Updated daily. Set times move, call the venue when it matters.
The Expendables are a Santa Cruz reggae-rock band with twenty-plus years of catalog and a fanbase that treats their shows like a reunion. Launchpad is a small room, which means the floor gets loud fast and the sightlines are genuinely good from anywhere, but get there before the openers finish if you want a comfortable...
The post-Bob Marley touring lineup of The Wailers brings the full roots-reggae catalog to what is almost certainly an outdoor stage at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, not Launchpad's usual room on Central. The NHCC's courtyard holds a crowd well and the acoustics are better than you'd expect for an open-air setup, so a show...
Ed Allan plays Marble Brewery's Westside taproom, one of the more reliably good rooms on this stretch of Central for catching a solo performer without fighting the sound. The brewery...
Los Tigres del Norte, the Sinaloa-born norteño institution that has been recording since 1968, bring their corridos and narcocorridos canon to the Kiva Auditorium. The Kiva seats around 2,300 and has a proper sightline from nearly every seat in the house, so there is no real bad spot in this room. Tickets through Ticketmaster means...
Marble's downtown taproom is hosting Love + Happiness, a soul and R&B-leaning night that the title alone tells you something about the intended mood. The brewery floor opens up nicely for this kind of event, but the bar stays busy, so arriving early gets you a better position before the room fills. A ticket link...
Three Deuce Luce brings their set to Insideout's outdoor garden space for a late-summer party on Central. Insideout's courtyard punches above its square footage, so arrive with time to settle in before the music takes hold. Tickets are through Hold My Ticket, so sort that out in advance rather than gambling on the door.
San Diego's The Frights are marking a decade of their debut album with a full tour stop at the Sunshine, one of the few rooms on Central that can actually...
Cola, the Toronto post-punk outfit that rose from the wreckage of Ought, brings their tightly coiled, conversational guitar work to Sister with Artificial Go opening. Sister runs small and close,...
Cambridge psych-doom outfit Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats headlines the Sunshine Theater with Italian doom trio Messa opening, a double bill that earns its weight in riffs. The Sunshine's standing...
San Francisco's Hot Flash Heat Wave brings their hazy, sun-warped indie pop to Launchpad, with local and regional support from Small Crush and High rounding out the bill. Launchpad's sound...