Category: Video

Harpist Mikaela Davis Shares Stunning Video For Her Newest Single “Cinderella”

Songwriter, harpist, and Rochester born artist Mikaela Davis has recently shared a stunning music video to accompany her newest single “Cinderella.” The song is a selection from her upcoming album And Southern Star which will officially be released on Aug. 4 via Kill Rock Stars.

Since releasing her debut album Delivery five years ago, Mikaela Davis has traveled far away from her hometown of Rochester to fully immerse herself in her musical journey. The artist has joined the stage with musicians from all backgrounds of music and genres including founding members of the Grateful Dead Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, eight-time Grammy Award winner Christian McBride, and American indie folk band Bon Iver.

Although Davis earned her degree in harp performance at the Crane School of Music, she has grown and built off of that foundation into a multi-genre and multi-talented artist, molding her classical music training to create an original and genre-bending catalog that weaves together 60s pop-soaked melodies, psychedelia, and driving folk rock. This diverse mix of sounds is what fans should expect from her upcoming album along with the story of Davis’ ever-evolving relationships between her closest friends and bandmates. And Southern Star is a truly collaborative effort that ruminates on the choices we make, and the people we always come back to.

Fans can now use the single “Cinderella” to understand the direction Mikaela Davis is heading in this new decade of growth and storytelling. The song begins with the hauntingly beautiful picking of a solo harp quickly joined by Davis’ atmospheric and soul-stirring melodic voice. Davis can be seen playing the instrument in a gorgeous red dress, tearing the pieces, and running through fields of green throughout the video. As the song picks up, more instruments are built on to add support to a primarily fragile musical story surrounding the girl with countless choices to make with even more roadblocks in her way: Cinderella.

Davis will continue to give her fans all the content they desire as the artist is starting out on tour this summer and into the Fall. She will travel to stages all over the United States bringing her beautiful voice and classically trained harp skills to select audiences. Joining her in multiple locations is the alternative and indie band The Mountain Goats.

Mikaela Davis Tour Dates

AUG 3, THU Happy Valley, OR Pickathon FEST
AUG 4, FRI Happy Valley, OR Pickathon FEST
AUG 5, SAT Seattle Nectar
AUG 8, TUE Redding, CA The Dip
AUG 9, WED Fresno, CA Strummers
AUG 11, FRI Phoenix, AZ Last Exit
AUG 12, SAT Truth or Consequences, NM Artist Abbey
AUG 13, SUN Santa Fe, NM Meow Wolf
AUG 17 THU, Minneapolis, MN Turf Club
AUG 20 SUN Evanston, IL SPACE
OCT 2 MON @ 7:00 pm Solana Beach, CA Belly Up *
OCT 3 TUE @ 7:00pm Los Angeles, CA The Belasco Theater *
OCT 5 THU @ 7:00pm San Francisco, CA August Hall *
OCT 6 FRI @ 7:00 pm San Francisco, CA August Hall *
OCT 7 SAT @ 7:00 pm Sacramento, CA Ace Of Spades *
OCT 9 MON @ 7:00 pm Spokane WA Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox *
OCT 10 TUE @ 8:00 pm Boise, IDKnitting Factory Concert House *
OCT 11 WED @ 7:00 pm Bozeman, MT The Elm *
OCT 13 FRI @ 8:00 pm Boulder, CO Fox Theatre *
OCT 14 SAT @ 8:00 pm Englewood, CO Gothic Theatre *

*performances with The Mountain Goats

July 18, 2023
MIDNIGHTCHOIR Shares “Lovecrimes” Single + Video

NYC electronic act MIDNIGHTCHOIR has just released the single “Lovecrimes,” along with this, a music video to accompany it. Along with this, they have also confirmed the forthcoming release of their second album, Loverboy Molotov, to be released July 14^th.

New York-born and raised electronic producer Patrick Bobilin has been producing music as MIDNIGHTCHOIR since 2014. Bobilin’s love for 80s goth rock and pounding electronic beats combined with his political experiences color the tone and tenor of his music.

