Artist: Malai Llama

     FoCoMX’s diversity of sound was exemplified throughout Malai Llama’s set Friday night at the Aggie. Their songs ignited through a range of sounds, with epic progression throughout the set. This free form jam band brought fire to the Aggie, with songs evoking a high paced dance party into slow and groovy melodies. The combination of the guitar shredding, bass slapping, drum rocking, and keys groovin’ created a rollercoaster jam experience, complimenting the already stellar jam scene present within Colorado.

    The set started off a nice guitar progression with jam solos from the bassist and drummer. The set escalated into a rockin’ dance party, where I began to clench my flannel as they got deeper and deeper into a jam. The show helped kick off the energy that would continue to ensue the Aggie and FoCo MX throughout the weekend.

Artist: In the Whale

    With my feet sticking to the floors and after a few shows at Surfside and the Mainline, I walked into the last set of Friday night for Hodi’s. The band taking up the honor of closing out a powerful first day was In the Whale, and I knew I was in for a great time. The set began with songs from their newest 2015 album Full Nelson. Nate and Eric and included classic songs like “Girlfriend”. Hodi’s began bouncing, and people began to bang their heads back in forth as this 2 piece band brought immense energy to the late night set. The band brought a mosh pits, head banging, and beer spilling.

The Denver based band, In the Whale, complimented the rock scene Fort Collins continues to foster, with audience members ranging from various age groups. It was a phenomenal end of the day set, leaving the night with a sore neck from head banging and a bit of spilled beer over me.

Artist: Little Vicious

      Little Vicious is up and coming Fort Collins band that brought a new dimension to the Whisk(e)y‘s classy vibe. This three piece band pairs together like a fine cheap whiskey–spicy, strong and leaves you with plenty of angst. Little Vicious rocked out some tunes from their self-titled first album Little Vicious, bringing the punky- grungy rock vibe Fort Collins is known for to the always elegant Whisk(e)y. As the set progressed, so did the head-thrashing and various shenanigans the scene is known for. There was even a stellar Queen cover of “Don’t Stop Me”. They describe their sound as “Led Zeppelin got wasted then covered Pink Floyd”.

     Thinking of the fantastic sound one pictures after hearing that statement, Little Vicious delivers on an energizing set that will make you wake up with a sore body and neck from throwing it all around during the progression of their set. The lead singer, known as Daisy (Marguerite), has a raspy powerful voice complimenting the “drum robot” sound from drummer Eric Pierce matched with the immense energy and stage humor of Bryan Miller on bass. Little Vicious is a must see for the Fort Collins music scene, with an immense and memorable stage presence. 

Artist: Qbala

    Starting her set off with an inspirational message about finding meaning within one’s self and time is nothing but a construct of our mind, Qbala delivered a set with powerful lyrics and incredible beats, complimented by an electric guitar and DJ Deadbeat.

    Mixing it up with beat drops, she brought immense positive energy into the Aggie’s final night of FoCoMX. Qbala played some tracks off of her Battlecries album.