Tag: Concert Reviews

Show Review: An Evening with Transatlantic at The Regency Ballroom, 2/1/2014

TransAtlantic_by_Emily_Anderson-Spinning-Platters-0770

On June 18, 2000, Transatlantic played their first ever show in Bethlehem, PA. It was a loose, joyous set that was technically a little off, but felt like a big event. At the time, I thought “well that was fun. Too bad I won’t get to see them again.” Why? Because supergroups hardly ever last, and prog rock supergroups are even more fleeting. So to be sitting in front of a stage watching Transatlantic nearly 14 years later was an absolute treat. Continue reading “Show Review: An Evening with Transatlantic at The Regency Ballroom, 2/1/2014”

This Could Be the Year for the Real Thing: Dolly Parton at Reno Events Center 1/27/2014

fritz

This is a child. His name is Fritz. Why is his name Fritz? Oh, because he’s the best is why. I had the pleasure of meeting this little prince just before his parents surprised him with the first concert of his life: Dolly Parton. As if it wasn’t enough that he’s growing up with the name Fritz, he will forever be able to say that his first concert was Dolly Parton. He’s guaranteed to be such an awesome adult, I didn’t even care that he pooped his pants during dinner. Continue reading “This Could Be the Year for the Real Thing: Dolly Parton at Reno Events Center 1/27/2014”

Show Review: Andrew W.K. with Maxxx and Lonely Avenue at Assembly, 12/22/2013

There's a professional partier underneath all that hair.
There’s a professional partier underneath all that hair.

Last time Spinning Platters caught up with Andrew W.K., he was playing Ramones songs with Marky Ramone’s band and giving me his thoughts on marriage. Having finished that tour, he’s now back on the road with a solo keyboard tour called the Party Hard Holiday Tour.  He brought his particular brand of party rock (better than other brands of party rock) to a new venue called Assembly in Sacramento, and I made the road trip. Continue reading “Show Review: Andrew W.K. with Maxxx and Lonely Avenue at Assembly, 12/22/2013”

Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Moon Hooch at the Warfield, 6/14/2013

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They Might Be Giants have been playing together, in some shape, since 1982. Please, take a moment to let that sink in; this Brooklyn-based nerd-pop outfit has been churning out music for more than thirty years. This is a band that’s spanned five different presidents. A band that has witnessed countless similar acts form and breakup, reform and rebreakup. A band that has been making music for twice as long as Jaden Smith has been alive. A band with a legacy this long has two choices: They can become their own cover band, playing the hits that their audience crave, never growing, never changing. Or they can keep producing new music, evolving their sound, keeping their live-show fresh.

Fortunately for both the band and the fans, They Might Be Giants opted to take option B, and their set at the Warfield last Friday was all the better for it.

Continue reading “Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Moon Hooch at the Warfield, 6/14/2013”

Show Review: Live 105’s BFD at Shoreline Amphitheater, 5/19/2013

BFD - Header
BFD is not getting its deposit back.

There are a few things you can learn from going to BFD, Live 105’s annual concert at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View. Among these are that people will wait in huge lines to spin any prize wheel, it can take over an hour to go from the highway exit to a parking space, and there’s no such thing as a “bad lineup” for BFD. It will nearly always sell out, and will always have some surprises. And this year, with the “Surprise Special Guest” appearing on the bill, we knew we were in for at least one. Continue reading “Show Review: Live 105’s BFD at Shoreline Amphitheater, 5/19/2013”

Show Review: Little Boots with AVAN LAVA and Feathers at Rickshaw Stop, 5/3/2013

Boots Dress

On a special Friday Popscene that went far into the night, all the way into the headliner’s birthday, the crowd was treated to synth pop in different forms — the dark tinged variety, the choreographed kind, and finally the made-for-the-charts sugary pop of Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots. It was a fun night, although not without some rough bits. Continue reading “Show Review: Little Boots with AVAN LAVA and Feathers at Rickshaw Stop, 5/3/2013”

Show Review: Marnie Stern with SISU and E V Kain at the Rickshaw Stop, 4/28/2013

All photos by Conan Neutron
All photos by Conan Neutron

Incendiary guitar goddess Marnie Stern returned to San Francisco on Sunday night in support of her fourth and most accessible LP, the wondrously titled The Chronicles of Marnia. The show, which transpired at the Rickshaw Stop, drew a full house of giddily enthusiastic fans, or at least what passes for “giddily enthusiastic” on a Sunday night in San Francisco. By which I mean we all pretty much stood there stone-faced for three hours. But we were into it! Honest! I think Marnie might actually prefer our notoriously chill style of audience participation; when she noticed that the only overtly expressive dancers in the entire club had positioned themselves directly in front of her, she actually ordered them to go dance in front of her bassist, Nithin Kalvakota. “It’s distracting! And confusing! And it’s making me dizzy!” she protested in that vaguely “It’s Pat” voice of hers. And what the lady wants, the lady gets.

Continue reading “Show Review: Marnie Stern with SISU and E V Kain at the Rickshaw Stop, 4/28/2013”

Show Review: An Intimate Evening with Mika at Great American Music Hall, 3/25/2013

Just Mika, some white lights, and those darned camera phones.
Just Mika, lit only by a single white globe that appeared to be floating in air, and those darned camera phones.

Mika burst on to the scene a few years ago with a sugary pop masterpiece, Life in Cartoon Motion, and his joyful and colorful live shows, chock full of balloons, confetti, streamers and a giant pop band behind him. Now, he’s on tour supporting his newest album, The Origin of Love, and he’s taking a markedly different approach. This show, billed as “An intimate evening with” saw him behind a piano for the lion’s share of the evening, joined only by Max Taylor and Curtis Stansfield on a variety of instruments. It was stripped down, and it was wonderful. Continue reading “Show Review: An Intimate Evening with Mika at Great American Music Hall, 3/25/2013”

Noise Pop Show Review: The Thermals with Dirty Ghosts and The She’s at the Rickshaw Stop, 3/1/2013

Hutch Harris rocks out
Hutch Harris rocks out

It’s about halfway through Goddamn the Light that I realize something is off about the song. Up to this point, the Thermals set has been impeccable, but now there’s something clearly missing. The rhythm is all off, and as I scan the stage for an explanation, it dawns on me: The Thermals don’t have their drummer anymore. We have their drummer. Westin Glass has abandoned his kit to crowd surf, and he’s loving every minute of it.

Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: The Thermals with Dirty Ghosts and The She’s at the Rickshaw Stop, 3/1/2013”