The Don'ts and Be Carefuls

Shady Elders discuss their new lineup and democratic dynamic

New Denver shows: P!NK, Matchbox Twenty, Goo Goo Dolls, Barenaked Ladies, Guster

It's March 2013 -- at least according to the calendar. If you went by the concert calendar for the past few weeks, however, you'd swear it's the mid to late '90s. P!NK, Matchbox Twenty and Goo Goo Dolls, Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds Five and Guster, Darius Rucker. If you're already nostalgic for the ... More >>

New shows: Sigur Ros, Carrie Underwood, Bloc Party, Big Head Todd, Divine Fits and more

It's not Christmas yet, but you'd certainly be excused for thinking otherwise, what with the radio already playing round-the-clock holiday tunes and the new shows we've been gifted with. Looks like somebody's been on their best behavior (god knows, it wasn't us). Whatever the case, we're now being r ... More >>

Meet Shady Elders, Denver's newest supergroup

Taking a Dylan-esque route of abandoning acoustic folk for mod-rock, Britt Rodemich teamed up with local favorites Casey Banker -- fresh off the now-defunct The Don'ts and Be Carefuls -- Miles Eichner of Tulip Wars and Marlon Chance of Spires, to form Shady Elders, an indie rock supergroup of sorts. ... More >>

The Don'ts and Be Carefuls at Hi-Dive, 8/31/12

THE DONT'S AND BE CAREFULS @ HI-DIVE | 8/31/12 The Don'ts and Be Carefuls have never been ones to skimp on their emotional generosity on stage. So in that regard, this final performance was not that much different from the band's already high standard. But it was just a notch better because on this ... More >>

Ten best concerts in Colorado this weekend, Friday, August 31, through Sunday, September 2

Welcome to the (long) weekend! As the summer heat continues, so do the shows. There's a great variety to choose from over the next few days, a healthy mix of imports and exports. We have them all listed in our massive concert calendar. If you're feeling industrious, print that bad boy out and break ... More >>

Your 2012 Westword Music Showcase winners, party with us Thursday at the Bluebird

See Also: - Photos: Locals only! 2012 Westword Music Showcase - Set recaps by Westword music writers - Photos: The people of Westword Music Showcase The votes have been been tallied for the 2012 Westword Music Showcase ballot, and we're doing things a little bit differently this year. Rather than ... More >>

#WMS 2012 recap: Bar Standard

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Tom Murphy host ... More >>

#WMS 2012 recap: Vinyl Main

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Josiah Hesse h ... More >>

2012 Westword Music Showcase schedule

Alright, it's here! Finally! The waiting is over! The eighteenth annual Westword Music Showcase. You've probably already printed it out, cut it out, copied and highlighted the schedule, but just in case you haven't, here's the most up-to-date version of today's lineup for the Showcase. All of the TB ... More >>

Our complete guide to the June 23 Westword Music Showcase

See also: Twelve types of Denver musicians

2012 Westword Music Showcase schedule

Okay, time to officially start getting excited now. The annual Westword Music Showcase is a little more than a week away. Did you pick up your tickets yet? If not, you can still get them at the discounted rate. Prices go up day of the show. By now, you've already seen the lineup of who's playing the ... More >>

2012 Westword Music Showcase local lineup!

We're just over a month out from this year's Westword Music Showcase, and we've already let you know who we have headlining the mainstage this year -- but keep it locked on Backbeat for another big announcement this coming Monday. Now it's time for us to give up the goods on the local lineup. As you ... More >>

2012 Westword Music Showcase Ballot

Update 3/14/12: The polls are officially open. Please feel free to make your way to the 2012 Westword Music Showcase ballot and register your vote! The 2012 Westword Music Showcase ballot is here -- no more waiting. Well, that's not entirely true: You will have to wait another day or so before the ... More >>

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

Here's what's hot this week in music on the Front Range: On the concert front, new shows featuring the Shins, James Taylor and Explosions in the Sky were announced; In the Whale, Tennis and FaceMan got spins on local radio; and recent albums from Leonard Cohen, Matador, Young Jeezy and Lana Del Rey ... More >>

