Kishi Bashi Takes The Kessler Crowd on a Beautiful Adventure

The dude in the Dungeons & Dragons shirt near the stage summed up the Kishi Bashi show on Sept. 6 at The Kessler perfectly – not in a nerdy way, but in a way that friends excitedly gather to go on an adventure together with a common goal and to celebrate their victories with screams and cheers. And, this show was definitely a victory for the nearly packed house of North Texas music lovers Friday night.

Kishi Bashi, the stage name for Seattle-born Kaoru Ishibashi, has worked with a number of musicians on his five studio albums and various singles, but he mainly represents himself as a singular artistic entity.

If you try to dissect what makes up Kishi Bashi’s sound, you’ll find little snippets of The Shins, ELO, Prince, Neon Indian, Earth Wind & Fire, Maroon 5, Pink Floyd and about a million others. But, he doesn’t unabashedly cop their styles. Instead, he carefully curates everything like he’s making a rich musical gumbo poured over downtempo dance beats. It’s a highly layered, labor-intensive process that seems nearly impossible to replicate live, but he somehow managed to maintain that depth on stage.

Instead of using a ton of prerecorded tracks or a Polyphonic Spree-style packed stage to replicate his studio sound, the artist slowly built up each song through a looper effects pedal. This allowed the songs to build gradually, providing a more powerful story arc to each tune.

Opening act Sweet Loretta also served as Kishi Bashi’s backing band. Though the music was solid from the start, it took him a few songs before he dialed in his groove. By “Marigolds,” his voice was hitting on all cylinders, and the crowd reacted in full force. Their cheers amplified, which seemed to feed Kishi Bashi, exciting the audience even more.

There was a clear rapport between the crowd and the artist, which helped make the night feel more magical. Even during the handful of songs where he dismissed the backing band and played solo, the crowd had some sort of gravitational pull toward his every word.

Friday’s highlights included a solo rendition of “This Must Be The Place” by Talking Heads and Bashi’s rock opera contender “Icarus IV.” It wouldn’t be surprising if a Broadway producer heard this song from his newly released album and begged him to collaborate on a project. Every song could’ve been a highlight, as no moment stuck out as a lull or misstep. Even the occasional technical error (a microphone cable coming loose, the violin’s shoulder rest continuously coming off, the keytar strap causing trouble) seemed more like a fun moment than a distraction.

Though he’s been known to work a massive festival crowd just as masterfully, the true beauty of this show was how the Kessler’s intimate room allowed everyone to take an hour-and-a-half break from the real world. Heading into the middle of the crowd for his encore, it really did feel more like friends banding together on a musical adventure than your average touring show. Next time you want the excitement and camaraderie of a D&D game without having to roll a 12-sided die and fight mythical beasts, try seeing Kishi Bashi live.