Sonar on Tour with Die Antwoord, 11/7/12

Eric Gruneisen

Azari last night at the Ogden Theatre. Slide show: Die Antwoord on the Sonar Tour

Azari & III sat in the spot right before Die Antwoord, and this disco quartet couldn't have done a better job. With soulful vocals laid over dark house melodies, vocalist Starving Yet Full blasted out the lyrics to "Manic," while fellow vocalist Fritz Helder joined in on harmonies. Helder and SYF have a chemistry on stage that makes it impossible to take your eyes off of them. Even when they would let Alphonse Alixander Lanza III and Dinamo Azari, the beat makers of the group, go off into a drum and bass production, or deep into some scary melodic groove, their stage presence was not only seen, but noticeably felt.

Eric Gruneisen

Azari last night at the Ogden Theatre. Slide show: Die Antwoord on the Sonar Tour

Paul Kalkbrenner opened prior to Azari & III with some great after-hours music. If there was any question as to whether or not Mercury went retrograde two days ago, let it be known that we were hearing 5 a.m. deep house at 9 p.m., it felt a little backwards, like we should all have been standing in a swampy warehouse with little light and a lot of smoke. The smoke was plentiful, and as good as the music was, it just doesn't fit the opening mood. Kalkbrenner's set was awesome; Nonstop music with smooth transitions and deep bass lines.

Eric Gruneisen

Paul Kalkbrenner last night at the Ogden Theatre. Slide show: Die Antwoord on the Sonar Tour

The closer after Die Antwoord was Nic Fanciulli, and barely anyone saw his set. Right after Die Antwoord performed, almost everyone in the building piled out of the show, probably because they thought it was the final act. Wrong! Fanciulli came out about fifteen minutes after and proceeded to lay the techno on thick and full to probably 75 people. All I can say is if you walked out of the show after Die Antwoord, you missed the highlight of the evening.

Eric Gruneisen

Nic Fanciulli last night/this morning at the Ogden Theatre. Slide show: Die Antwoord on the Sonar Tour

Personal Bias: Yo-Landi Vi$$er's sex appeal is wild. I almost feel creepy lusting over her because of her video persona in which she's this innocent helpless girl, but in the reality, is she could probably beat the living shit out of me. I can dig it.

Random Detail: Azari & III blew the crowd away at times, but other songs just didn't have the same captivation.

By the Way: The lasted seven hours. I've not been to a show at the Ogden that has lasted that long.

Location Info

Venue

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Ogden Theatre

935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO

Category: Music

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