You Just Missed Mk.Gee
Review- Mk.Gee Wove Chaos and Serenity at Meow Wolf
Sunday night, Meow Wolf hosted a sold-out show for multi-instrumentalist Mk.gee and his two bandmates. This marked Mk.gee’s first time in the Mile High City and an exciting night for his fan base in the music scene in Denver.
Mk.gee, or Michael Todd Gordon, is from New Jersey and has been gaining traction among the music community for his intensive production style and heady lyrical sound. On the fringes of pop music Mk.gee gives listeners a run for their money introducing experimental sounds and rhythms with his trained ear. Now his established fan base stretches from LA to London and was clearly ready for an extensive tour.
Denver fans peered at the dark stage while waiting, trying their best to assess the pedals, mics and equipment. The crowd buzzed with anticipation, discussing the music of Mk.gee, the mysterious collective nature of Two Star & The Dream Police and their desire to see Dijon at the show. A few local artists were even sprinkled into the crowd.
The band entered the stage to hearty cheers from the anxious crowd. After a short introduction, ambient noise pulsed from the stage and reverberated through the crowd. Noises from the deep interrelated with the final tuning of guitars and prepared the space for the experimental journey of sound about to begin.
Mk.gee and his fellow guitarist adorned the stage as two dark towers. Light shone out from under both figures, highlighting their hands over the guitar strings while their frames loomed in the darkness. The nearly disembodies hands glowed in pale smokey light through nearly the whole set.
Within the blooming instrumentals, Mk.gee’s lyricism is a glimmer of existentialism and honesty. Fans were thrilled and moving to the grooving melodies of “Dream Police” and “Candy.”
Settled low into center stage was a drum kit intertwined with a large mixing setup. Percussion drove each song with a fiery energy and unique, often very natural, sounds. Instrumental transitions between songs conjured up imagery of long echoey tunnels, thick dark forests and wide turbulent skies.
“This is a really interesting space,” Mk.gee acknowledged as the walls shifted in color and texture.
“It matches!” a fan called out to the stage.
Mk.gee conjured up melodies the way light shines color through a stained glass window. There is something so natural about the complex pathways of each song’s rise and fall. Notes in every frequency played the game between pattern and chaos.
“Are you looking up” and “How many miles” had the crowd calling out the cathartic lyrics with passion. One chorus was strong enough to catch Mk.gee’s attention over the heavy instrumentals.
“Could you do that one more time for me?” he asked the crowd. As usual Denver did not disappoint.
Each song transition swelled with deep ambient noises as Mk.gee and his fellow guitarist changed the tune of his guitar drastically.
With classical training and an obvious call to all things experimental, Mk.gee sprinkled aggressive use of his guitar, pulling notes forth that not all music touches in through pleasant melodies. Similarly, his deep melodic vocals were filled with staccato bursts of emotion often used as turning points for the instrumentals.
For the begging crowd Mk.gee returned to encore “Alesis” with an audiance serenade to finish the performance off. With many thanks, Mk.gee waved goodbye to his ecstatic fans and continued on, leaving Denver somehow both buzzing and speechless.