march 9 • wild buffalo

Acorn Productions and Bassdrop Music are notorious for bringing the party and they once again lived up to the hype with this show on this sleepy Sunday. Rolling into Bellingham off of a mini tour along the coast, Yamn and EOTO took to the Wild Buffalo stage for a night of live electronica.
Hailing from Breckenridge Colorado, Yamn is a full-piece, traditional-looking band complete with drums, keyboards, guitar and bass and here the likenesses to anything you have heard before pretty much cease. Their set was a blend of multiple genres of traditional music all with an electronic blend of pulsating dance beats, bass drops and synthesized awesomeness. Feeding the crowd a buffet of exotic musical flavors, the room was gluttonous for heaping helpings of everything on the Yamn menu. By the time Michael Travis of EOTO joined in at the end of their set, the Buffalo faithful had already claimed these Rocky Mountain rockers as the newest part of the WONK (Wizards of North Kascades) family.
And then came EOTO. Having played previously at W.O.N.K. Fest and Summer Meltdown, EOTO (pronounced Yo-Toe) are no strangers to the B’ham area nor to the masses. The fact EOTO consists of String Cheese Incident members Jason Hann and Michael Travis probably doesn’t hurt either. Their mix of live drum, bass and guitar riffs laid down, looped and stacked create the foundation for improvised dance floor breaking explosions and vocal hooks that show no mercy from set start to finish.
At the outset, their very first track was just winding back around to its completion after having taken the room on a cosmic journey, when an overzealous fan was overcome with a case of EOTO fever and stormed the stage looking to boogie out the cure. (Regrettably they missed the remainder of the performance. Poor choice.) After a few quick tech adjustments, we were back on our personal Great Space Coaster voyage. Integrating visual projection into the show to heighten its intensity and the expertly balanced sound provided by Ed Hernandez, at times it did indeed become an other worldly experience. From “Roxanne” to “Rumpshaker” and everything in between, it was a spaced-out-trance-driven night that left the room anxious to hit the upcoming festival season with both feet planted firmly in the ether.
–Victor B. Gotelaere