Paul Simon

Ten best concerts in Colorado this weekend, Friday, August 24, through Sunday, August 26

Welcome to the weekend! If you haven't made plans yet, there's an unreal number of shows, from five different festivals to several CD release shows to old school hip-hop. Of course, we have them all listed in our massive concert calendar. If you're feeling industrious, print that bad boy out and bre ... More >>

The Fray at Red Rocks, 5/11/12

THE FRAY @ RED ROCKS | 5/11/12 It was cold last night at Red Rocks. Like balls-into-your-body-cavity cold. Seriously. It was also wet and foggy and miserable. Once the lights went up, though, the Fray's sound cut through the fog and rain and made everyone forget their frostbitten feet. The hometown ... More >>

Nicki Minaj, My Morning Jacket and Michael Kiwanuka among this week's new shows

And the shows just keep coming. Red Rocks, which is on pace for a record season this year, added a pair of dates from My Morning Jacket, while tickets for the Beach Boys show are finally going on sale. The biggest concert news this week is Nicki Minaj, who is bringing her Pink Friday Tour to the Mil ... More >>

Review: FaceMan's Waltz at the Bluebird Theater, 2/3/12

A.H. GoldsteinFaceMan at the Bluebird Theater last night.FACEMAN'S WALTZ @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 2/3/12The sound became expansive and the stage felt crowded fairly early in FaceMan's set at the Bluebird Theater on a snowy Friday night. After a brief introduction from the Flobots' Stephen "Brer Rabbit" ... More >>

Mile Highlights: Denver/Boulder area concert news, local radio playlists and top album sales

Here's what's good in the Mile High City this week: A pair of new October dates have Smashing Pumpkins at the Ogden and Bush at the 1STBANK Center, with Chevelle and Filter, while November brings Tedeschi Trucks Band to the Fillmore. On local radio, Air Dubai, Le Divorce, Bop Skizzum and Signal Path ... More >>

Westword Music Showcase 2011

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

Yeasayer

Wednesday, June 1, Ogden Theatre, 303-830-8497.

Mile Highlights: This week's concert news, local radio playlists and top album sales

Here's what's good in the Mile High City this week: In concert news, KMFDM is due at the Summit Music Hall and Ellie Goulding is over at the Ogden, both in August, while Bone Thugs N Harmony is slated to stop by the Gothic in June. On local radio, Quiet American, Juno What and My Body Sings Electr ... More >>

Mile Highlights: This week's concert news, local radio playlists and top album sales

​Here's what's good in the Mile High City this week: In concert news, we've received word that Lil Wayne is coming to town in August, followed by Santana and George Lopez, who are coming to Red Rocks in September. On local radio, Novus Folium, Justin Roth and Elephant Revival got spins. Meanwh ... More >>

Faceman's First Waltz at the Bluebird, 2/4/11

A.H. Goldstein​FACEMAN'S FIRST WALTZ FaceMan Bop Skizzum • The Knew • The Outfit • Chadzilla • Boulder Acoustic Society • The Vitamins • Medicine Man • Bonnie and the Beard • Chris McGarry and the Insomniacs • Panal • Martin Gilmore • The Construct • K Buzz and the Bras ... More >>

Michael Huttner, ProgressNow not responding to questions about not-awarded Hawaii trip

Michael Huttner.​As part of the August 2009 launch of 50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America, Michael Huttner, the book's co-author, as well as founder and CEO of ProgressNow.org, promised to give away a trip to Hawaii to the person with the best idea to improve America. Over two years late ... More >>

Vampire Weekend at Red Rocks Amphitheatre - 09.03.10

Aaron Thackeray​ Vampire Weekend Dum Dum Girls • Beach House 09.03.10 | Red Rocks Amphitheatre view full slide show Dum Dum Girls opened the show with a notable display of confidence and music reminiscent of Elastica with more of a '60s girl group vibe. The combination of chiming textures ... More >>

Justify My Love: Submitting to a Vampire Weekend obsession

Catch Vampire Weekend tonight at Red Rocks with Beach House and the Dum Dum Girls​Okay we all have some skeletons in our closet, shit we dig -- be it music, movies or television shows -- that we'd just as soon that nobody else knew about. Guilty pleasures is what most people term these sort of ... More >>

