Jeff Suthers (right) helms the crowded but smooth-sailing ship that is Moonspeed. Photos by .
continues to amaze Denver’s vibrant scene as its premiere soundsmith, and so far is proving to be his most ambitious and beautiful project to date. The group played a multi-faceted, brilliant set Friday night, headlining 10th Anniversary Party at the, in front of a packed house, proving that the scene seems to get it, and agrees.
Moonspeed currently boasts an 11-member roster and, incredibly, all of them were crammed into the Hi-Dive stage that night, like a small chamber orchestra in a sedan. And if you know the Hi-Dive, you realize that “crammed” is the right word. The large group had no trouble, however, creating the giant and primarily acoustic sound itap become known for, a sound Suther has referred to as “painting with sound.”
Moonspeed showed a unique ability to be simultaneously quiet and loud, giant and precise, sweeping and focused, all in a swirling miasma that seemed to wash again and again in dreamy waves over the audience. The instruments were weaved together masterfully around Suther’s indistinguishable vocals, Shannon Stein’s synthesizer and Hayley Helmericks’ wispy but powerful melodica. These instruments, however, were just central themes carried through the overall sound. Suther used all of the contributions from each of the 11 players’ instruments in creating the aural tapestry, showing off his complex arrangement skills.
Adding to Suther’s mastery of quasi-orchestral arrangements, the sound engineering at the Hi-Dive deserves praise for taking the complex combinations and making sure each of the instruments were heard, or sufficiently drowned, in just the way they should have been. Mixing two drummers, two synthesizers, three guitarists, various percussion instruments (tambourines, triangles and chimes), a bass and the melodica, all anchored by Suther on guitar and vocals, can be no simple feat. And yet the sound was more than adequate and remained consistent throughout the performance.
Suther started Moonspeed alongside his involvement with Stein in two other popular Denver bands, Bright Channel, formed in 2002, and Pteranodon, formed in 2001. According to posted on in June 2008, Suthers started the band as a side project of the two bands to experiment “…with recordings, layering lots of different instruments and different recording toys… tones and things I wouldn’t originally use…” in the other bands.
The constant addition of band members, resulting (so far) in the current 11, came of the desire to reproduce the lush, shoegaze sound he could make in the studio by maxing out all available channels with a group of largely acoustic instruments, live and in real time. Friday’s Hi-Dive show proved that Suther, with Moonspeed, has fulfilled that desire, and the Denver scene is that much better for it.
, likely familiar to most of us in attendance, played a set before Moonspeed, and didn’t separate themselves from any of their other recent shows. But being that they’re one of a handful of local bands consistently excelling, it was nonetheless a treat. Despite missing pedal steel player Adam Baumiester, Bad Weather California can continue carrying claim as one of the best bands going in Denver right now, if not downright the best.
As a sidenote, this is a call to Bad Weather California to put serious effort into recording a live set of songs. There are too few recordings of this band.
Billy Thieme is a Denver freelance writer and regular Reverb contributor.
is a Denver freelance photographer and frequent contributor to Reverb.
Nick Groke, a one-time Radio 1190 DJ and current Denver Post reporter, contributed to this review.
MORE PHOTOS:
