THU 10/8
ROCK
SOMESURPRISES
The first thing to know about somesurprises—that’s right: one word, all lowercase—is that they are a transatlantic band. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Natasha El-Sergany was born in Ireland, raised in northern England and found a home in the Pacific Northwestern United States. She started somesurprises as a solo, bedroom project but it quickly took off after she linked up with synthesist and guitarist Josh Medina. It has now grown to include bassist Laura Seniow, cellist Lori Goldston and drummer Nico Sophiea for a full sound that is equal parts catchy as it is dreamy. – Mat Weir
INFO: Thu, 8pm, Thee Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 510.859.8709.
THU 10/8
JAZZ
LISA MEZZACAPPA 5(ISH)
While bassist, composer and bandleader Lisa Mezzacappa has been busy turning the Jazzschool into a buzzing hive with a huge array of activities and programs, she hasn’t neglected her own music. Her rambunctious band, Lisa Mezzacappa 5(ish), brings together some of the most exciting improvisers on the Bay Area scene, including tenor saxophonist Aaron Bennett, vibraphonist Mark Clifford, pianist Brett Carson and drummer Jordan Glenn, Mezzacappa’s rhythm section partner in more than a half-dozen different ensembles. Playing material from her 2025 album othrwrldly, the group explores the concept of worldbuilding, looking to find new avenues for musical interaction, narrative development and structure. – Andrew Gilbert
INFO: Thu, 8pm, The Back Room, 1984 Bonita Ave., Berkeley. 510.654.3808.
THU 10/8
BRAZILIAN
SOM DELA
A recent addition to the Bay Area’s fecund Brazilian music scene, Som Dela brings together four highly regarded musicians in a project focusing on music by consequential women composers. Spanning nearly 150 years of musical innovation in Brazil, Som Dela (Her Voice) encompasses choro, samba, forró, Brazilian jazz and beyond. Featuring Real Vocal String Quartet violinist Irene Sazer, Berkeley Choro Ensemble flutist Jane Lenoir, Women Composers Collective pianist Rebecca Hass and veteran percussionist Michaelle Goerlitz, the group brings chamber-music precision and dance-combo verve to the far-flung repertoire. The four women also contribute original compositions to the intoxicating mix. – AG
INFO: Thu, 7:30pm, Wyldflowr Arts, 809 37th St., Oakland. 510.842.5055.
FRI 10/9
PERSIAN ROCK
SHĀHERI
Persians are Iran’s largest ethnic group, and ancient Persia is considered one of the cradles of civilization. Los Angeles-based musical project SHĀHERI melds classic musical heritage with modern guitars and psychedelic rock. This isn’t the stretch it might seem; the ancient Persians used haoma, a mind-altering ritual drink. Meanwhile, back in 2025 the group, headed by Emmy Award-winning composer Jonathan Shaheri, released its first EP, Persiadelica, and is now touring North America and earning a rep for unpredictable, immersive live shows. Check out the track “Dokhtar Shekar” on Bandcamp. – Janis Hashe
INFO: Fri, 7pm, Eli’s Mile High Club, 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. $28. 510.808.7565.
FRI 10/9
POWER-POP
BONES SHREDDER & SWEET GLOOM
Bones Shredder and Sweet Gloom both regard heartbreak as an excellent reason to turn the amps all the way up. San Jose’s Randy Moore brings power-pop hooks and some blood-and-guts black-comedy melodrama to his Bones Shredder project and debut album, Morbid Little Thing. Los Angeles’ Sweet Gloom answers with their own big hooks, big melodies and dating chaos. Their new album, No Love Lost, released in August, cranks up the fuzz and turns doomed crushes and bad breakups into weird fun. Show also on Saturday. – Sonya Bennett-Brandt
INFO: Fri, 7pm, Planetarium, 5327 Jacuzzi St., Richmond. $20.
SAT 10/10
HIP-HOP
CORTISA STAR
Cortisa Star makes rap born from a Tumblr fever dream. The 19-year-old rapper and model came up from the digital underground with BandLab, then watched her 2024 track “Fun” explode after a From The Block freestyle. Her debut EP, E.M.O. (Evil Motion Overload), pushes the sound further into warped, hyperpoppy, maximalist territory, while her work as a model has landed her on runways and magazine covers. The “For All the Dolls” tour brings a whole beautifully chaotic package: rap, trans joy, fashion-world weirdness. Star won’t sit quietly anywhere, and especially not in a box. – SBB
INFO: Sat, 9pm, Cornerstone, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $28. 510.214.8600.
SAT 10/10
THEATER
FALLING FOR YOU
Spend 75 minutes with an art group led by Erika Chong Shuch, Rowena Richie and Ryan Tacata in this one-day-only matinee. Enter the prismatic spectrum of creativity as the images and ideas of elders living in neighborhoods surrounding the Ashby Avenue theater mingle with themes from Shotgun’s upcoming mainstage production, The Fall Show. The trio’s “For You” production program’s “Artists and Elders” program founded in 2020 has intentionally invaded the lives of the many elders who experience chronic isolation. Inviting them to share their rich wisdom, humor, grief, pain, joy in community and dreams for the future, the event is a spark of celebration, a shining example of how bringing people together is healing for all. – Lou Fancher
INFO: Sat, 2pm, Shotgun Players, 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. $8-$40. 510.841.6500.
TUE 10/13
POP
AUDREY HOBERT
Some artists are truly their own. They might play a popular style—rock, pop, hip-hop—but they make it undeniably their style. Audrey Hobert is one of those artists. Originally, she set out to follow her father’s footsteps in TV and film-script writing—her father was a writer and producer for Scrubs and The Middle—and even worked as a staff writer on every episode of Nickelodeon’s The Really Loud House. However, in 2024 she realized she had a creative vision for music that stood out among the stable of pop artists, and she liked it. And so do the 8.4 million monthly Spotify listeners that follow her. – MW
INFO:Tue, 8pm, Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $96-330. 510.302.2250.
TUE 10/13
LITERARY
MICHAEL POLLAN AND CHRISTOF KOCH
These two power players drive a discussion into the mountainous realm of consciousness. New York Times bestselling Pollan has most recently steered his full-throttled intensity into his new book, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness. Neuroscientist Koch knows the ins, outs and beyonds of consciousness science, including the interplay of psychedelics and the brain and the subjectivity of perceived reality. Expect to encounter such strange things as what plants know, what AI might tell or hide from human awareness, and so on. Expect to leave divided: half full of existential angst, half full of wonder about what that approximately three-pound cauliflower in a human head can and cannot understand. –LF
INFO: Tue, 7:30pm, Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall, 101 Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. 510.642.9988.
WED 10/14
LATIN FUSION
DOS SANTOS
The group’s producer is Grammy Award-winner Beto Martinez, and its sound is all its own—centuries-old cultural rhythms mingle with cumbias, jazz and psychedelic rock. The Chicago-based quintet has played together since 2013, and released its fourth full-length album, Es Amor, this year. Group leader Alex Chavez is also Dr. Alex E. Chavez, an ethnographer and assistant professor of anthropology at Notre Dame. Discogs wrote of Es Amor: “The album takes a more personal turn: the title track is a reworking of a song by vocalist Alex E. Chavez’s father, an element that brings memories and migration narratives to the fore and gives the work an intimate, intergenerational dimension.” – JH
INFO: Wed, 7:30pm, Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. 510.238.9200.
