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"content": "\u003cp>In the wake of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952460/artists-deface-work-ybca-pro-palestine-protest\">protests\u003c/a>, censorship accusations and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953032/ybca-pro-palestinian-artist-protest-censorship-allegations-boycott\">calls for a boycott\u003c/a> at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), museum interim CEO Sara Fenske Bahat has resigned, the museum’s spokesperson confirmed. [aside label='More YBCA Coverage' postid='arts_13953032,arts_13952460']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a direct result of the events of February 15th and its unending repercussions, I am offering this official notice to immediately resign my position as CEO of YBCA,” Fenske Bahat wrote in a March 3 letter to the art center’s board of directors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fenske Bahat’s resignation arrived as San Francisco County Supervisor Hillary Ronen called for a special hearing to look into the publicly funded arts institution, whose galleries have remained closed since an initial Feb. 15 protest three weeks ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the protest, called Love Letter to Gaza, eight participating artists in YBCA’s \u003cem>Bay Area Now 9\u003c/em> exhibition modified their own works with pro-Palestinian messages. The artists organized the protest in collaboration with Jewish Voice for Peace, U.S. Palestinian Community Network and other groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Honestly, we are disappointed to hear that Sara Fenske Bahat has chosen to resign before meeting with us,” Paz G, an artist who co-organized the protest, told KQED. “Our hope was that YBCA, as a public institution, would take this as an opportunity to be in dialogue, learn from and be accountable to the communities that YBCA is supposed to serve. As a collective we firmly believe in transformative justice, and are really sad to hear that resigning and relinquishing all responsibilities was the CEO’s only response.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public support of the artists has grown since the Feb. 15 protest. On Feb. 27, a group of YBCA staff published an \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdLNnUvnx74rLWZKIJaHUsMt4qOogFrBZ2OIeUjKjM2gblk6Q/viewform\">open letter in support of the artists\u003c/a>, which has since been signed by nearly 600 people, including high-profile figures like Emory Douglas and San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given [that YBCA is] supposed to be a public institution that has nonprofit status, I believe its responsibility is to allow these conversations to happen without interfering as much as they have been,” said artist My-Linh Le, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895904/yerba-buena-center-for-the-arts-announces-ybca-10-program\">YBCA 10 fellow\u003c/a> who signed the letter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the March 5 Board of Supervisors meeting, Ronen referred to YBCA’s actions as censorship. “Instead of making room for perspectives of these artists, YBCA, which promoted the exhibit as showcasing diverse voices, responded alarmingly by shutting down the exhibit,” Ronen said. “These actions translate into no field trips for our high school students and canceled film, dance and art performances for the public at large. It is also concerning to me that all the censored artists are people of color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sheila Chung Hagen, Ronen’s legislative aide, told KQED that the hearing will likely take place in early April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abby Margulies, YBCA’s publicist, told KQED that an interim CEO has not been named, and it is still unknown when the museum will reopen. She said museum leadership still plans to meet with the Love Letter to Gaza artists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to Fenske Bahat’s resignation, YBCA’s board of directors published a statement that condemned the Feb. 15 protest, and specifically the artists’ call to “remove Zionist board members and funders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is not art. That isn’t protest. That is simply wrong and unacceptable,” the letter reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A previous statement from YBCA leadership charged the artists with ethnic and religious discrimination, which protest organizers denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a tactic that is being used against people fighting for a ceasefire and to end the genocide in Palestine. … We’re being essentially painted as anti-Semitic,” artist Paz G said in a previous interview with KQED, adding that Zionism is a political ideology and not a religion or ethnicity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her resignation letter, Fenske Bahat predicted that protesters “will claim victory over my leaving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The vitriolic and anti-Semitic backlash directed at me personally since that night nearly three weeks ago has made being here intolerable,” she wrote. “I no longer feel safe in our own space, including due to the actions of some of our own employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 14 at 5:30 p.m., the Love Letter to Gaza artists plan a public program outside of YBCA, where they will screen print protest posters. They have reached out to the museum’s board for a meeting, and are calling for YBCA to reopen the \u003cem>Bay Area Now 9\u003c/em> exhibition with the altered artworks intact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a developing story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a direct result of the events of February 15th and its unending repercussions, I am offering this official notice to immediately resign my position as CEO of YBCA,” Fenske Bahat wrote in a March 3 letter to the art center’s board of directors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fenske Bahat’s resignation arrived as San Francisco County Supervisor Hillary Ronen called for a special hearing to look into the publicly funded arts institution, whose galleries have remained closed since an initial Feb. 15 protest three weeks ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the protest, called Love Letter to Gaza, eight participating artists in YBCA’s \u003cem>Bay Area Now 9\u003c/em> exhibition modified their own works with pro-Palestinian messages. The artists organized the protest in collaboration with Jewish Voice for Peace, U.S. Palestinian Community Network and other groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Honestly, we are disappointed to hear that Sara Fenske Bahat has chosen to resign before meeting with us,” Paz G, an artist who co-organized the protest, told KQED. “Our hope was that YBCA, as a public institution, would take this as an opportunity to be in dialogue, learn from and be accountable to the communities that YBCA is supposed to serve. As a collective we firmly believe in transformative justice, and are really sad to hear that resigning and relinquishing all responsibilities was the CEO’s only response.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public support of the artists has grown since the Feb. 15 protest. On Feb. 27, a group of YBCA staff published an \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdLNnUvnx74rLWZKIJaHUsMt4qOogFrBZ2OIeUjKjM2gblk6Q/viewform\">open letter in support of the artists\u003c/a>, which has since been signed by nearly 600 people, including high-profile figures like Emory Douglas and San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given [that YBCA is] supposed to be a public institution that has nonprofit status, I believe its responsibility is to allow these conversations to happen without interfering as much as they have been,” said artist My-Linh Le, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895904/yerba-buena-center-for-the-arts-announces-ybca-10-program\">YBCA 10 fellow\u003c/a> who signed the letter. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the March 5 Board of Supervisors meeting, Ronen referred to YBCA’s actions as censorship. “Instead of making room for perspectives of these artists, YBCA, which promoted the exhibit as showcasing diverse voices, responded alarmingly by shutting down the exhibit,” Ronen said. “These actions translate into no field trips for our high school students and canceled film, dance and art performances for the public at large. It is also concerning to me that all the censored artists are people of color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sheila Chung Hagen, Ronen’s legislative aide, told KQED that the hearing will likely take place in early April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abby Margulies, YBCA’s publicist, told KQED that an interim CEO has not been named, and it is still unknown when the museum will reopen. She said museum leadership still plans to meet with the Love Letter to Gaza artists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to Fenske Bahat’s resignation, YBCA’s board of directors published a statement that condemned the Feb. 15 protest, and specifically the artists’ call to “remove Zionist board members and funders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That is not art. That isn’t protest. That is simply wrong and unacceptable,” the letter reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A previous statement from YBCA leadership charged the artists with ethnic and religious discrimination, which protest organizers denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a tactic that is being used against people fighting for a ceasefire and to end the genocide in Palestine. … We’re being essentially painted as anti-Semitic,” artist Paz G said in a previous interview with KQED, adding that Zionism is a political ideology and not a religion or ethnicity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her resignation letter, Fenske Bahat predicted that protesters “will claim victory over my leaving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The vitriolic and anti-Semitic backlash directed at me personally since that night nearly three weeks ago has made being here intolerable,” she wrote. “I no longer feel safe in our own space, including due to the actions of some of our own employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 14 at 5:30 p.m., the Love Letter to Gaza artists plan a public program outside of YBCA, where they will screen print protest posters. They have reached out to the museum’s board for a meeting, and are calling for YBCA to reopen the \u003cem>Bay Area Now 9\u003c/em> exhibition with the altered artworks intact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a developing story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-queer-party-renaissance-brings-new-life-to-downtown-oakland",
"title": "A Queer Party Renaissance Brings New Life to Downtown Oakland",
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"headTitle": "A Queer Party Renaissance Brings New Life to Downtown Oakland | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952711\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarahfe Harris Juarbe, a.k.a. Bruja Fe, dances at the Marimacha dance party in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s 11 p.m. on a recent Saturday, and the dance floor at Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://fluid510.com/\">Fluid510\u003c/a> starts filling up with people in cowboy hats and boots, platforms and mesh, neck tattoos and baggy polos, and head-to-toe leather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here at a new queer party called Marimacha, the DJ, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/xulaquiles/\">Xulaquiles\u003c/a>, switches the vibe from 2000s reggaeton to Kali Uchis’ “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/_h-Vcm7hqb4?si=DJOQZ3r3QjD-JH24\">Dame Beso // Muévete\u003c/a>.” The dancers, mostly women and gender-nonconforming people of every style and expression, react accordingly, going from throwing it back to twirling each other in time with the merengue rhythm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952710\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952710\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victoria Fajardo, a.k.a. DJ Xulaquiles a.k.a. Kiki, plays her set at the Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Marimacha is among an exciting new surge in queer parties right now in downtown Oakland. On any given Friday or Saturday night, clubgoers can walk from drag show to queer cocktail lounge to Afrobeats night to house music party, all within a half-mile radius. Even more queer events — speed dating, kink workshops, board game nights, open mics and food pop-ups — offer a wealth of weeknight and evening options for those who want more than drinking and dancing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952162/oakland-public-safety-crime-commentary\">Downtown Oakland’s struggles\u003c/a> get a lot of airtime. But if you only watch cable news and read Nextdoor posts about bipping and chain store closures, you’ll miss the fact that the Town’s LGBTQ+ nightlife scene is flourishing in ways it hasn’t in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland now boasts at least eight queer venues, many of which opened in the past year. Along with a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/07/oakland-lakeshore-lgbtq-cultural-district-lake-merritt/\">newly designated LGBTQ+ District\u003c/a> near Lakeshore Avenue, this explosion of nightlife has brought new events just as eclectic, creative and politically engaged as Oakland’s queer community itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952709\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952709\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People dance at the Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I feel like there’s a renaissance happening right now,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/beauty_botanica/\">Olivia Bianco-Chaidez\u003c/a>, who co-produced Marimacha. “Things are getting spicier again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#queeroaklandvenuelist\">Jump to: Our list of queer venues in Oakland\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>The lay of the land\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Queer nightlife in Oakland has always been more diverse across race and gender than in San Francisco, whose gayborhood, the Castro, has skewed white and male since becoming a mecca over 50 years ago. And while Oakland has long been a haven for queer and trans people of color, pre-pandemic hangout options were slim; brick-and-mortar establishments one could visit any night of the week numbered at less than a handful. [aside postid='arts_13938947']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>January 2020 saw the closure of two adjoining Broadway venues, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13871726/sf-developer-displaces-club-bnb-and-club-21-reducing-oakland-lgbtq-bars-by-half\">Club BnB and Club 21\u003c/a>, after the landlord doubled the clubs’ rent and replaced them with tech offices. At the time, the closure cut Oakland’s number of queer nightlife venues in half, leaving just the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whitehorsebar/?hl=en\">White Horse\u003c/a> — the North Oakland standby on Telegraph that’s been open since the 1930s — and the drag-and-dancing Broadway hotspot Port Bar, which closed this February, also \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/01/30/oakland-port-bar-closure-landlord-dispute/\">due to a landlord dispute\u003c/a>. (Another landlord dispute forced Bianco-Chaidez and her partner in work and life, Mar Mendoza, who DJs as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dreamsthedj\">Dreams\u003c/a>, to close their underground venue El Afters last fall, though they \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elaftersoakland/\">continue to produce events under that banner\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952707\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Olivia Bianco-Chaidez (left) and Mar Mendoza, a.k.a. Dreams (right), at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. Bianco-Chaidez and Mendoza co-hosted their inaugural Marimacha party, celebrating “the buchona baddies, cunty cabronas, diablo daddies, and all of our sexy community.” \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, against the odds, a flurry of new activity emerged out of the pandemic’s shutdowns. “It was years of turmoil, but also years of envisioning and imagining,” says event producer Yanni Brump, who DJs as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djprincessdxddy/\">Princess Dxddy\u003c/a>. “So now, you see the offspring of that in people’s manifestation of having the events they want, the spaces they want to gather.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Queer-owned cocktail lounge \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friendsandfamilybar/\">Friends and Family\u003c/a> — open to all, but known as a sapphic safe space — launched with to-go service when COVID-19 restrictions began to lift, and now makes a thriving hub on 25th Street for queer chefs, vintners and mixologists. (Its neon-lit bathroom might also be queer Oakland’s most popular dating profile photo backdrop.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2021, Oakland’s downtown also saw the opening of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/quericonightclub/\">Que Rico\u003c/a>, the Latinx-focused venue on 15th Street. It’s home to drag and dancing, as well as parties-with-a-purpose like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/qumbiaqrew/\">Queer Qumbia\u003c/a>, which recently fundraised for Palestinian Youth Movement and Arab Resource and Organizing Center. Also in 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.thebarsummer.com/\">Summer Bar & Lounge\u003c/a> opened its doors in Old Oakland, and now boasts a packed weekly program of karaoke, drag and go-go dancers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Edward Booker (left) pours a drink while Vivi Sousa (right) looks on at Nectar Social Club in Oakland, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s queer nightlife renaissance began to crystalize in 2023, when a critical mass of new venues arrived, catering to a wide array of identities and interests. Across from Que Rico is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nectarsocialclub/?hl=en\">Nectar Social Club\u003c/a>, which celebrated its opening last fall with a sprawling block party produced by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929138/in-oakland-a-drag-fest-for-the-community-by-the-community\">Oaklash\u003c/a>, the progressive drag festival that champions trans performers as well as racial and disability justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since, Nectar’s programming has flourished, with some of the most creative events the Town has to offer. “I focus on people who are doing things that are a little bit alternative, who are building things in a grassroots way, who really understand how to bring together community around whatever creative offering they have,” says owner Jeremy Redford, who DJs as FloridaWTR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951613\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951613\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Redford, owner of Nectar Social Club in Oakland, on Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a recent Friday afternoon, Nectar, which operates as a coffee shop by day and a bar by night, is filled with clusters of friends working on laptops, drawing and gossiping over lattes. After dark, DJ Romii and friends spin house music as a couple makes out in the corner and dancers bop around sipping espresso martinis and mocktails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://feelmoresocial.com/\">Feelmore Social Club\u003c/a> is just a couple blocks away on Broadway — it’s a grown-and-sexy cocktail lounge spin-off of Nenna Joiner’s long-running sex shop of the same name. With vintage erotic art adorning the walls, it welcomes the kinky and curious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we really wanted to bring to the bar landscape was a space where sex-positive people could actually expect and think of when you’re talking about like, ‘Hey, where do we [go] for a poly meetup?’” says Joiner, seated at a barstool while a Sade song plays through the speakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951616\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951616\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nenna Joiner, owner of Feelmore Social Club, on Feb 2., 2024 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last May, Richard Fuentes and Sean Sullivan (the owners of the now-closed Port Bar) opened Fluid510, the aforementioned 250-capacity nightclub next door to Feelmore. As the name might suggest, its programming leans heavily, though not exclusively, queer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a few blocks north toward the Paramount Theater is the elegant, Art Deco-inspired \u003ca href=\"https://www.goingtotownoakland.com/\">Town Bar & Lounge\u003c/a>, whose omnivorous event schedule includes \u003ci>RuPaul’s Drag Race\u003c/i> watch parties, food pop-ups, disco nights and live R&B concerts. On Thursday nights, Town Bar hosts Femme Suite, a weekly Thursday ladies night produced by Dennise Chakra-Kan and Lady Ryan, the power couple behind Lvrgrl at the White Horse and roaming day party The Sweet Spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think me and Ryan definitely have the same vision of curating a space that is safe for our community, and making sure that Black and Brown people are definitely at the forefront of things,” says Chakra-Kan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-scaled.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-800x1000.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1020x1275.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-160x200.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-768x960.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1638x2048.jpeg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1920x2400.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dennise Chakra-Kan and Lady Ryan (left to right) at their Sweet Spot New Year’s Eve party at the White Horse on Dec. 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Stephen Flynn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Ready to mingle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At a day party called Love Spell in February, a distinctly flirty energy buzzes in the room of mostly women at Oakland’s High 5ive Rooftop Bar. Two speed dating rounds — for ages 25-35 and 35+ — just wrapped, and few exuberant folks get the dance floor started. Couples lean in close or sit on each other’s laps, while those who arrived alone browse jewelry and clothing from queer vendors, glancing around in the hopes of making eye contact with an attractive stranger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our age of Tinder, Feeld and Hinge, it turns out meeting in person is back in style. “I think we’re experiencing phone fatigue and app fatigue,” says Montana Hooks, the one-woman team behind events platform and online publication \u003ca href=\"https://www.queerinoakland.com/\">Queer In Oakland\u003c/a>, which co-produced Love Spell. “It’s almost going full circle again to the simpler times before apps totally saturated the way that we connect socially, and it’s fun and it’s novel again. I definitely think that the popularity of mixers and speed dating in queer communities can speak to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953582\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953582\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Montana Hooks of Queer In Oakland at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 18, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hooks, a longtime Oakland resident who grew up in Fremont, started Queer In Oakland because she struggled to find queer community herself after returning to the Bay from a brief stint in Seattle. The project began with a humble Google calendar of event listings in 2017. After throwing some entrepreneurial mixers — and online events during COVID shutdowns — in 2023 Hooks turned her focus to producing parties, which have now flourished into \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/queerinoakland/\">some of the most eclectic queer events\u003c/a> the Town has to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent weeks, she’s put on an indie music night and a mixer for queer creatives at Nectar Social Club, and a house music night that packed out Amber Lounge on a Thursday. On March 9 at Night Heron, there’s Instinct, a sexy dance party with a dark dress code of red, black, leather and fishnets. A singles night for queer and trans people of color called Tease is slated at Sessions on 15th on March 14, followed by a queer cowgirl party called Wild West (co-produced with Reverse Cowgirl) at Fluid510 on March 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953621\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953621\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dancer moves in rhythm as the party gets started on Feb. 17, 2024. The Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 is billed as ‘a friki nite of perreo, reggaeton, cumbias & club music.’ \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As we’re becoming stronger as a queer community, I feel we can take up space now in ways that less marginalized communities don’t even have to give a second thought to,” Hooks says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nectar Social Club is certainly doing its part to strengthen the community on and off the dance floor. Recently, it hosted a photography show and launch party for \u003ca href=\"https://pusseimagazine.com/\">\u003ci>Pussei* Magazine\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, as well as artist Shreya’s exhibition of futuristic paintings inspired by South Asian folklore. Rapper and activist Aima the Dreamer, who co-produces the long-running day party \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wearesoulovely/?hl=en\">Soulovely\u003c/a>, recently launched an open mic night and artist showcase called Groove Gallery, where the night begins with a ritual and freewriting prompt, followed by music and poetry focused on Black and Brown, queer and trans liberation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malik Bey (center) and Ashley Hughes (right) work at their laptops at the bar inside Nectar Social Club on Feb. 2, 2024 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The future seems so uncertain, and we’ve been holding all of these deep political, social, health-based, economic tensions,” Redford says. “And more so than ever, we need community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[We’re] tapping into people who are just really creative and understand how to get people into the moment, how to get people out of their shell,” he adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those people is Brump, a.k.a. Princess Dxddy. The model and fashion-show producer started DJing last year. They connected with Redford through Oaklash’s Skills for Nightlife Accelerator Program and bonded over a love of music with Afro-diasporic rhythms. Earlier this year, Brump debuted Spirit, an Afrobeats, amapiano and global dance music party at Nectar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Music touches parts of our spirit, and allows our innermost worlds to come to the forefront,” says Brump, noting the importance of safe spaces for femmes and gender-nonconforming people. “To allow ourselves to be free is a very spiritual experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a man in white t shirt and necklace DJs with blue lights and a patterned ceiling in the background\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yanni Brump, who DJs as Princess Dxddy, at their Afrobeats and amapiano party Spirit on Jan. 26, 2024 at Nectar Social Club. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Nectar Social Club)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We still gon’ thrive no matter what’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even with all this new activity, downtown Oakland does feel sleepy these days. The First Friday street fair — a major foot traffic driver for businesses — went on hiatus from January to March, citing financial strain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe it’s the rain; maybe it’s grocery and gas prices; maybe it’s safety concerns or shuttered businesses — you’re not really seeing groups of young people hopping from bar to food truck to bar as they did in previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redford points to a new pattern he’s picked up on from event-goers. “The days of people waking up on a Friday and saying, ‘I’m just going to go out in downtown Oakland and walk around’ seem like they’re coming to an end,” he says. “So many people are following and tracking the community leaders [and] builders who they feel aligned with, and they’re putting on their calendars the events … that really resonate with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953622\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarahfe Harris Juarbe, a.k.a. Bruja Fe, towls off during a break from dancing at the Marimacha dance party in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. Harris Juarbe said they had three costumes to change into for the inaugural party. