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Livermore Valley Arts recently announced new performances scheduled for later this year at the Bankhead Theater, including shows by returning musicians Jake Shimabukuro and Debbie Gibson as well as debut appearances by John C. Reilly and Matt Axton & Badmoon.
The new shows join dozens of other live performances already scheduled for the 2025-26 season of Bankhead Presents, which ceremonially kicks off Aug. 23 with the Brilliance at the Bankhead gala starring singer LeAnn Rimes.
“This announcement builds on the incredible momentum we’ve already seen for our 2025-26 season,” LVA spokesperson Ruth Egherman said. “Our audiences have come to expect bold, high-quality experiences at the Bankhead — and these new shows more than deliver.”
Leading the lineup of new performances Oct. 2 is Shimabukuro, a returning ukulele player with over a dozen solo albums and a penchant for stylistic variety.
Shimabukuro has a “seemingly limitless vocabulary” as he takes on jazz, rock, blues, bluegrass, folk and classical with the four string instrument, LVA officials said in a statement last week announcing the new performances.
Throughout his music career, the Hawaii native has risen in popularity from his status as a local phenomenon to a YouTuber with approximately 128,000 subscribers and over 300 videos.
He has headlined at concert venues including the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, and the Sydney Opera House and collaborated with musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Jimmy Buffett, Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, Sonny Landreth, Billy Strings, Lukas Nelson, Willie Nelson and Warren Haynes, according to his website.
Shimabukuro has also released award-winning, chart-topping albums, according to LVA.
“An Evening with Jake Shimabukuro” is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2.
The following day, pop musician Gibson is set to return to the Bankhead for a performance of “Newstalgia Live Greatest Hits & Beyond”.
Given her sold-out performance at the Bankhead in the summer of 2023, LVA expects her October show this year to be no different.
“When she was here before, she lit up the building”, Egherman said. “She brought such great energy and fun to not only the audience but all of us who work here.”
After entering the music scene at 16 years old, Gibson became the youngest female artist to write, produce and perform a No. 1 hit with her song “Foolish Beat”. That record is still standing, LVA officials noted.
Throughout her career, Gibson has sold over 16 million albums and has accumulated a theatrical career spanning 17 musicals including “Les Misérables”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Grease on the West End” and “Cabaret.”
In 2021, Gibson released her first pop album of original material in two decades, “The Body Remembers”, which reached No. 2 on the Apple pop sales chart, according to her website.
Gibson is also set to release her upcoming memoir “Eternally Electric” this fall through Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.
Debbie Gibson’s “Newstalgia Live Greatest Hits & Beyond” is scheduled for 8 p.m. Oct. 3.
Next up among the new lineup is a vaudeville dubbed “John C. Reilly is Mister Romantic”, featuring an eternal optimist seeking love.
“There is nothing quite like having an Academy Award nominee and a performer of such high caliber grace our stage as John C. Reilly,” Egherman said. “His new show promises to be hopeful among the chaos.”
In this production, Reilly sings songs from the “Great American Songbook and beyond”, alongside a band featuring multiple Grammy-winners including David Garza, Charles De Castro, David Piltch and Gabe Witcher, according to the show website.
“I looked at our weary world a few years ago and tried to think of a way I could spread love and empathy,” Reilly said in a statement about the show’s creation. “I decided the most fun way to do that was through performing and singing and telling people I loved them.”
“John C. Reilly is Mister Romantic” is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13.
“I am truly excited that we can bring legendary performers like Jake Shimabukuro, Debbie Gibson and John C. Reilly to the Bankhead stage,” LVA CEO Chris Carter said.
Closing out the year with a New Year’s Eve performance will be Matt Axton & Badmoon.
Band leader Matt Axton is a multi-talented songwriter, vocalist and guitarist known for performing Americana, according to LVA officials. His sound combines genres including folk, roots, country, blues and rock.
Throughout his musical career, Axton has mixed legacy hits with over 300 original songs, embarked on multiple national tours and opened shows for artists like Leftover Salmon, Nikki Lane, Midland and the Red Dirt Rangers.
Axton also carries on the musical legacy of his family, according to LVA officials. His grandmother, Mae Boren Axton co-penned Elvis Presley’s first million-selling hit “Heartbreak Hotel” and his father, Hoyt Axton, was active on the folk-country-rock scene and wrote hits including “Joy to the World” and “Never Been to Spain”.
“Capping off the year with a New Year’s Eve party featuring Matt Axton, whose family musical heritage covers some of the greatest known songs in musical history, will mark a great close to the first half of our season,” Carter said.
Matt Axton & Badmoon is scheduled to perform beginning at 7 p.m. Dec. 31.
For tickets and more information about the four new shows, visit LivermoreArts.org.
