Holy Priest made his Denver debut at The Junkyard on Friday, October 2, and there wasn’t a more fitting venue. Surrounded by metal and asphalt, the industrial setting was the perfect match for the punishing sounds of hard techno. The crowd was a sea of techno baddies dressed almost entirely in black, ready to be blessed.
The openers set the tone early, with each artist bringing their own take on hard techno. Each subsequent performer kept the energy building throughout the night. Kistenbruegger was an artist I wasn’t familiar with before the show, but the young German producer quickly caught my attention. He has been supporting Holy Priest on many of his recent tour dates, and the two released their collaboration “Bad Boys” earlier this year.
GRAVEDGR has been holding it down for the U.S. hard dance scene since 2018. After moving away from his hard trap roots and toward hard techno, his sound has continued to evolve. His set included multiple subgenres of hardstyle, giving the crowd another reason to keep moving as the night progressed.
Clara Cuve, another German producer, came out swinging and immediately went to work. She didn’t let up for the entire 60-minute set. She seamlessly incorporated different genres while maintaining the intensity needed to keep a hard techno crowd engaged. By the time she finished, the crowd was more than ready for the main event.
Holy Priest lived up to the hype that has been building around him over the past year. His larger-than-life presence matched his stature. Standing tall and in incredible shape, he commanded the stage before even playing a track. From the VIP deck, you could see the veins running through his arms as he worked the crowd. He was wearing his signature mask and tactical vest, paired with what might be the most sensible shoes ever worn by someone delivering such sonic destruction.
His set pulled heavily from his album Fxck Genres, released earlier this year, including his collaboration with Coone, “Get High.” He also delivered his iconic remix of “Gangsta’s Paradise,” a track that has become one of the defining moments of his rise over the past couple of years.
There was something almost cinematic about watching Holy Priest tear through a hard techno set inside a renovated junkyard. The steel, asphalt, black clothing, pounding kicks, and industrial sounds all felt like pieces of the same world. The venue and the music seemed to be built for each other.
It will be hard for Holy Priest to top this Denver debut. He arrived at The Junkyard with plenty of hype behind him and left having delivered a performance that lived up to every bit of it. I’m already looking forward to seeing him back in Denver. Keep up with everything Holy Priest has going on by using the links below.
