setlist – Page 19 – Spinning Platters

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.

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Show Review: Times New Viking, King Tuff, Spencey Dude and The Doodles at Rickshaw Stop, 6/14/11

The headliner at the Rickshaw Stop on Tuesday night was supposedly Times New Viking, the Ohio based shoegaze band touring in support of their latest release Dancer Equired, but nobody informed the audience because the majority of them were there to see the denim jacketed, Crass t-shirt wearing King Tuff blaze through his 11 song set of mind altered sixties garage rock without give one fuck about those critical darlings Times New Viking who were there to close out the night.
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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: 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.

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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.

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Show Review: Keaton Simons with Curtis Peoples and Whitney Nichole at Hotel Utah, 4/13/2011

Keaton Simons has a degree in ethnomusicology (the study of world music). Curtis Peoples calls his style of music “coffee shop/arena rock.” At first glance, these two may seem an odd pair for a mid-week one-night stint at the Hotel Utah. The truth is, though, that the two have been friends (and sharing stages) for years. Both are LA-based singer/songwriters with mostly acoustic sets and guitars, sprinkled with a little piano here and there, and both have been so hard at work on new albums that neither has been to the Bay Area in at least a year. And both have fans that were happy to skip the Giants game in favor of a night’s worth of their music. Continue reading “Show Review: Keaton Simons with Curtis Peoples and Whitney Nichole at Hotel Utah, 4/13/2011”

Show Review: Bright Eyes with Farmer Dave Scher at The Fox Theater, 4/12/11

In sharp contrast to the last show I went to at Oakland’s beloved Fox Theater, the crowd was overwhelmingly mellow, especially considering this could be the last time Bright Eyes plays the Bay Area. Luckily this ended up being more telling about Bright Eyes’ fans maturity than their level of worship. Just like every other time I’ve seen Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and their team of talented musicians (this was number nine if anyone’s counting), the audience still fell into a hush while a sense of quiet worship filled the room as the band took the stage. And they held that stage for over two hours of intensity. Continue reading “Show Review: Bright Eyes with Farmer Dave Scher at The Fox Theater, 4/12/11”

Show Review: Scala & Kolacny Brothers at The Independent, 4/12/2011

ScalaKB — Guess which 2 of the 24 people on stage are the Kolacny Brothers

Scala & Kolacny Brothers need marketing help. They admitted during their set on Tuesday night that the had sold “500,000 units in Europe, and about 50 in the U.S.,” and asked us, “tonight, let’s make it 60!” Part of this is probably due to piracy, but part of this must be name recognition. I told many people beforehand that I was going to see them tonight, and they said, “who?” I said, “Y’know, the group that does the cover of ‘Creep’ from the Social Network trailer.”

“Oh! Them! I bet that’ll be good.” But none of them came. The crowd was made up of people more likely to be seen at a classical music event than at the Independent. But then again, the Independent has proven itself to be a versatile venue. So how would a Belgian choir go over on a cold San Francisco night?

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