Friday, May 9, 2014

Road to Sonic Bloom Night 2 @ Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom - 5/3/14 (Review)



Review By: Justin D'Amico


There is still a little more than a month until Sonic Bloom takes over South Park, Colorado. Last weekend you could see some of the bands a bit early in Denver at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom. On Saturday night the line up included Zoogma, Paul Basic, The Young Blood Brass Band, Dynohunter, Tiger Party, Yu Yu, Defunk, and Easy Company. The Road To Sonic Bloom brought a good cross section of the artists performing at the upcoming festival. 


Saturday night was the second of two nights of great music at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom and The Other Side. On The Other Side there is now a new outdoor patio stage with a beautiful wooden design. The opposite corner of the area has custom bleacher style seating also made of the same wood. The outdoor patio stage is an awesome addition to the duel venue, making it now a triple venue.







There was a variety of visually appealing live art being displayed and created at The Road To Sonic Bloom. Everything ranging from live painting, to expressive dancing with an LED cape was represented. Aerialists floated on fabric strips above the crowd for certain portions of the night. LED hula hoops twirled creating mesmerizing tracers in the darkness. Also a number of popular local vendors set up booths with custom tee shirts, gems, and pins including my friends Outer Realm Apparel


The two rooms always had someone jamming on stage so there was never an intermission. Every band came in a little different form, some solo artists and some large ensembles. Paul Basic is one of the solo artists, but his performance is not simply a DJ Set because he creates his music live using a few different devices and drum machines. While The Young Blood Brass Band fills the stage with a huge group of players belting out classic brass jams.





To close out the night in the Masterpiece Ballroom was Zoogma. They are a band of four dudes but not just a typical foursome of drums and guitar and bass and keyboard, the two guitarists are also DJs and singers. They put on a great psychedelic rock set and they even did a cover of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in their own style. The aerialists accompanied part of the Zoogma set and also a vivid lighting display back lit the band brilliantly. Zoogma created and excellent vibe during their performace and the crowd fed off of it.








The Road To Sonic Bloom was a great way to introduce some people to bands they might not yet be familiar with from the upcoming festival. For myself this was the exact scenario, and I found out just how cool the Sonic Bloom Festival is going to be. And at the perfect venue for a duel, or now triple concert; Cervantes' in downtown Denver.




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