The Fillmore – Page 2 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: Violent Femmes at the Fillmore, 05/11/2016

Gordon Gano of Violent Femmes (all photos by Daniel Martinez)

Nothing would have made the Violent Femmes a better band, because they were perfect. Gordon Gano sings like he’s a sick cat and has been drunk-crying all day; he has a kind of nasal whine, full of defeat, with a timbre as refined as cheap whiskey with generic Cherry Coke. I love his voice like I love cheap, shitty cocktails; it’s a love fueled by disillusionment and a longing for my more reckless and grimier youth when I didn’t care so much for creature comforts or sleep. The musical structure of their songs, like most punk pieces, is simple. But, like a lot of punk, their catchy songs about needing/wanting or frustration/disappointment are embittered perfection driven by a stripped, primitive skill and sound, and all of this sits squarely and perfectly with some of my perpetually adolescent tendencies.

Continue reading “Show Review: Violent Femmes at the Fillmore, 05/11/2016”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-05-23 – 2016-05-29

Grateful Dead — Appearing for another farewell bow at The Fillmore this week.

This week in The Bay Area we have refusals, memoirs, and those who wear purple. We have clowns, the dead, and war. Should be a pretty good time.

Now, let’s get to the previews. Preview time now. Let’s preview and then we’ll be ready for the week. Previews, starting now. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-05-23 – 2016-05-29”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-04-23 – 2016-04-27

"Anarchy burger! / Hold the government!" - The Vandals — This Saturday in Oakland, plenty of this.

We’re in the final weekend of Coachella 2016, and the consequent Fauxchella 2016 shows are coming our way. What’s Fauxchella? It’s when you can see a band that’s also scheduled at Coachella but without actually having to go to Coachella.

This week in The Bay Area we have old stars, old studio guys, old smoky guys, montage anchorpoints, as much anarchy as you’d like, and a band that just went ahead and named themselves California.

And previews. Preview time. Let’s preview. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-04-23 — 2016-04-27”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-04-01 – 2016-04-05

In the spirit of having a joke-free April Fool's Day. — In the spirit of having a joke-free April Fool’s Day.

April Fool’s Day is a hellscape filled with brands attempting to be funny. Don’t encourage them.

No fooling here, it’s preview time. This week in the Bay Area, we have local punk rock, queercore, nerdcore, a flautist, a man who built his career upon eels, and a benefit about benefits.

Let’s preview. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-04-01 — 2016-04-05”

Show Review: Disturbed w/Nonpoint at The Fillmore, 3/16/2016

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF

Hiatus. hi·a·tus. noun. A pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.

Staind, The Gaslight Anthem, The Academy Is…, A Static Lullaby, Armor For Sleep, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, System of a Down, Underoath… just a few examples of bands that are on a hiatus, have taken one, or broke up and then reformed (kind of the same thing as a hiatus). After a 4-year hiatus, in which all 4 of its members worked on other musical projects, Disturbed is back.

Continue reading “Show Review: Disturbed w/Nonpoint at The Fillmore, 3/16/2016”

Show Review: Indigo Girls at The Fillmore, 2/19/2016

Emily Saliers and Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls

The Indigo Girls were hugely important to me as an adolescent, when I was all “fuck the patriarchy,” looking at my baby boomer parents and teachers and seeing a lot of what I didn’t want, but couldn’t figure out what to do instead. They were queer and progressive and unpretentious and pensive and courageous, yet even they have complained about the dismissive labeling they’ve received from the press – “bleeding heart lesbian folk duo”. They’ve been totally cast off as wholesome and safe, banal music for lesbians. When I told my friends I was going to see them, they kidded with me. “Are you sure you aren’t gay, Becka? You have flannel shirts and you listen to The Indigo Girls and Neko Case and you have very, very aggressive looking glasses.” Long ago, prior to my current Age of Zero Fucks, I felt self conscious about my adoration for them, and then I realized that I, too, was falling for a common sexist musical trap.

Continue reading “Show Review: Indigo Girls at The Fillmore, 2/19/2016”

Show Review: Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band at the Fillmore, 1/20/2016

Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band with Bob Weir

Josh Ritter is as gifted a storyteller as any other in today’s music scene, drawing from notes the likes of Springsteen, Cash, Dylan, and Tom Petty to create pictures of today’s America. If you’re under 45 and liberal, it’s likely you’ve felt frustrated by the lack of opportunity, by the creeping religious hypocrisy that poisons the political landscape, and the dreadful knowledge that the American dream was stolen from you before you and your peers could even walk. Ritter has his pulse on the angst and struggles of his generation, tackling themes of loneliness, disappointment, and isolation with humor and curiosity, always driving you forward to the next adventure.

Continue reading “Show Review: Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band at the Fillmore, 1/20/2016”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 12/18/15-12/24/15

Star Wars! Star Wars! Star Wars! Star Wars! Can you believe it? It’s difficult to believe! But it’s here! This week! B… [cough]… it’s… it’s been… a long time since it was possible to look forward to a Star Wars anything. It’s here! Extraordinary feelings.

Now, let’s talk about what’s coming up this week. Let’s preview. Hyperdrive go! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 12/18/15-12/24/15”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/9/15-10/14/15

While Leif and his posse may not have actually worn 'em, they are fun to wear. — While Leif and his posse may not have actually worn ’em, they are fun to wear.

Do you know what today is? It is Leif Erickson Day here in the USA. Let us celebrate explorers as well as arbitrarily-horned helmets.

Also, the Litquake festival begins in San Francisco! A solid day for a book about explorers.

After that’s done with, let’s look at the concerts coming up this week in the Bay Area. Skol, let’s preview! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/9/15-10/14/15”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/1/15-10/7/15

Emmylou Harris — She put the “Hardly” in the Hardly Strictly.

It’s a packed week with Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park and Alternative Press Expo in San Jose.

Coming up we have concerts by old people, young old people, and very old people who don’t much age. Let’s preview! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/1/15-10/7/15”