porcupine tree – Spinning Platters

Show Review: Steven Wilson at The Wiltern 05/12/18

This band plays it To The Bone

Steven Wilson (Wiltern)-5 Steven Wilson is easily one of the most prolific recording artists of the last couple of decades. At the same time he was the main creative force behind Porcupine Tree, he also managed a number of side projects like Blackfield, No-Man, and Storm Corrosion, as well as remixing numerous classics by Yes, King Crimson, XTC, and others. After Porcupine Tree was put on an indefinite hiatus—there is still yet to be any official “end” of the band—Wilson’s solo career has flourished even further, defying genre expectations of the “progressive rock” scene in favor of creating honest artistic expression. His latest work, To The Bone, continues to push forward towards the art of “pop” even further than his last release, while still maintaining a melancholic edge that has been a theme of his work for quite some time. The North American leg of the To The Bone tour is coming to an end and I caught his Los Angeles performance at the historic Wiltern in Korea Town.

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Spinning Platters Interview: Rick Springfield

Although it’s widely touted as a comedy festival, SF Sketchfest has a wide ranging program that meanders into film, television, literature and music as well. How fitting it is, then, that Rock Solid With Pat Francis is welcoming a guest with a long career doing all three. From his beginnings with mega-hit “Jesse’s Girl” to his years as Noah Drake on General Hospital to his critically acclaimed memoir of depression, Late, Late Night all the way to co-starring with Meryl Streep in Jonathan Demme’s final film, Rikki and the Flash, Rick Springfield has a career as interesting and varied as the rest of the programming at SF Sketchfest. When given the opportunity to talk to him about his Sketchfest appearance and his new blues centered album The Snake King, and told I would only have an hour to prepare, I jumped at the chance.

Rick Springfield was in his car on the way to Joshua Tree when he called. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Rick Springfield”

Show Review: An Evening with Steven Wilson at The Warfield, 6/14/2015

There’s never been any debate over the fact that English new-prog, Pink-Floyd-meets-metal band Porcupine Tree is Steven Wilson, in both part and in whole. While comprised of a core set of musicians that have contributed to the writing, recording, and touring of the many records forged over its career, Porcupine Tree started as a project for Wilson alone to craft music; in fact, at its very beginning, it was a made-up legendary rock band with its own fake history and discography that Wilson had penned with a colleague back in the late 1980s. Twenty years later, Wilson has put his primary project on a shelf (Porcupine Tree has been on hiatus since 2010) and shifted the attention to his own “solo work”. Lest the reader shy away from the often-wary prospect of a frontman deciding to carve out his own path, Wilson’s output has been nothing short of spectacular, now spanning the length of four albums which demonstrate a remarkable leap in creativity, songwriting, and production with each successive release. Hot off the heels of his recently-released Hand. Cannot. Erase., Wilson returned to the Bay Area on Sunday night for a live performance with his new touring band, and the result was a gorgeous, stunning display of musicianship and sonic texture that shook the walls of the Warfield for over two hours.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/5/12-4/11/12

Welcome to April… The beginning of Fauxchella, when all of those bands that were paid an obscene amount of money to perform in the desert for rich kids on copious amounts of drugs get to play for normal people, in normal venues, where you get to hear a band with a soundcheck and a real venue. Not to say that festivals don’t have their place- I have a lot of fun at these things. But I both couldn’t afford a Coachella ticket, nor could I take the time off my day job. Which means that I’m seeing fIREHOSE at Slim’s. (Sorry Radiohead!)

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Show Review: Porcupine Tree with Karnivool at The Warfield Theater, 8/11/2010

When a massive act plans a statewide, or possibly worldwide, tour, one of the factors involved is selecting opening bands for the tour. More often than not, the presence of a more famous and popular headliner will usually be a signal that larger, more well-known opening acts will come along for the ride. In the case of Porcupine Tree, however, their opening slot on Coheed And Cambria’s colossal new tour comes with the hope that at least a good chunk of the audience will be part of the dedicated following that they have carved out themselves within the states. As a nod to those fans, Porcupine Tree kicked off the tour with a special headlining show for one of their favorite cities (as claimed by frontman Steven Wilson on a few occasions): San Francisco, California.

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/5/2010-8/11/2010

atari800xl_4 — Born in Milpitas, Playing in San Jose.

I’m gonna go see the Old 97’s in 45 minutes… I actually am borrowing David Price‘s computer to do this, just so I get to the show on time! Peace out, yo!

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Week in Review: Top 5 Posts for Sept 18-24

Steven Wilson wants you to check out the top posts of the week.

This week at Spinning Platters, we reviewed lots of shows, plenty of albums, and made some lists. For our new week in review feature, I’ll let you in on what our Top 5 most trafficked new posts were, and invite you to check them out if you haven’t already. Come back this weekend for review of Living Colour with Fishbone, and follow us at @SpinnPlatt for plenty of giddy drunken remarks live from The Zoopy Show. Now, click through to see our busiest posts of the week. Continue reading “Week in Review: Top 5 Posts for Sept 18-24”

Show Review: Porcupine Tree at The Warfield Theater, 9/18/09

I arrived at the Warfield tonight for the Porcupine Tree show, and Market Street was already packed with people waiting to get in. Another night, another sold out show at the Warfield, and this time it’s a band with no “hits” to speak of. This time, it’s the masters of modern British prog, Porcupine Tree. I’m a huge fan, so I’m not the best person to judge whether this show was good or bad. But I can tell you, if you’re also a fan, everything you need to know. Continue reading “Show Review: Porcupine Tree at The Warfield Theater, 9/18/09”

New Release Round-Up, 9/15/09 – 27 Instant Album Reviews

This week was a little worrisome; the merging of hipsters and “rappers” is picking up steam as indicated by Skinny Jeanz. Get those bomb shelters stocked up it’s only a matter of time until the hipster apocalypse. Soon the coolest rappers will pretend there is no one like them and that they hate all those other rappers…oh wait. Continue reading “New Release Round-Up, 9/15/09 — 27 Instant Album Reviews”

Choosing My Top 13 Albums of the Decade

There’s this fun little website called The Top 13 Albums Project. For the last two years, they’ve invited anyone who’s interested to enter their top 13 albums for the year into the database. They then compile all of these lists into one master top 13 list for the year. Why 13? I have no idea. All I know is it tends to be a pretty good look at what the blogs are loving that year. Fleet Foxes and The Boxer by The National were the top albums in the last two years. Now, they’re doing a Top 13 of the decade, and in order to participate, you need to submit your list by October 2nd. Of course I’m participating. Follow me now as I run through my personal list. Continue reading “Choosing My Top 13 Albums of the Decade”