Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Spinning Platters sat down with Book of Love vocalist Susan Ottaviano, and they discussed the band’s favorite city (spoiler alert: it’s San Francisco), fan remixes of their songs, and advice for the next generation of female fronted bands.
Book Of Love are playing DNA Lounge on Sunday, February 19th. Tickets can be purchased here!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Susan Ottaviano of Book Of Love”
Silence! The Musical opens at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco on Friday, February 3rd — tickets here. The “unauthorized parody of Silence of the Lambs” is a show you are not to miss. In eager anticipation for the show, I got the opportunity to ask the two leads, Anne Norland (who plays Clarice Starling) and Scott Hayes (who plays Hannibal Lecter), some questions…
Before landing your roles, had you seen “Silence of the Lambs” and what were your thoughts on the film?
Anne: I am such a scaredy-cat when it comes to scary films or images. I was familiar with Jodie Foster’s accent and style in the movie, but I actually only really sat down and watched the movie start to finish in preparation for my callback for Silence! It scared the shit out of me. Psychological dramas are the scariest for me. It’s not gore-y or sneak-out-of-the-closet-and-spook-you like a slasher movie, but it’s freaky because that Giallo style gets under your skin (…no pun intended?). Any minute, someone might try to shove me in a well or bite into my face.
Scott: I actually saw the film the night after it opened back in 1991. Not only do I recall it being terrifying, but also remember the audience as a whole responding with gasps and screams. It was a genuine collective experience in the best way.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Anne Norland & Scott Hayes, Silence! The Musical“
Sketchfest is really rough. There is literally too much to do over the course of the three weeks the festival runs. We have 18 days of anywhere between 3-10 shows, all special events with performers that rarely come to San Francisco to perform. I’m here to help you decide what to do. Below are some of the events that I find the most interesting over the course of the entire event. You can use my handy guide, or you can just go rogue and take a look at the full schedule here! Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide to Sketchfest 2017”
Like anyone else who’s devoted to her favorite festival, I have been waiting for this morning for quite some time. Why? Because that’s when BottleRock Napa Valley was set to announce this year’s lineup — and announce it they did. I knew that Dave Grohl had said back in 2013 that if the festival made it another year, the Foo Fighters would play it, so it’s exciting to see that they’re making good on that promise. In addition, I’m looking forward to catching Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers again (whom I saw a few years ago at Outside Lands), as well as Maroon 5, who I haven’t seen live since the Songs About Jane era. And those are just the headliners.
Continue reading “Festival Preview: BottleRock Napa Valley, 2017”
A long time ago, as young teen, I used to stay up late and sneak into the TV room to watch a show called Alternative Nation. It played music videos from popular alternative rock bands. One night, I saw a video to a song where the singer had a voice like sugar, which layered wonderfully with the song’s crunchy guitars, and I thought it was the coolest thing on Earth. Then we got to the chorus, which was song at a break neck speed. At that point, I decided that I wanted nothing more than to see this band live. However, I kept looking for a show, and, sadly, it never happened.
Well, it never happened until NOW! Letters To Cleo are making, as far as I know, their first visit to the Bay Area. And I would like YOU to attend. They are playing Thursday, October 20th. This is an all ages show, so this contest is open to EVERYONE! Click here to enter!
The deadline for entering is Tuesday, October 18th at midnight. The winner will be notified via email. And if you prefer not to leave things to chance, you can buy tickets here!
Now watch that video that changed my life:
This weekend’s Treasure Island Music Festival has quickly become my favorite musical event of the year. There are no conflicting set times, so you can see everyone on the bill. The size of the festival is fairly small, so it’s easy to get around. The setting in the middle of San Francisco Bay is absolutely stunning. And something about all of these combine to keep the people going in a relaxed, pleasant mood that makes being there all the more enjoyable.
Now, you might think going to this festival is as easy as hopping in your car and going to the festival to enjoy some music, but you’d be wrong. Read on, and I’ll teach you how to avoid rookie mistakes. And if you just found this article while looking for a place to buy tickets, just click here! (Updated for 2016 by Dakin Hardwick)
Continue reading “The Insiders’ Guide to the Treasure Island Music Festival (Updated for 2016)”
Paco Romane is one of the greatest Bay Area comedians. In addition to doing stand-up all around the Bay all the time, he hosts the Sup Doc Podcast with George Chen. He’s also performing at the Outside Lands Music Festival this weekend, where he has curated a set of his favorite comics to open the Barbary tent, and will also be doing a “Hipster Chef Roast” at the Gastromagic stage on Friday. If you can’t make it out to Outside Lands on Friday, Romane is doing a warm up show at Plate & Camera Productions on Thursday Night!
We had the joy of chatting with Romane. Sorry that we didn’t invite you, but you can read a word-by-word account of this conversation below!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Comedian Paco Romane”
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Outside Lands is about to begin, and with it, a slew of great acts you love — as well as a bunch of bands you may have never heard of before. I know that your instinct is to sleep in and show up just in time to let Third Eye Blind know that you do, in fact, believe in science. However, if you do, you are going to miss some of the best music in the festival. The lower part of the poster is where the good stuff hides, so, who knows — you may just stumble across the next Black Keys or Ellie Goulding, both past lower-poster-graduates.
The schedule is out NOW, so you can start planning your weekend. I do believe it’s in your best interest to include some of these acts:
Continue reading “Top 10 Outside Lands 2016 Acts From The Bottom Half Of The Poster”
This upcoming weekend, July 16-17, the San Francisco Symphony will screen Pixar’s Oscar-winning film, Ratatouille, with the score performed live. Conducting the orchestra will be none other than the amazingly accomplished SF Symphony regular, Sarah Hicks. Sarah was gracious enough to answer some questions about her own musical tastes, as well as her special love of Pixar films…
Spinning Platters: My excitement for the Ratatouille show is growing, since it’s my favorite Pixar film. A popular dinner party question is ‘what’s your favorite Pixar film?’ So, do you have a favorite Pixar film?
Sarah Hicks: Oh, I can’t really choose because I love them all! That being said, I have to admit that the ones I keep going back to are Monsters, Inc., Up and Ratatouille.
July Fourth, 2016! Wooooo! Yeah! Our country is still here! Let’s celebrate!
If you’d like to add to your celebrations this week in The Bay Area with a concert, I’ll tell you what we’ve got coming up: caricatures, drugs, dogs, and culture that you don’t have to pay for.
So, let’s preview. Time to preview. It’s time to preview now and now here are the previews.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-07-04 – 2016-07-10”