The Japanese House at The Fonda Theatre 11/20/2023

On November first, English, indie, dream-pop songstress Amber Mary Bain who's known as The Japanese House embarked on a North American tour of 30 show days. Starting off with a sold-out show in Philly and ending in Boston on December 10th, last week marked the halfway point with four sold-out shows in California, one of which I happened to find myself at.

The Japanese House @ The Fonda Thetare 11/20/2023 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The Fonda was still filling up when I got to the venue last Monday night.  Quinnie was a few songs in as she comfortably positioned herself as an angelic sailor, cooing to the crowd with her sweet folky songs laced with swear words.
The crowd looked to be around my age (middle) and conversations seemed to grow louder the more Quinnie played and as more people showed up. 

Released over the summer on June 30th, the tour is in support of their critically accalimed sophomore album In The End It Always Does. When I gave it my first listen it stirred a resemblence to Boygenius and even HAIM a little bit...something about the riffs and harmonies. The fact that there were a lot of guys at the show that night, seemingly on thier own accord and not in tow with someone else was not lost on me as we waited for the headliner to take the stage. The Japanese House is proving to be a power player on the optomistic "sad-girl" indie trend.

Any space on the floor when the opener left the stage was inconspiculously occupied and before you knew it the place was as stuffed as a Thanksgiving turkey.
 After nearly forty minutes, the change over that didn't want to end finally did! Cheers filled The Fonda as the house lights dimmed and The Japanese House took the stage. The curtains opened up to a minimalistic stage design of one large white, wrinkled sheet stretched out longbehind the 5 piece band with Bain front and center. 

The Japanese House @ The Fonda Theatre 11/20/2023
photo by Nikki DeMartini

For as solemn as her sound can be it was refreshing to see Bain smiling as soon as the room laid eyes on her. She beamed on stage with her guitar in hand and band by her side as they kicked off the set with "Sad to Breathe" a track off the new album. 

It was clear quite quickly that there was good reason for the long change over. The Japanese House sounded impecable. Her vocals, calm amd collected were smooth as butter and the instruments clear and crisp. Causing a stir at the top of the next song, "Touching Yourself" fueled cheers as well as some movement in the crowd. Rainbow colored lights illuminated the white sheet backdrop, lightening the mood of the night. People around me knew the words, becoming cooly jubilent as they quietly sang along. The audience participation sparked a visible bliss on stage between Bain and her mates as well as between her and her fans. 

Bain, still smiling, greeted the LA crowd, expressing that it'd been too long.
In 2019 she released her first LP, Good at Falling,  that was also the last time she played in LA.
Peersonable enough, she went on to introduce the next song, "Something Has To Change" joking at the end of it that something really had to change when she had wrote the song.  

The Japanese House @ The Fonda Theatre 11/20/2023 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

They played a couple songs off the first album before coming back to new stuff and as the sixth song of the night was qued, Bain declared, "this one is for all the queers". "Boyhood" is easily one of my favorite tracks from "In The End It Always Does". It's serene and soothing for easy listening, relatable not only for those in the queer commuinity but anyone on the journey of learning who they are and finding their voice. A delicate song for a delicate dance. 

As promised by Bain herself, the mood shifted to a more meloncaly one before "Friends" picked things back up. I couldn't have been the only one there hoping that The Japanese House would play "Morning Pages", another  favorite off of the new album and I definitely couldn't have been the only one there totally shocked when MUNA, who's featured on the track,  joined The Japanese House on stage to preform the song live!?! Or was I? Being from the Bay I wonder, does this sort of thing happen all the time in LA?
 Everyone there was elated and that wasn't the finale! The Japanese House had six more songs in store for us! 

This show made staying out late on a Monday night well worth it. For as reserved as their sound is, The Japanese House live show will blow you away if they sound anywhere as near as good as they did their headlining show at The Fonda. Friends mentioned that they had tickets to see The Japanese House in San Francisco and Seattle and I them that they were in for a treat! 

The Japanese House @ The Fonda Theatre 11/20/2023 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

set-list 11/20/2023

1. Sad To Breathe 
2. Touching Yourself 
3. Something Has To Change 
4. Follow My Girl 
5. Saw You in a Dream 
6. BoyHood 
7. You Seemed So Happy 
8. Baby Goese again
9. Over There 
10. Friends 
11. Morning Pages (ft. MUNA) 
12. Chewing Cotton Wool 
13. Maybe You're the Reason 
14. Dionne
 
encore
15. Super Trooper (ABBA cover)
16. One for sorrow, two for Joni Jones 
17. Sunshine Baby 

Cupcake muffin from CHÖK in Madrid, Spain

Back in August with a week off between working music festivals,  I decided to treat myself to a week off in Spain!  After I wrapped up load-out at Outside Lands in San Francisco I un-packed and re-packed, as I'm use to, only this time I'd be boarding my very first flights to Europe to meet up with one of my best  friends who was already there!

It was the trip and experience of a lifetime! One I wouldn't have thought for myself a few short years ago. It wasn't something I really planned the way people plan vacations. It was more of an: 

"I'm here, you should come." 