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Town Bar owner Joshua Huynh alluded to something similar when I visited him on a Friday before doors opened. “You really want something for everyone, literally everyone,” he says of his event schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of all the dance parties and chef pop-ups he’s hosted, the night that reflects the spirit of Town Bar for him was a low-key cookie decorating party on Christmas Eve. “People were like, ‘I had nowhere to go’ and ‘thank you.’ It was a home-y thing, so that was nice,” he recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Huynh, owner of Town Bar and Lounge in Oakland, on Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Huynh puts that community feeling into action: He regularly collects donations at the door for the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center’s food bank, and says he’s raised over $15,000 for it since Town Bar opened in April 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know 100% of our money’s directly giving back to the community without a middleman taking a cut,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, that’s been the spirit of Oakland’s queer community. It’s led by people who find themselves at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, whether immigrant, Black, gender-nonconforming, all of the above or something else entirely. And despite challenges in Oakland and society at large, our queer and trans culture-makers have always poured themselves into creating refuges for joy, self-expression and solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Bianco-Chaidez, the co-producer of the new Marimacha party, says: “We still gon’ thrive no matter what.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dancers at the Marimacha party hosted by EL AFTERS X SFLA QUEER NIGHTLIFE at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"queeroaklandvenuelist\">\u003c/a>Where to find queer nightlife in Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elaftersoakland/\">El Afters\u003c/a>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friendsandfamilybar/\">\u003cstrong>Friends and Family\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (468 25th Street). Cocktail lounge with light bites and events. Open Monday and Tuesday 5-11 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday 5 p.m.-midnight.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://feelmoresocial.com/\">\u003cstrong>Feelmore Social Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (1542 Broadway Avenue). Cocktail lounge with kink and sex-positive events. Open Sunday 11-5 p.m., Monday 5-11 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://fluid510.com/\">\u003cstrong>Fluid510\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (1544 Broadway Avenue). Large nightclub with weekly parties, serves food. Open Wednesday and Thursday 4 p.m.-midnight, Friday 4 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturday 11 a.m. – 2 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-midnight. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nectarsocialclub/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>Nectar Social Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (408 15th Street). Coffee shop and bar with evening events and late-night dance parties. Open Tuesday and Wednesday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday-Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m. and until 2 a.m. for special events. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/queerinoakland/\">\u003cstrong>Queer in Oakland\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/quericonightclub/\">\u003cstrong>Que Rico\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (381 15th Street). Nightclub with drag and DJs. Open Tuesday 6 p.m.–11 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 5–10:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 5 p.m. – 2 a.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wearesoulovely/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>Soulovely\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Monthly day party on Second Sundays April-October at 7th West (1255 7th Street).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thebarsummer.com/\">\u003cstrong>Summer Bar & Lounge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (526 8th Street). Intimate venue with karaoke, drag and dancing. Tuesday-Thursday 8 p.m.-midnight, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Sunday 4-8 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goingtotownoakland.com/\">\u003cstrong>Town Bar & Lounge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (2001 Broadway Avenue). Art-deco lounge with dancing, food pop-ups and other events. Sunday-Wednesday, 5-11 p.m., Thursday 5 p.m.-midnight, Friday and Saturday 5 p.m.-2 a.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thesweetspotoak/\">\u003cstrong>The Sweet Spot\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whitehorsebar/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>White Horse Bar\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (6551 Telegraph Avenue). Historic bar and nightclub with a DJs, karaoke, drag and special events. Tuesday-Thursday 5 p.m.-midnight. Friday 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday 3-10 p.m. Monday 4-9 p.m. [ad fullwidth]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "An explosion of new queer nightlife within a half-mile radius has Oakland popping with action.",
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"title": "Where to Find LGBTQ+ Nightlife in Oakland | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952711\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952711\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-18-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarahfe Harris Juarbe, a.k.a. Bruja Fe, dances at the Marimacha dance party in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s 11 p.m. on a recent Saturday, and the dance floor at Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://fluid510.com/\">Fluid510\u003c/a> starts filling up with people in cowboy hats and boots, platforms and mesh, neck tattoos and baggy polos, and head-to-toe leather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here at a new queer party called Marimacha, the DJ, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/xulaquiles/\">Xulaquiles\u003c/a>, switches the vibe from 2000s reggaeton to Kali Uchis’ “\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/_h-Vcm7hqb4?si=DJOQZ3r3QjD-JH24\">Dame Beso // Muévete\u003c/a>.” The dancers, mostly women and gender-nonconforming people of every style and expression, react accordingly, going from throwing it back to twirling each other in time with the merengue rhythm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952710\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952710\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-15-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Victoria Fajardo, a.k.a. DJ Xulaquiles a.k.a. Kiki, plays her set at the Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Marimacha is among an exciting new surge in queer parties right now in downtown Oakland. On any given Friday or Saturday night, clubgoers can walk from drag show to queer cocktail lounge to Afrobeats night to house music party, all within a half-mile radius. Even more queer events — speed dating, kink workshops, board game nights, open mics and food pop-ups — offer a wealth of weeknight and evening options for those who want more than drinking and dancing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952162/oakland-public-safety-crime-commentary\">Downtown Oakland’s struggles\u003c/a> get a lot of airtime. But if you only watch cable news and read Nextdoor posts about bipping and chain store closures, you’ll miss the fact that the Town’s LGBTQ+ nightlife scene is flourishing in ways it hasn’t in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland now boasts at least eight queer venues, many of which opened in the past year. Along with a \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/11/07/oakland-lakeshore-lgbtq-cultural-district-lake-merritt/\">newly designated LGBTQ+ District\u003c/a> near Lakeshore Avenue, this explosion of nightlife has brought new events just as eclectic, creative and politically engaged as Oakland’s queer community itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952709\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952709\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People dance at the Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I feel like there’s a renaissance happening right now,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/beauty_botanica/\">Olivia Bianco-Chaidez\u003c/a>, who co-produced Marimacha. “Things are getting spicier again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#queeroaklandvenuelist\">Jump to: Our list of queer venues in Oakland\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>The lay of the land\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Queer nightlife in Oakland has always been more diverse across race and gender than in San Francisco, whose gayborhood, the Castro, has skewed white and male since becoming a mecca over 50 years ago. And while Oakland has long been a haven for queer and trans people of color, pre-pandemic hangout options were slim; brick-and-mortar establishments one could visit any night of the week numbered at less than a handful. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>January 2020 saw the closure of two adjoining Broadway venues, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13871726/sf-developer-displaces-club-bnb-and-club-21-reducing-oakland-lgbtq-bars-by-half\">Club BnB and Club 21\u003c/a>, after the landlord doubled the clubs’ rent and replaced them with tech offices. At the time, the closure cut Oakland’s number of queer nightlife venues in half, leaving just the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whitehorsebar/?hl=en\">White Horse\u003c/a> — the North Oakland standby on Telegraph that’s been open since the 1930s — and the drag-and-dancing Broadway hotspot Port Bar, which closed this February, also \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/01/30/oakland-port-bar-closure-landlord-dispute/\">due to a landlord dispute\u003c/a>. (Another landlord dispute forced Bianco-Chaidez and her partner in work and life, Mar Mendoza, who DJs as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dreamsthedj\">Dreams\u003c/a>, to close their underground venue El Afters last fall, though they \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elaftersoakland/\">continue to produce events under that banner\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952707\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952707\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Olivia Bianco-Chaidez (left) and Mar Mendoza, a.k.a. Dreams (right), at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. Bianco-Chaidez and Mendoza co-hosted their inaugural Marimacha party, celebrating “the buchona baddies, cunty cabronas, diablo daddies, and all of our sexy community.” \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Still, against the odds, a flurry of new activity emerged out of the pandemic’s shutdowns. “It was years of turmoil, but also years of envisioning and imagining,” says event producer Yanni Brump, who DJs as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/djprincessdxddy/\">Princess Dxddy\u003c/a>. “So now, you see the offspring of that in people’s manifestation of having the events they want, the spaces they want to gather.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Queer-owned cocktail lounge \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friendsandfamilybar/\">Friends and Family\u003c/a> — open to all, but known as a sapphic safe space — launched with to-go service when COVID-19 restrictions began to lift, and now makes a thriving hub on 25th Street for queer chefs, vintners and mixologists. (Its neon-lit bathroom might also be queer Oakland’s most popular dating profile photo backdrop.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2021, Oakland’s downtown also saw the opening of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/quericonightclub/\">Que Rico\u003c/a>, the Latinx-focused venue on 15th Street. It’s home to drag and dancing, as well as parties-with-a-purpose like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/qumbiaqrew/\">Queer Qumbia\u003c/a>, which recently fundraised for Palestinian Youth Movement and Arab Resource and Organizing Center. Also in 2021, \u003ca href=\"https://www.thebarsummer.com/\">Summer Bar & Lounge\u003c/a> opened its doors in Old Oakland, and now boasts a packed weekly program of karaoke, drag and go-go dancers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Edward Booker (left) pours a drink while Vivi Sousa (right) looks on at Nectar Social Club in Oakland, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s queer nightlife renaissance began to crystalize in 2023, when a critical mass of new venues arrived, catering to a wide array of identities and interests. Across from Que Rico is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nectarsocialclub/?hl=en\">Nectar Social Club\u003c/a>, which celebrated its opening last fall with a sprawling block party produced by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13929138/in-oakland-a-drag-fest-for-the-community-by-the-community\">Oaklash\u003c/a>, the progressive drag festival that champions trans performers as well as racial and disability justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since, Nectar’s programming has flourished, with some of the most creative events the Town has to offer. “I focus on people who are doing things that are a little bit alternative, who are building things in a grassroots way, who really understand how to bring together community around whatever creative offering they have,” says owner Jeremy Redford, who DJs as FloridaWTR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951613\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951613\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-08-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy Redford, owner of Nectar Social Club in Oakland, on Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On a recent Friday afternoon, Nectar, which operates as a coffee shop by day and a bar by night, is filled with clusters of friends working on laptops, drawing and gossiping over lattes. After dark, DJ Romii and friends spin house music as a couple makes out in the corner and dancers bop around sipping espresso martinis and mocktails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://feelmoresocial.com/\">Feelmore Social Club\u003c/a> is just a couple blocks away on Broadway — it’s a grown-and-sexy cocktail lounge spin-off of Nenna Joiner’s long-running sex shop of the same name. With vintage erotic art adorning the walls, it welcomes the kinky and curious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we really wanted to bring to the bar landscape was a space where sex-positive people could actually expect and think of when you’re talking about like, ‘Hey, where do we [go] for a poly meetup?’” says Joiner, seated at a barstool while a Sade song plays through the speakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951616\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951616\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-17-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nenna Joiner, owner of Feelmore Social Club, on Feb 2., 2024 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last May, Richard Fuentes and Sean Sullivan (the owners of the now-closed Port Bar) opened Fluid510, the aforementioned 250-capacity nightclub next door to Feelmore. As the name might suggest, its programming leans heavily, though not exclusively, queer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just a few blocks north toward the Paramount Theater is the elegant, Art Deco-inspired \u003ca href=\"https://www.goingtotownoakland.com/\">Town Bar & Lounge\u003c/a>, whose omnivorous event schedule includes \u003ci>RuPaul’s Drag Race\u003c/i> watch parties, food pop-ups, disco nights and live R&B concerts. On Thursday nights, Town Bar hosts Femme Suite, a weekly Thursday ladies night produced by Dennise Chakra-Kan and Lady Ryan, the power couple behind Lvrgrl at the White Horse and roaming day party The Sweet Spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think me and Ryan definitely have the same vision of curating a space that is safe for our community, and making sure that Black and Brown people are definitely at the forefront of things,” says Chakra-Kan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953589\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953589\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-scaled.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-800x1000.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1020x1275.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-160x200.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-768x960.jpeg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1638x2048.jpeg 1638w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/1N8A8439-1920x2400.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dennise Chakra-Kan and Lady Ryan (left to right) at their Sweet Spot New Year’s Eve party at the White Horse on Dec. 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Stephen Flynn)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Ready to mingle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At a day party called Love Spell in February, a distinctly flirty energy buzzes in the room of mostly women at Oakland’s High 5ive Rooftop Bar. Two speed dating rounds — for ages 25-35 and 35+ — just wrapped, and few exuberant folks get the dance floor started. Couples lean in close or sit on each other’s laps, while those who arrived alone browse jewelry and clothing from queer vendors, glancing around in the hopes of making eye contact with an attractive stranger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our age of Tinder, Feeld and Hinge, it turns out meeting in person is back in style. “I think we’re experiencing phone fatigue and app fatigue,” says Montana Hooks, the one-woman team behind events platform and online publication \u003ca href=\"https://www.queerinoakland.com/\">Queer In Oakland\u003c/a>, which co-produced Love Spell. “It’s almost going full circle again to the simpler times before apps totally saturated the way that we connect socially, and it’s fun and it’s novel again. I definitely think that the popularity of mixers and speed dating in queer communities can speak to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953582\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953582\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/240301-Oakland-Queer-Spaces-Montana-Hooks-KSM-01_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Montana Hooks of Queer In Oakland at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 18, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hooks, a longtime Oakland resident who grew up in Fremont, started Queer In Oakland because she struggled to find queer community herself after returning to the Bay from a brief stint in Seattle. The project began with a humble Google calendar of event listings in 2017. After throwing some entrepreneurial mixers — and online events during COVID shutdowns — in 2023 Hooks turned her focus to producing parties, which have now flourished into \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/queerinoakland/\">some of the most eclectic queer events\u003c/a> the Town has to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent weeks, she’s put on an indie music night and a mixer for queer creatives at Nectar Social Club, and a house music night that packed out Amber Lounge on a Thursday. On March 9 at Night Heron, there’s Instinct, a sexy dance party with a dark dress code of red, black, leather and fishnets. A singles night for queer and trans people of color called Tease is slated at Sessions on 15th on March 14, followed by a queer cowgirl party called Wild West (co-produced with Reverse Cowgirl) at Fluid510 on March 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953621\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953621\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dancer moves in rhythm as the party gets started on Feb. 17, 2024. The Marimacha dance party at Fluid510 is billed as ‘a friki nite of perreo, reggaeton, cumbias & club music.’ \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As we’re becoming stronger as a queer community, I feel we can take up space now in ways that less marginalized communities don’t even have to give a second thought to,” Hooks says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nectar Social Club is certainly doing its part to strengthen the community on and off the dance floor. Recently, it hosted a photography show and launch party for \u003ca href=\"https://pusseimagazine.com/\">\u003ci>Pussei* Magazine\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, as well as artist Shreya’s exhibition of futuristic paintings inspired by South Asian folklore. Rapper and activist Aima the Dreamer, who co-produces the long-running day party \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wearesoulovely/?hl=en\">Soulovely\u003c/a>, recently launched an open mic night and artist showcase called Groove Gallery, where the night begins with a ritual and freewriting prompt, followed by music and poetry focused on Black and Brown, queer and trans liberation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-22-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malik Bey (center) and Ashley Hughes (right) work at their laptops at the bar inside Nectar Social Club on Feb. 2, 2024 in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The future seems so uncertain, and we’ve been holding all of these deep political, social, health-based, economic tensions,” Redford says. “And more so than ever, we need community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[We’re] tapping into people who are just really creative and understand how to get people into the moment, how to get people out of their shell,” he adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those people is Brump, a.k.a. Princess Dxddy. The model and fashion-show producer started DJing last year. They connected with Redford through Oaklash’s Skills for Nightlife Accelerator Program and bonded over a love of music with Afro-diasporic rhythms. Earlier this year, Brump debuted Spirit, an Afrobeats, amapiano and global dance music party at Nectar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Music touches parts of our spirit, and allows our innermost worlds to come to the forefront,” says Brump, noting the importance of safe spaces for femmes and gender-nonconforming people. “To allow ourselves to be free is a very spiritual experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953618\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1707px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953618\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a man in white t shirt and necklace DJs with blue lights and a patterned ceiling in the background\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/dsc01245-1920x2880.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yanni Brump, who DJs as Princess Dxddy, at their Afrobeats and amapiano party Spirit on Jan. 26, 2024 at Nectar Social Club. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Nectar Social Club)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We still gon’ thrive no matter what’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even with all this new activity, downtown Oakland does feel sleepy these days. The First Friday street fair — a major foot traffic driver for businesses — went on hiatus from January to March, citing financial strain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe it’s the rain; maybe it’s grocery and gas prices; maybe it’s safety concerns or shuttered businesses — you’re not really seeing groups of young people hopping from bar to food truck to bar as they did in previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Redford points to a new pattern he’s picked up on from event-goers. “The days of people waking up on a Friday and saying, ‘I’m just going to go out in downtown Oakland and walk around’ seem like they’re coming to an end,” he says. “So many people are following and tracking the community leaders [and] builders who they feel aligned with, and they’re putting on their calendars the events … that really resonate with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953622\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/download-2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarahfe Harris Juarbe, a.k.a. Bruja Fe, towls off during a break from dancing at the Marimacha dance party in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. Harris Juarbe said they had three costumes to change into for the inaugural party. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Town Bar owner Joshua Huynh alluded to something similar when I visited him on a Friday before doors opened. “You really want something for everyone, literally everyone,” he says of his event schedule.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of all the dance parties and chef pop-ups he’s hosted, the night that reflects the spirit of Town Bar for him was a low-key cookie decorating party on Christmas Eve. “People were like, ‘I had nowhere to go’ and ‘thank you.’ It was a home-y thing, so that was nice,” he recalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13951620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13951620\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240202-OAKLANDQUEERSPACES-KSM-24-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joshua Huynh, owner of Town Bar and Lounge in Oakland, on Feb. 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Huynh puts that community feeling into action: He regularly collects donations at the door for the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center’s food bank, and says he’s raised over $15,000 for it since Town Bar opened in April 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know 100% of our money’s directly giving back to the community without a middleman taking a cut,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, that’s been the spirit of Oakland’s queer community. It’s led by people who find themselves at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, whether immigrant, Black, gender-nonconforming, all of the above or something else entirely. And despite challenges in Oakland and society at large, our queer and trans culture-makers have always poured themselves into creating refuges for joy, self-expression and solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Bianco-Chaidez, the co-producer of the new Marimacha party, says: “We still gon’ thrive no matter what.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13952708\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13952708\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240217-OAKLAND-QUEER-SPACES-KSM-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dancers at the Marimacha party hosted by EL AFTERS X SFLA QUEER NIGHTLIFE at Fluid510 in Oakland on Feb. 17, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"queeroaklandvenuelist\">\u003c/a>Where to find queer nightlife in Oakland\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elaftersoakland/\">El Afters\u003c/a>. \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003cem>Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/friendsandfamilybar/\">\u003cstrong>Friends and Family\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (468 25th Street). Cocktail lounge with light bites and events. Open Monday and Tuesday 5-11 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday 5 p.m.-midnight.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://feelmoresocial.com/\">\u003cstrong>Feelmore Social Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (1542 Broadway Avenue). Cocktail lounge with kink and sex-positive events. Open Sunday 11-5 p.m., Monday 5-11 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://fluid510.com/\">\u003cstrong>Fluid510\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (1544 Broadway Avenue). Large nightclub with weekly parties, serves food. Open Wednesday and Thursday 4 p.m.-midnight, Friday 4 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturday 11 a.m. – 2 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-midnight. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/nectarsocialclub/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>Nectar Social Club\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (408 15th Street). Coffee shop and bar with evening events and late-night dance parties. Open Tuesday and Wednesday 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday-Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m. and until 2 a.m. for special events. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/queerinoakland/\">\u003cstrong>Queer in Oakland\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/quericonightclub/\">\u003cstrong>Que Rico\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (381 15th Street). Nightclub with drag and DJs. Open Tuesday 6 p.m.–11 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 5–10:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 5 p.m. – 2 a.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/wearesoulovely/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>Soulovely\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Monthly day party on Second Sundays April-October at 7th West (1255 7th Street).\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.thebarsummer.com/\">\u003cstrong>Summer Bar & Lounge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (526 8th Street). Intimate venue with karaoke, drag and dancing. Tuesday-Thursday 8 p.m.-midnight, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m., Sunday 4-8 p.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.goingtotownoakland.com/\">\u003cstrong>Town Bar & Lounge\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (2001 Broadway Avenue). Art-deco lounge with dancing, food pop-ups and other events. Sunday-Wednesday, 5-11 p.m., Thursday 5 p.m.-midnight, Friday and Saturday 5 p.m.-2 a.m.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thesweetspotoak/\">\u003cstrong>The Sweet Spot\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>. Parties and events at rotating venues.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/whitehorsebar/?hl=en\">\u003cstrong>White Horse Bar\u003c/strong>\u003c/a> (6551 Telegraph Avenue). Historic bar and nightclub with a DJs, karaoke, drag and special events. Tuesday-Thursday 5 p.m.-midnight. Friday 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday 3 p.m.-2 a.m. Sunday 3-10 p.m. Monday 4-9 p.m. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Sean Wang — and his Grandmas — Will Rep Fremont at the Oscars",
