set list – Page 20 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: She & Him with The Chapin Sisters at The Fox Oakland, 5/29/10

When Zooey Deschanel walked on stage in a sparkly dress you would have thought it was the next messiah walking out to greet her followers. In a weird way I guess she is the messiah of sweet indie-ness. Between her movie career and the success of She & Him, Zooey Deschanel is the It girl of indie rock. She certainly looked the part at The Fox: bouncy perfect hair, cute make-up, black tights and kitten heels, but what really sold the show was her voice. From the first note it was strong, clear and emotive, and for the next hour and a half it was glorious. Continue reading “Show Review: She & Him with The Chapin Sisters at The Fox Oakland, 5/29/10”

Show Review: OK Go with Earl Greyhound and Grand Lake at The Fillmore, 5/26/10

Tim Nordwind, Damian Kulash and Andy Ross of Ok Go — A rare moment without confetti

During OK Go’s show at The Fillmore in San Francisco on Wednesday night, lead singer Damian Kulash tried to explain why the band’s home is San Francisco. “Because we live on YouTube” was his explanation. Yeah, alright, whatever. But it’s clear what they meant was that the Bay Area is made to appreciate a label-leaving, DIY-video-making band of nerds like them. And this video thing is working out for them. One blog recently called them the “shtickiest band ever,” so what sort of shtick did they bring with them? Continue reading “Show Review: OK Go with Earl Greyhound and Grand Lake at The Fillmore, 5/26/10”

Massive Attack with Martina Topley-Bird and MNDR at The Warfield, 5/26

4626556382_da3bed05c9 — The lights wash over Massive Attack

The boys from Bristol are back. After a seven year waiting period, studio perfectionists and UK music pioneers Massive Attack return to full form with their newest and much delayed album, Heligoland. The second show of a two night stop in San Francisco, Massive Attack bring their eccentrically driven set for all to marvel at. Would their perfection pay off?

Continue reading “Massive Attack with Martina Topley-Bird and MNDR at The Warfield, 5/26”

Show Review: Ex’pression Session: OK Go and Amanda Palmer @ Ex’pression College for Digital Arts

While a great number of artists have passed through the doors of Ex’pression College to perform at the school’s Meyer Performance Hall, in intimate shows offered to a handful of lucky radio winners and passionate students, never before has one of these performances — dubbed “Ex’pression Sessions” — included more than one band at a time. It’s also not terribly easy to predict exactly who will be coming through the doors, since all manner of musicians, performers and artists have taken the stage over the last several years. With these considerations in mind, Monday’s performance was a never-before-attempted feat, as it involved two artists of a fairly well-known stature: Amanda Palmer, expert pianist and purveyor of all things art, and OK Go, arguably the Most Famous Band Thanks To The Internet. Continue reading “Show Review: Ex’pression Session: OK Go and Amanda Palmer @ Ex’pression College for Digital Arts”

Show Review: Broken Bells with The Morning Benders at The Regency Ballroom, 5/21/10

brokenbells3 — Broken Bells are to be taken seriously

Long live the super group. Established producer Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) and his musical pal, James Mercer of The Shins, made their way to the Grand Ballroom in San Francisco Friday night to showcase their new experiment, Broken Bells. After what seems to have been the season of all star groups such as Them Crooked Vultures and Atoms for Peace, did this long anticipated show live up to all its hype? Continue reading “Show Review: Broken Bells with The Morning Benders at The Regency Ballroom, 5/21/10”

Show Review: Kate Nash with Supercute! at Bottom of the Hill, 5/8/10

: Kate Nash with her Supercute! backup dancers

If you’ve listened to the new Kate Nash album, My Best Friend is You, you wouldn’t have been surprised by what you heard last night at Bottom of the Hill. Unfortunately it seemed most of the audience hadn’t. Kate Nash played mostly new songs and while I was looking forward to dancing around with the crowd to those songs, I guess nobody else was. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Continue reading “Show Review: Kate Nash with Supercute! at Bottom of the Hill, 5/8/10”

Show Review: Everybody Was In The French Resistance… Now! with A B and the Sea and Carletta Sue Kay at Bottom of the Hill, 4/27/10

Eddie and Dyan, in real life black and white, from a different show. Thanks to Aurelien for sharing.

Fellow Spinning Platters writer Marie Carney and I decided to take a different approach to writing a review of last night’s show from Everybody Was In The French Resistance… Now! at Bottom of the Hill. Taking a cue from singer Eddie Argos, best known from the band Art Brut where he also tends to speak-sing the lyrics, we decided to write a show review in conversation. I hope we would make Eddie proud. Continue reading “Show Review: Everybody Was In The French Resistance… Now! with A B and the Sea and Carletta Sue Kay at Bottom of the Hill, 4/27/10”

Show Review: Keith Emerson and Greg Lake at The Regency Ballroom, 4/26/10

Moog — The most photographed keyboard setup in the history of the world?

Before the show even started, and long after it ended, fans were gathered around the stage to take photographs of the famous synthesizer on stage at The Regency Ballroom on Monday night. This is the actual synthesizer that was used on “Lucky Man,” the classic track by Emerson Lake & Palmer that both kicked off their career and ended this concert. That prog nerds (like me; I was taking a photo, too) worship equipment is well known, but what about the people playing it? What about Emerson Lake & … well … nobody?

Continue reading “Show Review: Keith Emerson and Greg Lake at The Regency Ballroom, 4/26/10”

Show Review: Norah Jones, Sasha Dobson at The Fillmore, 4/21/10

With this review, I hope to dispel a few stereotypes that people have about Ms Norah Jones. I feel that people have, rather inappropriately decided that she makes dull background music, and that she isn’t a very good live performer. I will agree that in her earlier days, she was a very shy performer. She rarely looked at the crowd, and usually hid behind her piano. I also feel that her debut record, Come Away With Me, the 2002 release that went on to sell 22 million records, is more of a mood piece than a work of active listening. But, in the 8 years since that release, Ms Jones has pushed her sound in many new and interesting directions, including a few very surprising collaborations and a really bizarre interpretation of punk rock.

So, how did her first show at The Fillmore since 2002 (opening for the great Willie Nelson) fare? Read on…

Continue reading “Show Review: Norah Jones, Sasha Dobson at The Fillmore, 4/21/10”

Show Review: Vampire Weekend at the Fox Oakland, 4/19/10 and 4/20/10

ezra — Thanks to Flickr user Alloyous for the use of the picture

Vampire Weekend proved without a doubt at their two sold out shows at the Fox in Oakland that they are a strong band. I didn’t hear any mistakes either night. The drums, brought to you by C.T. (Chris Tomson) were solid, holding everything together. Chris Baio danced and played the bass masterfully. Rostam Batmanglij fleshed out the melody with keyboard and guitar and Ezra Koenig gave it all a focal point with his charm and strong vocals center stage. This was the third and fourth time I’d seen Vampire Weekend and I knew they could deliver a good show like this, but could they still surprise me? Continue reading “Show Review: Vampire Weekend at the Fox Oakland, 4/19/10 and 4/20/10”