|
Saturday, September 13
If Friday night was all about preparing for the race, then Saturday was like three marathons packed into one. As if the lineup couldn't get anymore solid, a late announcement of a special late night closer kept the party going until well after 4 a.m. and seemed to solidify everyone's plans to either come back for a second night or get their ass there for this once-in-a-lifetime lineup. The buzz must have certainly spread, because on this evening, there was already a solid crowd at the venue by the time the first artists got started.
Goodie
 Eliot Lipp - Rocky Mountain Crystallization |
Ryan Goodman (Goodie), is a member of MFA and opened the show on the main stage with a mashup mix of house themes and pop hits. He described his set to me as an "Ableton mix and match," which is a common software tool that many of the artists were using. I think that the description was an understatement to the smooth transitions and grooves that he was throwing as the crowd began to fill up the room. Goodie has a residency in Boulder at Tahona every Friday and Saturday night.
Rena Jones
After reports from Sonic Bloom this past year, I was really excited to see Jones play. Her approach is to fuse down-tempo and breaks with the sounds of her violin, which she loops, layers and improvises with. Truly more of a musician's performance than the other artists on the bill, she relied on her programming as the base to her musical canvases, using her strings as the sonic paint. Speaking with Jones afterwards, she was really excited to have an opportunity to play again in front of a welcoming Colorado crowd and looks forward to coming back for more. Those of you in the Midwest should keep a lookout for her collaborations with the New Millennium Orchestra, who will be accompanying her on a new project as she flexes her sound even more and incorporates a full string quartet into the mix.
J. Boogie
Justin Boland (J. Boogie) is a Bay Area DJ who has shared the stage with and had his cuts remixed by an impressive list of players in the scene. His set was a complete mix of many different sounds, and his hip-hop influence came through more than any of the other artist this weekend. I thought that his set was exactly what the crowd needed to really get going in the main room, hyping up everyone for what was to come. Most noticeable about J. Boogie is his reach in the music scene. In the Bay Area, he holds residencies, a radio show, produces for Om Records and plays with a full live band, called Dubtronic Science. Also, coming soon, he told me, is a new album ready to drop on the Om hip-hop label, which will feature several MCs and is guaranteed to be booty shaking.
Random Rab
 PANTyRAID - Rocky Mountain Crystallization |
The main stage had been setup to optimize for time, and the DJs didn't disappoint. The stage swapping was quick assuring that there was never a lull in the mood. When Random Rab took the stage, the crowd was primed and all it took was the first few bars of the beat to set the place off. Rab had one of the best stage presences all weekend. He bounced around and queued the crowd for the drop, at one point he was so high energy, he popped himself on top of the DJ table and danced high above the crowd. His set was so captivating that I found myself stuck in the main room, despite the other acts that I wanted to see in Quixote's. Also a Bay Area artist, those near S.F. can check him out in a couple of weeks at Slim's, with BLVD featuring MC Souleye.
Bluetech
Evan Bartholomew is one of the leading creators of the sound that is taking hold of clubs across the globe. Not one to label his sound with typical genre names, Bartholomew described his setup to me, and the way he spoke about his craft made me feel as though this guy really knew the ins and outs of it all. Despite my affinity for his albums, which steadily provide the musical backdrop to my commute to the office, I just wasn't feeling the type of intensity from his set that made me want to stick around and miss Rab's set, although the general word was his set was amazing and the room packed to the brim with beaming fans.
Eliot Lipp
 Pretty Lights - Rocky Mountain Crystallization |
Eliot Lipp is a pioneer in the scene, blending hip-hop and electronic music to create soundscapes that remind you of how all these new types of sounds got their roots. And, when I said that Rena Jones was the only instrumentalist here it wasn't necessarily true. His setup includes a fat bottomed Moog keyboard that is responsible for creating the melody lines that commonly plague my mind in an endless loop. I swear, some of the tracks from his album The Outside sometimes won't leave my inner ear. Lipp was easily one of the biggest draws of the weekend, and his set did not disappoint the hoards of fans that stuffed themselves into Quixote's to catch it.
PANTyRAID
During the soundcheck, there was so much hype for this set from the new group made up of The Glitch Mob's Ooah (Josh Mayer) and MartyParty (Marty Folb), that even Eliot Lipp himself requested to have his set time pushed up, so he could end his set with enough time to catch PANTyRAID. As Rab ended and announced PANTyRAID to the stage, Ooah quickly informed the crowd, "This shit ain't Glitch Mob. This is PANTyRAID!" And he was right! From the second the beat dropped the place was a dance party. Only their third set together, they took the crowd through ass shakers, booty stompers and breaks that had people just straight loosing themselves. At one point, Ooah spoke to the crowd, pushing everyone to register to vote (Headcount was there to make sure that everyone had an opportunity), and then unveiled a new track that they "put together on the plane out there," he told me later. With Obama's DNC speech filling the room with thoughts of change, Marty dropped a mean beat to send the speech into warp drive. By the end of the set, they had rocked the place so hard that even the securest of chastity belts stood no chance, ensuring that every single panty was raided this night.
Pretty Lights
In a last minute announcement, Pretty Lights, the newest sensation to take over Colorado's growing electronic music scene, was added to the bill and allowed to play "until they wanted to stop." Pretty Lights is the superb programming and arranging of Derek Smith, who is accompanied by live drummer Cory Eberhard. The duo had a chance to throw a late night post-STS9 set in Berkeley several weeks earlier, although the set had been reduced to next to nothing and the venue closed down early. This night offered the pair a chance to play a true late-night show that had everyone sticking around until after 4 a.m., soaking it all in. These two are just straight energy. Infusing a combo of sounds yet already inventing a new sound, making something truly original, the sky is the limit for this act. Catch them now before they get huge and are playing larger shows. Your feet and heart will thank you for it.
Being the first Crystallization, I am already anticipating the intensity that next year's event will bring. And if the guys at Boogie Down Productions are going to use this event to set the bar in the scene for what the "whole show" experience is like, then everyone needs to take note because from the first beats to the last flashing lights the whole experience was nothing but a blast.
Video provided by Rocky Mtn Live
JamBase | Verge of Getting' It On
Go See Live Music!
|
