Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Corrosion of Conformity
Alice Cooper and Rob Halford of Judas Priest have a number of things in common besides being veteran singers who have each been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Both have primary residences in Arizona (although Halford also has a condo here overlooking Baklboa Park).
Both have been sober for decades. Both are charismatic front men with a flair for over-the-top theatricality (although no one is more theatrical than Cooper).
Both sparked considerable controversy earlier in their careers when they were accused of being devil worshippers (Cooper is, in fact, a devout Christian while Halford says he has long been a man of faith).
Both are golfers (Halford played and sang this year in Coopstock, Cooper’s annual charity fundraising tournament in Arizona).
Both are happily married (Cooper to his wife, Sheryl Goddard, Halford to his husband, Thomas Pence).
Both are senior citizens (Cooper is 77, Halford is 74).
Both seem determined to continue performing as long as they are able (never mind that Halford and Judas Priest’s first farewell tour concluded in — ahem! — 2012).
Both are fans of the late Tony Bennett (although only Halford has thus far expressed a desire to make an album of Great American Songbook classics)
And both Cooper and Halford are now embarked on a joint concert tour that includes a Saturday show here at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre.
It’s possible the two might spend a little pre-show time together honing their strokes on the venue’s backstage putting green. How many musical aces they score on stage remain to be seen.
6:45 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18. North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, 2050 Entertainment Circle Chula Vista. $25-$206.75. ticketmaster.com
Acclaimed Chicago drummer and band leader Makaya McCraven will perform with his band at UC San Diego this fall. (Courtesy ArtPower)
Makaya McCraven
Born in Paris and based in Chicago, drummer, band leader and producer Makaya McCraven blurs the lines between jazz, electronic music, hip-hop and funk, then mixes them at will as a self-described “beat scientist.”
This month sees him releasing four new EPs that will also be available as a vinyl double-album. Their titles reflect his genre-mixing approach: “Techno Logic,” “The People’s Mix Tape,” “PopUp Shop” and “Hidden Out!”
McCraven’s current touring band features Marquis Hill, who in 2014 won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Jazz Competition.
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18. Price Center East Ballroom, 3151 Matthews Lane, UC San Diego. $35. artpower.ucsd.edu
John McCutcheon
How prolific has folk-music champion John McCutcheon been since the release of his 1974 debut recording, “How Can I Keep From Singing?”
The Wisconsin-born troubadour is a five-time Grammy Award-nominee who now has 45 albums to his credit and was mentored by Tom Paxton and the late Pete Seeger.
McCutcheon’s most recent album, the gently inviting “Field of Stars,” was released this year. It features guest appearances by singers Carrie Newcomer and Claire Chase, as well as by Vista-bred violin great Stuart Duncan, whose most recent San Diego performance was this summer at The Shell as the newest member of Alison Krauss’ band, Union Station.
So far as can be determined, McCutcheon’s San Diego Folk Heritage concert here on Saturday will be a solo affair. But no matter, since his prowess as a storyteller, multi-instrumentalist (he’s a standout on hammered dulcimer) and music-fueled activist have long enabled McCutcheon to enthrall his listeners, with or without any accompanists.
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18.. Good Samaritan Episcopal Church, 4321 Eastgate Mall, San Diego. $28.75-$39.05. sdfolkheritage.org
Also recommended
Friday, Oct. 17: Pinback, Hasco Enjoyments, Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
Friday, Oct. 17: Rilo Kiley, Waxahatchee, Gallagher Square at Petco Park
Friday, Oct. 17: Die Spitz, Soda Bar
Saturday, Oct. 18: Oct. 18: GAYC/DC, The Holding Company
Sunday, Oct. 19: Alejandro Escovedo, Casbah
Sunday, Oct. 19: Pete Yorn, Belly Up
Sunday, Oct. 19: Earth, WInd & Fire, Pechanga Casino
Sunday, Oct. 19: Keal’i Reichel, Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
Monday, Oct. 20: Jade Bird, Casbah
Tuesday, Oct. 21: Viagra Boys, The Sound
Wednesday, Oct. 22: Boz Scaggs, Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
Wednesday, Oct. 22 and Thursday, Oct. 23: Durand Jones & The Indications, The Sound
Thursday, Oct. 23: Talib Kweli, The Holding Company