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View Full Version : REVIEW: Alex Grey Show - Denver, CO



thc_guy
10-19-2009, 09:50 AM
Awwww shit!!! What a night...what a night!

I am still recovering. Legs and feet hurt like hell...limping around my office today. Body hurts and so does my mind. I experienced so much this weekend. I think all this must be a sign of a great weekend huh?

First off let me thank everyone who came out. Our shows would not be nearly as amazing without our friends and family who come out and support Boogie Down each and every show. The energy you bring helps raise these events to a new level that just the art/music could not do on it's own! Many thanks go out to you...the fans!

Now I'll try to write a review:
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VENUE: City Hall is simply amazing. Great new venue...last night was basically opening night for them. They have had a couple small outside events but this was the first time the main two floors were actually utilized fully. What a start! Two floors of music plus an outside courtyard with a wrap around balcony. The staff and ownership was great and helped us a lot along the way. What a pleasure to work with. Both rooms were large and had plenty of light and sound. They brought in an amazing sound system during the week and the place was rumbling. They are actually putting a retractable roof on the outside area so we can have shows out there all winter too. This is Boogie Down's new venue so expect all our big shows to be there in the future! I think everyone was excited about the spot and liked it a lot.

CROWD: We don't have the final tally yet but from talking to the ownership and security they think the final total was around 2500 people. There was a little line getting in but I think it moved pretty smoothly for the most part. At one point there was some confusion with a will call list which slowed things down but besides that it was pretty smooth. The crowd was great - nice mix of people including folks from the electronic, jamtronic, club, burner, and artsy crowds. Everyone was very nice and all smiles all night - I think this event really suprised a lot of people and all we got were compliments all night. I think everyone left feeling very satisfied and stoked about this new venue and format!

VENDORS: Thanks to everyone who came out to vend. It was a wide array of items that we have not had at our events before. We had hologram posters, crystal displays, clothing sales, masks and burner style clothes, we had healing areas and massage areas and much more!

ALEX GREY: What a cool guy. For some reason I expected something different - maybe a uptight down to earth guy. Kind of stuck up from fame maybe? NOT AT ALL. He was hilarious and very kind. Definately down to earth but in a cool way. His speech was neat - it basically took us on a trip outlining his beginings and life trip to where he is now. He used a tv to do a cool slideshow showing pictures, artwork, etc. There should be many videos and pics of this. Everyone sat down on the ground and watched quietly. The room was aobsultely packed to the brim for this portion of the event. He stuck around and gave hugs and took pictures with everyone afterwards until he was forced to say goodbye and head to the stage to start painting. Very nice guy - we look forward to working with him again when we take the show on the road!

FASHION SHOW: the fashion show was very cool. Goodie provided the music which started slow and worldy and got more and more dancey as the show went on. First up was UMBA IMPORTS. Thier show was full our our good friends who all looked awesome posing, dancing, and grooving around the stage. Next up was Pascha's Play I believe it was called. They were awesome too - great clothes and outfits. Another group filled with several friends. It was nice seeing so many of my buddies getting deeply involved in this event! Thank you!!! Last up was the ARTSMYTHS. This group was full of hoopers, masked dancers, feathered bird women, stilt walkers, and much more who filled the stage with a freaky meld of dancing and modeling. Great costumes - I love what they do. The fashion show turned out awesome and I really think everyone loved it. I did a little speech but unfotunately I did it at the wrong part of the fashion show...sorry everyone! I tried to recover and did a second speech I made up at the end. I finished by telling everyone to have a beautiful night and a wonderful adventure...I think people took it literally because the rest of this evening would be a pretty wild ride!!!

(more to come)

Orangepeel
10-19-2009, 10:16 AM
have been to several events there...
westword's artopia, fantastic hosts...

that being said,
eye thoroughly enjoyed the event sat night
(despite gettin' shafted in the stilt dept...;))

Opm

dmtree
10-19-2009, 11:53 AM
always nice to have a event review from the event organizer. ;)

I wonder what happened to the event posting in the events forum - seems to have disappeared. an archived events forum would be nice to have for this sort of thing.

anyway, sounds like a good time, wish i could have made it.

Beta Nightclub
10-19-2009, 12:23 PM
Good time great space.

Steve
10-19-2009, 12:33 PM
Never understood why people dig on his stuff so much.. IMO: While his work is technically proficient and tremendously complex, I feel it lacks "soul."

