> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Pier performers span the spectrum of sound - URL: https://www.smdp.com/pier-performers-span-the-spectrum-of-sound/ - Published: 2008-08-14T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T20:43:00.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Entertainment, Pier, #archive-import *Unique female voices collaborate on the pier* *By CHRISTINA YOON Special to the Daily Press* SM PIER Tonight’s Twilight Dance Series concert performers are as different as can be. One is considered the most popular Italian female musician of all time. The second made her mark in Argentina starring in popular comedic shows before leaving the screen for her true passion of music. And the third is a band fronted by a 21-year-old from Oklahoma that was picked up by its record label just four months ago. Starting at 7 p.m. tonight, Sicilian-born superstar Carmen Consoli, Argentinean ambient-folk songstress Juana Molina and rootsy quintet Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers will each contribute their unique sounds to an eclectic show on the pier. The fact that none of the artists are familiar with one another’s music doesn’t seem to shake them. “I’m looking forward to attending their shows,” said Consoli. “It’s hard to find solidarity with other people, especially other women and artists because competition can somehow become a negative value. I believe in cooperation.” Consoli has gained international audiences with her eight albums of jazz and traditional Italian tinged rock, which have all gone platinum in Italy and earned her three MTV Italian Music Awards. Born to a guitarist father, 33-year-old Consoli began playing music at 13. “I took to music as a duck to water,” Consoli said. Although Consoli has performed sold-out performances around the world, including the Africa Unite concert in Ethiopia and the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, but has never performed in California, although she was here to master her latest album, “Eva Contro Eva,” which debuted at number one on the Italian charts in 2006\. She said that Southern California’s temperate climate and smiling population bring her back to her hometown of Catania, Sicily. “It’s a creative place full of people starving — they want to nourish themselves with different things. That’s exciting for me,” she said. Unlike Consoli, Argentinean singer-song-writer Juana Molina has spent plenty of time in Los Angeles area. In fact, she spends part of the year living in Venice and the other part at her home outside Buenos Aires and has played at local venues including the Troubadour in West Hollywood. But although Molina will tread on familiar terrain, she still expressed trepidation about the challenges surrounding tonight’s show. “I’d rather play indoors,” she admitted. “I usually play shows for 400 to 500 people but they come to see me, so everything’s really rewarded somehow. You have a dialogue and a feedback. When you have to play in front of people who don’t know who you are it’s not easy. It’s a hard job.” Molina is no stranger to this delicate balance of emotions that comes with her music. Although she grew up passionate about music thanks to her father, a renowned Tango musician, the fear of performing her songs kept her from pursuing a musical career for years. To fund her music, Molina starred in a television comedy series called “La Noticia Rebelde” in 1988\. She then starred in the hugely popular sketch comedy show “Juana y Sus Hermanas” until she decided in 1996 to quit acting to return to her first love of music, with or without her “It’s something that’s healed by playing live, little by little,” Molina said. “Because what I do is like an egg — it’s really hard and rough, but if you knock it, it breaks. Everything very strong is also very fragile.” Molina will take the stage alone tonight, leaving her without a band to lean on if pressures rise. “Since I’m doing everything on my own, I can’t repeat exactly what is on the record,” said Molina, whose folksy, electronic sound has been compared to Björk and Beth Orton. “I know the recipe, and it’s like I’m cooking the show live. When you cook, even if you have the same ingredients, it doesn’t always taste the same.” Samantha Crain, for one, considers her band to be one of her main ingredients. The 21-year-old musician has toured with her Midnight Shivers, for about a year and a half now, and the singer wants to be sure that they don’t get ignored. “We are a female-fronted band but we don’t want to get lumped into the female singer-songwriter category,” Crain said. “We’re a band and that wouldn’t be fair to the other members.” Crain and the Midnight Shivers have been on tour constantly since they were picked up by Ranseur Records in March. Before that, Crain has had to juggle touring with taking on odd jobs in her hometown of Shawnee, Ok., such as sorting clothes at a warehouse or serving coffee out of a drive-through trailer. While Crain is appreciative of her recent jump-start, she’s also not completely surprised by it. “The career path hasn’t changed, although the speed of it has,” she said. “The way we were going was always this way, and eventually we would have gotten there.” Arriving in Santa Monica about three days ago, Crain and her band have already played a live show at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. Tonight’s performance at the pier will be the band’s last before the members take a short break and prepare to record their full-length album in September. Shawnee is not as far from Santa Monica as Rome or Buenos Aires, but tonight’s show may make Crain feel as though she has traveled many more miles than the other two more seasoned acts. “This is a completely different situation for us,” she said. “I’m excited to see how many people are going to be there. We usually play much smaller venues so it’ll be an interesting change of pace.” Although Crain has already said good-bye to the days of tearing movie tickets at the local theater or serving up a piping hot cup of coffee between gigs, it is still possible to see some of her small-town foundations. When asked about her impressions of Los Angeles so far, Crain thought long and hard before answering. “It’s big,” she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/081408-05_01.jpg) WILD CHILD: Argentinean songstress Juana Molina plays the Twilight Dance Series tonight. (Photo: Photo courtesy Juana Molina) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/081408-05_02.jpg) WILD CHILD: Argentinean songstress Juana Molina plays the Twilight Dance Series tonight. (Photo: Photo courtesy Juana Molina) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 14, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081408.pdf?ref=smdp.com)