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The Great Outdoors The Best of the Rest KFOG Kaboom! Pier 30/32, San Francisco; www.kfog.com May 11, 4-10pm; free Fireworks and live music converge with this radio-station event starring Boz Scaggs, Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise and Zero 7. The fireworks are synchronized to a custom KFOG soundtrack. A La Carte and Art Castro Street from Church to Evelyn streets, Mountain View www.miramarevents.com/alacarte May 18-19, 10am-6pm; free Two days of gourmet food, wine, arts and crafts with five stages of music and entertainment starring Splashback, PT and the Cruisers, Super Squeeze, Blue House, Flashback, Sage, Mad and Eddie Duran, Dreamroad, Groovecamp and Ancient Winds House for the Homeless Coyote Hellyer Park, San Jose; www.house4homeless.org May 19, 11am-8pm; free but donations requested An open-air house-music benefit for the Emergency Housing Consortium featuring DJs Rick Preston, Michael Anthony, Dawn of Sound, Queen Agnes B, Samo, N8 Castro, Girl Friday and DJ Dara Footstock Golden Gate Park Polo Fields, San Francisco May 19, 10am-3pm; $15 (free for race participants) A Bay to Breakers post-race concert starring Smash Mouth and Boom Shanka Santa Cruz Blues Festival Aptos Village Park, Santa Cruz; www.santacruzbluesfestival.com May 25-26, 11am-7pm; $30-$50 general admission/gold circle, $50/$90 two-day pass. A Memorial Day weekend institution starring Dr. John, Shemekia Copeland, Sonny Landreth, Indigenous and the Boneshakers on Saturday; and Delbert McCLinton, Otis Rush, Tommy Castro, Sue Foley and Eric Sardinas on Sunday. Mushroom Mardi Gras Morgan Hill Community Park, Edmundson and Monterey roads, Morgan Hill; www.mushroommardigras.com May 25-26, 10am-6pm; $10 adults/$5 children and seniors A festival honoring the mighty fungus starring Eddie Money (5/25) and War (5/26). The Dynatones and Santana tribute band Caravanserai perform both days. Music begins at noon. San Jose Gay Pride and Festival Guadalupe River Park, San Jose; www.sjgaypride.com June 8, noon-6pm; free. June 9; 11am-7pm; $10 The South Bay's celebration of gay pride looks like a parade of divas with headliners the Pointer Sisters, Martha Wash, Ultra Naté and Robin S. There will also be country and DJ tents along with plenty of entertainment. The parade begins at 11am on Sunday. Meet at Victory Parking Lot at the corner of Market and Saint John streets. Registration starts at 9am. Music in the Other Park St. James Park, First and St. James streets, San Jose www.sj-downtown.com Thursdays, June 6-27, 5-8:15pm; free MOP is an after-work Thursday-afternoon teaser for the more extensive Music in the Park. A schedule wasn't available by presstime. City of Palo Alto Twilight Concert Series Various Locations, Palo Alto www.city.palo-alto.ca.us/artsculture/brownbag.html Tuesdays, June 18-Aug. 20, 6:30-8pm; free The city of Palo Alto presents this evening of music at different park locations across Palo Alto. Consult the website for complete schedule details. Lee Yeux Noirs (6/18), the Hot Club of San Francisco (6/25), Flying Other Brothers (7/2), Zydeco Flames (7/9), Norton Buffalo (7/16), Wild Mango (7/23), Greg Adams (7/30), Jessie Turner Band (8/6), Sista Monica (8/13) Darol Anger (8/20) Palo Alto Brown Bag Concerts 2002 Cogswell Plaza, Lytton and Ramona avenues, Palo Alto www.city.palo-alto.ca.us/artsculture/brownbag.html Thursdays, June 20-Aug. 15, noon; free Nice midday diversion featuring live jazz, blues, opera, Cuban and Celtic music from Tingstad and Rumbel (6/20), the Waybacks (6/27), Taylor Eigsti Trio (7/11), Toot Sweet Jazz Band (7/18), Rene Solis and the Persuaders (7/25), San Francisco Opera (8/1), Rolando Morales (8/8), Colcannon (8/15) Summer Jazz Sixteen Clock Tower Plaza, Stanford Shopping Center, Stanford Thursdays, June 6-Aug. 8, 6-7:30pm; free SFJazz hosts these free dusk shows at Stanford Shopping Center. Taylor Eigsti (6/6), Gregory Tardy Quartet (6/13), Que Calor (6/20), Mitch Woods (6/27), Les Yeux Noirs (7/4), Mazacote 7/11), Lizz Wright (7/18), Gerard Carelli Quartet (7/25), Anton Schwartz Quartet (8/1), Sylvia