One does not simply walk into a DJ set played by Elijah Wood.
Mostly because the Sunday show at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom immediately sold out when tickets were released. Only around 1,000 lucky people were able to catch the intimate set.
Wood has been spinning under the moniker Wooden Wisdom with his friend Zach Cowie for over a decade. At Cervantes, the duo spun an eclectic mix of international records from their personal collection.
“We have no plan,” Wood announced to the crowd when he took the stage.
Wood was at Fan Expo earlier in the day, celebrating 25 years since the release of “The Fellowship of the Ring” with fellow “Lord of the Rings” costars.
The show was advertised to start at 8 p.m., but around 8:30 p.m., Cowie told the crowd, “Elijah is still at the convention.”
The pointy-eared and cloak-clad audience was not left without entertainment, however. Austin Matthews, owner of local record store Recollect Records, played an opening set of vinyl records that featured a lot of hip-hop and soul sounds.
Around 10 p.m., Wood and his strikingly blue eyes finally arrived.
Sexy (and more demure) costumes
Costumes were encouraged at the “fantasy-themed event,” which carefully avoided any mention of Lord of the Rings in its marketing material. And, boy, did the people deliver.
“I better see fun fits. I have expectations for that,” Sprout Foster-Goodrich told Denverite while dressed as sexy Smeagol/Gollum.
Their friend Megan Brown was dressed as “sexy Gimli.”
Brown showed off her busty interpretation of the dwarf with a shimmy on the street before entering the venue.
“I wanna shake my ass as Gollum,” Foster-Goodrich said.
Nearby bars in Five Points were overtaken by Lord of the Rings cosplayers. People started lining up outside the venue before 6 p.m.
We spotted a sexy Nazgûl, sexy Eye of Sauron, and a “big titty Gandalf.” Some non-sexy creative costumes included a hobbit foot, the firework that interrupts Bilbo Baggins’ birthday party and a potato.
“Boil me, mash me, and put me in a stew,” the potato-dressed partygoer told Denverite.
There were also people dressed as characters from the extended Elijah Wood universe, like a whole squad of “Over the Garden Wall” cosplayers.
Some psychedelic mushroom-laced chocolate vendors took advantage of the event, giving out free samples of their product while dressed as hobbits to attendees heading inside. No payment required — just an Instagram follow.
'We get to see him actually do his thing'
The show was advertised explicitly as a “vinyl DJ set,” but a lot of people in the crowd didn’t know what kind of music to expect.
“I expected more of a house music vibe, I didn’t know it was going to be all vinyl,” attendee Grace G. told Denverite while watching the set from the venue’s balcony. “I didn’t expect it to be so international. It was a surprise. But I’m glad.”
Around 10:40 p.m., the duo mixed in the iconic jingle of the Denver International Airport internal train system, which was a crowd-pleaser.
Even though Wooden Wisdom took the stage later than expected, the audience still seemed to be in good spirits.
“We’re not just seeing him sign something,” one partygoer told Denverite. “It’s our first time seeing Elijah and we get to see him actually do his thing.”
A second Wooden Wisdom show was added tonight due to high demand, but it’s also sold out.
