setlist – Page 31 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: Wolfmother with Heartless Bastards and thenewno2 at The Fox Oakland, 11/23/2009

then I let go of everything... into another dimension

The year is drawing to a close for everyone, including for Oakland’s historic Fox Theater. It seems only fitting that one of the biggest surprises and best new venues (OK, I’m biased, I work there, but if you’ve been there, you know what I mean) in the Bay Area should have some kind of colossal show to end the concert season. Something to go out with a bang, you know? As it just so happens, the Bay Area was greeted with an excellent one-two-three punch this evening, in the form of London rock troupe thenewno2 and Ohioan blues-rockers Heartless Bastards opening for the Australian arena-rock juggernaut that is Wolfmother.

Continue reading “Show Review: Wolfmother with Heartless Bastards and thenewno2 at The Fox Oakland, 11/23/2009”

Show Review: Fiery Furnaces with Cryptacize at Slim’s, 11/20/09

Not In Frame: Harry Partch or Harry Patch

The Fiery Furnaces have been in the press quite a bit lately. Not because they put out a record of Fiery Furnace covers, but because of their mythical feud with Radiohead & Beck. My relationship with this band is a little strange. I saw them open for The Shins many years ago, and they blew me away. I ran out to purchase their current record at the time, Rehearsing My Choir, and was taken aback even more. They reminded me of everything the band Caroliner was trying to accomplish, only without the distraction on the costumes. I was hooked for months to this record, but never went further. I kept missing out on new releases, for one reason or another, and whenever they came around, I couldn’t make it. So, this cold November night, I decided to finally see them again. Continue reading “Show Review: Fiery Furnaces with Cryptacize at Slim’s, 11/20/09”

Show Review: Neon Indian with Nite Jewel at the Rickshaw Stop 11/19/2009

Neon Indian Rickshaw Stop 11/19/2009

I was not really in the mood for a show on Thursday night. I had worked overtime, was feeling grouchy, and as a result was thinking of ways to back out of going to the Rickshaw Stop to see Neon Indian.

But my internal guilt forced me to take action. I decided that I’d eat some sushi in Walnut Creek then head over. Bad mistake. I had the worst piece of sushi I’ve ever had in my life and was wondering if I might be poisoned. Continue reading “Show Review: Neon Indian with Nite Jewel at the Rickshaw Stop 11/19/2009”

Show Review: Them Crooked Vultures with Mini Mansions at The Fox Oakland

There have been a few “supergroups” that came and went in the last few years, many formed from the remnants of the grunge generation looking to try out new sounds, such as Army Of Anyone (the members of Stone Temple Pilots headed by Richard Patrick of Filter), Audioslave (the members of Rage Against The Machine headed by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden), or Velvet Revolver (Scott Weiland of the aforementioned STP fronting the remaining members of Guns N’ Roses). While all of the records are excellent in theory, in execution they don’t always live up to the names of the musicians writing the music on the records. The kind of supergroup that is likely to TRULY break the mold is one spanning multiple generations of music. In the case of Them Crooked Vultures, it’s three generations: the stoner-groove-rock of the 2000’s, the solid, angry blues-grunge of the 90’s, and the arena-level rock-n’-roll of the ’70s. Of course, these three genres would make sense, given that Them Crooked Vultures is composed of Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age / Kyuss), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters / Nirvana), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin).

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Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Guggenheim Grotto at The Fillmore, 11/13/09

This show is planned down to the last detail.

Somewhere in Los Angeles today, They Might Be Giants are playing a show at which they’ll play Flood in its entirety. Shows where bands play the entire album are a bit boring because you know exactly what’s coming next, and most of the fun of a band like They Might Be Giants is wondering just what the heck will be played next. While you can see from the above set list photo that there’s no question what’s going to happen next, I like the element of surprise. Continue reading “Show Review: They Might Be Giants with Guggenheim Grotto at The Fillmore, 11/13/09”

Show Review: Electric Six, The Gay Blades & Millions of Brazilians at The Independent, 11/12/09

The Electric Six burst onto the scene in 2003 with my personal favorite album of the year, Fire. I wrote back then:

Here it is, the greatest walking album ever created, and it is a concept album. The concept is dancing while on fire. It equates dancing with war, nuclear war in fact. The orders are given by a dance commander in the song of the same title that contains the lyric “It would be awesome if we could dance-uh.” Every song on here is incredibly fun and silly and danceable and singable and just downright brilliant. This is just quality disco rock and roll, and well … it is without precedent. I have never heard an album quite like this, and hope I don’t ever hear another like it. I don’t want this band to try and do this concept again. It would be like The Who doing Tommy 2.

Six years later, without anything remotely resembling follow-up success (even though their album I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being the Master has one of the all-time great titles), the band is still filling up the Independent on a Thursday night with their brand of cocky dance rock. Continue reading “Show Review: Electric Six, The Gay Blades & Millions of Brazilians at The Independent, 11/12/09”

Show Review: The Used with The Almost at The Warfield 11/11/09

The Used’s set began with an intro video of footage from past tours mixed with stock footage of planes taking off, cars passing by, and scenery changing as if shot from a window of a car. I am not sure most of the fans knew what to think of this semi-heartfelt intro. Backed by a piano and some strings, it seemed like it, as well as most everything with this set could have been better. When the video ended, the entire band just walked on stage. It was kind of anticlimactic for such a drawn out intro. Continue reading “Show Review: The Used with The Almost at The Warfield 11/11/09”

Photo Gallery: Paramore, Paper Route, The Swellers at The Warfield, 11/10/09

paramore

I usually never drink at shows. On occasion I might be up for a whiskey on the rocks, but rarely do I ever booze it up a show that I’m really into. I can’t tell you exactly why I decided to drink at this particular show; it could be because I was one of the handful of people over 21, or because I have the day off tomorrow (today) or whatever. The $7 it cost for a Red Stripe didn’t even deter me. It just felt like the right night to indulge, so I did. 2 beers, a whiskey on the rocks, and a shared Sex on the Beach with my companion later, I was thoroughly rocking out at the Paramore show.

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Show Review: Paramore, Paper Route, The Swellers at The Warfield 11/10/09

This is what Paramore looked like a couple of days ago

Last month, I posted a review of the band Heart at The Warfield. In the review, I mention the band Paramore in a very positive light. In the comments, somebody posted this question:

Question: What is the importance of a band like Paramore? (Serious question — I’m 38 years old. )

When I wrote this review, it was expected I would have already written quite a fair amount about this band, and the kind reader would not have been confused. But, this show was moved from the beginning of the tour to the end of the tour, and I had yet to write a review of the new record, brand new eyes. Well, since this show has finally happened, I think it’s fair of me to, within discussion of this performance, to help describe why the band Paramore is truly important, and additionally, why a 38 year old Heart fan should know what his/her niece already understands.

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Show Review: Over the Rhine with Katie Herzig at Great American Music Hall, 11/10/09

rhine

San Francisco’s Midwestern transplants flocked to the Great American Music Hall on Tuesday night to bask in the soothing siren song of Ohio-based indie stalwarts Over the Rhine. The band, consisting primarily of smug marrieds Linford Detweiler (bass/piano/vocals) and Karin Bergquist (vocals/piano) and currently celebrating its twentieth year, treated its Bay Area fans to a nearly two-hour set spanning a vast array of fan favorites.

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