October Shows

An evening with Josh Gracin, Phil Stacey and Kristy Lee Cook on Wednessday October 1st has been cancelled. Refunds are available to tickets holders from their original point of purchase.

For the past few years, one of the best-kept secrets of the Bay Area music scene was a David Grisman Bluegrass Experience show. The band includes Keith Little (Ricky Skaggs, Dolly Parton, the Country Gentlemen) on 5-string banjo, guitar and vocals, Jim Nunally (John Reischman & the Jaybirds) on guitar and vocals, Chad Manning on fiddle, Samson Grisman on bass and of course, David Grisman on mandolin and vocals. www.dawgnet.com Over four decades the contributions of John Sebastian have become a permanent part of our American musical fabric. His group The Lovin' Spoonful played a major role in the mid-'60s rock revolution, but what leader, singer and songwriter Sebastian had in mind was actually a counter-revolution. www.johnbsebastian.com

The Neponset Valley Philharmonic Orchestra (NVPO) launches their inaugural season with Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn. Join conductor Lawrence Isaacson and violin soloist Markus Placci for a very special afternoon as the NVPO is introduced to the area for the very first time. The NVPO enhances the musical life of the region through a rich variety of affordable orchestral and chamber music offerings, and educational programs. In addition, the NVPO nurtures the careers of the region's finest young professional musicians by giving them invaluable performing experiences. www.nvporchestra.org

Toots Hibbert is one of the great voices of Jamaica; a legend whose career spans every development in Jamaican music, from ska through rock-steady to reggae. Toots and the Maytals have helped to chart the course of Jamaican music with unrivaled delivery and dynamism, setting new standards of excellence, and becoming the most enduring of all Jamaica's groups. http://www.tootsandthemaytals.com/

The Residents are an American avant-garde music and visual arts collective who have created over sixty albums, created numerous musical short films, designed three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs, and undertaken six major world tours. Throughout their career, spanning nearly four decades, they have maintained complete anonymity.

Starting out nearly 15 years ago in 1992 by releasing their first self-made albums, HANSON could not have predicted that one day the whole world would sing their song. Yet that's exactly what happened in 1997, when the band's sunny single "MmmBop", a song about the ephemeral nature of most relationships, became a worldwide number one hit. Their pop-Motown flavored major label debut, Middle Of Nowhere, pierced the gray fog of 1990's grunge and earned the band three Grammy nominations. The follow-up albums kept the hooks and the critical acclaim while revealing HANSON's evolution. Their sophomore effort, This Time Around, leaned toward rock, blues and gospel while 2004's Underneath was a more richly textured and organic twist on the band's signature brand of pop-rock, as heard on the album's lead single "Penny and Me", which made it to #2 on the Billboard Singles Chart and notched the band a top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. www.hanson.net

It's not every band that's still staking out new musical territory and embracing fresh challenges more than 20 years into their career, but that's the case with Blues Traveler. Having long ago graduated from the jam-band underground to mainstream stardom, the iconoclastic combo has consistently stuck to its guns and played by its own rules. For their new release (and Verve Forecast debut) North Hollywood Shootout, the quintet ventured out of their creative comfort zone to explore some adventurous new horizons. The resulting album is a landmark in Blues Traveler's large and widely loved body of work, demonstrating the enduring strengths of the band's songwriting while capturing the spontaneous spirit of their legendary live shows. www.bluestraveler.com

Pebble To A Pearl -- the latest radiant gem by the gifted singer-songwriter and performer Nikka Costa -- is far and away her most direct and convincing musical statement yet. If this is Costa's most pleasing album to date -- and it clearly is -- then it's exactly because the woman singing to us so powerfully has finally found the creative freedom to first and foremost please herself. www.nikkacosta.com

The 19 city run will make history again featuring the cultural straight shooting of visionary Talib Kweli, moving forward full steam off his incredibly successful and acclaimed Ear Drum LP; Little Brother, fresh off a wave of high profile festival appearances, bring a top-notch, high energy live show; B.O.B., much hyped guitar wielding ATL rapper and producer, rounds out the dynamic line up. Also, look for special guest appearances in various cities along the tour.

The first 1000 concert goers will receive a pair of Sony EX earbud headphones at the venue. http://www.hiphoplivetour.com/

Widely renowned for his insanely fluid phrasing and post-modern fusion of electric British blues, traditional Delta blues and rock 'n roll chops, Bonamassa Told Guitar Player in '05, "When I play blues, I try to think a little outside the box, while still paying tribute to the founding fathers like Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson." www.jbonamassa.com

This is a band that was weaned on and made by the Internet, whose dedicated legion of online fans made them MySpace stars in a matter of weeks. This is a band that caught the early attention of Alternative Press (earning a spot as one of the magazine's "22 Best Underground Bands"), along with URB and Teen Vogue magazines, months before they signed to a label. Metro Station is a band that, despite their youth, have made their way from greasy mall jobs to recording with Motion City Soundtrack in the same year. They are truly a product of their times and their generation, and they are ready to take advantage of it. www.metrostationmusic.com