Here they are, nine necessary know-abouts for the week ahead. It’s the Remember the Fallen B9:
➤ If you’ve been around these parts for a minute or two, you might remember the posh annual gala and fundraiser known as A Gay Evening in May at the Santa Cruz Civic (I forget which month it happened). AGEM, as it came to be known, had a great run, about 15 years or so, running out of steam around the turn of the millennium. As Santa Cruz Pride marks its 50th year, AGEM is coming back — sorta. The rebirth of the event is billed “A Queer Evening in May,” and it’s happening at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center next Thursday, May 29. Much like its predecessor, AQEM will be chock-full of live music and performance from such fab locals as Akindele Bankole, Sandy Stone and Patti Maxine. The show is, alas, sold out. But that’s a good thing. Maybe that means a new tradition has been born — or reborn.
➤ Remember the scene in the 1990s movie “L.A. Story” when Steve Martin decides to roller-skate in an art museum? Now you and I can do that too, at least for one night, as the Museum of Art & History opens its doors to a late-night “Black Tie Roller Ball” event. On Saturday night, the MAH converts its Solari Gallery to an adults-only roller rink, though you do have to bring your own skates. For singles, couples and, we can only assume, throuples as well!
➤ Opera? You mean like, genuine, classic, “serious” opera? In Santa Cruz? Here it comes. The UC Santa Cruz Music Department is gearing up for a new production of Mozart’s “Le Nozze Di Figaro” (I won’t insult you by translating into English) for four performances beginning May 29. The production puts the iconic opera into the Jazz Age 1920s. Hope you can find your opera glasses, but you could probably borrow mine.
➤ This week’s winner of most bad-ass band names goes to the Detroit Cobras, the longtime garage band from — well, isn’t it obvious? The band lost its iconic lead singer, Rachel Nagy, a few years ago, and they’re now touring as a kind of tribute to their fallen leader with the rage and rowdiness that Rachel would have wanted. It’s a show presented by the folks at Moe’s Alley, but it’ll go down at the newly restored performance space at The Crepe Place on May 29.
➤ Santa Cruz Pride Week officially kicks off its 50th-anniversary celebration on Tuesday evening with Pride IllumiNight. That’s when various dignitaries and those in the mood to celebrate will gather at the county building on Ocean Street, illuminating the brutalist structure in a wash of rainbow colors. The party will then move on to the town clock and do the same thing there. Rainbow-colored clothing and lights encouraged. It’s free and starts at 7 p.m.
➤ They don’t get any rootsier in roots reggae than the great U.K. reggae group Steel Pulse, which is marking its 50th year since coming up in the immigrant neighborhood of Handsworth near Birmingham, England. Lead singer and guitarist David Hinds is still offering up the delicious grooves in praise of Rastafari. The band has played Santa Cruz countless times over the years, so it only makes sense that they’re returning to town to celebrate the big 5-0. Saturday night at The Catalyst.
➤ Graphic novelist and famed comic-strip artist Alison Bechdel comes to the Rio to talk about her latest project, a hilarious day-in-the-life comic novel titled “Spent,” that subtly skewers the progressive movement’s complicated relationship with money, wealth, commercial success and consumer capitalism. Alison’s got some thoughts on the subject. See what she has to say on Wednesday.
➤ OK, so it’s a bit far afield from conventional “entertainment,” but if you’ve never experienced the amazing outdoor dining event Outstanding in the Field, there’s a special one coming, and it’s going to transform the newly repaired Capitola Wharf into one gigantic outdoor dinner experience. This is one of those pinch-me-I’m-dreaming California experiences, for the afternoon and early evening of next Wednesday. It’s a bit pricey, but great memories usually are.
➤ UCSC’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences is set to unveil a major new exhibition on a historic collaboration between artists and marine ecologists. “Weather and the Whale” translates cutting-edge research on the effects of climate change on marine environments through the prism of art and creativity with video installations, photography, sculptures and other art pieces. Take note: The exhibit’s opening reception was supposed to be this week, but it will take place instead on May 29, at the IAS on Santa Cruz’s Westside.