Show Previews – Page 2 – Spinning Platters

MOSSWOOD MELTDOWN 2026 LINEUP IS BONKERS!!!!!

My partner and I named our kid after Corin Tucker. Once the doctors and nurses cleared the room, on the day they were born, we decided we needed to sing them a song. After being awake for like 36 hours, there was only one song we could remember the words to. That song? “The KKK Took My Baby Away.” That hospital? Kaiser in Oakland. It was magic. Today, Mosswood Meltdown released a lineup that brings this all full circle. Because The Return Of Jackie & Judy is a Ramones cover band comprising of Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, plus Toko Yasuda of St Vincent on bass, and Fred Armisen of Trenchmouth on drums, playing directly across the street from the very hospital I first sang a Ramones song to my Corin.

Oh yeah, and there’s like Iggy Pop, Bikini Kill, Otoboke Beaver, The Dead Milkmen, Scowl, and SO MANY MORE AMAZING BANDS. And of course, it’s being hosted by the legendary John Waters. Tickets on sale NOW!

A Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest 2026

Hi. Have you read the news today?

I’m sorry.

You know what 2026 is desperate for? Some bloody joy while we can still get it. I’ve had a really tough time doing the nerd’s guide this year because the onslaught of life under Trump 2.0 has been brutal. Which is also a good reason to get out and enjoy some laughs in a space where you can really be yourself as yourself, while it’s still kinda legal. So be your own kinda nerd. We’ve got three weeks of fun coming your way. Here’s a small sampling of events. The full schedule is here! Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest 2026”

Festival Preview: BottleRock Napa Valley 2026

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time again! BottleRock Napa Valley has announced the lineup for this year’s festival, taking place May 22-24, 2026 at Napa Expo.

Prior to today’s announcement, BRNV took to the socials to drop some hints about the artists coming our way this year. I sure didn’t guess any correctly, but I’m looking forward to catching quite a few, as usual. It’ll be fun to see the return of Foo Fighters as headliners once more, and I’m really going to enjoy both Teddy Swims and Sombr as well. Other headliners include Backstreet Boys, Lorde, LCD Soundsystem, Lil Wayne, and Zedd. Continue reading “Festival Preview: BottleRock Napa Valley 2026”

LOGISTICS FANS REJOICE! SF SKETCHFEST ARE DOING A SHOW ON A BART TRAIN!!

HOLY SHIT!!!! I’ve been dreaming of this my entire life! Our dear friends at SF Sketchfest are doing the most logistically bonkers thing I can imagine a festival doing- A STAND UP COMEDY SET ON A MOVING COMMUTER TRAIN!

Here’s how it will work: ticket purchasers will meet at 12th St/Oakland City Center at 2 pm on Saturday, January 24th. Ticketholder will then be given a headset to listen to the set on (because, um, trains make noise, so this makes sense) as well as instructions on how to make sure you are on the right train and car. Brent Weinbach, Brittany Carney, Natasha Vinik, and Hunaid Shakoor will then each do 15-minute sets while you ride. They won’t be selling tickets at the door, so make sure you buy your ticket in advance from BART at this link!

Honestly, SF Sketchfest has done a LOT of cool things. But this is probably the coolest.

MOSSWOOD MELTDOWN PREPARTY! PAVEMENT, WEDNESDAY, VIVIAN GIRLS TAKE OVER MOSSWOOD PARK

We are waiting patiently for our good friends to unveil the Mosswood Meltdown 2026 line-up. In the meantime, they tossed a fun little surprise our way! The night before Mosswood, they are bringing us a pretty impressive, stacked indie rock line-up: the delicious Sonic Youth meets classic country of Wednesday, the return of power pop legends Vivian Girls, and headlining is the pride of Stockton, PAVEMENT! All hosted by John Waters.

Tickets are on sale NOW! $99 for GA, $165 for VIP (with special viewing area and ins & outs), and those prices are fee-inclusive!

I CAN’T WAIT FOR JULY!!!

SF Sketchfest 2026 Initial Line Up HAS DROPPED!!!!!

