Show Review: Aftershock 2023… West Coast’s Biggest Rock Festival!

Discovery Park in Sacramento was once again the site for Danny Wimmer Presents annual Aftershock Festival, a four-day rock and metal music festival featuring four stages of many of today’s bona fide headliners as well as plenty of promising new blood. It is also a bit of an endurance test. There are the crazy fans who run in as soon as the gates open and stand at the barricade for basically 11 hours, with no food or even the means to leave to find a restroom (because they’ll never get their spot back). Security did hand out plenty of water up there though so that nobody passed out in the mid-90° heat! There are others who try to take in as much as possible by going from stage to stage to stage all day long to see as many bands as they can. Many just get drunk and sit around on their picnic blanket or at the VIP section tables, while others take it all in stride and hit up the myriad of food trucks, beer tents, alcohol and cannabis vendors… all while everyone is dealing with a heat wave that much of Northern California happened to fall victim to over this very weekend.

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Aftershock 2023… and why it will be better than Power Trip!

Show Preview by: Alan Ralph @AlanHasPicks

The extended weekend of October 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the year 2 0 2 3 has been leaving fans of heavy metal music in decision limbo since the beginning of April.  In mid-March, the annual heavy metal pilgrimage to Sacramento, called Aftershock Festival, announced another stellar (as always) 4-day lineup for an unforgettable weekend of Rock N Metal.  What nobody knew then is that a mere two weeks later, Power Trip (not the band) would announce a killer classic metal lineup for their festival, to take place simultaneously on the same weekend, albeit in the southern California desert. Goldenvoice had just put Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) on notice, and fans then had to decide which to go to!  Now, with t-minus two weeks and counting, Spinning Platters is here to explain why Aftershock Festival is thee festival to attend and how they will not be relinquishing their West Coast Fall Festival crown…

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Show Review: 311 at The Fox Oakland, 2/25/10

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He's letting you know that person is you.

The first time I saw 311 was at the tender age of 18. I stood staring in awe outside at the Justin Herman Plaza at a band I had only ever seen on a TV screen back when MTV still called themselves “Music” Television. My first live show, for free, and they played for at least two hours. It was a show totally worth skipping my early morning chemistry lab for. I walked away with each band member’s autograph written in black Sharpie on my arms. I felt so cool at the time.

Seven years later I find that 311 can still rock my world. Continue reading “Show Review: 311 at The Fox Oakland, 2/25/10”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/24/10-3/2/10

Four nights of four fences with the Kronos Quartet
Four Nights, Four Fences, One Quartet. Nice.

There’s more to life than Noise Pop. Not much more, so these week’s list is going to be a bit shorter than usual, but there is still plenty to do that isn’t with the masses.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/17/10-2/23/10

Sharing a bill with Visqueen & 311 in Santa Cruz caused this goat to faint.
Playing at the Catalyst this Monday night.

As we warm up to the upcoming Noise Pop Festival, here’s a few shows to let you warm up your earplugs with.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/17/10-2/23/10”