Photo by David Price, taken at Hotel Utah, 7.27.10
Kelli Scarr is a native of Folsom, CA. She has spent many years playing in different bands, before ending up as a collaborator on Moby’s 2009 release Wait For Me, as well as playing in his band on his corresponding world tour. She’s recently released her debut full-length solo record, Piece, which as an absolutely stunning piece of work. Spinning Platters had a chance to speak with her before playing the intimate confines of the Hotel Utah Saloon.
Photo by Kara Murphy, who also assisted with this interview
Shortly before he wowed the crowds at Mezzanine, we had the honor to sit and talk to Dan Black at a creepy dive bar on 6th St. We enjoyed club soda with lime, and talked about touring, musical genres, and what happens when your band spontaneously combusts on stage. Here’s a transcription of that conversation:
Seen Here: Toad. Not Pictured: Wet Sprocket. Also Missing: The part of my brain that would tell me not to make that joke
I have a live music bucket list. That is, I have a list of performers and bands that I would like to see before I or they die. This week has been pretty good for me, in terms of knocking things off that list, but I was really excited about the opportunity to see the first band to make that list. I believe I was 12 when I first heard “All I Want.” I was watching VH-1, as I did sometimes at that age, and thought that it was one of the coolest songs that I have ever heard. At that point, I decided that I needed to see them live, yet it somehow became a difficult task. They played often throughout my high school years, but broke up before I was able to see them. When they reunited, they local shows tended to be either very intimate (selling out super fast), at wineries that are unreachable by public transit, or opening for other bands (Counting Crows, Big Head Todd & The Monsters), and it just wasn’t plausible for me. But, with everything working out just right, I’ve finally accomplished this goal, nearly 18 years later.
You can color in your own Bear In Heaven on the way to the Rickshaw Stop on Monday Night!
The last week of July is looking pretty crazy… Tons of amazing shows going on this week, including two very rare 4-band shows that are worth arriving early and staying late. Time to buy some Red Bull!
Pollstar is a magazine that keeps track of concert tours, and around July of every year, they release their mid-year list of highest grossing tours. Usually it’s not a huge surprise. Generally speaking, it’s tried and true dinosaur rock, mixed in with a few “flavors of the year” pop artists. This time, however, the we got a bit of a surprise. Number one was Bon Jovi, which wasn’t actually a surprise. The number two really got me, though: James Taylor & Carole King. Neither of these artists have had any recent output that had much of an effect of the pop charts, and both artists have toured in recent years on their own without much fanfare. I needed to know why, in 2010, are people spending their hard-earned, recession-era dollars on this pairing, instead of on The Eagles or Christina Aguilera. So, I did what any good reporter would do in this scenario. I went to the show. And I brought my Dad, because it wouldn’t be right any other way.
This is what my street looks like today. Waiting on the results of the Mehserle trial. A little scared.
Well, I’m sitting in my apartment in downtown Oakland, looking outside, waiting for all hell to break loose. And, if the entire city doesn’t burn to a crisp tonight, I’m going to check out some of these shows!
There has been a lot of controversy over the resurrected Lilith tour, including complaints of mis-marketing, poor ticket sales, and a general lack of consistency in the line ups. When it comes down to it, though, none of this matters when it comes to the actual event. I was there to account these events first hand, and I honestly felt that the show I went to was quite successful. It was actually refreshing to attend a festival that was so well organized, as well as such a well behaved audience.
Once upon a time, in the late 90’s, a struggling singer-songwriter was finding it difficult to get her music heard. She was too edgy for Adult Contemporary radio, but too light for Alternative Rock radio. She also noticed that both of these genres were awfully male-centric. So, her solution was to find a group of like-minded female musicians and take them on the road with her. The basic idea is that there is strength in numbers, and with the marketing push of several artists, it could be good for everyone, much like Lollapalooza managed to accomplish in the early 90’s. That artist was Sarah McLachlan, and the tour was called The Lilith Fair, named after Adam’s first wife. Continue reading “In Defense Of: The New Lilith Tour”
The Roots have had an unheard of career trajectory for the hip-hop world. They quietly came onto the scene in 1993 with an organic form of hip hop that was created entirely with live instruments, and were often thrown in with the jazz/rap fusion acts like A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets. Although they didn’t reach the same level of success as those two acts, they were definitely one of the most determined acts in hip hop, touring non-stop, which is rare in hip-hop, and eventually became one of the most revered live acts in the country. They managed to build a following the old fashioned way, and have managed to become a little more successful with every passing year.
Fast forward to 2010, and The Roots are practically a household name, with several hit singles under their belt at this point as well as an extremely high profile gig as the house band in Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Their latest record, how i got over, might be the record to finish that process off, and become that household name.
