Show Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 5/14/25

Walking into the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium always brings a pulse of memory with it. Named for the fearless impresario who gave the Bay its psychedelic sprawl, the space has a reverent hum. But the crowd outside this time wasn’t so much buzzing as bracing. A black mass of required patience, funneled in slowly, tension rising as the early hour ticked on. This wasn’t just another show; it was the final stop of the U.S. leg of the Wild God tour. Continue reading “Show Review: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 5/14/25”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2017-06-21 – 2017-06-25

It’s Pride Weekend in San Francisco this week, and it’s fun to see all the bright-eyed people in the city who are attending their first Pride celebration.

Speaking of going to new things, let’s talk about this week’s concerts. Here’s what we’ve got coming up this week in the Bay Area: tanned people, clan people, French people, bad people, and cool people. Should be a pretty cool week.

So, let’s preview. We’re previewing now. Let’s preview and do the preview where we preview. Preview!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2017-06-21 — 2017-06-25”

Film Review: Hell or High Water

Bridges, Pine anchor riveting western crime drama

Brothers Tanner (Ben Foster, l.) and Toby (Chris Pine) come up with a plan to save their family’s West Texas farm.

Actor turned screenwriter Taylor Sheridan proved he had a knack for conveying the rhythms and feeling of the American southwest with his award-nominated debut feature screenplay for last year’s gritty drug smuggling crime drama Sicario. The success of that debut was no fluke, as we see here in Hell or High Water, Sheridan’s new, follow up screenplay. A similarly southwest-set blend of western and crime drama, the picture rivals the Coen Brothers’ Best Picture winner No Country for Old Men as a modern day, quintessentially American morality tale.
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Film Review: “Lawless”

Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain in LAWLESS

starring: Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke

written by: Nick Cave

directed by: John Hillcoat

MPAA: Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexuality/nudity

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