BottleRock Napa Valley 2019: A Preview

BRNV does it again!

The powers-that-be behind BottleRock Napa Valley never fail to impress me. This year’s festival lineup was announced this morning, boasting so many exciting artists it made my head swim a little: Imagine Dragons. Logic. OneRepublic. Sylvan Esso. Jenny Lewis. AJR. Anderson East. The Dandy Warhols. Neon Trees. Just Loud. Shannon Shaw. Flora Cash. And that’s just day one!

Days two and three add to the excitement, with Neil Young + Promise of the Real, Pharrell Williams, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Gary Clark Jr, Cypress Hill, Elle King, Sir Sly, Mumford & Sons, Santana, Bishop Briggs, Skylar Grey, Houses, and so many more. Also, anyone who watches Top Chef may have noticed that this year’s winner will have a slot on the culinary stage, which is always a fun place to check out between sets.  

It’s hard not to look at this list and know you’ve got to be there. I think the hardest part will be, as usual, determining how to get from point A to point B in such a way that you catch at least parts of all the acts you don’t want to miss! Until BRNV releases an actual schedule, however, there’s not much to do but listen to these bands and look forward to May in eager anticipation. To help you do that, I made a little playlist: I’ve included some of my favorites from the artists that are generating the highest levels of impatience. Let’s hope these next 4 ½ months fly by, and I’ll see you this summer in Napa! 

BottleRock Napa Valley 2019 preview playlist

BottleRock ticket info: 3-Day Tickets On Sale 1/8/19 at 10am. Single day passes on sale 1/10/19.

Album Review: Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back

Peter Gabriel’s new covers album Scratch My Back is the beginning of a “song exchange” project. This means that every artist covered on this album is being asked to cover one of Peter Gabriel’s songs in exchange. This collection will then be released under the title …And I’ll Scratch Yours. That’s the intention. Whether or not the second part ends up happening seems to be up in the air so far, but Stephin Merrit has already recorded “Not One of Us” as a b-side to Peter Gabriel’s Magnetic Fields cover,”Book of Love,” so the project has begun. Continue reading “Album Review: Peter Gabriel — Scratch My Back”

Live Show Review: Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheater, 10/25/09

The view from 201, Row I
The view from 201, Row I

When I saw the lineup for this year’s Bridge School Benefit, I got excited. When I saw that hardly anyone was buying tickets for Sunday’s version of the show, I waited for the discounts to happen. And when Livenation reminded everyone that they should only buy tickets on Wednesdays by lowering decent pavilion seats to $40 including service charges, I was in.

It turns out Google offers free wifi throughout Mountain View, including here, so I’m hoping to post the first full length review of the show. With that in mind, I’m writing this review during set breaks. Keep reloading or revisiting, and I’ll add bands as I go. Continue reading “Live Show Review: Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheater, 10/25/09”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: October 21st-October 27th

Dragonette are playing Popscene this week!
Dragonette are playing Popscene this week!

We’re changing things around a bit, and I’m gonna start posting this on Wednesdays now. Which means: we missed Tuesday. The good news is, the best show of last night is getting repeated tonight, and the show that you were going to go to wasn’t so good, so we I think we did you a favor by not posting. So, on with the shows!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: October 21st-October 27th”