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!
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.
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!
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!
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‘.
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”
We are less than two months away from Outside Lands 2025! And fellow San Franciscans are currently enjoying classic Outside Lands weather (overcast and cool- sorry, THE REST OF THE USA. But, also, why not escape the heat and join us in the park in August?) One of the last big announcements for the big event dropped today- THE NIGHT SHOWS! Although enjoying music in the park is great, you also have an opportunity to see folks like Thundercat, Still Woozy, Midnight Generation, FCUKERS, Hope Tala, Luna Li, and more in intimate venues, starting late enough for you to get to after a great day in the park.
Eager Beaver and Golden Gate Club ticket holders will once again have the first opportunity to purchase tickets, with presales running from Wednesday, June 25, at 10:00 a.m. PT to Thursday, June 26, at 11:59 p.m. PT. The festival ticket presale for ticket holders is Thursday, June 26, from 10 am PT to 11:59 p.m. PT. Any remaining tickets for Night Shows that are still available will go on sale to the public on Friday, June 27, at 10 am PT. Eager Beaver, Golden Gate Club, and festival ticket holders will receive an email with their respective presale codes. Details and ticket links here!
HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!! Outside Lands is continuing its mission of supporting and advocating for the local LGBTQ+ culture by letting locals curate the DOLORES stage, placed in a prime spot – at the end of the Polo Field, right in the middle of the festival. Friday is brought to you by Fake and Gay, Saturday is brought to you by the legendary Oasis Arts, and Sunday is brought to you by Polyglamorous. Limited tickets are still available to Outside Lands here.
I’ve secretly loved The Beaches for a while now. “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Paranoid” is already on my shortlist for best song of the 2020s. It’s DEFINITELY the most 2020s song of the 2020s. Two nights ago, in a fit of anxiety, I preordered the Canadian power-pop group’s upcoming record, no hard feelings, (out August 29th), and I don’t regret that investment. This morning, I lamented the fact that they haven’t announced tour dates. WELL!!!!!!!!!!!
They’ve got a full tour underway this fall! Plus a few select Summer dates and DJ Night Free Parties?!!?! Full dates below the jump, and the amazing Annie DiRuisso is joining for many of these shows!
Last Girls at the Party DJ Set Dates:
June 7 – NYC
June 11 – Toronto
August 2 – Montréal
THE BEACHES LIVE DATES
June 6 – The Governors Ball Music Festival – New York, NY
June 14 – Buffalo AKG Art Museum – Buffalo, NY
July 20 – Minnesota Yacht Club – Saint Paul, MN
July 29 – Churchill Park Music Festival – St. John’s, NL
July 31 – Kee to Bala – Muskoka, ON
August 3 – Osheaga Festival, Montreal, QC
August 7 – Sziget Festival – Budapest, Hungary
August 8 – About You Pangea Festival – Ribnitz-Damgarten, Germany
August 9 – Schanze Open Air – Hamburg, Germany
August 15 – 17th – Lowlands Festival – Biddinghuizen, Netherlands
August 17 – Pukkelpop Festival – Hasselt, Belgium
August 29 – Rolling Stone Presents Gather No Moss @ The Salt Shed – Chicago, IL
Sept 17 – KEMBA Live! – Columbus, OH
Sept 18 – Brooklyn Bowl – Nashville, TN
Sept 20 – Shaky Knees Festival – Atlanta, GA
Sept 21 – The Ritz – Raleigh, NC
Sept 24 – Roadrunner – Boston, MA
Sept 25 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
Sept 26 – All Things Go Festival – Columbia, MD
Sept 27 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
Sept 29 – Webster Hall – New York, NY
Sept 30 – Webster Hall – New York, NY
Oct 2 – Royal Oak Music Theatre – Detroit, MI
Oct 4 – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre – Indianapolis, IN
Oct 5 – The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
Oct 8 – Cain’s Ballroom – Tulsa, OK
Oct 10 – Fillmore Auditorium – Denver, CO
Oct 11 – Rockwell at The Complex – Salt Lake City, UT
Oct 14 – The Van Buren – Phoenix, AZ
Oct 15 – The Sound – San Diego, CA
Oct 17 – Fox Theater – Pomona, CA
Oct 18 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA
Oct 19 – The Warfield – San Francisco, CA
Oct 22 – Showbox SoDo – Seattle, WA
Oct 24 – Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre – Victoria, BC
Oct 25 – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre – Vancouver, BC
Oct 27 – Edmonton Expo Centre Arena – Edmonton, AB
Yes. I love Wet Leg. And, since I run a music blog, I’m allowed to fanboy out whenever they do anything. So I wanted to tell you that they have another guitar-crunchy gem of a single, “CPR,” ahead of their upcoming release, moisturizer. It’s so good.
The usual preorder/presave/range of fancy versions can be preordered here. They are also doing listening parties all around the world, complete with prizes, giveaways, and all sorts of fun stuff. You can find those stores here, but a special shout-out to our friends at 1234 Go! in Oakland! You can RSVP to their event here, which will be on 7/10 at 5 pm. I will be there! I’ll be the long haired, bearded fellow with glasses. So the guy that looks like he’s in the band.
