About us
This group is for people who appreciate music and other forms of art beyond the mainstream, with a particular focus on the avant-garde or otherwise odd. Free Jazz, Musique Concrete, Atonality, Noise Music, Outsider Art, Surrealism, Dada, Junk Art, ...you name it! Not all events will necessarily be "weird", but simply off the beaten mainstream path.
This is intended to be an oasis from crass commercial banalities.
I'll post events that interest me, but I am also interested in hearing from artists, musicians, and other creative types about their events that I can share with members. Post your events and ideas in the "Discussions" section. I want this group to also be a vehicle that helps support artists and organizations that are doing interesting creative work.
The only requests are that we keep things friendly and civilized. MAGA not welcome.
Upcoming events
8
KUROSAWA'S 'RED BEARD" ('85)
The Frida Cinema, 305 E 4th St, Santa Ana, CA, USCross-posted with SO CAL EXPLORERS
Date: Sunday, February 15, 7:00 pm
Venue: Frida Cinema
305 E 4th St #100, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Phone: (714) 285-9422Dinner 5:45 4th St. Market 201 E 4th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701 a block away
Starring: Miyuki Kuwano, Reiko Dan, Toshirō Mifune, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yūzō Kayama
Tickets: $13.00 https://thefridacinema.org/purchase/1184140/
Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 73% critics rating but 94% audience rating
Trailer: https://youtu.be/-i-I72-Fsqw?si=EA_RtDjtHPdZcKpm
Director: Akira Kurosawa Run Time: 185 min. Release Year: 1965 Language: Japanese
Starring: Miyuki Kuwano, Reiko Dan, Toshirō Mifune, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Yūzō Kayama
Akira Kurosawa's three hour epic, Red Beard, is screening at The Frida Cinema with a brand new 4K restoration via our friends at Janus Films! Red Beard chronicles the tumultuous relationship between an arrogant young doctor and a compassionate clinic director. Toshiro Mifune, in his last role for Kurosawa, gives a powerhouse performance as the dignified yet empathic director who guides his pupil to maturity, teaching the embittered intern to appreciate the lives of his destitute patients. Perfectly capturing the look and feel of 19th-century Japan, Kurosawa weaves a fascinating tapestry of time, place, and emotion.
6 attendees
KUROSAWA'S 'DREAMS ('90)
The Frida Cinema, 305 E 4th St, Santa Ana, CA, USCross-posted with SO CAL EXPLORERS
Date: Sunday, March 8, 7:30 pm
Venue: Frida Cinema
305 E 4th St #100, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Phone: (714) 285-9422Dinner 6:00 4th St. Market 201 E 4th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701 a block away
Director: Akira Kurosawa Run Time: 119 min. Release Year: 1990 Language: Japanese
Starring: Akira Terao, Mieko Harada, Mitsuko Baisho, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshie Negishi
The past, present, and future. One man’s dreams…for every dreamer. We are concluding our fourteen film retrospective paying tribute to the great Akira Kurosawa with his surrealist masterpiece Dreams.
Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on childhood, art, mortality, and humanity’s uneasy bond with nature.
Dreams holds a unique place in Akira Kurosawa’s career and reputation. It’s often regarded as one of his most personal and spiritual works–a literal painting of his imagination come to life. Don’t miss a chance to see it on the big screen!
Akira Kurosawa Retrospective3 attendees
LA Phil: Star-Crossed Rendezvous after Yun
Disney Hall, 111 Grand Avenue,, Los Angeles, CA, USDate: Tue / March 10, 2026 - 8:00PM
Pre-concert lecture at 7:00
Venues:
Concert: Disney Hall
111 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Park in the garage, entrance on 2nd St. $10Exhibit: MOCA Grand Avenue
250 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012Free, but you must RSVP here: https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/4261/2026-03-10/star-crossed-rendezvous-after-yun
Please note: This event takes place at both and Walt Disney Concert Hall, beginning with the installation viewing at MOCA before the 8pm performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
MOCA website event page: https://www.moca.org/exhibition/haegue-yangProgram
Artists
About this Performance
LA Phil Insight and MOCA partner to present internationally acclaimed artist Haegue Yang (Seoul, 1971) and her ongoing interest in and engagement with the late Korean composer Isang Yun (1917–1995). Yang is celebrated for her unique abstract visual language accompanied by choreographies of sensory experience. Often grounded in deep archival research, Yang’s work explores the life and musical legacy of Yun through this presentation.The evening will be centered around Yun’s musical composition, Double Concerto for oboe, harp, and small orchestra (1977), which audiences will encounter twice. First for a special preview of Yang’s sprawling installation (2024) in the galleries at MOCA, then for a live performance by the LA Phil New Music Group at Walt Disney Concert Hall. In doing so, Yang connects the physical sites of MOCA and LA Phil while bridging genres and histories. Activating our senses to travel across disparate places and time, the presentation will create a full body and sound journey that will unfold across the partner institutions.
Enjoy extended museum hours at MOCA Grand Avenue from 5 to 8pm for a viewing of Haegue Yang: Star-Crossed Rendezvous then head over to Walt Disney Concert Hall for the 8pm concert. Admission to both is free with RSVP. Food and drinks will be available for purchase at MOCA and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
2 attendees
LA OPERA: PHILIP GLASS'S "AKHNATEN"
Dorthy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA, USDate: Wednesday, March 11, 2026 7:30 PM
Venue: Dorothy Chandler Pavillion
135 North Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012Disregard the map. It's wrong and I can't fix it. Here's the real map:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/XmmLUuvbHaVNYeLd8Meet at the venue 7:15
Tickets: $33.50 to $335.00
https://www.laopera.org/performances/2026/akhnatenI am in the cheapie seats in the back: Value Balcony B Q 58: $37.50
Composed by Philip Glass, conducted by Dalia Stasevska
Experience the rise and fall of a dynastyAt a Glance
- Philip Glass' acclaimed opera returns by popular demand
- Phelim McDermott’s spectacular production features stunning sets and costumes that feature animal heads, exotic plumes and intricate beadwork
- Music that has permeated culture from New York City Ballet to Netflix’s Stranger Things
Trailer: https://youtu.be/d9Dg2_gj_NU?si=dmm5-ZC-3qdhY6pV
Hailed by critics and beloved by audiences, this eagerly anticipated revival transports you to Ancient Egypt in Philip Glass’s enthralling portrait of a trailblazing pharaoh. Countertenor John Holiday is the titular Akhnaten, determined to lead Egypt into a new age even as his plan to abandon the old gods puts his kingdom (and his life) in peril. Mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce is his queen Nefertiti, soprano So Young Park is the powerful dowager Queen Tye, and Grammy winner Zachary James reprises his memorable role as Amenhotep III, leading the audience through the ritualistic action on the stage.
Director Phelim McDermott revives his visually arresting production, replete with soaring acrobats, astonishing jugglers, and towering sets. With a libretto drawing on ancient texts like The Book of the Dead and a hypnotic, atmospheric score, Akhnaten portrays a doomed visionary with all his feats and foibles. Finland’s Dalia Stasevska makes her company debut conducting this tribute to one of the most transformative chapters in Egyptian history.
Running time: approximately three hours, including two intermissions.
Sung in English, Ancient Egyptian, Biblical Hebrew and Akkadian, with English subtitles.
A co-production of LA Opera and English National Opera. A collaboration with Improbable.10 attendees
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