CIX performs at Paramount Theatre in Oakland on March 26, 2023. Gavin Legaspi/STAFF. OAKLAND — Soul-music-loving K-pop group CIX concluded their second U.S. tour at the Paramount Theatre with a breezy, groove-centric 100-minute set. The quintet, whose name stands for “Complete in X,” is a rising act on the…

Depeche Mode, “Memento Mori.” Spurred on both by pandemic lockdowns and the death of founding member Andrew Fletcher, the new album by now-duo Depeche Mode is a dark and claustrophobic work that reflects not only the times but the ways in which singer Dave Gahan and guitarist Martin Gore…

Buzzy Lee (Sasha Spielberg), courtesy Phil Chester and Sara Byrne. A lot has changed for singer-songwriter Sasha Spielberg since she released her debut solo album as Buzzy Lee, 2021’s Spoiled Love, a collection of acerbic breakup songs about a doomed relationship. Most notably, Spielberg, the daughter of director Steven…

Katie Melua, “Love & Money.” Singer-songwriter Katie Melua was coming to terms with a divorce on 2020’s Album No. 8. Her latest long-player, Love & Money, finds her in a completely different place. Now with a new partner and a newborn son (she was pregnant when making the album),…

Margaret Cho, courtesy Sergio Garcia. Comedian Margaret Cho has seemingly been everywhere on screen recently, from the wildly successful Hulu movie “Fire Island” to Comedy Central’s “Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens,” 2020 animated film “Over The Moon” (which was nominated for an Oscar), 2021’s “Good on Paper” and Netflix’s…

SZA performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland on March 14, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. OAKLAND — When SZA headlined Outside Lands last summer, more than five months before she released her smash second album SOS, she already had the nautical concept of her current tour. As with that festival set,…

Marc Anthony performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 10, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — As if Marc Anthony, the top-selling tropical salsa artist of all time and winner of multiple Grammys, didn’t already make music that sounded effortless, he added to the effect at his show Friday…

U2, “Songs of Surrender.” U2 has released alternate takes of its songs on collections before, but they’ve always been either as bonus material on re-releases (Kindergarten Achtung Baby) or as fan-club-only releases (Medium, Rare & Remastered, Artificial Horizon). Their latest, Songs of Surrender, is their first attempt at mass-market…

The North American “SIX” Aragon Tour. Jasmine Forsberg far left. Photo by Joan Marcus. No theater show since “Hamilton” has had as much buzz and exploded onto the world stage as much as “SIX.” “SIX”  Through March 19 Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco Tickets. Recommended for ages 10…

Vanessa Carlton, courtesy Alysse Gafkjen. Vanessa Carlton is plotting future pain on her first headlining tour since before lockdowns, but it’s a current pain that’s postponed this conversation by a week and has her attention for the moment: The “A Thousand Miles” singer-songwriter broke her foot on a step…