In front of an estimated crowd of 3,600, Savoy took the stage at exactly 11:11 p.m. on November 11, 2011. While this is only marvelous due to the nature of wishes, everyone in the Fillmore last night, from the sixteen-year-old first timers to the electro-house veterans, got exactly what they had conjured up in their head as to what to expect for Savoy's first headlining show.
Snagging a picture of the set-list gave away that 11:11 p.m. would be the headliners set time, but still, what if they were late? Would all our wishes not come true? Opening with the rising chorus from "Zombie Nation, a hook still appropriate at electro shows and hockey games alike, sent the main floor into a flashback dance party. It's difficult to argue if the song is good because of the sound, or because everyone simply knows it, but when Savoy opened with it and mixed straight into their version of Pitbull's "Shut It Down," it left the lingering thought that perhaps Savoy was planning on taking us through years of catalogued music.
Such was the case. Before long, the catchy, and overly sampled, Yolanda B Cool track "We No Speak Americano" came blasting through the speakers, skipping the minute-thirty or so introduction and delving straight into the drop. Is this an awesome dance version that Savoy created? Yes, yes it is. And for some reason, it doesn't seem to get old.
Although there was the lack of disclaimers usually plastered all over the doors as you enter, we were hit pretty hard with lasers. For those that follow Savoy on Twitter (@SAVOYband), you already got the tweet: "Bring sunglasses tonight." It's true, they warned us, but nothing could've prepared you for the light show that was displayed. Five full-spectrum lasers painted the Fillmore, along with six moving cans that were synched so perfectly with the lasers, it looked as though the smoke was playing tricks on the eyes.
So you have an idea of what Savoy is doing with music, let me give you a quick run-down of what artists were remixed. We heard The Mamas and The Papas drop into a nasty dubstep track that would've made even Skrillex jealous. We got Empire of the Sun in the encore set, after some Wiz Khalifa and lil' bit of Weezy. What started out as solid electro-house dance party, culminated to a serious dubstep show. I'd say last night made it very apparent that Colorado's electro scene, in case you hadn't heard, is absolutely blowing the fuck up.Photos: Savoy at the Fillmore, 11/11/11
By the time Polish Ambassador came on, the floor was well packed, shoulder to shoulder as all the Boulder residents would proudly proclaim, all the way past the sound booth. Again, this guy is comes out for one reason: To have a lot of fun. He is always bringing new music to play with, and last night was no exception. We got "Hypnotize," but with much more dance flavor and BPM juice. We heard some bits and pieces of "Friends," by Justice before we were hit with some De La Soul. Then we were cruisin' the dirty-dirty with Outkast's "Skew It On The Barbee," followed closely by a wild version of MGMT's "Electric Feel." His reputation is growing, both in the popularity and skill, and still, dude wears a glowing ski suit.
J-Flash held the opening set, hitting the stage right around 8 p.m. so. You must know that the floor, though steadily filling at 7:30 p.m. until capacity, looked like it was nearing 250, possibly 300 people during the hit set. Not that his music isn't worthy of this, or even larger, but these electro shows typically bring out the procrastinators who walk in as the before-headlining act is closing. Why do people do this? I don't know. Seems like a waste of a ticket to me, but for those that arrived early enough to catch J-Flash caught a good precursor for the night.
The act that followed was a volley between Jontron and Dragon, who played their trance-y remixes of Pretty Lights "Finally Moving" (or just the Etta James sample), Flux Pavilions "Cracks," and even the Benny Benassi version of "Cinema," a track Skrillex has taken and made his own. Trance is fun and all, but it doesn't seem to mix as well with the whole dubstep thing, especially when the set is going from Pretty Lights to Flux P to Benassi to Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina's "Stereo Love."
Photos: Savoy at the Fillmore, 11/11/11
Critic's Notebook Personal Bias: I really like Polish Ambassador. And I really like Savoy. This was a great night of dancing.
By The Way: I think some of the 16 year olds thought they were going to a pajama party, that, or they intended to wear nothing and freeze all night. Rookie mistake.
Random Detail: 600 tickets were left at doors opening. Capacity is 3600. It looked full at the end.
