Skrillex at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 8/9/12

Britt Chester

Skrillex last night at Red Rocks. Slideshow: Skrillex at Red Rocks

See also:
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To put Skrillex's show last night at Red Rocks in historical perspective: If this were the venue equivalent of the Titanic, blissfully floating along, enjoying the scenery and the people aboard her deck, then Skrillex was the motherfucking iceberg that took that epic ship down. Say what you will about our Americanized mainstream dubstep, but Skrillex is the new face of rock and roll, and we're barely seeing the tip of that iceberg above the water.

Just before the stroke of midnight, the stage spanning LED screen blasted a five-minute countdown, emitting a hint of light on the agro-stage setup that had, up to that point, remained covered. Through the haze, an X-Wing fighter-style transformer laid dormant in the darkness as a lullaby version of "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" -- a track that has since gone down in infamy as "the one with the signature Skrillex noise" -- played over the speakers. The anticipation was thick in the air, and the excitement kept steadily building as folks geared up for the insanity that is Skrillex.

Britt Chester

Skrillex last night at Red Rocks. Slideshow: Skrillex at Red Rocks.

Following the "Scary Monsters" intro, we were teased with a sample from "Welcome to Jamrock," while Michael Jackson's zombie dance scene from "Thriller" played on the screen. It was at this point that it became abundantly clear to anyone paying attention that Skrillex had not come all the way to Morrison, Colorado to simply push buttons and twist knobs. He came to show us all why he's worthy of the hype that precedes him -- but more importantly, he came to dazzle. Sure, lights and lasers aren't everything, but when they are complemented with flash pots on stage, cryo cannons lining the front of the stage, fireworks from turrets stationed halfway up both sides of the venue and -- later, as we'd discover -- fireworks from the roof of the stage, they conspire to create quite an amazing spectacle.

The inevitable drop into the Skrillex version of Nero's "Promises" generated the first wave of complete and utter dub-psychosis -- and had us thinking that Skrillex would be offering up a near carbon copy of his famed Ultra Music Festival set with the rising "Mothership." Only, he didn't. Instead, the X-Wing fighter that housed the young producer rose up from the ground, reaching up about thirty feet in the air or so, with lasers blasting on full, spraying the crowd with beat-matching patterns of purples, greens, blues and reds.

Britt Chester

Skrillex last night at Red Rocks. Slideshow: Skrillex at Red Rocks.

This lead into "Ruffneck Bass," which splattered pixelated images of the matching creepy music video, which features a pill-popping Santa Claus getting attacked by kids and elves. From here, it was pretty much a drum and bass party into "Tarantula," which not only slowed the crowd down a bit, but showed that Skrillex can tame even the most savage beast with subtle beat changes from raging dubstep into mellow reggae cuts.

Location Info

Venue

Map

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison, CO

Category: General

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