Eighties icons The Psychedelic Furs and Squeeze share the bill at Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Oct. 12 

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I sure played the heck out of my Psychedelic Furs and Squeeze records back in the '80s. Psych Furs still includes its two core founding members—brothers Richard and Tim Butler—who formed the band in 1977 and soon developed into one of the preeminent bands of the New Wave era. Their song "Pretty in Pink" served as inspiration for John Hughes' classic 1986 coming of age teen dramedy of the same name. "Love My Way," "Heaven," "The Ghost In You," "Heartbreak Beat"—they have so many amazing songs, and they don't shy away from playing them in concert.

Likewise, Squeeze still features its two core members, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, who formed the band in 1974. "Cool for Cats," "Up the Junction," "Pulling Mussels From A Shell," "Black Coffee in Bed," "Tempted," and "Labeled With Love"—man, I wore those records out. This promises to be an incredible night of pop rock this Thursday, Oct. 12 (7 p.m.; all ages; $50 to $70 at vinaroblesamphitheatre.com).

Fremont Theater

Lots of triptastic EDM at Fremont Theater this Thursday, Oct. 12, when Morflo Records and Offbeat present Mersiv with Minnesota, Stooki Sound, and Molokai on (7 p.m.; all ages; $25 at prekindle.com). Mersiv is producer/DJ Anderson Benoit Gallegos, who calls his sound "Pretty Dark Loud."

If you want to have a "good time," check out country singer-songwriter Niko Moon on Friday, Oct. 13 (8 p.m.; all ages; $20 at prekindle.com). His on-demand streams now top 870 million, and with tracks like "Good Time" and "Heaven Has A Bar" (with Zac Brown), it's easy to see why. This is feel-good party-time country at its finest.

Comedian Leslie Jones will do stand-up on Saturday, Oct. 14 (8 p.m.; all ages; $47 to $97 at prekindle.com). The three-time primetime Emmy Award nominee and Writer's Guild Award and NAACP Award nominee for her work on Saturday Night Live has been in films such as Ghostbusters, Masterminds, and Coming 2 America. One of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People,"Jones recently wrapped production on season two of the HBO Max pirate comedy series Our Flag Means Death.

Australian singer-songwriter Dean Lewis plays on Tuesday, Oct. 17 (8 p.m.; all ages; $28 at seetickets.us). He's best known for his 2016 single "Waves" and 2018 single "Be Alright," as well as two albums: A Place We Knew in 2019 and The Hardest Love in 2022.

TikTok star, dancer, and comedian Casey Frey brings his unique style and dance moves to the Fremont on Thursday, Oct. 19 (8 p.m.; all ages; $30 to $50 at prekindle.com). According to his bio, "Casey has accumulated a devoted and loyal legion of fans over the years, where his videos and online sketches have been viewed more than 200 million times."

Numbskull and Good Medicine

With one foot in the Spanish speaking world and the other in the English speaking, Gaby Moreno is a voice that transcends borders and communities. Thanks to Numbskull and Good Medicine, she'll make a stop at Morro Bay's The Siren on Friday, Oct. 13 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $22 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Since relocating to LA from Guatemala, she's had a string of successes including Grammy nominations for two of her eight albums as well as a Best New Artist Latin Grammy Award in 2013. Her music has also been heard on TV shows such as Orange is the New Black, Parks and Recreation, and Cabinet of Curiosities.

Blending roots, rock, R&B, and folk, Kyshona plays The Siren on Saturday, Oct. 14 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $18 at goodmedicinepresents.com). She's got a stunning voice and writes lovely, soulful songs. She's a licensed music therapist, and as her bio notes, she has "the curiosity of a writer, the resolve of an activist, and the voice of a singer." She has a nonprofit organization, Your Song, that offers "songwriting programs for youth empowerment programs, detention, reentry, recovery, mental health, and veterans centers and organizations."

If you're more into a night of punk, head to the Alex Madonna Expo Center this Wednesday, Oct. 18, when Joyce Manor headlines a four-band show with Tigers Jaw, AJJ, and Smoking Data Guns (5 p.m.; all ages; $30 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Joyce Manor has the same straightforward appeal of Green Day, NOFX, and Bad Religion. Formed in 2008, they've released six studio albums, most recently 40 oz. to Fresno (2022), a record eight-years in the making.

"This is an interesting record because the final track, 'Secret Sisters,' was actually a B-side from [2014's] Never Hungover Again and 'NBTSA' is actually a reworked version of 'Secret Sisters' that barely even resembles the original song," vocalist/guitarist Barry Johnson explained in press materials.

The first track is a cover of the Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's "Souvenir," and Johnson said he's particularly proud of "Did You Ever Know?" It's a song about rescue cats and dogs.

"I think that song is classic Joyce Manor in the sense that it's linear and it doesn't have any repeating parts; it just kind of starts from one point and ends up somewhere else, but somehow it seems to make sense and flow. It's just short, bizarre, and catchy."

The Siren

Andrew Duhon with ISMAY plays on Sunday, Oct. 15 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $15 at tixr.com). Duhon, a New Orleans native, has a cool voice and a breezy writing style. Since quarantine, he's written and recorded 18 tracks from his Quarantine Songs series.

Surfers unite for the Morro Bay Surf Stomp with Surfer Joe on Thursday, Oct. 19 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $10 at tixr.com). For those who don't know, Surfer Joe is the "International Surf Music Ambassador from Italy," who's embraced surf culture since the '90s. If you dig old-school surf instrumentals, this dude sounds authentic. Even his originals seem like they're lost tracks from the '60s.

