Author: Dakin Hardwick

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

All Photos by Rob DeMartin.

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”

Outside Lands 2018: 48 Hours After The Line Up Dropped

It’s the same story every festival: In the days and weeks leading up to the line up announcement, people try to predict the line up. Then folks get their hopes set super high with some imaginary Beatles / Smiths / Talking Heads / Mozart & Salieri reunion, and then nothing else is ever good enough. Then they complain about how it’s never as good as it was in 2013, or 2009, or 2017, or whenever that time you last complained about how bad the line up was.

As expected, the internet was flooded with complaints about the 2018 line-up, which goes on sale today at 10am. If you want to experience pure frustration, feel free to peruse the Outside Lands’ Reddit page. I, however, believe that this might actually be one of the most exciting and riskiest Outside Lands bill yet.

Here’s why: Continue reading “Outside Lands 2018: 48 Hours After The Line Up Dropped”

In Defense Of: No Jack White, The White Stripes Weren’t “Like A Solo Project”

I’ve been a fan of Jack White for a while now… While working at Wherehouse Music in the early ‘00s, I made sure we were the first chain store to stock The White Stripes in the Bay Area, and I’ve been following White’s career closely ever since. And, yes, he’s a little idiosyncratic. He can be a bit of a jerk. Heck, he took his kids out of a school because his arch rival, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, also sent his kids there! But, despite these quirks, I’ve always had a bit of respect for him. He always elevated female musicians, especially female side players. Most importantly, he would always defend his original drummer, Meg White.

Well, he always did, until now. Continue reading “In Defense Of: No Jack White, The White Stripes Weren’t “Like A Solo Project””

Spinning Platters’ Guide To Noise Pop 2018

No. Not a “Bro” marathon. More like a hip music marathon?

Noise Pop is upon us again… Also known as that week where Bay Area music fans marathon as many shows as they can in a single week. And, well, not all of us can be in multiple places at once, so let’s try to limit our Noise Pop anxiety a bit!

Full schedule, full fest badges, and individual show tickets can be found here! Continue reading “Spinning Platters’ Guide To Noise Pop 2018”

SF Sketchfest Review: Mourzouksnick, Dopetown 3000 at The Nourse Theater, 1/28/18

One of my favorite things Sketchfest does is that they book many of their shows using the old music format: take a lesser known act and have them do a short set ahead of the headlining set. It’s a great way to learn about some lesser known sketch troops, and often times, it’s very rewarding. Tonight we got to enjoy a set by Dopetown 3000! (Spoiler: They were exceptional) Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Mourzouksnick, Dopetown 3000 at The Nourse Theater, 1/28/18”