Wed, 02/29/2012 - 5:09 am

The night is young around midnight; the music loud, beads and balloons reflect the Mardi Gras aura at Fox Theatre with WhiteWater Ramble. The show, much like their music, is unpredictable to say the least. The evening consists of staple WhiteWater tunes, a few Mardi Gras classics, an always-packed stage of welcome accompaniments, and a crowd as wild as the performers. A collage of sounds takes shape as a result of numerous influences that yields, what WWR describes best as their, “High-Octane Rocky Mountain DanceGrass” style.This self-description can’t do justice to the unpredictable fashion of music that leaves listeners adventuring down the rabbit hole of WWR’s unique sound, losing themselves in a wonderland of melody. As if the music isn’t enough, viewers still get the pleasure of witnessing and participating in a show best summarized as a celebration, a party everyone is invited to.Movement is the language, and WWR is the subject of conversation. Their erratic wanderings guide unknown expectations, making every groove a new river to ramble, a peak to experience, a height to bob in. With each song the night advances further into a rowdy jamboree fueled by the multi-dimensional bluegrass medley, in a manner that does New Orleans proud.Mardi Gras is traditionally a carnival beginning on or after an epiphany; meaning uproars of smiles, good times and dancing after a striking occurrence of understanding; enlightenment which takes shape in losing all sense of bearing having been blindsided by the progressive and unorthodox sound WWR so generously provides. From a bouncy bluegrass feel with highlights reaching into rock, funk and hints of blues, the music forces listeners to follow its drifting cadence. The performance captures that carefree and raucous Mardi Gras lifestyle with limitless instrumentation of real time musical pioneering.WWR engages a larger genre that can’t fit inside the lines. With loads of range to entertain the most diverse collections of fondness, the music embraces that which is undefined. From dueling solos to collaborative jamgrass freestyles, the funk infects each moment.The night’s bill is far from shy, welcoming accompaniments by The Brass Tax, Jet Edison’s Phil Johnson, Joel Lessard of Head for the Hills, Joey Porter of The Motet and Juno What?!, and even including WWR’s own Howard Montgomery’s father Bob Montgomery on the accordion. WWR’s all-inclusive untamed sing-along enables aimless discovery of whatever comes next, be it a funked-up bluegrass bass line or a jamgrass core with drums to up the ante and splash some extra style in the pot.There was no room to resist the urge of joining along in the out of control ramblings of a musical plethora, where each seamlessly strung together sound tickles the ear encouraging your feet to move. In doing justice to the unruly nature of Mardi Gras, a volatile style of music, and a crowd happy to partake in the festivities, WWR raises the bar of live performance. With a surplus of smiles, dancing, and bead-tossing good times the Fort Collins native posse delivered a show to remember.Check out more photos from the show.

Mon, 03/05/2012 - 4:23 am

Embrace is the term that best summarizes the exchange between Bonobo and his audience, a welcoming and adoption of the noise that surrounds listeners. Simon Green, a UK native, is a pioneer and mastermind of the downtempo/trip hop sound that is Bonobo. Usually accompanied with a live band, Green holds his ground gracefully above the bass. He likes to take ownership of his music, playing every instrument when recording, an approach unexpected among musicians of his kind. This intense form of authorship enables Bonobo to create original beats, and taking pages form his own book, he delivers a performance that is truly uncommon.The show itself is a breathing and interactive entity. A relationship exists between the blare of the speakers, the man on the stage, and the people in the crowd; everything is very much a part of the other, coinciding naturally through the barrage of sounds that connect them all together. This incarnation is much like the feeling of a dream, an environment wherein dreamers not only feel the shifting vibrations of each surrounding echo, but maintain their sense of hopeful curiosity, anxious to know what new melody will sweep them away next. Bonobo’s beats are choice, cleaned up, and not overdone; leaving room for listeners to enjoy without being too overwhelming.Much like the variable style of his music, Simon Green is equally unpredictable. He keeps followers on their toes with solo DJ shows, releasing live albums, or revisiting old songs with new remixes. Bonobo focuses on delivering fresh material, and aiming his songs at the ears of his fans, the music does all the talking.Whichever new direction Green decides to steer his spectators, the music acts as the wave in which to ride along the way. Each new swell of sound greets expecting listeners; combinations of drowsy horns and hard-hitting bass, a smoothed out sax with bongos and salsa shakers, or an 80’s club beat mixing with low-key “Cure-sounding” undertones. The living track shares a heartbeat with the crowd and the music reflects that pulse, the kind of interaction where every drop culminates in an on and off stage eruption. At any given moment no sound is off limits, each musical signature is embraced and belongs with one another rather than just blending together.A carousel of sound provides an effortless rise and fall. One groove attaches to another, swaying involuntary movement into its passengers, resulting in a show where everyone is along for the ride. Green is a wanderer of the track; he gives and takes in a mutual love/love relationship with his audience, but this isn’t your typical one-night stand. What remains is the happy memory; a circus of sounds deliberately sewn together with bass and musical creativity, and a performance that pushes the boundaries of the traditional bond between man and music.Check out more photos from the show.

