Chris Lorenzo (real name Christopher Lawrence) is a producer and DJ who focuses on house music — more specifically, bass house. He’s originally from the United Kingdom, but his music is known worldwide. On Saturday, February 7th, he brought his signature sound to the Mission Ballroom in Denver.
The openers for the night were Marco Strous and San Pacho (real name Patrik Škalec). This show sold out well in advance, which was super exciting. The afternoon before the event, Lawrence posted a story on his Instagram with set times. He also advised everyone to make sure to get to the venue early.
Lawrence is currently in the middle of making quite a historic Colorado run! The night before his Denver show, he played a set at Chasing Rabbits in Vail, Colorado. Then, he played at Vail’s Legendary Back Bowls on Saturday morning. This weekend, he will also perform at the Belly Up in Aspen.
Marco Strous
Even though there was an entire hour between when the venue’s doors opened and when Strous started his set, there was still a long line outside the Mission Ballroom halfway into his performance. Almost everyone attending was wearing standard attire for house music shows. Bucket hats, pashminas, and sunglasses were popular accessories in the crowd. Throughout the show, there were lines for the restrooms and bars. Although not terribly long, it was noticeable compared to some other sold-out shows at this venue without as many lines.
Strous played upbeat house music as the venue continued to fill up. By the end of his set, both the tiered seating area at the back of the venue and the VIP balconies were full, and the main floor was about three-quarters of the way full.
The stage setup was fairly simple, consisting of two tables with CDJs on them, an LED wall, some extra house lights, and an area behind the DJs for some people to stand on stage. It’s unclear if these were general admission ticket holders or friends and family, etc.
San Pacho
Up next was Škalec. While Strous only had his logo on the LED wall behind him during his set, Škalec had his logo as well as some brightly colored abstract visuals. At one point, he played a remix of “Mr. Saxobeat” by Alexandra Stan, which had everyone singing along. The crowd also got excited when he played his well-known track titled “Ride The Train.”
This audience was really pushy as everyone tried to get farther and farther into the crowd before Lawrence’s set. At one point, Škalec stopped his show to make sure someone in the crowd was okay, but medical was not needed. Two people were working on one of the sets of CDJs for most of his set. Luckily, it wasn’t interfering with the music he was playing, and everything seemed to be fixed before Lawrence’s set as there were no technical issues!
Chris Lorenzo
As Lawrence finally came on stage, the entire venue was absolutely packed, including the area on stage behind him. For his intro, he played a remix that blended together his VIP version of “Appetite” and “Bad Bitch” with Chynna. Lasers were activated for the first drop, and the crowd went absolutely crazy. Live video of the audience was also shown on the LED wall at times, which was fun to see.
Thankfully, the crowd had mostly settled into their spots by this point. When he played his new track, “Hell Yeah” with Parris Mitchell featuring Waxmaster, everyone was shouting the lyrics. This crowd was loud! He also played his unreleased track, “In This Bih.” Of course, he had to play some Anti-Up songs too, including “I Cannot.” For those who may not know, Lawrence is one-half of the group Anti-Up, along with Chris Lake!
He rarely spoke into the mic during his set, which really put a focus on the music that he was performing. By around an hour into his set, with thirty minutes left, the amount of people in the venue had noticeably reduced. Those that were able to stay until the end got to hear “California Dreamin’” featuring High Jinx.
A Night to Remember
Lawrence knows how to put on a show, that’s for sure! His tech house and bass house beats kept the energy up all night, and Denver really made him feel welcome by packing out the venue. The production was more on the minimal side; it perfectly added to the experience without overdoing it. His hour and a half set truly flew by.
Click here to see if Lawrence will be playing a show near you soon!
Photos by Kyle Bocker
