The first time I saw ADULT. was at the Glass House in early 2002. It could have been the fact that most of the audience was there to see The Faint, but it felt as if most of the audience didn't quite get into it. As such, their stage banter was limited to "We are ADULT. from Detroit," and "This is our last song." I thought it was kind of austere, like their lyrics and cover art, but more than likely it was because the audience sucked that night. By the end of their set, I was a convert, though I doubted many others were.

Then, in 2003, they played at The Echo. Something must have changed, because a more enthusiastic audience could not have been hoped for. Not only did they add live bass and synth playing, but Nicola's interaction with the audience was second to none. By this time, Anxiety Always had been released, and the songs on the album worked better in a live setting than those on their previous EPs had (unless you really like laptops). ADULT. had total control over the crowd, making it one of the best live performances I had ever seen.

Last week, with friends in tow, I found myself at The Echo once again. Waiting in line for two hours, I realized that some things haven't changed (note to self: next time buy tickets in advance). Once in, and after missing both openers and the first three songs of ADULT.'s set, we made our way as close to the front as possible. The first thing I noticed was that there was an additional member, a guitarist who also started some of the sequences. There were a lot of guitar parts on D.U.M.E., and with Adam full-time on bass, it only made sense to bring in a ringer. As for their set, it consisted mostly of songs from D.U.M.E. and Anxiety Always, the only earlier song I heard was "Human Wreck" minus the vocoded parts. They played a new song, never got the name of it, but it had these interesting pauses throughout. Hope it makes it onto the new album. Nicola was in full-form once again, giving the audience such gems as, "We don't take requests- we're not a fucking jukebox" and "We don't play 'Nite Life', so don't ask." The audience was wild during the whole show, dancing and climbing on tables and possibly other unsavory things that I did not witness first hand, as evidenced by Nicola's comment "Stop touching each other, it's not cool," said while laughing.

This is a group that just keeps getting better and better live. I really haven't figured out whether it's the audience or the material that makes an ADULT. show good, but I'd be willing to bet that it's a combination of both. If you consider yourself to be a good audience member, make it a point to see ADULT. next time they're in town.