For the next few nights, the Empress Theatre will be flooded with tribute bands— all of whom have names that imply theft. Nonetheless, all of them pay tribute to your favorite classic rock acts so well that you won’t even mind.

It all begins tonight at 8 when Benicia’s very own Cars tribute band, The Stolen Cars, pulls into Vallejo as part of the Empress’ Wednesday Night Live series. This tribute to the ‘70s and ‘80s new wave group has played at such Benicia venues as Bottom of the Fifth, The Rellik Tavern and Lucca Beer Garden and recently hired vocalist/guitarist Kevin Case to play the role of original Cars singer Ric Ocasek— or as Case calls himself, “Ric Nocasek.” Other members include Bob Hopkins on lead guitars and vocals, Doug Chancellor on keyboards and vocals, Michael Kirschmann on bass and vocals, and John Johnsen on drums. As they look to make their debut at the Empress tonight, expect them to play such hits as “Just What I Needed,” “Shake it Up” and “Moving in Stereo” as well as deeper cuts from the Cars’ discography.

Friday at 8 p.m., there will be a double bill featuring two tribute acts to two of the most popular jazz-rock bands of the ‘70s. The first is the San Francisco-based Stealin’ Chicago, a tribute to the band Chicago. The band is made up of sidemen who have performed with the likes of Alice Cooper, James Brown, the Temptations, Todd Rundgren, Hall & Oates and more. Stealin’ Chicago will be playing hits from throughout Chicago’s long career, ranging from the more experimental, jazzy sound of the ‘60s and ‘70s— exemplified by songs like “25 or 6 to 4” and “Saturday in the Park”— to the more ballad-driven, adult contemporary style of the late ‘70s and ‘80s— as typified by such tracks as “If You Leave Me Now” and “Hard to Say I’m Sorry”— all with lead vocalist Jim Starr replicating the vocals of Terry Kath, Robert Lamm and Peter Cetera.

The members of Stealin’ Chicago will change wardrobes later in the evening to re-emerge as Steely Dan tribute band Aja Vu. Appropriately, you will think you have seen these people before—because you already will have. Starr and singer Robyn Ashley will trade vocals as they perform some of Steely Dan’s biggest hits, including “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” “Reelin’ in the Years,” “Hey Nineteen” and so on.

Finally, having played the Empress in 2014, Novato’s very own Petty Theft will be coming around here once more at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5. This tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers has performed all over Northern California and was voted the best band in Marin County by the newspaper North Bay Bohemian three years in a row. The sextet will be playing songs from Petty’s four-decades-and-counting career— both solo and with the Heartbreakers— including “American Girl,” “Refugee,” “I Won’t Back Down” and more.

Tickets for all shows can be purchased at EmpressTheatre.org. For more information, call the venue at 552-2400.

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