A packed venue, a frenzied crowd, and a serious bag of beats all had one thing in common last Friday, Oct. 9. That thing is a band, and that band is Eoto. The two-piece electronica team came to town this weekend making a stop at the High Noon Saloon. By providing two sets of styles defining both warped, bass-heavy dubstep, and dancy house, Eoto gave the writhing audience (armed with obligatory neon glowsticks) exactly what they had come for: a high dose of vibes and a full night of dancing.
A completely unique set is expected anytime Eoto takes the stage. Justin Hann (drums and percussion) and Michael Travis (keyboards, mixing, sampling, guitar and bass) maintain free-flowing improvisational roots on a distinct platform of electronic music. You might recognize their names from bluegrass jam band The String Cheese Incident, but you wouldn’t recognize their sound. The duo trades in strings for samples in an attempt to bridge the ever-narrowing gap between carefree festival jams and dark dance clubs.
Hann demonstrates a superhuman level of endurance on drums by keeping rapid, smooth rhythms going without pause before or even after the fifteen minute set break. Meanwhile, Travis paints thick layers of captivating melodic elements ranging from tribal flutes and didgeridoos to interstellar keyboards. Both share a keen intuition of where the music is going at all times, and how to take it there. Their veteran instinct does not get lost on a crowd completely down to challenge Hann’s drum stamina with their own relentless moving and dancing. It can be a struggle to keep up with Hann, however, when the pace increases to 223 beats per minute. Translation: fast, very fast.
It takes true instinct and a vast supply of experience and talent to achieve the sounds Eoto produces. Although their years of experience show in their mastery of arrangement and execution, Eoto’s sound at times lacks inspired variety. Sure, they know when to build anticipation and when to drop the bass, but something was missing in the substance. Their otherwise powerful transitions come off as predictable and increasingly familiar as a show goes on.
Admittedly, there is only so much one can alter and still maintain the collective consciousness of the rhythm that keeps the energy going. That being said, Travis’s melodic contributions via keyboard, mixer and laptop had great variation. His spontaneous improvised synth loops meshed fittingly with the array of computer-generated instruments as well as his on-the-spot recorded vocals. Eoto’s vocals should be taken in a loose sense; there are no lyrics, but there are guttural sounds like yells, croons and moans. Those expecting more melodic, structured dance music may have been better off seeing Sound tribe Sector 9, who performed at the Rave in Milwaukee on the same night. If nothing else, they would have witnessed a spectacular light show to go with the music, a conspicuously absent element of Eoto’s performance.
Wait, there was no light show? But a quality light show is to electronica what big hair and spandex are to hair metal. It’s nearly a prerequisite. An Eoto show without lights is typically an outdoor daytime show under the presence of that big light in the sky. Swapping lasers and oscillating spotlights for the High Noon’s fixed stage lighting was nothing short of sacrilege, and it left a visible void in the experience of som
e showgoers.
In short, Eoto’s performance was above adequate, but not outstanding. Small negative details can indeed add up to noticeable shortcomings. It was still a great dance party for everyone in attendance, and by no means substandard. In fact, it was a blast. In the future, however, Eoto should reference past shows for some pointers. Rothbury ’09, anyone?
