Meow Wolf’s “Dark Palace” quickly became a long awaited installation for the prestigious Denver music scene. Walking up, it was difficult to put a finger on what exactly to expect from the highly anticipated event. Meow Wolf, a popular immersive art and music installation based in Santa Fe, is moving a permanent fixture to the Denver market sometime in 2021, which is part of the reason so much excitement surrounded the “Dark Palace” event taking place at The National Western Complex last weekend.

Walking into the National Western Complex nobody really knew what to expect, other than night one was cut clear from the beginning as a “house” night. With the likes of J. Worra, MK, and the Dirtybird father, Claude VonStroke, Denverites were ready to get a long and magical weekend started right. Fans filled in trying to escape the cold and enter the Meow Wolf universe that’s caught attention around the nation, if not world.

It was a lot to take in at first. Rather than one definitive, transformative entrance (like the renowned refrigerator/gateway into the Meow Wolf world in Sante Fe), you’re given multiple options of which way to wander. This is to be expected as the venue was preparing to receive thousands of people in a pretty short amount of time. Whether you walked left, or walked right, or dead-ahead forward, you were presented with a new and unique world filled with off the wall art installations, all different kinds of music, and my personal favorite, so many beautiful humans.

Claude VonStroke was clearly the prize attraction for Friday night, everyone knew that. But what we weren't expecting was the sheer volume, and substance, provided by the music. Wow was it loud. And bass? Yea “bass music” isn’t the only music to crank out the bone-rattling vibrations. We see you Claude, or should I say, we feel you!

Talk to anyone there, or at least everyone I talked to, and they all would probably agree. The main stage was the main attraction, as far as productions and installations go. This thing was incredible, stretching ⅔ of the span of the arena, long ways, and supporting 5-6 large pyramid structures, 8-10 LED towers, plus all the lights and lasers you could imagine.

We spoke to John Medina, the main designer and fabricator of the stage and accompanying installments, who told us a bit about the month-long endeavor of building the spectacle. Medina said he drew inspiration from the “Dark Palace” theme and tried to provide a feel of “light emerging from the darkness” hence the Edison style bulbs hanging in giant pyramids occupying the dance floor and stage. Medina explained how the center section, consisting of large LED towers all surrounding the DJ’s, was meant to feel more like a temple, or even a “command center” for the artists, drawing once again off the dark palace theme. Between Medina and his counterpart Zach Laymen who handles primarily tech and visual portions of the stage design, I’d say they nailed it as far as the stage itself. It gave us a pretty good taste for what Meow Wolf will provide with it’s soon to be permanent home in Denver.

After a successful opening night, the festivities really ramped up on Saturday with a super-stacked lineup. Big crowds were drawn in early and the complex was packed while the night was still young. I couldn’t help but marvel at the diversity of people this event attracted - no single “scene” seemed to show up more than another, so it was a real grab-bag of personalities and outfits. Dark Palace was a people watching paradise!

Though it was far from empty, the main stage area was comfortable to navigate and I had only pleasant interactions as I snuck up to the front. The National Western Complex seemed to be the ideal venue in accommodating that kind of volume, though I unfortunately expected a more complete transformation of the space to fit the theme of a “Dance Obscura”. Art installations around the two music stages felt limited, with duotone light frames in simple shapes along the walls by the smaller Hall stage and tall pyramids with similar aesthetics spread across the main stage dance floor. Even after getting my lay of the land and popping into a couple of art installations tucked into rooms under the stands, I felt like I had seen it all in under ten minutes. Being an “immersive experiences company”, I expected Meow Wolf to nail a cohesive creative vision with Dark Palace, and was unfortunately underwhelmed by the disjointed nature of this mini-festival. The majority of the experience was seemingly put into the main stage design, which was certainly appreciated, however, a bit more of the “Meow Wolf experience” was to be expected.

What lacked in immersive art, was made up for by the artists. Late Night Radio brought his special sauce, fusing his crunchy bass with clever samples raided from decades worth of vinyl. Alex Medellin, (Late Night Radio) is a true audiophile and generously shares his deepest appreciation. He’s also a genuinely kind person. There’s nothing better than to see an artist having the time of their life making people dance.

Another artist high on our list was Shlohmo, and once again, my highest expectations betrayed me. I am a longtime Shlohmo fan, his music bridged my indie-leaning preferences into the electronic world before EDM was even coined as a term. Having never seen him, I was ecstatic to finally bask in his lo-fi soundscapes and deeply emotional production. That is not what Shlohmo came to play. His set consisted almost entirely of contemporary hip-hop remixes. The set was far from bad, as he clearly has a knack for slick beats and smooth transitions, but I know a dozen artists that fill that space and none of them have a discography as avant garde as Shlohmo. Especially preceding CharlestheFirst, who has a similar talent for downtempo exploration of complicated emotions, original Shlohmo tracks would have been much more welcome in my ears.

