Deep Purple

Yngwie Malmsteen plays to impress himself first

Yngwie Malmsteen is a guitar god known for his supremely technical fretwork. The virtuosic guitarist burst into the world of international music in 1984 with Rising Force. At the age of seven, Malmsteen says, he saw a documentary about the death of Jimi Hendrix and was so taken in by his musical pow ... More >>

Gil Asakawa, Westword's original music editor, remembers legendary promoter Barry Fey

By Gil Asakawa I first visited the offices of Feyline, Barry Fey's concert promotions company, in the early 1980s when I was music editor for Westword. I had become friends with Feyline's publicist, Mark Bliesener, and I would go over to the office to get the skinny on upcoming shows. That's when I ... More >>

Russ Waterhouse of Blues Control on the unlikely influence of New Age music

Blues Control is an experimental rock duo that got started in New York City in 2006 as a kind of side project from their New Age music project Watersports. The greater immediacy and visceral impact of Blues Control connected with audiences, and soon, the side project became the main band of Russ Wat ... More >>

Scott Kelly of Neurosis on how he and the band treat every show like it's the last one they'll play

Founded in 1985 by a group of teenage friends who had been part of the Bay Area hardcore scene, Neurosis was never just a conventional band. Dabbling in heady ideas and archetypes of the human imagination, Neurosis is one of the most influential metal band of the last two decades, casting a shadow o ... More >>

Falcon "Balloon Boy" Heene and his brothers are flying high in a heavy-metal band

See also: Richard Heene, Balloon Boy's dad, invents crazy stuff, makes crazier infomercials

Murph of Dinosaur Jr on how the fans seem just as young and rowdy now as they once were

Dinosaur Jr was the product of three guys from Massachusetts who had played in the hardcore bands Deep Wound and All White Jury. But when J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph got together, the music they produced sounded like it had all but shed that background in favor of melody, and the outfit made the ... More >>

Randy Rhoads: Thirty years ago today, a tragic accident took the life of a legendary guitarist

The 1980s did not start well for Ozzy Osbourne. After being kicked out of Black Sabbath, the Prince of Darkness holed up in an L.A. hotel room, planning to remain as drunk as possible until his money ran out, and then probably move back to England to work as a laborer. He met future wife Sharon Arde ... More >>

Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth: "The chemistry in the band is better than it's ever been"

Iced Earth (due tonight at Summit Music Hall) came out of the rich heavy metal scene in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late '80s. At a time when melodic heavy metal, especially the glam variety, was on the wane, Iced Earth came in with the wave of metal that produced a melodic speed metal as well as the ... More >>

Review: Ghost at Marquis Theater, 1/27/12

GHOST @ MARQUIS THEATER | 1/27/12Even before Ghost took stage, people started chanting for the band, which was interesting considering this is the outfit's first big tour. But that enthusiasm was rewarded when the strains of "Masked Ball" by Jocelyn Pook came over the P.A., with its reversed Romania ... More >>

Ghost's Ghoul With No Name: "We want to do that whole Halloween thing with a major twist"

Ghost (due tonight at the Marquis Theater) is a metal band from Sweden that might also be considered a bit of a performance art troupe. With one member dressed as the Satanic counterpart to the Pope and the other five as hooded, essentially faceless acolytes, all decked out in reverse Christian symb ... More >>

Roger Daltry, Howard Jones, Boris, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Dax Riggs and more this weekend

Catch Roger Daltry at 1STBANK on Sunday​Another enticing weekend for music in the Mile High City: Dax Riggs closes out his two night stand at the Larimer Lounge, the Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular illuminates the Fillmore on Friday, Cymbals Eat Guitars crash the hi-dive, Howard Jones plays his f ... More >>

Rock and Roll Superfriends: Andy Hamilton, Eric Halborg and Chuck French join forces

The most intriguing rumor we've heard lately is that Houses frontman Andy Hamilton may be putting together a project with Eric Halborg, long-time frontman and bassist of the Swayback, and Chuck French, lead shredder for Git Some and one-time member of the now-mythic Planes Mistaken for stars. Hamilt ... More >>

Roger Taylor of Duran Duran on writing new music rather than resting on one's laurels

During the 1980s and into the '90s, Duran Duran (due tonight at the 1STBANK Center with Neon Trees) was one of the most popular and successful rock bands of that time. It was the kind of band for whom people would camp out outside hotel rooms to get autographs. Its music and its music videos are ico ... More >>

