Lukas Nelson @ Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park 10/2/2026

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Music Festival in SF's Golden Gate Park has been held in early October for the last 26 years. Admisssion to the family friendly event is free and the diverse line-up offers tunes that are hardly, strictly bluegrass music, hence it's name. Bluegrass to folk, country to rock, blues to soul and just about everything in between, like the city that hosts it, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass welcomes it all. 

I had the privilege of working the festival from 2017 - 2024 (minus the Covid years) and it was one of my favorite ones to work: the staff is chill, the setting is beautiful, vibes are high through out the park, the weather is usually sunny and warm(er), the music ends at 7:00pm when the sun starts to set and it takes place in SF, the heart of the Bay Area of which I am a native. Before I started working HSB, I attended it. Over the years I'd meet up with my dad, who'd be there all day, to catch a set or two with him. In 2014 my cousin and I saw Social Distortion play the Towers of Gold Stage and by no surprise, it was super packed. That was the coolest, biggest non-bluegrass/bluegrass adjacent band that have played HSB that I've seen. 

Sadly, I wasn't able to work it last year but this year was a different story. My schedule allowed me to go to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and I was delighted! 

Lukas Nelson at HSB 10/2/2026 
photo by Curtis DeMartini

The line-up is announced in waves leading up to the festival with single day schedules usually dropping a week beforehand. With six different stages sprawled across Golden Gate Park's Hellmen Hollow area it can be a daunting task to  navigate through thick crowds that the free fest draws in order to see different acts. I searched for one or two artists I'd be interested in seeing and when my eyes landed on the name Lukas Nelson, Willie Nelson's son, that was it. He was the one I wanted to see. 

Of course there were a few others over the weekend like Mavis Staples, Emmylou Harris and last minute addition, Robert Plant but after seven straight months of working shows, I couldn't risk burn out. Plus, the last time my dad and I saw Lukas Nelson live is when he joined his dad on stage at The Fillmore. Unlike my dad who's seen Lukas' band, Promise of the Real, ten or so times, I myself had never seen him on his own. 

Mary Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives  at HSB 10/2/2026 
photo by Curtis DeMartini

Lukas Nelson was scheduled to close out day one of HSB 2026 on the Swan Stage. Before his set started at 6:00pm, my dad and I caught another band that my dad really wanted to see across the way on the Banjo Stage, Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives. It was good to be back in GGP and not be working a music festival. As hoped, it was a sunny, warm afternoon but the absence of SF's notourious micro-climates, especially around the park, was a little unsettling.  

Mary Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives  at HSB 10/2/2026 
photo by Curtis DeMartini

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives had a fun, animated, engaging set and sounded great. That's another thing about HSB, it's plain to see that all of the artists are genuinely happy to be there, having a grand ol' time time playing for the HSB crowd. They covered two Rolling Stones songs "Shake Your Hips" (which is a  Slim Harpo cover) and "Wild Horses". 

I'd learn later that apparently those were two of Dolly Parton's favorite Stones songs and they covered them in honor of her that day. My dad is the biggest Stones fan that I know, so naturally I too am a fan and needless to say, we were both jazzed to be there for those covers. 

I also learned that Marty himself was at one time a member of Johnny Cash's touring band and that he's a five time Grammy Award winner. 

Mary Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives  at HSB 10/2/2026 
photo by Curtis DeMartini

There was plenty of time for us to leisurely stroll over to the Swan Stage in Marx Meadow off of JFK Drive. Since it was Friday evening there wasn't as much foot traffic as there would be on Saturday and Sunday. 

Weaving our way through people who were camped out with blankets and lawn chairs, a standard occurance at HSB, we were able to get a good viewing spot house left. 

Moments before they took the stage, we could see Lukas and the band taking group photos and having a quick huddle before their set. That's how laid back this music festival is, fans can get behind the scenes glimpses and no one seems to cause a fuss about it. 

His band, Promise of the Real, annouced a 15 year hiatus in 2024 so that Lukas could focus on his solo career but low and behold he opened with "Fool Me Once" which is a Promise of the Real song. In a camoflauge trucker hat, brown jacket, blue jeans and cowboy boots he looked the part of a modern day, unpretentious, country music singer. I couldn't help think about his dad, the legendary Willie Nelson, as I watched Lukas perform. How he had grown up watching his dad playing guitar and singing and now here he was doing the same thing, which got me thinking about how my dad's love of music influenced me. 

