Tom Murphy

25 reasons the Denver music scene rules

Denver is the capital of Colorado. It is located exactly one mile above sea level. Weed is legal here, while riding your bike on the sidewalk is not. Your mom can make more free throws than Andre Iguodala -- these are all facts. The music scene here sucks ass...now, that is an opinion. The differenc ... More >>

Breaking up (with multiple people) is hard to do

My band broke up two weeks ago. For the three or four people who know us and may accidentally find themselves reading this, I won't be discussing why we broke up. Sorry. I know band breakups are really fascinating to everyone who isn't in the band, but it's not really something I can talk about with ... More >>

Five Iron Frenzy at Casselman's, 12/31/12

FIVE IRON FRENZY @ CASSELMAN'S BAR AND VENUE |12/31/12 From the very beginning of its New Year's Eve set at Casselman's Bar & Venue in Denver, Five Iron Frenzy brought an enormous amount of energy, fueled by a clear sense of joy at performing. The old fans were incredibly happy to get to see the ba ... More >>

Moovers and Shakers 2012: Backbeat writers praise the year's best local albums

See also: Backbeat writers sound off on the year's best national albums

Hospitality at hi-dive, 10/05/12

HOSPITALITY @ HI-DIVE | 10/05/12 Hospitality's set made you think of a time when rock bands weren't trying to mine classic rock territory or go for a specific genre, especially at the end of the show when the foursome performed "All Day Today" from its self-titled, debut full-length. Along with the ... 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 >>

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult at the Bluebird Theater, with Left Spine Down, 9/19/12

MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 9/19/12 It comes as a bit of a shock when people slam into you for the first time after a dozen songs. That's exactly what happened last night when My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult dialed up "After the Flesh." From the start of the sample and ... More >>

Science Partner at Larimer Lounge, 9/14/12

SCIENCE PARTNER @ LARIMER LOUNGE | 9/14/12After ten songs, the audience didn't want Science Partner to go -- so Tyler Despres, Maria Kohler and Jess DeNicola stayed on stage to do their original Miley Cyrus-themed song. Despres had joked about how if the audience knew the words, it could sing along ... 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 >>

Dead Can Dance at Temple Buell, 8/19/12

DEAD CAN DANCE @ TEMPLE BUELL THEATRE | 8/19/12 See also: Dead Can Dance's Brendan Perry on the trance-inducing powers of making music in 6/8 time After a mesmerizing set, Dead Can Dance came back on stage for the first encore of the night to the sounds of an organic-industrial beat, azure backlig ... More >>

The Lumineers at Bluebird Theater, 5/11/12

THE LUMINEERS @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 5/11/12 Wesley Schulz announced that the band was going to perform a Sawmill Joe song and it was obvious much of the crowd knew what was coming, as The Lumineers started the song and brought Joe back on stage. Between pretty much all the members of the band, a gre ... More >>

Review: Neon Indian at Bluebird Theater, 4/9/12

Review: The Joy Formidable and A Place to Bury Strangers at the Bluebird Theater, 3/17/12

THE JOY FORMIDABLE @ BLUEBIRD | 3/17/12With a sample of spoken words as an intro, one of the moments in the set where The Joy Formidable shined the brightest was during "Buoy." From its moody, murky beginning to its steady, rapid progression into something altogether more bombastic and expansive, th ... More >>

Review: Pure Sunshine II at BluebirdTheater, 3/02/12

PURE SUNSHINE II @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 3.2.12 It would be hard to have picked the star attraction for this show because the crowd changed and switched throughout the show with some people sticking around for everything. But chances are, no one had seen Spell since its last show in July of 1995. With ... More >>

Review: English Dogs at Summit Music Hall, 2/19/12

ENGLISH DOGS @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 2/19/12 Throughout the show, Adie Bailey of English Dogs came off the stage and sang with the crowd just over the barrier and encouraged people to sing into the mike. But it was halfway through the show that Bailey figured he could trust people in the crowd well e ... More >>

Denver's best music releases of 2011

Reader: Aside from the obnoxious fans, the Portishead show was beyond description

​How was Portishead's show last week at 1STBANK Center? Well, guess that depends on who you ask and where they were sitting, apparently. Tom Murphy called it "one of the finest performances anyone is likely to see this year or any year." And while one commenter who was sitting in a box said th ... More >>