Weekend's best live bets: Ryan Adams, Lotus and more

Update: The Ryan Adams show originally slated for tonight the Temple Buell has been postponed until tomorrow night. The Dr. Dog show has also been postponed, but a new date has not been announced. What's a little snow? Blizzard schmizzard. There's too much great music this weekend to stay at home. ... More >>

Review: Nurses at the hi-dive, 1/15/12

NURSES @ THE HI-DIVE | 1/15/12 This was one of those Sunday shows where a lot of people showed up and everybody seemed to be very into all of the artists on the bill, from the opening set from The Don'ts and Be Carefuls all the way to the end, through Nurses. The headliners took the stage with Aaro ... More >>

John Bowers of Nurses on the band's evolving sound

Nurses (due at the hi-dive this Sunday, January 15) moved around a bit before settling down in Portland and completely shedding its previous, more rockist, musical identity. Having pretty much reinvented itself for its 2009 album, Apple's Acre, Nurses sounds as though some eccentric songwriters got ... More >>

Denver's best music releases of 2011

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

Here's what's happening in music on the Front Range this week: On the concert front, shows from moe., the Bag Raiders and Jane's Addiction were announced; Monroe Monroe, Elway, Shel and Fierce Bad Rabbit got spins on local radio; and new releases from Florence and the Machine, Drake, Childish Gambin ... More >>

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

​Here's what's happening in music on the Front Range this week: On the concert front, shows from Rammstein, Kelly Clarkson, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, Kraddy, Peter Frampton, Umphrey's McGee and Henry Rollins were announced; Caleb Slade, Force Publique, My Body Sings Electric and the Outfit ... More >>

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

​Here's what's happening in music on the Front Range this week: On the concert front, shows from Radiohead, Roger Waters, the Descendants and Los Lobos were announced. Nautical Mile, Tennis, Churchill and Dressy Bessy got spins on local radio. And new and recent releases from Tom Waits, Wale a ... More >>

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

​Here's what's happening in music on the Front Range this week: On the concert front, Mute Math is coming to the Gothic in January and Kid Rock's at the Fillmore in December. On local radio specialty shows, Crimson Red, ManCub, the Foot. and DeVotchKa all got some spins. Meanwhile, at our loca ... More >>

Best Denver concert photos of September, 2011

Holy crap, there were a lot of shows this month. It was difficult to pick our favorites of the bunch, especially with big-name acts like Taylor Swift, DMX, Blink 182 and Ke$ha rocking the stages in Colorado. We have so many photos, it's tough to sift through them all, which is why we've hand-selecte ... More >>

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

​Here's what's happening in music on the Front Range this week: On the concert front, shows from Paul Simon, Amos Lee and Matisyahu were announced. On local radio specialty shows, Whiskey Bottles, Petals of Spain and Hot IQsall got some spins. Meanwhile, at our local record stores, new and rec ... More >>

Review: Goldrush Festival Day 2 at Delite and the Hi-Dive, September 17, 2011

Tom MurphyHappy New Year​Day two of Goldrush Festival also felt like you had stepped into an alternate universe where a good friend with good taste in music was introducing you to his or her favorite bands of the moment were gathered together in one place instead of being handed some kind of m ... More >>

Review: The Don'ts and Be Carefuls at Hi-Dive, 9/9/11

Tom MurphyThe Don'ts and Be Carefuls​THE DON'TS AND BE CAREULS at the HI-DIVE | 9/9/11 The Don'ts and Be Carefuls did something at this "Triple EP Release" show that you just knew the band had in it but you might not expect to see: they fused the exuberance and innocence of its original sound ... More >>

Suburban Home's 16th Anniversary, STS9, triple EP release at hi-dive and more this weekend

A house is just not a Home without music​Whether you're a local scene junkie or strangely attracted to artists without vowels, there's no shortage of things to do over the next two days. Here's what's good this weekend: On Friday at 3 Kings Tavern Virgil Dickerson's Suburban Home Records kick ... More >>

The Don'ts and Be Carefuls show songwriting growth on the Sun Hits EP

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

​Here's what's happening in music on the Front Range this week: On the concert front, shows Tech N9ne, Lucinda Williams and Jimmy Buffet were announced. On local radio specialty shows, Monroe Monroe, Air Dubai, Spires and Popcult all got some spins. Meanwhile, at our local record stores, new a ... More >>

