By Aura Peralta

Yukimi Nagano returned to Miami for the Nabuma Rubberband tour. Along with bandmates, Erick Bodin and Fredrick Kallgreen Wallin, who make up the Swedish electro pop band Little Dragon.

I procrastinated and forgot to request press access and/or purchase tickets. So, I  was grateful to see upon my arrival,  a young hippie looking stoner with what seemed printed tickets. Two minutes later and $60 less, I had a smile that reached eternity and my excitement and anticipation grew and grew. It was showtime and there was still a line at the door. Fifteen minutes later,  I was in and nothing could get in the way of my booty shaking to the sounds of the synths.

Once inside, I headed to bar for a Jameson on the rocks and tried to get as close to the stage as possible. The venue was packed and I knew there would be a lot of body rubbing in my near future but nothing was getting in my way now. The set was opened with “Mirror” off their latest release. There she was. The audience cheered as Yukimi and the gang began jamming one of the more mellow slower jams of the record and then transitioned into “Please Turn”. She appeared to be wearing an almost space galactic looking kinda dress and what looked like space boots.

There was a good mix and blend of the old and new songs in the set. the flashing colored lights against the background to the rhythm of the synth and drums made the feeling more epic and the energy more powerful. Her vocals were so perfect, so soulful so real, the way she blends in her singing reminded me of a knife going into butter, so smooth. Nothing better than going to a live performance and realizing that there was no auto tune in the studio. They fed off the audience and back and asked how many people had been there a couple years back when they first played miami and expressed that it was great to be back.

“After the Rain”, “Shuffle a Dream”, “Ritual Union”, “Paris”, and “Klapp Klapp”, were some of the favorites shouted back. They went into a percussive instrumental jam that sounded almost tribal. The audience all swayed and moved to every beat. They thanked us once again and she introduced every member and a little after walked off stage, I had a feeling it wasn’t the end yet my favorite song and first song I ever heard from them hadn’t been played. Surely enough, they walked back on stage for an encore that included “Nabuma Rubberband”, and “Run About and Twice”. “Run About Twice” so beautiful, so slow, so raw, so delicate, it  gave me chills. I was a happy camper, I shouted out “I love you” about three times and meant it.

Until next time my little “chinita”…