Hello there, Bay Area live music lover. As we reach April, we know that the next 30 days will be quite busy. We haven’t even started with the Coachella bands coming to town, and, well, I’m already exhausted just looking at this thing!
Thursday, March 28th
Anthrax, Exodus, High On Fire, Municipal Waste, Holy Grail at The Regency Ballroom
Thrash metal lives. Or at least, thrash metal from the 1980s lives on. Get your fill of the circle pit with one of thrash’s sainted Big Four, along with Oakland’s own Sleep–derived High On Fire. Throw horns at the sky, run around in a circle with like-minded folk, then leave the venue with bruises, a raw throat, and a big grin. (Christopher Rogers)
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic at Yoshi’s – Jack London Square
Friday, March 29th
Lee Renaldo, Jessica Pratt at The Chapel
So far this year, the bay area has been visited by new projects from both Kim Gordon (Body / Head) and Thurston Moore (Chelsea Light Moving). Both bands, in their own distinct way, are very noisy projects that picked up nicely where Sonic Youth left off. So, for Renaldo’s first visit of 2013, he’s opting to strip it all the way down instead of turning it all the way up. This is a rare situation where you can hear an artist known for layers of feedback stripped down to just the song. And, well, his songs are pretty fantastic.
Texas Is The Reason, The Jealous Sound at Bimbo’s 365 Club
Texas Is The Reason are propulsive, careening guitar rock from just before the first wave of emo. This is music to listen to while driving fast. They are peers of Sunny Day Real Estate, Samiam, and The Promise Ring. Texas Is The Reason are responsible for one of the best songs of all time: “If It’s Here When We Get Back It’s Ours” from their self-titled EP. That song features one of the greatest rock drop-out drops of all time. I’ve been waiting since the late nineties to hear it played live. Gonna get my chance this Friday night.
TITR are preceded by the pristine 90s power-pop of The Jealous Sound. Eyebrowless shimmering rock for right when you’re considering breaking-up out of your three-month relationship. The Jealous Sound are that friend who won’t kid you about what you’re doing wrong and you appreciate them all the more. (Hi Charles!) (Christopher Rogers)
Planet Booty, Super Adventure Club, Spirit Animal at Bottom Of The Hill
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Billy Bragg, Kim Churchill at Great American Music Hall
Saturday, March 30th
Sevendust, Coal Chamber, Lacuna Coil, Candlelight Red at The Regency Ballroom
Holy crap, Sevendust are still around? They are, and they’re still playing their chugga-chugga drop-tuned friendly metalcore. Good for them. What-hey, Coal Chamber are still around? (Christopher Rogers)
Judgement Day, Case In Theory, A Yawn Worth Yelling at San Pedro Square, San Jose
It’s no wonder why Judgement Day are one of Spinning Platters‘ favorite bands. We love their head-spinning string metal. Violin plus cello plus drums equals gleefully soaring heavy music. See them this Saturday in San Jose for the unbeatable price of free. (Christopher Rogers)
Sunday, March 31st
Widowspeak, SISU at The Chapel
Widowspeak are a young band that perform a stunning blend of blues and shoegaze, making the most beautiful swirls of sound this side of Mazzy Star.
Monday, April 1st
Bomba Estereo, Revolutionary Rhythm at The New Parish
Bomba Estereo do a potent blend of cumbia, electro, hip hop, and guitar based indie rock. Vocalist Liliana Saumet is a very tiny woman, that manages to explode beyond her size when she takes the stage.
JAN, Static People, The Secret Secretaries at Bottom Of The Hill
Tuesday, April 2nd
Unko Atama, The Rinds, Big Shadows, dj Kilgore Bass at The Knockout
Unko Atama are still around? Great! The world can always use more Ramones-style “one-two-three-four” punk bands. Two-minute blasts of local punky music. Yes. (Christopher Rogers)
Ponderosa, Pagents, Seatraffic at Brick & Mortar Music Hall
Wednesday, April 3rd
Fu Manchu, Bloodnstuff, dj Rob Metal at Bottom of the Hill
Fu Manchu are still around? That’s great. Big ol’ thick riffs made for blaring out of a well-kept Econoline van on a 90-degree day in Southern California. Yeah, man. (Christopher Rogers)
Low, Thalia Zedek at the Great American Music Hall
Stop moping and finish grad school. You’ll earn healthcare one day. OR MAYBE YOU WON’T. [Slow song from Low fades in.] (Christopher Rogers)
