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Author Conner Smith

Conner Smith

Stars set to align for Enchanted Forest gathering

Conner Smith
June 7, 2017
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews
As Karl the fog begins his annual assault on the San Francisco coastline, blue skies and warm winds await us further north. As we cruise on towards the solstice, this weekend’s Enchanted Forest Gathering ...

Saharan soul sweeps UC Theatre

Conner Smith
April 4, 2017
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews
Music moves. Mind-body binaries begin to melt away, hands form foreign structures in the air above heads, and blood begins to course through veins with a different weight. The Saharan sounds of African rock gro...

Lucius Takes us Halfway to Heaven

Conner Smith
November 29, 2016
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews
It was full speed right from the start. The murmur of casual conversations beneath the warm glow of the Fillmore’s chandeliers and the crunching of house-provided scarlet apples between teeth were immedia...

Recounting Treasure-less Island, 2016

Conner Smith and Nathaniel Wartzman
October 21, 2016
Columns and Opinions, Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews
Saturday: The little bit of sun between the rain There’s a lot to be said about Treasure Island 2016. But to be concise, it wasn’t great. Having been to many different festivals including Coachella a...

Treasure Island 2016 Preview

Conner Smith
October 15, 2016
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Previews, Previews
  If you haven’t yet mustered the curiosity to pull off onto that mysterious government island beside the Bay Bridge, this weekend is your chance. Treasure Island Music Festival is celebrating ...

Synapses Still Sizzling from Symbiosis

Conner Smith
September 28, 2016
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews
Now that the dirt – like black tar in our lungs – has begun to dissipate, the myriad of experiences at this weekend’s Symbiosis begins to take shape. Immersive visual experiences, live art, world music, l...

Symbiotic Stoke

Conner Smith
September 10, 2016
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Previews, Previews
Grab your orca inflatables, heart-shaped sunglasses, and decorated parasols because the incredible Symbiosis team is calling us back to Woodward Reservoir for this year’s Family Tree celebration in two s...

Serenity Gathering 2016: Safe in the sands

Conner Smith
March 30, 2016
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews
The desert did us dirty at this year’s Serenity Gathering. With around-the-clock live art and opportunity for exploration in the stunning and stark Joshua Tree landscape, this communal coalescence hail...

Lucius prove grief can be good on sophomore effort

Conner Smith
March 16, 2016
Album Review
photo by Piper Ferguson After listening through the latest from Brooklyn retro-pop quintet Lucius, we have one prevailing exaltation: Good Grief! Louder, bolder, and more unafraid; this aptly-named soph...

Sacred Space for Serenity Gathering 2016

Conner Smith
March 3, 2016
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Previews
The extraterrestrial rock playgrounds of the Joshua Tree Retreat Center will serve as the location for what is sure to be this year’s most auspicious celebration of the spring equinox– Serenity Gathering. ...

Oakland Swoons for Rising Appalachia

Conner Smith
November 18, 2015
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Reviews
Stringing together all of the most desirable elements of Appalachian Folk, 90's Hip-Hop, Southern Soul, and World Music, Rising Appalachia had the New Parish howling (literally) for more on Friday night. ...

Treasure Island Music Festival 2015: An orgy of illicit pleasures

Conner Smith and Matt Sater
October 23, 2015
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Photos
Treasure Island isn't natural. It was built by the US government as a site for the 1939 World Fair, then used as a naval base during World War II. The base is no longer be use, but the ruins of the barracks and...

Jamie xx saturates the Fox in colour

Conner Smith
October 13, 2015
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews
In Colour -- two words that encapsulate the sensational performance laid down by Jamie xx at the Fox this past Friday. This London producer has breathed -- or rather, jolted -- new life into the contemporary...

Blog: Reflections on Genesis at Symbiosis Gathering 2015

Conner Smith
September 30, 2015
Blog
In recounting my experiences at this year's Symbiosis Gathering, I continue to return to one: gazing into the depths of a beautiful painting titled Genesis by Hans Walør in the art dome. The image rotat...

Cosmic Convergence: Symbiosis Gathering 2015

Conner Smith
September 27, 2015
Concerts, Festivals, and Live Reviews, Photos
1 Comment
The English language does not contain the depth of prose to construct a fitting representation of the four-day spectacle that was the Symbiosis Gathering: stages built within trees sprouting from floating bar...
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♬ Locals (Girls like us) - underscores & gabby start

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