Daily Bread makes big announcement in Vail during Après at The Amp event
John LaConte/Vail Daily
Rhett “Daily Bread” Whatley put on a masterful performance in Vail on Friday, using an MPC sampler to compose music live on the spot in front of a large crowd at the Ford Amphitheater in Vail.
The show was part of Après at The Amp, now in its second year, a spring concert series that marks the return of programming to the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail after a long winter off for the outdoor venue.
Bob Moses and Amba also played on Friday and then Sofi Tukker, Disco Lines and Decker Rush played on Saturday. Popular Colorado painter and muralist Pat Milbery created a work of art live from the venue, using a pair of Icelandic Whiteout Nomad skis as his canvas.
While many enjoyed a high-energy, dance-friendly event, for those who have been watching the evolution of beatmaking via the MPC sampler since producer J Dilla made it an industry standard in the 1990s and 2000s, Daily Bread put on a clinic on Friday.
Whatley is from Atlanta but says he has been inspired by Colorado’s electric hip-hop sound, pioneered by Michal Menert and Pretty Lights. As a result, Daily Bread has earned a dedicated Colorado fanbase, and it showed on Friday.
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Whatley played to the crowd, saying he chose to compose the song “Gone On A Purple Cloud” after bumping into a fan in Vail who requested the song.
“He turned that MPC into a full band,” said DJ Krusher Jones, a Vail-based DJ and radio host who attended the show on Friday.
MPC machines allow users to record and save their own sounds to be played and sequenced later, turning the machine into an instrument of its own. (J Dilla’s MPC machine is now on display at the Smithsonian).
With a background in jazz guitar, a massive record collection and a talent for experimenting with new instruments and sounds, Whatley arrived to the venue with his samples ready, using the MPC to turn them into full songs live on the spot. When he wanted to add a new sound to a beat, the crowd was able to watch him physically hit that pad on his sampler in the moment, seeing the music created before their eyes.
“It was impressive to watch,” Jones said. “I didn’t see him make a single mistake all night.”
Video complemented the Daily Bread routine, playing on screens alongside Whatley, with one video sequence featuring skiers on Vail Mountain employing the old-school “Hot Dog” style of the ’70s and ’80s.
Whatley ended the show with a big announcement, saying he will be headlining a concert at Red Rocks later this year. Whatley said the Vail show marked the first mention of the Red Rocks event, slated for Oct. 26.
An artist pre-sale offer, available on the Daily Bread website, will go on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m.
