I have been so tired lately. It’s the kind of sleepiness that can only come from weeks of short sleeps and forcing yourself into alertness with coffee. I feel like a fishing lure bobber, barely keeping my head above the waves and waiting for a fish to bite the lure.

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Akron/Family live. As Jasmin described

“That was the best $12 we ever spent!”
–I couldn’t agree more–

The show began with the local Great Lake Swimmers, who were very enjoyable and had me longing for an empty room, or a long lonesome drive through the night. The songs were touching and well written, and I had the pleasure of meeting Tony Dekker between sets to tell him so. Definate favorites were “Song For The Angels” and “I Saw You In The Wild”.

Akron/Family took the stage unexpectedly. As they set up, the drummer began to tap almost out of boredom. Playfully, the rest of the band started to join in with birdcalls, shreiks, and excitement until they each grabbed their instruments and worked themselves into an animal-like frenzy. Their album is brilliant and spastic, with interludes of pure NOISE in unexpected places, but their live performance is almost childlike, and was really fun to be a part of. As they fumbled from “song” to song, occasionally finding melody and lyrics, the crowd really got into it. This was one of the “dancingest” shows I’ve been to in a long time.

Near the end of thier set, the band ventured into the crowd and settled near the center, directly beside us. They broke into a chant that eventually had the entire crowd joining in and clapping, stamping and singing. Apparently their tour has just begun and I highly recommend them to you!