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About a week ago, my friend text me:

Turns out Timmy Trumpet was performing at The Mission Ballroom and I was asked (well, told) to go. My friend was also a metal dude, so I figured I would be in good company.
This is the account of my journey into the electronic dance music (EDM) world. Is that too dramatic? Probably not.
First off, how come no one arrives to the show “on time?”

I had my own excuses for not arriving when the doors opened, but what were everyone else’s? My friend group decided to order dinner and some follow up beverages at Left Hand Brewing which is immediately across from The Mission Ballroom located in the River North Art District, a.k.a. RiNo. I opted to cook dinner for my lovely family at home and had no immediate urgency to arrive at a specific time as I was not familiar with the performers other than Timmy Trumpet.
According to my Uber log, I left my home at 8:27 pm and arrived to The Mission Ballroom at 8:39 pm, a short trip with no traffic. And as the UberX piloted by Narek rolled into the rideshare area of the venue, there were not many folks to be seen. Was everyone already inside enjoying the supporting acts or possibly vying for the best floor spot to see Timmy?
Another one of my friends who happened to be attending this lazy soire, sent me a text with the set list. This allowed us to strategize our entrance: towards the end of Sunday Scaries with enough time to procure drinks before Yellow Claw began.

My observation, although bias, was that the ubiquitousness of the performers seems to have influenced the audience to indifference regarding when to attend the show. Where was the line? At metal show, you show up early to stand in line. You know BOTH the “doors open” time and the “show starts at” time because you want to see all of the performers as each will provide a different spectacle to ingest.
The Denver EDM scene, a.k.a. Bass Capital, has a history to be respected

As in true Auricular Impalement form, I did some research post-show to educate myself on the burgeoning EDM scene in Denver. It is not something to be underestimated. Here is an abbreviated history of EDM in Denver with an accompanying graphic timeline (shown above).
Timeline of EDM in Denver
Timeframe or Period | Key Activities |
---|---|
Late 1980s–1990s: Underground Foundations | Denver’s EDM roots began with warehouse raves featuring house, techno, breakbeat, and drum & bass. Local crews such as Trauma and Rewind helped lay the foundation for the underground scene (Westword). |
2000s: Clubs & The “Bass Capital” Identity | Venues like Vinyl Nightclub and The Church emerged as key spots. In 2008, Beta Nightclub opened and was quickly recognized by DJ Mag as one of the world’s best clubs, cementing Denver’s reputation as a hub for bass-heavy music (We Rave You). |
2007–2012: Dubstep Arrives in Denver | Promoter Nicole Cacciavillano, through her agency Sub.mission, booked Denver’s first dubstep shows in 2007 at Quixote’s, bringing U.K. pioneers Hatcha and Benga. By 2010–2011, dubstep shows were regularly selling out venues like Cervantes—even before mainstream U.S. audiences fully caught on (Westword). |
2010s: Red Rocks & Festival Expansion | The Global Dance Festival grew rapidly, while artists like Pretty Lights, Bassnectar, and GRiZ sold out multi-night Red Rocks runs (We Rave You). Denver’s reputation as the “Bass Capital” was firmly established.(Westword). |
2011: Electric Daisy Carnival Colorado (EDC) | It was the first (and only) EDC in Colorado bringing one of the world’s biggest EDM brands to Denver. EDC had a huge lineup with acts like Skrillex and Avicii who were just breaking into global superstardom, making it a landmark showcase for fans (Festicket). |
2012: Dubstep Hits Red Rocks | Sub.mission produced the first Global Dub Festival at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, a watershed moment that took dubstep from Denver’s underground clubs to one of the world’s most iconic stages (Westword). |
2016–2018: The Black Box Opens | In 2016, Nicole Cacciavillano opened The Black Box, a venue devoted to preserving underground bass culture and resisting corporate takeover of the scene (Westword). |
2020s–Present: Stadiums, Festivals & Global Recognition | On June 17, 2023, Illenium headlined a sold-out 40,000+ ticket show at Empower Field at Mile High (We Rave You). |
Denver is called the “Bass Capital” because of its appetite to fill medium to large venues, night over night, with energetic crowds.
Reviewing the key events in Denver’s EDM history, it is worth pointing out that there were both influential artists (Pretty Lights) and major events that continued the momentum of the scene to grow. And my criticism of EDM is rooted in which of these two aspects is the focus. Is the show anchored on an artist and their uniqueness? Or is the show anchored on the venue and experience? Personally, I put the artist first, with my expectations of a show rooted in the artist’s original music, performance, and paired visuals.
I realize that there are EDM fans who put the setting and overall experience first gravitating towards festivals or top level venues. This is the old skool aspect of the “club” that has translated into modern EDM shows. The music is but a backdrop to the lights, video, and even the attendees.
Neither view is more right; neither view is necessarily more entertaining. But the artist-focused view seems to be more in line with a metalhead’s innate expectations of a show. I point this out so as to temper your expectations.
Sunday Scaries… consistent with my thoughts of entering club hell

