The Scene: Back in the 70’s when Playboy Magazine supposedly called Colfax the “longest, wickedest street in America,” the Bluebird Theater was doing its part by showing XXX movies. This infamous quote about an even more infamous street was probably never printed in the pages of Playboy. No one has ever been able to find the quote, but it keeps being printed and attributed to America’s men’s magazine. Once best known for prostitution, drugs, and dive bars, Colfax continues to change for the better. In areas like the Bluebird district, anchored by the Theater, it is now home to some of the city’s best bars, restaurants, and live music.
Fantastic Negrito: On Wednesday Fantastic Negrito played its style of black music for all people to a decent size crowd – especially for a Wednesday. The audience filled the different tiers and dancing area of the main floor, but the balcony area was dark and roped off for the evening. The show felt intimate, but there was a large enough crowd to provide energy back to the four piece band on the stage. The band, headed up by the self-taught musician and singer songwriter Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, played a raw set with almost a spiritual fervor. A set that included elements of Funk and Jazz with songs like “Plastic Hamburgers,” hard rock with the likes of “Hump Thru the Winter,” and blues tinged numbers like “Bad Guy Necessity.” This was easily one of my favorite shows this long hot summer.
Fantastic Negrito’s Xavier and Colfax have a lot in common. Both have a seedy past filled with drugs and crime. Both nearly died. Colfax when I-70 was built rerouting traffic so the street was no longer the “Gateway to the Rockies.” Xavier lost his initial music career after he literally almost died in a car accident that left him in a coma. Both the street and the artist just may have been saved by music. Both have fought back through difficulties to reclaim their lives. From large venues like the Ogden, Fillmore Auditorium, and Bluebird theaters, to smaller venues like Lost Lake, and Lion’s Lair, to neighborhood bars like The Zephyr Lounge and EastFax Tap Colfax has become the center of live music in Denver. After nearly a decade Xavier returned to music in 2014, releasing three albums and winning two Grammys. At Listen Up Denver! I think we can easily say that Denverites are better off with both Xavier and Colfax in our lives.
Energy: A+
Musicianship: A
Sound: A
Stage Presence: A
Set/Light Show: A
Overall: A
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