In the North Bay’s arts scene, sometimes the setting is worth the price of admission. From a rustic 100-year-old barn on the side of a hill to a luxurious $140 million concert hall, discovery and enrichment in the North Bay happens in a wide variety of spaces, most of them scenic.
Below are our top picks for must-see events happening this fall, with the added bonus of unique venues — even a redwood-lined beach along the Russian River gets into the act.
Buddy Guy
Sept. 13
Russian River Blues and Jazz Festival
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During the Russian River Blues and Jazz Festival, Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville serves as a living time machine, evoking the “vacation wonderland” days of west Sonoma County — redwoods along the Russian River, cheap hot dogs, a real wooden boardwalk — and Buddy Guy serves as a living connection to the history of electric blues. Together, at the Russian River Blues Festival, the two make a perfect pair. When Guy played the Johnson’s Beach stage in 2011 (opening for the late B.B. King), his lightning guitar solos and eruptive voice soared over the crowd and the river, where sunbathers floated by on innertubes and kids stomped in the shallow waters. Expect similar alchemy when the 79-year-old legend returns this year with Taj Mahal and Jackie Greene.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Sept. 27
Gundlach-Bundschu Winery
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Whenever Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie “Prince” Billy) comes to town, the cosmic-folk icon doesn’t play standard rock venues — his prior appearances in the North Bay have included a tiny saloon in Pt. Reyes Station, a community hall in Monte Rio, and a former church in Santa Rosa. On his current tour, he’s booked dates in Felton, Big Sur, Nevada City, and Sonoma, where he plays inside a rustic 100-year-old barn at Gundlach-Bundschu winery. Surrounded by farm machinery and old wooden paneling, Oldham should be in his element and thus in top form, playing songs from his days with the Palace Brothers up to his recent solo material.
Conor Oberst and M. Ward
Oct. 1
Phoenix Theater
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By day, the Phoenix Theater is a bustling nonprofit teen center under the abiding mentorship of longtime manager Tom Gaffey. By night, the hall hosts a mix of young local bands and national acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, the Neville Brothers and even Hilary Duff. The theater’s booking has steadily improved in the past ten years, and this night with indie-folk icon Conor Oberst playing songs from both Bright Eyes and his solo career is a definite slam dunk. Pairing the wordy, poetic Oberst with the more plaintive, atmospheric M. Ward makes for a superb bill on its own, and adding the Felice Brothers as openers makes this a must-see show.
Frank Sinatra, Jr.
Oct. 8
Wells Fargo Center
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Come on. We must be kidding, right? Frank Sinatra, Jr.? The son of Ol’ Blue Eyes who landed such gigs as playing a district attorney on the ’70s TV show Adam-12? But we’re not kidding, and the fact we point it out speaks to the public’s cynicism about the offspring of celebrities who attempt their own careers (we’re looking at you, Chet Haze). As the conductor for his father’s touring orchestra, Frank Jr. assimilated his dad’s music nightly; combined with an eerily similar voice and a professional background that included working with Duke Ellington, he does the music justice. But beneath this tribute to his father is a weary sadness, one used to great effect in the recent Neil Hamburger film Entertainment. Expect plenty of ring-a-ding-ding — and a little bit of emotional sting.
Santa Rosa Symphony, Twin Stars
Oct. 10 – 12
Green Music Center
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Under the baton of Bruno Ferrandis, the Santa Rosa Symphony has ventured into brave waters, both by performing some of Ferrandis’ favorite modern composers (Ligeti is a personal favorite) and commissioning new works. As part of the symphony’s season opener, “Pax Universalis” is a world premiere by Arab-American composer Mohammed Fairouz; it’s followed by Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 10 and Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos, performed by twin sisters Christina and Michelle Naughton. Saint-Saens’ Symphony No. 3 rounds out the program, kicking off the symphony’s 88th season and its fourth year in residence at an acoustic marvel: the Green Music Center’s main hall.
‘My Mañana Comes’
Oct. 29 – Nov. 22
Marin Theatre Company
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Between the debate over minimum-wage earnings at restaurants and photos shared on Facebook of non-tipping customer receipts, we’ve seen an increased humanization of those who wait our tables and clear our plates. Now, a new play by Elizabeth Irwin takes the discussion away from social media and into the footlights. My Mañana Comes follows the tight connection of four busboys working in the back of an upscale New York City restaurant — two of them undocumented, all of them sharing a collegiality of hard work and inside jokes — and the unraveling of that connection when their boss decides to pay them only in tips. A hit in New York, My Mañana Comes opens at the Marin Theatre Company for its Bay Area premiere.
Robert Kinmont
Oct. 31–Jan. 24
diRosa
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The North Bay commendably champions its own artistic legends, but even locals are forgiven if the name Robert Kinmont doesn’t ring a bell. After all, the Sonoma-based artist took a hiatus of nearly three decades to study Buddhism and work as a carpenter. Early works featured in his first Bay Area solo exhibition in over 45 years include the wry photo series 8 Natural Handstands (1969) and the wood-and-sage sculpture Sit on the Floor (1971). But Kinmont’s sense of humor is especially on display in his later work, made after returning to art in 2005 — a copper stage hosting an argument between a pile of dirt and a pile of feathers; a large piece titled TWO EDUCATED 120-MILLION-YEAR-OLD BOULDERS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE 47 YOUNG WILLOWS TO BE PATIENT. In diRosa’s rural setting especially, Kinmont’s work may have found its ideal site.
Laverne Cox in Conversation
Nov. 12
Green Music Center
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As Sophia on the television series Orange is the New Black, Laverne Cox has already played a role in certain social evolutions: the series is distributed through the streaming service Netflix instead of conventional network or cable channels, and the show features a predominantly female cast of inmates in a women’s prison. Cox is also the first openly transgender actor to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, and in 2014, she became the first transgender person on the cover of Time magazine. Smart and eloquent, Cox appears at the Green Music Center in a moderated discussion of her life and career with a message of personal freedom that transcends the transgender community.
Briefly Noted
Kristin Chenoweth
Sept. 25
Green Music Center
The star of stage and screen performs her Broadway hits and own recordings.
Tickets and information
Mill Valley Film Festival
Oct. 8–18
Various Marin County Venues
Annual festival whose lineup consistently features big stars and Oscar contenders.
Tickets and information
‘Focus on Photography’
Sept. 3–Oct. 25
University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University
Work by Robert Mapplethorpe, Eadweard Muybridge, Carleton Watkins, Annie Leibovitz, Ansel Adams and others.
Tickets and information
Janeane Garofolo
Nov. 21
City Winery
Whip-smart comic whose underappreciated sardonic humor is featured in Netflix’s reboot of Wet Hot American Summer.
Tickets and information
Mavis Staples and Joan Osborne
Sept. 27
Uptown Theatre
The gospel singer who’s made a string of excellent crossover albums appears with her sister-in-spirit.
Tickets and information