Speaking on this new single, Bobilin wrote, “After 7 years of being in the public eye, the only times I felt I could be myself were at NYC dance bars like Pyramid Club or Saint Vitus. I started traveling to Austin, TX more often to visit a group of friends, free from the political infamy I’d become ensnared in.”

“I recorded it quickly in one night, with the urgency of having to get out of town and shake loose of those tangles. ‘Lovecrimes’ was inspired by late nights in NYC and dancing at Barbarella in Austin, where they always play INXS on 80’s Night. The cover of ‘Need You Tonight’ was also inspired by those late nights and features guitar from David Simutis who I met at an office job and who I learned was a seasoned indie rock vet, having engineered and played on some of the coolest records of the last 20 years.”

The combinations of sex, politics, and gothic imagery explain the lyrical content and the inclusion of three covers: Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” INXS’ “Need You Tonight,” and “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode.

Since then, Bobilin ran for public office, led community action organizations during the 2020 social justice uprisings, and has been an active community organizer. He was even arrested twice during the 2020 movement for black lives while organizing protests. That social justice work, which had Bobilin arguing with former-mayor de Blasio about policing on live radio, has found its way into the lyrics of the punk-infused new darkwave album he recorded in the first few weeks of 2023.

The new album was made with much of Bobilin’s urgency and energy of his political campaigns in 2017, 2020, and 2022. Having firmly decided to leave politics behind, Bobilin was compelled to write about many of the frustrations that inspired his far-left politics.

While Bobilin may lean on 80’s new wave and goth influences, the autobiographical elements of the album reflect his experiences in politics and protest. The politics of the album are far left, with emotional, social, religious, and political concerns peppered throughout.

Listen to “Lovecrimes” by clicking the link here.
Loverboy Molotov will be available on all streaming services this July.

June 30, 2023
Scorpion Tea Releases Death-Rock Debut Single “Scarlet Misquote”
NYC-based death-rock band Scorpion Tea has just released “Scarlet Misquote,” the first single from the band’s upcoming self-titled album. Accompanying the new single is a music video, overall just giving an introductory glimpse into the band’s full-length debut anticipated to drop October 27^th.

In the first half of the song, ODowd’s tight snare roll rushes the listener into Fern Puma’s poshly-distorted bass. Seconds later, Christian Cruz’s barbed guitar cuts in like a hot knife. Soon after, vocalist Anthony Diaz chimes in with his declamatory lyrics and it’s apparent that Scorpion Tea is a special blend of death rock intoxication. The song’s construction proves to be the perfect introduction to the new hot and upcoming band.

The band stated, “During our time in LA, recording the album, Edley introduced us to the whimsical, yet dead serious routines of the legendary choreographer Bob Fosse.” explains the video’s director, Scorpion Tea vocalist Anthony Diaz. The music video explores what happens when a single baleful missive causes one’s entire understanding to unravel.

Diaz continues, talking about the dark aesthetic of Fosse’s work that resonated with the band, “The dancers in the piece seemed mesmerized, their strings pulled by an unseen force. I wanted to incorporate this idea with the hypnotic quality and longing breathlessness of ‘Scarlet Misquote,’ while still drawing on Scorpion Tea’s style of brightside-facing hilarity.”

Loaded with new content regularly (most unavailable anywhere else), the band’s ‘Dig Your Own Grave’ pass is the ultimate limited edition collector’s item for the fortunate few.

Pre-order the limited ‘Dig Your Own Grave’ pass and get “Scarlet Misquote” now plus:
- early access to the next two Scorpion Tea singles
- unreleased studio cuts
- remixes
- behind the scenes video
- exclusive artwork
- VIP access to select events
- and more
https://soundcloud.com/givetakelife/sets/scorpion-tea-scarlet-misquote/s-bi4BPd6dNml?si=650ccea083174d06b56a12ca1cae6d74&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Listen to “Scarlet Misquote” by clicking the link here.
June 28, 2023
Andy Frasco & The U.N. Release Uniting LGBTQ+ Video “You Do You”

Just in time for Pride month, LA’s Andy Frasco & The U.N. have announced the release of their eagerly awaited new album, L’Optimist, on Friday, August 11^th. Today, they have premiered the release of the ebullient first single, “You Do You,” with a hilarious music video to accompany it.

