Halestorm – Spinning Platters

Review and All Photos by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF

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.”

Some designer needs to be fired right now. Or given a raise. I can't decide.

Today I went to Target to buy some stuff, and as I do when I go to Target, I went to the CD section just to have a look around. I thought perhaps I would buy the new album by The Temper Trap, for Target was sure to have that. Well, they didn’t. As you might already know, these big department stores carry a tiny selection of the available CDs on the market, so unless you’re an established name, it’s hard to get in there. Then I noticed something odd. There were a bunch of featured artists that I had never heard of. How do they get into Target? I jotted down the names of six of these artists, and decided to see if I’ve been missing the boat on them. Enjoy six artists that I had never heard of until lunch today. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Bands I’d Never Heard Of Until Lunch Today”