My good friend Justin Miller of Phonofly is plugged into the music scene and a very good judge of things and people (and if not, he’ll buy you a Newcastle) so when he mentioned some sort of “bus” show last night with local musician Goh Nakamura I was instantly intrigued.

Goh has gained quite the following from his Youtube video for Embarcadero Blues, and is playing shows on both coasts.  His fingers slide easily across the fretboard, and his voice owns its “fall in love again for the first time” feel without trying too hard.  Shegeek, Justin, and I arrived promptly late at 6:23 and were quickly waivered, signed, stamped with rouge stars and ushered into the upstairs of the British double decker bus from City Sightseeing Tours.

The back of the bus enshrined Goh as he played.  Patrons sat in pairs listening to the concert on headphones sprouting from the middle of the seats (I’m guessing the retro-fitting on this bus took quite a while to pull this off).  Odessa Chen, an acquaintance of Justin’s, sat down across from us.

As we prepared for the trip, the wind started to howl through our skin and I lured Odessa over to my seat with the promise of warmth.  She quickly hopped over and introduced herself and then we were off.  Goh began with a song from his first album as we started our journey down Mission street.

Right about the time that Goh started his cover of the Cure’s Just Like Heaven I noticed Odessa looking to the heavens - there was something magical about that moment, feeling like we were canoeing across the sky, the current turned to clouds as we meandered among the skyscrapers defining our route.  Soon after, we turned onto the Embarcadero and watched the Bay Bridge build its way across the way.

Odessa and I pretended to be tourists in this city reborn before us, if only I had brought my camera! Pictures have never done her justice though.  We rolled through his stories from the Embarcadero to Dogpatch to Potrero Hill.  And just as the city arched its back to show us the beauty of her rolling hills, we descended quickly underneath the highway and up through Mission Bay.

At times, with eyes closed, I lost myself in the music; at others, I let my eyes lose me in stories I was creating for the streets and sky before me.  At the best of times, my brain took input from both and bound something within my chest that began to swell. It felt infinite.

Odessa’s Show: 08/08

Come support your favorite blogger/podcast/friend on August 30th at RX Gallery.
Hip-Hop, Mashups, Remixes, Dance, Electro Pop, Electro House…deliciousness all around.

She flows/speaks over poppy progressive dance electronic beats and breaks with vulgar tongue in cheek lyrics. Think a mix of the streets with peaches. The show was at the Rickshaw stop which turns out to be a great place for a concert. Small enough to be intimate and large enough to allow ample room for frolicking.

After chatting with some X-handed girls from LA and grabbing some Rockstar&Vodka I proceeded onto the dance floor. The tunes were great at this place and in no time I was coerced by my hands and feet into unassuming convulsions on top of a speaker next to the stage. Just as I was about to have the crowd join me in a rousing chorus of Daft Punk is playing at my house, a large bouncer made me get off - I almost had them!

Uffie came out for literally - maybe 40 minutes - to sing Pop the Glock and Ready to Uff and then she disappeared off stage. My co-worker disappeared with a friend of his and I was left in a fit of dancing - maybe the place I love most in life? The crowd was great - a little young, but that was 2 be eXpected - definitely very funky and hipster. The place was great and apart from the concert, the DJs did a great job of keeping the crowd dancing - a nice change from the general wall-flower crowd of most bars. Definitely will make the Rickshaw a bad habit of mine.

I wandered home in the company of friends from Dallas on the phone - grabbed a patty melt from Mel’s Drive-In and then came home. It was a wonderful night - one of those nights that you know start to finish is going to be good!