Friday night was a special evening with the 5 piece instrumental band from scenic Santa Cruz California, Sound Tribe Sector 9 also known as STS9 at The Fox Theater in Oakland.
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| STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016 Photo by Marc Fong |
I can't think of a band that would be well suited to open the show which was for the best anyway seeing that STS9 played not one but two sets! The first set got under way at 8:15 with the 2nd set scheduled to start at 10:00.
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| STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016 Photo by Marc Fong |
The musician collective band has an interesting fan base: drawing a mixed crowd of older, "summer of love hippies", aging baby boomers, yuppy Gen X-ers, young burners and a handful of wanna-be hippy millennials who all sort of floated and bounced around the venue in their own bubble(s) of pure bliss.
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| STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016 Photo by Marc Fong |
Having released 11 albums since 1998, the last of which being 5 years ago, the livetronica band totally vibed, sending a carefree ora swirling in the air. Without a keen ear for their funky, psychedelic sound their songs tended to blend together, but the crowd's energy peaked at every sparkly buildup and then again with the vibrant breakdowns, alerting those less familiar that a song was nearing it's end.
Show-goers couldn't be happier as the music played on with no banter between songs and the band sounded as magical as they looked in a kaleidoscope of rainbow sunburst and polka-dot lighting. They did stop and bask in whistling filled applause before giving thanks and exiting the stage between sets though.
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| STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016 Photo by Marc Fong |
STS9 is a modern day jam band: with an array of instruments and five musicians they're not an electric band by far but that element is definitely there which makes them an electronic jam band in my eyes. Once their colorful yet mellow jams hit your ears it's easy to lose yourself in the moment and the music. Their 2016 tour ends on Valentine's Day at the House of Blues in Chicago before Sound Tribe Sector 9 embark on a Summer Festival circuit and I wouldn't be surprised to see them play a headlining gig somewhere around here before the end of the year.
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| STS9 @ The Fox Theater 1/29/2016 Photo by Marc Fong |
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