Music | HARD Red Rocks | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | July 30 | Photo Essay

In what has become an annual tradition the HARD Festival has taken residency at Red Rocks the last couple years now and has brought some of electronica's biggest acts to the stage for one bass thumping night. This years lineup included some of the best including Option 4, Destructo. Porter Robinson, Dog Blood, and Glitch Mob. We had a chance to take in the music and provide you with some of the best visuals from the night. Enjoy.

District and Pineapples (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Porter Robinson (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Skrillex waving the Colorado flag (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

The Glitch Mob (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Check out the HARD Red Rocks Slideshow below: (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Porter Robinson Anniversary Show Video

One of our favorite DJ's Porter Robinson recently returned to the venue in which he played his first show two years ago, I still remember seeing him at Global Dance Festival two years ago for the first time and was blown away.

Back in October, two years to the day from his very first DJ gig at Motiv in Santa Cruz, Porter Robinson threw a free party at the same venue. Fans were hand picked to attend the very special event which included Porter's good friend Zedd. He's come a long way from his humble beginnings, but still revels in the moments when he can do something truly memorable for his dedicated following. Check out the video below to see the pandemonium, feel the intensity and get  closer to Porter and a couple hundred of his closest friends.

Porter Robinson | The Ogden Theatre | July 7th

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Photo Credit: Justin Schoenborn​​​​

Photo Credit: Justin Schoenborn​​

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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​

Pretty Lights at The First Bank Center: December 30, 2011: Review

Derek Vincent Smith aka Pretty Lights does his thing.

 Friday night at The First Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado was the first of two nights which welcomed Colorado's own Derek Vincent Smith, known by most as Pretty Lights.  The 9,500 plus in attendance came to dance and the lineup for the party did not dissappoint.  It is pretty amazing to think how far Pretty Lights has come a long in such a short period of time, I still recall seeing him a few years ago when I lived in Fort Collins.  Back then his setup was simple, with only a few strobes thrown in for good measure. Nowadays, he brings a light show unparalled in the industry.

Supervision

Opening the night's festivities was labelmate SuperVision whose unique style and old school approach set him apart from the rest of the Pretty Lights roster.  He kept the early crowd energized with danceable tracks and skillful scratching often associated with the hip hop genre, all while keeping it in the realm of electro.  Flanked with his customary Texas Rangers baseball cap, Richard Blake Hansen gives hip hop a unique element of electro unheard of anywhere else.

Next up was heavy hitter Porter Robinson. Rumor has it that Porter was upset about the lighting, which prompted his reaction to bring it hard.  Yup, he abosutely did.  With a performance and crowd reaction often associated with a headliner, Porter Robinson unleashed his barrage of bass with no avail.  Sampling an array of tracks, it was his version of Avicii's "Level"  that set the crowd into a frenzy.  He also managed to subtly incorporate his version of the Skrillex dance track "A Little Bit More", that wowed the crowd sending them into an all out synchronized bounce once the bass line dropped.  Porter was having a great time motivating the crowd to dance, a participation that is dissolving among artists that play the same set time after time.  It seems that only the passionate artists appreciate the crowd as much as the crowd appreciates them. 

Porter Robinson giving the sold out crowd the thumbs up

The crowd was in a full frenzy once Pretty Lights stage was being set-up, flanked with the house music which blarred out Dead Prez's "Hip Hop" a perfect primer for what was about to go down.  The house lights dimmed and Pretty Lights took the stage for what ended up becoming a full, 3-hour set that left the sold out crowd in a euphoric stage (literally). One great thing about a Pretty Lights show is that you will never see a show as same any other.  This night he incorporated a mix of old and hit us with a few new tracks that will only escalate the level of anticipation for his next album.  He maintained a downtempo feel all night while reaching back into his old hip hop roots with a set that left the often rowdy Pretty Lights crowd to soak in every ounce of musical bliss.  It was a couple of notable favorites that stood out the most including a full crowd sing along of "Finally Moving", and his version of Kanye West's "All of The Lights".  He managed to drop some of his well know remixes including his Steve Miller Band's "Fly Like an Eagle" which was a major hit during his performance earlier this year at Red Rocks.  Other notable tracks were "Aimin' at Your Head", and "Gazing at The Glare" which went perfect with his hip hop inspiration for the night.  All in all, the crowd was left with a notion that Pretty Lights' set can evoke different states of emotion throughout a show.

 

Castro

 

Pretty Lights performs his version of Kanye West's "All of The Lights"