As a much-beloved live outfit renowned for unbridled improvisation, audience interaction, surprising covers, special guests, and animated antics unlike any other, Andy Frasco & The U.N. is unlike no other. Frasco’s sixth studio album L’Optimist is the most hopeful and enthusiastic collection thus far in his career.

The upcoming release now sees Frasco continuing to develop as a songwriter, band leader, and human being, his exploratory spirit giving way to something more firmly grounded yet no less adventurous. Having built a still-expanding career on forward motion, Andy Frasco remains positive in his determination to keep on keeping on, pushing himself and his music to grow and improve with every passing day.

“‘You Do You’ is basically a call to arms to myself,” Frasco says about the single. “Like, what is success? We built success through being outlaws and being ourselves. I did it my own way and it worked out for the best, I think. Could we have been way more successful if I just conformed? Maybe, but that’s boring. It sounds like cheating in a race and I’m not trying to cheat. I want to do it my way. Hopefully I’ll look back when I’m 80 and realize that, like Frank Sinatra, I did it my way.”

A testament to Frasco’s wide-ranging influences and boundless energy, L’Optimist sees the magnetic frontman continuing to chart his path of self-exploration and personal discovery through increasingly introspective lyricism and musical adventure. The album sees Frasco fully in command of his craft, more comfortable and confident than ever before, his notorious party-animal persona giving way to a wiser, but no less enthusiastic, artist and band leader.

Frasco once again challenged himself to explore difficult lyrical terrain, spanning relationships and chronic depression, empathy and alienation, inspired in part by his first real girlfriend. Songs like the deeply moving “Iowa Moon” touch on matters of the heart and mental health, emotional struggle and the sheer vulnerability of the human experience, all relayed through a wildly eclectic approach navigating funk, jazz, surf rock, blues, swing, gospel, reggae, exotica, and more with horn-blasted positivity and soulful power.

“With so much bad news in the world, why not try to figure out a way to get out of the darkness,” Frasco says. “We’re not going to be able to change the world, but at least we can change the mind state we have moving forward. We can at least help the process along by being optimistic that the future will turn itself around. And if everyone changes their mind state about the future, then maybe we can change the world.”

In the meantime, Frasco will spend the summer traveling America on a wide-ranging itinerary that features headline dates, top-billed festival appearances, and an eagerly awaited double bill supporting Slightly Stoopid set for August 13^th at Morrison, CO’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Additional dates will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

ANDY FRASCO & THE U.N. TOUR 2023

MAY

19 – Beaufort, NC – Beaufort Music Festival *

20-21 – Garrettsville, OH – Tropidelic’s Sunny Days *

28 – Chillicothe, IL – Summer Camp Music Festival *

JUNE

1-3 – New River Gorge, WV – Mountain Music Festival *

16 – Swanzey, NH – Northlands Music & Arts Festival *

17 – Wellfleet, MA – Beachcomber

18 – Nantucket, MA – The Chicken Box

21 – Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre

22 – Isle of Palms, SC – The Windjammer

23 – Black Mountain, SC – Pisgah Brewing Company

24 – Kill Devil Hills, NC – Outer Banks Brewing Station

25 – Kill Devil Hills, NC – Outer Banks Brewing Station

27 – Roanoke, VA – 5 Points Music Sanctuary

28 – Dewey Beach, DE – Bottle & Cork

29 – Virginia Beach, VA – New Realm Brewing Co.

