Show Review: Korn + Staind, MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa, 8/07/2021

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro

After the first couple months of 2020, as the music industry began to shutdown due to a worldwide pandemic, Korn was one of the few bands still on the road that was lucky enough to not have had the remainder of their tour cancelled.  Staind didn’t have to worry at all about that, as they have been on an extended hiatus, aside from a handful of shows and festivals here and there that they reconvened for.  This show at MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre was the second stop of their current summer tour together as co-headliners.

Spinning Platters had to get creative at the last minute to photograph and review this show as our press request was not replied to due to a publicist change (Korn) and press access was retracted due to growing COVID concerns (Staind).  Thankfully, Live Nation had their annual summer $20 lawn ticket special the week prior, and since our metal music writer + photographer (who has been in Florida for most of 2021) is a seasoned concert veteran, he was smart enough to know to bring a decent camera without a detachable lens (Nikon Coolpix P80), and was cunning enough to know how to sneak on down to the main floor in order to get these photos (they are definitely not as good as what we usually get from the Canon DSLR)!

Continue reading “Show Review: Korn + Staind, MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa, 8/07/2021”

Show Review: Brad Paisley, MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa, 7/09/2021

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro

With the grand reopening of live music in America already pushing ahead full-steam and it almost feeling like COVID-19 is over and done, Spinning Platters home base of San Francisco is presently a little bit behind that national trend.  The Independent SF, the free Stern Grove Festival, Punch Line and Cobbs comedy clubs, and Cornerstone have each recently reopened, with Bottom of the Hill, Shoreline Amphitheatre, The Fillmore, The Warfield, The Regency Ballroom, The Chapel, August Hall, Fox Theater, and The UC Theatre all looking at August or September.

For the past several months, our rock photographer has been in Florida, a place that never completely stopped gathering for concerts.  Although the vast majority of our coverage is throughout the Bay Area, with the past 16-month drought of any live event here, we have been extremely thankful to have been invited to attend and review a variety of shows down there in Florida.  Even more exciting, most of these musicians (Foreigner, Styx, Sammy Hagar) have never before been showcased at Spinning Platters, and we are thrilled to be able to add one more artist and genre to this recent diversity, country music icon Brad Paisley!

Continue reading “Show Review: Brad Paisley, MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa, 7/09/2021”

Stern Grove Festival 2021 Lineup! Free concerts every Sunday!

Stern Grove Festival just has announced the full music lineup for the 84th summer concert season kicking off on Sunday, June 20.

Stern Grove welcomes one of its biggest and most musically diverse lineups to date with headliners like Thundercat, Fitz and the Tantrums, Joan Jett, Perfume Genius, Thievery Corporation, X, and St Paul & The Broken Bones. The season concludes on August 29 with a special performance at The Big Picnic featuring Oakland legends Tower of Power and Too $hort.

Continue reading “Stern Grove Festival 2021 Lineup! Free concerts every Sunday!”

In Defense Of: One Last Postponement

I know, I know, I know… We are all so very sick of COVID lockdowns and masking and social distancing and everything. And with recent news from the CDC saying that vaccinated folks drop the masks and live life like it’s normal should mean that we should stop seeing new postponements, right? Yet, just today, the Hella Mega Tour featuring Green Day, Weezer, Fall Out Boy, and The Interruptors just got pushed out a few more months, starting July 24th, 2021 in Dallas. This, along with recent news of Bikini Kill, Motley Crue, (which, if you don’t immediately scream to yourself “I’m gonna win that Motley Crue mirror if it fucking kills me” when you see those two band names together, then what are you even doing reading this blog?) and Rage Against The Machine pushing their late Summer / early Fall 2021 shows even further down the line, it’s gotta be a little frustrating, right? Continue reading “In Defense Of: One Last Postponement”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2021 Preview

It’s been nearly a year since the original lineup announcement for BottleRock Napa Valley 2020. It was only January, and we hardly knew anything yet about what would become of the world as we know it, especially for us live music lovers.

Fast forward to mid-May 2021, and most of us are starved for live events we might have once taken for granted. Fortunately, there’s finally a light appearing at the end of a very long and difficult tunnel.

I haven’t seen a show since January 2020. If you know me at all, you know that festivals are my favorite – especially one I can walk to from home. And finally, finally, finally, it seems like it’s about that time again. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…

Bottle Rock Napa Valley 2021’s lineup! I’m happy to see that quite a few of those originally slated for last year’s BRNV will be playing this Labor Day when vaccinated music-lovers can convene to enjoy! This includes original headliner Stevie Nicks, plus Guns N’ Roses (!!) and returning headliners Foo Fighters. In addition to those three, I’m also looking forward to several smaller acts! Personally, I can’t wait to catch Finneas, the freaking Village People (!!), Absofacto, Atlas Genius, Miley Cyrus, Megan Thee Stallion, Brandi Carlile, Cage the Elephant, Portugal. The Man, Young the Giant, Maren Morris, Black Pumas, Jon Batiste, Digable Planets, Matt Nathanson, Mondo Cozmo, Meg Myers, among many others. Who are you most excited to see this year?

Here’s my preview playlist featuring some of my faves. Enjoy, get vaccinated, and I’ll see you in my hometown this Labor Day weekend at BottleRock Napa Valley!

BottleRock ticket info: On sale 5/20 at 10 am PST. Get yours here!

