Author: Dakin Hardwick

Show Review: Live 105’s Not So Silent Night at Oracle Arena, 12/7/12

All Photos by David Price

Live 105 has managed to put together, once again, a fantastic line up for their annual holiday spectacular. So much so, that they had to split it into two days. One day was a bit more “new wave” oriented, and another day was purely guitar driven. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to check out the first night, the “guitar” night. It was, surprisingly, one of the most interesting and diverse arena rock shows I’ve ever been to, filed with a wide array of guitar music, from acoustic folk to earnest, working class punk, all the way to classic blues rock. I don’t know how they are going to one up this one:

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 12/6/12-12/12/12

Auditioning for the band opening for Kopecky Family Band on Sunday.

I know that December tends to be a time to purchase gifts for friends and family members. But Shopping kind of sucks. Instead, go to a show?

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Show Review: Deep Sea Diver, Wild Belle, Sunrunners at Bottom Of The Hill, 11/27/12

All Photos by Homirah Amiri

Deep Sea Diver is the current project from Jessica Dobson, who was first introduced to me via Beck. She was the guitar player on the Modern Guilt Tour, which may have been the last time I felt Beck truly enjoyed playing music. She had some pretty huge shows to fill in that band, and she did filled them quite nicely. In the five years since I last saw her play with Beck, she joined The Shins and also had been recording songs that she wrote as this project.  Earlier this year, she put out an excellent record called History Speaks, which as an amazing full length that was well worth the half a decade wait it took for it to come out. I was quite excited to see how she managed to pull it if live on the cold Tuesday night.

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Show Review: An Evening With Ana Tijoux at La Peña Cultural Center, 11/21/12

As a human being, expanded your horizons is vital to ones’ own well being. Sometimes you need to jump into something completely blind. Sometimes, you just need to experience music that’s outside of your comfort zone. These experiences are vital to human life. That need is what brought me to La Peña Cultural Center on this drizzly November Thanksgiving Eve. I went into this show knowing one thing: Ana Tijoux is a Chilean born rapper that had a song in an episode of Breaking Bad. And that’s all I needed to know.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/22/12-11/28/12

Henry Rollins opted to spend Thanksgiving at a much better restaurant this year.

Did you really think I’d live you hanging on Thanksgiving day? Of course not… If Henry Rollins is working on Thanksgiving, then I am, too!

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Show Review: An Evening With Wilson Phillips at Davies Symphony Hall, 11/17/12

In the 22 years since the release of Wilson Phillips’ debut single, the still inescapable “Hold On,” the group has never toured. There was never really a reason to- during the height of their popularity, artists made their money from record sales, and they promoted their releases using radio and television. There was never a real need for them to hit the road. It came as a pretty major surprise to see that they actually decided to start touring so many years later. I hadn’t listened to them much since my middle school days, but the whole idea of seeing Wilson Phillips live piqued my curiosity. Would the show be an utter travesty? Can they still sing? Will I be bored listening to a bunch of songs I loved when I was 12? Will my mind be blown? This could have been in many different ways…

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Show Review: Japandroids with Bleached at The Filmore, 11/12/12

All Photos by Jonathan Pirro

I first stumbled across Japandroids while waiting to see No Age at SXSW in 2010. These were a bunch of noisey rock duos playing a venue that was normally set aside for DJ dancing. The sound guy had no idea as to how to deal with a band. As Japandroids were doing their line check, the sound guy yelled into the PA, seemingly frustrated to no end:

“That’s Loud As Shit!”

The singer / guitarist responded, even more upset, “IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE LOUD AS SHIT!!!”

That’s when I knew that this band was going to be great. And they killed it. And, finally, three years later, they are playing the legendary Fillmore Auditorium. Few bands deserve this honor as much as these guys do.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/15/12-11/21/12

Yes, my daughters are playing Davies Symphony Hall on Saturday.

Need to work up a good appetite for Thanksgiving? Here’s your guide:

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SF Funk Fest Review: Fred Wesley & The New JB’s, Lyrics Born Band at Mezzanine, 11.3.12

Fred Wesley, John “Jabo” Starks and Fred Thomas sharing a laugh between moments of funk. All Photos by Jonathan Pirro.

Have you ever felt like you were in on a big secret? And nobody believed you when you told them this secret? Like the one where one of the most influential bands of the last 40 years staged a reunion in a 1,000 person night club that, somehow, didn’t sell out in 30 seconds? Because on this unseasonably warm November night, the good people of San Francisco got to experience something that we haven’t seen in 13 years. Fred Wesley was James Brown’s trombonist and band leader during the classic 70’s funk era. Although he’s been recording and touring with a band called “Fred Wesley & The New JB’s,” this was the first time in many, many years that he’s played with any of the players that recorded those classic songs with James Brown.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/8/12-11/14/12

Appearing at Slim’s on Monday

Here is a whole slew of shows… Because there is absolutely nothing else to do. So, please, everybody enjoy some rock in the Bay this week!

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