"headTitle": "Sean Wang — and his Grandmas — Will Rep Fremont at the Oscars | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Sean Wang is having an awesome start to his year. The 30-year-old filmmaker from Fremont is nominated for his first Academy Award at this weekend’s Oscars ceremony for Best Documentary Short Film. Wang’s 17-minute documentary \u003cem>Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó\u003c/em> (\u003cem>Grandma & Grandma\u003c/em>), available to stream on on Disney+ and Hulu, sweetly captures the daily routines of his two grandmothers who live together in Fremont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before getting that golden news from the Academy, Wang debuted his first feature film, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.focusfeatures.com/article/didi_date-announcement\">Dìdi\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, at the Sundance Festival. A coming-of-age story that Wang calls “a love letter to the Bay Area, Fremont especially,” \u003cem>Dìdi\u003c/em> won two festival awards and was picked up by Focus Features, which will give it a limited theatrical release this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I caught up with Wang over Zoom to talk about life since the Oscar nod, his filmmaker origin story in the Bay (“everything traces back to skateboarding”) and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariana Proehl: A lot of people have seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCNMXENmOpk\">the reaction video\u003c/a> of you and your family receiving news of your Oscar nomination. What’s the ride been like since then?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sean Wang\u003c/strong>: So surreal. This experience has overlapped with premiering my first feature film, so it’s two incredible experiences happening at the same time. It really is beyond my wildest dreams. And to get to do it with my grandmothers and have them really enjoy this process – and feel like we’re giving them a core memory at 96 and 86 years old – there’s no real downside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fBvvRBlDHc\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>And how are your Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó feeling about everything? Are they excited to have their glam moment at the Oscars?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, they’re getting styled by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3tDpLppEhZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">Rodarte and Shirley Kurata\u003c/a>, who was a costume designer for \u003cem>Everything Everywhere All at Once\u003c/em>. So we’re giving them a Hollywood night that, hopefully, we’ll remember forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>That’s huge! Have they become local celebrities around Fremont?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They don’t leave the house much, so I don’t think they’re getting stopped on the street or at the Chinese supermarket, but certainly within the cultural circles that I am a part of. At the [Oscars] luncheon, people were like, “Oh my God, it’s the grandmas!” And so that’s a very strange but cool experience to have them be noticed and seen like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Flashing back a little bit on your history, I’m curious when you first realized you wanted to be a filmmaker, and how you went about exploring that while growing up in Fremont?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everything traces back to skateboarding for me. I’m a younger sibling; all of my cousins in the States are older than me. For a lot of my early years, my interests and my identity was looking at them and what they liked. But then I discovered skating when I was 12 or 13 years old, and that was just a very pure love. It was something that was really my own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through skating, I got into photography and videos and filming my friends. I started making \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/bJxl7xJh46I?si=HWYSsNh_yxeCqiLV\">little documentaries\u003c/a>, and that was like a buzz for me. I was excited about putting it on YouTube, but I didn’t really have the language for it – that it was “filmmaking.” I just really loved doing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJxl7xJh46I\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I graduated high school, that was the first real fork in the road, where it’s like, \u003cem>okay, is there a career doing this\u003c/em>? Growing up in Fremont, there just isn’t that language. I didn’t know any other filmmakers. There were no examples that I could really follow. But I knew that whatever this was, it was a very pure love. I ended up at De Anza [Community College] for two years, and the intention was to transfer to a film school and that’s what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Let’s talk about your Oscar-nominated film. There’s a part when Wài Pó says, “in the future, you can show your children what we were like.” That really struck me. My family just laid my grandmother to rest a few weeks ago. So watching your grandmothers made me think about my own, and it’s really cool that you’ll get to have this memory of them after they are gone. I’m guessing that was at least part of the motivation and inspiration behind it? Did you go into it thinking about a short film, or were you just wanting to capture memories?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thank you for sharing that with me. It was both, I think. The catalyst for the film was just wanting to film them and make \u003cem>something\u003c/em>. I moved to New York City after I graduated college and lived there for about 5 or 6 years. Then in the spring of 2021, I moved home to the Bay Area, and in that period of living with them, there was so much joy. I really got to see my grandmothers and experience day-to-day life with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953491\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953491\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-800x604.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-1020x770.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-768x580.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-1536x1160.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, filmmaker Sean Wang’s ‘Wài Pó,’ Chang Li Hua, and ‘Nǎi Nai,’ Yi Yan Fuei, in a still from the Oscar-nominated documentary short film ‘Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Disney+)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But there was also this extreme anger and helplessness that a lot of people were feeling at that time with Covid, and with the rise in anti-Asian violence that was happening to people like my grandmothers, and people in our community. As a filmmaker, anytime I feel those emotions that are so visceral, it challenges me to ask, “Where are these emotions coming from? And how can we use that and create art?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The antidote to the anger was their joy. I wanted to make a film that was a container for all of their humanity, their joy, their silliness, their infectious, childlike energy, but also their pain and their lives that they lived before they were my grandmothers. And create a holistic portrait of that to show just how human they are, in a way that I felt people were overlooking in our society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But to what you were saying, at the end of the day, there was this home video mentality that we brought to it, where I just wanted to remember them and remember this moment that I had with them. So even if nobody watched it, it was still a memento and a time capsule for myself and my family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953493\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953493\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1204\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-800x602.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-768x578.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-1536x1156.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sean Wang touches foreheads with Nǎi Nai in a still from his documentary short film ‘Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Disney+)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you have a favorite scene from the film? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a shot in the end montage, where me and Nǎi Nai are touching foreheads. That shot always makes me emotional. I always thank [producer] Sam [Davis] for capturing that. I edited the movie too, so there were moments in the edit that always gutted me. There’s a moment where Wài Pó was talking about, “I’m not afraid of death.” You can tell she’s thinking about mortality in those moments and you can see it in her eyes – not just the pain, but the humanity. And she takes a little sigh, and that moment always gutted me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad alignright]\u003cstrong>What’s the feeling amongst your family in terms of this accomplishment, and all the excitement going into the Oscars? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re all excited. We were able to get tickets for the whole family, so it’s really a proper family affair. I feel like I’m the grandmothers’ “plus one” in all of this. As long as they’re having a good time and they feel taken care of, I’ll feel like I’m having a good time. At the end of the day, we’ve already won because this experience has been so special.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you take home the Oscar, is there a favorite spot in the Bay Area where you and your family would go to celebrate?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a good question. Growing up, we used to go out to dinner at Darda Seafood in Milpitas all the time. We haven’t been in years. But that was like a family tradition. Maybe we’ll bring that back for this one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Sean Wang is having an awesome start to his year. The 30-year-old filmmaker from Fremont is nominated for his first Academy Award at this weekend’s Oscars ceremony for Best Documentary Short Film. Wang’s 17-minute documentary \u003cem>Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó\u003c/em> (\u003cem>Grandma & Grandma\u003c/em>), available to stream on on Disney+ and Hulu, sweetly captures the daily routines of his two grandmothers who live together in Fremont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before getting that golden news from the Academy, Wang debuted his first feature film, \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.focusfeatures.com/article/didi_date-announcement\">Dìdi\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, at the Sundance Festival. A coming-of-age story that Wang calls “a love letter to the Bay Area, Fremont especially,” \u003cem>Dìdi\u003c/em> won two festival awards and was picked up by Focus Features, which will give it a limited theatrical release this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I caught up with Wang over Zoom to talk about life since the Oscar nod, his filmmaker origin story in the Bay (“everything traces back to skateboarding”) and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ariana Proehl: A lot of people have seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCNMXENmOpk\">the reaction video\u003c/a> of you and your family receiving news of your Oscar nomination. What’s the ride been like since then?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sean Wang\u003c/strong>: So surreal. This experience has overlapped with premiering my first feature film, so it’s two incredible experiences happening at the same time. It really is beyond my wildest dreams. And to get to do it with my grandmothers and have them really enjoy this process – and feel like we’re giving them a core memory at 96 and 86 years old – there’s no real downside.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/7fBvvRBlDHc'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/7fBvvRBlDHc'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>And how are your Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó feeling about everything? Are they excited to have their glam moment at the Oscars?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, they’re getting styled by \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3tDpLppEhZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">Rodarte and Shirley Kurata\u003c/a>, who was a costume designer for \u003cem>Everything Everywhere All at Once\u003c/em>. So we’re giving them a Hollywood night that, hopefully, we’ll remember forever.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>That’s huge! Have they become local celebrities around Fremont?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They don’t leave the house much, so I don’t think they’re getting stopped on the street or at the Chinese supermarket, but certainly within the cultural circles that I am a part of. At the [Oscars] luncheon, people were like, “Oh my God, it’s the grandmas!” And so that’s a very strange but cool experience to have them be noticed and seen like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Flashing back a little bit on your history, I’m curious when you first realized you wanted to be a filmmaker, and how you went about exploring that while growing up in Fremont?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Everything traces back to skateboarding for me. I’m a younger sibling; all of my cousins in the States are older than me. For a lot of my early years, my interests and my identity was looking at them and what they liked. But then I discovered skating when I was 12 or 13 years old, and that was just a very pure love. It was something that was really my own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through skating, I got into photography and videos and filming my friends. I started making \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/bJxl7xJh46I?si=HWYSsNh_yxeCqiLV\">little documentaries\u003c/a>, and that was like a buzz for me. I was excited about putting it on YouTube, but I didn’t really have the language for it – that it was “filmmaking.” I just really loved doing it.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/bJxl7xJh46I'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/bJxl7xJh46I'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>When I graduated high school, that was the first real fork in the road, where it’s like, \u003cem>okay, is there a career doing this\u003c/em>? Growing up in Fremont, there just isn’t that language. I didn’t know any other filmmakers. There were no examples that I could really follow. But I knew that whatever this was, it was a very pure love. I ended up at De Anza [Community College] for two years, and the intention was to transfer to a film school and that’s what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Let’s talk about your Oscar-nominated film. There’s a part when Wài Pó says, “in the future, you can show your children what we were like.” That really struck me. My family just laid my grandmother to rest a few weeks ago. So watching your grandmothers made me think about my own, and it’s really cool that you’ll get to have this memory of them after they are gone. I’m guessing that was at least part of the motivation and inspiration behind it? Did you go into it thinking about a short film, or were you just wanting to capture memories?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thank you for sharing that with me. It was both, I think. The catalyst for the film was just wanting to film them and make \u003cem>something\u003c/em>. I moved to New York City after I graduated college and lived there for about 5 or 6 years. Then in the spring of 2021, I moved home to the Bay Area, and in that period of living with them, there was so much joy. I really got to see my grandmothers and experience day-to-day life with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953491\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953491\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1208\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-800x604.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-1020x770.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-768x580.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo-Film-Still-Edit-1536x1160.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, filmmaker Sean Wang’s ‘Wài Pó,’ Chang Li Hua, and ‘Nǎi Nai,’ Yi Yan Fuei, in a still from the Oscar-nominated documentary short film ‘Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Disney+)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But there was also this extreme anger and helplessness that a lot of people were feeling at that time with Covid, and with the rise in anti-Asian violence that was happening to people like my grandmothers, and people in our community. As a filmmaker, anytime I feel those emotions that are so visceral, it challenges me to ask, “Where are these emotions coming from? And how can we use that and create art?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The antidote to the anger was their joy. I wanted to make a film that was a container for all of their humanity, their joy, their silliness, their infectious, childlike energy, but also their pain and their lives that they lived before they were my grandmothers. And create a holistic portrait of that to show just how human they are, in a way that I felt people were overlooking in our society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But to what you were saying, at the end of the day, there was this home video mentality that we brought to it, where I just wanted to remember them and remember this moment that I had with them. So even if nobody watched it, it was still a memento and a time capsule for myself and my family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953493\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953493\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1204\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-800x602.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-768x578.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/NaiNaiWaiPo_Foreheads-Edited-1536x1156.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sean Wang touches foreheads with Nǎi Nai in a still from his documentary short film ‘Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy Disney+)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Do you have a favorite scene from the film? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s a shot in the end montage, where me and Nǎi Nai are touching foreheads. That shot always makes me emotional. I always thank [producer] Sam [Davis] for capturing that. I edited the movie too, so there were moments in the edit that always gutted me. There’s a moment where Wài Pó was talking about, “I’m not afraid of death.” You can tell she’s thinking about mortality in those moments and you can see it in her eyes – not just the pain, but the humanity. And she takes a little sigh, and that moment always gutted me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s the feeling amongst your family in terms of this accomplishment, and all the excitement going into the Oscars? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re all excited. We were able to get tickets for the whole family, so it’s really a proper family affair. I feel like I’m the grandmothers’ “plus one” in all of this. As long as they’re having a good time and they feel taken care of, I’ll feel like I’m having a good time. At the end of the day, we’ve already won because this experience has been so special.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you take home the Oscar, is there a favorite spot in the Bay Area where you and your family would go to celebrate?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a good question. Growing up, we used to go out to dinner at Darda Seafood in Milpitas all the time. We haven’t been in years. But that was like a family tradition. Maybe we’ll bring that back for this one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "‘We Belong Here’: Miko Marks Talks Black Women, Country Music and Beyoncé",
"headTitle": "‘We Belong Here’: Miko Marks Talks Black Women, Country Music and Beyoncé | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A new national tour paying homage to \u003ca href=\"https://imgartists.com/roster/trailblazing-tour/\">“Trailblazing Women of Country”\u003c/a> comes to Northern California this weekend featuring a familiar Bay Area voice: country singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.mikomarks.com/\">Miko Marks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marks, based out of Oakland, will hit the stage alongside Nashville-based singer Kristina Train and an all-female band to cover music from the beloved songbooks of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton. The tour stops at Rohnert Park’s \u003ca href=\"https://gmc.sonoma.edu/trailblazing-women/\">Green Music Center on March 9\u003c/a> and Livermore’s \u003ca href=\"https://livermorearts.org/events/trailblazing-women-of-country-from-patsy-to-loretta-to-dolly/\">Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center on March 15\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I spoke with Miko Marks via Zoom about the tour, and what these legendary artists mean to her. Of course, we also talked about Black country music artists getting a spotlight following the buzz around Beyoncé’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/beyonce-texas-hold-em-hot-100-number-one-second-week-1235621285/\">chart-topping new country music\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ariana Proehl: I saw a quote where you say this tour feels like your childhood reimagined. Tell me more about that – what memories does it conjure for you?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Miko Marks: \u003c/b>I grew up with my grandmother who migrated from Mississippi to Flint, Michigan. She brought the music and the culture from Mississippi. I would come over to her house after school, try to watch cartoons and she’d be like, “Baby, turn that off. Let’s put this music on. I want you to hear this.” And she just fed me — Dolly, Loretta, Patsy. Kenny Rogers, Johnny Paycheck, Waylon Jennings. She had such a plethora of music in her wheelhouse. There was R&B, there was jazz, but there was mostly country and gospel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The [country] songs really stuck out to me, because they told stories that I could relate to. Like Loretta talked about being a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEeR576KyjU\">coal miner’s daughter\u003c/a> – how they didn’t have much, but her dad made sure they had enough, and that they had love. I feel like that’s where I came from. We didn’t have much, but my mom was out there working second and third shifts, and my grandmother was there to love on me and gave me my first listens to country music. I’m really grateful for that, because it put me on the path that I’m on, which I really love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWZ-319bOS0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Is there a particular song you’re excited to cover for the tour? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love performing “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” and I love performing “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EbJeJYZ7LU\">Coat of Many Colors\u003c/a>” by Dolly Parton. [Dolly] actually said that’s her most favorite song that she wrote. She’s like, “My coat is beautiful.” It was just sewn together with rags that people sent her mom, but she couldn’t wait to wear that coat. That pureness and innocence is really precious to me, because I felt that same way. I would go to school, kids would laugh at my clothes and make fun of me. But I felt like, “My mama got this for me. My granny gave me this.” I had some pride around that. So those two songs are really, really special. Sometimes I well up in tears because it takes me back to my upbringing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13859970']\u003cb>Tell me about being backed by an all-female band for this tour! How does that feel? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s so exciting. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done. This is a Nashville-based women’s band. We all met each other and had the material on our own, and when we put it together, it was like magic. I can tell that this is not the end for us. Like once this tour’s over, we’re going to continue to do things. I can just feel that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>So let’s talk Beyoncé, who recently made history by being the \u003ca href=\"https://www.vulture.com/article/beyonce-texas-hold-em-no-1-country-chart.html\">first Black woman to get a No. 1 song on the country music charts\u003c/a>. She’s sparked all sorts of thinkpieces around Black people and country music. As someone who’s a Black woman in this industry, what’s your take on all the conversation she’s stirred up? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First of all, I’m very happy for the recognition it’s bringing to artists who have been in the game for a long time. They’re being seen now. And she brought that to this level, to where people are actually going down the rabbit hole of music made by Black country artists or Black artists in Americana. That’s the glass half full on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it does sadden me to a degree that it took Beyoncé to come and shine this light. Nevertheless, I’m so grateful for the light. There have been so many artists that have been in this genre for so long working diligently, making really good music and now that’s being seen. So I’m thinking it’s a positive, because it is really opening up the gates for the masses to see that we are here, and we belong here, and we helped create this genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='news_11934967']\u003cb>Right, and folk/Americana musician \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://rhiannongiddens.com/\">\u003cb>Rhiannon Giddens\u003c/b>\u003c/a> (\u003cb>who plays banjo and viola on Beyonc\u003c/b>\u003cb>é\u003c/b>\u003cb>’s \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=238Z4YaAr1g\">\u003cb>“Texas Hold ‘Em”\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb> track ) wrote \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/27/black-artistry-is-woven-into-the-fabric-of-country-music-it-belongs-to-everyone-beyonce-texas-hold-em-rhiannon-giddens\">\u003cb>a piece for the Guardian\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb> to really underline, ‘Hey, we co-created this. This is not just Black people taking something and putting our spin on it. We’ve been here since the origin of it.’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love how Rhiannon is going back [through history] and showing that. There’s so much to pull from historically that has been pushed under the rug. So it’s nice to see everything rise to the top. She and \u003ca href=\"https://rissipalmermusic.com/\">Rissi Palmer\u003c/a> – they’re our champion spokeswomen. I’m honored having them as champions, and being one myself. It’s nice that people are getting educated on the true history of country music. It’s 2024, but no time like the present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2BZJTQFuZQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>With all that being said, does it feel meaningful that you, a Black woman, are one of the two vocalists performing on this tour – which is likely to have a more white demographic in the audience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Absolutely. Our first song that we do together is [Loretta Lynn’s] “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTEA9ffM8DA\">You’re Looking at Country\u003c/a>.” And the first night we did that, I was like, here’s a Black woman and a white woman standing here saying, “You’re looking at country.” And this is true – we are representations of what our country, fortunately, looks like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As I sing that song, I’m thinking about what the audience might be thinking. But I know what they’re thinking at the end of the show, because they greet me with love, kindness, purchasing of my merchandise and just being really connected. So I’m pretty excited about the whole visual and the whole presentation of Kristina Train and me. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/C35B6grgQac/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\">Our voices blend so well together\u003c/a>, and it’s just good to have all women [on stage], and be a reflection of what country music really looks like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Trailblazing Women of Country Tour plays the \u003ca href=\"https://gmc.sonoma.edu/trailblazing-women/\">Green Music Center in Rohnert Park on March 9\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://livermorearts.org/events/trailblazing-women-of-country-from-patsy-to-loretta-to-dolly/\">Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center in Livermore on March 15\u003c/a>. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://imgartists.com/roster/trailblazing-tour/\">\u003ci>Ticket info here.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "As Beyoncé tops the country charts, the Oakland singer sets out on a tour honoring the genre's women.",
