Concert Reviews
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REVIEW: Twenty One Pilots, Raconteurs lead Not So Silent Night at SAP Center
The Raconteurs perform during radio station Live 105’s Not So Silent Night at SAP Center in San Jose on Dec. 7, 2019. Photos courtesy RADIO.COM. SAN JOSE — Some of the biggest names in alt-rock descended on the SAP Center on a soggy Saturday night in the South Bay…
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REVIEW: High On Fire burns and returns in ferocious triumph to The UC Theatre
High on Fire performs at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on March 29, 2016. Photos: Derek Tobias. BERKELEY — Local heavy metal champions High On Fire returned to The UC Theatre from a year-long limbo Friday night. Following the appropriately gruesome partial amputation of guitarist Matt Pike’s toe, the band was…
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REVIEW: Pixies fire on all cylinders, dig deep into songbook at August Hall
Pixies perform at The August Hall in San Francisco on Dec. 5, 2019. Photos: Sean Liming. SAN FRANCISCO — With a surprising burst of fiery energy, indie rock giants the Pixies filled August Hall on Thursday. The capacity crowd of mainly millennials cheered the band and sang along to classic…
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Andrea Bocelli makes San Francisco debut with SF Symphony at Chase Center
Andrea Bocelli performs with the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 5, 2019. Photos: Onome Uyovbievbo. SAN FRANCISCO — As Andrea Bocelli addressed a sold-out Chase Center Thursday night toward the end of his two-hour performance with the San Francisco Symphony, he acknowledged the…
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REVIEW: Talib Kweli preaches love and good humor at Yoshi’s
Talib Kweli performs at Yoshi’s in Oakland on Dec. 4, 2019. Sean Liming/Staff. OAKLAND — Within the intimate environs of Yoshi’s, Talib Kweli brought his lyrical mastery to the stage at the first of two shows on Wednesday. Amid the holiday decorations and low lighting, the acclaimed hip-hop artist…
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REVIEW: Battles bring controlled chaos to the Independent
Battles perform at The Independent in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 2019. Sean Liming/Staff. SAN FRANCISCO — One of the most basic oppositions in our lives is the one between chaos and control. New York duo Battles, comprised of guitarist-keyboardist Ian Williams of the influential instrumental group Don Caballero, and John…
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REVIEW: The Chainsmokers bring their circus act to Chase Center
The Chainsmokers perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on Nov. 29, 2019. Photos: Gary Chancer. SAN FRANCISCO — Near the end of The Chainsmokers’ show Friday at Chase Center, three members of the Urias family entered a Globe of Death on dirt bikes and performed one of the…
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REVIEW: Slayer emits final infernal blast at Oakland Arena
Slayer performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland on Nov. 26, 2019. Photos: Joaquin Cabello. OAKLAND — The Bay Area, home to rise of thrash metal in the early ’80s, hosted a luminary of the movement Tuesday as giants Slayer rocked Oakland Arena one last time. The concert was one of…
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REVIEW: Cautious Clay simmers at Wonder Ballroom in Portland
PORTLAND, ORE. — While the impending bomb cyclone was the popular topic of conversation Tuesday in western Oregon, New York musician Cautious Clay tempered worries, at least temporarily, with a simmering set of electronic soul, rock and blues-inflected R&B. The singer-producer-flautist-saxophonist-guitarist, who headlined the Fillmore in San Francisco the…
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Brittany Howard takes the Fillmore to church
Brittany Howard performs at the Fillmore in San Francisco on Nov. 22, 2019. Photos: Alessio Neri. SAN FRANCISCO — Clad in a long, glittery, multicolored robe and Adidas that would get a workout, Brittany Howard stepped onto the Fillmore stage to a packed crowd. Howard, the Alabama Shakes frontwoman and guitarist,…