Lukas Nelson at HSB 10/2/2026 
photo by Curtis DeMartini

The set was filled with lots of songs about love: falling in love, being in love, falling out of love and being heartbroken. A different kind of love song about cultivating love rather than hate and fear "Turn Off the News (Build a Garden)" at the start of the set was well received given the frightful and often heart wrenching times America has faced during the second Trump administration as it wreaks havoc on American democracy. Visibly pouring his heart into his performance, Lukas' face contorted while he sang and intently played the guitar. Speaking of guitar, there was many rotations of different guitars and bass guitars throughout the set. Shout out to the gal who stood out as a guitar tech in the wings of house right who may very well have been the only female crew member. 

Lukas Nelson at HSB 10/2/2026 
photo by Curtis DeMartini

The crowd had multiplied in size since my dad and I had gotten there, filling the entire field back to the row of food vendors and spilling onto JFK Drive. Lukas addressed the crowd directly a couple times, keeping his focus on giving us a robustly wholehearted show. The set was filled with original songs including one of my personal favorites from Promise of the Real that I remember seeing him play when he joined his dad on stage at The Fillmore years ago "(Forget About) Georgia". He had the crowd cheering when he sang the lyric that mentions the city by the bay, "we made love for the first time in a hotel in San Francisco". 
The highlights of the set were two cover songs midway through: Tom Petty's "American Girl" which had the everyone around me, inlcuding me, singing along and his dad's song "Bloody Mary Morning".  There were moments when he'd let loose and get down by jamming with band mates, even giving us a little leg flail and jump near the end. 

Lukas Nelson at HSB 10/2/2026 
photo by Curtis DeMartini

Golden hour fell upon Golden Gate park, casting an amber hue over Lukas and his band as they wrapped up their set. It was a beautiful ending to show day one of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2026. 

I'm very grateful I got to see Willie Nelson and Willie Nelson's son live with my dad. He really wanted to see Molly Tuttle who played at the same time but he saw Lukas Nelson with me instead. 

As we all get older and life around us gets busier and busier, it's important to slow down and make memories with loved ones doing things that make us happy. Live music has always made my dad happy and that's something he passed on to me. Getting to go to shows together is something I don't take for granted, especially this one. A father and a daughter watching a son of one of the greatest country musicians of our time, priceless. 

Save the dates! Hardly Strictly Bluegrass returns next year on October 7th, 8th and 9th!

set-list 10/2/2026 

1. Fool Me Once 

2. The Last Wild River 

3. Pretty Much 

4. Just Outside of Austin

5. Turn Off the News (Build a Garden)

6. (Forget About) Georgia

7. American Girl - Tom Petty cover 

8. Ladder of Love 

9. Bloody Mary Morning - Willie Nelson cover 

10. Carolina 

11. Die Alone

12. Find Yourself 

13. Set Me Down on a Cloud 

Dressed Up for Halloween: Moonbridge Doughnut Studio in LB

I didn't know Moonbridge Doughnut Studio in LB even exsisted until a couple weeks ago when a friend sent me a photo of a variety box of cute doughnuts she got from there. Upon further investigation, it turns out that this boutique doughnut studio has fancy looking doughnuts specifically geared toward Halloweeen festivities which piqued my intrest even more. Without further ado, it was time to trick or treat myself. 

It's a quaintly charming store front tucked in a unassuming small strip mall. One of each doughnut, or thereabouts, is out on display then plucked from the back and boxed up for take away once you place your order. 

All of the Fall Line Up doughnuts and Moonbridge Doughnut Classics were out along with a few other different themed ones. Beyond the cuteness of how they're dressed up, all of the mouth watering and somewhat unique flavors make it that much harder to choose. 

They all look so good and sound yummy. It boiled down to a tough choice between the Scream and Poison Apple Fall Lineup and the Sprinkle Bomb and Coffee and Cigarettes off of the Moonbridge Doughnut Classics list. To mix my flavor palate  up a little bit I chose the latter on both fronts.  

Poison Apple doughnut from Moonbridge in LB
photo by Nikki DeMartini

To be honest, it was the Poison Apple medallion that caught my eye. The red and green are so bright and the green even has a little shimmer to it. Apparently that and the fact that the Scream doughnut are vanilla was all that I could see. There was no discription of flavors on display but for whatever reason I had apple on the brain. Apple flavor had to be part of the Poison Apple doughnut right? Apple filling. Apple icing. Something. 

