NYS Music 20​17

Author: Andrew Wyatt

  • Quixotic and the Desert Dwellers Astonish the Ogden Theatre in Denver

    A sense of wonder. It’s that wide-eyed gleam that happens when any other breed of dog spots a poodle for the first time.  It is that sixth sense so rare in adulthood that it has been referred to as the superpower of children.  It is so potent a gift that marine biologist, Rachel Carson once exclaimed, “If I had influence with a good fairy, I would ask that her gift to each child be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.”

    Luckily, I have found that such magic does exist. One reminder came last week in form of Quixotic, an innovative performance art collective that fuses mind boggling imagination with technology, dance, aerials, projection mapping and live music. Quixotic started an an experimental artistic collaboration in Kansas City, Missouri in the mid-2000s has exploded into a worldwide performance phenomenon.

    Last week, Quixotic, along with world-beat electronic music group, the Desert Dwellers, transformed the Ogden Theatre into an awe-inspiring house of wonder imbued with fierce athleticism, grace, and lilting beauty. The performance, aptly titled, “Beyond”, explored the boundaries of what is commonly thought possible in visual/music performances. The performers challenged the boundaries of human limitation in a show that featured risky aerial hoop performances and astonishing contortionist dance movements accompanied by dramatic live and electronic music.

    If I had influence with a good fairy, I would ask that each adult have the opportunity to witness such a performance that possesses such an indestructible sense of wonder. Its effect would last a lifetime.

  • The Arise Festival Is More Than a Wake-Up Call

    At times, the music industry can seem like a viciously preposterous environment, kind of like a Sharknado movie sequel only with amplified instruments and egos, laptop computers and seven-dollar plastic water bottles sucked into a funnel cloud with the slimy sharks. But every now and then, a musician emerges from an overseas humanitarian mission or a music promoter decides to plant trees for each ticket sold to an event, or a festival books performers based on integrity as well as talent and name recognition.  And in the state of Colorado all of those can be found in the confines of one event, the Arise Music Festival, held last weekend August 4-6 at the scenic Sunrise Ranch near Loveland.

    “It’s not called the Wake Up Festival for a reason,” piped up festival co-founder Paul Bassis. “We want to bring in as many people and performers who are already awake.”  Organizers and staffers of the Arise fest set an intention of blending entertainment with community activism, consciousness-raising workshops and thoughtful environmental stewardship in a way that they hope separates their event from the rest.  The festival’s moving opening ceremony featuring Native American dances, African drumming and prayers offered an immediate and rousing example of that intention.

    And the Arise message seems to be getting out to the public. Last weekend’s event sold out for the first time in their brief five year history. One music group, Rising Appalachia, split a European tour in half just so they would be able to make a return appearance to Arise this year.  Alan Bartram, the stand-up bass player for bluegrass music favorites the Travelin’ McCourys, was impressed with the number of workshops offered over the weekend. “There was even a workshop on how to hula hoop with your elbow,” he commented with a baffled expression.

    Though the festival’s rust-colored mountain valley was raked by a daily series of rain and windstorms, the spirits of brightly colored festifarians remained buoyed by a wide ranging lineup that included EDM favorites like Tipper and rap musicians like Brother Ali. Fans of folk and bluegrass flocked to sets from Ani Difranco, Rising Appalachia and the frenetically improvisational Jeff Austin Band. Austin’s band joined with the McCourys for a spirited bluegrass tribute set to the Grateful Dead as well. The performance talent wasn’t limited to the musician sets either. Acrobatic acts like Fractal Tribe and Lunar Fire combined grace, athleticism and captivating aerials along with live music and fire performances throughout the weekend.

    The Arise festival sets a unique tone and atmosphere that is both fulfilling and fun. And its participants long for what surely will be a whirlwind of a sequel next year.

  • Hops and Handrails Festival Moves Mountains to Longmont, CO

    Moving mountains is usually the province and design of Greek gods, religious deities in the pages of sacred books or Hollywood film directors armed with a bevy of computer special effects. However, for one Colorado-based brewer, it has become an annual ritual in the front range town of Longmont, Colorado that is merely a matter of assembling a dedicated work crew driving a parade of dump trucks (carrying 18 loads of ski resort snow in three round trips) and armed with the imagination to throw beer festivals unlike any other. On March 11, for the fifth year, and with the eye-popping cinematic grace of a white-bearded Charlton Heston in a colorful robe raising his arms to part the waters of the Red Sea in a Cecille B. Demille film, the Left Hand Brewing Company pulled off this “miraculous” feat of building a nearly four-story-high snowboard/ski ramp for rail competition, hosting more than 70 breweries pouring craft beer samples, offering a kid’s terrain park and, on the side, throwing a daytime music festival.  It’s a far cry from throwing up tents in a parking lot and claiming it’s a beer fest.

