Let's get funky. Right now.
Electric Forrest, Red Rocks, Wakarusa, Sumer Camp Music Festival; there are few major festivals and venues that The Motet haven’t played in its 17 years as a band. Led by drummer Dave Watts, The Motet is one of the most popular live acts of 2015, bringing heart-pounding funk to all corners of America. There is a good reason why Colorado legends Big Gigantic have invited The Motet on stage during its Electric Forrest set this year and their RowdyTown shows two years in a row.
Combined, The Motet has nearly a century of musical experience. If you’ve been lucky enough to catch one of their Colorado shows at Mishawaka or Red Rocks than you already know these guys put on one of the best live shows around.
Their latest album, self titled The Motet, has critics and fans raving about these Colorado funk legends. From start to finish this album makes you jump out of your seat and dance. Songs like “123” pay homage to what it means to live in Colorado. While others like “Keep on Don’t Stop It” and “Closed Mouth Don’t Get Fed” are instant classics that you will have on repeat for months. The music has a funky-fast tempo featuring in-the-pocket drumbeats, thumping bass lines, lightning fast guitar rifts, crunchy organ lines and horns to soothe your soul. The Motet has a little something for everyone and never ceases to amaze a crowd.
“I can tell by how you’re dressing
I see it when we drop the bass
I can tell by how you party all the time
You from that Colorado place
Drenched in sunlight, high and dry
What you're selling we will surely buy”
–The Motet “123”
Motet shows are energetic and lively. It’s the kind of show every music lover should attend. Even if you don’t know a single song, you will spend every second at a Motet show dancing your ass off and singing every word. The energetic lead singer, Jans Ingber, gets the crowd involved in each show. If he’s not belting out choruses that will echo in your head for days, than he is probably making you a slave to the beat of his congas. No two Motet shows are the same; jamming from one song to the next, the band rarely stops playing, but one thing is certain — the music will make you dance.
After an extensive year and a half of touring to promote their new album, The Motet are ready to return home and show off its new digs. This November, The Motet will be holding two “Hometown Hustle” shows at the Ogden Theatre in Denver. The shows are scheduled for Nov. 13-14, and are set to give thanks to The Motet fans in the form of a raging party, backed by some of the funkiest music to ever leave the Rocky Mountains.
In a lot of ways The Motet are hometown heroes in Colorado. What first started as a band with a rotating lineup eventually evolved into a super-group featuring some Colorado music legends. Bassist Garret Sayers seems to redefine his instrument with each show; switching between grooving bass lines and tear-wrenching solos that will leave you in awe, while keyboardist Joey Sayers will do everything from laying down smooth organ lines to singing choruses with his Talk Box. Combine that with the shredding guitar of Ryan Jalbert and the echoing saxophone and trumpet solos of Matt Pitts and Gabe Mervine and you have one damn-funky band that is ready to blow you away.
With all this talent there is good reason why members of Colorado’s legendary String Cheese Incident and Big Gigantic have joined The Motet on stage. If you’ve been lucky enough to see a Big G show featuring The Motet, than you already know the kind of funky music these guys are capable of. This year's Electric Forrest festival even featured three different Motet sets, one of which was a full band collaboration with Big Gigantic. Regardless if you see The Motet alone or with other Colorado powerhouses, you're guaranteed a good time.
The Motet even holds a notorious Halloween show every year featuring cover songs from a huge variety of music. Everything from The Beatles to Parliament/Funkadelic to The Talking Heads to The Grateful Dead; every year the set is different and this years “Mix Tape 1977” set is sure to be a rager. The Motet have proved that they can play any kind of music out there and still make you want to dance your ass off to it, even if you’ve never heard it.
When it comes to making a crowd excited no one does it better than The Motet. From the very first song to the very last it, will have you singing and clapping your hands. The best thing about every Motet show is that the guys on stage are always smiling. They love playing music, especially for their hometown crowd. When a show starts, the act is beaming with energy, and they all strive to make every audience member as happy as they are. The music is not something that is worth missing, it is timeless, energetic and down right funky. If you love music, and you love Colorado, than give these hometown heroes the support they deserve from their hometown crowd.
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