STS9 - Eagles Ballroom (10/9/09)

This was my 11th Sound Tribe Sector 9 show--I've always enjoyed spelling (and saying) it out over the "STS9" abbreviation that they are more well-known for now--but my first in a little over three years. The last time I saw them was also at the feral Rave, towards the end of their heavy Artifact-support touring. This time around, they moved upstairs to play the larger, roomier, but equally feral Eagles Ballroom, a sign of both growing fan base and successful touring. To say that they have evolved musically since then would be an understatement, for STS9 have never been a group to stay stagnant for any stretch of time. With Peaceblaster still relatively new, and another album due out in a month, they are certain to make even bigger strides and directional shifts in the near future. None of this surprises me, because in terms of talent and ideas, they are up there. But what did surprise me--after a three year layoff from their concert scene--was the growth, err, mutation of their fan-base.

Now, I've been to quite a few shows of all sorts over the years, and am getting to the point of thinking that maybe I've seen it all. But I haven't seen it all. This was completely different, like returning after three years to a planet where civilization was decimated, and out of the smoldering ruins rose these people who sustained themselves on acid and other pharmaceuticals that they looted from drug stores after the collapse of their city's law enforcement and infrastructure. I saw people with their faces and chests painted white, a guy with an equalizer shirt that seemed to light up in response to music, making him appear half cyborg, and several varieties of things that were wearing botanical hats and facial hair that seemed more glued on than grown. In fact, I would go as far to say that this crowd out-did Phish crowds in terms of weirdness and possibly drug consumption. In the area I was standing in alone, I saw security guards confiscating pipe after pipe, baggy after baggy, to the point where their backroom stash of collected paraphernalia probably required some sort of strategic planning in terms of its removal and disposal.

Sound Tribe was awesome, by the way (I don't mean to neglect their contribution to their concert, but the surrounding environment was highly worth noting). I'm glad that they've upped the ante with their stage show by adding a LED light screen that has obviously been influenced at times by blank Sim City grids and other cool-looking abstract shapes. They're continuing to bridge the gap between electricity and the atmosphere ("Lion"--wow), and I'm pretty excited about what new direction they might take with their upcoming release. They are the perfect elder statesmen for this new race of people that has apparently sprung up.