THURSDAY, APRIL 2<\/p>\n
POP\u00a0<\/p>\n
ELISE TROUW<\/p>\n
Sometimes the best ideas start off as a joke. Just ask drummer, singer and pop artist Elise Trouw. Her new album, The Diary of Elon Lust, released in February. It began as satire but grew into a collaboration of songs she says felt like the only \u201creal\u201d ones she was writing at the time. The album itself is a beautifully poppy, light and playfully chaotic collection of songs that dissects modern masculinity through the eyes of Trouw\u2019s male alter ego, Elon Lust. Each track exists as a different diary entry in a concept album that\u2019s ahead of its time. It\u2019s not only easily digestible, but truly addictive. \u2014 MAT WEIR<\/p>\n
INFO: Thu, 8pm, Cornerstone<\/a>, 2367 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $30-$94. 510.214.8600.<\/p>\n FRIDAY, APRIL 3<\/p>\n JAZZ<\/p>\n ALLISON, CARDENAS & NASH<\/p>\n Allison, Cardenas & Nash features double-bassist Ben Allison, electric guitarist Steve Cardenas and saxophonist Ted Nash. Allison has recorded prolifically and led a series of acclaimed ensembles since the early 1990s, and like Nash was deeply involved in the Herbie Nichols Project, a collective devoted to the cult pianist\/composer who died in obscurity at 44 in 1963. All three musicians have played on each other\u2019s albums for decades, and in recent years have recorded several albums as a trio, including 2022\u2019s Healing Power: The Music of Carla Bley and 2024\u2019s Tell the Birds I Said Hello: The Music of Herbie Nichols. The group transforms every tune into an intriguing, surprise-filled soundscape. \u2014 ANDREW GILBERT\u00a0<\/p>\n INFO: Fri,\u00a0 5:30pm, Piedmont Piano Company<\/a>, 1728 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. $35-$40. 510.547.8188.<\/p>\n FRIDAY, APRIL 3<\/p>\n COMEDY<\/p>\n VERKA SERDUCHKA<\/p>\n Real name: Andriy Mykhailovych Danylko. Drag name: Verka Serduchka. Country of origin: Ukraine. Known for: Being runner-up in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest with a rendition of \u201cDancing Lasha Tumbai\u201d and for overall fabulousness. Backstory: In 1990, Danylko created Verka\u2014or did she emerge?\u2014an outrageous female railroad sleeping car attendant. Verka has gone on to wow or outrage millions of Europeans, and now it\u2019s Berkeley\u2019s turn. Serious note: Danylko\/Verka continues to work for their country\u2019s freedom from invasion, including donating income from the sale of a Rolls-Royce once owned by Freddie Mercury to support the construction of a rehabilitation and prosthesis center in Ukraine. Gurrrl. \u2014 JANIS HASHE<\/p>\n INFO: Fri,\u00a0 9pm, UC Theatre<\/a>, 2036 University Ave., Berkeley. $161. 510.356.4000.<\/p>\n FRIDAY, APRIL 3<\/p>\n JAZZ<\/p>\n MARY HALVORSON<\/p>\n Composer, guitarist and bandleader Mary Halvorson released About Ghosts in 2025, her 16th album and most recent foray into the mystical, layered, sonic world she inhabits. In Berkeley, her fellow travelers formulate into a stellar new band, Canis Major, featuring Dave Adewumi (trumpet), Henry Fraser (bass) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums). To describe her sound as iconoclastic denies its deep roots in traditional and contemporary jazz. A good analogy might be the drastic extremes between microclimates in California\u2014hot, then cool; windy, then dead calm; dry, then drowning. There\u2019s no way to predict where Halvorson might go next. \u2014 LOU FANCHER<\/p>\n INFO: Fri,\u00a0 8pm, The Freight<\/a>, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $39-$44. 510.644.2020.<\/p>\n SATURDAY, APRIL 4<\/p>\n LATIN-JAZZ<\/p>\n EL TREN<\/p>\n A talent-laden, Latin-jazz sextet featuring some of the region\u2019s essential musicians, El Tren reimagines instantly recognizable pop songs via a brilliant array of Afro-Caribbean grooves, including tunes by Stevie Wonder, Sade, John Legend and the Beatles. With bass maestro Sa\u00fal Sierra, an expert arranger, El Tren also features pianist\/trumpeter Marco Diaz, his bandmate in celebrated ensembles led by John Santos and Bobi Cespedes. Peruvian-born Laura Bravo handles vocals with style and the three-piece Latin percussion session with Julio P\u00e9rez, Ahkeel Mestayer and Emilio Davalos brings a dynamic flow of clave. Many bands Latinize jazz standards, but applying the concept to the world of pop music offers many creative, audience-pleasing opportunities. \u2014 AG<\/p>\n INFO: Sat,\u00a0 7:30pm, Sound Room<\/a>, 3022 Broadway, Oakland. $35. 