Photo and article by: JOHN HOSACK 5/30/12
Cheated, confused, disappointed- These are the emotions of those leaving Denver University early Sunday night. Denver’s Gates Field House hosted GLOWfest featuring Hujje, Kap Slap, Otto Knows, and Sebastian Ingrosso in a show that was doomed from the start.
Hujje, a Denver duo playing mostly progressive house, opened the night with a good set, but playing to a pretty small crowd. More people began to trickle in as Kap Slap, a mashup specialist and Lehigh student, took the stage. Kap Slap’s performance was impressive, especially for someone so new on the scene. His well assembled beats were accompanied by a memorable stage presence. Every five minutes he was down on the floor giving fans high-fives or just diving off the stage for a little crowd surfing (see photos). “Breakin’ the Doors” and “Aviici’s Epic Hangover” were mixed into the set along with several other Kap Slap hits, all well received by the crowd. Next up was Otto Knows, an up and coming Stockholm native, looking to join his fellow Swedes atop the list of worlds best DJ’s. “Million Voices” of course found its way into his set along with remixes of other big hits like Dada Life’s “Kick Out the Epic Motherfucker,” and Benny Benassi’s classic “Satisfaction.”
At this point the crowd size had grown significantly, though was still smaller than you might expect for Sebastian Ingrosso. When Sebastian did take the stage, the large L.E.D. panel behind the stage lit up with his name. Compressed air shot out from the stage. Swedish House Mafia’s hit “Greyhound” hit early, followed by “Antidote,” and a remix of Pendulum’s “The Island” with a sweet inclusion of a sample from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Under the Bridge.” And then, about 20 minutes into his set, Ingrosso walked off the stage. It was obvious this was not planned. Within the minute, however, Kap Slap was back on stage trying to save the day, making sure to throw in another stage dive quickly to try and keep the crowd engaged. Kap Slap was the big winner in this show. It was his first time in Denver, and instead of just having an opening set he got to play with Ingrosso’s lights and stage effects, and prove to his fans that he was there for them by being eager to jump in with no notice. The night’s big loser- Sebastian Ingrosso.
After Sebastian left the stage, I immediately began asking questions. The first possible explanation I heard for his departure was that some of the stage effects were malfunctioning. The sound booth said Ingrosso was upset his name was not on the stage enough. A backstage event staffer told me it was because there weren’t enough people there, and the head of security said Ingrosso was hit in the face with a glow stick thrown at him. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether or not any of these reasons are good ones, but the crowd at DU didn’t seem to think so. Many people began leaving immediately
after he left the stage and Ingrosso’s Facebook page has received some not-so-nice comments from attendee’s calling him everything from a “dick that is full of himself,” to “douche-bag” and “little bitch.”
Earlier I noted that the show was doomed from the start, and here I will come to the defense of Ingrosso, kind of. First of all, the show was held at Denver University’s Gates Field House. Have you ever heard of it? Me neither. Here is a good idea, let’s bring one of the worlds top DJ’s to an unknown music venue on a private school campus notorious for having terrible parking, and put the show in the equivalent of a high school gym (you can see the pulled up basketball hoops in the photos). They couldn’t have gotten 5,000 people there even if it was all three members of Swedish House Mafia. Does this excuse Ingrosso’s exit? Probably not, but it at least directs part of the blame towards the shows producers. I would like to conclude by again mentioning the clutch step in of Kap Slap to finish the show. This guy is awesome; he could have taken twenty glow sticks to the face and played in complete darkness if he had to. He is a guy in the business for the right reasons. Kap Slap’s website says that despite his success in mashups, “The next chapter, however, involves producing original EDM tracks,” and that “He plans to take the summer of 2012 off from work and school to devote his time solely to producing and touring.” I can’t wait.
