Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
I have a bit of a weird history with The Antlers. Not, like, personally. It’s just that one of their (arguably) best albums, Hospice, was something I found when I was in the depths of a deep depression. I won’t ever forget how much it tore up my heart to listen to “Bear” for the first time and how heartbreaking those lyrics were. Tonight, I entered Great American Music Hall, but found myself back in that darkened apartment, whiskey in hand, tears soaking my face.
In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the follow-up to the surprising and emotionally resonant 2011 reboot, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, we are treated to another slice of the 50-year-old Planet of the Apes universe that had, until now, only been hypothesized. Part of the consuming mystery surrounding the original 1968 Planet of the Apes ending was wondering how the humans had destroyed the Earth and fallen prisoner to ape overlords. Dawn offers just a small, yet undoubtedly significant, step on this inevitable path. And yet, under the confident direction of Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has an epic feel that looms large with great performances, memorable and haunting action, and deep social commentary.
Continue reading “Film Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
Before that show, I had no idea why I enjoyed Tove Lo so much. On the surface, she looks just like another Ke$ha-inspired glitter party clone. But standing in the middle of Rickshaw Stop, somewhere between the whiskey, vaporizer smoke, and bendy straws, it hit me. Somewhere in that crowd, in all those eyes glittering in the lights coming from the stage, it all became so painfully obvious: we are all hurt. And that’s why we were there.
There was a moment during “Steven’s Last Night in Town” when Ben Folds, letting the San Francisco Symphony do its thing, turned toward the audience, put his hands on his knees and flashed a huge smile. It was the happiest I’ve ever seen him, and who can blame him? Here he was, on stage with a world class orchestra, hearing them play the horn breakdown of a humorous song he wrote during a time when he was just another struggling Nashville musician. Now he’s on top of the musical world, playing songs that belong in the Great American Songbook with 100 great musicians and singers. I’d smile, too. And I did. Continue reading “Concert Review: Ben Folds and the San Francisco Symphony, 5/19/2014”
You can’t believe a word Eric Hutchinson says. Don’t believe me? See for yourself: his new album even admits it’s all Pure Fiction. Tall tales or no, I wanted to hear just what Mr. Hutchinson’s been up to since I saw him last, so I rounded up a couple girlfriends last night and headed out to the Fillmore to give him a listen. Shortly after we arrived, the “Tell the World Tour” support act Saints of Valory took the stage to kick the evening off. Continue reading “Show Review: Eric Hutchinson with Saints of Valory at The Fillmore, 5/1/2014”
Good comedy is hard to find. I mean, it’s easy to find , but with thousands of voices permeating the ether, it’s hard to see the stars within the galaxies. How does anybody, especially comedy nerds, expect to stay up to date when there’s so many choices and unanswered questions: Do I want to have a good time? Do I want to be challenged? Who will champion the comedy I want to hear, excuse me, need to hear? Well, Aparna Nancherla and Eliza Skinner, of course.
One is acerbically imaginative, the other keenly effervescent, both are delightfully different with incredible style and substance. The duo worked on the gone-too-soon “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell” (aka the “OMG, Kamau has a show! OMG, they canceled it! Whyyyyyyyy!?” Show), together they’ve toured with the regal Janine Brito, and both are performing THIS SATURDAY—two shows—at our favorite indie comedy haunt, Lost Weekend Video (aka the Cynic Cave). It’s a highly-recommended happening of extremely special circumstance!
In this exclusive interview we discuss Disney, earthquake preparedness, and their biggest fear for the weekend. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Aparna Nancherla & Eliza Skinner”
In a brilliant display of great timing, City Arts and Lectures welcomed “Oscar winner” Darlene Love to their stage at the Nourse Theater on Friday night for an evening of question answering and singing. As both the opening act and the headliner, she managed to be highly entertaining on both counts, literally leaving the crowd wanting more. Continue reading “Show Review: Darlene Love at The Nourse Theater for City Arts and Lectures, 3/7/2014”
I have no idea how to describe what just happened. This entire show felt like a crazy collision of surf, classic, psychedelic, and punk rock all interlocking and interweaving together to make Bleached, a veritable Voltron of music. Looked at individually, each of these groups are amazing reminders of angsty, dreamy, teenage Southern California rock days gone by. But their presence on stage here at Noise Pop unequivocally proves that this sound is timeless, and so, too, are the people who listen to it.
In the world according to Stace (that’d be me, for those not paying attention), Maya Rudolph is a genius. A comedic genius, you might say, but I mean it in a more general way. I’m just sayin’, if this woman ran for president, she might get my vote. Beautiful, funny, and musically talented, she’s got it all. As if that isn’t enough, she’s in a long-term relationship with the music of Prince, and it’s getting pretty serious. Recently, she’s been sharing it with the world alongside her college buddy, singer-songwriter Gretchen Lieberum, and together they are Princess.
Lucky, lucky me: SF Sketchfest brought this act to my city and gave me a ticket to watch! (Don’t be jealous.) So last night, I planted my feet outside the doors at Mezzanine in the drizzle and waited an hour to be let in. At first, I thought I’d finally found the island of misfit toys, as no one remotely associated with the venue seemed to know much about what was going on, who the artist was, if tickets would be available (the show was sold out, but of course there were still those willing to try at the door), or how long the event would go. In the end, after an hour, I was the first one in the door. Cocktail in hand, I picked a spot against a pillar near the front and there I stood for the two hours until the ladies graced the stage. I have to be honest: these were torturous hours. Though I subject myself to them regularly, I’m not especially fond of huge crowds, and Mezzanine really packed ’em in last night. I can’t blame everyone else in the city for wanting to witness the glory of Princess, but it didn’t stop me from wishing I had a little more room to breathe. (Seriously: I even texted managing editor Dakin, who was up front, to ask if it would be any better if I went back near the door. He said probably not much, so I sucked it up and stayed put.)
At last, though, the show was about to begin. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum are Princess: An Evening of the Music of Prince on 2/9/2014”
This year, I seem to have been a little cursed when trying to get to a Sketchfest show at Marines Memorial Theatre. I had two events there this year, and both times, I couldn’t avoid being late. The first time, I missed most of the show due to insane traffic. This past weekend, I missed fifteen or twenty minutes because I had to make a choice: leave the day’s first event (The Benson Movie Interruption: “Twilight: New Moon,” something I looked forward to all year long) early, or take my chances with being late to event number two. I opted for the latter, rushing out in the rain to my car, across town, and to do my best to quickly find parking near the venue. Even so, I was late and there was nothing to be done about it except sit down, shut up, and enjoy the rest of the show. I’ve requested to review Celebrity Autobiography before: Rachel Dratch, Fred Willard, Florence Henderson, Pamela Adlon… Need I say more? Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Celebrity Autobiography: The Music Edition on 2/8/2014”