Wrong. 

Nothing. 

Poison Apple doughnut from Moonbridge in LB
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I was tricked by this treat! 

The Poison Apple medallion turned out to be white chocolate, not fondant, which was a nice surprise but not apple. The Biscoff cumbs covering the out side of the doughnut are very fine and light giving the doughy doughnut a little bit of a crunchy juxtoposition. But it wasn't enough. The seductively sweet carmalized tatse of beloved Biscoff cookie was lost in every mouthful. 

For all intent and purposes both doughnuts are raised doughnuts as opposed to cake doughnuts. These aren't tradional raised doughnuts, though. These are brioche doughnuts. 

Brioche is a French bread enriched with eggs, butter, milk and a pinch of sugar making for a dense yet soft, slightly sweet, thick and rich bread that is scrumptiously close to being in the pastry family.  So close in fact that some consider it a pastry/bread hybrid. 

Poison Apple and Coffee & Cigarettes doughnuts from Moonbridge  in LB
photo by Nikki DeMartini

As soon as I sunk my teeth into the chewy mouthful of the Poision Apple doughnut I remembered my friend had said that Moonbridge doughnuts reminded her of Challa, a delicious traditonal Jewish bread. Yeast-leavened enriched, Challa has a lighter, softer texture that Brioche but the two are still very similiar and as previously stated, delicious. 

Next up, Coffee and Cigarettes, which is also the name of a great independent film featuring a slew of actors and  musicians. 

Coffee and Cigarettes doughnuts from Moonbridge in LB
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The way this doughnut is decorated is phenomenal. On top of the Vietnamese Coffee icing is piece of Italian breadstick half of which has been dipped in white chocolate, smudged with red frosting and some crushed Oreo sprinkled on top of the doughnut to look like ash. It is very aesthetically pleasing, however, I removed the breadstick cigarette before eating the doughnut. In no way is this doughnut bad but more of the Vietnamese Coffee icing would do it some good. For as over dressed as these super cute doughnuts are, they miss the mark on flavor. 
 And they're not cheap. Prices are not advertised so beware! Female owned by co-owners Kim & Anabelle, this artisial bakery was born out of a shared story of grief and hope to celebrate curiousity and wonder. That's something worth supporting, maybe not everyday but no one should be eating doughnuts everyday. 

Moonbridge Doughnut Studio keeps rolling out more spooktacular looking doughnuts all dressed up for Halloween that are sure to make every ghoul and goblin smile when they see them. 

Robyn Sexistential Tour @ The Forum 9/23/2026

Kia Forum 9/23/2026 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

When a girlfriend in the same age group as me asked if I wanted to try to see Robyn at one of her two shows at KIA Forum I said yes right away. Not because I'm a huge Robyn fan but because it was a guarenteed good time and I was waaaaay over do for a ladies night, dancing, smiles, good vibes and live music of my own choosing. We snagged resonably priced tickets with a not completely shitty view of the stage on September 23rd, the show added by popular demand ahead of her September 24th show. 

The 47 year old pop senstation released her debut album, Robyn Is Here, 31 years ago. Thirty one years! Her ninth studio album, Sexistential dropped on March 27th, 2026 bringing her back into the public eye eight years after her eighth studio album Honey. The new album came nearly a decade after her 2010 albums, Body Talk, Body Talk pt. 1 and Body Talk pt.2 made the Swedish singer a globally known popstar. As the nostalgia wave of reboots and sequels surfacing decades later continues, fans eagerly welcomed her back to the scene yearning to be brought back to better, simpler, hopeful times we remember from the mid 2000s. 

The show started with the silhouette of the star who was behind a thin veil covering the stage keeping her and her band under wraps. Moments after the music started, in a flurry of bright strobe lights, she emerged between two pieces of flowy fabric to a roaring crowd and we were off!

Electrically mesmerizing from the get go, Robyn mercilessly carried the show all on her own. In an instant everyone around us was up on their feet. Her sweet, breathy voice never altered as she worked the stage and she worked it: strutting, singing, rolling around, seductivley using her mic stand as a prop. A vision of owning your power, Robyn had everyone in the venue in the palm of her hand and we loved it. There were solo spot light moments but for the most part the stage and the floor were drenched in alternating bright lights and pulstating strobes. She threw in a few wardrobe changes that got hotter and hotter as she dared to bare more of her physique while her songs continued to bare more of her heart and soul. 

