Today’s Look: Julia, 24th Street and Castro
Tell us about your look: “Post long-weekend work outfit.”
Ariel Soto-Suver
Live Shots: Edible Art Contest, Omnivore Books, 04/01/10
Foodies filled Omnivore Books in Noe Valley on Thursday night, some to compete and some to eat, for the first Edible Art Contest. The competitors were judged on taste and creativity and the mix of entries were quite impressive.
There were “still-life” cookies, a “swimming pool” of chocolate pudding complete with a paddling pup and orange inner-tube, and “salumi” made with dried fruit and nuts created by local gluten-free cookbook writer Jacqueline Mallorca.
Once everyone had sampled each entry, it was time to vote. The runner-up of the contest was an amazing three tiered princess cake covered in edible cameos and gold icing, but the winner was the “Alabama Lane Cake,” inspired by To Kill A Mockingbird and said to have enough bourbon in it to have actually been the culprit of the poor bird’s demise. All the entries were decadent desserts and after several kinds of cakes, cookies and pudding, I was on a major sugar high and just grateful I could actually hold my camera steady with all that sweetness rushing through my veins.
Omnivore Books, with its incredible collection of awesome new and old food books, hosts all sorts of other cool events (Alice Waters will be there on April 10th) and food contests, making it pretty much a foodie’s idea of heaven.
Street Threads: Look of the Day
Today’s Look: Sue (and Duncan), Broadway and Polk
Tell us about your look: “My ex-girlfriend got me this shirt in New York. She said ‘I saw this shirt and it reminded me of you because it’s very gay.'”
Live Shots: Soweto Gospel Choir, Paramount Theatre, 03/27/2010
The Soweto Gospel Choir performed at the Paramount Theatre this past weekend, which meant there was dancing, singing and major amounts of smiling happening all across the stage.
The group was made up of almost thirty extremely talented singers, whose musical repertoire included everything from traditional gospel pieces to funky Bob Marley. Their vocal range soared from deep rich bass to sky-high sopranos. The costumes captured every color of the rainbow and flowed to their swirling voices.
The show itself was quite a dramatic mix. Dance routines featuring stomping and gigantic kicks punctuated the singing. A set change put the singers around a table, where they used forks and spoons to beat out the rhythm. The music was incredible; however, I did find parts of the performance overly choreographed, like I was watching a play. I would have liked to see the performers embrace a little more spontaneity in their voices and interact with the audience. Despite my nagging preference, all in all it was an evening to rejoice, topped off with gospel goodness.
Street Threads: Look of the Day
Today’s Look: Shannon, Van Ness and Jackson
Tell us about your look: “I wore this shirt as my pj shirt last night.”
Live Shots: Air, Fox Theater, 03/26/2010
It was the first time I traveled by myself. I was exploring Boston, meandering along the red line that winds its way from one historical site to another, while the discman in my purse blasted Air. The red line (aka The Freedom Trail) ends at Bunker Hill. The sun was brilliant on that June day and I lay in the grass, squinting up at the clouds. Cherry Blossom Girl started playing. I watched a little girl do somersaults in the grass and dance. Her tumbles were in perfect time with the soft rhythm of the song. The little girl was pure joyfulness. She found a feather in the grass and for some reason brought it over to me and said “This is for you.” Then her dad called to her, telling her it was time to go home.
That was seven years ago. I’ve written about this before, how music becomes so connected to moments in life, how songs can bring back smells and emotions that would otherwise be long lost in the tangled mess of experiences we have over a lifetime. The music by the French band Air is so fluid and hypnotic. It glues itself to beautiful moments that forever stay ingrained in our minds. Air performed this past Friday at the Fox Theater in Oakland, as part of a tour to debut their new album entitled Love 2. With their classic electronic beats against a trippy slide show backdrop, there wasn’t a single audience member whose eyes and ears weren’t completely super-glued to the stage. AM, opened for Air and played everything from classic rock to Brazilian classics — new album Future Sons and Daughters came out last month.
I still have that feather from the little girl on Bunker Hill. It reminds me of summer, sunshine, and that feeling of floating on air.
Street Threads: Look of the Day
Today’s Look: Raeann, Van Ness and Washington
Tell us about your look: “I got these from Forever 21.”
Street Threads: Look of the Day
Today’s Look: Jay, Van Ness and Broadway
Tell us about your look: “I got this sweater at Dillard’s.”
Street Threads: Look of the Day
Today’s Look: Andy, Clay and Polk
Tell us about your look: “I like clothes to fit.”
Street Threads: Look of the Day
Today’s Look: Cecilia, 24th Street and Noe
Tell us about your look: “I used to own a consignment store and I got these clothes there.”
farm:table brings deliciousness into the round
Newish restaurant farm:table floods the Tenderloin with seasonal delights and “camp cooking.” Gourmet hardboiled eggs, anyone?
Live Shots: Four Tet, The Independent, 2/26/10
That beat. It was all about that beat. And everyone had filled up the Independent theater on February 26 to hear Four Tet’s hypnotic beats all night long. His new album, There Is Love in You, was released last month and Four Tet joined several other electronic groups last Friday on one of the closing nights of the SF Noise Pop festival. Looking like a mad scientist, tangled amongst endless cables and blinking techno-gizmo’s, Four Tet honed in on some marvelous beats that made everyone on the dance floor shake their money-makers. The evening started with a three other electrifying numbers, that included Nathan Fake, New Villager, and Rainbow Arabia, who also contributed some breathtaking beats to an evening of electronically charged music.
