OUTSIDE LANDS 2024 LINE UP DROP!!!!

My initial “hot take” on the Outside Lands 2024 lineup? It’s by far and away the most interesting and diverse of the 2024 “big fests.” First, the top line… Not only do we have Tyler, The Creator, one of the most intriguing acts in all of hip hop, as well as modern New Wave hitmakers, The Killers, we’ve got Sturgill Simpson, a leader of the modern Outlaw Country movement, and an all-around unexpected twist. He also hasn’t done a headlining tour since the plague broke out! Below him? Well, an All-Country set from Post Malone, a very rare performance by the legendary Grace Jones, and the folks behind SubPop’s selling record, The Postal Service. What else am I excited about? Well, there’s the Regina George herself, Renee Rapp. Shoegaze innovators Slowdive. Killer Mike. Tyla, of course, will help us remember to hydrate. Punkers Men I Trust will be there despite the fact that there aren’t any. Australian punks Amyl & The Sniffers for a little danger element. SP favorites K. Flay and Corinne Bailey Rae are both hot off the best records of their storied careers. And for those who need some UK Twee with a side of UK goth, there’s The Last Dinner Party. And, most importantly, if you need someone to throw your underwear at, Idris Elba is, indeed, DJ’ing the SOMA Stage, which has been moved outside because, for those who went last year, we really did blow the roof off the sucker. 

Tickets are on sale 4/24 at 10 am for GA, GA+, VIP, and, of course, the super swank Golden Gate Club, which I SWEAR I’ll visit someday. More fest details here, and the lineup is below the jump: Continue reading “OUTSIDE LANDS 2024 LINE UP DROP!!!!”

Outside Lands Journal: Day 3, 8/10/14

Photo by Paige Parsons
Photo by Paige Parsons

Ending a festival is always a little bittersweet. Because you had fun, but you are also tired. So tired that you will end up seeing fewer acts, but it’s OK. Quality over quantity, eh? And these were probably the best sets of the weekend.

Continue reading “Outside Lands Journal: Day 3, 8/10/14”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 12/6/12-12/12/12

Auditioning for the band opening for Kopecky Family Band on Sunday.

I know that December tends to be a time to purchase gifts for friends and family members. But Shopping kind of sucks. Instead, go to a show?

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 12/6/12-12/12/12”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/26/12-2/1/12

Tickets to see this guy go on sale Friday morning, but his pants are opening for Wilco all throughout the Bay Area this week.

The brain of Dakin Hardwick, our managing editor, looks like this right now: Sketchfest, Sketchfest, Sketchfest. So when he sat down to write our weekly guide to Bay Area Concerts, he just wrote “Sketchfest” next to everything.  Now, I’m going to deny that you should be going to lots of Sketchfest events (and then reading about them here on Spinning Platters), but there are a few concerts worth mentioning this week. And if I mention a Sketchfest event, too, well …

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/26/12-2/1/12”

Show Review: An Evening With Brandon Flowers at Slim’s, 8/19/2010

No photos allowed, and it was really dark anyway, so I instead bring you a picture of Michael Pare from Streets of Fire. That's what Brandon looked like.

Not only did Brandon Flowers look like Michael Pare from music-nerd-must-see Streets of Fire (not the leather jacket look but the suspenders look), but the music was reminiscent of that film as well. All tales of rock n’ roll bleeding hearts and people down on their luck, but with occasional rousing singalong moments, the new material from Brandon Flowers is close enough to The Killers’ own tunes to make me wonder why the solo album was necessary. He’s always been the center of attention of that band, so that can’t be the motivation. So it must have been musical in nature. I just didn’t hear enough to know what makes this difference. Perhaps if he had played longer. Continue reading “Show Review: An Evening With Brandon Flowers at Slim’s, 8/19/2010”

Spinning Platters Picks Six Interesting Cover Versions from YouTube

Keep that furniture clean!
Keep that furniture clean!

A rather quirky habit of mine is to search through youtube looking for cover songs. I love to watch amateurs do covers of my favorite songs and I love to watch my favorite bands doing their versions of interesting tunes. I have to say there are some really good amateur performances out there but this list focuses on the pro’s. My biggest problem here was keeping this list down to six, but here we go Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six Interesting Cover Versions from YouTube”

Show Review: The Killers, The New York Dolls and The Nervous Wreckords at Shoreline Amphitheater, 9/12/09

spaceball

A wild swarm attacks The Killers?
A wild swarm attacks The Killers?

There’s a rumor going around that I’m too old for concerts. Well it’s not true, the concerts are fine, it’s the driving there and back that I’m too old for.  Well today I ventured out to that rare event, for me anyway, a stadium show featuring The Killers and, what tipped the scales for my attendance, The New York Dolls. Continue reading “Show Review: The Killers, The New York Dolls and The Nervous Wreckords at Shoreline Amphitheater, 9/12/09”