Juliette and The Licks @ Cornerstone Berkeley 7/19/2018

Juliette Lewis and the Licks @ Cornerstone Berkeley 7/19/2018
photo by Nikki DeMartini 

For the last 15 years Juliette Lewis has brought her talent from the screen to the stage and last Thursday night Juliette and the Licks rocked Cornerstone Berkeley.

In 2016, after an 8 year hiatus, Juliette and the Licks announced and conquered a North American tour. Since then they don't really "tour" they announce a handful of shows and they go out and play them whenever they feel like it. It's been two years since they played The Independent in SF and tickets to their show in Berkeley last week sold-out.

Juliette Lewis and the Licks @ Cornerstone Berkeley 7/19/2018
photo by Nikki DeMartini 

The show started around 8:30 with local garage rockers, Toy Guitar and Juliette and The Licks on closer to 9:30. Trailing behind the four guys who make up the Licks, the star of the show made her way front and center to a room full of cheers. It was cool to see her rocking one of the Evel Knievel inspired jumpsuits seen in so many pictures of her at their shows, press photos and the cover of Four on the Floor live and in action. She lost her headband scarf in less than a minute on stage and was quick to kick off her pointy, white leather, kitten heel boots as she raged. Head banging, deep back bends and jumping up and down will do that but that didn't slow the movie star turned rock star down, not even for a second.



The Licks busted out song after song in accordance with their fearless leader who seriously rocked out to every song. There wasn't too much movement in the crowd but Juliette had that covered with her firecracker antics: kicks, jumps, back bends, head banging, drum banging, stage diving and crowd surfing! Juliette Lewis drips entertainment.
The dark, smaller capacity venue was a perfect pairing for a larger than life rock band like this: the garage rock/punk thrived in the setting.

Juliette Lewis and the Licks @ Cornerstone Berkeley 7/19/2018
photo by Nikki DeMartini 

An out of breath Juliette conversed with the crowd more than I thought she would have, showing us how cool and real she really is. She introduced her bandmates, gave some history about the band and shared her age encouraging fans not to give up on their dreams no matter how "old" you are which is really inspiring.
With more new music rumored, Juliette and the Licks filled the night with tracks from their two albums plus a rockin' rendition of Tina Turner's classic "Rolling on the River" (Proud Mary).

Juliette Lewis and the Licks @ Cornerstone Berkeley 7/19/2018
photo by Nikki DeMartini 

Juliette Lewis rocks the role of rockstar from her performance, outfit, attitude and fan interaction she's an explosion of energy that's really fun to watch.  Keep an eye out for the next round of Juliette and the Licks show announcements. 

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 7/12/2018

It was an overcast July evening in Berkeley for the unlikely bill of Kamasi Washington and Sylvan Esso at The Greek Theater there on the UC campus. 

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Not even a year has passed since Northern Carolina's Sylvan Esso played two nights not too far away at The Fox Theater in Oakland and now they were packing them in at a venue nearly 4 times that capacity.  

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

 An early crowd was there for the opening act Kamasi Washington, the funky jazz saxophonist who took a night off from touring the Music Festival circuit and only that night, for that one show.  Sylvan Esso has a different opener almost every night of their Summer Tour including Phoebe Bridgers, Local Natives and playing with David Byrne at the Xponential Festival. I was a little surprised to hear a bunch of the early birds there that night were only there to see Kamasi Washington and actually left right after his set ended. 

The show wasn't sold-out as many of the shows on their tour are but it came pretty close because the place was pretty full by the time Sylvan Esso took the stage.

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

They started their set same way they've started their set the last few times I've seen them: with the hopelessly romantic, distorted "Sound". It's also the same way that their second album, What Now starts. It's a pleasant introduction to both live show and record. It eases you in yet has you thinking "what am I about to get into" while giving the duo time to make their way to the stage as the sweet distortion plays, building more anticipation for the show. 

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

I got goosebumps when the rhythmic pulses of "Could I" washed over the crowd in the outdoor arena as the night and the dance party got underway. When Amelia and Nick are on stage there's an indescribable sense of elation that permeates between them which then translates to a sensational energy that flows through their fans. It's always a genuine feeling, never phoned in and that's no easy feat for a band who tours as much as they have. 

