Kimbra residency at The Chapel December 2nd, 3rd, 4th

In 2011 "Somebody That I Used to Know" launched Australia's Gotye and New Zeland's Kimbra into one hit wonder stardom, here in The States anyway. Since then the now 28 year old diva has released three albums: VOWS (2011), The Golden Echo (2014) and Primal Heart (2018). The last of which is a far cry from her retro, doo-wop debut as she's moved into the realm of experimental. 

A couple of months before the release of Primal Heart earlier this year, Kimbra played an illuminated, visual show at The Regency Ballroom on Valentines Day. Months later the fashionable songtress released, Songs from Primal Heart: Reimagined, a 4 song acoustic EP of songs from the synth soaked album. And now, she's touring in support of it. 

Three of the eight shows in the U.S are at The Chapel in San Francisco. Starting on December 2nd Kimbra brings her acoustic set to a venue with an elegant acoustic aesthetic with two nights of sold-out shows. Tickets are still available for the third and final, intimate, reimagined evening with Kimbra. It will be interesting to see what she brings to the stage this time around. 

German Chocolate Cake Cupcake from Martino's

The Original Martino's Bakery has been serving Burbank since 1926, that's 92 years! I'm not sure if they've been in the same location at 335 North Victory Blvd but that's where I was unexpectedly introduced to them. It's a spacious place and it's no thrills appearance makes it easy to miss along the busy streets. Dedicated to providing fresh, delicious, beautiful baked goods, all of the shelves in The Original Martino's are chalk full of them. From pies, cakes and morning danishes, to muffins and cookies, to tea cakes, fruit cakes, cupcakes and cake balls they have it all! 

German Chocolate Cake cupcake from Martino's
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Their cupcakes are reasonably priced at $2.59 each and while their Carrot Cake Cupcake was enticing with it's walnut encrusted cream cheese frosting and cozy spices of the season, I went with a flavor I haven't reviewed before. 

One that you don't see in cupcake form too often. One that because of it's coloring could be considered Thanksgiving appropriate. 

I got a German Chocolate Cake cupcake. 

Traditionally German Chocolate cake is layers of chocolate devils food cake with a coconut-pecan paste like frosting. At first bite I knew this was not a chocolate devils food cake (it wasn't nearly decadent enough) but I couldn't put my finger on it. There was a familiar flavor...rum cake? As I ate on it hit me. It wasn't rum I tasted, it was Kirsch and it reminded me of the other famous German cake, Black Forest Cake. It was a light cake, not buttery or moist but not dry, just light. It didn't have a lot of flavor beyond the familiar taste of a Black Forest Cake. 

German Chocolate Cake cupcake from Martino's
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The frosting was a pulpy blend of coconut, pecan, butter and sugar. Though there was more coconut making up the chunky consistency, the taste of pecan was stronger than coconut. The quarter sized dollop of milk chocolate frosting that might have been there cosmetically to hold the maraschino cherry in place added the perfect amount of sweetness to the mix. You don't see too many cupcakes with bright red cherries on top, maybe Martino's does that on their German Cake cupcakes as a nod to the Black Forest Cake. Over all it's not a very sweet cupcake. As I was eating it I thought to myself it's a great cupcake for people who aren't really into sweets or if your sweet tooth isn't that big. But it did satisfy my sweet tooth that afternoon. 

Deap Vally at The Echoplex 10/30/2018

After national and international tours opening for Wolf Mother, Garbage and Blondie the girls of Deap Vally returned to the place they call home for a headlining show at The Echcoplex in L.A. 

It was the night before Halloween and costumed concert goers slowly trickled into the dark venue. I learned when I got there that it would be a late show with second openers of the night, The Paranoyds going at 9:30, Deap Vally would play closer to 10:30. Dressed as cockroaches, The Paranoyds offered surf rock jams with a Twilight Zone twist. People filled the space close to the stage and before long it was time for Deap Vally. 

