Skip to main content

Hoppy Holidays: Anders Osborne & Kyle Hollingsworth Band 12.5.15


The Fillmore Auditorium
Denver, CO

Words & Photos By Brad Yeakel (Opti Mystic Outlooks)


Throughout the last several years, I've been lucky enough to attend a number of beer festivals organized by String Cheese Incident's keyboard wizard, Kyle Hollingsworth. His obsession with beer and music have coalesced into a beautiful pair of earthly delights. On Saturday, I attended his annual "Hoppy Holidays" event.

The 21+ event included unlimited 2oz samples from 30+ craft beers between the hours of 5-8. Quite the happy hour... Or "hoppy hour." As a craft beer enthusiast, I enjoy opportunities to dabble with beers I've never tried, and samples were a great way to explore the various offerings without ending up a nuisance. As I enjoyed the array of flavors, I meandered through the crowd, mingling with the usual suspects. I thought the social aspect of the event rivaled the entertainment. With friends, some old, some new, we indulged in libations and settled in to a nice holiday buzz.

Reggae veterans, John Brown's Body, got the music started once the crowd was loose. I'd heard about JBB for years, but never got to see them. My expectations were satisfied. In a weird way, they were EXACTLY what I expected. My reggae knowledge is admittedly narrow, but I have heard a lot of mediocrity within the genre. With the exception of Tosh, Cliff, Burning Spear, Toots and the Maytals, and obviously Marley, most reggae bands seemed to lack originality. While I didn't think JBB was particularly unique, I also didn't feel they were lacking substance of their own.

Kyle Hollingsworth Band followed with a lengthy set which featured trumpet empress, Jen Hartswick doing her thing. Kyle's flashy key work has long been one of my favorite components in String Cheese Incident, and his solo work has always pulled heavily from his SCI catalog. While the lineup was tight, I was perplexed by the absence of Dave Watts and Garrett Sayers (both of the Motet), who normally provide the rhythm section. Dan Schwindt (guitar) and Kyle did a fine job working with an alternate lineup, but the same sense of comfort that lies with the core group just wasn't evident. Even the most effective substitute teacher rarely covers as much ground as the regular one.

When Kyle and company called it quits, Anders Osborne took the stage. I had never seen him before and had no idea what to expect. What I heard was a combination of several influences put together in a unique, yet eerily familiar way. At his core, he seemed to be the jamband's answer to Mellencamp, or the Boss, but with Clapton's bluesy licks. As I left the pit after 3 songs, I noticed that the venue had largely emptied, leaving the room less than a third full for the duration of the show. This seemed to sap a bit of Osborne's enthusiasm as the show was tight, but lacking any "over the top" moments. I would admit that by halfway through his set I was beginning to feel the lethargic weight of several hours of drinking and dancing and I probably paid more attention to conversations with friends than I did the music.

On the whole, it was a most enjoyable experience, but one that was sadly light on the thrilling improvisation that defined this style of music. Much like the beer selection, everything was good, but there were only a few moments that transcended the ordinary and left me with a refreshed palate. I think many of the attendees were there to see KHB, so I found it unusual that he played second instead of last. For an event that began at 5 with 3 hours of drinking, 2 bands would have sufficed. As I stumbled to the lite-rail and westward on the W, I reflected on the numerous Kyle's Brewfests I've attended and remembered them fondly... Albeit hazily.

www.andersosborne.com

www.kylehollingsworth.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Livetronica Sampler 3.22.11

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. www.octopusnebula.com Big Gigantic Big...

Buckethead: Gimmick or Guitar God?

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 ...

The Origin of MusicMarauders

Words By J-man "What should I name this fucking thing?" I asked myself in the midst of a joint in my Upstate, NY apartment. "It's got to be something with just 'Music'in the title. Nothing more specific than that, as we'll be covering a wide variety of genres." One more drag on the joint yielded the memory of driving down Woodward Ave. in Detroit, listening to Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders. "MusicMarauders! That's it... It completely encompasses what we do in the sense the we are 'maraudering' or 'pillaging' for music," I thought as I stared out of the window at about three and a half feet of fresh Upstate snow. First things first, the domain had to be registered. "Do I have ten dollars in my account?" I thought to myself from a position of just scraping by. Pulling out my shiny, rarely used debit card, I put it to the test and was able to secure MusicMarauders.com. "What's next?" I ...