Mike Marchant

Ten best concerts to see in Denver this weekend

NATHANIEL RATELIFF & NIGHT SWEATS @ BOULDER THEATER | 5/17 At this stage of his career, particularly in Denver, Nathaniel Rateliff is a man who requires absolutely no preamble. Nonetheless, the limited-edition two-song seven-inch he produced for Record Store Day feels like a fresh and glorious reint ... More >>

The ten best concerts in Denver this weekend

CHUCK RAGAN @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | SAT, 4/13/13 Chuck Ragan first made his mark as the frontman of Hot Water Music, one of the more highly influential punk acts to emerge in the '90s. Fueled by youthful exuberance and inspired in part by the music that surrounding the skateboarding culture of the tim ... More >>

A look back at past Best New Band winners

Best of Denver 2013: A look back at the Best New Band winners from the past decade

Our annual Best of Denver issue hits stands today. It's a painstaking issue to put together each year, and one that everybody looks forward to. This edition in particular, though, is even more significant as it's the thirtieth edition. It's also a minor milestone for Backbeat, as it marks the tenth ... More >>

March's top ten comedy shows

March holds a variety of options for comedy fans -- from a new night in Boulder to the appearance of such '90s nostalgia faces as Chris Tucker and the duo from Loveline. Click ahead to see what side-splitting adventures await as we laugh our way out of the winter chill. See also: - Ben Kronberg ... More >>

100 Colorado Creatives: Onus Spears

#94: Onus Spears Onus Spears (that's a stage name and Facebook alias) isn't your typical creative. He's been homeless at times, and he goes to AA meetings every day. He estimates that he's had dozens of jobs -- the number is in the hundreds, in fact -- over his 49 years. But he is also a man of stor ... More >>

The ten best concerts in Denver this weekend

Welcome to the weekend, friendos! Mere hours away from quitting time, and there's so much great music to look forward to this weekend. We've got some choice grooves on tap from Disco Biscuits, who are closing out their three-night Colorado run tomorrow night at 1STBANK Center, some heavy goodness fr ... More >>

Open Air 1340 AM to celebrate its first anniversary with a pair of "super group" sessions

It's hard to believe that it's been a year already since Open Air 1340 launched, but it has been. This time last year -- on Halloween, to be specific -- the station aired its first broadcast, and to celebrate this momentous occasion, the station has enlisted some of the scene's most prominent player ... More >>

Goldrush Music Festival at Deerpile, 9/21-9/22

GOLDRUSH 2 @ DEER PILE | 9/21/12-9/22/2012 By Leya Lynette and Tom Murphy The hype around Goldrush 2 had not been identical to that of Goldrush 1. the original crew that did the booking had changed, and the festival this year focused on more under the radar acts from around the country in comparis ... More >>

Review: Tennis at Bluebird Theater, 2/16/12

Tom MurphyTennis at The Bluebird Theater TENNIS @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 2/2/12 For a band whose music is so bright and sunny, the tinge of melancholia that swirled around "Waterbirds" gave this Tennis performance an otherworldly feel. The breakdown section in the middle was one of the most evocative ... More >>

Tennis celebrates release of its new album, Young & Old, tonight at the Bluebird Theater

Erin Algiere​Tonight at the Bluebird, Tennis is celebrating the release of its second record, Young & Old, by playing a hometown show with Mike Marchant, Samurai Buck and Moon Tides. In advance of the Valentine's Day release of the Patrick Carney-produced platter, we caught up with the band ab ... More >>

Mercuria and the Gem Stars, August 4 at the Larimer Lounge

Westword Music Showcase 2011

The Westword Music Showcase celebrates seventeen years, a lifetime for some of 2011's performers

Forest Room 5 starts up a summer concert series

Mile Highlights: Shows announced/on sale this week, local radio playlists and top local sellers

Here's what's good in the Mile High City this week. On the concert front: Alison Krauss is coming to Red Rocks, while Godsmack, Megadeth and Disturbed are due at Comfort Dental for the The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival and Wiz Khalifa brings his Rolling Papers World Tour to the 1STBANK. Me ... More >>

