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.
Another weekend in July. Another excuse to hang out in some of the Bay Area’s under-appreciated parks. Last weekend’s Burger Boogaloo was amazing. This weekend brings us Phono del Sol. A one day event that brings the absolute best in indie rock to it’s natural habitat- The Mission. I’ve gone every year, and at $25, it’s a steal! For one price, you get Wye Oak, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Nick Waterhouse, Tony Molina, Blackbird Blackbird, White Fence, Yalls, A Million Billion Dying Suns, The Tambo Rays, and Bill Baird. It’s going to be an epic time for all. Oh, and we’ve got other shows this week, too: Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/10/14-7/16/14”
Veruca Salt released two fine pieces of fuzzy guitar pop goodness in the mid 90s. It’s been far too long since Louise Post and Nina Gordon have put collaborated on a project, but the new Veruca Salt record is another classic piece of Alternative Nation era rock goodness. Kennedy would be proud!
I should start this post off right away by admitting a few things: first of all, if you’ve seen any of my previous work on this site, you’ll already know, but I’m by far the most “mainstream” music listening on the Spinning Platters staff. Many of the bands my cohorts write about are those I’ve never heard of, while I’m running around checking out John Mayer, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, and Pink. Also, and perhaps more importantly, I’m a huge novice when it comes to music festivals. I’ve been to a good handful of the one-day sort of radio station assembled festivals, and several consecutive years of Warped Tour. But bigger, multi-day festivals? I’ve only been to one so far: BottleRock Napa Valley 2013.
There aren’t a whole lot of bands that nearly everyone can agree on as “good.” Queens Of The Stone Age have managed to find that perfect balance where everyone seems to like. They are embraced by indie kids, mainstream rock fans, metal heads, and pretty much all rock fans in between. Never underestimate the power of a solid riff.
When you type Motörhead in on your iPhone, it automatically adds in the umlaut. That’s how important this band is- so important that your phone knows to give them the respect they deserve.
Municipal Waste, Negative Approach, Fucked Up, Impaled, The Shrine, Kicker, Conquest For Death at Oakland Metro Operahouse
For the low price of $26 a piece, we’ve got one of the best heavy music line ups you could ever create. This is an epic show, and you should go. Not going would be a bad move.
It’s been far too long since Merrill Garbus has graced our eardrums with new music. Happily, she’s pulled out two amazing new singles, as well as a show at The Chapel. This is going to be a great homecoming from one of the best ever.
The Men, CCR Headcleaner, Gun Outfit at Rickshaw Stop
Portland psych rock heroes The Dandy Warhols have kept a rather low profile for the last few years… However, they keep stretching out their 13th anniversary of 13 Tales Of Urban Bohemia well into it’s 14th anniversary with the release of a live recording of that record, as well as another leg of a tour spotlighting that classic record.
The Dillinger Escape Plan, Trash Talk, Retox at DNA Lounge
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”
Being performed in it’s entirety this Saturday Night at The Warfield
The week is the first official week of Fauxchella. There is plenty to look forward to, including a healthy dose of Coachella bands that you can see without the threat of sunburn, and only limited threat of somebody on Ecstasy deciding that you have the prettiest hair in the world and they need to pet it for 45 minutes while you watch The Cult.