Deap Vally at The Echoplex 10/30/2018
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I read somewhere that the Deap Vally girls hadn't played a headlining show in L.A for a while and the last few times I was them was when they played in San Francisco so it was awesome to catch a rare, hometown show of theirs. Another fun fact about their show at The Echoplex, a venue that reminded me a lot of The Independent in SF only bigger, was that The Rolling Stones played there in 2013. So before they even started, I knew this place knows how to host a rock show and Deap Vally knows how to rock so we were in for a rockin' good time at The Echoplex. 

Buoyant cheers rose from the chatter in the crowd as Lindsey and Julie took their places on stage: Lindsey front and center with Julie kitty corner to her stage right. One of the things I love so much about Deap Vally is that it's just the two of them and they rock so hard. In a time where almost all music is auto-tuned and over produced, my musical tasted was formed in the age of The White Stripes. I'm inherently drawn to the grungy style of blues duets that rock as hard as bands like The Kills and Deap Vally do. The fact that Deap Vally are two girls makes it that much more badass.

They were both in the Halloween spirit that night: Lindsey dressed as Wonder Woman and Julie as Daryl Hannah's character from the original Blade Runner, Priscilla "Pris" Stratton. A friend donning KISS face-paint joined them on stage at first, lending some back up vocals to Lindsey's predominate wailing. 

A loud, distracting buzz coming from one of the speakers during the first few songs of the set which I attributed to being a blown speaker turned out to be a bad guitar cord. After stopping mid-song during "Smile More" to work out the technical difficulty they decided to play without the cord and the sound was much better after that. 

They played favorites from Femejism including "Little Baby Beauty Queen", "Royal Jelly," "Teenaage Queen" and a song from the album they've never played live before, "Critic". It was stripped down and slowed down allowing you to hear Lindsey's vocals being summoned deep from her diaphragm. The times that I have seen them since the September 16th, 2016 release of their second album (Femejism) and even before that, their set-lists consist of songs from it and usually one song from their first album (Sistrionix) "Walk Of Shame." They played two songs from that album at their show at The Echoplex that night, "Walk Of Shame" and "Make My Own Money." They also played a new single that was released this Summer, the guitar riff driven "Bring It On". 

Friends joined them on-stage through out the show playing bongos and backing lead vocals and a silver bodysuit clad T-Rex danced around the stage during the last song which everyone fully enjoyed. Deap Vally's rock N roll spirit on the eve of all Hallows Eve was a fun treat. There aren't too many shows left on their West Coast Fall Tour but they're rumored to be working on a new album which means we'll likely be seeing Deap Vally again soon.

Our Music Festival @ The Greek Theater in Berkeley 10/20/2018

A new festival popped up as the festival season started to wind this year. Our Music Festival took place in Berkeley last month and Marc Fong was there to cover it. 

The inaugural Our Music Festival took place on Saturday, October 20th at The Greek Theater in Berkeley, closing out the outdoor music venue's 2018 season. In a time when music festivals saturate the market and festival-goers have more than enough options, what's one more? 

OMF CEO Justin Blau (known by his DJ moniker 3LAU) and the rest of the OMF founders are hoping that this fest offers more than just the "typical" music festival experience.  The OMF website boasts "fan incentives", a "hybrid blockchain ticketing system" and "decentralizing decision making". What does all that mean for fest-fans who went to the event? That's a good question.

Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong 

The website offers some promising, tech-savvy buzzwords but what this means beyond the music remains to be seen. The Our Music Festival "model" (in contrast to the "traditional" music festival "model") suggests that there will be referrals, fan feedback (perhaps in regard to future artists who might play OMF) and rewards in the form of  redeemable OMF tokens. All of this sounds good but the details are still hazy.

Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong 

I downloaded the OMF app., scanned a QR code and received tokens. OMF staff helped me scan another code on-site and then I was rewarded with an OMF bracelet...future Our Music Festivals will likely clear up how fans really benefit from the technology behind it. 

In my opinion, all of the tech stuff isn't as important as why people go to music festivals: for the live music.  I do acknowledge there's probably a fair segment of festival goers who go simply for the notoriety, to partake in a community that welcomes booze and drug use, skimpy clothing/cowboy hats/headdresses, etc, etc but I am choosing to ignore those. 

Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong 

Our Music Festival offered a modest line-up with a common theme: feel-good, college dance party. The majority of attendees looked ready for some ass shaking and by the time Zedd (the headliner) took the stage it was clear they got their money's worth.

Kid Quill at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong 

Kid Quill opened the show with a smooth take on rap that was pleasing for those who made it out early. Quill's song, "The Opener" was fitting, given that his place on the line-up. ("I'm just the opener/no one came to see me/singing all my songs and nobody knows em/I'm just the opener, handing out my CDs/standing by the table if they want a photo/Yeah, and I'm the first on stage/but they don't know my name"). 

Kid Quill gave his impressive opening set his all and energetically engaged with the audience. They may not know his name now, but give it time. 

Charlotte Lawrence at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Next on the bill was Pop up-and-comer Charlotte Lawrence: young (only 18), bubbly and impassioned. She already has an impressive number of streams for songs off of her Young EP and I can only imagine her burgeoning fanbase grew after her OMF performance. With a lot of middle fingers thrown in the air and waving them around like she just didn't care, her performance was unabashedly rebellious for a pop artist while also being dancey and down to earth. 

Matt & Kim at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong 

Our Music Festival welcomed Matt & Kim to the stage for the rock portion of the evening. My personal fave, the duo poured their hearts out, blasting out fan favorites like "Day Light" from 2009's Grand and "Happy If You're Happy" from 2018's Almost Everyday. 

Their party-rock sound was a lot different than the rest of the bill that Autumn afternoon but that didn't effect Matt & Kim, they always know how to throw a party. 

The Brooklyn based pair blessed the crowd with confetti, giant pictures of Oprah and blow-up dolls with their faces on them! Their over the top, upbeat energy was a great addition to the OMF line-up.

Matt & Kim at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Matt & Kim at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

 Rockers at their core, Matt & Kim is clearly made for dance fueled festivals like Our Music Festival. Their loud, infectious sound is just part of their live show. The stage presence these two have is unlike most bands: they're explosive, non-stop energy is a huge reason to see them live. 

3LAU kept the dance party going in earnest shortly after Matt & Kim. 

Matt & Kim at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Matt & Kim at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

As one of the founders of OMF is wasn't surprising to see the Vegas DJ on the line-up. Nor was it surprising to see that 3LAU is as good as you'd expect, seamlessly blending beats and melodies to an eager crowd. Showcasing a use of samples so vast I can't remember them to tell, 3LAU fed a melody hungry audience. 

3LAU at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

By the looks of the outfits, or lack there of, fans in the crowd were there to shake (and show off) their booties and 3LAU got them to do just that. Toward the end of his set, QR codes with OMF tokens were shot into the crowd as they danced. Witnessing paper technology raining down on shiny, happy dancers was pretty neat. 

Big Sean at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Big Sean was up next and if anyone was upset by the rapper's interruption to the dance party, they clearly did not protest the issue. Instead, the rapper/singer delivered a lively performance that consisted mostly of well-known hits that fans loved hearing, adding to the already great OMF experience. 

Zedd at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Headliner, EDM god Zedd, closed the show with larger than life visuals and a commanding stage presence. I don't think there was ever a question how he would sound but he sounded fantastic: I and many other can attest that the 29 year old producer has a unique sound with in the EDM genre that is all his own and he knows how to work it.

Zedd at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

Zedd at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

From a deck seemingly hovering in the air, high above fans and the stage itself, Zedd immersed us in bone-shaking EDM. The audience, riled from all of the previous acts, erupted in screams of excitement when he took the stage which didn't stop. He fed off of that energy, creating an amazing vibe which made for a great ending to a cool day spent at a festival. 

Though I lack the savviness to fully appreciate the tech nuances of OMF, I can appreciate that 3LAU and company know how to throw a party. I am curious to see what the next iteration of this festival brings to the table. 

Zedd at Our Music Fest @ The Greek Theater Berkeley 10/20/2018
photo by Marc Fong

review and photos by Marc Fong

Mother Feather: new album Constellation Baby out today!

