OTS: Xiao He (School 30.01.2015)

Hands down, one of the best performances I’ve seen, ever. A performance of staggering beauty, endearment, and above all, precision. Xiao He, the famous genre-bending borderline-reclusive folk artist played for three hours (solo, mind you) straight at School, leaving zero doubt that the artist had lost any of his spunk these past few years. And besides leaving mouths ajar, eyes misty (including mine), and ears in ecstasy, Xiao He managed to lay waste to everything I thought I knew about folk music. A game changer indeed.

I imagined this is the kind of performance that Xiao He prepared for months on end in advance – the engaging banter between songs; the seamless blend of electronics and pedals over acoustics; the gravity of his voice; every batshit crazy and downright hilarious outburst; heck, even the way his salvia was thrown into the air like a mist – there was no way this was all spontaneous. No, we were witnessing an artist at his most exact and defined, and it was a thing of brilliance. Check down below for more vids and pics. Quite the way to start the new year.