Live Review & Q&A: Attention System at the Star Bar, February 4

Review by Stephanie Roman (http://www.stephanieroman.com); photo by: William Buckley

Attention System reminded us that it has been three years since they last appeared at the Star Bar. Since releasing the critically acclaimed debut album Wait for My Signal, the band has quickly become known for putting on the best electro-rock dance show in town. They haven’t performed live in Atlanta since November, and their fans were hungry!

Whether playing out to five hundred people or only five, the band holds nothing back. Attention System’s high-energy live performance includes synchronized lasers, which scan the crowd and cut rhythmic pulses across the stage. As they launched into their third song, a laser and amp overload temporarily paralyzed the Star Bar’s sound system. At any given show, Attention System’s overall wattage consumption would likely overwhelm Nikola Tesla.

They teased the crowd, “We only have 172 more songs to go!” And with the inclination of every band member to give every drop of energy at every show — I almost believed it.

Attention System writes about the end of the world and living like each day is your last. While that may sound depressing, attending a show will remind you how much you love your friends and love rock music. They make it easy to get caught up in their positive energy — whether you’re dancing at the front of the room, or smiling and singing along with the fans. A highly recommended experience.

Joshua Broughton (vocals, guitar) of Attention System takes a moment to answer a few questions for AMG:

Which band or artist would you love to perform with at your dream gig?

I’d absolutely love to play a show with David Bowie. In my mind, that guy did more for the idea of the rock and roll concert experience than anyone else. The other guys in the band would answer the question differently. Brian is a fan of The Paper Chase and their amazing ability to engage an audience; Jonathan might pick Steve Earle or the Rolling Stones; Jason would go synth-pop with Ladytron; and Chris would probably choose a sludge metal great like Neurosis.

Each of you seems to give 100 percent of your energy at each performance. How do you recover the next day?

My remedy for post-concert recovery is very simple and very effective, but not very exciting, I’m afraid. Get some sleep, take a shower, have a quick limber-up-and-push-some-weight style workout, and try not to move for the rest of the day. Like at all. Even typing hurts.

If it really were the end of the world, where would you like to play your last show?

That’s a tough question! I’d like to think that we’d pull the grand ole’ Titanic scene, only with more leather and big belt buckles and shiny things. You know, the earth is splitting apart from the tidal force of an incoming black hole, the ground breaking into shards of rock—and there we are, yelling “YOU BEST DANCE, THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE!!” to all the folks who’ve supported us over the years.

So yeah: Atlanta. If we’re lucky enough to have a few friends that want to spend their last moments with our buzz saws in their ears, we’d be honored to do it.

Attention System plays The Drunken Unicorn on March 30.