Mile High Music Festival: Rusted Root's Michael Glabicki on the act's first big tour in Colorado

Duane Rieder​ When Rusted Root formed in Pittsburgh in 1990, it made a world-beat influenced splash with a series of releases throughout the decade. During this creative period, the band released its most commercially successful song, "Send Me On My Way." The tune, which has been used on soun ... More >>

Marco Benevento on his latest album, circuit bent toys and Brad Mehldau

​As half of the Benevento-Russo Duo, Marco Benevento played bass lines with his feet and held down organ and Wurlitzer parts with separate hands. But in the trio format, he's completely at home behind the piano, which he says is totally his ax. The forward-thinking Benevento makes captivating ... More >>

Geek Bowl IV: How geeky are you?

Top Ten Best Soundtracks of the Decade

CQ took itself seriously despite its absurd premise.​Movie soundtracks are a difficult beast to master. They have to take an already existing song and apply it to a new medium in a new context. This often works with varying results, and many songs are so overused in soundtracks, they've lost a ... More >>

Liberal authors offer prize even birthers can love

​Earlier today, Sean Duffy, spokesman for gubernatorial hopeful Scott McInnis, said he didn't want his candidate to be reduced to a caricature by Michael Huttner, the man behind the left-leaning ProgressNow Colorado operation. After making that comment, Duffy noted that Huttner's very effectiv ... More >>

Westword Music Showcase reviewed: Curious Theatre

Aaron ThackeraySee more photos from Curious Theatre at westword.com/slideshow.Elin Palmer, 12 p.m.Overcoming technical difficulties and an initially cumbersome stage setup (the stage manager had to find room for a drum riser amid the creative and complicated set -- including a desk, a bed and a road ... More >>

Top ten songs that should be renamed after Barack Obama

Excise "Back." Insert "Barack." The campaign by several Boulder High School students to rename their facility after President Barack Obama was dropped yesterday due to a lack of support, but not before inspiring our satirical blog "Ten More Things That Should Be Named After Barack Obama Other Than ... More >>

Top Ten Americana Albums of 2008

Over the next couple of weeks, Backbeat will feature some Top Ten lists from around the Village Voice Media chain. Click here for previous year-in-review coverage from Backbeat and VVM. Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records t ... More >>

Live Review: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band at the Ogden

Rodrigo y Gabriela Prove Their Metal

Weaned on Metallica, this duo makes acoustic guitars sound heavy.

Vampire Weekend Takes on Its Buzz

Hot on the heels of SXSW, the nation’s hottest buzz band returns to Denver.

Vampire Weekend

Most bands would kill for the buzz surrounding this NYC quartet.

Cellar Beware

Don't look in the basement.

Beyond Playlist: Sigur Rós and More

2007 Artopia Participants

Band of Brothers

With Our Album Year, the Meese might inherit the earth.

Celeste Krenz

Saturday, January 21, Swallow Hill Music Hall, 303-777-1003.

The Fame Game

Grab a ringside seat at Table 6, the hottest place in town.

Horn Again

The Unicorns resurrect the mystic rite of having fun.

Whirled Music

Old Time Relijun puts a new spin on ancient sounds.

Texas High Note

Tish Hinojosa shares her musical influences at Swallow Hill.

Man Out of Time

Elliott Smith has nothing to do with what's happening in the current music scene. Thank goodness.

Judgment Day

Backbeat contributors offer up their favorite recordings of 1999.

Feelin' Skavoovie

After quitting college, the experimental ska-sters graduate to a higher musical level.

Backwash

A Phish Tale

Bassist Mike Gordon explodes some myths about Phish--and confirms others.

Lord Knows

Mary Lou Lord is smarter than the average busker.

Night & Day

March 19-25, 1998

Playlist

Getting Cosy

Free Willie

A gospel album on a Denver record label is the latest step in the rehabilitation of Willie Nelson's career.

PLAYLIST

A GLASS ACT

COMPOSER PHILIP GLASS SEARCHES FOR A DIFFERENT KIND OF BEAUTY IN BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

LONG LIVE THE KING

KING SUNNY ADE CONTINUES TO BRIGHTEN THE WORLD-MUSIC SCENE.

THRILLS

Music