* concerts EBI
BOBBY PINSON
Nov 19 at 8:30pm, Flint Center, N Cupertino
YO GABBA GABBA DANCE Nov 19 at 1, 4 and 7pm, San Jose Civic
ROBERT CRAY BAND Nov 20 at 7pm, Campbell Heritage Theatre
TRANS SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA TRA Nov 20 at 5pm, HP Pavilion
VINCENTE FERNANDEZ Nov 25 at 8pm, HP Pavilion
SWINGIN’ UTTERS Nov 25 at 9pm, the Blank Club, San Jose
MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER M Nov 27 at 8pm, San Jose Civic N
RICHARD THOMPSON Dec 2 at 8pm, Montalvo Arts Center
GGERSHWIN: HERE TO STAY Dec 3 at 8pm, Dinkelspiel, Stanford
ANDRE NICKATINA Dec 3 at Avalon, Santa Clara
JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET JUIL Dec 4 at 2:30pm, Dinkelspiel, Stanford
Sugarland
shows banging their heads in frustration at the repeated postponement of their debut record. Finally, the South Bay rockers have released Straight Outta Campbell. Their sound, which swings from melodic and soft to loud and booming, reflects the tastes of all three members: drummer Josh Joesten comes from a metal background, but is also a huge Mudhoney fan; his brother Dan (on bass and vocals) loves Guns N’ Roses; guitaristvocalist Alex Pansoy is heavily influenced by Smashing Pumpkins. (BD)
BETA STATE Avalon, Santa Clara Sat – 6pm; $15 When Eric Victorino left Strata for the Limousines, he took a pretty dramatic turn musically. The rest
of the band spent more than a year auditioning new vocalists and reformed as Beta State. They came back with a bit of different sound, too, though not as dramatic as Victorino’s shift into electronicpop. Beta State are still a heavy, alternative-rock band, but they’ve scaled back Strata’s raw intensity some and made their new outfit more pop-centric. It’s still serious and emotional, but more in a Coldplay kind of way. (Coldplay with distortion on their guitars, anyway.) This Saturday, Beta State competes in the finals of the local battle of the bands at the Avalon, with a $10,000 grand prize. Also up: A Yawn Worth Yelling, I Swallowed an Owl, Pantheon, Start the Fire Up and more.
N plays the Rodeo Club hit writer BOBBY PINSO
ANONYMOUS 4 Community School for Music and Arts, Mountain View Sat – 11am; free Now that Game of Thrones has made medieval chic cool again, who’s up for some polyphony? For more than two decades, Anonymous 4 has been uncovering ancient works rescued from monasteries and abbeys, working with musicologists to understand them (often they do their own transcriptions) and arranging them for modern audiences. The four women perform a capella, mixing these traditional works with that of contemporary composers like Steve Reich and Richard Einhorn. You know Tyrion has all this stuff on his iPod. (SP)
Friday.
*tue
DRUNKEN STARFIGHTER Johnny V’s, San Jose Tue – 9pm; $5 Han shot first. The Eight Demons of Kimon. These are the sort of topics I imagine Drunken Starfighter would like to expound upon in the nerdliest fashion possible. Hailing from Mos Eisley, the spaced-out locals bring their mellow vibe of early dub to the present, spouting conscious lyrics on topics ranging from anime to sci-fi and beyond. Taking cues from pioneers of the genre like Lee Perry, King Tubby and Keith Hudson, Drunken Starfighter is currently working on their second album to help you free your mind. Yeshua and the Hightones, DJ Hi Grade open the Terrible Tuesdays show. (BD)
BALLET SJ NUTCRACKER Dec 10–23, SJ Center for the Performing Arts
JAY-Z/KANYE WEST Dec 10 at 8pm, HP Pavilion
JONATHAN RICHMAN Dec 11 at the Catalyst, Santa Cruz
THE LIMOUSINES Dec 23 at the Blank Club, San Jose
WAR/TOWER OF POWER Dec 30 at the San Jose Civic
MACEO PARKER Jan 11 at 7:30pm, Montalvo Arts Center
WILCO Jan 28 at the San Jose Civic
BLAKE SHELTON Mar 16 at HP Pavilion Join Metro on Facebook at Metrofb.com for a chance to win concert tickets.
NOVEMBER 16-22, 2011 | metrosiliconvalley.com | sanjose.com | metroactive.com
KENDRA PEREZ Nov 18, Studio 8, San Jose
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