The Jarvis Lounge

The last time I blogged was February 29, 2020, a few weeks before the pandemic reached the US. Even though I started watching live music again back in May, 2021, I still hesitated to start this back up. This was mainly because I felt like this medium had grown obsolete, while other forms of social media move information faster, concisely, and with more entertainment value. So now I find myself at a crossroad, deciding whether I want to continue writing about music on this blog, or venturing elsewhere. I’ve decided to do both. This first blog is really just to get my feet wet again, to remind myself what it’s like to write about something I love. It’s short and sweet. But I want to do more, and will, over the next year. Unless otherwise indicated, all photos of artists performing were taken by me.

Smokin’ Grooves – 3/19/2022

This was my first trip to this particular festival, that ironically used to be held here in Long Beach near the Queen Mary. The lineup was just too good to ignore.

While this lineup is soaked with endless talent, I’ve grown weary of this trend of cramming so many acts on to one day (I’ll save that commentary for a later post). Having that many acts means having shorter set times, and little room for technical errors. While some newer acts even benefit from having a shorter set, Angie Stone showed early on in the day why most of these artists flourish with more time (she was magnificent). Overall, I thought the artists’ performances were all great. I’d decided to splurge on VIP when I’d bought the ticket last year. While we had some sound issues from our listening vantage point, other festival goers in GA had more difficulty, hearing the artists on the main stage (according to their comments on social media). The smaller stage didn’t have any VIP section, but apparently had better sound. I spent most of the day at the VIP stage, probably because I felt the need to really get my money’s worth. It was crowded, highlighting another trend that makes VIP almost feel like what used to be GA. The food lines in VIP were awful; I waited in line 45 minutes for food, while my friend waited over an hour. I’ve been to a lot of festivals, and this was the worst (and I’m talking about GA).

So how was the music? Again, pretty fantastic. All the acts were good or great, with the short set times being the only issue. Rotating stages made for shorter prep time. Nas‘ set started almost thirty minutes late, which pushed Erykah Badu‘s start time. In a plot twist, she ended up having to end her set early, with her motioning that her mic was getting cut off. Last time I’d caught her live act in 2017, she was late.

Overall, while I loved the artists and performances, I think I’ll pass next time this fest comes around. The logistics were awful, especially for the VIP cost. Spread out over 2 days, this fest would have been one of the best this year. Below are some pictures I took, which weren’t posted on my socials.

The JarFive – 5 Random Music Things I’m Paying Attention To This Week

1. “Summer of Soul” winning best documentary at Sunday’s Academy Awards – The “slap” overshadowed the win, but if you still haven’t seen this film, it’s worth catching. While the world had their attention on Woodstock and the moon landing, 1969 also gave us the Harlem Cultural Festival. There are some great performances (namely Sly and The Family Stone, who also appeared at Woodstock), along with some contextual fan testimony. You can see the film on Hulu.
2. Coachella Weekend 1 is in 2 weeks – While I’m going Weekend 2, Coachella is returning for the first time since 2019 in 2 weeks. While the bulk of media attention is likely to fall on Ye (as I write this, he’s apparently looking to get help: https://www.iheart.com/content/2022-04-01-kanye-west-told-kim-kardashian-hes-going-away-to-get-help/), I’m excited for one of the deepest lineups of the festival season (lineup below). More on this over the coming weeks.
3. Maisie Peters live set/signing at Fingerprints Music – The one live show I managed to make it to this week was at Fingerprints Music here in Long Beach (glad to see live sets here again!). Maisie Peters is an English singer-songwriter, who’s debut album is with Ed Sheeran’s label. She’s also joining him on his tour this year, after completing her current tour. She performed 3 or 4 acoustic versions of her song, and then signed albums and took pics with fans. I posted a video clip on my Instagram.

4. talker has released her EP – I’m going to be talking about a lot of new music on here, but I wanted to briefly mention talker‘s newly released EP, In Awe of Insignificance. I first wrote about talker at the start of 2020, as an artist to watch. Give her new release a listen! I’ve included both the Spotify link and Bandcamp (it’s Bandcamp Friday, which means Bandcamp waives their revenue share. This is great for artists!)

https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/1tLzBkScFZcxVRkDfIas8B https://talkerceleste.bandcamp.com/album/in-awe-of-insignificance

5. Record Store Day is Saturday April 23 – Want to continue supporting the stores that are the lifeblood for exclusive records? Record Store Day is returning this year to being one day in April. The pandemic saw changes to this, but this is the day to get excited. I’ll be in the desert for Coachella, but you should check out what your local stores are doing. Some may even include appearances/performances from artists. Here’s the link for the RSD page: https://recordstoreday.com/