FRIDAY. Here’s what’s up this weekend:
Alameda County Fair
Last year, the Alameda County Fair made the Guinness World Records for producing the world’s largest “commercially available” hamburger (it weighed in at a whopping 777 pounds). This year marks a less caloric (though no less weighty) landmark for the annual fete: the fair’s centennial. Festivities are already well underway at the Alameda County Fairgrounds (4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton), but you can still catch events like the hot-dog eating contest on Wednesday, July 4; the diaper derby on Friday, July 6; and all the barbecued, battered, and fried delights that keep us coming back each year. Through July 20. Tue.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m; Fri.-Sun. 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; July 4 11 a.m.-9 p.m. $6-$10, free for kids under six. 925-426-7559 or AlamedaCountyFair.com — Cassie McFadden
Mayer Hawthorne
Stones Throw crooner Mayer Hawthorne isn’t the only current pop artist to traffic in old paradigms — so-called “revival music” has enjoyed wide currency for at least a decade. And it continues to proliferate, as more young musicians realize that the best way to honor their Seventies forbears isn’t via chopped samples, but rather through capable, exacting imitations. That notion helped fuel the success of artists like Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, the late Amy Winehouse, cloying balladeer Bruno Mars, and even Hawthorne’s labelmate, Aloe Blacc. But 33-year-old Hawthorne stands out in particular, not only because he’s mastered the high falsetto warble and dapper sartorial choices of a doo-wop singer, but also because he’s given the style his own contemporary spin. Hawthorne draws as much inspiration from J. Dilla and Madlib as from old Isaac Hayes records — many of his songs have the ultra-clean polish of contemporary hip-hop or R&B. For a nostalgia act, he’s remarkably fresh. Hawthorne and his band, The County (a catch-all moniker for a rotating cast of backup musicians) will open for Foster the People at The Greek Theatre (2001 Gayley Rd., Berkeley) on Friday, June 29. 7:30 p.m., $37.50. APEConcerts.com — Rachel Swan
