Joker performed a flawless set on Thursday night at the Bluebird Theater in Denver. If anything could ever be tantamount to a dub-step Valentine’s Day show, this was it.
He played his signature purple sounds, characterized by wonky, futuristic garage beats, but he also mixed in more lovestep-per-minute than any other set in recent memory. Adding to the occasion, his girlfriend came with him all the way from England and stood by backstage.
It was 7:30 a.m. in Joker’s hometown of Bristol by the time he began his set, a journey into the purple space of dubstep. As always, Joker lived up to his stellar, yet gangster, sound. The audience would have been surprised to know that just moments before, he was nervously smoking a Marlboro backstage with his head heavy in his hands.
(Courtesy of Joker)
After twenty minutes of agony, before the show, the much anticipated and needed turntable-needles arrived.
Donning an astronaut tee, Joker’s demeanor was cooler than space, despite the less than minor setback. This Thursday night, Joker was a man of few words, having slept only one hour the night before while on a flight from England to the United States.
Before the show, Joker promised that he would play some of his new material, like the appropriately titled “Milky Way,” a tune with intergalactic-sounding synths scattered like star dust over a powerful abyss of bass.
Joker smile as he answered questions and ordered a few drinks for his tiny entourage, made up of himself, MC Nomad, and his girlfriend.
Joker and collaborator TC’s track “It Ain’t Got a Name,” while not particularly well-named, is one of the most epic bangers of all dubstep history.
“Yeah, I’ll work with TC again.” Joker said, with a proper English accent. “He lives 15 minutes away from me.”
After that, he was off to the stage. The crowd eagerly cheered, laying down respect for the man of the hour. His girlfriend laughed, and explained that people don’t root that way for producers in England. She said that in America, dubstep has become more like rock and roll — producers are seen as rock stars.
During the show, Joker steered clear of grime and American dubstep, sticking to sweet, beautifully-balanced melodies, and elegant, ethereal basslines.
Joker incorporated extended introductions into many songs. For example, the vocals of “Snake Eater” carried on for minutes before dropping into heavy-bass territory. And to my delight, Joker dipped into “drum n bass” toward the end of the set, resulting in a high-powered dance party on the floor.
Being at a Joker show was like riding on a spaceship flown by one hell of a pilot: the 22-year-old, confident, silly space boy Liam McLean, otherwise known as Joker. The performance was spot-on, and Denver dubsteppers gobbled up every beat Joker laid down.
Contact CU Independent Entertainment Writer Rebecca Bratburd at Rebecca.Bratburd@Colorado.edu.
