Live music, next 30 days

Guitarist improvising across jazz, metal and hip-hop; unusual and seated, but guitar-fronted and unverified.

Nine-piece all-female New Orleans-style brass band, loud and driving, in a small seated room.

Campilongo, the guitarist who landed in your jazz lane, with Amendola and Saris interplaying.

Veteran horn-driven Bay Area funk-soul band; real brass and grit, but singer out front.

Blues-rock fire and unpredictable live playing, the SRV/Trower angle; big standing room though.

Angular post-punk from ex-Ought members: taut and tense, though restrained and vocal-centered.

Marcus Miller's bass up close, but it's a soundcheck, not a full performance.

Hard-swinging sax/trumpet quintet in a small seated club: your small-group jazz sweet spot.

Herbie Hancock competition-winning pianist in an 80-seat room; virtuosic, though soul/gospel-leaning.

SFJAZZ bill is unclear: either Akinmusire's trumpet or Stampley's piano trio, both worthwhile.

Miles centennial led by a fusion bassist with percussionist Mino Cinelu; your anchors align.

Same blues-rock intensity as the Fillmore date, but a cavernous room at triple price.

Belgian dance-punk act; their live band uses multiple real drummers, which lifts it somewhat.

Small-group jazz in the listening room you liked, but the leader is an unknown quantity.

Blistering fast instrumental bluegrass, but a fiddle carries the lead line throughout.

Herbie Hancock competition-winning pianist in an 80-seat room; virtuosic, though soul/gospel-leaning.

Late set of the same hard-bop quintet: horns, swing and a working rhythm section.

Longtime Bay Area fusion trio: keys, upright/electric bass, fiery drummer, free and close by.

Technical death metal at your doorstep: virtuosic and relentless, but growled vocals throughout.

Late set of the same hard-bop quintet: horns, swing and a working rhythm section.

Herbie Hancock competition-winning pianist in an 80-seat room; virtuosic, though soul/gospel-leaning.

SFJAZZ bill is unclear: either Akinmusire's trumpet or Stampley's piano trio, both worthwhile.

Latin big band led by a percussionist: horn section, congas, drive. Strong on your axes.

Miles centennial led by a fusion bassist with percussionist Mino Cinelu; your anchors align.

Art-rock with genuinely tricky meters and busy drumming, undercut by falsetto hooks and synths.

South African piano trio, small-group jazz in a seated San Jose room at your doorstep.

Prog Frog's 70s-prog-and-jazz side appeals; the folk half is fiddle-led and gentle.

Herbie Hancock competition-winning pianist in an 80-seat room; virtuosic, though soul/gospel-leaning.

Cheap local punk night at a Santa Cruz dive; fast and loud, bands unproven.

Fast, tense Fat Wreck melodic punk in a small club — your lane, but sold out.

Toys That Kill bring fast, snotty, tightly-wound punk to a tiny cheap room.

Late set of the same hard-bop quintet: horns, swing and a working rhythm section.

Free rock/metal night at your local dive bar; unknown bands, zero risk.

Skatepark benefit with D.I.'s fast hardcore punk and Pentagram's Bobby Liebling; rough and loud.

Ten-dollar early hardcore-punk matinee; fast and angry, bands mostly unknown.

Underground Railroad to Candyland's scrappy, fast melodic punk in a tiny all-ages space.

Gilman benefit of fast Bay Area punk; Street Eaters' bass-and-drums duo suits you.

Late set of the same hard-bop quintet: horns, swing and a working rhythm section.

Carnatic mridangam, sax and keys in Indo-jazz funk; virtuoso rhythm, odd cycles, 80 seats.

Gritty Oakland blues-rock voice backed by full symphony; grand, but arrangements may smother drive.

Local chamber orchestra doing Sibelius and Grieg; romantic rather than baroque, but seated downtown.

Fred Wesley's trombone and the JBs horn section: hard funk brass, seated, 26 miles.

Miles centennial led by a fusion bassist with percussionist Mino Cinelu; your anchors align.

Trumpeter Russell Gunn's band: brass-led jazz with funk and hip-hop drive; date may shift.

