Outside Lands Journal: Day 1, 8/8/14

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Thus begins my daunting task of compressing the highlights of 35 hours worth of music, comedy, and food into a mere three posts. It’s not easy, as this was definitely one of my favorite Outside Lands experiences ever, with the most even distribution of wonderful things to do that I’ve ever enjoyed from this shindig. Here’s how it all started:

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 3/10/11 – 3/16/11

You can say Hey! to this at the Rickshaw Stop on Friday night.

So it’s the run up to our annual journey to SXSW in Austin, and frankly, I haven’t been paying too much attention to what’s playing here in the Bay Area this week. But if our SXSW previews are meaningless to you because you’re staying here (as I assume most of you are), it turns out there’s plenty of good music happening right here at home, as usual. So here’s some good spots to spend your hard earned dollar. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 3/10/11 – 3/16/11”

Show Review: The xx with Warpaint and Zola Jesus at The Fox Oakland, 9/23/2010

Welcome, they said welcome to the floor / It's been a while (Photo by Carla Deasy)
Welcome, they said welcome to the floor / It's been a while (Photo by Carla Deasy)

How often do you find yourself enthralled with an opening band? For most of us, the answer would usually be “not very often”, and in a fairly large sum of concertgoers, “hardly ever”. What, then, do you say when you find yourself attending a headlining show of that same band? Do you bite your tongue and feel a hypocrite, or do you revel in the fact that you are experiencing them again, and this time in a fuller, more realized capacity? It was, most likely, these sorts of thoughts and sensations going through the heads of many members of the crowd inside the Fox Theater tonight, for the band that had returned to Oakland for their second performance at this historic venue were doing just that: headlining. The xx were the opening act for the electronic masterminds of Hot Chip back in April; this time around, the dark, haunting-yet-danceable London rockers were the ringleaders of the show, which apparently sold out even faster than their previous Fox Theater show from 5 months ago.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/23/2010-9/29/2010

Instead of a quick, witty thing to say, I just want you to figure out which band playing this week is being spoofed with the photograph above. Winner gets a note from me telling you that you won!

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Show Review: School of Seven Bells, Warpaint and Phantogram at Slim’s 10/6/09

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I had only a passing familiarity with School of Seven Bells before it was suggested I would like them.  I believe I was told, “If you like Murder By Death, you should check out School of Seven Bells.”  That’s a poor “RIYL,” but it turned out fine in the end.  Still, this is a band that needs my help to take their show to the next level. I hope they’re listening. Continue reading “Show Review: School of Seven Bells, Warpaint and Phantogram at Slim’s 10/6/09”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: October 6th-October 12th

Appearing Saturday with Thursday. Huh? Yeah, that's right.
Appearing Saturday with Thursday. Huh? Yeah, that's right.

October is upon us, which means everyone is playing all the time. I guess it really is Rocktober! Lotsa great shows this month, all on the same day. Happy decision making!!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: October 6th-October 12th”