Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/5/11 – 5/11/11”
If you read Spinning Platters with any regularity, you know I love Donald Glover, so let’s just get the personal stuff out of the way now. I spent all day with an increasing sense of agitation waiting to see if I was going to get a pass for the IAMDONALD show at the Fillmore tonight. I got stuck in some angry self-righteous critic reel where I actually thought I deserved a ticket. Well, I did write this review of the preview show. Then I campaigned hard for Donald Glover/Childish Gambino’s album Culdesac to win album of the year in 2010. Then I gave his fans a SXSW award (and missed The Dead Milkmen to see him!). Is it possible this makes me his biggest fan? And is it possible for a show to live up to expectations after all that? Continue reading “Show Review: IAMDONALD tour with Donald Glover/Childish Gambino at The Fillmore, 4/28/11”
Since I’m filling in recommending shows to see this week, I’m changing things up! Some nights, I’ll recommend only one show, meaning if you’re not seeing this, you can stay home, play with the cats, cook dinner for your loved ones, or anything else you feel like doing. And other nights, I’ll recommend many shows, which means if you’re not at a show, you’d better have a darned good excuse! (And if you’re in Vegas this weekend, say hi. Click that cool floating contact bar on the left.) Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/28/11 – 5/4/11”
Aimee Teegarden and Thomas McDonell are a bit of an odd couple. And I say “couple” figuratively, since the two aren’t actually reported to be dating (an increasing rarity in these promotional showmance times we live in). Teegarden is, at 21, already a consummate media professional. An actor in film and television from the age of 14, she recently spent five very big years of her young life living in Austin while filming the critically beloved NBC series Friday Night Lights, currently airing its fifth and final season. Talking with Teegarden feels like chatting with the button-cute president of the FBLA: she is bright, quick, and upbeat. But ironically, playing a teenager for five years meant she had to miss high school herself. “I was working,” she says ruefully.
McDonell, on the other hand, is new at this. The well-spoken NYU-trained actor, 24, got his first film role when he auditioned “as an experiment” for a small role in the Jackie Chan movie The Forbidden Kingdom while living in China to study contemporary art. This was followed by another small role in Joel Schumacher’s Twelve. And now, he suddenly finds himself playing the romantic bad-boy lead opposite Teegarden in Disney’s Prom, which the studio is hoping will take off like High School Musical. He has also been cast as the younger version of Johnny Depp’s character in Tim Burton’s upcoming Dark Shadows film. It seems like big things are in store for him. But for now, he is brooding through his exhaustion.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Aimee Teegarden and Thomas McDonell on “Prom””
Find any official Stern Grove web presence, and you’ll see that the lineup will be announced May 2. Well, yesterday it leaked, and although it was quickly “unleaked,” you can’t truly unleak stuff on the Internet. This isn’t Orwell’s 1984 (yet), so because I know, I want all the music junkies to know. (Good thing we have a website for music nerds.)
Why should people want to know right away? Because Stern Grove on a Sunday in the city is one of the greatest traditions we have, and all my friends who work Sundays can start planning now. Check out Stern Grove’s website for more details come Monday, May 2, but you can put in your time-off requests now. Continue reading “The Stern Grove 2011 Lineup”
Jane Wiedlin is a modern renaissance woman. Not only is she the legendary guitarist for the most successful all female rock band of all time, she has more career hyphenations than I can fit in this space. She’s about to embark on a tour with the Go-Go’s to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their debut record Beauty & The Beat, but she fit some time in from her busy schedule as a musician/comic book artist/producer/actor/Jedi to talk about her touring plans, her numerous creative projects, as well as what really caused the band to cancel their tour last summer.
Last year your tour was billed as a Go Go’s farewell tour, which was canceled because of injury. Your tour this summer is not being billed as a farewell tour. Does this mean that you will keep going after this tour is over?
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Jane Wiedlin of The Go Go’s”
The Railroad Revival Tour is a concept tour package where one of the main conceits is that all the bands have equal billing and play equal set lengths. That’s a nice thing to say, but the tickets sold lightning quick due to the recent boom of success of Mumford & Sons. While they weren’t officially the headliner, the singing along told another story. But by the end of the show, they convinced me that this was, indeed, a true group package. Seeing all three bands was a bit of a challenge, but worth it. Continue reading “Show Review: Railroad Revival Tour (Mumford & Sons) at Oakland Middle Shoreline Park, 4/21/2011”
starring: Michael Angarano, Uma Thurman, Reece Thompson, Lee Pace, Rebecca Mader, Jake M. Johnson
written and directed by: Max Winkler
MPAA: Rated R for some language, sexual references and drug use.
starring: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Paul Schneider, Hal Holbrook
written by: Richard LaGravenese (screenplay), Sara Gruen (novel)
directed by: Francis Lawrence
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for moments of intense violence and sexual content.
A few updates: First, R.I.P. Max Matthews. You will be missed. Second, I will extend this contest to Friday, April 29th as the first Musica Tecnomica 2.0 in a long while is taking place on Thursday the 28th.
Here we go again…another contest! For those of you not yet familiar with the event, SF MusicTech Summit was created by Brian and Shoshanna Zisk several years back to help music business professionals keep apace in an industry that is notorious for rapidly transforming, innovating, and developing tools for the development and distribution of music. What initially started out as a local gathering has gradually evolved into the third most renowned music and tech event in the world (behind MIDEM and, of course, SXSW).
I’ve already covered reasons why I think you should attend SF MusicTech Summit and this recent Fast Company interview gives even more insight into its benefits plus other projects Brian’s been involved with for the greater good of the community. Luckily, two free conference passes (one per online publication) are up for grabs here and through my own personal blog, karaemurphy.me. Read on to learn more about what to expect as an attendee and how you can potentially win…