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…

St. Vincent, “All Born Screaming.” Over the past decade, St. Vincent has ventured into all kinds of new sounds—from electro-pop on 2017’s MASSEDUCTION to ‘70s psychedelic rock on 2021’s Daddy’s Home—mastering every single one of them. But her new LP, All Born Screaming, sees a return to form: quirky,…

Roxy Music performs during its 50th anniversary tour in September 2022. Courtesy Matthew Becker. SAN FRANCISCO — On at least two occasions, large groups of Bryan Ferry fans at Chase Center wanted to send the Roxy Music frontman a message—to sing him a song. Both of those times, he…

The best albums of 2021 include St. Vincent, Dave, Madlib, Floating Points with Pharaoh Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, The Pretty Reckless, Mogwai, José González, Silk Sonic, Arlo Parks and Royal Blood. Best of 2021 We’re getting into the nitty-gritty now. There are likely some albums here that…

St. Vincent performs at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Sept. 23, 2021. Steve Carlson/STAFF. BERKELEY — St. Vincent (artist Annie Clark) isn’t afraid of dramatically changing how she presents herself to the world. And her impressive performance at the Hearst Greek Theatre on Thursday night only reinforced that fact, as…

St. Vincent, “Daddy’s Home.” Americans, we like our heroes, heroines, alive with tragedy. A vicarious struggle pulls out our individualized triumphalism. The blessing is also the gift, as we like to say. Yet in truth, as St. Vincent sings on Daddy’s Home, casualties mount along the way. Daddy’s Home…

Sleater-Kinney is an institution. Like Kathleen Hanna’s Bikini Kill before them, Sleater-Kinney became known for both their authenticity as well as their serious musical chops. Both bands carved out a place for themselves in the largely male world of rock and roll. The Center Won’t Hold Sleater-Kinney Mom +…

St. Vincent performs at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Jan. 22, 2018. Paige K. Parsons. SAN FRANCISCO — St. Vincent, singer-guitar virtuoso Annie Clark, is using her tour for her fifth album, 2017’s Masseduction, to create an imperfect world on stage. It’s a world of outward perfection…

Kyle Kohner’s five-part series ranking his picks for the 50 best albums of 2017 takes a step closer to revealing the best of the best, as we continue the countdown with numbers 20-11. Missed everything up until now? Start at the beginning. 20. Toro y Moi – Boo Boo With uninspired attempts at…

Roman Gokhman’s Favorite Concerts of 2015 Welcome to my annual countdown of the most entertaining music experiences of the year. I only went to 41 concerts. Life commitments and a family took a higher priority. But then again, I enjoy profiling an artist over critiquing the music. I put…