"Phish" is "Dead", Welcome STS9

The Grateful Dead bore the weight of jam music on their shoulders for more than a quarter century when a new, young act popped up in Vermont, Phish. Many followers of the Dead started to drift to Phish shows after seeing the Dead seemed stagnant. The death of Jerry Garcia in 1995 solidified Phish on top of the Jam food chain with SCI (String Cheese Incident) and WP (Widespread Panic) nipping at their heels. Now, in 2007, Phish has made their final break and so has String Cheese leaving the door wide open for a new jam scene and a new kind of jam band: enter STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9).

Sound Tribe Sector 9 is gaining major momentum in the Jam music world utilizing a vast array of sounds including the standard guitar/bass/drums/keyboard sound while utilizing laptops to add a trademark sound. This past weekend, STS9 played Friday, September 14th at La Zona Rosa followed Saturday night by a PA set (a rarity among Sound Tribe shows) which was even more electronically influenced with all the members on laptop/keyboard/synthesiser. But just when the electronic sound seemed to be losing its effect on the crowd, Hunter Brown (lead guitarist) would pick up his six string and Zac Velmer (drums) hopped onto an ordinary 5-piece set and fuse the two sounds together. They followed the Friday and Saturday nite shows with an afternoon performance (1-2pm) at Zilker Park for the Austin City Limits Festival. I was not able to attend this show but after having seen STS9 upwards of 20 times, one hour in not nearly enough (there usual set is 3 sometimes 4 hours) and at a daytime show they can't exhibit their dazzling light show produced by Saxton Lights.

I talked to a friend who had toured all over the country this summer keeping up with both SCI and STS9 and she told me after both Friday and Saturday night that what she had seen in Austin topped anything she had seen all summer. And I can believe it; every concert I see them they give me something new and different, whether it is a new song, sound or even visual (they have pioneered the way for live art at concerts). So in the end, if you are getting bored with your music and would like to add a new sound to your life, try Sound Tribe Sector 9.