Southern California

Michael Vincze of the Mowgli's on what it means to be a Mowgli: spreading kindness and love

The Mowgli's was started by a group of friends who wanted to make music with universal appeal. The act's sound is rooted in the kind of breezy, folk-inflected, psychedelically tinged music from Southern California that dominated the '60s and '70s, and its outlook is imbued with a positive spirit tha ... More >>

Photos: Ten deadliest fires in U.S. history

The ongoing Black Forest fire in El Paso County has destroyed 483 homes at this writing, as well as killing two people -- and we're fortunate that the loss of life wasn't nearly great enough to land it on this Wikipedia's list of noteworthy wildfires. The page is an awful record of scorched land and ... More >>

Why are Mexican hot dogs called Doyer Dogs?

The ten most brutally honest songwriters

Let's be real: Most songwriting amounts to a bunch of vague amateur poetry with pretensions of profundity. In the midst of all the babble, though, periodically a lyricist will emerge who has the courage to write about things that are real, raw and personal. That kind of truly honest songwriting reli ... More >>

R.I.P., Jeff Hanneman

Oh, man, this week just isn't getting any easier. As we're still grappling with the two recent deaths that rattled our community this week, comes word of another significant loss. If you haven't heard yet, Jeff Hanneman has passed away at the age of 49. The Slayer guitarist reportedly died this morn ... More >>

Suicidal Tendencies at Summit, 4/14/13

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL |4/14/13 In a fairly gutsy move, two songs into its set, Suicidal Tendencies performed its classic song, "Institutionalized," a tune of paranoia, societal oppression and mental illness. It was a different from the version on the album. The music was a little ... More >>

Slightly Stoopid's Miles Doughty on playing at Red Rocks on 4/20 and couch-lock ganja

Next week, stoners across the Front Range will converge upon Red Rocks to celebrate 4/20. Two acts will be on hand to help raise a toast roast commemorating the occasion, and you can hardly find a pair of more fitting acts, the hemp-hop icons of Cypress Hill, and their SoCal-based punk rock, reggae ... More >>

Raven Furlong search: Aspiring teen model still missing, but car found in L.A.

Last month, we told you about the search for Raven Furlong, a missing seventeen year old from Aurora. Like Kara Nichols, nineteen, and Kelsie Jean Schelling, 21, two other women whose whereabouts are also unknown, she had a profile on a modeling-related website. The latest? Furlong's car has been f ... More >>

Westword Music Showcase intial acts revealed

It's coming. You ready? Save the date: Saturday, June 22. That's when we'll be taking over the Golden Triangle once again for the nineteenth annual edition of Westword Music Showcase presented by Miller Lite. You know the deal. More bands than you can consume in one sitting, spread across a dozen st ... More >>

The five best concerts in Denver this week

Another week, another swell roster of music in the Mile High City. From the bacchanalian throwback debauchery of the Darkness, who will be invading the Summit Music Hall, to the lyrical thriftiness of Macklemore, who is set to headline Icelantic's second annual edition of Winter on the Rocks, there ... More >>

Viking Chris Kluwe tackles discrimination in major-league sports

Chapul Cricket Bars are full of protein -- from actual crickets

Is the idea of eating insects for protein -- rather than as part of a reality-TV show contest --really that weird anymore? John Beers of Chapul Cricket Bars doesn't think so, and he's on a mission to change hearts and minds -- by chirping about the health and environmental benefits of eating cricke ... More >>

The weekend's best dance music: Christian Martin, Daniel Bell, Michal Menert and more

Whether your taste is old-school minimalist techno by way of Detroit or bass-driven, glitch-laden tunes that have gained popularity recently, there's something for everybody to love on this weekend's Dance Card: Christian Martin headlines a two-day benefit for Scott Christensen at NORAD, Daniel Bell ... More >>

Christian Martin will build tension at NORAD on October 20

Video: Artist Stan Herd on aliens, GABF, Shock Top and crop art

To celebrate the Great American Beer Festival, which is in town right now, and the release of its newest beer, End of the World Midnight Wheat, the Shock Top division of Anheuser Busch hired artist Stan Herd to create a massive piece of crop art in Lochbuie, near Denver International Airport. Herd a ... More >>

Heather Purcell Leja of Design OnScreen talks architecture and modernist preservation

Since 2007, Design OnScreen has worked to preserve modern architecture across America by producing and presenting films focusing on unheralded architects and designers, and also curating architecture-centered film festivals around the world. And it's fought this good fight from its headquarters in D ... More >>

StaG brings its spare, catchy melodies to Deer Pile

Tonight: Deanne Stillman's Desert Reckoning at Tattered Cover

Deanne Stillman's richly textured works of nonfiction about life and death in the Mojave Desert involve more than casual research, and consequently take some time in the writing -- from eight to ten years each. Her true-crime debut, Twentynine Palms, explored the 1991 murder of two girls by a berser ... More >>

"Walking Down Death Row," the eerily titled song by James Holmes's sister

See Also: - Dark Knight Rises composer Hans Zimmer pens song for Aurora shooting victims - Neil Diamond donates proceeds from merch sales to Aurora Victim Relief Fund - Reel Big Fish donating proceeds of Aspen show to Aurora shooting victims/families - Tim McGraw and other musicians pay tribute to t ... More >>

Crappy cars lure Colorado Springs crooks?

Here at the Criminal Affairs Desk, we've remarked before that malfeasance in Colorado Springs often takes strange twists. Not that crime waves are any more severe or more violent in El Paso County than they are in the Denver area; they're just...different. Like the rock-wielding bandit who recently ... More >>

Photo: Wildfire firefighters dealing with people in the road ejaculating?