Nonetheless: I'm elated to see any event that isn't catering to what I call the LCDers do so well. Congrats!

tynkle
10-19-2009, 12:43 PM
We arrived at the venue early to allow for the lecture starting promptly at 8. As we should have expected, they were late getting people into the venue and didn't start the lecture until 8:40ish. That wasn't so bad, as I was able to have a little chat with Alex before his lecture. It seemed as if a lot of people didn't have a clue who he was, as there were only a few people who chatted with him. Allyson did a little intro (she really is adorable), and Alex gave a great lecture. A lot of it was repetitive if you've read his books, but it was fun to hear him speak.

During the lecture, the people in the back of the room and the people backstage for the "fashion show" got really loud in their conversation. It would have been nice for them to shut the fuck up.

After he was done, they started this.. uhh.. fashion show, on the stage behind where the lecture was. It pretty much seemed like a "what to wear when dumpster diving" event.

Trying to escape there, we went out in the amphitheater area and attempted to figure out how to get to the second room. Shuffling through the crowd, the smell of BO was something fierce, and I started to get a migraine.

We got incorrect and vague directions from several staff members on how to get to the second room. Some signs would have been more helpful than most of these people.

Since we couldn't find a room to get away from the fashion show, our group made a unanimous decision to leave.

Maybe the afterhours was better, but from the looks of 2am, the basement is still a shithole.

~!MjC!~
10-19-2009, 01:27 PM
complain, complain. I had a great time! Sick show. Thanks to everyone involved.

erin
10-20-2009, 01:44 AM
Since we couldn't find a room to get away from the fashion show, our group made a unanimous decision to leave.

Maybe the afterhours was better, but from the looks of 2am, the basement is still a shithole.

I completely missed the fashion show because I was geeking out to S.P.E.C.T.R.E. upstairs. If you left before the fashion brouhaha was over, you managed to miss the majority of the show. Shen, Kilowatts, EPROM, Heyoka.. it was a damn solid show after 10pm! Its stupid that City Hall blocked off the back stairwell for more "backstage" space (though, I figure it was necessary due to the circus performers and fashion stuff). I hope that's not what the usual setup will be for multi-story events.

2am was certainly a sweaty shithole, but I'm glad I stuck it out for the brain-melting by an-ten-nae.

s.p.e.c.t.r.e.
10-20-2009, 02:04 AM
had a blast. :awesome:

thanks for doing it big BDP!

tynkle
10-20-2009, 08:19 AM
I completely missed the fashion show because I was geeking out to S.P.E.C.T.R.E. upstairs. If you left before the fashion brouhaha was over, you managed to miss the majority of the show. Shen, Kilowatts, EPROM, Heyoka.. it was a damn solid show after 10pm! Its stupid that City Hall blocked off the back stairwell for more "backstage" space (though, I figure it was necessary due to the circus performers and fashion stuff). I hope that's not what the usual setup will be for multi-story events.

2am was certainly a sweaty shithole, but I'm glad I stuck it out for the brain-melting by an-ten-nae.

HOW do you get upstairs? That was the most frustrating part of the whole thing. We literally asked ten staff members, followed their directions (which were extremely vague), and got absolutely nowhere.

It would have been nice to see the second area, but after that scavenger hunt, we just gave up.

Orangepeel
10-20-2009, 09:35 AM
2am was certainly a sweaty shithole, but I'm glad I stuck it out for the brain-melting by an-ten-nae.

bummed eye missed him,
but got frustrated with the clusterfuck of a line outside 2am...

then we heard it was sold out,
and my friend didn't have a ticket yet

Opm

grapeape
10-20-2009, 09:35 AM
had fun at the afters, didnt attend the main show. thx guys

missargyle
10-20-2009, 03:34 PM
Never understood why people dig on his stuff so much.. IMO: While his work is technically proficient and tremendously complex, I feel it lacks "soul."


have you ever seen one of his finished paintings up close?
i can understand someone being less impressed by prints and photos online, but i can tell you from all the many times i partied at cosm and meditated in the chapel of sacred mirrors - his work has nothing BUT soul.

also...alex is so real and so humble and so kind. i'm glad that came across at this event. unfortunately his wife is a WHOLE other story...but someone has to watch out for alex b/c he's probably just give his art away if it wasn't for her!

sounds like an awesome event!

tynkle
10-20-2009, 03:44 PM
^^^She's right. CoSM is an amazing experience. From the looks of it, the sanctuary looks like it will be 1000x the experience it was at the old location.