San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
14 of the hottest concerts of the season
As the summer fills the Bay Area with sunshine and clear skies, the region’s rich musical landscape comes to life. With a range of outdoor festivals and shows to soak in the rays, as well as indoor concerts to beat the heat, audiences have ample opportunities to catch some live music.
This summer, R&B artists such as Missy Elliott and PartyNextDoor are set to make rare live appearances, rockers like the Rolling Stones and hometown heroes Journey are scheduled to perform in Northern California. Kicking it all off is the first-ever Festival La Onda celebrating all things Latin Music, ensuring that fans of all-genres can compile the perfect summer soundtrack.
Festival La Onda
Pulled together by the organizers of BottleRock Napa Valley, the first-ever Festival La Onda aims to be a mecca for Latin music, cuisine and culture. The new festival is slated for June 1-2 at the Napa Valley Expo, and will leverage much of the existing infrastructure from BottleRock, the Memorial Day weekend staple.
With Latin pop rock band Maná, five-piece band Fuerza Regida, regional Mexican artist Alejandro “El Potrillo” Fernández and corridos tumbados singer Junior H. set to headline, audiences of all ages are in for a treat. The two-day event is also set to showcase a range of local and regional Latin cuisine, specialty beverages, an on-site spa and more.
11 a.m.-10 p.m. June 1-2. Tickets start at $169. Napa Valley Expo, Napa. laondafest.com
Tokischa
The Dominican rapper and singer, whose full name is Tokischa Altagracia Peralta Juárez, is bringing her Nací Perra
Tour to the Warfield on June 9. No stranger to the Bay Area, Juárez performed at last summer’s Portola Music Festival held at Pier 80. Her racy lyrics and reggaeton and trap beats have earned her collaborations with artists such as Rosalía, Madonna and J Balvin since she first broke into the music scene in 2018.
Juárez was recently featured on the song “Jalo!,” which was made for Zack Snyder’s sci-fi film “Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver,” alongside Puerto Rican producer Tainy. The two also starred in an accompanying futuristic music video, leather-clad and on the run.
8 p.m. June 9. Tickets start at $96. The Warfield, 982 Market St., S.F. 415-345-0900. ticketmaster.com
Janet Jackson
Celebrating the star’s 50th
anniversary in entertainment as well as milestone anniversaries of her albums “The Velvet Rope,” “janet.” and “Rhythm Nation 1814,” Jackson’s Together Again Tour is the ultimate nostalgia-fest. Her show at Chase Center, scheduled for June 12, is part of a tour extension and will mark her first San Francisco concert in five years. She is also slated to perform at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on June 11.
The tour, which stopped at Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheater last June during its initial run, has become the highest selling trek of the pop icon’s career and is set to include Grammy-winning hiphop artist Nelly, who is billed as a special guest.
8 p.m. June 11. Tickets start at $24. Golden 1 Center, Sacramento. 888-915-4647; June 12. Tickets start at $59. Chase Center, 1 Warriors Way, S.F. 888-479-4667.
ticketmaster.com
Vampire Weekend
Following the April release of its fifth studio album “Only God Was Above Us,” the New York rock band is back on the road with plans to bring the record’s accompanying tour to Berkeley for two nights in June. The group’s new 10-track record was co-produced by Grammywinner and longtime collaborator Ariel Rechtshaid and lead singer Ezra Koenig, and takes on a gritty yet melodic energy.
The band’s new release was celebrated on April 8 with a midday, live streamed concert in Austin, Texas, coinciding with the solar eclipse, which saw the outdoor crowd taking a moment to don their eclipse glasses and gaze up at the sky. The band has also performed at the Coachella Valley Music and
Arts Festival and on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” for the first time since 2013. Mike Gordon, founding member of rock band Phish, is set to support its upcoming Berkeley stop.
6:30 p.m. June 15; 2 p.m. June 16. Tickets start at $69. Greek Theatre, 2001 Gayley Rd., Berkeley. 510-871-9225. ticketmaster.com
PartyNextDoor
The Drake-backed singersongwriter and producer is ready to take back the spotlight. After a four-year hiatus, he released his highly anticipated fourth studio album, “PartyNextDoor 4,” in April and recently announced his upcoming Sorry I’m Outside Tour.
The trek is scheduled to stop at Fox Theater in Oakland on July 1, giving Northern California fans who missed him at Sacramento’s now-canceled Sol Blume festival another chance. The R&B artist, also known as Jahron Anthony Brathwaite, was the first to join Drake’s OVO Sound label in 2013 and has collaborated with the Toronto-rapper many times since.
8 p.m. July 1. Tickets start at $94. Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 510-302-2250. ticketmaster.com
Tate McRae
A product of her passions for dance and singing, the Canadian pop star is bringing her “Think Later” world tour, in support of her sophomore album of the same name, to the Bay Area for one night only in July.
Initially rising to fame by posting her heart-wrenching music to TikTok, the singersongwriter was a finalist in the Canadian version of “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2016. She continues to incorporate intricate choreography into her live performances in an effort to maintain the passion. “Think Later,” was released in 2023 and takes a more playful pop turn,
with songs such as “Greedy” and “Exes” taking the internet by storm.
8 p.m. July 9. Tickets start at $49.50. Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove St., S.F. ticketmaster.com
Missy Elliott
Bay Area audiences can get their freak on at the rapper’s first-ever headlining tour, which is planned for the Oakland Arena on July 9. The tour is set to feature support from Busta Rhymes, Ciara and Timbaland and will mark Elliott’s first proper tour since 2004.
Despite rising to fame in the 1990s, Elliott has experienced somewhat of a career resurgence, becoming the first female rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019 and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021. Keeping up with the times, the multiplatinum-selling rapper has been featured on songs with Ariana Grande, Lizzo and Fall Out Boy in recent years.
