Heard It Here First

Just a month ago in the adventurous town of Boulder, Colorado, the rampantly growing event and production company, Shakedown Productions, curated a run of inspiring and boundary-pushing shows with colossally inventive artists, producers, VJs, and painters. Amongst the intimate atmosphere, otherworldly visuals and art, Funktion-One sound, and musical artistry from many talents such as SortOf Vague, Entangled Mind, Bread Winner, and HIHF guest mix alumni Eos, our minds are still on this unforgettable night and we can’t wait to see what else Shakedown Productions has in store for 2024. 

Created by founder Tucker Arendsee, Shakedown Productions is an innovative live music event company transcending the ordinary and bringing together the grassroots music community while expanding the minds of audiences. After being just a thought for years, the company blossomed in 2023 after its successful Crawdad Sniper headline show last October. Blending ground-breaking production quality, unparalleled soundscapes, and cutting-edge audiovisual technology, this up-and-coming team of masterminds is just getting started crafting explorative and revolutionary events made for the people. 

The day started with community-centered vibes at an all-ages event called Arts & Craftal held at Riverside along the Boulder Creek. There was music by rising artists, Craftal, Absolem, Budge, Shmurk, Ribbbit, who played his Rendezvous mix, and Storm, with a refreshing ambient set. There were many beautiful memories made at this fun-filled experience that celebrated modern sound design and artistic creation. 

There were formative live painters including the enchanting legend Mr. Melty, Steven Haman, Kirstie Connon, Randal Roberts, Dice 51, and fascinating digital art by Vibrational Perspectives. With flow performances, an outdoor patio, vendors, a bar and cafe, face painting, and games, the sincere environment truly brought connection and set the undertone for the rest of the miraculous night.

Starting out the show at The Fox Theatre was Denver-based GrayMatter teaming up with Breakthrough Media on visuals. The two warmed up the crowd with low-end soundscapes, crisp basslines, glitch hop, and mind-bending visuals. He recently played alongside the dubstep pioneer, Joker, and is deservingly being recognized for his immense skills and refreshing style.

Following the impressive premiere was the luminous talent, phLo, known for merging an organic style of bass and heavy psychedelic textures rooted with a hip-hop-infused sound. Among many other talents such as jewelry-making, phLo’s set was sure a testimony to his gifts and threw down proper, high-energy auditory excellence, joining forces with the experimental visual artist, Kaonashi. 

The multi-genre, audio experience that Eos consistently brings to the stage is quite breathtaking. His deep, electronic basslines and emotive sound design transformed the venue into a whimsical, funkadelic paradise as his thought-provoking set followed and wowed all in attendance lucky enough to witness it. Going back-to-back on visuals was the pair Steven Haman and Mezmer, two pathbreaking digital animators and VJs known for their collaborations working for breakthrough phenoms Jade Cicada, Detox Unit, Schmoop, and Mickman, to name a few. 

Next up, Bread Winner served up a captivating collection of spellbinding bass, mind-boggling halftime, and ambient synths. This bread connoisseur has graced legendary stages such as Infrasound and Tipper & Friends as well as playing alongside luminaries Spoonbill, Cool Customer, Tripp St, and Smigonaut. We felt so appreciative to witness this masterclass of sound and creative visual skills as Bread Winner and Mezmer united to mesmerize fans. We also got to hear some tracks from Off The Record, Bread Winner’s debut album that we highly recommend giving a listen.

If you’ve ever been caught in a state of tranquility by an Entangled Mind set, then you know her organic and euphoric style inspires a sense of meaningful connectedness and just all-around good energy. This lifelong musician balances electronic production and meditative audio expression with ethereal sound and complex layering to cultivate a special journey for listeners. Her carefully crafted performance at the show was a testament to this as she and VJ, Steven Haman, weaved together to enliven the crowd. If you missed Entangled Mind at this remarkable show, don’t worry. You can catch her around this year at this upcoming Infrasound, Summer Sequence with Papadosio, and at Mission Ballroom in Denver with Ott. Also be sure to check out her brand new album, Lucid Living, a ten-track journey full of vibrant instrumentation and psychedelic bass.

With attendees in high anticipation all day and night, the atmosphere in the Fox Theatre skyrocketed as the striking headliner, Sortof Vague, took center stage and fused an elevated mix of musical styles from breakbeat to acid house to drum and bass. To get a feel of this multidisciplinary tastemaker, his full Tipper & Friends 2023 live set can be found on his SoundCloud. The energy on the dancefloor was booming as the multimedia designer and VJ, Anti-Alias, hypnotized the audience with his celestial visual artistry. This passionate pairing and astonishing set wrapped up the show in a seamless way and left us wanting more from Shakedown Productions and the superb line-up of undeniable talent.

Fortunately, the team wasn’t finished as the Shakedown crew invited attendees to the after-party next door for a wild night of secret B2Bs and adventurous after-hours activities. The proper sound and night of music continued with artists including Fowl Play, Esoteric, Absolem with a late-night up-tempo performance, and Inquuit with an ambient set. Overall, we were ecstatic with the turnout of each show and moved by the alluring music, production prowess, and capability of each and every creator, visual artist, and person behind the scenes that helped develop and construct these unparalleled experiences.

Would you like to attend one of Shakedown Productions’ upcoming extraordinary audience experiences? What would you like to see them do next? Let us know in the comments below, follow Shakedown Productions on Instagram, and keep your eyes peeled on their website to keep up with event updates and all future things they have in store!

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