Mike Chouinard

As a college student with no car, I rarely get to see live music outside of Berkeley. But as a Bay Area native, I knew I had to show my friends my favorite music venue / Japanese restaurant: Yoshi’s in Jack London Square. There were five of us total. When I got the tickets to see Haley Reinhart, I had no idea what to expect, and was I in for a treat. Reinhart was what I declared “the best live singer I have ever heard.” Not only did she have amazing range and vocal capabilities, but she carried emotion and soul in her voice while charming the audience with her natural charisma. 

Haley Reinhart made her return to Yoshi’s in Oakland on October 21st and 22nd. As we walked in, my friend happened to say she knew Reinhart after spotting the sign on display. I told her that Reinhart was who we were seeing tonight, and she said that four of her covers were on one of her pre-existing playlists. My friend was already a fan – what a fun surprise!

The house was packed and roared with cheers as Haley Reinhart stepped onto the stage. She was in a full length zebra print dress, a black cardigan, tall red heels, and her seemingly-signature sunglasses. There were two screens with her name in a swirly font and a night sky with pink cotton candy clouds floating aimlessly in the background. It was Yoshi’s, so we ordered food: Green Tea beignets and creme brûlée as our in-show sweet treats.

Reinhart was instantly captivating. She opened with her own song “Behave” from her album Better. The song is sultry and seductive, in love with the subject and pulling the listener in. Reinhart performed it with twang, pointing to the audience as she sang “why can’t I find a guy like you?” over and over. 

She performed a range of songs, interspersing songs of her own with popular covers. I realized that I recognized her voice after she mentioned that her cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” was in an Extra Gum commercial, which she joked about. Her voice has also been in various other ads, as well as popular television shows. This is the power in her voice: she has the tonal perfection to do corporate ads while also being able to pull out a grungy, deep, inner emotion as she sings. 

At one point she kicked the band off the stage and just her pianist remained before she enchantingly sang the cover of one song the audience knew well: “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Reinhart sings it sweetly and gently, and at the end belts out the final chorus with strength before returning to her softness. She performed a cover of “So This Is Love,” which transported me into a nostalgic flow of memories and images of childhood (as the song was written for Cinderella, of course this was only logical).

Reinhart jokingly says she is putting a spell on the audience, bewitching us into coming back to see her at Yoshi’s next time she visits. This was followed by my favorite cover that she did: “I Put a Spell on You,” where she truly put me into a trance as she enthralled us with her vocal range in combination with the slow rhythm of the song. 

She performed a song of her own (“Danger”) filled with soul and rasp, expressing a fear of losing a loved one. I appreciated how her guitarist nodded along in encouragement as she sang – or he was just nodding to the beat, who knows. This song (I think) has not yet been released – be on the lookout!

Reinhart closed out the show with a performance of Radiohead’s “Creep.” She, of course, completely makes it her own. Her rendition begins as a haunting lullaby, with eerie, simple instrumentals behind her soft and enthralling vocals. She completely contrasts this as she enters the chorus, deeply dipping down in her range to exclaim “But I’m a…” and then returning to the airy melody when she says “creep.” Throughout the song her vocals are increasingly angry, raspy belting out “What the h*ll am I doing here? Oh yeah, I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo” at the top of her lungs as she finishes. It was the perfect grand finale because it showcased just how much passion can be conveyed in her vocals, whether soft and melodic or belting with frustration. Reinhart made the song her own, and I felt that in her soul she was taking in the self-deprecating lyrics and exclaiming them to the world.

Reinhart’s performance stuck with me. My friends and I agreed how although she was insanely vocally talented and impressive, her personality and character shone through in the music in a way that made us all newly dedicated fans. Yoshi’s was the perfect venue for Reinhart to cast a spell on, and it worked. We will be returning to see her when she comes back!

Review by Dahlia Kapelke

I enter the Chapel, closing a call with Abdul, a boy my age, in the Rohingya refugee camps somewhere on the southern tip of Bangladesh—stuck there the last 7 years—”Tell me what your freedom is like,” he asks as he wishes me goodbye through the static-filled internet connection. I close the link to that corner of the world, which had been my home for the last year, a place that seems more real to me often right now than here.