Episode 5 of Brass Tree series features Force Publique, School Knights and Fingers of the Sun

Brass Tree Episode IV features Force Publique, School Knights and Fingers of the Sun​At the beginning year, the Brass Tree Collective glorious sprung up unexpectedly from the frozen Front Range tundra, and for the past six months, the collective has bloomed into an exciting part of the Denver ... More >>

Download free Hot Congress Summer Sampler

Hot Congress just dropped a summer sampler with brand new tracks from Vitamins, the Don'ts and Be Carefuls, Hindershot and more, alongside previously released tracks from some of the label's other acts. While a lot of the sampler certainly hits the niche Hot Congress has carved out for itself, there ... More >>

FoCoMx announces lineup for next month's fest

​It's a bittersweet day for music fans in Northern Colorado. Today our neighbors to the north are mourning the loss of two of their own, DJ Jimmy Hands and Kyle Dyas, KUNC's music director, who both passed away unexpectedly over the weekend. The sad news comes in just as we're getting word f ... More >>

24 Best Denver Halloween Parties, 2010

Cop that Ghostly Sounds LP now!​Halloween weekend is just a few days away, and Denver is overflowing with ghostly activities. We know it's a daunting to keep track of all the events, so we've compiled a handy list of two-dozen ways for you to get your Halloween on. Whether you're interested in ... More >>

Bohemian Nights at New West Fest kicks off tonight in Fort Collins runs all weekend

​If you ever needed an excuse to head north to Fort Collins besides the many fine breweries there, how about the Bohemian Nights at New West Fest? The free, three day festival is bringing in an eclectic batch of talent, starting with Flobots August 20. They'll be followed by Earth, Wind & Fire ... More >>

Minature Tigers get all sorts of interactive at the Larimer Lounge

Tom MurphyCharlier Brand of Minature Tigers reaches out and touches the fans​ Miniature Tigers • Sprinto Band • The Dont's and Be Carefuls 07.30.10 | Larimer Lounge, Denver At this point, the Dont's and Be Carefuls' "new" keyboardist, Dane Bernhardt, formerly of the Silver Cord, is fully ... More >>

Minature Tigers' Charlie Brand on evolving as an artist and the joys and shortcomings of touring

Brandon Lee​The music of Miniature Tigers sounds like it has its roots in the sunnier, more upbeat end of '60s guitar rock, utilizing spare melodies with melodic atmospheres that have an nostalgic immediacy -- as though your future self could sing a song to you with words of compassion and com ... 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 >>

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 >>

Presenting the 2010 Westword Music Showcase Ballot

​ This past February, when we started putting together the 2010 Westword Music Showcase, we posted an item asking you how we could improve our annual music festival, this year set for Saturday, June 19, in the Golden Triangle (if you haven't already purchased your tickets, you can still buy d ... More >>

Dialed In: This week's local music radio playlists

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

Dialed In: This week's local music radio playlists

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

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

The year in features: a handy link guide to all of the artists profiled in Westword this year

Bryce BoyerFlashback: Yonnas Abraham and DJ Awhat! (Alejandro Martinez) of the Pirate Signal were profiled this past June​In case you haven't noticed, we're all about local music. Surely, that's no huge revelation to anyone. After all, we do spend the bulk of our lives immersed in the sounds a ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of December 7, 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: The Don'ts & Be Carefuls, Pep*Squad, Josephine and the Mousepeople at the Meadowlark

​The Don'ts & Be Carefuls, Pep*Squad, Josephine and the Mousepeople, Lungs They Burn, I Sank Molly Brown Friday, December 4, 2009 The Meadowlark Better Than: Butt Shakin' So it was mostly a big dance party at Denver's Most Intimate Venue, the sort of night where you show your approval with a ... 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 >>

The Don'ts and Be Carefuls

Q&A with the Don'ts and Be Carefuls

​In 2008, the whole dance punk phenomenon, with few exceptions, seemed worn out and irrelevant to anything genuinely exciting. But it was in the spring of that year that The Don'ts and Be Carefuls started putting together its songs and playing its first show shortly after solidifying its line-up. ... More >>

The Dont's and Be Carefuls at the Meadowlark