Photos by Joanna Gleason
Review by Jean Senat Fleury
The perfect destination for a sophisticated and enriching music experience, Boston is one of the best cities on earth for Music Lovers. Many national and international groups are touring in Boston. Some big groups had performed in large venues such as Xfinity in Mansfield, MGM Music Wall at Fenway, TD Garden, Fenway Park, and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. Sometimes in Boston, the international Rock groups play in some of the Boston area’s smaller concert venues. It was the case for our last Sunday night’s concert. We were excited to go to Sofia at Central Square in Cambridge, Mass on Sept. 22, 2024, to listen to two fantastic bands: The Atlas Genius (from Australia) and Robert DeLong (USA).
An Australian alternative rock band formed in Adelaide, South Australia in November 2009, Atlas Genius opened the show around 8:00 p.m. From the beginning of the performance to its end the band was fantastic and electrified the audience. The three brothers, Keith William Hamilton Jeffrey on lead vocals and lead guitar, Steven Roger Jeffrey on bass guitar, and Michaels Douglas Jeffrey on drums joined by English-born Darren Norman Sell on keyboards, had an amazing connection with the audience. Because the venue was small, one could almost reach out and touch the artists, the atmosphere was cordial and amical. People were singing, dancing, jumping all over the place. It was a fantastic night of music.
Atlas Genius played several songs like Back Seat, Spin, Animals, Ipso, Stockholm, and Nobody Loves from their different albums. At the end, they closed with Trojans.
ABOUT ATLAS GENIUS
No. 34 on the United States Billboard 200, in 2013 two of Atlas Genius singles appeared on the related Alternative Songs Chart, “Trojans” (released in May 2011) at No. 4 and “If So” (February 2013) at No. 8. In March 2015, the band finished recording their 2nd album. On 23 June 2015, the band revealed a new single, “Molecules” and announced the release date for their new album, Inanimate Objects, out 28 August 2015.
On 27 July 2017, the band revealed a new single, “63 Days”, and announced a North American tour with special guests Magic Giant Flor, and Half the Animal.
In September 2024, Atlas Genius started its 2024 Tour in the United States.
Around 9:30 p.m. Robert DeLong took the stage. A single performer band playing a variety of instruments, DeLong is a fantastic musician. That is proven with his signature Wii Remote and joystick. Another new addition to the set is GoPros, set up in front of his keyboards so the crowd can get a closer look at his hands and facial expression from another angle through the monitors and video screen backdrop.
Fans favorites “Don’t Wait Up”, “Jealousy”, and “Global Concepts” had the audience dancing and singing along as DeLong bounced around the stage and up close and personal. The crowd also had strong reactions to his newest tracks “First Person on Earth” and “Acid Rain.” DeLong brought on swirling colorful overlays on the video screen before breaking into a montage of Talking Heads “One in a Lifetime” as the intro for “Happy.” Using a GoPro on a stand, DeLong flipped the camera the other way around, showing the joyful faces of the crowd with multiple effects on the screen backdrop.
A former one-man band, DeLong now has a drummer, Adam Phelps, who adds to the calculated chaos and logistic loops of his mystical melodies.
ABOUT ROBERT DELONG
An American electronic musician from Bothell, Washington and currently residing in Los Angeles, California, Robert Charles Edward DeLong with a background in percussion had been influenced from a number of indie rock bands. DeLong primary genres include house, dubstep, and moombahton. He has released three full-length albums on Glassnote Records: Just Movement in January 2013, In the Cards in September 2015, and Walk Like Me in November 2021. His fourth studio album, Playlist of Doom, is set for released in September 2024.
DeLong started as a drummer for indie rock bands but added more electronic elements to his compositions following his exposure to their use at raves. DeLong is notable for using video-game peripherals, such as a Wii remote and a joystick, connected to a MIDI interface, to modify his sound. He cites as influences Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, Dreamers, and Boards of Canada, among others.
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