Spicy!

Goh

I went to the "Directions In Sound: Electro-Pop and Indie Rock" music event at the Rickshaw Stop for the SFIAAFF last night to see my friend Goh Nakamura play the Indie part of that show.  He's got a lot of talent as a solo guitarist, not only because he's a great guitar player, but also because the creative things he can do with pedals and audio effects to build layers of sound.  In some songs he'll sing the chorus into the body of his acoustic so that the string pickups become a microphone.  Run that though a delay pedal a few times and he's got a ethereal, melodic four part harmony.  Its things like this that make his music fun to listen to and fun to watch.

Mingandping

After his set I stuck around until the last band "Ming & Ping" who completely surprised me.  The first two bands were Indie and I hadn't read the tagline to the event about Electro-Pop.  Ming & Ping came on stage dressed in full Chinese Opera costumes and painted faces; Ming, the singer, two girls as dancers and the drummer (the only person with an instrument on stage).  Additionally, there was one person who was dressed as a monkey king complete with a monkey suit, painted face, small cymbals attached to each paw and big round ears.
They immediately launched into dreamy dance pop that got everyone the crowd on their feet.  The music was irresistibly catchy and something about watching the monkey king bounce around the stage flanked by two dancing opera girls made it impossible not to join in and dance.
Behind the stage was a synchronized video of Ping dancing along with Ming.  During the show Ming would talk with the video Ping and the audience in a soft and lightly accented voice; "Oh, that song was very spicy!  This next song is very cute!  I hope you are all feeling spicy tonight!"

It was probably the most fun I've had out in a while.  It reminds me why I like getting out and trying new things!