Who’s Where? East Bay: Spots to hear live music in Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda for Dec. 9 & 10
You’re a music fan in the East Bay. All you need to know is who you can see play this weekend and where to see them. Who’s Where? is your weekly concert listing offering everything you want with nothing you don’t. For locations to all these venues, see the handy-dandy map at the bottom of the page. Got a venue/gig you don’t see listed here? Drop a line to bill [at] billchapin.net.
KITS-FM (105.3) has taken a kitchen-sink approach to its holiday show tonight at Oracle Arena, offering the perfect evening for the one weirdo in America who equally enjoys Jane’s Addiction, Florence and the Machine, Mumford & Sons and Bush. For everyone else, well, there will be plenty of opportunities to get up and use the bathroom while waiting for the one act you came to see.
Bassist Eddie Spaghetti of Supersuckers has been working hard to get the venerable cowpunk band back on track following the departure of founding guitarist Rontrose Heathman last year. Mainly that has involved a lot of touring, and the band is returning to Oakland tonight for another stop at The Uptown Nightclub.
Before my month-long break from this feature, I made a big deal out of there being a sold-out show at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley. Well, it’s apparently not as unusual an occurrence as I thought, because all-female rock band Blame Sally has done it again this week. That’s too bad, because Blame Sally is officially one of my “10 favorite Bay Area acts I’ve discovered since moving here,” making some damn-catchy, adult pop-rock. If you show up at the door, you might be able to weasel your way into paying for the privilege of standing for the entire show.
Meanwhile, a few East Bay venues have been struggling. Friday’s concert of psychedelic rock featuring The Gregors and The Riot Professor is the preantepenultimate show at Mama Buzz Cafe in Oakland … or maybe not, since owner Jade Benetatos issued a non-denial denial to the Bay Citizen’s culture blog when it tired to do a story about the fact that Dec. 17 is being billed as the venerable institution’s “final show.” Meanwhile, Miss Pearl’s Jam House in Jack London Square has been closed since Oct. 24 due to “severe water damage,” according to its website.
Elsewhere on the list you’ll find an opportunity to pay $111 to see a guitarist I’ve never head of, an evening of experimental Jewish/Balkan music at Subterranean Arthouse, an evening of power-pop at The Starry Plough, “rock band without instruments” House Jacks, Boston grindcore band Ramming Speed, excellent Sacramento trip-hop band Sister Crayon, and something called Inner Ear Brigade.
Friday, Dec. 9, 2011
57th Street Gallery, 5701 Telegraph Ave., Oakland: 57th Street Gallery Youth Jazz Ensemble (jazz), doors at 7:30 p.m., music at 8:30 p.m., $15 admission plus $5 for dinner. [tickets]
924 Gilman, 924 Gilman St., Berkeley: Gnarboots, Whatever That Means, The Manix, Night Shades and Dare to Suck (punk, pop-punk, hardcore, grunge), 8 p.m., $8, all ages. [details]
Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley: Ras Mo, Harry Best, Bernard George, Clayton Hazel and Quanti Bomani & Urban Insight (Afro-Caribbean music, Creole music, zouk, kompa, jazz), doors at 8:30 p.m., music at 9 p.m., $12. [details]
Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland: Damon & The Heathens (punk, funk, rock), 9 p.m., $5.
Eagles Hall, 2305 Alameda Ave., Alameda: Leroy Thomas & The Zydeco Roadrunners (zydeco, cajun), 8:30 p.m. dance lesson, 9 p.m. dancing, $15.
Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley: Blame Sally (pop, rock), doors at 7 p.m., music at 8 p.m., $28.50, standing-room tickets available at the door only.
High Street Station, 1303 High St., Alameda: Critical Bliss dinner show (rock, pop, R&B), 7 p.m., $18 with dinner, $10 show only.
Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley: Kat 010 Trio (improvised electronica, dub, jazz, funk), 8 p.m., free.
Mama Buzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph Ave., Oakland: The Gregors, The Riot Professor, The Tet Holiday and Carly Benham (garage pop, psychedelic rock, soul, alternative rock), 7 p.m., donations accepted.
The New Parish, 579 18th St., Oakland: José James (hip hop, jazz), 9 p.m., $15-$20. [tickets]
Oracle Arena, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland: Live 105 Not So Silent Night with Jane’s Addiction, Mumford & Sons, Florence and the Machine, Bush, and Young the Giant (alternative rock, folk-rock, baroque pop), 6 p.m., $49.75 or $75 (including fees). [tickets]
Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland: Joe Bonamassa (blues and rock guitarist), doors at 7 p.m., music at 8 p.m., $49-$99. [tickets]
Speisekammer, 2424 Lincoln Ave., Alameda: The Saddle Cats (western swing), 8:30 p.m., free.
