show reviews – Page 22 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: La Roux at The Great American Music Hall, 10/18/09

You had to wonder how much love was left for La Roux, going up against the Treasure Island Music Festival closing with The Decemberists and The Flaming Lips, just a few miles away on the very same night. But all bets were off, because whatever it is that gets people started, whatever it is that makes your booty want to shake, and whatever it is that you can never quite put your finger on about an artist, La Roux has it. Continue reading “Show Review: La Roux at The Great American Music Hall, 10/18/09”

Show Review: Stone Temple Pilots at The Fox Oakland, 10/20/09

Stone Temple Pilots were considered a derivative band by people who never really spent much time listening to them. I know them to be a creative band with a distinctive sound, yet a rocky history. Back in their heyday, you never knew what you were going to get. Would Scott Weiland make it on stage? Would he hit the notes? Would the show be canceled? Now, he appears to be straight as an arrow, and although I’m extremely happy he’s made it through to today, he’s lost a bit of his fire, as has the band as a whole. What’s it like when one of your old-time favorites cashes a paycheck in your presence? Continue reading “Show Review: Stone Temple Pilots at The Fox Oakland, 10/20/09”

Show Review: W00tstock: 3 Hours of Geeks & Music, Swedish American Hall, 10/19/09

Guess which are the geeks and which are the music!

The Swedish American Hall was the host to a brand new event last night. This was called W00tStock, and was advertised as “3 Hours of Geeks & Music.” It turned out to be part concert, part convention, and part comedy show. I can say without a doubt that it focused on the geeks more than the music, and that what music there was also fell onto the left side of the ampersand. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Continue reading “Show Review: W00tstock: 3 Hours of Geeks & Music, Swedish American Hall, 10/19/09”

Treasure Island Festival Diary Part 3: 10/18/09 Sunday

Sunday at Treasure Island Music Festival was my first Sunday at the festival. In previous years, I always had something going on that Sunday, or the weather was bad, or I was too darned tired from being at a Mezzanine afterparty on the previous night. But this year, as a conscientious journalist, I had to come on Sunday and report on the entire day. Well, almost the entire day. I should explain. Continue reading “Treasure Island Festival Diary Part 3: 10/18/09 Sunday”

Show Review (Treasure Island Music Festival 10/18/09): The Flaming Lips, A Letter of Appreciation

Flaming Lips

Dear Kliph, Stephen, Michael, and Wayne,

This letter has been over a decade in the making. I can pinpoint the moment that started my love affair with your band to a precise moment in time. The date was October 28th, 1997, exactly one day after my 18th birthday. I was entering in to adulthood, and learned of a band that I only had a fleeting familiarity from adolescence via the video tapes of Alternative Nation that I cherished so dearly. This band that I had forgotten about had released the most amazing records I have ever read about. 4 cds, all designed to be played simultaneously. This record is called Zaireeka, and it was an experience that I have only enjoyed on a handful of occasions, primarily because of the difficulty in staging a listening. From this point on, I knew you were a band that I needed to know, and as I learned how to be a grown-up, you were there for me the entirety of the journey thus far, and I have no intention of losing you.

Continue reading “Show Review (Treasure Island Music Festival 10/18/09): The Flaming Lips, A Letter of Appreciation”

Treasure Island Festival Diary, Part 2: 10/17/09 Nighttime

The sky was lit by balloons and fireworks.

When the darkness finally arrived on Treasure Island on Saturday night, I decided it was time to put the camera and notebook down, and just dance. So nighttime at Treasure Island, as seen through my eyes, is a lot of disconnected sweaty memories. That is, of course, until I tried to leave the island, which turned out to be a lot tougher than I thought. Continue reading “Treasure Island Festival Diary, Part 2: 10/17/09 Nighttime”

Treasure Island Festival Diary, Part 1: 10/17/09 Daylight

We're about to wave them like we just don't care

The day is finally here for the Treasure Island Music Festival! This morning, I woke up with an extra bounce in my step which disappeared quickly as I started packing my backpack. Camera? Check. Laptop? Check. Sunscreen? Check. Now off to take the long public transit adventure to Treasure Island for a day of music and fun in the sun in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Continue reading “Treasure Island Festival Diary, Part 1: 10/17/09 Daylight”

Show Review: Eisley at Slim’s, 10/15/09

eisley

So often there are those bands that fall between the cracks of your musical world. They fight and claw their way in, trying to have a place in your collection. They try to pop up on your Pandora station, or while you’re trying to decide if you should buy this eighty dollar shirt at a trendy clothing shop, just so they might have a chance of sticking in your head. And just when they get through (in my case it was the song “Marvelous Things”), they book a concert on the same night of another show you already have tickets for! It’s beyond me how many times I’ve missed Eisley just because I was at a different show on the same night. This show was somewhere around six years in waiting. Continue reading “Show Review: Eisley at Slim’s, 10/15/09”

Treasure Island Night Show Review: MGMT at the Independent, 10/16/09

The next prog superpower? It's not out of the realm of possibility.

My double clicking ability is expert! That’s how I got tickets to MGMT at the Independent. I picked up two tickets to see MGMT thinking that of course someone would like to join me on this outing. Apparently, no one I know likes then enough to cancel their Friday night plans, so I went alone and gave my ticket to a guy so his wife could get in. You can never have too much good karma, and tonight I didn’t need the money.

The last time I saw MGMT was at Live 105’s BFD in 2008. I don’t remember much about the band, I just remember the girls from Oakland girl rap group Hot Tub getting on stage and grinding around. (Hot Tub by the way is amazing.) So, needless to say, seeing MGMT at the Independent is a big change of venue from the parking lot at Shoreline. Continue reading “Treasure Island Night Show Review: MGMT at the Independent, 10/16/09”

Show Review: Gogol Bordello at The Fox Oakland, 10/15/09

Between the pit and the constant movement on stage, photo opportunities were few and far between.

I was standing by the door into the floor last night when someone walked by, looked inside the floor section of the Fox Theater, and said, “Oh good, it’s a small venue.” I had the opposite reaction when I heard Gogol Bordello was playing the Fox, as it’s a big venue for them, and specifically for our time together. Though I missed the Bottom of the Hill days, I did spend a few evenings with them at Slim’s, throwing back vodka shots and carrying Eugene Hutz around over my head. How would the insanity of a Gogol Bordello show translate to this classic theater? Continue reading “Show Review: Gogol Bordello at The Fox Oakland, 10/15/09”