How much would you pay to hear one song? What if that song was going to be played by the most accomplished one-hit wonder in the history of music? When that song is “Genius of Love,” and that band is the Tom Tom Club, the long lasting musical project of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, then apparently that price is $26. This was, however, a 13-song set. So what about the other 12 songs? Were they worth the price of admission?
I’ve been following Marnie Stern’s career nearly from the get-go. Her first record, In Advance Of The Broken Arm, is still one of my all time favorite records, and hardly a week goes by without giving it a listen. I enjoyed her second record, This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That, but, as is the case with many sophomore releases, I didn’t become infatuated with it as much as the debut. So, here we have record number three. A record that’s pre-buzz has led me to believe that we have a “serious departure,” and, what may be the one thing that has me approaching with the greatest caution, “ballads.” My biggest fear would be that one of the most aggressive players in rock music today has gone gentle.
Colin Firth in early Oscar buzz favorite THE KING'S SPEECH, making its Bay Area debut this week at the Mill Valley Film Festival. All photos courtesy of the MVFF.
The 33rd annual Mill Valley Film Festival kicks off tomorrow, October 7, boasting a genuinely impressive roster of major 2010 film festival favorites making their Bay Area debuts. The MVFF will also host appearances by actors Edward Norton, Annette Bening, Sam Rockwell, and James Franco, directors Julian Schnabel and Alejandro González Iñárritu, and many more. Look after the jump for our 11 MVFF Must-Sees. For complete festival and ticket information, check out the MVFF official website.
When I heard that Bitte Orca was being re-released I was a bit hesitant to say the least. What exactly could the Dirty Projectors possibly have to offer that would warrant an expanded re-issuing of this highly underrated album?
In today’s world of music where nearly anyone can slap together a laptop and a table of samplers to create a band, it’s always refreshing to see a band that goes beyond the simple four-piece duty of guitar/bass/drums/vocals and plays something on a much bigger scale. Even more of a treat is the chance to see two bands doing this, especially when the first band joins the headliners during the latter’s set. Take the lot of the musicians, give them two nights at Berkeley’s enormous Greek Theater, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a weekend. How best to ensure that you sell every ticket for both nights? Well, having the Montreal-based septet known as Arcade Fire might help speed up the process.
Thank you, silverfuture for sharing this pic from a show earlier this year...
I recently started law school and as a result have been staying away from any sort of fun. This week has been a break from the grindstone I’ve been resting my nose on. I started my week of leash loosening at Bimbo’s 365 on Wednesday night. This was my first time there and the one word I can use to describe it is “classy.”
Shirtless Muppets? Scotish rock band? You make the call!
Put a giant band in a small club in a faraway land, and you never know what you’re going to get, or who’s going to show up. I was surprised when I walked into the Rickshaw Stop to see the sort of people I wouldn’t expect at a hard rock show. In SF parlance, we call them “Marina types,” where I had thought the place to be filled with anglophiles and socially awkward rocker types. By the end of the night, all would become clear. There aren’t a lot of Biffy Clyro fans in San Francisco, and this show won’t go too far for upping that count. Continue reading “Show Review: Biffy Clyro with Picture Atlantic and New Diplomat at Rickshaw Stop, 9/28/2010”
By this point in time, the average music fan who knows about The Flaming Lips and their colossal live shows has probably heard absolutely everything. This is not simply referring to the vast amount of positive-sounding adjectives and awestruck expressions on the faces of fans, but, moreso, the absolute hugeness of their performances. It seems only appropriate to give them as great a berth as possible, in order to have some hope of maintaining the glorious, wonderful chaos that is a Flaming Lips concert; thus, it was bizarre but also incredibly exciting to the Bay Area when the band announced that they would be playing in Oakland’s majestic Fox Theater. Demand was so high that tonight’s show sold out within days; this prompted a second date to be added, with a new set of opening acts. Frontman Wayne Coyne, in his pre-show address, commented that the theater was gorgeous, and that for their next tour, they would attempt to play on the ceiling itself.
