Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Curtis Alan Jones will be as smooth as Green Velvet at Beta

Photos: Civic Center Park is commemorated as a national historic landmark

Mayor Michael Hancock joined state and national representatives yesterday in a ceremony inside the McNichols building to reveal plaques that commemorate Civic Center's new status as a national historic landmark. That honor is determined by the National Park Service and given to areas or buildings th ... More >>

Video: Learn about the causes behind new reality show Mile High Social

If anyone still thinks that Mile High Social, the Denver-based reality show, will be just like all the other reality shows with their drama and negative focus, take a look at this latest teaser. In outtakes from the final callbacks, it's clear that these are real women who are serious about their ca ... More >>

Dirk Verbeuren of Soilwork on playing a homemade drum kit made of cardboard boxes

Soilwork formed in Helsinborg, Sweden, in 1995 and developed out of the Gothenburg melodic death metal mold, incorporating aspects of NWOBHM and other styles of music to forge an angular yet flowing sound of its own. Though clearly rooted in prog, there is enough of punk frayed edges in the band's m ... More >>

The ten greatest Midwest rappers of all time

The Midwest is the bastard child of the American rap scene at large -- unsung and independent, with a massive chip on its shoulder. The most talented artists from the Midwest have succeeded each with their own unique style and flavor, regardless of what was making money elsewhere in the country at a ... More >>

Shady Elders discuss their new lineup and democratic dynamic

Now Showing

Fresh Colorado hip-hop from Chris Karns (formerly DJ Vajra), Lil Bad, Pries and J Dubb

Another week, another fresh batch of Colorado hip-hop. We've got a brand new mix from Chris Karns, who is retiring his DJ Vajra moniker. We've also got a new single from Pries, along with fresh cuts from Lil Bad and AP and J Dubb. Continue on to see what's good this week in local hip-hop. See also: ... More >>

Family Matters

Reader: If drinkers toast the camera, you're not in a dive bar

Denver's great dive bars are disappearing -- but there are still many worthy of celebration, including Bar Bar (Carioca Cafe), which just won Best Dive Bar in the Best of Denver 2013. And there was stiff competition for that award, as evidenced by our list of the dozen best dive bars in Denver. That ... More >>

The ten greatest West Coast rappers of all time

West Coast rap is sometimes disparaged by hip-hop purists for it's perceived lack of lyricism and substance, but what it lacks in lyrical acrobatics and "message," it more than makes up for in personality. Whether the aesthetic is raw and violent or chill and relaxed, the sentiment comes through equ ... More >>

Strange Brewing takes action against homebrew shop that threatened lawsuit

After a long dispute with a similarly-named homebrew store in Massachusetts, Denver's Strange Brewing Company has gone on the offensive, asking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the store's right to the name "Strange Brew." Strange said in a motion filed with the agency that it was tak ... More >>

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will tear up the Newman Center on Thursday. Really!

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain doesn't have a flashy name or even a flashy look. But don't let that fool you. While the ensemble takes its collective picking skills quite seriously and its vocals are better than average, its real strength is in doing exactly what the audience doesn't expect. ... More >>

The ten most underrated rappers of all time

What contributes to a rapper's underrated status? Is it the unwillingness to compromise? The inability to compromise? An early demise? Bad promotion? Possibly all of these things and more? Whatever the case, with these rappers, it's certainly not for a lack of talent. We put together a list of the t ... More >>

Here's what the Denver Nuggets are listening to

On Friday night, I had the chance to chop it up with some of the Denver Nuggets in the locker room before they completely whooped ass on the Brooklyn Nets. With the exception of my two favorite players (who evidently don't do interviews before a game, as they both tersely informed me), everybody was ... More >>

Five best jazz shows in Denver this April

While last month was quite good for jazz fans with the likes of Lee Konitz and Chris Potter, April brings plenty of great shows featuring Bill Frisell, the Monterrey Jazz Festival on tour, with Potter and some other steller players, trumpeter Dave Douglas, the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival and Matt Skel ... More >>

Best of Denver 2013 Readers' Poll: Meet this year's Arts & Entertainment winners

The 2013 Best of Denver is now on stands (and online), and in its 196 pages you'll find Westword's picks for the best arts events and institutions around town. Along the way, we asked you to nominate and then vote for your favorites in dozens of categories; halfway through the voting process, we ann ... More >>

