The Scene: The sun set on the Outer Orbit Tour last Saturday when it closed out its nationwide, several month long journey at the Ogden Theatre. With two openers and the headliner scheduled, we were in for a long night. The block between Ogden and Clarkson was crawling with music heads ready to get their dance party on. Both The Fillmore and The Ogden were hosting electronic shows with progressive and psychedelic rock band Papadosio headlining the Fillmore. The sights and sounds of the infamous Colfax strip created an elusive and almost surreal energy making you feel like you were somewhere else. A city pulsing with vigor and hype, pushing its patrons to the venue doors. With so much music going on in Denver it is getting harder and harder to choose what to see and hear. I entered the Ogden without concern, walking straight into the music and feeling and seeing the room bounce with soul.
Opener: Templo Music. The Down-Tempo drum beats from Denver’s Templo Music was a great starting point for the sure to be almost 5 hour show. Mingling well together, the 16 and up crowd enjoyed the background of Templo Music, who laid down Trip-Hop and deep bass beats heating the crowd for the night to come. The 45 minute set was a mellow Dub mix which was easy listening and enjoyable. It was nice to see a local DJ get a chance on the Ogden stage.
Opener: Signal Path. A group of three, shaped in 2001, Signal Path have entered into the realm of progressive instrumental Electronica that keeps everyone interested in what they will come up with next. Transcending through a collage of guitars, drums and bass guitar, the jam session kept the crowd animated with good feelings. Mixing and producing on stage, Ryan Burnett is the conductor and watches his counterparts closely, giving the signal to change direction. Songs kept progressing and emerging from their extensive track list. Matt Schumacher came in with some funky bass lines, binding the jam band formation. They continued to give us peaks and valleys creating a mixing pot of Jazz, Funk, Jam and Electronic Rock. Patrons glowed with smiles as the party began to grow, the venue continuing to fill up during their set which was scheduled for an hour. Seeing how far they could go, each song pushed a little further than intended until they had to cut it off and yield the stage to the main attraction and surging mass of party goers.
EOTO: EOTO’s performance art and 3D spectacle of the year, Outer Orbit, concluded in the city that helped them be who they are today. Debuting at the first Sonic Bloom, EOTO has built a large following since their 2006 coming out. Hailing from Colorado and California, the duo consists of The String Cheese Incident’s Michael Travis and Jason Hann and what they have created has pushed the creative limits of what seasoned musicians can think to do. Changing how live music is created, they have fashioned a new way of performing.
Though EOTO sounds completely different than they did five years ago, each passing year has been a milestone of achievement and progression for such an experimental band. Half of the presentation revolves around the visuals that are set up on stage. Becoming accustomed to being encircled by an art installation, the team was encased in 3D diamond shaped pillars. The massive projector screen, double laser machines, and countless lighting rigs, generated an eclipse around the performers. The vision that is EOTO wouldn’t be the same without their stage set-ups and the Ogden stage proved to be enough space for the fantasy.
Introducing the show, Travis gives the mass a fair warning: “We are EOTO. We start fresh every show, there are no backing tracks and it is all improvised.” Wondering how they do this will blow your mind if you think too hard. With Travis’s producing skills, he and Hann are a match made in instrumental heaven. With a subtle flick of the sound board, the show starts and you have no idea where you will be going. Having the creative process executed on stage feels like you’re in the recording studio with the musicians. Feeding off the crowd’s energy, the band provides a surge of high octane dance music. Dozens of balloons bounce around and glow sticks are thrown from the balconies. The performance is in constant construction mode with the band building the groove. Dancing erupts from all directions, the theater pulses with heavy bass beats, thumping Dub-Step and intense visual stimulation. While EOTO’s main objective is to create high intensity dance music, they come back to their roots at times, giving you a prolonged drum solo from Hann or guitar riff from Travis. Their recording programs and funky gadgets create sounds that you’ve never heard before and you wonder where they came from. During the live production, Travis is constantly moving back and forth between the synth block, sound machine, keyboard and guitar. Jason Hann gives us the steady drum beat but adds dimension with vocal samples of Busta Rhymes “Gimme Some More” and Q-Tip’s “Breath and Stop” echoing from his microphone. Set one concluded with a crescendo of Jam-Funk fusion and we were all rewarded with a 15 minute break before the madness took over again.
Set two showed no signs of cooling down which and Hann confirmed that with a friendly reminder that they will play right up to the 1:30am mark. The laser show continued, manipulated by the sounds vibrating the theaters walls. The pair engaged the crowd asking for claps and sound echoes which provided them with the framework of where to go next. Being the legendary drum player that he is, Hann shined during set two. He brought out the bongos a led a monkey chant of sorts with the crowd which ebbed and flowed for what seemed like 30 minutes of the set. Showing their jam band roots, they simmered to a Reggae beat that brought everyone back to earth. The impressive twosome didn’t cut any corners and piled everything into their finale. The final climax of bass, drums, lasers, synthesizer and applause provided the foundation for the artists to take a bow and exit with satisfaction.
Energy: A+
Musicianship: A+
Sound: A
Stage Presence: B
Set/Light Show: A+
Overall: A
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