Photos and article by: JOHN HOSACK 9/24/12
As I walked in to the Denver Coliseum this past Saturday Night for the annual Skylab, titled “Mission Blackout” for its black attire theme, the first things I noticed were the set decorations. TriadDragon had created a completely surreal environment that not only encompassed the incredible stage lighting rig, but consisted of an array of hovering planets, suspended above the audience. It was a giant illuminated solar system that with the dark atmosphere, provided an overload of sensory experience. To each side of the stage were VIP viewing decks, around the sound booth were some L.E.D. towers and at the back another small stage for dancers and various performers. And that was just the main stage. The vibe was great before the music even started.
And then the music started. I don’t know much about sound quality or speakers, but the initial surge of bass that kicked off the event was debatably a threat to the structural integrity of the entire Denver Colliseum. I wore ear plugs and still left with ringing ears. All of the artists on the main stage unquestionably tore it up. Kevin Alves is a name I’ll remember and be looking for in the future. Zedd kicked off the big names with some samples from Daft Punk that were well received. Gareth Emery’s set was one of the most diverse sets of the night, highlighted by samples of Darude’s “Sandstorm” that left me speechless. Not to say I would have been able to hear myself speak anyways. However, Gareth astonished the audience by straying away from his typical trance/progressive house style and played electro-house, electro-dubstep and everything inbetween. Emery ended with a nice throwback, mixing in 50 cent’s “In Da Club.” When I say that Emery was my favorite set, I’m in no way trying to snub Porter Robinson. He seriously delivered. Being a big Flux Pavillion fan, I was ecstatic when the vibrations of “Bass Cannon” filled the room. Robinson’s sampling was well varied, picking out stuff from classics like Bennassi’s “Satisfaction” to Deadmau5’s “Ghosts N Stuff.” One of the massive appeals to Porter Robinson's set was the 20 minutes of trap he dropped 3/4 of the way through his set. People jumping, dropping to the floor.. a complete freak out on all levels. A truely spectacular experience. Zedd, Emery, and Robinson all played a few riffs from Dada Life’s recent hit “Kick Out the Epic Motherfu**er.” From the beginning of Zedd to the end of Robinson, the entire floor at the Coliseum was full. Can’t even push your way closer full. Maybe Skylab has outgrown the Denver Colliseum and is no longer a large enough venue for this festival, which has seen an incredible upsurge of success in the last couple years.
That brings me to my only real criticism of the event. While the main stage was packed for the entire night, the two other stages suffered. The Sub-Mission Orbiter stage was tucked away in a hallway near the porto-potties and never had more than 20 people in front of it. Even though both Boregore and Downlink put on incredible sets, they never stopped playing like Sebastian Ingrosso, who ended his performance at the CU Denver GlowFest supposedly because not enough people showed up. The Propulsion Lab drew a bit better crowd than the Sub-Mission stage, but still, artists like Downlink were playing in front of audiences half the size of what they might play for at a significantly small venue. Many good DJ’s just didn’t get seen, and to me it seemed like a waste and an unnecessary expense for Triaddragon. The one stage would have been enough, and it would have spared the self-esteem of a handful of very talented DJ’s who deserved to play for a crowd.
That being said, Triaddragon has truely become the leading forefront in the ever increasing Colorado EDM scene. The production quality of the entire show was phenomenal and it clearly wore off on the fans, who could not have been more excited. The big name DJ’s showed up to prove why they are on the top and with the help of a thoroughly well executed event, I would confidently say they were successful.
