BEST BETS Saturday 9/16

LAGUNA BEACH

7:30pm

Opera

Opera Pacific will devote its second annual outdoor concert at the Irvine Bowl to composers of the bel canto era, including Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini. The soloists in arias, duets and ensembles will include soprano Laura Claycomb, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, tenor Gregory Turay, baritone Earle Patriarco and bass David Michael. Company artistic director John DeMain will conduct the Opera Pacific Orchestra and Chorus.

* Opera Pacific, Irvine Bowl (Festival of the Arts), 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. 7:30 p.m. $25 to $75. (800) 346-7372.

NEWPORT BEACH

8am

Beach cleanup

O.C. beaches haven’t been getting a lot of good press lately, and now you can help change that. Be a part of the 16th Annual Estuary Cleanup Day at Upper Newport Bay. More than 50,000 people have participated in the cleanup in past years. High school students can earn community service hours, and scouting groups can participate in a community service project.

* 16th Annual Estuary Cleanup Day at Upper Newport Bay, Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve, Shellmaker Island, 600 Shellmaker Road, at Backbay Drive and Shellmaker Road, Newport Beach. 8 a.m. Free. (949) 640-6746 or https://www.ocparks.com/cleanup

SANTA ANA

8pm

Pop Music

Who’d have expected, in the early ‘80s, that a bunch of out-for-blood punk rockers also had a softness for old-time folk and country music? That’s what made the Knitters such a left-wing delight when the band was created by members of X and the Blasters as an outlet for the less-histrionic aspects of their music. The Knitters have been doing reunion shows periodically in the last year--including a lively set at the Hootenanny 2000 concert in July, and return for this club show in Santa Ana.

* The Knitters, Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana. With the Spurs. 8 p.m. $26.50 to $28.50. (714) 957-0600.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO

8pm

Pop Music

Walter Trout, a Huntington Beach blues man, plays large theaters and arenas when he tours Europe, but here at home he’s usually in the bars, so this concert club performance undoubtedly will be a homecoming celebration for him. The monstrously proficient guitarist, who’s also an accomplished singer and songwriter, has a new album, “Live Trout,” that’s somewhat unusual for a concert recording. Instead of tracks recorded at various stops on a tour, the double CD covers one entire show he gave at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival, giving listeners as close to a true concert experience as possible.

* Walter Trout, Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. With the Mo Evans Blues Band, Southland. 8 p.m. $12.50 to $14.50. (949) 496-8930.