It’s been over 5 years since Eyedea and Abilities put out an album, so I was elated to see that they were touring again, pushing new material. They were playing the Echoplex with Dosh, so covering the show was a no brainer for me. I hadn’t heard E&A’s new release before I requested to cover the show, and when I finally wrangled it up, I began to wonder if I had made a mistake. Most of Abilities’ turntablism that I adored in their first 2 albums was now replaced with guitar riffs and Eyedea trying to sing. Fortunately his biting wit and lyricism was still there, so there was enough to keep me excited about the show.
The night started off a bit rocky as I didn’t have a press pass waiting for me. I live in Culver City, so driving to Echo Park for no reason is not exactly my idea of a nice way to spend a Friday night. Luck was with me though, as the lovely gal working the door kindly let me shoot the show as a house photographer and I was in. Silent Army was on as I grabbed a Pabst and checked my gear. The MC / DJ combo, ala E&A were a decent warm up to Dosh, but didn’t really make much of an impression on me.
By the time Dosh made it to the Echoplex stage, I was a couple beers deep and pumped for his ambient electronic tunes to get kicking. The crowd echoed the sentiment as cheers were sent forward welcoming Martin to the stage. As he settled in behind his drum kit, piano and mixing boards, he explained that he was handicapped tonight, as someone had broken into their tour bus and stolen only an ipod and his beloved cymbals. I didn’t know this, but apparently musicians are very particular when it comes to their cymbals. He started in and I don’t think anyone was disappointed in his temporary setup. He lead a solid 45 minutes or so of beautifully crafted beats that slowed and sped the energy like a roller coaster.
Properly warmed up, the crowd exploded as E&A hit the stage at around 11:45. All of my hesitation about the show was cleaned away as Eyedea thrust into rapid fire flow backed by Abilities on the decks. I warmed up to some of the new stuff and there was plenty of older material that allowed Abilities to flex a little bit too. Despite a relatively rough start, the night came around and I left the Echoplex glad I had seen the show and scrolling through my ipod to revisit Eyedea and Abilities’ latest album to give it a second chance.
Big thanks to The Echo and The Echoplex for letting me in to shoot the show!
