Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Preview time, guys. This week in the Bay Area, we have natural events, nouns, piercings, and a tradition that Louis Pasteur likely might not have smiled upon. But you never know.
And so we preview. Preview time. Let’s preview. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-04-15 — 2016-04-20”
There are a few things you can learn from going to BFD, Live 105’s annual concert at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View. Among these are that people will wait in huge lines to spin any prize wheel, it can take over an hour to go from the highway exit to a parking space, and there’s no such thing as a “bad lineup” for BFD. It will nearly always sell out, and will always have some surprises. And this year, with the “Surprise Special Guest” appearing on the bill, we knew we were in for at least one. Continue reading “Show Review: Live 105’s BFD at Shoreline Amphitheater, 5/19/2013”
Live 105 has managed to put together, once again, a fantastic line up for their annual holiday spectacular. So much so, that they had to split it into two days. One day was a bit more “new wave” oriented, and another day was purely guitar driven. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to check out the first night, the “guitar” night. It was, surprisingly, one of the most interesting and diverse arena rock shows I’ve ever been to, filed with a wide array of guitar music, from acoustic folk to earnest, working class punk, all the way to classic blues rock. I don’t know how they are going to one up this one:
Continue reading “Show Review: Live 105’s Not So Silent Night at Oracle Arena, 12/7/12”
You know what’s great about living on Oakland, CA? You never know when you are going to end up at a Green Day concert. This was the second time that I saw Green Day play without even knowing that they were going to be performing until early evening that day. I highly recommend keeping your ears open fellow bay area folks, because these are their best sets. And, anyone that made it out to Live 105’s Not So Silent Night were treated to the best.
Continue reading “Show Review: Live 105’s Not So Silent Night 2011 at Oracle Arena, Friday, 12/9/11”
Not So Silent Night really lived up to its name this year. It was loud and booming in the half empty HP Pavillion in San Jose. Unfortunately this made for some pretty bad sound, especially from the back of the room. Why it was so empty I have no idea as the line up of Broken Bells, The Black Keys, Phoenix and My Chemical Romance seemed like they could draw a crowd (yes I’m leaving Smashing Pumpkins out on purpose). Or was this a case of just too many disparate bands? Continue reading “Show Review: Live 105 Not So Silent Night with Smashing Pumpkins, My Chemical Romance, Phoenix, The Black Keys and Broken Bells at HP Pavillion 12/10/10”
For the last few years, local alternative rock radio station Live 105 has managed to put together one of the most interesting new music showcases out there. It’s called Club Not So Silent Night, and it happens the day before their much bigger event, simply named Not So Silent Night. Where the original Not So Silent Night is a showcase for already well known acts that receive substantial radio play to get up and play for the masses, the “Club” version features newer acts that wouldn’t normally be getting this kind of push from a commercial radio station, and the audience gets have bragging rights by saying that you saw the band in front of 900 people, instead of 10,000. (Case in point: 2008’s edition featured Vampire Weekend & The Cold War Kids and 2009’s featured Passion Pit & The Gossip) If the trend continues, this show was the last chance to see at least one of these acts in such a small space.
Radio-sponsored concerts exist for multiple reasons. The first reason is, well, to make money. Since Nielsen-based ratings aren’t the most precise way to go, often times the best way to prove to advertisers your worth is to put on a big show that’s promoted by the station, and use those numbers to bring in big money for the commercials. The other, more dignified reason, is as a thank you for the listeners. It gives them a more hands on experience with the music they’ve grown to love by supporting their local radio station. I’ve been to many of these kinds of shows in my life, and I generally think that they are a pretty good time. Sometimes, though, they can be a bit too erratic to truly enjoy, much like most commercial radio. If there was any problem with this year’s show, it’s that the music was, stylistically, a little too varied for a common night. When the two bands that share the most similar influences are Vampire Weekend and AFI, you know it’s going to be a strange night.
When it’s a dual-headlining show I never know what to expect. Despite the great line-up, this one had two strikes against it to start: being at the Mezzanine and being sponsored by Live105. Not that I hate either of those things in and of themselves, but both tend to bring out people I am not so fond of. That was definitely true again, as a member of the Spinning Platters senior staff was accosted by a drunk concert-goer, making the evening seem unsuccessful and awful. But everything that went wrong in the Passion Pit portion of the evening (drunk bitches included), all became better in The Gossip portion. Passion Pit should take notes. Continue reading “Show Review: The Gossip with Passion Pit & Hey Champ at The Mezzanine, 12/10/09”