On Saturday night November 19, 2011 I attended Eoto, an electronic duo by the names of Michael Travis and Jason Hann, at the Arcata Theatre and Lounge. It was to date one of the best electronic music shows I have ever been to. There are a myriad of reasons for that night being such a wonderful experience, some influences being outside the music itself. Following are bits and pieces of my experience that night to the soundtrack of Eoto.
The main draw for Eoto, and what had me buying my ticket pre-sale with no set plans or knowledge of friends going, is the fact they play their sets live. No prerecorded music. Yes, in a world where electronic music revolves around the latest dubstep remix, it is very refreshing to see an electronic music band (not deejay) taking listeners minds to another level. During the show not only were my ears titillated, but so were my eyes. It was so cool to see them making the music and interacting with each other.
Audio wise, my favorite parts of the show involved drumming and vocals. There were some marked tribal influences throughout the show, and although the keyboard did tie the music together, it was the primal sounds that really were the driving force of the music. The vocals were reminiscent of chanting and there were moments when the drumming was going on that I found myself stomping ritualistically.
Travis and Hann also had a great grasp for the experiences and feelings that are so influential in electronic music. Flowing songs together seamlessly, having great crescendos followed by stillness only to be built back up again are the bread and butter of electro and any show missing those elements will be one that falls flat. Eoto did not fall flat, but soared. Every sound was spot on.
My only gripe? Well, two actually. There was some sort of technical difficulty in the middle of the night. It was resolved quickly, but for five or so minutes I was sad there was no music. And the for reals gripe…the encore was a bit underwhelming. They ended their set so epically, it made me run down to the stage just to shake their hands. Then the crowd up front (including me) chanted for and encore, and they did it, but the song was just too slow, too ethereal after the banger right before I felt like I was coming down too quickly from an upper and just wanted to grasp on to every last second of the song before.
In a world where most electronic music artists could be my brother, these guys could be my dad. The music that night had a maturity of sound that is becoming scarcer in this electro age. A true feast for the senses, I would go out of my way to see those two again.
-Mama Bass
