Andrew Butler (far right) of Hercules and Love Affair made last Friday’s Noise! installment one of Beta’s best.
Friday night staple, Noise!, has built a attractive and plentiful following over the last few months, as DJ sets by members of VHS or Beta and the Rapture have brought a new, diverse crowd to LoDo, the terminally drunk, mildly cultureless section of Denver’s downtown.
The evening’s turn out for Andrew Butler of set was the busiest I’ve seen a Noise! event yet, as his track choices kept a steady stream of fresh bodies trailing to the dance floor from the inviting sections of couches lining the perimeter.
Opening the evening was Pat Mahoney of fame, who’s turn at the tables I didn’t find particularly interesting. Even though the superior speakers seemed a bit quieter than usual, I danced through a few less-than memorable songs, but eventually ended up on the second level of the club.
There I stumbled upon a gorgeous room with lights pouring across the ceiling and down the walls as a DJ played some soothingly aquatic, down-tempo jams. This new room discovery for me was just another aesthetically pleasing gem within the walls of Beta.
I headed back downstairs for Butler’s set, the dance floor now bursting with blissful kids as the throwback disco vibe was in full effect. The Boney M. cover of Bobby Hebb’s classic “Sunny” was my favorite track of the night, strings and horns streaming out from the speakers nicely as beats and rubbery bass lines blended together in the continuous song story.
I was mildly delinquent on taking notes for the breadth of the evening’s sonic choices, but I think Butler’s DJing effectively sent warm waves of friction-inducing, dancey pleasure over the large crowd. And any DJ who keeps playing after the ugly lights come on is awesome in my book.
Bree Davies plays bass in , writes about her obsessions with Iggy Pop and Lil’ Wayne in and repeatedly fakes her own death at . She is also a self-proclaimed addict.
