Outside Lands 2015: Eight Quick Questions with Jen Kirkman

Photo by Robyn von Swank
Photo by Robyn von Swank

Jen Kirkman is one of the funniest people out there right now. She’s also incredibly hard working… Her first book, I Can Barely Take Care Of Myself is a work of epic genius, and she seems to be the MVP of Comedy Central’s @midnight. She just premiered a special on Netflix called I’m Going To Die Alone (And I Feel Fine), which you can view the trailer to here.

Or, if you prefer to view people without a screen, she’s performing a stand up set at Outside Lands on Friday, as well as participating in Friday’s Uptown Showdown and Saturday’s ASSSCAT. (Click here for her Outside Lands schedule) If you aren’t coming out to the park, you can catch her on the road, as well. Those dates can be found here.

Spinning Platters had the pleasure of chatting with her recently. Continue reading “Outside Lands 2015: Eight Quick Questions with Jen Kirkman”

Outside Lands Journal: Day 3, 8/10/14

Photo by Paige Parsons
Photo by Paige Parsons

Ending a festival is always a little bittersweet. Because you had fun, but you are also tired. So tired that you will end up seeing fewer acts, but it’s OK. Quality over quantity, eh? And these were probably the best sets of the weekend.

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Outside Lands Journal: Day 2, 8/9/14

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Photo by Emily Anderson

Today was the cold day. Which was fine, because there were more than enough excuses to dance! Special thanks to Carl Pocket, Emily Anderson, and Paige Parsons for additional pics!

Continue reading “Outside Lands Journal: Day 2, 8/9/14”

Outside Lands Journal: Day 1, 8/8/14

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Thus begins my daunting task of compressing the highlights of 35 hours worth of music, comedy, and food into a mere three posts. It’s not easy, as this was definitely one of my favorite Outside Lands experiences ever, with the most even distribution of wonderful things to do that I’ve ever enjoyed from this shindig. Here’s how it all started:

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Top 10 Outside Lands 2014 Acts From the Bottom Half of the Poster

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There are a lot of great reasons to show up early to Outside Lands. It’s rather beautiful to walk around at noon, seeing the empty festival and taking in the peace before the chaos. It’s also a great time to explore the various different food vendors, especially the much more popular establishments. Instead of waiting 20 minutes in line to enjoy Farmer Brown’s amazing Chicken & Waffles, you’ll get your food in under 5, plus you can pretty much guarantee a seat at a picnic table while you get to enjoy some of the lesser known acts on the bill. This year has plenty of acts that are well worth crawling out of bed early to enjoy. (Also, the N Judah and 5 Fulton at 11am is way nicer than at 2:00, when most people show up.)

The full schedule has been released, but here are my personal Top 10 acts from the lower part of the bill. Trust me, you’ll be happy you came out and had breakfast in the park.

Continue reading “Top 10 Outside Lands 2014 Acts From the Bottom Half of the Poster”

Instant Reactions to the 2014 Outside Lands Lineup

The headliners took most festival watchers by surprise.
The headliners took most festival watchers by surprise.

I took to the internet this morning to start discussing the Outside Lands headliners and lineup with the Bay Area music nerds, and to get some instant reactions from the Spinning Platters staffers. The 2014 Outside Lands lineup doesn’t look like every other festival lineup happening this summer, and that’s no surprise. We’ve always been able to count on the festival to provide different headliners from every other festival. How else can you stand out when everyone else is booking the same ten bands? Continue reading “Instant Reactions to the 2014 Outside Lands Lineup”

Outside Lands 2013 Journal, Day 2: Saturday, August 10th

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Most photos by Jonathan Pirro. Ones without the logo in the bottom right corner were by me.

Day 2. A day that will live in infamy. Today I got to see my favorite local band play massive stage, my favorite band in high school make an epic comeback, and the greatest rap group of the last 20 years make a triumphant return to the stage. My life doesn’t suck…

Continue reading “Outside Lands 2013 Journal, Day 2: Saturday, August 10th”

Outside Lands 2013 Journal, Day 1: Friday, August 9th

All Photos by Jonathan Pirro
All Photos by Jonathan Pirro

 

Outside Lands 2013 may have been my favorite OSL yet. It was my favorite line up so far, and the weather was amazing. It never got too cold, nor did it get too hot. Also, I got to see two legendary, groundbreaking musicians that essentially rewrote how we listen to music. Not a bad way to enjoy a day in the park…

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Spinning Platters Interview: Laurent Brancowitz of Phoenix

Phoenix - Phoenix - General 3

It’s been a pretty amazing year so far for Phoenix. Their latest record, Bankrupt!, is receiving amazing reviews, and they are playing to the biggest crowds of their career! We had the opportunity to chat with their guitarist Laurent Brancowitz ahead of their upcoming set at Outside Lands. They are playing the Twin Peaks stage at 8:40 PM on Saturday night. Just a warning, we pretty much only talked about how much we like R Kelly.

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Top 10 Outside Lands 2013 Acts From the Bottom Half of the Poster

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Whenever the line up for a big festival is released, everyone is always talking about the headliners. However, there are a lot more than just the headliners performing. You have nearly 100 bands performing over the course of three days, and there is a good chance that there is an amazing band in the bottom half of the bill that you will love, but you’re going to miss. Don’t do that. You paid your $250. You should get your money’s worth. Come out early. (Also, the food lines are so much shorter before 3 PM)

Continue reading “Top 10 Outside Lands 2013 Acts From the Bottom Half of the Poster”