7 p.m. July 9. Tickets start at $65. Oakland Arena, 7000 S Coliseum Way, Oakland. 510-5692121. ticketmaster.com
The Marías
Following the release of its sophomore album “Submarine,”
the Los Angeles indiepop group is gearing up to open its upcoming North American tour at Fox Theater in Oakland on July 16-17. Composed of lead singer Maria Zardoya, drummer and producer Josh Conway, guitarist Jesse Perlman and keyboardist Edward James, the band has garnered the attention of Bad Bunny, earning a featured spot on the Puerto Rican star’s 2022 album, “Un Verano Sin Ti.”
Switching from its signature red aesthetic to an icy blue, the new record reflects a level of emotional honesty as a result of a shift in Zardoya and Conway’s relationship. The two had been dating for years and decided to part ways before beginning to write the album.
“We went through so much change right before the writing process of submarine,” the group said on Instagram. “Blue represents not only grief and loneliness, but also hope, rebirth and exploration.”
8 p.m. July 16-17. Tickets start at $80. Fox Theater, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 510-302-2250. ticketmaster.com
The Rolling Stones
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band is closing its North American stadium tour in the
Bay Area. Its latest album, “Hackney Diamonds,” marks its first collection of original music since 2005’s “A Bigger Bang.” The record, produced by Andrew Watt, who has collaborated with artists like Post Malone, Elton John and Justin Bieber, is also the first recording following the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2021.
Surviving members of the Stones — Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood — are scheduled to perform at Levi’s Stadium on July 17, adding to its extensive list of performances in the region since first coming to the Bay Area in 1965.
7:30 P.M. July 17. Tickets start at $91. Levi’s Stadium, 4900 Marie P DeBartolo Way, Santa Clara. 415-464-9377. ticketmaster.com
Olivia Rodrigo
The Disney Channel star turned singer-songwriter is heading back to the Bay Area
nd for a two-night stint at Chase Center that even had the Golden State Warriors’TikTok account buzzing. Rodrigo’s scheduled San Francisco stop Aug. 2-3 will mark her first Bay Area performances since 2022 when she closed out her “Sour” tour at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. This time Rodrigo is touring in support of her sophomore album “Guts.”
So far on the “Guts” tour, Rodrigo has invited a handful of surprise guests to join her onstage, including “Stick Season” singer Noah Kahan and singer-songwriter Jewel in New York and country singer Sheryl Crow in Nashville. Last month, she was a surprise guest for Gwen Stefani-fronted rock band No Doubt during the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Southern California.
7:30 p.m. Aug. 2-3. Tickets start at $20. Chase Center, 1 Warriors Way, S.F. 888-479-4667. ticketmaster.com
Outside Lands
Back for its 16th year, the Golden Gate Park event is pulling in more than 90 artists for this year’s edition. Scheduled to headline are pop-rock act the Killers; rapper Tyler, the Creator; country singer Sturgill Simpson and rapper/singer Post Malone, who will be performing a special country set. This year organizers are introducing an on-site wedding venue dubbed City Hall, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Winter of Love, which refers to the first samesex marriage ceremonies in the U.S. presided over by then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
11 a.m.-10 p.m. Aug. 9-11. Threeday passes start at $465. Golden Gate Park, S.F. www.sfoutsidelands.com
Sammy Hagar
The Mill Valley resident is bringing the music of Van Halen to the East Bay during his “Best of All Worlds Tour” this summer. Alongside former Chickenfoot bandmates Michael Anthony and Joe Satriani, in addition to drummer Jason Bonham, Hagar is set to perform at Toyota Pavilion at Concord on Aug. 17.
He replaced former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth in 1985 and invited him to join the “Best of All Worlds Tour” despite their long-standing rivalry. Hagar and Roth performed together in 2004 during Van Halen’s “Best of Both Worlds Tour,” which Hagar’s upcoming tour honors.
7 p.m. Aug. 17. Tickets start at $54.35. VIP packages begin at $407. Toyota Pavilion at Concord, 2000 Kirker Pass Rd., Concord. 925-676-8742. livenation.com
Journey and Def Leppard
Despite longtime, well-publicized legal and personal conflicts between key group members, Journey continues to tour and will return home to San Francisco’s Oracle Park on Aug. 28, co-headlining its summer concert with British rock group Def Leppard. The “Don’t Stop Believin’” band’s recent tours have been underscored by an ongoing feud between guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, as well as the dismissal of bassist Ross Valory and drummer Steve Smith.
Journey’s current touring members include Schon, Cain, keyboardist Jason Derlatka, singer Arnel Pineda, drummer Deen Castronovo and bassist Todd Jenson. The San Francisco-formed Steve Miller band is slated to open the Oracle Park show.
6 p.m. Aug. 28. Tickets start at $69. VIP packages start at $299. Oracle Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, S.F. 415-972-2000. ticketmaster.com
Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra
The band’s “Over and Out
Tour” is set to make stops at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sept. 1 and Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Oct. 23. Originally formed in 1970 and disbanded in 1986, the Electric Light Orchestra was revived by Lynne in 2018. Lynne’s former bandmates continued to tour under the name Electric Light Orchestra Part II.
“It was a gradual thing,” Lynne said of ELO’s comeback during an interview with the Chronicle in 2018. “I had been working with all these other people, my heroes as I like to call them, and I hadn’t been doing any of my own work, I realized, for 15 years or something. I wanted another go at it. So I re-formed ELO for that purpose.”
8 p.m. Sept. 1. Tickets start at $54. Chase Center, 1 Warriors Way, S.F. 888-479-4667. ticketmaster.com