Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
After waiting for a movie for almost 50 years, can it ever live up to expectations? In the case of the film adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic 1970 coming of age novel Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the answer is a resounding yes.
Continue reading “Film Review: “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret””
I mean, new PJ Harvey is generally cause for celebration in almost any situation. “A Child’s Question, August” is not quite what I was expecting, but it was a happy surprise. The song opens not with her deep, powerful, blues-inflected alto that we’ve known to expect from her but a tender, quiet, almost fragile soprano. The song builds like a classic shoegaze anthem- raising in emotional intensity and volume slowly. There’s an Elvis-referencing chorus that flips “Love Me Tender” on its side and a chilling, baritone harmony from the modern voice of Paddington Bear, Ben Wishaw.
“A Child’s Question, August” is the first single from I Inside The Old Year Dying, Harvey’s first album of new material in seven years, coming your way July 7th. I will also note our honorable mention for Single Of The Week- a surprisingly spare and dissonant track from Kesha, “Eat The Acid.”
“Mosswood Meltdown is a pissed-off July 4th weekend celebration for the punk rock elite. Slum-goddess feminists, butch twinks, homo-masculine straight guys-we’re all ready to pogo our way to musical mayhem.”
– John Waters
Our good friends at Mosswood Meltdown continue to make the greatest festival lineup ever (according to me) even greaterest! (WTF? Grammarly didn’t flag that word?!?!) In addition to the previously announced returns of Le Tigre, Bratmobile, Gravy Train!!!!, Mika Miko, The Rondells, JJ Fad, and too many more to name, we have been gifted with four ridiculously cool additions! We have Oakland’s Twompsax bidding us adieu with their last two performances ever. We also have Japan’s greatest surf band, The 5678s, returning to the US for the first time in a while. For those of you sick of music played by humans, the Teddy Bear Orchestra (which really is a band comprised of robot teddy bears) will give pleasure to your ears as a distraction while they plot to take over the human race.
They’ve also FINALLY let us know who is playing on which days. For me, personally, that stretch of SNOOPER to Bratmobile on Sunday is about as perfect as a music festival could possibly be. Full details are below, as well as info on the afterparties! Tickets are available here, and get them while you can! This is looking like selling out is not out of the question…
Continue reading “Mosswood Meltdown- Single Day Line Ups // Afterparties // New Acts!”
We are so very lucky in San Francisco. The lineup for the Stern Grove festival was just released, and it feels unfair how good it is. We are already lucky enough to live in the greatest place on Earth, but to see this array of acts FOR FREE?!?!?! In an absolutely stunning outdoor amphitheater? The rest of the world is full of envy for us.
I kinda want to go to everything… I mean, it opens with jazz experimentalists Snarky Puppy on June 18th. Then a bill where NEKO CASE IS THE OPENER?!?! Of course, she’s opening for the legendary Indigo Girls on June 25th for a bill that’s way more than closer to fine. (Sorry!) Avant-Pop icon Santigold on July 2nd. Lyle Lovett with our dear friend Andrew St James on July 9th. Legendary singer Angelique Kidjo is gracing our presence on July 16th. Jammy Funksters Lettuce is playing with the SF Symphony, which is just, um, !!!!!!. On July 20th, we’ve got the house double bill of Bob Moses and Neil Frances. August 6th brings us the FINAL SF PERFORMANCE from Buddy Guy. Competing with Outside Lands on August 13th (Damn right, I’m angry) is Patti Smith, possibly the most captivating live performer I’ve ever seen, paired with former Husker Du and Sugar frontman Bob Mould. And closing the whole thing out? The Flaming Lips on August 20th.
As with the last two years, tickets are free but do require RSVP. RSVP Links are below, along with the day and time they go live. (Which appears to be the same date as the show in the prior month at 2pm) And, as usual, they are selling tables to The Big Picnic with The Flaming Lips on August 20th.
