set list – Page 14 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: TFDI with Riley Etheridge & Michael Kang at Cafe du Nord, 8/21/2011

A little over two years ago, some friends and I went to see Tony Lucca at the Hotel Utah. He was playing with two dudes we’d never heard of before: Jay Nash and Matt Duke. Matt opened, and before he’d finished the first song all three of us were staring at him, transfixed (and okay, maybe a little surprised as well). Our reactions to Jay were similar, and of course we already knew we loved Tony’s music too. As the tour progressed, it didn’t take them long to realize that their fantastic chemistry shouldn’t go to waste. By the time they reached SPACE in Chicago, they were harmonizing their way through each other’s set lists, two of them flanking the third songwriter as he took center stage. They decided to record a 4-song EP, and somehow the whole project was dubbed “TFDI.” (More on that later.)

Continue reading “Show Review: TFDI with Riley Etheridge & Michael Kang at Cafe du Nord, 8/21/2011”

Show Review: Styx with Yes at the Shoreline Amphitheatre, 8/3/2011

The definition of “arena rock” has changed shape a great deal in this modern era of music. While it’s mostly connected to which genres of music or artists can sell enough seats to fill an amphitheater with up to 22,000 people, it is also evocative of a time when a band’s show and stage set were so extravagant, flamboyant, and over-the-top that only a massive stadium could even hope to provide ample real estate for the performance. Thus, it is always quite amazing to see both of these factors fall into place, especially when the bands in question are of a somewhat-bygone era. This isn’t the 1970s, or the 1980s, but you would never have been aware that time had passed since that era, judging from the explosive response that greeted the two biggest acts of the Shoreline Amphitheatre’s KIHNCERT 2011: Chicago rockers Styx and English progressive godfathers Yes.

Continue reading “Show Review: Styx with Yes at the Shoreline Amphitheatre, 8/3/2011”

Show Review: Reel Big Fish with Streetlight Manifesto, The Maxies and Rodeo Ruby Love at the Regency Ballroom, 7/15/2011

There’s a commonly-held mindset that says you cannot take ska music seriously. From a simple outside perspective, this makes sense; it’s generally very bouncy, positive-sounding music, and the horns just accentuate the level of joy, or perhaps the level of unseriousness. For what is entailed in a ska song, however, it’s remarkably rude to call it simple or childish; with 3 or 4 additional players that accompany a full band, one that’s usually churning out rapid-fire punk riffs, and with all of the members running around onstage, it’s definitely not a simple feat. The energy of the music, for those who do listen and follow it, is infectious and riotous in its intensity, and whether the lyrics are heartfelt and yearning, or slovenly and self-deprecating, wildly energetic audiences will still fill large auditoriums to see the spectacle, and chant and stamp to every word. Such was the case on Friday night, when the Regency Ballroom of San Francisco played host to two titans of the genre: the New Jersey septet Streetlight Manifesto, and the Huntington Beach veterans known as Reel Big Fish.

Continue reading “Show Review: Reel Big Fish with Streetlight Manifesto, The Maxies and Rodeo Ruby Love at the Regency Ballroom, 7/15/2011”

Show Review: Rihanna, J Cole at Oracle Arena, 6/30/11

I’m not going to beat around the bush here… I really like Rihanna. I respect the fact that she doesn’t write her own music (or pretend to write their own music), because she doesn’t need to. I appreciate that, unlike many of her Rocafella peers, she doesn’t need to placate to the indie community for credibility. Because, quite frankly, I don’t need my pop stars hoping to get caught by the paparazzi at a Dirty Projectors show or swooning over Ratatat on their “blog.” Rihanna is a pure, classic pop star. And she knows how to handle an arena-sized live show.

