Raashan Ahmad (from Crown City Rockers) @ The Rex Lounge June 2, 2011

If you’re a Denver local and haven’t been to the monthly 900 Pound Gorilla cypher, punch yourself in the groin area now!  

I’ve been fortunate to attend almost all of the cyphers since it’s inception last year.  I found electro-jedi Babah Fly on Myspace a year back and was astounded by his fresh approach to the local hip-hop scene which I’m so hard on :/  After linking up online, he told me about this open mic/cypher at the Gypsy House coffee shop he was throwing.  That night, we played two songs early, and met the free bar spitter/speaker Panama Soweto.  Together, with the governor of Denver’s hip-hop Mike Wird, the three make the High Tops.  The first cypher started with a bang when they brought in Skins & Needles to headline and start the new event off with quite a loud bang.  The energy of all the people in the small basement room was incredible and I haven’t let go of these guys since!  Skins & Needles rocked my face off with only one DJ (Zeph) and the incredible drummer from The Crown City Rockers (Max MacVeety).  Since the birth, the cypher has been through it’s ups and ups.

The location has moved to the Rex Lounge right by Coors field which was a very different transition.  No longer all ages, the vibe switched from a family atmosphere to a bar (spitter) scene that loves real local hip-hop and doesn’t care too much about the PA’s sound.  It took some getting used to, but last night proved the 900 Pound Gorilla is only getting stronger and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.  It’s amazing to see how far this grassroots event has come and they have single handedly collected one of the best local communities every month.  ”Ooga Booga!” Every time you go to the cypher, you are bound to run into at least 3 of your favorite hip-hoppers and see their true freestyle abilities shine.  Last night was by far the biggest turnout and surprisingly the biggest female attendance ever!  Men & women were casually spitting bars all night long along to DJ SD’s picks or Babah Fly’s improvised beats and Isaac’s phat live drumming.  The High Tops opened for the main attraction with a bang like always.  It’s really hard not to love these guys, trust me I’ve tried so many times!  

After the stage heated up, Oakland based emcee also from Crown City Rockers, Raashan Ahmad, brought some new flavor to the mile high city all by himself and killed his set.  He brings such a great old-school, feel good rhyme pattern to the microphone which left all of us hip-hop burn outs leaving with ear to ear smiles.    Thanks to the High Tops boys, I’ve been fortunate to witness 2 of the 5 Crown City Rockers quality capabilities.  I am now determined to see the full crew live, even if it takes dodging police bullets in Oakland to make it happen!

Stay tuned to 900poundgorillacypher.com to make sure you don’t have to hit and embarrass yourself next month!

Local celebrities in attendance (I’m bound to leave some out):  3Two, Brer Rabbit (Flobots), Ill Se7en, Molina, Mad Trees, Suzie Q., Bianca Mikahn, Bella Scratch, Sky, Alisha B., April Fresh, Smallboifunk.  

U2 & The Fray @ Mile High Stadium May 21, 2011

Initial bias:  I’ve loved U2 since I can remember, my Mom bought me and my girlfriend’s $60 ticket and $40 shirt, this is the 2nd time I’ve seen U2, I’ve seen The Fray at a super intimate setting at the school we all attended (UCD), I’m super Irish, I am not religious, I was stoned, the bible/billboards guaranteed it would be the end of the world one hour before the show

Currently listening to: Nina Simone shuffle on Grooveshark

   I left a very enjoyable, mexican, graduation fiesta in Longmont to make the early U2 show Saturday night which my mom bought tickets to in 2009.  The show  was rescheduled because of an immediate back surgery Bono needed in Munich after injuring himself “preparing for the tour.”  I’d really like to know exactly what he was doing when he hurt himself, but google wouldn’t tell me.  

   As soon as I pulled up to the stadium and found $30 handicapped parking, I could hear the Fray playing their infamous “How To Save A Life” hit.  The battle of the night was already won, I found parking one hour after the predicted rapture, and I missed the overhyped pop tune of the decade here in CO.  The sun still out, and only about 1/3 of the stadium full, I wondered if the Fray was more upset that they hadn’t been taken to heaven for the anticipated rapture, or that they played such an gargantuan hometown gig before majority of the ticket holders had time to get there…?  Either way, we got to our top level seats just in time to catch some new, Fray songs before they were finished.

