Rusko @ Denver’s The Ogden Theater, April 12th & 13th Reviewed: A Pros & Cons List

Once upon a time, there was a place that didn’t know dubstep. It was probably already invented but most people weren’t in tune with it yet. In the U.S., the trendy music scene at that point was trance and electro house on one end and glitch hop on the other. Then, one day back in early December 2007, Rusko and Caspa produced an album called “FabricLive.37” that was a part of the FabricLive Mix series. It was the first dubstep edition that was a part of this series. Ever since that day, dubstep has been trickling into the mainstream. At first, it was step by step—in years—and Rusko was the poster boy for it. Now, dubstep is continuing to grow and is considered one of the largest EDM genres in the world right now. We can all give thanks to Rusko for igniting this undying flame.

The question that I have been wondering is: does Rusko still have it? Dubstep has come a long way since the initial artists raised its popularity. This past weekend, I got the chance to see what Rusko has been up to at the Ogden Theater in Denver, Colorado—he played 2 nights back to back. The experience was really great in a lot of areas but there were a few production glitches things that could have been changed. To give this article more depth I’m going to give you a pros and cons list.

Pros:

• First and foremost, Rusko still has it! He is just as I remembered and more. He was playing my favorite old tunes and dropped a handful of new tunes. The 2 shows sent me off into a world of nostalgia with wobbly bass lines and spunky breakdowns.
• Everybody couldn’t help but move. Since I have gotten older and have seen a lot of shows, I don’t dance as much as I used to. But, when Rusko went on I couldn’t help but start dancing. Rusko just produces that kind of good music!
• Rusko’s stage presence is always fun to watch. He is like a bouncing beach ball full of joy while he is on the stage. And, even though you can’t always understand his accent, everyone still cheers when he gets on the mic. Enthusiasm is contagious and when you are around Rusko your happiness skyrockets to the roof.
• There was a ton of enthusiastic fans. I talked to a handful of them and there were fans from age 16 to 30. It is a really nice feeling to have an all age event acting in unison.

Cons:

• It was just a DJ on a blank stage in a very dark theater. Considering the cost of admission for the show and that Rusko was the only headliner for the evening, I was expecting a larger stage set-up for the two-evening event. It was disappointing and I was pretty unsatisfied about it.
• As I previously stated, there wasn’t any supporting headliner—to his caliber. Rusko went on at 10:15pm and that seemed a little bit early for the arriving crowd. People were piling in after 10:45 because they thought he went on later. It didn’t make much sense for us Denver folk because we are used to raging until the very wee hours of the morning.

There were a lot of ups and downs about this show. In the end, the pros trump the cons and the show was fun and a smashing success. Sure, the stage production could have been more exciting but there is something to say about a blank stage too: you’re able to focus on the music a whole lot more. Everybody was having just as much fun as Rusko was on stage and that is the key to a really great show. My question was answered and Rusko is still the king of dubstep and he is holding onto his throne tightly. Even though the day will arrive that Rusko isn’t as big as he is today, he will always be remembered as the spark that ignited the dubstep flame. Hopefully, that day won’t come for a long time—as long as Rusko keeps creating banging tunes and continues his spunky stage presence he will be around for a while. Long live Rusko, the king!