Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
This was another trek from work directly to the venue, House of Blues Anaheim, where I had gone the previous year to see Hanabie on their co-headline tour with Kim Dracula. While I was incredibly excited for the evening, I was also a bit anxious because the sound mix of the aforementioned concert had left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, the FOH mixers of this evening would prove that anxiety baseless. Let’s get on with it, shall we?
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!”
Review and All Photos by: Alan Ralph @ConcertGoingPro
For decades, Europe has led the way in the heavy metal and loud rock music festival space. Monsters of Rock (the originator, which started in 1980!), Wacken Open Air, Dynamo Open Air, Hellfest, Graspop, Copenhell, Rock am Ring, Rock im Park, Summer Breeze, Sweden Rock Fest and Download have always dominated the landscape with their amazing lineups year after year.
United States was never close in offering an equivalent heavy metal experience. Sure, there was Ozzfest and Mayhem Festival, but those have been gone since 2017 and 2015 and Americans have always leaned more towards indie rock music festivals like Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonaroo, and Outside Lands anyway.
For the last twelve or so years, Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) has been chipping away at the supremacy of the European heavy metal festivals, with Welcome To Rockville, Louder Than Life, Sonic Temple, Inkcarceration, Rock on the Range, Rocklahoma, Carolina Rebellion, and Northern California’s very own Aftershock Festival. With the best lineup it has ever had, West Coast’s Biggest Rock Festival definitely lived up to its name in 2024!
Continue reading “Show Review: The. Best. Aftershock. Ever.”
This week in The Bay Area we have music from across the Pacific Ocean, from across the Atlantic Ocean, and more. International travel is neat these days.
And now, previews. Preview time. It is time for us to preview. Let’s preview. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-05-02 — 2016-05-08”
You know it’s a good week when Insane Clown Posse are playing an opera house in Oakland. Just sayin’…
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/30/13-6/4/13”
This list simply goes to show you that there is no such thing as a slow week in the bay area for shows…. We have two legendary punk bands playing in SF, plus a slew of other odds and ends that insure that nobody’s musical taste will go unaccounted for. So, do yourself a favor and go to a few shows this week. You’ve worked hard and deserve it!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/17/12-5/23/12”
In case you were keeping track, we are about to kick off our first week of Fauxchella. So, starting Sunday I want you to enjoy the finest music festival that doesn’t actually exist, and we will have some warm up shows listed below, in addition to a few Fauxchella recommendations.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/7/10-4/13/10”
