Category Archives: Art

RIVERSIDE: New art space hosts ‘Dreams Collide’ exhibit, entertainment

Eva and the Vagabond Tales will perform, along with the Murkey Water District, at the opening of new gallery show "Dreams Collide." (Contributed Image)

Eva and the Vagabond Tales will perform, along with the Murkey Water District, at the opening of new gallery show “Dreams Collide.” (Contributed Image)

A new art exhibit, “Dreams Collide,” is bringing together some of the area’s most innovative visual artists and on Saturday, May 3, gets some musical accompaniment for its opening reception.

Inland bands Eva and the Vagabond Tales and the Murky Water District—the latter of which hasn’t played a show in about a year—will be the entertainment at the Riverside Art Parlor, a new gallery space in Riverside.

The art show, which runs through June 29, includes more than 30 artists, including Jeff Soto, Nick Bahula, Jeff Ribaudo, Jon Brosius, Cosme Cordova and more.

6-10 p.m. Saturday, May 3, 9960 Indiana Ave., Suite 9, Riverside.

Visit www.facebook.com/riversideartparlor for more information.

COACHELLA 2014: My top 15 Coachella Festival weekend one moments

Concertgoers enjoy the Lightweaver art installation by Alexis Rochas during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Sunday, April 13, 2014. (Rodrigo Pena/Freelance Photographer)

Concertgoers enjoy the Lightweaver art installation by Alexis Rochas during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Sunday, April 13, 2014. (Rodrigo Pena/Freelance Photographer)

I’ve been covering the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for eight years. The festival is unlike anything else I’ve been to before or since. It’s not just a concert, but a memory machine.  I’m incredibly grateful that I get to cover this and report on it for my job.  These are my 15 favorite things from the 15th edition of the festival. They’re not in any particular order, just how they came to mind as I process all of my experiences today.  You can see all of our coverage from the weekend and dozens of photo galleries over at http://x.pe.com/coachellahome.

Win Butler of Arcade Fire sings at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, April 13, 2014. (Rodrigo Pena/Freelance Photographer)

Win Butler of Arcade Fire sings at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, April 13, 2014. (Rodrigo Pena/Freelance Photographer)

1. Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire’s set was spectacular, from the moment everyone was jumping around to “Rebellion (Lies)” to the Debbie Harry  guest spot on “Heart of Glass” to the unplugged “Wake Up” second line with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band through the crowd. And I finally got a really cool confetti shot. Rodrigo Pena got even better photos of the show. You can see his photo gallery of Arcade Fire at Coachella over at PE.com. I didn’t think they were going to be able to top the LED balloon drop of 2011, but they so did, and in such an organic, truly musical way.

2. The Dismemberment Plan
You know when you love a band you haven’t seen them for a really long time and then they play every single song you want to hear? And they sound amazing, even in a crazy dust storm that is shaking the glass chandeliers in the tent? Yep, that’s what The Dismemberment Plan was for me.  The last show I had seen was the farewell at the 9:30 Club in D.C. back in 2003 and I haven’t been able to see them since they reformed. By the way, the new record, “Uncanney Valley,” is top-notch. I highly recommend it, but if you’re just getting into them, “Emergency & I” is the gateway album.  I don’t care that Muse, Nas, Pet Shop Boys and Skrillex were also playing–for all of us in the Gobi Tent at midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning, it was a high and being from Maryland, I felt a little bit closer to home.

3. Coachella Art Studios
This year I got to do a story on the amazing things going on at the Coachella Art Studios (it’s in the campground, but you don’t have to be a camper to partake in the crafts). I also got to make my own bracelet out of a bicycle inner tube. I was kind of tripping out that I was actually creating my own art at the festival. It was also great to meet and see so many Inland artists who were helping out at the fest. It is open Friday-Sunday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. so get there early and make some art! Go support the Coachella Valley Art Scene, too.

Walking into the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Friday, April 11, 2014 was pretty darn magical. (Vanessa Franko/Staff)

Walking into the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Friday, April 11, 2014 was pretty darn magical. (Vanessa Franko/Staff)

4. Walking in
When I arrived on site Friday, I booked it over to the camping area to talk to folks about the Coachella Art Studios, but when I was heading into the festival from the campground, the scene took my breath away. There were some light clouds over the mountains in the distance and the Ferris wheel was straight ahead. It’s an image that will be forever emblazoned in my mind.

Pharrell Williams performs at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. (Tom Bray/Staff)

Pharrell Williams performs at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. (Tom Bray/Staff)

5. Pharrell Williams
With a crazy amount of guest stars, how could Williams’ set not make you “Happy”? (See what I did there?) I would never have predicted that we’d see Gwen Stefani and Nelly. Maybe next week we get Daft Punk? As I mentioned in my Best and Worst of Coachella story, there were enough stars here to reboot “The Love Boat.” See photos of Pharrell at Coachella.

6. Dining at Kazu Nori
One of my assignments over the weekend was to try out the new higher-end foods at the festival (tough job, right?), but I had the chance to have sushi at the pop-up sushi bar Kazu Nori, and it really was a sushi bar where you sat and watched the chef make your rolls. The toro hand roll was amazing. We did an entire story about the food.

7. Meeting people
One of the greatest things about Coachella for me is meeting fellow music lovers. I love how Coachella brings us all together. I’m particularly grateful for the people I meet who turn out to be readers. They wouldn’t let me do this without you. Thank you.

8. The Replacements
How many years have I been wanting to see this reunion? I loved that Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson actually seemed HAPPY to be at the same place at the same time. I loved Westerberg’s magician’s roses. I loved their suits. Most of all, I loved the rock show they put on packed full of some of the most influential music at the festival. Hearing “Alex Chilton,” “Androgynous” and “Left of the Dial” was pretty rad.  See photos of The Replacements at Coachella.

