steve earle – Spinning Platters

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Presents a Bonkers Full Lineup!!!!

The good folks at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass have unleashed the most bonkers lineup of any music festival this fall… I stare at the poster, and something I missed the first time jumps out at me. Like, how is Patti Smith just hiding on that poster? Oh, because it’s alphabetical. Oh, and the whole thing is free, and the best way to kick off Rocktober and the event runs October 4th – 5th in Golden Gate Park- using a lot of the same space Outside Lands uses.

Highlights include my all-time favorite band, Sleater-Kinney, Cat Power doing her Bob Dylan show, punk poet John Cooper Clarke, Aoife O’Donovan & The SF Girls Choir, SP favorite Zella Day’s new band Chaparelle, and legends like Mavis Staples, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Dave Alvin, Robyn Hitchcock, Bobby Rush, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and so many more that I’m sure I’m missing someone that you will be mad at me for overlooking.

Anyways! All the details are here. Daily lineups are below. And you can enjoy classic HSBs at HSB.TV! Continue reading “Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Presents a Bonkers Full Lineup!!!!”

“This Is Pop” Ranked: From Fascinating to Boring, The 8 Episodes of the Netflix Music Documentary Series

T-Pain and his wife Amber open up about how criticism of Auto-Tune affected them, in This Is Pop’s best episode.

Netflix is premiering the Banger Films documentary series This Is Pop for most of the world. It promises to go into detail on 8 different subjects surrounding the world of pop music. I was able to watch the entire series, and while it’s an uneven affair, there are some episodes that really stand out as being both well researched and well written with something valuable to say about the topic. Then there are others that stand out by not using quality archival footage and having interview subjects that won’t get in the weeds on things. Use my episode guide below to make a viewing order so that you know your time will be well spent:

Continue reading ““This Is Pop” Ranked: From Fascinating to Boring, The 8 Episodes of the Netflix Music Documentary Series”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2017-06-21 – 2017-06-25

It’s Pride Weekend in San Francisco this week, and it’s fun to see all the bright-eyed people in the city who are attending their first Pride celebration.

Speaking of going to new things, let’s talk about this week’s concerts. Here’s what we’ve got coming up this week in the Bay Area: tanned people, clan people, French people, bad people, and cool people. Should be a pretty cool week.

So, let’s preview. We’re previewing now. Let’s preview and do the preview where we preview. Preview!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2017-06-21 — 2017-06-25”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/3/13-10/9/13

Rocktober is already in full swing this year. Early Rocktober is starting with a lot of folk music and a two rare public appearances by groundbreaking 80’s bands. It’s gonna be a good one!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/3/13-10/9/13”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/4/12-10/10/12

puff — Playing at Slim’s on Monday night? Or what people will be doing all weekend at Golden Gate Park? You decide.

Oh, man. Rocktober continues! This weekend in the Bay Area is completely crazy. Fleet week, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, a 49ers game, the Giants and A’s in the playoffs, Oracle Open World, Castro Street Fair … and all the shows and concerts I’m about to suggest that you do otherwise. This is the absolute best time of year to live here, so enjoy it all!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/4/12-10/10/12”

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Journal, 10/03/09

So, this is the kind of crowd you get to see a retired amusement park employee play banjo? San Franciscans are weird...

The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival is different than most music festivals in several ways. The best thing about it is that it’s free. That might also be it’s biggest downfall, as well. It attracts a lot of people that normally don’t go to shows. The crowd veers a bit older, and they tend to prefer to bring lawn chairs and stay in one place. If you really want to get up close and personal with a big act, you essesntially have to get there at the crack of dawn, stake a place, and hang out. If you go to the show thinking that you can jump stages and get a good spot for everyone, you are really out of luck. The best way to enjoy this festival is to drop most expectations of actually seeing the performer, and jump between stages freely, taking an the smorgasboard of music in little sample sizes. You will end up with a much more eclectic palate, and you will have a much better time. Continue reading “Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Journal, 10/03/09”