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"title": "‘We Belong Here’: Miko Marks Talks Black Women, Country Music and Beyoncé | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A new national tour paying homage to \u003ca href=\"https://imgartists.com/roster/trailblazing-tour/\">“Trailblazing Women of Country”\u003c/a> comes to Northern California this weekend featuring a familiar Bay Area voice: country singer \u003ca href=\"https://www.mikomarks.com/\">Miko Marks\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marks, based out of Oakland, will hit the stage alongside Nashville-based singer Kristina Train and an all-female band to cover music from the beloved songbooks of Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton. The tour stops at Rohnert Park’s \u003ca href=\"https://gmc.sonoma.edu/trailblazing-women/\">Green Music Center on March 9\u003c/a> and Livermore’s \u003ca href=\"https://livermorearts.org/events/trailblazing-women-of-country-from-patsy-to-loretta-to-dolly/\">Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center on March 15\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I spoke with Miko Marks via Zoom about the tour, and what these legendary artists mean to her. Of course, we also talked about Black country music artists getting a spotlight following the buzz around Beyoncé’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/beyonce-texas-hold-em-hot-100-number-one-second-week-1235621285/\">chart-topping new country music\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ariana Proehl: I saw a quote where you say this tour feels like your childhood reimagined. Tell me more about that – what memories does it conjure for you?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Miko Marks: \u003c/b>I grew up with my grandmother who migrated from Mississippi to Flint, Michigan. She brought the music and the culture from Mississippi. I would come over to her house after school, try to watch cartoons and she’d be like, “Baby, turn that off. Let’s put this music on. I want you to hear this.” And she just fed me — Dolly, Loretta, Patsy. Kenny Rogers, Johnny Paycheck, Waylon Jennings. She had such a plethora of music in her wheelhouse. There was R&B, there was jazz, but there was mostly country and gospel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The [country] songs really stuck out to me, because they told stories that I could relate to. Like Loretta talked about being a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEeR576KyjU\">coal miner’s daughter\u003c/a> – how they didn’t have much, but her dad made sure they had enough, and that they had love. I feel like that’s where I came from. We didn’t have much, but my mom was out there working second and third shifts, and my grandmother was there to love on me and gave me my first listens to country music. I’m really grateful for that, because it put me on the path that I’m on, which I really love.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/VWZ-319bOS0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/VWZ-319bOS0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>Is there a particular song you’re excited to cover for the tour? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love performing “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” and I love performing “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EbJeJYZ7LU\">Coat of Many Colors\u003c/a>” by Dolly Parton. [Dolly] actually said that’s her most favorite song that she wrote. She’s like, “My coat is beautiful.” It was just sewn together with rags that people sent her mom, but she couldn’t wait to wear that coat. That pureness and innocence is really precious to me, because I felt that same way. I would go to school, kids would laugh at my clothes and make fun of me. But I felt like, “My mama got this for me. My granny gave me this.” I had some pride around that. So those two songs are really, really special. Sometimes I well up in tears because it takes me back to my upbringing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cb>Tell me about being backed by an all-female band for this tour! How does that feel? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s so exciting. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever done. This is a Nashville-based women’s band. We all met each other and had the material on our own, and when we put it together, it was like magic. I can tell that this is not the end for us. Like once this tour’s over, we’re going to continue to do things. I can just feel that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>So let’s talk Beyoncé, who recently made history by being the \u003ca href=\"https://www.vulture.com/article/beyonce-texas-hold-em-no-1-country-chart.html\">first Black woman to get a No. 1 song on the country music charts\u003c/a>. She’s sparked all sorts of thinkpieces around Black people and country music. As someone who’s a Black woman in this industry, what’s your take on all the conversation she’s stirred up? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First of all, I’m very happy for the recognition it’s bringing to artists who have been in the game for a long time. They’re being seen now. And she brought that to this level, to where people are actually going down the rabbit hole of music made by Black country artists or Black artists in Americana. That’s the glass half full on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it does sadden me to a degree that it took Beyoncé to come and shine this light. Nevertheless, I’m so grateful for the light. There have been so many artists that have been in this genre for so long working diligently, making really good music and now that’s being seen. So I’m thinking it’s a positive, because it is really opening up the gates for the masses to see that we are here, and we belong here, and we helped create this genre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cb>Right, and folk/Americana musician \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://rhiannongiddens.com/\">\u003cb>Rhiannon Giddens\u003c/b>\u003c/a> (\u003cb>who plays banjo and viola on Beyonc\u003c/b>\u003cb>é\u003c/b>\u003cb>’s \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=238Z4YaAr1g\">\u003cb>“Texas Hold ‘Em”\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb> track ) wrote \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/27/black-artistry-is-woven-into-the-fabric-of-country-music-it-belongs-to-everyone-beyonce-texas-hold-em-rhiannon-giddens\">\u003cb>a piece for the Guardian\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cb> to really underline, ‘Hey, we co-created this. This is not just Black people taking something and putting our spin on it. We’ve been here since the origin of it.’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love how Rhiannon is going back [through history] and showing that. There’s so much to pull from historically that has been pushed under the rug. So it’s nice to see everything rise to the top. She and \u003ca href=\"https://rissipalmermusic.com/\">Rissi Palmer\u003c/a> – they’re our champion spokeswomen. I’m honored having them as champions, and being one myself. It’s nice that people are getting educated on the true history of country music. It’s 2024, but no time like the present.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Y2BZJTQFuZQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Y2BZJTQFuZQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>With all that being said, does it feel meaningful that you, a Black woman, are one of the two vocalists performing on this tour – which is likely to have a more white demographic in the audience?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Absolutely. Our first song that we do together is [Loretta Lynn’s] “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTEA9ffM8DA\">You’re Looking at Country\u003c/a>.” And the first night we did that, I was like, here’s a Black woman and a white woman standing here saying, “You’re looking at country.” And this is true – we are representations of what our country, fortunately, looks like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As I sing that song, I’m thinking about what the audience might be thinking. But I know what they’re thinking at the end of the show, because they greet me with love, kindness, purchasing of my merchandise and just being really connected. So I’m pretty excited about the whole visual and the whole presentation of Kristina Train and me. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/C35B6grgQac/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\">Our voices blend so well together\u003c/a>, and it’s just good to have all women [on stage], and be a reflection of what country music really looks like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>The Trailblazing Women of Country Tour plays the \u003ca href=\"https://gmc.sonoma.edu/trailblazing-women/\">Green Music Center in Rohnert Park on March 9\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://livermorearts.org/events/trailblazing-women-of-country-from-patsy-to-loretta-to-dolly/\">Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center in Livermore on March 15\u003c/a>. \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://imgartists.com/roster/trailblazing-tour/\">\u003ci>Ticket info here.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "hash-n-dash-breakfast-sandwiches-pop-up-san-jose-new-location",
"title": "San Jose’s Viral Breakfast Pop-Up Is Reborn After County Attempts to Shut It Down",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]P[/dropcap]icture a drizzly Bay Area afternoon, when you’d rather rain-check your plans and stay bundled up indoors. Picture the gray, dreary sky as you trek down 880 over slick pavement, the tired weight of a wintry Sunday knocking inside your head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, picture all of that instantly dissolving when you take your first bite of a warm breakfast sandwich served by a dude wearing sunglasses beneath a dark canopy tent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a formula that San Jose’s Brandon Salmon has mastered with his viral breakfast pop-up, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hashndashsj/?hl=en\">Hash N Dash\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Serving a small selection of smash burger–style breakfast sandwiches at any hour of the day, Salmon has carved out a definitive lane as Silicon Valley’s sausage-egg-and-cheese-on-English-muffin god — with regular appearances outside of San Jose’s coffee shops, and occasionally at breweries and wineries around the greater Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This isn’t some \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C1xPLS8P0_C/\">McDonald’s warmed-in-the-microwave kind of breakfast sandwich\u003c/a> with a whimper of Canadian bacon in it. This is a full-on sausage patty mashed onto a searing grill then dressed with maple syrup, griddled sweet onions, Tapatio-spiked mayo, melted American cheese and a yolk-bursting soft-boiled egg, all chewily layered inside a toasted English muffin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the kind of out-of-body Northern California food experience where — after the smoke-sizzle clears and the flavors have melted into your system — you might hear Mac Dre’s “Not My Job” slapping from a nearby portable speaker. (If Hash N Dash was ever in need of a motto, a remix of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZgWrovjAAI\">what Mac Dre articulated in 2004\u003c/a> would suffice: “I can make you a breakfast sandwich, but anything else, not my job”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953461\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953461\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an outdoor cook smashes sausage patties into a searing grill\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The “408 Smash” is the main attraction at Hash N Dash. Brandon Salmon prides himself in keeping his food station clean and his ingredients simple. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And yet, despite Hash N Dash’s underground success — which peaked in January when \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C2c7Xfpvnm5/\">a video of its “408 Smash” sando accrued over 1 million views\u003c/a>, driving in hundreds of new customers per day — Santa Clara County temporarily banned Salmon and his small crew from operating on February 8.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salmon says he has been slanging breakfast around San Jose using the same methods since December of 2021. Now, he has to rethink his approach in his hometown, after county officials told him he can no longer run his business in the same way — as a simple pop-up without any infrastructure other than the portable flat-top griddle he sets up at each event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been a wild two weeks. The [Santa Clara County] Health Department came for me and said I was illegally vending,” he says. “They said we would need to buy a food trailer or food truck. That’s an expense people can’t pull out of nowhere. We’re just trying to make it in this expensive state and pay our bills. They didn’t provide any tips or resources for anything — just paperwork to fill out. It’s frustrating how they don’t seem to want to help you in the process, and aren’t setting you up for success.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his view, the \u003ca href=\"https://library.municode.com/ca/san_jose/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT20ZO_CH20.80SPUSRE_PT10OUVEFA\">county’s regulations\u003c/a> for outdoor food vendors are draconian and inconsistently enforced, singling him out since he “blew up.” Prior to being flagged, Salmon had set up his mobile operation in front of coffee shops around San Jose for over two years without any problem. He says he had agreements with each business he worked alongside, paid for multiple permits and licenses, and fulfilled the county’s health department requirements (such as always being within 30 feet of a bathroom and having access to three compartment sinks).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I understand the legal process of paying fees; I get it,” says Salmon, who left his full-time job in corporate catering to pursue his passion as an independent food maker. “The problem is that the process is so difficult, and there’s not a lot of room for receiving help to continue thriving and make a living. It’s not conducive to creating a community that says, ‘We care about small business owners.’ It feels the exact opposite. It feels like we’re being driven out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even without this latest obstacle, operating a food business in the Bay Area is far from easy. Between soaring rent, staffing and a variety of unforgiving regional factors, it seems some of the best foodmakers are downsizing rather than expanding while others have decided it’s best to simply pack up. Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bay-area-struggles-18411322.php\">the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> described the Bay Area as being a “terrifying” business environment for local restaurant owners\u003c/a>. In that context, starting with a small pop-up seems like it would be the easier, more realistic route.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953462\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953462\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"three food workers prepare food and man an outdoor pop-up business in West Oakland\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Hash N Dash team: Brandon Salmon (center), Chris Villa (left) and Skylar Arnold (right) team up to serve their smash burger–style breakfast sandwiches every weekend. Here, they work the grill at a pop-up at Ghost Town Brewing in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And yet, at least based on Salmon’s experience, Santa Clara County actually seems to be actively discouraging pop-ups. It doesn’t help that Santa Clara County is \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewdepietro/2021/12/21/richest-counties-in-the-us/?sh=3c18fde42ecd\">among the wealthiest\u003c/a> — and therefore most expensive — places to live in the entire country, where owning or renting a brick-and-mortar could account for an exorbitant cost that would paralyze many potential businesses. Factor in the county’s recent \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-officials-struggle-to-protect-street-vendors/\">rash of violence toward immigrant street vendors\u003c/a>, and Santa Clara County may legitimately be one of the harshest places to successfully sustain a food pop-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But according to Larry Little, the \u003ca href=\"https://ehinfo.sccgov.org/home\">Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health Department\u003c/a> Communications Officer, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This is more about safety and keeping community members safe.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When you get a [temporary] permit, you’re under the umbrella of a larger event that’s happening,” Little says, acknowledging that pop-ups like Hash N Dash, which don’t have a kitchen or a food truck, can’t legally operate in Santa Clara County. “The coffee shop is not a temp event, and they don’t have a permit to sell food there.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As it stands, then, foodmakers are expected to acquire either “a food truck, trailer, van, the specific mobile food cart [or] the portable units” — in addition to applying for a Mobile Food Facility permit — to operate a pop-up business in the county.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to at all sound like a victim because I’m absolutely not,” Salmon told KQED via text. “But … I do believe it’s a bigger issue. It’s a bureaucratic issue that absolutely needs to be addressed so that steps can be taken to aid small business owners [and give] pop-up vendors the ability to operate as they do in a legal fashion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hash N Dash has paid “around $12k in sales taxes and about $400 in district taxes,” he says. “I’m not trying to do things illegally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Salmon’s eyes, the city has not taken any discernible action towards uplifting or creating pathways for the county’s non-traditional food makers — and some municipalities, he argues, are downright hostile toward small pop-ups like his. Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/12/14/24001759/manresa-reopens-chef-residency-michelin-star-pop-up\">a fine-dining pop-up in Los Gatos organized by a Michelin-starred chef has been receiving rave reviews\u003c/a>, with no apparent interference from county officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953460\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an order of eight eggs are prepared on a portable outdoor griddle\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Over-medium eggs are an essential component for a top-tier breakfast sandwich. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Salmon isn’t the only one who has found the county’s regulations around pop-ups and public gatherings to be strict and often unclear. Freddie Jackson, owner of Enso Bar & Nightclub in San Jose, facetiously told San Jose Spotlight, “Here, \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-raised-nfl-football-player-cornerback-chidobe-awuzie-beafro-ent-is-energizing-downtown/\">it takes like 18 months to get a permit to have a chair in front of your building\u003c/a>.” He contrasts that with running a business in San Diego, where he says “They’ll close their streets and let you party for any reason. The wind blows the correct way, and they’ll have a festival.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just fantasizing about a year-round Mardi Gras in Santa Clara County, though. In many cases, even the day-to-day basics can be a gargantuan struggle. In fact, a group of San Jose’s councilmembers banded together last year to \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-officials-call-for-street-food-vendor-protections/\">publicly call for solutions\u003c/a> in defense of the city’s most vulnerable food suppliers — its immigrant street vendors, who have faced a rash of harassment and violence. \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-officials-struggle-to-protect-street-vendors/\">As councilmember Peter Ortiz put it\u003c/a>, “[The city needs to] modernize policies that have marginalized this community within our economy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13934596,arts_13936325,arts_13952384']In the case of an immigrant street vendor, the lack of a proper support system can be a matter of basic survival. But that need for support applies to anyone trying to make a living outside of the traditional restaurant model. Salmon, for instance, isn’t an immigrant himself, but he knows it’s a demographic that’s adjacent to his line of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haley Cardamon, a San Jose-raised advocate who founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanjoseday/\">San Jose Day\u003c/a>, an annual event that hosts nearly 100 local artists and vendors each year, says, “A lot of small food businesses don’t have the means, or the process is so overwhelming, that it’s hard for them to even try to step into that space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She goes on to ask the million dollar question: “Could there be opportunities for the health department or city or county to provide learning opportunities to help our small businesses succeed?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Salmon, those “learning opportunities” have only coincided with the county’s attempt to shut him down. But with his fastidious approach and dedication to becoming the best breakfast sandwich provider in the area, he has still found a way to level up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953463\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953463\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a portable griddle sizzles with sausage patties, onions and eggs\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Selling up to 300 sandwiches in under two hours, Hash N Dash makes breakfast food to go (and sells out quickly). \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On March 10, Hash N Dash will reopen as a fixed location inside the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/recroomsj/?hl=en\">Rec Room\u003c/a>, a bar in downtown San Jose that will now double as Hash N Dash’s kitchen. Here, Salmon will serve breakfast five days a week, with his headlining lineup of decadent, overstuffed English muffin smashes. The fully equipped commercial kitchen will allow Hash N Dash to — fittingly — add hash browns to their menu. With a larger operation, Salmon also expects to significantly reduce customer wait time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the turbulent circumstances, it’s a major accomplishment for Salmon, who never envisioned becoming one of the city’s most popular food vendors when he first launched from his driveway with his two brothers. Still, he is concerned for his fellow pop-up operators and street food vendors who haven’t been as fortunate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it stands, Santa Clara County doesn’t appear to look kindly on emerging food entrepreneurs who can’t afford a brick-and-mortar or haven’t invested in a food truck or food trailer. The roving, micro-scale food makers who are operating in a limited, impermanent way? In Salmon’s view, the county would simply prefer that they take their business elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It makes one wonder: Is street vending a foundational good for the community? Who wins when food pop-ups are thriving, and who loses? And — importantly — how is that measured, regulated and enforced?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that there’s an incredibly rich food scene in San Jose. It’s just obscured by [the] corporate tech DashMart ease of convenience shit,” says Salmon. “So many ‘illegal’ businesses thrive here, but they can’t afford to buy a food truck or rent a brick and mortar. If you just want to start [out] and proof your concept before going all in, it’s very, very hard to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hashndashsj/\">\u003ci>Hash N Dash\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is relaunching on Friday, Mar. 8 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.recroomsj.com/\">\u003ci>Rec Room\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (1 E. San Fernando St., San Jose), as well as Saturday and Sunday during the same hours. Starting on Mar. 13, it will operate weekly from Wednesday to Sunday. Check the pop-up’s page for \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4HPlvKvzub/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">\u003ci>more updates\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">P\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>icture a drizzly Bay Area afternoon, when you’d rather rain-check your plans and stay bundled up indoors. Picture the gray, dreary sky as you trek down 880 over slick pavement, the tired weight of a wintry Sunday knocking inside your head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, picture all of that instantly dissolving when you take your first bite of a warm breakfast sandwich served by a dude wearing sunglasses beneath a dark canopy tent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a formula that San Jose’s Brandon Salmon has mastered with his viral breakfast pop-up, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hashndashsj/?hl=en\">Hash N Dash\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Serving a small selection of smash burger–style breakfast sandwiches at any hour of the day, Salmon has carved out a definitive lane as Silicon Valley’s sausage-egg-and-cheese-on-English-muffin god — with regular appearances outside of San Jose’s coffee shops, and occasionally at breweries and wineries around the greater Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This isn’t some \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C1xPLS8P0_C/\">McDonald’s warmed-in-the-microwave kind of breakfast sandwich\u003c/a> with a whimper of Canadian bacon in it. This is a full-on sausage patty mashed onto a searing grill then dressed with maple syrup, griddled sweet onions, Tapatio-spiked mayo, melted American cheese and a yolk-bursting soft-boiled egg, all chewily layered inside a toasted English muffin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the kind of out-of-body Northern California food experience where — after the smoke-sizzle clears and the flavors have melted into your system — you might hear Mac Dre’s “Not My Job” slapping from a nearby portable speaker. (If Hash N Dash was ever in need of a motto, a remix of \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZgWrovjAAI\">what Mac Dre articulated in 2004\u003c/a> would suffice: “I can make you a breakfast sandwich, but anything else, not my job”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953461\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953461\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an outdoor cook smashes sausage patties into a searing grill\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2931-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The “408 Smash” is the main attraction at Hash N Dash. Brandon Salmon prides himself in keeping his food station clean and his ingredients simple. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And yet, despite Hash N Dash’s underground success — which peaked in January when \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C2c7Xfpvnm5/\">a video of its “408 Smash” sando accrued over 1 million views\u003c/a>, driving in hundreds of new customers per day — Santa Clara County temporarily banned Salmon and his small crew from operating on February 8.