Tiger Party 6.6.13

-

Armoury
Denver, CO

Words By Brad Yeakel
Photos By J-man

With a few of my best friends, I ventured out for a Thursday evening in Denver. An evening of firsts, we took our first ride on the west line of Denver's light rail, and went to Armoury on Larimer St. for the first time, and we got to see the first installment of a Thursday night Tiger Party residency. Armoury had the feel of a regular downtown pub, but with the advantage of a decent stage. The atmosphere was friendly, the bartenders generous, the specials decent, and the music was great. Blake Mobley's Tiger Party (a rotating cast of musicians) took the stage shortly after 10:30, and played a show of danceable grooves that covered ground from funky to electro with purpose and style.

Featuring a dj (Craig Henevald) and saxophonist (Pete Wall) rather than the typical guitar, the evening's "Party" had a different flavor from the previous incarnations. A slightly jazzier feel crept in, but with DJ Craig Henevald adding samples, there was an element that reminded me of Pete Wall's other project, Textiles. Pete's solos ranged from soulful to psychedelic and occupied the space where a guitar normally took the lead. It was a rare example where I didn't feel the lack of guitar inhibited the music. Drummer Seth Frankhauser laid solid grooves and kept the party moving beneath Fleeb Thomas' bass-lines. One of my favorite parts of the show was the jam on the riff from Chic's "Good Times" (also used in Rapper's Delight).

The band also backed a female vocalist from Florida, Ashley Niven. She added a dimension to the Tigers that I didn't expect. It was a refreshing change of pace from the dance party, and helped to show the versatility of this ensemble. When her piece was done, the dance party resumed, and the night grew late to the sounds of bass, synth, samples, horns, and drums. Blake, a truly talented keyboard player, had organized a virtual Everyone Orchestra of local talent. While this project was certainly an entertaining one, and one I will continue to see regularly, I was left wanting for Blake to organize another project with a permanent lineup, one where they have the opportunity to dig deeper, and explore further. All in all, good things were happening at Armoury, free music from great musicians, a friendly atmosphere, and strong drinks... I had no doubts the same would be true for every Thursday the rest of June, and the best part, it's free.

Don't miss next week's lineup... It looks like a good one!

J-man's Photo Gallery

www.tigerpartyband.bandcamp.com

www.armourydenver.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Livetronica Sampler 3.22.11

-
Image
Words by Greg Molitor ( ReMIND Photography ) Ozric Tentacles This British group has proven innovative throughout the years offering a space-rock meets psytrance sound that remains alive to this day. Though never having a major record label, Ozric Tentacles has produced 28 albums of diverse psychedelia throughout its career. The band met at the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983 and truly fathered livetronica music with its use of sequencers and synthesizers. Simply put, there would be no livetronica without Ozric Tentacles. www.ozrics.com Octopus Nebula Colorado’s Octopus Nebula has certainly hit its stride as of late with its constant touring and increased festival interest. The group expands on the deep sounds of highly regarded acts such as STS9 and Shpongle but also carves a path of its own with its fresh takes on synthesizer tones and sampling in the live setting. Octopus Nebula Live at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom on March 26, 2010. <--- Direct Archive Link www.octopus
Read more

Buckethead: Gimmick or Guitar God?

-
Image
Words & Photos By Nicholas Stock ( phatphlogblog.blogspot.com ) At what point does the gimmick overshadow the performance? The obvious answer is Buckethead. The man is an amazing guitarist but something is not right in this world. The idea a performer who dons a KFC chicken bucket on his head for a concert has always intrigued me, and some of his side projects such as Colonel Claypool’s Bernie Bucket of Brains have been huge successes. However his performance last weekend in Fort Collins simply left me perplexed. From his robotic dancing, to his nunchuck display, to the fact the he performed with an iPod rather than a band all added to my confusion. Going into the show I was ready to be blown away, despite rumblings of disgruntled fans from the previous night’s show at The Gothic. Buckethead had had some sound issues and some missed cues in Denver but I was still trying to be positive for the show in Fort Collins. It did go off without a hitch technically but that was the least
Read more

Billy Strings 4.18.19

-
Image
Salvage Station Asheville, NC Words by Jason Mebane Photos by J. Scott Shrader Photography When asked to write a review of last week's Billy Strings show at Asheville, North Carolina's Salvage Station I almost passed on it. I just wrote a review of his last Asheville show a few months ago and I thought it may be hard to come up with another set of words to describe to the readers exactly what a Billy Strings show is all about. I am sure there are a plethora of other reviews that other people have written focusing on how well he has mastered his instrument. I suppose I could recycle those thoughts and just sit here typing out a few adjectives describing each note Billy and his superb backing band played this past Thursday night, but that wouldn't be fun for me. Additionally I'd imagine a review like that wouldn't keep your attention either. Instead I have decided to focus on a few random parts of the Billy Strings show that seemed interesting to me. One: B
Read more