Review: Melt Banana at Larimer Lounge, 10/8/11

MELT BANANA at the LARIMER LOUNGE | 10/8/11Nothing can fully prepare you for the sounds coming off stage at a Melt Banana show unless you've seen the band before. Between the breakneck rhythms, Yasuko Onuki's demented and rapid-fire vocal delivery and Ichirou Agata's ability to meld noise with exper ... 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 >>

Mike Watt & the Missingmen at the Larimer Lounge, with Il Cattivo and Lion Sized, 4/22/11

Tom MurphyMike Watt & Missingmen MIKE WATT & THE MISSINGMEN With Ill Cattivo and Lion Sized 04.22.11 | Larimer Lounge There are a small handful of bands that would have been great openers for a show like this, and Ill Cattivo and Lion Sized are two of them. The former started off the show with a c ... More >>

Swans at Summit Music Hall, 2/22/11

Tom MurphySwans​ SWANS With Wooden Wand 02.22.11 | Summit Music Hall Last night, James Jackson Toth, aka Wooden Wand, was joined by two other guitar players -- Brian Lowery and William Tyler. And although there were three guitars and the guys were playing through Orange amps, they did not pr ... More >>

Wovenhand and Git Some at The Marquis 1/15/11

Tom MurphyWovenhand​ WOVENHAND With Git Some 01.15.11 | Marquis Theater On the cusp of its tour with Wovenhand, Git Some seemed in high form to win over at least a few people in the audience on Saturday night at the Marquis Theater. Less chaotic than earlier incarnations of the band, one thi ... More >>

Gem Trails, Thundercade, Kevin Costner Suicide Pact at the Meadowlark, 01/07/11

Tom MurphyGem Trails is Trevor Peterson​ GEM TRAILS With Thundercade and Kevin Costner Suicide Pact Meadowlark | January 7, 2011 Gem Trails is the solo side project of Trevor Peterson from Woodsman. From this performance, the name is appropriate for the spectral, glistening streaming of guit ... More >>

Tim Kasher, Azure Ray at the hi-dive, 11/01/10

Tom MurphyTim Kasher​ TIM KASHER With Azure Ray and Tim Fite 11.01.10 | hi-dive Tim Fite was equal parts comedian, provocateur, performance artist, filmmaker, MC, hip-hop producer and indie pop songwriter. At least that's what his energetic and compelling set felt last night like at differen ... More >>

Over the Weekend: The Buckingham Squares at the Mercury Cafe

Tom MurphyThe Buckingham Squares​ The Buckingham Squares • Receiver Voodoo Stingray • The Nuns of Brixton • 03.13.10 | Mercury Cafe Maybe actually wearing nun habits as part of the stage costume is a gimmick, but for The Nuns of Brixton, it left an impression. As the name implies, the ... More >>

Over the weekend: Mustangs & Madras farewell show at 3 Kings Tavern

Mustangs and Madras farewell show With Get Three Coffins Ready, Only Thunder, the Gunshy and Git Some Saturday, January 23, 2010 3 Kings Tavern Better Than: Virtually every other five-band bill I've seen. Tom MurphyGet Three Coffins Ready​ The five members of Get Three Coffins Ready played t ... More >>

Backbeat writers weigh in on the year's best national releases

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

Over the Weekend: The Legendary River Drifters, Tin Horn Prayer and Broken Spirits at Old Curtis St. Bar

Tom MurphyBroken Spirits​The Legendary River Drifters w/Tin Horn Prayer and Broken Spirits Friday, December 18th, 2009 Old Curtis St. Bar, Denver Better Than: A show where everyone was trying too hard to get that Americana sound. A judgmental person might see Tin Horn Prayer and think, "Oh bo ... More >>

Over the weekend: Moore, Blindfold the Devil, Born in Winter at the Gothic

Tom MurphyBlindfold the Devil​Moore, Blindfold the Devil and Born in Winter Friday, December 11, 2009 Gothic Theatre Better Than: A lot of metal shows I've seen. Blindfold the Devil, a four-piece with the lead vocalist also playing guitar, kicked off its set with its speed/thrash metal sound, whi ... More >>

Over the weekend: Syndrome of a Down, Dugout Canoe, Talk Normal and Zombie Bite at Rhinoceropolis

Tom MurphySyndrome of a Down​Syndrome of a Down, Dugout Canoe, Talk Normal and Zombie Bite Saturday, November 28, 2009 Rhinoceropolis Better Than: A show where the experimental bands are experimental in the same way. Playing it's second show, Syndrome of a Down was a duo comprised of two guys usi ... More >>

