Videoing is one of those projects best experienced live, which isn’t surprising considering Adreon Henry’s emphasis on art and visual stimulus. We highly recommend reading this post to deepen your knowledge of Henry’s past projects and work. For our purposes here, you may remember Car Stereo Wars or Custodian, his previous musical projects.
Before beginning their set at the Mohawk a couple of weeks ago, the group draped plastic bags around the front of the stage. The décor may have been a nod to their recent video that involved a buried body that comes back to life, or maybe an embodiment of the surgical, synth-based pop that invokes the darkness and dance sensibilities of New Order or Depeche Mode. Henry and collaborator Jen Bradly are both powerful onstage, belting out lines into microphones with abandon. The band’s live performance also provides the best experience of their deep bass and blaring dance synths.
Of course, the trio, which also consists of long time collaborator Brendan Reilly, makes good use of video feeds and swirling light and design. Undoubtedly, Henry is an artist in search of a particular aesthetic and visual appeal. The Reader LP is out now via Slack Electric and contains the recorded versions of this effort. However, we suggest Videoing’s live show as the best way to experience the work of Adreon Henry. Keep your eyes open for the announcement of their next show. [Edit: In fact, we have learned that the band was added to a bill with The Dig, this Saturday 8/4 at the Mohawk.]
