A live DJ set with projection based visuals led to a unique and unforgettable concert experience.
Fort Collins DJs Jimeni and TwoScoops gave a starry, space-themed set to visuals from the OtterBox Digital Dome Theater located in the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery on March 15. The show’s visuals were produced by Dome Theater Manager Ben Gondrez.
“You’re probably not gonna see your typical bands in here like you would at a normal venue around town.” – Ben Gondrez, Dome Theater Manager
“The Dome itself is a 360-degree digital projection hemisphere screen,” Gondrez said.
The concert was a part of an ongoing series at the Dome that featured live music paired with visuals. Along with live concerts, the Dome also has shows featuring the discography of well-known artists such as Queen or the Beastie Boys. It also presents an art night where people interested can learn how to create visuals or pieces of art.
Jimeni and TwoScoops are brothers who have often performed side by side.
“This one’s special because we got to do what we call a two-by-four,” TwoScoops said. “That’s four turntables, two mixers, so we each have a full set-up.”
The show’s space-themed visuals were complimented by the samples and songs in the set. “We have a pretty extensive library between the both of us,” TwoScoops said. “So we knew that we had a lot of space-themed stuff deep down there somewhere. So we tried to curate such and pull out all the things that made sense, whether it was a title of a track or something that discussed space.”
Despite the similarity of the theme, neither DJ knew what the show would look like.
“We still don’t even know what the visuals looked like, we only put together the audio for that, and then (Gondrez) did all of the visuals,” Jimeni said. “We sent him a rough draft of that set a couple of days ago so he could put it together. The visual aspect of the show took the audience from the blastoff of a spaceship, to floating through stars, the insides of galaxies and everything between and beyond.”
The combination of live music with artfully crafted visuals compliments each aspect perfectly. The continued growth and experimentation within this style of concert are exciting not only for The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery but also for the Fort Collins music scene as a whole.
“We’ve done live music performances in the Dome every now and then throughout the past years we’ve been open, since 2012, but this year we really decided to make a concerted effort to present a different musical performance each month,” Gondrez said. “We’re really trying to pull really interesting musicians and performers into the Dome that can really utilize the Dome for what it is and what it can bring to a live music performance. You’re probably not gonna see your typical bands in here like you would at a normal venue around town.”
Events happening at the Otterbox Digital Theater can be found here.
Joel Thompson can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @probably_joel.