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salmon says he has been slanging breakfast around San Jose using the same methods since December of 2021. Now, he has to rethink his approach in his hometown, after county officials told him he can no longer run his business in the same way — as a simple pop-up without any infrastructure other than the portable flat-top griddle he sets up at each event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been a wild two weeks. The [Santa Clara County] Health Department came for me and said I was illegally vending,” he says. “They said we would need to buy a food trailer or food truck. That’s an expense people can’t pull out of nowhere. We’re just trying to make it in this expensive state and pay our bills. They didn’t provide any tips or resources for anything — just paperwork to fill out. It’s frustrating how they don’t seem to want to help you in the process, and aren’t setting you up for success.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his view, the \u003ca href=\"https://library.municode.com/ca/san_jose/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT20ZO_CH20.80SPUSRE_PT10OUVEFA\">county’s regulations\u003c/a> for outdoor food vendors are draconian and inconsistently enforced, singling him out since he “blew up.” Prior to being flagged, Salmon had set up his mobile operation in front of coffee shops around San Jose for over two years without any problem. He says he had agreements with each business he worked alongside, paid for multiple permits and licenses, and fulfilled the county’s health department requirements (such as always being within 30 feet of a bathroom and having access to three compartment sinks).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I understand the legal process of paying fees; I get it,” says Salmon, who left his full-time job in corporate catering to pursue his passion as an independent food maker. “The problem is that the process is so difficult, and there’s not a lot of room for receiving help to continue thriving and make a living. It’s not conducive to creating a community that says, ‘We care about small business owners.’ It feels the exact opposite. It feels like we’re being driven out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even without this latest obstacle, operating a food business in the Bay Area is far from easy. Between soaring rent, staffing and a variety of unforgiving regional factors, it seems some of the best foodmakers are downsizing rather than expanding while others have decided it’s best to simply pack up. Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bay-area-struggles-18411322.php\">the \u003ci>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/i> described the Bay Area as being a “terrifying” business environment for local restaurant owners\u003c/a>. In that context, starting with a small pop-up seems like it would be the easier, more realistic route.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953462\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953462\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"three food workers prepare food and man an outdoor pop-up business in West Oakland\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2953-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Hash N Dash team: Brandon Salmon (center), Chris Villa (left) and Skylar Arnold (right) team up to serve their smash burger–style breakfast sandwiches every weekend. Here, they work the grill at a pop-up at Ghost Town Brewing in West Oakland. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And yet, at least based on Salmon’s experience, Santa Clara County actually seems to be actively discouraging pop-ups. It doesn’t help that Santa Clara County is \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewdepietro/2021/12/21/richest-counties-in-the-us/?sh=3c18fde42ecd\">among the wealthiest\u003c/a> — and therefore most expensive — places to live in the entire country, where owning or renting a brick-and-mortar could account for an exorbitant cost that would paralyze many potential businesses. Factor in the county’s recent \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-officials-struggle-to-protect-street-vendors/\">rash of violence toward immigrant street vendors\u003c/a>, and Santa Clara County may legitimately be one of the harshest places to successfully sustain a food pop-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But according to Larry Little, the \u003ca href=\"https://ehinfo.sccgov.org/home\">Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health Department\u003c/a> Communications Officer, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This is more about safety and keeping community members safe.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When you get a [temporary] permit, you’re under the umbrella of a larger event that’s happening,” Little says, acknowledging that pop-ups like Hash N Dash, which don’t have a kitchen or a food truck, can’t legally operate in Santa Clara County. “The coffee shop is not a temp event, and they don’t have a permit to sell food there.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As it stands, then, foodmakers are expected to acquire either “a food truck, trailer, van, the specific mobile food cart [or] the portable units” — in addition to applying for a Mobile Food Facility permit — to operate a pop-up business in the county.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to at all sound like a victim because I’m absolutely not,” Salmon told KQED via text. “But … I do believe it’s a bigger issue. It’s a bureaucratic issue that absolutely needs to be addressed so that steps can be taken to aid small business owners [and give] pop-up vendors the ability to operate as they do in a legal fashion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hash N Dash has paid “around $12k in sales taxes and about $400 in district taxes,” he says. “I’m not trying to do things illegally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Salmon’s eyes, the city has not taken any discernible action towards uplifting or creating pathways for the county’s non-traditional food makers — and some municipalities, he argues, are downright hostile toward small pop-ups like his. Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/12/14/24001759/manresa-reopens-chef-residency-michelin-star-pop-up\">a fine-dining pop-up in Los Gatos organized by a Michelin-starred chef has been receiving rave reviews\u003c/a>, with no apparent interference from county officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953460\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953460\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"an order of eight eggs are prepared on a portable outdoor griddle\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2911-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Over-medium eggs are an essential component for a top-tier breakfast sandwich. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Salmon isn’t the only one who has found the county’s regulations around pop-ups and public gatherings to be strict and often unclear. Freddie Jackson, owner of Enso Bar & Nightclub in San Jose, facetiously told San Jose Spotlight, “Here, \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-raised-nfl-football-player-cornerback-chidobe-awuzie-beafro-ent-is-energizing-downtown/\">it takes like 18 months to get a permit to have a chair in front of your building\u003c/a>.” He contrasts that with running a business in San Diego, where he says “They’ll close their streets and let you party for any reason. The wind blows the correct way, and they’ll have a festival.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just fantasizing about a year-round Mardi Gras in Santa Clara County, though. In many cases, even the day-to-day basics can be a gargantuan struggle. In fact, a group of San Jose’s councilmembers banded together last year to \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-officials-call-for-street-food-vendor-protections/\">publicly call for solutions\u003c/a> in defense of the city’s most vulnerable food suppliers — its immigrant street vendors, who have faced a rash of harassment and violence. \u003ca href=\"https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-officials-struggle-to-protect-street-vendors/\">As councilmember Peter Ortiz put it\u003c/a>, “[The city needs to] modernize policies that have marginalized this community within our economy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the case of an immigrant street vendor, the lack of a proper support system can be a matter of basic survival. But that need for support applies to anyone trying to make a living outside of the traditional restaurant model. Salmon, for instance, isn’t an immigrant himself, but he knows it’s a demographic that’s adjacent to his line of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haley Cardamon, a San Jose-raised advocate who founded \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanjoseday/\">San Jose Day\u003c/a>, an annual event that hosts nearly 100 local artists and vendors each year, says, “A lot of small food businesses don’t have the means, or the process is so overwhelming, that it’s hard for them to even try to step into that space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She goes on to ask the million dollar question: “Could there be opportunities for the health department or city or county to provide learning opportunities to help our small businesses succeed?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Salmon, those “learning opportunities” have only coincided with the county’s attempt to shut him down. But with his fastidious approach and dedication to becoming the best breakfast sandwich provider in the area, he has still found a way to level up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953463\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953463\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a portable griddle sizzles with sausage patties, onions and eggs\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_2955-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Selling up to 300 sandwiches in under two hours, Hash N Dash makes breakfast food to go (and sells out quickly). \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On March 10, Hash N Dash will reopen as a fixed location inside the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/recroomsj/?hl=en\">Rec Room\u003c/a>, a bar in downtown San Jose that will now double as Hash N Dash’s kitchen. Here, Salmon will serve breakfast five days a week, with his headlining lineup of decadent, overstuffed English muffin smashes. The fully equipped commercial kitchen will allow Hash N Dash to — fittingly — add hash browns to their menu. With a larger operation, Salmon also expects to significantly reduce customer wait time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the turbulent circumstances, it’s a major accomplishment for Salmon, who never envisioned becoming one of the city’s most popular food vendors when he first launched from his driveway with his two brothers. Still, he is concerned for his fellow pop-up operators and street food vendors who haven’t been as fortunate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it stands, Santa Clara County doesn’t appear to look kindly on emerging food entrepreneurs who can’t afford a brick-and-mortar or haven’t invested in a food truck or food trailer. The roving, micro-scale food makers who are operating in a limited, impermanent way? In Salmon’s view, the county would simply prefer that they take their business elsewhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It makes one wonder: Is street vending a foundational good for the community? Who wins when food pop-ups are thriving, and who loses? And — importantly — how is that measured, regulated and enforced?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know that there’s an incredibly rich food scene in San Jose. It’s just obscured by [the] corporate tech DashMart ease of convenience shit,” says Salmon. “So many ‘illegal’ businesses thrive here, but they can’t afford to buy a food truck or rent a brick and mortar. If you just want to start [out] and proof your concept before going all in, it’s very, very hard to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hashndashsj/\">\u003ci>Hash N Dash\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is relaunching on Friday, Mar. 8 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.recroomsj.com/\">\u003ci>Rec Room\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (1 E. San Fernando St., San Jose), as well as Saturday and Sunday during the same hours. Starting on Mar. 13, it will operate weekly from Wednesday to Sunday. Check the pop-up’s page for \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4HPlvKvzub/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">\u003ci>more updates\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Calling all musicians! Submissions are back open for \u003ca href=\"https://baybeats.sfpl.org/\">Bay Beats\u003c/a>, the San Francisco Public Library’s free music streaming platform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dedicated exclusively to spotlighting Bay Area talent, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936864/bay-beats-san-francisco-public-library-streaming-local-music\">Bay Beats first launched in October 2023\u003c/a>, six months after a call for work by bands, musicians and composers from the region’s nine counties. In that time, 600 submissions were whittled down to 144, with selected artists each receiving a $250 honorarium for their contributions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year’s artists were chosen by an all-star panel of local jurors including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931155/dregs-one-history-of-the-bay-intluniz-mac-mall-keak-da-sneak-midway\">Dregs One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910566/la-dona-penas-con-pan-music-video\">La Doña\u003c/a> and Avengers frontwoman \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930570/hit-girls-bay-area-punk-avengers-frightwig-penelope-houston-jen-larson-sfpl\">Penelope Houston\u003c/a>. Houston — who was a longtime employee at San Francisco’s main library before retiring in 2020 — is returning again this year to decide which artists will make the cut. She tells KQED Arts she’s really looking forward to listening to the submissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a great way to discover other sounds, for the jurors and, ultimately, for the many SFPL library card holders who explore the chosen music,” Houston says. (The Bay Beats catalog is currently free to stream for anyone with an internet connection, and downloadable for library card holders.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Really it’s a win-win situation for everyone,” Houston continues. “Hopefully lots of entries will come in and Bay Beats will grow every year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Houston’s fellow judges this year include Berkeley pianist Sarah Cahill, Club Foot Orchestra’s Beth Custer, composer and musician James Fei, DJ and writer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/tamarapalmer\">Tamara Palmer\u003c/a>, Latin jazz aficionado Jesse Varela, journalist and radio producer Emmanuel Nado and musician and composer David James. Rounding out this year’s panel is MC and producer\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930122/hip-hop-for-change-studio-oakland-san-francisco-leadership-change\"> Unlearn the World\u003c/a>, aka Marlon Richardson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m looking for inspiration and [something] groundbreaking,” Richardson tells KQED Arts. “There’s so much cookie-cutter microwave music coming out every single day. I want to hear something that sticks to ya ribs, that stays in your brain and your heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While each juror will approach how they select finalists differently, Richardson plans to follow his gut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Regardless of genre, I wanna hear music that can translate from the speakers to the soul,” he says. “Something that strikes a chord with you emotionally and makes you want to hear it over and over again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artists who’d like to have their music considered are invited to upload two or three songs, all for a total of no more than 30 minutes of music, to \u003ca href=\"https://baybeats.sfpl.org/submit/album-data\">Bay Beats’ submissions page\u003c/a>. The closing date is May 31, 2024, and a maximum of 150 artists will eventually be added to the streaming platform. Good luck!\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Calling all musicians! Submissions are back open for \u003ca href=\"https://baybeats.sfpl.org/\">Bay Beats\u003c/a>, the San Francisco Public Library’s free music streaming platform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dedicated exclusively to spotlighting Bay Area talent, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936864/bay-beats-san-francisco-public-library-streaming-local-music\">Bay Beats first launched in October 2023\u003c/a>, six months after a call for work by bands, musicians and composers from the region’s nine counties. In that time, 600 submissions were whittled down to 144, with selected artists each receiving a $250 honorarium for their contributions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year’s artists were chosen by an all-star panel of local jurors including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931155/dregs-one-history-of-the-bay-intluniz-mac-mall-keak-da-sneak-midway\">Dregs One\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13910566/la-dona-penas-con-pan-music-video\">La Doña\u003c/a> and Avengers frontwoman \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930570/hit-girls-bay-area-punk-avengers-frightwig-penelope-houston-jen-larson-sfpl\">Penelope Houston\u003c/a>. Houston — who was a longtime employee at San Francisco’s main library before retiring in 2020 — is returning again this year to decide which artists will make the cut. She tells KQED Arts she’s really looking forward to listening to the submissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a great way to discover other sounds, for the jurors and, ultimately, for the many SFPL library card holders who explore the chosen music,” Houston says. (The Bay Beats catalog is currently free to stream for anyone with an internet connection, and downloadable for library card holders.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Really it’s a win-win situation for everyone,” Houston continues. “Hopefully lots of entries will come in and Bay Beats will grow every year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Houston’s fellow judges this year include Berkeley pianist Sarah Cahill, Club Foot Orchestra’s Beth Custer, composer and musician James Fei, DJ and writer \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/tamarapalmer\">Tamara Palmer\u003c/a>, Latin jazz aficionado Jesse Varela, journalist and radio producer Emmanuel Nado and musician and composer David James. Rounding out this year’s panel is MC and producer\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930122/hip-hop-for-change-studio-oakland-san-francisco-leadership-change\"> Unlearn the World\u003c/a>, aka Marlon Richardson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m looking for inspiration and [something] groundbreaking,” Richardson tells KQED Arts. “There’s so much cookie-cutter microwave music coming out every single day. I want to hear something that sticks to ya ribs, that stays in your brain and your heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While each juror will approach how they select finalists differently, Richardson plans to follow his gut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Regardless of genre, I wanna hear music that can translate from the speakers to the soul,” he says. “Something that strikes a chord with you emotionally and makes you want to hear it over and over again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artists who’d like to have their music considered are invited to upload two or three songs, all for a total of no more than 30 minutes of music, to \u003ca href=\"https://baybeats.sfpl.org/submit/album-data\">Bay Beats’ submissions page\u003c/a>. The closing date is May 31, 2024, and a maximum of 150 artists will eventually be added to the streaming platform. Good luck!\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>On Monday in Sacramento, educators from Oakland celebrated as the California Department of Education named Fremont High School’s Media Academy a Distinguished California Partnership Academy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This acknowledgment is a product of the academy’s low attrition rates, high graduation rates and industry partnerships that produce career pathways. The academy has a curriculum within itself, where students get exposed to journalism, filmmaking and other forms of storytelling throughout each year of high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont High, comprised of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/california/districts/oakland-unified-school-district/fremont-high-school-139211\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">98% non-white student body\u003c/a>, has seen an overall increase in graduation rates over the past decade. The success of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/themediaacademyoak/?img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Media Academy\u003c/a> is another step in the right direction for the institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953364\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13953364\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-800x509.png\" alt=\"An academic director stands on stage holding an award.\" width=\"800\" height=\"509\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-800x509.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-1020x648.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-160x102.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-768x488.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM.png 1230w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jasmene Miranda, director of Fremont High School’s Media Academy, poses with an award designating the program a Distinguished California Partnership Academy. \u003ccite>(Leon D. Sykes II)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Every day, teachers across the state work tirelessly to ensure students have the support they need to become engaged and productive citizens,” reads a statement from the California Department of Education. “It’s clear that the Fremont Media Academy rises above other academies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Jasmene Miranda, a Fremont High graduate and director of the Media Academy, reflects on her decade of working at the school, she often thinks of the proverb, “When the roots of a tree begin to decay, it spreads death to the branches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miranda says, “We were in danger of losing our school site eight years ago. I fought to stop our then administrators from closing our academy seven years ago. The CDE’s designation is a real testament to having a vision, and not giving in to the influence of the doubters. I am grateful for the team I am lucky to build with and learn from daily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the second honor the academy has received as of late: It also recently became a \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedlearning.org/certification/silver-certification/silver-certified-pathways\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Certified Silver Linked Learning Pathway.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaX4j2YRCDM\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://fremont.ousd.org/academics-programs/media-academy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fremont High’s Media Academy\u003c/a>, founded in 1986, is home to a state-of-the-art multimedia studio, where students get hands-on experience in the art of storytelling. Over the past three years, students have produced a number of notable stories, including pieces for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13928405/dear-future-self-letters-from-fremont-high-students\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KQED’s \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em>\u003c/a> podcast and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/opinion/us-high-school-oakland.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve also worked on a YouTube series called \u003cem>The Town Talks\u003c/em> (with KDOL, Oakland in the Middle, the La Segunda podcast, \u003ca href=\"http://ChooseOUSD.org\">ChooseOUSD.org\u003c/a>), where students host interviews with Oakland staples like filmmaker and musician Boots Riley. [ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Monday in Sacramento, educators from Oakland celebrated as the California Department of Education named Fremont High School’s Media Academy a Distinguished California Partnership Academy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This acknowledgment is a product of the academy’s low attrition rates, high graduation rates and industry partnerships that produce career pathways. The academy has a curriculum within itself, where students get exposed to journalism, filmmaking and other forms of storytelling throughout each year of high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont High, comprised of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/california/districts/oakland-unified-school-district/fremont-high-school-139211\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">98% non-white student body\u003c/a>, has seen an overall increase in graduation rates over the past decade. The success of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/themediaacademyoak/?img_index=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Media Academy\u003c/a> is another step in the right direction for the institution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953364\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13953364\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-800x509.png\" alt=\"An academic director stands on stage holding an award.\" width=\"800\" height=\"509\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-800x509.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-1020x648.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-160x102.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM-768x488.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-1.21.55-PM.png 1230w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jasmene Miranda, director of Fremont High School’s Media Academy, poses with an award designating the program a Distinguished California Partnership Academy. \u003ccite>(Leon D. Sykes II)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Every day, teachers across the state work tirelessly to ensure students have the support they need to become engaged and productive citizens,” reads a statement from the California Department of Education. “It’s clear that the Fremont Media Academy rises above other academies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Jasmene Miranda, a Fremont High graduate and director of the Media Academy, reflects on her decade of working at the school, she often thinks of the proverb, “When the roots of a tree begin to decay, it spreads death to the branches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miranda says, “We were in danger of losing our school site eight years ago. I fought to stop our then administrators from closing our academy seven years ago. The CDE’s designation is a real testament to having a vision, and not giving in to the influence of the doubters. I am grateful for the team I am lucky to build with and learn from daily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the second honor the academy has received as of late: It also recently became a \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedlearning.org/certification/silver-certification/silver-certified-pathways\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Certified Silver Linked Learning Pathway.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/QaX4j2YRCDM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/QaX4j2YRCDM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://fremont.ousd.org/academics-programs/media-academy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fremont High’s Media Academy\u003c/a>, founded in 1986, is home to a state-of-the-art multimedia studio, where students get hands-on experience in the art of storytelling. Over the past three years, students have produced a number of notable stories, including pieces for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13928405/dear-future-self-letters-from-fremont-high-students\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KQED’s \u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em>\u003c/a> podcast and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/opinion/us-high-school-oakland.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve also worked on a YouTube series called \u003cem>The Town Talks\u003c/em> (with KDOL, Oakland in the Middle, the La Segunda podcast, \u003ca href=\"http://ChooseOUSD.org\">ChooseOUSD.org\u003c/a>), where students host interviews with Oakland staples like filmmaker and musician Boots Riley. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Smelling Music? A Multisensory ‘Prometheus’ Delights at the SF Symphony",
