Electron – January 17th – Gothic Theater

Estimated read time 7 min read

electron20150117-01 (Custom)Photos by Dan Melnik

The Scene: South Broadway was buzzing as Electron closed out their 4 night Colorado run with a sold-out show at The Gothic Theatre.  The super group featuring Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner of The Disco Biscuits, Tom Hamilton (Brothers Past, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead), and Mike Greenfield (Lotus) brought the heat and delighted fans with a mix of Brownstein penned Disco Biscuit songs as well as a few Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead covers thrown into the mix.  With a packed house and anticipation levels high after rave reviews of the previous three nights, the crowd was hyped and the band did not disappoint.

Electron:  Over the last few months it feels like Grateful Dead fever has been sweeping through the scene and on this night Electron was not immune.  Then again, I guess that shouldn’t have been a surprise.  With guitarist Tom Hamilton playing with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead and Phil and Friends, and The Disco Biscuits set to be joined by Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann at Red Rocks this summer, it is easy to understand but, with all that said, the last thing I expected was to hear a band like Electron open their show in true Grateful Dead style with “Feels Like A Stranger.”  While vocal work is never the first thing to come to mind in most conversations about keyboardist Aron Magner, “Stranger” provided a rare opportunity for Magner to belt it out and his performance on the Dead classic had most in attendance with their jaws on the floor.  It’s not that Magner can’t sing, it’s that he rarely does so with such emotion and he channeled his inner Bob Weir in impressive fashion.  As the Dead vibe faded and things headed into more familiar territory, the band shifted into an inverted version of “Naeba.”  The bouncing melody of “Naeba” lent itself to the bubbly transition into “Shelby Rose” and this is where the show really took off.

“Shelby Rose” has become a staple of both Electron and The Disco Biscuits catalogs and its soft verses and chorus eventually give way to a breakbeat style jam culminating in a huge guitar peak.  This version of “Shelby” showcased what bringing in a guy like Tom Hamilton can do to the mix.  Hamilton cut his teeth as the guitar player and frontman of Brothers Past and has recently been turning heads with his Dead related projects as well as his own project: American Babies. Hamilton has really come into his own over the last few years and his playing exudes the confident swagger of a man who is reaching the heights of his talent. I guess drawing accolades from the likes of Phil Lesh will do wonders for one’s confidence.  This swagger was on full display all week and culminated in a “Shelby” peak for the ages.  Hamilton, who seemed to be steering the ship for more jams than not during the 4 night run, brought things to a fever pitch and despite his bandmates looking more than ready to drop into the songs peak, Hamilton continued to build things with soaring licks until the whole room was ready to burst.  With a huge grin on his face and the confidence that comes with having a 1,000 adoring fans hanging on your every note, Hamilton ripped through the songs ending leaving the sold-out crowd gasping for air.   These moments seem to happen more and more with whatever project Hamilton plays with these days and shows why some of his fans have dubbed him “The Midas Touch.”  With everyone in the crowd dripping in gold, it is easy to see why he has earned that alias.

It would have been very easy to just end the set there but Electron was not finished.  In another unexpected but wonderful twist, the band dropped into an almost Dub version of  “Dear Prudence.”  The foursome brought an eerie vibe to The Beatles classic which was soaked in Reggae grooves and haunting melodies.  Despite being dialed in for almost four straight nights the band was laughing and enjoying the looseness of this debut (as far as I know) and took the the jam to another level before peaking it with a fake out of “Gimme Some Lovin” by the Spencer Davis Group.   While I was hoping to hear Magner belt out yet another soulful number, the band wisely headed back into the “Dear Prudence” groove before heading into the songs iconic outro.  From there things launched into “Therapy” which has turned into a surprising dance party monster for Electron of late and the set concluded with “And The Ladies Were The Rest Of The Night.”

At setbreak just about every conversation I had started with something like “Holy shit, that was rowdy!!!” and it was hard to imagine the band topping themselves in set two.  Those thoughts were quickly erased as “Little Lai” turned from its usual ditty status to a Calypso filled groove fest.  From there the dance party would not stop and the band showed that, despite their side project status, they are as good as any group playing this style of music today.  From the first notes of “Confrontation” it was obvious that the four night run was going to end with a bang.  As the housey grooves of the “Confrontation” jam took hold, the whole room was getting down hard.  Despite this being a song I’ve heard countless times over the years, it never gets old and this particular version held some unique treasures as the band, truly synced in with one another, seemed to dance around a very familiar melody.  As most around me tried to put their fingers on it Magner beat us to the punch, hammering out the vocal melodies of  Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” on his Virus synthesizer. Needless to say this brought the house down but things didn’t stop there.  They shifted gears on a dime, built things up again, then dropped into another crowd favorite; “Shakedown Street” by The Grateful Dead.  By this point most in the crowd had just about lost it and were throwing down while helplessly grinning from ear to ear.

As time grew closer and closer to the venues curfew, the band just kept pushing things and from “Shakedown” launched into an Inverted version of “Humuhumunukunukuhapu’a.”  “Humu” is another Brownstein Biscuit tune that Electron is more than comfortable taking for a walk and was a treat to hear.  As the “Humu” jam started to morph from its tropical vibe and began to head into more guitar driven territory,  my excitement grew to a fever pitch.  With the beginning sections of “Confrontation” in the books and time running out, there was really only one last thing to do.   I’ve written before about how the ending peak to “Confrontation” may be my favorite part of any song to see live and this version certainly didn’t disappoint.  As Brownstein played the three note fills, Tom Hamilton once again took things to euphoric heights and nearly blew the roof off as everyone around me (ok maybe just me) fist pumped with the delight of a Jersey Shore Guido hearing his favorite  jam at the club.  For me, this was the perfect way to close out a magnificent run of shows by a band that we would all be lucky to see more of.

While it would have been impossible for the encore to reach the heights of either set, the band was not quite done.  After a short and sweet “Soul Is Shaking,” another forgotten Disco Biscuit tune that seems to have found a home with Electron, Tom Hamilton showed off of that Midas touch of his one last time delivering a flawless rendition of “Comfortably Numb.”  As Brownstein thanked the crowd for an amazing week and promised to be back sooner than later, hugs abounded both on and off stage as everyone in the room knew they had just witnessed an amazing night of music.

Energy: A
Musicianship: A
Sound: A-
Stage Presence: B+
Set/Lights: B

Overall: A

Gary Mellini

Gary is a lifelong music fan raised in Chicago. He is the "G" of J2G Live, a Denver based music production company that brings you "Dance Party Time Machine," "Revenge of the 90's" among other great events.

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