British Invasion covers plus punk reworkings of Monkees songs — the redirect-a-cover angle you like.

Free local metal night 30 miles out; possibly an Oakland prog-doom band on the bill.

Fusion guitar virtuoso with real chops, but it's a lead-guitar show through and through.

Bob Mould's Sugar and J. Robbins bring loud alt-rock; Cabaret Voltaire's electronics dilute it.

Carnatic mridangam, sax and keys in Indo-jazz funk; virtuoso rhythm, odd cycles, 80 seats.

Fast Fat Wreck skate punk with a busy drummer; sold out and a standing pit.

Fred Wesley's trombone-led JB horns: hard funk, live drums, brass out front. Seated room.

Late set of the same hard-bop quintet: horns, swing and a working rhythm section.

Free hard-rock and punk night in your own city; low cost, low risk, unknown bands.

Solo piano recital nine miles away: Stravinsky and Liszt give the virtuosity, Debussy the drift.

Victims Family: fast, odd-metered punk with jazz-grade bass and drums. Loud, standing, all ages.

Carnatic mridangam, sax and keys in Indo-jazz funk; virtuoso rhythm, odd cycles, 80 seats.

Late set of the same hard-bop quintet: horns, swing and a working rhythm section.

Miles centennial led by a fusion bassist with percussionist Mino Cinelu; your anchors align.

Marcus Miller's bass leading a Miles centennial with Mike Stern and Mino Cinelu. Seated.

Sitar and tabla masters: deep rhythmic cycles, long improvisation, percussion virtuosity in a seated room.

Fiery young quartet playing Coltrane: small-group jazz, relentless drumming, seated club.

Carnatic mridangam, sax and keys in Indo-jazz funk; virtuoso rhythm, odd cycles, 80 seats.

Sleep's bass-heavy doom is all low end but deliberately slow; that costs it a grade.

Cheap, fast thrash-punk bill in a tiny record shop; angry and relentless, acts unknown.

Late set of the same hard-bop quintet: horns, swing and a working rhythm section.

Descendents supporting: faster and tenser than the headliner. Big room, standing pit, pricey.

Same JB horns funk as Saturday, seated at Yoshi's: trombone-led, hard grooves, live drums.

Descendents are the reason to go — fast, tense, tight. Big standing room, steep price.

Cellist in your favorite small listening room; low timbre appeals, but her work leans avant.

Jam band with long improvisations and funk grooves, but guitar-led and a long drive.

Punk-leaning rock with a live horn section; cheap, small room, brass on stage.

Confrontational NYC hardcore with banjo drone: fast and angry, but shouted vocals and standing room.

Video-game themes rearranged as live jazz-funk-rock: instrumental covers with a real band, seated room.

High-energy blues-rock guitar trio — your Trower/SRV lane, though guitar-forward with a frontman.

Grinding Spanish-language death metal at your home venue; fast and heavy, but grunted vocals.

Taiwanese ukulele virtuoso, wild technique and reworked covers, in a 93-seat listening room.

Seven-piece Louisville crew blending jazz fusion, prog and psych — busy ensemble playing, real stretch pick.

Jam band with long improvisations and funk grooves, but guitar-led and a long drive.

Second, later set from the ukulele virtuoso; same small seated room, tickets still available.

High-energy blues-rock guitar trio — your Trower/SRV lane, though guitar-forward with a frontman.

Bay Area punk plus a heavy Nashville duo: loud, driving, but small-room unknowns.

Yemeni-rooted band on homemade instruments: percussive, driving, genuinely unusual — a good stretch.

Instrumental prog-metal band playing Star Wars themes: odd meters, tight playing, covers transformed.

Sludge and fast hardcore at your home-town club: heavy and loud, growled throughout.

Hiromi, one of your favorites, in duo with a tap dancer — virtuosity plus live percussion.

Two big local horn bands playing funk and soul; brass and groove, but a dance night.

Barcelona flamenco-Latin group with real rhythmic grit, seated room; vocal-led and partly electronic.

Free festival day with Sierra Hull and Molly Tuttle: fast, instrument-forward bluegrass amid much country.

Stooges-style punk'n'roll in a small Santa Cruz bar: fast, gritty, no polish.

