I’d been waiting all month for last Friday night, and once it had finally arrived, I knew I wasn’t alone in my anticipation. Arriving to the Ogden Theater just before 10pm, there was already a long line of anxious patrons lining the block, and despite the cold, smiles were plastered on every face. The lineup was ridiculously stacked, so it was no surprise that Denver scene aficionados had come out in full force for the night. Lou Phelps, Kaytranada’s younger brother and musical collaborator, was the first act to rile up the crowd, and he certainly made an impression on his Denver debut. Dishing out a vibrant hip-hop set, Lou Phelps gave us an hour of melodic up-tempos while also putting in work with his live rapping. Keep an eye on this rising talent under his new alias – his previous work on The Celestics (his and Kaytra’s side project) was extraordinary and after seeing him solo, Lou Phelps is definitely worth the time.
Soon after it was time for the first of the two headliners to begin, and the venue became even more densely chaotic. The elusive producer known as Cashmere Cat has been running the underground for years with his jersey club sound and has recently skyrocketed into the mainstream with his pop productions with artists like Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande. It’s a smart move to catch this producer in an intimate club setting while you still can, and it was evident others felt the same by the massive turn out. Albeit young, Cashmere Cat has an uncanny ability to really dig into his audience, and he had the entire Ogden mesmerized and begging for more, song after song.
He teased the room with seductive build-ups and trap-house steez, pushing out a performance that could’ve had the crowd hanging on for hours longer. He ultimately won over the crowd by dropping his most popular bangers, such as Miguel’s ‘Do You’, ‘Be My Baby’, a remix of ‘Broccoli’ by D.R.A.M., and showed a little Kanye love with ‘Father Stretch My Hands’. Leave it to Cashy for also giving us an earful of sweet new releases to be found on his upcoming album Wild Love, including the title track featuring The Weeknd and Francis and the Lights. Words can’t express just how stoked I am to see where this young producer takes off to, and any SoundCloud music fiend would agree. It’s been a long time coming, and he’s more than deserving of the successes to come. Here’s to you, sad boi.
Hailing from the mixing pot of Montreal, Kaytranada’s diversity truly shines through during his live performances – you get a sweet taste of musical delicacies from a broad spectrum to leave you satisfied every time. Kaytranada draws the best of the crowd simply because his productions are a hip-hop loving/House head’s dream. Though we weren’t treated to some of the rad visuals that have accompanied most of his concerts on this year’s run, Kaytra made sure to give us an intoxicating set regardless, just as we’ve come to expect. He pulled out fan favorites like his reworks of Janet Jackson’s ‘If’ and Missy Elliott’s ‘I’m Really Hot’, plus a ton of new tracks from his just released debut, 99.9%.
All in all, this was one of the sexiest shows of the month for Denver, all given to the impeccably diverse lineup. I’d love to see Kaytranada and Cashmere actually get into the studio together, but until then, I’ll hold this set close in my favorites of the year.
