Photo by Caitlin Jolicouer
The weekend of Pretty Lights’ pair of performances at Red Rocks Amphitheatre effectively began on Thursday night at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom. The pre-party consisted of artists Late Night Radio, Artifakts, Marvel Years, and Krooked Drivers. Each producer stretched the seams of the modest but storied venue on Welton Street with a unique variation of the newly coalescent electro-soul genre; steady, pounding bass provided texture and harmony to synth lines, eschewing in large part the abrupt drops found in a significant proportion of EDM today.
Late Night Radio (the brainchild of Houston, TX native and Lakewood resident Alex Medellin) took the stage just after 1 o’clock and set the mood for cultural enthusiasts seeking an early dose of good times. He toyed with crowd pleasers such as “Mood Swings” and coolly latched together his remixes of Boulder, CO’s Robotic Pirate Monkey tracks “Port Side Bounce” and “Word Is Bond.” Medellin, however, devoted most of his set to his new album, Far Into The Night, which debuted the day prior to the pre-party (Author note: This album is currently available for free on BandCamp!). The energy at Cervantes’ on Thursday night could have been poured into a cup—that metaphor was fresh in my mind after the bartender told me they had run out of PBR for the night… at midnight.
Friday morning, my friends (weekend warriors from Massachusetts) and I rubbed our eyes and initiated a play-through of Passing By Behind Your Eyes, Derek Vincent Smith’s 2009 masterpiece album. After a blur of showers, dressing, packing, and affixing pins to one another’s hats and CamelBaks, we raced to the amphitheatre just before rush hour and found the lower South lots already abuzz. These and other parking lots at Red Rocks Amphitheatre—the veritable pineal gland of the United States—provided a felicitous outlet to the well of enthusiasm possessed by Pretty Lights’ followers over the weekend. Smiles, hugs, colors, and trades of jewelry and artwork could be seen in all directions, but the holistic experience of a Red Rocks lot cannot be encompassed in words—I will leave this to the reader’s imagination. Personally, I witnessed arguably the least negative incidents of any concert lot this summer, that in context of perhaps the lightest presence of security personnel.
In traditional fashion, the Pretty Lights Family showed their true colors, spreading positive energy and excitement everywhere they went. Some members of the Pretty Lights Family (assembling from all over the country) had even distributed food, water, toiletries, and smiles to Denver’s homeless on Thursday afternoon near the Capitol building.
Photo by Blake Dryden
Finally reaching our seats (stage-right, about ten rows behind the soundboard) during Denver artist Mikey Thunder’s first set of the weekend, we caught our breath from the remarkable hike into the venue and drank in the sights. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the lower South lots, miniature but still full of life. Nevertheless, the awe-inspiring figures of Ship Rock and Creation Rock—as well as the pixelated sprawl of civilization that could be viewed above Stage Rock—pushed lot memories into my LTM corridors; they also made it even more difficult to catch my breath, despite having seen numerous performances there this season. Everywhere, fans and friends laughed, embraced, imbibed, and prepped themselves for the ridiculousness to come.
The Illuminators, Derek Vincent Smith’s own cadre of vibe-enhancers, could be seen in their neon-green uniforms prancing about the arena, handing out water, hugs, and encouraging the same amongst the audience. These spiritual warriors are but one evidential piece of the positive, thoughtful mantra of Pretty Lights. Completely sober, the Illuminators constantly remind people that hydration and empathy not only enhance one’s own experience but uplift everyone else’s in tandem. EDM has an unshakable reputation for drug consumption and irrational exuberance; indeed, it would be foolish to suggest that dangerous drugs were not present at Red Rocks last weekend. Nevertheless, Smith’s Illuminators represent a pragmatic, responsible approach to keeping the audience healthy and the environment comfortable.
Pretty Lights Illuminators
Opening duo Blue Sky Black Death provided a galactic soundscape for the early-arriving fans to unfurl into while the amphitheatre continued to pack in; Red Rocks holds close to 11,000 people (give or take a few hundred) but it always feels like more. Nevertheless, no matter how full it gets, the architecture of the facility allows people to feel like they have plenty of their own space. The music of Blue Sky Black Death comforted those feeling impatient, and welcomed those just reaching the precipice.
