Category Archives: TVD San Francisco

There must have been a run on baby sitters this past Saturday night because by all appearances it was date night at Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheatre where couples gathered to let loose without the kids for hometown favorites Counting Crows and Rob Thomas as support.

After a brief opening set by K Phillips, Rob Thomas took the stage for a generous hour and fifteen minute set backed by a full stage production that had the crowd on their feet all the way back to the lawn for a career-spanning set that included a smattering of Matchbox Twenty favorites (highlighted by an acoustic rendition of “3 AM”), a cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” and of course Santana’s “Smooth” (which Thomas dedicated to “Uncle Carlos” who was sadly not in town to join on guitar).

As if the enthusiastic crowd wasn’t already riled enough, Rob’s trip through the 100’s section of the amphitheater turned the ladies into giddy schoolgirls at which point everyone around was happy the kids weren’t around to witness that.

Counting Crows kicked things off on a decidedly mellower note, frontman Adam Duritz strolling casually onto the stage during the intro music to take a seat on one of the risers as the band settled into position. Looking calm and relaxed, Adam stepped up to his mic as the band kicked into “Round Here” and wowed the already-standing crowd with his soaring vocals.

Read More »

Twenty years after the release of his debut solo album, Zakk Wylde is back with his much-anticipated follow-up, Book of Shadows II, as well as a headlining tour.

A good portion of the crowd, many sporting their Black Label Society patches, opted for the bar over tight opening sets by Jared James Nichols and Otherwise. But as Zakk’s scheduled set time came and passed, the bars were empty and the general admission floor was packed as the fans impatiently waited for their hero.

All was forgiven when Wylde finally took the stage and tore through what amounted to a nearly 15 minute rendition of “Sold My Soul” that had Zakk ditching his bowler hat halfway through his extended solo and dripping sweat by the end. Backed by his Black Label Society band, it was immediately clear that these guys have all played together for some time as they locked in, John DeServio grooving on the low end as Dario Lorina kicked off on piano before picking up the six string.

Read More »

Snoop Dogg

Hip-hop superstars Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa have teamed up for their first ever “The High Road Tour” with support from Kevin Gates, Jhene Aiko, Casey Veggies, and DJ Drama. The tail end of the run found the touring group hitting up the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California for a Sunday night hip-hop extravaganza.

As one can easily imagine, a tour with the word “high” in the name that includes Snoop and Wiz is going to place a heavy emphasis on the weed. Well, the NorCal stoners rolled in late and lit up early. By the time the alternating Snoop/Wiz set came up, the Pavilion was packed with people and a thick haze floated over the crowd, fed by billows of smoke popping up all over the place as ads for Khalifa Kush filled the side stage screens.

Wiz Khalifa

Not one to be left out of the party, Snoop took the stage with a giant blunt in hand for “Smoke Weed Everyday” before swapping duties with Wiz who strolled out similarly equipped. What followed was ninety minutes of hip-hop, weed smoking, songs about weed smoking, and good times that best be appreciated stoned.

Read More »

Heart

The “Rock Hall Three For All” tour packed the Shoreline Amphitheatre on a balmy Wednesday night for what proved to be one of the can’t-miss rock tours of the summer. Featuring headliners Heart along with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and Cheap Trick, the tour name gave nod to each band’s recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cheap Trick in 2015, Joan Jett in 2015, and Heart in 2013). Collectively and individually, these three bands have sold millions of albums, played thousands of shows, and left an indelible mark on music.

First up was Cheap Trick, taking the stage for their hour-long set as the sun set behind the amphitheater lawn. A respectable number of people wisely beat the weeknight traffic to make it out early and pack the amphitheater for a band that never disappoints live. As the band kicked things off with their standard opener, “Hello There,” lead guitarist Rick Nielsen did double duty as hype man, encouraging the audience and peppering the crowd, the crew, cameramen, and anyone else who came into his view with expertly aimed guitar pics, sometimes by the fistful.

Cheap Trick

Not to be outdone, Tom Petersson impressed on the 12 string bass and vocals on a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting for the Man.” And then there was Robin Zander who soared on his vocals mixed with the showmanship that comes with over 40 years of experience.

Read More »

The Go-Go’s

Thirty eight years after crawling out of the burgeoning Los Angeles punk rock scene to become one of the biggest bands of the new wave era, The Go-Go’s could be finally calling it a day. At least that’s what the name of the current tour suggests. Postponed from 2010 when Wiedlin was forced to take time off to recover from a knee injury, the Go-Go’s official “Going Going Gone; The Farewell Tour” has sadly come to pass.

Openers Kaya Stewart and Best Coast collectively did a great job of warming up the crowd as they filled the seats, wine and beer in-hand. But it was clear that the gathered crowd, whose age rage spanned a several decades but generally tilted towards the 50s, was there for the headliners. So when the band finally took the stage to Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band,” the house lit up.

The Go-Go’s

While Kathy Valentine officially parted ways with the band in 2013 amidst acrimony, the rest of the Go-Go’s (including Abby Travis on bass) could not have looked happier to be on stage together, all smiles as they danced along to the intro music before kicking straight into “Vacation,” as a barefoot Belinda Carlisle spun around the carpeted stage.

Read More »

PHOTOS: KATARINA BENZOVA | They said it would never happen … certainly not in this lifetime … but Tuesday night found tens of thousands of people packing San Francisco’s AT&T Park for just that. It had been nearly 24 years since original Guns N’ Roses members Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, and Slash shared a Bay Area stage and no one was going to let the opportunity to see them together again slip by.

