FELTON

Felton Music Hall brings the (English) Beat back

If you ever find yourself missing the English Beat when they come to Santa Cruz County, it is often best to just wait a few months. The ska legends come to the area quite often, whether playing the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Rio Theatre or Felton Music Hall, where they last graced the stage in February and will be returning for two nights Friday and Saturday.

As part of the same scene that included the Specials and Madness, the English Beat (then known as just The Beat) were major players in the ska movement that combined reggae and punk. Led by Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, the band had a score of hits in the late ’70s and early ’80s, including “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Save it for Later” and “I Confess.” The English Beat (as they were known in the States) received early airplay in America on MTV and the burgeoning modern rock radio format, and they toured with the Talking Heads, The Pretenders and David Bowie. Following their breakup in 1983, band members found success with other groups such as General Public and Fine Young Cannibals, but Wakeling formed a new version of the group called “The English Beat starring Dave Wakeling” that has toured America ever since.

Both shows are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Felton Music Hall, 6275 Highway 9. Doors open at 7. Tickets are $50.93 for advance general admission. These are 21-and-older concerts. For more information, go to FeltonMusicHall.com.

SANTA CRUZ

Santa Cruz Symphony strikes back with John Williams pops concert

The Santa Cruz Symphony is ready to close out its 2024-25 season, and like a great movie, it will close with a collection of powerful, memorable orchestral pieces that audiences will have in their heads on the ride home. Fittingly, the symphony will be doing so through pieces by one of the all-time great film composers, John Williams, with its annual pops concert at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium Saturday.

Williams needs no introduction. Even the most casual filmgoers can hum his movie themes, which are among the best-known of all time: “Star Wars,” “Jaws,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Indiana Jones,” “Superman,” “Jurassic Park,” “Harry Potter” and so on. The Santa Cruz Symphony will be playing these themes and more at its end-of-season pops concert, a fundraiser for the symphony. As an added tribute to the world of cinema that Williams has long been a part of, a street party with live music and food trucks selling popcorn and other treats will be held outside the auditorium two hours ahead of the concert. There is also a costume contest where people are encouraged to dress as their favorite character from a Williams-scored movie, so feel free to bust out those Indiana Jones, Princess Leia or triceratops costumes for a chance to win.

The concert is 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Civic, 307 Church St. Doors open at 7. The street party begins at 5. For tickets and more information, go to SantaCruzTickets.com.

The night is (Neil) Young at Kuumbwa Jazz

Concert promoter Keith Putney, who has hosted shows throughout the world, will be bringing a different experience to Kuumbwa Jazz Sunday: a live track-by-track rendition of two albums that set the tone for ’70s AM rock: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Déjà Vu” and Neil Young’s “Harvest.”“Déjà Vu,” released in 1970, was the second album by Crosby, Stills & Nash, one of rock’s first supergroups, and the first to feature a rising Canadian singer-songwriter and former Buffalo Springfield guitarist named Neil Young. The album was a smash hit, topping the Billboard 200 for one week and producing hit songs like “Teach Your Children,” “Woodstock,” “Our House” and “Helpless,” with the quartet’s harmonies influencing many bands that followed.

Meanwhile, Young was riding high on his own solo career that launched into the stratosphere with 1972’s “Harvest.” A mix of folk, country rock and early ’70s soft rock, “Harvest” delivered some of Young’s most striking lyrical imagery to date on songs like “Old Man,” “The Needle and the Damage Done” and his only No. 1 hit “Heart of Gold.” The album remains his best-selling to date and established him as one of the most beloved and influential performers of the ’70s.

Both albums will be performed by a cast of musicians recreating every song.

The show is 7 p.m. Sunday at Kuumbwa Jazz, 320 Cedar St. Doors open at 6. Tickets range from $55.20 to $161.90. For more information, go to KuumbwaJazz.org.

Laurie R. King to discuss new Mary Russell novel at Bookshop Santa Cruz

For more than 30 years, Laurie R. King has taken Sherlock Holmes to the next level by continuing where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle left off but with a new partner taking top billing. Mary Russell has evolved a lot since her debut in 1994’s “The Beekeeper Apprentice,” where the teenage orphan became an apprentice to Holmes and has since become his wife. King has published 20 books with the character, with “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice” adapted into a BBC radio drama in 2000 and Russell getting her own literary fandom. King is up to her 20th installment, “Knave of Diamonds,” which she will be discussing at Bookshop Santa Cruz Tuesday.

The story sees Russell’s uncle Jake, whom she had not heard of in many years, suddenly arriving at her door in Sussex and reporting that he was involved in the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels from Dublin Castle in 1907. The theft was one that even Holmes could not solve, and Russell now has to decide if loyalty to the sole survivor of her long-lost family outweighs loyalty to her own husband.

The free event is 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave. For more information, go to BookshopSantaCruz.com.

This week’s calendar was compiled by Nick Sestanovich.