Never Skip a Sunday Show (or a Makeup Show!)

photo: David Avidan (@davidanshots)

Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) delivered a textbook Sunday show to a sold-out crowd at Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, on April 12, a makeup for the February show they had to postpone on account of Winter Storm Hernando. (There’s a joke in there somewhere about a heater of a show following a snow-related cancellation.) This was their second Philly show in less than a year and a half, following a seven-year gap since the band last played the Fillmore in September 2017, and their setlist offered something to fans of all of the band’s vintages. 

The opener was Thought Process, a DJ whose set took a page from artists like Girl Talk and Toro y Moi and set a solid foundation of dancing to get the room ready for the main event. STS9 took the stage in a droney synth hush a la Massive Attack, beginning the set with “Metameme” from 2008’s Peaceblaster. They transitioned into a newer tune, “Instantly,” with a jam that featured keyboardist David Phipps’ modular synth setup that has become a feature of the band’s performances since last year’s Human Dream. The modular rig featured prominently in no fewer than five jams during the night, having evolved greatly since how Phipps initially used the machine to create occasional flourishes and ambient soundscapes. The rest of the first set included a deep funk pocket care of bassist Alana Rocklin, beginning with “Really What” and continuing through “Oil & Water” into “Peachtree,” featuring analog warmth apropos of guitarist Hunter Brown’s work on Human Dream. The band closed the set with a rising BPM arc that they would come to revisit in the second set.

They began with “Tokyo,” resetting the BPM floor in the low 90s, building to “Better Day” and “Love Don’t Terrorize,” in the 130s. The latter tune featured another modular jam over drum and bass rhythms, leading into “Lift You Up,” with a subsequent timed modular jam where Phipps set the time and drummer Zach Velmer subtly rode the click into “It’s Alright.” (This would mark the first time the band ever employed that synth transition, as though they made a bet in public and won with everyone watching.).“World Go Round” and “Year Infinity” closed the set with a fourth modular passage centered like a keystone. They returned for a high octane “Baraka,” a Sunday request and a deep-cut staple. Rocklin started alone, building ringing bass harmonics that set the table for the rest of the band to join. It went happy and high, drums stepping in and dropping out, an old-school close delivered by the band as it exists today. (Whatever you make of the generational-upgrade bass argument, the harmonics speak for themselves.)

The show rendered the “are they better now or were they better then?” debate as more moot more than ever, largely because the band is playing so fucking well.