#WMS 2012 recap: City Hall Amphitheatre

Chris Morgan

The Foodchain performing at City Hall Amphitheatre during the 2012 Westword Music Showcase.

As BigWheel came to a close, and the venue had filled up nicely for the Foodchain. For some reason, the audio during the Foodchain's set was sound-checked wrong, causing the vocals to blend in with the drums and keys at certain points. This did nothing to stop anyone from getting down, however. The beats themselves were enough to move the whole place. People were just completely feeling it, and the place was going nuts.

Chris Morgan

Wheelchair Sports Camp performing at City Hall Amphitheatre during the 2012 Westword Music Showcase.

Wheelchair Sports Camp came to the stage next, and, though I had previously only seen the group as a trio, there was an additional trumpeter (Josh Trinidad) added to the show. The complimentry brass to Abby's saxophone added a nice touch. As usual, skeptics who had yet to see or hear WCSC looked on with wondering eyes, but they gradually got wider as Kalyn busted out the vocals.

Chris Morgan

Cobraconda performing at City Hall Amphitheatre during the 2012 Westword Music Showcase.

Cobraconda had a spring break party in the amphitheater. Complete with water guns, beach balls, and even a grill with hot dogs -- yes, a grill with hot dogs, to which they added ketchup and then threw them in the crowd. This being a first in City Hall, no one could really deny them. The place got rowdy as hell with water everywhere, hot dogs flying through the air and beach balls bouncing around. Needless to say, the only thing missing was a beach, a wet T-shirt contest and maybe more booze.

BLKHRTS was up next, and the crew announced this was the last time anyone would see this set. It was a treat hearing the trio lay it down in raw form. "BLK CTY" had everyone grooving from top to bottom, and, honestly, BLKHRTS' version is much more intriguing than the original song from which the beat is sampled.

All in all, this set was the most energetic and probably turned more people onto hip-hop than any other, especially when King Foe jumped down in the crowd to lay his bars down. We were all soaking wet at this point, and if it wasn't from sweat, it was the swatted water bottles coming from the stage.

Chris Morgan

BLKHRTS performing at City Hall Amphitheatre during the 2012 Westword Music Showcase.

The final act in the amphitheater belonged to Human Agency. Not so much hip-hop as it was an electronic jam. Nonetheless, it fit in quite well and provided a nice break from the raw hip-hop that filled the day. The trio kept the energy high, but, as the set wore on, a lot of people started heading out to make their way over to the main stage.

-- Britt Chester

Location Info

Venue

Map

City Hall

1144 Broadway, Denver, CO

Category: Music

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