From great concerts to a beloved local festival, there are some great shows and events to catch this weekend. Here’s a partial rundown.
3 (more) great concerts to catch
There will be points during the 2026 Outside Lands when it might feel like every single person in the Bay Area is in attendance at this mammoth three-day music festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
Yet, we’ve done the math and that’s not actually the case. There will be plenty of local music fans who don’t actually attend this festival, which is expected to draw 70,000-plus people per day from Aug. 7 to 9 (the festival also includes night shows Aug. 6-9). Of course, a sizable number of music fans will also head to San Jose Jazz Summer Fest Aug. 7-9 (summerfest.sanjosejazz.org).
And even aside from those two big festivals, music lovers have even more excellent choices for live music that week. Here are just three options:
Lionel Richie; Earth, Wind & Fire: This is one of the strongest doubleheaders of the year, with Richie set to charm fans with such smooth R&B/pop favorites as “All Night Long (All Night)” and “Hello,” and EWF bringing the boogie on “September,” “Shining Star” and others.” Details: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at Chase Center, San Francisco, chasecenter.com.
Benson Boone: The back-flipping pop troubadour, who rose to fame on TikToK, comes to town for two big shows in support of his second studio album, “American Heart.” Details: 8 p.m. Friday at SAP Center, San Jose, sapcenter.com; 8 p.m. Aug. 8 at Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, golden1center.com.
Santana, Doobie Brothers: Weren’t we just talking about great doubleheaders? Well, here’s another one featuring two Bay Area classic rock legends. Details: 7 p.m. Aug. 8 at Toyota Amphitheatre, Wheatland; 7 p.m. Aug. 9 at Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, livenation.com.
— Jim Harrington, Staff
Beloved street fair returns in Oakland
Oakland’s Laurel District has a rich history stretching back to 1900 — it’s been a gathering place for Native Americans and also the stomping grounds of a young Tom Hanks, to name two random facts.
Each year, locals as well as revelers from across the East Bay gather to fete the district at the Laurel StreetFair World Music Festival, which on Saturday will celebrate its 25th anniversary. What’s on tap this year? Well, an estimated 17,000-plus people can enjoy eight blocks of community-oriented music, art, food and fun. There will be almost a dozen live acts, including Guinean bongo playing, a New Orleans-style brass band, the West African Duniya Drum and Dance Company, Egyptian belly dancers and Non-Stop Bhangra (Punjabi dance music).
There is also a children’s carnival and roller skating, which is hosted by the Black Cultural Zone. Vendors will offer their wares at a marketplace and folks in need of some R&R can visit a Healing Village. For adults, there are specialty cocktails and a California craft-beer garden. Proceeds will go toward the Laurel District Association for neighborhood beautification and improvements.
Details: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Aug. 8 on MacArthur Boulevard, between 35th and Maybelle avenues; free admission; wheelchair accessible; dogs on leashes allowed, laureldistrictassociation.org.
— John Metcalfe, Staff
Classical picks: Wes Anderson tribute, Cabrillo Fest
This week brings music for every interest: Brand-new works at Cabrillo Festival; one charmed artist paying tribute to another; and a chamber music festival featuring timeless works by Schubert and Beethoven.
Marty’s tribute: Composer-bassist and animation writer Marty Isenberg pays tribute to a popular if quirky filmmaker this week with “The Way I Feel Inside: Inspired by Wes Anderson.” Isenberg’s new work is indeed a musical tribute to the American filmmaker — one that asks actors and audience members to get close in Livermore’s Bankhead Theater. Bringing handpicked audience members onstage, Isenberg re-imagines music from David Bowie and the Kinks, transforming Anderson soundtracks into what he calls his own “sonic storyboard.” It’s a tribute that makes the audience essential.
Details: 8 p.m. Aug. 7 at Bankhead Theater, Livermore; $40 general, $50 table seats; livermorevalleyopera.org.
Chamber Music “Redux”: David Finckel and Wu Han, the dynamic leaders of Music@Menlo, continue to offer illuminating programs focusing on the brilliance of chamber music. Now in its 24th season, this year’s Atherton festival and institute is titled “Redux,” and it started in July and has more to come with programs featuring Schubert works and Beethoven sonatas, with one performed in the Spieker Center and another at Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall.
Details: Through Sept.19, tickets start at $65 adult, $25 under age 30; musicatmenlo.org.
All new music: The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music continues to come on strong in Santa Cruz this week, with a great lineup of new music programs. Titled “The Dreamers,” the festival is under the direction of Cristian Măcelaru, with surprises still to come.
Details: Through Aug. 10; Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz; cabrilloMusic.org.
