Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Tonight was an intimate, unique, and heartwarming night of music at the Fillmore, despite being a little rough around the edges at times. Continue reading “Show Review: Wynonna & The Big Noise featuring Bob Weir and Cass McCombs, Christina Vane at The Fillmore, 2/6/2020”
Our coverage of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival continues with this look at five documentaries that premiered at the Fest a few weeks ago.
Many of these may receive distribution or television deals (if they haven’t already; see our notes below), so you can know what to watch for in the coming year with these handy capsule reviews, which use our patented Sundance Viewing Priority Level (VPL) Guide:
Continue reading “Film Feature: 2017 Sundance Film Festival Spotlights #2”
Josh Ritter is as gifted a storyteller as any other in today’s music scene, drawing from notes the likes of Springsteen, Cash, Dylan, and Tom Petty to create pictures of today’s America. If you’re under 45 and liberal, it’s likely you’ve felt frustrated by the lack of opportunity, by the creeping religious hypocrisy that poisons the political landscape, and the dreadful knowledge that the American dream was stolen from you before you and your peers could even walk. Ritter has his pulse on the angst and struggles of his generation, tackling themes of loneliness, disappointment, and isolation with humor and curiosity, always driving you forward to the next adventure.
Continue reading “Show Review: Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band at the Fillmore, 1/20/2016”
Spinning Platters brings you more spotlights from the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), which continues through Thursday, May 8th. Program notes and tickets available here.
The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir
(USA 2014, 90 min)
“Mine has been a long strange trip,” says Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir in Mike Fleiss’s fantastic new documentary about the Dead’s “other one.” Jerry Garcia may have been more famous, but Weir was a stellar musician in his own right, and, with his graciousness, intelligence, and unwavering authenticity, perhaps the band’s true heart. Weir, vital and still just as handsome in his 60s (Weir gets some ribbing for being the band’s best looking member), speaks eloquently and thoughtfully about his life and the cult of personality surrounding Garcia and the Dead. Weir’s meditative reflections, along with Fleiss’s brilliant use of still photos, new interviews and old footage, make this picture a must-see for Dead fans and anyone with even a passing interest in music or Bay Area history. Smart, funny, and poignant, this is a film worthy of Bay Area rock’s elder statesman.
Screenings:
Tickets available here.
Additional contributions to this article by Dakin Hardwick. All photos by Jonathan Pirro except where noted.
Saturday dawns with nary a clue that the fog and mist are clearing, and the massive greenery of Golden Gate Park continues to beckon to those who would walk onto its already-heavily-trodden surface, tickets in hand and heads held high. The second day of the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is upon us, and like many of the other Saturdays of the annual San Francisco festival, it’s filled with some of the biggest, wildest acts, especially those that came to close the night. While the first signs of exhaustion are beginning to set in, those alert enough to pry themselves from slumber and scurry into the park at the hour of 11:00am were greeted by yet more feverishly addictive bursts of musical creativity. After the desiderata of strong coffee and a host of breakfast options that lay lazily along the fields, the several-thousand-strong mass began its trek from side to side, taking in another chapter of the chilly yet invigorating musical thunderstorm within.
Continue reading “Show Review: San Francisco’s 2012 Outside Lands Festival, Day 2”