On Monday, Oct. 20, London’s SBTRKT (pronounced “subtract”) led his North American tour into the airy space of the Ogden Theater in downtown Denver. “Wonder Where We Land,” his second studio album, was released in early October, and has dominated the electronic music scene since then. With that in mind, electroheads and indie-pop fans alike bustled into the Ogden to see the masked man of post-dubstep.
Two artists, DJ Mosis and combination rapper-singer GoldLink opened the concert, both bringing their unique styles to the stage.
GoldLink, a rising star from DC, seductively danced around the Ogden while belting out impressive vocals and spitting firey verses. SBTRKT (a.k.a Aaron Jerome) then took the stage, donned in his usual tribal-esque ceremonial mask and flanked by percussionists slathered with face paint.
He started off with “Paper Cuts,” a track completely void of vocals but filled to the brim with flashy beats to match the strobing lights.
He quickly followed up with fan favorite “NEW DORP. NEW YORK,” a recent collaboration with Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. The bubbly tune had the entire crowd grooving, while the song’s fresh music video blared from the theater’s screens. This dance atmosphere hardly skipped a beat as he chugged along, focused as ever.
Next, he played the whirling piece “Pharaohs,” a track from his first and self-titled album. Soon after would come the heavily-stirring “Temporary View,” a piece featuring soulful vocals à la Sampha (a familiar face in the SBTRKT soundscape). The climax of the show began with the mellow and mystical “War Drums” (featuring vocals from LA quartet Warpaint). This song poured across an audience that soaked up every last drop.
As the show drew to a close, SBTRKT dropped the crowd-pleasing “Higher” which highlights up-and-comer Raury. Raury’s swift yet mellow verses enchanted the audience while SBTRKT’s bass simultaneously got the entire crowd off their feet.
To close, after a quick teaser, he played “Wildfire,” his most recent claim to fame. Featuring beautiful vocals from Little Dragon (who played The Ogden the following night), the song is an electrical powerhouse of twirling beats and heavily oscillating melodies.
While dancing harder than ever before, the audience scream-sang every word back to SBTRKT and his band of drummers, which fired the musicians up even more. With massive smiles swelling on each of their faces (from what we could see behind Jerome’s mask included), they brought the house down in a wildfire of noise and dance. But all flames eventually must die, and this fire faded into a spectacular blackout.
The crowd itself was relatively tame and just a single bra was flung onto the stage, which was surprising due to the endless downpour of shouts of admiration.
The spaciousness of The Ogden allowed for the crowd to dance as wildly as they pleased. It was lovely to see the atmosphere adorned with a spectacular light show not blemished by an overly turbulent crowd, which allowed for a spectrum of color to decorate the whole show. The aesthetic was mood-oriented: for the slower, more thoughtful tracks, SBTRKT was backlit in blue. While for intense and dance numbers, red pierced the smoky stage. All the while, a laser effect had the audience’s eyes streaming upward constantly to watch the haze above.
While none of the weighty guests on Wonder Where We Land ever graced the stage, it didn’t really matter as SBTRKT’s prowess behind keyboards, sequencers and laptops shone through. One could find themselves constantly scooping their jaw back onto their faces, watching him dance from instrument to instrument composing every song with a sort of casual grace.
The thing is, with “Wildfire” left ringing in your ears, all you want is more SBTRKT.
