Over 30,000 are expected for this annual music festival and fireworks show which takes place at Pier 30/32 (just south of the Bay Bridge). The 2008 ‘KFOG KaBoom!’ features live music from legendary East LA rockers Los Lobos, the bittersweet but groovy post-grunge rockers Collective Soul, and impressive 12-string guitar player and pop songwriter Matt Nathanson. There’s lots of food & drink stalls, and tons of events for families. It’s all capped off at 9pm with the state’s biggest fireworks display over the SF Bay exploding synchronized to music broadcast on KFOG (104.5 FM), so bring a radio. Is seven-and-a-half tons of explosives enough for you? (more…)

The free 5th annual Berkeley World Music Festival is a cultural program that offers over two dozen continuous musical performances throughout the Telegraph Avenue district, in cafes, street corners, and in People’s Park, plus a craft bazaar at People’s Park. Bands include Dengue Fever (Cambodian Pop/Psychedelic Rock), Sila and the AfroFunk Experience (Africa’s James Brown),  SambaDá (Brazilian Samba Afro Funk) plus Pakistani, Didjeridu Fusion,Cajun Dance Music, Ukrainian & Eastern European, Rebetika (Old Time Greek Blues) and more.

Bay Area R&B icon Booker T. Jones and Detroit’s “Great Lady of Soul” Bettye LaVette kick off the Stern Grove Festival’s 71st Season of free Sunday concerts with an afternoon of soul. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. and the MGs) is a legendary figure with an impressive string of hits, including the million-selling “Green Onions.” He has performed as a session musician on some of R&B’s most seminal songs, including “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” and “Try a Little Tenderness.” (more…)

Get ready for an afternoon of African rhythms in the Grove when Nigeria’s prince of Afrobeat, Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, make their San Francisco debut. With blazing horns, unstoppable rhythms, hypnotic dancing, and marathon performances, Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 will have the Grove moving. Opening the afternoon will be local group, Sila and the AfroFunk Experience, who know how to get dance floors around the Bay Area in motion with an exhilarating sound and energetic performance.

Since 1938, Stern Grove Festival has been the Bay Area’s home for outstanding performing arts in a beautiful outdoor setting, completely admission-free. Bring a picnic and arrive early as the main garden often fills up by 1pm.

Public Transportation:
Muni buses: 23 and 28, exit at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard
Muni Metro: K or M, exit at St. Francis Circle

Stern Grove Festival presents an annual favorite, the renowned San Francisco Symphony, with conductor James Gaffigan. The program includes Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Opus 43 with Orli Shaham on piano, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Opus 36. The Symphony Jazz Sextet will open the afternoon with a short set of works by some of the great jazz legends. (more…)

New Orleans legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Allen Toussaint brings the Big Easy back to the Grove. With a career spanning forty years as a singer, pianist, songwriter, arranger, and producer, Toussaint is one of America’s greatest musical icons and a captivating performer. Opening is Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue who break down traditional jazz rhythms with funk, pop, and hip-hop. (more…)

Rachid Taha combines Algerian rai music with modern rock, punk, and dance. With a rough vocal style and influences ranging from Johnny Cash and Marvin Gaye, to Kraftwerk and Public Enemy, Taha is a formidable talent with an international reputation. Los Angeles-based MC Rai will lead with a trend-setting mix of edgy Arabic grooves and electronica.

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 Internationally acclaimed local dance ensemble Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet will dazzle with a performance of The Moroccan Project and Migration accompanied by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the ensemble Hamideen. The afternoon also features the American premiere pas de deux choreographed by Alonzo King for former San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Muriel Maffre and former LINES Ballet dancer Prince Credell. (more…)

Born in the Mission District, Latin Rock was a defining sound of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, melding the rhythms of Latin music with funk, soul, and rock. “Voices of Latin Rock” features veteran performers like Jorge Santana and Gabriel Manzo of Malo, Abel Sanchez of Abel and the Prophets, and trumpeter Bill Ortiz from Santana, among others. Local favorite SambaDá will lead the afternoon with a high-powered concoction of Brazilian beats, samba, funk, reggae, and hip-hop.

Since 1938, Stern Grove Festival has been the Bay Area’s home for outstanding performing arts in a beautiful outdoor setting, completely admission-free. Bring a picnic and arrive early as the main garden often fills up by 1pm.

Public Transportation:
Muni buses: 23 and 28, exit at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard
Muni Metro: K or M, exit at St. Francis Circle

Internationally acclaimed Bajofondo, a collective of Argentine and Uruguayan artists blend the drama and passion of tango music with diverse electronic genres ranging from house, trance and trip hop to dub, drum and bass, and more. Opening are New York’s Si*Sé  with their potent mix of Latin rhythms with electronica, soul, and trip hop. (more…)

Escape to the Hawaiian Islands with an all-star line-up performing together for the first time. Performers include Na Leo, the most popular female trio in Hawai’i; guitarist, vocalist, ukulele player and former member of the Ka’au Crater Boys, Ernie Cruz, Jr.; Kaukahi, who toured recently with Jack Johnson; and One Right Turn with Connie Cruz, Tiffa Cruz-Garza, and singer/ukulele player and member of the Opihi Pickers, Imua Garza. (more…)

Stern Grove Festival’s 71^st Season of free Sunday afternoon concerts closes with the renowned San Francisco Opera, featuring an afternoon of highlights and solos from the American opera canon.
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October 3rd - 5th marks the 2008 rendition of one of the coolest music festivals on the planet: San Francisco’s own Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. This flurry of banjos will take place in Golden Gate Park not too long after the inaugural Outside Lands Festival, but here’s the big difference between the two (besides Outside Lands’ distinct lack of banjos) – HSB is FREE. The lineup is still being put together, but confirmed so far are Robert Plant & Allison Krauss ft. T Bone Burnett, Earl Scruggs, Robert Earl Keen, Gogol Bordello and Loudon Wainwright III. Source: The Owl Mag