California Academy of Sciences and Liverpool Museum Host Fab Four Event and It Wasn’t a Hard Day’s Night
By Cathy Seeligson, PubClub.com Bay Area Correspondent
Photos by Dean Borton
San Francisco is a great city to explore, whether as resident or tourist, with activities to enjoy both day and night. The California Academy of Sciences, a popular daytime attraction in Golden Gate Park, has made itself an evening destination, as well. with its Thursday night NightLife series, an adults-only way to enjoy the museum with drinks, music and special exhibits.
PubClub.com was at one of them, and reports on the Beatles & Beetles NightLife event.
Essentially, NightLife is an adults-only opportunity to explore the Academy, with drinks (and some food options), a DJ or other entertainment, and special exhibits and talks all related to a specific theme. You can carry your drinks (and food) throughout most of the museum as you explore.
This night’s theme was “Beatles & Beetles,” with the Beatles Story Museum of Liverpool bringing on tour rare, early photos of the band before they became an international sensation.
The Beatles & Beetles exhibit was fun. Large format black-and-white photos of the young, pre-fame Beatles were beautiful and striking. Alongside the photos were display cases filled with a myriad of colorful beetles. Displaying it all in the African Hall – with leopards, zebras, lions and more – provided an interesting contrast. The live penguin display just added to the scene. In addition, the museum’s resident expert on beetles, Dr. David Kavanaugh, gave a special lecture early in the evening.
Meanwhile, DJs were spinning Beatles’ tunes and other Brit Pop which could be heard through much of the museum. Docents with special small exhibits provided a more hands-on and personalized discussion. Many people chose to take their drinks and explore the regular exhibits. The aquarium, with its flowing walls, glowing displays of fish and jellyfish and groovy lighting puts many a nightclub to shame.
To cap the evening was a performance by the Sun Kings, a Northern California Beatles tribute band. They were fantastic and had the crowd dancing and singing along with their flawless Beatles covers.
The entire museum is open during NightLife. You can see the planetarium show, go through the rainforest dome, check out the aquarium, or go to special talks.
On clear nights you have the perfect opportunity to go on the Academy’s living roof and see the stars, with highlights pointed out by an astronomer. If you want to check out either the rainforest or planetarium (both of which are great) I would highly recommend getting in at the opening (6:30 p.m.) as these are first-come, first-served. If you go on a VIP package, you also get a special tour behind-the- scenes at the museum and other perks.
Even though this is NightLife, first and foremost this remains a wonderful museum. However, it was a different and fun way to experience the exhibits: museum with cocktails!
For future NightLife events, click here.
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