Far From Home: Akron/Family gives stellar performance at The Brookdale Lodge

By Nick Veronin

The freaks came out to the Brookdale Lodge in Brookdale, Calif., about 15 miles North of Santa Cruz in the good old timey mountains that are just as likely to house crazed bikers armed to the teeth as they are to serve as a refuge for experiments in socialism and not showering.

The reason for the visit was a raucous performance by Williamsburg, Penn. noise folksters, Akron/Family.

The lodge is rumored to be host to many ghosts, though Ak/Fam did not play “Many Ghosts” during their hour-and-a-half performance or in their half-hour fuzzed out, tribal drumming encore, which brought many long-skirted free spirits up on stage to bang on tambourines and dance (whether poorly or superbly you must judge for yourself).

The venue was perfectly suited for the band: crackling hearths, high vaulted ceilings with old wooden beams, flagstone walls, a wagon wheel, a well and a creek running under the north side of the lodge.

The local barflies seemed only somewhat turned off by the influx of tight-jeaned hipsters that disturbed the sanctity of this remote mountain pub. Some even wandered in with beers to nod in approval—perhaps perplexed approval—at the Ak/Fam scene, which melds classic rock sounds with Animal Collective cacophonies and gospel roots.

Check out the videos of the band performing and an interview with Dana Janssen:

Here's a video of a fan interview, live performances and more...




Here's the interview with Dana Janssen