SoKo Owns Ooh La La Festival

September 25, 2009 - Los Angeles, CA

By Darren Kim

SoKo @ Henry Fonda Theatre - Los Angeles, CA - September 24, 2009 - Photos by Darren Kim

In what was supposed to be a showcase of headlining indie French acts such as Nouvelle Vague at the Ooh La La Festival, surprise last second opener SoKo stole the show with her ferocious adorability.

The day started off with me looking forward to seeing all the bands that night especially The Dø listening to their songs on repeat. I was eagerly excited for their first appearance in Los Angeles. Up first however was SoKo.

SoKo came on stage alone with her acoustic guitar, a single spotlight on. With a delightful accent she asked the sparse crowd "How many people here are French? Everybody? 75?" Very cute. After a couple solo ditties, things got serious as she brought her complete ensemble of band members on stage. A person on cello, violin, drums, synth, accordion, bass, guitar, and yes even a person prancing around with a megaphone. SoKo then proceeded to completely blow the crowd away with her enthusiastic wit and energy.

SoKo's sweet delivery and exterior appearance is a bit deceptive. If you know her lyrics, you know this woman is full of humorous scorn, raunch, and bitterness. With her raspy and innocent French accent, it's easy to forget the ferociousness of her biting lyrics. After all, she is most famous for a song called I'll Kill Her.

SoKo's on-stage banter with the audience best exemplifies her endearing personality. Deadpan sarcasm with lines such as "This song is not french" and after seeing a friend in the crowd, "Fuckin' bitch, you're distracting me. I'm a professional on stage. I can't say 'hi' to my friends" easily won the crowd over. Interacting with another fan who professed his wishes to meet her she responded, "Would you like to meet me? I'm SoKo. Nice to meet you." Later she went on to say, "I'm on Facebook."

At one point, all her band members left the stage for SoKo to go solo on drums and perform her interpretation of hip-hop. Talk about versatility.

She then ended the night switching between various instruments including a ukulele while singing the most adorable lyrics, "I will never love you more than peanut butter", then with a slight pause adding, "Skippy"

In fact, the song I Will Never Love You More is great example of the simple yet brilliant lyricism of SoKo.

I will never love you more than the drummer of Flaming Lips
I will never love you more than Woody Allen movies
I will never love you more than the White album of the Beatles

The woman's obviously got her priorities right.

Next up was The Dø. Again, I was giddy in anticipation of their first showing in LA as I prepared myself for their show all day.

However, when The Dø came out to play, things didn't seem quite right. The band didn't seem to look quite happy on stage. The barely audible sound was muddy, and after one song, lead singer Olivia Merilahti rather upsettingly said "This is an embarrassment" and walked off the stage. The only thing I could think to myself was "What just happened?" I looked around as puzzled as everyone else including their drummer who shrugged alone on stage before exiting.

A couple minutes later, The Dø returned with Olivia visibly shaken and barely holding it together wiping the tears off her face. Fans tried to encourage the band as much as they could with one fan shouting out, "We love you!" and "Just play! We only came to see you!" The trio performed three more songs before muttering "shit happens" and finally exited the stage for good. Curtains went down and I couldn't help but be completely disappointed by the whole turn of events.

As consolation, I went back to the lobby to buy The Do's A Mouthful CD so I could listen to it when I got home. It has got to be one of the most brilliant albums I've listened to in quite a while, and I hope they'll return one day without the technical problems that plagued their first show here.

Next up was Hollywood, Mon Amour, a Nouvelle Vague side project of them doing movie soundtrack covers. I should have been more into it, but the delightful renditions of "Take my breath away" and a Flashdance ballad by a glamorous french woman couldn't make up for the earlier distractions of the night. I left the venue early, a bit puzzled and distraught much like The Dø. I still had a good time though. If anything, seeing SoKo and her musical onslaught was worth everything.

Click here to check out the rest of the photos from the night!