Akron/Family always puts on a mind-bending show and this night, the last night of their tour, was about partying all night long and forgetting about the responsibilities of the work week. “Fuck the Weekday!”

This show was like a performance piece with all three guys wearing matching homemade t-shirts, which I believe (though I’m still not completely sure) had “shit hole” spelled backwards and upside down in red paint down the front. They seemed to jump from song to song like it was another scene in a bizarre stage show. There was a simulated alien attack during “MBF,” a group dance called “the buoy,” which, like you probably already assumed, involved a lot of sea-sickness inducing swaying and there was a tranquil zen prayer moment that concluded with the audience opening their eyes to the band screaming “Happy Birthday!” The guys called for full audience participation from tribal chants during “Ed Is a Portal” to a well constructed sing-along of “Woody Guthrie’s America,” which featured people who had recorded their own version of the song for Akron’s Woody Project.

This night also introduced a lot of people to Warpaint and with half of the L.A. band sporting red onesie pajamas they were definitely a sight to behold. The trippy, psychedelic all-female jam band previewed some songs off of their upcoming debut, showing why it’s so anticipated, and gave a live taste of songs off their stellar EP, Exquisite Corpse.

After “Beetles” some overzealous fans even tried to join in, screaming, “Where’s my shit?” only to have guitarist, Theresa Wayman, playfully answer she didn’t know where her own stuff was, never mind theirs. Of course that didn’t really dampen the mood because a few songs later Wayman explained that she was having a great night, thanks in part to some tater tots she ate earlier. And it’s true, tater tots do make everything infinitely better.

Words by Shannon Carlin
Photos by Kyle Timlin

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