THURSDAY
REGGAE
HR
For almost 50 years, HR has been a household name among punks and heavy music fans as the lead singer of the seminal DC hardcore band, Bad Brains. Fans of the band also know HR’s love for reggae, which featured on several tracks of the hardcore band’s debut, Banned In DC. Last year, he canceled his tour due to ongoing health issues. However, the legend is back on the road with his roots-rock reggae music, spreading messages of peace, love and overthrowing Babylon. Once a rebel, always a rebel—that’s the hardcore way, even if it’s reggae. Salinas punks Infirmities and the Bay Area’s Jokes for Feelings will join him. – MAT WEIR
INFO: Thu, 8pm, Ivy Room, 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. $23/adv, $25/door. 510.526.5888.
THURSDAY
ELECTRONIC
PELADA
The electro-punk duo, Pelada, never holds back. Tobias Rochman and Chris Vargas confront the most pressing issues of our time with Spanish-language anthems that make excellent use of heavy riffs, mesmerizing beats and ample distortion. On their sophomore album, Ahora Más Que Nunca (Now More Than Ever), the Montreal-based band brings a long tradition of protest music into the electronic present. Tracks like the singalong “Cerdo (Pig)” and “Agua ≠ Mercancía (Water Is Not Merchandise)” feel surprising in their originality—yet so necessary it’s hard to believe they only came out in 2023. – ADDIE MAHMASSANI
INFO: Thu, 8pm, Thee Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $18/adv, $22/door. 510.859.8709.
FRIDAY
INDIE
SUPERGLOOM
L.A.-based shoegaze band supergloom pulls many colors into their music; their songs often begin with dreamy, eerie, muted pastels before revving into euphoric, noise-rock mayhem. The five members create a mesmerizingly lush and layered palette, with the influence of psych-pop threaded throughout their fuzzy sound. Vivid visual projections often bathe their live performances in hypnotic dappled patterns. The band formed during the pandemic and supergloom is now on their first-ever tour‚ Summer of Doom. – SONYA BENNETT-BRANDT
INFO: Fri, 7pm, Golden Bull, 412 14th St., Oakland. $13. 510.224.5522.
FRIDAY
JAZZ
ESPERANZA SPALDING
Genre- and convention-bending jazz musician Esperanza Spalding is ever-pulled toward the new and the interdisciplinary. Her body of work, grounded in virtuosic, improvisational bass-playing and luxuriant, nimble vocals, puts out roots in all directions, touching poetry, dance, opera, film and therapeutic arts research. One of her latest projects is Milton + esperanza, a jazz-lover’s dream collaboration with hallowed Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Milton Nascimento. The album, a blend of reworkings of Nascimento songs, Spalding originals and intricately curated covers, debuts on Aug. 9. – SBB
INFO: Fri, 8pm, Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $66-$143. 510.302.2250.
SATURDAY
SKA
THE AQUABATS
They’re here. They’re dear. And they’ll never disappear! The nine-piece, masked, crime-fighting, music-playing, pool-party-throwing superheroes the Aquabats! finally give the people what they want: new tunes! No, that’s not a dig, because the Bat Commander and friends just released their first album of new music in four years called—that’s right—Finally! After 30 years of serving up hot ’n’ fresh funny tracks that burrow into the brain, it’s great to say the new album is a hit among fans, with tracks like “Dr. Space Mummy” and “Don’t Make Me Run!” So bust out the fancy helmets and shine those utility belts because a good cadet is always prepared to skank it up in the pit. – MW
INFO: Sat, 7pm, UC Theatre, 2036 University Ave., Berkeley. $39.65. 510.356.4000.
SATURDAY
TALK & LECTURE
OLYMPIC LAUGHS
The summer Olympics are upon us, and that can only mean one thing: A comedy show about the Percy Jackson universe! OK, the iconic summer games and the fantasy series by Rick Riordan are not exactly connected, but both are heavily inspired by the Greeks. Podcaster Mike Schubert makes a live show from his first read of each novel in Percy Jackson and the Olympians and its sequels, inviting fans into the discussion and promising a lengthy Q&A. In this show he covers 2010’s The Lost Hero, the first book in the Heroes of Olympus pentalogy. – AM
INFO: Sat, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $26/adv, $31/door. 510.214.8600.
SUNDAY
FUNDRAISER
POUR YOUR HEART OUT
Pop the cork and fill a kid’s glass with opportunity by attending this fundraising event. Money raised supports Rhythmix’s Performance, Art & Learning “PAL” program, bringing underserved Alameda County youths into that happy place of art, music and cultural pride. The evening starts with beverages from local wineries and breweries and mocktails from Julie’s Coffee. While sipping, savor the open buffet and food from several local eateries. The Grammy Award-winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra spins out two hours of fantastic Latin music. Put some greenbacks down on silent auction items and raffle tickets. Boost the next generation into a world where their cultures are worn like crowns, and their futures glow with potential. – LOU FANCHER
INFO: Sun, 4pm, Rhythmix, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda. $153.75/single, $1,030/table (8)
SUNDAY
FESTIVAL
TOGETHER IN MOTION
This terrific outdoor venue at Alameda Point offers a six-hour event celebrating the East Bay’s street dance culture. Learn about Oakland’s seminal role in the art form through performances, workshops and first-hand contact with local dance masters. The afternoon TURFinc dance battles are legendary. Oakland-native Johnny Anthony Lopez founded TURFinc to provide a platform for dancers and youth to engage in dance battles instead of street fights. These folks will blow minds with their otherworldly creativity and physicality. – LF
INFO: Sun, 11am, Radium Runway, 2151 Ferry Point, Alameda. Free.
TUESDAY
JAZZ
GEORGE CABLES TRIO
One of jazz’s most beloved and revered pianists, George Cables is a polished post-bop stylist with a bright touch and a catalog brimming with lithe, ear-bewitching melodies. He contributed to several classic records as a sideman, but his own discography is similarly formidable. Over the past 15 years or so, Cables has performed most frequently within the Cookers, an all-star septet, but he’s at his most expansive leading his trio. The ensemble is built on the great bassist Essiet Essiet, who, like Cables, is a graduate of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and powered by their younger colleague, drummer Jerome Jennings, who’s recorded with everyone from Sonny Rollins to Paula West. – ANDREW GILBERT
INFO: Tue, 5:30pm, Piedmont Piano Company, 1728 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. $35. 510.547.8188.
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY
POP
JOSE FELICIANO
At 78, Puerto Rican guitarist and vocalist José Feliciano has been a legendary figure ever since his album Feliciano! turned him into a bona fide pop star while almost topping Billboard’s LP, R&B and jazz charts. Born blind, he demonstrated a profound gift for music as a child and taught himself to play guitar by listening to records and the radio, with a particular love for Wes Montgomery and Andrés Segovia. Moving seamlessly between English and Spanish, soul and rock and blues, jazz and Latin idioms, Feliciano was a crossover star before the term existed. While many people only know him from “Feliz Navidad,” Feliciano is a multifarious musical force that can’t be contained in any style, let alone song. – AG
INFO: Tue, 8pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $79.10. 510.238.9200.