The ten best metal shows in Denver this April

KVELERTAK @ LARIMER LOUNGE | TUES, 4/30/13 Kvelertak formed in 2007. Completely disregarding a line between metal and punk, the Stavinger, Sweden-based act brings the sonic intensity and violent and frayed dynamics of bands like Breather Resist. The band's song "Mjød" appeared in the end credits fo ... More >>

The ten best hip-hop shows in Denver this April

SAGE FRANCIS @ FOX THEATRE | THU, 4/18 When evaluating an artist like Sage Francis, the question inevitably arises: Should a musician be cherished for the values they hold and their loyalty to said values or their ability to make enjoyable and listenable music? If it's the former, then Sage Francis ... More >>

Poet Ken Arkind on his new book, Denver, and the purpose of poetry in a music-driven world

When they met a few years ago, Ken Arkind and Charly Fasano became fast friends. Like Arkind -- an American National Poetry Slam Champion who tours the world performing and teaching poetry as executive director of the award-winning Minor Disturbance Youth Slam Team -- Fasano liked to perform poetry ... More >>

Denver in Verse

Say It Loud

Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy turns forty

Led Zeppelin was already a record-setting global powerhouse when Atlantic Records released their fifth album, Houses of the Holy, on March 28, 1973. The English quartet had laid down the basic tracks for the record in the spring of 1972 at the Rolling Stones' mobile recording studio at Stargroves, a ... More >>

The ten greatest southern rappers of all time

It took a long time for the south to be recognized as a major player in the hip-hop scene, and it still has a ways to go to be held in the same regard as the East and West Coasts, but with the emergence of a new breed of countrified rappers such as Big K.R.I.T., Future, Yelawolf and 2 Chainz (and ev ... More >>

The Beatles' Please Please Me turns fifty

Fifty years ago today, the Beatles' electrifying debut album, Please Please Me was issued in the U.K. Designed to reproduce the manic intensity of an early Beatles' live performance and hastily produced to meet demand after the group's song of the same name rocketed to number-one on the British sing ... More >>

Willie Houston

Live From Ziggie's
Self-released

Cephalic Carnage will fill the Bluebird with epic metal

Now Showing

Tom Hunting of Exodus on how building a song is like building the best sandwich possible

Exodus was founded in 1980 by a group of high school friends that included a pre-Metallica Kirk Hammett and Tom Hunting, the sole remaining original member of the act. The classic line-up also featured Paul Baloff on vocals and Gary Holt, who moved over to guitar when Kirk joined Metallica, just pri ... More >>

100 Colorado Creatives: Feminism & Co. co-curator Elissa Auther

#82: Elissa Auther As co-curator of the MCA Denver's annual Feminism & Co. (there's another installment tonight), Elissa Auther has been responsible for bringing untold stories and untrue stereotypes to the forefront.Through the creation of panels on polyamory, feminist science and women's roles in ... More >>

Anime: Colorado will host SANA, Japan's first summit on the art form in North America

The first-ever North American summit on anime -- an invite-only event -- will be held in Colorado on Saturday. Working in partnership with the Consulate-General of Japan, the Rocky Mountain Anime Association (parent company of Nan Desu Kan, Colorado's massively successful yearly anime convention) wi ... More >>

The Other Place has its regional premiere in Boulder this weekend

"This is an old-boy event in which women do not appear unless to provide some kind of illicit service. And when we do appear, we do not wear heels. And when we do wear heels, if we do not immediately prove we are the smartest person in the room we are not taken seriously." So says Juliana of a pha ... More >>

Jazz Men Testify

Honey, You’re Home

The St. Patrick's Day party list: Where to drink and get your green on in Denver this weekend

Get your rest. We officially start celebrating St. Patrick's Day tomorrow. The party kicks off with KTCL's Keggs & Eggs at LoDos, and it continues after the parade on Saturday at ShamRock & Roll, our massive party at the Viewhouse with Bop Skizzum, Rachel & the Kings, Calder's Revolvers and Monroe M ... More >>

Il Cattivo on the time frontman Brian Hagman got ran over by some angry dude at a party

