Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
The middle of Summer means a surprisingly eclectic week with a bunch of bands you never thought you’d see live again!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/18/13-7/24/13”
Low expectations commonly yield better-than-expected results. In the case of Turbo, a charming result emerges from an incredibly lackluster premise. ‘A snail that goes fast!‘…Okay, not really piquing my interest. ‘And, he races in the Indy 500!’ Snails and racing? No thank you, I’d rather read a book. Turbo doesn’t break any new ground, nor is it distinctly memorable. Its straightforward story is respectable, its characters are pleasant, and the colorful visuals are good. Nearly every joke is about the ‘snails vs. speed’ theme at play, but luckily the movie never slows to a snail-like crawl. But despite the film’s drawbacks, audiences will still be rewarded by Turbo, if only because it’s just not as bad as it seems.
Calling an album ‘melancholic’ or ‘ethereal’ can be dangerous, even though these terms, when used to describe music, are generally positive – invoking a beautiful calmness. They can also be used to describe music that fits a mood so well, the music then becomes synonymous with that mood. White Dove’s new album, The Hoss, The Candle, rides that line precariously. It’s the type of album best absorbed in the evening, sitting by candlelight and pondering life’s mysteries. To listen to it in any other setting with distractions would render the album forgettable.
Continue reading “Album Review: White Dove — The Hoss, The Candle”
Phono del Sol is quickly becoming a festival to be reckoned with. In it’s third year, attendance seems to have more then tripled their attendance from the year prior, and I think, these year, have finally solidified itself as the tastemaking music festival of the Summer. It’s the perfect situation: a sunny day in one of San Francisco’s most underappreciated spaces: Potrero del Sol Park. It has a stage pre built directly in front of a skate park, making for a stage experience unlike any other show. This year they added an additional stage, doubling the amount of music. And, much like Treasure Island, the two stages were set up so there was no overlap, and, in fact, we got to enjoy 6 1/2 hours of continuous music.
Supergroups are a hard thing to review fairly. It’s difficult to be a “brand new” band without the prejudice of their prior bands. Palms is a new project featuring 3/5’s Boston based “post metal” band ISIS and Deftones’ vocalist Chino Moreno. Two bands with an established legacy that, by a twist of fate, are two of the few bands that I am not familiar with at all. So my experience with Palms was entirely fresh.
Continue reading “Show Review: Palms, Crypts at Slim’s, 7/13/13”
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to see The Trashwomen play their first show in 12 years at Burger Boogaloo in Mosswood Park. The set was fierce and amazing, and the crowd, which ranged in age from 10 to 55, was ecstatic to see finally see this band. It got me thinking about other bands like this. The forgotten bands of the bay area. These are bands that never became big national successes, but were revered in the bay area, and I would love to see a rousing comeback show by any of thee bands. This is also the final “Picks Six” you will see on Spinning Platters. I know there are a lot of fans of lists out there, however, and we will have a regular column coming your way in the very near future that I hope you like.
Continue reading “Picks Six: Bay Area Cult Bands That I’d Love To See Play Again”
Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro
Mountain View. California. Sunny. 82°.
With every meteorologist proclaiming the apocalypse across the West Coast, it was not as miserably hot as was expected. Yet with the arrival of the first band of the annual Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, the heat (and volume) was definitely turning up, and for the duration of the day, more than a baker’s dozen worth of bands played across four stages, culminating with the sun setting just in time for Rob Zombie to heat it up again with plenty of fire and pyro!
Continue reading “Show Review: Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem, Shoreline Amphitheater, June 30, 2013”
From here on out, every time I gaze up into the fog-filled night sky that enshrouds the top portions of downtown San Francisco’s office buildings, I’ll imagine a colossal Kaiju smashing through the buildings like tissue paper, the debris raining down upon the dimly lit streets…and a Jaeger behemoth emerging through the haze, crushing the Kaiju’s skull in with a downward punch and throwing the giant beast’s body down the length of Market street. This is the lasting effect of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim. The film makes a solid effort to tell an emotional human tale in the midst of a near-future world at war with giant alien creatures. The effort is not lost, but takes a backseat behind the extraordinarily impressive battle sequences. As a science-fiction action movie, Pacific Rim delivers and then some.
The week is going to be a glorious week of rock n roll madness.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/11/13-7/17/13”
For those of you unfamiliar with the process, this is “Live Blogging With The Devil.” I listen to a hot new release on the release date for the first time ever, and I post updates about my experience as I go along. I guarantee that I will finish the record. I guarantee that you will find typos and grammar issues. This will be the most honest review you will read of this album, as I will not have a chance to second guess what I wrote.
So, enjoy the ride!
Continue reading “Live Blogging With The Devil: Jay Z “Magna Carta Holy Grail””