The Mersiv Sound Project, the musical undertaking of Anderson Benoit Gallegos, has been on a meteoric rise. Mersiv has particularly made a splash in the Denver market. Over the past two years, he’s gone from the Ogden Theatre to Mission Ballroom and now Red Rocks Amphitheatre, selling out each venue along the way.
This year, Mersiv’s stop in Denver consisted of a two-night run. He brought his fans first to his sold-out Journey to Mars show at Red Rocks and then took them In the Round at Mission Ballroom. Both performances showed off the best of Mersiv. Each served as a testament to why this EDM star is on the rise.
Journey to Mars at Red Rocks
Under a full pink moon on Thursday night, Mersiv fans came out in droves for the artist’s first headlining show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The event featured Martian themes, a stacked support lineup, a special focus on the visual arts, and so many lasers.
The Support at Red Rocks
For his first show at Red Rocks, Mersiv did not hold back from bringing all-star support from labels like Liquid Stranger’s Wakaan, Zeds Dead’s Deadbeats, and CloZee’s Odyzey.
The night opened on a melodic note with Liquid Smoak, the liquid drum and bass side project of dubstep duo Smoakland. The set featured the lead single “Hold On” from Liquid Smoak’s recent EP Morning Rituals. They also mixed in classics from U.K. legends like Pola & Bryson and from DnB newcomers like Piri & Tommy. While Mersiv and Smoakland share label ties to the dubstep-focused Deadbeats imprint, this side project brought sonic diversity to the bass-filled evening.
Following the DnB intro, the night settled into dubstep but brought diverse flavors of the genre. AstroLizard took the stage for his world debut, cloaked in a mysterious space alien-like helmet. This alias is rumored to be the rebrand of a major EDM DJ who showed off his chops with freeform bass.
Next, Australian artist SIPPY turned up the intensity with a heavy-hitting set. Tripp St. followed her with a moment to chill out with downtempo bass alongside stunning visuals from MEZMER. As a surprise, Tripp St. brought out Odyzey label head CloZee to spin an unreleased collaboration.
A special treat at Journey to Mars was the complete lack of changeover time. Instead of resorting to the typical playlist between sets, Mersiv brought out Honeycomb to beatbox in the round. The crowd’s attention turned toward the center of the Amphitheatre as Honeycomb dropped impressive beats “straight from his face,” as he said.
Finally, the direct support from Daily Bread brought even more fans to Journey to Mars. Daily Bread, aka Rhett Whatley, hails from Atlanta and mixes Southern flavor into his funky brand of bass music. Like Mersiv, Daily Bread has experienced monumental growth in the past year alone. You could easily see the presence of his fans at Red Rocks as they arrived with actual slices of bread in hand.
Mersiv’s Journey to Mars Set
After the excellent opening acts, it was finally time for Mersiv to grace the stage. Although he has ties to Deadbeats and Wakaan, Mersiv is also the label head of his own imprint, MorFlo Records. The MorFlo logo was proudly displayed on the rocks via laser projection all night.
Mersiv, aka Anderson Benoit Gallegos, is originally from Louisiana, but his project took off after he settled in Denver. His debut 2021 album Pretty Dark Loud established the ethos of his sound and helped bring his name to the masses.
Gallegos’ clear vision for the Mersiv Sound Project featured heavily in the Journey to Mars theme. The Amphitheatre’s Martian landscape set the scene, but Mersiv’s team added even more to the narrative with Mars rovers and space satellites that shot out lasers. Fittingly, Mersiv opened with a special VIP of his 2016 track “Martian,” which flips Lil Wayne’s “The Martian” into a space-themed dubstep hit.
Mersiv’s track selection pulled from moments throughout his entire career. He played fan favorites like “Fire Dance” featuring Attitude and his remix of Saint Sinner and Supertask’s “Get to You.” The crowd screamed the words to his 2019 hit released on Wakaan, “Beautiful & Filthy” with Chill Bobby. Mersiv dedicated a special moment to his late mother as he played out “If I Was a Raven” and implored the audience to think of those who are no longer with us. To end on a high note, Mersiv closed the night with his unreleased collab with GRiZ, an ID likely called “Selecta.”