Robyn @ Kia Forum 9/23/2026 
photo by Anne Ngo

She candidly shared that she used to feel embarassed for writing sad love songs but having a baby shifted her perspective about it. After two long standing relationships ended in heartbreak, at 44 years old and as a single mother, Robyn had a baby boy thanks to IVF in 2022. Talk about owning your power. 

Robyn @ Kia Forum 9/23/2026 
photo by Anne Ngo

 

She  did a cover of The XX song, "Life", a sort of mash-up of her song "Don't Fucking Tell Me What To Do" mixed in with Britney Spears and Madonna's "Me Aganist the Music" coupled with "My Neck, My Back" by Khia and accoustic versions of "Be Mine!" and "Show Me Love". Even though the tour was in support of her latest album, the 21 song set only included a handful of new songs while the rest was comprised of selections from across her catalog.

Ending her three song encore under a shower of glitter on an otherwise dark stage, Robyn herself was moved to tears when her backing band peeled back the music and the crowd sang the whole chorus to her hit single, "Dancing On My Own". She wasn't the only one moved to tears as my own eyes started welling up. Turning to my friend, we saw that we were both fighting back happy, feel good tears. It was quite a moment. It was quite a show. It took me by surprise how earnestly good Robyn is live and I'm so glad I didn't miss it. 

Robyn @ Kia Forum 9/23/2026 
photo by Anne Ngo 

The North American leg of the Sexistential tour came to an end when she headlined night one of the  fifth annual Portola Music Festival in San Francisco. 

Millennials in Italy and Australia get ready for a heartfelt show when Robyn heads your way at the end of the month and late November.

set-list 9/23/2026 

1. Blow My Mind

2. Fembot

3. Talk To Me

4. Hang With Me

5. Ever Again

6. Dopamine

7. Honey

8. Life

9. Don't Fucking Tell Me What To Do

10. Sexistential

11. Really Real

12. Love Kills

13. Be Mine!

14. Show Me Love

15. Light Up

16. Sucker For Love
17. Industructable
18. With Every Heartbeat 

Encore

19. Missing U

20. Call Your Girlfriend

21. Dancing On My Own 

Celebrating Dolly Parton on 9 to 5 Day 9/25/2026

 Today is 9/25 and we're celebrating the life and legacy of Dolly Parton. 

Dolly Parton's star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
photo by Nikki DeMartini

9 to 5 is of course the movie released in 1980 starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin centered around three working women who team up to overthrow their tyrannical, chauvinistic, sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical, bigot boss. Parton's character, Doralee, a sassy Southern Belle, isn't a far cry from the real Dolly. Her beauty and confidence are judged and misunderstood resulting in being shunned by co-workers because they believe she is sleeping with the boss. She doesn't let that stop her or dim her sparkle though. 

The three empowered working women eliminate their boss's toxic work environment and implement revolutionary, progressive workplace policies, including: equal pay for equal work, flexible, staggered working hours, an on-site employee daycare center and desk decorations to boost morale. By the end of the movie Doralee leaves to become a successful country singer. A clear testamate of sisterhood and girl power, of fighting for something you believe in for the greater good, of selflessness, of perseverance. These are all qualities and contirbutions we saw and got from Dolly Parton throughout her life long career.
The movie was Dolly Parton's feature film acting debut and it's theme song, the hit single "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton herself was released shortly before the movie was. The rhythm and typewriter clacking sound in the beginning of the song were famously created by Dolly tapping her own long acrylic nails together on the set. 

Dolly's talents started shining long before her film debut. 

Born into a humble beginning on January 19th, 1946 (shout out to Capricorn ladies) Dolly Rebecca Parton was birthed in a one room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Center Center in East Tennessee. She was number 4 out of the 12 children Avie Lee Carolina and Robert Lee Parton had. 

When she was little girl, Dolly began singing on local radio and television programs in the East Tennessee area. When she was just 10 years old she appeared on The Cas Walker Show on WIVK Radio and WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee. Three years later at age 13, Dolly recorded the single "Puppy Love" for the Louisiana label, Goldband Records and performed  at the Grand Ol' Orpy for her first time. Ten years after her first appearance, Dolly Parton was officially inducted as a member of  the Grand Ol' Opry. 

