Cycles | 2022-06-25 | Rancho Del Rio, Bond, CO [SBD/AUD Matrix]

Stay up with your friends around the fire every night and keep enjoy it with a recording of Cycles at Beanstalk Music Festival!

For a lot of bands, Beanstalk is about growth. It’s a place to showcase what you’ve been working on all year on a stage meant precisely for your audience, the Colorado jam scene. Some bands exhibit new interpretations of classic tunes; others may try a cover seldom played; and then some, like Denver’s very own Cycles, showcase almost a new band entirely.

The Cycles lineup has been in flux for the last few years. The last time the original lineup performed at Beanstalk was in 2018, after which their drummer, Michael Wood, left the band for academic pursuits. Then in 2019, the band returned to the festival with drummer Collin O’Brian. This lineup was short-lived, as Collin went on to join Neal Francis’ nationally touring band. After COVID ravaged the live music industry in 2020, Cycles graced the Beanstalk stage with yet a new drummer, current member Luke Stone. Now, as Cycles returns to the festival once again, we see a new lineup, this time featuring bassist and vocalist Lucas Parker replacing co-founding member Tucker McClung. With now two-thirds of the original members missing, many longtime fans wondered what the band would have in store.

Fortunately, Cycles still packs a punch. Their set was filled with Cycles fan-favorites and a few more recent tunes that served to usher in the new lineup by showcasing their new members’ writing abilities, singing abilities, and musical talent. The set started with a personal favorite, an instrumental song, “The Key”. After the initial composed section, the band launched into gritty overdriven vamp that bubbled into a frantic jam led by Patrick Harvey’s rapid guitar licks. Next up was a newer song, called “Estrogen”, positioned around the vocoded vocals of drummer Luke Stone. The tune is a wacky sci-fi tinged journey that feels like a descent into a psychotic carnival. This blended into the title track of the Cycles 2020 EP, “Summer Dress”, which presented fans with the confident vocals and slick bass lines of Lucas Parker. While a departure from the charmingly and endearingly awkward-yet-loveable vocal delivery of Tucker McClung, it served the song well, giving nuanced range to the tune and nailing the melodic novelty of the original. Before the song blasted off, the bass riff slithered into a familiar Michael Wood penned tune, “Vacation”, and then offered up a platform for Patrick to dazzle with more high-speed leads. After the tune ended, Lucas took a moment to thank Tucker for allowing the band to continue, a kind gesture and nod to one of the key tenants of Cycles’ origin and sound.

The band then continued with “Music For Free”, which now featured Patrick on vocals. The song was sans its patented jam, as the band shifted into what would be their biggest throw-down of the set, a cover of The Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime”, featuring an impressive list of sit-ins, including Kevin Supina from Envy Alo on Saxophone, Jimmy Dunstan of Photon on keys, as well as Fro from Dopapod and Will Trask from Analog Son on additional percussion. Cycles’ configuration has always loaned itself well to sit-ins, and this was no exception, as it expanded Cycles’ sound tenfold, giving a wide breadth and character to a group sit-in that could only occur at Beanstalk. After the chaos, the band took things down a notch with the instrumental “#9”, an atmospheric composition drenched in reverb and airy tones, led by subtly fluttering guitar phrases that lull listeners into a hypnotic groove. The band followed with another Luke Stone original, “Fox”, another descent into manic psychedelia. Afterward was the Patrick original, “Sunrise”, a tune that always finds Patrick delivering a soaring guitar solo, with this time being no different, as he found several machine-gun grooves to carry the song home. This was quickly segued into “Be Yourself”, which found its jam early and was able to ride it for several peaks, providing some of the most inspired apexes of the set. The band then closed with another Patty original, “The Clock”. They went dark with the jam, thrashing their way through the outro before crashing back into the chorus, ending with the seemingly self-realized lyric, “Throw your time into the sky to watch it disappear, yeah things always change. Yeah, nothing stays the same”.

Change is seldom easy. We always remember the moment we discovered something we love, and if that thing isn’t the same anymore, there’s a sense of loss and yearning, but that doesn’t mean things have to stay that way. Time ultimately heals all wounds, but what heals in the interim is music. Cycles has been evolving since their inception, and if time has told us anything, they aren’t done yet. While friendly faces have come and gone, the band is still, at its core, a powerful psychedelic rock trio with a feverish drive and compelling sound that will awe fans with their musicianship and ability to find euphoric peaks in unique ways. Hopefully, that will never change.

Cycles | 2022-06-25 | Beanstalk Music & Mountains Festival at Rancho Del Rio, Bond, CO

-= One Set =-

01. (Intro)

02. The Key >

03. Estrogen >

04. Summer Dress >

05. Vacation

06. Music For Free >

07. Life During Wartime (Talking Heads cover)[1]

08. #9

09. Fox

10. Sunrise

11. Be Yourself

12. The Clock[2]

Show Notes: This set was performed on the third day of the annual Beanstalk Music and Mountains Festival. This was the festival’s ten-year anniversary. This set was performed on the Main Stage. 

[1] “Life During Wartime” featured Kevin Supina (Envy Alo) on saxophone, Jimmy Dunstan (Photon) on keys, as well as Neal “Fro” Evans (Dopapod) and Will Trask (Analog Son) on additional percussion. 

[2] “The Clock” contained “Enter Sandman” (Metallica) teases. 

Taper Notes: FOB DFC mics raised around 7′ PAS. Board patch and mix thanks to FOH Engineer Eric Crumb.

Thank you to Cycles and Beanstalk Music Festival for being cool with taping/sharing shows. Go see live music and support your local artists and musicians! #spacetapes

LINK: https://archive.org/details/Cycles2022-06-25.StudioProjects.C4.MKII.cards.AUD.SBD.Matrix.FLAC16bit