:: Beats Antique ::
:: June 18, 2011 ::
:: Red Rocks Amphitheatre ::
Photos and Text by Chelsea Cooley
According to the members of Beats Antique, opening a sold-out show at beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheatre this Saturday was “a dream come true,” and thousands of expectant electronic music fans were far from disappointed. Combining beautiful belly dancers with funky drum beats is never a bad game plan, but Oakland-based Beats Antique takes it one step further by adding world grooves, string instruments, guest musicians, and dub step bass lines. In doing so, they effectively combine the sounds of India, the Middle East and Africa with American electronic music.
Tom Satori and David Cappel have both traveled the world in such places as Bali, West Africa, and Serbia, incorporating these experiences into Beats Antique’s sound through percussion and violin. The trio’s third, Zoe Jakes, is a unique and visionary dancer, previously a member of the Yard Dogs Road Show. She is responsible for the group’s lovely dancing and performance art, but she is also a working producer alongside Satori and Cappel.
Beats Antique’s jam-packed summer tour is part world-beat performance art and part environmental mission. While traveling the country, the band’s members proudly take part in the Sustainable Living Roadshow, made up of entertainers and educators on the music festival circuit who teach others about environmental stewardship and sustainability. Satori is one of the Roadshow’s co-founders and creator of the Clean Fuel Caravan made up of bio-diesel buses. Beats Antique not only uses the SLR’s official eco-bus on tour, but they also provide information about environmental awareness at their merchandise booth.
Fans will find Beats Antique and the Roadshow at festivals around the country this summer, including Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas June 24 and Re:Generation at Horning’s Hideout June 25, as well as High Sierra Fest, Electric Forest, and Camp Bisco.
