Rising genre-crossing artists Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country and Kitchen Dwellers hosted a wild, tour-closing party Saturday night that sold out Denver’s Mission Ballroom and marked another high-water mark for the ascending acts. After two nights at Denver’s Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, this Saturday capper at the Mission was the place to be for fans of improvisational music of any stripe.

Guitarist Daniel Donato and his Cosmic Country backing band came out first, plugged in, and got straight to work. Thanks to some perky bass line from Will “Mustang” McGee on “Dance In The Desert”, the show got off to a bouncy beginning. Once they were dialed in and good to go, DDCC got into the set proper with a thick three-song run led by an Allman Brothers Band-esque “Lose Your Mind” straight into Waylon Jennings‘ “Waymore’s Blues” before closing out the deeply enjoyable trio with a ride on the “Mystery Train”.

Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country — “Dance In The Desert” [Pro-Shot] — 11/16/24

Not done with rail travel, Donato and company promptly took a follow-up three-fer starting with a crisp “Blame The Train” before sing-around jam “Darlin’ Cory”, ending the ride on an aptly chosen, on-message “Arkansas Traveler”. After a self-contained, focused, and cracking “Half Moon Night” showcased some of the best work drummer Will “Bronco” Clark turned in all evening, there was a final pair of one-two sonic bursts of fury, starting with a “Broadside Ballad” that barreled into a “Hangman’s Reel” which flowed like arcing electricity.

Bandleader Daniel Donato, who had already shown off the versatility of his amazing bag of licks and tricks let himself loose in the set-closers “Luck Of The Draw” and “Sugar Leg Rag”. With his melodic partner-in-crime Nathan “Sugar Leg” Aronowitz on keys providing backup instrumentation, Donato went in seemingly every direction at once over the closing selections. Finally settling into a pure guitar hero personal crescendo, Donato more than adequately answered any lingering doubts as to why his name was on the marquee.

After a remarkably short break for changeover between bands, Kitchen Dwellers opened their set in a full-on mental frequency-altering psychedelic mode with an expansive “Prelude” that opened into an intense front half of “Seven Devils”. The deeply bowed tones from upright bassist Joe Funk set the sonic stage, relenting only to the razor-sharp melodic efforts of current touring mandolin picker Silas Herman, son of zydeco jamgrass pioneer and true king of all things festival, Vince Herman.

Kitchen Dwellers — “Prelude” > “Seven Devils” [Pro-Shot] — 11/16/24

The “Devils” expanded into a lovely take on the impressive “Waterford’s Son”, with some engaging back-and-forth vocal work from guitarist Max Davies and banjo-meister Torrin Daniels finding itself closed in by the second half of “Seven Devils”. While some fine tuning was needed after the mad abandon of the opening salvo, Daniels said his “Hellos” to the cheering throngs and noted that this was, by far, the biggest indoor party the Dwellers had ever played.

Torrin then welcomed the newest face on the stage, Herman, for fans new and old alike. Silas is out with Dwellers filling in for mandolinist Shawn Swain who has been on an extended break from touring since being diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism earlier this year. A capable ringer, Silas colored the instrumental intro to “The Crow and the Raven” with impressive picking so intense, cosmic, and upwardly mobile that by the time the lyrical portion of the tune kicked in, it seemed to occur on a separate astral plane.

Dan Andree, fiddler of The Fretliners, came out to add a little high and lonesome vibe to the one-two punch of “Seminole Wind” and ”Drowning (…Again)”. The unbound, high country skies of “Seminole Wind” eventually shrunk down around the frenetic, claustrophobic “Drowning (…Again)” which featured some fast call and response with mandolinist Herman. Torrin was also on hand during that jam to remind the crowd he was more than just a fierce vocalist as he provided some mighty effective plucks and rolls on his five-string banjo.

Finally, in a deft and highly confident setlist move, the Dwellers unleashed a massive sandwich that started and ended with “Visions Of More” stuffed with a separate, smaller sandwich of “Unwind” with a tasty “Pendulum” in between. The band executed the musically convoluted MC Escher-like song puzzle with deftness and creativity before taking their bows and shuffling backstage drenched in sweat.

To put a cap on the weekend, the co-headliners joined together for an all-hands-on-deck encore around a single mic, though with Donato conspicuously absent. However, in his place was McDonald’s mascot Mayor McCheese—the (legally unofficial) mascot for Leftover Salmon—which has been held in trust by Donato’s team since receiving it from Greensky Bluegrass at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. In a fun but fairly obvious reveal it was in fact Donato sporting the oversized and unwieldy mask.

A reverential and appropriately “old-timey” gospel rendition of “Turn The Radio On”, with Torrin Daniels and Daniel Donato sharing verses, had the hushed but enthused crowd barely able to hold in the cries of joy. After that soul-stirring display, Donato lingered out front to explain that, though they had enjoyed their time with the oversized slider “Cheese Head,” it was time to pass it on to fresh stewards, with the Kitchen Dwellers now appointed guardians of this sacred totem of the jamgrass world.

As the comically large mask was passed overhead among the properly reverent, everyone onstage quickly picked up the instruments and celebrated their last night together with the final two songs of the evening, “Stand At Ease” and a wild and angry take on Rage Against The Machine‘s “Sleep Now in the Fire”.

Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, Kitchen Dwellers — “Turn Your Radio On” (Albert E. Brumley), “Stand At Ease” — 11/16/24

[Video: keaton6921]

Funk took lead vocals thanks to Cosmic Country’s rhythm section handling the lion’s share of creating a thick and gloriously wide pocket for all to share. That left the melodic higher-end pickers and electrified guitars plenty of room to get a bit clean and distorted at the same time. While both encore tunes benefitted from the depth of field, the closer, “Fire”, saw the wildest transition of all. The suddenly seriously intense Torrin Daniels laid his banjo down then laid down some serious venom over the crescendoing “Fire”, spitting out the lyrics like he himself was ablaze.

All good things must, sadly, come to an end. Both the show and this run finished with some simple bows as the justifiably tired players excused themselves backstage to have one last post-run hang before turning out to the crisp Denver night. With both Kitchen Dwellers and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country on the rise, the three Colorado shows that closed out the tour will likely be looked upon as a watershed moment for both bands. After watching the two impressive groups side by side it’s impossible to doubt that both of these collaborations deserve anything less.

Setlist: Daniel Donato | Mission Ballroom | Boulder Co | 11.16.24

Set: Dance In The Desert, Lose Your Mind > Waymore’s Blues (Waylon Jennings) > Mystery Train (Junior Parker), Blame The Train > Darlin’ Cory (Traditional) > Arkansas Traveler (Traditional), Half Moon Night, Broadside Ballad > Hangman’s Reel, Luck Of The Draw > Sugar Leg Rag

Setlist: Kitchen Dwellers | Mission Ballroom | Boulder, CO | 11.16.24

Set: Prelude > Seven Devils > Waterford’s Son > Seven Devils, The Crow And The Raven, Seminole Wind [1] > Drowning (…Again), E.M.D., Visions Of More > Unwind > Pendulum > Unwind > Visions Of More
Encore: Turn Your Radio On (Albert E. Brumley) [1], Stand At Ease [1] > Sleep Now in the Fire (Rage Against The Machine) [1]

[1] w/ Kitchen Dwellers