Quixote's True Blue
Denver, CO
Words By J-man
Photos By Carly Marthis & Nicholas Stock
Audio By Corey Sandoval (Kind Recordings)
Looking into the rear view mirror, the Denver mountains got smaller as I approached Denver International Airport. It was the afternoon of Friday, May 4th and members of Game 7, as well as Bernie Worrell, would be arriving within' the hour for one of the most in-depth nights of music in Denver this year. Assisting with transportation would be Paul Brown (Highland Tap & Burger), who's flight arrived within' the half hour window that the rest of the band would be getting in. From the
terminal came Eric Gould (Particle), Darren Pujalet (Particle), Paul Brown (HTB), Michael Kang (String Cheese Incident), Aron Magner (Disco Biscuits, Conspirator) and lastly, Bernie Worrell (Parliament Funkadelic, Talking Heads). With everyone's bags and gear collected, we headed back to the city to get to work.It was great to see Magner's excitement about Bernie and it was great to hear Bernie's perspective of a the D.I.A. conspiracy among others. For once, sitting in traffic didn't bother me, as I turned up public radio jazz and exhaled. Arriving in Denver, Magner and Pujalet were dropped off at their hotel, but not before a quick picture with Bernie. Shortly to follow, I dropped off Bernie at his hotel across town and made my way to Quixote's to set up the drums and check on some equipment. An hour later I would be transporting Bernie from his hotel to Cervantes to soundcheck with Juno What. Folks were excited to see Bernie and Bernie seemed excited to explore Juno What's material. Minutes later I was en-route to the hotel to pick-up Magner and Pujalet once again.
Over at Quixote's things were
warming up with Game 7 in good spirits and ready for the evening's show. Soundcheck ensued as I departed once again to pick up Bernie from Cervantes to take him to his hotel to rest for the evening's show. An hour of rest would resolve at Quixote's as the doors opened and the venue came to life. Familiar faces turned out to catch some of their favorite musicians in one of their rare side projects.As the ten o'clock hour came, the theme from Star Wars began on the P.A. prompting an excited response from those in attendance.
"What's that?" Kang asked about the speech I was holding in my hand.
"When I say 'We choose to go to the moon...' you guys come out," I said, promting laughter from Kang.
With that, I took the stage to intro Game 7 with exerts from Kennedy's "Moon Speech"...
Game 7 Live at Quixote's True Blue on May 4, 2012.
Set I: Jman Intro, Mango Di Bango, San Antonio, Multiball Part 1 > Feeling Older, Time To Pretend, Multiball Part 2
Set II: Chicago > I'm Awake, Metropolis*, Teardrop > Come Together > Jam In The D
Encore: Skyscraper
* w/ Soul Finger tease
The band took the stage, smiling from ear to ear as Quixote's began to fill in. The set eased it's way in with a standard drum beat from Darren and the rest of the group jumping in shortly to follow. The music took on a menacing tone as it meandered
through some slower ambient jams, building it's way up as Darren's beat increased in tempo and dancability!Following some intense jamming the music resolved to a mellow pace with near excessive noodling. I began to lose interest as I departed Quixote's to pick up Bernie from his hotel to get him over to Cervantes. Arriving at Cervantes there was a sizable group of folks out back who received Bernie with excitement and open arms. Backstage a group photo session took place with Nicholas Stock leading the charge. Juno What took the stage, followed by Bernie a few songs later (Stay tuned for Nicholas' review of the Juno What show.)
Back at Quixote's, Magner's keys screamed with tonal distortion and dirty delight as the band ventured through a plethora of covers with minor difficulties. Beyond the duel melodies, the band sounded great as it explored some mind-blowing solo work and spacey sections. The musical relationship between Kang and Pete Wall seemed to be the
most interesting with both hurling melodies and solos back and forth with fury and precision to close the first set.The second set began with what sounded like a military alarm from Magner and extended jams that continued to approach the twenty minute mark. What followed would be a set of music even jammier than the first. The rhythm section of Eric and Darren laid the foundation for some fairly adventurous moments in the music. A unique version of The Beatles "Come Together" segued into a jam to close the set. The band returned to the stage to encore with a final burst of energy.
Elements of jazz, electronica, funk and rock fused together in this rare "super group," however, overall I feel like the show missed the mark. Where as there were some extremely tasty moments, the overall direction and energy seemed to be lacking. With excessive competition that night in Denver, the show drew a moderate crowd, which could have indeed affected the bands energetic out put. Luckily for Denver, Saturday's show would step it up a notch.
www.facebook.com/game7theband
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