Live Shots: Zee Avi, Rickshaw Stop, 2/25/10
For the 3rd night of the SF Noise Pop festival, three bands shared the stage with Zee Avi at Rickshaw Stop. Noise Pop is such a marathon of music, with each band rushing on stage, setting up their equipment, rocking out for about eight songs and moving aside to make room for the subsequent performers. Luckily through all this movement and music, each group really held their own and the audience kept begging for encores that were never possible.
The night started with Tiny Television, who was accompanied by singer Jen Korte. The band had a folksy sound and their songs were rich and warm. Their slide guitar player was pure genius and with the whole band wearing cowboy boots this group was totally country cool.
Then came the Leslie and The Badgers, hailing from LA. Leslie and her gaggle of boys also hit some great country notes and Leslie’s voice had magical pieces of Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline sprinkled though out it. The highlight of their set was a sing-a-long piece about how it’s ok to hurt somebody, just remember to say you’re sorry.
The four cute girls in the Hot Toddies belted out surf songs and got the audience so energized that they all started to jump and bounce around just like bubble gum! The Hot Toddies were totally crowd-pleasers with their hilarious lyrics about everything from dating old guys on the internet, to the seriousness of a wet dream and how Seattle makes them totally horny. Sweet!
And finally, just a bit before midnight, Zee Avi made her way on stage, to sing us sad songs about drugged out boyfriends and happy songs about true romance found outside a bee hive. She’s so cool and her voice is so lovely, making for the perfect ending after an extreme evening of awesome, almost never-ending, music.
Live Shots: Erykah Badu with Dave Chapelle and Goapele, Fox Theater, 02/19/2010
It’s 1998 and I’m on a trans-Pacific flight to Japan with my mom to visit my “Japanese grandma” Kiyo. I’ve just received my first mix tape from my super-cool older “sister” Leenie, with cuts on it that range from the Runaway Bride soundtrack to Sash!’s Encore Une Fois. And then there’s one of the last tracks, “On and On” by Erykah Badu. I blast this tape on my walkman for almost the whole 17-hour flight and play it throughout the trip, from bullet train rides through lush fields of tea plants to visually overstimulating jaunts in the neon-saturated neighborhood of Shinjuku in Tokyo.
So when Erykah Badu performed on Friday night at the Fox Theater, to a sold-out audience, nostalgia was running through me at full force — and probably not just for me, but also for a few others in the audience. Dressed in an excessive amount of layers, Badu took the stage with poise and energy, after a surprise introduction by Dave Chapelle. With her fifth album coming out in March, titled New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), Badu had a confidence on stage that can only come after years of performing in front of adoring audiences. She also seemed to be having a lot fun with her music, introducing the eerie sound of the theremin into her pieces.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CPCs7vVz6s
Goapele, hailing from Oakland, opened for Badu and got the evening started with some cool R&B tunes, including songs from her new album Milk and Honey, which comes out this spring. Goapele not only had a blast on stage, but her outfit was beyond sexy and her hat was an art piece unto itself.
Badu sang On and On at Friday’s concert and there I was, totally 14 again, running around Japan. So now I must ask: Where does Badu take you?
Live Shots: Huun Huur Tu, Cowell Theater, 02/11/2010
Sometimes music is so powerful that it can transport you to another world. Huun Huur Tu, a throat-singing group from the Russian Republic of Tuva, create melodies that make you think you’re riding a horse through some ancient, windblown prairie.
The four-man band performed Thursday night at the Cowell Theater, bringing with them a variety of ancient and modern instruments, including the igil, a long two-stringed guitar-like instrument made of pine trees, that is held tightly between the knees while played. The igil is decorated with a carved horse’s head at the top of the instrument’s neck. There was even an instrument made of two real horse hooves, that were clapped together to create the sound of horses galloping. Many of Huun Huur Tu’s pieces used throat singing, a type of singing where two or more pitches can be heard at the same time from a single voice.
The songs Huun Huur Tu performed were about riding, nature, or the power of community. These voices made a wild, almost hypnotic mix of melodies, that for me were space-agey and futuristic — odd because this technique of singing is an ancient form of Tuvan folk music. I left the theater feeling calmed by the meditative quality of the music, and yet exhilarated by the novelty of the experience. My fiance came with me, and inspired by the performance, he’s been trying to recreate the sounds of the Tuvan throat-singing all morning, ha, but somehow it doesn’t compare.
Live Shots: St. Vincent, Great American Music Hall, 02/08/10
It was a cold and rainy Monday night, but that didn’t keep the fans away. St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, was performing at the Great American Music Hall in support of her latest album, Actor (4AD) and the sold-out event was packed with smitten groupies.
Wearing a tiny black dress, her curly crown of hair bouncing to every beat, St. Vincent entranced her audience with her sweet voice and unusual lyrics. She played along with the help of a band that included flutes, violins, clarinets and drums. But when she took the stage solo, aided only by her electric guitar, these were the moments when the whole room seemed to glitter. The opening band, Wildbirds and Peacedrums from Sweden, were also wonderful, pounding out drum-driven beats that actually gave me goosebumps. The husband-and-wife duo use only voice and a variety of percussive instruments — a musical concoction that made me think of Björk at a powwow. What a perfect night to warm up under a blanket of fiery musical talent.
Street Threads: Sylvia
Today’s Look: Sylvia, 30th Street and Mission
Tell us about your look: “Comfort”
Street Threads: Krystal and Wisdom
SFBG photographer Ariel Soto scoops San Francisco Street Fashion.
Today’s Look: Krystal and Wisdom, Cesar Chavez and Valencia
Tell us about your look: “Try to stay up to fashion and be color coordinated. Clothes represent who you are.”