Visual Art on the Rocks
One special feature of Journey to Mars was Mersiv’s emphasis on the visual arts. For one, Mersiv credited all the VJs on social media and in the reel at the end of the performance. Second, he had live paintings from Morphis Art and Mr. Crumbs. Their paintings regularly appeared on the screens so fans could watch the art progress.
As a special offering, Mersiv also brought on Conscious Alliance for an “Art That Feeds” Food Drive. In exchange for 20 non-perishable food donations, fans could receive an exclusive foil show poster by XLUSIV. By featuring visual arts so prominently, Gallegos showed that the Mersiv Sound Project is about more than just the music.
Mersiv In The Round at Mission Ballroom
Saturday night offered a different flavor from Mersiv’s Red Rocks debut. On night two, he unleashed darker energy under the disco ball of Mission Ballroom. Notably, this event went deeper and darker than Journey to Mars and had fans head-banging the whole evening.
The main concept of Night Two was going “in the round” Boiler Room-style with the fans surrounding the DJs. Unlike the immaculate theme of “Journey to Mars,” the Mission Ballroom performance had a no-frills stage placed in the center of the venue, with the focus on the subs and lasers. All night, artists jumped on the mic to talk about how happy they were to finally feel the bass from the audience’s perspective.
Opening Up the 360 Stage
For the second time, Mersiv took an opportunity to introduce his fans to a new DJ. The night opened with the world debut of Labrynth, a Denver-based producer who started releasing music just one month ago. The new artist came out sounding polished with dark beats at 140 BPM that set the tone for the night.
More Denver talent came out to shine in the round with Keota aka Tom Brennan. For a different flavor, the next opener, Huxley Anne, offered a surprise with a full set of techno and house.
One of the showstoppers of the night was a B2B set from deep dubstep artists, Pushloop and Distinct Motive. Both artists are well known for their releases on TRUTH’s Deep, Dark, and Dangerous label. They filled Mission Ballroom with booming, U.K.-style dubstep.
To close out the opening lineup, Mr. Carmack (otherwise known as Aaron Carmack from San Francisco) served as direct support at Mission Ballroom. Mr. Carmack mixed bouncy trap and hip-hop beats to get the crowd in a groove.
The openers were diverse in sound, but they never failed to keep the subs rumbling, preparing the audience for Mersiv’s 360 throwdown.
Mersiv Goes 360
Mersiv came to Mission Ballroom clearly ready to turn up the intensity. He took center stage and began conducting the crowd with his eccentric dance moves as he dropped his heaviest tracks.
As a treat to longtime fans, Mersiv played out songs from the early days of his project like “Beerus” and “The Gas” with Dapolitiks, both from 2017. He also showed off his mixing skills by putting iconic vocals into new contexts, as he flipped Ivy Lab’s “Cake” and Sub Focus and Dimension’s “Ready to Fly.” Toward the end of the night, Mersiv dropped “Morse Code” and “What You Want” with Smoakland, turning up the heat.
Most importantly, as Mersiv previewed a few new songs, he dropped big news. Mersiv announced that he plans to come out with a new album this year!
What’s to Come for Mersiv
Mersiv’s two-night run in the Denver area serves as part of a greater three-night in Colorado. Mersiv started at Red Rocks, then went to play Mission Ballroom in the round, and finally ended at Belly Up in Aspen.
His command of the Denver scene speaks to his growing appeal around the world for dubstep fans. With a new album on the horizon, one can only imagine that Mersiv’s growth is not stopping here.
Just before his show, Mersiv tweeted “Please don’t ever be afraid to follow your dreams.” Clearly, for him, this mindset is paying off.
Photos by Caitlin Griffith (Red Rocks) and Sammantha Drake (Mission Ballroom)
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