The Symphony has been leaning harder into cross-genre and accessible programming this season, which means the crowd skews younger and less formal than it did five years ago. Dress code is effectively nonexistent — you'll see people in jeans next to people in black tie and nobody makes it weird. Pre-show dining in Hayes Valley is dense: Monsieur Benjamin and Rich Table are within four blocks if you want a sit-down, Souvla on Gough if you want to move faster.

Practical tip: the garage at the corner of Franklin and Fell is closer and cheaper than the one on Van Ness — and it empties faster after curtain. If you're driving from the East Bay, budget 25 minutes from the Bay Bridge on a weeknight, more on Friday.

If you've got two hours, skip the pre-show lecture (valuable, but dense) and spend that time at dinner instead. Get to your seat five minutes early — Davies has good sightlines from almost everywhere, but the balcony rail seats are worth claiming.