Now that you've treated your taste buds to a wide array of seasonal treats, lend the same courtesy to your cochleas with these musical morsels.
San Francisco Symphony @ San Francisco LGBT Community Center
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas—because classical music concerts are popping up like candy canes on venue calendars near and far in the Bay Area. The Community Chamber Concert, in collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony and the Irvine Foundation, will be gracing the San Francisco LGBT Center this Monday evening to strum melodious tunes and shed light on the center's ongoing efforts to help better Bay Area LGBTQ youth this holiday season. The free performance features a lively and talented string quartet, featuring members of the San Francisco Symphony. Following the concert, an in-depth Q&A; with the musicians will take place, and all attendees will receive a 50% discount code for upcoming SF Symphony performances. As the show is entirely free—you really have no excuse to be a Grinch and not swing by. // Monday, November 27th, 6:30pm to 7:30pm, San Francisco LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market St. (Duboce Triangle), admission to the concert is free, but an RSVP on Eventbrite is recommended.
Jeremy Pelt @ Yoshi's Oakland
Jeremy Pelt has become a preeminent young trumpeter within the world of jazz, complemented only by his charisma on and off stage. Forging a bond with the Mingus Big Band very early on, as his career progressed, Pelt built upon these relationships and many others which eventually lead to collaborations with some of the genre's greatest masters. These projects include performances and recordings with Cliff Barbaro and Keter Betts. Pelt, himself, maintains a consistent solo forward momentum while he transmits a modern-day sense of urgency with his songs. Come Tuesday night, he'll be trumpeting and swaying to his own jazzy beats at Yoshi's in Oakland for all those in the crowd; we'd recommend being one of them. // Tuesday, November 28th at 8:00pm at Yoshi's Oakland, 510 Embarcadero West (Oakland), tickets ($24) can be bought on ticketfly.com
Stereophonics @ The Fillmore
Undeniably one of Britain's best bands, Stereophonics has amassed a following that's not only created legions of doting fans in their home country, but from across the pond, as well. And in Kelly Jones—the band's front man and melodious muse— they possess one of the great songwriters of our time. Throughout their 20 year career the band has continuously released classic albums, and their forthcoming ninth album, Keep The Village Alive, is no exception. A ten-track LP that embodies the cultivated angst the band's curated over their illustrious career, they'll be pedestaling their newest disc track at The Fillmore this Wednesday, only helping to solidify their standing as one of the best still playing indie bands of our generation. // Wednesday, November 29th at 8:00pm at The Fillmore, 1805 Geary Blvd. (NoPa), tickets ($30-$55) can be bought on ticketmaster.com
Dispatch @ The Fillmore
Heralded as one of the biggest, most successful indie rock bands in history, Dispatch had officially split up in 2004 with a farewell show in Boston that drew 110,000 people and was dubbed as the largest independent music event in history by the Rolling Stone's Magazine. Three years later, like a well-spun boomerang, the band came back together for three consecutive shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden in ties to their philanthropic work in Zimbabwe, garnering another first: the only independent band to sell out the historic Big Apple Avenue. As to not waste any of that groundbreaking talent, when 2011 came around, the band officially reunited to release new material, including a six-song EP and their first full-length studio album since 2000, Circles Around the Sun. They have since embarked on multiple sold out arena tours across the globe and are set to release their most ambitious musical effort to date. But, come this Thursday and Friday evening at The Fillmore, expect to see a more stripped-down, barebones version of their otherwise eccentric onstage presence; treating audience members to an acoustic set of their biggest, brandish hits. // Thursday and Friday, November 30th at 8pm and December 1st at The Fillmore, 1805 Geary Blvd. (NoPa), tickets ($46) can be bought at ticketmaster.com
Afrojack @ Temple Nightclub
Afrojack has been praised by countless DJ and EDM producers as being a certain tour de force behind both the recording booth and turn table, piecing together such club-bangers like the Nicki Minaj backed Hey Mama and, arguably Sia's breakthrough song in the United States, Titanium. In celebration of the Temple Nightclub's tenth anniversary, Afrojack will be lending his unshakable talents to make sure their first double-digit birthday is all that, and then some. And, being that he's headlined at a number of electronic dance music festivals—including Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, and Coachella—it'll be a lively Thursday night not to be glazed over. // Friday, December 1st at 8:00pm at Temple Nightclub, 540 Howard St. (SoMa), tickets ($50) can be bought on Eventbrite.
Hundred Waters @ The Independent
With music that's part acoustic, part electronic and completely captivating, musicians Nicole Miglis, Trayer Tryon, and Zach Tetreault make up the famous Hundred Waters coalition—a banding of gene hopscotching talent. The fusion of each member's unique, idiosyncratic skill sets quickly gave rise to a sound that has fans raving and critics drawing comparisons to Stereolab, Bjork and Four Tet. It attracted the most unlikely of label bosses, Skrillex, who signed the band to his OWSLA label. Since then the band has taken their live show around the world, touring with artists such as Alt-J, the XX, Grimes, Julia Holter, and many more. Now, come this Saturday night, they'll be gracing The Independent to showcase their most popular collaborations, while also playing tunes from their upcoming (and yet-to-be-titled) EP. All-in-all, it's a techno-punk, indie-jazz-rock outing not to be missed. // Saturday, December 2nd at 9:00pm at The Independent, 628 Divisadero St. (Fillmore), tickets ($16) are available on ticketfly.com.
Angus and Julia Stone @ The Fillmore
Angus and Julia Stone write and sing in a melodica that manages to sooth the soul while, often in the same chord, making goosebumps rise like daisies over your arms. The first notes of Snow are just that—insistently captivating and awe-inspiring in their grander. The guitar chords are densely strummed, emboldened by the small moments of silence that sit between each; the gently driving organ emerges from cornering beats, ebbing and flowing in solace, taking you along with them. The brother-sister duo, Angus and Julia Stone is a treasure to cochleas—and one you should, absolutely, find for yourself at The Fillmore this Sunday evening. // Sunday, December 3rd at 8:00pm at The Fillmore, 1805 Geary Blvd. (NoPa), tickets ($57-$95) can be bought on livenation.com
