In the world of comedy, Laraine Newman is an industry legend. She’s been consistently working for over 40 years, starting as a member of the legendary first cast of Saturday Night Live, and branching out into dozens of roles in television, film and voice acting. She has an amazing amount of stories, and when I heard she was going to be doing a one-woman show as part of Sketchfest this year, I jumped at the chance to experience her live.
2016 will go down in history as the year in which all of our heroes died. Most everything that happened felt like a cold darkness, and the world feels like a worse place. Here are a few thoughts from our writers about a few of our favorites who passed away this last year…
Sketchfest is really rough. There is literally too much to do over the course of the three weeks the festival runs. We have 18 days of anywhere between 3-10 shows, all special events with performers that rarely come to San Francisco to perform. I’m here to help you decide what to do. Below are some of the events that I find the most interesting over the course of the entire event. You can use my handy guide, or you can just go rogue and take a look at the full schedule here! Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide to Sketchfest 2017”
The only moment that the crowd was still enough for me to even attempt a photo.
Several months ago, I decided, along with my girlfriend and a close friend, that spending Thanksgiving in Mexico City would be more fun than staying in the U.S. this year. We booked our flights, and made several fun plans, including a trip to see Lucha Libre on Friday, November 25th. We made these plans shortly before Japandroids announced their “comeback” tour of just a small number of cities worldwide, sadly skipping the Bay Area, but hitting Mexico City on Friday, November 25th. This, of course, meant it was time for me to accomplish the greatest show challenge of my life: a double-header in a foreign country, where I don’t know the layout, and I don’t speak the language. I had spent the past 37 years preparing for this moment.
For 10 years, the Treasure Island Music Festival has been one of the best-run and best-booked music festivals in the world. Situated on Treasure Island’s west lawn, we got to experience picturesque views of San Francisco, along with some of the best weather and some of the most innovative performers of our time, often just before breaking out to the mainstream. For 9 of those 10 years, everything went off pretty much perfectly; this year, however, mother nature decided that things were going a little TOO well for the festival, and it was time to see how the good people of Noise Pop and Another Planet would handle, well, everything she’s got. In my own humble opinion, they handled it rather nicely, and the 10th year was, once again, extraordinary.
Day two of Treasure Island started out significantly easier. The winds were calm, and only light sprinkles were on the horizon. Still, I think people were a little nervous about the weather (Or simply stayed out partying late the night before), as when I arrived at 11:30 am on Sunday, the park looked pretty deserted. However, the ferris wheel was up and running, and the coffee line was short, so it made for a very good morning for me.
A long time ago, as young teen, I used to stay up late and sneak into the TV room to watch a show called Alternative Nation. It played music videos from popular alternative rock bands. One night, I saw a video to a song where the singer had a voice like sugar, which layered wonderfully with the song’s crunchy guitars, and I thought it was the coolest thing on Earth. Then we got to the chorus, which was song at a break neck speed. At that point, I decided that I wanted nothing more than to see this band live. However, I kept looking for a show, and, sadly, it never happened.
Well, it never happened until NOW! Letters To Cleo are making, as far as I know, their first visit to the Bay Area. And I would like YOU to attend. They are playing Thursday, October 20th. This is an all ages show, so this contest is open to EVERYONE! Click here to enter!
The deadline for entering is Tuesday, October 18th at midnight. The winner will be notified via email. And if you prefer not to leave things to chance, you can buy tickets here!
Paco Romane is one of the greatest Bay Area comedians. In addition to doing stand-up all around the Bay all the time, he hosts the Sup Doc Podcast with George Chen. He’s also performing at the Outside Lands Music Festival this weekend, where he has curated a set of his favorite comics to open the Barbary tent, and will also be doing a “Hipster Chef Roast” at the Gastromagic stage on Friday. If you can’t make it out to Outside Lands on Friday, Romane is doing a warm up show at Plate & Camera Productions on Thursday Night!
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Outside Lands is about to begin, and with it, a slew of great acts you love — as well as a bunch of bands you may have never heard of before. I know that your instinct is to sleep in and show up just in time to let Third Eye Blind know that you do, in fact, believe in science. However, if you do, you are going to miss some of the best music in the festival. The lower part of the poster is where the good stuff hides, so, who knows — you may just stumble across the next Black Keys or Ellie Goulding, both past lower-poster-graduates.
The schedule is out NOW, so you can start planning your weekend. I do believe it’s in your best interest to include some of these acts:
Jordan Kurland has been influential within the Bay Area music scene for over two decades. He helped make Noise Pop a major music festival, and is one of the masterminds behind the Treasure Island Music Festival, currently heading into it’s 10th year. As one of the primary forces behind the mainstream acceptance of Indie Rock, you probably owe about half of your record collection to him. Spinning Platters had the opportunity to talk to this legend about how to book a great festival, the future of Treasure Island Music Festival, and a bit about the new ways bands are getting creative with drumming up revenue.
FYI, Treasure Island Music Festival is October 15th and 16th, and tickets are on sale NOW! Also, Noise Pop 2017 (the 25th year!) Super Fan Badges, went on sale today, and are moving fast. These include admission to 25 shows in the months leading up to next year’s festival, in addition to the entirety of Noise Pop 2017. You can buy this here!
