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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Robotic Pirate Monkey with Buku and Freddy Todd @ Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom (5-25-14) [Review]

Review by: Justin D'Amico


Sunday was a huge night for glitch-hop and trap lovers at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom. The show was essentially a triple headlined event with Freddy Todd leading into Buku and then Robotic Pirate Monkey capped it off. All three were ready to throw down and they showed Denver a great time.


Freddy Todd was up first and he layed down a smooth funky set to get everyone on the dance floor. Freddy Todd has a unique booth setup, he leans his keyboard/drum machine way back to where it faces the crowd. This way you can see everything he is adding and adjusting within his live set.

Buku would take the stage next, and he switched it up a bit, going into more trap style drops. Buku came through with a intense set, almost everyone in the room was dancing or at the very least head bobbing along to his beats. I was rather impressed with how Buku put his set together, he kept it fresh the whole time. Often watching an hour long trap set can become boring and redundant, with similar sounds used in many of the individual songs. A good live performer, like Buku, is able to constantly switch something up in the mix and keep the crowd guessing as to what comes next. His skill-set for creating an interesting live remix is what sets Buku apart from the amateur DJs. Buku thoroughly rocked out Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom and he set the stage for Robotic Pirate Monkey.





Robotic Pirate Monkey is made up of two incredibly creative guys: Matt Berryhill and Andrew Hathaway. Before their performance, Robotic Pirate Monkey runs their own merchandise booth and they take some time to meet and chat with their fans. They are hilarious to watch on stage, never are they satisfied with a normal track, everything must be tweaked constantly. To open their set Robotic Pirate Monkey started with a glitch hop remix of "Peaches" by The Presidents of the United States of America. So many adjustments are being made that sometimes Matt and Andrew become tangled up from reaching over each other. The music sounded great so it's pretty clear they know exactly what they are doing. You have to see Robotic Pirate Monkey for yourself when they come to town.

The end of the night came quickly because it was so much fun. I can't wait until the next Robotic Pirate Monkey show gets scheduled. Superb music and excellent vibes are synonymous with Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom. Everything from bluegrass to rap can be seen at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom an intimate setting amongst friends. Check out their calendar: HERE.

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