Bill Graham Civic Auditorium – Spinning Platters

An Appreciation of Phish at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, April 22 & 23, 2025

One doesn’t simply review a Phish concert. First, you have to show your bona fides. With that in mind, I’ll simply state that my first time hearing Phish was Jeffrey Quinlan’s Junta cassette that he brought back from Bowdoin College, where his brother had seen them. My first show was in 1992; I left early. My 20th show was in 1995, and somewhere after then, I just stopped counting. I didn’t think I’d ever need that number again until I started writing this. I’d hazard a guess at around 40.

One can’t simply review a Phish concert anyway. Either you love them or you don’t, and I’m not going to convince anyone in the cult to like or dislike something; same for those outside the cult. Everyone is convinced; there is no middle ground. Continue reading “An Appreciation of Phish at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, April 22 & 23, 2025”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/9/15-10/14/15

While Leif and his posse may not have actually worn 'em, they are fun to wear. — While Leif and his posse may not have actually worn ’em, they are fun to wear.

Do you know what today is? It is Leif Erickson Day here in the USA. Let us celebrate explorers as well as arbitrarily-horned helmets.

Also, the Litquake festival begins in San Francisco! A solid day for a book about explorers.

After that’s done with, let’s look at the concerts coming up this week in the Bay Area. Skol, let’s preview! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/9/15-10/14/15”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/11/13-4/17/13

FEAR THE BEARD — Where have you gone, (baseball’s) Brian Wilson? You weren’t there for the San Francisco Giants’ 2012 ring ceremony.

Concerts! Shows! Performances! And this week in the Bay Area, they’re extra-beardy!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/11/13-4/17/13”

Show Review: Tool with Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 7/12/2010

no one is innocent (photo by Shannon Hazelip)

I will preface this review by stating a fact which, while well known to my friends and colleagues, is not widely expressed within my concert reviews, given their number and the scale of the bands that I go to see. This fact is a simple one: I loathe arena shows. I’m more specifically referring to any venue that seats over 10,000 people, although 7,000 — the capacity of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium — is pushing my limit to a mild degree. The fact of the matter is, however, that there will always be certain bands that are far, far too big to play in small clubs, large theaters, or even modest amphitheaters, and these bands will be reason enough for me to go, no matter the size of the venue. These bands will be the driving force behind the show that they put on; this is no festival with twenty acts, nor a set of competing giants wrestling for the title of “biggest rock god ever”. This is a band that has been around for nigh-on twenty years; in fact, the singer was heard tonight saying, “Pop quiz: how many of you are under 21? Really? Well, you weren’t even alive when this song was written.”

Who would this be? Tool, of course.

Continue reading “Show Review: Tool with Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 7/12/2010”