AFI – Spinning Platters

Show Review: Aftershock 2023… West Coast’s Biggest Rock Festival!

Review by: Alan Ralph @AlanHasPicks and Emily Anderson @wisefoolfilms
Onstage Photos by: Alan Ralph @AlanHasPicks
AFI/Avenged/Korn Photos by: Kyle Kellogg @ Kellogg Foto

Discovery Park in Sacramento was once again the site for Danny Wimmer Presents annual Aftershock Festival, a four-day rock and metal music festival featuring four stages of many of today’s bona fide headliners as well as plenty of promising new blood. It is also a bit of an endurance test. There are the crazy fans who run in as soon as the gates open and stand at the barricade for basically 11 hours, with no food or even the means to leave to find a restroom (because they’ll never get their spot back). Security did hand out plenty of water up there though so that nobody passed out in the mid-90° heat! There are others who try to take in as much as possible by going from stage to stage to stage all day long to see as many bands as they can. Many just get drunk and sit around on their picnic blanket or at the VIP section tables, while others take it all in stride and hit up the myriad of food trucks, beer tents, alcohol and cannabis vendors… all while everyone is dealing with a heat wave that much of Northern California happened to fall victim to over this very weekend.

Continue reading “Show Review: Aftershock 2023… West Coast’s Biggest Rock Festival!”

Aftershock 2023… and why it will be better than Power Trip!

Show Preview by: Alan Ralph @AlanHasPicks

The extended weekend of October 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the year 2 0 2 3 has been leaving fans of heavy metal music in decision limbo since the beginning of April. In mid-March, the annual heavy metal pilgrimage to Sacramento, called Aftershock Festival, announced another stellar (as always) 4-day lineup for an unforgettable weekend of Rock N Metal. What nobody knew then is that a mere two weeks later, Power Trip (not the band) would announce a killer classic metal lineup for their festival, to take place simultaneously on the same weekend, albeit in the southern California desert. Goldenvoice had just put Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) on notice, and fans then had to decide which to go to! Now, with t-minus two weeks and counting, Spinning Platters is here to explain why Aftershock Festival is thee festival to attend and how they will not be relinquishing their West Coast Fall Festival crown…

Continue reading “Aftershock 2023… and why it will be better than Power Trip!”

Bumbershoot 2023- The 50th Anniversary In Pictures

Bumbershoot is one of the oldest and longest-running music festivals in America. Sure, it took a bit of a hiatus after the 2019 edition to regroup (and that pesky pandemic had a bit of a part in it, too), it returned in 2023 with a heavy focus on the talent of the Pacific Northwest, including sets from such luminaires as Sleater-Kinney (who played 1/2 of Dig Me Out as well as a cover of Sinead O’Connor’s “Emporer’s New Clothes,”) Sunny Day Real Estate, and The Dandy Warhols. We got to take our camera around and enjoy the sights and sounds of this event, and we even got to take a turn behind the mic for queer/bar staple Burleskaraoke (but, sadly, only the folks at the event got to experience that magic). It was a delightful weekend of both sunshine and rain, and it was such a joy to see Seattle having fun.

[Show as slideshow]

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 9/18/14-9/24/14

90’s Pop goodness, a remodeled theater and no less than three chances to see The Airborne Toxic Event. All this and more in a week of music in the Bay Area
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 9/18/14-9/24/14”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 12/4/13-12/10/13

bangles — Coming to The Fillmore, this Thursday Night!

Wednesday, December 4th

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 12/4/13-12/10/13”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/2/2010-9/8/2010

Labor Day weekend is filled with musical adventures in the Bay Area… Including two of the very, very few worthwhile summer shed shows that seem to be timed out perfectly for the weather getting good. Here are the highlights:

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/2/2010-9/8/2010”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 3/24/10-3/30/10

baby koala — Kid Koala is coming back to town!

After all the chaos that was Spinning Platters’ visit to Austin, TX for a bit of SXSW action, it’s time to come home and do what we did while we were in Texas, see a bunch of great live bands. Many of them we will be seeing again. So, fire up those ear plugs and get ready to dance: Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 3/24/10-3/30/10”

Live 105’s Not So Silent Night: Muse, AFI, 30 Seconds To Mars, Vampire Weekend, Metric, Scene Of Action at Oracle Arena, 12/11/09

Matthew Bellamy, Showing Off His Firefly Collection To 20,000 Of His Closest Friends

Radio-sponsored concerts exist for multiple reasons. The first reason is, well, to make money. Since Nielsen-based ratings aren’t the most precise way to go, often times the best way to prove to advertisers your worth is to put on a big show that’s promoted by the station, and use those numbers to bring in big money for the commercials. The other, more dignified reason, is as a thank you for the listeners. It gives them a more hands on experience with the music they’ve grown to love by supporting their local radio station. I’ve been to many of these kinds of shows in my life, and I generally think that they are a pretty good time. Sometimes, though, they can be a bit too erratic to truly enjoy, much like most commercial radio. If there was any problem with this year’s show, it’s that the music was, stylistically, a little too varied for a common night. When the two bands that share the most similar influences are Vampire Weekend and AFI, you know it’s going to be a strange night.

Continue reading “Live 105’s Not So Silent Night: Muse, AFI, 30 Seconds To Mars, Vampire Weekend, Metric, Scene Of Action at Oracle Arena, 12/11/09”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: December 9th-December 15th

Opening For The Aquabats on Saturday Night

It’s a really big week this week, mostly because this is widely viewed as the last week people can get down and party before focusing their attention (and finances) the the wretched beast known as “Late December Holiday Season.” So, for all of you out there that wish to blow all that money you’ve been saving on a nice new golden chariot for grandma, here are a few really great shows for you to attend:

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New Release Round Up, 9/29/09 – 34 Instant Album Reviews

Pouria said "use the Ghostface Killah cover because it's the best." I think it represents his journey through Lala. — Edtior's note: Pouria said "use the Ghostface Killah cover because it's the best." I think it represents his journey through Lala for this week.

This week had some particularly bad, boring albums. Eventually when I got to some good music I stopped wondering why I do this column. Continue reading “New Release Round Up, 9/29/09 — 34 Instant Album Reviews”