blink 182 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: Highlights of Aftershock 2025!

Review by:
Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro and Emily Anderson @emilyphotoadventure

Photos by:
Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro unless otherwise stated

Nearly one year ago, at the very end of Spinning Platters’ Aftershock 2024 review, this question was raised: “West Coast’s Biggest Rock Festival had such a stellar lineup this year, HOW are they possibly going to outdo themselves in 2025?!?!”

If one hundred people were asked if 2025 was better than 2024, there would undoubtedly be one hundred different answers and opinions. Aftershock 2024 was so exceptionally good and a heavy metal fan’s wet dream – Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer, Pantera, Slipknot, Mastodon, Anthrax, Clutch, Ministry, Body Count and more! Fans of other genres of rock, punk, and loud music were still out in force, as Aftershock 2024 set an attendance record of 40,000 people per day, but may have felt neglected by the sheer amount of metal that closed every night of the festival.

For the 13th annual Aftershock in 2025, promoter Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) altered the overall lineup to cater to the rest of those fans while still appealing to the heavy metal fans, by combining every Warped Tour, Ozzfest and Rockstar Mayhem Festival lineup, put it all in a blender, and poured it in a tall glass of Discovery Park for four days of the best rock, alt-rock, metal, 2000’s nu-metal, hardcore, and pop-punk bands, all in one place at one time in the outskirts of downtown Sacramento!

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Outside Lands 2019: Instant Gig Reviews

These are the days of miracles and wonder…

It’s been a tough couple of weeks as a nation. Mass shootings in Gilroy, Dayton, and El Paso were not particularly well timed with Outside Lands. In the days leading up to the festival, many people were debating whether or not it was safe to go. Maybe we were next? I had a long talk with my partner about going this year, which included a plan for alerting each other to our safety, and talking about all of the steps that I’ve observed in my years attending this festival that have made me feel safe. In fact, I think I feel safer in Golden Gate Park during Outside Lands than pretty much anywhere else on Earth.

I’m also a firm believer in “not letting terrorists win.” We can’t let these folks scare us off from living. And, seriously, if you don’t have communing with friends and strangers to appreciate live music, is life really worth living? I’m going to keep going to shows and supporting life music because, well, I really think my life depends on it. Continue reading “Outside Lands 2019: Instant Gig Reviews”

Show Review: blink-182, My Chemical Romance, Matt & Kim (Honda Civic Tour) at Shoreline Amphitheater,

In 2001, a car company that went by the name of “Honda” decided to add another package tour to the schedule. They called up blink-182, who were at the height of their popularity, and, one thing led to another, and 10 years later, fans of pop punk music became far more aware of automobiles. I was at the San Francisco date on that tour, a show at The Warfield with No Motiv and Alkaline Trio. Over the next ten years, blink-182 went through an awful lot, evolving, and then breaking up, and then their drummer almost died in a plane accident, inspiring them to get back together.

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Show Review: blink-182, Weezer at Shoreline Amphitheater, 9/13/09

This is your blink 182 concert on drugs. Or this is what it looks like when you take an iPhone picture in the rain.

We are a hip music site. We cover all the latest and greatest sounds that are bubbling under. So, one might ask why we are covering the blink-182 concert? Isn’t this just a cash grab spawned by the band’s recent return to the spotlight because of drummer Travis Barker’s plane crash? Even the most avid fan has to admit that the band’s performance on the Tonight Show was underwhelming at best.

I have always enjoyed this band, from my senior year of high school, when the new kid that just moved up from San Diego gave me a dubbed tape of his favorite band from his home town. That cassette was Cheshire Cat, which I still own and cherish. I was very split about whether or not I even wanted to attend this show, since I didn’t want my memory to be forever altered by the current version of the band. As the days led up to this show, I kept hearing “Josie” in places. At the grocery store, coming out of passing cars, and, well pretty much everywhere. I decided that I needed to go.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 8th-14th

Opening for Flogging Molly at The Fox on Friday Night!

Now that Labor Day has come & gone, and the bridge is fully functioning again, here’s another guide to a week’s worth of rock & roll that you might enjoy:

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 8th-14th”