A special Sounds of the Tenderloin program at the Great American Music Hall explores the silent film era in the neighborhood, featuring Richard Marriott’s Club Foot Quintet performing original scores to two short films by Buster Keaton: “One Week” and “Day Dreams” (a premiere!). This plus presentations on the Tenderloin’s film exchanges by Kathy Rose O’Regan of SF Film Preserve and on Market St. Movie Marquees by Jim Van Buskirk and SF Neon.

Club Foot Quintet is comprised of:

Chris Grady - Trumpet

Mark Yee - Baritone Sax

David James - Electric Guitar

Kjell Nordeson - Percussion

Richard Marriott - Euphonium, Trombone & Compositions

Saturday July 26, 2025 | Doors 7pm Show at 7:30pm

At the Great American Music Hall | 859 O’Farrell St. SF, CA 94109

$20 GA / $35 Reserved Seating | Purchase via See Tickets

TLM Members get $10 Off

Tenderloin Museum turns 10 on July 16, 2025! To celebrate, TLM invited composer, arranger, bandleader, and saxophone great Howard Wiley to organize a musical tribute to the neighborhood featuring an intergenerational revue of legendary Bay Area performers. This extraordinary gathering of musicians will highlight how the TL has shaped the Bay Area’s music scene and pay homage to iconic venues like Black Hawk Jazz Club to GLIDE Memorial Church to Hyde Street Studios and the Great American Music Hall itself. Special guests include the Bay Area’s queen of the blues and gospel Lady Bianca Thornton; multi-talented rapper, pianist, producer, and frequent Wiley collaborator Kev Choice; Fillmore jazz legend and saxophonist John Handy; poet, activist, educator, and SF’s 8th poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin; the poet, public theologian, and current Minister of Celebration at GLIDE Memorial Church Marvin K. White, the legendary GLIDE Ensemble choir featuring vocalist Ashling Cole; and vocalist Lavay Smith and pianist Chris Siebert, who have regularly featured Wiley in their swingin’ big band the Red Hot Skillet Lickers for over two decades.

Wednesday July 16, 2025 | Doors 7pm + Show 7:30pm

at the Great American Music Hall | 859 O’Farrell St. SF, CA 94109

Tickets $20 GA / $35 Reserved | Purchase via See Tickets

TLM Members get $10 off any ticket

Tenderloin Museum presents Banda Sin Nombre in concert at Myrtle Alley as part of SF First Thursday Art Walk!

Thursday, July 3, 2025 | 6:00-8:00 PM

Myrtle Alley (at 835 Larkin St.  b/w O’Farrell & Geary)

FREE! No registration required!

Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to partner with Unspeakable Vice, “a volunteer history initiative making queer belonging accessible to everyone,” to offer a new walking tour focused on the LGBTQIA+ history in the Tenderloin and Polk Street neighborhoods.

Saturday, June 28, 2025 | 2-4 PM

Meet at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St., SF, CA 94102

Register to attend via Humanitix | Admission to the Tenderloin Museum included with ticket

Created by downtown San Francisco resident and professor at California College of the Arts Shawn Sprockett, Unspeakable Vice began as a close look at the queer origins of San Francisco, traversing the city’s North Beach and Barbary Coast areas to trace the history through from 1770-1960. This new tour extends Sprockett’s richly detailed and craftily delivered approach to the TL and Polk Street to offer a deep dive into the emergence of LGBTQIA+ icons and movements that shaped the area from the 1960s to the 1990s. 

A special work-in-progress screening of Lord Frederick will be followed by an artist talk with Lord Frederick himself. 

Lord Frederick Screening and Artist Talk

Thursday June 26, 2025 | 6-7:30pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Free or Suggested Donation | Register via Humanitix

TLM and the Roxie Theater co-present a 4k restoration of Northern Lights (1978) by prolific Bay Area  indie filmmaker Rob Nilsson. His breakout vérité masterpiece resounds with the museum’s interest in overlooked histories of immigrant communities, organized labor, and resistance, and anticipated Nilsson’s decade of “direct action cinema”  that yielded his sprawling, TL-based 9 @ Night films, screening monthly at TLM starting with Noise (2002) in September.  

new 4k restoration ft. director Rob Nilsson in person

At the Roxie Theater | 3117 16th St, SF, CA 94103

Saturday June 21, 2025 | 6:00pm (Little Roxie)

Tickets $15 (TLM Members get $3 off!) | Purchase via the Roxie’s website

Step into the fog-shrouded streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin, where mystery, mayhem, and literary legend collide. Join us for “Tenderloin Noir,” a walking tour led by celebrated storyteller and historian Linda Day, that traces the dark footprints of hard-boiled writers like Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald, and Mark Coggins—authors who turned the Tenderloin’s alleys, hotels, and shadowy corners into settings for murder, mischief, and moral ambiguity. A new walking tour offering debuts for I Love Tenderloin Week!

Saturday, June 21, 2025 | 2:00-3:30 PM

Meet at Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St., SF, CA 94102

Register to attend via Humanitix

This year’s SF PRIDE x TENDERLOIN MUSEUM Kick-Off Fundraising Party takes place at The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play venue and celebrates queer legacy, community resilience, and our trans and LGBTQ+ storytellers on stage and behind the scenes. Featuring legendary drag performances by Donna Sachet, Shane Zal-Diva, Collette LeGrande, plus complimentary wine and diner bites. All proceeds support both SF Pride & the Tenderloin Museum

Wednesday June 18, 2025 | 6-8:30pm

At The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot venue | 835 Larkin St. SF, CA 94109 

$25 tickets support both orgs + NOTAFLOF | Register via Eventbrite

TLM and the Roxie Theater co-present a 4k restoration of Northern Lights (1978) by prolific Bay Area  indie filmmaker Rob Nilsson. His breakout vérité masterpiece resounds with the museum’s interest in overlooked histories of immigrant communities, organized labor, and resistance, and anticipated Nilsson’s decade of “direct action cinema”  that yielded his sprawling, TL-based 9 @ Night films, screening monthly at TLM starting with Noise (2002) in September.  

new 4k restoration ft. director Rob Nilsson in person!

At the Roxie Theater | 3117 16th St, SF, CA 94103

Tuesday June 17, 2025 | 6:00pm (Big Roxie)

Tickets $15 (TLM Members get $3 off!) | Purchase via the Roxie’s website

Do Ask Do Tell: LGBTQ Stories from Curry Senior Center is a collection of stories that provide a window into the lives of LGBTQ+ Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities in San Francisco. In celebration of Pride Month, the Tenderloin Museum and Curry Senior Center partner to celebrate with readings by selected participants accompanied by photo portraits from the book as a backdrop. Refreshments will be served, and books will be available for purchase.

Thursday, June 12, 2025 | 5:30-7pm

At the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Free to attend | Register via Humanitix

Come see the talent behind the Compton's Cafeteria Riot give a sparkly show on the streets of the Tenderloin! Trans activist and “pop up” drag queen Shane Zal-Diva–who plays the role of “Rusty”–presents a revue of Compton’s cast & crew in Myrtle Alley (behind the play venue at 835 Larkin St.) for the Pride month edition of the SF First Thursday Art Walk!

Thursday June 5, 2025 | 6-8pm

Myrtle Alley (at 835 Larkin St.  b/w O’Farrell & Geary)

Free! All welcome! No registration required!