Free small-group jazz and open jam minutes from home, seated: improvisation and a live rhythm section.

Piano-trio jazz near home in a small room; Evans material may run mellow, but real interplay.

Virtuosic fast bluegrass with long jams, but guitar-fronted and in an arena.

Marcus Rezak's shred-heavy Dead tribute: real improvisation, but guitar out front.

Hiromi: exactly the virtuoso piano-trio drive you loved on Alive. Seated room.

Note-for-note Zeppelin tribute nine miles away; faithful, not reinterpreted.

Snarky Puppy, which you filed as antiseptic; big room, far away, still musicianly.

Bass-and-drums duo, loud and relentless: fuzz bass carries every riff.

Deerhoof: angular, odd-metered, with Greg Saunier's busy drumming; vocals are twee.

Elfman's orchestral film music: brass-heavy and inventive, but a big polished production.

Piano-trio jazz near home in a small room; Evans material may run mellow, but real interplay.

Free bluegrass festival; Alison Brown and AJ Lee are fast and instrument-forward.

Blues-rock guitar fire a mile from home in a tiny room — your SRV/Trower lane.

Virtuosic fast bluegrass with long jams, but guitar-fronted and in an arena.

Copland and Dvořák downtown: big brass, drive, seated, zero miles away.

Secret Chiefs 3's odd-meter precision is a real draw; Igorrr's breakcore and screams aren't.

Hiromi, one of your favorites, in duo with a tap dancer — virtuosity plus live percussion.

Miles alumni playing electric-era fusion in a seated club: heavy bass, busy drums.

Ex-black midi frontman: knotty jazz-rock, odd meters, aggressive band interplay.

Deerhoof again: odd meters and hyperactive drumming; the openers lean noise-electronic.

Elfman's orchestral film music: brass-heavy and inventive, but a big polished production.

Miles alumni playing electric-era fusion in a seated club: heavy bass, busy drums.

Free festival day; Punch Brothers' fast instrumental complexity is the reason to go.

Copland and Dvořák downtown: big brass, drive, seated, zero miles away.

Stooges-style high-energy punk rock 'n' roll in a tiny room for thirteen dollars.

Drummer Mike Mitchell's fusion project: busy virtuoso kit work, small seated room, real rhythm-section focus.

Hiromi's Trio Project with Genus and Simon Phillips: exactly your fusion virtuosity. Sold out.

Fast Swedish power metal plus Evergrey's prog metal, small room, zero miles from you.

Miles alumni playing electric-era fusion in a seated club: heavy bass, busy drums.

Drummer Mike Mitchell's fusion project: busy virtuoso kit work, small seated room, real rhythm-section focus.

Acid Mothers Temple's heavy cosmic jams: long improvisation and drive, but often formless noise.

Groundation is the jazz-chops reggae band: horn section, deep bass, real soloing.

Same Hiromi trio, 26 miles away in Kuumbwa's small seated room. Sold out, sadly.

Soulfly plus a Nailbomb set: fast, heavy, tribal drumming, zero miles away. Screamed vocals.

Theatrical circus-punk with political bite and SF crust support; loud, fast, unusual.

Same Hiromi trio, 26 miles away in Kuumbwa's small seated room. Sold out, sadly.

Menzingers with Hot Water Music: gritty, fast melodic punk, no polish. Standing room.

Big horn-section band, playful and uptempo, but frontwoman-led and pop-polished.

Same horn-driven Sammy Rae band, second night; playful and uptempo but singer-fronted. Sold out.

Son Lux: odd meters, dense arrangements, Ian Chang's live trigger-kit drumming. Atmospheric stretches though.

Punk cabaret duo: Viglione's busy drumming and caustic wit, but no bass and theatrical vocals.

Sax/bass/drums trio in a seated listening room — small-group jazz, but the album sounds mellow.

Yellowjackets playing Weather Report is your lane; Elling's jazz vocals pull it down a grade.

Thinking Fellers graded B for you before; Orcutt's free-noise guitar drags the night toward formless.

Bass-led improvising jazz group in the small seated room you liked; adventurous, possibly too loose.