New York City's Mother Feather have released their sophomore album Constellation Baby via Metal Blade Records and Blacklight Media. 

With their own recipe of divine feminine, the glam punk girls who play homage to the roots of punk-N-roll and heavy rock have revolutionized their blend of pop-cock-rock since their self-titled 2016 debut. 

Before playing their album release show at Johnny Brenda's in Philly tonight Ann and Courtney took a few minutes to answer some questions about their new record. 

Mother Feather Constellation Baby album cover art 

Q: I dig the collage artwork for the cover of Constellation Baby, it reminds me of the cover of fellow New Yorker's Yeah Yeah Yeah's Fever to Tell.  Was that the inspiration behind it or was it a vision of a band-mate?

A: I love that album and artwork, but it was not an inspiration for the Constellation Baby cover. I discovered Katy Hirschfeld Leinoff's collages on-line and they spoke to me immediately. She mostly creates portraits of women, collaged from a bunch of different faces, surrounded by these wild layered universes spiraling around them. There's a magical realism to her work that I find incredibly emotional as well as playful. Her pieces are simultaneously gritty and poppy and I knew that her style would be perfect for Constellation Baby. Luckily she turned out to be very open to collaborate and a dream to work with. We took the cover photo with Austin Phelps, an incredible photographer and artist who knew we wanted to shoot with because of a similar gut reaction to his photos -- particularly his beautiful, reverent portraits of women in natural light. 

Q: Is the name Mother Feather a play on the saying birds of a feather?

A: Nope. It's just capital "Mother" and capital "Feather", two words. Bonus, it sounds like "motherfucker" but isn't. 

Q: The genre of music you're filed under is new to me. Explain in your own words what "pop cock rock" is. 

A: We play high-energy, full spectrum rock and roll -- music to make your blood pump and your heart explode, with an emphasis on hooks, riffs and classic pop song structures.  

Q: Mother Feather has some pretty significant comparisons to exceptional artists including Bowie and PJ Harvey. Did those artists and their craft influence your music? By the looks of it, would it be safe to guess that KISS is an influence as well?

A: I am absolutely, heavily influenced by PJ Harvey. I recently started doing my homework about KISS because we get the comparison all the time, but I never really knew that much KISS, honestly! I can certainly understand how Kabuki-esque make-up + guitars + a little glitter might add up to a KISS comparison. They're cool, so I'll take it. 

Q: Can we expect a Mother Father tour to follow the release of your sophomore album, Constellation Baby? 

A: We will definitely be hitting some cities we have not played in a while -- Detroit and Philly are up first! 

Q: Thanks again! Looking forward to listening to the new album! 

A: Thanks so much! 

At the moment Mother Feather only have two shows slated, their album release show tonight at Johnny Brenda's in Philly and another record release show on December 6th at The Knitting Factory in New York. More shows should be announced soon, until then you can rock out to Constellation Baby. 

Constellation Baby track-list: 

1. Red Hot Metal 

2. Man, I wish You Were Here 

Mother Feather 

3. ICU 

4. Snakebite 

5. Desert Island 

6. Constellation Baby 

7. Totally Awesome 

8. Shake Your Magic 8 Ball 

9. Supernatural 

10. I Blow a Kiss 

Not quite Cupcakes

What makes a cupcake? When you get right down to it cupcakes are small cakes. So can little confections that aren't baked in a muffin tin and adorned with frosting still be considered a cupcake? Maybe not technically but if they have some of the same characteristics as a cupcake that's good enough for me to review.

You might not know it from reading my blog but I work a lot of music festivals. I usually don't review the festivals I work because I am too busy working.

But, here's a review on some tasty treats I had while working Pilgrimage Music Festival in Franklin, Tennessee and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, California. 

Because music isn't the only thing that surrounds me when I'm on-site.

