In case you weren’t paying attention, Denver has become the dubstep “capital of the world.” Or so U.K.-bred declared to a sold-out crowd Tuesday night. Missed Monolith? Never heard of Beta? Then you’d be remiss to know that dubstep is the subgenre-du-jour of electronic music at the moment and finding quite the comfortable niche in Denver.
Combining the sounds of garage, 2-step, and bass (LOTS of bass), the style has resonated massively with this new incarnation of dance music enthusiasts. With almost a “seedy” quality, dubstep conjures up themes of violence, sexual disparity and drugs… you know, pretty much your average Tuesday night in LoDo.
I guess my pen, pad and scrambling to find a light bright enough to make sense of my illegible notes gave me away as some authority on the set scheduling, because several people asked me, eagerly, who was scheduled to play first — “Rusko or ?” From the anticipation in their voices, I sensed fans were indeed more excited to get the party started to the Englishman’s sounds rather than indie demigod Diplo’s Major Lazer troupe.
I’ve unfortunately never lived in New York City or L.A. or London or Paris, or any historical hub of electronica (hello, Denver?), but Rusko mimicked closely what I’d always imagined a high-profile electronic show to resemble: the DJ frequently shouting over the music about how “blazing” the crowd is, how “insane” itap about to become and how utilitarian a glowstick can be in a dark crowd.
In all seriousness though, a good electronic show has loads of atmosphere and Rusko didn’t disappoint in this department. His new album is dropping on the Mad Decent label so there are some similarities between the production values of both Rusko and Diplo. But Diplo as Major Lazer is a whole other story. Rusko’s one hour and 15-minute set proved a far more straight-ahead affair than the eclecticism Major Lazer would dish out.
Where Rusko took the crowd to the high profile sights and sounds of a top London club, Major Lazer took us from the favelas of Rio, to the dancehalls of Kingston and back to whatever America means to you. Dressed in a sharp suit, Diplo manned his DJ booth at the rear of the stage and let a very Elephant Man-ish hypeman (MC Skerrit Bwoy who probably not uncoincidentally looks a lot like the cartoon Major Lazer character from the album art) and an unidentified woman as his dagger (dagger? yeah, look it up) provide some stage animation.
With the word Lazer being one-half of your moniker, you’d expect some serious eye candy to accompany the show. And it did, like the best visuals from a 1988 Salt-n-Pepa video.
Diplo’s very Jamaican “selector” style gives you a modern look at how this sound and style has evolved. Deep bassy dub would follow machine-gun funk and continue with Midwest hip-hop samples. Besides playing nearly every track from “Guns Don’t Kill People Lazers Do,” Diplo dropped a cut from one of his best collaboration’s — the “Free Gucci” Gucci Mane mixtape — and later mixed crowd favorites “Rude Boy” from Rihanna and “All That She Wants” from Ace of Base.
Diplo has a knack for unearthing material that evokes something old without being derivative. His first foray with critical acclaim came via production for M.I.A. and a little track called “Paper Planes.”
Any reggae-tinged show wouldn’t be complete without the “Jamrock” drop (can we all just proclaim Jamrock as the drop of the decade, already?!) which Diplo played perhaps to regain some order after 30 or so sweaty and shirtless women danced onstage to a couple songs, prior. Nearly closing out the set was “Can’t Stop Now,” the album’s lone ode to ’50s-era reggae with vocals by Mr. Vegas and Jovi Rockwell.
Unlike Major Lazer’s single “Keep It Goin’ Louder,” overall the night was decidedly auto-tune free and more an ode to classic styles, not a baton-waving of new ones.
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Craig Randall is a Boulder-based writer and PR pro with an identity crisis. He credits both “Let Me Love You Down” and “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” as life-changing tracks. Check out .
