Show Review: Megadeth + Mudvayne at Toyota Pavilion in Concord

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @AlanHasPicks

San Francisco Bay Area did a good job on this particular weekend keeping everyone segregated to their respective tribes.  Outside Lands Music Festival catered to the norms and the hipsters in the middle of The City in Golden Gate Park, Vice Prez Kamala Harris had a fundraiser for the wealthy 1% at Fairmont Hotel way up on top of Nob Hill, and Megadeth, Mudvayne, and All That Remains brought the metal and goth and punk kids (and adults) all the way out to Concord at Toyota Pavilion, for their Destroy All Enemies tour.

Continue reading “Show Review: Megadeth + Mudvayne at Toyota Pavilion in Concord”

Show Review: Freaks on Parade with Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Ministry, Filter in Concord!

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @AlanHasPicks

Alice Cooper for President!

Toyota Pavilion at Concord was the third-to-last stop on this summer’s Freaks on Parade tour. 12,000 devotees traveled far and wide to be in attendance for this rally featuring Cooper, alongside running mates Rob Zombie, Al Jourgensen (Ministry), and Richard Patrick (Filter).  

Make no mistake though… while Zombie might play second fiddle on a presidential ticket to the elder Cooper, the spectacle of his production and show easily makes him the final headliner of this co-headline gathering!

Continue reading “Show Review: Freaks on Parade with Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Ministry, Filter in Concord!”

Show Review: Megadeth + Lamb of God + Trivium + Hatebreed, Concord Pavilion, 09/02/2021

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF

‘Metal Tour of the Year.’ Quite a bold statement. The concert t-shirts even say it. On September 2, Megadeth, Lamb of God, Trivium, and Hatebreed descended on the sleepy East Bay city of Concord to wreak some havoc and let everyone else know that they intend to hold onto their self-proclaimed tour title!

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2017-07-12 – 2017-07-16

Superchunk as The Misfits
Some of the very best band photos of Superchunk are the ones where they are dressed up as The Misfits. That’s the birthday guy on the far right with the devilock.

Do you know what today is? You do. It’s July 12. That means that over in North Carolina, it’s Mac McCaughan’s birthday. Who? Yes. Mac McCaughan of the long-running pogo-producing indie-rocker band Superchunk, as well as his own semi-solo project Portastatic, as well as one of the founders of the stalwart Merge Records. Cheers to Mac.

Speaking of pogo-inducing rock and roll, let’s talk about this week’s concerts. Here’s what we’ve got coming up this week in the Bay Area: things with animals, things from the past, and things near to college.

So, let’s get this preview started. Previewing now. Pre. View. Preview is starting and let’s go preview now.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2017-07-12 – 2017-07-16”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2017-07-05 – 2017-07-09

Sports!
Sports!

Do you know what today is? You do. It’s July 5. That means that here in the Bay Area, it’s Huey Lewis’s birthday.

Speaking of the heart of rock and roll, let’s talk about this week’s concerts. Here’s what we’ve got coming up this week in the Bay Area: symphonies, troopers, and remembrances.

So, we’ll preview this now. Previewing now. Let’s preview and go ahead and preview. Preview go!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2017-07-05 – 2017-07-09”

Show Review: Scorpions with Cinderella at Concord Pavilion, 8/1/2010

He's 62, still rocks hard, looks great, why retire, Rudolf? Why?

The Scorpions are too famous for their giant hit song, “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” and not well respected enough for their rest of their catalog. Filled with shiny gems of pop metal, the German legends have a huge list of hard-but-not-too-hard rock songs to choose from as they continue touring for the last time. They’ve said the tour will run through 2012 or 2013, so whether this is their last stop in the Bay Area or not is still a question. If it’s not, though, you’ll see me in the audience for the next one. These guys still have their stingers. Continue reading “Show Review: Scorpions with Cinderella at Concord Pavilion, 8/1/2010”

Show Review: Iron Maiden with Dream Theater at Concord Pavilion, 6/20/2010

He not only sings, he also flies the plane from gig to gig. Really.

Bruce Dickinson, British Airways pilot and lead singer of Iron Maiden, looked out into the crowd and commented on how many people were there at this sold out show.

“They told me there’s 12,500 people here tonight. Last night, we had 25,000. That’s a lot of people for an Iron Maiden concert. Perhaps we’re getting some spillover from Christina Aguilera canceling her tour.” Some laughed while other booed. It’s not spillover. For reasons that are apparent if you’re a fan, and ones I’ll explain to you, Iron Maiden has survived as a huge draw long after other metal bands have faded away. Continue reading “Show Review: Iron Maiden with Dream Theater at Concord Pavilion, 6/20/2010”

Show Review: No Doubt, Paramore and The Sounds at Concord Pavillion, 7/21/09

Our group pulls back the curtain on the No Doubt show.
Our group pulls back the curtain on the No Doubt show. Thanks to Flickr user Eytonz for the photo.

About two weeks ago, I sent out an invite to a select group of friends reminding them that the No Doubt concert we kept saying we were going to see was coming up, and it’s time to decide if we’re really going or not.  We ended up with a group of seven, including four founders of Spinning Platters.  But since all of us who went are music nerds in one way or another, I asked everyone there to write a brief recap of the show to post as a giant group review.  Of course this limited the post-show conversation because everyone was saving their best nuggets for the blog (we hope).  This is our first time trying this, so please let me know what you think about it in the comments.

And now, on to our first review. Continue reading “Show Review: No Doubt, Paramore and The Sounds at Concord Pavillion, 7/21/09”

Spinning Platters Unofficial Guide to $7.11 Tickets

Oh thank heaven this is the most disturbing picture of a slurpee I can find on the internet... Got better? E-mail me: dakin.hardwick@gmail.com
Oh thank heaven this is the most disturbing picture of a slurpee I can find on the internet... Got better? E-mail me: dakin@spinningplatters.com

So, as some of you may know, 7-11 is giving away free slurpees on July 11th this year. What you may not know, is that those slurpees come with a coupon code that allows you to buy tickets to select LiveNation tickets for a deep discount. These are all GA tickets, and most of them are for $7.11. Some are for a bit more, but all are very cheap. Since neither Livenation nor Slurpee is telling people what tickets will be discounted, we did the research for you.  Here is a list of the events that they will be selling in the bay area. Go to LiveNation.com on July 11th. Remember, these events are subject to change, and only a small quantity will be available at that price. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Unofficial Guide to $7.11 Tickets”