Category: Show Reviews

BottleRock Napa Valley 2026 Festival Journal, Day 2

(You’re reading Day Two. Be sure to catch up on Day One’s fun!)

Saturday dawned sunny and cool in Napa Valley. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to get back to the Expo for another fun day of music. 

First up, I caught some of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ set at the Prudential stage. This isn’t the first time this act has played BottleRock, but I didn’t catch them last time, so I had to make sure not to make the same mistake this time. I enjoyed hits like “Cherry Bomb,” “I Love Rock & Roll,” and “Bad Reputation.” Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2026 Festival Journal, Day 2”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2026 Festival Journal, Day 1

Hello from Napa! The weather has been gorgeous in these parts lately – blue skies, few clouds, gorgeous breezes, birds singing… this must be what the powers-that-be behind BottleRock call the “first taste of summer!” Indeed, it’s time again for this year’s festival, and as usual, I was ready with bells on!

Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2026 Festival Journal, Day 1”

BottleRock AfterDark Review: Rilo Kiley with Whitmer Thomas at Uptown Theater – Napa, 5/22/26

Rilo Kiley has been a major part of my life for multiple decades and life changes. I’ve seen them play electric and acoustic. I’ve seen them in teen centers and massive outdoor sheds. We used “More Adventurous” to walk down the aisle at my wedding. 

I love this band. Enough to travel an hour away for a late-night show. Continue reading “BottleRock AfterDark Review: Rilo Kiley with Whitmer Thomas at Uptown Theater — Napa, 5/22/26”

Show Review: Lily Allen with The Dallas Minor Trio at The Masonic, 4/28/26

All Photos (except one very obvious one) by Christina Bryson (@averagecowgirl)

Lily Allen performed for 3,300 guests at the Masonic in San Francisco on May 30, 2026. She had just released one of the most impeccable albums of last year, West End Girl, an epic 44-minute tale of an unraveling psyche inside a high-functioning celebrity marriage marked by serial cheating and gaslighting. The record unveils the person underneath, rebuilding, stripping down, and rewiring. The sound is encased in spans of poised pop, reggaeton, vocoder-soaked torch moments, and EDM. The album’s trajectory feels as tender and surprising as it must have felt to write it, and somewhere in the middle, you find yourself piecing together the affair partners as the only clues to what really happened, until they begin to feel like your counselor. It moves through every stage of grief and lands, finally, in acceptance by the time you reach the last track, “Fruity Loop.” Continue reading “Show Review: Lily Allen with The Dallas Minor Trio at The Masonic, 4/28/26”

Show Review: Cass McCombs with Hand Habits at Great American Music Hall, 4/9/26

Is it possible to wash yourself up if you don’t take interviews? As far as being “washed up” as a musician, Cass McCombs has remained so private and low-profile, with almost no social media presence, rarely giving interviews, and offering very little spoken onstage. As a lyricist, he has quietly masterminded literature-worthy cadences in his songs over the years. The lyrics are extremely personal, yet vague enough to keep distance between listener and artist; sometimes it’s a wry smile, sometimes it’s a shocking question, and sometimes it feels like a local radio station drifting in and out. Continue reading “Show Review: Cass McCombs with Hand Habits at Great American Music Hall, 4/9/26”

SXSW 2026 Diary

SXSW

Our newest addition to the Spinning Platters crew, Misty Brewster, had a daunting first assignment: SXSW 2026. Here’s SEVEN days straight of music: Continue reading “SXSW 2026 Diary”

Photo Gallery: Lamb of God at The Masonic Auditorium!

Photos by: Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro

On Friday, April 3, Lamb of God, Kublai Khan TX, Fit For An Autopsy, and Sanguisugabugg rolled into San Francisco for a the sold-out show at Masonic Auditorium!

Continue reading “Photo Gallery: Lamb of God at The Masonic Auditorium!”

Show Reviews: fast Thrash meets slow Sludge at DNA Lounge!

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro

DNA Lounge has been on a tear lately with their metal bookings in the last 10 days of March. Starting with the Bay Area’s own gore metal band Exhumed, to English thrash metal band Onslaught several days later, culminating in a one-two punch of NWOBHM band Raven alongside Bay Area’s newest thrash metal supergroup Nefarious and New Orleans sludge metal masters Crowbar and Eyehategod to close out the month!

Continue reading “Show Reviews: fast Thrash meets slow Sludge at DNA Lounge!”

BUMBERSHOOT 2026: BIKINI KILL! TURNSTILE! DEATH CAB! DIE SPITZ! PEACHES!!!!

YES! YOU CAN RESIST PSYCHIC DEATH at BUMBERSHOOT 2026

The longest-running music festival in the US has announced its 2026 lineup, and it’s killer. Despite Peaches being on the bill, it’s still a family-friendly affair in Seattle, complete with Seattle legends Death Cab For Cutie headlining alongside “the biggest hardcore band ever” Turnstile. (How the hell did hardcore finally have a mainstream face?!?!) Fellow PNW legends Bikini Kill are playing, too. Plus De La Soul, Die Spitz, W.I.T.C.H., Yves Tumor, and so much more. Tickets start at $90.50 a day, $155.50 for the weekend (fees inclusive!) with payment plans starting at $40 down! Tickets here, full music lineup below! 

Bumbershoot Arts & Music Festival 2026 Lineup Continue reading “BUMBERSHOOT 2026: BIKINI KILL! TURNSTILE! DEATH CAB! DIE SPITZ! PEACHES!!!!”

Show Review: Gelli Haha with Big Sis and Molina at Brick & Mortar Music Hall, 3/26/26

The world is really ready for an Electroclash comeback. Peaches is touring on the regular. GRAVY TRAIN!!! and Le Tigre have returned to the live stage. But where are the young electroclash acts here to carry the torch? SLAYYYTER and Charli XCX are definitely bringing the influence into the modern era. Yet, the DIY, artpunk side of it was 100% on display this lovely Thursday night at Brick & Mortar Music Hall. Continue reading “Show Review: Gelli Haha with Big Sis and Molina at Brick & Mortar Music Hall, 3/26/26”