Deadrocks 2024

10 years of Deadrocks

10 years of Deadrocks- and our honeymoon.

I first heard about Zeds Dead way back in 2014. My kid’s father had a mix c.d. which had a remix of the song “Coffee Break” featuring Omar Linx. Instantly, I fell in love and never turned back on listening to their music. Paul and I went to Deadrocks in 2022, and what an unforgettable experience, so with this being their 10 year Anniversary, we couldn’t think of a better way to spend our honeymoon. This time though, we were doing 5 sets in 3 days. 2 sets were held at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on July 2 and 3^rd, while on Thursday July 4, 2024, we would be attending the Backyard Jamboree held at the Capitol building in downtown Denver, and to finish the night, 2 sets at the Mission Ballroom. We have never been to the Mission Ballroom, so we were very excited to knock off some “firsts” on our bucket list.

We headed out to Denver, Monday July 1^st. The drive is 10 hours, so we booked a hotel 8 ½ hours in at a Ramada Inn, in Sterling Colorado. We ate some food and called it a night so we could head out the next morning. Looking at Facebook, we saw at the Red Rocks Beer Garden, from 12-4:30 p.m. was a pop-up merch booth. We waited in line for over an hour in 2022, to get official merch, so we thought this would be the best way to beat the line. Our friend, Chris, also was in Denver for the shows, so we messaged him to meet us there.  We got the Year 10 official Deadrocks jersey. We went back to Chris’s hotel room, since we couldn’t check in early and got ready for the night.

Redrocks Beer Garden

We decided to use the shuttle again, to get to and from Red Rocks. Illegal Pete’s on Colfax was two blocks away, and where the shuttle would pick us up and drop us off, so we went there for a bite to eat and check in. We had some amazing fish tacos! About 3:45, we loaded up on the shuttle and headed out to Red Rocks. The line didn’t take too long, and there was no line for merch, so I copped an awesome year 10 Deadrocks T-shirt. We then decided, to head all the way to the top of the amphitheater since we didn’t make it up there our first year. We saw some other merch and looked around.  We got Chris to a good spot in GA, because we actually snagged VIP for the first day.

VIP

I loved how close we were (literally row 2 seats 26/27) but GA definitely has a better view of the amphitheater with the city in the background. This year’s schedule had a bunch of new acts we haven’t seen, plus some others we have. We started the night with Torcha- we didn’t get to see much of this set for we were getting in and checking out the top of the Red Rocks. Next was Mary Droppinz. Her beats were cool, but we really loved her visuals. Next was Levity. We had seen Levity at the Armory, in Minneapolis, but yet again, they were full of energy and got the crowd poppin off. After Levity, was Vctre. I had never heard of Vctre before, and he wasn’t my favorite, but still nice to see someone we haven’t already seen.

Mary Droppinz and Levity

Dr. P then took the stage. Another artist that we have seen many times. Paul said, “he does the same stuff he has done for years, I wish he would have given us something new.” I like his music because it includes a variety of styles like drum and bass, old school rave, glitch hop and more.

Doctor P

Then after Dr. P was, our boys, Zeds Dead. It took them a while to come on stage, and the crowd was so restless, it was amazing. Everyone hooting and hollering, chanting “Zeds Dead.” It had started raining during the set, and that slowly turned into hail. We had never been hailed on before. They stopped the show for a while, until the lightening passed, but then started it back up. We were drenched from head to toe, but that didn’t stop us from finishing the set. It was yet another great performance. Of all the times I have seen them, I believe these 3 days were my absolute favorite. Yes, they played some of their old songs, I even got Coffee Break on video, but they also had a bunch of unreleased new mash ups as well.

Wednesday July 3, 2024. Day 2 of Deadrocks.

This time we were in G.A. and the line was a lot longer. We decided to go as PLUR Police and give out compliments and tickets. People love this and we met a bunch of awesome people. Honestly, people beg to get a ticket and they love it so we love it even more. Siren kicked off the night, but with the long lines, we missed this set. Then was Eater. Paul was so excited for this set and it was a really good one. He had crunchy bass, and was nice to see a new face. Alleycvt came to the stage next. Another name I had never heard of, but if I got the chance, I would definately check her out again. She had hard hitters and very dubstep sound and was quite surprising. Imanu B2B Nitepunk was up next. Imanu is not my favorite, but the back to back was decent.

