Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
The biggest rock band in Japan played in San Francisco last night, and you may have missed it. While the band is a household name in the Japanese community, the jingoistic American music fans are likely to be at a loss about them. And that’s too bad, because you missed a killer show by a tight live band, with a surprise in store that made it even more special.
Continue reading “Show Review: The B’z at The Warfield, 9/17/2012”
At the end of the day, what truly compels someone to come to a concert is their love of the music that their favorite band plays — and the sheer energy with which they present it to their fans. Take away the light shows, the falling props, the dancing backdrops, and the larger-than-life haircuts, and what brings people to a concert, what REALLY sells out a club and packs its patrons in tighter than sardines in a tin can, is the overwhelming desire to watch an artist deliver their heart and soul onstage, in the form of bellowing voices, howling guitars, and an onstage presence that drains the viewer just by beholding it. Irrespective of genre, of geographical location, and even of time period, it is truly the mindbendingly ecstatic bands that pulls in all comers — even well-known and loved artists of other musical worlds. Thus, it was little surprise that members of bands such as Rise Against, Metallica, Faith No More, AFI, As I Lay Dying, Death Angel, and Sevendust were on hand to experience one of the most incredible performances of 2012, when newly-reunited Swedish hardcore juggernauts Refused took the stage at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and delivered a set that was paralyzing and stunning in its intensity.
Continue reading “Show Review: Refused with The Hives and The Bronx at The Warfield, 4/18/2012”
With a musical movement like metal, being significant, staying relevant, and still having room to experiment while perfecting your craft is always a difficult combination of skills to possess. The genre calls for solid commitment to unyielding volume, viciously downtuned notes and hellish distortion, with vocals that span from the powerful to the deranged, and lyrics that cross a general spectrum of darkness, mayhem, and more-than-mild discontent. To introduce any additional elements into this equation makes a solution extremely difficult to arrive at, but for the Atlanta metal masterminds of Mastodon, experimentation is simply the bolt of lightning that breathes life into their compositions, which have not at all dwindled in their ferocity from album to album.
Roughly a year and a half ago, British post-punk dreamers Echo & the Bunnymen came to American shores for just a few stops to host a darkly gorgeous, orchestra-accompanied performance of their classic album Ocean Rain. No doubt inspired by the success of their tour and the continuing trend of artists who perform full-album sets at their shows, the Liverpool-based quintet was back in town with a similar formula, although taken to a much greater length. This time around, frontman Ian McCulloch and the rest of the crew were performing TWO of their older records — their debut Crocodiles and sophomore effort Heaven Up Here — with a 3-song encore after each. Lest the smallish crowd and the lower capacity of the venue place doubts in the mind of those who passed by the Warfield Theater on Thursday night, the excitement and enthusiasm from the fans was even more fervent than for the band’s Ocean Rain performance, and the group themselves performed with even greater intensity than before.
Continue reading “Show Review: Echo & the Bunnymen with Kelley Stoltz at The Warfield, 5/19/2011”
The weather on Saturday night in San Francisco was leaning on the side of foreboding by the late afternoon hours, with dark clouds ahead, scattered moments of showers and mist, and a vastly cold wind that was a stark contrast to the bright crispy winter days that the Bay Area had seen recently. By the time the sun dipped beneath the horizon on Saturday night, the cold and wet had amplified themselves and were coming to rest on a long line of people huddled together outside of the Warfield Theater. A large group of these people would brave the dry yet even colder evenings that followed at the Great American Music Hall. The weather was most appropriate for the mood and occasion, and for the band that was finally returning to San Francisco for the first time in over seven years: the Canadian post-rock octet known as Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Here were not the sunny glories of Sigur Rós, nor the numbing white noise of Mogwai; this was an experience that foretold the end of the world, the beginning of life, and everything in between, with eight musicians sounding like a symphony from worlds beyond.
Continue reading “Show Review: Three Nights with Godspeed You! Black Emperor”
The boys from Bristol are back. After a seven year waiting period, studio perfectionists and UK music pioneers Massive Attack return to full form with their newest and much delayed album, Heligoland. The second show of a two night stop in San Francisco, Massive Attack bring their eccentrically driven set for all to marvel at. Would their perfection pay off?
Continue reading “Massive Attack with Martina Topley-Bird and MNDR at The Warfield, 5/26”
Every so often, something positive will happen.
A puppy may cross your path. Sometimes, a meal will far exceed expectations. Occasionally, a friend will find someone who is a really wonderful match for themselves. These are all simple good things.
This year, my favorite band from when I was much younger decided to get back together. Continue reading “Show Review: Faith No More at The Warfield, 4/12/10”
Being able to go see all the best shows that come through town is the best part of writing for a Bay Area music site. The flip-side of this is that sometimes we need to see some of the … not best shows that come through town as well. Since I never judge in advance, and sometimes I’m surprised, going to see a show with four bands I’ve never heard and a fifth I’ve fondly dismissed in the past, is either a blessing or a curse. So which one of these was Boys Like Girls, Cobra Starship, The Maine, Rocket to the Moon and Versa Verge? Continue reading “Show Review: Boys Like Girls and many more at The Warfield, 10/23/09”
It’s been almost five years since PJ Harvey has graced San Francisco with her electric energy. Without a tour in the States for her previous release, “White Chalk,” the barest and probably quietest of all her records, she reemerged alongside old writing mate John Parish, with guns blazing and a fire simmering in the belly. Continue reading “PJ Harvey and John Parish at The Warfield, 6/19/09”
Normally, for a show like this, I would have arrived at the venue at 7:00 pm, then had a drink, made my way over to the front of the stage to plant myself there for the rest of the evening in anticipation of one of my favorite acts. However, after a stressful week it figures I didn’t get there until Neko was already on stage. Continue reading “Neko Case at The Warfield, 6/10/09”