By the end of Valentine's day this Tuesday night, one thing became clear - Denver is in love. It is a pure and genuine love - the kind that people pen novels, write songs, and film movies about. The kind that when observed from afar just seems so obviously right. Denver is in love with house music, and a sold out crowd made their way to the Larimer Lounge to profess their love through a night-long dance party. Two of the cities best DJs turned up the heat by getting the crowd warmed up on the dance floor, leaving it up to an internationally acclaimed DJ to set hearts ablaze until the end of the night.

boyhollow

The night began with local supporting DJs boyhollow and Shannon von Kelly. As usually occurs with a Lipgloss presented show, the two DJs played rotating sets for a couple of hours before the headlining act. From the onset of the party, the DJs would seamlessly trade sets every thirty minutes or so. This allowed both DJs to work the dance floor until it was completely packed, while at the same time offering the audience a steady variety of music depending on the particular DJ on stage at the time.

Shannon von Kelly

When boyhollow was on stage, he used his versatility to offer a mix of new house music, indie dance tracks, classic disco, and a little bit of danceable eighties music. His set was very reminiscent of what makes his weekly dance party, Lipgloss, so successful - a steady but varied stream of fun music with the intention of making people dance their hearts out. Shannon von Kelly had a similar affect on the crowd, mixing an all vinyl set of house classics to keep the party going. Although his set did include some newer material and a few remixes of '80s songs, his vintage house song selections seemed to have the greatest effect on this dance-happy crowd. The two DJs took a timid early crowd into one that was packed tight on the dance floor and dripping with sweat, but that was just the beginning.

Aeroplane

Aeroplane came out on stage next, and as this experienced Belgian DJ/producer scanned the glistening crowd, he prepared to lay down a house music set that would harness the audience's energy and propel the night to the next level. Aeroplane has been making waves in the electronic music scene with his crafty production, fusing French and Spanish style house music with '80s style disco, but before he became well known as a producer, he'd been busy stringing together seamless mixes that draws from those styles and completely commands dance floors.

Aeroplane

Aeroplane's mixing and DJ skills were on full display Tuesday night. He began to work the crowd with smooth disco flavored mid-tempo house, keeping the good vibes going early and often. His mixing style incorporated a lot of new music, but the way it was mixed and the nu-disco versions of songs he played was a house styled nod to throwback disco. He kept a varied song selection and was constantly mixing in new songs, never letting a song ride out too long but also giving enough of each song to satisfy the crowd. The people reacted with love displayed through constant movement and dance. It seemed anyone in the dance floor area of the Larimer Lounge was hopeless but to move to the music, and anyone that left that area could have collected the sweat running off their faces in buckets. If it was allowed, this party could have gone until sunrise, but Aeroplane took it all the way until the party was forced to land.


The party at the Larimer Lounge demonstrated the house music scene is strong in Denver. It may have been Valentine's day, but parties this good don't usually happen on a Tuesday night. But when a show like this is presented by some of the best party-starters around town - Lipgloss, TheHundred, Neon Knights - a party this good is to be expected. If you love dance music you probably already know, but the next time a party like this rolls around get your tickets early, because you don't want to be on the wrong side of another sold out show.

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