Beach in Ocean Beach and features site-specific, sound works, drawings and sculptures by Chicago artists Connor Creagan, Tim Mann and Jon Waites. Email info@sunday-project.com for details.
You just read the Red List, our cultural newsletter covering the week's coolest events. Click here to share the sign-up link with a friend. Email kinseem@sdcitybeat.com with tips or questions.