Denver promoters Afterhours Anonomyous and Mahesh Presents (AA/MP) have been good at aiming for a specific group of people, the in between or ‘fringe’ crowd. Those who like to enjoy themselves outside of the club confines but might not necessarily be obsessive about what goes into it. Not quite as jaded and bitter as some of us around here…which is good.  This target audience needs to be cultivated to keep the underground scene progressing. AA/MP partnered with ROOTS Denver [super nice guy Bones (Nick Wilson) and local legend Hipp e] to bring in a few hotly tipped artists over last weekend.

This past Saturday they brought Ryan Crosson and Lee Curtiss of the freshly famed Visionquest outfit. Both are Michigan natives living in Berlin, both have had and still do enjoy solo careers.  The North Denver warehouse complex that is Cluster Studios was the space chosen for the event. We arrived about 12:30 after crushing on some raw fish rolled in seaweed and cold rice wine with friends, it was lovely. Cluster is one of the better venues in town to have a party save one mondo detail…acoustics. It has always been a challenge to dial in the sound in the cavernous main room. The high ceilings, open-movable walls, concrete floors and exposed metal beams all team up as if to  say, “I don’t think so, sound guy.”

Unfortunately, the space won again. Surely it did not help that the speakers sounded like they were submerged in water. Little to no highs or midrange, it was muffled bass all over the venue, aside from a few sweet spots. We missed both opening sets, my buddy Angel Castro and a fella that goes by Quinn, but heard both went down well. By 1:45 there was a great crowd assembled, pro grade lasers and hardly anyone really dancing. Halo, of H Foundation fame, was on the decks playing pretty straight forward tech house in the 125 bpm territory that could have used some love on the sound system. Was a bummer, as I’ve been a fan of him for a while and was excited to hear him play again.

Lee Curtiss would be my least interesting pick musically out of the four big Questers (Reeves, Troxler, Crosson, Curtiss), but he came through with the most interesting set of the night. He EQ’d the best out of the sound system, playing more stripped back techno and house, slowing the pace down. It was a bit groovier, a little more slinky and tad bit sleazy. The vibe felt like it was finally coming together at this point. Most of the set sounded like his unreleased track “I Can Make Your Body Twitch” which was welcomed, as it has a dirty, funky feel to it. Ryan Crosson came on around 4:00, smoothly mixing in Cajmere’s classic “It’s Time For the Perculator”. Only about half an hour later it was time for the car ride home to bed. The little that we did catch of him was solid. It sounded a bit more on the techno end, a bit harder than Curtiss and at that point the 420+  in the crowd were on board with him, sound issues or not.

All and all, Roots & AA/MP  started their New Year with momentum moving forward. Stay tuned for more AA/MP shows over the next few months, there are some good ones scheduled. Radioslave, Martin Buttrich and Jesse Rose among other confirmed names.