Failure – 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!

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

Show Review: Failure, Swervedriver at The Fillmore, 4/23/19

I found myself in the violet music tank again, half way through Swervedriver’s set. This British alt-rock favorite from the ’90s was delivering their murky dirges to a full house of murmuring English accents, The band engaged the crowd occasionally, dropping out to a full and discordant organized distracted sound. I liked it a lot. Continue reading “Show Review: Failure, Swervedriver at The Fillmore, 4/23/19”

Show Review: An Evening with Failure at the Great American Music Hall, 5/14/2014

Back in March of 2014, the massive art-metal juggernaut known as Tool rumbled through the Bay Area, gracing its residents with a set of shows once again at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Those who were wise enough to arrive early for the show might have had a chance to watch the real surprise of the night: the recently-reformed Los Angeles trio of Failure, bringing their expert musicianship and crushing brand of alt-space-rock back into the fold for a set of short but powerful sets. Continuing the connection, Failure made a reappearance for Tool singer Maynard James Keenan’s 50th birthday celebration, with all three members offering both their own songs and contributions to the sprawling evening of music that took place each night. With a healthy amount of new exposure under their belt, Failure is coming back on the road for their own headlining tour, this time with zero accompaniment — an Evening With, two sets, and a furious chunk of tunes across their three records to throw into the mix. If their show at the Great American Music Hall was any indication, this is one reunion that isn’t fading any time soon: Failure are back and as sonically potent as ever before.

Continue reading “Show Review: An Evening with Failure at the Great American Music Hall, 5/14/2014”

Show Review: Cinquanta: A Special Evening with Puscifer, A Perfect Circle & Failure at the Greek Theatre LA, 5/10/2014

I’m going to be turning 30 later this month, and I’ve already got a grand party planned out. It’s a jovial occasion in recognition of youth and times gone by, as much as it is one of the future to come and a chance to just let loose in the present moment with my closest friends. With the experiences I’ve had and the frequently wonderful, often chaotic, but always memorable memories that come from them, there’s an awful lot that has happened to me in the 3 decades I’ve spent on the planet. I can only begin to imagine when doing something like this will be in decades to come, but I can only hope that it is anything close to the fantastic evening that Maynard James Keenan, world-renowned musician and dedicatedly rustic winemaker, shared with close friends and hardcore fans alike in celebration of his 50th birthday. Continue reading “Show Review: Cinquanta: A Special Evening with Puscifer, A Perfect Circle & Failure at the Greek Theatre LA, 5/10/2014”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/8/14-5/14/14

Opening for Holly Golightly at Thee Parkside

Thursday, May 8th Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/8/14-5/14/14”