Over the weekend: Sun Circle at Glob

Epileptinomicon (Tom Murphy)​Sun Circle, Epileptinomicon, Temples, Sterile Garden and nervesandgel Friday, November 20th, 2009 Glob Better Than: A noise show comprised entirely of purist noise projects. Epileptinomicon opened the show with just Mike Reisinger feeding his vocals through a series o ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Kissing Party at the Hi-Dive

Tom MurphyBad Weather California​ Kissing Party w/Bad Weather California Friday, August 28, 2009 hi-dive Better Than: What some would say of a Kissing Party show. The Bad Weather California set started off with Chris Adolf playing the recorder, making the song sound like a madrigal or a Kung ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Slight Harp w/Black Magicians From the Mountains of Mars and Pink Hawks at the Glob

Tom MurphyBlack Magicians From the Mountains of Mars​ Slight Harp w/Black Magicians From the Mountains of Mars and Pink Hawks Saturday, August 29th, 2009 Glob, Denver Better Than: Every other Slight Harp show I've seen. The three-piece Black Magicians From the Mountains of Mars looked like t ... More >>

Last night: Sunn O))) at the Bluebird

Sunn O))) rise (Tom Murphy)​SunnO))), Eagle Twin and The AccüsedBluebird TheaterThursday, August 13th, 2009Better Than: Some commentators on SunnO))) would have you believe. The two-piece Eagle Twin kicked off the show in high spirits. Although mining similar artistic territory as Isis, Twin b ... More >>

MP3 Freeloader: Behold the majesty of Yawn Tron

​In last week's issue, we weighed in on Open Captioning, the brand new Yawn Tron record and also the latest release from the burgeoning Bocumast imprint. "Had Front Line Assembly emerged now instead of in the '80s and dispensed with vocals entirely," wrote Tom Murphy, "it might have come up with s ... More >>

Over the weekend: Iwrestledabearonce at the Marquis Theater

Iwrestledabearonce (Tom Murphy)Iwrestledabearonce, Human Abstract and Vanna Friday, May 22, 2009 Marquis Theater Better Than: A full-on emocore show. Human Abstract started the show off with a blend of death metal and proggy screamo. Singer Nathan Ells switched between the death metal growl and hig ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Booze, bands and art

Photo by Tom MurphyHuman Abstract. It was a long weekend, and we've got lots of content to prove it. See photos from the Gin Mill and LoDo's, plus the downtown arts festival, at westword.com/slideshow. Read reviews of the weekends shows -- Iwresttledabearonce, Moderat, and Trouble Andrew -- on the ... More >>

Last night: Gojira at the Marquis

Krallice as seen through the lens of Tom MurphyGojira, Krallice and Wolves in the Throne Room Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Marquis Theater, Denver Better Than: A nationalist rather than socially conscious black metal show. Krallice opened the show. A four-piece whose membership includes Mick Barr, one o ... More >>

Over the weekend: Napalm Death at Marquis Theater

Napalm Death, Coliseum, Toxic Holocaust and KataklysmSaturday, May 9, 2009Marquis Theater, DenverBetter Than: A straightforward metal show.The last time I saw Coliseum, the band had played at a warehouse space with Motheater. For this show, even though it was a more conventional setting, these guys ... More >>

Last Night: The Prids at Larimer Lounge

Tom MurphyThe Prids, Overcasters, Gangcharger Monday, March 30, 2009Larimer Lounge, DenverBetter Than: A show featuring genre-specific, nostalgia acts.Gangcharger (Tom Murphy)Gangcharger set the pace for the show opening with a grittily atmospheric instrumental piece shot through with pulses of pure ... More >>

The Fluid and Overcasters featured on Brooklyn Vegan

While we'll be posting some pictures and a write up of our own shortly from Tom Murphy, who accompanied the Fluid and the Overcasters to the East Coast for a pair of dates this past weekend, Brooklyn Vegan posted a bunch of a great pics from the show. Unsurprisingly, both bands evidently kicked ass ... More >>

Q&A with Diplo

Q&A with Stereolab's Tim Gane

Live Review: The Pseudo Dates at Auraria Campus

Live Review: Littles Paia, Slight Harp, Bird Names, Sic Alps and Milton Melvin Croissant III at Glob Glob Glob

Over the Weekend...Broken Spindles, Red Orange Yellow and We Are! We Are! @ Larimer Lounge

Moovers and Shakers 2007

Backbeat scribes sound off on their favorite local releases of the year.

Moovers and Shakers 2007

Backbeat scribes sound off on their favorite local releases of the year.

Listen Up

Fast reviews of recent releases