Her mom had a way of keeping all of her children entertained with Smokey Mountain folklore and old world ballads. It's because if this that Dolly would later cite her own musical abilities to her mother's influence. Johnny Cash introduced her at her first appearance at the Grand Ol' Opry on July 25th, 1959 and is rumored to have encouraged the young musician to follow her instincts regarding her career. As we all came to know, Dolly took that recommendation and ran with it.   

Mural on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee
photo by Nikki DeMartini

 At age 19 she signed with Monument Records where she was initially pitched at a bubblegum pop singer but that didn't stick. In 1966 she released her first country single "Dumb Blonde" and in 1967 came her first full length solo album, Hello, I'm Dolly. Her 1973 single, the now world famous "Jolene" catapulted her solo career to the height of success. 

Dolly had arrived into her stardom and our hearts. 

Her life long career gave us 49 solo albums from 1967 - 2023 and 18 collabrative albums from 1968 - 2024. Countless musicians have covered her songs over the years, most noteably was Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You" for the movie, The Bodygaurd. 

Music wasn't Dolly's only talent. 

In the 1960's and 1970's she was on the Porter Wagoner Show along with having two short lived variety TV shows of her own: Dolly! from 76 to 77 and Dolly from 87 to 88. Her first leading role was in 1980's  9 to 5  which landed her nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy and a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress. The film's now iconic title track, written & sung by Parton, was nominated  for an Academy Award for Best Song and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. The song earned her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. 

Her second nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy came in 1982 for her role in the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas while 1984's Rhinestone along side Sylvester Stallone was a box office flop. 

Poster at Ryman Auditorium 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

She appeared in movies like Steel Magnolias, A Smoky Mountain Christmas and Wild Texas Wind to name a few. She also had a slew of TV appearances including but certainly not limited to: PeeWee's Play House, The Beverly Hillbillies, Designing Women, Reba, The Simpson's, an episode of the Magic School Bus and Hannah Montana playing "Aunt Dolly" to her real life goddaughter  Miley Cyrus, who was the star of the show. 

Last year I had a few days off in Nashville and treated myself to a guided tour of the iconic Ryman Auditorium. Once home to the Grand Ol' Opry, the converted church still hosts live concerts there to this day. In 1974 the Grand Ol' Opry  moved venues yet again which means Dolly's Opry debut and induction performances both took place at the Ryman. She wasn't the only country music legend who performed there. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Merl Haggard, Elvis Presley and many more graced the historic Ryman stage. 

Outside of Ryman Auditorium 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Being in the same space where all of those greats had performed gave me goose bumbs. Walking the dressing rooms backstage I couldn't help but think how cool it would be to work a show there. To set dressing rooms in a place like that with all of that history would be a thrill and an immence honor. For me the best part of the tour was two fold:

Ryman Auditorium stage
photo by Nikki DeMartini

1. We got to go on the stage and learned that the first 18 inches of the stage, the lighter colored planks, is wood from the stage of the original Ryman Opry. Dolly herself and all of those Country, Blue Grass, Folk music greats could have stood right there on those same planks.

2. Learning about the woman behind bringing the Ryman Auditorium to life after the then the Union Gospel Tabernacle fell into debt. A legend in her own regard, Lula C Naff served as the General Manager from 1920 - 1955. She was a fiesty bussiness woman, strongly driven by her vision which at first didn't include the Grand Ol' Opry. Naff was not a fan of the what she called "hillybilly music" that was widely taking over Nashville but her sharp sense as a bussiness woman had her change her tune. Naff welcomed the Opry and all it's variety of acts to her venue in 1943 and that's where it stayed for the next 31 years.

Dolly and Lula may have been cut from the same cloth: headstrong on getting what they wanted all the while staying true to themselves and their vision. 

Ryman Auditorium 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

Dolly was truly one of a kind, though.
As big as her fame got she didn't let it corrupt her. 

A southern belle with that sweet Tennessee twang who loved her roots and was proud of where she came from. The big blonde hair, flashy fits, colorful make up and of course her mountainous bust brought judgement. She hada great sense of humor about it all, warding off others hate with a smile. 

Perseverance in the face of adversity and criticism was nothing new to Dolly Rebecca Parton. Her autobiographical song "Coat of Many Colors" tells the true story of a (her) mom making (her) a coat out of scraps of cloth because they were too poor to afford to buy a new coat. Kids at school made fun of the girl (her) and her coat of many colors but she kept her head high and proudly wore her coat of many colors. Years later, Dolly would go on to write a children's book of the same name.  

