Seraphina Lotkhamnga on April 13th, 2013

1

Who: IO Echo in the Gobi tent.
In 3 or Fewer Words: Gobi of love.
Memorable Because: After rushing through security checkpoints to make the early sets, the BBLA staff hit the Gobi Tent just as one of our favorite local bands took the stage. And Ioanna Gika’s sparkling, white kimono-inspired wardrobe alone was worth all the heavy breathing and sweating it took to get there. “You guys are the real music fans,” the IO Echo front woman exclaimed at a quarter after noon in those signature glasses she’s been sporting since 2008 (but had to lose later in the set because they wouldn’t sit still). Gika, Leopold Ross (her partner in grunge goth experimentalism) and company ripped through a set of the heavy yet ethereal rock some have labeled “Asian-gaze.” But every now and then IO Echo made sure to creep back to their haunting roots with songs such as “I’m on Fire” and “Doorway.” And when that happened, Gika shed her white cape to prance around like a delicate fawn donned in black. With the desert daze atmosphere – palm trees in the background and all – we were all disciples of a ministry called love.
What I’d Tell My Friends Who Were at Skinny Lister: You probably caught them on Warped Tour too.
– S.L. (Photo by Bronson)