Turns out, Thursday really is the new Friday.
As mentioned, the evening started out at Funky Buddha , where Franky Groove was spinning some dance tracks in the upstairs bar and B Money was getting his set prepped for the entire night. Since we started the night so early, the crowds hadn't really started to pile in yet. Just the same, B Money and Groove were spinning some good hip-hop and dance.
Rockstar Lounge didn't have a soul in it at 9:30 p.m., and since Denver apparently hits the town way after that, we weren't able to photograph any talent or crowds at this venue.
Sutra was getting rocked by the Recon Crew and DJ Soleil, who happened to have a birthday last night and was planning to celebrate, apparently, by spinning with everyone and their mother. Disorder was priming the front room and Soleil was playing around on the tables in the back with Cory Scott.
KDJ held down the rooftop at Vinyl , where another reggae night was about to get underway. I thought they opened at 9 p.m., but the doors didn't open up until 10 p.m.
DJ Bedz was up in the booth at Lavish Lounge, giving the lovely Ladies Night a preview of some weekend tunes courtesy of Wiz Kalifa.
The Roxy, which just recently re-opened, was hosting the Unsigned Hype Tour and had Staccs(pictured) blazing through a few tracks before Esi Juey came out. Because of weird curfew and licensing regulations, the Roxy has to kick everyone out that is under 21 right at 10:30 p.m.
Cervantes Otherside, where Prime Element and Fresh Breath Committee were headlining, had a solid crowd that was eating up everything the Diamond Boyz were dropping. Many big names in local hip-hop were scattered between the two venues and nothing but dope rhymes were radiating from Five Points locations. Fellow Backbeat scribe Ru Johnson was also at the Otherside getting prepped for this weekend.
Kostas was opening up the main floor at Beta, while Kemo let loose in the Beatport Lounge. Gabriel and Dresden were set to headline the evening, and we were lucky enough to catch the first songs for the set before making our way over to see Mark Farina at Jet.
Jet Hotel had a pretty big crowd outside of it, but not what you'd expect for someone the caliber of Mark Farina. Nonetheless, the room was bumpin' and shoulder-to-shoulder towards the front of the DJ booth.
Skism just started into his headlining set at the Bluebird when we showed up. He was backlit by a giant projector screen displaying some vertigo-inducing images, but dropping heavy bass to a more than receptive crowd.
Lost Lake Lounge, a bar just a few blocks east of the Bluebird, was an impromptu stop to see a friend and a lucky chance happening at catching Serious Moonlight, a side project of the guys in the Photo Atlas.
The final stop of the night was at Beauty Bar where mLe was slaying the dubstep dragon before the place closed down.