Cuenca Trio (8/8) Sierra Nevada World Music Festival Angel's Camp, Calaveras County; www.snwmf.com June 21-23; June 21, 5pm, June 2223, 10am; $80 three-day ticket Three days of cutting-edge reggae and global sounds starring Tabla Beat Science, Niney the Observer, Abijah, Toots and the Maytals, Bamboleo, Coco Tea, Quetzal, Marcia Griffiths, Culture, Leroy Sibbles, King Chango, Sugar Minott, Cheb I Sabbah, Asian Massive DJ Sounds, Nortec Collective and many more Robert Earl Keen's Texas Uprising and KPIG Swine Soiree Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, Santa Cruz www.snazzyamericanamusic.com June 23; 10am; $25 Outdoor Americana festival starring Robert Earl Keen, Steven Bruton Band, Rodney Crowell, Tom Russell, Andrew Hardin, John Cowan Band, Rodney Hayden, Laura Love, the Waifs, Fred Eaglesmith and the Santa Cruz Allstars Concert for the Homeless/San Jose America Festival Guadalupe River Park, San Jose; www.americafestival.com July 3-4; July 3, 4pm; $??; July 4, 11am; $?? The annual cross-cultural celebration of America should be on full patriotic tilt. No acts have been confirmed yet, but Billy Idol and Smash Mouth have been tossed around as headliners. The Concert for the Homeless happens on July 3 at 4pm, with the all-day America Festival and fireworks display going on Independence Day. Music in the Park Plaza de Cesar Chavez, Market and San Carlos streets, San Jose www.sj-downtown.com Thursdays, July 11-Sept. 5, 5pm; free A schedule is forthcoming, say representatives. Previous years have provided downtown managers with a good excuse to promote office unity. For everyone else, it's a way to check out the cuties from neighboring buildings. Some good music, too, with past acts like Toots and the Maytals, Buckwheat Zydeco, Greg Kihn and Eek-a-Mouse gracing the stone steps. Vans Warped Tour 2002 Pier 30/32, San Francisco; www.warpedtour.com July 13-14, noon; $27/$40.50 two-day ticket With so many bands and so little time, it makes sense to go for the two-day pass--a bargain at $40.50. Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Lagwagon, MxPx, Bad Religion, Alkaline Trio, Flogging Molly, Hot Water Music, NOFX and No Use for a Name are some of the top acts associated with this marathon of extreme music and extreme sports cultures. Gilroy Garlic Festival Christmas Hill Park, Gilroy; www.gilroygarlicfestival.com July 26-28, 10am-7pm; $10/$5 seniors and children The world-famous Garlic Festival attracts thousands to its unique salute to the assertive herb. Music plays on three stages, beginning at 10:30am. Friday has Steve Czarnecki, South Bay Express, Hookslide, Daddy-O and the Gents. Saturday features Red Meat, Silver Creek, Mike Leatherman. Sunday has Robert Berry Band, Joint Chiefs, Sha-Boom. Stern Grove Festival 16th and Sloat, San Francisco; www.sterngrove.org Sundays June 16-August 18; 2pm; free San Francisco's favorite free afternoon concert series tips toward the eclectic with performances by Michelle Shocked (6/16), Totó la Momposina (6/23), Rennie Harris Puremovement (6/30), San Francisco Symphony (7/7), Keali'I Reichel (7/14), San Francisco Ballet (7/21), Kenny Barron's Cantabrasil (7/28), San Francisco Opera (8/4), Russian National Orchestra (8/11) and Arrested Development and the Mahotella Queens (8/18). The Santa Clara County Fair Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose; www.thefair.org Aug. 2-4, 11am; free Drastic changes afoot. The fair has been trimmed to three days (instead of the 10) and has wiped away the admission charge. An arts and crafts fair and a culinary exhibit will join the carnival rides and agricultural exhibits. The music portion has yet to be finalized (remember when *NSYNC played back in the day?). AT&T San Jose Jazz Festival Plaza de Cesar Chavez, San Jose; www.sanjosejazz.org Aug. 7-11, free It's amazing how the city transforms during San Jose Jazz Festival. The streets suddenly fill with astute and polite music fans. The tradition continues in 2002 with more bebop, fusion, big-band and R&B. Send a letter to the editor about this story via email . [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]