The first event for TheHundred was exactly the new dance party Denver was looking for. People came and packed the small Beauty Bar dance floor, and through closing time the whole place had incredible energy. The vision of TheHundred was to change the way people booked shows, offer a new kind of dance party, and to allow showgoers to party with their friends. Looking back, I'd say mission accomplished.
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| Peter Black |
The night began with an opening deep house set from local DJ Peter Black. Although deep house isn't usually his style, he was able to show a little versatility and switch his mix to fit the theme. It was cool seeing Peter Black do a set other than the bass heavy, 2-step and UK funky sets he's known to throw down. He warmed up the early crowd, getting people to make their way slowly from the front bar to the dance floor. Keeping with the Peter Black style, he managed to dig up more obscure, less mainstream, but still groovy house tracks to insert in to his mix, paving the way for more dancing to come.
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| Mike Deez |
Next up was local DJ Mike Deez. It seems every time I see Mike Deez, he's throwing down something a little bit different, and tonight was no exception. I've seen Mike Deez mix tech house and electro as part of Chavez Y Chavez. I've seen him do some hip-hop, indie and downtempo opening for Aesop Rock. But tonight, it was all crowd-pleasing house, mixing in dance floor favorites with other house goodness. I really liked Mike Deez song selection; every time he mixed in a well-known song, it was a remix or mash-up that maintained familiarity but was markedly different, making it all very refreshing. Once Mike Deez was behind the decks, the dance floor was full and the party was in full gear, yet there was still more to come.
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| option4 |
Up next was a set from TheHundred founder option4. option4 is all about groovy house, so he was right at home behind the decks playing out in this house music party. With the crowd already in a frenzy from the set before, all option4 had to do was keep a steady groove. That's exactly wait he did, dialing in right away and keeping the grooves coming while a tightly packed group on the dance floor was getting nice and sweaty but showing no signs of slowing down - which is a good thing, because the crowd still had one more DJ to go.
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| Damon Allen |
Last but not least was a final DJ set from the very first TheHundred show headliner, Houston import Damon Allen. Prior to the show, I wasn't sure what to expect. It seemed Damon Allen's forte, or at least what he was spinning a lot regularly, was heavy bass, UK funky, 2-step and dubstep, but tonight's occasion called for groovy house. Damon Allen responded to the challenge without batting eye, taking his spot behind the decks and keeping the steady grooves coming. His set did go a bit deeper at times, but most of it was at the right balance of groove and intensity, keeping the party going until the house lights came on and security had to start ushering people out the door.
The music for the first TheHundred party was spot on, filling a niche for house music that seemed to be lacking in Denver. Denver was hungry for it too, because this event had the most people in Beauty Bar than I've ever seen before - in fact I heard the event set an attendance record. The crowd energy was ridiculously high all night, and since many of the crowd were people within TheHundred themselves, it almost made the entire Beauty Bar crowd seem like one giant group of friends than a room full of strangers. Even if you aren't a part of TheHundred, just being at one of TheHundred events will suck you into that energy, and the people around will make you feel at home. If you missed the first event, that's a shame, because the first event was a free show. The next one should be just as good if not somehow even better, and although it won't be free it'll be very close, with entry costing only five dollars!
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