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Festival Review: LoveLoud 2019 at USANA Amphitheatre, 6/29/19

It’s July, and another successful SF Pride Parade is in the books… or so I hear. I personally missed it, sadly, but I did so for good reason. Obviously, we live in one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world, and while it would have been fun to come out to share the celebration (not to mention the spectacle) that is Pride in the Bay Area, I chose instead to celebrate with the LGBTQ+ youth of Salt Lake City.

The only photo I took of Kesha’s LoveLoud set: her fabulous rainbow confetti all over the ground.

Utah is, of course, fairly synonymous with Mormonism. Imagine growing up LGBTQ+ and having to consider whether to stay closeted, or to come out and risk being shunned, rejected, or excommunicated not only from your entire church, but your community and likely your whole family, too. It’s not hard to see why the LGBTQ+ youth in the LDS church have an incredibly high suicide rate. Enter one of the most famous Mormons this side of Donny & Marie: Imagine Dragons’ frontman, Dan Reynolds. Reynolds founded the LoveLoud Foundation, which puts on an annual festival in the Salt Lake City area every June to allow a safe place to celebrate Pride while raising money for local and national LGBTQ+ charities.

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Show Review: Young the Giant at Safeway Open, 10/5/18

I started listening to Young the Giant (and bands like them) a few years ago when I bought a new car with satellite radio. This radically increased my exposure to all kinds of great bands. I quickly got hooked on Young the Giant songs like “My Body” and “Cough Syrup.” Later, “Something to Believe in” and “Silvertongue” continued to hold my interest. So when I found that they would be one of three concerts at this year’s Safeway Open in my own backyard (at Napa’s Silverado Resort), I made sure to clear my weekend to check them out live. Continue reading “Show Review: Young the Giant at Safeway Open, 10/5/18”

Show Review: Tony Lucca and Ernie Halter at Neck of the Woods, 5/17/18

Ernie Halter (L) and Tony Lucca (R) at Neck of the Woods

Ernie Halter and Tony Lucca are “brothers from other mothers” who have “toured a shit-ton together over the years.” While Lucca is originally from Pontiac, Michigan, he and Halter (a native of SoCal) both lived in the LA area for years. Now, however, they have both moved to Nashville, where they’re close enough to babysit each other’s kids when the need arises. This, while great for their families, is not so great for me, as it means I get to see much less of them than when they were a mere 6-hour drive and toured California much more frequently. They recently graced the upstairs stage at Neck of the Woods on Thursday, 5/17, and because it had already been over a year since the last time I’d been able to catch Lucca in my actual neck of the woods, I got there with my proverbial bells on. Continue reading “Show Review: Tony Lucca and Ernie Halter at Neck of the Woods, 5/17/18”

Show Review: Phillip Phillips with Ballroom Thieves at the Fillmore, 3/20/18

Let’s face it: fame found as a result of an appearance on American Idol can be a mixed bag. On one hand, there’s the bad (William Hung, that guy who sang that “Pants on the Ground” song, Nikki McKibbin). On the other hand, without Idol none of us might ever have been exposed to Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson… While I haven’t seen the ABC reboot of this show, I have been known to follow the show in the past. Ever since Phillip Phillips‘s audition with a brilliant cover of “Thriller,” I’ve been a big fan. Over the years, I’ve seen him go from a no-name hopeful on a reality TV singing competition to winning the whole shebang, to opening for John Mayer, to headlining a Napa music festival. Now he’s released his third album, Collateral, which he played San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore this week to promote. Continue reading “Show Review: Phillip Phillips with Ballroom Thieves at the Fillmore, 3/20/18”

Show Review: Stone Temple Pilots with The Dirty Hooks at the Fillmore, 3/12/18

Gather round, children, it’s story time. (Well, okay, it’s really just more of a long-winded introduction, but bear with me here…) My brother is, by far, one of my favorite people on the planet. He’s a few years older than me, so he was a senior in high school when I was a freshman, and I was fortunate that he was nice to me in front of his peers. This meant that all the older, cooler kids accepted me rather than finding me annoying. This was also the time in our lives when we first started to agree on (and bond over) music. In particular, we loved Aerosmith (because who wasn’t obsessed with Get a Grip in the early/mid 90s?) and Stone Temple Pilots. So fast forward nearly 25 years, and you’d better believe we were both dying to catch the band at San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore. Continue reading “Show Review: Stone Temple Pilots with The Dirty Hooks at the Fillmore, 3/12/18”

