Last night’s performances were raw, emotional, and beautiful. You know that feeling you get when someone chooses to open up to you, sharing a personal experience that may have hurt them deeply, but also helped shape them into who they are? All of the performers chose to open themselves up to a room full of strangers, connecting us to each other with emotive lyrics and personal stories of the human heart – both in their song lyrics, and in the backstories while introducing the next song. Continue reading “Noise Pop Review: Amy Shark, BOWER, MILCK at The Independent, 2/21/18”
I walked into Mezzanine as the DJ played My Neck, My Back, and I saw the smallish crowd of early arrivals start to dance to the familiar song. The DJ transitioned to other fun, nostalgia-inducing songs, the crowd grew, and energy started to fill the room.
No. Not a “Bro” marathon. More like a hip music marathon?
Noise Pop is upon us again… Also known as that week where Bay Area music fans marathon as many shows as they can in a single week. And, well, not all of us can be in multiple places at once, so let’s try to limit our Noise Pop anxiety a bit!
Exciting evening of noise and rhythm in a new addition to Oakland’s vibrant live music scene
Daveed Diggs of clipping.
It’s hard to find a more jarring juxtaposition of talents and roles than those that Oakland-born hip-hop star Daveed Diggs has possessed as of late. After half a decade building a steady underground following as the MC of noise trio clipping., he became a household name after taking on the role of Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in the original production (and first Broadway run) of the massive hit musical Hamilton. Finishing his theatrical run in mid-2016, Diggs hurtled right back into his work with the experimental outfit, knocking out two releases in the latter half of the year and continuing a heavy schedule of touring. The group’s Noise Pop gig at Oakland’s young-but-blossoming Starline Social Club was one of the first in the festival to sell out, and even with three openers on the bill and a long, rainy night to greet them at the end of it, rabid fans of the three-piece packed the walls of the bright ballroom and celebrated the return of their heroes, in the hometown of the man at their helm.
Engaging new doc brings us back to rock criticism’s glory days
Last Sunday night, thanks to co-presenters Noise Pop and KQED, a crowd of music aficionados at the Swedish American Hall was treated to a viewing of writer/director Raul Sandelin’s documentary Ticket to Write: The Golden Age of Rock Music Journalism, followed by an engaging Q&A with rock critics Robert Duncan (Creem) and Joel Selvin (San Francisco Chronicle). Sandelin’s film had been making the festival rounds, but has just become available on Amazon Prime, which should please ardent rock history fans everywhere. Continue reading “Noise Pop Film Review: Ticket to Write: The Golden Age of Rock Music Journalism“
Noise Pop 2017 is upon us. For eleven straight days, we will be enjoying the finest in film and music that the scene has to offer. There is literally too much to do, and there is no way you can be everywhere at once, so here is a quick guide to the best of the fest. Of course, you may disagree with my choices, and if so, there’s the full schedule to choose from.
Jordan Kurland has been influential within the Bay Area music scene for over two decades. He helped make Noise Pop a major music festival, and is one of the masterminds behind the Treasure Island Music Festival, currently heading into it’s 10th year. As one of the primary forces behind the mainstream acceptance of Indie Rock, you probably owe about half of your record collection to him. Spinning Platters had the opportunity to talk to this legend about how to book a great festival, the future of Treasure Island Music Festival, and a bit about the new ways bands are getting creative with drumming up revenue.
FYI, Treasure Island Music Festival is October 15th and 16th, and tickets are on sale NOW! Also, Noise Pop 2017 (the 25th year!) Super Fan Badges, went on sale today, and are moving fast. These include admission to 25 shows in the months leading up to next year’s festival, in addition to the entirety of Noise Pop 2017. You can buy this here!
It’s a little jarring when your relationship with a band isn’t reflected by the show you see them put on. I’ve had this happen before; when I saw Marina and the Diamonds the first time, I was surprised to see a woman playing an intimate set at a piano. I was confused; where was the pop dance sarcastic and snarky dance diva I’d fallen for? I learned to love this other aspect of her, however, because being a fan means being open to compromise and loving new angles on bands you like. Metric has flirted with so many genres and sounds over their long career that I didn’t know what to expect from their show. I had no doubt that they would deliver a hell of a performance, and looked forward to watching them put their raw emotion and technical versatility on display.
2015 was an interesting year for Carly Rae Jepsen. Tasked with the impossible feat of following up “Call Me Maybe” — likely to be remembered as the greatest pop song of the decade — Jepsen managed to do something that very few people in the pop world have done: release a follow-up that became one of the most critically lauded records of the year. Very few performers do well with their sophomore record, but Jepsen’s release hit #3 on The Village Voice‘s Pazz & Jop Poll, sharing space not with fellow popsters, but with folks like Kendrick Lamar and Courtney Barnett. This, plus a slot on the indie-centric Noise Pop Festival, prove that Jepsen has attained something that very few Top 40 artists have: respect from critics, along with acceptance by the very picky indie rock community. In fact, despite the presence of such long defunct acts as Drive Like Jehu, Her Space Holiday, and American Football at this year’s Noise Pop, Jepsen’s was the most anticipated set of the festival. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Carly Rae Jepsen, Cardiknox, Monika at The Warfield, 2/27/16”
San Francisco’s Noise Pop Festival has been well known for packing hordes of genres and artists into their lineup, but rarely have they picked a collection of artists that are so solidly categorized as jazz musicians before anything else. True to the latter half of its name, the festival tends to want to pick acts that have those hooks and rhythms which you want to sing or dance along to with a common familiarity, or even are comfortable with hearing on the radio. There are, of course, certain acts (like seminal hardcore favorites Drive Like Jehu this year, or Yoko Ono a few years back) that defy such conventions, but you can generally bet on finding the bands to be less on the blatantly esoteric side of things. Thus, it was a bit of a risk throwing some jazz artists into the mix; however, it absolutely paid off, as all four shows (spread across two nights, two artists, and two venues) sold out, weeks in advance, and the two performers — elecronic-wizard-plus-jazz-quartet Kneedelus, and newly-Grammy’d tenor sax master Kamasi Washington — definitely did not disappoint.
