Stevie Nicks performs during BottleRock Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Expo on May 24, 2024. Courtesy. All other photos: Sean Liming/STAFF. NAPA — After dropping from the BottleRock Napa Valley lineup in 2021 due to continued Covid concerns, Stevie Nicks was due to return. That finally came to…

Luke Combs performs at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on May 17, 2024. Sean Liming/STAFF. SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Most major artists—the ones who are successful enough to fill a stadium—choose to do so in order to share a stadium-sized artistic vision or concept. Country star Luke Combs…

Melanie Martinez performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland on May 12, 2024. Matt Pang/STAFF. OAKLAND — Alt-pop singer-songwriter Melanie Martinez has broken out of her cocoon and entered her diva phase. That’s true both in terms of exposure to her music—her Trilogy Tour is her first arena trek—and metaphorically,…

Needtobreathe performs at Paramount Theatre in Oakland, Calif. on May 8, 2024. Sean Liming/STAFF. OAKLAND — Bear Rinehart didn’t have to bring it up at all, but the frontman and guitarist of South Carolina rock band Needtobreathe clearly had to get the venue switch for his band’s Wednesday concert…

Dusty Watson (drums) and Rob Lind of The Sonics perform at Moore Theater in Seattle on April 2, 2015. Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images. SAN FRANCISCO — “Guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it,” Marty McFly told a stunned and silent…

Green Day performs at The Fillmore in San Francisco on April 2, 2024. Courtesy Greg Schneider. SAN FRANCISCO — Green Day has played just about every room in the Bay Area twice over, but Tuesday night’s gig at The Fillmore felt significant. The East Bay trio has even shown…

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform at Chase Center in San Francisco on March 28, 2024. Photo: Nick Buckmaster. SAN FRANCISCO — “Can you feel the spirit!? Can you feel the spirit, now!?” Bruce Springsteen implored about halfway through the first of two concerts at Chase Center…

ONEUS performs at Paramount Theatre in Oakland on March 18, 2024. Steve Carlson/STAFF. OAKLAND — On the official last day of winter, K-pop boy group ONEUS turned up the heat inside Paramount Theatre on the second U.S. stop of its La Dolce Vita tour. The fourth generation group, which debuted…

IVE performs at the KIA Forum in Inglewood, California on March 13, 2024. Courtesy Andy Keilen/Starship Entertainment. OAKLAND — For a group that didn’t debut until after the initial pandemic wave, as IVE has, it’s impressive that the six-member K-pop idol girl group is already selling out arenas on…

Depeche Mode performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 2023. Nate McKinley/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO —Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Depeche Mode brought their Memento Mori tour back to the Bay Area on Sunday, performing songs from throughout the band’s glossy songbook at Chase Center. The…