Moovers and Shakers: Our favorite Denver music releases of 2010

Widespread Panic, Jane's Addiction, Michael Franti shows announced

​After selling out three nights at Red Rocks, Widespread Panic returns to the Pepsi Center for a two-night New Year's Eve run on Thursday, December 30, and Friday, December 31. Tickets are $61 and go on sale this Saturday, October 9, at noon and are available through TicketHorse. Speaking of ... More >>

Denversity: Local bands cover each other at Denver Does Denver

Smoothed out: Mile High Music Festival eases into its first day with the Motet, Houses

Brian Landis FolkinsThe Motet​The Motet, noon on the Wolf Stage Two years of experience can make a difference. The organizers of the Mile High Music Festival seem to have learned from the mistakes of years' past for the 2010 version of the mega fest. Arriving at the massive soccer complex at ... More >>

UMS Day Three Travelogue: Jim McTurnan at the hi-dive, Mercuria at Fentress Architects and more

A.H. Goldstein​ UMS Travelogue, Day Three 7.24.10, Baker District/South Broadway I decided to change my pattern for my third crawl along Broadway for the UMS. I'd started late on Thursday and Friday nights, checking out the first venues at 10 p.m. at the earliest. I wanted to get a head star ... More >>

The Weekend Show Down: Global Dance Festival touches down in D-Town

​ There's nothing like experiencing the sweat, thump and catharsis of a great show. But it can be tough to decide which one to go to when you live in Denver, the land of embarrassing musical riches, the land of too many shows and too little time. So which ones are worth checking out? Glad you ... More >>

Presenting the 2010 Westword Music Showcase Schedule and Map

IMPORTANT SCHEDULING UPDATE: Due to circumstances beyond our control (and, more to the point, frontman Chris Fogal's) TAUNTAUN will not be performing in the 6:15 - 7 p.m. slot at Broadway's tomorrow. While Fogal is resting his aching back ("I would tough it out," he assures us, "but the problem is t ... More >>

The Weekend Showdown: Hot Congress and Long Spoon rock your block off

​ There's nothing like experiencing the sweat, thump and catharsis of a great show. Trouble is, you live in Denver, the land of embarrassing riches when it comes to music, the land of too many shows and too little time. So which ones are worth checking out? Glad you asked. After the jump, we' ... More >>

Westword Music Showcase local lineup revealed

Gabriel Rovick And Ryan James (Focus 4 Design)​ The complete lineup for Showcase has been finalized, and all that's left to do now is countdown the days until the sixteenth annual Westword Music Showcase takes place on Saturday, June 19. Nearly a hundred local acts (well over a hundred if y ... More >>

Akron/Family at Quixote's: Turn Knobs to Freedom

Akron/Family. Photos by Kiernan Maletsky​ Akron/Family • Bad Weather California • Widowers • Candy Claws 05.15.10 | Quixote's True Blue Obsessive record collectors, potentially-autistic sonic geeks, students of the craft, this one's for you. It was 1:30 in the morning and we still ha ... More >>

Moovers and Shakers rounds up our favorite local releases of the year

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of December 14, 2009

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. For t ... More >>

Over the weekend: Nathaniel Rateliff & the Wheel Variety Show

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Wheel Variety ShowSaturday, December 12, 2009Bluebird TheaterBetter Than: The V Ultimate Variety show featuring Wally Eastwood. An estimated 48 musicians took part in the third annual Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel variety show on Saturday night. All of them played br ... More >>

The Denver scene says goodbye to one of its biggest fans this weekend at the Toad Tavern

​Today marks yet another bittersweet day for the scene, a day when we bring you word that Tommy Nahulu, a tireless champion of Denver music over the years, is picking up stakes and moving back to his native Hawaii. To commemorate the occasion, the Toad Tavern is hosting the second annual Tommypalo ... More >>

The Weekend Showdown: We're Doing The Don'ts & Be Carefuls

Photo by Felicia Sheumaker​ We would hate for you to miss out on all the awesome that happens every weekend in our fair city, so we've decided to run down three of the best shows in one easy-to-swallow post, with video and audio. Tell us -- and the rest of the world -- what we missed in the co ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Houses at Larimer Lounge

Houses​ Houses, The Knew, Action Packed Thrill Ride Saturday, November 14, 2009 Larimer Lounge Better Than: The fireside. It was seriously snowing out on Saturday, hard enough to cover the signs and turn the city into a giant hushed bobsled track. You would not have known this if you were ta ... More >>

