Slayyyter, Orville Peck, Towa Bird, Bleachers with The Linda Lindas and Jack White lead our picks for the best non-festival concerts coming to the San Francisco Bay Area this September.
September is stacked with live music in the Bay Area, but unless you have unlimited time, unlimited money and a miraculous tolerance for standing in lines, nobody is going to everything.
So consider this the shortlist.
Leaving festivals out of the equation, these are the five club, theater and touring shows I think are worth prioritizing around San Francisco and Oakland this September. Some are already sold out. Some put artists in rooms that feel particularly suited to them. And at a time when simply going to a concert can turn into a fairly serious financial commitment, these are the five I’d spend the time and money on.
Slayyyter
September 8 | The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco
September 9 | Fox Theater, Oakland
You’re going to have to get lucky with this one.
Slayyyter is giving the Bay Area two chances to catch her this September, and you’re going to have to get lucky with one of them.
Her September 9 stop at Oakland’s Fox Theater is officially sold out, but there’s good news: she’s also performing the night before, September 8, at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, and as of publication, tickets are still available. Both dates are part of her WOR$T GIRL IN THE WORLD Tour with Pearly Drops.
If Charli XCX is in your rotation, Slayyyter probably should be too. She operates in that same deliciously excessive universe of club-pop where the objective isn’t restraint. It’s big beats, sex, sweat, hooks and songs designed to turn a room full of strangers into a party.
Slayyyter has become especially beloved within queer and dance music circles, and she’s reached the point where calling her something of a pop icon doesn’t feel particularly premature. Every song seems engineered to pump and thump its way through a club, and the Fox is exactly the kind of room where that energy should translate into a very, very good time.
So if you missed your chance at the Fox, don’t start hunting for a resale ticket just yet. Head across the Bay and catch her at the Regency the night before while you still can.
And because this now makes September 8 the first concert date in the article, Slayyyter still belongs first chronologically. I also like this change editorially because the recommendation has become more useful. Instead of telling readers, “Sorry, it’s sold out, good luck,” we’re actually pointing them toward a currently available alternative.
Orville Peck
September 12 & 13 | Castro Theatre, San Francisco
Orville Peck was originally booked for one night at the Castro Theatre. September 12 sold out, so a second performance was added for September 13.
Of course it was.
Peck is one of those artists I recommend seeing in virtually any capacity when the opportunity presents itself. If you’re a fan of country, rock and roll, rockabilly or Americana, don’t let the mask, fringe and mythology surrounding him fool you into thinking the aesthetics are doing the heavy lifting. They’re not.
This man is a generational talent. He has the kind of baritone that can completely change the temperature of a room, paired with a theatrical command of the stage that makes considerably more sense once you’ve actually watched him perform.
But what makes these particular shows so compelling is the Castro itself.
There is something especially fitting about an openly gay country star taking over the Castro Theatre in the heart of one of America’s most historically significant LGBTQ neighborhoods. Between the history of the building, the culture surrounding it and its relatively intimate capacity, this isn’t just another stop on a tour. I think this is going to be special.
There are artists you go see because they’re touring. Then there are nights when the artist, the room and the moment line up in a way that feels singular. I suspect these Castro shows will fall into the latter category.
If you get the chance to see Orville Peck there, take it.
Towa Bird
September 13 | The Independent, San Francisco
Towa Bird is finally getting the kind of room where you can properly watch what she does.
Bird spent a considerable amount of time performing on much larger stages, including opening for Billie Eilish, which introduced her to enormous audiences but also made her a fairly difficult artist to experience up close. Now she’s coming to The Independent on her own tour, and that’s a very different proposition.
Bird is supporting her sophomore album, Gentleman, following her 2024 debut, American Hero, but the biggest reason I’d prioritize this particular show is the opportunity to actually watch her play guitar.
I’ve jokingly described Towa Bird as a lesbian Jimi Hendrix, and I don’t mean that she’s attempting to imitate Hendrix or that she needs somebody else’s mythology attached to her. It’s shorthand for the physicality of her playing. She’s a serious guitarist, and watching her with the instrument is part of understanding why she’s such a dynamic live performer.
She also has the vocals, songwriting chops and stage presence to establish a musical identity completely her own.
If you’re a fan of G Flip, The Beaches, girl in red or King Princess, Towa Bird should be right up your alley.
And The Independent is exactly where I’d want to see her right now. It’s one of those opportunities to catch an artist who has already proven she can command substantially larger stages while she’s still willing and able to walk into a San Francisco club and play close enough for you to watch her hands.
Take advantage of that while you can.
Bleachers with The Linda Lindas
September 17 | Greek Theatre, Berkeley
This is probably the show I’m looking forward to most.
Jack Antonoff’s Jersey rock and roll band Bleachers is coming back to the Bay Area, this time with The Linda Lindas opening at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre.
Whatever discourse and drama might periodically surround Mr. Antonoff’s personal life, the man has one hell of a rock and roll band.
Bleachers make the kind of huge, earnest, saxophone-heavy rock music that becomes exponentially better when hundreds or thousands of people are experiencing it together. Antonoff understands how to lead a band, he understands how to build a live show, and the Greek is exactly the kind of venue where Bleachers’ particular brand of controlled chaos can breathe.
But I’m equally excited about The Linda Lindas being on this bill.
Their new album, Gotta Get Out, just dropped, and they’re already a formidable live band in their own right. Pairing their punk energy with Bleachers makes this one of those increasingly rare shows where the opener isn’t something to tolerate while waiting for the headliner.
These are two genuinely great live bands, at one of the Bay Area’s best outdoor venues, on the same ticket.
Get there on time.
Jack White
September 24 | Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco
Do I really need to sell you on Jack White?
The former White Stripes frontman, Raconteurs co-founder and Dead Weather guitarist returns to San Francisco on September 24 for a solo show at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.
White is simply one of the defining guitarists and rock frontmen of his generation, and decades into his career, he still performs like someone is threatening to take the guitar away from him if he slows down.
That’s really the appeal.
You can come for the White Stripes songs. You can come for the Raconteurs. You can come for the solo catalog or the new material. You can come because you follow whatever wonderfully eccentric thing he’s doing on social media this week.
But if you’re a fan of rock and roll, watching Jack White play guitar live remains reason enough to buy a ticket.
He puts on a hell of a solo show.
This one’s a no-brainer.
Go.
Five Shows, Five Very Good Reasons to Leave the House
So that’s where I’d put my money in September: Slayyyter at the Fox, Orville Peck at the Castro, Towa Bird at The Independent, Bleachers with The Linda Lindas at the Greek and Jack White at Bill Graham.
This isn’t intended to be a comprehensive Bay Area concert calendar, and it deliberately excludes festivals. It’s a priority list.
Concert tickets aren’t cheap anymore, and neither is everything surrounding them. Most of us have to be selective about where we spend our money and, increasingly, where we spend our time.
If I were choosing five Bay Area shows this September, these would be them.
Featured image credit: Courtesy of the artists