She blazed trails on her own terms and she had so much love to give. She loved everyone, unconditionally, and wanted everyone to feel her love. She personified the "right kind of Christian". And she wasn't afraid to celebrate herself, opening Dollywood in 1986, a 165-acre theme park co-owned of course by Dolly herself.  Two years later, in 1988, she created the Dollywood Foundation as a source of inspiration for children in her home county to achieve educational success.

Dolly Parton's outfit on display at Ryman Auditorium
photo by Nikki DeMartini

She launched the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in 1995 as a  tribute to her dad who couldn't read, Dolly wanted to give as many kids a chance to learn to read. Her Imagination Library is a book-gifting program that mails one free, age-appropriate book every month to children from birth until they turn five years old, regardless of their family's income. 

She was an ally for the queer community and didn't hide it. Her advocacy which spanned decades, was rooted in a personal philosophy of unconditional love, acceptance, and a refusal to judge. She co-produced the Academy Award-winning 1989 documentary Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt about the AIDS Memorial Quilt. She wrote and performed "Travelin' Thru" for the transgender-focused film Transamerica, earning herself another Oscar nomination and aslo featured a queer family storyline in her Netflix series, Dolly Parton's Heartstrings.

Ryman Auditorium 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

In 2020, she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, funding critical early research that helped develop the Moderna vaccine.

She's donated money to families in need who endured natural distasters over the years. 

Her latest and possibly last venture while she was still an angel on Earth is Cup of Ambition Coffee set to open in Tennessee September 29th, 2026 before being available nation wide. She partnered with the historic, family-owned Community Coffee. Their collaboration is built on a mutual appreciation for family, authentic connection, warmth, and a strong, hardworking spirit.

How very Dolly. 

Parton kept the terminal illness she had private from the public eye, like her long time marriage to Carl Thomas Dean, so the news of her passing on August 25th came as a surprise. It hit at a time when America is the furthest thing from being united. With all of the hate we've been witnessing and living in these days, losing her and all of her love struck a nerve. 

We know that Dolly will always love us, as heavy as our hearts may be without her here

and we can all take a page out of her book for the greater good and to keep her spirit alive. 

We will always love you, Dolly. 

Lost Weekend listening party

 As last weekend wittled down I discovered that Phoebe Bridgers released a new single teasing the release of a new album. Once she had people's attention she annouced listening parties of that upcoming album at plaentariums in various cities all over starting on Monday. Intrigued and in need of blog post material, as well as some inspiring motivation, I happily paid the small fee for a spot at one of those parties.

Lost Weekend album cover 

It was a hot August afternoon in sunny Southern California and traffic was a breeze from Long Beach to Orange Coast College, where I'd be listening to Phoebe's new album under the dome of the campus's planetarium. Who needs The Sphere? 

I had listened to the new single "Lost Boys" a handful of times and liked it. It's upbeat but still has those charismatic pings of sadness weaved throughout it, Miss Bridgers' signature style if you will. As new songs preceedeing a new album usually do, it made me ponder if she'd dance down the same path or veer somewhere new. 

Orange Coast College Planetarium 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

This specific listening party location had multiple time slots for the event, giving everyone wanting to go the chance to go. I got there a few minutes early and got checked in by the friendly student staff  who diligently checked my bag for any and all electronic devices, specifically recording ones.  "We don't want anyone leaking anything". This is not the first time Phoebe Bridgers has done a no phone thing. Her recent $1 show at MSG was also phone free. While I'm sure she didn't want her new album leaked, the whole idea behind no phones allowed (at shows) is an effort to get people to live in the moment. If you've been to concert or live event recently, you understand why. Artists have been banning phones at concerts for years now and the trend is slowly getting more trendy.
With a max capacity of about 120-130, a few seats where still open when they house lights went down and the projected image of Phoebe above us disapeared. It was time to experience a Lost Weekend listening party. 

Before the music and accompaning laser art show started, a voice filled the room around us. It was her, Phoebe Bridgers. I wouldn't have recognized her speaking voice if she hadn't introduced herself. She said hi and welcomed us to the listening party for her new album Lost Weekend, explaining that her "stoner parents" took her to planetariums all the time when she was a kid. She giggled and thanked us before saying  " I love you. K bye". It was a real. It was awkward. It was genuine. It was Phoebe. 

