Santa Cruz County live music for the week of June, 5, 2019.

WEDNESDAY 6/5

PROG-ROCK

CHON

Chon is nothing if not forward thinking, expanding prog-rock fandom with effects-heavy riff structures and eccentric noodling so dreamy and flashy that hordes of EDM lovers will no doubt embrace the band’s mathy stylings as their own. Chon even wrote its new self-titled album with festival-goers in mind, giddy over how crowds react to songs that are psychedelic on the outside but pure music-nerd at their nougaty center. Go ahead and grab those neon LED lights and that tattered Rush t-shirt in your closet. Chon says it’s safe to once again love the prog rock you used to love to hate. AMY BEE

8:30 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. 423-1338.

BLUES

ROY BOOK BINDER

After leaving the Navy as a young man, Roy Book Binder set out through the American South, jumping from remote town to remote town, all while learning how to play the blues—and tell a hell of a story—straight from masters like Pink Anderson, John Jackson and the Reverend Gary Davis. Book Binder has continued his vagabond-lite life, traveling and playing out of his RV most of the year, and returning to Florida for some down time when he’s not teaching guitar at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch camp. MAT WEIR

7:30 p.m. Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $15. 479-9777

THURSDAY 6/6

REGGAE

MICHAEL ROSE WITH SLY AND ROBBIE

Sly and Robbie are Jamaica’s most famous rhythm section. They come to Santa Cruz with legendary singer Michael Rose, who in the ’70s roots reggae period sang as a solo artist and then as part of Black Uhuru. Since his departure from the group, he’s remained one of reggae’s most prolific artists. To catch Rose with Sly and Robbie is certainly a night of Jamaican legends all on one stage. AARON CARNES

9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $30 adv/$35 adv. 479-1854.

PSYCH-POP

THE BABE RAINBOW

Hippies, rejoice, our time has come. At least it has in Australia, where the music scene has begun to resemble a full-on Summer of Love reboot. Bell bottoms, sitars, drugs—check, check and check. Byron Bay’s The Babe Rainbow has proven to be one of the mellowest, most far out bands of this Aussie hippie revival, and last year’s Double Rainbow was its strongest effort yet, An acid-washed blast of down-under sun that sounds more than a little like Mac DeMarco writing for the Dead. MIKE HUGUENOR

8:30 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $16 adv/$18 door. 429-4135.

JAZZ

REMY LE BOEUF QUARTET

Though alto saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf was raised in Santa Cruz and has played regular hometown gigs ever since moving to New York City, even die-hard fans have never heard him like this. After recording a series of acclaimed albums and performing thousands of gigs with his identical twin brother, pianist Pascal Le Boeuf, Remy just released his debut solo album Light As a Word. Featuring his striking lyrical originals, the album includes a cadre of mid-career jazz greats like pianist Aaron Parks. For his West Coast tour, Le Boeuf is performing with Japanese pianist Martha Kato, bassist Giulio Cetto and drummer Mark Ferber. ANDREW GILBERT

7 p.m., Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $26.25 adv/$31.50 door. 427-2227.

 

FRIDAY 6/7

INDIE

REAL ESTATE

Dream-pop group Real Estate is beloved for a tasteful mix of reverb, warm guitar tones and a surreal songwriting style. A new line-up has shored up their already reliable suburban meanderings, and added a dash of retrospection only earned through traversing the riddled potholes of adulthood: separation, wedlock, mortality. Sometimes claustrophobic and dense with stifling droning synths and guitar riffs, Real Estate’s harmonies dispel the clouds with rays of soft sunshine highlighting what would otherwise be cliché indie rock malaise. AB

9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $28 adv/$32 door. 479-1854.

 

SATURDAY 6/8

COMEDY

CHRIS MARTIN

Oh my god! Coldplay’s Chris Martin is coming to Santa Cruz, and he’s playing … a comedy club? Wait! *record scratch* Wrong Chris Martin. This Chris Martin, while also English, is a comedian. He hones in on everyday observations, flipping them on their head in a way that’s whimsical and snarky. AC

7 and 9:30 p.m., DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. (530) 592-5250.

INDIE-FOLK

HOD AND THE HELPERS

Do you need harmonic help? Require aural assistance? If so, Hod and the Helpers has what you’re looking for. Fronted by mercurial Santa Cruz songwriter Hod Hulphers, the many talented hands that make up the Helpers include Dan Potthast (MU330) and AJ Marquez (Slow Gherkin, the Huxtables). Across 11 tracks on their 2017 debut, the Helpers cast strange, bewitching psychedelic images of Roy Orbison, Antony and the Johnsons, and Magnolia Electric Company, all mixed with knowing winks and some unknowing ones. We all need a little help sometimes. MH

9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 429-6994

BLACK-METAL

HVILE I KAOS

Hvile I Kaos describes its sound as “black chamber music.” Rest assured, this dark, ritualistic string music goes hand-in-hand with the black and doom metal scene, which is why L.A. string quartet Hvile I Kaos is joining the stage with black metal thrashers Miasmic, Thangorodrim and The Incursion. Hvile I Kaos’ alluring melodies, vivacious playing and dark tones are the perfect base to cut the acidity of what promises to be a beautiful night of darkened chaos. MW

8 p.m. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 423-7117.