Mike Watt's bass with Tortoise's drummer in an improvising instrumental trio — prominent bass, real interplay.

Mastodon's odd meters and Brann Dailor's busy drumming fit you; the openers' screamed blackgaze doesn't.

D.R.I.'s crossover thrash is as fast and angry as you like; small room, standing pit.

Yellowjackets playing Weather Report is your lane; Elling's jazz vocals pull it down a grade.

Classic Bay Area punk triple bill — fast and caustic, though Flipper's sludge drags and it's standing.

Two blues legends seated outdoors; blues-rock fire is the part you tend to enjoy.

Domi & JD Beck — you already rated them B+; machine-precise live drumming and keys. Sold out.

Instrumental rock band shredding game soundtracks live — unusual, fast, genuinely reinterpreted covers.

Instrumental jazz-meets-beats quartet with live drums and sax, in San Jose, seated. Worth a flyer.

Free all-ages East Bay punk bill — fast, snotty and cheap; musicianship modest but energy real.

Seated amphitheater sludge festival; Melvins are genuinely odd, but doom tempos and growls dominate.

Emo/post-hardcore nostalgia sixteen miles out; Thrice has bite, the vocal style is a sticking point.

Dayna Stephens' small-group take on Monk — your jazz lane, seated room, sax out front.

Bassist-led orchestra playing Monk with a full horn section — brass, bass and swing.

Fast, angry DIY punk and thrash in a warehouse; right energy, unknown bands, long drive.

Wiry Bay Area post-punk/indie rock, cheap and energetic; guitar-forward, not bass-forward.

Collier is genuinely virtuosic and harmonically dense, but polished, poppy and vocal-centered.

Jerry Garcia Band keeper: long organ-led jams, but more loose and mellow than heavy.

Same Orinda JGB show as the other listing: extended keys-led jamming, relaxed rather than heavy.

Domi & JD Beck: machine-tight live drums and dense keys — you already rated them B+.

Live Balkan brass band: odd meters, driving low brass, unusual — but it's a dance party.

Cheap all-day Gilman punk bill: fast and angry, but unknown bands and a craft fair.

Piano recital opening with Bach/Busoni, nine miles away and seated — your untested Bach lane.

Local concert band: brass and winds front and center, seated, cheap, walking distance.

Third-wave ska with a horn section plus punk support — the Bosstones corner of your taste.

Veteran Russian alt-rock, quirky and uptempo; unusual pick, but steep for a bar show.

Top-flight fusion players, but polished and smooth-leaning — and it's already sold out.

Piano trio with real swing and stride virtuosity — Tatum/Peterson territory, seated room.

Anatolian psych-rock: saz, organ, odd-metered grooves — an unusual, groove-driven stretch.

Oakland acid-punk/prog reunion with Victims Family's bassist — heavy, busy, bass-forward.

Fast, blunt hardcore-punk with real drive; the angry-and-tense lane, standing room though.

Heavy, rhythmically complex metal, but screamed vocals and a big standing pit-warning room.

Bass-and-drums post-punk trio with no guitar — rhythm-forward, but deliberately repetitive.

Chicago quintet mixing cumbia, psych and jazz; live percussion and groove, seated room.

Fast, sharply picked bluegrass in a seated listening room; harmony-forward rather than instrumental.

Rip Room's angular, tense post-punk in a tiny club — energy yes, virtuosity uncertain.

Sex Pistols with Frank Carter shouting: fast, angry, loud — musicianship plain, pit standing.

Young virtuoso pianist's trio, hard-swinging and busy, in SFJAZZ's 80-seat room.

Lila Downs fronts a real horn-and-percussion band, but it's a singer's show.

Rush, in San Jose, on the reunion tour — your top favorite, automatic yes.

Same Chicago cumbia-psych quintet, closer to home in Kuumbwa's small seated room.

Acoustic multi-instrumentalists plus California Feetwarmers' hot-jazz horns; playful, odd, occasionally too gentle.

Gypsy jazz: fast, swinging, acoustic interplay, though guitar leads and the room is far.

Young virtuoso pianist's trio, hard-swinging and busy, in SFJAZZ's 80-seat room.

