Jonathan Pirro – Page 6 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead with The Technicolors at The Independent, 11/8/2012

Conrad Keely of ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead — Conrad Keely of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

In March of 2012, three principal members of the feminist Russian punk rock collective known as Pussy Riot were arrested on charges of “religious hooliganism”. It was an incident that served as a reminder that not every country in the world allows the kind of antics and messages that American bands have fought for and won the right to carry out in their performances. Hundreds of artists, musicians, activists, and even politicians vocally expressed their support of the band and urged the Russian judicial system to release them and support their freedom of speech. The Austin-based rock thunderstorm known as …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (often shortened to Trail Of Dead) dedicated their eighth album, 2012’s Lost Songs, to the imprisoned trio, and communicated the frenzied, passionate energy of their new release with an explosive live show that was utterly visceral and mindbending to behold.

Continue reading “Show Review: …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead with The Technicolors at The Independent, 11/8/2012”

Show Review: An Evening with Public Image Ltd. at the Regency Ballroom, 10/25/2012

John "Johnny Rotten" Lydon of Public Image Ltd. (PiL) — John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon of Public Image Ltd. (PiL)

There are, perhaps, no artists more deserving of the term “post-punk” than those who are recognized as the forefathers of the punk movement in the first place. Ironically, those who have had that mantle thrust upon them are often the most unwanting and abhorrent of such a term, as the entire focus of the original scene and movement was the antithesis of labels and stereotypes in favor of doing something that upset the common thread of order that society had comfortably settled into for so long. The English quartet known as the Sex Pistols — the oddest choice of icons, as they themselves were “manufactured” from a ragtag group hand-picked by designer Malcolm McLaren — birthed one particular member who took the concept of turning pop music upside down to a further extreme: John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon, the vocalist of the group and the founder of the collective known as Public Image Ltd.

Continue reading “Show Review: An Evening with Public Image Ltd. at the Regency Ballroom, 10/25/2012”

Show Review: Ultraísta with Astronauts, etc. at The Independent, 10/22/2012

There’s an interesting conundrum that a new band faces when one of its members is a well-known and deeply admired member of the music world, but theirs is not a front-and-center role in said new band. While it is pleasing and exciting to know that the group will gain attention and followers simply by this connection, it’s frustrating or sometimes embarrassing when the enjoyment and appreciation from their fans is entirely directed at the aforementioned member, with the other bandmates struggling to pull the limelight back to themselves. It helps, therefore, to bring a set of people with you who are delightfully talented and demonstrating show-stopping performances in and of themselves. Thus, it was a delightful treat when a small contingent of Radiohead fans, drawn to the Independent to see the new work of their long-time producer Nigel Godrich, were surprisingly dazzled and mesmerized by all three members of English outfit Ultraísta, which Godrich formed with fellow musicians Joey Waronker (drummer for Atoms For Peace, R.E.M. and Beck) and fresh new face Laura Bettinson earlier this year.

Continue reading “Show Review: Ultraísta with Astronauts, etc. at The Independent, 10/22/2012”

Show Review: Jane’s Addiction with thenewno2 at The Warfield, 10/18/2012

It’s extremely unusual, in the modern live music scene, to see long-time-famous rock acts who are NOT following the popular gimmick of playing one of their classic albums from start to finish. It’s a strange phenomenon to think about, because for many of these bands, such a concept would have seemed bizarre back in their original heyday; part of the intrigue of a live show comes from wondering whether the band onstage will play your favorite song, resurrect an unusual B-side from another time, follow the rhythm of playing popular pieces only, or even take requests from the audience. The unpredictability of the set adds excitement, especially when the show itself is also highly theatrical in nature, with custom-made stages and an ensemble of backing performers who dance, leap, and move in an acrobatic fashion, rather than simply add sonic accompaniment to the musicians before them. The Los Angeles alternative rock masters known as Jane’s Addiction carry these factors into their concerts in spades, bringing a brightly-lit and ever-shifting spectacle to their performance, and with a set that spans all 25 years of the band’s work.

Continue reading “Show Review: Jane’s Addiction with thenewno2 at The Warfield, 10/18/2012”

Show Review: David Byrne & St. Vincent at the Orpheum Theatre, 10/15/2012

David Byrne, St. Vincent, and accompaniment

The term “supergroup” is often used to refer to a set of musicians who are best known in association with their respective bands — musicians who haven’t necessarily operated as solitary acts in their own right, and are culled together to see what their individual untapped energies will create when synthesized. By contrast, when speaking of a pair of artists that write and perform together, each possessing their own prolific solo careers, the relationship is usually defined — accurately, but less overtly bombastically — as a “collaboration” between them. It should be preemptively stated, therefore, that the “collaboration” between David Byrne, former founder and frontman of world-famous new-wave-art-rockers Talking Heads, and Annie Clark, better known as the gorgeously cacophonous St. Vincent, possesses all of the grandeur and might that the term “supergroup” conjures the image of. Backed by a seven-piece horn section, sampling engineer, and percussionist, Byrne and Clark have birthed one of the most unusual but compelling albums of 2012, a 45-minute opus titled Love This Giant, and the Orpheum Theatre, best known as a host of many musicals and plays from all eras and countries, offered its stage to the pair for the San Francisco stop on their tour.

