Yonder Mountain String Band Plays (and Plays!) at Meow Wolf Denver

On Yonder Mountain, a record release party is an intimate experience. It’s sharing new thoughts, new sounds, new ideas. It’s presenting the result of a year of work, craft, and dedication to a vision. It’s a singular, unique moment: the first chance for fans to hear new songs and the opportunity for our band to play those songs live for the first time. Taking all of this into consideration, we wanted to release Get Yourself Outside in a space that felt singular, unique, and intimate. Meow Wolf Denver is all of that.

If you’re not familiar with Meow Wolf, think of it as if a museum met a choose-your-own-adventure book, with a whole lot of psychedelia thrown in. The Perplexiplex, the music venue inside Meow Wolf, is likewise unique. The walls, floor, and ceiling are projection-mapped and interactive. In theory, you could transport a band and audience to anywhere an artist could envision. We found ourselves performing in an enchanted forest, one that moved, breathed, and came alive throughout the evening. We shared an experience that felt “outside.” Outside with respect to landscape and soundscape, outside the preconceptions a band and audience might have about an “indoor” show.

We were also given the extraordinary opportunity to spend time in an exhibition called the Convergence Station the evening prior to our concert. After the doors closed to the public, we carried our instruments throughout the venue looking for special places to play and record. As the following photos show, what a playground it was!

Click on the first photo in the gallery below to see full-size photos by Tara Gracer with captions from Yonder Mountain String Band.