Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
It’s fair to say that the target audience for tonight at The Regency Grand Ballroom is significantly younger then normal. In fact, looking at the fans that were up against the barricade for tonight’s show every single one of them had the mark of under 21, big Sharpied-on X’s on the tops of both their hands. Continue reading “Forever The Sickest Kids with The Rocket Summer at The Regency Center, 12/4/09”
Things started off looking kind of gloomy over at The Great American. It was 8:30pm, the opening act was set to go on at 9:00pm and there were approximately 30 people in the room (I counted). Sitting by myself at one of the tables that lined the floor, I couldn’t help but sulk at the fact that I was basically working on a Friday night. It took all my energy to keep from putting my head down on the table and taking a nap. Even my trusty sidekick, iPhone, couldn’t help ease my growing boredom. I shirked out of my responsibilities of doing any research prior to the show, so I basically had no idea what to expect. Continue reading “Show Review: J. Tillman with Pearly Gate Music at The Great American Music Hall, 12/4/09”
Pouria didn’t write an intro, so I get to. I don’t know how he found 30 actual new release albums to review among the few records that trickle out each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but he is an adventurous type. Read on to see his thoughts on many bands I didn’t even know existed. Continue reading “New Release Round Up 12/1/09 — 30 Instant Album Reviews”
Alternate titles for this post are:
What, no shirt?
and
The View From the Back of the Balcony
So, tonight I saw Morrissey for somewhere between the 15th and the 20th time. I lost count during the 2007 tour when I followed him around California and saw almost all the shows he played there, plus two in Reno. Continue reading “Show Review: Morrissey at The Paramount Theater, 12/02/2009”
As the decade comes to an end, it means it’s time for lists. Lots of lists. All making a vague attempt at condensing the most pivotal parts of our popular culture, and spitting them out in a haphazard form. This is a list of what I, personally, consider to be the most important pure pop musical moments of our decade. You will be upset by things on this list. You may think I am a complete idiot for missing “____” by The _____’s. Just remember, this is a list of POP songs. I will not mis-estimate the importance of Radiohead, AR Rahman, The Strokes, Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, and other acts that will appear on every other best of the decade list. This is just a pop list. I don’t have room for the Fleet Foxes, I’m sorry.
Please Read, then begin arguing about my picks in the comments area (In no particular order):
Shows, shows, shows… That’s all I ever talk about. In this column at least. Ok: go support some live music venues!!!!!!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: December 2nd-December 8th”
Episode 10 of the Spinning Platters Podcast is technically about music in video games, but as usual, goes off into a million different directions. Hear us talk about bands whose names sound the same, take Twitter topic suggestions from our Twitter followers, and admit to embarrassing truths about ourselves. Gordon, Dakin and D.P. are joined again by Carlos Rodela of Mevio, our first official recurring guest. See our topics and listen below, or click the giant button in the left sidebar to subscribe. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 10 — Awesome Nog”
A collection of pop bands came to Slim’s on Sunday night to rock out in front of a small but extremely enthusiastic crowd, comprising mostly young women excited to see one of their favorite bands. Personally, I was drawn to the show by the appearance of Tally Hall, but was looking forward to a full Rooney set, having only seen them as an opener before. I didn’t know an important thing about them, though, which explains a lot. Continue reading “Show Review: Rooney with Tally Hall and The Crash Kings at Slim’s, 11/29/09”
Growing up, I always heard that the night before Thanksgiving was a big night out. Supposedly, everyone was visiting and would go party together. Now that I’m older, I know that this is untrue, because I went to see Deastro and Max Tundra at Bottom of the Hill. The fifty-or-so people who were there with me were the lucky ones; the ones playing Apples to Apples with family really missed out. Continue reading “Show Review: Deastro and Max Tundra at Bottom of the Hill, 11/25/09”
I first discovered Brad Klausen’s work due to his Big Business poster, and discussed him in my first article about rock poster artists for Spinning Platters without knowing who he was. It’s a few months and a few poster orders later, and now I breathlessly await each new release from him. For our ongoing series, the Gift Guide For Music Nerds, I’m suggesting that you go to his site and buy the music nerd in your life some amazing rock posters. So I asked Brad if he would do a quick email interview with us, and his responses blew me away. They’ll surely do the same for you.
Spinning Platters: What was the first work of art you did for money? Continue reading “Gift Guide For Music Nerds: 10 Quick Questions With Brad Klausen”