I open the door to the venue and am greeted by a familiar sound—a California sound—of washed out guitars cut over the thumping of drums and Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque bass. Gavin, the lead of The Happy Return, bee-bops into the mic. It’s a sound of simpler times—it reminds me of following my friend’s high school band to the small venues of the bay—a sound of those dreams we dreamed in his parents’ garage coming true. The band has the aesthetics of a California high school water polo team—a foursome with floppy hair—joking, telling stories through rhythm. They have a slight obsession with looping pedals—the lead and second guitar each have 8, the bassist has 4. Watching them play in this quadrupedal way is akin to watching a person master Dance Dance Revolution. But the sound they make is that of a beach in a way only those pedals can make. 

Their entire set is a vibe. They sing about collective crushes for the female protagonists of Young Adult novels (see Annabelle). Their newest album is listening to the active practice of three friends helping their mate Gavin through his recent “hard” breakup in the only way they know how: music. The band has been together since birth (Gavin and the drummer are brothers) and got together in high school, practicing in Gavin’s parents’ San Diego garage, surrounded by discarded daycare toys. This is their first national tour. It’s the first time they have been able to “go for it, the music thing.” They are as excited about showing off their new, “more complex sound” as they are to learn from those they are going on tour with, Hinds, who a decade ago was in their shoes—four girls, best friends, from Madrid with guitars and dreams. “Their [Hinds’] ability to communicate and build a relationship with the crowd is a huge inspiration to us,” Gavin tells me, “it’s something we want to grow into as a band.”.

The crowd at a Hinds show is eccentric, ranging in age from maybe 14 to late 70’s. The Chapel is sold out this Tuesday night. Between bands, I ask a number of people what brought them out on a weeknight and why Hinds. I kept hearing the same answer: “They are FUN.” Most I talk to seem to have known the band since 2016-2017. Kelly and her friend in a hand-stitched quilted jacket tell me they started listening to Hinds in high school, an all girls school near Venice Beach—”their  music is all about girls, friends supporting each other through life.” They say they both listen to Hinds all the time. “it’s transportation music…when u need to go do something really hard and you need someone to tell you…’you got this’ on the way there”. Jack, holding two drinks, has been a fan since he saw them in Birmingham and claims one of his greatest life achievements was when Carlotta put him on a guest list for a show he skipped his university graduation for. A woman shows me a tattoo the band once drew for her after a show. People describe Hinds as if they were good friends—of fleeting moments from years past that are still crisp memories. I try to talk to Lou, a man maybe in his 50s, leaning against a wall, who describes, “I’m here because the power of their friendship gives me hope…” The band steps on stage and our interview gets cut short. “Sorry” he tells me, “I gotta start screaming”.

Lights illuminate the silhouettes of the quartet. Ana, in a black dress green almost crocodile belt matching a glittery green electric guitar holstered at her hip; Maria, the quiet drummer with joyful eyes and bushy afro beaming from behind the drum set; Paula, in a casper the ghost tee gripping the elongated neck of a pink bass; French braids pigtails behind her head; and Carlotta, hair in two buns, guitar slung across her shoulder, clutching the microphone. 

On the stage, surrounding the band, stands a plastic fish tank, an amorphous glowing squishy orb with legs and arms, an empty wine glass, a crutch cast aside, and an extra guitar not on a stand but leaning precariously against an amp. Their light design is an illuminated X-ray of Ana’s recently broken foot, taken in Mexico City.

They break into the first riffs of their set, smiling broadly as they play, banging their heads to their own sounds, making eye contact with one another, dancing together, and having fun.

“We‘ve missed you,” Carlotta tells the crowd between songs. “We never thought we’d be here with you again. ”  

Hinds has been a band for the last 10 years. They last played in San Francisco, in this very room before COVID, before the band almost broke up.

“We all saw each other then. We went through the portal. It must have changed us all, and now we are all here again.” Carlotta continues, “So tell us, how have you been?”

The concert is a conversation between the band and the audience, each as excited to be here as the other. They talk to the audience as if we were friends, at their dinner table, somewhere in Madrid. “ Music is there to tell us, Oh hey, you’re not alone; that is what this is all about,” Carlotta tells the audience. She jumps from the stage and becomes one with the crowd. The music stops. She has everyone get down, we wait for the 70-year-olds until they join too, and then we dance together, the entire venue, sharing this moment in time. 

