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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Film Review: “Glee: The 3D Concert Movie”

Chris Colfer, Amber Riley and Jenna Ushkowitz in GLEE: THE 3D CONCERT MOVIE

starring: Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Chris Colfer, Dianna Agron, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Darren Criss, Jenna Ushkowitz, Heather Morris, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, Chord Overstreet, Harry Shum Jr., Ashley Fink, Gwyneth Paltrow

directed by: Kevin Tancharoen

MPAA: Rated PG for thematic elements, brief language and some sensuality

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Spinning Platters Interview: Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and Tate Taylor on “The Help”

Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis in THE HELP

Emma Stone has a lot on her mind this summer. After a star-making and critically acclaimed turn in Easy A transformed the now 22-year-old into one of Hollywood’s most in-demand young actresses, Stone filmed three consecutive high-profile projects: Friends With Benefits (for her Easy A director Will Gluck), Crazy, Stupid, Love., and The Help. And now, as these things sometime happen, all three films have been released within just one month of each other, with Stone doing press for the latter two. Add in her Comic-Con duties promoting her role as Gwen Stacy opposite Andrew Garfield in next summer’s highly anticipated The Amazing Spider-Man, and you’ve got one hell of a busy summer.

But right now Emma Stone only has one thing on her mind: cookies. Specifically, the giant chocolate chip cookies available at the Four Seasons.

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Wanderlust Festival, 2011: The Best from the Bay + the Rest

It definitely wasn’t my imagination when I felt that some of the lines for the most sought-after yoga courses were excessively long or the crowds that flocked to the stage for the live musical performances were exceedingly large; as it turns out, this year’s Wanderlust Yoga + Music Festival in Squaw Valley saw some 14,000 attendees solely for yoga.

Despite the 65% increase in attendance from last year, there was still a unique intimacy, not to mention sense of spiritual community, that enriched the entire experience. Yogis and musicians from the Bay Area were there to represent and impart their talents in full force. Thus, I present the best from our area plus the rest that made my trip a truly transcendent experience.

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Show Review: Bowling for Soup with Dollyrots and Sunderland at Bottom of the Hill, 8/7/2011

Generation Y’s favorite frat party band, Bowling for Soup, visited San Francisco. Because it’s 2011, that means a crowd of recently divorced dads with their preteen sons. And Bowling for Soup was fully prepared for that.
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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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Film Review: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”

starring: James Franco, Freida Pinto, Andy Serkis, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo

written by: Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver

directed by: Rupert Wyatt

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for violence, terror, some sexuality and brief strong language

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Film Review: “The Change-Up”

Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds in THE CHANGE-UP

starring: Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin

written by: Jon Lucas and Scott Moore

directed by: David Dobkin

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

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Film Review: “The Devil’s Double”

Dominic Cooper and Ludivine Sagnier in THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE

starring: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Mem Ferda, Dar Salim

written by: Michael Thomas

directed by: Lee Tamahori

MPAA: Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence and torture, sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and pervasive language

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Show Review: Styx with Yes at the Shoreline Amphitheatre, 8/3/2011

It's hard to believe such a calamity
It's hard to believe such a calamity

The definition of “arena rock” has changed shape a great deal in this modern era of music. While it’s mostly connected to which genres of music or artists can sell enough seats to fill an amphitheater with up to 22,000 people, it is also evocative of a time when a band’s show and stage set were so extravagant, flamboyant, and over-the-top that only a massive stadium could even hope to provide ample real estate for the performance. Thus, it is always quite amazing to see both of these factors fall into place, especially when the bands in question are of a somewhat-bygone era. This isn’t the 1970s, or the 1980s, but you would never have been aware that time had passed since that era, judging from the explosive response that greeted the two biggest acts of the Shoreline Amphitheatre’s KIHNCERT 2011: Chicago rockers Styx and English progressive godfathers Yes.

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