30 – Baltimore, MD – Union Craft Brewing

JULY

1 – Scranton, PA – Peach Music Festival *

2 – Amagansett, NY – The Stephen Talkhouse

14 – Buffalo, NY – Cobblestone Live! *

26 – Victor, ID – Knotty Pine

27 – Salmon, ID – Sweet Water Hollow

28 – Livingston, MT – Pine Creek Lodge

29 – Ketchum, ID – Argyros Performing Arts Center

AUGUST

1 – Durango, CO – Animas City Theatre

2 – Grand Junction, CO – Mesa Theater

4 – Steamboat Springs, CO – Snow Bowl Steamboat

5 – Telluride, CO – Sheridan Opera House

6 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up Aspen

10–12 – Yuba, WI – People Fest *

13 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre +

SEPTEMBER

9 – Indianapolis, IN – All In Music & Arts Festival *

10 – St. Louis, MO – Music At The Intersection *

28 – E. Lansing, MI – Hall 224 ^

OCTOBER

1 – Washington, DC – Atlantis ^

4 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground Ballroom ^

8 – Portland, ME – Bayside Bowl ^

11 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry ^

NOVEMBER

2 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl †

4 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse †

5 – Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre †

DECEMBER

5 – Little Rock, AR – Revolution Music Hall –

6 – Tulsa, OK – The Vanguard –

7 – Austin, TX – Mohawk –

8 – Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Co. –

9 – Houston, TX – Last Concert Cafe –

10 – Baton Rouge, LA – Chelsea’s Live –

16 – Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge #

* Festival Appearance

+ w/ Slightly Stoopid

^ w/ Special Guest Cool Cool Cool

† w/ Special Guest Doom Flamingo

– with Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers

# with Maggie Rose

To watch “You Do You,” click the link here.

For more details about the tour and ticket information, please visit the link here.

May 25, 2023
Watch Dave Mustaine Pay Tribute to Nick Menza at Rock’N Derby 2016

On Sunday, May 22, 2016, Dave Mustaine paused during Megadeth’s performance at Rock’N Derby, to pay tribute to former Megadeth drummer, Nick Menza.

Mustaine asked the crowd for a moment of silence and what can be heard is a crowd quiet as can be, a solid 30 seconds of silence, before a drum solo begins that lead into “Trust,” off Cryptic Writings.

Among other praise, Dave Mustaine said, “Nick went to heavy metal heaven last night.” When the band finished their final song and took their bows, Mustaine addressed the crowd, saying, “I usually say, ‘You’ve been great, we’ve been Megadeth.’ But Nick, you’ve been great. I love you, buddy.”

Megadeth was part of the incredible lineup at the 2016 festival Rock’N Derby, a multi-faceted entertainment festival held east of Troy, at the Schaghticoke Fairgrounds. The three-day event featured demolition derbies, wrestling, fair-style food, overnight camping and metal and rock bands including Five Fiver Death Punch, Lamb of God, Halestorm, A Day to Remember, Shinedown, Sevendust, Sixx A.M., Trivium, Coheed & Cambria, and of course, Megadeth.

Roughly 7,000 to 9,000 people attended Rock’N Derby each of the three days, coming from all over the country to see a stellar lineup like this.

Three stages hosted the bands on the Upstate Concert Hall Arena Stage (set up in one of the fair’s agricultural barns), and two larger stages, the Rock’N Stage and the Derby Stage, both outdoors and on opposite ends of the grounds.

Watch Mustaine pay tribute to Nick Menza below.

May 21, 2023
Stolen Gin Share Dance/funk “Drunk Ambition” Single + Video

NYC-based dance-funk quintet Stolen Gin have released their newest single “Drunk Ambition” paired alongside a lyric video. The single gives the feeling of an intense love for a person, never wanting them to leave your side.

Stolen Gin, a dance-funk quintet formed in 2019 from New York City, is known for their high-energy live act and avid improvisation–they never play songs the same way twice. The band first came together playing college parties on NYC rooftops, and their goal then was the same as it is now: to make every gig feel like a party, and to keep people dancing.

The band writes, “This song was written a couple months after meeting someone really special. I’m looking back at how it started and counting my blessings that it happened the way it did. The first verse is a flashback to that original moment where a relationship was the last thing on my mind- or so I thought. The chorus then brings us back to the present, where ‘Drunk Ambition’ is my own little way describing the untamable love I feel for this person, never wanting to leave their side.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Y3XhGifto

“As a band, we’ve recorded some projects in the past at full service studios but realized that we’re most comfortable locked in a room together with no outside influences. For ‘Drunk Ambition,’ we decided to book a session at a DIY studio in Brooklyn. We produced the verses of the song to be tight and funky, while playing with longer, distorted chords and pumping drums in the chorus to create tension and release. Our guitarist, Will Adler, engineered the session and mixed the track, and the song was mastered by Will Quinnell at Sterling Sound.”

