i went to see cibo matto at hardly strictly bluegrass in san francisico. it was a really fun show and i was happy i made the trip into the city to see them play. i haven't seen them in so long and i was thinking they may have lost their edge. i saw yuka honda with the sean lennon band 6 or 7 years ago. it was even longer since i last saw miho with the smokey and miho show. maybe i last saw cibo matto in tokyo some 12 or 14 years ago. i have been a big fan over the years; but i figured they had gone soft; but they totally kicked ass.
they put the "hardly strictly" into the events title; because they are nothing close to bluegrass. their electronic sampling with japanese accented rap and strange ethereal surreal lyrics was a far cry from the folk music oriented event. although nels cline of wilco was playing guitar; they were nothing like his other projects. i have seen gillian welch and david rawlings jamming with friends on that same stage; and it seemed downright funny to have cibo matto blast through the meadow.
they played songs from throughout their career, starting with sugar water from viva la woman, aquas de marco from super relax, hits from stereotype a; and several songs from their latest album, "hotel valentine". i really love hotel valentine and it's lyrics really touch my heart. i figured they were going to devolve into pop fluff with this latest effort; but instead they reached into my own personal inter psychic. the theme of the haunted hotel really spoke to my personal belief that i'm haunted by a collection of ghost girls; real suicide girls. the music is fun and sometimes downright funny with lots of effects and professional polish. i was impressed by their ability to transfer their sophisticated studio productions into live performance.
perhaps we are all a "little more faded and a little more jaded"; but they looked great and danced about with pure energy. miho is still total swoon city for my heart; and i'm still breathless thinking of her.
i'm really happy they played good and i got to see them again!