Crews working the High Park, Waldo Canyon and Flagstaff fires already have more than enough on their plate trying to bring the blazes under control. But according to this screen capture we found on Facebook, one station -- or the closed-captioning software it uses -- is reporting that they're also h ... More >>

Lorene Scafaria's apocalypse film lacks a sense of urgency

Audio Injection socks it to you at the Would Shop II on Friday, June 15

Reader: Torta Grill delivers real bang for the buck

Some new restaurants open with big publicity campaigns and wind up delivering little but disappointment. Not Torta Grill. Opened by Steve Clifton and his wife, Ardeni, in the former Pineapple Grill space at 1818 East Colfax Avenue on June 1, Torta Grill is tiny -- but delivers big. And it's already ... More >>

Photos: Micah True story in NY Times brings back Westword cover

Micah True, the world-famous "ultrarunner" who was found dead in New Mexico in April, was profiled Sunday in a mammoth New York Times piece by Barry Bearak, who described True's days as a furniture mover and prizefighter in Boulder. That's when True, then going by the moniker "The Gypsy Cowboy," dis ... More >>

Felisa Cardona, Ann Schrader, Margaret Jackson exiting Denver Post

In our interview with the Denver Post's Tina Griego, whose decision to accept a severance package originally intended to reduce the copy-editing staff by two-thirds could lead to the paper being metro-columnist free until 2013, we noted that several other writers would also be leaving. We've now ID' ... More >>

Why do Mexicans put murals on lowriders?

Mojo Nixon "un-retires" with Whiskey Rebellion

Natural philosophies link three solos at Space Gallery

Weekend's best live bets: Icelantic's Winter on the Rocks and more

Are you ready? This is a weekend to remember. Tonight for the first time ever, the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre will add to its renown by hosting the first ever wintertime concert with Icelantic's Winter on the Rocks with Atmosphere, Common, Grieves and Budo and Get Cryphy. And that's just the tip o ... More >>

The Descendents

Saturday, January 28, Fillmore Auditorium, 303-830-8497.

Why do Americans pronounce Junipero as Juan-a-pear-o?

We Bought a Zoo isn't for cynics; it's a sweet, affable kids' movie

West of Center is more a cultural documentary than an art show

Slide show: View images from West of Center

No more owls! Why are Denver DIYers so scared to celebrate the fact that Denver is in the West?

EtsyThis candlelight of Western love can be shipped to you from Southern California.​I had the perfect Christmas present plan for the out-of-towners in my life: kitschy Western-inspired accessories and home goods. I walked around town, looking for them. Talulah Jones sold necklaces with horses ... More >>

Gamma Acosta on Street Cred, graffiti and the importance of street art

The last time we talked to Longmont artist Gamma Acosta, he quietly reminded us that there's redemption in street art, and many of the kids who come out of the tagging culture, spray cans in hand, have talent that can raise them above the low-rent materials of the street. That was seven years ag ... More >>

Tebowing, the horse: Not too late to buy piece of filly who can even outrun Tim Tebow (PHOTOS)

Gary Fenton of Woodland Hills, California's Little Red Feather Thoroughbred Racing was caught off-guard by the attention garnered by the latest horse the stable is syndicating -- but in retrospect, it shouldn't have been. After all, her name is Tebowing -- a nod to the genuflecting trend that's eve ... More >>

Hooters, IHOP and McDonald's among the Denver restaurants on Healthy Dining Finder

​When you think of healthy restaurants in Denver, one of the healthiest cities in the country, a couple of spots whose menus are rife with the terms "organic," "sustainable" and "local" come to mind: WaterCourse Foods and Root Down, for example. You won't find them on Healthy Dining Finder -- ... More >>

Why do Mexican business owners put huge stereo speakers out front?

Colorado beer calendar: Get ready for the Great American Beer Festival

​Are you ready to rumble? We are. The Great American Beer Festival kicks off on September 29, but there are plenty of GABF-related events where you can practice in advance -- or even instead -- of the big show. In fact, there are too many events to list, but I did my best. Check 'em out below.

Rave Review

The Asian Cajun, pimping crawfish and pho, opens on Alameda

Lori Midson​The name of the restaurant, deadpans John Phan, says it all. "We're an Asian and Cajun restaurant that features traditional Vietnamese food and Louisiana crawfish that's far superior to anywhere else in Denver," he says about the Asian Cajun, which opened this weekend at 2400 West ... More >>

Charles Phoenix on fried cereal, the genesis of the Cherpumple and molded gelatin

​If you know retro -- and particularly mid-century -- you know retro geek Charles Phoenix, a child of the endless car lots and fast food restaurants of Southern California who is famous across the nation for his mid-mod slide shows and modernist expertise. And you might even know about his sid ... More >>

MediaNews Group-Freedom talks break down, but don't be shocked by a comeback

Dean Singleton.​For months, newspaper insiders have been abuzz about Denver Post parent company MediaNews Group potentially acquiring Freedom Communications, owner of the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Orange County Register -- two properties that synergize nicely with MediaNews strongholds ... More >>

Golden Spoon opens this weekend in Stapleton

​There are several frozen-yogurt shops opening soon in Denver, but possibly none so ambitious as Golden Spoon, which will open its first Mile High City outpost -- and fifth Colorado location -- this weekend in Stapleton at 7505 East 35th Avenue. And Mike and Julie Haslar, the franchisees behin ... More >>

Do Mexican women propose marriage instead of men?

Thai Flavor curries favor with reviewer Laura Shunk

Cell Injection

Saturday, January 8, Casselman's Bar & Venue, 720-242-8923.

Tapas the Rockies

Creative combinations and intense flavors make Triana the area's best new restaurant.

Mouthing Off