BEST BETS Friday 11/3

IRVINE

8pm

Music

British composer John Tavener based his new work, “The Bridegroom,” on the liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox church. Anonymous 4 and the Chilingirian Quartet will play the first North American performances of the work, which was co-commissioned by St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church. The performance is part of the Eclectic Orange Festival, sponsored by the Philharmonic Society, and will take place under the new mosaic recently installed inside the church’s dome.

* Anonymous 4 and Chilingirian Quartet, St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church, 4949 Alton Parkway, Irvine. 8 p.m. Also Saturday, 8 p.m. $20, open seating. (949) 553-2422.

SANTA ANA

8pm

Pop Music

Buckcherry probably isn’t the first, nor will it be the last, band whose members were introduced by their mutual tattoo artist. But what more appropriate meeting point for these five hard-rock-loving L.A. musicians, whose debut album last year showcased the influences of Cheap Trick, AC/DC and the Black Crowes, and a lead singer--Joshua Todd--who’s been described as “a curious but compelling cross between a sassy Steven Tyler and the spacily intense Perry Farrell.”

* Buckcherry, Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. With Electrasy, Choker. 8 p.m. $15 to $17. (714) 957-0600.

ALISO VIEJO

8pm

Music

Barry Silverman will lead the Aliso Viejo Symphony in “A Night at the Opera” program, drawing on works by Mozart, Bizet, Verdi and other composers for arias, duets, trios and quartets. The soloists will include sopranos Eileen O’Hern and Devon Guthrie, mezzo-soprano Kristin Rothfuss, tenor Alvin Brightbill and baritone John Huntington.

* Aliso Viejo Symphony, Coast Hills Church, 5 Pursuit, Aliso Viejo. 8 p.m. $15 to $50. ($8 student rush, 30 minutes before curtain.) (714) 731-8079.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO

8pm

Pop Music

Fans of NRBQ, which returns to O.C. on Friday, are lobbying on one of several unofficial Web sites for the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 30 years of relentless exploration and extraordinary fusion of various strains of American popular music. Naturally, for all its admirably catholic efforts, the group has remained unpopular, which makes Hall of Fame induction unlikely. (It has sold far fewer records than Randy Newman, and Newman can’t seem to win over the Hall’s membership committee.) But its concerts continue to be wondrous affairs, a meeting ground of Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, John Philip Sousa and Hank Williams--sometimes all in the same song.

* NRBQ, Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. With Breakingthecode, Walter Clevenger & the Dairy Kings. 8 p.m. $16.50 to $18.50. (949) 496-8930. Also Thursday at the Roxy, West Hollywood.