THURSDAY
INDIE
SETH ANDERSON
For Frank Turner, the Weakerthans and Lagwagon fans, Seth Anderson brings a prescription of emo, folk and punk to flush those blues away. Lagwagon frontman Joey Cape signed Anderson to One Week Records in 2016. Today, Anderson has five full-lengths under his belt, and he’s toured two continents with the likes of Jon Snodgrass, KJ Jansen and Off With Their Heads. This Thursday, he’ll be joined by Lucy Ramone—one half of the sister duo, Dog Party, who just released their seventh album, Dangerous, on their newly formed indie label last month. Opening the show is the new brainchild of Bad Cop/Bad Cop’s former bassist and co-founding member, Jen Carlson. – MAT WEIR
INFO: Thu, 7pm, Golden Bull, 412 14th St., Oakland, $10. 510.224.5522.
FRIDAY
SOUL
TESKEY BROTHERS
Life tends to be anything but linear, and the Teskey Brothers get it. The Australian blues-rock duo takes their Winding Way Tour to Oakland this Friday, now with the prestigious APRA 2024 Songwriter of the Year award in tow. As brothers only a few years apart in age, Josh and Sam were literally born to create this band. Their soulful sound is reminiscent of legends like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, with a distinctly Aussie twist on the nostalgic genre. Memorably, in 2022 they released a cover of Aboriginal activist Archie Roach’s “Get Back to the Land” in collaboration with Emma Donovan. – ADDIE MAHMASSANI
INFO: Fri, 8pm, Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. $76. 510.893.2300.
FRIDAY
THEATER
DON REED: ‘THE DMV’
The next time there’s a visit to the DMV on the calendar, pray that Don Reed is standing—and waiting—nearby. The award-winning solo performer appears as eight characters who collectively spew the delirium and deleteriousness provoked by Americans forced to endure a queue. As the warm-up comedian for over 1,000 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno episodes and with high-profile credits including work in film, television and stage, something exquisitely wonderful can be found imagining Reed’s just like us: a person subject to the soul-sucking sorcery of the DMV. – LOU FANCHER
INFO: Fri, 7:30pm, Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. $25-$100. 510.282.3055.
SATURDAY
ART EXHIBIT
RISING SEAS
Ten artists capture the essence of climate change and its potential impact on the island of Alameda. With photos, beeswax, wood and resin, transformative images prompt provocative questions about rising sea levels, like, will Rhythmix’s K Gallery someday be 20 feet underwater? Will Alameda be uninhabitable? The opening reception will preview dance performances with choreography by KT Nelson titled, “Where do we draw the line?” Make and Take workshops on June 29 and July 27 invite participants to return and construct artwork with repurposed materials. The roster of artists is spectacular, earning the exhibit a five-star recommendation. – LF
INFO: Sat, 2pm, Rhythmix, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda. Free. 510.865.5060.
SATURDAY
COMEDY
IRENE TU
Ivy Riot! presents Irene Tu, the L.A.-based comedian, actor and writer whose debut album, We’re Done Now, came out in 2022. But despite chasing her dreams in La La Land, Tu cut her comedic teeth in San Francisco and was singled out by the San Francisco Chronicle as an “artist on the brink of fame.” Ivy Riot! is a queer-focused wellness and development program centered around music, comedy, performance art, activist panels, mental health and job fairs for Pride month. – MW
INFO: Sat, 8pm, Ivy Room, 860 San Pablo Ave., Albany. $20-$25. 510.526.5888.
SUNDAY
REGGAE
BOOSTIVE
As a genre, reggae has traveled quite a long way without losing its defining offbeat rhythms, deep bass lines and socially conscious lyrics. Boostive, a San Diego-based music collective, is one of the latest groups to mix new influences into the inexhaustible reggae potion, incorporating dub, hip-hop, jazz, soul and electronic music. The group comprises a large, tight-knit cast of top musicians whose dynamic live performances, massive sound and improvisational flair have electrified California audiences. – SONYA BENNETT-BRANDT
INFO: Sun, 8pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $23/adv, $25/door. 510.214.8600.
SUNDAY
JAZZ
STEPHANIE AUSTIN LETSON
The passion, pain and spontaneity inherent to narrative jazz have always been well-suited to telling tales of love in all its forms. That’s what jazz vocalist and teacher Stephanie Austin Letson does in her debut album, Telling Stories, which premieres June 6. It’s a song cycle about “love wished for, how love feels, what people do for love, what love does to each individual, and what everyone gains from love,” and Letson uses her nimble voice to find the emotional depth in each simple story. The evening’s album-release celebration also features Fred Randolph and Mason Rasavi. – SBB
INFO: Sun, 8pm, Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley. $25. 510.381.1997.
TUESDAY
POP
CAVETOWN
Born in 1998 in Oxford, England, Robin Daniel Skinner grew up with a musicologist father and a flautist mother who encouraged his creative talents. Flash forward 15 years, and Skinner was an internet sensation, well on his way to becoming the British bedroom pop phenom known as Cavetown. With his big heart and lo-fi aesthetics, the songwriter achieved massive success. His 2024 EP won the following praise from Flood Magazine: “Each song demand[s] repeated listens due to their densely packed layers of genre ideas.” – AM
INFO: Tues, 6pm, Greek Theatre, 2001 Gayley Rd., Berkeley. $50.50. 510.871.9225.
TUESDAY
SOUL
VALERIE TROUTT’S MOONCANDY
While she’s always possessed a sumptuous voice that draws from the multifarious currents mingling in sacred and secular Black music, Oakland vocalist Valerie Troutt has become one of the region’s essential activists championing the community roots nourishing the creative scene. Following quickly on the heels of her second Because of Black Music IAM festival, she assembles her joyous congregation, Mooncandy, for a Joi Rhone-presented communion at Yoshi’s, celebrating some of the Bay Area’s most soulful singers and composers. With a commitment to queer affection in all its many facets—from eros to agape—Mooncandy opens ears to the sounds of Black love. – ANDREW GILBERT
INFO: Tues, 8pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $30-$49. 510.238.9200.
WEDNESDAY
JAZZ
MULATU ASTATKE
Still a force to be reckoned with at 80, vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke continues to expand the incantatory Ethio-jazz sound he created in Addis Ababa in the early ’70s. Combining his love of jazz and Latin-orchestra maestros like Tito Puente with traditional Ethiopian rhythms and forms, he crafted an opulent sonic realm that continues to find new audiences. Some two decades into his late-career resurgence, he’s creating new works and reimagining classic compositions from the golden age before a brutal Marxist regime overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. Astatke plays a two-night run at the UC Theatre, presented by the L.A. label and production house, Jazz Is Dead. – AG
INFO: Wed, 8pm, UC Theatre, 2036 University Ave., Berkeley. $42.50. 510.356.4000.
