Spinning Platters Interview: Peter Hook

Peter Hook performs at Mezzanine in San Francisco last year. Photo by Jonathan Pirro

A few weeks ago, Spinning Platters had the pleasure of chatting with Peter Hook, the legendary bass player for Joy Division, New Order and Monaco, as he prepares for his upcoming North American tour. (He is coming to Mezzanine in San Francisco on Saturday, September 17th) This conversation happened about a week before it was revealed that New Order were recording and touring again without Hook. Instead, Hook is bringing his ace band The Light around the states to perform the classic Joy Divison record Closer in it’s entirety, as well as other key tracks. We did get to discuss the tour, the general response to the gigs from people close to Ian Curtis, the Joy Divison vocalist that passed away 21 years ago, and about other projects in his plate.

Now that you have been doing Joy Division songs (with The Light) for about a year, have audiences responded differently?

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/8/11-9/14/11

Playing Thursday night

Sadly, one of the highlights of the Fall concert season is taking a year off: Michael Franti’s Power To The Peaceful festival in Golden Gate Park. It’s ok, it’s coming back next year. I think that you will find plenty to do, don’t worry about it.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/1/11-9/7/11

Opening for Archers Of Loaf on Saturday Night!

Happy Labor Day! Let’s appreciate the working men and women of American by going to an awesome show this week! What do you say?

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/25/11-8/31/11

Miranda Cosgrove canceled her gig at The Fox this week due to a bus accident. Boo!

My cat keeps sitting on my hands, making it really hard to type something witty. So I’ll get her to talk to you instead:azMNBSAMBDS,MCDEHBJCD GQWCHVJEC VEN

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/12/11-8/17/11

The artist currently known as Katy Perry, back in her Contemporary Christian Pop days.

It’s a busy week, you guys. In addition to the Outside Lands Festival (or, as I know it, Stay the Hell Away From Golden Gate Park Weekend) and the San Jose Jazz Festival, the Bay Area will also host concerts from two of the most defining artists on the pop landscape, for better and worse (in that order): Adele and Katy Perry. I should also note that three bands I tend to confuse with each other – Calexico, Califone and The Sadies – are all playing this week. Look after the jump for a full rundown.

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Spinning Platters Tackles Your Tough Outside Lands 2011 Decisions

We will make this a little easier for you to navigate.

For four years running now, the good people at Another Planet and Superfly have put together a massive outdoor music festival in the part of San Francisco so far west that most people don’t even know it exists. The weather is unpredictable, the terrain in this portion of Golden Gate Park is difficult, and with 5 stages, decisions are always tough to make. Well, all I can say about the first two is to bring layers and wear sturdy, comfortable shoes. As for who to see when? Well, I’ve studied the band schedule and the map, and based on my impeccable taste in music I am ready to present to you the most fulfilling plan for your Outside Lands experience.

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7″ Review: Schande – “Still Returning”

Jen Schande is one of the Bay Area’s most tried-and-true indie workhorses. She’s been at it in one band or another for damn near two decades: she played pre-fame shows with bands ranging from No Doubt to The Gossip, released a long-sold-out split 7″ with The Cribs that commands quite a high asking price on eBay, and famously saw PJ Harvey at the Whiskey in 1992. In addition to her prolific DJ work, Jen has her namesake band, Schande, which she began focusing on exclusively after parting ways with Boyskout several years back.

Schande are playing at the Hemlock this Saturday, July 30, along with Bam!Bam! and Silent Pictures. And they have a new 7″ out on Future Farmer Recordings, titled Still Returning. Let’s have a listen, shall we?

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/28/11-8/2/11

From the "whatever happened to?" file: One of these people is playing a show this week.

So, I’ve spend the last few days drooling over the Treasure Island Festival line up… So much that I almost forgot to do this. But, that would be sad for everyone out there, because this week is awesome. Besides, there are great shows every night until that shindig happens.

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