Having gotten their start playing college rooftop shows around the city, the band is continuing to utilize all New York has to offer, with this latest track being recorded at a DIY studio in Brooklyn. But Stolen Gin’s sound can be heard all over the world, given their immense TikTok following after songs like “Tension Release” and “Take Your Problems to the Disco” went viral across the platform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ajj4D7YCdw

Stolen Gin goes on tour consistently, selling out their last eight consecutive NYC headliners in the span of the last 18 months at venues such as Baby’s All Right, Mercury Lounge, and more. The band recently played in both D.C. and Boston for the first time, with sellouts in both of those cities. They’ve also just finished a tour with the legendary jam band TAUK, and now Stolen Gin is heading back into the studio to make more new music.

To listen/watch “Drunk Ambition,” click the link here.

For more music by Stolen Gin, click the link here.

May 2, 2023
Family Dinner Release Empowering Single “Revenge Dress”

Long Island’s Family Dinner have just served the release their newest single “Revenge Dress,” a empowering/spicy break-up track. The band has also announced a few shows with The Dirty Nil this July and will head out on a short run with Only Sibling this week.

“Revenge Dress” is a total breakup anthem and with lines like “This pretty face is gonna raise some hell tonight,” it’s hard not to get stuck in your head. The song rides from floaty to fierce, with chiming riffs and upbeat drums complementing Natalie O’Keeffe’s cool and collected vocals. Along with this release, the music video for the song encapsulates the mood of the lyrics.

Speaking on the song, Natalie expands by stating, “‘Revenge Dress’, put very simply is a breakup ‘fuck you’ song about realizing your worth and no longer letting yourself get taken for granted. The best revenge is success and nothing gets you over some loser more than looking good and raising hell with your friends.”

Formed in 2017, Family Dinner are friends first and a band second. Living just a few miles apart, the group formed naturally when drummer Nick Amalfitano was jamming out with guitarist Michael O’Keeffe as Natalie hummed melodies while making dinner, and thus the band name came to be.

The members of Family Dinner are almost as carefree as the beach town they reside in. The band has created a unique alternative rock sound that makes you want to dance, paired with lyrics that take a dark twist.

Rounded out by bassist Sam Weiss, Family Dinner began crafting songs, released a few singles, and started playing shows at DIY spots within the tight-knit Long Island music scene. In 2021 the band released the EP, You’re So Cool, four melodic tracks that pull from 90’s alternative rock and punk ethos.

Following the EP, the band knew they had something special on their hands and soon found themselves opening for acts like The Lemonheads, Grouplove, Bayside and Iron Chic. Entering the studio with Brett Romnes and Vinnie Caruana (The Movielife, I Am The Avalanche) last year, Family Dinner is currently putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length.

Tour Dates:

w/ Only Sibling

4/20 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Kingsland

4/21 – Westfield, MA @ Hutghi’s

4/22 – Providence, RI @ Alchemy

w/ The Dirty Nil

7/12 – Boston, MA @ Sonia

7/13 – Syracuse, NY @ Song and Dance

7/14 – Buffalo, NY @ Rec Room

Listen to “Revenge Dress” by clicking the link here.

For more on Family Dinner, click the link here.

April 26, 2023
Easy Star All-Stars Release New Bowie-Inspired LP “Ziggy Stardub”

Renowned NYC-based reggae band Easy Star All-Stars have just released their new album Ziggy Stardub, a reggae reimagining of David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

Their newest track “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide” features vocals by the iconic multi-award-winning musician, songwriter, and producer Macy Gray. Offering a fresh spin, the band has created a laid-back atmosphere within the song through a bounding drum beat and swaggering horns.

