From Concord’s free Music & Market concerts to new stage shows and and a spotlight on Bay Area Americana bands, there is a lot to see and do this week and beyond in the Bay Area. Here’s a partial roundup.
Free tunes in Concord
It’s getting to be that time of the year when lovers of free live outdoor music can find it all over the place. And no, we’re not talking about the guy who’s trying to master “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” on the banjo near your neighborhood drugstore. We’re talking about the network of talented Bay Area cover bands and rock, folk, jazz and world music acts that perform for free in parks and other public venues through the spring, summer and fall. One of our favorite free concert series kicks off this week at Concord’s Todos Santos Plaza, at Willow Pass Road and Grant Street. The Music & Market Concert Series offers a nice one-two punch in that a lively farmers’ market runs at the Plaza from 4-8 p.m., and the concerts take place from 6:30-8 p.m. Performing this Thursday is Andre Thierry, the Richmond born-and-raised accordionist who serves up a spicy blend of Louisiana Cajun and Zydeco music. Others on the 2024 Music & Market lineup include the Earth, Wind & Fire-loving band the Houserockers (June 13), Sacred Fire Band delivering the music of Santana (June 20), Guitar master Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings, one of the best blues bands going (July 11), the popular all-women Led Zeppelin tribute band Zepperella (July 18), the Steely Dan/Chicago cover band Aju Vu (Aug. 8), the all-women Aerosmith tribute band RagDolls (Aug. 22), and heck, there’s even a Taylor Swift tribute band in the mix, Twist on Taylor (Sept. 12).
Details: Series runs through Sept. 26 (no show July 4); all concerts free; cityofconcord.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
Stage picks: ‘Company,’ ‘Scoundrels’
Here are two new shows Bay Area stage fans should know about.
“Company”: With a brand new musical revue built around Stephen Sondheim’s songs debuting in Mountain View this week, one of the composer’s most popular classics returns to San Francisco — with a twist. We’re talking “Company,” Sondheim and George Furth’s concept musical about love, dating and marriage, which was revived in 2021 with the lead character switched from a man to a woman. This is the touring version of that revival, which drew raves in London and Broadway.
Details: Through June 29; Orpheum Theatre, San Francisco; $55-$148; www.broadwaysf.com.
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”: The concept of a comedy about two charismatic conmen on the French Riviera competing to swindle a woman out of her savings seems irresistible, which would explain why it has spawned two movies (1964’s “Bedtime Story” and 1988’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”) and a stage musical that opened on Broadway two decades ago and is getting a revival by San Jose Stage. Starring Keith Pinto, Ashley Garlick and Jonathan Rhys Williams, and directed by Johnny Moreno, the production opens this week and runs through June 30.
Details: Performances at San Jose Stage; $34-$74; www.thestage.org.
— Randy McMullen, Staff
Celebrating Sondheim: Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim remains a legend in musical theater whose impact on Broadway and American culture can’t be overstated. His clever and tuneful works helped Broadway address a deeper, broader array of subjects and emotions, which is partly why he scored eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards, an Oscar and a Pulitzer Prize. But with his deep catalog of songs and musicals continuing to play on stages across the country, is there a need for a brand new show about him and incorporating his works? The folks at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley certainly think so. The company has a deep connection to Sondheim, having presented more works by him than any other composer or playwright over its 54-year history. And this week, TheatreWorks is presenting the world premiere of “Being Alive: A Sondheim Celebration,” a musical revue in which, as organizers put it, “Sondheim’s profound understanding of the human heart takes center stage.” With musicals such as “Into the Woods,” “A Little Night Music,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Company,” “Pacific Overtures,” “Merrily We Roll Along” and more to choose from, this new revue by former TheatreWorks artistic director Robert Kelley and his longtime collaborator William Liberatore will no doubt be packed with musical theater classics that will have patrons humming as they leave the theater. And that’s why we go to musicals, isn’t it? “Being Alive” is in previews through Friday, with the main run extending Saturday through June 30 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $27-$82; go to theatreworks.org.
Classical picks: ‘Erwartung,’ ‘Notre Dame’
From a 14th-century masterwork to a riveting 20th century drama, this week brings opportunities to hear rare performances. Here are two events music lovers won’t want to miss.
Opera at the Symphony: The San Francisco Symphony welcomes director Peter Sellars and soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams in the Symphony’s first performances of Arnold Schoenberg’s “Erwartung,” about a woman who walks into the woods and finds herself in an unexpectedly dark situation. Conducted by music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, the program also includes Ravel’s “Ma Mére l’Oye” (Mother Goose), featuring dancers from Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet.
Details: 7:30 Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday; Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco; $39-$160; sfsymphony.org.
