Trading in their longstanding tradition of alternating between Atlanta and Denver for their New Year’s Eve runs, STS9 brought their annual celebration to the West Coast this year. Dubbed A Real & Imagined New Year, STS9 rang in 2018 with a show at Los Angeles’ The Novo on December 28th ahead of three consecutive nights at The Warfield in San Francisco, California.

Watch This Transcendent Jam From An STS9 Soundcheck

2017 was a big year for STS9, as it marked the group’s 20th anniversary, which they celebrated with the release of a new album The Universe Inside as well as a number of high-profile anniversary celebrations, including a three-night run at the iconic outdoor venue Red Rocks Amphitheatre. With these achievements at their heels, STS9 is entering the new year with fire and fury. A new album is on the horizon (the name is yet to be revealed), and some of the group’s new songs came out to play during the three-night run at The Warfield. Based off the way the songs were played during the NYE run, the album seems to be reminiscent of their 2002 release, Seasons 01.

STS9 opened night one (December 29th) of the run with “Movements” and “For My Peeps”—two songs that have been combined into one entitled “Move My Peeps”, which has been kept in rotation a lot lately. This reemerging segue was a pleasantly satisfying surprise for the intro. “Real & Imagined” also made a welcome appearance during the first set. The New Year run’s title track was a song that was part of the band’s Artifact project in the early 2000s and remained unfinished until later in 2017 when they released the completed version. “Wika Chikana”, “GLOgli”, and “Rent” are always crowd favorites and got some improv jam treatment before the band encored with “Peoples,” another fan favorite from the band’s Artifact album.

STS9 debuted new songs on all three nights of the run. Night one saw the debut of “Murmurs”—an ambient, piano-heavy song that resonated oppositely from the vocal-heavy, pop-sounding TUI tracks—which garnered a huge response of approval from the audience. You can check out a video of this new number from Tribe below, courtesy of Heady Flair.

“MurMurs”

Setlist: STS9 | The Warfield | San Francisco, CA | 12/29/2017

Set I: Movements>>For My Peeps, Grow, Real & Imagined, March, Lo Swaga, Give & Take>>Instantly

Set II: Rise Above, Get Loud, Wika Chikana, Murmurs**, Native End>>ReEmergence, Sun, Moon & Stars, Artifact>>GLOgli, Rent

Encore: Peoples

Notes: (**) new song, first time played

Night two (December 30th) included the unveiling of another ambient and mellow new song entitled “Laia,” which was seamlessly segued into a “Circus” that evoked 2007 vibes with its slow and patient intro. “EB” (which is commonly segued out of “Surreality”) was segued from “Tokyo” and was the largest standalone “EB” since Alana Rocklin joined the band. The “Be Pulse” encore was nothing but euphoric, and guitarist Hunter Brown took the spotlight during this song, especially since he recently acquired a new guitar, the tone of which sounds impeccable. However, the highlight of night two came during Cut Chemist’s opening performance. Near the end of his set, much to the surprise and delight of everyone in The Warfield, STS9 joined him on stage for a remix of the rarely performed “Red Clay.”

“Laia”

Setlist: STS9 | The Warfield | San Francisco, CA | 12/30/2017

Set I: Tokyo>>EB, Golden Gate, Gobnugget**, Shock Doctrine, Green Light (Lorde remix)>>MOD, World Go Round

Set II: Evasive Maneuvers>>Kamuy, Ramone & Emiglio>>The Light^^ (Common), Walk To The Light, Laia#>>Circus, Get Loud>>Moonsocket

Encore: Be Pulse

Notes: STS9 sit-in with Cut Chemist for “Red Clay” remix | (**) first half only | (^^) feat. Sarah Dugas on vocals | (#) new song, first time played

The final third night of the run to ring in 2018 was nothing short of a dance party. STS9 opened with “EHM”, which always gets the crowd moving, then led into a hot “Inspire Strikes Back”, which elevated the vibe of the night to the next level. “Looking Back On Earth” from their Ad Explorata album was a pleasant rest stop before they entered into a “Hidden Hand Hidden Fist” and ”Shakedown Street” sandwich. HHHF is a huge funk monster every time it’s played, and the Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street” is always received extremely well. This time, the band took HHHF much deeper than usual, using it as a springboard that launched “Shakedown Street” into space with explorative jams.

Two new songs were introduced on night three. “Presence of Light” led into the NYE countdown/balloon drop and concluded it as well, and “Wave Spell” was a refreshing new tune that had the characteristics of an impressive improv jam that highlights the entire band simultaneously. The most jaw-dropping moment of the Sunday night was a New Year’s Eve staple of sorts, “New Dawn, New Day”. The band was dialed in for this one as they went into a huge psychedelic digital DnB jam which could have been an entirely new part two to this song.

Setlist: STS9 | The Warfield | San Francisco, CA | 12/31/2017

Set I: EHM, Inspire Strikes Back, Totem, Looking Back on Earth^^, Hidden Hand Hidden Fist > Shakedown Street (Grateful Dead) > Hidden Hand Hidden Fist, Worry No More > Enceladus > Worry No More

Set II: Presence of Light** > Countdown (balloon drop) > Presence of Light** > When The Dust Settles, Wave Spell**, Blu Mood, From Now On, New Dawn New Day#, Click Lang Echo

Encore: What is Love?

Notes: (^^) modular improv | (**) new song, first time played | (#) extended DnB jam

This New Year’s run was something special and definitely still a family affair. The people who were supposed to be there were there, the vibe was right, and the band was tuned into the audience and each other for the duration of the run. It was the quintessential Sector 9—the experimentation was deep, and the energy that echoed throughout the venue was palpable. An STS9 New Year’s Eve is always something special, and this year, it gave us a taste of the great things they have in store for 2018.

Check out the photo gallery from STS9’s NYE show below, courtesy of Jeremy Scott.