    Still, the effect is pure, homespun Colorado charm. Along with the beards, beer and boards were a trio of bluegrass and jam bands that shook the stage and sloshed more than a few full bellies. Leading off were two area favorites with Colorado roots, Grant Farm and the Jeff Austin Band, featuring Yonder Mountain’s former frontman.  Austin may be a family man now, but he still knows how to make it appear that a crowd full of beer-toting music fans were dropped onto a giant hotplate with the propane cranked high. The afternoon closed with the Grateful Dead-influenced Chris Robinson Brotherhood.  Left-Hand Brewing is determined to lead its participants to the “promised land” of beer festivals. And all one can after attending, is, well…Amen!

  • March Fourth and Pimps of Joytime Booty Shake with Swagger at the Fox Theatre, February 25, 2017

    They put their socks on one at time like the rest of us, but that pretty much is where the resemblance to ordinary folks like us ends. Some have speculated that they could be aliens from another planet-perhaps set on this planet as interstellar ambassadors of a higher universal groove. They, on occasion, have referred to themselves, quite cheerfully, as freak of nature.

    The official nomenclature  for this merry band of mischief-makers is March Fourth, a band of about 20 irrepressible pied-pipers of carnival gypsy funk, that stuff themselves, along with trunks of outlandishly colorful, handmade costumes, stilts, mountainous cases of brass and percussion instruments, props, and hats into a well-worn bus with the creaky metaphysics of a vintage World War II submarine, who, then, somehow tumble, flip, shimmy and shake their way across the country determined to blast the lid off every venue they enter as if their music was the equivalent of a giant rainbow confetti cannon.

    And, appropriately during the season of Carnivale, Boulder, Colorado fans once again packed the Fox Theatre to experience their unique blend of steampunk celebration staged with the sweaty, gospel fervor of a Mardi Gras revival tent. Throughout the set, acrobats, and stilt-walkers performed a wild series of athletic backflips, jumps, and balancing feats that were as risky as they were eye-popping.

    Joining March Fourth on the winter tour, the Pimps of Joytime opened with a soulful set of R&B influenced-funk and acoustic tunes. With the booty-shaking swagger of Sly and the Family Stone, the five-piece band delivered an infectiously energetic set of tunes from their new album, Jukestone Paradise.

    So, however one may label this jubilant roadshow or its people, it was, no doubt, a remarkable experience. On second thought, perhaps they don’t put their socks on one at a time. (When they do wear them.) We, mere mortals, may never know for sure.

  • Higher Society Lifts Spirits in Denver for New Year’s Eve

    Fuck, 2016! That was the prevailing feeling for many people in our country as we lurched toward year’s end. So many beloved musicians died. There were bombings, searing police confrontations and there was the near apocalyptic collapse of democracies around the world. Many pundits included our country in that post-mortem.

    But, I had personal reasons to feel disheartened to reflect on the year that was. My father’s memorial service was on my birthday. He died of brain cancer while my sister struggled with the awful pain and physical indignities of chemotherapy due to her diagnosis of cancer. Fuck 2016, indeed, I thought.

    But sometimes better angels descend on us to reflect the better parts of our nature, bringing hope, laughter, and perhaps a little magic. And that is precisely what happened on New Year’s Eve in Denver, Colorado in a tucked away corner of the downtown business district. Sensi Mag, SOCO Nightlife and The Fantastic Hosts organization presented a dream-like reverie of music, dance, art, and joy at the year-end event, dubbed Higher Society at the City Hall venue.

    The evening, intended as an ode to the medicinal quality of marijuana, community and creativity, quickly lifted spirits with an opening speaking/meet and greet with visionary artists Alex and Allyson Grey.  Self-reflection quickly turned to celebration with a jolt of tribal rock rhythms and searing guitar jams from the Tierro Lee Band. The lilting melodies of Elephant Revival fiddler, Bridget Law gave an ethereal quality to the percussive jams. That joyful set alone quickly dispensed any lingering bittersweet feeling or antipathy regarding the passing year. Still the evening was only beginning.

    Following on the main stage was the expansive beauty of Quixotic an impressive group that combines an astounding mix of aerialist/ fire/ music performances. Throughout the venue numerous other visual artists, and DJs performed, including  Stööki Sound, Androcell,  and Johnathan Singer. 

    The Grey duo led the New Year countdown as Random Rab began his crowd-pleasing bass-thumping set. Without the spectacle of confetti, balloons or champagne salutes, a group of musicians, performers, and artists offered a night to recall that even in the most troubled of moments there is always reason for hope. And there is always beauty, even in dimly-lit corners of reality.