9. Sunset with Neutral Milk Hotel
I am a big fan of the sunset set. And sunset at the Outdoor Theatre is spectacular and possibly the all-time perfect venue for the reunion of Neutral Milk Hotel. They sounded great, and I created more art in order to capture the moment forever.

10. The Afghan Whigs
Greg Dulli’s howls and yowls made me happy. The Afghan Whigs are another band I was into, but never had a chance to see until now. Check out photos of The Afghan Whigs at Coachella.

Paul Hampton performs with Fishbone at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. (Charlotte Bray/Freelance Photographer)

Paul Hampton performs with Fishbone at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. (Charlotte Bray/Freelance Photographer)

11. Fishbone and the theremin
I really thought Angelo Moore might be right and we really were going to blast off into space. You need bright sunshine to hear “Everyday Sunshine.” It was also super rad to see The Skeletones’ Paul Hampton up there on the keytar. There need to be more keytars. Check out our photos of Fishbone.

12. Graveyard
Sweden brings some of the best music to Coachella. Case in point–Graveyard, who had that early blues groove of Black Sabbath and melted my face a bit on the main stage Saturday afternoon.

13. Pixies play “Wave of Mutilation”
Yep, I was wildly air drumming to this. I feel great about it.

14. Janelle Monae shows up with OutKast
I wrote a long post about OutKast’s Friday night set, but Monae doing “Tightrope” was pretty darn awesome.  Check out some photos from the set. 

15. “Escape Velocity”
The floating astronaut art installation was another home run by Poetic Kinetics. We did a story on the large-scale art in today’s paper.

View a gazillion more galleries at

COACHELLA 2014: Making your own music at the festival

Sam Marsey, of Redlands, shows off a shaker made of an old tin can, cardboard and dry beans in the Coachella Art Studios. (Vanessa Franko/Staff)

Sam Marsey, of Redlands, shows off a shaker made of an old tin can, cardboard and dry beans in the Coachella Art Studios. (Vanessa Franko/Staff)

The Coachella Valley Art Scene is the creative force behind the festival’s Coachella Art Studios, a place where you can let your creativity fly at the fest and do some crafts.

Here’s how you can make some of your own at home:

At the Beats Oasis section of the studios, you can make a shaker out of mostly repurposed goods, such as tin cans and brightly colored plastic Easter eggs, and rock out with DJ Alf Alpha, a Coachella veteran, who was playing music in the art studios.

Fill them with dry rice or beans.

“Rice is going to give you more of a softer, subtle sound,” said Sam Marsey, of Redlands, who helped crafters.

He preferred the beans in the tin cans, to maximize the beats.

Fellow helper, Giselle Ruiz, of Downey, said she preferred the rice in the eggs, and suggested filling it just under halfway for maximum rhythm potential.

You can also make a guiro, castanets out of smashed bottlecaps and cardboard and a bamboo stick shaker.

Where: Camping Lot 10, open to the public.
When: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. everyday of Coachella.
Price: Free

View more photos of the Coachella Art Studios.

 

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE: Festivalgoers create art

Yukiko Chavez creates an art piece at the Lightning in a Bottle festival at the Lake Skinner Recreation Area in Winchester on Saturday, July 13, 2013. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

Yukiko Chavez creates an art piece at the Lightning in a Bottle festival at the Lake Skinner Recreation Area in Winchester on Saturday, July 13, 2013. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)

Yukiko Chavez crouched under a canopy, adding pieces to a foam core tree she sculpted as part of her interactive art experience that will become a piece she is calling the “Lightning in a Bottle Tree” at the Lightning in the Bottle Festival at the Lake Skinner Recreation Area in Winchester on Saturday, July 13.

The San Diego artist attended the event twice before this year, just as a festivalgoer. A conversation with a presenter at last year’s fest inspired her to create art again.

“I’ve never done any live sculpting, ever,” she said.

RELATED: See photos from Lightning in a Bottle 2013

Chavez said she followed Lightning in a Bottle artist Shrine on Facebook and saw he was doing a workshop in Los Angeles. She attended, and helped paint his piece that was shown at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and made a reprise at the Temple of Consciousness at Lightning in a Bottle.

For her creation, the idea fell into place and on her hour long commute each day, when she took advantage of the time to brainstorm. She had the idea that everyone would collaborate and mosaic pieces onto the found art.

“Everybody is going to mosaic those pieces,” she said.

People passed by and added items throughout the weekend. The highest point on a tree is a peanut added by a woman who was carrying a bag of them.

A child took some pieces Chavez had lying around the space to the creation station and glues them and hung them atop the highest branches.

As her seeds of creativity sprouted at Lightning in a Bottle, her interactive sculpture allows others to create, too.

“I’m paying it forward,” Chavez said.

The tree has a hole in the middle, ready for Chavez to put her last piece at the end of the festival, a lightning bolt in a bottle she wore around her neck, made from an empty nail polish bottle and a lightning bolt cut out of the metal that came from a tealight.

RELATED: See photos from Lightning in a Bottle 2013

PALM DESERT: Jazzoo celebrate Frankie Laine 100th Birthday

FROM PALM DESERT- The American Jazz Institute is proud to announce the Frankie Lane 100th Birthday Celebration Concert as part of the “Jazzoo” series at The Living Desert. This spectacular tribute will feature the smooth vocals of Michael Dees, sultry melodies of Sue Raney, the rich voice of Cat Conner and the melodic Don Shelton. This legendary tour de force of singing talent will be accompanied by pianist Bill Cunliffe on Sunday, March 24 with performances at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. All concerts are performed inside The Living Desert located at 47900 Portola Avenue in Palm Desert. Tickets can be purchased at 760-346-5694.
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