The gallery of Modern Art is full to the brim tonight as NYC genre hoppers Akron/Family take to the stage for the final chapter of the Surrealism Up Late series. The gallery crowd is one of the widest spectrum of people one can imagine with various walks from Aristocrat like art fans from time warped psych fans. While initially a culture shock to the average concert goer tonight is full of promise and has high hopes to be one of the more interesting shows of the year.
Tonights support is something a little different. Surrealist art and sayings litter the performance area while the rest of the gallery is full of works from the likes of Salvador Dali and rare never before seen pieces of Surrealist art dating back to it's inception in 1919. Black and white silent films consume whole walls displaying the weird and wonderful while other portions of the exhibit show films like David Lynch's Inland Empire in full. A truly unique and spellbinding exhibit that inflames the senses and the mind, A simple must see for any art lover.
Taking to the stage after a short technical delay, Akron/Family are given a warm welcome by the eclectic crowd. Performing as a three piece tonight they start off with a lengthy volume swell with the band exploring a more emotional ambient side. Primary drummer Dana Janssen has taken the guitar for this first section with a reverb pedal turned all the way up as he plays the guitar at times percussively and others like a violin bow with one of his drum sticks. With the band playing a more quiet introductory piece the chatter from the bar and back area takes over the volume of the band as the early beginnings of sound/technical faults begin. A unison dance sees the members of the band form a little house with their arms in a bizarre yet wonderful display of charisma.
Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free's River has instant recognition among the crowd as bassist/lead vocalist Miles Seaton delivers the flowing vocal line over guitarist Seth Olinsky's jangley minimalist guitar line. An all out jam circumnavigates the stage as the group improvise for a solid five minutes. Concluding the track the witty Seaton remarks that the group only have a hour long set tonight. Which if the first two tracks averaging out at ten minutes a piece are to go by we are nearly half way through.
Jumping into latest album S/T II: The Comic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT the group show off qualities of a professional therapist as the drum machine driven song is begun with a 'dance' to which Olinsky gets everyone within the venue to raise there arms, close their eyes and then think of being on the beach as a child which bizarrely lead to a hip shaking trucker dance. While an odd introduction to which is even stranger by the nature of the venue the track is delivered beautifully as the groups harmonies really shine through the open space and the soothing guitar lines give off the imagery of the beach and the ocean. Concluding the track the group take to there effects pedals as Janssen takes to a hand held theremin like device with a torch delivering it in a way that gives off a schizophrenic psychedelic feel all the while Olinsky thrashes takes a microphone and delivers a whaling lo-fi noise through a series of effects pedals which all sprawled out so well together over Seatons more conventional bass line. Then out of nowhere the band link this to the closing section of A AAA O A WAY.
Despite sound issues provided by a generally horrible mix for such an intricate band Another Sky proves to be the highlight of the night as the frenzied guitar riff dices attention with Janssens fast paced rim shot drum work. All this builds up to the whoa section which sees everyone in the venue clapping in time expelling every particle of oxygen in their lungs during the tracks vocal hook. This continues on for a solid 5-10mins as Olinsky and Seaton jump from the stage to clap and chant through the crowd and almost take a tour of the gallery with one lucky punter being dragged along for the ride. Finally returning to the stage the group launch into a tribal jam which spews off intensity giving the impression that Akron/Family were really born as apart of the Zulu tribe. This launches into Love is Simple chant-along Ed is a Portal which captivates the already enthralled crowd further.
Refusing to let up the band go into the catchy So it Goes the guitar driven track sung by Olinsky with his drawn out accent and slide guitar eclectic guitar work sends the crowd into a place similar to Shinju's album cover. The band then go into Shinju's opener Silly Bears which unfortunately sees more of tonights sound issues come into play as the guitars seem to quiet, the vocals too distorted and the bass consuming everything including the drums. Despite this the band deliver this impressive track in true style which after playing over time by twenty odd minutes closes the set to widespread applause.
On leaving the stage the band try to go behind a curtain only to be surprised with a window, graciously they still go behind the curtain and then take back to the stage for a encore that may have not been on the cards. The building Light Emerges featured clean crisp vocals with Dana Janssen taking to the lead from behind the kit. Maybe the closest track to folk or a ballad that the band have played tonight it is an appropriate closer as elements of african tribal music are mixed with nineties rock and seventies psychedelica. Leaving the stage in the right direction this time the band are once against praise as they leave the stage and talk to fans on their way through the crowd.
A universal feeling of the crowd was tonight was that Akron/Family's show was just out and out fun. A true spectacle as the bands first Brisbane show had a positive yet musically spellbinding atmosphere similar to bands like The Flaming Lips live show. The sound was horrible for the band as the open shape of the concert space really lost a large amount of detail and volume. The mix for a number of tracks was also way off with the bass at times swallowing all the other very loud instruments on stage. All of these issues though we're none of the bands fault with the various band members for a number of times throughout the night kindly asking for changes.
Technical issues aside, This unique gig was truly spectacular with The Poetry of Dreams exhibition acting as a backdrop seemed more natural then bread with butter. Akron/Family's boiling pot of musical genres coupled with their energetic on stage show is simply a sight to be seen and one that will hopefully be back to Brisbane and Australia very very soon.
Check out the Akron/Family Interview on 4ZZZ next Wednesday on Sagittarius Silver Announcement
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