is a 6’5″ ladies’ man. You can’t help but think that the 31-year-old from Oakdale, Calif., figured the only way a guy with his lanky frame and blazing red hair was going to have a shot with the ladies was if he picked up a guitar and became a rock star.
Well, a “folk rock” star at the least.
It’s a difficult task to pigeonhole Dennen’s music. It boils down to a jumble of witty phrases, surrounded by beats you can move your booty to. Dennen made that a point to get across to a full house at the Wednesday night. “I need to see more dancing. Everybody has a booty dance!”
Sometimes the music takes the form of Reggae melting into afro-beat/calypso. Sometimes it’s as sharp and biting as a John Lennon protest song. Most times it’s rock ‘n’ roll.
Even if the songs off the new album, “Loverboy,” weren’t familiar to the audience, you get the feeling that the next time around they will be. Songs like “Sydney,” “Surprise, Surprise,” Comeback Kid,” and “Dancing at a Funeral” are all true Dennen twists on subjects that you might not expect to be broached with an upbeat rhythm. But somehow Dennen pulls it off with his teenage grin and albatross wing span.
Dennen finished his show with radio singles “Crazy,” “Ain’t No Reason” and “Heaven.” He then brought local harmonica toting folk man Zach Heckendorf from Englewood, Colo. to the stage to perform a song.
The encore brought great news for fans that Dennen will be back in Colorado to play the Mishawaka Amphitheatre in early August.
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Evan Semón is a Denver freelance writer and photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. See .
Nathan Iverson is a Denver photographer and regular contributor to Reverb.
