Porter Robinson | The Ogden Theatre | July 7th

Photo Credit: Justin Schoenborn​​

Webster defines ethereal as heavenly, celestial, of or relating to the regions beyond the earth.  The sounds that feel upon my ears this past Saturday at The Ogden were nothing but; it was the closest I’ve ever felt to a religious experience at a live show. Porter Robinson was holding mass, and though not holy, the spirit was definitely moving people.
Porter wasn’t alone in delivering his electric gospel. The M Machine set the stage and got the crowd on their feet. A giant LED M hung behind the trio, lighting up the stage in sync with the smooth sounds and silky synth vocals. If Porter Robinson was the savior, than Mat Zo was his disciple, coming before to preach the good news. Hailing from jolly old England, Matan Zohar brought big noise and even bigger drops.  The faithful in attendance raised their hands to the sky in praise as the bass shook the floor and shot through their chests.
Shortly after 11 p.m. Porter took control of his house. Beats were dropped, sweat was shared, and as Mr.Robinson’s heavens opened, the ground shook beneath our feet. Souls cleansed, made pure, 100% in the Bitch.

Justin​

M83 at The Ogden: 4/30 : Review

One of last year’s most celebrated albums would have to have been "Hurry Up, I’m Dreaming" by indie blog darlings M83. Continuing to ride the wave of their successful album, Anthony Gonzales and company brought a show that already had the crowd buzzing as one of the best they have seen this year. The sold-out crowd enjoyed a two-hour set filled with strobes and a simple stage that lit up with the performance. Gonzales came out with the haunting mask that he has been known to wear during the opening set, as the piano riffs of “Intro” blasted throughout the venue. Flanked by the lovely Morgan Kibby, his talented brother Yann Gonzalez, and drummer Loîc Maurin, most of the songs played came from "Hurry Up, I’m Dreaming" as well as a few from "Before Dawn Heals Us" and "Saturdays=Youth".  

The emotion that Gonzales brings to their sound was apparent during “We Own The Sky”, which takes on a much different rendition when performed live. The crowd sang as Morgan Kibby belted out the chorus of “It’s coming, It’s coming now...”, one of the highlights of the evening. They saved their best for “Midnight City” as the one specific lyric hit home “..the city is my church”; it’s as if everybody in the venue was praising grace to the disco glam of the song.

As M83’s first headlining shows in the Mile High City, I am certain that we will be seeing them again soon, hopefully next time at Red Rocks.

Castro

Intro | Teen Angst | Graveyard Girl | Reunion | Sitting | Year One, One UFO | We Own The Sky | Steve McQueen | Wait | Fall | Bright Flash | Midnight City | Guitar & A Heart | Don’t Save Us | Skin | Couleurs

The Naked and Famous at The Ogden: 4/18: Review

From time to time, Denver is hit with one of those “under the radar shows” that seems to slip through the cracks. The last time I saw The Naked and Famous was two years ago at South By Southwest they had just released their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You.  With two years of touring and promoting the album, they are now a fixture on many radio stations. With catchy hooks and an infectious post-punk revival sound, it is no wonder they are selling out arenas in every city.  The group from New Zealand made up of of Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith have a fresh way of capturing and engaging an audience during their live performance.

The sold out crowd sat through a rather unique set from openers Vacationer, who were able to play a longer set due to Now, Now canceling their performance. As the house lights dimmed and the LED backdrop lit up, The Naked and Famous opened up with an all too familiar single “All of This”. Although the crowd seemed to enjoy the performance, I feel it may have lacked energy at some points throughout the night. With most of their songs being dance numbers, the crowd seemed perplexed anticipating radio friendly hits such as “No Way” and encore song “Young Blood”.  These songs in particular showcased the skillful guitar play of Thom Powers and the angelic stage presence of Alisa Xayalith, the way she moved in her garment reminded me of wings at times.

Castro

Setlist:
All Of This | Punching | Spank | The Sun | The Source | Bells | Frayed | Eyes | No Way | Jilted Lovers | The Ends | A Wolf In | Girls Like You | Da Da Da | Young Blood |

Young the Giant at The Ogden Theatre: Review

The packed house in The Ogden Theater on Saturday was buzzing with electricity, waiting patiently for Young the Giant to take stage. Headlining for the third time in Denver in just over six months, it was clear that the mile high music scene is far from feeling tired of this young, budding indie group from Los Angeles. 

Opening the set with the song “I Got”, the group’s melodic and airy feel began to flow through the hall. That night, lead vocalist Samir was using two different microphones on stage. One, a standard vocal SM58 microphone and the other was a Super 55 Deluxe; an old, radio presenter microphone which gave his voice that aged, long, and somewhat echoic tone that has become a staple of the band’s unique sound. An interesting addition to the group’s stage set, their choice to take this microphone with them on the road really showcases the band’s dedication to keeping their live performance close to their recorded sound. Continuing through their set the band played mainly songs like “12 Fingers”, “Strings”, “God Made Man”, and “Garands” off their self-titled Young The Giant, the band’s music set that evening was coupled with an incredible light show that held my attention beginning to end. Although much of the audience seemed to passively enjoy most of the set, songs like “Cough Syrup”, and even “Camera”, which Samir played on piano, were familiar enough to draw the crowd’s attention back to the stage. Closing out the night with an encore of their newest single “Apartment” and obviously “My Body”, the crowd left with a full dose of Young the Giant. 

