Best Concerts in Denver This Weekend

Cover your face, because snotty punks Guttermouth play the Oriental tonight, while Scottish post-punkers We Were Promised Jetpacks fly into the Bluebird.

On Saturday, April 2, Irish alternative rockers Pillow Queens wake up the hi-dive. EDM mainstay Porter Robinson plays Red Rocks and brings along a bunch of his friends.

Round out the weekend with the catchy but sad underneath sounds of Susto on Sunday, April 3, at Globe Hall. Here are the best concerts in Denver this week:

Guttermouth
Friday, April 1, 8 p.m.
Oriental Theater, 4335 West 44th Avenue
$20-$150
Guttermouth, a powerhouse in being obnoxious on stage, hasn’t released any new music since a pair of EPs in 2016. But that shouldn’t stop you from seeing the band. Mark Adkins, the frontman and sole consistent member of the Huntington Beach brat-punk outfit, will leap over the kit and attack the drummer, insult the audience and flick the sweat from his groin at unlucky audience members. It’s a spectacle to behold.

Hippo Campus
Friday, April 1, 8 p.m.
Gothic Theatre, 3263 South Broadway, Englewood
$28-$30
Saint Paul, Minnesota, indie rockers Hippo Campus graced the stage at the 2021 Westword Music Showcase. The group released its third full-length, LP3, a little more than a month ago. Last year, guitarist Nathan Stocker told Westword that the band was “really diving inside and examining ourselves and our relationship to what we do” when recording the new record.

We Were Promised Jetpacks
Friday, April 1, 8 p.m.
Bluebird Theater, 3317 East Colfax Avenue
$20-$150
Edinburgh, Scotland’s We Were Promised Jetpacks’ righteous anger at not getting personal flying equipment doesn’t seem to come out in its music. It’s ethereal post-punk revival, a mellower Peter, Bjorn and John, but, you know, Scottish.

Pillow Queens
Saturday, April 2, 8 p.m.
hi-dive, 7 South Broadway
$15-$17
Pillow Queens, an all-woman, LGTBQ four-piece from Dublin, Ireland, brings its highly danceable, alternative indie rock to Denver. It’s releasing a new album, Leave the Light On, this Friday, so download it and listen to it on the way to the show, unless you find such behavior distasteful.

Porter Robinson
Saturday, April 2, 6 p.m.
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison
$49.95-$89
Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based DJ Porter Robinson brings his poppy brand of electronic music to Red Rocks. His latest record, Nurture, examined his struggles with depression and making music that he could be proud of. Fellow electronic music people Machinedrum, Wavedash, Qrion and Air to Earth, a side project of Robinson’s, are coming along for the show.

Susto
Sunday, April 3, 8 p.m.
Globe Hall, 4483 Logan Street
$22
Susto is the musical project of South Carolina musician Justin Osborne. The songs aren’t hard on the ears, but there’s a vague sense of sadness lurking beneath the surface. The Spanish word “susto” is used by certain Indigenous cultures in Latin America to describe a condition akin to a panic attack. Panic attacks have a way of lurking just beneath the surface before the spring, so really, that’s a pretty good name to describe this music.

The Script
Sunday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
Globe Hall, 4483 Logan Street
$49.95-$90
Irish soft-rockers the Script apparently have songs in Ghost Whisperer, 90210, The Hills, Waterloo Road, Made in Chelsea, EastEnders and The Vampire Diaries. One only need listen to one song to say “Yeah, I can see that.” The band is bringing along English pop singer Calum Scott in what is sure to be an evening full of suddenly thinking about a montage sequence on a TV show. 

Have events you want included on this list? Send the details to editorial@westword.com. Looking for more to do? Visit the Westword calendar.