Author: Dakin Hardwick

Show Review: Tennis with Wild Belle at The Independent, 4/30/12

Regular readers of this site are aware of the fact that I put together a list of recommend shows in the bay area every week. Sometimes weeks it’s easier than others. Sometimes I scour through the schedules of local venues, and I find myself listening to a long list of bands that I’ve never heard before. I’ve uncovered some really good stuff over the years, but, rarely to I find a single song that makes me need to change my schedule around and go out on a Monday night. Was it worth making my way out on a Monday night? Well, your going to have to click that “more” button to to find out how that worked out for me:

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/3/12-5/9/12

Opening for The Black Keys this Friday Night!

Another week of rock and roll… Because sleep is totally overrated.

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SFIFF Review: Merrill Garbus and Ava Mendoza present Buster Keaton Shorts at The Castro Theater, 4/23/12

Photo by Pamela Gentile, courtesy of San Francisco Film Society

One of the great traditions of the San Francisco International Film Festival has been pairing up an indie rock band with a classic silent film. In past years these have always been classier films, such as 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea or A Page Of Madness. It seemed to be a risky move to do something as populist as the slapstick comedy of Buster Keaton. Of course, in a genius move, they called upon Merrill Garbus, the mastermind behind Oakland’s experimental pop outfit tUnE-yArDs to compose and perform an all new score for four classic Buster Keaton short films. Garbus called up local avant garde guitarist Ava Mendoza to help compose the score, which they also performed live, alongside Nate Brenner on bass, and a horns section made up of Noah Bernstein and Matt Nelson.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/26/12-5/2/12

Playing Thursday Night at The Regency Ballroom

We’ve got another full week of shows, and this one is chock full of some truly interesting and experimental music. Open your mind and your ears and go out this week!

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Show Review: GIVERS with White Arrows at Slim’s, 4/15/12

Photos by Marie Carney

April’s live musical options in the bay area are huge. Due to the sheer numbers of acts coming to town, mostly due to bands coming through because of Coachella. It means that you can be in twenty places at once in any given night this month. On the evening that I opted to see GIVERS, I decided based on putting five different gigs in a hat, and picking one at random. This brought me to Slim’s on a spring Sunday evening, and it very well could have been my best decision.

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Show Review: Chilly Gonzales: “The Piano Talk Show” at Hotel Utah Saloon, 4/7/12

Chilly Gonzales is not a household name in the USA, yet he is a very accomplished and successful musician. In America, his two most famous pieces of work are connected to Apple commercials, where his identity is entirely concealed. It puts him in a interesting place where he essentially has the freedom to do as he wishes, while still making a living as a musician. Thus bringing him to the tiny SOMA bar, Hotel Utah Saloon, doing a one man show on a Saturday night.

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Show Review: Sleigh Bells with Javelin and Elite Gymnastics at The Warfield, 4/5/12

Photos By Homirah Amiri

The life span of a band under the current hype machine can be rather short. Often times, the hype is so intense that people are sick of you before your first single is released. By the time the second record comes out, all of the ironically facial haired masses will have you filed away under Friendster. The only option a band has if they want to stay alive is to introduce themselves to a whole new audience. Sleigh Bells are at that place. The cool kids that embraced them in the beginning have totally rejected them, and it’s time for genuine music fans to take them in.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/5/12-4/11/12

Wednesday at Slim's

Welcome to April… The beginning of Fauxchella, when all of those bands that were paid an obscene amount of money to perform in the desert for rich kids on copious amounts of drugs get to play for normal people, in normal venues, where you get to hear a band with a soundcheck and a real venue. Not to say that festivals don’t have their place- I have a lot of fun at these things. But I both couldn’t afford a Coachella ticket, nor could I take the time off my day job. Which means that I’m seeing fIREHOSE at Slim’s. (Sorry Radiohead!)

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Show Review: Kelly Clarkson with Carolina Liar at The Event Center at San Jose State University, 3/27/12

Photos by Tom Owen

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to interview legendary bassist Mike Watt. We spoke about a lot of things, including many of his musical projects. As any good journalist does, I made sure to ask him about his sessions working with Kelly Clarkson on her underrated 2007 release My December. His response was great. He said, “Working on the record was a lot of fun. They gave me a lot of freedom to experiment in the studio, and Kelly was very sweet. She had a great voice and learned to sing in the church. Somebody told me that she also won a game show or something. I get asked about this a lot. Is she famous?” It was in interesting response. This is one of the most famous singers to emerge from the last decade, yet to the people that she worked with, one would never be the wiser. This humility could be either good or bad for a live performance. Luckily, I had the opportunity to make a rare journey into San Jose to see her play live. I was hoping it was worth the journey. Continue reading “Show Review: Kelly Clarkson with Carolina Liar at The Event Center at San Jose State University, 3/27/12”