THURSDAY, SEPT. 11
JAZZ
SCOTT AMENDOLA’S STICKLERPHONICS
As one of Berkeley drummer Scott Amendola’s primary bands in recent years, SticklerPhonics has been a lively sonic laboratory. The stripped-down trio instrumentation of two horns and a trap set provides an array of fascinating challenges. The group released a stellar album last year featuring original pieces, Technicolor Ghost Parade, and for this return Back Room engagement Amendola introduces an expanded lineup with two new horn players joining founding trombonist Danny Lubin-Laden. With a passel of improvisational prowess to harness and no chordal instrument in sight, SticklerPhonics are poised to deliver a rip-snorting set. – AG
INFO: Thu, 8pm, Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley. $25. 510.654.3808.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 11
INDIE
ARCHER OH
Archer Oh cut their teeth playing backyard shows in the Inland Empire, where their scrappy energy and offbeat sense of humor earned them a devoted crowd. What started as Arturo “Archie” Medrano’s DIY indie garage project has grown into a band that can just as easily goof off on stage as they can whip a room into a frenzy with singalong hooks and jangly guitar. Between marathon tours with the Red Pears and Dogstar, sold-out shows across the West Coast and their 2025 debut album The Internal Theater, Archer Oh still sounds like the party in the neighbor’s yard. – SBB
INFO: Thu, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $26. 510.214.8600.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 12
ROCK
MJ LENDERMAN & THE WIND
MJ Lenderman & the Wind play with contradictions: Their songs wander between deadpan humor and flashes of raw vulnerability, where the mundane—pickup trucks, pro wrestlers, backyard afternoons—takes on strange weight. What began as Jake Lenderman’s spare home recordings has evolved into a full band that stretches his crooked alt-country sketches across wiry guitar lines and unexpected turns. The music is loose but purposeful, Southern without swagger, indie without irony. With the Wind behind him, Lenderman leans harder into the ragged joy of rock ’n’ roll, channeling both Southern grit and indie slack. – SBB
INFO: Fri, 8pm, Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $56-$84. 510.302.2250.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 12
DANCE-PUNK
ESG
Their 1981 instrumental single “U.F.O.” is one of hip-hop’s most sampled tracks. “Moody” is saluted for laying the groundwork for house music. The four sisters from the South Bronx—Renee, Deborah, Marie and Valerie Scroggins—who founded ESG were trailblazers, even if many music fans have never heard of them. “ESG” stands for “Emerald, Sapphire & Gold,” and the band, now in its second-generation iteration, still glitters with passion and soul. Renee’s daughter, Nicole, and son, Nicholas, join her on the band’s current tour, which may be their farewell. Get out on the dance floor and “swivel your hips” in tribute to musicians who led, bled and overcame. – JH
INFO: Fri, 7:30pm, Crybaby, 1928 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $35.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 12
COMEDY
TAYLOR TOMLINSON
Just when it seems stand-up comedy consists of nothing but foulmouthed Neanderthal bros—and Chelsea Handler—30-something Taylor Tomlinson pops up with another hit Netflix special, her most recent being 2024’s Have It All. Tomlinson covers the usual comedy territory: sex, dating and more, but also fearlessly tears into how bizarre it is to be living in 2025. “The Old Testament is my favorite Taylor Swift album,” she riffs at one point. She loves interacting with her audiences, and even a weird comment like “They now send dead bodies up in space” elicits an impromptu scene about knocking on NASA’s door towing a dead body. Gotta love that. She also performs on Saturday. – JH
INFO: Fri, 7pm, Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. $100-$329. 510.465.6400.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 13
INDIE ROCK
BEACH FOSSILS
For 16 years, Beach Fossils have been one of the leading bands in the modern lo-fi, garage-rock scene. They are led by Dustin Payseur, who conceived the band in North Carolina but didn’t start it until moving to New York, making it a fully American project with one foot in the North and one in the South. In 2015, Payseur and his wife started their own label, Bayonet Records, which the band is still on today and which recently released their 2023 album, Bunny. Keeping with tradition, Bunny keeps their sound laidback and fresh while still capturing the authenticity of their fuzzed-out sound. – MW
INFO: Sat, 7pm, 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. $30/adv, $35/door. 510.525.9926.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 13
THEATER
‘THE MOTION’
Bay Area native and Obie Award-winning playwright Christopher Chen’s “explosive in a test tube” play, The Motion, starts with super-sanitary animal testing—and then proceeds without stopping into a world of chaos, confusion, comedy and the confounding conditions of life. Questions rise about morality, mortality, love beyond what words can transcribe and why life wounds heal but leave deep, eternal scars. The audience—holders of voting cards—has a stake in a story where everything swings between skewed and balanced. Life is a tilt, in other words. Hat tip to Shotgun for making us think and enjoy it. Performances go until Oct. 12. – LF
INFO: Sat, 8pm, Shotgun Players, 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. $8-$80. 510.841.6500.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 14
DOOM METAL
CONAN
Liverpool. Home of the LFC Stadium and countless Beatles tours. For those with dealings in heavy riffs and headbanging good times, Liverpool is also the home to doom/sludge band Conan. Formed in 2006, this act started as a duo and evolved into a trio over the next couple of years, minus a hiatus or two. Since then, they’ve dropped juicy riffs when the people needed them the most, often performing at major festivals like the Maryland Deathfest and Psycho California. Conan has been on a writing kick, releasing new material every couple of years for the past 13 with their most recent album, Violence Dimension, out this year. – MW
INFO: Sun, 8pm, Thee Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $22. 510.859.8709.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17
THEATER
‘LAURA BENANTI: NOBODY CARES’
This 80-minute, one-woman show jumps into Berkeley after taking Edinburgh Fringe by storm. Laura Benanti is a funny lady, but also a highly intelligent, witty and straight-up kicker performing artist. Taking up social tropes, she turns them into treasures or twists them enough to reveal them as absurd, laughable and lose-able. With great storytelling and songs co-written with Todd Almond, Benanti deals with becoming invisible as a person ages; the delicious, deceptive art of fawning over people to feed their egos; and how every day spent alive presents a new opportunity to ask, “WTF?” No one really can answer that last one, but at least Benanti can make a person laugh. Performances go until Sept. 25. – LF
INFO: Wed, 7pm, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley. $49-89. 510.647.2949.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17
BLUES
RUTHIE FOSTER
A three-time Grammy Award winner, Ruthie Foster elevates every musical situation she inhabits, infusing gospel fervor into folk and blues festivals and singer/songwriter lyricism into sacred settings. Raised in a family of Texas gospel vocalists, she was already a well-traveled performer when she began racking up Blues Music Award nominations in the late aughts. With her rich, resonant contralto and deft guitar work, she’s equally commanding as the frontwoman of a combo or holding the stage on her own, infusing joyous soul into any kind of song. Her latest album, 2024’s Mileage, features a new set of collaborations with producer Tyler Bryant and Larkin Poe’s Rebecca Lovell. – AG
INFO: Wed, 8pm, The Freight, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $39-$44. 510.644.2020.
