setlist – Page 26 – Spinning Platters

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: Jakob Dylan featuring Neko Case and Kelly Hogan with The Felice Brothers at the Regency Ballroom, 5/12/10

Jakob Dylan: still dreamy after all these years. Photos by Christopher Rogers.

Could it be possible that Jakob Dylan actually prefers to exist in the shadows of others? I mean, seriously. First he makes the questionable decision to get into the exact same line of work as his father. And if that line of work was, like, plumbing or something, then fine. But if Bob Dylan is your father and you decide you’re also a folk-rock singer-songwriter? That’s like Janis Joplin’s (rhetorical) daughter choosing to become a boozy bluesy hippie, or Moses and Apple Paltrow-Martin deciding to start insufferable lifestyle blogs and rip off U2 for a living — your parents pretty much pioneered the concept, so why bother?

Continue reading “Show Review: Jakob Dylan featuring Neko Case and Kelly Hogan with The Felice Brothers at the Regency Ballroom, 5/12/10”

Show Review: Fucked Up, Hank IV, Hollerado at The Rickshaw Stop, 5/9/10

WARNING:

The following review may contain the following:

*Explicit Language

*Violence

*Male Nudity

*Intelligent Discussion

Please proceed with caution. If your boss, or the coworker you have a crush on is looking over your shoulder, please point your browser elsewhere immediately. Continue reading “Show Review: Fucked Up, Hank IV, Hollerado at The Rickshaw Stop, 5/9/10”

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: Shelby Lynne and Findlay Brown at Great American Music Hall, 4/23/10

Shelby Lynne rocking a pompadour at the Roxy Theatre on Thursday night. Photo courtesy of her Facebook page.

When I approached the Great American Music Hall box office last night to pick up my tickets for the Shelby Lynne concert, something very startling happened: the box office rep also handed me two backstage passes with the instructions to “come down and say hello” afterward. This has never happened to me before. And while I was giddily excited about the prospect of meeting Shelby, I was also a complete basket-case. My interactions with celebrities have ranged from moderately successful (when I have enough time to plan my words carefully) to sheer blood-curdling disaster (when the opportunity catches me by surprise). So how would tonight go?

Continue reading “Show Review: Shelby Lynne and Findlay Brown at Great American Music Hall, 4/23/10”

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”

Show Review: Foxy Shazam, The Young Veins, Bad Rabbits at Bottom Of The Hill, 4/18/10

Thanks to seperate16 for providing the photo most characteristic of the band

I often times enjoy a mellow a Sunday evening spent enjoying the soothing sounds of traveling minstrels with the company of fellow locals. I opted to spend this past Sunday eve at a popular Portrero Hill tavern to enjoy the song stylings Foxy Shazam. The show filled me with great joy, despite the fact that I’m unsure as to whether or not everyone managed to survive.

Continue reading “Show Review: Foxy Shazam, The Young Veins, Bad Rabbits at Bottom Of The Hill, 4/18/10”