Live on the Lanes: January Recap

Rainbow Girls & Handmade Moments at 830 North

We had a wonderful night with these two amazing bands Rainbow Girls and Handmade Moment. Before the show, I had the opportunity to talk to two members of both bands Vanessa from the Rainbow Girls and Anna Moss from Handmade moments.

I had the chance to chat with Anna of Handmade Moments. Check it out below!

What is one of your favorite pieces that you love to perform?: “My partner, he’s sitting over there, wrote this song called help is on the way. It’s about when we lived in a bus off of solar panels, with a stage on top, and we traveled everywhere performing in small venues for free. Until we got into an accident with two road rage drivers that hit our bus and my partner got severely injured. The song is a collection of things that everyone said to him when they helped save his life. This was about  7 years ago and he was in a wheelchair for about 3 months. You’ll see us perform this song tonight!”

What kind of music do you enjoy listening to besides the music you play?: “I’m really Into bedroom pop and like really like Dorothy Ashby, who’s a Jazz Harpist from the ’50s, before her time, she’s really a chill hip hop vibe.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time, besides playing music?: “I like to catch up with my friends and I really like to bake. I’ve been making sourdough  loaves of bread, and pancakes and I love to bake Italian shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate!”

I also had the opportunity to talk with Vanessa of Rainbow Girls about her life as a performer. Check it out below!

What was your best concert with the band and why?: “There are so many concerts that were amazing for specific reasons but one that stood out was Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco, this was one of those moments that felt like all the work that we’ve done was paying off, and was such  a great opportunity it was for us.”

What was one of your favorite places to perform at?: “Oh, definitely New Orleans.”

What styles of music do you enjoy listening to besides the sort of music you play with the band?: “Ooo my Heart lies with soul music but I do enjoy world music too.”

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time, besides playing music?: “I personally love pottery and  I do teach on the side,  and also just ride my motorcycle. I love to just be out in nature.”

The show was something different compared to our usual lineup here at 830 North, although the weather was -1 degrees, the people came out to support these two bands. I enjoyed the music shift, with “candles” lit around the venue and the lights of the vibes were wonderful and calm tonight. These women have amazing voices and got multiple applauses from the crowd throughout the night. Overall these two bands were amazing and made it a great way to end/start the week.

• Written by Emmalie Francis

Nothing But Nineties at 100 Nickel

Nothing but Nineties certainly lived up to their name this Saturday night at 100 Nickel, giving the audience a captivating performance of hits across the 90’s era. Through their colorful neon outfits, light-up sneakers, and slimy decals, they were able to channel and summon the spirit of the 90’s itself into a raging blue raspberry flavored inferno of nostalgia. It was in the shape of a tiger.

Every millennial in the room rose in the air and burst into a ray of light, enveloping all the Gen-Z children in thirty years worth of musical knowledge and experience, far too much for their young minds to handle. Time and space itself began to be torn asunder as the 90’s began to bleed into every other era in history, history itself changing to show Ancient pharaohs wearing parachute pants, Napoleon rocking a guitar on MTV, and Nickelodeon as the main religion in the world. For a moment it seemed all hope was lost and everyone over 30 would enter a midlife crisis, but suddenly Tony Hawk appeared and yelled a classic “Psych!”, startling the bull and giving Nothing but Nineties just enough time to blow it away with their ultimate power, a cover of Oasis’ hit single “Wonderwall”. Then everyone got slimed.

• Written by Max Doucette

Psychedelic Saturdays at 100 Nickel

On this Friday Edition of Psychedelic Saturday’s, The Psychedelic’s crew used a wide screen projector that displayed multicolored images against the sides of the bowling lanes. This made for an entrancing and immersive ambiance. In addition to the vivid imagery, vendors and painters populated the hallways curating an exclusive experience for concert goers.  

The night began with some futuristic beats from Czek, who had a slow, metallic approach to his music– fabricating a heavy but full sound in the room. 

