Author: Dakin Hardwick

Show Review: Yelle at Mezzanine, 11/12/11

All Photos By David Price

Every once in a while, something completely out of left field comes into your vision, often times unexpectedly. Yelle were one of those bands for me. I was at SXSW, and I wasn’t sure what I was in the mood for. Then, I stumbled across a crowded room and got to experience wonderfully high energy performance. The room was far too crowded to enter, but I was able to catch some of it through an open window. I couldn’t tell what language the music was in, and I had to fight a little to find out what I was listening to, but once I did, I made careful note of who it was. I checked out their SXSW schedule, and proceeded to try to get into one of their many sets, in order to actually get to “watch” the band, but to no avail.

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Show Review: Weird Al Yankovic at The Fox Theater – Oakland, 11/6/11

Hoping hard that George Lucas doesn't see this.

The longevity of Weird Al Yankovic’s career will always boggle my mind. He’s been recording for over 30 years, and has consistently remained one of the most easily recognizable faces in America for most of that time. He is currently touring to support his 13th studio album, Alpocalypse, and its companion DVD, The Alpocalypse Tour, and this tour included a very, very rare Bay Area tour stop. (This is only his second time playing here since 1997!)

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Show Review: Wild Flag, Drew Grow & The Pastor’s Wives at Great American Music Hall, 11/4/11

Timony - Weiss - Brownstein. 'Nuff said. (Photo By Emily Anderson)

Just about two weeks shy of one year ago today, a hotly rumored about Wild Flag embarked on their first tour. Nobody new what to expect. Yes, we knew what the pieces were, and most of the people in this band have played together before. As we know from history, without even a single note on a myspace page, they managed to sell out every venue they played along the west coast, melting faces off in each town. This time the band has done some of the more traditional things, like put out a record. (Mind you, one of the best reviewed records of 2011, the self titled Wild Flag) On this chilly November night, the good people of San Francisco were treated to their second ever dosing of Wild Flag. If you weren’t in attendance, which was a rather silly decision to make, after the jump, I will tell you what you missed.

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Live Blogging With The Devil: Lulu – Lou Reed & Metallica

My only friend for the next 90 minutes

Tonight is an experiment. A record by the odd pairing of Velvet Underground leader Lou Reed and bay area metal titans Metallica. I’ve tried hard to avoid any press or tracks from this record, so this will be as fresh as possible. I am not a fan of either act. I do consider the Velvet Underground to be one of the most important bands ever, and much of Reed’s solo work is fine. I even enjoyed some elements of elements of 2003’s The Raven. As for Metallica, I think that Master Of Puppets  and Ride The Lightning are great records, but I haven’t liked much after that. I will admit that I don’t consider St Anger to be absolute garbage. I love the drum sounds on that album, but the songwriting could use some editing.

Anyways, keep refreshing, because I will be updating this throughout my entire listening experience. I don’t know what to expect from this, but I hope you enjoy it:

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Show Review: Julieta Venegas, Ximena Sarinana at The Fox Theater – Oakland, 10/23/11

Historically speaking, the vast majority of popular music consumed in the world is in English. In countries where they don’t speak English, they still primarily listen to music with English language vocals. I believe that the majority of this has to do with America’s overwhelming cultural influence on the world, so maybe it’s time for the United States to start embracing musicians that perform in a language that they don’t speak in. The Fox Theater in Oakland hosted an evening with two artists from Mexico City, who largely perform in their native tongue.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/20/11-10/26/11

PORTIS Hat & Coat Rack from IKEA. $29.99. Current average price of Portishead tickets on Stubhub? $150.00

This is another week where you just have to feel lucky living in the bay… It’s a great combination of living legends and awesome low profile gigs, so I hope you have some money and sick time, because this one is gonna be busy!

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Show Review: blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Matt & Kim (Honda Civic Tour) at Shoreline Amphitheater,

In 2001, a car company that went by the name of “Honda” decided to add another package tour to the schedule. They called up blink-182, who were at the height of their popularity, and, one thing led to another, and 10 years later, fans of pop punk music became far more aware of automobiles. I was at the San Francisco date on that tour, a show at The Warfield with No Motiv and Alkaline Trio. Over the next ten years, blink-182 went through an awful lot, evolving, and then breaking up, and then their drummer almost died in a plane accident, inspiring them to get back together.

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