Show Review: Summerland Tour: Everclear, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Lit, Marcy Playground at Mountain Winery, 6/28/12

Art Alexakis and Mark McGrath: Your Tour Organizers

When I first heard about this Summerland tour, I didn’t believe it. As a punker kid in high school, these were all bands that I was too good for.  I would only listen to Live 105 or KOME in secret, while I told my friends that I was listening to bands like The Queers or cub. I did see Everclear back in the day, but only because they opened for Primus. Sugar Ray? I saw because Save Ferris and Goldfinger were opening. But I secretly enjoyed these bands. Even when this tour was booked, my gut was to be an angsty 16 year old and make fun of it. But, secretly, I really wanted to go. Since I am much more comfortable with my own skin, I decided to own my nostalgia and make the long trek from Oakland to Saratoga, a city that most Oaklanders aren’t even aware of.

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Film Review: “Magic Mike”

Joe Manganiello, Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer and Alex Pettyfer in MAGIC MIKE

starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Bomer, Adam Rodriguez, Olivia Munn, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Gabriel Iglesias, Betsy Brandt, Riley Keough

written by: Reid Carolin

directed by: Steven Soderbergh

MPAA: Rated R for pervasive sexual content, brief graphic nudity, language and some drug use

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Spinning Platters Interview: Chris Pine and Alex Kurtzman on “People Like Us”

Alex Kurtzman and Chris Pine on the set of PEOPLE LIKE US

If I were to tell you that one of this summer’s most character-driven and emotionally mature dramas comes to you from the writing team responsible for three of Michael Bay’s last four films, you’d accuse me of being hopped up on bath salts and run away covering your face and screaming. And yet, such is the case with People Like Us, the directorial debut of writer/producer Alex Kurtzman. In addition to his work with Bay, Kurtzman (along with creative partner Roberto Orci) is best-known for writing action-packed episodes of TV shows like Alias, Hawaii Five-0, and Fringe, and blockbusters like Mission: Impossible III, Cowboys & Aliens, and the J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek (as well as its upcoming sequel). And when the time came for him to finally tell a personal story inspired by one of the most shocking chapters from his own life, he chose his dashing Star Trek leading man, Chris Pine, to play his onscreen surrogate.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 6/28/12 – 7/4/12

Appearing at the Mountain Winery on Thursday

Happy Independence Day! That’s why you are getting the rare list where nearly every band is from the US. And the only English band has an umlaut in it’s name.  Alright, enough chatter:

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Film Review: “Brave”

featuring the voices of: Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Craig Ferguson, Kevin McKidd

written by: Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, Irene Mecchi

directed by: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell

MPAA: Rated PG for some scary action and rude humor

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Show Review: Natalie Merchant w/ San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, 6/18/12

Natalie Merchant at a show in Northampton earlier this year. Thank you, .reid. for sharing!

 

As a self professed music nerd, it’s almost embarrassing that I don’t go see the San Francisco Symphony more often. We are really lucky to have a world class orchestra in are backyard, playing nearly every night. Davies Symphony Hall is also one of the most perfect rooms to experience live music in, where every seat has an excellent view, and the sound is near perfect. This is my first time here since I took my dad to see PDQ Bach in 2008. And it took a pop musician to bring me there. Natalie Merchant, best known as the lead vocalist for 10,000 Maniacs, isn’t your average pop singer, and the idea of that majestic voice backed by a full orchestra sounded like a perfect combination.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 6/21/12 – 6/27/12

While you’ll find this item on my wedding registry, you can see the contents this Sunday at the Alameda County Fair.

It’s summer time! Officially. Finally. And that means it’s time to see some outdoor shows, some bands from your youth, and maybe even see one of the worst concept tours I can possibly imagine.  Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 6/21/12 — 6/27/12”

Show Review: Jenny Lewis with Nik Freitas at Swedish American Hall, 6/16/12

It’s been a few years since Jenny Lewis last graced our presence. In the two years since the release of I’m Having Fun Now, her Rilo Kiley bandmate Blake Sennett declared the band broken up, and her first ever acoustic tour (which would have included her first appearance at Neil Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit) ended up getting derailed due to a family emergency. When she finally returned to San Francisco, so booked the incredibly intimate and historic Swedish American Hall, and it sold out in moments. Since this show was initially announced in late Summer of 2011, people have been waiting almost a year for this show. This show was a big deal.

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Spinning Platters Interview: Lorene Scafaria on “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”

Steve Carell, Lorene Scafaria and Keira Knightley on the set of SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

In the dystopian romantic comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Steve Carell and Keira Knightley star as Dodge and Penny, two strangers in the same apartment building who unexpectedly find themselves becoming close companions for the final few weeks of Earth’s existence. As the film begins, we learn that the final effort to stop a massive asteroid hurtling toward Earth has failed, meaning that the apocalypse is imminent. While everyone around him chooses to celebrate with drug-fueled orgies and looting, Dodge would rather mope in private. But then he meets the exuberant Penny, who lives just below him and has been getting his mail for years. When a dangerous riot imperils their building, Dodge and Penny embark on a road trip across a bizarro end-of-days landscape, searching for one last connection with whatever had been meaningful to them in their lives. This delightfully imaginative film comes to us from writer/director Lorene Scafaria.

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