The pairing of Papadosio with Lotus for an end-of-summer musical celebration at Red Rocks just made sense. Both bands, in addition to opening DJ group Orchard Lounge, played with palpable energy and precision that made for a memorable evening of dancing under the stars.

Papadosio took the stage as the sun began to set, and opened with the jazzy jam “Bionic Man” into “Cloud Found.” The band delivered a 45-minute set, showing off their musical chops by weaving through diversely-influenced compositions. Papadosio’s music draws you in, slowly lulling over an audience before building and bursting with excitement.

One highlight of Papadosio’s performance was undoubtedly “Find Your Cloud,” during which they brought out Lotus’ own Mike Rempel to elegantly shred on guitar the way Rempel does. The set closed with a version of “Paradigm Shift,” leaving fans waiting for the main course.

“This is the best moment of my life,” Papadosio lead vocalist Anthony Thogmartin told the crowd, which had swelled to a nearly full house. If Lotus didn’t end up filling all 10,000 seats, they got pretty damn close. At this point, the lines to get into the amphitheatre were packing toward the entrance gate; fortunately, the crowd was made up of Lotus and ‘Dosio fans — some of the nicest and friendliest crowds around. (For me, that’s the sign of a good audience: when you can enjoy or make friends with the people you don’t know around you at a show.)

When Lotus appeared in all-white suits, anchored by Colorado’s own Gabriel Otto (half of Denver-based dance duo PanAstral) as Lotus’ stand-in David Byrne, a collective feeling hung in the air that this Talking Heads set would be something special. They opened with “Moon Rocks,” a Talking Heads song also performed at Gathering of the Vibes several weeks back. Friends who had seen Lotus’ Talking Heads performance said it was good but had a few kinks to iron out; after all, it was the first time the Philadelphia-based band debuted their deconstructed set. When the band hinted at another possible Talking Heads performance, it had to be at Red Rocks.

This time, however, our crew couldn’t help but be impressed by how seamless and on point everything was — from the set list, to the.transitions, to Otto’s floppy, silly David Byrne-esque stage presence. It was clear Otto had been practicing his moves, and it augmented the overall energy coming from the stage. My favorite song from the first set was “This Must Be the Place,” with a tease of “Umbilical Moonrise.” It was a moment of musical perfection.

Looking back at the crowd after the set break, the amphitheatre was packed; not that we needed to huddle together for warmth — the weather was a breezy 68 degrees, arguably a bit warm for a fall dance party on the Rocks. Lotus returned, playing a second set of Lotus music that started with “Kodiak,” an energetic and quintessentially Lotus-sounding number that illuminated the energy that almost made me forget that 20 minutes earlier, I was watching a reincarnation of the Talking Heads.

 

Songs ranged from early in the band’s catalog (“Suitcases,” Spiritualize”) to new tracks off their latest album Gilded Age like “The Oaks” and “Sunset of the Giant Dipper,” the latter of which was the first song of the 15-minute encore.

Most notably, Lotus’ transitions were almost non-existent; each song bled from one to the next as if the performance was one long jam. “Spiritualize” was a personal favorite of the evening, as well as “Age of Inexperience.” Rempel was on fire the entire evening, a highlight of the show for sure.

The Talking Heads returned for the last part of the encore, with the bouncy, 80s track “Once in a Lifetime.” As a major inspiration for Lotus itself, The Talking Heads would have been proud at the deconstructed set this weekend. It paid a solid tribute to the band that was a major inspiration to Lotus itself, but it also illuminated the unique, modern sound for which the band has become well-known. Friends of mine told me it was the best Lotus show they’d ever seen, and I might just have to agree. Do yourself a favor and buy the soundboards for this one — for both Papadosio and Lotus alike.

Papadosio set list:
Bionic Man
Cloud Found
Cue
New Love
Find Your Cloud
Paradigm Shift

Lotus setlist:
I: Moonrocks
Found a Job
I Zimbra
This Must Be the Place
Girlfriend is Better
Pull up the Roots
Warning Sign
Crosseyed & Painless

II: Kodiak
Suitcases
The Oaks
It’s All Clear to Me Now
Spiritualize
Blacklight Sunflare
Age of Inexperience

E: Sunset of the Giant Dipper
Once in a Lifetime

Check out full audio from Lotus’ set and more pictures below:

[Photos by Cody Deel]