A single turquoise green line stretched across the ceiling as a voice with lots of distortion brought us into the Lost Weekend. It gave a sense of being talked to from an unknown diety the way it surrounded us, engulfing our sense of sight and sound. It wasn't exactly a song being sung, nor a poem being read but something in between. The green line bouncing, bending, explanding and shrinking as each word was delivered.
Heavy with a cinematic feel, it ended with the album title projected over us. It hit like an intro and it worked: I wanted to hear more and was excited for the rest of the planetarium listening experience. 

The first single "Lost Boys" is the second song on the album. Giving us a touch of familiarity as we enter further into the Lost Weekend. 

The third song emphasizes on guitar, in a strumming fashion rather riffs and it's tempo is considerably slower than "Lost Boys". As I sat there listening and watching images morph from something into another a heavy feeling weighed on me unexpectedly and out of nowhere. It was heavy like a heartache. I know Phoebe's music is deep but there was something more lingering beneath the sad girl lyrics...what was it? Would it be found in the Lost Weekend? 

The fourth song came off like she was telling us a story. All songs tell a story, some more clearly than others. This is one of the ones that's clearly more storytelling than others. It carries an underlineing industerial beat met with an orchestral break while the songstress bares her vulnerability and humility. That seemed to be a theme of the album, vulnerability and humility. What was she working through?

Song five picks back up a bit and I remember liking it, a lot. I don't remember what it was about or what instruments stood out if any. I only remember liking it and scribbling that down and nothing else about it. A sign of being in the moment. 

Last time we heard from Phoebe was a couple years ago with the triumpant return of boygenius. There was a failed engagement tangled somewhere in there, was that it? 

Each song had its own specific laser art show that went along with it. Some were reminiscent of spirograph art with designs and or drawings spinning or morphing into a different shape or image. Some were little blinking, glowing orbs that would twinkle and orbit above our heads. Some were glowing drawings of birds, ducks, balls rolling around with contstanly changing landscapes. It gave the music life in a way I hadn't experienced before. It was different and it was neat. 

The thing I like most about listening to Phoebe Bridgers' music is the menagerie of instruments that back her hauntingly romantic singing. From guitar, percussion, violin and piano, there are moments it sounds like she has a whole symphony behind her. It's not a big over the top production though, at least it doesn't feel like it.

Somewhere in the middle or maybe more toward the end of the album, an audio clip played. It was a voicemail Phoebe's dad had left for her. He was just calling to check in and say hi "I know you're busy out there being a rockstar", he said before saying I love you and fading into the next song. It made me think of my Dad and how life on the road is busy. It can sweep you up and divide you into two: road you and off the road you.  It tugged on my heartstrings, perhaps because I'm a daddy's girl. 

As Phoebe Bridgers' albums do, so to does this new one eb and flow from slow to more upbeat tempos. It's kind of all over the place yet it's calm and collected at the same time. Somehow Lost Weekend feels more melancholy than her other albums. Is that just a sign of the times?

The glaring sun welcomed us back outside as our listening party exited as the next one filtered in.  Walking to my car I overheard two friends chatting about the listening party and the album when one of them said "I forgot her Dad died".
That was it. That was the thing deep down under the surface.
That was the heartache. 
Phoebe Bridgers lost her Dad in January 2023. It was only a couple months before the release of the now critically acclaimed, Grammy Award winning boygenius album, record and subsequent tour following its release. This is her grieving that loss. Imagine such a happy, celebratory, exciting time on the excruciating heels of the gaping loss of a loved one. I would feel lost navigating that, too. Crashing back to earth into a different reality than what you’ve known after a riding that high then left trying to figure it out: life, death, yourself. 

To me Lost Weekend serves as a sort of open letter from Phoebe to her dad.  Maybe I'll feel differently when I listen to it in full again after it is officially released on Friday. 

September 15th is the first show of the Lost Weekend tour, bringing the indy queen all over North America before the final two shows over Halloweeen weekend. She's hitting the road with Alex G and no phones will be allowed at any of the shows. Get ready to be in the moment and enjoy, "Lost Weekend". 

Lavender Flan Cupcake from San & Wolves in Long Beach

 Back in Febuary it came to my attention that the vegan Filipino bakery not far from where I live, San & Wolves, was going to have a cupcake for one day only. This wasn't just any cupcake either. This was a Lavender Flan Cupcake. 