Continue reading “Show Review: David Byrne & St. Vincent at the Orpheum Theatre, 10/15/2012”

Show Review: Deftones with Scars On Broadway at The Warfield, 10/10/2012

The late 90s and early 2000s were an interesting time for popular metal music, when an often-bemoaned genre known as “nü-metal” clawed its way into existence, its rap-infused tendrils hot on the heels of bands like Rage Against The Machine and Faith No More, with its core still deeply rooted in groove-filled pop sensibilities that made it edgily acceptable to throw onto the radio. As the scene began dying out with the advent of metalcore and the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, groups that were still passionate about performing fought desperately to stay relevant, deigning their sound by bringing new elements into it that clashed with the original tunes that made them famous. It can be argued forever, of course, which bands did this as an attempt at creativity, and which bands did it as an attempt to appeal to more fans and listeners. The Sacramento quintet known as Deftones, however, have stood the test of time through this transition, and despite the definite traces of nü-metal within their sound, their desire to experiment and push boundaries has always remained constant.

Continue reading “Show Review: Deftones with Scars On Broadway at The Warfield, 10/10/2012”

Show Review: Amon Tobin’s ISAM Live 2.0 with Kronos Quartet at the Greek Theatre, 10/5/2012

The massive ISAM sculpture seen from afar

It is impossible to go and see an electronic music concert without being exposed to a phenomenal light shot and staggeringly complex visual performance, with dancing projections and rapidly-pulsing animations taking center stage for its entire span. As a result, electronic musicians are in a constant race to push the envelope of their live productions further than they have ever been pushed before, in an effort to bring a continuously relevant and engaging visual accompaniment to their own ever-evolving musical set. When Brazilian virtuoso Amon Tobin began work on the live version of his 2011 opus ISAM, the focus on organic sounds paired with pummeling synthesizers led to the creation of a new type of visual spectacle. Developed by production company V Squared Labs, ISAM Live takes the form of a gigantic white sculpture, comprised of several stacks of cubes at differing angles, onto which a set of sequences are projected, and mapped to compensate for the 3-dimensionality of the sculpture. The unorthodox screen comes to life in a dizzying display of pulsing lights, zigzagging lasers, ever-shifting patterns and creeping shadows; with the magic of surface-mapping, the structure appears to break apart, reform, and undulate like a living creature. After a worldwide club tour that experienced a ton of sold-out shows and highly-favorable reviews, Tobin and V Squared have reworked their performance and rebuilt the ISAM surface for an even larger and more dazzling show, which found its way to the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on a chilly autumn night.

Continue reading “Show Review: Amon Tobin’s ISAM Live 2.0 with Kronos Quartet at the Greek Theatre, 10/5/2012”

Show Review: Nightwish with Kamelot at The Warfield, 10/3/2012

One of the most difficult challenges that can face a band is the task of replacing their lead singer, since they are often one of the most important elements of the band’s sound, as well as one of the most recognizable faces in the group. When said band performs a genre of music as complex as symphonic heavy metal, that task becomes even more Herculean, especially when said vocalist possesses an incredible range, classical training, and a truly operatic quality to their voice — and such was the case in 2005, when Finnish band Nightwish were searching for someone to fill the shoes of signature siren Tarja Turunen. Two years later, soubrette soprano Anette Olzon took up the reigns, and remained with the quartet for half a decade. Halfway through their fall 2012 tour, however, a sudden hospitalization was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back for Olzon’s position with Nightwish, and former After Forever vocalist Floor Jansen was summoned with barely a moment’s notice to spare. What the band may have planned after their Imaginaerum tour is still unknown, but Jansen has risen magnificently to the challenge before her, and if the band’s performance at the Warfield was any indication, she may remain with the group for a long time yet.

Continue reading “Show Review: Nightwish with Kamelot at The Warfield, 10/3/2012”

Show Review: San Francisco’s 2012 Outside Lands Festival, Day 3

The one banana that didn't come in a burrito this weekend — The one banana that didn’t come in a burrito this weekend

San Francisco’s annual Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is always tasked with the enormous duty of being the “other” huge festival of California, and the designation is both a blessing and a curse. On the low end, it has to try and come up with acts that Coachella somehow didn’t have the foresight to book ages earlier, or at leasts acts that will stand up as decent competition, and with tickets to the Indio festival now going onsale a year in advance, they’ve got to get their contenders up and available as soon as possible — usually right before Coachella kicks off. On the high end, the climate is, on the whole, much more pleasant, the acts tend to stick to more large crowd-pleasers and new discoveries, and the fine folks putting on Outside Lands spend many months listening to the irritations and complaints about Coachella to use as a salvo against their festival’s possible shortcomings. The result is that by Sunday afternoon, most of the 65,000+ fans that came out to Golden Gate Park got their fairer shares of mindblowing performances and raucous partying behind them, and were ready for the big finish that would wind down the end of the chilly August weekend.

Continue reading “Show Review: San Francisco’s 2012 Outside Lands Festival, Day 3”

Show Review: San Francisco’s 2012 Outside Lands Festival, Day 2

One of many hoisted high within the crowds

Additional contributions to this article by Dakin Hardwick. All photos by Jonathan Pirro except where noted.

Saturday dawns with nary a clue that the fog and mist are clearing, and the massive greenery of Golden Gate Park continues to beckon to those who would walk onto its already-heavily-trodden surface, tickets in hand and heads held high. The second day of the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is upon us, and like many of the other Saturdays of the annual San Francisco festival, it’s filled with some of the biggest, wildest acts, especially those that came to close the night. While the first signs of exhaustion are beginning to set in, those alert enough to pry themselves from slumber and scurry into the park at the hour of 11:00am were greeted by yet more feverishly addictive bursts of musical creativity. After the desiderata of strong coffee and a host of breakfast options that lay lazily along the fields, the several-thousand-strong mass began its trek from side to side, taking in another chapter of the chilly yet invigorating musical thunderstorm within.

Continue reading “Show Review: San Francisco’s 2012 Outside Lands Festival, Day 2”