The fog machine kicked up a notch for the entrance of Operatr, a music producer from the Denver Metro Area. His quick and intense sounds warmed up the crowd; and with hula hoopers eager to get on the dance floor, a hypnotic light show began to take place center stage.  

Ginseng, another local favorite, brought forth some hydraulic bass for the night. Technical difficulties at the beginning of his set didn’t deter him or the crowd. An awkward transition made for a memorable changeover into the tenacious beats he had to offer. 

Grayskale was the highly anticipated headliner. Voyaging all the way from Detroit, Grayskale brought his dynamic bass sound to Broomfield. Breaking the DJ silence, Grayskale took the mic and introduced himself. The night mellowed out with his lively sound, keeping everyone on their feet til midnight.  

This first edition of Psychedelic Saturdays was sure to set the tone for what’s to come in the future at 100 Nickel.

• Written by Yasmin Conchas

SolSatellite at 100 Nickel

The opening band of the night was the School of Rock Broomfield house band. This was a group of 12 kids who ranged from about 13-17 years old. Despite their age, they sounded amazing and appeared completely comfortable and professional on stage. Their technical abilities were also incredible. As a group, they were a lot tighter than many adult bands I’ve seen. There wasn’t a single musician on stage not pulling their weight. If you couldn’t see them on stage, you would absolutely think they were adults. All of these kids have very bright futures ahead of them in the music world. 

SolSatellite was up next, which consisted of some of the School of Rock instructors. Seeing them play, it was definitely clear where the kids got their amazing skills. Their music featured a perfectly balanced blend of keys, guitar, vocals, bass, and drums. Their sound had a clear 90’s and 00’s alternative rock influence, but still maintained a contemporary and unique feeling by including elements of Latin, Funk, R&B, and Jazz. They were also extremely tuned into each others sonic presence. No one ever stepped on anyone else’s toes or competed for dynamics. This was made even more obvious by their ability to blend all the textures of their instruments so well. It was also awesome to see the School of Rock kids’ support for their instructors. They were all right in front of the stage and dancing the whole set and clearly shared a very special connection to their instructors.

• Written by Ben Jablonski 

Full Cord at 100 Nickel

The first band to play was Elle Michelle’s Grateful Holler. They were a 5 piece Bluegrass band that played originals and Grateful Dead covers. One thing that really stuck out about this band was their charisma with each other on stage both musically and personally. Their kind, warm energy matched the vibe of the music very well. It was also really cool to see the banjo player/lead singer using the claw hammer technique on banjo instead of the Bluegrass technique. As the name implies, the Bluegrass technique is almost always used in Bluegrass (shocker). I always love seeing musicians break away from “traditional” practices in their genre. 

The next band, Full Cord, hailed all the way from Michigan. They were also a 5 piece Bluegrass band with the same instrumentation as Elle Michelle’s Grateful Holler. It was really funny to hear how a Midwest accent mixed with the twanging “Bluegrass” voice that the vocalist adopted. It created a unique uncanny redneck kind of sound which definitely made them stand out. These guys had all clearly mastered their instruments. They took their songs at a super fast tempo, but they all made it look so effortless. They even played a song about Colorado!

• Written by Ben Jablonski 

Racine Machine & 2 Seconds to Denver at 100 Nickel

The first band up was Racine Machine, a three piece alternative rock band. One thing I loved about this group was all three members had vocal mics. Every member had at least one song where they sang lead vocals which added some nice variance in their sound. They were also super high energy. They had a super active stage presence and were loud but dynamic. It was no mystery they were able to engage the bowlers in the audience as much as they did. 

Next was 2 Seconds To Denver. This was just two people: a drummer and guitarist/vocalist. They were super heavy alternative rock. It was amazing to see how much space just two people were able to fill up. This was thanks to the guitarist’s complicated setup that he explained to me a little bit. He had a signal from his pedalboard running to both a guitar and bass amp. The signal he sent to the bass amp had a bit of delay and an octave down which totally filled up the space that a bass would normally occupy. This huge and heavy sound carried the energy set by Racine Machine into the end of the night.

