For Night 2 of their Colorado run, Turkuaz had the pleasure of playing for a rowdy Saturday night Denver audience in a packed Ogden Theater. Having rocked a sold-out show at Boulder’s Fox Theater the night before, the crowd had understandably high expectations and was ready to get down.
Turkuaz Shines Bright At Sold-Out Boulder Throwdown
New York based indie-rocker Sinkane kicked off Saturday night’s party, filling the Denver club with his infectious synth pop choruses and tasteful blues guitar solos. Seemingly able to create an impressively tight rock groove out of any lick they choose, the band was completely locked in. The combination of synth driven jams, disco drums, and extended psychedelic rock solos delivered by a fantastically glitter-laden guitar had the entire audience bobbing their heads. A dubby cover of Bob Marley’s “Wake Up and Live” closed Sinkane’s set, with frontman Gallab beaming in response to the enthusiastic audience.
After a brief interlude, the lights dimmed and 1994 Beastie Boy’s hit “Sabotage” pumped over the house speakers as the 9-piece Brooklyn outfit took the stage to deliver their unique brand of bass-heavy powerfunk. Turkuaz, absolutely dressed to the nines, wasted no time getting the crowd moving by opening with a lively rendition of “Coast to Coast” from their 2011 self-titled album. Soon there was not a stationary body in the venue as the band powered through “Digitonium” favorites such as a jam-heavy “Nightswimming” and “Percy Thrills, The Moondog.” As the band settled in, the jams got deeper. “Holy Ghost” featured beat-boxing from saxophonist Joshua Schwartz over an electric drum beat which brought the song into spacey territory. The opening notes of crowd pleaser “Bubba Slide,” the introductory track from 2014’s “Future 86” brought cheers from the raucous dance floor. Guitarist Craig Brodhead was given some space to show off his chops with a multi-peaked roaring rock guitar solo that had the rest of the band exploring an improvised groove before bringing the jam back for a final chorus.
After a quick intermission, the band opened the second set with “Doktor Jazz” setting a party vibe before delving into the funky “Digital Love” which featured Brodhead crooning through a keyboard vocoder to the delight of the crowd. “The Generator” picked the dance party back up and featured saxophonist Greg Sanderson soloing on an EWI (electric wind instrument). Phonetically fun rocker “X.Y.Z.” followed, raising the temperature of the dance floor by a solid 10 degrees. A funky cover of The Band’s “Don’t Do It” belted out by female vocalists Sammi Garett and Shira Elias, was a whole venue singalong before Brodhead’s jazzy and patient guitar solo brought the jam back to its peak. Now fully locked into the second set, the band churned through favorites such as “Future 86” with its uplifting chorus and fast paced “Back to Normal” which saw Sammi and Shira running vigorously in place, prompting the crowd to do the same. The band slowed things down a little bit with “Gogo Mr. Dodo” which had the entire Ogden Theater getting down in unison to the deep groove. A lively “Monkey Fingers” had the theater vibrating with pulsating bass as the crowd sang along with the chorus, “monkey fingers, gonna slap you in the face”.
After a short encore break, the band came out to play one more song for the extremely excited and enthusiastic crowd and capped the night off with an explosive rendition of Talking Heads favorite “Take Me To The River.” The end of the outstanding cover contained a brief acapella singalong to the chorus before launching right back into the raging chorus. With energy levels astronomically high, the band waved goodbye and the grinning audience traded hugs and high-fives before spilling into the brisk Denver fall night.
See below for a full gallery from photographer Bill McAlaine, and head to the band’s website for their tour schedule.