The late announcement of The Struts as openers didn’t seem to help get too many folks in the door early and their 6:30 pm set boomed through a lot of empty seats as most of the crowd appeared to be busy with getting their drink on. Even 10 minutes of incessant gun fire from the prepped stage failed to get the revelers moving and it wasn’t until the band finally strolled on stage to “The Equalizer” (miraculously within minutes of their scheduled set time) and launch into “It’s So Easy” that the mad scramble began.

The crowd went appropriately crazy for the Appetite for Destruction classic which was followed by “Mr. Brownstone” as one-two punch that was more-than-adequately punctuated by fireworks and flames.

Thankfully the days of Axl traipsing around a stage wearing only spandex short shorts and white Reebok high tops are far behind us and he instead he opted for torn jeans, leather jacket, and a flannel shirt around his waist. Looking none the worse for wear after his broken foot which kept him sitting on Dave Grohl’s throne during his stint with AC/DC, Axl strutted and snaked his way around the stage just like the old days. And while the vocals felt a bit off at first, his voice quickly found its groove by “Estranged” at which point he was actually caught smiling on the big screen as he perched himself at the end of the stage extension looking down at the general admission pit. All was clearly good in GnR Land.

Read More »

Dead and Company

Through 50+ years and numerous incarnations, the Grateful Dead legacy keeps on truckin’. The latest torch bearers for the Dead legacy is Dead & Company and features original members Bob Weir (guitar/vocals), Bill Kreutzmann (drums), and Mickey Hart (drums), joined by John Mayer on guitar/vocal duties. A beautiful Saturday night in Mountain View found Dead & Co. wrapping up their successful U.S. tour with a sold out show at the Shoreline Amphitheatre, close to the Dead’s old San Francisco Bay Area stomping grounds.

With any act associated with the Grateful Dead lineage, you never know when their next show will be their last. So when Dead & Co.’s last planned tour date rolls through, you can be assured that the devotees will arrive early so as not to miss a single note. All this made for astounding gridlock inside and outside of the Shoreline which miraculously seemed to sort itself out by the time the band casually strode onto the stage at 7:40 and pm launched right into “Help on the Way” without uttering a word.

Dead and Company

While Mayer and Weir traded vocal duties and guitar licks, the “rhythm devils” stoically held down the beat behind massive amounts of percussion equipment and the whole amphitheater settled into a patient groove as the sun set behind the lawn before the first set wrapped with an enthusiastically-received “Franklin’s Tower” that had nearly every person in the venue on their feet.

Read More »

Public Enemy

Billed as a “legendary lineup of hip-hop artists spanning the history of the art form,” the “Art of Rap” tour hit San Francisco’s Regency Ballroom with over 4 hours of entertainment for the Bay Area’s fans. Curated by none other than Ice-T, the line-up included headliners Public Enemy with support from Ice-T, Naughty by Nature, and Grandmaster Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash fame.

A last minute shift in venue from the Warfield to the smaller Regency Ballroom proved a wise move. While the room was disappointingly sparse for Melle Mel’s 6:40 pm opening set, the room quickly filled with bodies bringing with them a thick haze of smoke from Northern California’s finest for what would prove to be an intimate evening of hip hop classics.

Ice-T

While each act pulled the best of their catalogs (you can’t really expect Naughty By Nature to get away without playing “O.P.P” or “Hip Hop Hooray” now, can you?), they lived up to the billing by paying tribute to the OGs such as The Digital Underground, LL Cool J, and Kool Moe Dee, as well as the more recent artists such as Eminem.

Read More »

Dashboard Confessional

After a successful 2015 one-day festival, the Taste of Chaos Tour made its return to the U.S. for the first time since 2009 with a 37 date amphitheater tour which wrapped on July 16 with a mega-fest at San Bernardino’s San Manuel Amphitheater.

The tour’s only Northern California stop featuring The Early November, SAOSIN, Taking Back Sunday, and Dashboard Confessional was particularly ambitious by the fact that it was held at the far-flung Concord Pavilion. On a Tuesday. Starting at 6:30 pm. Sadly for The Early November, that meant a pretty sparse audience for their opening set, but that didn’t stop them from blasting through their 30 minutes as if they were playing to a full house.

Taking Back Sunday

Next up was a rejuvenated SAOSIN, back with original frontman Anthony Green who was clearly invigorated after his break from the band and his time with Circa Survive. The crowd clearly wanted more than just a taste of SAOSIN and, with a new album recently out in May, it sure feels like we should be hearing more from these guys very soon.

Read More »

It’s been a long 6 months since Cage The Elephant paid San Francisco a visit, last touching down on Bay Area soil for an opening slot on Metallica’s “The Night Before” concert at AT&T Park back in February. Let’s just say that there was a slightly different demographic packed against the rail this past Thursday night for CTE’s headliner at the Bill Graham Civic.

Openers Sunflower Bean took the stage at 7 pm to the gathering crowd. The New York trio was tight and powerful, delivering a set that was clearly influenced by Zeppelin and the Doors while still feeling fresh. Bands like Sunflower Bean are the reason to get to shows early for the opener.

By the time Portugal. the Man took the stage, the floor of the Billy Graham was packed. Their generous hour-long set, the stage pumped with thick smoke, drew the mostly young (and mostly female) crowd out and had them singing along.

As the crew readied the stage for Cage the Elephant’s headlining set, it was clear who people had come to see. The energy was palpable as the band casually strolled onto the stage with a wave and broke into “Cry Baby,” the lead track from their December 2015 release, Tell Me I’m Pretty.

Read More »