Michael Goldwasser, producer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist of Easy Star says, “The main key was finding an emotive and groundbreaking vocalist, and we did just that with Macy Gray, who is truly inimitable in every song that she sings, including this one.” The track is paired with a stop motion video, taking viewers through the journey of two cats during an evening in a paper town.

After a run of sonically mesmerizing singles, the band releases their highly anticipated album Ziggy Stardub on the 21^st.The project is a reggae reimagining of David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and features guest performances by Maxi Priest, Steel Pulse, Fishbone, Alex Lifeson (Rush), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), The Skints, Mortimer, The Expanders, Samory I, and many others.

Blending musical versatility, instrumental prowess, beautiful vocal harmonies, and a premier rhythm section, Easy Star All-Stars have established themselves as one of the top international reggae acts on the scene for over two decades. The band will also be performing at the Sea.Hear.Now music festival in New Jersey this September.

To watch the video for “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide,” click the link here.

To listen to Ziggy Stardub, click the link here.

For more by Easy Star All-Stars, click the link here.

April 22, 2023
The Parlor Announce 4th Dream-Pop LP “You Are Love And I Am You”

Upstate NY’s The Parlor have just announced their newest LP You Are Love And I Am You, a psychedelic dream-pop record about ecstatic realizations associated with what some call the mystical experience, unitive consciousness, or loving presence.

In celebration to the release on May 19th, they will also be hosting an album release show May 20th at Indian Ladder Cidery & Brewery’s Upper Biergarten.

You Are Love And I Am You is like a dream-pop relief compared to their more recent release in 2018 titled Kiku which chronicled the experience of grief and loss. It is meant to be listened to as an album, front to back. There were many that influenced the making of this album, such as The Mamas and the Papas, Tame Impala, Broadcast, Warpaint, Mazzy Star, George Harrison, Velvet Underground, Khruangbin, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Len, Cults, and Fleetwood Mac.

As a neo-psychedelic dream-pop project made by husband and wife Eric Krans and Jen O’Connor, The Parlor was named after a room in the 19th century farmhouse where they live, farm, and create. The multi-instrumentalist, producer-composers express some of the most powerful aspects of the human experience. Immersive sound scaping and aural synesthetic composition is the vessel through which they share their existence.

The song that has been released as a tease for the album, “Underneath the Universe,” is an absolute hit. It is very reminiscent of Tame Impala, with pretty indie visuals in the video to accommodate the dreamy-like melodies in the song itself.

The band stated, “Things got gloomy for us while touring on the Kiku record. Playing songs about trauma on a nightly basis, and the grueling nature of touring just sort of wore us down. (Jenn Pelly wrote an incredible piece for Pitchfork that relays a lot of what we experienced). Together these experiences ushered us deeper down a dark tapering claustrophobic tunnel with only a pinhole exit. We squeezed through somehow, thanks to meditative practice and sharing our deepest vulnerabilities with each other.”

During the pandemic, additional darkness ensued, but there was only one way out and it was through. We found a deepened sense of presence that felt sacred. By accepting the seemingly unacceptable we were paradoxically filled with awe and wonder. Living was imbued again with light, love and gratitude. That’s the experience this album captures. Us finding ourselves again. The heart of this album is the enigmatic realization that we are and always have been the universe experiencing itself. We exist as manifestations of the universe just as everything else. And when we allow ourselves to be whole and unique, we express the universe in hi-fidelity authenticity. Something about holding that in imagination produces a sense of reverence and a desire to sing and share.

“We got into Carl Jung, archetypal symbolism, alchemy, medieval Christian mysticism, Taoism, Sufism and found hundreds of esoteric philosophical characters that seem to be sharing similar mystical experiences of their own. This album is for them. Our new long dead friends. And everyone we ever met or wished upon. You shaped us. And to anyone out there who has had, or who hopes to have, a mystical experience in their lives that orients them toward abiding presence, awe and wonder, and gratitude for all existence. We celebrate you as us. Everything and nothing is one shining-forth ineffable non-dual eminence. Like dust in the light // Both the dark and bright.”

