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 TourOzzfest 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!  

Continue reading “Show Review: Highlights of Aftershock 2025!”

April \m/etal show photos + reviews: Obituary, Exodus, Death Angel, and more!

Photo Galleries and Show Reviews by: Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro

Spinning Platters attended, photographed, and reviewed (not all) a dozen \m/etal shows in April! Beginning the last weekend of March and throughout April, San Francisco (and Spinning Platters!) had become very \m/etal!  Just look at the list of 60+ band names on the left column (on mobile, look near the bottom of the page), which does not happen very often around here anymore…

Continue reading “April \m/etal show photos + reviews: Obituary, Exodus, Death Angel, and more!”

Abroad in Toronto: Dropkick Murphys, Hanabie., Hatebreed, Carcass, and more!

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro

Occasionally, the dedicated staff of Spinning Platters gets the opportunity to watch, photograph, and/or review shows from outside of our comfortable Bay Area confines. A few previous trips have included Chicago, Dallas, and Las Vegas, to cover Deftones, Gojira, New Found Glory, Suffocation, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Mercyful Fate, Kreator, and August Burns Red. This time around, one of Spinning Platters’ two resident metalheads was somehow allowed into Canada eh and spent the week in the 416, where we saw Jinjer, Hanabie., Born of Osiris, Scream, Dropkick Murphys, Pennywise, Hatebreed, Carcass, Harm’s Way, and Crypta!

(Korn + Gojira, Benighted + Cognitive, Gatecreeper + Frozen Soul, Galactic Empire + Powerglove were also here during our week-long stay but was not able to attend any of these for various reasons, but mostly due to them being on the same night as another show!)

Continue reading “Abroad in Toronto: Dropkick Murphys, Hanabie., Hatebreed, Carcass, and more!”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-03-17 – 2016-03-23

Conan, by Frazetta
Appearing Monday, March 21 at The Metro in Oakland
St. Patrick’s Day. Irishness! Excellent.

To go with this week in the Bay Area we also have metal, self-described “country-fed punkabilly,” and the Melvins. Also! Bilingual punk rock with horns as well as bilingual Rickenbacker-wielding one-woman guitar rock. And Conan. Conan!

Let’s preview. Faugh A Ballagh! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-03-17 — 2016-03-23”