My favorite season (festival) has officially begun! BottleRock Napa Valley 2022 kicked off this past Friday (May 27) with a flurry of great artists. I look forward to this event every year since it brings such great bands right to my hometown, but this year, it’s different. I say that because I can’t believe it’s been three years since I was last here! 2020’s BottleRock was canceled due to COVID, and 2021 was pushed to September. Unfortunately, I had to miss last year due to concerns over the Delta variant, so suffice to say I had been anxiously awaiting a three-day music festival with gorgeous weather for days, at least. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2022 Festival Journal, Day 1”
Tag: metallica
BottleRock Napa Valley 2022 Preview
In the 2+ years since the world changed forever, I’ve missed live music more than most things. Fortunately, I’ve finally been able to start attending live shows again, and I can’t believe how much good it does for my well-being! I always knew music played a huge role in my life (hell, even my last name is musical!)… but it wasn’t until I had to live without it that I came to realize just how much my mental health needs music, especially when experienced live.
It feels like it’s been eons since I was able to bask in the glory of a perfect-weather weekend right here in Napa with loads of amazing food, drinks, and live music. Thankfully, the wait is almost over – this year’s BottleRock Napa Valley starts two weeks from today!
This year’s lineup includes two artists I’ve been hoping I would eventually play this festival: P!nk and Twenty One Pilots. Additionally, Metallica rounds out the list of the biggest names this year, and I for one can’t wait to see each of them! I’m also really looking forward to seeing (in no particular order!) Chvrches, Spoon, Royal & the Serpent, Atlas Genius, The Black Crowes (who I still remember enjoying at the very first BRNV back in 2013), Silversun Pickups, Bleachers, Vance Joy, Amos Lee, The Happy Fits, Blu DeTiger, Mister Wives, The Alive (who have yet to let me down at this festival), Grandson, and Eliza & the Delusionals. I hope these next 14 days absolutely fly by so I can get down to the Expo to soak up all this good music and sunshine! Who are you most excited to see?
As I do each year, I made a new preview playlist to get hyped as I count down the days. Listen, share, enjoy, and I’ll see you in Napa in a few weeks!
Don’t have your tickets yet? Get them here!
Film and Show Review: Murder in the Front Row -and- Metal Allegiance on 4-20
Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF
April 20 in San Francisco is celebrated annually like a national holiday. Commonly known simply as 420, the day consists of 15-20,000 people basically sitting on a hill in Golden Gate Park smoking pot all day. Coincidentally, the 2019 version actually was a national holiday, as Good Friday preceded, Passover started, and Easter Sunday was the next day. This year’s 420 also had one more reason for San Franciscans to celebrate, and that was the world premiere screening of the documentary Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story.
Continue reading “Film and Show Review: Murder in the Front Row -and- Metal Allegiance on 4-20”
Outside Lands Journal: Day 2, 8/12/17
METALLICA! And nothing else matters…
Day 2 of any festival is a little rough. Your energy is a little bit zapped from the day before. You can’t seem to drink enough water or coffee. Your legs are sore. So when you finally get there, you need something to kick yourself into gear. And I managed to stumble across that band at 12:00 on the dot. Continue reading “Outside Lands Journal: Day 2, 8/12/17”
The Next Day: Reflections on the Outside Lands 2017 Lineup
But how do you really feel about the 10th Outside Lands lineup?
Yesterday brought us the news that every music nerd has been eagerly awaiting in the Bay Area—the lineup for the 10th edition of the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival. High hopes were raised for this one, and I had a bit of a chat with the staff afterward to learn what we all thought of it.
If you don’t wish to read about our thoughts, and just want to know how to buy tickets, they go on sale Thursday, April 6, at 10 am. You know, the day BEFORE payday. 🙁
Let’s talk about the top line, as the headliners generally set the theme for the weekend.
Continue reading “The Next Day: Reflections on the Outside Lands 2017 Lineup”
SFIFF59 Spotlights #5: Indignation / Mr. Gaga / The Summer of Frozen Fountains / Radio Dreams
Spinning Platters continues its coverage of the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, which continues through this Thursday, May 5th. You still have plenty of time to get in a few screenings! More information and tickets are available here.
Here we spotlight three more Fest feature films, and one documentary.
