#live-music

#live-music

Today marks the return of Sonic Loveway, a captivating Valentine's Day event at San Jose City Hall Plaza. Presented by the San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs in partnership with Opera San Jose, this gathering runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and invites everyone to celebrate love through music, art, and community connections. Whether honoring romance, friendship, or a passion for creativity, attendees find an evening filled with live performances and interactive elements that highlight the city's artistic spirit.

Valentine's Ball at the Embassy of Italy Get glammed up in your best ball attire for a romantic night in Verona. Waltz with your date across the ballroom floor, and then view a Roméo et Juliette opera performance. After the show, you can continue dancing to top 40 hits played by a DJ, and dine on Italian cuisine, including cannoli at the dessert buffet ($106+).

The husband-and-wife team of vocalist Jean and drummer Marcus Baylor have mined a rich vein of Black music where jazz, R&B, gospel and fusion coalesce, and the group featured on the Baylor Project's only Bay Area date includes trumpet great Freddie Hendrix and pianist Keith Brown, who's performed widely in the Bay Area with vocalist Jazzmeia Horn and alto sax great Kenny Garrett. Thursday, Feb. 12, 8 p.m. The Freight. $39-$44

(For many Americans, it's also Presidents Day Weekend, a federal holiday on Monday, plural to honor George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In Florida, the governor in January sidelined Lincoln and officially declared it Washington's Birthday Weekend, part of what Secretary of State Cord Byrd called a movement "to teach the next generation about the principles our Founding Fathers enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution." To quote the great Teddy Riley: "No diggity.")

Platner crowd-surfed to the stage as Dropkick launched into "Bury the Bones" from their latest album, For the People. Once he got to the stage, he joined frontman Ken Casey in singing the song, offering a passionate delivery of the chorus: "Hey, look on the bright side, you can't get blood from a stone/ And we're on the right side of the ground where they bury the bones."

The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble will perform Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen among other musical works on Saturday, Jan. 31. Credit: Left Coast Chamber Ensemble If you haven't seen it yet, catch Kala Art Institute's latest exhibition, Bookness, before it closes on Feb. 11. The exhibition explores how the book has evolved as an artistic medium throughout history. There will be a reception for Bookness on Feb. 8 at the Oakland Marriott City Center. 2990 San Pablo Ave. FREE

East Bay hardcore outfit Manos De Fierro is part of a new wave of bands pushing the Bay Area scene back toward something raw, physical and community-driven. Pulling from hardcore, metal and beatdown influences, their sound is confrontational without feeling performative, rooted in real experience rather than image. The band has built a reputation through local shows that thrive on intensity and shared energy, where the line between band and crowd all but disappears.

The swinging sound drifts from Noble Street, spilling out of a packed café called Flower Cat. To the unknowing eye, the space could be mistaken for one of the city's many swanky bars. Inside, amber-toned lamps highlight a lively crowd passing around glasses of red wine. Overhead, moonlight pours through two skylights, illuminating a glossy-haired woman weaving through the room, greeting customers and friends.

There's a particular way artists talk about San Francisco when the city has truly mattered to them-not as scenery, but as a place where something shifted. For Cate Le Bon, the Bay Area lives in that register, folded into memory, music, and a formative period that still resonates beneath the surface of the Welsh singer-songwriter's work. "I've spent a lot of time in San Francisco," she says, simply.

Good morning. Partly sunny with a high around 43 today. The National Weather Service has issued a cold weather advisory beginning at 8 PM tonight. Temperatures will plunge to a low near 11 that wind will make feel even colder. As you may have heard, a major snowstorm is forecast for this weekend, with heavy snow beginning Saturday night. Enjoy the snow while it's beautiful, take care when shoveling, and I'll see you on the other side Monday.

While the local scene blows up for SF Art Week and the FOG Art + Design Fair, the folks at Minnesota Street Projects have got their own thing going on: "a new free alternative art fair showcasing the best established and emerging contemporary art galleries in the Bay Area, alongside long-standing Bay Area galleries." That includes Marrow Gallery, presenting new work from Stephanie Robison (so cool!), Hiroshi Sato, Mercy Hawkins, Mae Aur and Ronald Hall.

Join is for our monthly Full Moon Trip Temple! Live music includes Levitation Quartet and Twango. We will also bring out some art supplies for art-making. There will be a non-alcoholic bar serving drinks, and as always, loving vibes.

The Leif, a beloved Irish pub on Fifth Avenue known for its live music, confirmed its closure in a heartfelt message shared on social media by co-owner and longtime bartender Mike Gallagher. In the statement, he reflected on years of memories built inside the bar's walls and thanked the families, musicians, staff and customers who made the space more than just a business.

Now we finally know when the venue will open and its opening lineup. Jazz-heads, mark your calendars for Friday February 6, which is when Upstairs At Ronnie's will open with two events. The first slot (5pm-8.45pm) will be occupied by soul and jazz singer Dana Masters, with the 'late late show' (11.15pm onward) set to be from Cuban band Viva Cuba.

Tickets go on sale at 10 am unless otherwise noted. MUSIC Behemoth: The Godless IV 2026 Roseland Theater (Sat Apr 18) Bush - The Land of Milk and Honey Tour Moda Center (Tues Apr 28) Charlie Puth: Whatever's Clever! World Tour Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Thurs May 7) Claire Rosinkranz: My Lover Tour Wonder Ballroom (Wed Apr 29) Cut Worms Aladdin Theater (Fri May 1) Diggy Graves The No Vacancy Tour Wonder Ballroom (Tues Aug 25) Fcukers Wonder Ballroom (Fri Apr 10) Five Finger Death Punch Cascades Amphitheater (Sat Sept 12) Inner Wave & Los Mesoneros: North America Tour '26 Wonder Ballroom (Sun May 24) Jensen McRae God Has A Hitman Tour Wonder Ballroom (Thurs Apr 30)

Petty Party, a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute band out of LA, is set to perform Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Campbell's Heritage Theatre. The six-member band plays hits and deep cuts from Petty's expansive catalogue, including "American Girl," "Breakdown," "Don't Do Me Like That" and "Running Down a Dream." Tickets are $39.50-$59.50 plus a $4 facility fee at https://heritagetheatre.showare.com/eventperformances.asp.

We've already bemoaned and lamented last year, so let's close the eyes on our rearward Janus face and look forward. Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills, when life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming!

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Whether you want to catch a cool concert or the Golden Globes, or just settle down to a decadent lasagna dinner, we are here for you. So let's get to it, shall we? (As always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines or other details.) Meanwhile, if you'd like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.

"We've been open since March 23, 2023. We're getting ready to have our third anniversary this coming March, which is really exciting," Boyd told Brooklyn Paper.

We've had an amazing time but we're going to close (for now)!