Gesaffelstein at Mission Ballroom Was An Experience To Remember
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The Mission Ballroom has garnered some much worthy attention since it’s opening in Denver earlier this year. FKJ, George Clinton, Tycho, Atmosphere, and Tame Impala are but a few of the A-list names that have rocked audiences in the venue’s short life so far. This week marked the arrival of Techno’s Prince Of Darkness to Denver’s new and pristine venue, with a stop on Gesaffelstein’s, “Against the Night, Across the Time” tour. It was a night long-awaited by techno fans, as the world-renowned, often, mysterious DJ has barely touched the USA in his career. The night was, memorable, to say the least.
Most recently, Gesaffelstein made headlines by blowing minds at Coachella this year, where he displayed not only his new sounds with pop-music stars like The Weeknd and Pharrell, but more impressively his mind-melting production featuring giant, pitch-black backdrops made of Vantablack fabric. Not familiar with Vantablack? Basically, it’s the darkest, man-made black color (or lack thereof) known to man. Absorbing up to 99.965% of visible light, the substance makes for a pretty trippy illusion when combined with some off-setting strobes, ok a lot of off-setting strobes, and a little production magic. Add the ability for said giant panels to slide left and right, opening up a giant LED screen and more production lights, and you achieve a stage production unlike anything seen by this reporter's eyes before. It was awesome.
The French DJ/Producer is clearly a fan of theatrics, holding down the stage looking like a metallic, futuristic statue of Michelangelo’s, or a chrome robot, metal face and all. No, not like Daft Punk. Imagine Han Solo when he comes out of the carbon freeze, but smarter and mobile and dropping some damn good techno! His title, “The Prince of Darkness” is suiting and the entire theme of the night felt very dark indeed. My only complaint was not being in an underground, European club at ridiculous hours of the morning. The production lights never changed from white the entire night, reminding me of that classy feel forced by my mom on our Christmas tree every year while growing up. This was true for the night, until it wasn’t, as during one of his biggest songs of the set everything changed to red, reinforcing that classic euro, “underground” feel I was desiring. Then quickly back to white to close out the rest of the evening.
The music, though probably not as long-lived as most would have liked, was a wild journey filled with heavy drops, soul-vibrating bass, and yes, darkness. He’s often spoken about the difference between his music and the now blanket-term, “EDM” which he tends to get lumped in with here in America, though if you’ve got a little bit of an ear and a little knowledge of electronic music history, it’s clear to see how he’s different. For me, it was less about his heavy drops and more about the way he navigates listeners to his bigger moments. The in-between time is so well spent, actually sucking you in, pulling you to the edge of your metaphorical seat (because hopefully, you’re dancing) making you actually start to crave what’s about to hit you. Then, just when you’re about to explode from anticipation, he unleashes some truly heavy sounds on a shock and awed crowd. Seriously, it often seemed the crowd was too wowed to dance.
The US tour continues with five more dates, starting tonight in Chicago. For more info on the Gesaffelstein tour, check out his event page. To stay up to date on all things Mission Ballroom, visit their official website here.