• Written by Ben Jablonski 

FoCo Funk Jam at 830 North

January 25th was the first time 830 North hosted a Funk Jam event with the band Pippin Hot as the host. This event allows people to come up and show their talents AND we offer a free drink ticket, for everyone who RSVP’s for this event.  

We had 10 bands perform tonight that were assembled by the Pipin Hot’s, who gathered all the musicians and placed them into multiple rounds. Each band ended up sounding amazing  together, this event really allowed musicians and artists to collaborate with new individuals! 

Above are just a few of the artists that performed tonight. The energy throughout the crowd and the excitement of the musicians to get on stage to play were exciting to see! 

After the fantastic turnout for our first Funk Jam, we can’t wait to see you all attend the next one on February 22nd! Don’t forget to RSVP and invite your friends!

• Written by Emmalie Francis

Funkadelic Laboratorium at 2454 West

We had a great time at the January installment of Funkadelic Laboritorium, which is a 12-person band run by UNC and consisting of UNC music students. The Funk Lab has been playing monthly shows at 2454 West, so this was their 4th time playing here. Their setlist consists of a series classic funk and pop covers from artists like Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield.

The band is always very locked in and confident in what they play. The 3-person horn section is always in sync and provides a big boost of energy to each song. The rhythm section members play off of each other perfectly and really effectively match the laid-back, groovy feel that defines the funk sound.

Finally, the vocalists establish their place as the centerpiece of the band very clearly, doing justice to some of music’s most well-known vocal parts while still giving the songs an energy that connected well with the college-aged audience. Overall, the performance was very well-done and on-par with the other shows that the Funk Lab has played at 2454 West and I’m looking forward to seeing them again next month.

• Written by Tim Falin

When Darkness Falls at 2454 West

This show started off with a performance from Never Kennezard, a 3-peice heavy metal band. Their rhythmically complex guitar parts and powerfully screamed vocals got the night off to a very strong start.

They were followed by Ground Above Zero, another metal band. They gave a very dramatic, almost theatrical performance, with the lead singer giving a powerful vocal delivery over densely arranged instrumentals.

Next up was A Vintage Future. This group focused less on heavy metal sounds and more on intricate, math-rock sounding guitar runs. The steampunk-inspired outfits they wore added a lot of personality to their performance and were one of the most notable things about the night.

Finally, When Darkness Falls played a heavy, distortion-filled set to close the night out. Their guitar riffs and vocal growls fit the quintessential heavy metal sound perfectly and they served as a great closer for a show full of loud music. Overall, the bands all played impressively well and the crowd seemed to thoroughly enjoy each one of them.

• Written by Tim Falin

80’s Night w/ 5280s Band at 100 Nickel

The 5280’s band rocked 100 Nickel on February 4th. The band was in true 80’s form with their colorful and on theme outfits. They had bright pinks, patterned suit jackets, sleeveless jean jackets, and great wigs. A couple of audience members even got into the spirit and wore 80’s style track suits with neon colors.

Every song that the 5280’s played brought a smile to the crowds faces. Their set had a blend of nostalgic 80’s hits that even the younger crowd could appreciate. The crowd was mainly older adults, with a few kids here and there. The crowd connected and sang along with these hits from their teenage days, some of these songs even got the crowd up and dancing. The dance floor was filled with claps, lots of fist pumping, and a lot of woohoos. The younger kids in the audience loved jumping around in front of the stage to these catchy covers and learning the 80’s style dance moves.

The 5280’s were sure to give a spunky performance on stage and kept the crowd engaged with witty comments about each song. The 2 female vocalists were especially engaging with their choreographed dance moves to each song they covered. The 5280’s band left it all on the stage and gave 100 Nickel a throwback show they’ll never forget.

• Written by Saige Dean

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