Sandra Wong made a bold claim as she held the elaborate wooden instrument, an alien-looking contraption with 16 strings and a dense thicket of white keys: “Personally, I think if Bach had known about the nyckelharpa, he would have written unaccompanied sonatas for it,” Wong told the small crowd gathered…
The music of Wolfgang Amadaeus Mozart was both a haven and an inspiration for Albert Einstein. When the physicist would get stuck on a particularly puzzling problem regarding the nature of the universe, he would pick up a violin and turn on a different part of his brain. Along with…
The founders of Gravity Defied Theatre had their work cut out for them when they founded the troupe in 2008. In addition to facing the standard pitfalls and challenges of starting a new theater company, founders Keith Rabin, Jr., and Danny Harrigan had to carve out a viable niche in…
There’s something wrong with the Les Paul. I fumble with the knobs that control the guitar’s volume and tone; I switch between the pickups; I try like mad to coax a discernible sound from the instrument. But it’s no use — as I plod through the chords of “The Streets…
WEEN 10.31.10 | 1STBANK Center The scene captured the sheer surrealism of Ween’s Halloween show at the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield: Toward the end of the band’s three-hour performance, Mickey Melchiondo — aka Dean Ween — belted out “The Blarney Stone” with gusto, his vocals unencumbered by the massive bunny…
For nearly thirty years, Mickey Melchiondo’s been making music under a moniker. As Dean Ween, one of the eponymous creative forces behind Ween, Melchiondo’s carved out an ambitious musical niche since founding the band with Aaron Freeman – aka Gene Ween – in the 1980s. In advance of Ween’s Halloween…
Young poets from Denver’s slam poetry scene have taken their words and images far beyond the confines of the city. The HBO special Brave New Voices premiered this week and featured performances from Minor Disturbance, Denver’s very own youth Slam Team led by Ken Arkind. The special, co-produced by hip-hop…
Mickey Melchiondo keeps getting distracted. Speaking via telephone from his home in New Hope, Pennsylvania, Melchiondo — better known to fans as Dean Ween — has taken several breaks to attend to domestic duties. There’s the screaming tea kettle on the stove that he’s minding for his wife, who stepped…
Forget the rugged beauty and natural splendor of the small, windswept islands off the west coast of Ireland. The Arans’ isolation and foul, monotonous weather can render life dull and dreary; their brutal elements and rocky shores can make everyday routines monotonous and maddening. That’s the impression, at least, that…
NATHANIEL RATELIFF 10.21.10 | Lost Lake Lounge Nathaniel Rateliff struck a delicate musical balance in his tribute to Leonard Cohen Thursday at the Lost Lake Lounge. His two-part solo performance spanned several albums and eras from Cohen’s storied musical career. Armed simply with a nylon-stringed guitar, a music stand and…
There’s no expensive special effect or fancy set piece that can match the evocative power of a good storyteller. That was the resounding message at the Stories on Stage “New Frontiers” performance Sunday at the Denver Performing Arts Center. The performance was the third offering in the Stories on Stage…
French impressionist composers had an odd obsession with Edgar Allan Poe. Years after the author’s death in 1849, seminal composers like Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Andre Caplet remained fixated on his work. Poe’s hallucinogenic imagery and dark themes seemed to complement the composers’ love for eerie tonal colors, augmented…
NATHANIEL RATELIFF Gregory Alan Isakov • Danielle Ate the Sandwich 10.08.10 | Gothic Theatre The capacity crowd that filled the Gothic Theatre to busting on Friday night had no problem staying calm for three hours, for the co-headlining show of Nathaniel Rateliff and Gregory Alan Isakov. The audience remained rapt…
It’s shortly after sundown, and the growing crowd is getting impatient. I’m standing with a friend at the head of the VIP line for “Bloodlust,” one of the two haunted houses that debuted over the weekend at Elitch Gardens as part of the park’s annual “Fright Fest.” We’ve been waiting…
For the past three years, the members of the Handsome Little Devils have drawn on Vaudevillian slapstick and Chuck Jones-inspired gags to form the “Squirm Burpee Circus,” a stageshow that features extreme juggling feats, damsels in distress and monumental prop pieces. Their work has paid off. Starting next month, the…
The release of Mines in July capped a long creative process for Menomena. Two years ago, members of the Portland-based trio had hinted that they’d release their fourth full-length album at the beginning of 2009. After a year spent between the studio and on the road, they again hinted at…
In the past decade, Ken Arkind has seen the Denver poetry scene morph and evolve. A fixture in the local scene for a decade, Arkind has made multiple trips to national competitions across the country, bearing the banner of Denver poets from the Mercury Cafe and earning a title spot…
For Cory Eberhard, the liberation of playing reggae hasn’t come solely from the music’s messages of political activism and rebellion. The greater freedom, he says, has stemmed from a much more basic part of Eberhard’s role as the drummer for Dubskin, the reggae outfit he started in Fort Collins three…
RUSH 8.16.10 | Red Rocks Amphitheater It’s taken more than three decades for Rush to refine its approach to stadium rock, and the long gestation period has paid off. The Canadian trio’s three-hour set at Red Rocks Monday night showed just how carefully the band has constructed its approach to…
Weezer, 6:45 p.m. on the Wolf Stage A piercing series of guitar lines, the push of a pounding drum line and synchronized singing syllables lent an epic feel to the beginning of Weezer’s set. As soon as Rivers Cuomo and company took the stage, it seemed the band was working…
Jimmy Cliff, 3:45 p.m. on the Kyocera Main Stage Jimmy Cliff and his band delivered all of the expected musical components within the first strains of their hour-plus set. The godfather of roots reggae and his ensemble set down a set composed of syncopated beats, choppy 2/2 guitar accompaniment and…
John Common and the Blinding Flashes of Light, 1:15 p.m. on the Cougar Stage John Common and the Blinding Flashes of Light didn’t let the early hour or the high temperatures derail their sense of decorum. The band emerged for their early afternoon set decked in suits and dress wear,…
