Hallowfreaknween @ National Western Complex in Denver, Colorado (Review) [10/31/15]

Review and Photos By: jdrightright



Global Dance Festival just put on their big Halloween Costume concert at the National Western Complex. This year Hallowfreaknween was a multi-stage event with four different stages set up through out the venue. Headliners galore in the main room including Deorro, Borgeous, Vinai, Mayhem, Antiserum, Kayzo, and Tuneboy.


The night got started early because their was so much talent to showcase. First up for the big name talent was Kayzo a Los Angeles producer, and he brought the room into a more monstrous mood. Kayzo just dropped a special Halloween banger called "FREDDY KRUEGER" and what a perfect place to pound it out. Kayzo has a number of different genres he likes to spin so he got into a bunch of kinds music to get the room going right.

The crowd was about ninety percent dressed up with some of the coolest costumes I've seen in a few years. The one that naturally caught most peoples attention was a guy in a Big Hero 6 costume chilling up front in the VIP. Another baller costume I saw was a full Marty McFly from Back to the Future part 2, complete with a hover-board and the futuristic clothes and hat. There is never a shortage of gorgeous babes at Hallowfreaknween, and this year was no exception. There wasn't a costume contest, but if I had to pick I would definitely go with the dude in the Big Hero 6 costume. He never got out of the suit and he was bouncing the whole night with the bass.

Mayhem and Antiserum came up to the stage and the place got all swagged out. This was definitely the illest set of the night having two amazing producers tag teaming with a ton of new banging beats to bump. They have a very unique spin on trap music mixing in some dubstep, and sometimes a little drum and bass. The constant blending of new glitches and old school party favorites made this such a good set. I am a huge fan of both Mayhem and Antiserum, so getting to see them together was a huge rush of positive happy energy. It was cool watching Mayhem and Antiserum work together on stage. They almost treated it like a rap battle, each one coming up with a song to top the last. This set was hard as fuck, and it wins the award for most hype and feels.


The next set was by a duo called Vinai, they are a couple of young dudes who know how to work a room. They release a lot of their music through Spinnin Records, a label known for techno and trance artists. Vinai had the room bouncing up and down to the music, and they did some of the favorites for big shows. One activity they had the crowd do was a sit down and jump up at the drop song. It was a very energetic set and the guys from Vinai showed some skills.



Girls love Borgeous and you could see them all perk up when he got on stage. He kept a similar style going with a big room trance and techno flavor. He as well as Vinai got into some Queen remixes including "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions." Borgeous has been building a name very quickly with outlets like his show on XM Electric Area and other media. In just the last couple years Borgeous has become a name that almost all EDM lovers know. He does a good job getting the crowd hypnotized into his sonic trance.
  

It was time for a legend to show the place how to get down on Hallowfreaknween. Deorro came out and immediately fooled the crowd starting to wind up his first track and it sounded like he was going to drop five hours. Nope, but he would get to it, all in due time. Deorro played a set similar to what I saw him drop at Decadence on new years. He got into some classic trancey bass and he spun some remixes of popular music like Oasis' song "Wonderwall." Deorro had a huge crew on stage with him, not for any technical reason, but just so he could have some friends to dance with. It was getting close to the end of his time so Deorro spun the CDJ and wound it down to just wavelengths, and then slowly sped it up more and more until just the right moment and boosh, "Five Hours." It was cool, even though we all knew it was coming it still was an epic drop and a brilliant finale to a great set.

The show closed out with a producer called Tuneboy and he made the room pulsate with hard-style and techno beats. I found this to be a bit overwhelming, The energy was at peak levels for Deorro and now we are supposed to turn up even more? Some people did and they got to rock out until 3AM. This was daylight savings night so at 2AM it became 1AM again. Lets just say the party went late and who cares what time it actually was. I was fulfilled and I think most of the people were too.

Hallowfreaknween was the very first show I ever attended in Denver back in 2013 and it remains one of the best nights of the year. Global Dance Festival always throws an epic party and everyone knows to be there or you will regret it. See you all next year when we get together again for the biggest Halloween Costume party in the city. Hope everyone had a happy Hallowfreaknween.