Slomo Sapiens’ Immersive Audio-Visual Show Hits Kensington

St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Kensington is hosting a feast for both the eyes and ears Saturday, with Philly psych rockers Slomo Sapiens headlining a DIY show that will feature improvised visual projections cast throughout the nave.

This weekend’s show will mark the second time Slomo Sapiens have teamed up with visual artist Grant Bouvier for a joint live performance, and they’ll be joined by experimental instrumental ambient duo Air is Human and Thantophobe, the indie rock project from producer Thomas Johnsen. But that’s not all the music in store for this show: Great Circles’ Justin Gibbon will be DJing under the name Westov Temple before, and between, each act’s sets.

Slomo Sapiens first teamed up with Bouvier after bassist Greg Geiger saw videos circulating of the “Passages” events featuring Great Circles at the church. Bouvier was providing visual accompaniment for those gigs.

“ I’ve always wanted Slomo Sapiens to have a visual component,” Geiger said. “The church just looked so enticing and I had to get to the bottom of who was doing it.”

The band learned Bouvier, Johnsen, and Gibbon were the masterminds behind those audio-visual spectacles, and Bouvier has since provided cover art and music video visuals for the Slomo singles “Carelessly Crumbling” and “The Mole.”

They teamed up for their first live show back in October, also at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church.

Bouvier said his visuals Saturday will be fully improvised, meaning he hasn’t planned any cues for any bands’ songs and will be programming the visuals on the fly.

“ I have stuff in my head that I know works with Slomo ’cause I’ve played with them before,” he said. “But I don’t really have a preconceived notion; it’s gonna be as live as what the band is doing.”

Bouvier will be employing both digital and analog technology during the show. Attendees can expect “glitchy, spacey, lo-fi retro kind of stuff” that lends itself to the aesthetics of Slomo Sapiens, as well as found footage and sampled content.

The visuals will be fully projection mapped across the church interior during the show, which is a bit bittersweet for the band.

“ I remember feeling after last time [Slomo Sapiens played with Bouvier] that I wished I was actually in the audience and that we weren’t playing,” Slomo Sapiens guitarist and vocalist Caellaigh Manaaki said.

Geiger shares the feeling.

“ I wish I could have my back to the crowd the whole time so I can watch.”

Slomo Sapiens will perform at least one new song at the show, and are expecting to get in the studio soon to lay down some new tunes.

In addition to plenty of acid trip-worthy jams and mind-boggling sights, Saturday’s show will feature local vendors, including non-alcoholic apéritif company Cult of Trees, TJader’s Soul Sauce hot sauce, and more. And, show goers can bring their own beverages, alcoholic or otherwise, to the event.

Doors open at 7 p.m. with Westov Temple spinning tunes from the jump. Tickets will be available at the door, but you can save a few bucks by getting them online here in advance.