Photo Credit: Austin Voldseth
Of Mice And Men and Company Delivered To The Sold Out Summit Crowd Tuesday
Of Mice and Men (Photo Credit: Austin Voldseth)
It’s like any typical Tuesday night right? Wrong, not when you got Of Mice & Men included in your schedule.
It started off with the first opener Moscow, who came out with energy and a trap beat instrumental. Then as the lead singer took to the stage with the brightest, whitest, and fuzziest jacket I’ve seen she began screaming into the mic while the rest of the band trailed behind with energy. The lead guitarist dressing like he was taking the stage with Motley Crue or something shredded solos while the drummer kept flipping us all off in-between spin tricks with his sticks.
Fire From the Gods (Photo Credit; Austin Voldseth)
After them was a new up and coming band called Fire From The Gods. Running about the stage, jumping with scissor kicks, and getting the crowd hyped with all the break downs. After the first three the singer got down on a knee to get to crowd level to talk personal business about life and struggles to encourage everyone to be themselves and not overthink all the bad decisions in life. A couple songs later and one more talk about how good you should feel about life they closed with their famous song “Excuse Me” that got everyone jumping and surfing to the front to high five the band.
Bless The Fall (Photo Credit: Austin Voldseth)
Last of the openers was Bless The Fall, they’ve been around for awhile (almost 10 years now) performing shows along side a lot of other pop punk legends of the 2010 breakdown core music. Personally this was the hardest set to shoot. Why might you ask that? Well, strobes are a tricky one to shoot stills of. Yes, looks great when enjoying, I can say I did on that note. However with all the constant firing of photos and craziness of running around everywhere to follow the bands excitement I got a few keepers. The thing that stood out a lot with Bless The Fall was how involved with the crowd they got. Squirting/spitting water, group hugging and singing along on the front gate, and getting the circle pit spinning was the perfect way to make sure everyone was ready for Of Mice & Men.
Finally the moment we all we’re waiting for. The boys took the stage and performed ‘Defy’ from their new album as the opening track. There was an intense amount of strobes this set as in it put Bless The Fall’s to shame with how much there were. Luckily, there was more constant fill lights so it wasn’t too hard to make a great photo with it. I truly enjoyed the lighting set up they had with their set (kudos lighting tech) because it just matched how everything worked on when drum patters would happen with certain lights and rhythms. So after three songs and one kick to the head from a crowd surfer I enjoyed the rest of the show. I was surprised at how many people knew the entire new album word for word already and how much they wanted to mosh. With me personally I’m more of a fan of their older stuff and would have loved to hear more from ‘The Flood’ album, granted they did play “The Depths” as the last song of the encore even though that song is on the special edition released after the original album.
Of Mice and Men (Photo Credit: Austin Voldseth)
Words and Images: Austin Voldseth
This Years X Games Musical Artist Failed To Disappoint Despite Playing In Freezing Temperatures
This years lineup of X Games music featured a mixed lineup with genre favorites such as EDM darlings Martin Garrix and Marshmello. Also featured were hip hop strongholds Method Man And Redman. Brooklyn dance-rockers LCD Soundsystem also played for the masses who braved cold temperatures. Filled with pyrotechnics, lasers and one oversized disco ball the crowd in Aspen got to enjoy some of the finest. We were on hand to sip some photos of all three days of amazing music. Photos: Austin Voldseth
Martin Garrix
Method Man & Redman
LCD Soundsystem
Marshmello
Com Truise Let Loose At Red Rocks This Past Weekend
Seth Haley aka Com Truise doing work during his Red Rocks set. (Photo Credit: Austin Voldseth)
Earlier this summer Com Truise - aka LA-based producer Seth Haley - released Iteration, his first full length in 6 years, and toured North America with Warp stalwart Clark. Haley is back out on the road, this time joining Nosaj Thing and Lotus, and made a stop at Red Rocks this past Saturday. With a well rounded set Haley warmed up the crowd for an amazing night of music flanked by an array of visuals that made you wish you wore your brightest neon colored tank top.
