BREAKING: The Line-Up for Inside Lands 2020 Has Been Announced

We all spent that last two weeks looking at our Facebook memories of photos from 12 years of Outside Lands, noticing how perfect the weather was two weekends ago, and being sad, and then angry, and then sad again that we weren’t going to get to commune together in Golden Gate Park for music, comedy, food, and community this year. (Especially since Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is also off the table) 

I know it’s not the same, but August 28th – 29th, starting at 4pm each day, twitch.tv is broadcasting a whole new special event called “Inside Lands.” We are getting archival performances, and although we don’t know exactly what we are going to see, but I hope to got we get to relive the portion of Gorillaz EPIC 2017 set with that bone chilling, inhuman scream that Maseo belted out at the beginning of “Feel Good Inc.” We will also be getting new, exclusive performances, including sets from Outside Lands 2021 acts Sharon Van Etten, Hinds, Brittany Howard, Beach House and more. It’s not the same as being in the park, but I hope this gets you close. May I recommend having some delicious take out from a local restaurant on hand, and maybe even see if your favorite local bar is doing craft cocktails to go so the experience is complete? If you want, you can even have your roommate spill beer on your blanket to make it feel right. (Kidding) 

The event is hosted by Lyrics Born, and can be streamed here at twitch.tv/outsidelands. While you are there, be sure to pick up tickets for Outside Lands 2021 with Lizzo, Tame Impala, The Strokes, Tyler, The Creator, Kehlani and more! And, of course, keep practicing social distancing, wear a mask, wash your hands, and let’s crush this disease to make sure we can party next year.

To quote Lyrics Born: “Don’t worry about the president. He can’t stop the show.” Here’s the line-up: Continue reading “BREAKING: The Line-Up for Inside Lands 2020 Has Been Announced”

In Defense Of: No Jack White, The White Stripes Weren’t “Like A Solo Project”

I’ve been a fan of Jack White for a while now… While working at Wherehouse Music in the early ‘00s, I made sure we were the first chain store to stock The White Stripes in the Bay Area, and I’ve been following White’s career closely ever since. And, yes, he’s a little idiosyncratic. He can be a bit of a jerk. Heck, he took his kids out of a school because his arch rival, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, also sent his kids there! But, despite these quirks, I’ve always had a bit of respect for him. He always elevated female musicians, especially female side players. Most importantly, he would always defend his original drummer, Meg White.

Well, he always did, until now. Continue reading “In Defense Of: No Jack White, The White Stripes Weren’t “Like A Solo Project””

Spinning Platters’ Best Of 2014: Individual Staff Lists

One of the many great records that Spinning Platters Writers enjoyed in 2014
One of the many great records that Spinning Platters Writers enjoyed in 2014

2014 was a good year for music — you just had to lose yourself in something unsafe. – Staff Writer Jonathan Pirro.

A lot of people seemed mighty nonplussed by 2014’s recorded music output. Sure, there was a lot of somewhat generic, unimpressive stuff. However, if you did some real hunting, you’ll find that there was some incredibly impressive stuff out there. Here are Spinning Platter’s Staff’s individual lists of favorite records of 2014, starting with my own list:

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Spinning Platters Presents The Official List of the Top 20 Albums of 2012

Here to present the top 20 albums of the year as voted on by the SpinningPlatters staff.
Here to present the top 20 albums of the year as voted on by the SpinningPlatters staff.

By The Spinning Platters Staff

Every website has a Top XX albums of the year list. This one is ours, and there is nothing by The xx on it. I mean, I really like The xx’s Coexist. There were just 20 records that came out this year that were better. Maybe you’ll find something that you missed?

