Yo, I'm Woody Allen. And you will never be me. Life is tough, ain't it.
Yes, this is kind of a slow show week. Why? Because it’s Christmas week. Even venues need to take to occasional holiday. But, you know what, the biggest badass in America is coming to town! So, yeah, Merry Christmas.
I’d like to say this review was brought to you by Spotify. It’s not. They are not a sponsor on SpinningPlatters. But I like it. What I really like about it is the fact that they post what you are listening to on Facebook. That’s how I found Caveman. One of my coworkers at my day job, a person whose taste in music is pretty combatible with my own, was listening to this band a lot. So, of course I had to listen. And, well, my Spotifstalking paid off, because it was quite good. Even better was that I had an opportunity to see them live shortly after learning about them. For more on that, well, JUMP!
With the holidays fast approaching most of your favorite venues are getting rented out for holiday parties… But, live music is still happening, and there is plenty going around this week so you can get out of the cold. (Special thanks to Chris Rogers for helping out with some of these this week)
You know what’s great about living on Oakland, CA? You never know when you are going to end up at a Green Day concert. This was the second time that I saw Green Day play without even knowing that they were going to be performing until early evening that day. I highly recommend keeping your ears open fellow bay area folks, because these are their best sets. And, anyone that made it out to Live 105’s Not So Silent Night were treated to the best.
This is an early picture of a popular Bay Area musical group. I'm not sure which one, but I'm pretty sure it's the one that 2Pac used to dance for.
Yes, we all know that Metallica are taking over The Fillmore this week, and only very special people will be getting into those shows. Remember that Metallica also totally blow, and everything on this list is better. Or, at least tell yourself that, because you aren’t getting in. Don’t worry, I’m not getting in, either.
I have a live music bucket list. There are about a dozen or so musicians that I’d like to see before they call it quits. The number one band on that list is Melt-Banana. I first uncovered them working at the old Wherehouse Music on Geary in San Francisco. Somebody was selling back used CD’s, and there was a single loose disc left behind. It was Cell Scape by Melt-Banana. I put it on the overhead, and I was blown away. It was like nothing I’ve ever heard before. It was chaotic, weird, and beautiful. I instantly knew that I needed to see this band live. Sadly, it took almost 10 years before I was able to make that work.
You know what to do. Go out and support your local live music venue. Buy your niece merch for Christmas. Join Boy George in encouraging Adele to quit smoking.
Every once in a while, something completely out of left field comes into your vision, often times unexpectedly. Yelle were one of those bands for me. I was at SXSW, and I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood for. Then, I stumbled across a crowded room and got to experience wonderfully high energy performance. The room was far too crowded to enter, but I was able to catch some of it through an open window. I couldn’t tell what language the music was in, and I had to fight a little to find out what I was listening to, but once I did, I made careful note of who it was. I checked out their SXSW schedule, and proceeded to try to get into one of their many sets, in order to actually get to “watch” the band, but to no avail.
Yes, the great Heavy D passed away yesterday. We here at SpinningPlatters are definitely sad, but the best way to respect the memory of a fallen musician is to go see live music.