L to R. Row 1: Finneas, Carly Rae Jepsen, BANNERS, August Burns Red, Lil Nas X. Row 2: Lights, Black Pumas, Chloe Flower, Ben Caplan, Liam Payne. Row 3: Dallas Smith, ROZEI, Dashboard Confessional, Dee Snider with Lzzy Hale, Josie Dunne. No one could have expected that 2020’s Holiday…

Make up your own Coachella by blasting your favorite artists while wearing very little clothing, and cranking the heat and turning up the humid. Day 2 of Coachella was supposed to be happening right now. Yes, it’s rescheduled for October, which is better than a full-blown cancelation. But what…

Photographer Joaquin Cabello’s favorite concerts of the year included Babymetal, American Football, Marina Diamandis, Anderson .Paak, Laura Jane Grace, Explosions in the Sky, Carly Rae Jepsen, Alexisonfire, the Jonas Brothers, Mineral, Incubus, Gouge Away, The 1975, Blink-182 and Billie Eilish. Taking pictures of artists might be one of my…

Clockwise from top left: Altin Gun, K.Flay, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Lightning Bolt, Big Business, Boy Harsher, Carly Rae Jepsen, Battles, Tyler, the Creator, and American Football. We’re nearing the end of our countdown of the top 50 albums of 2019! A lot of these records would have…

Carly Rae Jepsen performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on June 28, 2019. Photos: Joaquin Cabello. SAN FRANCISCO — Carly Rae Jepsen hardly gave fans at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium a chance to catch their breath on the second night of her tour in support…

Carly Rae Jepsen has come a long way since coming in third on 2007’s Canadian Idol. “Call Me Maybe” from 2012’s Kiss has more than a billion views on YouTube, and 2015’s Emotion stayed on track with flirtatious bangers. Fourth album Dedicated plays that role as well with synth-heavy ‘80s…

Blood Orange Kyle Kohner’s top 100 list countdown continues with numbers 75 through 51. Catch up with part one first and then dive in. 75. “This Is America” – Childish Gambino Inciting reactionary essays and theorized debates, Childish Gambino creates a piece of music that transcends a contagious chorus.…

Taylor Swift, singing about yet another ex-boyfriend. One of the complaints I often get about my selections for this column is that I hardly include any pop music. “Danny,” people tell me, “pop is consistently the biggest commercial force in music, with the most widespread awareness and biggest cultural…

Florence and the Machine at Outside Lands in San Francisco on Aug. 11, 2018. Shawn Robbins. I can safely say that Outside Lands is the best large scale music festival running right now. Having been to my fair share of music festivals for about 10 years now, nothing beats…

Photos: Joaquin Cabello and Shawn Robbins SAN FRANCISCO — The Weeknd put on a headliner-caliber show to close out the first day of Outside Lands on Friday. It’s hard to believe the Canadian artist was just another YouTube singer only eight years ago. His polished neo-R&B vocals were accompanied by…