SLO Brew Rock

There's a very cool father-son connection happening at SLO Brew Rock this Thursday, Oct. 12, when local band MiniNova opens for soul and funk band Diggin Dirt. You see, MiniNova includes saxophone player Scott Martin, who also happens to play for a band called War (yes, that War), and Scott's son, Tyler, plays baritone sax for Diggin Dirt, so basically Scott's opening for his son Tyler. Get in on the fun (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $17 at ticketweb.com).

The Polish Ambassador with Scott Nice and Tropo play on Friday, Oct. 13 (doors 7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $25 at ticketweb.com), bringing EDM and beyond. David Sugalski (aka The Polish Ambassador) "dips and swirls through an array of genres: world, bass, hip-hop, synthwave, and funk," his bio explains.

SLO Brew Live and (((folkYEAH!))) present The Brian Jonestown Massacre on Saturday, Oct. 14 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $32 at ticketweb.com). The eclectic rock band led by Anton Newcombe delivers psychedelic, electronic, and folk sounds.

Reggae is onstage when Kabaka Pyramid & The Bebble Rockers return on Sunday, Oct. 15 (doors 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $29 at ticketweb.com), with Jereme Morgan opening. Real Jamaican reggae, baby.

Rising alt-country star Joshua Ray Walker returns to the Central Coast on Wednesday, Oct. 18 (doors 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $17 at ticketweb.com). He's a very inventive songwriter with his own style, as his first three albums will attest, but he's now touring in support of his fourth studio album, What Is It Even? It answers the question, what would it sound like if the Blues Brothers covered a Whitney Houston song? The 11-track album of reenvisioned songs by female artists includes Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," "Linger" by The Cranberries, and "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus, among others.

"I just wanted to make something that was fun," Walker said in press materials. "I realized how influential female pop records and artists have been on me as a person, even more in the creative sense."

Surf pop trio Bikini Trill brings their eclectic sound merging "electronic, hip-hop drums, skank island guitars, and entrancing vocal melodies" to SLO Brew Rock on Thursday, Oct. 19 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $15 at ticketweb.com).

More music ...

Experimental guitarist Matt Sargent plays a free recital with electronics on Friday, Oct. 13, in Room 218 of the Davidson Music Center on the Cal Poly campus (7:30 p.m.). "The versatile artist—a composer, guitarist, recording engineer, and music technologist—will perform new guitar works with electronics," organizers announced. "The program will include works by renowned post minimalist composer Eve Beglarian, Connecticut composer and critic Robert Carl, as well as Sargent's original works."

For the Folks is bringing High Step Society to Bang the Drum on Friday, Oct. 13 (7 p.m.; all ages; $15 to $17). The Portland septet bills themselves as a "high-flying, beat-dropping, big band rocket ship with an ear to the past and both feet on the gas."

It's hard to believe but apparently SLOfolks is calling it quits. They're presenting Late for the Train this weekend on Friday, Oct. 13, in Coalesce Bookstore (7 p.m.; $25 at (805) 772-2880) and Saturday, Oct. 14, in Castoro Cellars (7:30 p.m.; $25 castorocellars.com or (805) 238-0725). The indie-folk soulful bluegrass trio features songwriters and multi-instrumentalists David Pascoe (guitar/mandolin), Laura Benson (fiddle), and Thom Beneduci (stand-up bass). SLOfolks will present its very last concert in November with guitarist Peppino d'Agostino in the same venues.

New Orleans-style boogie band The Cliffnotes return to Morro Bay's Savory Palette this Saturday, Oct. 14 (7 p.m.; free). Bandleader Cliff "Crawdaddy" Stepp promises it will be a party.

The SLO County Jazz Federation presents the internationally renowned Mimi Fox B3 Organ Trio on Saturday, Oct. 14 (7:30 p.m.; $30 general or $10 for students at my805tix.com), in SLO's Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church. Fox is a virtuosic guitar improviser who's performed and recorded with Branford Marsalis, Joey DeFrancesco, Diana Krall, Houston Person, and Stanley Jordan among many others. Her trio includes the outstanding Brian Ho on Hammond B3 organ and Lorca Hart on drums.

Scott Cooper has a couple of local shows lined up this week. On Saturday, Oct. 14, he'll be at Paso's Dark Star Cellars with his Grateful Dead tribute band Rosebud (2 to 5 p.m.), and on Sunday, Oct. 15, he'll play the Olde Alehouse in Los Osos with his acoustic quintet (2 p.m.).

Opera San Luis Obispo will be in the PACSLO Pavilion this Sunday, Oct. 15 (1 to 4 p.m.; all ages; $37 at pacslo.org includes wine and appetizers), to present Wait, I'm Singing What? The one-of-a-kind event allows attendees to vote for what selections Opera SLO performers sing. "Here's the scoop: As you walk into Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo, you're given a bag containing 12 marbles and escorted to the Pavilion room, where you are greeted with wine and appetizers, and a long table containing 30 mason jars. Each mason jar is labeled with a famous Broadway or opera song—12 marbles, 30 choices: You choose the program by voting with your marbles!" organizers explained.

The U.S. Army Field Band & Soldiers' Chorus performs on Thursday, Oct. 19 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; free tickets at pacslo.org; arrive by 7:15 or your seat may be given to another patron) in Cal Poly's Performing Arts Center. The U.S. Army's 60-member Concert Band and 29-member Soldiers' Chorus join together to offer unparalleled versatile programming, ranging from orchestral masterworks and operatic arias to Sousa marches, jazz classics, and Broadway musicals.

The New Times Music Awards!

You have until Monday, Oct. 16, to name your Readers' Choice pick for this year's New Times Music Awards. This year's showcase and awards ceremony happens on Friday, Nov. 3, in SLO Brew Rock (7 p.m.; all ages; $15 at my805tix.com). Δ

Contact Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey at [email protected].