Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Treasure Island Music Festival is coming up this weekend. Which is the best music festival in America. Nonetheless, there are still a bunch of other great shows, too!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/16/14-10/22/14”
Thursday, May 1st Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/1/14-5/7/14”
I haven’t been to SXSW in four years. I can’t say I was too sad about that fact, though. Ever since 2007, the festival has changed dramatically, and not necessarily for the better. To paraphrase, I don’t agree with Lady Gaga’s comment, during her keynote, that corporations are what make this festival remarkable or even possible. SX thrived long before big business descended upon Austin in droves, and will be just fine if some decided to pull out in the future.
That being said, I did enjoy seeing Big Freedia and my new Houston hero, RiFF RaFF, perform in the Doritos-sponsored tent. Yes, it was as crass an atmosphere as you could imagine from a brand targeting youth with their mass-produced, processed food; but the free chips and ample lounge seating were a relief after a long day of walking. Damon Albarn’s set was a bit disappointing at Stubb’s, largely due to the incompetence of the crew setting up between gigs, but he brought the real thunder, in the form of original Gorillaz’ members, Del tha Funky Homosapien, De La Soul, and even Snoop, at the Levi’s-sponsored Fader Fort.
Overall, I had a wonderful time. This is partly due to the fact that I was in good company alongside Michelle Viray and Dakin Hardwick, who wrote quite the remarkable review of all the bands we took in during our four-and-a-half-day sojourn. Though it’s not quite possible to see every act on one’s list, having a wristband does help in certain circumstances (like getting into the Hype Machine’s Hype Hotel for evening shows). I still wish we had discovered this guy, though. Without further ado, here is a collection of some of my favorite photos taken last week.
I didn’t go to SXSW last year. And I, literally, spent all of 2013 being sad about it. SXSW is like live music Disneyland. Sadly, complete with the lines and the getting frustrated about all of the people with Fast Passes cutting ahead of you. However, if you play your cards right, you can see an obscene amount of live music. In four days, I got to enjoy 34 bands. And I didn’t even try that hard this year.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters SXSW 2014 Report: 34 Instant Band Reviews”
OMG! This week is NUTS!!!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/27/14-3/5/14”
Guerilla Union’s annual traveling hip hop roadshow touched down in Mountain View recently, and it may have been the best one yet. It proved that Lauryn Hill can still play the big rooms. It proved that The Infamous Mobb Deep, Cypress Hill’s Black Sunday, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star, and Illmatic by Nas are all classic records have stood the test of time. We saw that comedian Donald Glover’s alter ego Childish Gambino is doing some of the most inventive stuff in hip hop. We also learned that no matter how much critical acclaim you’ve got, you still have to contend with nature, causing east coast rappers Mac Miller and Doom to stay behind.
Without further adieu, here are the sites of Rock The Bells 2011:
Continue reading “Photo Journal: Rock The Bells at Shoreline Amphitheater, 8/27/11”
My cat keeps sitting on my hands, making it really hard to type something witty. So I’ll get her to talk to you instead:azMNBSAMBDS,MCDEHBJCD GQWCHVJEC VEN
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/25/11-8/31/11”
If you read Spinning Platters with any regularity, you know I love Donald Glover, so let’s just get the personal stuff out of the way now. I spent all day with an increasing sense of agitation waiting to see if I was going to get a pass for the IAMDONALD show at the Fillmore tonight. I got stuck in some angry self-righteous critic reel where I actually thought I deserved a ticket. Well, I did write this review of the preview show. Then I campaigned hard for Donald Glover/Childish Gambino’s album Culdesac to win album of the year in 2010. Then I gave his fans a SXSW award (and missed The Dead Milkmen to see him!). Is it possible this makes me his biggest fan? And is it possible for a show to live up to expectations after all that? Continue reading “Show Review: IAMDONALD tour with Donald Glover/Childish Gambino at The Fillmore, 4/28/11”
Since I’m filling in recommending shows to see this week, I’m changing things up! Some nights, I’ll recommend only one show, meaning if you’re not seeing this, you can stay home, play with the cats, cook dinner for your loved ones, or anything else you feel like doing. And other nights, I’ll recommend many shows, which means if you’re not at a show, you’d better have a darned good excuse! (And if you’re in Vegas this weekend, say hi. Click that cool floating contact bar on the left.) Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/28/11 – 5/4/11”
This year I probably saw even less buzz bands than the average blogger than last year. My priority was to have a good time, whether that be hanging out with friends or watching great music. So this list is a testament to all the artists, people and venues that made my time in Austin memorable. Continue reading “Marie’s Best of SXSW 2011 Awards”