Show Review: Live in the Vineyard 2016 at Uptown Theatre Napa, 11/4/2016

o.a.r. headlines Live in the Vineyard 2016 Night 1

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time again: Live in the Vineyard. For those unfamiliar, this is a biannual celebration of food, wine, and music, featuring a mix of hit artists and those that are up-and-coming. Events take place in locations all over the Napa Valley, typically culminating each (weekend) day in a concert at Napa’s Uptown Theatre. The event is exclusive in the sense that essentially the only way to attend is to win tickets via one of many contests available via the internet or the radio. This year’s fall event took place last weekend, with Friday night’s show a representative mix of the new and the tried-and-true: Britain’s Got Talent star Calum Scott, bluesy soul married duo JOHNNYSWIM, up-and-coming singer/songwriter Wrabel, American Idol winner Phillip Phillips, and celebrating their 20th anniversary as a band, o.a.r.. Continue reading “Show Review: Live in the Vineyard 2016 at Uptown Theatre Napa, 11/4/2016”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2015 Festival Journal, Day 3

I think Shakespeare might have been seeing into the future of BottleRock when he said “parting is such sweet sorrow.” True story: on the last day of the inaugural festival in 2013, I remember thinking that I was like a kid at summer camp; I wanted to just keep coming back, but I knew that if I showed up the next day, all my friends would be gone and it would just be a big, sad mess that would leave me emotionally scarred. Thankfully, though, after an amazing Day One and a lovely Day Two, I still had a whole final day to see, and this time, my bestie had come to join the fun. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2015 Festival Journal, Day 3”

BottleRock Napa Valley 2015 Festival Journal, Day 2

After a smashingly successful day one, I couldn’t wait to see what BottleRock 2015 had in store for me on Day Two. I got a bit of a late start and arrived just in time for Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts. This is one of the things I love most about the typical BRNV lineup: excellent blasts from the past, and you get a chance to see them in a whole new way. (In BRNV years past I’ve been treated to Weezer, Heart, and the Spin Doctors, to name a few.) I overheard someone saying that they thought the Wildabouts were “very STP,” and I can’t say I entirely agree. Sure, it’s been quite a while since I heard much Stone Temple Pilots on the radio (much less even listened to the radio…), but I loved them, and so I remember enough. Weiland and his Wildabouts were fun to watch, sounded great, and Weiland definitely still has the chops, but I think the biggest similarity between the two groups is simply Scott Weiland himself (and perhaps that both fall into the genre of rock).

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BottleRock Napa Valley 2015 Festival Journal, Day 1

Ahhhh, BottleRock. It’s hands-down my favorite time of year. What could be better than waking up to the sounds of fantastic headliners sound-checking from my open bedroom window? (This year, specifically, it happened twice: once with Imagine Dragons, and again with No Doubt. Not bad. Not bad at all.) Anyway, besides the excellent wake-up call, it’s all mild May weather in my gorgeous hometown of Napa, full of the best food, wine, and beer you can find with fantastic bands. I’ve never missed a day of this festival’s three years (and counting), and hope I never have to. Here’s what you missed this year: Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2015 Festival Journal, Day 1”

An Evening with Tony Lucca at Yoshi’s Oakland, 01/29/2015

Seeing Simons & Lucca together is always a treat.

Tony Lucca will always have a special place in my heart…and my career. I say that because it was just about this time four years ago that I wrote my first review for Spinning Platters. I had met editor Gordon Elgart not long prior and discussed writing for him, but it was completely spur of the moment when I invited him to join me to see Mr. Lucca at the Cafe du Nord and cover the show. He asked, instead, that I do it myself. I admit, having never written anything of the sort, I was intimidated. But I did it, and I suppose the rest is the proverbial history? Anyway, I digress. Suffice all this to say that I was happy to catch him last Thursday evening at Yoshi’s Oakland. Even better, he had recently added my beloved Keaton Simons to his band, and offered me a little pre-show time for a chat. Continue reading “An Evening with Tony Lucca at Yoshi’s Oakland, 01/29/2015”