BEST BETS Thursday 7/6

IRVINE

8 pm

Jazz

Jazz is the quintessentially American music form, and the traditional jazz of New Orleans as practiced by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band embodies the American ideal of simultaneous individualism and cooperation. So what better place to keep the spirit of independence going into the weekend than at one of the group’s performances tonight and Friday in Irvine? And it promises to bring the Irvine Barclay Theatre’s 10th anniversary season to an appropriately celebratory finish.

* Preservation Hall Jazz Band of New Orleans, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, UC Irvine. 8 p.m. $13 to $32. (949) 854-4646.

SANTA ANA

8 pm

Pop Music

The Legendary Pink Dots truly are legendary--ask any fan of the British-born, longtime Holland-based psychedelic jam band. Group founder Edward Ka-Spel and his revolving roster of bandmates have put out more than two dozen albums since forming in 1980, the latest being “A Perfect Mystery,” released in April.

* Legendary Pink Dots, Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. With Dead Voices on Air. 8 p.m. $12.50 to $14.50. (714) 957-0600.

BREA

8:30 pm

Comedy

The Chicago Sun-Times calls Steve McGrew “loud, funny, and surprisingly insightful.” The Houston Chronicle raves that his act is a “dead on, dead funny assessment of life.” McGrew is the kind of comic who says things most people are afraid to say. Or, as his show biz bio puts it, “Steve’s not afraid of anything anymore. He has looked into the face of a female divorce judge and lived to tell the tale.”

* Steve McGrew, Brea Improv, 945 E. Birch St., 8:30 p.m. Also Friday, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 8 p.m. $10 to $12. (714) 529-7878.