Lavender has been a popular flavor for a little while now and I've had, and reviewed, a lavender cupcake or two but this was the first time I had ever even heard of or seen a flan cupcake. Not only is flan delicious, it holds a special place in my heart because if an inside joke and shared love of it with one of my best friends. I made sure that the next day I would get one of those Lavender Flan Cupcakes and I did. 

With it's healthy helping of pretty lavender colored frosting and a fresh piece of lavender cradling a silver doller sized piece of flan, this is one of the prettiest cupcakes I've ever seen. And at eight dollars a pop, it's one of the most expensive cupcakes I've ever bought. 

Lavender Flan Cupcake from San & Wolves in Long Beach
photo by Nikki DeMartini

The frosting and the cake both have a freshness that you can taste which always elevates the yumminess of any baked good. The flavor of the vanilla cake was subtle while the cake itself was a perfect ratio of moist and cakey. The flavor of the lavender buttercream frosting was also subtle and the buttercream itself was think and creamy and rich, as a good buttercream frosting should be. The icing on top of the icing on the cake was the real treat. Flan. Flan, fliggity flan.
Though I do wish there was more of the signature carmelized sugar that coats the top of traditional flan, it was tasty none the less. Over all this wasn't an overwhelmingly favorful or sweet cupcake yet it still statisfied my sweet-tooth. And I never would have guessed that was 100% vegan. 

San & Wolves is a locally owned bakery that bakes everything in house, from scratch, daily. They don't have cupcakes regularly so I was happy to pay a little more for this one of a kind cupcake and I''m always happy to support local businesses. 

Lavender Flan Cupcake from San & Wolves in Long Beach
photo by Nikki DeMartini

I waited to post this review in honor of my best friend's birthday which was a couple days ago. She's not in Long Beach so she didn't get to try the Lavender Flan Cupcake from San & Wolves but I told her about it every step of the way: from discovering it's limited time offering to my consumption of it. 

Now we can relive that time I found a flan cupcake and celebrate her and all of the sweetness she brings to life.

The Bride! & Fever Ray

 Maggie Gyenllhaal's major studio feature directorial debut, The Bride! hit theaters on March 6th, a couple days before International Women's Day. Following 2021's critically acclaimed, The Lost Daughter, The Bride! isn't Maggie's first double winner as both screenplay writer and director. Fittingly released over the weekend which falls over the day that celebrates women every where, the eerie, reimangined verison of The Bride of Frankenstein is a story of a feminist uprise of female independence, written and directed by a woman no less. It's cinematic and stylistic. A bit cynical, a little bit gruesome, somewhat spooky with an overall rawness that confronts the constraints of patriarchy realism that have haunted women for forever. 

Supporting the dying art of seeing a movie in the theater by taking myself out on a date to a matinee screening of The Bride! was a delightful treat. In a year's time we got a second helping of a fine gentleman portraying the role of Frankenstein's monster, this time by a long time favorite Christian Bale. The monster, or creature, in Guillermo del Torro's Frankenstein was played by an unrecognizable Jacob Elordi, a performance which garnered the hot young Aussie an Academy Award nomination. At the time of seeing The Bride! I wasn't familiar with the lead actress Jessie Buckley, who later won the Oscar for best actress for her role in Hamnet. I was blown away by her remarkable performance as the split personality of Bride who was as crass as she was sassy. 

I had heard that Fever Ray,  Karin Drejer's spin off solo project of the experimental synth-pop Swedish duo The Knife, had new music featured in the new movie. Sure enough, in February, Fever Ray released two original songs for the soundtrack, "The Lake" and "Wrong Flower". Karin's unique vocals and a creepy cadance similair to that heard from The Knife match the asthetic of The Bride! to a T. Not only did Fever Ray offer two new songs for the movie but Karin also has a cameo appearance in it, performing "The Lake" live in a nightclub scene, which I thought was a fun tie in. Again, their stage persona and general presentation as Fever Ray lend itself swimmingly to the style seen on screen. 

Hauntingly romantic in their own regard, The Bride! and Fever Ray are a testamate to standing to true to who you are regardless of what or who other people want you to be. 

The two new Fever Ray songs can be found on The Bride! soundtrack as well as on their 4 song EP, The Lake/Wrong Flower which features original versions plus cinematic versions of both songs. 

There's buzz swirling that Fever Ray is set to re-release their 2009 self titled debut album on white vinyl sometime soon. Maybe we'll be saying here comes Fever Ray for a second time this year.