Carlotta and Ana, the leaders of Hinds, both describe the band as a project. Carlotta tells me, “The goal of the project was and is to make the world a better place through music, freedom, and  friendship, by faking it til you make it—I f****** hate that phrase with all my heart—but its that, and honestly, to do whatever you want.”

They speak of the project and how they relate to it through the portal of COVID, with a lens of gratitude, earnestness, and a touch of sadness. “We’re just lucky we are friends with genuinely nice people,” Ana tells me as she writes her personal email on a fan’s arm—who happens to be a doctor at UCSF and who knows something about broken metatarsals. 

“In your 20’s, you want to eat the world, but then in time you realize that you are just lucky that the world hasn’t eaten you.” Carlotta chimes in, leaning against the merchandise table, sketching in my notebook. “I used to have dreams of traveling the world—my English teacher Mayte would tell me, “Learn English; it will take you places, and now I’m here, I’m talking to you.”

It’s this presence and gratitude that most impresses me about Hinds. Their understanding of their own power and using that power to bring others along for the ride. For Paula and Maria, the band’s new drummer and bassist, it’s their first time in California. “¡Me encanta la gente!” Maria, the drummer, tells me, “¡Y Los lobos marinos and the high streets, and the beach!” Paula, the bassist, exclaims before excitedly trying on a venue t-shirt, consulting the other band members before buying. For their last song, Hinds bring the opener Gavin and The Happy Return onto the stage with them.

They close the concert pirouetting in a piece of unplanned choreography and bow low to the crowd. The standing ovation lasts minutes. It’s a show that reminds me that sometimes on Tuesday nights at that spot on Valencia we can each show up to help one another’s dreams in the process of coming true.

Review and photos by Christopher LeBoa

Friday October 11th, one of two back-to-back sold out shows for LA LOM. The classy art deco style of Bimbo’s perfectly complemented the retro-inspired music that filled the space. The standing area in front of the stage was packed, yet spacious enough for the crowd to dance all night to the upbeat, passionate sounds.

Los Tranquilos opened the evening, coming off their 2024 debut EP Todos Tranquil, with laid back yet lively groovy fusion of soul, cumbia, and bolero. Hailing from Nipomo, California, lead singer Manny Martinez paused between songs to give a heartfelt thank you to his parents, who had driven five hours to see him and his brother, bassist JJ, perform.

The band shined during “Mi Sol“, a love song sung in Spanish with soulful keys. The jammy rhythm peaked as Manny sang an intense yet smooth chorus.

“Quiero que sepas que tú eres mi sol
Iluminando lo que está a tu alrededor
Y no pudiera yo vivir sin ti
Porque yo necesito sentir tu calor”

Translated:
“I want you to know that you are my sun
Illuminating what is around you
And I could not live without you
Because I need to feel your warmth”

A smiling crowd loudly chanted “otra,” naturally wanting the band to play another song, with the headliner still to come.

LA LOM, a trio of Los Angeles natives, immediately ignited the room as the crowd cheered and danced. While the music maintained a rhythmic steadiness, each musician played with intricate variation, building up the energy even at slower tempos.

Guitarist Zac Sokolow often played with his eyes closed, and as I closed mine, I was carried by the melodic guitar, which felt so warm I was transported in time, from a sunny backyard party to a sunset in the desert. Bassist Jake Faulkner crafted rich rhythms on his large, elegant standing bass and unleashed raw, powerful screams that hyped up the crowd and got them to join in. Drummer Nicholas Baker jammed through diverse rhythms and musical traditions, seamlessly switching between his drum set, congas, and maracas, laying down a rhythmic foundation that fused beautifully with the band.

The trio played with barely a stop, switching tempos between songs. The mellow song “Rebecca,” a refreshing slowdown with dreamy, melting guitar, came from their self-titled debut album The Los Angeles League of Musicians, released in August. The night wrapped up with “Llorar”, a high-energy cover of the same song by Los Socios Del Ritmo. As a special encore, Manny from Los Tranquilos joined to sing a smooth and tender bolero with La Lom, leaving the crowd chanting his name.

To be honest, I arrived at the show a bit tired on a Friday night after a long work week, but I left feeling energized and inspired, as if my soul had gotten a massage, grooving my way into the weekend.

Review and photos by Slava Starikov