Skrillex and The Mothership Tour | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | June 20
The captain of The Mothership Skrillex (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)
This weekend Red Rocks played host to The Mothership Tour. The Skrillex-curated tour brought about some of EDM and hip hop's finest for the two-day residency. We had a chance to check out the tour on Friday night—although the venue didn't seem sold out, those who came raged, and boy did they rage hard. We got to the venue just in time for one of our favorite up and coming DJs, What So Not. We saw What So Not earlier this year at the Snowball Music Festival, and were left in awe. With his unique approach to electronic, intertwined with a hint of hip hop, house and dub, he managed to get the crowd into a wild frenzy.
What So Not becoming a Colorado favorite (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)
For some reason we weren't allowed to photograph RL Grime from the pit, so we had to take higher ground. We are glad we did as it made his performance more enjoyable. If you haven't been to Red Rocks, sometimes being up front gives no justice to catching a set from the middle of the venue. With a backdrop of the city of Denver in the distance and the the laser lights bouncing off the iconic walls, a show of this nature is often best enjoyed from mid-level. RL Grime continued where What So Not left off, destroying his set and as the young kids have coined the phrase "killed it."
RL Grime laying into a rather impressive set (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)
Next up was one half of hip hop royalty and ambassadors of hip hop Clipse. Pusha T has been making a name for himself the last few years as a solo artist who is on Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music collective. I was a little disappointed in the crowd's response to his performance; then again, looking at the demographic that filled the venue, it's safe to say many of them weren't even born when Clipse hit the scene. The only time the crowd really felt excited was during Pusha's verse from the Kanye hit "Mercy" and Future's "Move That Dope." It's a slippery slope when you mix up hip hop and EDM on the same bill. It's either going to work, or fizzle. Props to Pusha T for reminding us that hip hop is here to stay.
Hip hop royalty Pusha T (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)
A draped cloth featuring the alien figurehead from Skrillex's latest album Recess draped the front of the stage as the crew prepared the "spaceship", a countdown clock displayed minutes counting down for what everybody came to see. As the curtain dropped and cornea-burning laser lights covered the crowd, the infamous spaceship appeared. Behind the cockpit, Skrillex managed to infect the crowd with a dance-induced coma of electronic madness. Proclaiming that Red Rocks is his favorite venue in the world, the crowd ate it up with no hesitation (as is always when artists proclaim the same thing...who can blame them). The crowd enjoyed a mixture of his staples including hits from Scary Monsters and Sprites to Bangarang to his latest, Recess. Check out the video below of his live set from the second night at Red Rocks. Be sure to check out the rest of our photos here.
