Dakin Hardwick – Page 55 – Spinning Platters

Spinning Platters Interview: Choreographer Annie-B Parsons

New York, NY – December 16, 2015 – Annie-B Parson, at her home in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.

David Byrne’s American Utopia has been regarded as one the most ambitious stage shows in rock history; a performance that enables the entire band to move freely about the stage is rare. Spinning Platters recently had an opportunity to catch up with one of Byrne’s collaborators on this project, choreographer Annie-B Parsons, to discuss this show, her method, and music in general.

How did you end up syncing up with David Byrne? Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Choreographer Annie-B Parsons”

Show Review: Sylvan Esso, Kamasi Washington at The Greek Theater – UC Berkeley, 7/12/18

Amelia Meath & Nick Sanborn. All photos by Dakin Hardwick.

At first glance, the pairing of jazz experimentalist Kamasi Washington and electro-pop hitmakers Sylvan Esso seemed like a really odd mix. However, when Washington and his band took the stage, it didn’t take long for the audience to warm up to his impressive brand of hard, heavy, funk and hip hop infused jazz. Before the first song was over, a significant percentage of the audience was up and dancing. Hard. Continue reading “Show Review: Sylvan Esso, Kamasi Washington at The Greek Theater — UC Berkeley, 7/12/18”

Show Review: Bent Knee, Gatherers at Cafe du Nord, 6/23/18

Cafe du Nord has been back for about a year, and I still hadn’t been to a show there. So, I played a little bit of show roulette. I decided to check out something, anything, just to see what the space has become. Lucky for me, Boston’s Bent Knee was playing the night I decided to drop in. A band I’ve been meaning to check out, too! So, my night has been confirmed. Continue reading “Show Review: Bent Knee, Gatherers at Cafe du Nord, 6/23/18”

Spinning Platters Interview: Blag Dhalia of The Dwarves

Blag Dahlia has been the front person for legendary punk Bay Area punk band THE DWARVES for over 30 years. They put on one of the rowdiest, messiest live shows you will ever see, and you’ll get to experience it all at this year’s Burger Boogaloo. We had an opportunity to chat with him ahead of the festival to talk about performing live, their fantastic new record, and pretty much anything else he wanted to talk about.

The Dwarves are playing Burger Boogaloo in Mosswood Park in Oakland THIS SUNDAY with The Damned and more! Tickets are available here!

Hello Blag! I know you’ve got a radio show to get to after this call, so I’m going to make this quick. So, tell me about this radio show you are running off to?

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Blag Dhalia of The Dwarves”

Spinning Platters Interview: Mark Arm of Mudhoney

MARK ARM is the frontman for grunge legends MUDHONEY. In a prior life, Mr. Arm was the lead singer for GREEN RIVER, another legendary Pacific Northwest band that happened to feature both STONE GOSSARD and JEFF AMENT, two dudes that would eventually go on to start PEARL JAM. Arm was able to take a break from managing the warehouse at Sub Pop Records to talk to us about his life in bands, balancing his day job and music in general.

Mudhoney are playing Burger Boogaloo this SATURDAY at Mosswood Park in Oakland. Tickets are still available here! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Mark Arm of Mudhoney”

Spinning Platters Interview: Mark Stern from Punk Rock Bowling

Punk Rock Bowling is one of the most exciting and unique music festivals running. This year, which happens to be their twentieth, is also one of their biggest! In addition to headliners NOFX, Rise Against, and At the Drive-In, we’ve got some rare visits to the US from legends including Norway’s Turbonegro and Canada’s DOA, not to mention too many other bands to even begin listing here.

Spinning Platters had a chance to pull founder Mark Stern from his busy schedule to talk about what it’s like to book a festival, which combines punk rock and bowling, and plop it in the middle of the desert at the beginning of summer. Lineup and tickets can still be found here! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Mark Stern from Punk Rock Bowling”

Show Review: Courtney Barnett, Jay Som at August Hall, 5/6/18

Do you remember Ruby Skye? The terrible EDM venue that seemed more like a good place to find overpriced liquor staining a cheap carpet? I mean, if you remember a night at Ruby Skye, you were probably never there. So I wasn’t surprised when the venue closed. I’m pretty sure the DEA would’ve shut it down eventually.

But I was surprised to see, when Courtney Barnett announced tour dates, they included a venue called “August Hall,” and the address was surprisingly close to the address of the old Ruby Skye. Was Barnett, one of the greatest rock songwriters of our time, going to be playing behind a DJ booth? Would there still be an oxygen bar in the corner? Would I be able to buy ketamine in ALL of the bathrooms still? Continue reading “Show Review: Courtney Barnett, Jay Som at August Hall, 5/6/18”

Spinning Platters Interview: Chad Heimann, Talent Buyer at August Hall

For those that have lived in the Bay Area for a long time, there was a long stretch of time where it felt like we were losing venues left and right. In the last two years however, it seems that the tides are turning in the other direction. Legendary venues Cafe du Nord and Swedish American Hall have reopened after several years of laying dormant. The UC Theater – best known as the place to see Rocky Horror Picture Show in the Nineties – has resurrected itself as a rock club. And brand new spaces like Cornerstone and Starline Social Club are really killing it in the East Bay.

The most recent addition to our live music landscape is August Hall. This venue is going in at the same location as the old Ruby Skye, only it’s been totally remodeled, and they’ve added a full restaurant and bowling to the space! They are opening up this weekend with SF’s own Giraffage on Saturday night, and the epic double bill of Courtney Barnett and Jay Som on Sunday. Spinning Platters had a chance to interview their talent buyer, Chad Heimann, about the venue, his career, and we did a little bit of making fun of Ruby Skye.

They’ve got a stacked calendar here, but you better act soon, as shows are selling out left and right.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Chad Heimann, Talent Buyer at August Hall”

Show Review: Springsteen on Broadway at Walter Kerr Theater, 4/12/18

Several months ago, I first read that Bruce Springsteen was setting out to do a one-man show on Broadway. My immediate thought was, “I would really like to go to that, but I doubt I’m going to make it to New York anytime soon.” There was a period where you could sign up for the “Ticketmaster Verified Fans” program, which, somehow, determined who was an actual fan and who was a reseller (not entirely sure how this works, and not really sure it does, but that’s for another article). I almost signed up for that, but didn’t. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Continue reading “Show Review: Springsteen on Broadway at Walter Kerr Theater, 4/12/18”

Show Review: Kate Nash and Miya Folick at The Fillmore, 4/9/18

Kate Nash is somebody that too many people have forgotten about. She put out Made Of Bricks, a massive, brilliant record of bright, yet jaded, pop nearly 16 years ago. The kind of album Elvis Costello could have done if he had been a teenage girl. Her follow up, My Best Friend Is You, recast her as a garage punk heroine. She put away the piano, picked up the guitar, and managed to put out an even better record than her first one. It was such a departure from the first album that few fans followed, and with her name tied to the unfairly mocked “pop” genre, few fans of garage rock followed. This is OK, because this gave her the freedom to follow that with the riot grrrl flavored, lo-fi masterpiece, Girl Talk. And, just this last week, she followed up Girl Talk with yet another reinvention. Yesterday Was Forever is another lo-fi treat, with her signature sharp, biting lyric writing, fuzzy guitars, and adding in analog drum machine beats and trap-influenced syncopation, making a very surprising and highly listenable record. Continue reading “Show Review: Kate Nash and Miya Folick at The Fillmore, 4/9/18”