Ginger Root Celebrates “Nisemono” and “City Slicker” EPs in LA
Review by Greg Poblete | Photos by Kayla Alise & Greg Poblete | See the full show gallery here
Photo by Kayla Alise
June 30, 2023 — Described as “Aggressive Elevator Music,” Southern Californian group Ginger Root put on a very special and ridiculously entertaining show at The Novo in Los Angeles on Friday, June 30th. Riding off a very successful year of touring in Asia, the release of the 2022 EP, Nisemono, and receiving high praise from the Internet’s busiest music nerd, Anthony Fantano, Ginger Root has continuously proven to be one of the most consistent and prolific city-pop outfits in the game.
This show was more of a celebratory event highlighting the release of the two latest EP’s, City Slicker and Nisemono, applauding the band and crew who worked tirelessly on all the music videos, live shows, and everything else that takes place in the Ginger Root universe. In a way, this felt like a welcome back show with plenty of friends and family members in the audience cheering and dancing along to the group’s many accomplishments.
Taking place in the heart of Los Angeles on the third floor of LA Live, right next to a bowling alley, restaurants, and across the street from the crypto.com Arena, The Novo is an intimate but well-respected venue that blends both nightclub and dive bar vibes reeling in a diverse audience to every show. While in the venue, the house music consisted of plenty of soulful city pop jams and J-pop bangers as one would expect at any given Ginger Root show. And this was through and through a Ginger Root show with no opening act, allowing the band to do pretty much whatever they wanted for however long they wanted.
Photo by Greg Poblete
A little after 9PM, the vintage television screens on both ends of the stage illuminated broadcasting the Ginger Root logo as the band consisting of Cameron Lew (singer, keyboards), Matt Carney (drums), and Dylan Hovis (bass) walked out. Feeling a slight sense of imposter syndrome standing in the VIP area, my view of both Lew and Carney was obscured and made it difficult to see the members play. However, there was a cameraman on stage running back and forth manically filming the entire show, broadcasting the footage to the screens throughout the venue. And despite having an obstructed view of the stage, it was still a fantastic show.
Even with only three members, the band packs plenty of punch and can fill a room with vibrant and rather intricately layered songs without even breaking a sweat. The band has natural chemistry, fluidly giving each other the chance to shine and lay it down on their respective instruments with plenty of jazz embellishments, funky basslines, and shimmery keys for days. The recorded versions of the songs are spunky and have plenty of character, but with live instrumentation, the songs fully come to life with Lew’s staticky singing through a telephone microphone, Carney’s tight drumming, and Hovis’ slick bass playing.
Photo by Kayla Alise
The band played the entirety of both the City Slicker EP and Nisemono EP with a couple of encore songs. During each EP performance, the band brought each project era to life with the accompaniment of stage designs, visuals, costume changes, and head-scratching skits in between songs.
Anyone who attends a Ginger Root show will definitely be kept on their toes because they will not know what is coming next. A few of the stand out moments from the show include a TRL-like countdown where two hosts came out on stage to announce the top six songs of the week which were all conveniently the six tracks from the Nisemono EP, a Ginger Root soda commercial that served as the sponsor of the concert, and a skit where the band’s manager (actor playing their manager) walked out on stage to scold the band. The show felt like a mixture of performance art with DIY show vibes, all wrapped up in Japanese vintage pop culture.
Photo by Greg Poblete
If it’s one thing that’s apparent about attending a Ginger Root concert, it is that the members have impeccable stage banter. In between songs, they would sprinkle in little comments causing an eruption of laughter. Lew’s humor is reminiscent of comedian Reggie Watts where the jokes are very blunt and dry, but incredibly hard-hitting if taken far enough. One of my favorite bits from the show was when Lew was reading word for word the product label of a Ralph’s Natural Spring Water bottle, including the barcode.
After performing the two EP’s in full, there was a moment where the band decided to have an impromptu Q&A session with all of the crew, actors, band members, and everyone else who has made Ginger Root possible up until this point. They discussed the creation process of making certain music videos, how touring in Japan was different than the United States, and their guilty pleasure anime. And from this Q&A session, it is clear that Ginger Root is more than just a band, it is a passion project shared by a group of friends who just want to make something special, and are very much succeeding.
Photo by Kayla Alise
After the Q&A, the band played two more songs, “Weather” and “Mahjong Room,” before calling it a night. All in all, Ginger Root put on a perfect show with tons of laughs and pizzazz. Although the group does wear their influences heavily on their sleeve, it feels as if Ginger Root is honoring their, well, roots, and celebrating the iconic sounds of Japanese city-pop, but bringing a modernized flair to the genre. It’s almost impossible to not feel joy when listening to a band with so much charisma and talent oozing out of every orifice.
If you ever have the opportunity to see Ginger Root live, please run, don’t walk, because you will not regret it!
Follow Ginger Root on Instagram or check out their website to keep up to date on future shows and releases.
