The Independent – Spinning Platters

Show Review: CSS, Agender at The Independent, 5/14/24

I’ve waited 18 years for this. CSS was a big part of my 20’s. I was heavy into the electroclash universe, and made it through plenty of drunken dance parties, sweating the booze out to “Let’s Make Love (And Listen To Death From Above.” But I never ended up seeing them. It simply never worked out, and as their visits to the States became fewer and further between, I just chalked it up to the “I can’t see everybody.”

Well, then Just Like Heaven released their 2024 lineup. I already knew Gossip was back, but I was surprised to see CSS hidden on one of the lower lines. (SACRILEGE!) Not long after this announcement a small number of tour dates appeared, and I decided it was finally time to make this one happen.

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Warming up the crowd was LA’s Agender. This is one of those bands that simply hit on the nose EXACTLY everything that I usually want to hear. They pooled elements of disco, hardcore, pop-punk, and stoner metal into a joyful cacophony that flooded my brain with some much-needed serotonin. This was excellent.

CSS took the stage to the bouncing beats of the Vengaboy’s classic, “We Like To Party.” They seemed to burst onto the stage in a fit color and energy, powering through “CSS Suxxx” in all its pop-punk glory. Lead singer Lovefoxxx would fling her Rapunzel-esque hair with such intensity that I was nervous band members would get hurt. The energy was infectious, and this certainly didn’t feel like we were watching a band that hadn’t performed together regularly in almost a decade.

With no new material to pull from, the setlist itself did largely feel like a career retrospective, with Lovefoxxx telling stories about the early days of the band, and hitting songs from every portion of their career. She spoke of auditioning for CSS while wearing a Motörhead shirt, despite only knowing “Ace Of Spades” and being a tad embarrassed, only to find that the band was more Madonna than Motörhead anyway. They even covered a few songs that they used to play in their early days- an epic rendition of Madonna’s “Hollywood,” and a live mashup of Sleater-Kinney’s “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone” and Jennifer Lopez’s “Jenny From The Block,” which was far more fun than you could ever imagine it being.

The joy of this set and the happiness emanating from the stage made it hard for me to believe that this tour was a one-off. They sounded as tight as ever, and everyone on stage seemed to be having the time of their lives. The audience gave right back, with a mix of newer, younger fans who never got to see the band in their heyday alongside folks who never missed a show, dancing up a storm, and giving right back to the band. The electroclash hits felt like an old friend that we lost contact with and then found each other again after years, but it felt like no time had passed. Two key moments where this happened with me were “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex” and “Alala.” I forgot how much I moved to those songs in the past, but it was just like riding a bicycle.

I genuinely hope we get to spend time with CSS again. This show was everything that makes going to shows great: the songs, the crowd, the band. It was such a joy.

[Show as slideshow]

CSS and Getting A Second Chance

There’s a LOT of music out there. I try to take as much of it as possible and be present with whatever is going on right now. BUT- sometimes you miss something. I really loved the dance-punk movement of the ’00s and saw Peaches and Gossip and Lovemakers many times over, like my fellow Xennials did during the Bush years. However, with all my nights logged at Popscene, I never actually sunk into the joys of Brazil’s CSS. And I certainly never got to see them live. Luckily, I can finally live my 20s the way I wish I did and get to see CSS live. North American tour dates begin a week from today in Washington, DC! And, yes, I will see you at The Independent on May 14th—tickets for all dates at cssmusic.club.

Please remember to wear sensible shoes and drink plenty of water.

Show Review: K.Flay with Cam Kahin at The Independent, 3/27/24

We, the music nerds of Spinning Platters, love K.Flay (aka Kristine Flaherty). So much so that after I submitted Mono as one of my top 3 albums of 2023, she not only made the final top ten (as voted by all of us), but she won the whole damn thing! Despite all of this, I had only seen her perform twice: once opening for Imagine Dragons and once at a LoveLoud festival in Salt Lake City. So when I saw that she was going to be playing back-to-back shows at a tiny SF venue, I jumped at the chance to finally see K. Flay headline a show! Continue reading “Show Review: K.Flay with Cam Kahin at The Independent, 3/27/24”

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Episode 9 with Lani Torres of Ivy Room

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available most everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!

Our guest this week is Lani Torres, co-owner of Ivy Room, a great 200 cap room in Albany, CA. We talked about her first show, how she fell into working in live music, we waxed nostalgic about the Bay Area show scene, and talked a bit about running a music venue.

