Rowdytown V Festival - The Funktastic Artist Breakdown

Rowdytown V Festival – The Funktastic Artist Breakdown

Colorado homegrown heroes Dominic Lalli and Jeremy Salken of Big Gigantic are bringing the funk back to Red Rocks Amphitheater for Rowdytown V. Two nights of epic electro-funk jams and a lineup that would make any electronic music lover’s knees buckle with the sheer magnitude of its amazingness. Rowdytown has sold out like lightning the past two years and Rowdytown V is no exception. The nights of September 23^rd and 24^th aim to bring some of the best, grooviest, and quickly rising superstars for a bomb musical experience.

Big Gigantic themselves are on the cusp of their new album release, Brighter Future. And because Dom and Jeremy are the greatest guys in pretty much the whole world, they released the whole album on their Soundcloud. The best gift for their adoring fans like me to listen at their day-jobs dreaming about hearing it all at Rowdytown V. The album is a progressively new direction for the duo in the best ways possible. Staying true to their hip-hop and jazz influences, the album has turned in a more lyrical direction. The tracks on Brighter Future has brought on more featured artists such as Logic & Rozes, Pell (FAVE!!), Naaz, and Waka Flocka Flame. All in all its an addictive album and definitely provides some epic foreshadowing for what’s to come for Rowdytown V!

Although Big Gigantic is no stranger to the sold-out-Red-Rocks club, every good festival needs some badass backup. Aside from the mind-blowing performance we know Big G has in store for us, the other performers are just as anticipated and are sure to keep the entire amphitheater all night. Big G kept the posse small for this one; so lucky for you we can highlight and gush over each and every one of them!

Friday’s Lineup:

Kill the Noise

Prepare you booties for the hard-hitting dubstep sounds of courtesy of Jake Stanczak himself. Kill the Noise has become synonymous with some of the greats of the dance music scene. Partnering up with grates like Dillon Francis, Deadmau5, AWOLNATION and Skrillex. Since he began Kill the Noise has only gotten better and more addictive to listen to.

Jake transforms his sound through his songs and its astounding. His range of tastes and vibes make him the perfect artist to listen to, no matter what you’re feeling. Ready to party? I Do Coke is a great option for you. Feeling like some space travel? Take a journey listening to Without A Trace. Wanna get down with hard hitting dubstep goodness? Kill it 4 The Kids ft. AWOLNATION is definitely for you. Jake’s sets are one of a kind, and partnered up with Big G and the rest of the Rowdytown V crew, Kill the Noise is sure to be a memorable set.

Vanic

Vanic released Shaka Zulu on Soundcloud 16 days ago and I cannot.stop.listening. Holy sweet baby Jesus seeing this track live is going to be unparalleled. The crowd is going to go insane for sure. Vanic has a unique sound that mixes hip-hop and trap greatness with a special bouncy and spacy twist. Vanic’s sound is just pure happy amazing dance music. With beats you can get up and dance to and lyrics you can yell into the abyss Vanic is just a great pick for Rowdytown V. Even brining in his own jazzy sounds reminiscent of Big Gigantic with tracks like FML .

Louis the Child

I’ve been grooving to Its Strange since the song was released, its quickly become their best known track but their music is definitely something to explore. Louis the Child is known for “Music that makes you happy” and honestly, that’s an understatement. Louis the Child is perfect mix of cool tropical sounds with jazzy undertones and even some Daft Punk influences. Louis the Child would be perfectly placed as one of the first acts to go up on Friday to warm up the crowd with chill sounds to ease them into the rest of the night.

Saturday’s Lineup:

Marshmello

Because Big G is all about keeping it Mello, of course they had to bring in the man himself. Mashmello has made a huge name for himself in the past year. From remixing Jack U and Zedd in early 2015 to selling out shows all over America – I for one am eagerly awaiting to KeEp IT MeLLo for Saturday’s show.

Known for stirring things up with his DJ peers Marshmello has pulled influence from his fellow helmeted counterparts. Not without a bit of backlash from infamous shit-starter Deadmau5, who called out his alleged identity as Dotcom. But did that keep Marshmello down? Absolutely not. In fact, Marshmello is so mellow, he even let Joel have a bit of a cameo in his most recent video for Alone:

Marshmello’s music is just pure fun, and his social media presence and love for his fans lets his personality shine through. Sharing his struggles and reasoning behind his songs adds a layer of realness that’s kind of unexpected from an artist that shields his identity. Overall, Marshmello’s set is going to be one for the books, and at a venue like Red Rocks Amphitheater with Big G in the house – I’m positive his show will be a huge highlight of the weekend.

Illenium

First of all, if you’re sick and tired of hearing The Chainsmokers‘ Don’t Let Me Down, which seems to be on infinite repeat on the radio – Check out Illenium’s Remix. I personally think its better than the original, you’ll thank me later.

Illenium has mastered the art of “the goose bumps” Their new album Ashes is a dreamy fairytale of glittering guitar, mixed with galactic electronic sounds and the most beautiful female vocals I’ve heard in a very long time. One of the tracks Sleepwalker is a beautiful example of a musical story, bringing you along a journey flowing smoothly from lilting guitar riffs to electronic amazingness.

I could go on and on about this song, its simply perfect and it hitting over a 1.3M plays in the short time its been released, I’d say listeners agree. Illenium’s music is nothing short of magical; I can’t wait to see what they have in store at Rowdytown.

Kasbo

The young-buck of the lineup, Kasbo is 19 years old and blowing up the scene making his way into ODESZA-founded Foreign Family Collective. This innovative and extremely talented producer hails from Germany, definitely bringing in those electro-house elements into his mostly hip-hop inspired sound. He’s mastered the art of the remix; his mix of Fetty Wap’s Trap Queen is beyond words and absolutely a listenable version of the otherwise meh hip-hop track. Kasbo’s fresh future bass sound will meld in perfectly with the weekend’s acts.

With such a talented and unique arsenal of artists backing them up Big Gigantic‘s Rowdytown V is expected to be the best yet! You just know this year is going to be completely different than the rest. With the guys switching up their sound being a huge indicator. Even the lineup release artwork is different than years past, putting out a more tropical, colorful, and chill vibe. Regardless of which direction the artists go, the weekend of the 23rd is going to be one for the history books.