essence – October 22, 2003
Cafe du Nord, San Francisco

Thrown onstage with a cut set time and no sound check, San Francisco-born singer/songwriter essence kept a smile throughout all the delays while the sound engineer made the proper adjustments between songs. Or maybe she was grinding her teeth. Regardless, the band – fresh off an east coast tour and in preparation for a west coast jaunt in the coming weeks – played on with an upbeat flair.

Since she's also writing music for a follow-up album to her sophomore effort Mariposa, essence bombarded the packed Café du Nord floor with several new tracks, including "Two Quarters," "Lunar Rings" and "Met a Man." "Still Crying" and the number-one-with-a-bullet-smash-single "Sleeping With the Driver" from Mariposa were spinkled among the newbies as well. The frighteningly catchy "Yum Yum" – which she wrote while lit during a campout – closed out the set with a happy bang. Despite her time being cut short, essence turned a lax Wednesday night into a promise to a packed room that good things are right around the corner – the same place you'll find her next album. We're waiting…
- Erik Fong