My disappointment dissolved as soon as CharlestheFirst hit the stage. The sound system that Meow Wolf brought out did complete justice to the range of his sound. He played plenty of older tracks and several from last year’s full length LP The Ascent, but it was fantastic to hear some tracks from his newest EP, No Dimmer. CharlestheFirst incorporates plenty of hip-hop into his own sound, but as texture to his entrancing, layered song crafting. I’ve never been disappointed by his sets, and the streak continues. Vibes were high leaving the venue, and there was plenty of energy left for Sunday’s promised wonkiness.

There was more than just artists there at Dark Palace. Artemis Wild, for example, is a new beauty venture inspired by entrepreneurs Abby Wolf and Lakshmi Dady, based out of Boulder. These women are on a mission to empower the individual! They understand that self-love starts on the inside, working its way to your body’s exterior and radiating around others. ArtemisWild is a foundation for bringing empowered individuals together to create communities that lift one another up. If you found yourself at their booth at some point during Dark Palace, you probably received one of their intention cards. These cards are given to anyone that may want one with the hope that they will be spread around and continuously passed on. Each intention card includes an affirmation, such a “I am love” or “I am positivity”, to provide a tangible reminder of the beautiful qualities we all posses. Abby and Lakshmi have centered their business around body adornment, providing a service that allows people to put a little more dazzle in their form of self-expressionism. They hope to eventually sell only reusable, plastic-free materials.

“We were there to be a light, attracting those wondering through the darkness (Dark Palace).” -Abby Wolf

People all over the venue were showing off their ArtemisWild Jewels; Including some music royalty as Jason Haan of The String Cheese Incident was even spotted in the crowd, proudly wearing some beautiful Artemis Wild jewels. They clearly helped everyone in the sharing of good intentions and good energy every night of the weekend. ArtemisWild is in the process of expanding their brand and have set up a fundraising campaign on their website. From now until December 8th, they are offering 60 percent off on their products which will go towards their goal. As part of their ongoing dedication towards promoting women empowerment, including self-care and wellness, Artemis Wild donates 1 percent of profits to causes like Wombs of the World and Planned Parenthood. The goal being, feel beautiful and give back to the world that we are all a part of.

The final day of Dark Palace felt less hectic and more chill, for most of the night at least. Once again, the main stage was packed early, this time for MeSo. Kevin Lee, aka MeSo, is the owner and operator of the Spicybois label, a rapidly rising name in the experimental bass movement. His set showcased the heavy, buzzy, trap-influenced sound that the Spicybois are known for. It’s booty shaking music, or shades-on, arms-crossed, slow-nod music? Either way, people were loving it. What I appreciated was his focus - he gave his instruments the attention they deserve while onstage, no ridiculous arm-waving, jumping, incessant hyping of the crowd, none of that. Just the sweet, filthy wubs we all came for. The attention to detail was felt in his immaculate transitions and moments of absurdity that could have landed poorly if timed wrong. MeSo satisfied our cravings and left us wanting more.

Of the Trees brought his strange collage of dub and bass out next. He’s a maestro of morphing the uncomfortable or odd into the enticing. Some of his samples sound like he recorded himself tapping or hitting items in an antique store together, and somehow he weaves them into his wonky style like a master tailor. With Of the Trees, you get a little bit of everything, so it was a nice bridge between MeSo and what was to come…

The legendary Shades. A duo consisting of Alix Perez and Eprom, they blend the deepest frequencies with glitchy beats and gangster samples and rasta raps among other oddities. The result is a bewildering and dark dive into the unknown. And man, was it loud. Which is the only way a Shades set should be heard. Their visuals included waves of ram skulls and satanic sigils to match the darkness. In my opinion, they had one of the best, most immersive sets of the weekend. I expect to see them on bigger and bigger stages, perhaps even Red Rocks this next season.

Dirt Monkey closed out the night with his unyielding brand of dubstep. A Colorado native, Patrick Megeath has certainly paid his dues and worked his ass off to get this headlining spot. He’s amassed quite a following in the past few years, and even headlined the beautiful Mishawaka Amphitheater in Bellevue, Colorado earlier this year. Coming up on 20 years of making music, Dirt Monkey is a grinder and his sound only continues to mature. It was a perfectly hype end to a journey of a night.

We hope you had as much fun as we did at Meow Wolf’s Dark Palace! Though we still have over a year until the grand opening of Denver’s own permanent Meow Wolf exhibition, this certainly whetted our appetites for the quality of production that this company can bring to our city.

Meow Wolf's Dark Palace Swept Through Denver Last Weekend! Get The Full Recap Right Here!