Photos: Ché Holts OAKLAND — For 90 minutes Wednesday at The Fox Theater in Oakland, the headlining act put the “saint” in St. Paul and the Broken Bones. The Birmingham, Alabama, rock and soul octet delivered the full-custom gospel, playing beneath a cathedral stained glass window installation. Vocalist Paul Janeway…

Photos: Diana Cordero SAN FRANCISCO — Bloc Party’s latest album, Hymns, was met with lukewarm critical response earlier this year. The group’s show Monday at the San Francisco club Mezzanine seemed to warrant that response. The UK quartet hit nice grooves and lift the show toward greatness, but the Hymns cuts would stymie…

Sleater-Kinney announced Monday a New Year’s Eve show set for Dec. 31 at The Masonic in San Francisco. After a nine-year hiatus, Portland, Oregon-based indie and riot grrrl rock trio returned to the stage in 2015 with No Cities to Love. The group played a pair of shows at The…

Photos: Brandon Jernigan SAN FRANCISCO — Friday was Norwegian night at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. It wasn’t billed that way, but thanks to Oslo-based headliner Highasakite, that’s how it turned out. The Scandinavian pop quintet found a fan base beaming with support. Show-goers spoke Norwegian in line…

SAN FRANCISCO — Wilco is nothing if not consistent. For the better part of the past decade, the band’s been saddled with the grand undefined label “dad rock,” which simultaneously fits and seems unfair. As the group showed Saturday during the fourth in a five-night residence that concluded Sunday at The…

Photos: Diana Cordero BERKELEY — This is what Tame Impala looks like at the height of its powers: Glorious, swirling psychedelia via video screen, round, thudding bass mooring the beat and Kevin Parker singing in glorious falsetto underneath a blizzard of confetti. Tame Impala’s themes are often about self-doubt,…

BERKELEY — No band should be expected to deliver the same level of intensity at the 25-year mark as it did in its hungry, vibrant youth. While Dave Matthews Band has reached that age in its career, it has little left to prove. It’s also fair to say that…

Metallica, Roger Waters, Dave Matthews and Willie Nelson were among the 10 artists announced Monday for this year’s installment of the annual Bridge School Benefit concert. The event, now in its 30th year, brings together popular musicians to benefit the Bridge School, a Hillsborough, Calif. facility serving children with…

Photos: Lorenz Angelo and Nick DeCicco SAN FRANCISCO — Australian synthpop group Miami Horror brought a showy finish Saturday to the 20th Street Block Party in San Francisco. In a day that brought many subdued or introspective performances, Miami Horror stood out for its energy and showmanship. Band members…

Bay Area label Tompkins Square recently announced the eighth installment in its “Imaginational Anthem” series. “Imaginational Anthem Vol. 8: The Private Press” is available Sept. 16 in multiple formats, including a limited-edition run of 500 double-LP sets. Compiled by former record store buyer Michael Klausman and collector Brooks Rice,…