Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Dakin’s taking the week off to play with his cat and get ready for the Treasure Island Music Festival. I’m ready for the festival — Friendly Fires, Cut Copy, Explosions in the Sky, Death Cab For Cutie, Empire of the Sun, Battles, Geographer, Aloe Blacc, many more, bring it! — so I’m suggesting shows for the rest of the week.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/13/11-10/19/11”
Sure, one could write hundreds of words about each band on the bill at the Treasure Island Music Festival, but then the entire comment section would be filled with a lot of “tl;dr” comments, which aren’t much fun. And I could write a “best-of” post, which basically translates to “I took a nap during Jamaica’s set.” Instead, in the tradition of our fan-favorite Instant Album Reviews columns, I instantly review Saturday Treasure Island Music Festival, with the help of some great photos from David Price. Continue reading “Day 1 of Treasure Island Music Festival 2010 — Instant Band Reviews”
(This post is about a year old, but I’ve made some updates for 2010)
This weekend’s Treasure Island Music Festival has quickly become my favorite musical event of the year. There are no conflicting set times, so you can see everyone on the bill. The size of the festival is fairly small, so it’s easy to get around. The setting in the middle of San Francisco Bay is absolutely stunning. And something about all of these combine to keep the people going in a relaxed, pleasant mood that makes being there all the more enjoyable.
Now, you might think going to this festival is as easy as hopping in your car and going to the festival to enjoy some music, but you’d be wrong. Read on, and I’ll teach you how to avoid rookie mistakes. Continue reading “The Insiders’ Guide to the Treasure Island Music Festival (Updated for 2010)”
Treasure Island Weekend is upon us… And, if you still have the energy, here’s a few more shows to go to, as well!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/14/2010-10/20/2010”
Every week I post our top 5 most trafficked posts for the week, and every week someone complains that their post didn’t have a chance because it went up the same day I calculated the winners. I didn’t realize that the writers here were gambling on the outcome, but it turns out there’s quite a large (virtual) office pool going on over this. Why just last week, Vanessa won SIXTEEN whole M&Ms by writing the most read post. Oh, what’s this? I forgot to do the week in review last week because I was too busy getting ready for Treasure Island? Sorry, Vanessa! I owe you some M&Ms.
And because of this, I’ll now be doing this weekly review on Saturdays. And with that said, the top 5 posts for this week! Continue reading “Week in Review: Top 5 Posts for Oct 16-23”
Episode 7 of the Spinning Platters podcast features a discussion of the Treasure Island Music Festival with our guest Sandy Burciaga of the LA-based arts, music and skateboarding site Grimy Goods. We also discuss the history of our websites, and take our usual trips into tangential territory. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 7 — It’s a Community”
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.
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”
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”
This weekend’s Treasure Island Music Festival has quickly become my favorite musical event of the year. There are no conflicting set times, so you can see everyone on the bill. The size of the festival is fairly small, so it’s easy to get around. The setting in the middle of San Francisco Bay is absolutely stunning. And something about all of these combine to keep the people going in a relaxed, pleasant mood that makes being there all the more enjoyable.
Now, you might think going to this festival is as easy as hopping in your car and going to the festival to enjoy some music, but you’d be wrong. Read on, and I’ll teach you how to avoid rookie mistakes. Continue reading “The Insiders’ Guide to the Treasure Island Music Festival”