A WOMAN WHO — KATE

School’s out, people. So that means more time to post some bloggerific stuff. There are a couple of things I should note while I’ve been a tad MIA from July! … I won a pair of San Francisco Peninsula Press Club awards … blog has reached 80,000 views (cool) … and shows are slowly starting to creep up as the summer season heats up. Anyway, that’s not why we’re here.

We’re here for my Brother, Matthew Maniego, whose project, “A WOMAN WHO” is taking off like a bandit. He just released his most recent piece which highlights a young woman by the name of Kate Wintrode, owner of Fifth&Brannan in San Francisco.

Kate’s story, and that of Fifth & Brannan, is a great one. She’s a fashion designer for men like myself who have absolutely no clue how to put ourselves together other than throwing on a t-shirt, some jeans and our Barcelona hoodie. Matt told me he had selected her for his series and I visited the site — her clothing is straight baller status in terms of quality. If you’re a guy, you’d be doing yourself a HUGE favor by following their blog >> GO.

Right about now I’d me remised not to mention the work of Matt’s team on this project, Photographer John Agcaoili, A.C. Andrew Kim and graphic designer and BFAM Mark Penacerrada (who had his hand in this kind of stuff)

Here’s the full set:

A great friend of mine is getting married soon, very soon actually, and I’ll be hitting up Fifth&Brannan for some fashion help, I’m sure. FOLLOW FIFTH&BRANNAN ON FACEBOOK HERE. FOLLOW MATT MANIEGO EVERYWHERE HE GOES HERE.

“A Woman Who” is three episodes in. Kate’s was the third.

Episode 2 highlights Rachel Tan (with major assist to my girl, Melissa)

And Episode 1 highlights Allison Torneros

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA REVIEW — OAKLAND

As I mentioned before, getting access to the Rodrigo y Gabriela show at the Fox Theater in Oakland was no easy task. The show was sold out from the get-go. Luckily for us at the DJ, we’ve built pretty solid rapport with our friends at Another Planet and were able to cover the show. 2012 has been pretty mellow so fair in terms of concerts for July! Nothing too nuts. The RYG was, at times, electric.

Rodrigo y Gabriela Shine at the Fox
By Julio Lara, Daily Journal Staff

OAKLAND — If you’re a Bay Area purist of Rodrigo y Gabriela, the guitar maestros from Mexico, you woke up Friday morning with a bit of an internal conflict.

OK, a rather big one.

On the one hand, you have the purist side of your persona. You’re in love with RYG’s carefully crafted, yet masterfully erratic guitar artistry that has catapulted them into international stardom. RYG’s spanish influenced style is not unique by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, there is something about watching them play with one another that has captured the heart of countless fans. Thursday night’s ticket for their show at the Fox Theater in Oakland was without a doubt the hottest, most difficult to come upon of the Latin music concert year so far. And with good reason — there is something darn near magical about watching the duo treat their guitars like art canvases. 

But on the other hand, there is part of you that went to their show on Thursday and got something you weren’t expecting and, as a RYG purist, perhaps it fell a little short of your initial expectation. So you don’t quite know if you liked the concert or not. What a moral dilemma to have. Those who came to the Fox Theater in Oakland expecting two hours of the duo sitting, picking, plucking and strumming their way to musical nirvana instead got the pair plus the Caribbean rhythm machine C.U.B.A. equipped with piano, brass and percussion to accompany the RYG guitars. If you didn’t do your homework and had no previous experience with “Area 52,” their fifth studio album, you were caught a bit off-guard and it probably didn’t take too long into their rendition of “Santo Domingo,” and “I Like It Like That,” (the former being off of the 52 album) for some in the audience to go, “hey, what gives? Is this even Rodrigo y Gabriela?”

Truth is, the show was incredible. If you read the rest of the review, you’ll see that I talk about the fusion of the music. I went with my brother, Max, to the show. We grew up around music, happen to be a pair of musicians (albeit, I’m retired and haven’t picked up drumsticks in years, but my brother, he’s a genius), and in searching for an underlying theme, we thought that the collaboration between RYG and C.U.B.A. was indeed special.

To me, what stood out what their ability to fill a space like the Fox with so much energy without, singing. That was a first for me. And it’s what impressed me the most. Anyway, here are more photos. Click on it, it’ll take you to my Facebook account. If you want a particular photo, message me, I’ll get you a print.

Once again, thanks for reading. We have Michel Camilo coming up on the 14th. Then, the grand-daddy of them all, MANA! once again on the July! calendar. Followed shortly by another mammoth show at the Fox, CALLE 13.

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA IN OAKLAND

UPDATE: REVIEW IS UP AND READY.