People getting tickets and Alleycvt

Before Zeds Dead, was DJ Bou. We actually first saw DJ Bou on the EDC LV livestream this year, so I was very hyped to see this set. Drum and Bass is one of my favorite styles of EDM, and that was his genre. He does feature Live 247 which is like a “hype man” which I don’t think DJ Bou really needs, but they work well together and had the crowd moving.

Then came on Zeds Dead. Yet another great set! Maybe I am just biased but like I mentioned earlier, their sets weren’t the same. So much music, old and new. They are famous for their mashups which never disappoint.

Surprisingly, we didn’t see many fireworks in Denver like we had the last time, but the view was amazing, vibes were awesome and couldn’t have asked for better weather. We did run into a guy Phillpe that we met at the last Deadrocks, so it was awesome seeing a familiar face. No hail or rain this time! After the show was over, we got back on the shuttle and went to our hotel room.

Phillpe

Thursday July 4, 2024

The Backyard Jamboree was a new event for us. We took an uber to where this was held. There were 3 stages. There was the Altered States Stage which is based off of Zeds Dead’s other label, Altered States. Altered States label is more down tempo, and often Zeds Dead will release albums called Catching Z’s on this label. Catching Z’s Volume 4 is my all time favorite, so it’s awesome they give this type of music a platform to perform.

The second stage was the DEADBEATS X DNBNL stage which was mainly Drum n Bass. We did spend a little bit of time at this stage while eating some delicious food from a food truck they had on site. Here we saw Dieselboy X Downlink which was a very awesome set. I know these two have been touring a lot together, so it was a great collab to see.

DNB Stage- Dieselboy B2B Downlink

The third, and largest stage was the Deatbeatz Stage. When we first arrived, we started here. The 4th Annual Hotdog Eating Competition happened at this stage hosted by Heyz. The winner from last year, took home the gold again this year. At this stage we were able to se Jessica Audiffred B2B Nostalgix which was another great back to back. Then was Caspa. Caspa is an OG to the EDM world, staying loyal to his sound, deep innovative production and kind of riddimy.

Hotdog Eating Contest, Caspa and Zeds Dead

To end the night, Zeds Dead came on again. This set was probably my least favorite set of the whole weekend. There was maybe 2 or 3 songs that I didn’t know, but most were their classics. Some, we had heard the nights previous. With 10 years of Deadrocks, and even longer to the Zeds Dead name, I am always hoping they surprise me with a bunch of stuff that has never been played out before. I understand they are tailoring to the fans, that come for the classics, but I just wished this set, wasn’t the same I had heard before. Leaving to head to the Mission Ballroom, we were able to snag a photo with our boy TVBOO. This is our second time being able to get a picture with him and he is one of the nicest artists we have met.

Paul, TVBOO, Chris and I

Now was time for the anticipated, Mission Ballroom. Zeds Dead always does two sets here. The first is always them, and the second is a B2B. There was a lot of buzz of who the special guest would be. I really was hoping for someone from back in the day like Omar Linx, or Subtronics because they have so many collabs, but Zeds Dead is notorious for putting people up that they have seen start to pop off. The Mission Ballroom blew my mind away. I didn’t expect it to be like an amphitheater on the inside, but it was. We went up top and found a spot. The lighting was on point at the Mission Ballroom.

This single set by Zeds Dead was what I was looking for. A bunch of stuff, still I haven’t heard. The special guest ended up being Mersiv. We saw Mersiv at the last Deadrocks, but can tell he is working hard on his art. The back to back was great! The Mission Ballroom was great.

Zeds Dead B2B Mersiv

We finished our long week, by heading up to Idaho Springs, just west of Denver. This had natural hot springs and caves that were amazing. We had a king suite, that had a deck, so we could play cards and enjoy the sounds of water flowing beside us. The hot spring stayed around 90 degrees, and the caves were even hotter. The were seperated men and women, but I would suggest anyone who hasn’t experienced one, to try it out! We then came home and our honeymoon was a success.

As always, all of the recap videos for Deadrocks Days 1,2,3 can be found on our youtube channel.

Also, check out Plur Police bodycam footage from Dancefestopia 2022.