— Georgia Rowe, Correspondent
Here’s your freebie of the week
Anyone who grew up on the music of Steely Dan, which was founded in 1971, probably shared the same two reactions to the groundbreaking band. The first was amazement and joy at the sheer breadth of musical styles and tunes that Walter Brecker, Donald Fagen & company unleashed in such classic albums as “Can’t Buy a Thrill,” “Pretzel Logic” and “Aja” (among many others). From the explosive energy of “Reelin’ in the Years” and “Bodhisattva” to the more melancholy “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” (which, despite what many surmised, was NOT about a drug deal gone wrong), and the more obtuse, jazz-leaning works from their later recordings, Steely Dan was one of those bands that lovers of both pop music and more sophisticated album-oriented rock could sink their teeth into. The second reaction was disappointment that Steely Dan, after 1974, gave up playing live shows, preferring to focus on the intricate sounds they could generate in the studio.
But fans of the music don’t have the same issue now — one of the Bay Area’s best tribute bands, Aja Vu, tackles Steely Dan’s challenging catalogue with gusto, complete with jazz instrumentation. The brass and woodwinds part of the band band’s lineup comes in handy as the group also takes on hit-laden Chicago’s jazz/pop/rock catalog as well. Which means there are a ton of great songs in the offing when the 20-plus-year-old Aja Vu performs a free concert as part of Redwood City’s Music on the Square concert series, now in its 20th year. The show runs from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 7; lawn chairs and/or blankets are welcome and there is a wide choice of restaurants and takeout places nearby. More information is at www.redwoodcity.org/residents/redwood-city-events.
— Bay City News Foundation
All that San Jose Jazz
The second weekend in August is traditionally one of the Bay Area’s biggest music happenings, with two major festivals arriving featuring scores and scores of top acts and rising stars. Most everyone knows about the Outside Lands Music Festival, which has evolved into one of the largest and most impressive fests in the country. It runs Friday through Sunday at Golden Gate Park (sfoutsidelands.com). Perhaps lesser known is San Jose Jazz’s Summer Fest, which brings a staggering number of jazz, blues, reggae and other acts to indoor and outdoor stages in downtown San Jose, also Friday through Sunday. Perhaps the biggest name on the 2026 bill is R&B icon Patti LaBelle, but there are many A-List acts on hand – Trombone Shorty, Afro-Cuban All Stars, Gretchen Parlato, Cyrus Chestnut, Bria Skonberg, Marcus Shelby, and more. Then you have such emerging artists as 19-year-old guitar whiz Harrell Davenport (performing 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 7) and singer Nicole Zuraitis, who’s been nominated for a Grammy two years running (winning once) and who performs 3 p.m. Aug. 8.
Details: There are a variety of single and three-day ticket packages available — find your options, and a complete schedule, at https://summerfest.sanjosejazz.org
— Bay City News Foundation
Arias to scare ya
Operas that manage to generate some spine-chilling moments are not a common phenomenon, but Benjamin Britten pulled it off in spades with the 1954 debut of his “Turn of the Screw,” an adaptation of the super-spooky novella of that name by Henry James. West Edge Opera has mounted a well-received production of the eerie masterpiece in Oakland’s Scottish Rite Center that has two remaining performances, at 3 p.m. Aug. 9 and 8 p.m. Aug. 15. Tenor Alex Boyer stars as the Peter Quint – either the ghost of a former employee of a remote country estate where an uneasy Governess is in charge of two threatened children or a sheer figment of her imagination. (James famously left it up to his readers to decide.) Laura Bohn plays the role of the Governess, and Erin Neff is the housekeeper Mrs. Grose.
Details: Tickets to the opera, which is helmed by West Edge general director Mark Streshinsky, are $22-$182, available at westedgeopera.org.
— Bay City News Foundation
A sensation on strings
Violinist Tessa Lark, both a consummate classical artist and an expert traditional Appalachian fiddler, will give the West Coast premiere of Rome Prize-winning composer Lisa Bielawa’s new concerto “Pulse” as part of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music’s Grand Finale night at 7 p.m. Aug. 9 in the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Written over the sixth months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, the piece is so titled because the composer has said it was “conceived as a way of keeping my pulse on American life during a period of seismic change and self-examination.” The program, with music director Cristian Măcelaru leading the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, will also include the West Coast premieres of “Ascending Creatures” by Eunike Tanzil and “Wanderlust” by Sean Shepherd and the U.S. premiere of “Rainbow Promise” by Elena Kats-Chernin. Find tickets, $26-$96, at cabrillomusic.org.
— Bay City News Foundation