Ivy Room is located at 860 San Pablo Ave. Sadly, they aren’t doing live music right now due to COVID, but they are open for take out cocktails and food from 4-8 Thurs-Sat and 2-6 on Sundays. If you want to support the venue while it’s shuttered, they have a GoFundMe and some lovely merch for sale. They also have BITCH from Bitch and Animal and the legendary Detroit Cobras booked for shows next September, and you’ll probably see me at one or both of these. You can pick tickets up for those here.

If you have any feedback about this episode, feel free to email me at dakin@spinningplatters.com. If you like what you heard and want to help support this thing, feel free to Venmo me whatever tip you feel is adequate @Dakin-Hardwick. And, most importantly, please go to SaveOurStages.com to find out what you can do to help independent promoters and venues weather this COVID crisis so we have shows to go back to when this pandemic is over. Thanks for listening!

Show Review: Cornelius, DJ Roscoe 2000 at The Independent, 3/16/18

Walking into The Independent on Friday night, I was greeted by a huge white screen stretching from ceiling to floor, effectively and purposefully blocking the entire stage. As DJ Roscoe 2000 set the mood with tunes blending seamlessly into one another, a long white strip of tape on the ground politely requested we stand behind it, helpful arrows drawn to indicate the direction. The screen held a projected animation of a large white circle on a black background. As I watched, parts of the circle’s lines began to glow brighter, light expanding and pushing the boundaries of the circle until particles of light began to escape their linear confines. More and more areas started to glow, particles of the light escaping faster and in greater numbers, swirling outward, creating their own patterns, connections, and collective energy, until eventually returning to the circle, only to start the entire process again. As the lights started to dim, the DJ’s set faded to an end, and the projection began to alter its loop. Continue reading “Show Review: Cornelius, DJ Roscoe 2000 at The Independent, 3/16/18”

Show Review: Andrew W.K. at The Independent, 9.27.17

This show had all of the essentials needed for a great metal show. Andrew WK, the patron saint of partying, leading his six piece backup band of very loud and technically adept musicians. Two members of his backup band were women, which made the party even better, as did the pizza guitar he played mid-set. AWK is a live wire with big, metal voice, but at the show, he seemed a little dampened. It happens – a lot of us have had the crud, and if he did I hope he feels better. This didn’t lower show’s wattage though, or cause anyone to party any less hard. A great metal show also has a fist pumping crowd in the back, and mosh pit up by the stage. Here, at an AWK show, all of these are accounted for. AWK writes great hooks that keep you moving and joyful, and his touring band brings them to a higher level of musicianship than the original recorded version. Continue reading “Show Review: Andrew W.K. at The Independent, 9.27.17”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-05-23 – 2016-05-29

Grateful Dead — Appearing for another farewell bow at The Fillmore this week.

This week in The Bay Area we have refusals, memoirs, and those who wear purple. We have clowns, the dead, and war. Should be a pretty good time.

Now, let’s get to the previews. Preview time now. Let’s preview and then we’ll be ready for the week. Previews, starting now. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-05-23 – 2016-05-29”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-03-17 – 2016-03-23

Conan, by Frazetta — Appearing Monday, March 21 at The Metro in Oakland

St. Patrick’s Day. Irishness! Excellent.

To go with this week in the Bay Area we also have metal, self-described “country-fed punkabilly,” and the Melvins. Also! Bilingual punk rock with horns as well as bilingual Rickenbacker-wielding one-woman guitar rock. And Conan. Conan!

Let’s preview. Faugh A Ballagh! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-03-17 — 2016-03-23”

Noise Pop Show Review: Kneedelus and Kamasi Washington: Two Nights of Jazz in San Francisco

San Francisco’s Noise Pop Festival has been well known for packing hordes of genres and artists into their lineup, but rarely have they picked a collection of artists that are so solidly categorized as jazz musicians before anything else. True to the latter half of its name, the festival tends to want to pick acts that have those hooks and rhythms which you want to sing or dance along to with a common familiarity, or even are comfortable with hearing on the radio. There are, of course, certain acts (like seminal hardcore favorites Drive Like Jehu this year, or Yoko Ono a few years back) that defy such conventions, but you can generally bet on finding the bands to be less on the blatantly esoteric side of things. Thus, it was a bit of a risk throwing some jazz artists into the mix; however, it absolutely paid off, as all four shows (spread across two nights, two artists, and two venues) sold out, weeks in advance, and the two performers — elecronic-wizard-plus-jazz-quartet Kneedelus, and newly-Grammy’d tenor sax master Kamasi Washington — definitely did not disappoint.

Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Kneedelus and Kamasi Washington: Two Nights of Jazz in San Francisco”

Energetic, potent set slightly marred by confusing opener pairing