Max Raabe's immaculate, stately appearance recalls the male fashions of Weimar Germany, and when he opens his mouth, audiences are instantly transported 80 years into the past. The classically trained singer founded the Palast Orchester over two decades ago, and the group has peddled cabaret tunes from the likes of Al Jolson, Kurt Weill, and Irving Berlin ever since. Raabe's deadpan demeanor — he rarely moves on stage, as if not to disturb his carefully slicked-back hair — contrasts sharply with the jittery, energetic numbers he performs, and the resulting tension can make the biggest music hall (in tonight's case, Oakland's gilded, Deco confection the Paramount Theatre) feel like an intimate nightclub.

By:  Ilya Tovbis