Show Review: PAX Concerts, Seattle Convention Center, 9/4/2009 & 9/5/2009

The new fab four? Molly, Paul, Storm and Joco
The new fab four? Molly, Paul, Storm and Joco

Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle is a lot of things, but mostly it’s a gathering of a community of like minded gamers.  These are nerds and geeks who live by a simple credo popularized by Secretary of Geek Affairs, Wil Wheaton.  It simply states, “Don’t Be a Dick.”  So what does a bunch of gamers getting together in Seattle have to do with a music website?  First of all, this is the second year I’ve gone (out of many I will attend; it’s populated by uniformly awesome people).  Every year, PAX invites some musicians that are popular in the gamer community to perform at a popular series of concerts.  It’s time that these shows got a traditional concert review, so here it is. Continue reading “Show Review: PAX Concerts, Seattle Convention Center, 9/4/2009 & 9/5/2009”

Show Review: John Legend, India.Arie, Vaughn Anthony at The Greek Theater in Berkeley, 9/6/09

He wants you... He wants you so bad...
He wants you… He wants you so bad…

I’m not really sure why I volunteered to cover John Legend at the Greek. My feelings of him have always been pretty negative. I used to call him things such as “the music John Tesh uses to fall asleep” and “Soul Music’s answer to Yanni.” So, I wasn’t expecting much. I thought I was going to enjoy India.Arie, and then I would sneak out after a few songs, just enough to be able to fake a review… Continue reading “Show Review: John Legend, India.Arie, Vaughn Anthony at The Greek Theater in Berkeley, 9/6/09”

Album Review: Jay Z – The Blueprint 3

Blueprint_3

I know, right, a hip-hop record leaking, impossible! NO, really it did. Despite the fact that Jay-Z traveled all the way to Hawaii to record, the Blueprint 3 is still leaked, someone must have got on an air craft with a copy, what is the TSA doing! Continue reading “Album Review: Jay Z — The Blueprint 3”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 8th-14th

Opening for Flogging Molly at The Fox on Friday Night!
Opening for Flogging Molly at The Fox on Friday Night!

Now that Labor Day has come & gone, and the bridge is fully functioning again, here’s another guide to a week’s worth of rock & roll that you might enjoy:

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 8th-14th”

Album Review: Ingrid Michaelson – Everybody

Sneaking in through the backdoor of your mind
Sneaking in through the backdoor of your mind

You may not realize you know Ingrid Michaelson, but you do.  Back in 2007 her album Girls and Boys launched her into the stratosphere of VH1’s artists “you oughta know” fueled by the ubiquitous “The Way I Am.”  You’ve also not realized you were listening to her while you watched such quality television shows as Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill and Scrubs.  An album a year later, her newest release Everybody arrived last week on August 25th.  Will it also be something you constantly hear in the background of your favourite tv shows or will this be the album that brings Ingrid Michaelson to the forefront? Continue reading “Album Review: Ingrid Michaelson — Everybody”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 1st-7th

Millions Of Darling Cats will be playing at The Knockout tonight!
Millions Of Darling Cats will be playing at The Knockout tonight!

As we recover from our wonderful weekend in Golden Gate Park, dealing with our sunburns (Friday & Saturday) and our hypothermia (Sunday), here’s a few more shows to keep you going. All of them good, or at least have the potential for good.

On a side note: the Bay Bridge is closed this weekend, but BART will be running all night, so if you wanted to get wasted on the other side of the Bay on which you reside, this is the weekend to do it!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 1st-7th”

Album Review: Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

Going dancing with the Wild Beasts
Going dancing with the Wild Beasts

In the world of hyper-literate esoterock fathered by Collin Meloy and nursed by Joanna Newsom came the Wild Beasts to remind us it should never be taken seriously. Their debut album Limbo, Panto along with their first five singles took the train The Decemberists made out of antique English imagery and lyrical grandiloquence and drove it off cliff, which is, frankly, where it belonged in the first place. Continue reading “Album Review: Wild Beasts — Two Dancers”

Outside Lands Festival Journal: Log 2, Day 3

The D Battle The Metal
The D Battle The Metal

Today I attended the show as a volunteer. It’s a good deal, you help out with some element if the show in the morning, and by late afternoon, you are free to enjoy the rest of the show. If you work at night, you get to see an entire different day.  It’s a pretty decent deal, and if they do it next year, I recommend it. Just check out the official site next year, and you will find the instructions on how to sign up.

Continue reading “Outside Lands Festival Journal: Log 2, Day 3”

Outside Lands Festival Diary: Part 4 – Sunday, 8/30/09

She was pretty excited to be seeing M.I.A.
She was pretty excited to be seeing M.I.A.

Today was mainly a working day for me.  I needed to be at the info booth by 4:00, and I wasn’t going to get to the park until almost 2:00, so what would I be seeing?  The short answer?  Not much.  The long answer?  A lot of really cold people, a few minutes of a few bands, one entire set, and a lot sad people. Continue reading “Outside Lands Festival Diary: Part 4 — Sunday, 8/30/09”