Wednesday night's show in the John Waldron Arts Center's Firebay was nothing like the vague expectations I had before going. I'd never listened to Resting Rooster, and was anticipating Akron/Family's set to stick to the psych-folk vibe that fills most of their albums. Instead, they played as an all-electric trio, busting out anything from post-rock to harsh electronic noise.
Resting Rooster reminded me a lot of The Impossible Shapes, maybe a bit folksier. I've heard that in the past they've played as a guitar trio--tonight they had drums and bass as well. The best parts of their show tended to be the instrumental jams and guitar solos, which were raw and reverb-laden.
All in all, it made me want to check out their debut album, Songs from a Window, though singer David Bower said most of the songs that they were playing were relatively new. He also said they'd be putting an album together at Russian Recording sometime in the very near future.
Akron/Family played next. Their recorded songs are so dense that I always envision about eight people playing, so I was immediately caught off guard when they came up on stage as a three-piece. The tranquil calm of their first song "We all Will" was about as quiet as they got; in fact, their entire performance seemed to be one giant crescendo.
They all had an incredible amount of energy, especially bassist Miles Seaton. Over the course of the show he 1) made weird noises with his bass and a handheld tape recorder 2) banged on a chair with drumsticks and 3) screamed into a mic like he was "singing" for The Dillinger Escape Plan. It was quite entertaining, as was their music. They played many of my favorites from their album Love is Simple, like "Ed is a Portal" and "Lake Song/New Ceremonial Music for Moms," though I kept hoping for "There's So Many Colors" (maybe too tough to play with three guys).
For a trio, their sound was enormous. They used a lot of delay and feedback, filling the room with noises that were varied and indescribable. Let's just say that, by the end of the night, I was in awe of the technical skill and musical diversity of all three of them, as well as the amount of damage they probably did to my ears.
Totally worth it, I must say--psychedelic rock always comes with the danger of aural destruction. Akron/Family's new album should be on its way pretty soon for your listening pleasure, though I haven't heard just when yet.
In the meantime, if you want to hear even more about this show and how amazingly awesome it was, you can read my full-length IDS concert review right here.