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Presents The Official List of the Top 20 Albums of 2012”

Show Review: Live 105’s Not So Silent Night at Oracle Arena, 12/7/12

All Photos by David Price

Live 105 has managed to put together, once again, a fantastic line up for their annual holiday spectacular. So much so, that they had to split it into two days. One day was a bit more “new wave” oriented, and another day was purely guitar driven. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to check out the first night, the “guitar” night. It was, surprisingly, one of the most interesting and diverse arena rock shows I’ve ever been to, filed with a wide array of guitar music, from acoustic folk to earnest, working class punk, all the way to classic blues rock. I don’t know how they are going to one up this one:

Continue reading “Show Review: Live 105’s Not So Silent Night at Oracle Arena, 12/7/12”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 12/6/12-12/12/12

Auditioning for the band opening for Kopecky Family Band on Sunday.

I know that December tends to be a time to purchase gifts for friends and family members. But Shopping kind of sucks. Instead, go to a show?

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 12/6/12-12/12/12”

Outside Lands Diary, Sunday, August 12th, 2012: Jack in the Woods

My baby was stolen. Like the Lindbergh baby in the night* my beautiful 15 year old silver Honda CRV was removed from her place on the streets by some unnamed hooligan. We had many memories, me and that car. I learned to drive with her, I took up her up and down the coast of California, and I’m pretty sure I lost my virginity in that car (sorry Mom and Dad! Teenagers ya know?) (Also lets just gloss over the “pretty sure” portion of that sentence). So when I discovered on Sunday she was gone, it was with great sadness that I started my last day of Outside Lands. And then! If that wasn’t enough I was forced to take the N all the way from the Mission to Golden Gate Park! Yuck! (No seriously, yuck, I was so close to people that I almost lost my Muni virginity. Ya know what I’m saying!? Ok.) Silver beauty, it goes without saying, I miss you desperately.

I wandered around the park grumpy, glaring at every faux Ray-Ban, neon wearing fiend. “You don’t know my pain, neon wearing fiend!” I was secretly yelling. I was nobody’s friend.

Continue reading “Outside Lands Diary, Sunday, August 12th, 2012: Jack in the Woods”

Show Review: San Francisco’s 2012 Outside Lands Festival, Day 3

The one banana that didn't come in a burrito this weekend
The one banana that didn’t come in a burrito this weekend

San Francisco’s annual Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is always tasked with the enormous duty of being the “other” huge festival of California, and the designation is both a blessing and a curse. On the low end, it has to try and come up with acts that Coachella somehow didn’t have the foresight to book ages earlier, or at leasts acts that will stand up as decent competition, and with tickets to the Indio festival now going onsale a year in advance, they’ve got to get their contenders up and available as soon as possible — usually right before Coachella kicks off. On the high end, the climate is, on the whole, much more pleasant, the acts tend to stick to more large crowd-pleasers and new discoveries, and the fine folks putting on Outside Lands spend many months listening to the irritations and complaints about Coachella to use as a salvo against their festival’s possible shortcomings. The result is that by Sunday afternoon, most of the 65,000+ fans that came out to Golden Gate Park got their fairer shares of mindblowing performances and raucous partying behind them, and were ready for the big finish that would wind down the end of the chilly August weekend.

Continue reading “Show Review: San Francisco’s 2012 Outside Lands Festival, Day 3”

Our Guide to the 2012 Outside Lands Music Festival

Poor guys… Gonna have to find someplace else to play Polo next weekend.

Every year, every festival in America claims to have the “best line up ever!” Well, San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music Festival has made to its 5th year, and they really are going to have a seriously difficult time topping this year’s event. Of course, this means that there are conflicts galore! You’ve got six stages of entertainment to try to decide between at any time of day.

The schedule can be awfully intimidating. Which is why I’m here to help guide you through the complex maze that is the Outside Lands schedule. Without further ado, here is SpinningPlatters’ Official Guide to Outside Lands 2012.

Continue reading “Our Guide to the 2012 Outside Lands Music Festival”

Film Review — The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights

Following the release of their 2007 album, Icky Thump, Jack and Meg White prepared for two simultaneous landmarks in their storied career: their tenth anniversary as a band, and their first extensive promotional tour of Canada’s many provinces and territories. They invited acclaimed music video director Emmett Malloy to accompany them on this excursion, capturing every moment along the way. The ensuing hybrid of aww-shucks Canadian culture shocks and feverish self-aggrandizement comprises The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights.

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