The Ogden Theatre was lit up last Friday, 11/14, to the sounds of Dance Party Time Machine, an ambitious collaboration between a multitude of Local and National Acts. The group featured Marc Brownstein, Aaron Magner and Allen Aucoin of the Disco Biscuits, and David Murphy of Seven Arrows (formerly STS9). The group also featured a rotating cast of musicians throughout the night, including Ryan Jalbert, Dave Watts and Gabe Marvin of the Motet, Clark Smith of Dynohunter, George Horn of Ableminds and Analog Son, and many, many more.
The incredibly diverse and talented group of instrumental musicians were joined by singers Jonah Wisneski, SUCH, Dechen Hawk, Mathenee Treco and Aubrie Hamrick. Together, they dished out two sets of funky dance tracks, spanning the last 40 years. For the opener they peered into some classic funk-soul with a cover of “Love Never Felt So Good” by Michael Jackson, followed by “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard.
The size of the crowd at the Ogden was ideal. It was full, but not too packed, as it can sometimes feel at many sold out Ogden shows. The first set continued with a flowing set of classic dance tunes, including “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie, The Bangles’ “Walk Like An Egyptian,” and seemed to showcase a good amount of oldies tunes.
The second did feature its own flavor of oldies, such as “Lady Marmalade” and “Blue Monday” by New Order, but also mixed it up towards the end with more recent more electronic centered tracks that highlighted many of the featured player’s strengths. “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” by LCD Soundsystem, followed appropriately by Daft Punk’s “Robot Rock,” was arguably my favorite point in the set. The chemistry between Marc Brownstein and Tiger Party’s “Blake Mobley” got the energy high and gave the set a sense of evolution through dance parties. The Jamtronica side of the second set also gave bass player David Murphy a chance to rock out with his pumping octave synth-bass lines, which I haven’t heard enough of since his days post STS9.
Colorado gets a bit spoiled with top-notch performances, and sometimes we forget how much of a treat it is to be able to see so many different musicians we all admire taking the stage, taking risks and doing something different. This show gave me a tremendous amount of gratitude for the flexibility and openness of our music scene out here. Cheers to all of the artists involved in this show.
[Words by Cameron Crumpler, Photography by Cody Deel of Deel Media Tribe]