Every morning before load-in for the 4th annual Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival, a co-worker and I stopped at 5 Daughters Bakery. Located in a huge warehouse turned up-scale, in-door strip-mall called The Factory, this 5 Daughters location was conveniently en route to Franklin's Park at Harlinsdale Farm where the festival is held. My jaw dropped to the floor when I walked into the shiny and bright bakery for the first time: the sight and smell of all the donuts, cinnamon buns and fresh baked bread stopped me in my tracks and kicked my salivary glands into turbo mode. Chuckling, the guy behind the counter asked if it was my first time there as I tried to casually compose myself. He proceeded to tell me that all of their raised donuts get their fluffiness from the 130 layers of flakey, fresh crossiant inside each one and that they call them the "100 layer" donuts because "100" sounds better (and is easier) than "130". And, no they do not call their 100 layer donuts cronuts at Five Daughters Bakery.

100 layer donut display @ Five Daughters Bakery in Franklin, Tennessee
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The first half of the counter-top display  were all filled donuts, the second half was all 100 layer donuts, then other morning pasteries, vegan donuts and gluten-free donuts. All of their goodies are hand-crafted fresh everyday and the five staple 100 layer flavors are available year round.
With locations in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida this Cali gal had big decisions to make.
The first fateful morning I went the safe route and got the Purest, a 100 layer donut with a simple vanilla glaze so I could really experience what Five  Daughters was all about with out flavorful frostings and fillings overwhelming my taste-buds. I also got a vegan maple glaze donut because I love maple and go big or go home, right?
(none of the vegan selection is 100 layer, they're cake based donuts)
On our second trip in I got the donut that caught my eye the morning before. The one with little dollops of whipped cream sitting on top of romantic pink frosting topped with pastel rainbow soy sprinkles. The malted strawberry milkshake. It looks like a cupcake.

Malted Strawberry Milkshake 100 layer donut  @ Five Daughters Bakery
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The generous layer of thick frosting was sweet, tickled with tartness just like a juicy strawberry. Possibly the best whipped cream I've ever had in my life was heavy but not dense like it was whipped to perfection with buttermilk. Definitely home-made and not store bought because of the way it melted slowly with each bite. The light croissant innards encased in a lightly toasted "glaze donut" sugar coated shell were almost un-recognizable as a croissant. The richness of the frosting and whipped cream was delightfully delicate made my taste-buds dance with every amazingly tasty bite.








Not even halfway through I could feel the rush of sugar pumping through my veins. The malted strawberry milkshake 100 layer donut is the most delicious donut I have ever had the joy of eating.
On our third and final stop the day before show day 1 I got the same donut my co-worker had gotten the two previous days: the sweet-corn custard filled blueberry glaze 100 layer donut. Quite a mouthful, right? I know. It was my first filled donut from Five Daughters and like the others it was delicious of course but not as delicious as the mouth watering malted strawberry milkshake donut in my book. These last two flavors must be seasonal flavors (this was in September) because they're not listed on the website now (November). I can't wait to have them in my mouth again!

Churro Muffin @ Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass hosted their 18th annual three day festival October 5th, 6th and 7th in Golden Gate Park. It's free to attend but the food isn't free. Out of all the food vendors this year there were only two selling coffee and one of those was the DRIP! food trailer. Situated along JFK Drive between the Roster Stage and the Swan Stage DRIP! had long lines from the brisk, dewy mornings through the warm Autumn afternoons all weekend long. On Sunday, the last show day, I check in on DRIP! to see how they were doing.








When I turned to leave the small plastic display case next to the window where you place your order caught my eye and stopped me in my tracks.
A churro muffin?! I had to have one, so, I got one.

Churro Muffin @ Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The muffins that the DRIP! coffee trailer sells are actually from Third Culture Bakery in Berkeley.
Dark golden brown on the outside and gooey on the inside the churro muffin had a texture surprisingly similar to that of a churro. It wasn't crunchy like that of the fried-dough pastry are but it was covered in white sugar.  It's flavor was mild, not too sweet at all with maybe a hint of cinnamon if that. I wanted to save it to have with a cup of hot coffee like they do in Spain where the churro originated but I couldn't wait and gobbled it up lickity split.

When work keeps you too busy to review cupcakes, you do what you got to do.