Il Cattivo formed when veterans of the punk and metal scenes in Denver came together to form a band that wasn't trying to fit distinctly in an already established rock subgenre. The five piece band sounded like it had been influenced by post-punk crossover bands like the Cult but also the metallic, ... More >>

New Denver reality show Mile High Social looking for women who are making a difference

Before you Snooki wannabes, Kardashian look-alikes and loyal Bachelorette watchers curse yourselves for missing the first casting call for Denver's new reality show, take a breath and listen up. Mile High Social isn't going to be your typical voyeuristic program. It's going to focus on the positive ... More >>

Catch Patrice Baumel at Beta's first Denver Winter Showcase

Now Showing

Reader: Buffalo Doughboy a victim of Best of Denver curse?

Buffalo Doughboy won the Best Bakery award in the Best of Denver 2010. Business boomed, and last April the bakery moved out of its tiny spot in a Victorian home off Broadway for a space three times as large, and a mile south on Broadway itself. And yesterday, Buffalo Doughboy announced on Facebook ... More >>

Horror films from A to Z: part five

At The ABCs of Death, in its final night at the Sie FilmCenter, you're going to get the equivalent of horror tapas -- one short, punchy tale for each letter of the alphabet, each delivered by a current or rising star in the genre. It's a tasty appetizer that can serve as a meal in and of itself, but ... More >>

The 50 best rap lyrics of all time: Complete list

Last week, we took a look at the fifty worst rap lyrics of all time. Going through all the dreck and drivel to get to the crème de la crème of crappiness was tedious and rather exhausting. This week, we even things out by taking a look at the other end of the spectrum and examining rap lyrics to f ... More >>

The 50 worst rock/pop lyrics: The Complete list

Well, here we are, at the end of the road of lyrical idiocy. As our countdown to crappiness finally culminates, we've trained our eye on some of the greatest lyricists in rock, who during select moments, greatly disappointed us with their valueless verse. These lyrics are all bad on their own terms, ... More >>

St. Patrick's Day: The ten recurring themes that crop up in your traditional Irish drinking songs

Irish drinking songs may seem fairly simple to the casual listener. The main theme is in the title, right? These are songs concerned with alcohol of any kind, tunes in 4/4 that are easy to clap along with during St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Though that may be the kind of criteria that guides thos ... More >>

The 50 best rap lyrics of all time: 50-26

Last week, we took a look at the fifty worst rap lyrics of all time. Culling through all the dreck and drivel to get to the crème de la crème of crappiness was tedious and rather exhausting. This week we even things out by taking a look at the other end of the spectrum and examining the fifty best ... More >>

Horror films from A to Z: part four

At The ABCs of Death, showing now at the Sie FilmCenter, you're going to get the equivalent of horror tapas -- one short, punchy tale for each letter of the alphabet, each delivered by a current or rising star in the genre. It's a tasty appetizer that can serve as a meal in and of itself, but what i ... More >>

Phish Dick's Sporting Goods Park August 30 - September 1, three nights, Labor Day weekend

Phish is at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Labor Day weekend for the third consecutive year. Tickets ($49.75-$60) for the shows go on sale March 30 at 10 a.m. via TicketHorse, or in person at TicketHorse kiosks at Dick's Sporting Goods stores and the box offices at the Pepsi Center and 1STBANK Center ... More >>

Horror films from A to Z: part three

At The ABCs of Death, showing now at the Sie FilmCenter, you're going to get the equivalent of horror tapas -- one short, punchy tale for each letter of the alphabet, each delivered by a current or rising star in the genre. It's a tasty appetizer that can serve as a meal in and of itself, but what i ... More >>

And the answer is? A homegrown version of Family Feudtonight at Voodoo Comedy Playhouse

The Family Feud format has always been good for kin-centered drama, and tonight's live version at the Voodoo Comedy Playhouse should have plenty of it. Except that the members of the teams playing in this evening's knock-off of the three-decade-old TV show aren't related: The friendly competition wi ... More >>

Photos: The crafty runway looks of the 2013 Paper Fashion Show

We're not sure about rock, but the designers behind the 2013 Paper Fashion Show definitely used paper and scissors to put together the event's crafty runway styles. Over the weekend, the Art Directors Club of Denver hosted the ninth annual Paper Fashion Show at the Seawell Grand Ballroom of the Denv ... More >>