To pre-order You Are Love And I Am You, click the link here.

For more by The Parlor, click the link here.

April 19, 2023
SNL Goes Latin With Host Ana De Armas and Musical Guest Karol G

Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA award nominee Ana De Armas shocked and stunned viewers with her role as Marilyn Monroe in the biopic Blonde, as well as her other roles, including the critically acclaimed mystery Knives Out. This week she hosted Saturday Night Live with Latin musical guest Karol G.

In honor of the warm weather recently, Saturday Night Live’s cold open took place in Central Park with an award show called the “First Warm Day of the Year.” Reporters (Heidi Gardner and Bowen Yang) took turns interviewing various people you’d see throughout the park, from runners, perverts, first-time rollerbladers, disgruntled park employees, and more.

The monologue opened with Ana De Armas showcasing her bilingual skills, swapping from Spanish to English, talking about how she learned to speak English from the TV show Friends, and different acting classes. Armas discussed her Oscar nomination as well as the fact that she is becoming a U.S. citizen in just three weeks. She finished it off by saying how she feels like she made it because she is hosting Saturday Night Live.

The second sketch, “Matt Schatt Game Show” featured Kenan Thompson as the game show host, with Ana De Armas playing an attractive wife, married to a nerdy, unattractive man with a humourous amount of nipples, played by Mikey Day. Lately, pop culture has been overtaken by the new Barbie movie trailer and SNL references that, utilizing American Girl dolls in a fake movie trailer, bringing the dolls to life.

Other sketches include “Album Recording Session,” about a producer (Devon Walker) trying to record his producer tag, starring Armas and Ego Nwodim as the girls recording it, messing up and joking about his car, his ability to get women, and more. Following that is a sketch about a Spanish class, with musical guest Karol G making an appearance towards the end, singing the Spanish alphabet. The “Please Don’t Destroy” sketch spoke about a bad night out, where they cannot remember what happened, suffering hangxiety.

Colombian singer/songwriter Karol G, described as a reggaeton and Latin trap artist, experiments with different genres throughout her music. She has amassed over 50 million monthly Spotify listeners and has over one billion streams. Her first song of the night “MIENTRAS ME CURO DEL CORA” off of her critically acclaimed record Mañana Será Bonito featured background singers humming the tune to “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” the tempo which is sampled in the track. Everyone was dressed in brown and beige, with a satin curtain background, dancing to the different beat changes the song includes, making the listener want to get up and groove. The vibes are happier on the song as Karol G sings in Spanish, catering to native and non-native speakers alike with her infectious energy and overall good mood.

https://youtu.be/_Q8b-dzZ9gA

Weekend Update rammed in on the Trump arrest and various politicians, from Supreme Court Justices to those voting against a women’s right to choose. Guests include Kenan Thompson as Funky Kong, talking about getting cut from the new Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Sarah Sherman as Genesis Fry, a meditation guru attempting to make Colin Jost become intuitive while making fun of his ego and soft arms. SNL makes it a point to introduce the first nonbinary cast member Molly Kearney as who they are, not a character. Kearney spoke about trans rights, which are a topic of discussion amongst lawmakers, trying to limit their rights, but Kearney makes it a point to discuss how important their rights are, and that we need to protect trans youth.

The final sketches included Armas and others in “Enter Stage Woof: Acting School for Dogs,” featuring actual dogs on the SNL stage, and Bowen Yang, holder of the Guinness Book World Record for the longest nails, with his wife, played by Armas. The sketch takes a shocking turn as Yang cuts his fingernails off, saving their relationship. Karol G performed her last song “TUS GAFTAS” with a completely different vibe change, suddenly in a spiky black outfit laying against a black car, with an all-female backing band, also in all black. The song is heavier than the last, with melodic guitars and a fast drum beat, showing her versatility. She wows the crowd with her stage presence, moving all around as she sings, not stopping the swaying of her hips even when the song stops.

https://youtu.be/BaQ532bS3N4

Pete Davidson will make his Saturday Night Live return on May 6 with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert.

April 16, 2023