Tagged Oakland

I was in my friend's car stumbling along the landscape when “93 ‘til Infinity" by Souls of Mischief trinkled out of the speakers and changed the way that I think about hip hop. Thirty years after its initia...

When looking back at my frantically scratched notes in a pocket-sized address book I had brought to the 7pm celebration of Irene Young at the Freight & Salvage on November 19, one sentiment stands out in pa...

I still remember the first time I encountered Stephen Sanchez. I was scrolling through TikTok and a video with Sanchez in a hospital room waiting for his doctor came up on my feed captioned: “POV: You’ve be...

Australian surf rock duo Hockey Dad fathered Jakob Armstrong, Chris Malaspina, Enzo Malaspina, and Kevin Judd through their first full US tour when the boys still went by Mt. Eddy in 2018. Five years later, Jak...

Commercial rock and roll has always been a boys’ club. From the success of songs that glamorized abuse and the gross fetishization of women, such as the Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” or the Beatles’ �...

The air on May 13th, 2023 held a tinge of finality. College graduates, fresh out of the commencement ceremony, walked the streets of Berkeley with flowers and their families, bidding farewell to their undergrad...

In tennis (the sport), love means zero. In Tennis (the band), that is hardly the case. Husband-and-wife duo Alaina and Patrick Riley have been spreading their love through music since 2010. They met as philosop...

After 3 years of delays and postponement, Yaeji finally took the stage at Fox Theater in Oakland to a full venue. The building excitement from the years of waiting filled the room with a feverous buzz. Everyone...

Characterized by dreamy doubled vocals and temperamental time signatures, Berkeley-based indie band Chammeili’s 2022 record Icy Blue provides listeners with a bird’s eye view of the trials, tribulations, an...

“Mommy! Yes, mommy! I love you, mommy!!” the crowd cheers on. It’s pitch black out on a Saturday night, and the crowd is ecstatic to see everyone’s favorite mom perform live at the Fox Theater in Oaklan...

In April of 2020 I stumbled upon an artist who just released their debut studio album. That same artist would soon become one of my favorite artists of all time. Her name is Rina Sawayama. There are so many wor...

In an energizing performance, sundiver ca took the stage this past Thursday night at the Starline Social Club in Oakland. Two indie rock openers, Analog Dog and Mind’s Eye, each built up the audience and held...

Photo by Gary Friedman I had the wonderful pleasure to see Grace Jones at the Fox Theater for the immensely convenient price of zero dollars. As instructed by the contest-holders, I went to the box office ...

Watching Jean Dawson perform is like witnessing a fish swim underwater.    In the crowd at an intimate Oakland venue I felt both the tumultuous waves starting in the pit and the serenity of seeing a...

A couple days ago, Raveena and her opener, Fana Hues, delivered a stunning performing to their audience at the New Parish Oakland. Their performance, full of joy and light, left the audience beaming by the end ...