Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
The last time we heard from Bleached was back in early 2017, when they released their brilliant EP and companion zine, Can You Deal?. Two years isn’t a long time in normal situations, but these last two years have felt like twenty. So, this has been on repeat on my headphones all day, and it will be in going with you, too.
Bleached are on tour right now with The Hives and Refused, but, sadly, do not have any Bay Area dates yet. Tour dates can be found here!
PSSST! Outside Lands has released their line up a little bit early… Like, um, 9am PST on Tuesday, March 26th early. And it’s pretty exciting! As usual, we are going to deep dive into the best acts from the bottom half of the calendar closer to the event. But, first, the headliners: both Paul Simon and Childish Gambino are postponing their retirements to visit us in Golden Gate Park. And, if you missed last year’s farewell shows at Oracle Arena from either of them, both were practically religious experiences. (I cried twice at that Childish Gambino show) Those two are pretty universally loved acts. The third headliner is twenty øne piløts, and, well, the moment I read that, I could see the Reddit page explode! That being said, just because a band sells a lot of records and crossed over to Top 40 radio, doesn’t devalue them. This duo first played early on the day in the 2013 Outside Lands Fest, and has taken their dissonant, tribal brand of dark pop rock, and continued to experiment with it while crossing over to the mainstream.
Other highlights include gospel legend Mavis Staples, R&B avant gardist Santigold, the most aggressive hip hop performer I’ve ever seen, Denzel Curry, 2018 Grammy winners Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals and Kacey Muscgraves, LA rock n roll heroes Cherry Glazerr, and SO MANY MORE! GA, VIP, and the brand new “Golden Gate Pass” with special elevated viewing area, a clear bag for your things, and much, much more. Tickets can be purchased starting Thursday, March 28th here!
Full line up below: Continue reading “Outside Lands 2019 Line Up HAS BEEN UNLEASHED”
This year marks the 26th year that the Noise Pop Festival debuted at The Kennel Club (now The Independent). Since then, it’s grown to become one of the primary tastemaking music festivals in the world! Past performers that have broken shortly after their Noise Pop debut have included The White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie, Tash Sultana, Vince Staples, and many, many more. Spinning Platters recently got to speak to Niki Bodemann, one of the bookers of the festival to talk about what it takes to make a week of music that even frustrates the most decisive music fan.
Festival badges, single show tickets, and a full schedule can be found here!
Spinning Platters: How long have you been booking for Noise Pop?
Niki Bodemann: So, I have been a full-time talent buyer at Noise Pop for like a year and three months now. Then before that, I was an assistant talent buyer. So, I would like help with the support bookings like all the openers on our shows and stuff um, but like booking actual headliners and stuff. Uh, it’s been a little over a year, yeah. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Niki Bodemann of Noise Pop”
This year is the 10th Anniversary of the best little punk rock festival the Bay Area has to offer, Burger Boogaloo! It’s hosted by John Waters, who will tell stories and introduce each band. The initial lineup was announced a few months back, but today they added a SLEW of amazing bands! We now get the amazing Nobunny, The Dwarves, who will be coming to make up for the set they had to cancel last year (maybe Blag Dhalia will steal the mic for “Sonic Reducer” from the Dead Boys), King Tuff doing the classic record King Tuff Was Dead, Davila 666, The Chats, and Timmy’s Organism! Also, The Jesus + Mary Chain will now be playing both Saturday and Sunday, doing a completely different set each night! All of this, plus the previously announced Shannon & The Clams, Scientists, Sheer Mag, Amyl and The Sniffers, and MORE!
The whole party is happening July 6th & 7th in Mosswood Park in Oakland, CA! A limited number of Valentine’s Day Special tickets went on sale today, as well as single day passes. Those can be purchased here!
Bring The Rock is the thing I look forward to the most at every Sketchfest. It’s the perfect synthesis of the three things I enjoy the most: rock n roll, stand-up comedy, and autobiographical storytelling. I love this show so much that I have, in fact, written my story for the off-chance that I ever actually get invited to do this show. (Greg, I am a fan. I am trained in public speaking, and although I’m not a great singer or guitarist, I am passionate about both.) Last year, Bring The Rock didn’t end up happening at Sketchfest, and I was very, very sad. I was very happy to see it return this year. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Bring The Rock with Greg Behrendt & Electrik Snöfläke at Swedish American Hall,”
SF Sketchfest showcases a range of comedy performances, including lesser known local acts, such as in “SF Sketchfest Threesome,” where three headliners are giving half an hour each to perform their standup routines. They also a few different stand up showcases that spotlight some lesser known talent. The “SF Sketchfest Threesome” is one of those events. This one takes three headliners, and gives them all an equal amount if time (30 Minutes), and the order is seemingly random. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: SF Sketchfest Threesome: Clare O’Kane, Alex Koll, Amy Miller at Punchline, 1/24/19”
There are a bunch of shows that seem to happen every year or almost every year at SF Sketchfest. Many of these things are nightclub acts that happen regularly in other markets, or are live podcast recordings. Almost all of them exist somewhere outside of Sketchfest. One of the few shows that don’t fit this mold is “Wheels Off with Rhett Miller.” Rhett Miller is the lead singer of The Old 97’s, and generally does about 200 shows a year if you combine his full band gigs and solo shows. However, with all of that criss-crossing the country, SF is the only place where we get this very unique show.
(Editor’s Note: At the time of publication we didn’t know that Miller was going to start doing Wheels Off as a podcast. Now you can enjoy this from the comfort of your own headphones)
Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Wheels Off with Rhett Miller at Swedish American Hall, 1/20/19”
For those who have been following my Sketchfest reviews for a while, every year I like to play a little “podcast roulette.” I’ll pick a podcast that I’ve never heard, nor heard of before, and go see it live. Sometimes I’ll pick them entirely at random. Other times, like tonight, I’ll base my arrival on the guests. This podcast is called “We’re No Doctors,” which I could only assume was a podcast where famous people talk about their medical history with two people obsessed with medicine but have no medical experience. And with the great Jane Wiedlin as the guest (the guitar player for The Go-Go’s, a band famous for their pharmaceutical adventures), I figured there would be some good stories. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: We’re No Doctors with Steve Agee and Busy Philipps, 1/17/19”
Carol Burnett is a living legend. There are few people whose careers have been as long and consistent and near universally appreciated as Burnett’s. Exactly how wide reaching her influence is could be seen just by looking at the line outside The Castro, waiting for doors to open for the Monday night tribute to this comedy hero. The line, which stretched multiple blocks, featured people of every age, race, and gender imaginable, from young kids to people that have been following Burnett throughout her entire career. There were people dressed in character, too, including one person who wore the infamous curtain dress, complete with rod from The Carol Burnett Show!
Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Carol Burnett, in Conversation with Wendie Malick”
Jon Glaser might not be a name you recognize immediately, but you definitely know his work. He spent years working on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, playing a slew of different cast members. He’s also Jeremy Jamm on Parks and Recreation, Laird on Girls, and Jon on Delocated, in addition to a slew of other projects. His current show, Jon Glaser Loves Gear, just kicked off it’s second season on truTV.
Glaser will be performing at SF Sketchfest on Saturday, April 19th at Cobb’s Comedy Club, and then heading up the coast to play shows in Seattle and Portland. If you can’t make any of these shows, you can always check out new episodes of Jon Glaser Loves Gear every Wednesday at 10:30/9:30CST. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Jon Glaser”