"headTitle": "Smelling Music? A Multisensory ‘Prometheus’ Delights at the SF Symphony | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>So here’s the challenge: How does one present a 114-year-old piece of music by a composer said to be afflicted with \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/synesthesia\">synesthesia\u003c/a> who, in the score, calls for a “\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavier_%C3%A0_lumi%C3%A8res\">color organ\u003c/a>” — an instrument that does not exist?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Furthermore, how does one interpret this composer’s mysticism and artistic philosophy of merging the senses? How does one weave together so many intangibles and unknowns in a way that says, “Yes, yes, this is the way he would want it performed” — even though it involves significant labor and cost, and, oh right, only lasts 20 minutes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13951043']That’s the challenge Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony faced when deciding to undertake Alexander Scriabin’s \u003cem>Prometheus, The Poem of Fire\u003c/em>, a piece rarely performed due to risks both aesthetic and logistic. (It’s not exactly an easy commercial sell, either.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet on Sunday, with colorful light splashed around the inside of Davies Symphony Hall, and special scents piped throughout the audience, \u003cem>Prometheus\u003c/em> was a dazzling success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953338\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953338\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the orchestra with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet as the San Francisco Symphony performs Alexander Scriabin’s ‘Prometheus, The Poem of Fire’ at Davies Symphony Hall on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Brandon Patoc)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before the orchestra played a single note, Davies resembled elements from the film \u003cem>2001\u003c/em>; bathed in red light, the sound baffling conjured \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/102906/50-years-later-2001-a-space-odyssey-is-still-a-cinematic-landmark\">David Bowman’s spherical helmet\u003c/a>, and the grid of square holes in the stage wall recalled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kinolab.org/FilmClip.php?id=790\">HAL’s central circuit boards\u003c/a>. A giant circular lighting rig hovered over the stage. Around the side terraces and floor were situated 12 \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/arts/music/scriabin-prometheus-san-francisco-perfume-cartier.html\">wooden contraptions looking like space pods\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then? The piece started in complete darkness. A faint spotlight appeared on conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, then vertical lights down the orchestra floor turned indigo. Overhead, the circle glowed green, illuminating pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three minutes in, I could smell the aroma developed by Mathilde Laurent from Cartier. I’d figured it’d resemble women’s perfume, but no — this was a complex, earthy scent. The lights changed colors corresponding to the music. A dextrous solo passage by Thibaudet was bathed in deep purple, and during one loud portion, what I thought was someone opening the concert hall’s doors to the bright afternoon sun turned out to be the side lighting burning bright white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scent got stronger — I thought of fern, madrone and damp bay leaves — and the music more swirling and intense. Swelling brass played against full-fingered piano runs as Scriabin’s score approached the moment, in the Greek myth of Prometheus (and, coincidentally, the beginning of \u003cem>2001\u003c/em>), when humankind is gifted with the power of harnessing fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953336\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953336\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco Symphony performs Alexander Scriabin’s ‘Prometheus, The Poem of Fire’ at Davies Symphony Hall, outfitted with special lighting and smoke cannons, on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Brandon Patoc)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That arrived at the 13-minute mark, when the round doors of the space pods slowly opened, emanating wisps of mist. As the orchestra crescendoed to a climax, \u003cem>boom!\u003c/em> — the space pod cannons launched smoke rings across the hall, zig-zagging over the audience in vibrant red and yellow light. The scent suddenly changed, lighter and less musky, to what seemed like citrus and lychee. I may or may not have whispered, “Oh my God.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Did I say that was the climax? Alas, the joke was on me, because a 77-piece choir started filing into the center terrace to sing thunderously as the music intensified and the scent changed yet again, this time to a sweet herbal note reminiscent of Fernet Branca being poured in a houseplant boutique.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What followed in the final six minutes was pure wonderment at the scope of it all, and the capacity of humans to undertake such a vigorous challenge. At the gigantic fortississimo ending, Davies shimmered with red and yellow until a full blackout after the final thrilling chord.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953335\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953335\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A curtain call for the San Francisco Symphony performance of Alexander Scriabin’s ‘Prometheus, The Poem of Fire’ at Davies Symphony Hall on March 1, 2024. Left to right: Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, Chorus Director Jenny Wong, lighting designer Luke Kritzeck, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Cartier’s in-house perfumer Mathilde Laurent. \u003ccite>(Brandon Patoc)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After the intermission, Béla Bartók’s \u003cem>Duke Bluebeard’s Castle\u003c/em> felt a bit like Carly Rae Jepsen having to follow Beyoncé. Gerald Finley and Michelle DeYoung were in fine form singing the tale of a doomed wife exploring a blood-stained castle, and the special lighting was used intermittently. But it was no match for the first half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scriabin is a composer with a diehard fanbase. During a 2015 performance of Scriabin’s piano sonatas at SFJAZZ by Garrick Ohlsson, some audience members had sheet music in their laps to follow along. Their passion comes from those moments when his singular, strange vision of music is beautifully realized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It doesn’t happen often. Leave it up to San Francisco to pull it off.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>So here’s the challenge: How does one present a 114-year-old piece of music by a composer said to be afflicted with \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/synesthesia\">synesthesia\u003c/a> who, in the score, calls for a “\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavier_%C3%A0_lumi%C3%A8res\">color organ\u003c/a>” — an instrument that does not exist?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Furthermore, how does one interpret this composer’s mysticism and artistic philosophy of merging the senses? How does one weave together so many intangibles and unknowns in a way that says, “Yes, yes, this is the way he would want it performed” — even though it involves significant labor and cost, and, oh right, only lasts 20 minutes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That’s the challenge Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony faced when deciding to undertake Alexander Scriabin’s \u003cem>Prometheus, The Poem of Fire\u003c/em>, a piece rarely performed due to risks both aesthetic and logistic. (It’s not exactly an easy commercial sell, either.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet on Sunday, with colorful light splashed around the inside of Davies Symphony Hall, and special scents piped throughout the audience, \u003cem>Prometheus\u003c/em> was a dazzling success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953338\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953338\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0005-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the orchestra with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet as the San Francisco Symphony performs Alexander Scriabin’s ‘Prometheus, The Poem of Fire’ at Davies Symphony Hall on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Brandon Patoc)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before the orchestra played a single note, Davies resembled elements from the film \u003cem>2001\u003c/em>; bathed in red light, the sound baffling conjured \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/102906/50-years-later-2001-a-space-odyssey-is-still-a-cinematic-landmark\">David Bowman’s spherical helmet\u003c/a>, and the grid of square holes in the stage wall recalled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kinolab.org/FilmClip.php?id=790\">HAL’s central circuit boards\u003c/a>. A giant circular lighting rig hovered over the stage. Around the side terraces and floor were situated 12 \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/arts/music/scriabin-prometheus-san-francisco-perfume-cartier.html\">wooden contraptions looking like space pods\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then? The piece started in complete darkness. A faint spotlight appeared on conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, then vertical lights down the orchestra floor turned indigo. Overhead, the circle glowed green, illuminating pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three minutes in, I could smell the aroma developed by Mathilde Laurent from Cartier. I’d figured it’d resemble women’s perfume, but no — this was a complex, earthy scent. The lights changed colors corresponding to the music. A dextrous solo passage by Thibaudet was bathed in deep purple, and during one loud portion, what I thought was someone opening the concert hall’s doors to the bright afternoon sun turned out to be the side lighting burning bright white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scent got stronger — I thought of fern, madrone and damp bay leaves — and the music more swirling and intense. Swelling brass played against full-fingered piano runs as Scriabin’s score approached the moment, in the Greek myth of Prometheus (and, coincidentally, the beginning of \u003cem>2001\u003c/em>), when humankind is gifted with the power of harnessing fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953336\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953336\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco Symphony performs Alexander Scriabin’s ‘Prometheus, The Poem of Fire’ at Davies Symphony Hall, outfitted with special lighting and smoke cannons, on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Brandon Patoc)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That arrived at the 13-minute mark, when the round doors of the space pods slowly opened, emanating wisps of mist. As the orchestra crescendoed to a climax, \u003cem>boom!\u003c/em> — the space pod cannons launched smoke rings across the hall, zig-zagging over the audience in vibrant red and yellow light. The scent suddenly changed, lighter and less musky, to what seemed like citrus and lychee. I may or may not have whispered, “Oh my God.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Did I say that was the climax? Alas, the joke was on me, because a 77-piece choir started filing into the center terrace to sing thunderously as the music intensified and the scent changed yet again, this time to a sweet herbal note reminiscent of Fernet Branca being poured in a houseplant boutique.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What followed in the final six minutes was pure wonderment at the scope of it all, and the capacity of humans to undertake such a vigorous challenge. At the gigantic fortississimo ending, Davies shimmered with red and yellow until a full blackout after the final thrilling chord.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953335\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953335\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/2324-Concerts-Prometheus-Bluebeard-Brandon-Patoc_0035-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A curtain call for the San Francisco Symphony performance of Alexander Scriabin’s ‘Prometheus, The Poem of Fire’ at Davies Symphony Hall on March 1, 2024. Left to right: Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, Chorus Director Jenny Wong, lighting designer Luke Kritzeck, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Cartier’s in-house perfumer Mathilde Laurent. \u003ccite>(Brandon Patoc)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After the intermission, Béla Bartók’s \u003cem>Duke Bluebeard’s Castle\u003c/em> felt a bit like Carly Rae Jepsen having to follow Beyoncé. Gerald Finley and Michelle DeYoung were in fine form singing the tale of a doomed wife exploring a blood-stained castle, and the special lighting was used intermittently. But it was no match for the first half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scriabin is a composer with a diehard fanbase. During a 2015 performance of Scriabin’s piano sonatas at SFJAZZ by Garrick Ohlsson, some audience members had sheet music in their laps to follow along. Their passion comes from those moments when his singular, strange vision of music is beautifully realized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It doesn’t happen often. Leave it up to San Francisco to pull it off.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Live Review: Bad Bunny Gets in His Feels at San Francisco’s Chase Center",
"headTitle": "Live Review: Bad Bunny Gets in His Feels at San Francisco’s Chase Center | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>If I hadn’t known Bad Bunny was headlining at the Chase Center on Saturday night, I would have sworn, judging by the fans heading inside, that I was at an Eslabon Armado or Grupo Firme show. In force were thick jean jackets, cowboy hats, cowboy boots — and I’m not talking about just any boots, but \u003cem>botas\u003c/em> with full embroidery and bling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d never seen a ranchero aesthetic showing up so strongly for a reggaeton artist. It proved that Bad Bunny has fulfilled the promise of his latest album, \u003cem>Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana\u003c/em>, by seamlessly bringing together a multiplicity of genres — banda, trap, dembow, Jersey club — with his irresistible looks and style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953309\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953309\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of friends show off their hats outside the Chase Center before Bad Bunny’s concert in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After an intro by a live orchestra (violins, cellos, brass and all), Benito rose from the floor on a second stage, hidden in a cloud of smoke. Opening with the somber new track “Nadie Sabe,” he leaned on the mic in a dark jacket and black Dodgers cap, with no backup dancers — just the man and the stage. (Regardless of how many chart-breaking summer anthems he cranks out year after year, El Conejo Malo keeps true to his sadboy side.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until the second song, “Monaco,” that backup dancers arrived. But just like Bad Bunny, they wore simple black clothing, and kept their choreography low-key. In contrast with his previous tour, which was all about having a big, colorful summer party on the beach (oh, to be back in May 2022 and hear \u003cem>Un Verano Sin Ti\u003c/em> for the first time again), the Benito on this year’s Most Wanted Tour is a whole different person: serious, mature, grounded. I’ll add mysterious, too; for much of the show, Benito kept his face obscured, at one point donning a ski mask and sunglasses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953305\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953305\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bad Bunny performs at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most of the show was dedicated to tracks from \u003cem>Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana\u003c/em>, like “Fina” and “Where She Goes.” (Unfortunately for the fans in their ranchero fits, only a snippet appeared of “un x100to,” which features Mexican regional band Grupo Frontera.) Benito’s love for trap had the spotlight, and it wasn’t until the second half of the show that he performed the perreo anthems of years past. As “La Santa” and “Me Porto Bonito” came paired with fireworks, lasers, fog machines and thousands of LED lights from necklaces distributed to fans before the show, the stage became the center of what felt like the biggest club in the world — think Coco Bongo Cancún.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13953284']Mind you, it was still a club with \u003cem>showmanship\u003c/em>. To open the second act of his set, Benito entered the stage on a horse. It was the first time I’d ever seen a reggaetonero perform with a horse, and brought me flashbacks to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXRYAp00yhw\">Joan Sebastian singing on a horse in his jaripeos\u003c/a>. This aligns with the idea of the tour: that Benito is a lone horseman on the run, “most wanted” after breaking the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I couldn’t help but ask myself: \u003cem>What is he on the run from? What force is threatening this man?\u003c/em> After all, Benito is no longer the up-and-coming rookie teased by other reggaetoneros for his painted nails and earrings — Bad Bunny \u003cem>is\u003c/em> the face of reggaeton now to a global audience. His market success and impact on younger artists stands on par with legends of the genre like Ivy Queen and Plan B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953306\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953306\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bad Bunny performs at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Benito, however, gave several interpretations of what it means to be “Most Wanted.” When he reached “Baticano,” he paused to talk to the audience. “Es imposible creer que este lugar se llenó con tanta gente,” he said — “It’s impossible to believe that this whole place is filled up with so many people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With just a few lights on stage, Benito started reflecting out loud: “Yo estoy siempre seguro que quizás muchos de ustedes aquí en esta noche están pasando por una situación sufrida, una situación un poco difícil … pero aun así vinieron aquí y dejaron los problemas afuera un poco para estar conmigo,” he said, nearly drowned out by the sound of thousands of fans cheering. “I am always sure that many of you here tonight are going through tough, difficult situations … but despite that, you came here, left your problems for a bit, to come here and be with me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yo se los agradezco mucho … ustedes también me hacen sentir mejor,” he added. “I deeply thank you … all of you make me feel better as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953308\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953308\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bad Bunny performs at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Important to remember is that this tour comes after Bad Bunny shared that he was “\u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/video/bad-bunny-talks-about-touring-taking-a-break-reflects-on-his-journey-to-the-top-and-more-billboard-cover/\">taking a break\u003c/a>” to focus on himself at the end of 2022. In 2023, he came under scrutiny after a video went viral that showed him \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/bad-bunny-response-throwing-fan-phone-1234655208/\">grabbing and tossing away a fan’s phone\u003c/a>. And last December, he and Kendall Jenner \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/bad-bunny-kendall-jenner-split-source-8402569\">ended their relationship\u003c/a> — a union that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/09/bad-bunny-on-sex-social-media-and-kendall-jenner\">criticized by fans\u003c/a> who felt it was “a form of cultural betrayal.” All told, 2023 was the year \u003cem>everyone\u003c/em> had an opinion on \u003cem>everything\u003c/em> Bad Bunny said and did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most Wanted” could also represent the pressure that comes with being a global icon, when everyone, fans and haters alike, feel like they know who you are. As if to answer to this, in a clip shown on massive screens between songs, Benito’s voice intones: “Yo sé quién soy.” “I know who I am.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953310\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An orchestra plays during Bad Bunny’s performance at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The fans I met loved seeing Bad Bunny fully claim himself. Karla de la Fuente came all the way from Texas to see the show with Bay Area friends, and despite being a longtime fan, she confessed that she felt a bit unsure about Benito this time around, citing the fan cell phone incident and the Kendall Jenner relationship. After the show, she said that Benito won her heart once more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When he spoke to the crowd that we are all going through difficult moments but can pause to be together and dance,” she said, “he struck a chord.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of friends show off their boots outside Bad Bunny’s concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Regardless of whichever new genre Bad Bunny dabbles in, whether he dresses up as a ranchero one day and a tropical cyberpunk the day after, he brings a characteristic sense of vulnerability. It’s what marks his contribution to the genre: being a baddie but openly expressing his emotions, be it heartbreak, anger, joy or loneliness. The man is eternally in his feels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always appreciate that aspect of him,” said Vannesa Gurrola, who came to the show from East Palo Alto, “because I’m someone who is learning to express their feelings and have always used music to try to figure that out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As long as Bad Bunny keeps wearing his heart on his sleeve, fans will keep coming back.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If I hadn’t known Bad Bunny was headlining at the Chase Center on Saturday night, I would have sworn, judging by the fans heading inside, that I was at an Eslabon Armado or Grupo Firme show. In force were thick jean jackets, cowboy hats, cowboy boots — and I’m not talking about just any boots, but \u003cem>botas\u003c/em> with full embroidery and bling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d never seen a ranchero aesthetic showing up so strongly for a reggaeton artist. It proved that Bad Bunny has fulfilled the promise of his latest album, \u003cem>Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana\u003c/em>, by seamlessly bringing together a multiplicity of genres — banda, trap, dembow, Jersey club — with his irresistible looks and style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953309\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953309\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-46_qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of friends show off their hats outside the Chase Center before Bad Bunny’s concert in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After an intro by a live orchestra (violins, cellos, brass and all), Benito rose from the floor on a second stage, hidden in a cloud of smoke. Opening with the somber new track “Nadie Sabe,” he leaned on the mic in a dark jacket and black Dodgers cap, with no backup dancers — just the man and the stage. (Regardless of how many chart-breaking summer anthems he cranks out year after year, El Conejo Malo keeps true to his sadboy side.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until the second song, “Monaco,” that backup dancers arrived. But just like Bad Bunny, they wore simple black clothing, and kept their choreography low-key. In contrast with his previous tour, which was all about having a big, colorful summer party on the beach (oh, to be back in May 2022 and hear \u003cem>Un Verano Sin Ti\u003c/em> for the first time again), the Benito on this year’s Most Wanted Tour is a whole different person: serious, mature, grounded. I’ll add mysterious, too; for much of the show, Benito kept his face obscured, at one point donning a ski mask and sunglasses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953305\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953305\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-7_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bad Bunny performs at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Most of the show was dedicated to tracks from \u003cem>Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana\u003c/em>, like “Fina” and “Where She Goes.” (Unfortunately for the fans in their ranchero fits, only a snippet appeared of “un x100to,” which features Mexican regional band Grupo Frontera.) Benito’s love for trap had the spotlight, and it wasn’t until the second half of the show that he performed the perreo anthems of years past. As “La Santa” and “Me Porto Bonito” came paired with fireworks, lasers, fog machines and thousands of LED lights from necklaces distributed to fans before the show, the stage became the center of what felt like the biggest club in the world — think Coco Bongo Cancún.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Mind you, it was still a club with \u003cem>showmanship\u003c/em>. To open the second act of his set, Benito entered the stage on a horse. It was the first time I’d ever seen a reggaetonero perform with a horse, and brought me flashbacks to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXRYAp00yhw\">Joan Sebastian singing on a horse in his jaripeos\u003c/a>. This aligns with the idea of the tour: that Benito is a lone horseman on the run, “most wanted” after breaking the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I couldn’t help but ask myself: \u003cem>What is he on the run from? What force is threatening this man?\u003c/em> After all, Benito is no longer the up-and-coming rookie teased by other reggaetoneros for his painted nails and earrings — Bad Bunny \u003cem>is\u003c/em> the face of reggaeton now to a global audience. His market success and impact on younger artists stands on par with legends of the genre like Ivy Queen and Plan B.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953306\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953306\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-27_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bad Bunny performs at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Benito, however, gave several interpretations of what it means to be “Most Wanted.” When he reached “Baticano,” he paused to talk to the audience. “Es imposible creer que este lugar se llenó con tanta gente,” he said — “It’s impossible to believe that this whole place is filled up with so many people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With just a few lights on stage, Benito started reflecting out loud: “Yo estoy siempre seguro que quizás muchos de ustedes aquí en esta noche están pasando por una situación sufrida, una situación un poco difícil … pero aun así vinieron aquí y dejaron los problemas afuera un poco para estar conmigo,” he said, nearly drowned out by the sound of thousands of fans cheering. “I am always sure that many of you here tonight are going through tough, difficult situations … but despite that, you came here, left your problems for a bit, to come here and be with me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yo se los agradezco mucho … ustedes también me hacen sentir mejor,” he added. “I deeply thank you … all of you make me feel better as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953308\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953308\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-35_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bad Bunny performs at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Important to remember is that this tour comes after Bad Bunny shared that he was “\u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/video/bad-bunny-talks-about-touring-taking-a-break-reflects-on-his-journey-to-the-top-and-more-billboard-cover/\">taking a break\u003c/a>” to focus on himself at the end of 2022. In 2023, he came under scrutiny after a video went viral that showed him \u003ca href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/bad-bunny-response-throwing-fan-phone-1234655208/\">grabbing and tossing away a fan’s phone\u003c/a>. And last December, he and Kendall Jenner \u003ca href=\"https://people.com/bad-bunny-kendall-jenner-split-source-8402569\">ended their relationship\u003c/a> — a union that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/09/bad-bunny-on-sex-social-media-and-kendall-jenner\">criticized by fans\u003c/a> who felt it was “a form of cultural betrayal.” All told, 2023 was the year \u003cem>everyone\u003c/em> had an opinion on \u003cem>everything\u003c/em> Bad Bunny said and did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Most Wanted” could also represent the pressure that comes with being a global icon, when everyone, fans and haters alike, feel like they know who you are. As if to answer to this, in a clip shown on massive screens between songs, Benito’s voice intones: “Yo sé quién soy.” “I know who I am.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953310\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953310\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-53_qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An orchestra plays during Bad Bunny’s performance at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The fans I met loved seeing Bad Bunny fully claim himself. Karla de la Fuente came all the way from Texas to see the show with Bay Area friends, and despite being a longtime fan, she confessed that she felt a bit unsure about Benito this time around, citing the fan cell phone incident and the Kendall Jenner relationship. After the show, she said that Benito won her heart once more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When he spoke to the crowd that we are all going through difficult moments but can pause to be together and dance,” she said, “he struck a chord.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953324\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1281\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953324\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Bad-Bunny-45_qut-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of friends show off their boots outside Bad Bunny’s concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Saturday, March 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Michaela Vatcheva for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Regardless of whichever new genre Bad Bunny dabbles in, whether he dresses up as a ranchero one day and a tropical cyberpunk the day after, he brings a characteristic sense of vulnerability. It’s what marks his contribution to the genre: being a baddie but openly expressing his emotions, be it heartbreak, anger, joy or loneliness. The man is eternally in his feels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always appreciate that aspect of him,” said Vannesa Gurrola, who came to the show from East Palo Alto, “because I’m someone who is learning to express their feelings and have always used music to try to figure that out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As long as Bad Bunny keeps wearing his heart on his sleeve, fans will keep coming back.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Live Review: Nicki Minaj Reclaims Her Crown at Pink Friday 2 Tour Kickoff in Oakland",
