{"id":2454486,"date":"2020-02-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=320463"},"modified":"2020-02-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T07:00:00","slug":"sound-tribe-sector-9-playing-unprecedented-four-night-concert-run-at-belly-up-aspen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/sound-tribe-sector-9-playing-unprecedented-four-night-concert-run-at-belly-up-aspen\/","title":{"rendered":"Sound Tribe Sector 9 playing unprecedented four-night concert run at Belly Up Aspen"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The experimental jamtronica band Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9)<\/a> may be from Atlanta, but Colorado is the epicenter of their fandom.<\/p>\n

Their annual run of Belly Up Aspen shows has become a bucket list item for the band\u2019s devout followers, turning into a multi-day happening not only at the music club but across town in official and unofficial pre- and post-show parties and art happenings.<\/p>\n

For 2020, Belly Up has expanded the STS9 run to four nights \u2014 an unprecedented scheduling move for the club, which regularly hosts two- and three-night series from major artist but never in its 15 years four nights. For the second year in the row, the band also is collaborating with Skye Gallery for an exhibition of its visual art that will run Feb. 14 through 17.<\/p>\n

These are rare small-club gigs for the band, which fills theaters and headlines to the largest of festival crowds, making the Belly Up shows a destination for the national fan-base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crowd is closer to you than any other venue, so there is this primal rawness, this in-your-face thing,\u201d STS9 drummer Zach Velmer said during last year\u2019s Aspen run. \u201cI look down and literally 3 feet away from me is a person staring at me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four nights in Aspen are the only STS9 tour dates announced for 2020, other than the band\u2019s new Hotel Elsewhere festival in Florida this May and shows at Summer Camp in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Along with the Aspen tradition, STS9\u2019s Red Rocks shows are legendary and its Denver New Year\u2019s Eve shows are major events (though this year STS9 went home to Atlanta for a five-night New Year\u2019s experience).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an honor to have that kind of loyalty and consistency when we go to Colorado,\u201d Velmer said.<\/p>\n

STS9 fans follow and study the band\u2019s intricate, cross-genre performances with scholarly dedication, tracking and cataloging set lists with a devotion reserved for only a handful of artists in the post-Dead era.<\/p>\n

Velmer and his bandmates \u2014 over the past two decades \u2014 have responded with thoughtful fan service, packing sets with brain candy for their hardcore fan base.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our fans to have a special and unique experience,\u201d Velmer said. \u201cWe look at sets, look at what we played last time \u2014 there is so much energy and thought that goes into creating these experiences for our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band meticulously plans out set lists, mapping overall themes and minute details down to small nuggets to treat superfans, while always leaving open spaces for improvisation and surprise.<\/p>\n

Knowing that fans are paying such close attention, of course, poses a challenge to STS9 to reinvent the wheel every night. But they try to challenge the fans as well, messing with them and pushing their boundaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a symbiotic experience for the fans and the artists \u2014 it\u2019s cool and it\u2019s very real-time,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can see it in the crowd \u2014 we can see people losing their shit and freaking out like, \u2018Oh my God, this is what we\u2019re doing?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll dust off rarities and mash them up with fan favorites, playfully fishing to see if fans will recognize lesser-known compositions. And yes, bandmembers follow the very active fan message boards that track set list intricacies. Velmer will chat with fans online about details of specific live versions of songs and what pieces came from where.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a map and a puzzle,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you really start digging and diving into the magic of that, you see these things blossom that you didn\u2019t even know were there.\u201d<\/p>\n

atravers@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The experimental jamtronica band Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) may be from Atlanta, but Colorado is the epicenter of their fandom. Their annual run of Belly Up Aspen shows has become a bucket list item for the band\u2019s devout followers, turning into a multi-day happening not only at the music club but across town in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2454486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 15:52:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}