Quixote's True Blue
Denver, CO
Words By J-man
Photos By Carly Marthis & J-man
Audio Recording By Corey Sandoval (Kind Recordings)
Video By Jhonette Perdue (BiggerGuyProductions)
The anticipation leading up to Game 7's two night run at Quixote's True Blue was insane. It was also being billed as The MusicMarauders Two Year Anniversary Party which meant that we were responsible for a lot of logistical stuff. Promotions, ticket contests, posters, fliers... it all fell onto us. We were excited, though apprehensive to see how the turnout for the weekend would be. We knew it would be good, but we had no clue how good.I showed up around 5:00 pm to help load in and deal with some miscellaneous tasks around Quixote's. One by one the members of Game 7 began to arrive and set up. Pete Wall (The Motet) brought his entire arsenal for the evening's assault; his tenor sax, soprano sax, baritone sax and his flute. Shortly to follow came
Michael Kang (String Cheese Incident). I helped him load in his equipment as Aron Magner (The Disco Biscuits) turned up with his gear. Lastly, Eric Gould and Darren Pujalet (Particle) walked through the door with smiles on their faces. The vibe was really light as they set up their gear, began to soundcheck and eventually rehearse. It started off pretty loose and slowly began to tighten up.A couple of hours later, around 9:00 pm, Quixote's came to life. Jay Bianchi, owner of Quixote's, asked me to assist with the band/backstage operations. I agreed, not knowing at the time what indeed that would entail. Initially, it meant keeping folks out of the backstage area who didn't belong, making sure that the band had what they needed and a few minor equipment issues. I realized then that I was so involved in the operations of what was going on that I didn't really get a chance to experience or check out any of the openers.
Game 7 Live at Quixote's True Blue on January 13, 2012.
Around 11:45 pm, Game 7 posed for a few pictures for me, toasted and took the stage to a packed Quixote's! The crowd went nuts! The energy was absolutely palatable as they began. It seemed like a completely different band from the one I witnessed during soundcheck. They tore into the jams as if they had been playing together for some time. Things were going great until it happened... boom, the stage and soundboard went out. The band glanced around with confusion as Kang turned around to
ask what happened. I leaned out and told the band that I would check with the house but to keep the drums and bass going. When I arrived at the soundboard after battling through the house I found Jay and sound engineer, Don Ross, looking frustrated and helpless."What the fuck is going on?" I asked Jay and Don as Darren and Eric continued doing a drum and bass duo with Pete chiming in to keep the flow going...
"They blew a circuit and we're working on flipping it. Tell the band that it will be up in a few minutes and to keep playing," Jay said with command.
I headed into the courtyard, through the back room, backstage and leaned out to let everyone in the band know what the deal was. Magner informed me that his PA was out but that his keys were live. I encouraged him to keep playing as I tried to solve Kang's issues. I realized that if Gould was still live, I had to figure out where he
was plugged in to bring Kang back up. After a little help from the live painter, Scotty, we found an extension cord and I ran it back to where Eric was plugged in. It worked. Kang was back up and tore right back into the music. Minutes later, the rest of the stage was live again.I stepped outside for a breather. The cool air was exactly what I needed to bring me back down from the craziness that had just taken place. The next several minutes were spent with friends and folks who had come out to celebrate MM's two years. The music was extremely energetic with several peaks, creating a fantastic atmosphere for the party! Throughout all of the comotion, I was able to make out Radiohead's "National Anthem," The Beatles' "Come Together" and many more covers.
Towards the middle/end of their set I stepped onto the stage to refill everyone's glass of whiskey. It was a really fun environment as everyone smiled and partied. At one point, Magner motioned to me prompting me to return a middle finger in response
to an earlier photo that I had snapped of him. He laughed and shook his head. At one point I filled Darren's glass and handed it back to him while he continued to keep a consistent dance beat.Two hours and fifteen minutes after they began, Game 7 stepped off stage, refilled their drinks and returned for an encore that ended around 2:30 am. What an amazing two and a half hour set! The band was in great spirits following a fantastic show and you could feel the excitement for the following evening's affairs.
Living in Upstate, NY I used to dream about Colorado, Quixote's mixed projects and being apart of, what is in my opinion, the best Jam/live music scene in the country. That night in Denver I realized that I was literally living one of my dreams...
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www.quixotes.com
way tmi
ReplyDeleteUnderstandable. For me it was just wanting to capture the details of a crazy evening. Typically I write from a different perspective, but the uniqueness of the situation called for a different approach to the writing.
ReplyDelete-J-man