It’s gotten to be a difficult task to place a finger on the Sound Tribe Sector 9 sound. In the late 1990’s they were a Southern-style jam band, a couple years later they were experimenting with electronic textures, and now they encompass so much more. Elements of the jazz and funk of years past are still present, but now there are Apple G4s, ProTools, samples and guest MC’s in the mix. That being said, let’s just skip the attempt at classification and move forward.
Since the release of Artifact and the remix album Artifact: Perspectives, the band has seen a tremendous rise in popularity and recognition. The word finally reached the listening public, and not just the jam-oriented public. STS9 seems to have forged an alliance between the old and the new, producing a distinct melting pot of traditional sensibilities and futuristic progression. While the band maintains a structure rooted in instrumentation, they’ve extended their musical reach and become a collective of five precise producers who can take a simple beat and turn it into a room exploder.
When the band returned to Colorado for two nights at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, they’d have to prove themselves to the old-schoolers and newcomers once more.
A noticeably different, slick and refined, “This, Us” got everyone moving from the start before crowd favorite “Glogli” ensued. Having pushed this song for the last couple of years, “Glogli” has lost a little bit of its original luster, but the reemergence of one of the finest gems in Sector 9’s live repertoire, “Satori,” proved to be quite the high point. With a mind-blowing, reworked end section that allowed ample room for guitarist Hunter Brown to show-off his new chops, “Satori” demonstrated a fresh direction for the pioneering quintet, one that offers a more rock n’ roll driven dimension. Although the first set was full of peaks and valleys, somewhat characteristic of the band’s emotional approach, the set-concluding “Rent” sparkled with frenzied flavor. Debuted during the New Year’s run, “Rent” is a funked-out ode to one of the new STS9 songwriting styles. For the Sector 9 faithful, it’s always nice to hear David Phipps tear it up behind the boards.
Set two was more of the same; there were highpoints, there were dull moments. Commencing with the well-received new track “One a Day,” which sounds surprisingly similar to another new tune, “Aimlessly,” the band came out firing with electronic dance music. “Move My Peeps,” another outstanding nugget from the past fueled a Zach Velmer-led drum n’ bass breakdown seldom seen these days. Other than a brief but more than appreciated “Call” tease, the second set came and left without leaving too much of a significant mark. Thankfully, yet another dip into the thought extinct “Kaya” provided some of the finest playing I’d seen the band put out in quite some time.
Why does it seem like the second night of a run is usually better than the first? For some reason, that notion always seems to ring true. Well, night two at the Fillmore further solidified that fact. Pulling out all sorts of treats, STS9 performed an inspired and tenacious show for a sold-out crowd.
From the distortion-fueled guitar and cymbal smashing drums of the commencing “Open E” to the electrifying “F Word” and sample strong “Instantly,” the first set started a fire that didn’t extinguish until the band left the stage. Phipps once again stepped it up for “Inspire Strikes Back,” delving into that deep funk the band has lacked over the last couple tours. Perhaps the most shining moment of the third of four sets at the Fillmore was the jaw-dropping “Aimlessly.” This song characterizes one of the new directions this band is heading, and if you can’t dance at least a little to this one, something must be wrong with you.
Whew! So, three sets down, one to go. Saturday’s first set offered a taste of the future for a band with seemingly no boundaries, no limitations. Mixing classic old material (“Inspire Strikes Back”) with chest-pounding new tracks (“Aimlessly” and “Instantly”), Sector 9 proved to me once again just how special they were. But how could they top all that in the second set?
Answer: Open with an exhilarating “Evasive”>”Kamuy” with a tension and release build-up that almost made the walls of the Fillmore collapse. Jeffree Lerner’s percussion jam in the middle of “Kamuy” was one of his most impressive to date, and the electronically laced dance party that resulted had arms and heads flailing everywhere. After Velmer’s ferocious drum attack in “Mischief of a Sleepwalker” and the David Murphy’s bass-thumping sample work in “Peoples,” the band slowed the tempo with a sultry “Grow” before the spaceship took off with another tune, “Lo Swaga” and the resurgence of “Hubble,” to end the set.
For four sets, Sound Tribe Sector 9 showed their many faces and many styles. From the dark and dirty to the mellow and mild, the band portrayed a multidimensional, multifaceted collective that can take their sound in whichever direction they feel.
For more info see sts9.com
Photos by Ian Flannery