By far the hottest ticket of the Latino concert season so far was the Rodrigo y Gabriela show at the Fox Theater in Oakland.

And thanks to the powers that be, the Daily Journal and yours truly got the opportunity to cover the show. The review will be out officially on Saturday, in time for their show in L.A. Here’s a bit of the unedited review …

If you’re a Bay Area purist of Rodrigo y Gabriela, the guitar maestros from Mexico, you woke up Friday morning with a bit of an internal conflict. 
OK, a rather big one.
On the one hand, you have the purist side of your persona. You’re in love with RYG’s carefully crafted, yet masterfully erratic guitar artistry that has catapulted them into international stardom. RYG’s Spanish influenced style is not unique by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, there is something about watching them play with one another that has captured the heart of countless fans. Thursday night’s ticket for their show at the Fox Theater in Oakland was without a doubt the hottest, most difficult to come upon ticket of the Latin music concert year so far. And with good reason — there is something darn near magical about watching the duo treat their guitars like art canvases …

And it continues after that. I’ll post it later, when it comes out. Here are a couple more shots.

OK doke. Enough for now. See y’all tomorrow.

A WOMAN WHO — BY MATT MANIEGO

Perhaps the thing that I love the most about my life is how blessed I’ve been with my relationships. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve had the great fortune of associating, interacting and sharing time with friends, who are more like my family, and in that shared time, I’ve seen them grow and pursue their passions. More than anything, what inspires me, almost without failure, is passion.

Here’s the latest from my BFAM Matthew Maniego, who’s been hard at work with his project, “A Woman Who.” Matthew writes: A Woman Who is a short-film series on creative and successful women. Writers, musicians, designers, artists; each woman distinguished in her own right. And though their disciplines differ, they each resemble what the definition of a Woman is.

The series, which launched today, March 20th, starts with Allison. Painter.

A Woman Who – Allison from Matt Maniego on Vimeo.

More than anything I post on here, I’d ask you to take a minute and spread the word on this project. It’s really a labor of love. Matt continues saying: A Woman Who is influenced by the two main role models in my life: my mother, Dolores Andres Cruz, and my grandmother Flora Andres. This project is dedicated to my mother because she is a woman who sacrificed so that her children could have a better future. This project is dedicated to my grandmother because she was a woman who loved unconditionally, giving until the day she passed away. They are the women who inspired me; shaped me, making me the man I am today.

Allison is just the first of a series of women “A Woman Who” will highlight. And realistically, between you and I, is there anything sexier in a woman that ambitious? Vision? Drive? Matt was really fortunate to find women that possess those qualities and happen to be incredibly gorgeous on the outside as well. It appears Matt has done a fantastic job of capturing all these elements through his lens. Here’s the overall trailer of the other women he has chosen in this initial phase.

A Woman Who Promo 2 from Matt Maniego on Vimeo.

Matt adds: The purpose of the project is to inspire anyone, not just women, but ANYONE to pursue their dreams, just like how my grandmother and mom inspired me. If this project gets viewed by one person, and that one person is inspired to do something great, then my job is accomplished.

You can follow Matt’s journey as he pieces together this amazing puzzle on Facebook. This is a set of photos from his shoot with Kate Wintrode, a fashion designer who owns her own line of high-end men’s clothing.

You know, whether it’s a camera (like Matt), words (like July!), a paint brush (like Allison), the harsh reality is that creative minds have an inherent need to create. Let me repeat that, it’s a need, something we can’t control. Artists like Matt and Allison are terribly gifted and it’s a joy to experience a finished project like “A Woman Who.” But the pleasure I feel comes from watching a creative mind labor through the process and wrestle with their own perception of perfection. As an artist, that perfection is an unobtainable goal. But what sets people like Matt and Allison apart from the rest of us is that they show up to that fight every day. They show up. And once in a while they win.

Matt, you won, Brother.

Follow the project at awomanwho.com

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — FANFEST DONE ONE TIME STYLE

Today we have a very special guest. I swear if I had a red carpet, I’d lay it out for these guys every single day … ONE TIME INC. 

You’ve seen a share of their work before on July! … mostly through the contribution of Matt Maniego, BFAM (brother from another mother), who shoots for me during some of my bigger events. Well, his production crew set out to capture Giants FanFest 2012 this year. I was very fortunate to tag along and witness the creative process behind what you’re about to see. Enjoy.

Very blessed to have such talented and passionate friends and family. And it’s insane to think the amount of work that goes into getting quality stuff, editing it and seeing it trimmed down to three minutes of outstanding video. One Time was at the ball park for nine hours! These guys are amazing.