Photos by Jim Mimna
The Scene: STS9 returned to Red Rocks Amphitheatre last weekend for their 19th and 20th shows at the hallowed venue. The band has taken on a looser sound with the arrival of new bassist Alana Rocklin in recent years. The latest tour has allowed Sound Tribe 2.0 to dig into older tracks that have slowly disappeared from the rotation while exploring the funky sounds of the recently released The Universe Inside. The weekend was all Tribe from start to finish. This was a great decision, allowing the group time to fully settle into two sets each night and hopefully it stays this way. Friday’s performance saw the colorful crowd arrive early and stay late. The humming lot scene around us enlivened the good friends and conversation that simmered before the show. There was palpable energy on The Rocks as we gathered inside at soundboard level just before 7:30.
STS9: STS9 arrived on stage just after 8 PM to a nearly full crowd and it slowly became more congested as the show continued. As the haunting spoken words of “Supercluster” filtered out to the crowd, the band donned space helmets from the cover of the new album for the beginning of the set.
The beginning of the show was a bit ragged as “Out of This World” was disrupted by technical difficulties before they pulled it back together going into “Frequencies 2>3.” Zach Velmer led the charge on drums by laying down a throbbing beat while Alana Rocklin showed her effortless synchronicity on bass with the rest of the boys.
Despite her lack of extensive history playing shows with STS9, Alana Rocklin has a deep history of friendship with the group and a recording history with 1320 Records. Her knowledge of their music was engrained before she officially joined the group in 2014, so the transition was relatively seamless.
After the early glitches, the first set settled into some incredible Funk and party teases. Wasting no time, “March” raised the volume level and tempo. The crowd let loose after a long workweek with a meltingly funky version of “Gobnugget.” To say this song was oozing emotion would be an understatement. Vocalist Maureen Murphy took the stage for a knockout cover of The Isley Brother’s “Between the Sheets” that had us bouncing and encouraging the party to continue late into the night. The smoothly executed “Vibyl” included a bust-out jam into Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” before Zach did his best drum and bass impression with “New Dawn New Day” to turn the lights down on the first set.
The second set roared to life with the distinctive hue of Saxton Waller’s Roy G BIV show design. He creates sharp, angular patterns and swirling layers on the stage that power different moods for the crowd during the show. Diving into “Simulator” and “Grow” quickly declared their intentions to make this an immersive, legendary set.
There were two large segues during the second half. The first and the highlight of the Friday night show came in the form of a “The Rabble->Call Jam->The Rabble” connection that saw guitarist Hunter Brown shred to the stars and back. The fluttering disco lights during the middle of the segment helped to direct a groovy outro back into “Rabble” that was worthy of any STS9 performance I have witnessed in recent years.
Maureen Murphy took the stage again for the encore as the group cultivated “Better Day” from 2005’s Artifact. It’s always refreshing to hear the intricacies of the Artifact sounds in a live setting. Maureen helped reinvigorate the vibe that made that album so special and her presence was tremendous throughout the evening.
Interestingly, Saturday night showcased a decidedly different style of performance with a diverse setlist of covers, first time interpretations and newly recorded tracks. Friday’s 2016 STS9 sets should go down as some of the better collections of cohesive tribe-jam in their Red Rocks history.
STS9 – September 9th – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Set I: Supercluster> Out of this World>Frequencies 2>3, To The World, March, Gobnugget>Between the Sheets>Reemergence>Between the Sheets, Vibyl, New Dawn New Day
Set II: Simulator>Grow>The Rabble>Call Jam>The Rabble>Elsewhere, Sun, Moon & Stars, Blu Mood>MOD>Modular Improv>MOD, World Go Round
Encore: Better Day, Light Years
Energy: A-
Musicianship: A-
Sound: B+
Stage Presence: B+
Set/Light Show: A+
Overall: A-
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