Alysa Liu - Oakland Homecoming!
Alysa Liu’s homecoming was full of sunshine and smiles as Oakland honored their own local Olympic Champion at Frank Ogawa Plaza on Thursday, March 12th.
Alysa Liu’s homecoming was full of sunshine and smiles as Oakland honored their own local Olympic Champion at Frank Ogawa Plaza on Thursday, March 12th. Word has it Alysa turned down an offer for a parade down Broadway because she preferred to celebrate up close with her friends and fans. Tickets to the City sponsored event were gone in a flash, though premium up front seating was reserved in advance for students from her former High School, the Oakland School for the Arts. The student’s excitement and energy were apparent from the beginning, and the teens quickly pressed forward to get a better view.
Sway Calloway emceed the program which included appearances from a variety of local celebrities, business leaders and politicians. Alysa herself came down to the lower stage level to dance with the Turf Inc company from East Oakland. She swayed along to the music during a performance of “Folded” by her favorite musical artist Kehlani. After ninety minutes the party came to a close with the presentation of an impressive key to the City by Mayor Barbara Lee. Throughout the afternoon Alysa radiated the pride and love for her hometown that the crowd had also bestowed upon her!
ZZ Ward Brings the Blues to Berkeley
ZZ Ward at the Cornerstone in Berkeley
he Bay Area was treated to an evening of soulful blues this past week at The Cornerstone music venue located across the Bay in Berkeley. ZZ Ward was the headliner, a seasoned performer who first took the stage at the age of eleven to sing in her father’s band. Now balancing her career as a mother of two, she delivered a solid set in support of her latest album release “Liberation”. This is ZZ’s first independent album after walking away from the constraints imposed by label contracts. ZZ has long been an advocate/ally for the LGBTQ+ community, and embodies a powerful presence in the Blues genre onstage.
ZZ opened with “My Baby Left Me”, as the title suggests a classic blues theme delivered with a punch that had the audience moving right away. She followed immediately with the Elmore James classic “Dust My Broom” before moving on to tracks from her new album that included “Mother”, "Liberation”, “Sinner’s Prayer”, and “Naked in the Jungle”. The lyrics in “Mother” give voice to the challenges of parenthood, musician or not - “Come do 24 hours in my shoes, Yeah just 24 hours and see, How it feels to be totally selfless, Say goodbye to your moment to breath”. Between songs ZZ added reflections on her career path along with some perspectives behind her songwriting. This served to create an intimate feeling with the crowd, many of whom were clearly longer term fans. She was onstage with her band for an almost 90 minute set, a generous serving of quality blues.
The evening's opener, Stephanie Anne Johnson, was a commanding presence onstage though performing solo with just their acoustic guitar for accompaniment. Stephanie’s voice is an amazing instrument, powerful with a pure tone and impressive range. They infused each song with the sort of sincere emotion that moves the audience to respond in kind. The evening’s crowd expressed their enthusiasm accordingly. After the event, Stephanie stated "I'm grateful to have played at Cornerstone last week and appreciate their support of the LGBTQ community! I'm a non-binary performer from Tacoma, WA and I perform at LGBTQ events anywhere in the country when asked. My new album 'Sing, baby!' is very heavily themed around this as well."
The Cornerstone hosts occasional LGBTQ+ centric events, recent examples have included Club 90’s ‘Heated Rivalry” night, and ‘Pop Girl Pride Drag Dance Party’. It's a great event venue with good pre-show dinner options, so keep an eye on their calendar for future offerings.
Dua Lipa: Radical Optimism in San Francisco
Dua Lipa’s two sold out performances at Chase Center showed why she has 85 million followers on Instagram and over 40 billion downloads across various streaming platforms. She is, simply put, a fountain of talent. Her powerful vocals, catchy songwriting, myriad artistic collaborations, and dancing all meld togetherseamlessly. Sunday evening was an entertainment feast for the senses, and a salve for the heart.
The new album and tour title Radical Optimism, has a themea we can all heed. As she said in a recent statement “...it struck me, the idea of going through chaos gracefully and feeling like you can weather any storm”. For almost two glorious hours, we all were able to leave a little bit of the current world chaos behind us with a wonderful dance pop vibe and first rate production.
Dua Lipa, heard frequently on gay club dance floors, is also a strong community ally and supporter. She turned down an invitation to perform at the World Cup in Qatar due to their anti-LGBTQ laws. The Trevor Foundation named her Mental Health Champion of 2024 for her support of suicide prevention amongst LGTBQ+ young people. There are many other examples, from displaying the Pride Flag on stage to actively speaking out against homophobic political leaders.
Sunday’s spectacle at Chase Center was an elaborate, beautifully choreographed multi-component vehicle for her talent. The huge two level stage had an upper area that peaked like the crest of a wave, with huge video screens, spiral stairways, hidden entry portals, and a catwalk leading out to a center-arena island. Pyrotechnics, lasers, and confetti cannons fired in synchrony to the music and dancing.
For one song Dua sang while encircled by a ring of fire, and then latershe was suspended above the stage on a circular platform while wearing a dramatic full length white “fur” robe. She danced up, down, across, out onto the catwalk and all around the center island. Her dancers worked in shifts, with as many as 16 or so on stage at times. They deserve a shout out for their precise choreography,stamina, and energy. The songs were presented in four Acts, or mini-sets, with a generous four song encore to close. Training Season from her current release was the opening number, and she closed out her 22 song show with Houdini.
Midway through she brought out a surprise guest, local Billy Joe Armstrong, to partner with her as she covered Green Day’s classic “Wake Me up When September Ends. The audience was delighted. Dua took time after the second act to come down from the stage and work the crowd at the barrier. She took selfies with her starstruck fans,, and made us feel like theywere her friends as much as fans.
Cil, a 23 year old vocalist out of Los Angeles opened the show. Backed by just a drummer and guitarist, she showed why Dua brought her along for several dates on this world tour.
