Robotic Pirate Monkey @ The 1up Colfax in Denver, Colorado (3-20-15) [Review]

Review By: Justin D'Amico


Friday was a bitter-sweet night with the final performance from one of the darlings of glitch-hop Robotic Pirate Monkey. All night there was magic in the air. The 1up Colfax provided the perfect setting for the farewell show. The lineup brought a bunch of added flavor to the night as well with Proper Motion, Kinetic Groove, and Wicked Awesome in the house as well. The show was destined to be huge, and shortly after doors opened the final tickets were sold out.


The night started off with Wicked Awesome on the decks as the people started to enter the barcade. The 1up Colfax is unlike any other venue I know of. There is the front room with a massive collection of old school arcade stand up games for 2 to 4 players. The far end of the front room includes a huge pinball section, and there are a set of skeeball machines too. Then as you head towards the back room you notice a ton of classic video game art all over the walls. Almost every video game is represented somewhere in the building, either to play in the arcade for a quarter or displayed in unique crafted depictions.

Next up on stage was Kinetic Groove a group of Austin O'Meara on guitar and DJ, and Steve Kirsch on percussion. They were really good at bringing a ton of different elements together. Kirsch has a really nice set up of different hand drums, not a traditional drum set at all yet very extensive. O'Meara is a skilled guitarist and he uses his playing to create live samples and a fresh sound every time. They even had a special guest trumpet added in for a killer combination later in the set to really get it popping. This was my first time seeing Kinetic Groove live, and they were rather impressive.

Proper Motion was on direct support and they showed the place a good time. They are another duo and they hail from Boulder, Colorado. The two guys - Noah Devaul Marion and Harrison Watkins are both involved throughout the whole set. They create a live mix using recorded productions and also adding extras for a custom cut. They are currently touring with Unlimited Gravity and Project Aspect on the 7 days of Saturday tour.

As always Robotic Pirate Monkey came to have fun, with amazing energy that the people feed off of. The two funk soul brothers - Matt Berryhill and Andrew Hathaway are so enjoyable to watch on stage. They are constantly on a mission to create the best live mix, rotating positions, reaching over each other to slightly adjust a potentiometer, it makes me smile so big. The two of them are so chill and always down to talk to fans, I always get to have a little personal conversation with them each time they come through, mostly because they are just hanging in the crowd with the people. I asked Hathaway if they were going to be doing solo stuff and he said as of right now there are no plans for more music productions. That was sad news, but who knows maybe plans will change and the guys get back together in the future. I am definitely going to miss seeing them live, and going hard dancing to some of the illest glitch-hop music in the business.


Great vibes as always at The 1up Colfax on a Friday night. I got my Centipede fix, got to say bye to the Robotic Pirate Monkey dudes, and then went home fulfilled. No one wanted the night to end, it was just too much fun and everyone was so friendly. I'm not going to forget this night, it was an emotional experience when Robotic Pirate Monkey left the stage, mad love.

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Krooked Drivers with Mux Mool, Marcelo Moxy, Fisk and Special Guest @ The 1up Colfax (6-14-14) [Review]

Review By: Justin D'Amico


Saturday night the 1up Colfax in downtown Denver, Colorado was overtaken by banging beats from Super Best Records. Krooked Drivers headlined with a bevy of big time support including Mux Mool, Marcelo Moxy, Fisk and surprise guest Michal Menert threw down too! Super Best Records came through huge with a stacked line-up representing the label proud.


The 1up Colfax is an arcade, a bar, and now also a music venue. There are arcade games surrounding the perimeter of the front room and also a huge variety of pinball machines too. The stage area and dance floor is in a separate back room with a capacity of about 300-400 people. Even more arcade games are placed in a small hallway directly off to one side of the dance floor too. For shows with live DJs the live music is pumped into the front room, making it so people can play arcade games while jamming out. Both the front room and the back room have a full bar and there is also an outdoor area used as the smoking section and for cooling down. The 1up is one of a kind, and a great place to check out whether or not there is a performance in the back room.

The live music for the night was kicked off by Fisk a Denver based producer who makes chill glitch-hop beats. Its always hard to get the room warmed up, especially with a ton of arcade games distracting the crowd from dancing. Fisk did a really good job and he was able to get some of the people to lounge with him in the back room early in the night. Check out Fisk on bandcamp here for some of his chill beats.




Next up was Marcelo Moxy one of the few DJs left live mixing using vinyl. Marcelo Moxy is out of Boulder, Colorado but he also represents New York and LA. He spins a bunch of sub-genres with a sort of disco feel tying it all together. Marcelo Moxy spun a smooth set bringing even more people into the stage room.

Mux Mool would take the stage next switching it up to a more hip hop style of music. Mux Mool creates his live set with a laptop and a sample machine. He hits drum samples and other sounds he has cued like a live drummer uses a drum set. Mux Mool was one of many artists in the house last Saturday at The 1up Colfax who is a part of the Super Best Records label. During the second half of Mux Mool's set is when Michal Menert popped on stage. While Mux Mool finished up his set the crowd gathered to see Michal Menert setting up for a special set.

Michal Menert is a Super Best Records artist and he is also part of Pretty Lights Music. He is very talented, and it was incredible to get to see him perform in a smaller venue. Michal Menert did just a short set but he crammed it full of new music, and he also rapped for a song which is going to be part of an upcoming release. Michal Menert was a completely unexpected delight to see perform. Michal Menert will be a performing next at the Sonic Bloom Festival coming up this weekend in South Park, Colorado.


Headlining the night of Super Best Records artists was Krooked Drivers, a duo of DJs - Maddy O'neal and Donnie Dalbora respectively. They came out strong bumping Denver glitch hop, and dancing with hard deep head-bobs. The room was full and the vibes were right, everyone got down and danced for their set. Krooked Drivers have great energy live and it's always fun to see that when watching a DJ set.  





Super Best Records really went all out for this show and the crowd was really appreciative. The 1up Colfax is open everyday from 3:00PM - 2:00AM. Even if their isn't a band playing it's a perfect place to hang and have a drink while feeling nostalgic playing classic arcade games and pinball. Keep up with the music schedule at The 1up Colfax for future concerts by following the official Facebook page here.

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