Afro-Latin jazz sextet with driving clave and a busy rhythm section; tiny seated room.

Lila Downs fronts a real horn-and-percussion band, but it's a singer's show.

Vulfpeck: bass-forward, tight and playful, but clean-to-antiseptic in a huge outdoor room.

moe.'s long proggy jams and prominent bass fit; standing ballroom and length are the cost.

Afro-Cuban jazz trio downtown: complex clave, virtuoso piano, tiny seated room, no drive.

Fast, snotty punk bill in a small bar — the angry-and-quick end you like.

Afro-Latin jazz sextet with driving clave and a busy rhythm section; tiny seated room.

Afro-Latin jazz sextet with driving clave and a busy rhythm section; tiny seated room.

Fast, theatrical Oakland thrash in your own city; growled vocals are the drawback.

ArnoCorps' Schwarzenegger-themed action rock: loud, funny, unusual, but standing and 44 miles.

Lila Downs fronts a real horn-and-percussion band, but it's a singer's show.

Rush, in San Jose, on the reunion tour — your top favorite, automatic yes.

Grisman-family acoustic jamming, upright bass out front; fast bluegrass side lane, long drive.

Heavens to Betsy's first reunion show: raw, angry riot grrrl, but sold out and bass-free.

Afro-Latin jazz sextet with driving clave and a busy rhythm section; tiny seated room.

Dinosaur Jr at full volume with Barlow's bass, but sold out and 42 miles off.

Lila Downs fronts a real horn-and-percussion band, but it's a singer's show.

Second night of the Heavens to Betsy reunion: raw, angry riot grrrl, tickets still available.

Free all-Monk jam led by bassist Marcus Shelby in SFJAZZ's 80-seat room; improvisation throughout.

Bass-led hard-bop trio with Colligan and a busy young drummer; seated club, 26 miles.

Lage with Medeski, Wollesen and Roeder: real four-way interplay and improvisation, big hall though.

Brooklyn art-punk with restless drumming and odd structures; sold out and far off.

Dinosaur Jr in a small Menlo Park room 18 miles out: loud trio, Barlow's bass upfront.

Brooklyn art-punk with restless drumming and odd structures; sold out and far off.

Rundgren's studio-brain arrangements and Utopia prog streak make this an odd but plausible stretch.

Instrumental acoustic trio with percussion and real drive, though very guitar-forward.

Fast, wry pop-punk in a small club; energy yes, complexity no.

Chord-less sax trio: bass and drums fully exposed, hard-swinging and improvisation-heavy. Seated, 26 miles.

Fast, angry melodic hardcore with a strong punk undercard; polished but genuinely driving.

Playful ska-punk plus Mariachi El Bronx's punks-with-horns twist; unusual and brass-forward.

Coltrane program by conservatory students with pro mentors, in the 80-seat room. Cheap ambition.

Frizzi 2 Fulci: live band playing prog-tinged Italian horror scores. Unusual, keyboard and groove driven.

Steely Dan charts run through Dead-style jamming; keys, bass, 18 miles, seated theater.

Gritty blues-rock with fire, seated at the Freight; your SRV/Trower exception applies.

Ginn-led Black Flag: fast, furious, jagged hardcore twenty-two miles away in a small hall.

Longtime Bay Area fusion trio: keys, upright/electric bass, fiery drummer, free and close by.

Sax-led electric jazz quartet with heavy groove and bass; 80-seat room, seated.

Loud melodic hardcore and UK post-punk-hardcore; fast and tense, but sold out and standing.

Excellent Latin jazz band with Reuben Rogers on bass, but a jazz vocalist fronts it.

French heavy-psych power trio: long driving instrumental passages, huge bass, real intensity.

Blues-rock with genuine fire, the SRV/Trower exception, though big room and guitar-centric.

Son jarocho: intricate interlocking strings, percussive drive, and genuinely unfamiliar territory. Seated.

Heavy fuzz-rock trio bill with thick bass; hypnotic and mid-tempo rather than driving.

Sax-led electric jazz quartet with heavy groove and bass; 80-seat room, seated.

Tense, driving Detroit post-punk in your own city; Casey's declaimed vocals are the drawback.