This year’s Not So Silent Night—Alt 105.3’s long-running winter music festival—is headlined by two of alternative rock’s most reliable draws: Mumford & Sons and Twenty-One Pilots. Direct support comes in the form of Jack White’s other band, The Raconteurs, along with The 1975 and Mumford’s female-fronted mirror image, Of Monsters & Men. They’re all great, but those looking for the real party would do well to get to their seats early, as show openers White Reaper aim to excite with their bombastic blend of sneering punk sensibility and glam-inflected Thin Lizzy guitarmonies. They might just be the world’s best American band.

Not So Silent Night
Sat, 6pm, $29+
SAP Center, San Jose

Each year the Steinbeck Center presents the Steinbeck Award, celebrating musicians, writers, documentarians, thinkers, artists and activists whose work embodies the empathetic spirit and values of John Steinbeck. Previous recipients include Bruce Springsteen, Rachel Maddow and Ken Burns. This year, British folk-pop superstars Mumford & Sons are set to accept SJSU’s illustrious prize in a celebration at Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall. The award is going to Mumford & Sons both because they’ve written songs inspired by Steinbeck and also because they’ve demonstrated a serious commitment to social engagement through their Gentlemen of the Road project, which supports global and local charities fighting for social justice.

Mumford & Sons
Wed, 7:30pm, Sold Out
Bing Concert Hall, Stanford