NINI built her sound at the intersection of traditional Chinese folk instruments and heavy metal — Ruan, Liuqin, San Xian, and a self-designed electric lute she calls the DaoYu — and when she brought that combination to America’s Got Talent Season 19, Howie Mandel called her “NiNi Van Halen” and “NiNi Hendrix” in the same breath that Simon Cowell offered: “Anyone would be mad not to immediately put you on tour with them.” On Friday, October 16, the East Goes West Tour’s fall leg stops at Mohawk Place in Buffalo with Seven Kingdoms opening.
About the Show
NINI grew up in Yuanlin City, Taiwan, and began studying traditional Chinese instruments at the conservatorium of Tainan National University of the Arts at age seven. Her signature electric lute, the DaoYu (developed with Blackworm Instruments in 2022), fuses construction drawn from the erhu and ruan with a metal performance rig. Her live show pairs those instruments with metal, rock, and EDM arrangements, theatrical staging, and traditional Chinese regalia updated for a rock stage.
Her team describes the music she’s bringing on this leg as “heavier, more cinematic, more emotional” than previous releases. Victorious, her January 2026 single featuring Tuvan throat singers KUULAR, is the most recent reference point. Before the headlining run, NINI toured alongside Lindsey Stirling in 2023 and performed at an Oklahoma Thunder NBA halftime show in 2026. Of the tour itself, she said: “This is my first U.S. tour as a headliner, and that alone gives me chills.”
The spring East Goes West leg covered nine western U.S. cities; this fall circuit opened in Orlando on October 10 and runs through Chicago on October 24. The two upstate New York dates land back to back: Buffalo on the 16th, Syracuse on the 17th.
Seven Kingdoms opens. The DeLand, Florida power metal band, formed in 2007 and known for tours alongside Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, and Amaranthe, is heading toward Sono Sola, a new album due in 2027 via Reigning Phoenix Music.
Venue & Logistics
Mohawk Place at 47 E Mohawk St is a downtown Buffalo club on the western New York circuit. The show is 18+. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. If you’re planning the trip from anywhere across western New York, this is a manageable Friday-night drive for a lineup this distinctive.
Tickets
Tickets are $27. The listing carries a no-refunds policy. Buy tickets