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Wire Graffiti brings out the bEAST: (l to r) Rob Tucker, Tim Sanchez, Katherine Sawyer, Stev Ohanis. Urban Guide Listings to plan your week by Wire Graffiti "A modern day Mae West with road rage" -- absolutely true! Wire Graffiti is the perfect balance between rockin' hard and ethereal complication while still keeping one hand on their folk rock roots. Katherine Sawyer, lead singer/songwriter and guitarist, puts on quite the show -- from playing her 12-string guitar and finger cymbals to moshing with you when she jumps off stage. Her counterpart, song-writer/guitarist, Stev Ohanis, liberates haunting melodies with tasty robust riffs that draw you into the rhythm, forcing you to move. And let's talk about the rhythm section ... Tim Sanchez, bass and Rob Tucker, drums, do more than just hold it down -- they generate the underlying driving force with complex bass elements, drum loops, and just plain old hittin' it hard. So, if you haven't caught Wire Graffiti, check out bEASTfest's Voice is Venom night. They'll be in rock star hibernation after that, recording their third CD, so catch them now 'cuz you won't be seeing them until spring. Fri/30, 6-11pm. Café Eclectica, 1309 Solano Ave, Albany. www.wiregraffiti.com; www.VoiceIsVenom.com. (DM) bEASTfest 2001 So many bands, so little time, and bEASTfest is hungry. With 85 acts playing 22 shows for five consecutive nights at eight venues, the festival's pace can be dizzying. But so is the range and amount of East Bay talent (per capita, Oakland has more artists than any city west of Brooklyn), and bEASTfest organizer Misty Gamble says it's "about time for an event of this magnitude to happen." All performers are Alameda and Contra Costa County-based, and the music is mainly rock, with bands playing anything from dark, melodic emo-rock, to spiky punk, to the rawky folk of singer/songwriter types. But while the bEAST is local, it is not elitist. The festival will have nights of country, jazz, and spoken word, too. With the wee ones in mind, there are eight all-ages shows added from last year. And to make the festival stronger and even more community-based, bEASTfest producers partnered with local institutions like Food Not Bombs, Adeline and Lookout Records, Voice is Venom, and L3 and Odessa Presents. Ravenous for local talent? See all 22 shows for $25 bucks with advance tickets and all access passes at ticketweb.com. Wed/28-Sun/2. Check the website for specific show times and locations: www.beastfest.org. See Rearview for volunteer opportunities. (EP) Tony Curtis -- An American Dreamboat! Sweet Smell of Success Alexander Mackendrick's direction is superb, James Wong Howe's black-and-white cinematography is noir nirvana, and the acting is excellent. But what makes this movie immortal is the pungent, slangy dialogue by screenwriter Ernest Lehman and playwright Clifford Odets. These two beatnik Shakespeares coined a whole new hipster vocabulary for this tale of greed and treachery in the New York nightclub scene. You'll savor lines like, "That's fish four days old; I won't buy it," and "The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river," and even "You're dead son, you're just not buried." Burt Lancaster stars as malevolent gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker, a man with "the scruples of a guinea pig and the morals of a gangster." Tony Curtis is Hunsecker's handsome-but-devious henchman; he's "a cookie full of arsenic." Thurs/29, 9:15 pm. Parkway Speakeasy Theater, 1834 Park, Oakl. 814.2400; www.picturepubpizza. (CB) The bleachers will shudder Saturday at Oakland Tech. Umoja Step Show Want to witness youth unity, rhythm, and energy? Then stop by the annual Umoja Step Show at Oakland Technical High School. Umoja is the principal for the first day of Kwanzaa. It means unity, which is an appropriate title since the San Francisco National Pan-Hellenic Council has been presenting the family-oriented step show for over 15 years. The Greek-letter fraternities and sororities feature singing, dance, and skits to promote the philanthropic and global projects undertaken by their organizations. The Umoja Step Show is an exposition and competition that will feature college, high school, and community step teams, youth oriented community groups, college recruiters, and local vendors. Proceeds from the show go to the San Francisco NPHC scholarship and community outreach activities. Sat/1, 7:30pm. Oakland Technical High School, 4351 Broadway, Oakl. $15. (GS) Berkeley Artisans Open Studios This morning on the news there was a story about the beginning of the official holiday shopping season. The camera panned across an endless parking lot toward a store larger than some California towns. Hordes of people were standing in front of a deserted megastore under the rainy, dark morning skies. They were all anxiously waiting for 6am, when the doors would slide open and the full contact shopping could begin. The news crew was right in the thick of it all. They were interviewing shoppers, asking customers if they would ever fist fight some-one for the last Barbie Doll or Game Boy. I couldn't't take my eyes off the TV screen. Why does this melee happen every year? Why am I surprised by it every year? Where can I go for some holiday gifts that won't require me to wear protective clothing or to get up at the most ungodly of hours? There are places of salvation, and they are known simply as Open Studios. Everything from jewelry, metal and wood working, sculpture, pottery, ceramics, and paintings will be on sale in the studios of local artists. This is your chance to actually have some fun while you shop -- and feed some artists while you're at it! Sat/1-Sun/2, 11am-5pm. For a map listing all participants, call 845.2612 or write to Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios Map, 1250 Addison St. #214, Berk. (AL) Picks by Chris Baker (CB), Aimee Le Duc, (AL), Denise Maura (DM), Erica Pedersen (EP), and Gabriel Serpa (GS). [ East Bay | Metroactive | Archives ]