SAN FRANCISCO — After an on-stage meltdown in Salt Lake City, Utah, last week, alternative and punk rockers Beach Slang came into Tuesday’s gig at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco with some questions hanging in the air. During last week’s Utah stop, singer James Alex announced the group’s disbandment…

Grimes performs at the Fox Theater in Oakland on April 20, 2016. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. Watching Grimes perform at the Fox Theater in Oakland last night was akin to watching a wild lion, caged and trying to break free of her bonds. The Canadian singer-songwriter (though the classification should be…

M83 performs at the Fox Theater in Oakland on April 17, 2016. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. OAKLAND — Following his breakthrough sixth album, 2011’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, which reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200 chart and briefly made him a household name, M83’s Anthony Gonzalez could have made the safe move…

Carrie Underwood performs at Oracle Arena in Oakland on April 10, 2016. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. Carrie Underwood has outlived “American Idol.” While the television show has produced a handful of success stories, none tower higher than the Season 4 winner, who has sold 65 million records and has earned 13 country…

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform at Oracle Arena in Oakland on March 13, 2016. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. OAKLAND — Bruce Springsteen’s 20-song opus The River means many things to people, but The Boss himself gave two explanations for the meaning of his fifth album — originally released in 1980…

Metallica performs at AT&T Park in San Francisco at The Night Before, a Super Bowl 50 event, on Feb. 8, 2016. Sunday’s Super Bowl 50 had all the glitz and glam, the biggest celebrities in the world, and a halftime show that pandered heavily to Top 40 music lovers…

Vanessa Carlton performs at The Independent on Jan. 19, 2016. Singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton, who has moved from New York to Nashville, recently had a daughter with husband John McCauley of Deer Tick and released her fifth album, Liberman, in October. Tuesday’s show at The Independent served as an introduction to…

Muse performs at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Dec. 15, 2015. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. While English trio Muse was making terrific prog-rock records in the early 2000s, Americans largely ignored them. The Bay Area and other large metropolises notwithstanding, Muse didn’t break out until 2009’s The Resistance, the first of three sub-par efforts…

On the one hand, there’s the clichéd image of Butthead in his constant AC/DC shirt. On the other, it’s a wonder to think how many classics guitarist Angus Young and his various bandmates in 40-plus years have written. The Aussie band is one of the most celebrated names in the hard…

Taylor Swift performs at at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on her 1989 Tour, on Aug. 16, 2015. Roman Gokhman/STAFF. SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Taylor Swift has hits for miles. Nearly every one of the 18 songs she performed Friday, at the first of two sold-out shows at Levi’s…