Ultra5280's Best Photos of 2016

December 20, 2016

This year the Ultra5280 shutterbugs were all over the place. One of the coolest things we get to do around here is share our amazing photos with you from all the amazing concerts we get to cover. With a talented staff of amazing photographers some of these images are beyond words. A huge shoutout to all those who put in many hours and sacrifice to bring you these amazing photos. Big thanks to Matt Smith, Maddie Casey, Robert Castro, Andrew Rios, Milo Lee Hickman, and Stephanie Mathena. From Radiohead to Dolly Parton we present to you The Top Images of 2016....Ultra5280 Style.

ACL Late Night: M83 Electrified A Late Night Crowd at ACL Live

October 2, 2016

Anthony Gonzalez has always pushed the boundaries of his musical imagination with his band M83. With a slew of albums to contest from, the band played a very intimate late night set during ACL at The Moody Theatre. About to embark on the second leg of the Junk Tour Gonzalez and company entertained the capacity crowd with their electronic-dance music we have all come to love. Mixing new and old Gonzalez commanded the stage like a conductor giving us a emphatic edition of "Reunion" to open up the set. Hits such as "Oblivion", "We Own The Sky", and "Midnight City", had everybody snap-chatting away for that precious fifteen second of video they will probably only view once in their life. Gonzalez's unwillingness and energy are truly captured in every song, even when they slow things down, particularly with "Wait" which had the crowd singing in the chorus in perfect unison. The buzz amongst the crowd was heard saying it was the best M83 show they had encountered. A great show indeed, we couldn't argue with that.

They played an earlier set the day before at ACL, but a band like M83 needs to be seen a cozy club/venue to get the full experience of their lighting presentation, it brings a whole new feel to their live show. Such was the case at what I consider one of the best venues in the country. If you ever get a chance to see a show here we highly recommend it. (In fact we will be back here later this week for live tapings from Band of Horses and Foals).

Music | Catching Up With M83 at Red Rocks | May 31st | Review

June 9, 2016

Anthony Gonzalez of M83 (Photo Credit: Matt Smith)

As the sun was setting on Tuesday Anthony Gonzalez, front man and genius behind M83, walked onto the stage at Red Rocks, and opened their set with one of their hits, “Reunion”. The crowd was instantly dancing and singing along, and if you’re at all familiar with M83’s music, you can safely assume that the rest of the evening continued that same way. Gonzalez is a wizard when it comes to synth-heavy, 80’s pop influenced songs that can make anyone bob their head along.

M83 with brilliant visuals at Red Rocks (Photo Credit: Matt Smith)

M83 has been on tour for most of 2016 and will continue to jump between the U.S. and Europe for the rest of the year, closing out this lengthly run in the city from which they hail: Paris,France at the end of November. Red Rocks was alive with synth “beeps”, “boops”, “pew-pews”, through songs like “Wait”, “We Own The Sky”, “Oblivion”, and fan favorite “Midnight City”, and tracks from the newly released album Junk. M83 managed to pair each individual track with an incredible light show all it’s own. The night started with lights hanging behind the band that changed colors along with the beat of the music, but as the set progressed on to slightly slower tracks, the lights continued to morph as well. Lights that appeared to simply be hanging suddenly started rotating and swirling - almost dancing along to the track. Once the synthy, etherial sounds gave way to dance beats once again, even more lights appeared, projecting onto the landmark red rocks behind the stage. Gonzalez paused a few times in between tracks with what appeared to be a look of awe as he examined the crowd and massive monoliths, adoring the beautiful amphitheatre and thanking his fans.

M83 playing a few classics as well as newer material off their recent album (Photo Credit: Matt Smith)

M83 ended their set with “Outro”, the last song from their 2011 album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. Gonzalez and crew stepped off the stage a mere one hour after beginning their set. While it felt like a short set, the troupe returned with an extended 5 song encore, appeasing the crowd as they continued to cheer for more.

-Words Matt Smith & Maddie Casey / Photos: Matt Smith

M83 | Ali & Matthias from You And The Night

November 12, 2013

Here is a new track from You And The Night. The soundtrack pays tribute to French soundtracks from the 70's and is much more intimate than Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming and the Oblivion Soundtrack. This score is really for lovers and ghosts.
-Anthony Gonzales of M83

The Year In Photos 2012

December 24, 2012

We had the opportunity to shoot some amazing shows this year, narrowing down the best of 2012 took a couple days. From SXSW in Austin, Texas to the Telluride Brews and Blues Festival we had our shutterbugs all over the place. A huge thanks to our photographers who shot these amazing shows, David Burke, Matt Smith, Maddie Casey, Justin Schoenborn, Amanda Spilos, and Robert Castro. We now present to you The Year In Photos 2012 from Ultra5280.

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Wilco at Red Rocks (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Girltalk at Westword Showcase (Photo Credit: Justin Schoenborn)

Pretty Lights (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Mumford and Sons (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Linkin Park (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Deltron 3030 (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Chris Robinson (Photo Credit: Amanda Spilos)

Red Rocks Projection Mapping (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Bop Skizzum (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

The Photo Atlas (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Macklemore (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Glowing House (Photo Credit: Matt Smith)

M83 | Wait | Video

December 6, 2012

'Wait', taken from the album 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming', is the final episode of the trilogy, the end point of the visual collaboration between M83 and Fleur & Manu that has been ongoing throughout 2012.

Watch the full series here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7CZ4TImzrFlTqI5l09Az8modBIkqkwFB

Directed by Fleur & Manu, this video was made in conjunction with The Creators Project, a partnership between Intel and Vice.