Fox Theatre – Spinning Platters

Show Review: Dermot Kennedy with Luca Fogale at Fox Theatre Oakland, 4/10/19

You know how sometimes all it takes is the first listen to a great new song by an artist you’ve never heard before, and you’re in? That’s how it was for me the first time I heard Dermot Kennedy’s “Power Over Me.” Not long ago, I was in my kitchen cooking dinner, with a music station playing on my TV. Before the lyrics of the song could even register in my brain, Kennedy’s haunting voice had drawn me in. I remember literally stopping what I was doing and turning around to gape at the screen so I could make a note of the artist. And then the lyrics hit me: “you’ve got that power over me… my, my… everything I hold dear resides in those eyes… you’ve got that power over me…” I’ve been obsessed with the song ever since. As soon as I could, I took a deep dive through Kennedy’s music, and accordingly made a note to catch him live as soon as possible. Last night, my chance came as Kennedy graced the stage at Fox Theatre in Oakland for the very first time. To say it was mildly earth-shattering is: an oxymoron, a little hyperbole, and also still somehow true.

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Show Review: FFS at the Fox Oakland, 10/15/2015

Nick McCarthy, Russell Mael and Alex Kapranos of FFS

Just over two years ago, timeless whimsical art-pop duo Sparks made their first appearance in the Bay Area in years, in the form of a stripped-down two-man show that spanned the entire course of their career. What probably WASN’T immediately well known, however, was the presence of members of another band at at least one of those very same shows: Alex Kapranos and the other musicians of Franz Ferdinand, who watched the show as regular members of the audience (and then joined the boys backstage after the gig). This wasn’t the first time that Ron and Russel Mael, the brothers of Sparks, had discussed working with the Glasgow rockers, but this gathering became the impetus to make something even bigger — and less than a year after those concerts, the supergroup FFS (named for the bands that make it up) was formed, with their eponymous album cranked out a few months later. The album and the band are their own unique experiences; FFS has a playfulness that recalls the best work of Sparks, which blends smartly with the bombastic showmanship of a big rock show — the sort of thing that Franz Ferdinand is well known for. Lest fans be worried that there’s a clear divide between the two groups, the truth couldn’t be more clear: the two sets of musicians play off of each other marvelously, and when it all comes together under one roof, the FFS live show is a different experience all by itself.

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