Recent years have seen Denver establish a strong relationship with underground house music, particularly through hosting sets from visiting internationals. Cluster Studio, a spacious and clean warehouse just north of town was the chosen venue for Dixon's most recent appearance in the city. Brought to regular use after 2010's Communikey festival hosted a party with New York's Bunker crew, the space has spent the past 12 months playing host to the likes of Robag Wruhme, James T. Cotton and Eric Cloutier. It's housed in an industrial neighborhood, with plenty of space to chill in the immediate vicinity outside.
The party's opening hours were in the four hands of local stalwarts Hipp-E and Bones, who tag-teamed for a three-hour set, representing Roots Denver. The pair's loopy tech house was bass-heavy, and warmed up the slowly growing crowd nicely, leaving plenty of room for the headliner to carry on and build the intensity. From the onset, bar staff were efficient and courteous, and the Turbosound system was finely tuned. Importantly, dance floor space was laid out well with plenty of room for those in attendance to shake it.
At just past 1:00 AM, Dixon appeared behind the decks for his extended slot, and turned to vocals early on, taking the booth just as the warehouse had seemed to be close to capacity with around 500 people inside. A string of up-tempo vocal tracks gave way to long stretches of stripped-back minimal chug, with plenty of hypnotizing, highly EQ'd interludes keeping the set interesting. It was easy to see why Dixon is one of the few current top tier jocks to have built a reputation away from production. His track selection was outstanding, and paced his set in a way that few DJs visiting Denver are able to do. Furthermore, his mixing throughout the night remained flawless, yet still inventive and adventurous enough to remain exciting for duration of his four-hour set. Helming a pair of Pioneer CDJ2000s and an Allen & Heath Xone:92, he kept the floor busy right to the end, with local Tony Rodelli closing the show at around 6:00 AM after a one-hour set to about 100 remaining dancers.
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