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Sound Tribe Sector 9
A cold wet rain fell upon the city outside of the historic Newport Music Hall as the five members of Sound Tribe Sector 9 meandered onstage and began performing their atmospheric instrumental compositions. The band consisted of a happy drummer who smiled and bounced along to the up tempo beats he was creating with his massive drum kit, a percussionist whose bongos were barely audible, a head bobbing bassist who stuck to his 3 – 5 note bass riffs as if he were cemented to them, a guitarist who, like the percussionist, was turned way down in the mix, and a keyboardist that jumped between playing classic piano lines and wild synthesized noises in a matter of seconds. Collectively these players created moody music that was full of climactic build-ups and spacey cool downs that fell somewhere between the works of techno gods Lords of Acid and indie vibe creators Air. The songs that Sound Tribe Sector 9 improvised throughout the night would have appropriately fit as the score to an artsy film about a shark attack or cirrus cloud formations, cutting edge Spanish anime, or a blood lust fueled videogame. The band built the foundation of their musical compositions with a repetitive rhythm being performed by the bassist and drummer while the keyboardist and guitarist played simultaneous, yet often differing, melodic lines over the top of the groove. Occasional rhythm and key changes made it impossible for any first time listeners in attendance to determine when a song had ended or began. This resulted in a flowing, non-s! top show that was sometimes confusing and melancholy and at other times exciting and energized. When the band would build a song to a fast paced climactic peak they would sound outstanding and super groovalisious, but these moments were usually followed by slower and longer ambient sections that seemed unvaried and rather monotonous. It was very hard to sit through almost three hours of live house music that only worked it’s way up to a frenzied danceable zone every ten to fifteen minutes. Sound Tribe Sector 9 would be the ultimate house band for any club in any major city, but as a touring act that brought two sets of unchanging booming bass lines and often flubbed guitar lines they fell short of pulling off a concert on a Tuesday night in Ohio. The interesting textures of the jazzy and
progressive melodies played by guitarist Hunter Brown and keyboardist
David Phipps were not emphatic enough to spice up the perpetual
rhythms and bass lines that ultimately made the overall sound
boring. The band could have really improved the visual effects
of the show, while simultaneously adding another interesting element
over the endless and soporific rhythm, by adding a video screen,
playing the aforementioned art films or anime, or perhaps a laser
light spectacular. STS9 needed something, anything to stimulate
the body while they built their raved up music soundtracks. An
MC would have been a welcome cha! nge of pace for the show, but
alas STS9 remained constant and a couple hundred people sporadically
jiggled and shook their bodies around the dance floor while they
concluded their concert.
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