The Great American Music Hall has hosted many of the top acts from around the world in it’s storied history. Built after the earthquake of 1906 to raise the spirits of San Franciscans, the beautiful, old hall continued its mission with a performance by Autolux. This Los Angeles-based trio has been making waves around the music world, even opening for Thom Yorke’s Atoms For Peace, at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Following on the heels of the release of Transit Transit the week before, Autolux opened up an international tour here in San Francisco.

The packed venue had an anticipatory buzz as the band, They Will Destroy You, kicked off the evening. The opening band fulfilled its duties competently. The guys layered the old, ornate hall with solid, atmospheric head jams reminiscent of Ummugumma -era Pink Floyd. A five-stringed bass and heavy drums stood out as the band provided tribal psychedelia that dissolved into waves of dissonance and feedback. With no vocal work, it’s going to be hard for these guys to break through but they did an excellent job setting up the crowd for the main act.

As the opening act weaved sonic psychedelic tapestries, the crowd filled up the ex-whorehouse with excited expectations of a different sort. After the final song, the venue was crackling as the audience exchanged stories of their devotion to Autolux. The members of the band, Eugene Goreshter, Greg Edwards, and Carla Azar, took the stage and arranged effects racks, keyboards and the drums until things were just right. After a backstage meeting, the houselights dimmed and the show was under way.

With the band labelled art-rock shoegazers, they provided the required amount of electronic sounds. The tunes bled together into one homogeneous set with no standout numbers. A muddy mix left the vocals low and hard to understand. Not aided by technical issues, the new material was having trouble taking shape on stage. All bands have to face the challenge of presenting new songs to the public live and without a net but Autolux had to face not only playing new songs but playing the first show of an extensive North American tour. Maybe the cobwebs were still there or there was some issues that weren’t apparent but it seemed like the night just never took off. The crowd seemed to absorb the music without giving any energy back, just politely clapping between songs. The band however, kept pouring out the notes in a wave of well-crafted melodies and hypnotic chords.

Sometimes the crowd and the band just don’t make a connection. It had nothing to do with the vocal work of Carla Azar, which was evocative and mesmerizing. She managed to strike that narrow balance that all singing drummers deal with. From the Velvet Underground’s Mo Tucker to that other White Stripe, Meg White, female drummers all face stereotypes about what they should be. Carla is not only a capable drummer but when she steps out from behind the kit, she has a magnetic stage presence and a haunting voice. Guitarist Greg Edwards painted broad strokes of sound with technical precision and class. The trio was rounded out by Gene Goreshter’s seemingly subsonic bass lines. He weaved notes in and out of the synthesized drums and ethereal rhythms that Azar banged out. The rhythm section hung a broad, dark curtain that Edwards used to good effect to spread his atmospheric effects on. It was unfortunate that the sound was swallowed up in this intimate hall.

The band’s new release, Transit Transit, has several good tracks and the sound is much clearer and more precise. The band is going to have more luck as the tour carries on and the songs that they’ve been rehearsing come to fruition on stage. With solid tunes and a great reputation in the music community, Autolux is poised to break through to the next level. With a couple more shows under their belt and the sound cues wired a little tighter, the songs will shine through and the crowd will respond to the energy that this band can produce.