Wearing what looked liked the same black, long-sleeved, tasseled body suit that she wore on stage at Bonnaroo with fishnets and her signature stacked platforms, Amelia's interpretive moves and energetic kicks did not interrupt her steady vocals. Nick wriggles and jumps around a bit too while he cranks out all the beats and drops all the hooks. 

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Being at one of their shows is like watching poetry in motion. Like Newton's law of inertia, everyone around you will be singing and dancing along with Sylvan Esso, yourself included. 

Tumultuous roars rose from the crowd at the top of every song and they were met with the same outpour of admiration at the end of every song. 

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Their thoughtfully constructed set-list was balanced with songs from both albums, hi-tempo tunes with lo-tempo tunes and their newest one, PARAD(w/m)E. Out of the 16 sixteen songs in their hour and fifteen minute long set their cumbersome, beat dropping induced single "Die Young" garnered the most praise before they played it. 

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

With permanent smiles painted across their faces they each took time to take it all in. From their very first show in the Bay Area at Bottom of the Hill in SF, to opening for tUnE-yArDs at The Fillmore to playing two if not sold-out very close to sold-out shows at The Fox in Oakland just last Summer, they were beside themselves on stage that night. They graciously thanked fans for making their dream job come true. 

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

As if we were in a kaleidoscope dream, the fog rolled in and mixed with the bright neon lighting beaming from the stage creating an epic look and feel to the already epic dancy party. In that moment I realized how truly special it's been seeing these two come up from humble beginnings as an opening act to their humble success as they headlining amphitheaters.
If you've never experienced Sylvan Esso live please do yourself a favor and go buy that ticket. 

"We get people who normally don't openly have a good time at shows to openly have a good time at our shows". 

- Nick Sanborn 

Sylvan Esso @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 7/12/2018
photo by Marc Fong

set-list 7/12/2018 

1. Sound

2. Could I Be

3. Signal 

4. Dress 

5. Die Young 

6. Kick Jump Twist 

7. The Glow 

8. Jamie's Song

9. Just Dancing  

10. Coffee

11. Wolf

12. Uncatena 

13. PARAD(w/m)E

14. Hey Mami 

15. H.S.K.T

16. Radio 

Vegan Fancy Cupcake from Whole Foods

Yesterday I finally gave in and got a cupcake from Whole Foods. If you've ever seen their cupcake selection, you know these are no ordinary cupcakes. In fact, all of the cupcakes at Whole Foods are called Fancy Cupcakes, and rightfully so. About twice the size of "normal" cupcakes, each one of these little cakes are topped with heaps of enticing frosting and are delectably decorated, as fancy cupcakes should be. The craftsmanship put into these cupcakes is notably noticeable and will draw you to the pastry case to marvel at the display, even if there are no baked goods on your shopping list. 

Whole Foods Vegan Fancy Cupcake
photo by Nikki DeMartini

When you shop at Whole Foods you pay the price for premium products, including their cupcakes of course. $4.00 isn't too bad considering the size and that most cupcakes are in the $3 - $4 range anyway. 

Having only tried one vegan cupcake to date and it being the reason I was there, I got the Vegan Fancy Cupcake. It looked like a colossal chocolate cupcake with a mini mountain of chocolate frosting and chocolate chips on top. Essentially, that's exactly what it was, only vegan. A plant based chocolate cupcake that looked amazing but how would it taste? 

The first thing I noticed was the consistency of the frosting. Thicker than a buttercream, this dark chocolate frosting was more like a decadent ganache and it was piled high on top of a smooth fudge shell that covered the top of the dark chocolate cake. Dense and heavy this vegan frosting was surprisingly not indulgently rich. I do have a huge sweet tooth so what I take for not being too rich or too sweet might be a far cry from others' tastebuds but this one struck me as neither too rich or too sweet.  It definitely did not lack any flavor which is an issue with a lot of vegan goods but not this one. The chocolate frosting tasted like chocolate frosting and the chocolate cake like chocolate cake. Though a little dry the cake is the best vegan cake that I've tried, it's even better than some regular chocolate cakes that I've tried. 

Whole Foods Vegan Fancy Cupcake 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

If you're urging for a splurge, craving chocolate and want to change things up, go for this vegan treat. 

Whole Foods has non-vegan options too, so go on, get fancy.