Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 12/3/15-12/9/15

Playing this Friday at Gilman!
Playing this Friday at Gilman!

This week around the San Francisco Bay Area: Love! Honey! Medicine! Class war! Typos! Beards! And a moonlighting winemaker.

Let’s preview the week’s upcoming shows, shall we?
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 12/3/15-12/9/15”

SF Sketchfest Review: NPR’s Ask Me Another on 2/5/2014

Ophira Eisenberg in action at Ask Me Another's home at The Bell House in Brooklyn.
Ophira Eisenberg in action at Ask Me Another’s home at The Bell House in Brooklyn.

This is a review of a radio show that hasn’t happened yet. Because of that, I’d like to start with a giant spoiler alert. You’ll be able to listen to most of what transpired here tonight on the radio on March 14, and on podcast soon after that. I won’t tell you any specific quiz questions, and I won’t tell you who won, but I’m gonna spoil some surprises, for sure. As for why anyone would ever want to go to a radio show taping of a radio show they already listen to? I’ll try my best to explain. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: NPR’s Ask Me Another on 2/5/2014”

A Nerd’s Guide To Sketchfest 2014

Florence Henderson in a sleeping in a nighty, while a dog eats pizza. Just one of the many things you will see live on stage at this year's Sketchfest.
Florence Henderson in a sleeping in a nighty, while a dog eats pizza. Just one of the many things you will see live on stage at this year’s Sketchfest.

Wouldn’t it be great if cloning was already a thing? So we could be at 8 places at once and not have to decide which Sketchfest events you are going to? Well, until science improves greatly, we are stuck with one body and being in one place at a time. Because of this trouble, I have taken the time to dissect the entire Sketchfest schedule and help you out by highlighting the best of the fest. A complete schedule and tickets can be purchased here. A lot of shows have already sold out, and more shows are selling out every day, so don’t forget to purchase in advance!

Continue reading “A Nerd’s Guide To Sketchfest 2014”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 6/14/12-6/20/12

Thursday Night At The Fillmore

There is absolutely no reason for you to ever stay in on any night of the week. Well, except for the night that Nickelback are playing. You can stay in that night.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 6/14/12-6/20/12”

Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Jonathan Coulton at The Fillmore, 11/12/11

John Linnell of They Might Be Giants

After an inexplicable ten years without seeing They Might Be Giants, I got to the Fillmore early to get that spot right up front just like I remembered.  What I wasn’t sure of was if I would still hear my favorite song and would the two John’s still rock it like crazy.  Lucky for me, and hopefully everyone else at the sold out show, everything I hoped for happened, plus even more. Continue reading “Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Jonathan Coulton at The Fillmore, 11/12/11”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/20/11-1/26/11

There are a lot of really surprising, and really funny shows within. This is an extra special week of fun silliness, and I think that you should check it out:

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/20/11-1/26/11”

Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 12 – The gift of Sonic Living

When Low is a high

For our holiday episode of the Spinning Platters podcast (released after the holiday), Dakin, Gordon, and D.P. welcome Amy Miller of Sonic Living to talk about some of our favorite Christmas songs before going into an in-depth discussion of Sonic Living, which of course leads us off in a million different directions. Click the giant button on the left to subscribe, or you can download or listen below. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 12 — The gift of Sonic Living”

10 Quick Questions with Paul and Storm

Give me dancing robots, and I'm there.
Give me dancing robots, and I'm there.

After their epic performance at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo, the world was breathlessly awaiting Paul and Storm’s next move.  Fortunately, they had already announced this move a couple of days earlier.  What brings them to San Francisco this week is an absolute geek fest called w00tstock, that also features Wil Wheaton, Adam Savage, and “other surprise guests,” most of whom have been announced and are listed at the bottom of this post. I’ll be there, and I strongly recommend picking up a ticket for Tuesday night while you still can.  I spoke with Greg “Storm” DiCostanzo and asked him if he would do an email interview with Spinning Platters when the show got closer, and he graciously agreed to do so.

Spinning Platters: Your most well known song, featured in Rock Band, is “Opening Band.”  What happens to that song when you headline? Continue reading “10 Quick Questions with Paul and Storm”

Show Review: PAX Concerts, Seattle Convention Center, 9/4/2009 & 9/5/2009

The new fab four?  Molly, Paul, Storm and Joco
The new fab four? Molly, Paul, Storm and Joco

Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle is a lot of things, but mostly it’s a gathering of a community of like minded gamers.  These are nerds and geeks who live by a simple credo popularized by Secretary of Geek Affairs, Wil Wheaton.  It simply states, “Don’t Be a Dick.”  So what does a bunch of gamers getting together in Seattle have to do with a music website?  First of all, this is the second year I’ve gone (out of many I will attend; it’s populated by uniformly awesome people).  Every year, PAX invites some musicians that are popular in the gamer community to perform at a popular series of concerts.  It’s time that these shows got a traditional concert review, so here it is. Continue reading “Show Review: PAX Concerts, Seattle Convention Center, 9/4/2009 & 9/5/2009”