18 OCTOBER 24-30, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | about these crashes — which we still love to do — is that when you buy a ticket to itchy-O shows, you know you’re going somewhere and something is going to happen,” the Founder says. “But when this thing busts in the door like Mr. Kool-Aid, people at fi rst are very freaked out. Our costuming can be pretty intimidating. But once all the drums and rhythm kicks in, people are dancing. “If you’re not moved by the music, you’re moving away from it,” he adds with a laugh. “Most of the people gravitate toward the heart of it, or they repel. And we like to believe that most people are gravitating toward it.” The Founder already had experience touring with other guerrilla marching bands, such as Extra Action Marching Band and Crash Worship out of San Francisco. But when the Itchy-O Marching Band, as it was then called, took to the Mile High streets, it soon became apparent that the “marching band” tag on the moniker wasn’t suitable. “It took us quite some time to dispel that,” the Founder recalls. “But we became a lot more than just a marching band very quickly.” So never call itchy-O a marching band: As the Founder points out, itchy-O has only performed in two parades, and one of those was all the way in Tasmania in 2016. “That was a huge moment for us. I don’t know if you can get any farther from Denver,” he says. “Our equipment fl oated on the ocean for almost two months, and we reunited with it there. We led 20,000 people down the streets of Hobart to the very grand fi nale of the festival, Dark Mofo, where these Balinese ogoh-ogohs were lit on fi re and we played our anthem in a corridor to these big, burning statues.” By then, itchy-O’s word-of-mouth clout and mythological ethos had sparked an ac- celerated evolution, as the unnamed players took on an identity akin to that of a phantom or a golem, shrouded in mystery. After playing just small, underground spots and surprise shows, the group found itself in demand, closing out David Byrne and St. Vincent’s concert at the Botanic Gardens in 2013 and touring extensively. It signed with Jello Bi- afra’s label, Alternative Tentacles; the former Dead Kennedys front- man had fallen in love with itchy-O after catching a performance for a Denver Anarchist Black Cross benefi t at the DIY venue Glob. It further established itself through unique, immersive con- certs, in which incense and other factors beyond the music sweep audiences into itchy-O’s tran- scendental tenor. These seasonal shows, which include Hallow- mass in fall and the Intergalactic Masquerade for the Spring Equi- nox, are driven by an ontological lore central to itchy-O, crafted with intention using characters and plots inspired by traditional archetypes, myths and legends. What other band has its own codex? “We create spiritual experi- ence through ritual and rite, and we do that by creating modern myths, which also allow people to come together despite any existing spirituality or constructs or dogma,” the Founder ex- plains. “From day one, that’s been a part of our mission.” And when a band defi nes itself as a spiri- tual, collective entity, even a global pandemic can’t stop it. As venues closed in 2020, itchy- O memorably kicked off a series of drive-in immersive concerts to satisfy the hunger for connection. They were a major gift to the city, and “we are particularly proud of those shows,” the Founder says. “They were absolutely epic. There were other people do- ing drive-in shows as a Band-Aid to venues being shuttered, but what we created...they weren’t just a Band-Aid. If we were to do those again today, I know people would come. They were really special.” He considers the drive- in shows a milestone in the group’s career. Another milestone? This year’s Hallow- mass — and it hasn’t even happened yet. “We’re coming into ten years of Hallow- mass, and with this particular show and this production, the work that’s going behind it feels really, really massive,” the Founder says. “There’s a lot of momentum behind this project right now, more than we’ve ever had. ... Our hair’s on fi re for all the right reasons.” The fi rst Hallowmass was ignited by itchy-O’s 2015 performance in Tucson for the All Souls Procession. Thousands of people gathered in Día de los Muertos garb, “and we were so im- pressed the whole city came out to celebrate this passing of souls,” the Founder recalls. “It had depth and weight and substance; it wasn’t a Halloween party. We came away really wowed by it.” The next year, Off-Center, the immersive arm of the Denver Cen- ter for the Performing Arts, asked itchy-O if it would collaborate on an experiential show. The collec- tive knew it wanted to honor what it had experienced in Tucson, but without appropriating from Día de los Muertos. So itchy-O drew from its own sacred lore to produce a similar effect. “There are three different as- pects that are recognized at Hal- lowmass,” the Founder notes. “That includes, of course, the pass- ing of souls, loved ones and entities that have moved us. Then there is the remembrance of inanimate things that have affected our lives, such as the pizza joint that closed, moving on from a job, etc. And the third aspect is shedding patterns and behaviors that don’t serve us anymore. We have three nights for this triad of impermanence.” Each of the three nights of this year’s Hallowmass is dedicated to one of those missions, culminating in an existential release. No show will be the same, as set lists and other aspects are designed to reinforce the specifi c theme and fully immerse the audience in it; there will be two “ceremonies” (or sets) per night, one at 6 p.m. and another at 9:15 p.m.; the earlier performance is all- ages, and the later one is 18+. “And people are, of course, welcome to honor and shed and do whatever they want over the course of all three nights,” the Founder adds. “But that’s how we will be presenting them. ... They will sound different, they will look different and they will smell different, and the ideas behind them will be different for us.” This year’s Hallowmass is also the collec- tive’s fi rst big show produced by the Mettle Institute, which was born out of itchy-O. “It’s a sound-arts community center, and we are proving concept by releasing records and producing shows,” the Founder says, adding that a sound sculpture is also in the works. There’s always more to keep the collec- tive occupied: As soon as Hallowmass ends, itchy-O begins planning the next. “We just don’t really ever stop thinking about how to keep kicking it forward,” the Founder says. And in the meantime, itchy-O has a new re- cord coming out. Although the release date is TBD, one thing’s for sure: It will include the custom gamelan that itchy-O received from the Colorado School of Mines. Fifteen years in, itchy-O remains em- blematic of pure and authentic art. It also reminds us of what goes into making that: an incredible amount of collaboration, dedi- cated effort and a commitment to serving those who need art most. “Biologically speaking, physiologically speaking, this is how we’re built. This is what we’re made to respond to,” the Founder says. “We have parts of our brains that absolutely need that spiritual scratch itched...and we really pride ourselves in meeting anybody wherever they’re at. There’s a place for wallfl owers at this show, and there is a place for people that want to get right in the eye of the storm with us.” That’s why Hallowmass has become a Denver tradition, with a bang and defi nitely not a whimper. “The community that we have built here and the ties and bonds that we have made over the fi fteen years, just beating our own drum and growing itchy-O into the thing that it is today, is what gets me out of bed in the morn- ing,” the Founder concludes. “Hallowmass is really dear to us. It is such an important event, and being able to give people who don’t have a way to process loss a place to go and do just that — yeah, I’m really, really proud to share that.” Hallowmass, Thursday, October 31, through Saturday, November 2, Truss House, 3400 Arkins Court; tickets at itchyo.com. The collective comprises sixty members. Itchy-O began performing renegade shows in 2009. Music continued from page 17 JUSTINE JOHNSON JUSTINE JOHNSON