Early Mass: 14th-century French composer Guillaume de Machaut, a master of the ars nova style in late Medieval music, wrote his magnum opus in the “Messe de Notre Dame.” With singers from the San Francisco-based men’s chorus Chanticleer joining the early music outfit Alkemie, the work receives three performances this weekend, including one as part of the 18th biennial Berkeley Festival and Exhibition.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco ($20-$63); 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Mission Santa Clara $25-$63); 7 p.m. Sunday at First Congregational Church, Berkeley (pay what you can); chanticleer.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Cowboy Junkies ride back to Bay Area
The Cowboy Junkies — long one of the best bands in all of popular music — are riding back into the Bay Area to perform multiple concerts.
The sensational country-folk-rock act, consisting of vocalist Margo Timmins, guitarist-songwriter Michael Timmins, drummer Peter Timmins and bassist Alan Anton, are still touring in support of “Such Ferocious Beauty.”
That 2023 outing was a fantastic album — which, really, shouldn’t surprise anybody given that that’s really the only type of albums the Cowboy Junkies put out. The list of the band’s previous winners includes such ferocious beauties as 1996’s “Lay It Down,” 2001’s “Open” and 2018’s “All That Reckoning.”
Of course, the group remains best known for its transcendent sophomore effort, 1988’s “The Trinity Session,” which was highlighted by the moving original composition “Misguided Angel” and the all-time great cover of the Velvet Underground classic “Sweet Jane.”
The band’s current tour includes five Bay Area venues: today at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park; Saturday at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz; Sunday and Wednesday at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco; and June 13 at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley.
Details: Visit cowboyjunkies.com for details on all dates.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
It takes a (Little) Village
: Veteran blues keyboardist Jim Pugh is known for his years of performing with the Robert Cray band and other outfits, but his most lasting contribution to music might be the non-profit record label he created, Little Village. Now a decade old, Little Village has served as the home and launching pad for a variety of talented musicians who dwell in the kind of Americana genres – blues, folk, gospel, etc. – that the mainstream record industry doesn’t pay much attention to these days. If you’re wondering what contemporary takes on these genres sound like, head to the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley on Friday for the annual Little Village concert showcase (dubbed the “Freight Mini-Fest”). The lineup includes Aki Kumar, the “Bollywood Blues” harmonica player; the acclaimed traditional gospel outfit Sons of the Soul Revivers; the Filipino folk trio The Sampaguitas; The Latin/blues singer Marina Crouse, and singer-songer Genesis Fermin playing with veteran singer-producer Vicki Randle. Hosting the show will be well-known Bay Area singer-songwriter Maurice Tani, who’s worked and recorded with Little Village for years. The show promises to be a rollicking affair and a reminder that American roots music is still going strong – you just need to know where to look for it. The show is at 8 p.m.; and tickets are $25 ($23 for seniors and $12.50 for patrons 21 and under). Go to thefreight.org
A combo concert: Those of us who like our Mother Goose nursery tales served up with a little visual and audio assist are in for a treat this weekend, as San Francisco treasure Alonzo King has choreographed the Ravel ballet “Ma mére l’Oye” for his LINES Ballet dancers to perform with the San Francisco Symphony in Davies Hall. The music, which dates to 1912, was first a piano suite for four hands and then an orchestral suite before the composer produced the final ballet, which animates such favorite characters as the Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb and Beauty and the Beast. Also on the program, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, is Arnold Schoenberg’s monodrama “Ewartung,” with staging by renowned theater director Peter Sellars and featuring soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams taking on the role of the desperate woman searching for her lover in a dark forest at night.
Performance times are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets, $69-$169, are available at sfsymphony.org or by calling 415-864-6000.
A night of Slavic songs: Slavyanka, the 45-year-old San Francisco-based chorus which took its name from the old Russian name for California’s Russian River, is presenting a highly unusual concert of songs composed by women from Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and Bulgaria in three Bay Area venues this weekend. The program, titled “Songs of Faith, Love and Delight,” will be conducted by artistic director Irina Shachneva and will feature works by Russian-Belarusian composer Irina Denisova, Serbian composers Dragana Velickovic and Ljubica Maric´, Ukrainian Iryna Aleksiychuk and the Bulgarian-British composer Dobrinka Tabakova. The first concert takes place at 8 p.m. Friday in St. Mark’s Church in Berkeley, with repeats at 4 p.m. Saturday in Palo Alto’s First Congregational Church and 4 p.m. Sunday at Star of the Sea Church at 4420 Geary Blvd. in San Francisco. Tickets are available at slavyankachorus.org and at the door, with free admission for those under 18.
