Toke Up for These Four 4/20 Concerts

Nobody does 4/20 quite like Colorado. The cannabis-themed holiday and pot-friendly state go hand in hand at this point. And every year, there are more than enough ways to celebrate…including Mile High music.

From the penultimate Red Rocks smoke-out to bong-breaking drone metal, here are the best 4/20 gigs:

420 On The Rocks: Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Too Short, Czarface and DJ Squizzy Taylor

Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison
Monday, April 20, 5:30 p.m.
Tickets are $125
Yeah, Red Rocks is the place to be on Monday, April 20. Any self-respecting Denver hip-hop (and pot) head knows 420 On The Rocks is the concert to go to every hazy holiday. This year, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube, two rappers that seemingly invented smoking weed, are headlining, along with Too Short, DJ Squizzy Taylor and Czarface (the hip-hop supergroup comprising Wu-Tang’s Inspectah Deck, 7L and Esoteric).

We don’t think much else needs to be said, just come ready and stocked up, in more ways than one. As Ice Cube shared with Westword beforehand: “Bring your own sack. Don’t be bumming off nobody.”

Buckethead

Boulder Theater, 2032 14^th St., Boulder
Monday, April 20, 7 p.m.
Tickets are $61
If you find yourself imbibing in Boulder on 420 and want to see something truly mind-altering, checkout Buckethead at Boulder Theater.

The prolific guitarist who was “raised by chickens,” according to lore, is one of the most notable, and unusual, shred guitarists of modern times, having shared the stage with everyone from Primus and Guns N’ Roses over his thirty-year career.

He also wears a fried-chicken bucket as a hat and an emotionless white mask, both trademarks of his off-kilter style. Other than melting faces, Buckethead’s “mission in life to alert the world to the ongoing chicken holocaust in fast-food joints around the globe,” according to his bio. Plus, he incorporates nunchucks, robot dancing and toy trading into his shows. No, you’re not hallucinating.

Love Gang, Pegzilla and Kamru

hi-dive, 7 South Broadway
Monday, April 20, 7 p.m.
Tickets are $12-$15
Local heshers should toke up and head down to the hi-dive on 420 for a hometown bill full of rock and roll, courtesy of Love Gang, Pegzilla and Kamru.

Denver denim demons Love Gang are prepping to hit the road in support of Wolfmother, as the Aussie rockers are commemorating twenty years of its breakthrough debut, so this will be the last time to catch them before the tour stops in town on June 30. Pegzilla (what a great name) is bringing its old-school rock from L.A. to the festivities, while Denver occult stoner trio Kamru provides even more hexes.

Sunn O)))

Ogden Theatre, 935 East Colfax Ave.
Monday, April 20, 7 p.m.
Tickets are $50
This one at the Ogden isn’t for the faint of heart…or unprotected eardrums. Sunn O))) — it’s just pronounced “sun,” for the record; the “O)))” stylistically represents a soundwave — is a pioneering drone metal duo that loads up the stage with vintage Sunn Model T amplifiers (that’s where the band name comes from) and blasts away, nonstop. It’s so immersive, and loud, that the air vibrates to the point you can physically feel the reverb hitting your chest. Talk about running into a wall of sound.  

If that sounds like your type of trip, the Seattle musicians behind this madness, Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, are promoting their new self-titled record from earlier this month. Joining Sunn O))) is frequent collaborator and Salt Lake City experimental guru Gentry Densley.