Talib Kweli, featured in Pretty Lights’ single “Around the Block,” took the stage as night broke, but his set was unremarkable. After Kweli’s DJ initiated the set with the unmistakable electro riff of “Harlem Shake,” I lost a great deal of interest.
Smith’s opening performance at Red Rocks featured a live band, including Borahm Lee (keyboards) and Adam Deitch (drums) from the PLM group Break Science. The other members included Brian Coogan on keys, Eric Bloom on trumpet, and more.
The more devoted followers of Pretty Lights had been anticipating the performance of the live band as well as the unveiling of the new stage and light production setup for months. To say the least, they—and I—were not disappointed. Smith took the stage on his own polygonal platform, colored along the edges. His bandmates, less than a dozen in number, each stood on their own adjacent polygons. The engineer to Pretty Lights’ defining feature—the mind-bending and soul-feeding visual display of lights—did not have to combat large and cumbersome LED screens while bringing life to Smith’s music; Greg Ellis, better known as Lazer Shark, utilized the largest display of lights and lasers that I have seen at a Pretty Lights show to date. His signature light movements and techniques had an exponential effect on the energy inside the amphitheatre throughout the weekend.
An incredible display by “Lazershark” Greg Ellis
Smith opened with a couple of classics, but the amphitheatre and Lazer Shark’s lightwork made the older tracks feel totally fresh. Smith’s debatably most well-known song, “Finally Moving (Remix)” felt brand-new; I remained nearly affixed to the cement and wooden planks beneath my feet, in awe of the organic timbre of the instruments on stage as well as the blinding psychedelia of Ellis’ laser show.
In particular, I felt chills go down my chest and spine and a lump form in my throat when Smith, early on into the first night, initiated his remix of “One Day They’ll Know” (which had been debuted at Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco only days earlier). The whining brass and strings of the instrumentalists and the crashes of Deitch’s cymbals pulled even harder on my heartstrings than Smith’s music could in its purely digital form. “One day, one day, at a time…”
Such is a modicum to understanding the music of Pretty Lights. Derek Vincent Smith has crystallized emotions in time, permanently. His music is a celebration of life, of humanity, and, concordantly, of our fractured, emotionally-wracked existence. No matter your mood, his music and the visual phenomenon that is Lazer Shark grab hold of your neurotransmitters and facial muscles, shaping your emotions like malleable metal into a form that is perpetually understood, but just as ready to be molded into the next feeling.
Pretty Lights became solely Derek Vincent Smith and Greg Ellis roughly thirty minutes into Friday night’s set. Smith played crowd favorites such as “City of One,” which he slowed down in the end and transitioned perfectly into “Go Down Sunshine,” a hit off of his new album, A Color Map of the Sun.
When Smith segued into “How We Do,” off the seminal 2008 album Filling Up The City Skies, the energy inside Red Rocks Amphitheatre reached the pinnacle of the night. Greg Ellis’ spinning conical lasers came in at just the right moment. The song ended quite abruptly, but the crowd’s cheers filled the audial void and begged Smith to continue his performance. He had the audience solely in his grasp.
After a short monologue thanking Colorado and his fans, Smith played the debut track from his new album, “Let’s Get Busy,” choosing to play the remix synth lines at the end, wrapping buzzsaw bass lines and syncopated, trip-hoppy beats together into a truly raunchy experience. The deep brass of “Let’s Get Busy” makes even the most experienced rager weak in the knees.
Just as the criticism could have arisen that Smith had not utilized his bandmates enough, they appeared back on stage, joining Smith in a huge way. They began a drawn-out, collaborative version of “I Put A Spell On You.” I was so entranced that I forgot the cigarette burning in my fingers as I danced, letting it burn out several times over. I didn’t realize it at first, but Pretty Lights had debuted the first instance of what my friends and I jokingly called “Sound Tribe Sector Derek.” Smith and his bandmates began a what could be called a “jam” on stage, with Smith toying the synth lines of “Spell” and “Samso” alongside the collective instrumentation of his bandmates; Smith even played his own bass guitar at times during these sessions, and could even be seen playing his Moog synth bass as well.