The club vibe was in full force with Sunday Scaries. I was having the EDM scaries.
“Sunday Scaries is an EDM dance band from Los Angeles, California, consisting of Will Ezell and Alex Hein. Their music blends EDM, pop, rap, and indie. The band’s name comes from the feeling of dread people experience as the weekend ends and the workweek begins” (Mountain Town Music).
The performance was DJ-heavy and it was unclear who’s songs were being played. Sunday Scaries has a slew of original music, but as I have come to find out, the origin of the music being played really did not matter (to the audience). Maybe there is some sort of fandom to know which artist wrote the song versus who remixed it versus from where the vocals are sampled. I certainly cared but given the blandness of the music, the task of determining “who” not only seemed daunting, but pointless.
Theoretically, you go to the show to dance with reliance on the DJ [throat clear], rather EDM artist to provide the auditory backdrop. But counterpoint, if the origin of the music doesn’t matter, than maybe the music doesn’t matter, and what ultimately differentiates this show (with relatively expensive tickets) from going to another EDM show or venue or club.
A live show should be a unique experience in venue, time period, collection of music artists on the bill, and the music performed. In my opinion, the Sunday Scaries performance (debatable as to whether it can be called a performance) undermined these key characteristics of a live show.
Yellow [Muthaf*ckin’] Claw… a glimpse into EDM glory

EDM artists seems to hover between the roles of DJ and producer. There are EDM artists who have only a handful of songs they have produced, and potentially none that are fully original, but remixes. It makes sense that an artist in this category would have to “spin” other music to fill up a full set. And EDM sets are long in comparison to a rock band set where an EDM set is about 1 hour while a new rock band could have a brief 30 minute set as an opener. From the EDM artist’s perspective there is a smaller barrier to entry into the live seen (and a growing fanbase) as the artist can theoretically produce a small set of music but play big shows, sometimes at equal stature with the other artists on the bill. And an EDM show can be a mixed bag of “DJ-heavy” sets and “Producer-heavy” sets.
Author’s Note: I have defined two extremes to the EDM performance spectrum of DJ-heavy and Producer-heavy. “DJ” means that the performer plays non-original music whereas “Producer” means that the performer plays original music. The performance can still be a remix of music (hardstyle, dubstep); however, it is the source of the music that contributes to the set’s designation on the spectrum.
Queue Yellow Muthaf*ckin’ Claw… a good balance of a DJ set infused with his own sound. Saying the name with the MF bomb was their thing. Side note, only one of the two memebers was available for The Mission Ballroom show.
“Yellow Claw is a Dutch electronic music duo from Amsterdam, originally formed in 2010. The group is best known for their energetic, genre-blending sound that mixes trap, hip-hop, dubstep, hardstyle, and moombahton” (Wikipedia).
The key aspect of the Yellow Claw set was keeping a consistent vibe throughout the auditory journey. Although the sampled from other producers, the music chosen and the setup of the drops was consistent while surprising in parts. This article is not meant to be a criticism of their set, but rather an observation that the cohesive Yellow Claw set was more indicative of a rock show or a Producer-heavy set due to a single musical voice to the performance.
And the point is that EDM artists will continue to swing back and forth on the DJ versus producer spectrum. If you are going to invest your time and money in a show, I recommend to research the artists to determine what their set might look like.
Timmy Trumpet performed for the attention, vibe be damned

