On Thursday, March 4th, electronica-jam band Papadosio brought their blend of noise, funk and layers of cresting bleeps and bloops to the famed Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, CA.
Coming off of the strength of their fourth full-length studio release at the end of last year, Extras In A Movie, the genre-bending quintet from Asheville, NC has revealed a striking cinematic cornucopia of orchestral, acoustic and celestial sounds that translates extremely well live.
The Extras In A Movie Tour: Act II is the second leg of a tour that began last Fall (appropriately titled Act I) and wraps up this weekend in Texas with back-to-back appearances at the House Of Blues Dallas and Austin, respectively.
The opening slot of the tour has rotated every few weeks, with bands such as Aqueous, Earphorik and saQi taking the opening slot. Because of a conflict of dates between Papadosio and saQi, the tour calendar featured a large open space and the message TBA in reference to the March 3rd Fillmore date, the band’s freshman appearance at the venue.
Stepping up to fill the spot was long time down-tempo DJ Bluetech who employs altered time signatures, space-hop melodies to reach the audience with heavy ranges of emotive tones and atmospheric layering. Playing a 45 minute set, Bluetech succeeded in laying the framework for an explosive energy to come later both in the crowd and on the stage.
Papadosio took the stage just before 9:45 PM and opened with a groovy, yet standard “We Are Water” into a 10+ minute run of “The Sum”. The first two tracks from 2012’s double album To End The Illusion Of Separation, or T.E.T.I.O.S., it was a familiar start to the show for many.
Near the end of the jam in “The Sum” drummer Mike Healy kicked off a monster break beat that took off and segued into the more electronic, percussive nature of “Advocate Of Change” from 2008’s EP By The Light Of The Stars.
After a solid half hour of relentless music, the band broke and guitarist Anthony Thogmartin took the opportunity to thank the crowd and introduce the next track.
“Thanks a lot everyone for coming out and supporting us,” said Thogmartin. “We really appreciate it. This one is called ‘Epiphany’.”
The lead single off of Extras In A Movie, clocked in at 8 minutes before dipping into a “Bulls On Parade” build up that featured a heavy array of keyboard wizardry from the brothers Sam and Billy Brouse. Tied for 6th of the Top Ten EDM Keyboardists by EDM magazine The Untz, the Brouse brothers really have an intricate ear which they use to tie together each live performance.
“You And Yourself” off of 2009’s Observations followed for the next fifteen minutes, jumping from an underground nightclub rave in Eastern Europe to sweltering hot guitar-driven riffs in a matter of minutes. There was no mistaking the level of concentration and fun being shared between band members.
After the lights went down at the end of the song, Thogmartin again took the opportunity to address the crowd.
“Thanks so much you guys, it is so incredible to be able to play our music for you in a setting like this, it means a lot to us” he said. “But one of the reasons we play is because of the inspiration we got from our favorite artists, so this next one is in celebration of our direct influences.”
Die hard electronic fans in the audience recognized the song starting before Thogmartin even finished speaking as “Fahrenheit Fair Enough”, the lead track off of electronic pioneer Telefon Tel Aviv’s 2001 debut album of the same name. The 7 minute tribute was only the third time the band has attempted it since playing it twice in late 2014 and was an undeniable highlight of the show both in song selection and reverent execution.
Seguing into another track from the new album, “Anima Mundi” featured a very twangy, almost bluegrass influenced jam from East India before diving into the memorable bass lines of Rob McConnell on an extra-large serving of the T.E.T.I.O.S. track “The Bionic Man Meets His Past…”.
After ten minutes in the past, Papadosio’s intricate craft of stories in their set list started coming full circle when Thogmartin and Sam Brouse donned acoustic guitars for the end of the night themed “2 AM” from the new disc.
Like most of the tracks from Extras, the studio version is typically less than five minutes long – bare boned and basic structures – so that live they can truly explore the depths of possibilities both tonally and in in varying tempos. After a 12 minute deep groove, the band pulled back inside the atmosphere and encouraged the audience to “Find Your Cloud.”
Appearing near the end of the double disc effort T.E.T.I.O.S., “Find Your Cloud” is a crowd stopping favorite full of soaring, uplifting passages throughout. Ending the show after a jam reminiscent of the 90s anthem “Jane Says”, Papadosio took only a short minute or two before returning for a single song encore in a 15 minute “The Eyes Have Eyes”.
Papadosio wraps up the second leg of their Extras In A Moive this weekend in Texas before celebrating their 10th anniversary celebration as a band in April at the Madison Theater in Covington, KY before hitting the annual summer festival circuit. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Papadosio, the band is holding a poll where they are allowing fans to control the flow of the set list for the first time ever.
Papadosio, 2016-03-04, The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
One Set, 9:43PM - 11:25AM
We Are Water, The Sum > Advocate, Epiphany, You And Yourself, Fahrenheit Fair Enough* > Anima Mundi, The Bionic Man Meets His Past …&, 2 A.M.^ > Find Your Cloud
Encore: The Eyes Have Eyes
*- cover, Telefon Tel Aviv
&- XL
^- acoustic