The last half of the show was largely devoted to these “jams.” Lazer Shark stuck primarily to turquoise and purple hues, highlighting the stream-of-consciousness musicianship occurring on stage. The haunted, velvety morose of “Samso” blended almost seamlessly with New Orleans-style brassy soul cuts. It is an unfair encapsulation to term these moments “jams,” but, truly, what occurred on stage during these extended sessions took even the most experienced Pretty Lights fans by surprise. The magic and adoration in the crowd that night rivaled that of any jam band that had performed earlier in the summer. Smith’s extended improvisation sessions were interspersed with classic, soulful bangers such as “I Can See It In Your Face” and “Forever Lost.” The set list choices were completely on point.
Derek began the decrescendo of Friday night with his sensitive, feminine track “Yellow Bird”; consistent, soothing bass thumps coalesced perfectly with Ellis’ sky-blue and yellow lights. Listening to the high-pitched female vocalists’ tracks reverberate off of Ship Rock and Creation Rock and witnessing all of the simplistic Zen happiness on fellow fans’ faces during that song is an experience I will never forget. “Yellow Bird” seamlessly slid into Smith’s remix of Bob Marley’s “Exodus,” a perfect amalgamation of reggae beats, heavy bass, instrumental nuance, and crowd enthusiasm.
The second night of Pretty Lights at Red Rocks began with mood-setting performances by Smith’s friends Michal Menert and Paul Basic, as well as Dallas, TX’s own SuperVision (also a PLM artist). Mikey Thunder also took the stage briefly, immediately before Smith’s set, to keep the crowd’s energy up while the PLM production crew got all of Smith and Ellis’ gear in order.
Taking the stage just after 10PM, Pretty Lights debuted with a full-band rendition of “Color of My Soul.” Many fans were confused, as Derek had played the Color Map track the night before (and repetitions on two-night runs, particularly at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, are uncommon for the producer). The crowd lost their concern, however, when Smith launched into “Understand Me Now,” a thoughtful, caustic, emotional banger off of his 2010 EP Making Up A Changing Mind.
Pretty Lights played several crowd favorites on Saturday night—with and without the live instrumentalists—including “World of Illusion,” “So Much In The Dark,” and “Total Fascination” with a teaser of “Sunday School.” However, thirteen tracks in total from Friday night were repeated, including Color Map tracks “Vibe Vendetta” and “Yellow Bird,” as well as PL staples “I Can See It In Your Face” and “Forever Lost.”
Many hardcore fans of Pretty Lights voiced their anger on social media outlets. From their point of view, Smith and his full instrumental band should have played so much more of the PL music library, as so many songs would have been fantastic to witness, fully fleshed-out in the live band setting. They felt that Derek had done a disservice to his fans and to Red Rocks by playing two very similar shows.
On the other hand, Derek Vincent Smith had (before the performances) voiced his concerns that the band would not be completely prepared to play two full shows; he also made sure to play different tracks while performing individually on stage each night. Similarly, the songs that were repeated had been played differently, more nuanced, and with different light presentations from the Lazer Shark.
Overall, the aesthetics of Derek Vincent Smith’s production were astounding. His music and the light show presented by Greg Ellis are readily accessible to new fans of the music, and easily palatable to EDM enthusiasts of various other sensibilities. To a devoted fan of the music, his Friday night show went above and beyond anything I was expecting; the new light production value was mind-blowing and he played seductive remixes of many of my favorite tracks on both nights. I was definitely disappointed to hear the same tracks played again on Saturday, but I understand the amount of work it takes for the band to master such complicated and emotionally significant tracks. I felt privileged to witness Smith and Co.’s performances at the greatest venue on Earth. So, all-in-all, I give his two-show performances an A-. My only criticism is that Derek could have played more songs individually to please the crowd, and not have played the Samso instrumental remix on Saturday, in full, so similarly to Friday’s version. It took away from the magic. His decision to switch to a live band should not be judged in full, however, until they are given a tour to truly spread their wings.
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