But what about the headliner, Timmy Trumpet? Surely someone of this stature would have a full selection of original music to wow and amaze the audience. I did not take into account the force of a well known DJ.
Timothy Jude Smith (born 9 June 1982), known by his stage name Timmy Trumpet, is an Australian musician, DJ, songwriter and record producer. He has become known internationally for playing the trumpet live and making use of jazz elements in dance music (Tunefind).
Timmy’s schtick is his incorporation of live trumpet into his music. It is effective and a unique, enjoyable aspect of the show… it gets the crowd going. Timmy started his set with a gentle serenade on his trumpet as he navigated his way through the backstage of The Mission Ballroom. The anticipation and excitement of the crowd was visible. This was what we were waiting for.
The set started with a bang with many hardstyle drops that shook your body, literally. The energy level was as high as Denver’s mile high elevation. It was enjoyable.
But… this vibe degraded as the set progressed and the songs were more and more recognizable as EDM “hits” while the transitions and drops became lazy. At its lowest point opposite from the so-called hardstyle vibe we began with, was the sudden jump to the intro of “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang” by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog. What the f—?
The set suddenly delved into a wedding reception DJ set infused with random drops. It seemed like the ladies in front of me were enjoying the jarring collection of unrelated beats that felt like a ride on Elitch Garden’s wooden roller coaster, Twister III, enjoyable, but physically painful. I looked over to my friend who invited me, the fellow metalhead. He was sitting down with his head hunched over. Was he having some sort of mid-DJ-set crisis? I would need to wait till the next day to find out.

You need to realize that…
EDM shows are a Tic Tok feed of dopamine infused beat drops
In EDM, the gap between what you hear as a streaming song versus what is performed can be huge. As I compared my experience at Timmy Trumpet with recorded YouTube versions of festivals, small club performances like those at The Boiler Room, and Denver venues such as Red Rocks, I can see big differences in WHAT is performed (or played) versus what is recorded on a track purchased or streamed. You could say that the recorded versions are sanitized and packaged for wide consumer consumption while a performance of the tracks is a cut and paste of beats and melodies that push audience energy. A modern EDM show is non-stop >= 30 second song cuts with a preceding drop, up and down, the roller coaster metaphor apropos.
This is in contrast to WHAT is performed at a metal (or rock) show. You know what you are gonna get, you anticipate certain songs being played.
Don’t get me wrong, some metal artists have fallen into the same vicious, short cycle. Signs of the Swarm comes to mind with literally a breakdown every other riff. And the entire slam genre is riddled with short fits of awesomeness that rarely relent for a sane thought of musicality. But aren’t we asking for a binge? Drops (in EDM) and breakdowns (in metal) are the junk food of music.
In conclusion…
Know what you are in for
In my opinion, the fan loses something at a show with EDM artists who play DJ-heavy sets. Why not just go to a club? Wait, because there are not many clubs anymore (at least in Denver)? There might be something to that association.
In my EDM playlist ecosystem, I have discovered fully realized EDM producers who have full albums of original material and perform Producer-heavy sets. My favorites include REZZ, Deadmau5, Subtronics, and Seven Lions. Most recently in my research of Illenium, I realized his sold-out Empower Field set performed for 40,000+ fans was a performance of his original albums, back-to-back. And there are artist driven shows such as REZZ Rocks.
If you are going to spend $30+ on a ticket to a show, it shouldn’t be to discover music. Leave that for the local venue where you can walk up, day-of-show, and purchase a ticket to catch the next big thing before they put some clout behind their talent. For the pricier ticket, do some research about the artists at the show. There are plenty of recorded live sets of any artist on these next-level bills.
In fact, question everything.
References
- Coughlin, Caitlin Savage. “Colorado’s Electronic Music Scene Is One of the Best in the Country — Here’s Why.” 303 Magazine, 24 July 2018, https://303magazine.com/2018/07/colorado-electronic-music/.
- “Electric Daisy Carnival 2011 Colorado.” Festicket, https://www.festicket.com/festivals/electric-daisy-carnival-colorado/2011.
- “How Denver Became the U.S. Bass Capital and Breeding Ground for Dubstep.” Westword, 20 Feb. 2024, https://www.westword.com/music/how-denver-became-the-us-bass-capital-and-breeding-ground-for-dubstep-19378937.
- “Illenium.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illenium.
- “Pretty Lights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.” 303 Magazine, Aug. 2012, https://303magazine.com/2012/08/event-horizon-pretty-lights-two-night-stand-at-red-rocks/.
- Pugh, Alex. “The Rise of Electronic Dance Music in Colorado.” We Rave You, 17 May 2024, https://weraveyou.com/2024/05/the-rise-of-electronic-dance-music-in-colorado.
- “Sunday Scaries.” Mountain Town Music, Mountain Town Music Organization, 23 Mar. 2025, https://mountaintownmusic.org/show/sunday-scaries/.
- “Timmy Trumpet.” Tunefind, Tunefind LLC, accessed 5 Sept. 2025, tunefind.com/artist/timmy-trumpet.
- “Yellow Claw (DJs).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Sept. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Claw_(DJs).