"headTitle": "Live Review: Nicki Minaj Reclaims Her Crown at Pink Friday 2 Tour Kickoff in Oakland | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953285\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a woman in a silvery bodysuit smiles on stage with a microphone in a big arena with pink and purple lighting behind her\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1797\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953285\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-800x562.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-1020x716.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-768x539.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-1536x1078.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-2048x1438.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-1920x1348.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You’d be right to have worried that the first show of Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 tour in Oakland on Friday might be, well, a mess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Known more for controversies and \u003ca href=\"https://variety.com/2024/music/news/nicki-minaj-megan-thee-stallion-feud-timeline-1235890487/\">feuds\u003c/a> in recent years than the immense talent that once made her the world’s most feared rapper, Nicki Minaj victoriously spent two hours at her tour kickoff reminding a sold-out Oakland Arena that she still sings, raps, dances and brings the heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953290\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953290\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs ‘Feelin’ Myself’ during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This was clear right from the start of the show, when Nicki rose from below the stage rapping with noticeable vigor on the throwback opener “I’m the Best” (key line: “Which world tour should I go on today?”). In one moment, all the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1751290347957911700\">Ben Shapiro tweets\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/09/14/nicki-minaj-covid-19-vaccine-conspiracy/\">COVID conspiracies\u003c/a>, irredeemable \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/rateyourmusic/comments/1aeyxcl/nicki_minajs_bigfoot_is_now_the_second_lowest/\">diss tracks\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3jycgCO7ih/\">scattered whisper-rambles on Instagram Live\u003c/a> became distant memories. She was not here to play. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are talking about a \u003ca href=\"https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/nicki-minaj/2024/oakland-arena-oakland-ca-53ad7bb5.html\">36-song setlist\u003c/a>, with smash hits and deep cuts alike. Six costume changes, robot dancers, a subway train, phone booths for her different alter egos. Lots of simulated copulation — group, duo and solo. Nicki, at age 41, coming for vengeance on workouts like “Roman’s Revenge,” and showing off her vocals on “Save Me.” And, just three months after being released, Nicki’s new songs from \u003cem>Pink Friday 2\u003c/em> — a smoldering “Big Difference,” set closer “Everybody” — coming off like classics. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953294\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953294\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What’s evident is Nicki is \u003cem>hungry\u003c/em> again. Maybe the competition got to her, and she upped her game. Maybe it was always in hiding. While she performed, I found myself wondering if her whole meandering, is-she-on-drugs-or-isn’t-she thing of late has been an elaborate psy-op to hide intense training and rehearsal. Whatever happened, it’s resulted in her giving 100% again. The show (“this magical historic night,” Nicki declared) recalled the first time I saw her headline the Bay Area, \u003ca href=\"https://bohemian.com/live-review-nicki-minaj-at-the-paramount-theater-oakland/\">in 2012 at the Paramount Theatre\u003c/a> — how unstoppable she seemed then, how she gave her all to the crowd. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been rough patches in the interim, to be sure. Bay Area fans may remember a fraught Concord Pavilion show in 2015 that suffered from beleaguered choreography and a strange detachment that seemed concerning, especially after \u003cem>The Pinkprint\u003c/em>’s multiple references to Percocet. The show ended with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/nicki-minaj-concert-brawl-video-369856/\">giant brawl in the crowd\u003c/a>; as I left I saw one guy \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/gmeline/status/632463878668943360\">face-down, knocked out\u003c/a>. The vibes, as they say, were off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953293\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Friday night, fans got the old Nicki. And not just with older deep cuts like “Favorite” and “Win Again,” which roused diehards but caused the overall energy to dip. One of the show’s early peaks was “FTCU,” and the modern phenomenon of an arena screaming the \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ftcu?lang=en\">30 seconds of a song that are famous on TikTok\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The inspirational Nicki showed up too, during “The Night Is Still Young.” “I wanna tell you guys something right now,” she said. “No matter what is happening right now outside of Gag City, inside here, we are radiating positivity, success, prosperity, intelligence and wisdom” — later telling her audience, many clad in in sequined skirts, pink wigs, fuzzy hats and platform heels, “You still have time to do what you have to do! Don’t waste a minute of your life! Promise me that!” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953295\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953295\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs ‘Cowgirl’ during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fans also got the sex-positive Nicki. After a costume change into a basketball jersey-inspired yellow dress and boxing hoodie, Nicki did her best impression of Prince’s “Darling Nikki” upon the stage floor, complete with 90-degree leg lifts and a strategically positioned microphone. Cue the Beyoncé duet “Feelin’ Myself,” followed by undulating with three leather-clad beefcakes on steel beds (“Cowgirl”) and a straight-up face sit (“RNB”). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Provocative? Sure. But she knows what she’s doing. Nicki is hyper-aware of the meta narratives around her every move — and I’m not sure that’s always a good thing. As a longtime fan, part of my hesitation about this tour is that she’s seemed less interested in being the world’s greatest rapper, and more interested in \u003cem>hearing people say\u003c/em> she’s the world’s greatest rapper. It’s been giving self-doubt, and made me hear her music as telegraphing “greatness” instead of embodying it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953291\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953291\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs ‘Red Ruby da Sleeze’ during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But if anyone’s earned the right to rest on her laurels, it’s Nicki. You can hear her carefree flamboyance in Doja Cat, her winking humor in Cardi B, her boss-bitch confidence in — yes — Megan Thee Stallion. But primarily, 24 years into her career, Nicki’s influence is in the fact we are talking about any of these talented women at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is really, really hard to convey to younger fans the unfair reality in which we lived, for years, that allowed for one and only one female rapper at a time. Nicki blew that notion apart. With her many alter egos and endless flows, she paved a multitude of ways for women to make their mark in the industry. On Friday, she also let \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BARIJUKU/status/1763827847473635820\">national treasure Monica\u003c/a> perform a simmering set of a half-dozen songs during her headlining set, rather than making her open to a half-full arena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953292\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953292\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs ‘FTCU’ during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During the show, I thought of the prom scene in \u003cem>Mean Girls\u003c/em>, where Cady Heron hands out pieces of her crown to the other girls at school. That’s what Nicki did. I don’t think she really wants the crown back. She just wants people to know where it came from. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During her joyous finale in Oakland — with favorites “Moment for Life,” “Starships” and the eternal “Super Bass” — she made a convincing closing argument for that fact. This jury’s verdict is in: Nicki’s resurrected herself. \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953285\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a woman in a silvery bodysuit smiles on stage with a microphone in a big arena with pink and purple lighting behind her\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1797\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953285\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-800x562.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-1020x716.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-768x539.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-1536x1078.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-2048x1438.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053270171-1920x1348.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You’d be right to have worried that the first show of Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 tour in Oakland on Friday might be, well, a mess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Known more for controversies and \u003ca href=\"https://variety.com/2024/music/news/nicki-minaj-megan-thee-stallion-feud-timeline-1235890487/\">feuds\u003c/a> in recent years than the immense talent that once made her the world’s most feared rapper, Nicki Minaj victoriously spent two hours at her tour kickoff reminding a sold-out Oakland Arena that she still sings, raps, dances and brings the heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953290\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953290\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053278167-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs ‘Feelin’ Myself’ during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This was clear right from the start of the show, when Nicki rose from below the stage rapping with noticeable vigor on the throwback opener “I’m the Best” (key line: “Which world tour should I go on today?”). In one moment, all the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1751290347957911700\">Ben Shapiro tweets\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/09/14/nicki-minaj-covid-19-vaccine-conspiracy/\">COVID conspiracies\u003c/a>, irredeemable \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/rateyourmusic/comments/1aeyxcl/nicki_minajs_bigfoot_is_now_the_second_lowest/\">diss tracks\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3jycgCO7ih/\">scattered whisper-rambles on Instagram Live\u003c/a> became distant memories. She was not here to play. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We are talking about a \u003ca href=\"https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/nicki-minaj/2024/oakland-arena-oakland-ca-53ad7bb5.html\">36-song setlist\u003c/a>, with smash hits and deep cuts alike. Six costume changes, robot dancers, a subway train, phone booths for her different alter egos. Lots of simulated copulation — group, duo and solo. Nicki, at age 41, coming for vengeance on workouts like “Roman’s Revenge,” and showing off her vocals on “Save Me.” And, just three months after being released, Nicki’s new songs from \u003cem>Pink Friday 2\u003c/em> — a smoldering “Big Difference,” set closer “Everybody” — coming off like classics. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953294\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953294\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279794-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What’s evident is Nicki is \u003cem>hungry\u003c/em> again. Maybe the competition got to her, and she upped her game. Maybe it was always in hiding. While she performed, I found myself wondering if her whole meandering, is-she-on-drugs-or-isn’t-she thing of late has been an elaborate psy-op to hide intense training and rehearsal. Whatever happened, it’s resulted in her giving 100% again. The show (“this magical historic night,” Nicki declared) recalled the first time I saw her headline the Bay Area, \u003ca href=\"https://bohemian.com/live-review-nicki-minaj-at-the-paramount-theater-oakland/\">in 2012 at the Paramount Theatre\u003c/a> — how unstoppable she seemed then, how she gave her all to the crowd. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been rough patches in the interim, to be sure. Bay Area fans may remember a fraught Concord Pavilion show in 2015 that suffered from beleaguered choreography and a strange detachment that seemed concerning, especially after \u003cem>The Pinkprint\u003c/em>’s multiple references to Percocet. The show ended with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/nicki-minaj-concert-brawl-video-369856/\">giant brawl in the crowd\u003c/a>; as I left I saw one guy \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/gmeline/status/632463878668943360\">face-down, knocked out\u003c/a>. The vibes, as they say, were off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953293\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953293\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053279787-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Friday night, fans got the old Nicki. And not just with older deep cuts like “Favorite” and “Win Again,” which roused diehards but caused the overall energy to dip. One of the show’s early peaks was “FTCU,” and the modern phenomenon of an arena screaming the \u003ca href=\"https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ftcu?lang=en\">30 seconds of a song that are famous on TikTok\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The inspirational Nicki showed up too, during “The Night Is Still Young.” “I wanna tell you guys something right now,” she said. “No matter what is happening right now outside of Gag City, inside here, we are radiating positivity, success, prosperity, intelligence and wisdom” — later telling her audience, many clad in in sequined skirts, pink wigs, fuzzy hats and platform heels, “You still have time to do what you have to do! Don’t waste a minute of your life! Promise me that!” \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953295\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953295\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284188-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs ‘Cowgirl’ during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fans also got the sex-positive Nicki. After a costume change into a basketball jersey-inspired yellow dress and boxing hoodie, Nicki did her best impression of Prince’s “Darling Nikki” upon the stage floor, complete with 90-degree leg lifts and a strategically positioned microphone. Cue the Beyoncé duet “Feelin’ Myself,” followed by undulating with three leather-clad beefcakes on steel beds (“Cowgirl”) and a straight-up face sit (“RNB”). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Provocative? Sure. But she knows what she’s doing. Nicki is hyper-aware of the meta narratives around her every move — and I’m not sure that’s always a good thing. As a longtime fan, part of my hesitation about this tour is that she’s seemed less interested in being the world’s greatest rapper, and more interested in \u003cem>hearing people say\u003c/em> she’s the world’s greatest rapper. It’s been giving self-doubt, and made me hear her music as telegraphing “greatness” instead of embodying it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953291\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953291\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053284690-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs ‘Red Ruby da Sleeze’ during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But if anyone’s earned the right to rest on her laurels, it’s Nicki. You can hear her carefree flamboyance in Doja Cat, her winking humor in Cardi B, her boss-bitch confidence in — yes — Megan Thee Stallion. But primarily, 24 years into her career, Nicki’s influence is in the fact we are talking about any of these talented women at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is really, really hard to convey to younger fans the unfair reality in which we lived, for years, that allowed for one and only one female rapper at a time. Nicki blew that notion apart. With her many alter egos and endless flows, she paved a multitude of ways for women to make their mark in the industry. On Friday, she also let \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BARIJUKU/status/1763827847473635820\">national treasure Monica\u003c/a> perform a simmering set of a half-dozen songs during her headlining set, rather than making her open to a half-full arena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953292\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953292\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/GettyImages-2053288493-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nicki Minaj performs ‘FTCU’ during the opening night of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour at the Oakland Arena on March 1, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>During the show, I thought of the prom scene in \u003cem>Mean Girls\u003c/em>, where Cady Heron hands out pieces of her crown to the other girls at school. That’s what Nicki did. I don’t think she really wants the crown back. She just wants people to know where it came from. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During her joyous finale in Oakland — with favorites “Moment for Life,” “Starships” and the eternal “Super Bass” — she made a convincing closing argument for that fact. This jury’s verdict is in: Nicki’s resurrected herself. \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Live Review: Madonna Gives a Master Class in ‘Eras’ in San Francisco",
"headTitle": "Live Review: Madonna Gives a Master Class in ‘Eras’ in San Francisco | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Let’s get this out of the way: She looked great. Sure, we could talk about Madonna’s face — about how we require aesthetic perfection from women, demand they stay frozen in amber after 40, then become cruel if they try \u003cem>too\u003c/em> hard to maintain the appearance that’s tied to their economic and cultural value — but it’s actually the least interesting thing about her. And if that’s what you wanna talk about, you clearly were not at her Celebration Tour at Chase Center in San Francisco on Tuesday night, because if you were, the only thing you would say about Madonna’s appearance is: Bitch looked \u003cem>great\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more impressive? This show was rescheduled from October, because the whole Celebration Tour was postponed for six months after a bacterial infection put Madonna in a medically induced coma for several days. Then she got better, got back to rehearsals and went on the damn tour, because she’s Madonna.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953149\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953149\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a young Black man and an older blonde woman stand side by side on a stage with guitars in western gear\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madonna and her son David Banda perform during The Celebration Tour at The O2 Arena in London on Oct. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We honor our mothers, always, don’t we? They gave us life. No matter what, we honor our mothers. Even if they’re motherfuckers!” said the 65-year-old pop star, clad in a leather corset, cowboy hat and fishnets, as the stadium full of people in sparkles, leather and fishnets roared back at her. This was about 90 minutes into a two-hour-and-15 minute set that careened sonically, visually and not-quite-chronologically across her four decades in show business — all for the cumulative effect of a sometimes unintentionally funny but nonetheless captivating musical about Madonna’s life, written, directed and produced by (and of course starring) Madonna.[aside postID='arts_13812867']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This show had everything: Versace bodysuits; a voguing competition; athletic and scantily clad dancers; Bob the Drag Queen; vaguely Y2K screensaver-esque visuals; Prince and Michael Jackson tributes; an abridged but otherwise transcendent version of “Like a Prayer” flanked by rotating neon crosses; and charming appearances by three of Madonna’s musically talented children (her youngest, voguing in a Versace bodysuit, natch). There was also such a high volume of pop culture references, delivered at such a frenetic clip, that when images of Che Guevara and James Baldwin flashed on screen amid clips of Cher and Ariana Grande sometime near the finale, I kinda just went “Sure, that makes sense.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953148\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953148\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"four people in sparkly outfits pose and vogue during a stadium show\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1750\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-1536x1050.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-2048x1400.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-1920x1313.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bob the Drag Queen and Madonna’s daughter Estere perform during “Vogue” at Madonna’s Celebration Tour show in New York. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you wanna talk “eras,” you have to talk about Madonna, who has — unlike some artists who use the word to describe album cycles — actually reinvented herself a dozen times over the course of 40 years. Back in the “mother” era of the show, as it were, she’d just performed “Mother and Father” with her son, guitarist David Banda, in front of giant photos of both their biological mothers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And as a mother, I want to say a prayer for peace for the children of the world who are being killed, kidnapped, hurt, harmed, the list goes on,” said Madonna. After imploring the crowd to “do the research, learn the history…not just pick sides and call names,” she told us to turn our phone flashlights on, then led us in a stripped down sing-along of “Express Yourself,” her voice strong and unencumbered without a backing track. Four minutes later we were transported to “La Isla Bonita.” Tropical island breeze, all of nature wild and free, you know the one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953140\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a blond woman performs on a rotating stage in a stadium with dancers\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1546\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-800x483.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-1020x616.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-768x464.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-1536x928.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-2048x1237.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-1920x1160.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madonna performs during The Celebration Tour at Barclays Center in New York on Dec. 14, 2023. The pop star performed at Chase Center in San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If the tonal shift seemed abrupt, well, Madonna had a lot of career left to pack in. As she reminded us over the course of seven musical “acts” about her life, Madonna has not just courted controversy over her four decades in the spotlight; she drew the blueprint for making a career of it. In the ’80s and ’90s, she challenged societal norms by expressing female sexuality in a way that made enemies out of the Catholic Church, Tipper Gore’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/18111/the-tipper-sticker-at-30-the-most-entertaining-and-least-effective-attempt-at-censorship-in-rock-history\">Parents Music Resource Center\u003c/a> and countless other arbiters of so-called family values. (In one of several between-song skits with her dancers, she dramatized her 1990 near-arrest by Toronto police for simulating masturbation onstage while performing “Like a Virgin.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the aughts, as Madonna herself noted in a voice-over during a montage of outraged headlines, she’s battled ageism along with misogyny: “The most controversial thing I’ve ever done is stick around.” I think that’s probably true. And yet… at some point, after I lost count of how many times she seemed to be visually likening herself to Jesus, I wrote in my notes that “Madonna is always being persecuted!!!?” Which is, frankly, a hilarious framing for someone worth an estimated $850 million, with seven Grammys and two Golden Globes, who was recently re-certified by the Guiness Book of World Records as the reigning \u003cem>best-selling female artist of all time.