Sat, 04/07/2012 - 7:45 am

For being a top billed Australian hip-hop group Hilltop Hoods sure felt at home on their premiere show at The Fox and their first ever visit to Colorado. The scene was packed with an ensemble of listeners, a diverse group of music lovers, stretching from young punks to veterans straight out of the old skool. However age and origin wasn’t an issue, everyone was there to see Hilltop.Hilltop had arrived. They brought with them their fresh and bouncy flow, a spectacle powered by clean beats and bobbing heads. The music was loud and assaulting, everyone was forced to react, a response made visible through the shared movement in the crowd. A distinct sound radiates from Hilltop’s beats and lyrical duo, combing style with style a choice track is the aftermath; and witnessing it live is truly one of a kind.The show was engaging; interaction with the crowd kept hands in the air. Endless chants left “Hilltop” on the tip of everyone’s tongue.  To put it in their own words, “Renegades whenever on centre stage, That’s my sweat upon the letters I bled on the pen and page.” At one point DJ Suffa was stunned by the sheer volume and energy of the crowd, he made a phone call to the band’s manager to share his disbelief, the volume then went from 11 to 12.The powerful presence that is Hilltop Hoods takes form in a trifecta of MC Pressure (Daniel Smith), MC Suffa (Matt Lambert), and DJ Debris (Barry Francis); a crew that is bigger than record sales and sold out shows, they have a consciousness that extends outside the studio and into the lives of other aspiring musicians.Hilltop launched “Hilltop Initiative” in 2005, a program that grants $10,000 to an up and coming Australian hip-hop artists; the money helps the emerging rapper produce and distribute a quality album. The group, being well aware of their role in the music game, decided to create their own label, and in 2008 founded Golden Era Records; a company that aims to revive that perfect period in hip-hop for each individual. Hilltop embodies the untraditional, and in turn redefines what a rap group is capable of. The trio has definitely changed the music scene, be it with their approach to the industry or their potent lyrical delivery.Using relevant content in their songs Hilltop explores deep themes like life, change, and the effect of their role in musical history. This is a pleasant change of scenery from mainstream hip-hop which all too often doesn’t really say anything. Their latest album, Drinking From The Sun, is packed with heartfelt and powerful rhymes, well-delivered lines deal with intimate tragedies and hardships, poetically put in a way that engage and enrage listeners.Hilltop’s way with words grants audiences access into the lifestyle and struggle of their lives as rappers in a way that connects with the “day-to-day fears” in everyone’s personal journey. “And it ain’t where we’re at; it’s how we made our way here.” In this way things are how they should be, all thanks to the paths behind and in front of us; and if your path happens to lead you to one of their shows, you are in for a gem of an evening.

Sun, 05/27/2012 - 6:02 am

Inside everyone rests passion and desire; Break Science puts those feelings into motion, stirring them up on a journey of all-encompassing musical wonder. The path was anything but straight, complete with twists, turns, and the always welcome drop. Feeling the music was the only option; there was no escaping the wide reaching combination of sounds and styles cruising out of the speakers and into ready ears that reach down to the feet of listeners. An electricity was in the air, all that remains is to get lost in the discovery of it.

The Brooklyn native group consists of DJ and keyboardist Borahm Lee, and Adam Deitch on drums. Combined the duo manage a fresh sound that spreads across many sources of inspiration and influence. Break Science capitalizes on numerous genres to create a unique musical signature. Crunchy drops with bass on top of bass pairs with technical drumming. Hip-hop samples dance across the track laced with layers of dubstep and ambient keyboard. Break Science provides, “a spark that initiates us to consider wider possibilities and ideas,” says Lee. This spark experienced in the music represents their deeper purpose as artists while the music itself showcases their versatile range as an up-and-coming force in the electronic music scene.

The group’s diversity doesn’t stop at their sound, a well-rounded track record flaunts producing credits, collaborations, and tours with names like WuTang Clan, Talib Kweli, John Scofield and The Fugees. During their performance Boulder’s own Dominic Lalli of Big Gigantic laid down some sax, adding another memorable footnote to what would become an unforgettable evening.

The Fox Theatre was wall to wall with travelers of the track; the packed venue was the perfect platform for the hard-hitting performance. A cranked up bass rattles awake dormant emotions while interwoven layers of sound arouse the closely listening ear. Break Science utilizes different frequencies across their numerous melodies in any given song, in effect permitting new experiences each time a song is revisited.

Each song is alive in an interactive way that allows for continual revelation, but the music wasn’t the only living element of the show. The relationship between sound and vision was taken full advantage of with lights and lasers that danced with the crowd, courtesies of Fox Theatre and Tim Farquhar at 12BC Pro Lighting and Sound. The visual display offered illumination to awe over, and an array of colors to hypnotize.

An assortment of different harmonies extend out of the music; not just the pretty blending of bouncy beats to move with, but also a curios inclination to seek out and follow what you hear in the music. The show was a spectacle to listen to and witness simultaneously. Break Science leaves their mark on viewers, a symbol of their wanderings, a scar to signify a moment in time unlike all the rest.

Check out more photos from the show.