Soft-rock legends, soft-rock enthusiasts and no less than two Lou Reed cover bands. All this and more in a week of music in the Bay Area
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 11/20/14-11/26/14”
Author: Mitch Kocen
Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/9/14-10/15/14
Music festivals, heavy metal canned food drives and Snoop to tha D-o-double G. All this and more in a week of music in the Bay Area
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/9/14-10/15/14”
Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 9/18/14-9/24/14
90’s Pop goodness, a remodeled theater and no less than three chances to see The Airborne Toxic Event. All this and more in a week of music in the Bay Area
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 9/18/14-9/24/14”
SF Sketchfest Review: The Girls on 2/01/2014
You’d be forgiven for assuming that The Girls is a vanity project. Fronted by Julianna Guill (Underemployed, Glory Daze), Cyrina Fiallo (The Sopranos, Good Luck Charlie) and Alison Brie (Mad Men, Community) and backed by members of the Jones Street station (Danny Erker, Walt Wells and the drummer who’s name I’m afraid I didn’t catch. It may be Paul Apelgren but I can’t say that with full certainty), the project has all the trappings of a hastily thrown together cover band for three actresses who can maybe sing a little.
You’d be forgiven, but you’d be wrong.
The Girls are phenomenal.
Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: The Girls on 2/01/2014”
SF Sketchfest Review: The Greatest Event in Festival History on 2/01/2014
It would be impossible to fill out a standard account of the events of The Greatest Event in Festival History, a panel for the shockingly popular Adult Swim series where Adam Scott (Party Down, Parks and Recreation) painstakingly recreates the opening sequences of 80’s tv shows. The panel featured star/creator/co-director Scott, co-director Lance Bangs (acclaimed music video director for acts such as Green Day, Belle and Sebastian and The Shins) and co-star/professional Ted Knight impersonator Jon Glaser (Parks and Recreation, Late Night with Conan O’Brien) and was moderated by Kumail Nanjiani (Franklin & Bash, The Meltdown With Jonah and Kumail).
However, what happened during the 90 minutes that these stars were on stage defies all sense of narrative cause and effect. So, in order to give you an idea of what occurred that day, I present to you a list of real actual things that for real happened during The Greatest Event in Festival History.
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SF Sketchfest Review: RISK! with Kevin Allison/You’re Whole on 1/31/2014
Real talk everyone: I was only at the Brava Theater to see You’re Whole. While I’m a fan of storytelling in general, and while I’d heard of State alum Kevin Allison’s well regarded podcast, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Even though the big draw for the night was Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter’s pitch-perfect late-night informercial parody, I was delighted by the raw looks into the real lives of some talented comedians.
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Show Review: Man Man with Xena Rubinos at the Great American Music Hall, 10/1/2013
You know you’re at a show with a decent amount of energy when the singer and the guitarists jump and dance around on stage. You know you’re at a show with an amazing amount of energy when the drummer jumps and dances around on stage. Hyperkinetic experimental rockers Man Man put one one such show at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, joined by the incomparable Xenia Rubinos. Brilliant, engaging music coupled with riveting stage presence led to an unforgettable night of unusual music.
Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Moon Hooch at the Warfield, 6/14/2013
They Might Be Giants have been playing together, in some shape, since 1982. Please, take a moment to let that sink in; this Brooklyn-based nerd-pop outfit has been churning out music for more than thirty years. This is a band that’s spanned five different presidents. A band that has witnessed countless similar acts form and breakup, reform and rebreakup. A band that has been making music for twice as long as Jaden Smith has been alive. A band with a legacy this long has two choices: They can become their own cover band, playing the hits that their audience crave, never growing, never changing. Or they can keep producing new music, evolving their sound, keeping their live-show fresh.
Fortunately for both the band and the fans, They Might Be Giants opted to take option B, and their set at the Warfield last Friday was all the better for it.
Continue reading “Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Moon Hooch at the Warfield, 6/14/2013”
Noise Pop Show Review: The Thermals with Dirty Ghosts and The She’s at the Rickshaw Stop, 3/1/2013
It’s about halfway through Goddamn the Light that I realize something is off about the song. Up to this point, the Thermals set has been impeccable, but now there’s something clearly missing. The rhythm is all off, and as I scan the stage for an explanation, it dawns on me: The Thermals don’t have their drummer anymore. We have their drummer. Westin Glass has abandoned his kit to crowd surf, and he’s loving every minute of it.