Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Aaron Espinoza and Jason Lytle of Admiral Radley, plying their craft.
Jason Lytle and Aaron Burtch of Grandaddy plus Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray of Earlimart equals Admiral Radley.
These two midtempo guitar-and-keyboard indie rock crews plugged in their effects pedals together and now the Admiral has come to town. Continue reading “Show Review: Admiral Radley at The Bottom Of The Hill, 7/23/2010”
I was first exposed to The Gaslight Anthem via a concert at San Jose State with the Alkaline Trio, Rise Against, and Thrice about a year ago. They were the openers and I almost chose taking a trip to the merch booth over listening to their set. Luckily, I didn’t take that trip and now I am a fan of their music. So when I heard that they were playing a free show in San Jose, I was anxious to go. I was geared up and ready to hear their new album played live and possibly some old songs off The ’59 Sound. I got there two hours ahead of time to stake out my spot and didn’t intend on moving. Let’s just say it was well worth the lack of food for six hours.
I have a live music bucket list. That is, I have a list of performers and bands that I would like to see before I or they die. This week has been pretty good for me, in terms of knocking things off that list, but I was really excited about the opportunity to see the first band to make that list. I believe I was 12 when I first heard “All I Want.” I was watching VH-1, as I did sometimes at that age, and thought that it was one of the coolest songs that I have ever heard. At that point, I decided that I needed to see them live, yet it somehow became a difficult task. They played often throughout my high school years, but broke up before I was able to see them. When they reunited, they local shows tended to be either very intimate (selling out super fast), at wineries that are unreachable by public transit, or opening for other bands (Counting Crows, Big Head Todd & The Monsters), and it just wasn’t plausible for me. But, with everything working out just right, I’ve finally accomplished this goal, nearly 18 years later.
Continue reading “Show Review: Toad The Wet Sprocket, Hey Marseilles at The Fillmore, 7/23/10”
The last week of July is looking pretty crazy… Tons of amazing shows going on this week, including two very rare 4-band shows that are worth arriving early and staying late. Time to buy some Red Bull!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/22/10-7/28/10”
Jonathan Richman explained the reason for the existence of his ongoing residency at Swedish American Hall this week. He was in Reykjavik playing a show, and the opener was some girl playing guitar and singing, and he was thinking “whatever” but then he started really listening and fell in love with the music, as did his drummer and constant on-stage partner, Tommy Larkins. So when they found out Olof Arnalds was looking to play some shows in San Francisco, they set up these gigs. Thanks to everyone involved for getting them together because it’s always a total treat to see Mr. Richman in action. Continue reading “Show Review: Jonathan Richman with Olof Arnalds at Swedish American Hall, 7/21/10”
The Barenaked Ladies are playing just about everywhere they can in the Bay Area this week. On Monday night, they were at the Mountain Winery and tonight they play at The Regency Center (with discount tickets available on Goldstar), but last night they were at the Wente Vineyards in Livermore. With a ticket price hovering in the $200 range, the audience mainly seated at tables for their catered dinner, and a charity auction before the show bringing $3000 for a single autographed bottle of wine, I had concerns that the show might feel an awful lot like dinner theater. And when they played “If I Had a Million Dollars,” and asked folks to sing along, my friend leaned in close to me and said, “I think a lot of people here HAVE a million dollars.” Continue reading “Show Review: Barenaked Ladies at Wente Vineyards, 7/20/10”
Pollstar is a magazine that keeps track of concert tours, and around July of every year, they release their mid-year list of highest grossing tours. Usually it’s not a huge surprise. Generally speaking, it’s tried and true dinosaur rock, mixed in with a few “flavors of the year” pop artists. This time, however, the we got a bit of a surprise. Number one was Bon Jovi, which wasn’t actually a surprise. The number two really got me, though: James Taylor & Carole King. Neither of these artists have had any recent output that had much of an effect of the pop charts, and both artists have toured in recent years on their own without much fanfare. I needed to know why, in 2010, are people spending their hard-earned, recession-era dollars on this pairing, instead of on The Eagles or Christina Aguilera. So, I did what any good reporter would do in this scenario. I went to the show. And I brought my Dad, because it wouldn’t be right any other way.
With Broadway experience as well as session work along side musical greats such as Elton John already on her resume, the soulful Crystal Monee Hall arrives the Bay Area with a lot on her mind, a lot to sing about, and a readiness to achieve her musical independence…
How much of a role does your musical and cultural background growing up play in your new album?
In today’s concerting world, most shows are focused more firmly on spectacle than on musicianship. We expect the bands to be at the top of their game, of course, but in case they aren’t, we’ve got pretty lights, soaring lasers, mystifying fog, and, sometimes, hurricanes of confetti to wow us and give us something to rave to our friends about. While the spectacle can be rather fantastic from time to time, it’s always refreshing to see the band pack up their light show, deflate the floating spacemen, and dismantle the fog machines, in favor of a rock-solid performance that focuses on what a concert is, truly, about: the music. The bands that are able to take all of these steps, cast off the grandeur, pack themselves — and several hundred feral fans — into a club, and rock the foundations as hard as they would in an arena, are truly wonderful to behold, and tonight’s performance by Bay Area native titans Primus was certainly no exception.
Continue reading “Show Review: An Evening with Primus at the Great American Music Hall, 7/18/2010”
Frontguy and basketball enthusiast Doug Martsch at work.
Had Built To Spill been resting on their laurels?
The two previous albums before the current There Is No Enemy LP displayed what could be construed as the gentle complacency of an aging NBA star on a team going into the rebuilding process: a few gems here-and-there to remind us what they were capable of, but a general sense of the motivation just not being there.
Doug Martsch‘s band had released several albums and tracks widely regarded as classics: the Perfect From Now On LP; songs like “Car,” “You Were Right,” and the gorgeous, haunting “Randy Described Eternity.” He’d spearheaded and mastered his own brand of good-natured wide-striding heavily-layered swirling guitar-heroics-based indie rock. Now what?
What would it look like if Boise’s second-favorite export had something to prove?
San Francisco got the answer when Built To Spill took the stage at Slim’s.
Continue reading “Show Review: Built To Spill at Slim’s, 7/15/2010”