First and foremost, the most anticipated event of New Years is Sound Tribe Sector 9 at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver. Their NYE show will be the last of a 3-show run they will be playing at the Fillmore that week. Tickets are pricey and are always highly sought after due to the magnitude of energy, lights, and music that goes down at these shows. Also, Tipper (a personal favorite) is opening for the NYE show and will be sure to get the night off to a bouncy start. If you can't catch STS9 on New Years, be sure to catch them in one of their two precursor shows at the Fillmore with openers Mimosa (12/29) and Emancipator (12/30), or head to one of the many official after parties taking place in Denver that week.
Looking for a little more bass/grime than STS9 this year? Look no further. Denver's up-and-coming advocate of bass-specific events, Impact, is presenting a very special night at City Hall in Denver with headliner Eoto. Eoto (Micheal Travis and Jason Hann of String Cheese Incident) is world renowned for their fusion of dubstep with live instrumentals and sampling. None of their live sets are prerecorded, which means there's no telling what to expect from this show (except that it will be epic). Accompanying Eoto are some of the newest and biggest names in bass-based electronic music. Dieselboy, Liquid Stranger, and Heyoka are all well known, widely acclaimed acts. Even more intriguing are two of this year's newest glitch/dubstep Soundcloud sensations, NastyNasty and Nit Grit. These two may be the determining factor for my decision, as well as some local Boulder talent (jansten and spectre) who are sure to throw it down to get the night started.
If you're sticking around Boulder this year, this is the event you're going to want to attend (unless you wanna see Rose Hill Drive perform a White Stripes album at the fox??) Our buddies over at This Song Is Sick are presenting Crystal Castles at the Boulder Theater. For those who haven't seen Crystal Castles live, its definitely something you need to see at some point in your life. Their unique style is highlighted by their unmatched energy levels during live sets. Opening for C.C. is the denver-based experimental power punk band, The Chain Gang of 1974, as well as an artist we at ThickBeats have been following extensively, Pictureplane. Recently gaining a lot of acclaim for his unique "witch house"-style productions as well as his large-scale after hours parties in Denver's rave warehouse, Rhinoceropolis, Pictureplane has been the talk of many blogs, notably Pitchfork earlier this year.
If you're planning on being in the mountains for NYE this year, absolutely hit up Emancipator at three20south in Breckenridge. This show will be the biggest event going on in the mountains (DJ Davey Gold will also be at Samana Lounge in Vail if thats where you're gonna be at). Three20South is one of our favorite venues to play at, and it is as intimate as it is action-packed. Emancipator is one of the youngest, most innovative DJ/Producers in the game right now. Tickets to this show are cheap ($15) and the opening acts are really solid: Phutureprimitive and our buddy, Raw Russ (elm and oak).
I've been trying to keep Ft. Collins more in mind lately, and that being said, it seems that if you're in Fort Collins this year for NYE, Michal Menert at the Aggie is gonna be the spot to be at. This FoCo native has a downtempo style similar to that of Pretty Lights, but a little more glitch/hip-hop influenced. Chicago-based Prepschool, who I just checked out, will be opening and have a cool turntablism prettylights meets alexB kind of a style. So if your around, be sure to check this out. Tickets are cheap ($15).
Not on the 31st, but worthy of mention:
Zeds Dead, the dubstep duo who exploded on the scene this year, will be playing two days prior to New Years Eve at Cervantes in Denver. The show is cheap ($20) and Zeds Dead is a leading force in new innovative dubstep remixes and original productions. Opening for them is one of Denver's most prominent dubstep artists, and personal friend, Coult 45. So if you're looking for a nice appetizer to your New Year's Eve weekend be sure to check out this bass-banging Dubsteptacular!
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