Top ten retro metal bands currently melting faces and minds

​The world of heavy metal can be an exercise in absurdity and uninspired imitation played at blistering volume. With the relatively recent (and fading) popularity of "stoner-rock" and "doom metal," as evidenced by tours including the reunited line-ups of Sleep, Saint Vitus (read our recent int ... More >>

Space in Time

Space in Time
Self-released

No more need to hide your weed: Prescription Lock keeps medical pot locked

Lock up your weed​Among the dozens of booths at Kush Con II over the weekend at the Colorado Convention Center, it was easy to spot the common items -- glass pieces, 420 T-shirts and the like -- but new ways to make money off the burgeoning marijuana industry here have cropped up, too. Like " ... More >>

In honor of Halloween, here are our five favorite theremin cover songs

The theremin is a choice instrument for making spooky Halloween sounds. Case in point, this collection of theremin cover songs, in which a slew of popular tunes immediately become significantly more creepy after being filtered through the completely awesome but frightening device. It's one of our ... More >>

Sleep

Sunday, September 5, Gothic Theatre, 303-830-8497.

RIP Ronnie James Dio: The metal legend gone at 67. Metallica and others pay tribute

Ronnie James Dio, dead at 67, was one of the great metal voices.​Metal heads and dark rock connoisseurs everywhere are today without one of the most feared vocalists of the genre. Ronnie James Dio -- the prolific artist who fronted Black Sabbath (post-Ozzy), Rainbow, Heaven and Hell and, of co ... More >>

Pentagram at the Marquis: "It's more like Penta-jam"

Pentagram. Photos by Tom Murphy​ Pentagram • Space in Time • Kingdom of Magic 03.17.10 | Marquis Theatre A night of exceptionally interesting hard rock that ended with '70s metal legends Pentagram began with the new-look Space in Time. They were surprisingly confident and assured. The ba ... More >>

Q&A with Steve "Lips" Kudlow from Anvil

Anvil (due this Sunday, January 31 at the Gothic Theatre) wasn't exactly a household name until this past year, despite having exerted considerable influence on bands like Metallica, Guns 'N' Roses and Slayer. In the early '80s, Anvil developed a sound that was faster and more aggressive than most o ... More >>

Danava

Saturday, August 22, Gothic Theatre, 877-598-6659.

The band retains the name

​In the world of heavy metal, lead singers are as indispensible as riffs and distortion--that is, except for when they get used up and thrown away like yesterday's drumsticks. While frontmen are the face and voice of many bands, they seem particularly prone to quitting, dying or getting fired, lea ... More >>

Space in Time at the Larimer Lounge

Danava at the Larimer Lounge

Photo: Tom Murphy Outer Neon Danava, Space In Time and Outer Neon Tuesday, November 18, 2008 Larimer Lounge, Denver Better Than: A good bulk of the neo-classic heavy rock of late. Opening the night was the mighty, sludgy psych-rock duo Outer Neon from Denver. For someone not paying attention, it ... More >>

Mile High Music Fest Live Blog, Day Two

Dave Beegle’s Ax Is Sharp

Behold the world-class guitarist behind Acoustic Mayhem.

Listen Up

Fast reviews of recent releases

Opeth

Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner)

Reid 'Em and Weep

Is Terry Reid the unluckiest man in rock?

Letters to the Editor

From the week of September 1, 2005

Well Red

Red Sparowes' impressive pedigree has roots in Colorado.

Snake Appeal

Call Sign Cobra has sharpened its sprawling rock to a vicious edge.

Apes

Friday, April 22, Rock Island, 303-443-2227.

Best Transplanted Band

Git Some

Lip Service

Grazing in the bluegrass, Split Lip Rayfield keeps pickin' and grinnin'.

Punk of Ages

Down by Law's Dave Smalley still emits a positive charge.

The Home Team

Local artists put out a wealth of good music this year. Step right up and read all about it.

Steve Watson

Wyoming Radio (Easter)

Backwash

If this summer’s concert season has an encore, we’d rather skip it.

Good Girls Do

Hard-rocking Kittie specializes in smashing expectations. Starting with yours.

Just the Ax, Man

The Atomic Bitchwax and Nebula are among a new breed of bands putting the wank back into guitar rock.

Christmas Packages

The best holiday discs, as well as others that will make you pity the yule.

Playlist

Breaking Up Is Easy to Do

Local experts offer reasons why so many of Denver's biggest bands are vanishing.

Playlist

The Vinyl Solution

Think 45s are a thing of the past? Think again.

In Their Element

DOING PENNANTS