510.708.9691.<\/p>\n SATURDAY, APRIL 4<\/p>\n FILM<\/p>\n \u2018FREAKY TALES\u2019<\/p>\n Check this cast list: Pedro Pascal, Tom Hanks, Too Short, Marshawn Lynch and Angus Cloud. They all star in action\/comedy film Freaky Tales, released a year ago. Writer\/director Ryan Fleck\u2019s father has a long-term connection with La Pe\u00f1a Cultural Center, so he\u2019s celebrating the anniversary at the center with a fundraising screening. The film is set in Oakland in 1987, and follows \u201can NBA star, a corrupt cop, a female rap duo, teenage punks, neo-Nazis and a debt collector embarking on a collision course\u201d in four separate tales. Fleck and unnamed cast members will attend the screening and post-movie discussion. They had us at Pedro Pascal. \u2014 JH<\/p>\n INFO: 7pm, La Pe\u00f1a Cultural Center<\/a>, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. $15-$100. 510.849,2568.<\/p>\n SATURDAY, APRIL 4<\/p>\n ROCK<\/p>\n SATCHVAI<\/p>\n Formed in 2024, SatchVai Band finds longtime friends and guitar icons Joe Satriani and Steve Vai finally sharing a full-stage canvas. Both players built their reputation on technical precision and melodic ambition. Here, Satriani\u2019s soaring, instrumental rock anthems and Vai\u2019s more theatrical, shapeshifting compositions collide and stretch. Backed by a tight, high-caliber rhythm section\u2014Kenny Aronoff on drums, Marco Mendoza on bass and Pete Thorn on guitar\u2014the project leans into interplay: twin leads spiraling, solos passed back and forth, and moments of near-telepathic synchronization. \u2014 SONYA BENNETT-BRANDT<\/p>\n INFO: Sat, 8pm, Fox Theater<\/a>, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. $66-$266. 510.302.2250.<\/p>\n TUESDAY, APRIL 7<\/p>\n ROCK<\/p>\n RICHARD THOMPSON<\/p>\n Richard Thompson needs no introduction. As a co-founder of Fairport Convention, Thompson helped define the British folk-rock sound. But after he left the group at the age of 21, Thompson set out on his own illustrious career. He has contributed to Grammy-nominated soundtracks, has made numerous \u201cBest of\u201d lists from Rolling Stone to Time and Billboard. The Los Angeles Times called him \u201cthe finest rock songwriter after Dylan and the best electric guitarist since Hendrix.\u201d THose are mighty big shoes that the man himself may or may not agree he has filled, but whose body of work with albums like Mirror Blue and Rumor and Sigh speaks for itself. \u2014 MW<\/p>\n INFO: Tue, 8pm, The Freight<\/a>, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. $69-$79. 510.644.2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n TUESDAY, APRIL 7<\/p>\n PUNK<\/p>\n HIRS<\/p>\n Philadelphia-based queer punk collective HIRS is a constantly mutating organism, with dozens of collaborators cycling through its recordings and performances and always spitting out something volatile. Rooted in grindcore\u2019s blistering speed and abrasion, their songs come in grenade form: compressed, explosive bursts of blast beats, serrated riffs, roars, shrieks. On releases like Friends. Lovers. Favorites. and We\u2019re Still Here, the noise carries a clear, cathartic charge, folding trans liberation, mutual aid, and resistance into its circuitry with both fury and care. \u2014 SBB\u00a0<\/p>\n INFO: Tue, 7:30pm, 924 Gilman St.<\/a>, Berkeley. $12-$15. 520.524.8180.<\/p>\n TUESDAY, APRIL 7 \u2013 SUNDAY, APRIL 12<\/p>\n DANCE<\/p>\n ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER<\/p>\n The renowned dance company founded by Alvin Ailey changed the American dance scene forever. Arriving for its annual residency at Cal Performances under Alicia Graf Mack, four programs offer Bay Area premieres, new or reimagined works, and the return of Ailey\u2019s all-time classic dance choreographed in 1960, the beloved \u201cRevelations.\u201d In addition to evening and weekend matinee performances, daytime shows for public school children are residency staples. The dancers have always been lauded and applauded for their physical prowess and modeling of Black beauty, grace, resilience and power. In 2026, their achievements will expand beyond physical excellence to include subtle artistry, courageous risk-taking and masterful storytelling. Performances go until April 12. \u2014 LF<\/p>\n INFO: Tue\u2013Thu, 7:30pm; Fri, 8pm; Sat, 2pm & 8pm; Sun, 3pm; Cal Performances<\/a> at Zellerbach Hall, 101 Zellerbach Hall, #4800, Berkeley. $38-$94. 510.642.9988.<\/p>\n