San Jose and video games go together like HP and MP. At LVL Up this Saturday, all manner of games and gaming paraphernalia will be on sale for the massive Game Swap Night Market. Here, gamers can pick up classic carts like Ninja Gaiden and Altered Beast, peruse some recent gaming phenoms like Persona, Catherine and Hades or grab some tabletop options for the whole family like 7 Wonders or Codename. There’s even the option to tear the family apart by bringing a copy of Settlers of Catan into the household. A perfectly nerdy night out for gaming neophytes and masters of unlocking alike.
Game Swap Night Market
Sat, 5pm, Free
LVL Up, San Jose

This weekend, giggin’ is the norm and rap is the form, as two Bay Area heavy hitters—Mac Mall from the V and Frisco’s own San Quinn—drop into San Jose’s LVL Up for a one-night only First Friday show. Whether a real hip hop head or just a music lover looking for a true Bay experience, these two sucka-free rappers know how to make a show smack. Both rappers have been dropping underground anthems since 1993, like Mall’s “Ghetto Theme,” which had a video directed by none other than Tupac. A love letter sent from the Bay right back to sender.

Mac Mall + San Quinn
Fri, 5pm, $20
LVL Up, San Jose

Sometimes you just can’t choose between seeing live music and live comedy, and there’s a long line of performers that can fill that niche—though “niche” is often exactly how to describe those acts. Morgan Jay is different, striving to be a musical comedian for people who usually don’t like musical comedy. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a repertoire of improv-heavy songs that incorporate a herculean amount of crowdwork, Jay is used to charming and disarming audiences with ease. He’s got a YouTube special, but Jay’s also built a big audience on TikTok.

Morgan Jay
Fri, 7:00pm, $20
LVL Up, San Jose

As he famously declared in “93 Til Infinity:” “A-Plus is famous.” And though it’s Opio who kicks off that track, its Plus’ verse that knocks it into the stratosphere. The founding Souls of Mischief rapper and longtime Hieroglyphics member always finds a way to turn up the heat when he hops on the mic. Plus comes to LVL Up as headliner of “Revolutionary Sounds,” a stacked lineup of local rappers who, on top of entertaining audiences, will also act as soundtrack for two video game tournaments: Street Fighter V and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate. Enjoy the show indoors or out.

Revolutionary Sounds
Fri, 6pm, $15
LVL Up, San Jose

Southeast Stockton’s Young Slo-Be will have the 408 streets turning up on Saturday for the release of his new album Slo-Be Bryant 3 at San Jose’s LvL Up Arcade. The third entry in Slo’s trap mixtape series, Bryant 3 is the latest exciting release to come out of Stockton’s poppin’ young hip hop scene—a stark, hard-edged counterpart to the Bay’s more famous (and playful) rap world. Guest artists for the night include other Stockton heavyweights like EBK Young Joc and EBK Hotboiz, as well as major players from the Sacramento scene like Freeway Donny, AO Bubb and more.

Young Slo-Be
Sat, 7pm, $25+
LVL Up, San Jose

South Bay hip hop has never gotten its proper due. Since at least 1990, when MC Twist dropped gangsta boom bap banger Bad Influence, the 408 has given birth to a diverse range of underappreciated MCs and producers, from hyphy pioneer Traxamillion, to Latinx g-funk group Chicano Conspiracy. This Saturday, LVL Up pays homage to this history with a broad lineup of South Bay hip hop artists like SJ beatmaker Kai B.G., artist/rapper/Tarot diviner Señior Gigio, and Gilroy’s 1 AM, whose personal and vulnerable tracks are all about finding positivity in the chaos.

Good Vibes
Sat, 7pm, Donations
LVL Up, San Jose

It’s loud, it’s vibrant, it’s picking up speed—it’s CUMBIATRON, the finest cumbia dance party on the West Coast! DJs Don-D, Geronimo Selector, Jalinche and Dog Plasma tour their freaky, funky, untraditional Latin club mixes up and down California, and this night features ESSJ’s own Philthy Dronez. Mr. Philthy is a livewire on guitar, accordion, and vocals, and his recent single “Caiganle a la Fiesta” promises to get even the most self-conscious dancer’s hips shaking (caiganle equates roughly to “roll through”; fiesta needs no translation). The show is all-ages, so teens and seniors alike can become rhythm machines for the evening.

CUMBIATRON + Philthy Dronez
Sat, 7pm, $15
LVL Up, San Jose

Like the unstoppable bass drum of D-Beat, The Ritz’s long-running Punk Rock Flea Market returns to downtown right on time. Though this year’s event takes place on the patio space at the nearby LVL Up, it still comes with merch, music, clothing, and plenty more for today’s discerning punk. To ring in the return, San Jose’s hometown heroes of heaviness Sunami headline a hardcore lineup that includes brutal locals like Extinguish, Connoisseur, and Lead Dream (with members of SJ’s other hardcore heroes Gulch). It’s sure to be a lovely Sunday on the veranda, my dear punks.

Punk Rock Flea Market
LVL Up, San Jose
Sun, 12pm-5pm, $5

As the pandemic hopefully enters our rear view mirror, now is the perfect time to heal from a traumatic year through the universal values of Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. Electronic music collective The Smile High Club has the South Bay covered with a whole day of future funk and house in LVL UP’s very cool patio, with DJs like Bzar, Rieta, and Sokyo. And while getting in touch with their own internal oneness, showgoers can check out local favorite vendors like Plant Lush and Second Hand Hustle to cop some jawns to reflect the right post-quarantine vibes for home or person.

‘Bounce Back’
LVL Up, San Jose
Sat, 2pm, $25+

Chey Bell’s jokes land with deadly precision. “If you see any Black people in Napa, they are in the witness protection program,” she cracks in a bit titled “All White Town.” With an energetic stage presence honed from sets at The Comedy Store and NY Comedy Club, the bisexual comedienne riffs on everything from taking a girlfriend home for the holidays, to raising mixed kids, to guided meditations on YouTube devolving into Rihanna quotes. Featuring Chelsea Bearce in support and a host of other quick-witted comics in tow (plus one actual host), maybe it’s “Only Laughs,” but it still sounds fun.

‘Only Laughs’
LVL Up, San Jose
Fri, 7:00pm, $25+