This was the band’s first time playing a venue in Denver this large. Taking the stage at the Westword Music Showcase over the summer, and then selling out The Bluebird in October, the group’s jump from a 600 capacity room to a 1,600 capacity room was huge. The band’s growing popularity is largely from the amount of radio play stations like 93.3 KTCL and 97.3 KBCO. Although this show sold out the venue months in advance, it seemed a majority of the audience were dismissive of anything aside from the radio singles. A group like Young the Giant, who’s music is already so ambient and easy listening, is a bit harder to thoroughly enjoy in a room as large as The Ogden because it takes more “umpf” to fill the whole space. Even though I loved to finally have the opportunity to hear Young the Giant live, I would have enjoyed the set more in a smaller, more intimate setting like The Bluebird. I’m excited for their continued success and growth into the mainstream, but I secretly hope that the next time they return to the state, it’ll be back in a smaller venue. 

Maddie

Big Gigantic at The Ogden: 1/21: Review

The Bee Hive

Denver was alive and well Saturday night as Boulder native Big Gigantic rolled into the Ogden Theatre. It has been a while since Colorado fans have seen the fast-growing duo of Dominic Lalli (producer/sax) and Jeremy Salken (drums). The show in Denver wrapped up a mini Colorado tour for the group as they hit Aspen, Boulder, and Fort Collins before joining us. Selling out every show on the list, it was apparent that the Colorado fans where in dire need of some Big Gigantic love.

Opening the night was another local, Fisk, who has been making a name in the Boulder scene over the last couple of years. Rocking an Elm & Oak shirt, he played some dirty bass that got the crowd moving almost immediately. Remixing the likes of Sublime’ s “Santeria” and “Play that Funky Music” Fisk kept the hard hitting bass going for an hour before handing off to GRiZ.

Joining us from a little town called Detroit, GRiZ didn’t let people relax as he immediately went into some unique, big-jazz band dubstep remixes. GRiZ kept his set list rather varied in terms of beat, tempo and pace. Based off the vibe of the crowd, it seemed that he did a better job with the faster stuff. The crowd pleaser came when he sampled Kayne’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothin’”. This got the most hands up in the air and set the crowd back on the right track for the headliner of the evening.

Big Gigantic rocks The Ogden crowdA quick word about Big Gigantic’s new stage setup. If you haven’t seen the video from their New Year’s Eve show in Chicago (where they first showcased the new stage) you should check it out. It could be best described as two bee hives split down the middle. Both Dominic and Jeremy had their own bee hive, inhabiting the middle. The hives themselves were covered in three-pane LED boards that added to the ambiance. I am seeing more and more producers and artists building elaborate stages these days and I, for one, am a big fan of this as it provides variety and adds an almost synesthetic element to the show, you get both the audio and visual. I also enjoyed that it was the first time in a while that the Ogden felt like a completely different venue. It was as though the entire crowd was transported to Big Gigantic’s world, which is probably what they intended for. The other time I have seen this happen was during the Crystal Castles’ show when the entire place, literally the entire place, was filled with fog and you couldn’t see the stage, let alone the group.

I feel that Big Gigantic has gained such momentum and popularity through 2011 not only because of the extensive touring, but the unique sound they produce. The saxophone is, to me, one of the most distinct aspects of Big Gigantic’s music since it adds a more organic and personal feeling to a genre that is almost exclusively artificial.  Watching Dominic put everything he has into that saxophone shows true love for what he does. Big Gigantic spent the first part of the show playing a repertoire of songs from their older albums, adding new twists and layers to them. Playing songs like “Solitude” and “Sky High” from the previous album quickly reminded the crowd why they loved Big Gigantic. Songs later in the set came from the new album, including “Heavyweight Champ”, “The Uprising”, and the album’s namesake, “Nocturnal”, kept the crowd excited for the guys’ next evolution. Playing over a solid 2+ hours, Big Gigantic showed just how amazing Colorado is and the talent that this state continues to produce.

 Kyle

Paper Diamond at the Ogden Theatre: 11/4: Review

Turnt Up Tour

The Ogden Theatre filled up quickly because the kids were pumped to see the openers as well, Minnesota being the one I was most excited for. This was for two reasons, one he looks exactly like my little brother. In fact, people were coming up to my brother asking him if he was Minnesota. But more so because he had a unique style to dubstep; a more mellow and little bit slower sound. This certainly doesn’t mean he didn’t bring the proper amount of energy needed before Paper Diamond.

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Kyle