This year, as in past years, the Empress Theatre in Vallejo has offered the opportunity for people to have a rockin’ New Year’s party outside of their home. What better band to provide a soundtrack to this party than a band that made waves in the ‘60s San Francisco music scene: Marin County’s very […]
Review: Vallejo Symphony opener dazzles, entices with a taste of things to come
Vallejo Symphony guest soloist Sara Davis Buechner wowed her audience last Sunday in a stellar performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, the second of three pieces comprising the symphony’s season-opening performance and the debut of its new music director, Marc Taddei, at the Hogan Auditorium in Vallejo. Taddei led the orchestra in a […]
’70s, ’80s tribute bands to steal shows at the Empress in coming days
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 […]
Notes from 30,000 feet: Coachella’s Desert Trip brings six legends to one venue
Last spring my wife and I took a ‘desert trip’ to Palm Springs for a long weekend. The talk poolside was of the upcoming Desert Trip concert; three nights with six rock and roll icons: Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones on night one, followed by Neil Young and Paul McCartney on the following night, […]
Renowned pianist to be featured in first Vallejo Symphony Orchestra concert with new conductor
Oct. 30 will be the start of a new era for Vallejo Symphony Orchestra. It is Marc Taddei’s first show as permanent conductor. Taddei was one of three maestros to audition for the part, and he had his first performance with VSO in January. However, the first orchestra concert of VSO’s 2016-17 season— “Morning”— will […]
‘Sing-Off’ finalists Street Corner Symphony will play Empress Sunday
A cappella phenom “Street Corner Symphony” performers Jeremy and Jonathan Lister, Kurt Zimmerman, Kaleb Jones and Kyle Hogan had recorded before they appeared as runners-up on NBC’s all-vocal competition “The Sing-Off” in 2010, but that televised event rocketed the group’s success, Jeremy Lister told the Herald in an interview last Friday. The group will perform […]
Kennedy Music Studio presents student showcase for public
Kennedy Music Studio will be holding a student showcase on Sunday, June 26 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. The showcase will feature group and solo performances by guitar and bass students from both Mark Kennedy’s Benicia and San Francisco studios, and will incorporate classical, rock, folk, blues, pop and jazz pieces from a variety […]