Continue reading “Show Review: Rihanna, J Cole at Oracle Arena, 6/30/11”

Show Review: The Wombats with The Tender Box and Wild Party at The Rickshaw, 6/3/11

The Wombats’ new album This Modern Glitchhas quickly become my favorite of the year, overtaking all the others on my iPod until it spent two weeks as the only thing I listen to. So on a Friday night after a long week I had high hopes that this would be the perfect night. Continue reading “Show Review: The Wombats with The Tender Box and Wild Party at The Rickshaw, 6/3/11”

Show Review: Sleigh Bells, Neon Indian and Oberhofer at The Independent, 5/30/11

Memorial Day kicked off the first of a 3 night residency for Sleigh Bells, the much discussed and divisive band signed to MIA’s N.E.E.T. Records and featuring the bassist for the sadly overlooked teen pop groups RubyBlue, Alexis Krauss on vocals and Derek E Miller on guitar, formerly of Florida hardcore band Poison The Well. The hype behind these shows, where the first two sold out months ago, while a 3rd, smaller gig at Rickshaw Stop sold out moments after it went on sale last week, is amazing. The question is, does this band with only a single album under their belt, live up to the hype?

Continue reading “Show Review: Sleigh Bells, Neon Indian and Oberhofer at The Independent, 5/30/11”

Show Review: Echo & the Bunnymen with Kelley Stoltz at The Warfield, 5/19/2011

The pictures on my wall // Are about to swing and fall

Roughly a year and a half ago, British post-punk dreamers Echo & the Bunnymen came to American shores for just a few stops to host a darkly gorgeous, orchestra-accompanied performance of their classic album Ocean Rain. No doubt inspired by the success of their tour and the continuing trend of artists who perform full-album sets at their shows, the Liverpool-based quintet was back in town with a similar formula, although taken to a much greater length. This time around, frontman Ian McCulloch and the rest of the crew were performing TWO of their older records — their debut Crocodiles and sophomore effort Heaven Up Here — with a 3-song encore after each. Lest the smallish crowd and the lower capacity of the venue place doubts in the mind of those who passed by the Warfield Theater on Thursday night, the excitement and enthusiasm from the fans was even more fervent than for the band’s Ocean Rain performance, and the group themselves performed with even greater intensity than before.

Continue reading “Show Review: Echo & the Bunnymen with Kelley Stoltz at The Warfield, 5/19/2011”

Show Review: IAMDONALD tour with Donald Glover/Childish Gambino at The Fillmore, 4/28/11

If you read Spinning Platters with any regularity, you know I love Donald Glover, so let’s just get the personal stuff out of the way now. I spent all day with an increasing sense of agitation waiting to see if I was going to get a pass for the IAMDONALD show at the Fillmore tonight. I got stuck in some angry self-righteous critic reel where I actually thought I deserved a ticket. Well, I did write this review of the preview show. Then I campaigned hard for Donald Glover/Childish Gambino’s album Culdesac to win album of the year in 2010. Then I gave his fans a SXSW award (and missed The Dead Milkmen to see him!). Is it possible this makes me his biggest fan? And is it possible for a show to live up to expectations after all that? Continue reading “Show Review: IAMDONALD tour with Donald Glover/Childish Gambino at The Fillmore, 4/28/11”

Show Review: The Joy Formidable with The Lonely Forest at Bottom of the Hill, 4/14/2011

TJF Band - Web — They've come from North Wales to kick our asses

The Joy Formidable is a hard band to describe to people. I’ve seen them called “ecstatic dance rock,” “evolutionary shoegaze,” and last night, one extremely drunk fan called them “the best band in the world!” over and over again until the rest of the crowd finally told him to shut up. As an admitted obsessive fan, I’m not sure I have anything particularly wise or witty to add to the conversation, other than an excited “fuck yeah!” in response to the aforementioned drunk fan. That makes me both the right and wrong person to be reviewing the band, so here I go. Continue reading “Show Review: The Joy Formidable with The Lonely Forest at Bottom of the Hill, 4/14/2011”

Show Review: PJ Harvey at The Warfield, 4/14/11

PJ Harvey is simply an artist. It just so happens her medium is music. Every tour for each new record is an engrossing sensory experience, completely different than the last. Having seen her perform at the Warfield for every record, minus White Chalk, (she left SF off the tiny tour), since 1998, I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to experience more than my share.

All of the shows up until now, have been full of the energy, gusto, and a hauntingly excitable sound that had left fans floored. Every show ends with just about the biggest display of genuine applause I’ve ever seen or been apart of for an artist. PJ Harvey fans seem to connect with the music fully in both a primal, intellectual, and emotional level, which doesn’t always happen with most artists.

Continue reading “Show Review: PJ Harvey at The Warfield, 4/14/11”