Gavin Turek :: Ashley Mehta :: DJ Wild Man (11/20/21)
The New Parish, Oakland
Gallery and Review by Fiestaban Photography
If not for the pandemic, Gavin Turek would already be on your household constant rotation. The native Angeleno with impressive disco bona fides, is both an up-and-comer with one of the hottest debut albums of the past several years, Madame Gold, but is a triple threat: an incredible visual artist and dancer to boot. Her set, along with opener Ashley Mehta at Uptown Oaklandβs The New Parish was pure dazzling magic and love from beginning to end.
Opener Ashley Mehta is a local Bay Area (Fremont specifically) phenom with a style that blends both cultures (she is Filipino and Indian) and genres (pop, hip-hop, R&B) into a sound that is something like Ariana Grande-meets-Sade, with a feel-good sweetness on her new singles βWhen I Rideβ and βFEELS LIKE THATβ. Her set also included sultry R&B-style mash-ups of songs like Mariah Careyβs βWe Belong Togetherβ and Olivia Rodrigoβs βgood 4 uβ
Beginning in 2015, and touring with the likes of Mayer Hawthorne (of Tuxedo) and Tokimonsta, Gavin Turekβs newly minted superhero alter-ego, βMadame Goldβ is a delving into her own demons and angels with what she describes as an album that is [sic] βbeautiful, intimate, vulnerable, brutally honest, a lot of pain embedded in the lyricsβ¦β. However, last year, after being inspired by the life and work of artist RenΓ©e Cox, she completed the album, rounding it out with the song βHeroβ, a treatise about her personal journey, saying it was about ββ¦How I was on that floor, full of fearβ¦but that despite all of the noise, all of the chaos, internally, externally in the world that Iβm going through, I guess Iβm going to have to be the hero.β A certified big-hair, big-personality disco and R&B queen, her influences from Prince to Donna Summer to Chaka Khan to Tina Turner shine through in a major way. Her performance last at Oakland was altogether magical, not only because Gavin revealed that her mother is from East Oakland, but that even despite a hiccup of lost tracks during the performance, the audience kept yelling how much they loved her (her response was βI love you too, familyβ). Songs like βSimple Reasons,β β2AMβ, and βSo Whatβ from Madame Gold and other disco tracks from her EP Good Look For You like βGood Look For Youβ, βOn The Lineβ and βItβs The Lightβ all offer an insight into her artistry, primarily about change and healing, but with a boogie (or sometimes even Moroder) beat. If you havenβt already, please check out all her albums and EPs. Itβs time to dance yourself off the floor and into the light.
And thank you to DJ Wild Man (aka Alex Werth) for providing a serious dance vibe during the interstitial sets.