Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
It’s a packed week with Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park and Alternative Press Expo in San Jose.
Coming up we have concerts by old people, young old people, and very old people who don’t much age. Let’s preview! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 10/1/15-10/7/15”
The last week of July is looking pretty crazy… Tons of amazing shows going on this week, including two very rare 4-band shows that are worth arriving early and staying late. Time to buy some Red Bull!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/22/10-7/28/10”
In Queensryche’s heyday, they were an awesome force of a band. Geoff Tate was an absolute beast, a singer with an incredible voice and an incredible range. The twin lead guitars of Michael Wilton and Chris Degarmo alternated heavy riffs and bright solos with the greatest of ease. And the solid, spectacular rhythm section of Eddie Jackson and Scott Rockenfield carried the whole thing forward with fierce momentum. That was 1990 or so. This is 2009. What are they like now? Continue reading “Queensryche at The Fillmore, 6/4/09”
Retail Release Date: June 9, 2009
Leaky Faucet Acquisition Date: May 6, 2009
Dredg really never had a shot on the major labels. They’re a prog rock band, first and foremost. This is, of course, why I like them. For their last album, Catch Without Arms, they teamed up with a big name producer (Terry Date) and had songwriting help from Queensyche’s Chris Degarmo. That’s a high powered team, and the album that came out of it had a lot of polish and shine, but also lacked some of the musical innovation found on the band’s older releases. In a lot of ways, it made their earlier albums sound like demos.
So now Dredg is off of the major label, yet they’ve maintained the polished sound, but–and this is exciting–they’ve also thrown caution to the wind in a lot of ways. No longer worried about trying to sound like the band the majors want them to sound like, they go back to the more experimental sounds of their earlier albums, Lietmotif and El Cielo. And it’s almost a complete success. Continue reading “The Leaky Faucet: Dredg — The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion”