THURSDAY, APRIL 9 – CANCELLED DUE TO FAMILY EMERGENCY
FUNK
PLANET BOOTY
The current four-man incarnation of Planet Booty shimmies its way back into the East Bay for a couple of gigs at the Ivy Room. Though the brothers who first created the band are from Indiana, they found the inspiration for its pop, R&B, ’90s house, ’70s funk and classic hip-hop mix in Oakland in the aughts. What emerged is music “that might have been made by your strangely attractive high school gym coach,” according to the band itself. Frontman Dylan Germick is known for his sexy body positivity, which includes starting the show in wildly inventive suits, then stripping them off to end in sparkly tiny underpants. Perfect. – JANIS HASHE
INFO: Thu, 8pm, Ivy Room, 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. $18. 510.526.5888.
THURSDAY, APRIL 9
FOLK
DAR WILLIAMS
With her 13th album, Hummingbird Highway, singer/songwriter Dar Williams expands the ecosystem of her work. The rhythms and colors of life become vivid in modern day folk songs that speak of springtime renewal, the patter of conversations shared by friends and strangers, or the sacred, silent moments spent in meditation or prayer. There’s even one track, “Olive Tree,” with a local reference. A group of CAL scientists in 1913 planted an olive grove with hopes that future generations might meet and find community in the shade underneath the trees. Also on the bill is British folk-rocker Ruth Theodore, who provides a terrific counterpoint with a bright punk-rock-meets-folk sound and lyrics from moody to celebratory. – LOU FANCHER
INFO: Thu, 8pm, The Freight, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $49-$54. 510.644.2020.
FRIDAY, APRIL 10
HIP-HOP
THE SUGARHILL GANG
Hip-hop group The Sugarhill Gang in 2026 is longtime original members Wonder Mike (Michael Wright) and Master Gee (Guy O’Brien), joined by Big Bank Hank (Henry Jackson). Early hits before taking a 25-year hiatus included “Rapper’s Delight”—which sold over 8 million copies and went on to become the biggest-selling rap single of all time—along with “Apache,” “8th Wonder” and “Living in the Fast Lane.” This is classic rap, so get ready to time-travel. All the jive-with-attitude and cool vibes are in place. Every detail of word and dress is refined but not contrived. Each move is choreographed, but like a cat, not a robot, on the prowl. – LF
INFO: Fri, 7:30pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $54-94. 510.238.9200.
SATURDAY, APRIL 11
ROCK
ABBY JEANNE & THE SHADOWBAND
Abby Jeanne’s life reads like a mix between a beatnik novel and a John Waters film. She was born to a poker-playing champ mother and a cross-dressing drama king who met through their love of theater. She’s lived in Savannah, out of a van and was homeless in Europe. She met God in India, became a “psychedelic nun” in Thailand and “fooled around” with the CIA before she decided to move to L.A. before the pandemic, then bounced to New York, where she presumably still resides. For now. But what really stands out is her music, which captures the soul of garage rock, the essence of soul music and the rock of 1960s psychedelic pop. – MAT WEIR
INFO: Sat, 7pm, Spats, 1974 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $15. 510.841.7225.
SATURDAY, APRIL 11
WORLD
17TH ANNUAL BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE TO MAESTRO ALI AKBAR KHAN
If sarod master Ali Akbar Khan (1922-2009) hadn’t set up shop in the Bay Area in 1967, his global status as one of the 20th-century’s titans of North Indian classical music would have been entirely undiminished. Khan’s academy attracted students from around the world, while infusing a deep knowledge and appreciation for Hindustani raga music into Bay Area culture. Led by his son, sarod scion Alam Khan, the 17th annual birthday tribute to Khan highlights the Freight’s recent series of classical Indian recitals. This concert features leading lights of AAK’s Maihar gharana, including his son and disciple Manik Khan on sarod, Arjun Verma on sitar and tabla expert Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri. – ANDREW GILBERT
INFO: Sat, 7pm, The Freight, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $44-$69. 510.644.2020.
SATURDAY, APRIL 11
COMEDY
JOHN WATERS
Is it possible John Waters, the magical, manic man of many outrages, including Pink Flamingos, Carsick and transgressive art going back decades, is turning 80? Why yes, it is. The iconic pencil mustache has a lot of gray in it now, but the maestro doesn’t care. His 70-minute “comedy revival show/sermon,” “Going to Extremes,” is the latest chance to experience the man William S. Burroughs famously called “The Pope of Trash.” Waters himself has said, “I would love to sell out, but no one would buy me.” Even with multiple iterations of Hairspray, he’s still pretty much the little kid from Baltimore who flashed his neighbor while wearing only red fireman boots. – JH
INFO: Sat, 8pm, The UC Theatre, 2036 University Ave., Berkeley. $42-$99. 510.356.4000.
SUNDAY, APRIL 12
JAZZ
CARMEN LUNDY
At 71, Lundy has been a major creative force for more than four decades. But without the support of a major label, she’s tended to her own career. An artist fully in command of her materials, she’s released a series of acclaimed albums on her Afrasia label focusing on her finely wrought originals. These include several tunes that are close to being contemporary standards, like her winsome, oft-recorded love song “These Things You Are to Me.” Her band reliably features some of jazz’s finest young players, like her Yoshi’s contingent with pianist “Orange” Julius Rodriguez, guitarist Andrew Renfroe and drummer Donovan Cheatham. – AG
INFO: Sun, 7pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $34-$69. 510.238.9200.
SUNDAY, APRIL 12
AMERICANA
PAUL THORN
Paul Thorn is a true Southerner. Born and raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, he serves up country-fried blues with a side of collard blues and a heaping scoop of rock. And wooo boy, there’s plenty of hot sauce slathered all over his music with songs like “Pimps & Preachers,” “Burn Down the Trailer Park” and “It’s a Great Day to Whup Somebody’s Ass”—which he actually could do, seeing as he was a professional boxer with a hefty 14-4 record. He built an incredibly successful career through independently releasing his music on his own label, touring and playing with greats like Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt, and the late greats Jerry Jeff Walker and John Prine. – MW
INFO: Sun, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $69. 510.214.8600.
TUESDAY, APRIL 14
ELECTRONIC
YAIMA
Multi-instrumentalist Masaru Higasa and vocalist Pepper Proud arrived in Seattle with a powerful backstory. The name Yaima has two sources: a word in the Mapudungun language meaning “that which water runs through” and connections to the culturally preserved Yaeyama District of Okinawa, Japan. Fans seek inner and outer peace, or to feel the resonance of wind and light in sound, or are simply people who find rich reward in the universal, unifying power of song and music. A 10-year anniversary album, Moongate, offers 13 songs that pay tribute to the 13 moons of an Earth cycle. Isn’t it marvelous there are people who still believe in humanity? Yup. It’s rare, but it’s real. – LF
INFO: Tue, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $31. 510.214.8600.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15
R&B
ARI LENNOX
The woman born Courtney Shanade Salter in 1991 has always forged her own path. She adopted her stage name, Ari Lennox, partly as a tribute to Mary Lennox, a character in the film version of The Secret Garden. By 2009 she’d begun uploading her own music to the internet and in 2013 she self-released her debut EP, Ariography. Since then she’s created a mixture of Motown, R&B and new-age soul that’s entirely her own, sung in a voice she describes as “vulnerable but soulful; imperfect but pretty.” She’s on tour supporting her new album, Vacancy, released in January 2026, with supporting artists Lekan and PHABO. – JH
INFO: Wed, 8pm, Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. $54-$240. 510.893.2300.
