Crowded House performs at Fox Theater in Oakland on May 6, 2023. Karen Goldman/STAFF. OAKLAND —”We’ve really diverged tonight!”vocalist Neil Finn told the audience about two-thirds of the way through the Crowded House set at the Fox Theater on Saturday night. As the show had opened with the circus-like ambience of…

Jethro Tull, “RökFlöte.” An aesthetic of minimalism governs much of rock and roll. Sure, there’s the “November Rain” video and that weird thing where bands play their hits with symphony orchestras. But, at its core, rock and roll is about three chords, denim and leather. Given how much The…

Pink Floyd, “Dark Side of the Moon” 50th anniversary box set. In the 1960s, communication theorist Marshall Mcluhan famously declared “the medium is the message.” Mcluhan’s point was that the means by which an idea or piece of “content” is transmitted is at least as important as the content…

Sleaford Mods, “UK GRIM.” As an adolescent, I devoured Sue Townsend’s “The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4.” Though I was occasionally mystified by the Britishisms, wondering about pounds and quid, fortnights, pensioners and the dole, I was for the most part utterly charmed by the pastorale…

Wayne Shorter performs at the Park West in Chicago on Nov. 15, 1978. Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images. Famed saxophonist Wayne Shorter died Thursday at the age of 89. Shorter was a jazz giant who not only witnessed jazz history but had a huge role in shaping it. From…

Gorillaz, “Cracker Island.” Centuries from now, historians will be desperate for an artifact that conveys what life was like during the twilight of Western civilization. People in the distant future will need help understanding our era’s anxious ennui. Cracker Island, the new album from Gorillaz—Blur vocalist Damon Albarn’s musical…

The Church, “The Hypnogugue.” In the United States, Australian band The Church is best known for 1988 single “Under the Milky Way,” a dreamy acoustic ballad which topped out at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was the soundtrack for a generation of goth teens applying excessive…

Yo La Tengo, “This Stupid World.” An appreciation for Yo La Tengo operates much like a secret handshake, indicating to other ultra-hip music aficionados that you see beyond the flashes in the pan to appreciate music made as its own reward rather than to dominate the record charts. The…

Tom Verlaine of Television performs at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on April 16, 1978. Photo by Gus Stewart/Redferns. Tom Verlaine, singer, guitarist and founding member of hugely influential post-rock band Television, has died at 73. Verlaine, born Thomas Miller in New Jersey, was a fixture in the scene…

Fred Armisen performs during SF Sketchfest at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Jan. 27, 2023. Photos by Jakub Mosur. SAN FRANCISCO — Musician and comedian Fred Armisen performed a mix of music and standup comedy for the first of three sold-out dates with his show Comedy…