THU 10/29
JAZZ
GRACE KELLY
When she was only 16, she performed at Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration. Already a saxophonist, singer-songwriter and composer, Grace Kelly was making a name for herself in the jazz world. Big names she’s recorded with include Phil Woods, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. She’s recorded 15 albums, the most recent being 2024’s Grace Kelly with Strings: At The Movies, inspired by the classic Charlie Parker with Strings. “As likely to evoke the ghost of Charlie Parker as she is to borrow from Broadway and infuse funk grooves,” commented the Music Museum of New England. — Janis Hashe
INFO: Thu, 7:30pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. $39-$79. 510.238.9200.
FRI 10/30
ROCK
HELL COMES TO OAKLAND IV
As the air grows cold and the veil between worlds draws thin, Halloween is the time to masquerade as someone else. Which is why Hell Comes to Oakland returns for its fourth year as Oaktown’s premier cover-band party. On Friday, audiences can be a part of the black parade with My Chemical Situationship (covering My Chemical Romance), GAYC/DC (AC/DC), Rammspringa (Rammstein), the Blue Velvets (Julee Cruise) and Dinosaur Jr. Jr. (Dinosaur Jr.). On Halloween, stay clean with Road Crew as Motörhead, Lez Claypool (Primus), No Duh (No Doubt), Ms. Guided (Guided by Voices) and Six Shooter (Queens of the Stone Age). — Mat Weir
INFO: Fri, 9pm, Thee Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $13-$24. 510.859.8709.
FRI 10/30
SCREAMO
FEBUARY
Bust out those white belts and snake-bite piercings in a non-ironic way because screamo comes to Berkeley this weekend. No, this isn’t no Halloween trick; it’s just a treat with Las Vegas’ Febuary headlining Gilman. Formed in 2023—screamo, in this economy???—Febuary is one of the premier bands keeping the genre alive and moshing in the 21st century. In the last three years, they’ve dropped a debut album and EP and have played major festivals like Sound & Fury and Coachella. This Friday they take the stage with Love Letter, Stella, Soap Box Derby and Slinger for a Halloween kick-off show that’s sure to raise some ghosts and ghouls. — MW
INFO: Fri, 7pm, 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. $23-$27. 510.524.8180.
FRI 10/30
FRENCH CAFE
ODILE LAVAULT’S BAGUETTE QUARTETTE
Long before French-born accordionist Odile Lavault launched Baguette Quartette in 1993, she honed a book of tunes from the two decades between the World Wars in cafes and restaurants around Paris. The longtime Berkeley resident transposed that winsome repertoire to Bay Area music spots with Baguette Quartette, which features Lavault on button accordion and vocals, Rachel Durling on violin, John Schott on acoustic guitar and Rich Trevor on acoustic bass. They don’t perform often, so each show invites Francophiles to bathe in valses, musettes, pasos dobles, fox trots, tangos and marches. — Andrew Gilbert
INFO: Fri, 8pm, Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley. $25-$30. 510.654.3808.
SAT 10/31
COUNTRY
DOLLY’S MILE HIGH CLUB
Bring on the pumpkins and celebrate Halloween with the wittiest witch that ever was. This six-hour tribute to the late, great Dolly Parton absolutely invites folks to toss on that blonde wig, dress in pink—sequins an absolute must—and slay the 9-to-5 workdays with music. Dolly dressers pay only one buck. Kochina Rude hosts the event’s drag show, look-alike contest, Dolly impersonators and “cuntry” DJs. Wink, wink. Billed as a “Halloween Rager,” it’s more likely the night will be a love fest—a trippy junket to all things Dolly. — Lou Fancher
INFO: Sat, 8pm, Eli’s Mile High Club, 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. $10-$15. 510.808.7565.
SAT 10/31
DANCE
LORD OF THE RINGS SQUARE DANCE
“Swing your partner and do-si-do / Don’t step on their furry toes.” For the fourth year, Ashkenaz hosts the all-ages, where-else-but-Berkeley, Halloween square dance celebrating Tolkien’s classic tales. Dress like your favorite hobbit, Ent or goblin and step out to the music of Denethor’s Supper, featuring Gandalf the White on fiddle. He does fiddle around a lot in the stories, so why not? Dances will be called by Evie Ladin and Robin Fischer—with perhaps a bit of magic help from local elves? “To fly would be folly / To stay would be jolly!” — JH
INFO: Sat, 8pm, Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. $20. 510.525.5099.
SAT 10/31
JAZZ
HENRY HUNG’S KLAXON MUTANT ALL-STARS
Nothing can stand against the mighty Klaxon Mutant All-Stars, travelers from a distant realm that transforms familiar sonic emissions, like “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and “Never Gonna Give You Up,” into epic electro-acoustic soundscapes. Led by the intrepid Henry Hung on trumpet and effects, the band has materialized intermittently since 2011, when it first landed at Amnesia in the Mission. Visitations are too scarce these days, and this Halloween haunting features keyboardist Colin Hogan, Jonathon Herrera on electric bass and synth, drummer Eric Harland, and Kasey Knudsen on alto sax and effects. Do not resist. The groove will be assimilated. — AG
INFO: Sat, 8pm, The Jazzschool, 2087 Addison St., Berkeley. $25. 510.845.5373.
SUN 11/1
NEW AGE
WINDHAM HILL 50TH ANNIVERSARY LIVE
A solo guitar album pressed in 1976 caused listeners to stand still, depart from disco, and embrace music that humanized their thoughts and emotions. Fifty years later Windham Hill continues to defy gravity, lifting millions of people with the music of Will Ackerman, Liz Story, Alex de Grassi, Barbara Higbie, Darol Anger, Michael Manring, Scott Cossu, Fred Simon and Ira Stein. Gathered onstage at The Freight for the first time in decades, the all-day event includes live concerts mingled with panels. A preview of an upcoming documentary reveals rare footage of Michael Hedges and material from The Quiet Revolution. An evening concert features nine instrumental acoustic musicians who carry on the legacy. — LF
INFO: Sun, 7pm, The Freight, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $35-$129. 510.644.2020.
WED 11/4
GUITAR
ALEXANDR MISKO
Forget what you know about the guitar. Alexandr Misko is going to show you that it’s capable of so much more. You might have heard him before. His covers of “Careless Whisper” and “Billie Jean” were circulating on the internet back in 2016, when Misko was barely out of his teens. These see-it-to-believe-it tracks were proof of Misko’s expert technique and creativity, but they were only the start of a career that has so far spanned seven albums and earned him MusicRadar’s 2018 Acoustic Guitarist of the Year. Using his own “Frankenstein Guitar,” an acoustic guitar outfitted with percussion, extra pickups and a detuning system, Misko continues to push the limits of his craft. — Collin Ziegler
INFO: Wed, 8:30pm, Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley. $25. 510.654.3808.
WED 11/4
HIP-HOP
MS. LAURYN HILL & WYCLEF JEAN
A decade before the legendary album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill forever altered America’s musical landscape, Ms. Lauryn Hill gave us a foretaste of her talent as part of the Fugees, a trio made up of Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel. Unlike the popular gangsta rap of the late ’80s, The Score blended indelible hooks, genius sampling and organic freestyling, all carried by some of the decade’s strongest beats—from “Killing Me Softly with His Song” to the tuneful, wicked “Fu-Gee-La,” to the aching blend of lyric and rap “Ready or Not” (sampling Enya!). Whatever it might sound like in today’s America, it’s a gift to hear Hill and Jean bring it back. — CZ
INFO: Wed, 7pm, Greek Theatre, 2001 Gayley Rd., Berkeley. $180-$486. 510.871.9225.
