Kessel Run | 2019-06-27 | Rancho Del Rio, Bond, CO [SBD/AUD Matrix]

Forget a beer run…I want to go on a Kessel Run back to Rancho Del Rio for Beanstalk Music Festival!

Beanstalk Music Festival has become one of my favorite parts about living in Denver. Every year, Magic Beans get all their friends together and throw a party in the valley, which plays host to around a thousand fans and musicians alike, getting together for a communal celebration of some of the best music the jam scene has to offer. The lineup is carefully curated to include both up-and-comers as well as established, nationally touring acts to give a great mixture of fresh new music and big-hitters. Kessel Run is one such up-and-coming act that has crept into one of my favorite finds of the year. The group has highly technical prog-rock textures, then smacks you in the mouth with their saxophone and keys work, which give each song its own voice, touching on elements of jazz, hard rock, and funk. Their set kicked off the festival with a bang, raining crushing riffs and syncopated rhythms over the early crowd.

Their set was filled with highlights as the band cruised through their originals with a sense of purpose and determination. Songs like “Tactic” showed off the band’s intensity, and “No Moon” took listeners through a more tempered rhythm before building into its storm-like apex. “Skin Crawl” featured Cycles’ Patrick Harvey on guitar, which led to an impressive trading of licks between Patrick and Kessel Runner Cameron Canepa. Fans unfamiliar with the band were treated to the infectiously catchy riff in “Dew”, which I’d describe as a musical representation of a Woody Woodpecker call. The song has a gentle delivery that is true to its namesake, as the jam slowly develops over a patient layering of sound from the beautiful keys solo to the reverb drenched guitar chords and mounting percussive attack, resulting in one of the most inspired moments of the set. This eventually segued into “George Lucas”, which featured some back-up percussion from Will Trask. If the jam during “Dew” was the most inspired, the jam during “George Lucas” was the most intense, once again patiently built with a focused attack and led forward by the frantic saxophone work Alex Cazet and never flailing drum work of Kirk Larson. The set then closed out with “Desolate”, another tune that plays with shifting dynamics and tempos, starting slow, building, and then crashing into the fold like a rollercoaster drop.

Kessel Run started Beanstalk off right with a highly polished set of originals that showcased exactly what they’re all about and why they’ve quickly become one of my favorite acts to see. Their instrumentals manage to find their own unique voice through tight compositions and accessible melodic phrasing, a feat that is often lost on instrumental acts. Congrats to them on their first Beanstalk appearance and hope to see them on the stage for many years to come!

Kessel Run | 2019-06-27 | Rancho Del Rio, Bond, CO

-= One Set =-
01. Tactic
02. No Moon
03. Skin Crawl[1]
04. Dew >
05. George Lucas[2]
06. Desolate

Show Notes: This set was performed at the seventh annual Beanstalk Music & Mountains Festival. Kessel Run opened up the festival.
[1] “Skin Crawl” featured Patrick Harvey (Cycles) on guitar.
[2] “George Lucas” featured Will Trask (Analog Son) on back-up percussion.

Taper Notes: FOB DFC Mics raised around 10′ DIN. Thanks to FOH engineer Andrew Waltman for the board patch and mix!

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

LINK: https://archive.org/details/KR2019-06-27.AKG.P170.AUD.SBD.Matrix.flac16