The Motet puts on its Jamiroquai costume at Cervantes'

Denver's funk institution opens its Halloween weekend at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom Friday with a Jamiroquai set, then plays a Grateful Dead tribute Saturday.

In Denver, Halloween weekend means a funk band in disguise. This year The Motet dresses up as Jamiroquai. "The Motet Plays Jamiroquai," with Diggin' Dirt opening, takes over Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom on Friday, October 30. Doors are at 7 p.m., the show starts at 8, and it's 16 and up, per the venue's event page.

The costume is a tradition. The Motet's own history describes "a musical costume each Halloween," a run of tribute sets that has covered Earth, Wind & Fire, Parliament-Funkadelic, Tower of Power and, in an earlier year, Jamiroquai. Jay Kay's catalog is a natural fit. It's dance music built on live drums and slap bass, with a horn section on top. A band that has spent its career making Five Points ballrooms move can play it straight and still make it its own.

In Denver, Halloween weekend means a funk band in disguise.

Friday is only half the weekend. On Saturday, October 31, the band comes back to the same stage as "The Motet: Funk is Dead," which Cervantes' bills as "a high-energy funkified tribute to the Grateful Dead," with The Jauntee in support. Two nights, two costumes. Committed fans will be at both.

Diggin' Dirt opens Friday. They're a funk-and-soul band who fit the bill comfortably. Arrive at doors and you'll catch the room filling up rather than walk into a wall of people by the second song.

Our records have The Motet playing Denver more than any other city, which tracks with the band's identity. The Motet is a Denver band first, and Cervantes' is the home room it keeps coming back to, from Halloween runs to spring double bills with Ghost-Note. The ballroom is one of the city's best dance floors for this music. It's a big, loose, standing-room space on Welton Street where a horn line hits as hard at the bar as it does at the rail.

Tickets are general admission through the venue's Etix page.

Dig out something furry and a big hat. Jay Kay would want it that way.

Sources: Cervantes' – The Motet Plays Jamiroquai w/ Diggin Dirt, Friday 10/30 (cervantesmasterpiece.com); Cervantes' – The Motet: Funk is Dead w/ The Jauntee, Saturday 10/31 (cervantesmasterpiece.com); The Motet – About (themotet.com); Cervantes' – The Motet & Ghost-Note, Saturday 4/11 (cervantesmasterpiece.com); Etix – The Motet Plays Jamiroquai tickets (etix.com); Diggin' Dirt (apeconcerts.com); Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Denver Jazz Fest Presents The Motet and Ghost-Note with Special Guests - KUVO (kuvo.org)