Fox Theater – Page 5 – Spinning Platters

Noise Pop Show Review: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band with Deerhoof at The Fox Oakland, 2/23/10

I have spent a lot of time defending different artists in my day. Usually this is because, well, my tastes are difficult to define, to say the least. (Case in point: two of my early reviews, which happened one right after the other were this and this) But, the one single artist that I come to the defense of more than any other is Yoko Ono. Everyone has an opinion about her, and generally speaking, this opinion is pretty negative. The primary cause of this is most likely either a.) they blame her for the break up of The Beatles (I still think that this was Linda’s fault) or b.) they blame her for the widespread acceptance of the avant garde. I personally don’t hold her responsible for either of these things. I also think people either don’t take her seriously enough, or take her far too seriously.

I must give a respectful shout-out to the good people of Noise Pop for making this show happen. They took a chance at booking such a divisive figure for their opening night show, and it paid off pretty nicely.

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Show Review: Alice In Chains and Creature with the Atom Brain at The Fox Oakland, 2/11/2010

Alice In Chains from the balcony of the Fox Theater

When last we left Oakland’s gorgeous Fox Theater, it was at the close of Wolfmother’s final screaming shreds. Two Disney concerts, two Norman Buffalo tribute shows, and one Temptations concert later, the Fox Theater needed to start its new year (having been open since February ’09) off with a bang. It therefore comes as little surprise that the grunge monsters of Alice In Chains were selected as just the right band for the task. Continue reading “Show Review: Alice In Chains and Creature with the Atom Brain at The Fox Oakland, 2/11/2010”

Show Review: Wolfmother with Heartless Bastards and thenewno2 at The Fox Oakland, 11/23/2009

then I let go of everything... into another dimension

The year is drawing to a close for everyone, including for Oakland’s historic Fox Theater. It seems only fitting that one of the biggest surprises and best new venues (OK, I’m biased, I work there, but if you’ve been there, you know what I mean) in the Bay Area should have some kind of colossal show to end the concert season. Something to go out with a bang, you know? As it just so happens, the Bay Area was greeted with an excellent one-two-three punch this evening, in the form of London rock troupe thenewno2 and Ohioan blues-rockers Heartless Bastards opening for the Australian arena-rock juggernaut that is Wolfmother.

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Show Review: Them Crooked Vultures with Mini Mansions at The Fox Oakland

There have been a few “supergroups” that came and went in the last few years, many formed from the remnants of the grunge generation looking to try out new sounds, such as Army Of Anyone (the members of Stone Temple Pilots headed by Richard Patrick of Filter), Audioslave (the members of Rage Against The Machine headed by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden), or Velvet Revolver (Scott Weiland of the aforementioned STP fronting the remaining members of Guns N’ Roses). While all of the records are excellent in theory, in execution they don’t always live up to the names of the musicians writing the music on the records. The kind of supergroup that is likely to TRULY break the mold is one spanning multiple generations of music. In the case of Them Crooked Vultures, it’s three generations: the stoner-groove-rock of the 2000’s, the solid, angry blues-grunge of the 90’s, and the arena-level rock-n’-roll of the ’70s. Of course, these three genres would make sense, given that Them Crooked Vultures is composed of Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age / Kyuss), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters / Nirvana), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin).

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Photo Gallery and Video: Pixies at The Fox Oakland, 11/8/2009

Photographic evidence of the first triumphant Pixies concert at the Fox Theater in Oakland.

With a bonus video snippet of one of the most wonderful moments in music ever, performed live that very evening.

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Show Review: Pixies with Rain Machine at The Fox Oakland, 11/8/2009

Here Comes Your Men (and Woman!) - The Pixies

It’s been quite some time since the Fox Theater in Oakland had a show that generated such interest that it sold out within a month, and also multiplied itself to take place over an additional two nights. At the time of this writing, the first of those two extra nights is also completely sold out, and the second one is getting pretty close. What sort of band would have the magnitude to sell out the Fox Theater for three nights in a row? In May, the Allman Brothers Band did it; in mid-September it was Further, the new Grateful Dead project, and in a week, it will likely be all three nights of Widespread Panic. So, for this case, it must have been another famous jam band with thousands of followers. Right?

Wrong. Tonight, and for the next two nights, the Fox is owned by four Bostonians who helped write the book on modern alternative music: the Pixies, who are going to spend each night playing their landmark album Doolittle, along with its B-sides and an encore of their own devising.

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Show Review: Dropkick Murphys with Youth Brigade, The Flatliners and The Insurgence at The Fox Oakland, 11/6/2009

Dropkick Murphys and the girls of Oakland, CA

There are 3 prominent bands that exist in the punk rock world today who seek to bend the genres and performance styles of their music by adding instruments or melodies from folk- or worldly-sources to their one-two-three-go raucous sound. One of them is Irish/American collective Flogging Molly, who sings songs of olden times and forgotten friends; another is Gogol Bordello, the Russian/gypsy revivalists infused with New York punk attitude in their songs about revolution, celebration, and wandering the world.

The third band has a simpler message: we were rudely kicked over here, but we brought enough beer and whiskey to keep us entertained, so let’s stir things up a bit! This band, of course, is none other than Massachusetts’ own Dropkick Murphys, who came to stake their claim in this year’s set of magnificent punk rock shows at Oakland’s Fox Theater.
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Show Review: Puscifer with Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival at The Fox Oakland, 11/5/2009

Hey! Wait! That title looks awfully familiar. You mean to tell me that those troublemakers in Puscifer, the art/music/performance collective spearheaded by Maynard James Keenan of Tool/A Perfect Circle, were allowed into the Fox Theater for yet another night of mayhem, debauchery and… Wait, what’s that? Country music? No, Puscifer doesn’t play country music, they play industrial-experimental-electronic… What do you mean, the stage is built like the front of a Wild West house, complete with porch armchairs and old-style pop filter microphones?

Yes, Puscifer was back. Yes, they brought Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival back with them. But, no, it was not like the first night — as evidenced by the aforementioned set design, Puscifer had come back to play some old-fashioned country westerns. Well, old-fashioned is actually an incorrect term — after all, these were their own songs, although there’s probably some desolate corner of the world where these bastardized country ballads could be considered old-fashioned westerns.

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Show Review: Puscifer with Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival at The Fox Oakland, 11/4/2009

Puscifer02

Forget any expectations you have for the evening at hand. Leave them at the door, which, in the case of tonight’s show, is beset with a flock of confused, wary patrons, eyeing a man in an off-tan suit and taped-together sunglasses, who is armed with a megaphone. The man is Brother Ed of Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival, and he is begging, PLEADING for the patrons to not enter the Fox Theater tonight, to not forsake their own souls as the cost of attending this show which, according to him, can only be the work of the Devil himself.

Brother Ed should be scared. His rants, while facetious at their core, are somewhat justified. He and his band will be opening, tonight, for Puscifer.

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Show Review: Regina Spektor at The Fox Oakland, 10/30/2009

Sadly, the best picture I could get from the back of the room

For some reason I always forget how good Regina Spektor is, but when the lights went down in The Fox Theater and the crowd went insane I felt a surge of pure joy and anticipation just like a die-hard fan. Then when Regina, beaming at the crowd’s welcome, started into “The Calculation” I started to feel tears well up. I may be over emotional this week, but still, it was one of those perfect moments that you just knew everything was going to be wonderful, at least for the next hour and a half. Continue reading “Show Review: Regina Spektor at The Fox Oakland, 10/30/2009”