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953164\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953164\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut.jpg\" alt=\"jeans with pictures of Madonna on them\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fan Heather Breiling wears Madonna pants while attending the Madonna Celebration Tour concert at Chase Center in San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Part of the dissonance, surely, is that pop has evolved since Madonna helped build MTV with shock value, and some of what made her a visionary now seems tame: “Like a Virgin” no longer ruffles feathers in a world with “WAP.” One could argue that’s what happens when visionaries are successful at pushing culture forward — what was once rule-breaking becomes the industry standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is undeniable is just how much she still means to people. Specifically, to the LGBTQ community — to whom Madonna has been an outspoken ally since before the word “ally” was part of our lexicon — and who showed up and showed out last night in style. Local legends from the queer community were everywhere, if you looked, including Sister Roma, Peaches Christ, Honey Mahogany and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953144\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953144\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut.jpg\" alt=\"a drag performer in white makeup and a purple wig poses in front of a sign reading Madonna the celebration tour\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sister Roma poses before the Madonna Celebration Tour concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It made sense, then, when the most genuinely moving moment of the show arrived with a tribute to people who died from AIDS, introduced as an ecstatic performance of “Holiday” drew to a close. The backing track suddenly sounded like a warped record as one of Madonna’s dancers slowly collapsed on the rotating stage. The singer bent to check his pulse, and draped her coat over his body before they both sank into the floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953151\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953151\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a tribute to people who have died from AIDS\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tribute to people who died from AIDS during Madonna’s Celebration Tour at The O2 Arena in London on Oct.14, 2023. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then, as she traversed the stadium in an aerial box performing “Live to Tell,” massive screens began to show black and white photos of Keith Haring, Martin Burgoyne, Alvin Ailey, Arthur Ashe, Freddie Mercury and more, until there were hundreds of tiny photos surrounding us, willing us, here in a city whose gay community was devastated by the AIDS crisis, to look each one of them in the eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Madonna has built a career out of pushing forward, and has until now eschewed the idea of a “greatest hits” show, which I’ve always respected. But that moment alone lifted the exercise out of the ordinary, for me. It was the kind of thing that could only really be pulled off, one might say, by someone who’s had the audacity to stick around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Madonna performs again tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Chase Center in San Francisco. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The pop star’s captivating show at Chase Center careened through four decades of music and controversy.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Let’s get this out of the way: She looked great. Sure, we could talk about Madonna’s face — about how we require aesthetic perfection from women, demand they stay frozen in amber after 40, then become cruel if they try \u003cem>too\u003c/em> hard to maintain the appearance that’s tied to their economic and cultural value — but it’s actually the least interesting thing about her. And if that’s what you wanna talk about, you clearly were not at her Celebration Tour at Chase Center in San Francisco on Tuesday night, because if you were, the only thing you would say about Madonna’s appearance is: Bitch looked \u003cem>great\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more impressive? This show was rescheduled from October, because the whole Celebration Tour was postponed for six months after a bacterial infection put Madonna in a medically induced coma for several days. Then she got better, got back to rehearsals and went on the damn tour, because she’s Madonna.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953149\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953149\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a young Black man and an older blonde woman stand side by side on a stage with guitars in western gear\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1739697593-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madonna and her son David Banda perform during The Celebration Tour at The O2 Arena in London on Oct. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We honor our mothers, always, don’t we? They gave us life. No matter what, we honor our mothers. Even if they’re motherfuckers!” said the 65-year-old pop star, clad in a leather corset, cowboy hat and fishnets, as the stadium full of people in sparkles, leather and fishnets roared back at her. This was about 90 minutes into a two-hour-and-15 minute set that careened sonically, visually and not-quite-chronologically across her four decades in show business — all for the cumulative effect of a sometimes unintentionally funny but nonetheless captivating musical about Madonna’s life, written, directed and produced by (and of course starring) Madonna.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This show had everything: Versace bodysuits; a voguing competition; athletic and scantily clad dancers; Bob the Drag Queen; vaguely Y2K screensaver-esque visuals; Prince and Michael Jackson tributes; an abridged but otherwise transcendent version of “Like a Prayer” flanked by rotating neon crosses; and charming appearances by three of Madonna’s musically talented children (her youngest, voguing in a Versace bodysuit, natch). There was also such a high volume of pop culture references, delivered at such a frenetic clip, that when images of Che Guevara and James Baldwin flashed on screen amid clips of Cher and Ariana Grande sometime near the finale, I kinda just went “Sure, that makes sense.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953148\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953148\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"four people in sparkly outfits pose and vogue during a stadium show\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1750\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-800x547.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-1020x697.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-768x525.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-1536x1050.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-2048x1400.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-6-1920x1313.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bob the Drag Queen and Madonna’s daughter Estere perform during “Vogue” at Madonna’s Celebration Tour show in New York. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you wanna talk “eras,” you have to talk about Madonna, who has — unlike some artists who use the word to describe album cycles — actually reinvented herself a dozen times over the course of 40 years. Back in the “mother” era of the show, as it were, she’d just performed “Mother and Father” with her son, guitarist David Banda, in front of giant photos of both their biological mothers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And as a mother, I want to say a prayer for peace for the children of the world who are being killed, kidnapped, hurt, harmed, the list goes on,” said Madonna. After imploring the crowd to “do the research, learn the history…not just pick sides and call names,” she told us to turn our phone flashlights on, then led us in a stripped down sing-along of “Express Yourself,” her voice strong and unencumbered without a backing track. Four minutes later we were transported to “La Isla Bonita.” Tropical island breeze, all of nature wild and free, you know the one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953140\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953140\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a blond woman performs on a rotating stage in a stadium with dancers\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1546\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-800x483.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-1020x616.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-160x97.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-768x464.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-1536x928.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-2048x1237.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/Getty-Images-_-Kevin-Mazur-8-1920x1160.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madonna performs during The Celebration Tour at Barclays Center in New York on Dec. 14, 2023. The pop star performed at Chase Center in San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If the tonal shift seemed abrupt, well, Madonna had a lot of career left to pack in. As she reminded us over the course of seven musical “acts” about her life, Madonna has not just courted controversy over her four decades in the spotlight; she drew the blueprint for making a career of it. In the ’80s and ’90s, she challenged societal norms by expressing female sexuality in a way that made enemies out of the Catholic Church, Tipper Gore’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/18111/the-tipper-sticker-at-30-the-most-entertaining-and-least-effective-attempt-at-censorship-in-rock-history\">Parents Music Resource Center\u003c/a> and countless other arbiters of so-called family values. (In one of several between-song skits with her dancers, she dramatized her 1990 near-arrest by Toronto police for simulating masturbation onstage while performing “Like a Virgin.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the aughts, as Madonna herself noted in a voice-over during a montage of outraged headlines, she’s battled ageism along with misogyny: “The most controversial thing I’ve ever done is stick around.” I think that’s probably true. And yet… at some point, after I lost count of how many times she seemed to be visually likening herself to Jesus, I wrote in my notes that “Madonna is always being persecuted!!!?” Which is, frankly, a hilarious framing for someone worth an estimated $850 million, with seven Grammys and two Golden Globes, who was recently re-certified by the Guiness Book of World Records as the reigning \u003cem>best-selling female artist of all time.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953164\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953164\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut.jpg\" alt=\"jeans with pictures of Madonna on them\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-27-BL_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fan Heather Breiling wears Madonna pants while attending the Madonna Celebration Tour concert at Chase Center in San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Part of the dissonance, surely, is that pop has evolved since Madonna helped build MTV with shock value, and some of what made her a visionary now seems tame: “Like a Virgin” no longer ruffles feathers in a world with “WAP.” One could argue that’s what happens when visionaries are successful at pushing culture forward — what was once rule-breaking becomes the industry standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is undeniable is just how much she still means to people. Specifically, to the LGBTQ community — to whom Madonna has been an outspoken ally since before the word “ally” was part of our lexicon — and who showed up and showed out last night in style. Local legends from the queer community were everywhere, if you looked, including Sister Roma, Peaches Christ, Honey Mahogany and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953144\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953144\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut.jpg\" alt=\"a drag performer in white makeup and a purple wig poses in front of a sign reading Madonna the celebration tour\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/240227-MadonnaFans-09-BL_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sister Roma poses before the Madonna Celebration Tour concert at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Feb. 27, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It made sense, then, when the most genuinely moving moment of the show arrived with a tribute to people who died from AIDS, introduced as an ecstatic performance of “Holiday” drew to a close. The backing track suddenly sounded like a warped record as one of Madonna’s dancers slowly collapsed on the rotating stage. The singer bent to check his pulse, and draped her coat over his body before they both sank into the floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13953151\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13953151\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a tribute to people who have died from AIDS\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/GettyImages-1736271119-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tribute to people who died from AIDS during Madonna’s Celebration Tour at The O2 Arena in London on Oct.14, 2023. \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Live Nation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then, as she traversed the stadium in an aerial box performing “Live to Tell,” massive screens began to show black and white photos of Keith Haring, Martin Burgoyne, Alvin Ailey, Arthur Ashe, Freddie Mercury and more, until there were hundreds of tiny photos surrounding us, willing us, here in a city whose gay community was devastated by the AIDS crisis, to look each one of them in the eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Madonna has built a career out of pushing forward, and has until now eschewed the idea of a “greatest hits” show, which I’ve always respected. But that moment alone lifted the exercise out of the ordinary, for me. It was the kind of thing that could only really be pulled off, one might say, by someone who’s had the audacity to stick around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Madonna performs again tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Chase Center in San Francisco. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "2 Men Convicted of Killing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay, Nearly 22 Years After His Death",
"headTitle": "2 Men Convicted of Killing Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay, Nearly 22 Years After His Death | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Two men were convicted of murder Tuesday in the death of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, a brazen 2002 shooting in the rap legend’s studio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An anonymous Brooklyn federal jury found Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington guilty of killing the pioneering DJ over what prosecutors characterized as revenge for a failed drug deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jam Master Jay, born Jason Mizell, worked the turntables in Run-DMC as it helped hip-hop break into the pop music mainstream in the 1980s with such hits as “It’s Tricky” and a fresh take on Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13827651']Like the slayings of rap icons Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. in the late 1990s, the Oct. 30, 2002, shooting remained unsolved for years. Authorities were deluged with tips, rumors and theories but struggled to get witnesses to open up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s no mystery why it took years to indict and arrest the defendants,” Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters after the verdict. “The witnesses in the recording studio knew the killers, and they were terrified that they would be retaliated against if they cooperated with law enforcement and identified the ruthless executioners of Mr. Mizell. But their strength and resolve in testifying at this trial were a triumph of right over wrong and courage over fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jordan, 40, was the famous DJ’s godson. Washington, 59, was an old friend who was bunking at the home of the DJ’s sister. Both men were arrested in 2020 and pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Y’all just killed two innocent people,” Washington yelled at the jury following the guilty verdict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jordan’s supporters also erupted at the verdict, cursing the jury. “I love y’all,” Jordan said to the group who sat in the courtroom pews before they were escorted out by U.S. Marshalls after more yelling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers for both men said they’ve made a formal request for the judge to set aside the jury’s guilty verdict and acquit them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13952208']“We’re optimistic,” one of Washington’s lawyers, Susan Kellman, told reporters. “My client did not do this. And the jury heard testimony about the person who did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men’s names, or at least their nicknames, have been floated for decades in connection to the case. Authorities publicly named Washington as a suspect in 2007. He, meanwhile, told \u003cem>Playboy\u003c/em> magazine in 2003 he’d been outside the studio, heard the shots and saw “Little D” — one of Jordan’s monikers — racing out of the building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mizell had been part of Run-DMC’s anti-drug message, delivered through a public service announcement and such lyrics as “we are not thugs / we don’t use drugs.” But according to prosecutors and \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/jam-master-jay-run-dmc-murder-trial-e6d4ce2e42e7f542f072a1ae17feb7bb\">trial testimony\u003c/a>, he racked up debts after the group’s heyday and moonlighted as a cocaine middleman to cover his bills and habitual generosity to friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a man who got involved in the drug game to take care of the people who depended on him,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Artie McConnell said in his summation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecution witnesses testified that in Mizell’s final months, he had a plan to acquire 10 kilograms of cocaine and sell it through Jordan, Washington and a Baltimore-based dealer. But the Baltimore connection refused to work with Washington, according to testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to prosecutors, Washington and Jordan went after Mizell for the sake of vengeance, greed and jealousy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13927349']Two eyewitnesses, former studio aide Uriel Rincon and former Mizell business manager Lydia High, testified that Washington blocked the door and ordered High to lie on the floor. She said he brandished a gun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rincon identified Jordan as the man who approached Mizell and exchanged a friendly greeting moments before shots rang out and one bullet wounded Rincon himself. Three other people, including a teenage singer who had just stopped by the studio to tout her demo tape, testified that they were in an adjoining room and heard but didn’t see what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other witnesses testified that Washington and Jordan made incriminating statements about the Mizell killing after it happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither Washington nor Jordan testified. Their lawyers questioned key prosecution witnesses’ credibility and their memories of the long-ago shooting, noting that some initially denied they could identify the attackers or had heard who they were.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Virtually every witness changed their testimony 180 degrees,” Kellman told the judge during legal arguments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The witnesses said they had been overwhelmed, loath to pass along secondhand information or scared for their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Washington’s defense also tapped a retired psychology professor, who testified that people’s recollections of any event can become a blend of what they actually experienced and subsequently learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trial shed limited light on a third defendant, Jay Bryant, who was charged last year after prosecutors said his DNA was found on a hat at the scene. They assert that he slipped into the studio building and let Washington and Jordan in through fire door in the back so they could avoid buzzing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bryant has pleaded not guilty and is headed toward a separate trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_30466']Testimony suggested that he knew someone in common with his co-defendants, but there’s no indication that Bryant was close with Mizell, if indeed they ever met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bryant’s uncle testified that his nephew told him he shot Mizell after the DJ reached for a gun, a scenario no other witnesses described.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McConnell said Bryant was “involved, but he’s not the killer.” Prosecutors’ theory doesn’t even place Bryant in the studio, though that’s where authorities found the hat with DNA from him and other people — but not the other defendants, according to court filings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, McConnell suggested that Jordan or Washington could accidentally have left the hat behind after Bryant came into contact with it. But lawyers for Washington and Jordan portrayed the garment as a key piece of evidence in their clients’ favor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Jay Bryant is literally reasonable doubt,” one of Jordan’s lawyers, Michael Hueston, told jurors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the case may complicate Mizell’s image, Syracuse University media professor J. Christopher Hamilton says it shouldn’t be blotted out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If he was indeed involved in dealing drugs, “that doesn’t mean to say his achievements shouldn’t be lauded,” said Hamilton, a former entertainment lawyer and Brooklyn prosecutor who grew up partly in Mizell’s neighborhood. Hamilton argues that acceptance from local underworld figures was a necessity for successful rappers of the ’80s and ’90s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You don’t get these individuals without them walking through the gauntlet of the street,” Hamilton said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Like the slayings of rap icons Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. in the late 1990s, the Oct. 30, 2002, shooting remained unsolved for years. Authorities were deluged with tips, rumors and theories but struggled to get witnesses to open up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s no mystery why it took years to indict and arrest the defendants,” Breon Peace, the top federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters after the verdict. “The witnesses in the recording studio knew the killers, and they were terrified that they would be retaliated against if they cooperated with law enforcement and identified the ruthless executioners of Mr. Mizell. But their strength and resolve in testifying at this trial were a triumph of right over wrong and courage over fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jordan, 40, was the famous DJ’s godson. Washington, 59, was an old friend who was bunking at the home of the DJ’s sister. Both men were arrested in 2020 and pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Y’all just killed two innocent people,” Washington yelled at the jury following the guilty verdict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jordan’s supporters also erupted at the verdict, cursing the jury. “I love y’all,” Jordan said to the group who sat in the courtroom pews before they were escorted out by U.S. Marshalls after more yelling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawyers for both men said they’ve made a formal request for the judge to set aside the jury’s guilty verdict and acquit them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We’re optimistic,” one of Washington’s lawyers, Susan Kellman, told reporters. “My client did not do this. And the jury heard testimony about the person who did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The men’s names, or at least their nicknames, have been floated for decades in connection to the case. Authorities publicly named Washington as a suspect in 2007. He, meanwhile, told \u003cem>Playboy\u003c/em> magazine in 2003 he’d been outside the studio, heard the shots and saw “Little D” — one of Jordan’s monikers — racing out of the building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mizell had been part of Run-DMC’s anti-drug message, delivered through a public service announcement and such lyrics as “we are not thugs / we don’t use drugs.” But according to prosecutors and \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/jam-master-jay-run-dmc-murder-trial-e6d4ce2e42e7f542f072a1ae17feb7bb\">trial testimony\u003c/a>, he racked up debts after the group’s heyday and moonlighted as a cocaine middleman to cover his bills and habitual generosity to friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was a man who got involved in the drug game to take care of the people who depended on him,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Artie McConnell said in his summation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecution witnesses testified that in Mizell’s final months, he had a plan to acquire 10 kilograms of cocaine and sell it through Jordan, Washington and a Baltimore-based dealer. But the Baltimore connection refused to work with Washington, according to testimony.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to prosecutors, Washington and Jordan went after Mizell for the sake of vengeance, greed and jealousy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Two eyewitnesses, former studio aide Uriel Rincon and former Mizell business manager Lydia High, testified that Washington blocked the door and ordered High to lie on the floor. She said he brandished a gun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rincon identified Jordan as the man who approached Mizell and exchanged a friendly greeting moments before shots rang out and one bullet wounded Rincon himself. Three other people, including a teenage singer who had just stopped by the studio to tout her demo tape, testified that they were in an adjoining room and heard but didn’t see what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other witnesses testified that Washington and Jordan made incriminating statements about the Mizell killing after it happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither Washington nor Jordan testified. Their lawyers questioned key prosecution witnesses’ credibility and their memories of the long-ago shooting, noting that some initially denied they could identify the attackers or had heard who they were.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Virtually every witness changed their testimony 180 degrees,” Kellman told the judge during legal arguments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The witnesses said they had been overwhelmed, loath to pass along secondhand information or scared for their lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Washington’s defense also tapped a retired psychology professor, who testified that people’s recollections of any event can become a blend of what they actually experienced and subsequently learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trial shed limited light on a third defendant, Jay Bryant, who was charged last year after prosecutors said his DNA was found on a hat at the scene. They assert that he slipped into the studio building and let Washington and Jordan in through fire door in the back so they could avoid buzzing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bryant has pleaded not guilty and is headed toward a separate trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Testimony suggested that he knew someone in common with his co-defendants, but there’s no indication that Bryant was close with Mizell, if indeed they ever met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bryant’s uncle testified that his nephew told him he shot Mizell after the DJ reached for a gun, a scenario no other witnesses described.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McConnell said Bryant was “involved, but he’s not the killer.” Prosecutors’ theory doesn’t even place Bryant in the studio, though that’s where authorities found the hat with DNA from him and other people — but not the other defendants, according to court filings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, McConnell suggested that Jordan or Washington could accidentally have left the hat behind after Bryant came into contact with it. But lawyers for Washington and Jordan portrayed the garment as a key piece of evidence in their clients’ favor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Jay Bryant is literally reasonable doubt,” one of Jordan’s lawyers, Michael Hueston, told jurors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the case may complicate Mizell’s image, Syracuse University media professor J. Christopher Hamilton says it shouldn’t be blotted out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If he was indeed involved in dealing drugs, “that doesn’t mean to say his achievements shouldn’t be lauded,” said Hamilton, a former entertainment lawyer and Brooklyn prosecutor who grew up partly in Mizell’s neighborhood. Hamilton argues that acceptance from local underworld figures was a necessity for successful rappers of the ’80s and ’90s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
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"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"order": 16
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
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"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"snap-judgment": {
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