"I want to be there! I can be there on these dates."

 "Let's do it." 

"I'm going to SPAIN!"

The true meaning of  YOLO?
I think it is, yes. 

Guava, Strawberry, Mango cupcake from Chok in Madrid, Spain 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

We did what we do anywhere and everywhere we go together: we ate our way around town, we ate our little hearts out and it was devine. Everything was, and I cannot express this enough, suh good! One trip to Spain and I'm convinced everything is better in Spain and is better for you. Carbs?! Gluten?! Have no fear, over there they process their foods differently with little to no enrichment or fortified vitamins and minerals like foods here in the States (we fortify foods here because Americans don't eat enough fruits and vegetables so manufactuors strip foods of certain nutirents then microdose foods with other stuff). 

On one of our last afternoons in Madrid as we purused our cutsie little neighborhood as it bustled with warm air kissed by never ending sunshine & pleasantly content passerbys, we passed one (of many) cafe type spot with pastries on display in the window. It was in fact a small bakery named Chök the spelling of it's name distinctly similair to a local ice-cream shop Töto. 

Guava, Strawberry, Mango cupcake from Chok in Madrid, Spain 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

My eyes were glued to the window as our walk crept to a crawl and then it happened. My first cupcake sighting in Spain! Only, they're called muffins in Spain! 
These were no muffins. These were in fact cupcakes. 

Are they vegan? I didn't and still don't care either way! I knew what I wanted right away: one of the red ones with orange-ish frosting please and thank you! Though I asked the lady who rang me up about the flavors my excitement for the purchase must have made my thinking a little hazy because no matter how many times she repeated herself I cannot for the life of me remember if it's strawberry cake with gauva jam in the middle or visa versa. However, I do remember that the frosting is mango. Sold! There was no wrapper holding the cupcake in place but rather a melted piece of dark chocolate on the bottom of it of the cupcake. 

Guava, Strawberry, Mango cupcake from Chok in Madrid, Spain 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Oddly enough for me and my enormous sweet tooth, I didn't eat this cupcake right away. "But, your review" my surprised friend inquired. Instead of hosuing it in the fridge for a night I took it out of it's perfectly customized single serving take away box and placed it on a plate on the kitchen counter. As I had the cupcake photo shoot with this one it donned on me that with it's red cakes and it's golden frosting it resembles the flag of Spain! 

Guava, Strawberry, Mango cupcake from Chok in Madrid, Spain 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Come the next day it's frosting was a little stiff so I lived in the moment and dove in, saving the plate of jamon for later. This is the first two-teared cupcake I've had. Sure I've had cupcakes with dollops of yum in the middle but this cupcake was literally a cake of a cupcake cut in half and smeared with fruit jam in the middle. The cake was dense almost like a pound cake, but not and it was buttery but not over saturated like one might expect from a buttery cake in the States. The red hue was deep and consistant through out the whole cupcake though even while eating it I could not tell whether it was strawberry or guava flavored. The thick layer of jam in the middle is Spain's go to sweet fruit spread, filling, flavor guava which meant the cake had to be strawberry. Right? 

When I dove into this cupcake I did so with a knife and fork because it looks like a cupcake that demands to be respectfully eaten with a knife and fork. Also, the frosting made it a pretty tall order and I wanted to taste all of it's flavors all at once all at the same time. So I cut it into bite sized pieces. All of the flavors: mango, strawberry and guava were super light which was just right. It would have been too much if all three were full-on flavor town. The strongest of them was guava, then mango then strawberry. Like the cake, the frosting was also dense and I'm sure it's creamy when fresh. 

None of it was overinduldgent but overall the whole thing was induldgent. That's part of the magic of Spain. No single thing is overindulgent but almost everything is so genuinely beautiful, awe inspiring, inviting and welcoming that you want more, more, MORE! You want it all and you want to take it all in because it's all so good so you don't miss any of it, not a crumb! With each bite sized bite I took I thought to myself, "I'm eating a cupcake...in SPAIN!"

Ladies, pack dresses and sandles when you go to Spain and keep in mind, Barcelona is the hot spot but Chök in Madrid is the place to be! This was a fun trip down memory lane and now I really want to go back to Spain! 

Remember in the beginning of this post when I said a few short years ago I wouldn't have thought I'd be going to Spain? Me? Spain?!
They say money can't buy you happiness but not being able to afford a the bare minimum to live can be a major bummer. And forget about the finer things in life.
 Keep striving to live your best life, whatever that might look like for you. Keep working: work to pay the bills and work on yourself to be your best self so you can live your best life. Everything will fall into place if you move with that intent. The journey won't be straight forward and that's what makes it exciting. Don't forget to rest but don't give up.
How will you find the beauty that's literally all around us and learn how to make the most out of what you've got to live the best life YOU possibly can? Life is not easy but I have learned the hard way that it is also oh so sweet. 

Ready to take that leap whatever it may be? No? 

(that's the perfect time!) 
 Treat yourself to life itself!