Between sets, we stopped at the merch booth and picked from shirts being sold by local acquaintance and friend through a friend, Tony Mason.  I was this close to not finding one shirt I liked, until I finally scanned a collaged shirt of old-scool U2 photographs in the bottom right corner of the display.  Almost every tour shirt had an illustration of the stage with tacky lettering and there wasn’t any under $40.  One girl shirt was cluttered with my least favorite tribal design and it really seemed like they slacked in the merch graphic department to make up for their overspent stage design.  Although, I figured since Bono transferred his catalog to the Netherlands to dodge his countries recession and high tax rate, he could have done a better job with merch.  Luckily, I left happy with an oversized shirt that has been cut to fit, and I still hadn’t spent a dime… Thanks mom! 

  U2 brought the most expensive, impressive, and massive stage setup I or anyone in else in Denver had ever seen.  Nick-named “the claw”, it was clear that their stage was the center of attention for the entire 360 degrees tour.  Taking 4 days to build, and 2 days to build for each show, the stage is nothing short of amazing, and neither is U2’s production team.  Reportedly the tour costs about $750,000 per day!  Coming from a man determined to save the 3rd world, that kind of money seems enough to pull entire countries out of poverty in half the time it’ll take to tour North America… but hey i’ll pay to see it or at least my mom will ;)

After the wave circled the stadium about 10 times, it was clear we were in store for more than even the Broncos could ever promise.  The lights dropped and U2 strutted their shit to the stage.  They bring by far, the best sound that any stadium or arena could ever handle.  The show only got better when “the claw” continued to unfold it’s complicated abilities.  I’m always leery of lip synching, faking ploys to achieve the “perfect” sound.  I caught U2’s founder and drummer Larry Mullen faking it when the strap to his bongo broke while hiking around the stage, and the drumming continued flawlessly. :/ It is possible that the high priced sound engineers are ready to punch in any instrument that goes wrong, and I’m not convinced that the drums were faked any other time, but who really knows.  

Bono brought the most intimacy he could to the 80,000 people by thanking everyone for their patience and commitment to the show and the band.  He also joked about end of the world, admitting that he wouldn’t mind being lifted into heaven ending with “God is in the house.”  He extensively thanked The Fray’s christians and shouted out their hometown by pulling up a fan to read an old poem about Denver.  

The highlight of the show and stage trick came when the enormous TV screen dropped to the stage flashing visual lights to kill anyone with a hint of epilepsy in the house.  The party was on and U2 continued to pull out classics that Bono was born to dance to.  He is a veteran at performing for the crowd and the cameras that surround him.  When he played “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” I was thrilled that the song was backed with Libyan visuals and green/red lights instead of green/orange.  I was also very happy to see the public service announcement by Burmese democracy leader Ms. Suu Kyi who was recently released from 15 years of house arrest.  I’m sure those weren’t planned for the show 2 years ago, but they snuck it in there and it became the most important message of the concert despite the ONE campaign being posted everywhere.

“The Claw’s” last trick in the bag was towards the end of the show with the biggest disco ball most likely ever built.  The show was ended after a steering wheel with a microphone in the middle was dropped in front of Bono for him to swing on into the crowd and safely back on stage.  This is where my girl and I caught Bono without the steering wheel mic in hand and still “singing.”  We caught him earlier in the show doing the same thing with a regular mic, but I later realized he had a chordless mic close to his mouth in addition.  I’m not convinced enough that Bono was lip synching, but it sure wouldn’t surprise me for a show this big.  

Needless to say, the show was great and I’m such a sucker for Bono’s catchy melodies and in your face/camera dance moves.  It seems that this was the most expensive concert to ever roll through the Rocky Mountains besides maybe the Mile High Music Fest which died 11 times quicker than U2’s lasting music career.  I’ll do my best to have my mom buy tickets the next time they come and wait in anticipation of “how’re they gonna top that?” 

-T minus Katlyn