Our dear friends at SF Sketchfest have, once again, given us reason to look forward to the January doldrums. They’ve put out a bonkers lineup that I’ve barely scratched the surface of. (As an esteemed member of the press, I did get this a day early, which might not have been enough time to digest this.)

As usual, you’ll get my full “Nerd’s Guide.” My early nerd view reveals a few amazing bits. Like, are you a fan of both The State and melodramatic singers from the 80’s? GOOD NEWS! You have your choice of Ken Marino & David Wain & Friends doing the music of Billy Joel, OR Thomas Lennon & Friends doing the music of Morrissey & The Smiths. Like your music legends more subversive? Devo legend Mark Mothersbaugh is taking us on a tour of his film score work with the excellent Red Room Orchestra.

A few other surprises include “The Women of SNL,” which, in addition to Sketchfest regular, Laraine Newman, we have rare appearances by Ellen Cleghorne (!), Julia Sweeney (!), Robin Duke (!), Cheri Oteri (!), Rachel Dratch (!), and Ana Gasteyer (!) sharing a stage which, really, is just warming my Gen-X, TV addicted heart. Panels with the creators of Doug and Futurama, as well as Smoke Show with Jodie Sweetin (A beauty pagent for comedians?), will do that, too.

Anyways… I can go on forever. However, I digress – take a few hours to review the schedule here. Tickets go on sale for EVERYTHING this Sunday, November 16th, at 10:00 a.m. PST.

NEW RAYE SINGLE! TOUR DATES! WOO HOO!!

I have a handful of show regrets. But one of the biggest was missing Raye when she played Rickshaw Stop in 2023. And everything that has come out from her since then has been exceptionally more and more brilliant. And today she dropped “Where Is My Husband?”, a proper funk banger if I’ve ever heard one.

She’s also hitting the road this Spring, playing Bill Graham Civic Auditorium here in SF, which is just down the street from Rickshaw Stop and literally 25 TIMES BIGGER! Stream “Where Is My Husband” here. Tour dates and presale sign up here! The presale begins on 9/23 at 10 am local time. Miss the sign-up? Try your hand at tickets on 9/25 at 10 am!

The Electronic Music Averse Guide To Portola Music Festival

For those who follow this site closely, I recently posted a podcast where I said, “I work all day on a laptop. I don’t want to dance to one at night, too.” It may seem a little odd to you, my loyal reader, that I am attending the Portola Music Festival this year. Not only am I attending, but I am deeply excited about this. Indeed, there is plenty of laptop action happening on this bill, and numerous websites are highlighting it. Tickets are available here. Full schedule here. See you September 20th-21st!

This is who I’m excited about: Continue reading “The Electronic Music Averse Guide To Portola Music Festival”

Show Review: Mac Sabbath prevails in a post-Ozzy world

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro

Spinning Platters has had the pleasure of seeing Mac Sabbath seven times since 2016 yet it’s hard to believe that there’s only one other written review here on the inventors and self-appointed kings of Drive Thru Metal! This latest appearance at Great American Music Hall was part of a short West Coast tour called ‘This One Goes To 11‘.

Continue reading “Show Review: Mac Sabbath prevails in a post-Ozzy world”

Top 10 from the Bottom Half of the Outside Lands 2025 Poster

Outside Lands is THIS WEEKEND!!! This is always one of my favorite weekends, and it’s generally a great weekend for discovering your new favorites. And now it’s time for the 2025 edition of my “Top 10 from the Bottom Half” list, which I’ve spent actual months researching and listening, and these are my 10 favorites. And, in case you are keeping score, in 2022 Wet Leg and Faye Webster made my list. In 2019, I introduced you to The Marias. 2018 had Lizzo. 2017 had Khruangbin. 2016? Anderson .Paak. That’s not a bad track record… There is a LOT of good stuff happening this weekend, and the full schedule is out here. Limited tickets are available here, but don’t delay! The weather is gonna be the best of any festival in America, just like every year. Continue reading “Top 10 from the Bottom Half of the Outside Lands 2025 Poster”