June 18 Snarky Puppy, Isaiah Sharkey (RSVP Opens May 18th at 2pm)
June 25 Indigo Girls (with Full Band), Neko Case (RSVP Opens May 25th at 2pm)
July 2 Santigold, Ogi (RSVP Opens June 2nd at 2pm)
July 9 Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, Andrew St. James (RSVP Opens June 9th at 2pm)
July 16 Angelique Kidjo, Jupiter & Okwess (RSVP Opens June 16th at 2pm)
July 23 SF Symphony with Special Guest Lettuce (RSVP Opens June 23rd at 2pm)
July 30 Bob Moses, Neil Frances (RSVP Opens June 30th at 2pm)
August 6 Buddy Guy Damn Right Farewell Tour, Eric Gales (RSVP Opens July 6th at 2pm)
August 13 Patti Smith, Bob Mould (RSVP Opens July 20th at 2pm)
August 20 The Big Picnic Featuring The Flaming Lips, Alan Palomo (Neon Indian DJ Set) (RSVP Opens July 20th at 2pm)
The 66th SFFilm Festival concludes today, with screenings through this evening. We wrap up our Fest coverage with two final spotlights for you: Here’s a look at a documentary and a feature film that have been playing the film festival circuit, but may receive theatrical distribution. Continue reading “Film Feature: 66th SFFILM Festival Wrap-Up”
For as long as I can remember, independent record stores across the world have celebrated Record Store Day. At first a small initiative to get people to shop at their local record stores, it’s now an excuse for thousands of people to join hours-long queues at record shops across the world to buy one (or several) of the several hundred special releases made for that day that will only ever be sold in stores, and for which pre-orders are not allowed to be taken. As the list of releases has grown, the quality of those releases has diverged. While some of the announced records are long-awaited reissues of rare and important material, others are obvious cash grabs meant to appeal to the completist nature of a certain type of collector. Now, I’ll sort some of these in buckets for you, starting with the most essential and ending with the least essential.
I’ve focused on the U.S. list for this post as this is where we are and will be waiting in line.
Continue reading “Record Store Day 2023 — My Guide to the Most and Least Essential Releases”
Ray Romano is one of our most underrated dramatic actors. If you know him only from the network sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, you’ve only seen a fraction of what he’s capable of. Check him out in the indies Paddleton or The Big Sick, for which his heartbreakingly honest monologue about infidelity should have netted him a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Or better yet: go see him in his outstanding feature film directorial debut Somewhere in Queens, opening today.
Remember in 2021 when I kept posting Wet Leg singles, and they ended up becoming the biggest thing in 2022? Well, every single off Dream Wife’s third record, Social Lubrication (Out June 9th), has been incredible, and I think there is a reasonable chance that 2023 will be the year of Dream Wife. “Orbit” is a dance-punk piece of infectiousness that you will listen to on repeat until the next single drops.
Also, they dropped a small assortment of US dates that you can see below. And if you happen to be visiting the UK from the Bay Area in June and can pick me up a copy of this version of Social Lubrication, I’ll pay you back when you return to the States.
September 15 – Brooklyn, NY, USA @ Brooklyn Made
September 17 – Portland, OR, USA @ Mississippi Studios
September 18 – Seattle, WA, USA @ Barboza
September 20 – San Francisco, CA, USA @ Bottom Of The Hill
September 21 – Los Angeles, CA, USA @ Zebulon
August seems so much closer in the last week than it has been… It might be the fact that our three months of ACTUAL WINTER have finally drifted away, and the sun has revealed itself. Although if you are a real San Franciscan, you are most excited about Karl The Fog returning in August, which makes Outside Lands consistently the most comfortable music festival in America.
But I digress… Single Day lineups have been announced, so you can kinda start planning? It looks pretty likely that we are gonna get Janelle Monae warming up the crowd for Kendrick Lamar, which is basically gonna cause my brain to implode. We also see Orville Peck and Trixie Mattel playing on the same day, so keep your fingers crossed that this happens! Will they try to find a way to combine Fake Fruit and Venus & The Flytraps for the most uncomfortable concoction for Gastromagic on Sunday? I certainly hope soo…
Single Day GA, GA+, VIP, and Golden Gate Club passes are on sale Wednesday, April 19th at 10 am at sfoutsidelands.com!
I saw Showing Up one week ago today, and sat down to write this review at 5:00am this morning. Yes, I procrastinated, even though I love to write about movies. But I think writer/director Kelly Reichardt would forgive me and understand my dilemma, as it’s exactly what her newest picture so charmingly explores.
