Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
One of my favorite experiments is to go see a band that I know nothing about. Usually this tends to be a low key affair, in a small venue somewhere. It’s rare for a band to play a venue in the 3,000+ capacity range that I’ve managed to miss. Although it can easily be a gamble, the pay off can be great. On the warm Indian Summer night, I took the new band challenge.
It’s everyone’s favorite time of the week: When SpinningPlatters tells you what shows you should be going to. These are all pretty good, even the crappy ones
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/15/11-9/21/11”
A few weeks ago, Spinning Platters had the pleasure of chatting with Peter Hook, the legendary bass player for Joy Division, New Order and Monaco, as he prepares for his upcoming North American tour. (He is coming to Mezzanine in San Francisco on Saturday, September 17th) This conversation happened about a week before it was revealed that New Order were recording and touring again without Hook. Instead, Hook is bringing his ace band The Light around the states to perform the classic Joy Divison record Closer in it’s entirety, as well as other key tracks. We did get to discuss the tour, the general response to the gigs from people close to Ian Curtis, the Joy Divison vocalist that passed away 21 years ago, and about other projects in his plate.
Now that you have been doing Joy Division songs (with The Light) for about a year, have audiences responded differently?
Givers. There is something about this band that piqued my interest before hearing a single note. It may be the publicity photo that I keep seeing, with the incredibly pretty girl in it. It may be the fact that there is absolutely nothing bad on their label, Glassnote Records. Or it could just be my sixth sense about bands. Anyways, I uncovered by copy of their debut full length record that was sent to me from the label. I started listening, and maybe a week later, I realized that it’s all I wanted to listen to. Then, I noticed that they were playing. So, as expected, I decided to seize the moment and go see this band.
Givers. There is something about this band that piqued my interest before hearing a single note. It may be the publicity photo that I keep seeing, with the incredibly pretty girl in it. It may be the fact that there is absolutely nothing bad on their label, Glassnote Records. Or it could just be my sixth sense about bands. Anyways, I uncovered by copy of their debut full length record that was sent to me from the label. I started listening, and maybe a week later, I realized that it’s all I wanted to listen to. Then, I noticed that they were playing. So, as expected, I decided to seize the moment and go see this band.
Continue reading “Show Review: Givers with Kopecky Family Band at Rickshaw Stop, 9/8/2011”
Sadly, one of the highlights of the Fall concert season is taking a year off: Michael Franti’s Power To The Peaceful festival in Golden Gate Park. It’s ok, it’s coming back next year. I think that you will find plenty to do, don’t worry about it.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/8/11-9/14/11”
Happy Labor Day! Let’s appreciate the working men and women of American by going to an awesome show this week! What do you say?
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/1/11-9/7/11”
My cat keeps sitting on my hands, making it really hard to type something witty. So I’ll get her to talk to you instead:azMNBSAMBDS,MCDEHBJCD GQWCHVJEC VEN
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/25/11-8/31/11”
As we wind down our Summer, it feels good to know that our live music experiences will keep coming at you. Here’s what I think you should be doing this week in San Francisco and it’s surrounding cities.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/18/11-8/24/11”
For four years running now, the good people at Another Planet and Superfly have put together a massive outdoor music festival in the part of San Francisco so far west that most people don’t even know it exists. The weather is unpredictable, the terrain in this portion of Golden Gate Park is difficult, and with 5 stages, decisions are always tough to make. Well, all I can say about the first two is to bring layers and wear sturdy, comfortable shoes. As for who to see when? Well, I’ve studied the band schedule and the map, and based on my impeccable taste in music I am ready to present to you the most fulfilling plan for your Outside Lands experience.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Tackles Your Tough Outside Lands 2011 Decisions”
In order to warm up for Outside Lands, here is a list of many lengthy, multi-band shows this week that also are awesome.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/4/11-8/10/11”
