Picture Show: Akron/Family @ The Knit

As the band members settled into their spots on stage with a menagerie of electronics strewn on tables in front of them, the group began to ease into the gentle tropical soundscapes of Island, as the crowd was instructed to sway along, with the band referencing Santana’s philosophy of the “inner and outer technique” for guidance.

Other standouts from the night included a driving take an Another Sky with its clap along chorus, the tribal stomp of Raising The Sparks that stretched to almost 18-minutes, and a playful set closing Silly Bears with its Hendrix-inspired guitar licks and propulsive drumming.

The band members channeled the Dead’s Acid Test days when they returned to the stage for lengthy forty-minute encore. Augmented by a three-piece horn section, who marched around the stage, as well as a visual artist that wrapped the band members with day-glo tape along with drawing on them with a black marker, the ensemble played a 15-minute free-form jam that could easily be described as something straight out of the Theatre Of The Absurd. The night closed with the spirited Light Emerges that featured the best of what Akron/Family does live – hypnotic, psych-rock funneled through gentle folkie campfire vocals that build to a crescendo of acid-dripping guitar and drums.

Akron/Family

2011-02-17 – The Knitting Factory – Brooklyn, NY

Intro/Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing*, Island, A AAA O WAY, So It Goes, Another Sky, Raising The Sparks, Say What You Want To, Silly Bear

Encore: {bmbz}, Fuji II (Single Pane), We All Will, Dylan Pt. 1, Light Emerges

* Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrel cover, band just sang the chorus acapella

Download via NYC Taper

Words By Jeffrey Greenblatt, Photos By Jeremy Gordon

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