Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF
In 1994, a simple blue cover adorned the release of the debut album of the then relatively unknown band Weezer. Three decades later, the Blue Album, as it has long been commonly known, was the central theme of their Voyage to the Blue Planet tour, which was to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
Continue reading “Show Review: Weezer + The Flaming Lips @ Chase Center, 10/09/2024”
Back in 1994, when Weezer released “Undone – The Sweater Song” and “Buddy Holly,” I was 15. Despite being into grunge bands like Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots, I was also hiding a pop music-loving heart. Weezer was neither really pop or grunge, but I didn’t care: I loved them. Having said that, I must admit that I was the kind of casual fan who didn’t own a single album but knew all the words to every one of their radio hits. And that’s how it went for twenty years. Then, in 2014, I finally caught Weezer’s act live (at BottleRock Napa Valley). I was absolutely floored, and that was the day that my Weezer fandom finally became real. So almost ten years later, when they embarked on an epic “Indie Rock Road Trip” tour with White Reaper and Spoon that was coming to an amazing small venue near me? You better believe I wasn’t going to miss it. Continue reading “Show Review: Weezer with Spoon and White Reaper at the Greek Theatre, 8/24/23”
Daily Lineups for Outside Lands 2022 dropped today! If you are like me and prefer to plan your August in May (No sarcasm there! Making plans months in advance is comforting for me), it’s a great time to figure out what you are doing. And if only one or two days appeal to you, Single Day GA / VIP / Golden Gate Club are on sale tomorrow at 10am! Continue reading “Outside Lands 2022 Daily Lineups / Single Day Tickets”
If you are like me, you’ve been refreshing your inbox 2,235 times a day, waiting for ANY Outside Lands 2022 news. We’ve known the dates (August 5th-7th), we’ve purchased our Eager Beaver tickets. And now we have a lineup, and hopefully, I’m telling you first. Or maybe you’ve already read it, but, still! Continue reading “OUTSIDE LANDS 2022 LINEUP!! OUTSIDE LANDS 2022 LINEUP!!!”
Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF
Oracle Park, home to the San Francisco Giants, historically does not host many concerts outside of the regular baseball season (and certainly not the post-season lately either!). Since 2013, there has been an average of six concerts per year, and a few of them are usually tied to corporations like the annual Genentech Gives Back or convention attendee parties for Salesforce.com’s DreamForce and Oracle’s OpenWorld. In fact, the last concert to be held here was 21 months ago for DreamForce (UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital benefit). Leave it to East Bay’s own Green Day to stage the first Hella Mega sized concert at Oracle Park since the world shut down early last year!
Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF
Across the Midwest and Southeast United States, from the last weekend of April through May 31, were seven Monster Energy Drink sponsored rock music festivals dubbed “The World’s Loudest Month”. Rock on the Range, Carolina Rebellion, Welcome to Rockville, Fort Rock, RockFest, River City Rockfest, and Rocklahoma collectively entertained hundreds of thousands of hard rock and heavy metal fans in Columbus, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Ft. Myers, Kansas City, San Antonio, and Pryor (OK), respectively. Music fans most certainly traveled long distances to attend these festivals, with their amazing 1-3 day lineups featuring the likes of Rob Zombie, Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, Guns N Roses, Limp Bizkit, Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Slayer, Deftones, Twisted Sister, Staind, and Godsmack, just to name a few.
Continue reading “Show Review + Photo Gallery: Aftershock Music Festival — September 13-14, 2014”
Day 2 of BottleRock Napa Valley 2014 got off on the right foot for me with Napa Point Brewing‘s BottleRock IPA and a special, very acoustic treat: local reggae band Pion 2 Zion were playing with absolutely no electricity (unless you count a battery-powered megaphone that died partway through). I’ve known members of this band for years: I was first introduced to them by their former drummer, a then-coworker of mine. In the years since, there have been a few lineup changes, but the current drummer, Gary Paddock, is another former coworker of mine. Moreover, I’ve known the current lead vocalist and saxophonist, Chad Schuler, since elementary school. It’s a small town, it’s bound to happen, right? Anyway, as I said yesterday, I’m admittedly not big into reggae, but these guys have always been an exception. They’re a really great band, they have local fans who truly love them, and I’ve never seen someone not enjoy hearing the band play live. Continue reading “BottleRock Napa Valley 2014 Festival Journal, Day 2”
July is almost over?!?!?! How did that happen!?!?!? To cope with that news, go see some shows! Heck, if you enter our contest by 9 am on July 25th, we’ll put you on the guest list to Weekend at The Independent on July 26th!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/25/13-7/31/13”
Happy Black Friday, ladies & gentlemen! I was very busy yesterday, and fell alseep while trying to compile this list for Thursday, so I apologize if my lack of guidance made Thanksgiving horrible. Please enjoy these tips, instead, and we will be back next week on schedule!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/26/2010-12/01/2010”
Pouria is in Korea for the next couple of weeks. He’s been studying the Pimsleur Korean tapes to prepare himself for this trip, so when I asked him if he was going to have time to do his new release column before he left, he muttered something in Korean that I’m assuming was a polite no. As a reaction, I decided to write the longest New Release Round Up yet! And glad I did, because buried near the bottom is my favorite album of the week. Continue reading “New Release Round Up, 11/3/09 — 38 Instant Album Reviews”