Indignation
(USA, 2015, 110 min, Centerpiece Film)
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College students Marcus (Logan Lerman) and Olivia (Sarah Gadon) get to know each other on their first date.
Writer/producer James Schamus (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Brokeback Mountain) here proves himself equally adept at directing, choosing for his first full-length feature foray an adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2008 novel Indignation. Set in 1951 at a fictional Ohio liberal arts college, Schamus’s screenplay remains true to the Rothian themes of coming of age, family conflict, sex, love, religion, and death. Schamus and a stellar cast, including Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) as the protagonist Marcus, a working-class Newark atheist Jew trying to fit in at the conservative, religious campus, and Tracy Letts as the no nonsense, intellectually formidable, but bemused Dean of Men, handle Roth’s heady material with remarkable skill and sensitivity. Sarah Gadon as Marcus’s troubled love interest, and the great Broadway actress Linda Emond as Marcus’s mom, who shares a breathtaking, Oscar-worthy scene with Lerman, round out the absolutely terrific cast. A tour de force scene between Lerman and Letts, in which the two argue about Bertrand Russell, among other issues, is also one of the most compelling, uninterrupted takes you’ll see on screen this year. A powerful meditation on repression and finding yourself through love and family, Schamus’s directorial debut is not to be missed.
Screenings:
- No more SFIFF screenings, but will open nationwide on July 29th.
Show Review: San Francisco’s 2012 Outside Lands Festival, Day 2
Additional contributions to this article by Dakin Hardwick. All photos by Jonathan Pirro except where noted.
Saturday dawns with nary a clue that the fog and mist are clearing, and the massive greenery of Golden Gate Park continues to beckon to those who would walk onto its already-heavily-trodden surface, tickets in hand and heads held high. The second day of the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is upon us, and like many of the other Saturdays of the annual San Francisco festival, it’s filled with some of the biggest, wildest acts, especially those that came to close the night. While the first signs of exhaustion are beginning to set in, those alert enough to pry themselves from slumber and scurry into the park at the hour of 11:00am were greeted by yet more feverishly addictive bursts of musical creativity. After the desiderata of strong coffee and a host of breakfast options that lay lazily along the fields, the several-thousand-strong mass began its trek from side to side, taking in another chapter of the chilly yet invigorating musical thunderstorm within.
Continue reading “Show Review: San Francisco’s 2012 Outside Lands Festival, Day 2”
Our Guide to the 2012 Outside Lands Music Festival
Every year, every festival in America claims to have the “best line up ever!” Well, San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music Festival has made to its 5th year, and they really are going to have a seriously difficult time topping this year’s event. Of course, this means that there are conflicts galore! You’ve got six stages of entertainment to try to decide between at any time of day.
The schedule can be awfully intimidating. Which is why I’m here to help guide you through the complex maze that is the Outside Lands schedule. Without further ado, here is SpinningPlatters’ Official Guide to Outside Lands 2012.
Continue reading “Our Guide to the 2012 Outside Lands Music Festival”
Live Blogging With The Devil: Lulu – Lou Reed & Metallica
Tonight is an experiment. A record by the odd pairing of Velvet Underground leader Lou Reed and bay area metal titans Metallica. I’ve tried hard to avoid any press or tracks from this record, so this will be as fresh as possible. I am not a fan of either act. I do consider the Velvet Underground to be one of the most important bands ever, and much of Reed’s solo work is fine. I even enjoyed some elements of elements of 2003’s The Raven. As for Metallica, I think that Master Of Puppets and Ride The Lightning are great records, but I haven’t liked much after that. I will admit that I don’t consider St Anger to be absolute garbage. I love the drum sounds on that album, but the songwriting could use some editing.
Anyways, keep refreshing, because I will be updating this throughout my entire listening experience. I don’t know what to expect from this, but I hope you enjoy it:
Continue reading “Live Blogging With The Devil: Lulu — Lou Reed & Metallica”
The 7 Rules of the Best and Worst Cover Songs
Someone was tweeting something about cover songs, and I immediately went to work on twittering away the rules of cover songs. I got to rule #3, remembered that I’m the editor of a music blog, and went to work writing the other rules down. And now, I present to you, everything you need to know about cover songs. Is there anything I left out? Let me know below. But first, we’ll start with rule #1: Continue reading “The 7 Rules of the Best and Worst Cover Songs”