The sun starts to set in the desert Denver sky. The first band of the night for A Night Under the Moon, sponsored by Blue Moon, took the stage. DREAMERS, a cosmically grunge, indie rock band from Los Angeles started the night off with their single ‘Screws’, from their EP Launch.
With the intense distorted guitar intro, the band demands your attention from the get-go. From there, the band takes you on a journey through their music with a new song from their most recent release Launch Fly Land, ‘Vampire In the Sun.’
While most in attendance weren’t familiar with more of the newer music from DREAMERS, the crowd was still jumping around, smiling and dancing with Blue Moon’s a plenty. Mid-set, singer Nick Wold, sporting a black button-up shirt with yellow smiley faces and black jeans, introduces the next song, ‘Die Happy’ as a ‘negative titled song about living life to the fullest’. The crowd was singing along at the top of their lungs, dancing under the sunset and slowly-appearing half moon.
The 45-minute set was mixed with songs from their new album, as well as their first, This Album Does Not Exist, released in 2016. They closed their set off with ‘Painkiller’ and ‘Sweet Disaster,’ which both took strongly to the alternative radio when they were initially released. Towards the end of ‘Painkiller,’ the strong bass and drums from band members Nelson and Jacob, respectively, take over. Nick Wold puts his guitar down on the stage and jumps up and down to the instrumentals, requesting the crowd to do the same.
The crowd jumping around, carefully holding their alcohol, with nothing but smiles and adrenaline. DREAMERS closed out the night with ‘Sweet Disaster,’ which essentially turned into a huge singalong under the stars, which is all anyone could ever ask for. DREAMERS return across the United States on their fall headlining tour with support from Arrested Youth, Iron Tom (select dates) and American Teeth (select dates).
The sun has set, and KTCL 93.3 Denver introduced the final band of the night: New Politics. As their backtrack introduction plays, the crowd grows with anticipation. Louis Vecchio, drums, takes the stage first, and the crowd screams as he goes and strikes the drums twice. Seconds after, from the other side of the stage, guitarist Søren Hansen makes his entrance and the crowd grows even louder. Finally, lead singer David Boyd bounces onto the stage, entering in true David Boyd fashion, with a small break dance pose, before welcoming the crowd and riling them up for their first song, ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’.
A quiet guitar introduction starts before you hear Søren yelling ‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!’ into the microphone. The crowd yells the words back with the same enthusiasm and power in their voices.
The band maintains their energy throughout the night, playing energetic rock anthems like ‘Goodbye Copenhagen,’ an ode to the band leaving their homeland in Copenhagen, Denmark, and a song about making memories; and ‘Tonight You’re Perfect’ - a somewhat slower, but dreamy ballad-esque song about a one-off encounter and making the most of it.
Throughout the night, David breaks into bursts of dance moves, putting his former breakdancing career on display during their show. The crowd screams of excitement when he does a backflip off of Louis’ bass drum. From there, David truly explores the crowd. He requests the crowd split in half as he jumps onto the barricade and into the crowd for their next song of the night, ‘Everywhere I Go’, from their third album, Vikings. David works through the crowd singing directly to fans, letting them take charge of the mic for a line or two, as he works his way back up to the stage by mid-song.
After the song, with David back on stage, he soaks in the roar of the crowd and chuckles as he laughs at Louis and Søren, gratefully. To break the silence between band members, he suggests Louis does a drum solo. Louis refuses at first, but with the help of an overwhelming chant from the crowd, he breaks into a powerful drum solo that left everyone in awe.
As the night starts to wind down, Søren takes to the keyboard at the back of the stage, gratefully thanking the crowd for being there. He introduces the next song, ‘to love, unity, and friendship, because tonight, you’re one of us.’ ‘One of Us’ was the first single from their most recent album, Lost In Translation. Audience members wrapped their arms around their loved ones, raised their glasses, and sang along in the ultimate New Politics singalong.
And without further ado, the band closed off the night with their radio hit from 2013, ‘Harlem’. Søren hit the introduction riff as David Boyd closed out the night with a gratuitous thank you to the crowd, promising their return to Denver soon. For the final song of the night, no one’s feet were left on the ground. Everyone sang along, danced and raged the night away to ‘Harlem,’ feeding off of the energy from the band on stage. New Politics perform with such integrity, passion, and dynamic energy that it is hard to leave their show without smiling. New Politics will make their return across the United States this fall/winter on the Three Dimensional Tour with Plain White T’s and The Mowglis.