Show Review: Palms, Crypts at Slim’s, 7/13/13

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Supergroups are a hard thing to review fairly. It’s difficult to be a “brand new” band without the prejudice of their prior bands. Palms is a new project featuring 3/5’s Boston based “post metal” band ISIS and Deftones’ vocalist Chino Moreno. Two bands with an established legacy that, by a twist of fate, are two of the few bands that I am not familiar with at all. So my experience with Palms was entirely fresh.

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Live Blogging With The Devil: Jay Z “Magna Carta Holy Grail”

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For those of you unfamiliar with the process, this is “Live Blogging With The Devil.” I listen to a hot new release on the release date for the first time ever, and I post updates about my experience as I go along. I guarantee that I will finish the record. I guarantee that you will find typos and grammar issues. This will be the most honest review you will read of this album, as I will not have a chance to second guess what I wrote.

So, enjoy the ride!

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Show Review: Kate Nash with Peach Kelli Pop at The Chapel, 5/11/13

All Photos by Marie Carney
All Photos by Marie Carney

Remember the year 2007?  It was the year that gave us Lily Allen, a bratty pop singer that was going to change the world. From the same city we also got to meet Kate Nash, a timid 20 year old singer / songwriter that played piano and wrote catchy songs primed for radio and play on british teen soaps. Here we are, six years later, and Lily Allen has essentially fallen out of view, and Kate Nash is a world away from the Kate Nash that we knew and loved in 2007. The piano has long been put away, and it has been replaced by loud, fuzzed out guitars. The question is- will the sold out crowd at The Chapel be willing to embrace this new Kate Nash?

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Show Review: Justin Townes Earl with Tift Merritt at The Chapel, 5/10/13

All Photos By Michelle Viray
All Photos By Michelle Viray

Usually when festivals come around, the most exciting thing about them is the pick up gigs bands make around them. With Bottle Rock’s inaugural outing this year, we were lucky enough to score a solid double bill Steve Earle’s song Justin Townes Earle and North Carolina songwriter Tift Merritt. To make the show even more special, the two acts on the bill opted to play a stripped down set. Just voice, guitar, and a single accompanist. Put that into one of the most acoustically perfect venues in San Francisco, and you have a night out.

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Fauxchella Review: Metric with Mona at The Fox Theater – Oakland, 4/18/13

All Photos by Misty Brewster
All Photos by Misty Brewster

Fauxchella is a brutal time for music fans. The night Metric played at The Fox, we also had to contend with like minded bands How To Destroy Angels and Savages playing across the bridge. It was a tough night of you enjoy powerful women fronting danceable rock bands. And, as much as I truly love this band, I was thinking hard about what I was missing. I didn’t want to feel buyers remorse. Deep down inside, I knew this was the right place to be. And the sold out crowd at The Fox tonight knew it, too.

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Noise Pop Review: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, Before The Brave, Kacey Johanssing at Great American Music Hall, 3/1/13

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Normally, four band shows are too much to bear. However, the good folks ay Noise Pop managed to piece together a complete package that more than impressed. We got to enjoy for distinct musical projects that both complimented each other, and still remained entirely unique. We ended up enjoying 4 straight hours of great music.

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Noise Pop Review: Francisco The Band, Kitten at Bender’s Bar & Grill, 2/28/13

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Noise Pop Happy Hours are once of the better kept secrets of the festival. They all happen at Bender’s Bar & Grill in the Mission- a great spot that serves some of the cheapest drinks of any music venue in town. They also serve tater tots. And who doesn’t like tater tots? It also gets you some really intimate performances for free, and set times that are early enough for the fans to get with day jobs to get to bed at a reasonable hour, or the hardcores can tackle two shows in one night! On this Thursday evening, I managed to battle rush hour traffic in order to head out to see a couple of bands over a delicious grilled macaroni & cheese.

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Noise Pop Review: Body/Head, Horsebladder, Burmese at Rickshaw Stop, 2/26/13

Photo By Kelly Hoffer
Photo By Kelly Hoffer

When Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore split up last year, my heart broke. I always felt that they were the perfect rock couple- Moore was the pop yin to Gordon’s experimental yang. And, as expected, Moore’s post Sonic Youth output has largely been filled with guitar pop. And Gordon has been largely quiet. So, when Noise Pop announced that they were featuring her new project, Body/Head, on their opening night of Noise Pop, I was thrilled. When I learned that it was a “noise” project with east coast avant gardist Bill Nace, I had very high hopes for this performance. My favorite Sonic Youth moments have always been when Gordon vocalizes over thunderous guitar shredding. To have a band that strips them down to the just this part was practically a dream show. So, yes, I needed to be there.

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Show Review: The Revivalists, Great White Buffalo, Solwave at The Independent, 2/23/13

The Revivalists

Saturday night, San Francisco. An unexceptionally brisk evening stood to be made swampy from down home revelry. The Independent, Alamo Square’s intimate, inky chamber, stood to facilitate the subdued, sweet swelter. Everything happened so fast. One stride past the evening’s threshold and…

“How we doing?”

Boom! A swell of supersonic rock-and-roll erupted inside the belly of The Independent; the backdraft of bowling bass and erratic electricity swooped through the venue’s history-laced entranceway. Continue reading “Show Review: The Revivalists, Great White Buffalo, Solwave at The Independent, 2/23/13”

Show Review: Pink, The Hives at HP Pavilion, 2/18/13

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I wasn’t expecting to review this show. I went to see Pink because a good friend of mine is a fan of the support on this tour: The Hives. I thought we’d enjoy The Hives and then go home after a few Pink songs, just because we paid the money. Instead, we ended up entranced for nearly two straight hours, watching one of the greatest performers I have ever seen!

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