Like most similar sentiments, the name of this event is best bellowed loudly and with extra gusto, and that’s exactly what we’re getting from F— Cancer 2025 event curator Danny Reynoso. After expanding to three nights in 2024, this year’s iteration spans a whopping five nights at five different venues with five different lineups of standout local rock, surf and punk acts, with all gigs raising donations for the American Cancer Society. It all kicks off Sunday with a 3 p.m. all-ages matinee show at Cafe Colonial with The Contraptions, Motorcycle, the Globs and Pure Trash. The series picks up Wednesday at the Starlet Room with local workhorses Wet the Rope, the Sacramento debut of Just for Now and Blooming Heads, then hops to Old Ironsides on Thursday with mainstay rock/pop punk duo Dog Party, Lamonta and the Fallback. Friday’s penultimate gig voyages out to newly minted venue Corner Spot in Citrus Heights, for an 18-and-over show with the Bonstones, Chonker and the Blessing. Saturday’s finale at the Press Club has Reynoso’s longtime troupe The Moans headlining alongside Lightweight and surf standouts the Me Gustas. All three finale performers will be sharing the stage with a brand new raucous addition to the event: a live pro wrestling match from Dojo Wrestling (facebook.com).
Danny Reynoso performs with his band, The Moans, at Old Ironsides in Sacramento in an undated photo. The Moans are scheduled to headline the final night of the five-night “F–k Cancer 2025” benefit series, which raises donations for the American Cancer Society.
“Raw bars, real stories and powerful flow straight from the heart of Sac hip-hop,” producer, songwriter and project curator Andrew Lozano says of “Hometown Heroes, Vol. 1,” a blend of chillhop, classic boom bap and conscious West Coast rap from a variety of marquee Sacramento artists — many of whom rose to local prominence in the early 2000s and remain titans of the local scene. A more robust and engaging primer for Sacramento’s hip hop scene would be tough to unearth — a shimmering record festooned with spatial, laid-back beats and jazz-inflected samples, served with metric tonnage of groove and barrels of heart from members of Live Manikins, The People’s Revolution, the CUF and more. You can snag the vinyl at the official release party at Oak Park Brewing (or on Bandcamp, or from the bins at Oak Park’s Twelves Wax), an event which also features performances from a number of the album’s contributors (7 p.m. Saturday, 3514 Broadway. $5. eventbrite.com).
Local artists, message Aaron Davis on Instagram if you have upcoming shows, @adavis_threetosee.
Halloween season is far from over as long as there’s a show on the books from local ghouls Sugar Pushers — who last month released their new self-titled album — and their creaking floorboard, bleeding walls brand of macabre surf-and-spook rock. This gig finds the quirky costumed local troupe performing as part of the premiere event for locally produced surreal horror flick “Mr TV Man,” described as a “descent into madness of what happens when the things we consume, consume us.” You can watch the unnerving trailer on the film’s Instagram page (instagram.com/m.r.tvman). The chilling short film from director Wes Smith serves as a proof of concept that endeavors to launch a future feature length movie. This multi-pronged premiere, hosted by local drag star Mercury Rising, also features screenings of three additional independently made horror shorts (“C/H/R/Y/S/A/L/I/S,” “Hot & Heavy” and “RAGS”) and a Q&A discussion with the “Mr TV Man” crew — who will also bring several art and set pieces from the movie for display. Leave the kids at home, this is grown-up horror (7 p.m. Saturday at the Colonial Theatre, 3522 Stockton Blvd. $13. eventbrite.com).
A great many privileges in the music world are unique only to The Beatles. Staging an anniversary tribute show for a greatest hits album would be chief among such narrowly permissible happenings, but in the case of “The Beatles 1,” a tribute feels more than warranted. Released 25 years ago and cataloging every Beatles tune to achieve number-one status in the UK or US, “1” ignited a Beatle renaissance — of which there have been many and will be many more, if the world can maintain some semblance of sanity — and served as as a Fab Four touchstone for the Millennial crowd and perhaps even a primer for Gen Z. Sacramento Preparatory Music Academy’s expansive Beatles Guitar Project lines up to tackle all 27 classics chronicled on “1” — as well as some staples not included on the record. “So I’m putting them on our show! Because I think they belong there,” according to project director Benjamin J. McClara (6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, at The Auditorium at CLARA, 1425 24th St. $20-$50. sacprepmusic.com)
Water, malt, hops, yeast and alt-country punk are the essential ingredients in Claimstake Brewing Co.’s ales. No exceptions, ever. As a matter of tradition, and perhaps superstition, Claimstake owner Brian Palmer purports to have brewed every batch of beer he’s ever made (yes, every batch) with his favorite band, Lucero, on the speakers. This month, Palmer’s taproom is one of the stops on Lucero frontman Ben Nichols’ eight-date West Coast solo tour, flanked by Todd Beene on pedal steel & MorganEve Swain on fiddle -— marking the third time in two years Nichols has played a show at Claimstake. Having your favorite musician regularly play your brewery is a version of “living your best life” that should make us all wonder what we’re even doing with ours, no? Ethereal local Americana troubadour Ian Loveless opens (7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, 11366 Monier Park Place, Rancho Cordova. $38. eventbrite.com).
Anthony “Tone” Catalano, right, performs with Little Hurricane in an undated photo. The San Diego-based blues rock act has reemerged in 2025 as a trio following lineup changes, a near-fatal motorcycle crash and a period of personal upheaval. They’ll play Goldfield Midtown on Nov. 16.
It’s been a stormy few years for veteran performer Anthony “Tone” Catalano, songwriter, singer and axeman of Little Hurricane, having navigated the 2024 departure of his longtime bandmate and cofounder, a divorce and a near fatal 2023 motorcycle accident. But, show us a blues catalog written entirely on clear skies, calm waters and a well-stocked pantry, and we probably lose interest real fast. 2025 is a Lazarus year and fresh start for the San Diego-bred dirt road blues/roots rock project, with Catalano having morphed Little Hurricane from a duo to a trio with two new faces: workmanlike Northern California folk/blues fixture Hattie Craven, and drummer Ryan Kronenberg, kit man of Mescalito and curator of multiple area music festivals including Golden Road Gathering and Hangtown. There’s new music in the works from this reincarnation, but for now, catch a few atmospheric stripped down gems on the group’s YouTube channel, recorded in virtual seclusion on the only island on Lake Tahoe (with Orange Spazm. 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, at Goldfield Midtown. $27.50. www.goldfieldtradingpost.com).
Yes, that’s really local soul-blues maven Katie Knipp flipping the page and swandiving into a lagoon of electronic beats and funk/techno/trip-hop/neo-soul remixes. Like her previous records, you can tell that her ninth offering “Dance Me” was conceived in the cozy confines of her living room — then slingshot into producer and bandmate Pancho Tomaselli’s electronica multiverse to see what sort of alternate realities clung to each tune when it popped out the other side. Her final local date of the year with her five-piece band comes at the tail end of outdoor concert season (6 p.m. Saturday at Ruhstaller Farm, 8949 Olmo Lane, Dixon. Free. facebook.com).
Maybe it’s more of a thing for college students coming home for turkey, but it’s hard to overlook the joys of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as an evening of “back at home” reunions and merriment with friends and family. For 2025 it would be hard to track down a finer landing for such bacchanalia than Hearts Over Hate: Music & Community Night at SacYard, which will feature a couple of A-tier local acts in psychedelic beat-laden dream pop breakout Jon Wiilde and ebullient indie rock troupe hotplug. Hearts Over Hate was founded in memory of Dr. Benjamin Harouni, who last year was fatally shot outside his San Diego area dental practice, days after his 28th birthday. The organization now hosts a number of “community events that foster love and kindness” and supports individuals and families impacted by violent crime. Like any SacYard gig, it’s free, but you can register for tickets on Eventbrite, and donations are being accepted for Hearts over Hate (4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26. eventbrite.com; heartsoverhate.org).
Local miscreants Jackpot are back at it in 2025 after a decade-long break from their quirky, narcotic alt-country balladry and discount bin disco funk. “We never really broke up, we just kinda stopped playing,” proclaimed whimsical frontman Rusty Miller during their August reemergence. They’re performing their third gig of the year at Placerville’s delightfully cozy Green Room Social Club alongside frequent stage-mate Sarah Bethe Nelson (7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, 251 Main St. $20. clubgreenroom.com). The Saturday after Thanksgiving is probably a safer day for this – those who remember their regular pre-Thanksgiving gigs at Old Ironsides in the 2000’s probably also remember staring blankly into the next day’s cranberries with a wicked headache (worth it!).