A truly amazing concert makes your mouth drop open, your feet tap uncontrollably, and your mind forget everything except what is happening right in front of you at that blissful moment. The Wampire tape release show at Work/Sound, a gallery and performance space, was a surprising expression of all three elements.
Work/Sound is a highly underrated venue in a city full of music spaces. In addition to an array of fantastic local art, the space has a very do-it-yourself feel and radiates a sense of comfort and community.
The night started with djing indoors from E*Rock, a multi-disciplinary artist and mastermind behind Audio Dregs, an electronic music label he runs with his brother E*Vax of Ratatat. Outside in the street, Rob Walmart had pulled a truck up to the front doors of the venue and was creating a ruckus of industrial sounding experimental beats. People were popping in and out of the truck and coming up to the soundboards to play around during the whole spectacle. Both djs continued to play between sets as the concert progressed.
May Ling got the crowd started with some Eighties-inspired synth beats, a drum machine and a tiny girl bouncing around in front of the audience. The group, who will be releasing their own album next month, is the epitome of party music and it showed in the crowd. There wasn’t a still body in the house as the band members ran around in front, occasionally switching up instruments and egging us all on to dance even more.
Deelay Ceelay followed after a short set and took the dancing to an even higher level of ridiculousness. These guys operate on two drum sets, prerecorded electronic accompaniment and a screen in back featuring video produced by member Chris Leal Larson that synchs up to the music. During their set, we were also treated to a couple choice remixes of T.I. and the Beach Boys. Their wordless masterpieces cascaded from thumping bass into mind-blowing build ups that seemed to go on forever, only to crash at your feet, leaving the audience members hot, sweaty, and begging for more.
The last act featured the stars of the evening, Wampire and by this point, everyone was worked into a frenzy. The line between audience and performed had become non-existent, as people began draping themselves across the stage. The duo of rocky Tinder and Eric Phipps had a bit of a rough start, but gradually found their stride, even getting a group sing along going at one point. Wampire ‘s sound jumps from a hypnotic blend of smooth guitar and down-tempo drumming to synth-heavy pop, all of it featuring happy go lucky vocal stylings. The finished product was spirited and infectiously catchy. The crowd was out of control and, during the course of their performance, people were being pushed into the stage and equipment started falling over. Tinder was eventually hoisted into the crowd with his mic and enjoyed a brief flight through the gyrating crowd, only to be spit back onto the stage and into an amp.
At the end of the night, this show felt more like a party than a performance and that was exactly how it needed to be. The combination of a stellar venue, talented artists and a crowd that knew how to appreciate it all to the fullest made this an incredibly satisfying and deeply moving event.