Deeply inspired by sci-fi scores, Iteration's slick, shimmery synths and booming, metallic beats further developed the Tron-like world that has become synonymous with Com Truise. His live set embraces the simplistic lines of 80's sci-fi - he is near darkness, backlight by transfixing neon visuals.
A focused Com Truise getting the party started at Red Rocks. (Photo Credit: Com Truise)
All photos courtesy of Austin Voldseth. All Rights Reserved.
Phoenix Shines With All New Material In Their Return To Red Rocks
Parisian electropop rockers Phoenix made their return to Red Rocks in support of their new album Ti Amo (coincidentally drops tomorrow). With a slew of new material Thomas Mars and company used the picturesque venue to debut newer material. Holding on to some of the classics Phoenix managed to create an all dance party in spite of a short lived torrential downpour (seems like a pattern this year at Red Rocks). Playing hits like "1901", "Liztomania", and newer soon to become hits like "J-Boy' and "Ti Amo", the band shined and received a warming applause. We still remember seeing them when they first played Red Rocks back during the Monolith Festival and just like back then, we still love to cut a rug to the awesome music they perform. Strong support from SXSW faves The Lemon Twigs and veterans Miike Snow got the mood started with amazing opening sets.,
Photos: Austin Voldseth
Bonobo and Nick Murphy (Chet Faker) Shined At Red Rocks Despite Some Spring Showers
Bonobo (Photo Credit: Austin Voldseth)
Rain or shine, Red Rocks is an ideal venue for any performance. This was especially true on Friday when Nick Murphy and Bonobo co-lined with special guests Marcus Marr and Innov Gnawa, and audience members were surprised with a spring storm a 1/3rd of the way through the show. Warm summer breezes, a glowing full moon, dazzling laser exhibitions, and the music of course, made for a really wonderful beginning to my own Red Rocks season.
While at Red Rocks for this particular event, I was highly discouraged when I met a handful of people that had a) never heard of Bonobo b) weren’t intending on staying past Nick Murphy’s set. I made my frustration apparent and hopefully convinced those humans otherwise, because man, would they miss out. A redeeming experience however was that this was truly an all-ages show, including the cutest five year old I had the pleasure of running into, who had wonderful things to say about her own fun dancing with mom and the lights!
Nick Murphy is the latest project of artist previously known as Chet Faker, who’s newest EP, Missing Link came out earlier this year. Maybe biased because I was fond of his music as Chet Faker, I was surprised at the energy level of Murphy’s set, which was simply slow for what I knew was to come from Bonobo. Dave Chappelle said it best when he said, “White people love electric guitar.”, but this was a little too much for my taste. Despite being a more stand and sway set, Murphy played fan favorites such as “Your Time” ft. Kaytranada and “Forget About Me”, which threw a few more high energy numbers into the mix. Murphy also invited Marcus Marr on stage with him for multiple collaborative performances, which was a nice addition to the overall fluidity of the show.
Incorporating the openers was a reoccurring theme apparently, as Bonobo followed suit by bringing traditional Moroccan gnawa band, Innov Gnawa on stage for Migration’s banger, “Bambro Koyo Ganda”. Their lively, wordly sounds were mixed with heavy drops of bass and sultry dance music. The crowd vibrated along while being immersed in a visual experience consisting of organic nature visuals on split panels behind the band and a psychedelic light show. Other special guests included angelic singer, Szjerdene and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Both were incredible additions to the live show that allow Simon Green’s (Bonobo) vision to come to life through magnificently talented people.
Crowd pleaser that he is, Simon Green played favorites from previous albums, and danced them the hell up. “Cirrus” and “Kiara” were my favorites to come up, and fans would agree that this set was the perfect blend of old and new. “Break Apart”, “Kerala”, and “No Reason” ft. Nick Murphy were highlights from the newest album, Migration, and all contributed to the dancefloor dreamland Green creates every time he performs.
Dreamland created, Murphy and Green were a dynamic duo with a humble presence to their display. 9/10.
Words: Lina Skrzypczak
Images: Austin Voldseth
