Author: Dakin Hardwick

Single of the Week: “What Are You Doing To Me” by Beau

“What Are You Doing To Me” is such a classic rock song. Singer Heather Goldin delivers this song with such a wonderful, exasperated sneer that crawls under my skin, just like it should. And, for optimal effect,  listen on headphones. I haven’t heard such a clever use of right/left panning in YEARS. By the end of the song, I actually am mad at whoever this person is that is stringing Goldin a long. 

“What Are You Doing To Me” is from Beau’s upcoming record, Girl Cried Wolf. Pre-order it from your favorite digital music provider today! 

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Presents a Bonkers Full Lineup!!!!

The good folks at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass have unleashed the most bonkers lineup of any music festival this fall… I stare at the poster, and something I missed the first time jumps out at me. Like, how is Patti Smith just hiding on that poster? Oh, because it’s alphabetical.  Oh, and the whole thing is free, and the best way to kick off Rocktober and the event runs October 4th – 5th in Golden Gate Park- using a lot of the same space Outside Lands uses. 

Highlights include my all-time favorite band, Sleater-Kinney, Cat Power doing her Bob Dylan show, punk poet John Cooper Clarke, Aoife O’Donovan & The SF Girls Choir, SP favorite Zella Day’s new band Chaparelle, and legends like Mavis Staples, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Dave Alvin, Robyn Hitchcock, Bobby Rush, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and so many more that I’m sure I’m missing someone that you will be mad at me for overlooking. 

Anyways! All the details are here. Daily lineups are below. And you can enjoy classic HSBs at HSB.TV! Continue reading “Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Presents a Bonkers Full Lineup!!!!”

Heart’s Royal Flush Tour has been rescheduled!

I was GUTTED when I found out that Heart had to cancel their Fall 2024 tour for vocalist/flutist Ann Wilson to receive and recover from cancer treatment. I was worried that this was the end. Happily, Wilson looks like she’s recovered and is ready to go! I will note that I’m gutted that their SF show at Chase Center isn’t happening on this round, although it’s making me speculate wildly about Bottlerock 2025. 

Dates begin February 28th in Las Vegas, and tickets can be purchased here on all dates! Tour dates after the jump, along with a ferocious recent rendition of the best rock song of the 70s below the jump: Continue reading “Heart’s Royal Flush Tour has been rescheduled!”

New Festival: United Sounds NYC

The guy who owns Spinning Platters, our first Editor-in-Chief, Gordon Elgart, remains furious that The Dismemberment Plan keeps neglecting to play the Bay Area. He remains furious that they KEEP ANNOUNCING EAST COAST SHOWS!!! Including a brand new (and very reasonably priced) festival in Brooklyn called United Sounds NYC. Joining them on the top line is the great Blonde Redhead. Fleshing out the bill will be Sunflower Bean, Les Savy Fav, Model/Actriz, Man Man, Monobloc, Peel Dream Magazine + more to be announced. And it’s my birthday weekend, so if you aren’t hanging out with me, you should do this. 

Tickets are on sale now!

Single of the Week: “Like A Dog” by Jordana

Fun fact: my family had a 1-month old foster puppy earlier this week. It was lovely and insanely stressful. I highly recommend it if you have the time and space, no matter how much poop you are cleaning up. Either way, that might be why I have “Like A Dog” by Jordana on repeat. Or it might be because my shoulders bob uncontrollably to the bright and cheerful rhythms combined with some of the most vivid metaphors in lyrics that I’ve heard in a minute. Either way, I like the song. I hope you do, too. 

“Like A Dog” is off Jordana’s upcoming release, Lively Premonition, due October 18th. Also, it’s Bandcamp Friday today, so if you preorder here, all the money you spend goes to Jordana! (There’s even a Bandcamp exclusive variant!)

 

How Did Noga Erez Get Here?

Noga Erez is a brilliant MC who, after years generating buzz in the underground, is putting out her major label debut, The Vandalist on September 20th. We had a great discussion about influences, working with Missy Elliott, her epic KIDS livestream, and even managed to discuss the complexities of promoting a record while living in a politically volatile country.

Single of the Week: “Late to The Party” by Orla Gartland ft Declan McKenna

I am often SHOCKED when I catch an artist selling out an entire US tour without me knowing much about them. I feel like I’m “Late to The Party,” if you will. My day job is in event ticketing, and it seems that every club I work with was shocked by how quickly these Orla Gartland shows sold out, and I finally see why. This song rips? Gartland pulls from the classic 90’s Britpop in both warmth and humor and is also pretty ferocious. For those eagerly awaiting the second Wet Leg record, at minimum, Gartland can help tide you over until then. 

“Late To The Party” is the latest single off Orla Gartland’s sophomore record, Everybody Needs A Hero, in stores and streaming on October 5th. You may prepare for this record’s arrival however you please here. And sorry if you were hoping to see her this Fall, as all 13 North American shows are SOLD OUT. 

Show Review: Chaka Khan with Steel Pulse at Stern Grove, 8/25/24

Stern Grove is one of my favorite places, but I have never make it out there enough. It’s a sunny oasis in the middle of the foggiest reaches of San Francisco’s Sunset District, and every year, they commit to a Summer’s worth of amazing free shows. (Donate here to help keep these shows coming) I often feel intimidated by the commute, traveling from Oakland to the city’s furthest reaches across the bay. However, whenever I get here, I remember how magical this place is. And it doesn’t hurt that our show this afternoon features one of my bucket list artists, recently Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee Chaka Khan. 

Continue reading “Show Review: Chaka Khan with Steel Pulse at Stern Grove, 8/25/24”

Single of the Week: “Taste” by Sabrina Carpenter

I did not have “Becoming a Sabrina Carpenter Superfan” on my bingo card for 2024. Mostly because I didn’t know anything about her in 2023 and didn’t initially like “Espresso.” Then “Please Please Please” happened. Then Outside Lands happened. And now I’m smitten with her snarky blend of disco and country that feels so utterly timeless. “Taste” is, at its heart, a brilliant send-up of the “woman done wrong” country song. It would be “Jolene” if Jolene didn’t decide she was the victim. And the video is brilliant, too. 

“Taste” is the latest single from Sabrina’s 5th (Yes. 5th) record, Short n’ Sweet, in stores and streaming TODAY. You can experience the magic I felt at Outside Lands this fall on tour: Continue reading “Single of the Week: “Taste” by Sabrina Carpenter”

Show Review: Bikini Kill with Frightwig at The Warfield, 8/19/24

We were there for the first Bikini Kill reunion shows in 2019.  They were a profound and moving experience. We didn’t know what COVID was yet, which upended this tour and, well, still upends everything. I’m grateful that they managed to find a way to get back on the road. Everything feels really hard and continues to feel hard, and this band has always been the thing that gives me the strength to persevere and find reasons to be hopeful in the face of hopelessness. Continue reading “Show Review: Bikini Kill with Frightwig at The Warfield, 8/19/24”