He then put Visser, who was now in a full bodied-animal sweatsuit, on his shoulders while she spat her next verse. Ninja returned in blue sweatpants with a matching banana icon spread across his ass. She frolicked aimlessly around the stage, often bending over just enough for the audience to see what was under the hoodie. Ninja disappeared off stage just as Visser returned wearing a hoodie dress covered in banana icons. When Visser wasn’t pacing in front of the LED screen, she joined him. At this point in the show, Ninja had the crowd chanting Visser’s name. He crowd-surfed twice and even stood in the audience for long periods of time. This was one of those concerts where the front of the crowd was truly blessed. Dancers joined the stage for this one in eerie black-and-white body suits. After that, DJ God went crazy with house beats and dancers completely took over the stage, almost impossibly pumping up the crowd even more. Ninja beat-boxed for “Fatty Boom Boom” and used his fluorescent microphone to imitate his dick. “Colorado, what’s the fuck up? Let’s party like its my birthday in Denver, Colorado.” – Ninja Die Antwoord were active to say the least, living up to their talked-about stage presence and exceeding any expectations you may have had. Ninja immediately jumped into the crowd and Visser joined him soon after, tearing off her hoodie and aggressively whipping her hair free. Ninja soon removed his shirt, revealing his multitude of tattoos and dropping his drawers just enough for audience eyes to freely travel below the waistline. In the middle of the stage was an LED screen with an elevated walkway behind it for the duo to navigate through, and by navigate I mean pace, jump, dance and then some. Ninja, Yolandi and DJ God all sported yellow sweat suits – hoods up – stormed the stage and the party started. After a few minutes, the remaining two members charged stage powerfully in an either passionate or cocaine-fueled spectacle. It was almost as if they wanted us to get ready for a godly musical experience performed by Die Antwoord.
Spiritual electronica with diverse instruments and heavy beats streamed from the speakers as Visser’s voice crept in. DJ God came out first with an instrumental opening. The audience was shouting, clapping and masked with faces painted in unbroken stares. Seriously, hire himĪn instrumental introduction began before the floor lights faded out, creating an anticipation throughout the crowd that cannot be explained with words.
Foreman actually scratched the turntable, which is something we don’t see enough of in mixing these days. He traveled through tracks by Queen, Three 6 Mafia, Sir Mix-a-lot, Snoop Dogg, Outkast and closed out the act with a song from “The Little Mermaid.” The DJ appropriately fired up the crowd for Ninja and Yolandi and proved to be the perfect party DJ. Spencer Foreman from Denver opened the show with a DJ Set that mixed rap, trap, dub and even classic rock. His transitions between songs were smooth, clever and quite flawless. On the night of Monday, September 26, Die Antwoord performed over 20 songs at the Ogden Theater, including “Happy Birthday” because it was also Ninja’s very own birthday celebration. Honestly, who knows, but either way this was a particularly special moment for the Mile High. But for Denver, this was potentially it – the Denver stop on their last tour before retiring their musical career. Die Antwoord isn’t done making headlines by any means, given that they’re moving on to filmmaking after their involvement with recent blockbuster hit Chappie. Recently the band announced the end of their musical career, having always said that they would only make five albums. Zef is also an abstract term that has long been considered an insult in the country, but Ninja describes it as meaning one has an “ underdog” style. Though Die Antwoord, or “The Answer,” may seem a little strange in the states with their wild antics and love for violence, sex and shock value, they’re actually representative of “ Zef,“the counter-culture movement in their home country of South Africa. That crazy and creative group we all love and admire for some reason, Die Antwoord, consists of the intriguing, strange, talented and egocentric Ninja, Yolandi Visser, as well as producer DJ God.