Before Big Gigantic takes the Red Rocks stage Saturday for its 14th annual Rowdytown blowout, the Boulder-bred EDM duo is spending Friday in downtown Denver teaching teenagers how to actually make the music. Fifteen to twenty students from RiseUp Community School will join Dominic Lalli and Jeremy Salken for a hands-on DJ and music production workshop at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, learning beat-making and production tips directly from the pair before attending the duo's soundcheck at Red Rocks Amphitheatre the following day.
The workshop is part of a new initiative called Beyond AXS, a partnership between concert promoter AXS and Denver Arts & Venues designed to engage the community with music in creative ways, according to Westword. RiseUp Community School students will take part in the session. The chance to sit in on a professional production session, then spend time with the duo during soundcheck, offers students a look at the creative process behind a show.
Big Gigantic told Westword that Red Rocks has played such an important role in their story, and that helping young people experience the creative process behind a show is incredibly meaningful. The duo formed in 2008 and consists of saxophonist Dominic Lalli and drummer Jeremy Salken, whose combined chops go a long way toward explaining why they were tapped to lead the workshop in the first place.
A Conservatory Background Behind the Beats
Lalli's musical foundation runs deeper than most producers on the festival circuit. He earned a master's degree in jazz performance from the Manhattan School of Music and performed with Colorado funk ensemble The Motet before co-founding Big Gigantic, according to Relix. That formal training in jazz performance informs both the live instrumentation the duo brings to its shows and the production instruction Lalli is set to pass along to RiseUp students this week.
The workshop is also not an isolated gesture. Lalli and Salken established A Big Gigantic Difference Foundation, a nonprofit, in 2016. In 2017, the foundation partnered with Denver nonprofit Youth on Record to build and fund a permanent digital music computer lab for underserved local youth; Youth on Record reported that more than $20,000 had been raised toward the project, with a $50,000 year-end goal. Ableton would provide discounted software licenses, while Native Instruments would donate Komplete Audio 6 interfaces. Friday's session at the Denver Performing Arts Complex extends that same multi-year investment in Colorado's youth music infrastructure.
Where the Workshop Happens
The Denver Performing Arts Complex, host to Friday's workshop, is a downtown arts campus. Rowdytown debuted in 2012 and returns for its 14th edition this year with Big Gigantic performing two sets: an opening Bring the Funk Back set featuring a full live band, followed by a 10th-anniversary performance of the duo's 2016 album Brighter Future. That record featured guest appearances from Logic, Waka Flocka Flame, and GRiZ, according to a 2016 report from Jambands.
A Packed Rowdytown Bill at Red Rocks
Big Gigantic won't be alone on the Red Rocks stage Saturday. The Funk Hunters, a Vancouver-based electronic DJ duo of Nick Middleton and Duncan Smith known for four-turntable live sets, are joining the bill, per Insomniac. Also opening is Motifv.
Red Rocks, which is owned and operated by Denver Arts & Venues, has an official seating capacity of 9,525 and logged more than 1.72 million paid attendees across 236 events in 2025, a scale Hoodline previously reported. The AXS–Denver Arts & Venues partnership behind the workshop links a private promoter's marquee show directly to a public school's students.
