Tag: Mavis Staples

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Presents a Bonkers Full Lineup!!!!

The good folks at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass have unleashed the most bonkers lineup of any music festival this fall… I stare at the poster, and something I missed the first time jumps out at me. Like, how is Patti Smith just hiding on that poster? Oh, because it’s alphabetical.  Oh, and the whole thing is free, and the best way to kick off Rocktober and the event runs October 4th – 5th in Golden Gate Park- using a lot of the same space Outside Lands uses. 

Highlights include my all-time favorite band, Sleater-Kinney, Cat Power doing her Bob Dylan show, punk poet John Cooper Clarke, Aoife O’Donovan & The SF Girls Choir, SP favorite Zella Day’s new band Chaparelle, and legends like Mavis Staples, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Dave Alvin, Robyn Hitchcock, Bobby Rush, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and so many more that I’m sure I’m missing someone that you will be mad at me for overlooking. 

Anyways! All the details are here. Daily lineups are below. And you can enjoy classic HSBs at HSB.TV! Continue reading “Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Presents a Bonkers Full Lineup!!!!”

Outside Lands 2019: Instant Gig Reviews

These are the days of miracles and wonder…

It’s been a tough couple of weeks as a nation. Mass shootings in Gilroy, Dayton, and El Paso were not particularly well timed with Outside Lands. In the days leading up to the festival, many people were debating whether or not it was safe to go. Maybe we were next? I had a long talk with my partner about going this year, which included a plan for alerting each other to our safety, and talking about all of the steps that I’ve observed in my years attending this festival that have made me feel safe. In fact, I think I feel safer in Golden Gate Park during Outside Lands than pretty much anywhere else on Earth. 

I’m also a firm believer in “not letting terrorists win.” We can’t let these folks scare us off from living. And, seriously, if you don’t have communing with friends and strangers to appreciate live music, is life really worth living? I’m going to keep going to shows and supporting life music because, well, I really think my life depends on it. Continue reading “Outside Lands 2019: Instant Gig Reviews”

Outside Lands 2019 Line Up HAS BEEN UNLEASHED

PSSST! Outside Lands has released their line up a little bit early… Like, um, 9am PST on Tuesday, March 26th early. And it’s pretty exciting! As usual, we are going to deep dive into the best acts from the bottom half of the calendar closer to the event. But, first, the headliners: both Paul Simon and Childish Gambino are postponing their retirements to visit us in Golden Gate Park. And, if you missed last year’s farewell shows at Oracle Arena from either of them, both were practically religious experiences. (I cried twice at that Childish Gambino show) Those two are pretty universally loved acts. The third headliner is twenty øne piløts, and, well, the moment I read that, I could see the Reddit page explode! That being said, just because a band sells a lot of records and crossed over to Top 40 radio, doesn’t devalue them. This duo first played early on the day in the 2013 Outside Lands Fest, and has taken their dissonant, tribal brand of dark pop rock, and continued to experiment with it while crossing over to the mainstream.

Other highlights include gospel legend Mavis Staples, R&B avant gardist Santigold, the most aggressive hip hop performer I’ve ever seen, Denzel Curry, 2018 Grammy winners Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals and Kacey Muscgraves, LA rock n roll heroes Cherry Glazerr, and SO MANY MORE! GA, VIP, and the brand new “Golden Gate Pass” with special elevated viewing area, a clear bag for your things, and much, much more. Tickets can be purchased starting Thursday, March 28th here!

Full line up below: Continue reading “Outside Lands 2019 Line Up HAS BEEN UNLEASHED”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 Festival Journal, Day 2

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers headline Saturday at BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 (Photo credit: BottleRock Napa Valley / Latitude 38 Entertainment)

This year’s Saturday at BottleRock Napa Valley promised to be a beautiful warm and breezy 75 degrees, the perfect weather for a festival full of good music, great food and all the beer, wine, and cocktails you can handle! Once again, there were more acts scheduled than was possible to see all at once, so I had to pick and choose pieces of sets from the bands I most wanted to see to make it all work. (For example, who wants to decide between House of Pain and Bishop Briggs? I wanted to “jump around” and jam out with Ms. Briggs… Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2017 Festival Journal, Day 2”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-04-23 – 2016-04-27

"Anarchy burger! / Hold the government!" - The Vandals
This Saturday in Oakland, plenty of this.

We’re in the final weekend of Coachella 2016, and the consequent Fauxchella 2016 shows are coming our way. What’s Fauxchella? It’s when you can see a band that’s also scheduled at Coachella but without actually having to go to Coachella.

This week in The Bay Area we have old stars, old studio guys, old smoky guys, montage anchorpoints, as much anarchy as you’d like, and a band that just went ahead and named themselves California.

And previews. Preview time. Let’s preview. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-04-23 — 2016-04-27”

75+ albums to look forward to in 2016

Forget Madonna, David Bowie knows how to consistently reinvent himself in new and interesting ways.
Forget Madonna, David Bowie knows how to consistently reinvent himself in new and interesting ways.

Hey there, it’s 2016 and this very day signifies the first major release of the year. Let’s go!

Continue reading “75+ albums to look forward to in 2016”

Spinning Platters Tackles Your Tough Outside Lands 2011 Decisions

We will make this a little easier for you to navigate.

For four years running now, the good people at Another Planet and Superfly have put together a massive outdoor music festival in the part of San Francisco so far west that most people don’t even know it exists. The weather is unpredictable, the terrain in this portion of Golden Gate Park is difficult, and with 5 stages, decisions are always tough to make. Well, all I can say about the first two is to bring layers and wear sturdy, comfortable shoes. As for who to see when? Well, I’ve studied the band schedule and the map, and based on my impeccable taste in music I am ready to present to you the most fulfilling plan for your Outside Lands experience.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Tackles Your Tough Outside Lands 2011 Decisions”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/4/2010-11/10/2010

Great Scotts! Delorean are playing Great American Music Hall on Wednesday!

I’d like to thank Jason LeRoy for taking over the list for the last couple of weeks. I hope that you listened to him, because if you didn’t, we’re just going to have to turn this website around and go back home…

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/4/2010-11/10/2010”

Show Review: Mavis Staples at Yoshi’s Oakland, 2/13/10

Mavis Staples testifying at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in October 2009 (photo by Debra Amerson)

There was nothing conventionally romantic about soul legend/civil rights icon Mavis Staples’ Valentine’s Day weekend shows at Yoshi’s Oakland. But while the fleeting whimsies of romance may have been absent, they were replaced by something much more substantive: the fiercely passionate love, devotion, and commitment with which Ms. Staples, 70, has tackled her stirring, liberating material ever since she first began recording with her family band, The Staples Singers, sixty years ago.

Continue reading “Show Review: Mavis Staples at Yoshi’s Oakland, 2/13/10”

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Journal, 10/04/09

The masses huddled together for warmth, because miss Neko Case is gonna send chills down your spine
The masses huddled together for warmth, because miss Neko Case is gonna send chills down your spine

I have come to the second and final day of my adventure in the lovely Golden Gate Park. I have refilled my water bottle, stocked up on trail mix, and am ready for music.

This day already feels a bit different from the previous day. It’s still very crowded, but it’s noticeably easier to navigate. I can’t quite tell if fewer people came, or if people are spread out better. It might just be that people have the bearings down, because the crowd is moving a bit better.

Anyways, on with the show:

Continue reading “Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Journal, 10/04/09”