October is Music Season

[flwyd]

Last year it seemed that post-COVID live concerts came back in force in October and late September. In short succession I saw Dar Williams, Itchy-O, and Dumpstaphunk around Halloween (and missed a DJ show because I didn't have enough spoons), with Rodrigo y Gabriela as the live music kickoff in early fall. Winter turned into more of a lull than I'd expected—I only remember seeing Godspeed You! Black Emperor and MarchFourth at the Boulder Theater. Some great bands came through town during the summer, but I missed them all due to a constant status of either being about to head out of town, being out of town, or transitioning between trips. October 2022 once again has the magical musical feel. In the middle of the month we danced at Denver Decompression (after a friend's art gallery opening), last Friday we danced at Halluci Nation at the Bluebird, on Saturday I drummed and danced at the Denver Witches' Ball for the first time in at least half a decade, and tonight I danced for hours at a great Halloween MarchFourth show at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom. There's something about a shared costume experience that makes music more fun. Oh, and I kicked off the month with a unique interactive experience at Theater of the Mind which, despite being a David Byrne creation, wasn't especially musical but was a very rich perceptual experience nonetheless. It runs through mid-December in Denver and is worth attending, though I think the less said about it the better.

Comments

[altamira16]

One of my friends mentioned the Theater of the Mind thing. Did you enjoy it?

[flwyd]

Yes, I had a great time at Theater of the Mind. I was aware of some of the theory behind a lot of the perceptual tricks, but the execution was really good, so the experience was enjoyable even though I knew what was happening. Designing participatory experiences can be tricky, but this was really well executed.

[altamira16]

Were there any children there? Do you think it would be too scary for A-----?

[flwyd]

Everyone goes through the experience in a group of 16 people, taking 75 minutes. Our group was all adults, and I didn't see any kids in the lobby when we exited, but that's a small sample size.

There's one room that gets pitch black. Before they do that, they explain what's going to happen and offer a chance to opt out of that experience, then get affirmative consent from everyone. Aside from darkness I don't think anything else would be scary, but there are a lot of novel sensory experiences, so I could imagine A---- getting overwhelmed or upset. With the help of a reassuring adult he would probably do okay.