Freeloader: Win tickets to see Liam Finn tonight at the Larimer Lounge

​Update: Charles Hughes and Cherie C will be our guests at the show tonight. Thanks to them and to everyone else who responded with the correct answer ("Don't Dream It's Over" and The Stand). We'll have more tix up for grabs later this week.Yes, we know it's a Monday. And yes, we know the Broncos ... More >>

Monolith 2009, Day Two: The Mars Volta, Chromeo, MSTRKRFT, Phoenix and more

Monotonix set off the SoCo stage.​ Elsewhere: See reviews and photos from Day One. We're back on the Rocks for what, so far anyway, is looking to be a much more pleasant day than Saturday. In case you missed yesterday's festivities, it was viciously cold and wet, and not at all conducive to ... More >>

Over the weekend: Houses at the Meadowlark

​Houses, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, Joseph Pope III Friday, Aug. 7 Meadowlark Better than: The other performances I've seen from the same three acts. Houses' schedule has been demanding lately. The group's ambitious goal for the year -- to release four separate EPs, each bearing the name of a sep ... More >>

Westword Music Showcase reviewed: Fidel's Cantina

Brian Landis FolkinsYerkish led off at Fidel's. See more photos from Fidel's at westword.com/slideshow. Yerkish, 12 p.m. The crowd inside the cramped cantina is building slowly as Yerkish takes the stage, and the band wastes no time in laying out its frenetic, frantic rhythms. It's a dynamic compl ... More >>

A band-by-band guide to the 2009 Westword Music Showcase

MP3 Freeloader: tonight, Tim Pourbaix CD release at Larimer Lounge

As you've undoubtedly gathered by now if you've read this week's items on Tim Pourbaix, in Rough Mixes and the extended companion piece on the blog, tonight will mark one of the singer-songwriter's last local performances as a resident of Denver. Pourbaix has made quite a mark on this town as an art ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, May 5 edition

Potential is flowering. Today in Cafe Society: • Something's cooking in Summit County. • Cinco or swim today. • Drinking Goat at the Goat. • Frasca finally opens for lunch -- for two days only. • Denver's best female chefs wowed at Women Cook! Today in Backbeat Online: • Black Market ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Houses at the Hi-Dive

Houses' Mike Marchant at the Hi-Dive. Photos by Jef Otte. Houses, Elin Palmer, Ian Cooke Friday, May 1, 2009 Hi-Dive Better than: Going to bed at eight because you're mildly narcoleptic, which is what my date ended up doing (and man, she missed out) At the Hi-Dive on Friday night, someone mentione ... More >>

Dialed in: This week's local music radio playlists

Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were playing this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows, including Radio 1190's long-running Local Shakedown, KTCL's Locals Only, the Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broadcast all over Colo ... More >>

Untitled Energy

The Denver Art Museum will jump again on Friday night.

Mile High Makeout: New EP from Dualistics

Thanks to the ever-gracious Charley Hine, I've had the opportunity to listen to the new six-track disc from Dualistics a handful of times this week, and I have to say it's really freaken good. I have publicly expressed my dissatisfaction with the band's live performances in the past, but if Hine and ... More >>

The Class of 2009

Highlighting the most captivating music of the coming year

Mile High Makeout: Dreaming of Me

As Matthew Wilder once said, "Last night, I had the strangest dream." I was at some sort of educational and/or military compound, and in the main dining hall there was a musical performance. My friend, a local photographer, was with me, and we were excited about the show. In some ways, it could have ... More >>

Wetlands, Widowers, the Dendrites, Monofog and Fissure Mystic at Larimer Lounge

Wetlands, Widowers, the Dendrites, Monofog and Fissure MysticFriday, November 28, 2008Larimer LoungeBetter than: Stuffing down turkey sandwiches while watching David Lynch films and weepingOn the day after Thanksgiving, the good hipsters of Denver shook off the tryptophan hangover and braved the sno ... More >>

Living Room Series Starts Tonight and Rock the Mike: The Freeman Benefit on Saturday

Last Night...Widowers CD release party with Achille Lauro, Mothership and Hawks of Paradise @ Larimer Lounge

Mile High Makeout: Sharpening the Saw

Widowers

3 Kings Tavern

'Space Case

MySpace can be soul-sucking, but it has its upsides.