Bay Area Summer Ending Music Fest

It's that time of the year to feel ... festive.

At least musically; because so many big musical events are coming to the Bay Area the next couple of weeks. It's almost as if the music gods are trying to throw as much music at you before school starts, so no one will complain later.

The fun for local bands starts at 8 p.m. Friday at Pier 23 in San Francisco, where BandsOfTheBay.com throws a little “music on the water" party, featuring the big guitar rock of the Margaret Scranton Band; the eclectic, indie experimental and very good Jupiter is Useless, and the punks in Twice Til Tuesday. Find the Web site's booth for free stuff. All three bands can be heard on www.bandsofthebay.com. The show is $10 and 21 and over. E-mail [email protected] for more info.

The same day, the Shoreline hosts the annual Vans Warped Tour, featuring the Vandals, Reel Big Fish, Every Time I Die, Katy Perry and more. Dice in the Icebox, which hails from Brentwood, is also on the bill. It's turning out to be a good year for Dice; the band is winning awards left and right and getting lots of attention from big management companies. Get there early enough to support the locals. The show starts at noon and tickets are $33.

Let's not leave out classic hip-hop. This year's Rock the Bells pulls into the Shoreline on Saturday, with A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Mos Def, Rakim, Method Man and Redman, Raekwon and Ghostface, and more. The show starts at 11 a.m. and tickets are $35.50-$75.

For contemporary jazz fans, the JVC Jazz Festival comes to the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord at 4 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 19), featuring George Benson, Boney James, Ramsey Lewis and Norman Brown's Summer Storm. Tickets are $25-$69.

Tickets for Vans Warped, Rock the Bells and JVC JAZZ are available via Ticketmaster.com. and Livenation.com.

Next week, San Francisco pretty much shuts down for the massive, three-day Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, Aug. 22-24, in Golden Gate Park. The bill includes Radiohead, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Jack Johnson, Beck, Wilco, Manu Chao, Ben Harper, Widespread Panic, Primus, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Steve Winwood, Devendra Banhart, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Black Mountain, Drive-By Truckers, Galactic, Broken Social Scene and others. No really, there are others. Check www.anotherplanetent.com. for each day's lineup and more info. Three-day tickets are $225-$695. Coming Sunday: We'll preview the festival and offer a guide to navigating the humongous event.

If you hear a faraway rumbling on Aug. 31, that would be the Metal Masters Tour at Shoreline, with Judas Priest, Heaven and Hell, Motorhead, and Testament. The show starts at 5:30 p.m. and tickets are $31-$131. Go to Ticketmaster or Live Nation for tickets and more info.