The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley: Big Light, Felsen and Acacia Collective (power pop), doors at 8:30 p.m., music at 9:30 p.m, $5-$10 sliding scale.
Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland: Jon Moses Schickman, Tasty, Sean McArdle and The Rockin’ Chair (singer-songwriter, alternative rock, acoustic, funk, soul, punk), 10 p.m., $5. [details]
The Swamp, 877 35th St., Oakland: D.H.C., Side Effects, MRSA, Under 15 Seconds, Your Enemy (hardcore, punk, thrash), 7 p.m., $3, all ages.
The Uptown, 1928 Telegraph Ave., Oakland: Supersuckers, Three Bad Jacks and Go Time (rockabilly, grunge, punk), doors at 9 p.m., music at 10 p.m., $12. [tickets]
Vitus, 201 Broadway, Oakland: Dreamdate, Will Sprott and Social Studies (indie pop, singer-songwriter, indie rock, twee-pop), doors at 7p.m., music at 9 p.m., $5. [tickets]
Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland: Mike Stern (jazz-fusion guitarist), $26 for 8 p.m. show, $20 for 10 p.m. show. [tickets]
Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011
57th Street Gallery, 5701 Telegraph Ave., Oakland: Yancie Taylor Jazztet (jazz vibraphone player and ensemble), doors at 7:30 p.m., music at 8:30 p.m., $15 admission plus $5 for dinner. [tickets]
924 Gilman, 924 Gilman St., Berkeley: Nectarine Pie, The Love Dimension, Primitive Hearts, Larry & The Angriest Generation and The Molestations (garage rock, psychedelic rock, punk), 8 p.m., $7, all ages. [details]
Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley: Trio Garufa (tango), doors at 8 p.m., dance lesson at 8:30 p.m., music at 9:30 p.m., $12 in advance, $15 day of show, $12 students. [tickets]
Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland: Blue Bone Express with Hot Pink Feathers burlesque show (jazz, blues, R&B), 9:30 p.m., $10. [details]
Disco Volante, 347 14th St., Oakland: Bang Data (electro-acoustic, reggae, hip hop, rock), 9 p.m., $7. [details]
Eli’s Mile High Club, 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Oakland: Crypt Keeper, Buried at Birth, Razorhoof, Drag Me Under and Weekender (metal, grindcore, thrash, sludge rock), 7 p.m., MLACCOSSBTVDBPI?. [details]
Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley: House Jacks (a cappella, rock), doors at 7 p.m., performance at 8 p.m., $20.50 in advance, $22.50 at the door. [tickets]
High Street Station, 1303 High St., Alameda: Hillside Wind Quintet (holiday music), noon, probably free; L’Chaim Klezmer Band and Alma & The Blue Wave Band dinner show (klezmer, Jewish music, hot jazz, blues), 7 p.m., $18 with dinner, $10 show only.
Jupiter, 2181 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley: Jazz Nexus Trio (jazz saxophonist and ensemble), 8 p.m., free.
Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland: Dave Koz & Friends (smooth jazz, holiday music), doors at 7 p.m., music at 8 p.m., $59-$94. [tickets]
Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley: The Freeze (improvised rap, part of Mortified SF’s six-year anniversary show), doors at 7 p.m., “angst” at 8 p.m., $15 in advance, $20 at the door. [tickets]
The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley: O’Possum Family Singers (acoustic, folk), 5 p.m., free; Emily Bonn & The Vivants, Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers and The Shants (Americana, western swing, alt-country), doors at 8:30 p.m., music at 9:30 p.m., $7-$10 sliding scale.
Stork Club, 2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland: The Gillbillies, Hawkjones and Rahara (surf rock, instrumental, indie rock, heavy metal), 9 p.m., $5. [details]
Subterranean Arthouse, 2179 Bancroft Way, Berkeley: Zoyres Eastern European Wild Ferment and Charming Hostess (klezmer, Balkan music, experimental), 9 p.m., $15-$30. [tickets]
The Swamp, 877 35th St., Oakland: Ramming Speed, Witchaven, Exmortus, Fucktard, Connoisseur (grindcore, black metal, hardcore, punk, thrash), probably about 8 p.m. or so but who knows?, MLACCOSSBTVDBPI?, all ages.
The Uptown, 1928 Telegraph Ave., Oakland: Sister Crayon, James & Evander and Elephant & Castle (trip-hop, soul, alternative rock, futurepop), doors at 9 p.m., music at 10 p.m., $12. [tickets]
Vitus, 201 Broadway, Oakland: MoeTar, Inner Ear Brigade and Cash Pony (progressive rock, art rock, jazz, funk), 9 p.m., $5. [tickets]
Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland: Mike Stern (jazz-fusion guitarist), 8 and 10 p.m., $26. [tickets]
MLACCOSSBTVDBPI = most likely a cover charge of some sort but the venue didn’t bother posting it
