Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/21/11-7/27/11

Appearing at The Regency Ballroom

There’s a whole lotta indoor gigs for you this week… Perfect for getting out of the brisk cold July air. Now, got get your groove on!

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Spinning Platters Picks Six (x2): Indie and Pop Acts to Watch at SXSW

The first new band to see on my list: Kitten.

I needed a picks six x’s 2 to settle the warring factions in my South By Southwest Brain this year, new vs old.  Who do I concentrate on?  The tried and true or the exciting and fresh?  This year, more than any other for me, is bringing out the artists that I grew up with; the ones that have helped shape my musical taste.  The fangirl in me is excited to follow these people around for five days to continue my personal worship.  The music journalist in me is excited to see some new acts that will hopefully blow my mind.  Whichever side ends up winning I am sure to have a wonderful time. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six (x2): Indie and Pop Acts to Watch at SXSW”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/27/11-2/2/11

Usually the months of January and February are pretty sleepy for live shows, but this week is brutal. A lot of nights with a lot of tough decisions. Time to load up on Red Bull and not sleep for a week.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/4/2010-11/10/2010

Great Scotts! Delorean are playing Great American Music Hall on Wednesday!

I’d like to thank Jason LeRoy for taking over the list for the last couple of weeks. I hope that you listened to him, because if you didn’t, we’re just going to have to turn this website around and go back home…

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Day 1 of Treasure Island Music Festival 2010 – Instant Band Reviews

Nick Offer of !!! wants you to read this now!

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”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/26/2010-9/1/2010

This is a busy, busy week for SF show goers… Lotsa stuff to go to! Enjoy your last week of summer vacation! Here’s how:

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/5/10-5/11/10

So, he hangs out with Murder City Devils, and gives giant eggs to chickens... I think you need to keep your children away from this guy!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo de SpinningPlatters.com. He aquí una lista de formas divertidas y fabulosas para pasar sus vacaciones, así como la semana siguiente. Si me ves en cualquiera de estos programas, por favor, gracias a mi me entregando una margarita o tamal!

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Our 30 Favorite Photos from SXSW 2010

his Orchestra gets honorary slot #31 because we like the band so darned much

While the photos on this post are all by David Price, he’s in Vegas this week, so all the text here is simply an …

Editor’s Note: Our photographer, David Price, dealt with inconsistent lighting, security that weren’t all on the same page, a lack of photo pits, and plenty of cameras in his face to take over 10,000 photos at SXSW. And then I went and boiled them all down here to 30 favorites. There’s other photos in individual posts, and we’ll be drawing from other ones as we continue our coverage as well.  Inside, you’ll find several shots of the most photogenic guy at SXSW this year, Pink Eyes of Fucked Up, including one with our managing editor Dakin Hardwick. It’s not the most well-lit shot in the world, and it’s not particularly newsworthy, but we like it. And that’s how I picked these 30 photos. Because we like them. Continue reading “Our 30 Favorite Photos from SXSW 2010”

Gordon Answers Your SXSW 2010 Questions

I have the set-list napkin Eddie Argos is holding here. I've tucked it into a copy of Booster Gold, no joke. (All photos on this post from my iPhone unless noted)

This year at South By Southwest Music, I lost my voice and my glasses, drank tons of free booze, walked for miles, collected paper wristbands, failed at my attempt at seeing a house party show, and saw a whopping 2.6% of all showcasing acts! (Remember, even an inspired effort will get you, at most, 6% of the acts, so when you see a Top 10 list, it’s working off of a small sample.)

In keeping with the tradition I started last year, I will now answer your important questions about SXSW Music 2010.

1. Who did I see playing on the street four different times?
2. Which Canadian band was my big Wednesday afternoon surprise?
3. What band got a $100 tip in their guitar case?
4. Who tested the stage to make sure it was OK to jump up and down on it?
5. Who took way too long to set up, but then made it worthwhile?
6. Of all the bands that “killed it,” which one killed it most often?
7. Who’s gonna make me skip Hot Chip?
8. What band should have said its name more often so I’d know to miss them in the future?
9. Which act seemed to appreciate my personal enjoyment of them more than any other?
10. Who made 50 people at a 1000-person venue feel like a packed house?
11. Which act finally made me lose my voice for good?
12. What was the best totally improvised, organized-on-the-fly event? Continue reading “Gordon Answers Your SXSW 2010 Questions”

Dakin Hardwick’s SXSW Journal Day 4

Yes, the fine people of Quebec understand metal.

So, this was my 4th day of alcohol & barbecue sauce fueled and sleep deprived musical madness known as SXSW. After spending the early hours of Saturday morning chasing a secret 3 am Andrew WK show, I finally gave up and passed out around I have no idea o’clock only to wake up bright and early and hop around to the Saturday parties in 37 degree weather.

The most painful moment was freezing outside the Perez Hilton party waiting in the proper line, only to find that the only people that got in were folks that stormed the check in booth. It was chaos, but not fun chaos. Everything else was fun chaos. Here’s my highlights:

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