The Eyes Have It

Related Content

• Celebrate James Brown's Birthday at These Two S.F. Parties
  May 4, 2012
• Queer the Room
  February 1, 2012
• The 10 Worst Answers to 'What Kind of Music Do You Listen To?"
  June 29, 2010
• The Top 50 Songs To Get High To
  October 5, 2011
• African-Amazing
  June 15, 2011

More About

• Penn Jillette
• James Brown
• Hank Williams
• Captain Beefheart
• Penn & Teller

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

The Residents are legend. In the early 1970s they sent a demo tape to Warner Bros., which promptly sent it back in an envelope marked, merely, "Residents." They took it as a sign: The helpful executive had chosen a name for them before setting them on their own path. Do we know this is true? No. Does anyone other than the Residents themselves know it's true? No. But (as we've said) the Residents are legend. They've written a lot about themselves that, regardless of whether it really happened, is really fun to read. What we do know about them is they're a group of artists who came to San Francisco about 40 years ago from Louisiana (maybe), and they've experimented with music, photography, film, costumes, performance, and many forms of digital equipment to become legendary in San Francisco and elsewhere. (They were once even big in Japan.) We know they love James Brown, Hank Williams, and Captain Beefheart. One of their best friends is Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller. We're not sure why, but they've always kept their identities a secret (although, depending on whom you know, the secret's not very well kept). For years the four (now three) wore tuxedos, top hats, and giant eyeballs over their heads when they performed. Their newest project is Talking Light. It's based on ghost stories, and it includes the numbers "Unseen Sister," "Pudding in Disguise," and "Ghost Snake" (which may or may not refer to their late coconspirator and guest guitarist, Snakefinger, who we're very sure was real). They plan to film these shows in 3-D for, well, who knows what. You never know what to expect with these guys (if they are, in fact, all guys), except a really weird experience that you won't forget.
April 15-16, 9 p.m., 2011