Mosswood Meltdown Line Up Announcement!

Remember late 2019 when the amazing Bikini Kill announced they were touring again, and those dates included an appearance at Burger Boogaloo in Oakland? And remember how excited we all were? And then a self-destructive GOP gambled away anything possibly enjoyable in 2020 by deciding that “COVID-19 will just go away on its own” instead of doing something bold and decisive and fast, and over a year of our lives was stolen from us? 

Well, I’ve got some good news for you. Coming to Mosswood Park on July 2nd and 3rd, 2022, is a brand new festival, rising from the ashes of Burger Boogaloo. The event organizers have cut all ties with Burger Records and are bringing you two days of punk rock fun, and John Waters is still on board as the master of ceremonies! It’s called Mosswood Meltdown, and your original Burger Boogaloo tickets will still be good for it!

Who is playing? Well, the legendary Bikini Kill is making their first Bay Area appearance since the late ’90s. Belgium’s new wave pioneer Plastic Bertrand is playing their first Bay Area EVER. The Carbonas are playing their first Bay Show in over a decade, too! Rounding out the first wave of bands are my favorite modern band, BLEACHED, local icons Shannon Shaw, Pansy Division, and Rubinos, as well as The Fevers, The Younger Lovers, and Midnite Snaxxx. Plus many more to come, including what is rumored to be an absolutely amazing second headliner. 2 Day GA and VIP Passes as well as single-day tickets are ON SALE NOW!!!

Outside Lands Daily Lineups & Single Day Tickets

I’m forever grateful that the good folks of Another Planet and Superfly are working hard to make Outside Lands happen this year. And I know many of you loyal readers are sad that they missed out on buying 3-Day passes. Or didn’t buy them because they were waiting for the daily lineups to see if they can cancel their usual Halloween plans for this. 

Well, cancel those Halloween plans because Outside Lands announced their single-day lineups, and, well, Tame Impala, Brittany Howard, Kehlani, and freaking Nelly are playing on Halloween! Also, whoever decided to book Neal Francis and Neil Frances for the same day deserves a prize. The rest are below the jump. Single Day Tickets are on sale Thursday, April 29th at 10 am! Continue reading “Outside Lands Daily Lineups & Single Day Tickets”

Soccer Mommy is dropping tour dates, too? WOAH! Could this thing actually end this year?

We all saw the sad news that My Chemical Romance and Rina Sawayama both decided to push their Fall tours to 2022. It made me feel a little nervous about the tours and festivals betting on getting out of this by Fall. And then, I opened my inbox to see that Soccer Mommy, who put out one of my favorite records of 2020, color theory, is making a go out of touring this year, and it made me feel a LOT calmer. Tickets and on sale dates can be found here! Purchase, stream, or download color theory HERE(you won’t regret it!).

TOUR DATES

9/15 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
9/16 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle *
9/17 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
9/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
9/19 – DC @ 9:30 Club *
9/21 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
9/22 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *
9/23 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *
9/25 – Montreal, QC @ Fairmount Theatre *
9/26 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre *
9/28 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop *
9/29 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
10/1 – Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom *
10/21 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^
10/22 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s East ^
10/23 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater ^
10/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom ^
10/27 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box ^
10/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre ^
10/29 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore ^
10/31 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre ^
11/1 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall ^
11/2 – Boise, ID @ Olympic ^
11/4 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre ^
11/6 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room ^
11/7 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue ^
11/8 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre ^
11/9 – St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall ^

* w/ Squirrel Flower

^ w/ Emily Reo

 

WHOA! BULLY AND JULIEN BAKER HAVE NEW TOUR DATES (not together, sadly)!!!!

Sorry about all caps, but things are starting to look like this whole pandemic thing might really have an end date. For the first time since March of 2020, today saw full-fledged, all-new, legit tour dates getting released for later this year. Not “rescheduled from 2020 to keep these dates on a calendar and hope they actually can happen” tour dates. Not “virtual tour” tour dates. Not “limited capacity / social distancing in the venue” tour dates. Full cap, legit tours. From artists that seem to have been taking the pandemic seriously from the get-go! Continue reading “WHOA! BULLY AND JULIEN BAKER HAVE NEW TOUR DATES (not together, sadly)!!!!”

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 2, Episode 2 with Mickey Darius of Broken Clover Records

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!

Mickey Darius is the owner of Broken Clover Records, a wildly eclectic record label featuring acts like June of 44, Enablers, Danielle de Picciotto, and many more. He also is the booking agent for several bands, including The Detroit Cobras, Negativland, and others. He ALSO manages The Lost Church, a 50 person performing arts space in San Francisco. And in his limited free time, he even DJ’s a bit. He has basically overtaken the role of “hardest working man in show business” from James Brown. We got to talk about his brief flirtation with the cello, coming of age during the 90’s rave scene in SF, finding work in ticketing, finding yourself, teaching a toddler to appreciate vinyl, and much much more.

Feel free to check out (and even purchase) some vinyl from Broken Clover’s Bandcamp page. (Zones by Enablers is a personal favorite) Also, if you have some extra money and want to help keep some of your favorite Bay Area venues afloat, feel free to donate a few bucks to the Independent Venue Alliance! Lastly, The Detroit Cobras are coming to Bottom Of The Hill on September 17th and the Ivy Room on September 18th and Negativland will be coming to Gray Area on September 17th, which gives us something to look forward to after this is over.