Film Review: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”

“Mutant Mayhem” is packed with undeniable T-U-R-T-L-E power!

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series and three feature films of the early 1990s that centered around the reptilian mutant fighting foursome were hugely successful and spawned a multimedia franchise of toys, shows, and comics for decades. The hype was tempered by three mediocre films between 2007-2016, with the latter two misfires produced by Michael Bay. Nostalgia was keeping the franchise afloat, despite diminishing returns. So with a huge sigh of relief and a heart full of nostalgic glee, I’m happy to report that the series reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is an energetic and artistic cinematic take on what makes the Ninja Turtles brand so fun.

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BottleRock Napa Valley 2023 Festival Journal, Day 1

You might not be able to tell by the weather, at least in Napa today, but it’s almost summer! Memorial Day Weekend marks the unofficial start of summer and the arrival of BottleRock Napa Valley’s 10th festival! The day started out pretty chilly, which had me worried that the weekend might be colder than I’d hoped for a festival weekend, but thankfully it eventually warmed up to a nice breezy, sunny day. 

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BottleRock Napa Valley 2023 Preview

Can you feel it? Summer’s almost here, finally! Besides the fact that the rain has finally stopped and the temps are heating up, you always know it’s just about summer when it’s time to take a look at the upcoming BottleRock Napa Valley festival!

As usual, the folks organizing this magical event in my sweet hometown have done a brilliant job providing us with not just fantastic headliners but quite a few awesome smaller bands. It starts in less than 10 days, and as usual, I can’t wait!

This year, the Red Hot Chili Peppers return to headline along with The  Smashing Pumpkins, Lizzo, Duran Duran, Post Malone, and Lil Nas X!

Beyond that impressive lineup of headliners, there are countless other interesting acts I hope to see, including Bastille, Phantogram, Kennyhoopla, Jean Dawson, Beach Weather, Paris Jackson, local band High Noon, Leon Bridges, Carly Rae Jepsen, Tove Lo, Dayglow, Danielle Ponder, Wu-Tang Clan, The National, Caamp, Sheryl Crow, Los Lobos, The Wrecks, and The Alive. And that’s without listing any of the extensive food, wine, or cocktails available to tempt and delight tastebuds, too!

Here’s my 2023 BottleRock preview playlist for your listening enjoyment, and I look forward to seeing you there soon! Don’t have tickets? Try here, and come on out to Napa for some sunshine at the best fest in the west!

Show Review: Lamb of God + Killswitch Engage + Mercyful Fate + Kreator in Dallas

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF

Throughout our cumulative years working in many components of the local music industry, the staff of Spinning Platters has been lucky enough to become friendly with quite a few bands, their management, public relations, and even their road crews. In late May, over Memorial Day Weekend, we ventured outside of our Bay Area bubble to the middle of the country (Chicago). We were subsequently offered the opportunity to cover some shows there.  Now, once again, Spinning Platters had the chance to travel to Dallas (Don’t Mess With Texas!) and was informed that we would be able to cover the final show of one tour and the first show of another! What started out as simply two photo passes for Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Animals as Leaders, Fit for an Autopsy AND Mercyful Fate, Kreator, Midnight turned into a whole lot more…