Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents This Was Made Here: A Diasporic Odyssey featuring Meklit Hadero
2016-05-19
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum
701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA
8:00 PM, Thursday, May 19, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[8:08 PM lights down, band out, announcements from MBJ]

1. [8:m PM] ?zuraya
2. [8:m PM] ?rise up Yack
3. [8:m PM] ? Old tune, ?apilau
4. [8:m PM] ?about searching for love &#
5. [8:m PM] ? &
6. [8:m PM] ?salty &F
7. [8:m PM] You Got Me (Roots) &#F$
8. [9:m PM] ?new BD song $
9. [9:00 PM] ?tapan solo > ? Human animal $
10. [9:m PM] ?so soleil dreaming of the sun
11. [9:m PM] ? Afro song $
12. [9:m PM] ? Supernova song &
13. [9:27 PM] This was made here &F
14. [9:40 PM] ?Yesterday (Krar)
    [show ends 9:50 PM, no encore]

• Sam Bevan: bass, $ contrabass;
• Marco Peris Coppola: tupan/davul drum, percussion;
• Meklit Hadero: & acoustic guitar, krar, vox;
• Colin Douglas: drums;
• Geechi Taylor : trumpet;
• Alan Williams : trombone;
• Howard Wiley: tenor saxophone, # baritone saxophone;
• Astu: harmony vox;
• Tsedi: harmony vox; (One of 'em was missing!)

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Yeah, so despite the angst and confusion over the missed connection with my mom, it was nice to hear a few tunes from the salsa band as a sort of warm up for tonight's main course. And the museum had some sort of multi-part art event happening in the lobby. Screen-printers were churning out a variety of thought-provoking prints (¡Viva La Revolución!), a feminist activist group was handing out literature and so on. The Wikipedia foundation had a table further inside the gallery, but being anxious about getting the perfect seat (always an issue at a GA show, right?), I decided to check out the art in the lobby instead. Good stuff. Strange. Hard to digest. I liked Lightswarm, an abstract L.E.D. sculpture best, probably should have tried to get a picture of it on the way out, but I got distracted by the merchandise table and the notion that I should wait to get some signed CDs! Maybe the sculpture will still be up the next time I visit?

Sitting on the train to West Oakland, I realize I've lost my car keys. What the hell? I fire off a text to Ting, then try calling YBCA, but no one answers. I arrive in West Oakland and circle around, wait a minute, and now I'm bound once more for SF. Stay tuned to find out whether this story has a happy ending!!

How long should I make you wait?

I lucked out on the East Bay turnaround, arriving back at Montgomery Station by 10:30 PM. Off the train like a shot, then up the escalator steps two at a time, across the entry area, through the gates and up another long flight to the street. Kinda cool and breezy in SF tonight. Not damp, but fog temperature nonetheless. Good for speed-walking! I retrace my route as best I can without spying the object of my pursuit. Dang! My options are quite limited!

10:37 PM and I'm leaping up the steps to the museum entrance, and for a moment my hopes are dashed. The lobby is dim and empty. F#@k! I rattle the doors in frustration. Nothing. I catch my breath. Still nothing. Things are starting to look grim.

I decide to circle around to the side doors, closer to the Forum entrance, and just as I'm getting to that door, a janitor exits the bathrooms. I knock on the window to get her attention. She shakes her head “No” and gives me the “go away” glare. I am insistent. I move to the door. And give it a rattle. She comes closer, and I pantomime turning keys in a lock, together with a shoulder shrug and a look-see head swivel. Did I mention that I love playing charades? The janitor is dubious: it's clear from her body language that she's not gonna let me in, and she wants me to go away. I persist. I rattle the door again, then repeat my charade. Another janitor comes out of the restroom and up to the door.

“Como?” She asks. I am wordless with joy. I repeat my charade. She warily opens the door. I manage a quick “Gracias!” While scanning the floor: no keys here where the merchandise table was. Crap! Maybe I can get them to let me continue my search back inside the Forum? I'm trying to put together a coherent explanation, when a security guard walks out: “Looking for your car keys?”, he asks. Lordy, Lordy, Lord, thank you for saving my ass tonight!

The guard escorts me back to the security office near the rear loading dock entrance, and after signing a log book, they return my keys. Happy happy happy! I get home late tonight, but it could have been much worse!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!