THURSDAY, JUNE 12
AMERICANA
MARY GAUTHIER
Mary Gauthier’s sophomore album, Drag Queens in Limousines, rocketed the bard of queer tales and tunes into visibility 25 years ago. Moving to Nashville, the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter’s soulful lyrics told stories of outcasts. Gauthier’s newest, Dark Enough to See the Stars, follows 2018’s response to trauma, Rifles & Rosary Beads, a collaborative work with wounded Iraq War veterans. This 25th anniversary tour features a limited edition vinyl reissue of Drag Queens. Be sure to check out the merch table, where CDs, Gauthier’s marvelous and candid memoir Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting, and sign-up information about her often-sold-out workshops and private coaching are sure to be available. – LOU FANCHER
INFO: Thu, 8pm, The Freight, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $39-$44. 510.644.2020.
THURSDAY, JUNE 12
THEATER
‘BLOODLESS JUNGLE’
Prepare to follow a young state senator into the political battle of a lifetime in playwright Peter Lawson Jones’ riveting play. Adding to the heat is the protagonist’s association with a best friend from high school recently arrested upon suspicion of rape. Secrets and his opponent’s slithery campaign maneuvers make matters murkier on the way to reconciling moral equations and finding resolve to achieve the goal—winning, but at what cost? Cleveland-native Jones is a graduate of Harvard College—magna cum laude in government—and Harvard Law School and served several terms in the Ohio House of Representatives, so expect the details to be pinned tightly. Among his 60-plus plays, Bloodless is a stunner. Performances go until June 22. – LF
INFO: Thu, 7pm, Black Repertory Group, 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley. $20. 510.652.2120.
FRIDAY, JUNE 13
POP
TUNE-YARDS
Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is as soulful as it is cerebral. Rooted in Merrill Garbus’ genre-bending vision and gorgeous voice, the Oakland-based band has an illustrious history, including early success signing to the label 4AD in 2009. Their sixth album Better Dreaming, released in mid-May, stays true to Tune-Yards’ Afrobeat-infused, lo-fi origins, featuring lots of looping, rollercoaster-like rhythms and socially conscious songwriting. It also finds Garbus with renewed joy and vulnerability, welcoming a new voice into the mix: her toddler. As Pitchfork reports, these are “songs you can really dance to.” – ADDIE MAHMASSANI
INFO: Fri, 8pm, UC Theatre, 2036 University Ave., Berkeley. $31. 510.356.4000.
FRIDAY, JUNE 13
ROCK
DEAD BOB
Canadian punk legend John Wright rolls into town this weekend in his new solo incarnation, Dead Bob. In a storied career drumming for more bands than anyone can count, Wright’s time with NoMeansNo stands out. Co-founded with his brother in 1979, the band made waves with its dynamic fusion of punk, prog-rock and jazz over the course of 11 albums. They were inducted into the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2015 and “retired” shortly thereafter, but John Wright simply cannot put the drumsticks down. His solo album Life Lack is, as he says, “not to be listened to quietly!” – AM
INFO: Fri, 8pm, Thee Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $22.50/adv, $25/door. 510.859.8709.
FRIDAY, JUNE 13
PUNK
CALI KICKS PRE-SHOW
Before the chaos of emo/screamo/punk/DIY California Kicks Fest breaks loose for its second year, the fuse is lit at the Cali Kicks Pre-Show; a five-act firestarter. February will deliver pure L.A. screamo, while Clay Birds blends ’90s gut-punch emotional hardcore into a melancholic, melodic bloom. Holder brings Western Mass emo/hardcore, and newcomers Caesura and Alyvia round out the program. This isn’t just a warm-up, it’s a pressure valve release for the Bay’s most ungovernable fest. Happy screamo summer. – SONYA BENNETT-BRANDT
INFO: Fri, 6:30pm, 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. $15. 510.525.9926.
SATURDAY, JUNE 14
METAL
ACID BATH
From 1991 to 1997, Acid Bath was one of the first heavily influential Louisiana sludge-metal bands that laid the groundwork for the NOLA metal scene along with Eyehategod and Crowbar. However, Acid Bath tragically ended after the death of bassist Audie Pitre in a car crash. Since then, they have become a thing of legend, with members such as Dax Riggs having successful careers after the band. It became a known thing that whenever a metalhead saw another person wearing any Acid Bath merch, there was an instant bond. After years of reunion rumors, Acid Bath finally played their first show in 27 years at Sick New World in Las Vegas last year. – MAT WEIR
INFO: Sat, 8pm, Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $78-$179. 510.302.2250.
SATURDAY, JUNE 14
ROCK
BLOC PARTY
One minute it’s 2005, and the cool kids are popping their collars and buying skinny jeans. Then, in the blink of an eye, it’s 2025 and British indie-rock act Bloc Party is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Silent Alarm—an album which went platinum, hit No. 3 on the U.K. album charts and was named album of the year by NME (New Music Express). This weekend, take a time-trip back to the days of “bling,” “crunk” and “that’s hot” with Bloc Party at the Greek Theatre as they rock out with fellow friends from New York, Blonde Redhead and Family Dinner. – MW
INFO: Sat, 7pm, Greek Theatre, 2001 Gayley Rd., Berkeley. $78. 510.871.9225.
MONDAY, JUNE 16
JAZZ
DEE BRIDGEWATER & BILL CHARLAP
There’s simply no other artist in jazz like Dee Dee Bridgewater, an NEA Jazz Master as versed in Kurt Weill as she is with Horace Silver. Bridgewater is a creative force who has triumphed in every creative field she’s entered. But she’s at her best onstage with fellow improvisers, responding in the moment to the ebb and flow of energy coursing through a club. Keeping company in recent months with Bill Charlap, she’s got a superlative partner in swing. Sharing a vast repertoire ranging across the Great American Songbook, they’re an inimitable duo who keep each other, to say nothing of lucky audiences, dazzled and entertained. Goes until June 17. – ANDREW GILBERT
INFO: Mon, 8pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $44-$99. 510.238.9200.
MONDAY, JUNE 16
HIP-HOP
MC FRONTALOT
MC Frontalot is the glitch in the Matrix, the boss fight at the end of the broadband tunnel and the godfather of Nerdcore hip-hop. Coding by day and rhyming by night, Frontalot emerged from the dot-com primordial ooze with bars about TIFF files, side quests and existential dread. Two decades later he’s still rapping like a terminal window with social anxiety. With seven albums, cult documentary Nerdcore Rising and a loyal legion of comic convention-goers, he turns awkwardness into armor and HTML into heat. Prepare to be debugged. – SBB
INFO: Mon, 8pm, Ivy Room, 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. $18. 510.526.5888.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18
SOUL
CHERYL RUCKER’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
Oakland-native Cheryl Rucker, the soul-steeped vocalist and longtime driving force in Melvin Seals and JGB, celebrates her birthday at Ashkenaz. She came into contact with the world of the Grateful Dead through one of the Jerry Garcia Band’s backup vocalists, Gloria Jones, a close friend from church. She ended up replacing Jones in the JGB, immersing herself in the band’s vast and varied repertoire. She’s been part of numerous Jerry-related bands and projects, including Like A Rose, the Maykers and Steely Dead. She’s put out the call to heads of all vintages to celebrate her journey and the JGB’s songbook with a cast of friends she’s played with along the way. – AG
INFO: Wed, 7pm, Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. $20-$25. 510.525.5099.
