Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
(You’re reading Day 3. Be sure to check out Day 1 and Day 2!)
The third and final day of a festival is always bittersweet: you know you’ll miss the free-spirited, listen-to-music-all-day-instead-of-the-rest-of-your-life vibes, but on the other hand, you’re tired and your feet hurt. It’s your last chance to catch some great set or discover a new artist. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2025 Festival Journal, Day 3”
(You’re reading Day 2. Be sure to check out Day 1!)
Saturday started off warm and bright at BottleRock. I started my day at the Verizon stage for Kate Hudson‘s set. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2025 Festival Journal, Day 2”
Friday was a beautiful day in Napa, and a great day to kick off BottleRock 2025. 72 and sunny with a nice breeze is exactly what I want, and this weekend shows up for us every single year. My day started with Ultra Q on the JaM Cellars stage. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2025 Festival Journal, Day 1”
On a breezy spring night in Concord, the Toyota Amphitheatre filled with time travelers, goths of all generations, synth-pop disciples, and lifelong fans ready to worship at the altar of eyeliner, analog synth, and big, cinematic choruses. The lineup? A dream bill that might’ve once been scribbled in a Trapper Keeper or posted in a record store window: Modern English, Soft Cell, and Simple Minds. For anyone who ever slow-danced in combat boots or found transcendence in a John Hughes soundtrack, this was a pilgrimage. Continue reading “Show Review: Simple Minds + Soft Cell @ Toyota Amphitheatre, Concord CA, 5/20/25”
Walking into The Fillmore on a sold-out night is a special kind of thrill. You know you’re about to take part in a San Francisco tradition, trying your luck at what your free Fillmore poster will be and who designed it. It turned out pretty cool in fact: folk art tulips and foppish block lettering in delicate Easter pastels. It fit the mood in that uncanny Fillmore way, soft on the surface, full of intention underneath. Continue reading “Show Review: Perfume Genius with Urika’s Bedroom at The Fillmore, 5/13/25”
Walking into the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium always brings a pulse of memory with it. Named for the fearless impresario who gave the Bay its psychedelic sprawl, the space has a reverent hum. But the crowd outside this time wasn’t so much buzzing as bracing. A black mass of required patience, funneled in slowly, tension rising as the early hour ticked on. This wasn’t just another show; it was the final stop of the U.S. leg of the Wild God tour. Continue reading “Show Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 5/14/25”
Dead & Company – Live in Golden Gate Park
August 1, 2, & 3, 2025 – San Francisco, CA
This summer, the music plays the band — and it plays right back where it all began.
Dead & Company return to Golden Gate Park for three unforgettable nights, August 1–3, bringing the spirit of the Grateful Dead home to San Francisco. Fresh off a second high-tech, mind-bending run at the Las Vegas Sphere, the band is trading LED immersion for redwoods and the warm soul of the Bay.
Each night features a 75-minute set from a different heavyweight opener, and the curation is no less than cosmic:
That’s three nights, three musical worlds, all orbiting around the gravitational pull of Dead & Company.
San Francisco and the Dead are inseparable. From Tupac’s collaboration with Bruce Hornsby, Robin Williams emceeing Jerry Day in Golden Gate Park, and the unerasable, painted imprint of Haight-Ashbury and the Panhandle, this city is part of the Dead’s DNA.
Though the lineup continues to evolve, the mission remains the same. As Jerry Garcia said, “The goal is for the music to outlive us all.” Dead & Company embodies that legacy, not just recreating it but evolving it in real time.
These are players in the band, yes — but the spirit of the Dead is bigger than any one of them. It’s in the songs. It’s in the sky above the park. It’s in the people.
Come early. Stay late. Pack water, snacks, and your weirdest shirt. This is history — one that only San Francisco could host.
Lukas Nelson Charms a Packed Orpheum with Raw Talent and New Songs
On his second of three stops in the Grand Canyon State, he emerged from the dark wings with only his guitar. He opened, with a near-acapella rendition of You Were It, the first song he ever wrote, a confident yet vulnerable ballad from his upcoming release, American Romance (due out June 20th). Continue reading “Show Review: Lukas Nelson at Orpheum Theater — Flagstaff, 5/10/25”
If you’re anything like me, you can’t think of anything better on a warm spring Friday night than catching a great show, especially at a cozy little venue. Case in point: I had a recent opportunity to do just that when AWOLNATION stopped at San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom for the penultimate show of their Phantom Five Tour. Continue reading “Show Review: AWOLNATION with Makua and Bryce Fox at Regency Ballroom, 5/9/25”
Way back in 2020, Charli xcx released a record called how i’m feeling now. It was written and recorded during the pandemic’s deepest, most unsettling parts. And I think it’s a perfect record. And I spent an absurd amount of time listening and relistening to “party 4 u,” which was not a single. But it struck a chord with me and many, many others. Fast forward to 2020, and it is finally becoming a single and getting the love it deserves. The emotional weight of this song is immeasurable.
how i’m feeling now is getting a “glitter vinyl” repress, which can only be found on Charli’s webstore.
